About this message on the front of a bus?

[Iop]

This morning in town a bus passed me with the phrase Mash'alla displayed on the front instead of the bus number and destination. AIBU to have found it unsettling?
We're in an area with a large Pakistani Muslim population and there were small pockets of celebration following the initial attacks on Israel (nothing violent or disruptive, just horns/cheering/Palestinian flag waving).
If I were to complain to the bus company (I won't - I don't have time) it would be on the grounds that it's unprofessional for bus drivers to be proclaiming their political or religious beliefs on the front of their busses. But if I'm honest my discomfort was about more than that - I wouldn't have felt as unsettled if the message had been "vote Tory" or "Happy Diwali" even though neither of those reflect my personal beliefs any more than Mash'alla does.
Am I being reasonable or Islamaphobic?

the Roman Empire started spreading Christianity in the 4th century CE

^^ this comment is bizarrely ahistorical.

Totally missing the point.

The crusades we’re a reaction to the Arab conquests.

No, you do! You honestly think that when one nation conquers another nation, it’s not done by force?

And please answer my questions about Mary I and the Spanish Inquisition! Those weren’t forcible conversions?

Edit: I’m also not talking about religious conversions during conquests, I’m talking about the conquests themselves and then giving you some food for though, but you’re not thinking about the bigger picture, you’ve got a one track mind about Arab conquests only, as if they are the only Empire builders that used force!

Restaurants often use halal meat as it’s cheaper.

And places that don’t offer pork are responding to local market forces. I don’t think they have been threatened with suicide bombs for serving pork. They know their local customers don’t eat much pork so they provide other products instead. It’s about money and business. Not Muslims taking over ‘our’ country.

Wgere does it say it happened in England?

I wonder how Palestinians in the UK feel right now about buildings being lit up with the Israel flag. The flag was projected onto 10 Downing St and the Palace of Westminster was covered in blue and white lights. Wembley has been criticised for not following suit.

At this time, I imagine many Palestinians will struggle when they see that and see what’s happening to people in their country. Wonder who they are complaining to.

If a nation following a certain belief system (in the case of Rome, pagan gods) invades other nations, it makes no sense to say that they were invading according to a belief system which they adopted much later (in the case of Rome, Christianity), during their era of collapse.

If you are going to compare the expansion of the Roman Empire to the Islamic (Arab) Invasions/conquests, then it would only make sense to call them ‘Roman Pagan invasions’ or some such thing. The Romans weren’t trying to spread their beliefs though, in a way that is comparable to the Islamic invasions led by Mohammed.

You know what I haven't even thought about this, has anyone even asked British Palestinians how they feel right now?

A lot of the sentiment seems to be about British Jews feeling scared and how the government can do more to protect them and show their support

you’ve got a one track mind about Arab conquests only

🙄

Seriously, this is really annoying. I responded to someone saying ‘Muslims have been the enemy since the crusades’, I pointed out the factual inaccuracy, because it was the Islamic/Arab invasions/ conquests, led by Mohammed, that set Islamists up as ‘the enemy’ (people don’t tend to enjoy being invaded and conquered, they tend to see the people doing the invading/conquering as the enemy- it’s pretty hostile) and that the crusades were actually counter-attacks to reclaim lost territories.

I will not let this be warped into ahistorical nonsense. The fact that I won’t let you get away with it apparently means I have a one track mind. I don’t think so. I just don’t have an I’ll-informed, illogical scatterbrain.

You started this actually.

I have asked you questions about other invading forces who forcibly converted the people of whichever country to the invading forces religion and you won’t answer. Why? Because you don’t believe that any other invading force converted people?

All I wanted to do was to point out that Muslims weren’t the only conquerors that forcibly converted people. But for some reason, you disagree with that and I find it bizarre that you disagree with that!

You are saying stuff that doesn’t make sense. You claimed that countries only became Christian by invasion/force and I pointed out that this was not how Christianity spread through Europe and became its official religion.

