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?

I would have thought there would be caution even if it had been planned a while back. Someone should have said, before leaving - is this a good idea to do this today? Shall we put something else up? This is going to give the wrong impression.

I didn't say you weren't allowed to express how you feel or talk about your experiences, I simply stated that any concern over anything which is remotely linked to Islam can be labelled 'Islamophobia' and it isn't always actually the case. If anything it muddies the water and perhaps makes people discount actual islamophobia (or phobia of any other religion).
As it stands, I am not happy to see anything on the front of a bus other than a destination/private hire/out of service etc, buses are no place for religious or political propaganda of any sort.

This!

I’m going to guess a private hire/school bus for an Islamic school as there is an Islamic school in my area with MashAllah written above the main entrance door. Appreciation that Allah has provided education and safe transport for their children?

That sort of thing.

Exactly.

It’s the different language that I would find unsettling. And the timing/support this is showing to the Palestinians.

I read three entirely separate articles, from good sources, that say that only one journalist, out of a group taken to the site, claims to have seen the babies that were beheaded from a day care centre even thought the journalists were all together, all of the time. They are clear that this isn't to say it did not happen, just that no one else with the original reporting journalist saw it.

I think at this point in time, it would be prudent to not believe everything coming from the Israeli government too.

Why do you feel the need to complain anonymously? You have every right to complain about something like that and if I were the bus company, I'd want to know about it.

@therealcookiemonster I will add that as much as it is your right to practice Islam and feel safe doing so, it is my right to be against all that all religions stand for and also feel safe doing so. It is not Islamophobia (or any other phobia) to refuse to allow any aspect of a religion to be part of my life. The issue with many religions is that because they believe very strongly in that religion they cannot help but try to enforce it on others, or try to normalise it being part of general daily life. The right to practice religion is important, as is the right to abstain from it.

Really? That's a bit of a stretch. Since when do bus drivers put their own personal messages on the front of their bus?

Well It is open to misinterpretation and context is key. Could have been used as a school bus dropping kids at an Islamic school and it is a well intended greeting fir them then In that context it would be ok. If thought it is the bus driver displaying his personal beliefs about the conflict then that is not ok on a public bus.

I’m going to guess a private hire/school bus for an Islamic school as there is an Islamic school in my area with MashAllah written above the main entrance door. Appreciation that Allah has provided education and safe transport for their children?

If that's true, then it's very foolish in the current climate and could be putting the children at risk.

People are also allowed to feel more frightened by Islamic messaging than Christian or something else. Our most recent terrorist attacks have had Islamic messaging, and although people consciously don’t want to treat ordinary innocent Muslims differently as a result of those attacks, I know that it is Islamic terrorism I am scared of when I take public transport or am in a crowded public space. The IRA no longer occupy that space for me. It is not an ‘irrational fear’/phobia that makes people jumpy, those of us who have been very close to those attacks.

Modern day Christianity, maybe (although not entirely convinced). It wasn't always the case though. What about the crusades, slavery, oppression of the working class, capital punishment, divine right of kings??

Liberal democracy is a very recent invention in the history of Christianity

Instead of emailing to complain you could email to ask.

It could be perfectly innocent as many posters have already explained in their examples, It may not but until you ask you won’t know.

It's fair enough to find Islamic messages more threatening given recent history. It's not the same as being generally fearful of Muslims, just ones that write messages on buses.

To be fair if a bus said "praise the lord" on the front the morning after Grenfell, or after the death of the queen, that would be equally distasteful although perhaps less threatening.

Educate yourself... go on Instagram.

Good one.

I don't know what 5 African languages are called? Happy to send you my thesis on such if you wish. I have no interest in discussing politics with you, suffice to say you haven't picked the right person to screech 'educate yourself on geopolitics and African languages' to. I've put the time in, and a lot more hard study than looking at bloody Instagram.

This thread and my response were about messages on buses. It would not be appropriate to celebrate any death in such a way, if indeed that's what it is.

The government funds increased security for the school thankfully.

FFS it IS islamaphobic to be "jumpy" at muslims or the arabic language.

FWIW i don't think there should be any personal messages displayed on public bus information screens, it makes it confusing

This argument doesn’t make sense. Societies mature and grow. For a long time, ordinary people couldn’t understand the bible because it was written in Latin - for the purposes of preserving the status quo, when it was translated into modern languages, radical concepts like equality between people (blasting a hole through the notions of caste and class), would inevitably lead to the abolition of slavery and modern democracy.

@Catlord the username I shared on Instagram specifically is recording everything live that is going on, for awareness. A lot of people just watch the news and look at things from one side rather than looking at both.

It's written on loads of things in Pakistan, it's kind of like a protection thing to prevent evil eye. It's nothing to do with the Israel situation or anything like that and it's more a cultural thing where people believe writing it on things will protect the *thing from harm than something with a religious basis. It's been a cultural practise for years and years not something to do with any current affairs. If you Google buses in Pakistan you'll probably see them highly decorated and they often have masha'Allah written in Arabic on them.

I saw one recently on a public bus, something about Jesus is with you or something and I was really annoyed, it felt very inappropriate and like some sort of propaganda. I didn't bother complaining but I should have and I'd be happy if someone else had beat me to it. I live in a mostly Catholic place but that makes it no better. I totally agree with you OP it's not appropriate and shouldn't be there.

Who said they were jumpy at ‘Muslims’. I am jumpy if I sense a bit of a murmur and disturbance in a crowd and there are men shouting things in Arabic. I am jumpy if I am on a tube train and I see a young man looking shifty clutching his rucksac in from of him and he has a certain kind of beard. It is not phobic to be scared of being blown up on public transport when this has happened repeatedly. Are people not allowed self-preservation instincts now?

If it was Ecclesiastical Latin, would you feel less unsettled? There is absolutely nothing unsettling about a phrase someone uses to relate to their god(s).

Your beliefs unsettle me, I thought people didn't speak like you do anymore.