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?

@Warum kindly answered my question. I’ve neither heard of turkey ham, nor do I wish to eat it. Why did you have to make a completely useless, and quite provocative, remark? Do you feel better for the way you have treated them? The quite rude tone of your remark?

I’ll admit that I can get quite heated, when I can be bothered and depending on how much rubbish I’ve seen posted that I personally don’t agree with/don’t understand. But I try not to insult posters, or swear, and sometimes I don’t actually realise how I’m coming across.

But do you see how your remark is rude? And you certainly didn’t rush to respond to my question.

Well I think the main problem here is that OP clearly stated at the start that it’s specifically the fact that it’s an Islamic word that made her uncomfortable:

I wouldn't have felt as unsettled if the message had been "vote Tory" or "Happy Diwali”

So yes, this is Islamophobic.

That was for @Warum and their response to my first post

You have lost me, you might have to actually link and quote whatever you think I should be reading - it's a tad disjointed right now.

Why don't you stop the race baiting. Are you Muslim?

Well I think the main problem here is that OP clearly stated at the start that it’s specifically the fact that it’s an Islamic word that made her uncomfortable:

I wouldn't have felt as unsettled if the message had been "vote Tory" or "Happy Diwali”

So yes, this is Islamophobic.

I got the impression that it wasn't the fact that it's an Islamic word that unsettled her, but rather that the timing of it seemed to link it to Saturday's attack. If the message had been "Eid Mubarak" at the end of Ramadan, for example, I doubt she'd have given it a second thought.

@WillyWonkaBlues This poster, @Zarah123, makes a point of turning every comment into some sort of islamophobia, even when it clearly isn't.
She doesn't seem to realise that that is actually belittling real islamophobia, which, of course, we should not tolerate (as muslims or non muslims).

@Warum

It’s not about whether or not everyone wants to see a religious phrase displayed etc - that’s another conversation - but the fact that OP finds an Islamic word upsetting whereas she wouldn’t if it was from another religion.

None of us know what the ‘MaashAllah’ was referring to - maybe the driver’s kid just got into uni, or had a baby. Let’s not loose sight of the fact that Muslim words are not the same thing as celebrating terrorism.

It's also the fact it's a word she's never seen before which is causing some issue.
Any word in a foreign (not official language of that country) can potentially cause confusion, whatever the language! That's not phobia of anything!

@Warum

It’s not about whether or not everyone wants to see a religious phrase displayed etc - that’s another conversation - but the fact that OP finds an Islamic word upsetting whereas she wouldn’t if it was from another religion.

None of us know what the ‘MaashAllah’ was referring to - maybe the driver’s kid just got into uni, or had a baby. Let’s not loose sight of the fact that Muslim words are not by default anything to do with terrorism.

Sorry I don’t know why it posted so many times.

Funny how Muslims defending themselves is race baiting but you and others can post whatever racist shit you like.

Yes, I’m Muslim, not that it’s any of your business.

I understand this. But it is nevertheless concerning that her immediate thought was to link it to something which it has nothing to do with.

If OP or anyone else with similar thinking heard a Muslim walking down the street saying ‘Hurray!’ are they now going to assume they are celebrating Hamas’ activity??

Why should I even have to entertain that as a thought?

But how do you know it had nothing to do with it?

If I heard a Muslim person walking down the street saying ‘hurray’ I would think nothing of it because this could be an everyday conversation. The writing on the bus is more akin to a Muslim person having a megaphone shouting ‘hurray’ walking down the street, as one would not normally see/hear this, and if this happened the day after what Hamas did, yes it would cause me to think wtaf.

You are twisting the meaning of a beautiful phrase to suit your own racist agenda.

This would be be the equivalent of someone saying 'Hallelujah' is the call to war of white extremists.

Seriously, just stop. We all see through you.

You've added apparent accusatsions of islamophobia to posts not even mentioning islam or muslims.

Hurray is an English word.
The one she she saw wasn't.

It's you we all see through @Zarah123.

Languages borrow heavily from each other. I will speak whatever language I like. Who do you think you are to think you can dictate what languages people can speak? It's NOTHING to do with you. You are racist and Islamophobic.

And your word hurray is from Mongolia!

One theory about the origin of "hurrah" is that the Europeans picked up the Mongol exclamation "hooray" as an enthusiastic cry of bravado and mutual encouragement. See Jack Weatherford's book Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.[16]

Where have I told you what language to speak? Oh, yes, that's right, I didn't.

As for hurray being Mongolian origin, that's irrelevant as it's also a word in the English dictionary, with an accepted meaning in the main spoken language in the UK. The word on the bus does not fall into that category.

You can call me what you like as often as you like, it doesn't make it true. It also makes you look like you don't really understand what you're saying.

You calling EVERYONE who disagrees with you Islamophobic kind of belittles real Islamophobia. Seriously, just stop.

I will speak whatever language I like. Who do you think you are to think you can dictate what languages people can speak? It's NOTHING to do with you. You are racist and Islamophobic.

You seem to be making stuff up now and tbh sound a little unhinged.

Context is everything. It might have been there for years for all you know. I'm muslim, mashallah is said for all sorts of things.

Your hair looks lovely, mashallah

Today was a great day, mashallah

I was able to get to work on time today, mashallah.

Ask the bus company. I don't agree with them putting it on there as its irrelevant to.public transport. But please don't assume its antisemitic

You can also say alhamdullilah. Please don't assume all Arabic is going to be used for antisemitic reasons now

This is exactly it. I'm happy to see "Eid Mubarak" messages in shops and buses and anywhere else, and happy to wish my (imaginary, according to one PP) Muslim friends the same. Happy to see adverts for different Islamic charities people can donate to during Ramadan on the sides of buses.
It was the combination of the unfamiliar language, the meaning of the words, the lack of context, and the timing that made me uncomfortable. It seemed designed to make a statement and/or intimidate.
In the same vein, the cars being driven through town with their windows down and young South Asian men leaning out of their windows shouting, laughing, and waving Palestinian flags and scarves the night before also seemed to be making a statement. Although I suppose they could all have just been celebrating their Palestinian friend's birthday... 😏

Do you all get up in arms when someone says bless you when you sneeze?