When European countries started creating their own empires beyond Europe, Christianity was spread by force. But this was not the story for Europe itself.

So you don’t agree that when Constantine I converted to Catholicism in 312, that helped to spread Christianity through (what was left of) the Roman Empire? And then it took from there?

When did I ever mention Europe? The Holy Roman Empire was a vast and well-oiled machine. And actually, Mary I, the Spanish Inquisition, and many other awful, terrible practices, were all in Europe, even though some of those countries weren’t invaded per se.

I was trying to show you, and make you think critically, how religions are spread, and how conquests, regardless of religion, are an awful and bloody thing.

Can someone please tell me what the heck turkey ham is? Is it just a slice of turkey? I don’t understand how a turkey can be ham. Or is like vegetarian fakon which is supposed to be bacon? But turkey ham is a new one on me!

Wow. I went away for a couple hours to do dinner and bedtime and came back to vegan cheese, the Subway business model, and assorted crusades.
Thanks to those who weighed in re the bus. Plenty of food for thought. I won't make a complaint to the company but I'll contact them to ask about the message and see what they say 🤷🏽‍♀️

Christianity had already spread across Europe, at the time of Constantine the Roman stronghold was largely in the East, people weren’t forcibly converted by him, things were pretty liberal, it was Justinian who closed the Platonic academy and this was essentially about power not Christian belief.

I think that you’re deliberately misunderstanding me, and not actually reading what I’m writing, so unless you can shed light on turkey ham, I’ll bid you a good morning (yes, it’s Friday the 13th and another day of fun and frolics is about to get underway) or a good night, since I suspect you’re in Europe (because you seem to have Europe on the brain) 🙂

When did I ever mention Europe?

By making the sweeping statement that Christianity was spread by force. Europe is where Christianity initially spread and it did not spread by force. It was spread by devotees, ordinary people, spreading the word. People actually died rather than renounce their faith when they were being persecuted by the Romans.

I suspect you’re in Europe (because you seem to have Europe on the brain)

🫤

This has thrown me. I can’t fathom why someone, not in the UK (let alone not in Europe) would weigh in on a thread about what was written on a British bus, in England, at a time when you really need to be here to understand the climate and how people are getting skittish because there seems to be a support for terrorism, antisemitism and ‘jihad’ surfacing in England, which we were largely unaware of, before recent events.

Pakistanis have adorned their vehicles with ‘Mash’Allah’ for decades. And their houses for longer.

So much racist and Islamophobic ignorance on this thread. We see you.

You’ve got that backwards

official Home Office statistics documenting hate crime in England and Wales confirm that Muslims have remained consistently, and especially, vulnerable to religiously motivated hate crime offences; in the year ending March 2021, 45% of all recorded religious hate crime offences in England & Wales were targeted against Muslims, and in the year ending March 2019, 47% of all recorded religious hate crime offences in England & Wales were targeted against Muslims.

It”s because of people like you there is a culture of hatred against Muslims and the rise of abhorrent far right governments in Italy, France, Israel etc.

Wtf? Talk about rose tinted glasses? 😂😂😂

Never heard of a chap called Charlemagne have you? Because he did spread Christianity by the sword.

If it is the bus company that served my local area in the 90s, they had a policy of never accepting religious or political advertising of any kind.

It is not an advert- it was in place of a destination.

Personally, I find it insensitive and in poor judgement at this time. Would you be happy to see 'Allah Akbar' tomorrow. It means God is the Greatest but was chanted by Hamas in videos they posted on Saturday of them kidnapping Israeli women and dragging them to vehicles. One was blood stained one her arms, face and the underneath and back if her trousers, one looked dead, was semi-naked and they were sitting on her as they chanted it. Will you be ok if that one appears tomorrow?

It's insensitive and shows appalling judgement.

Muslims are not your fucking puppets. They don’t have to remove a blessing from their vehicles to appease your racist agenda.

Your racism and Islamophobia is what’s appalling.