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?

Personally I couldn't give a rats arse about this at all. Let it go, move on, forget about it. Who cares.

Are you from the greater Manchester area by any chance?

Religion and politics still really do not have any place on public transort. Both subjects are quite volatile in their own way and in the wrong area could stir up trouble.
Where I used to live a group demonstrated loudly and burnt the union flag in the town centre because they hated the west, but choose to live here. One of their number was stabbed and there were several arrests as a result. WTAF??

I wondered if it was known as an active Islamist (NB Islamist not Islamic) area. More worrying if not

Yeah let’s get on with our lives and pretend we don’t see, that’s worked so well in the past hasn’t it?

I think this needs flagging up for two reasons:

1. The meaning is unclear, even if you do know it means something along the lines of 'to give thanks' it is not obvious what we are supposed to be giving thanks for.
2. The person, presumably the driver but possibly someone else in the company, should not be using buses to make any sort of statement (including religious ones), especially not in a language which the bus display would not usually be in!

I'm sorry OP but the fact that it's only because this saying is linked to arabic and Islam that makes you uncomfortable means you actually ARE islamophobic.

mash'Allah is a phrase used by arabic speakers (of all religions) all over the world to mean 'this is a blessing from God'. used very frequently in every day conversation especially when something good happens especially weddings/exam results etc.

this bus could easily have been hired for a wedding and when I have seen that word on vehicles its usually because its a wedding related transport.

or maybe the driver just had a baby and wanted to express gratitude. you have no idea as to the intention.

face it, you are judging the actions of a whole group of people based on what other people very far away did. that is the definition of discrimination.

many people world wide (Muslims and non Muslims) support the Palestinian cause in the sense that they wish the occupation to end and for Palestinians not to be bombed like rats in a cage. this does not equate to support for hamas or antisemitism. it is possible to oppose hamas and support the rights of Palestinians. in fact no one is doing more of a disservice to Palestinians right now than hamas.

Could it have bee used as a school bus on the way back from dropping kids at a religious school?

I doubt drivers actually have the ability to manually programme what the display says - probably just a choice of switching to preset messages / programmes

what's an active islamist area? Muslims live all over the UK. or do you think we should live in ghettos? or maybe not be here at all?

NinaBee “Sky news just came out and said they don't have any proof of Hamas beheading or killing anyone, it is all propaganda.”

Do you really believe this?

sadly this may all go under the woke carpet! we, in uk, are barely allowed to say our names nowadays! so much for free speech, but I dont this this appropriate on a public bus!

So anything to do with Muslims is now going to be seen in the light of current events?!

If it's an advert on a bus, that campaign would have been planned and paid for ages in advance. I know Islamic Relief for example, is a charity that has had adverts on buses in the past so maybe it was something like that. They advertise to get donations, just as any other charity does.

I'm actually quite astounded at this thread and the responses but wouldn't expect anything less. Once again, all Muslims have become the bad guys and any arabic text or phrase is "suspicious' automatically without knowing the context.

@therealcookiemonster 'I'm sorry OP but the fact that it's only because this saying is linked to arabic and Islam that makes you uncomfortable means you actually ARE islamophobic.'

Um, or maybe it's because any criticism of anything remotely linked to Islam, even if it's warranted, is often called Islamophobia and it isn't that at all.

To be fair to @nameoftheday, she did clarify that she was talking about Islamists, not Muslims. Not all Muslims are Islamists, and in fact most of the Muslims I know would strongly object to being lumped in with Islamists.

@Warum well as a Muslim who faces islamophobia every day, I think we are allowed to say when we feel discriminated against?

I am not referring to any other incidents. as a Muslim I am saying that if someone says they are happy to see 'vote tory' or 'Happy diwali' but feel uncomfortable to see an innocuous arabic phrase 'mash'Allah' which they didn't even initially know the meaning of - then this is a response which comes from a discomfort around Muslims or Islam hence its islamophobic.

“what's an active islamist area? Muslims live all over the UK. or do you think we should live in ghettos? or maybe not be here at all?”

That’s quite the extrapolation, Cookiemonster.
The fact is that there are/have been cells operating from certain places - e.g. Luton where the 7/7 bombers came from. And if the bus had been in one of these places, that adds to the “context”.

@Iop saying islamists doesn't make it clear no as a lot of islamophobic or racist individuals refer to all Muslims as islamists

Yes, thank you

Do I believe that? Sky news said it themselves! Please do your research and find out things for yourself. Here is some proof www.instagram.com/p/CyRmy7Ar7WH/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and www.instagram.com/p/CyQgHL6Mur9/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== please do some research.

I can’t imagine it being common practice for bus drivers to change their digital displays to give thanks to God for a good shift though, can you?

Having said that, I’ve no idea why a bus would say mashallah, other than being a private hire.

So if there were white murderers and rapists from Luton means I should be wary of all white people too?

I'm sure I've seen Christian adverts on a bus!

@therealcookiemonster FWIW I wholeheartedly support the Palestinian cause, and I think the way the Palestinian people have been treated by Israel, with the backing of the West, for decades, is appalling. But like most people I know (and like yourself, I believe), I think the recent actions of Hamas are absolutely unjustifiable.

My question was less about that, though, and more about the message on the bus. You're right that I did view it through the lens of the events in Gaza, and didn't consider that it might have referred to a personal event, and I'll reflect on what that says about me. But it still seems a little tone deaf at best. The driver must have considered that people wouldn't automatically assume it related to his new grandchild that nobody knows about, and would relate it to events of global significance that are currently at the forefront of many people's minds.

@Lookright, it wasn't an advert on the side of the bus, it was on the front where it normally says 73 Kings Cross or whatever. Which I think can be changed pretty easily without much advance planning or funding.

Get over it.

A few years ago I flew with Biman, the airline of Bangla Desh. Inshallah we will be landing in Birmingham in five minutes, please ensure your seat is upright, table stowed etc.

It's a simple religious blessing in Islam referring things being willed by Allah (God).

Why should it bother you other than perhaps offending against one's atheism?