Is there a problem with Islam?

[LeafBud7]

My answer to this has always been, no, even if there are problematic elements within Islam especially for women, you can say the same about any culture or ideology, or religion.
I have been reading and thinking more about this recently, and i'm going round in circles. My brother in law is Muslim, and I am going to ask him what he thinks when I next get the chance for a proper chat, also a female colleague who I think would be open to talking about this..
In the meantime, what do you think? Is it as I have always thought, above, or is there something potentially within the religion what makes it more problematic, or is it not the religion itself, but more how things evolve in some communities? Is it all just a imaginary "problem" used by racists to whip up a storm?
One thing is for sure, it seems one is not really allowed to ask these questions in some circles, without being accused of being racist, which I find really unhelpful.

I was brought up with a pretty positive view of Islam, my best friend at school was a Muslim convert (her mum had married a Muslim man and all her daughters had to convert) and I had Muslim colleagues when I worked in London.

I'm now back up North. Volunteered for almost two years with men seeking asylum, from places such as Afghanistan and Africa, I have increasing worries about the culture they are bringing over. Their opinions about women, homosexuality etc. are worrying and we don't seem to be doing anything to challenge them.

Not read the full thread but this is something that has always shocked me. Women are stoned to death in Islamic countries. Child marriage eg rape is accepted and commonplace. It’s horrifying and sickening. Yet feminists are silent and anyone discussing is called Islamophobic. We should be highlighting and condemning these practices and making it very clear such evil has no place in Britain.

Oh yes and re white colonialism. The Arab slave trade had just as many the difference was they castrated the slaves so no descendants to pay reparations to. The British navy also spent millions eliminating the slave trade so there’s that. If we don’t stop apologising for every historical wrong and start standing up for our values and way of life I foresee a dark future for not just Europe but the world. I don’t want my daughter to live anywhere women are stoned to death.

Seeing as all religious texts were written by MEN in the first place, therein lies the problem!

When surveyed over 50% of UK Muslims believe that gay people should be imprisoned. I can only believe the figure would be higher in more conservative countries. So, I'm not sure the majority can necessarily be said to be tolerant.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/11/british-muslims-strong-sense-of-belonging-poll-homosexuality-sharia-law

I think that yes there is a problem with Islam, but in the same way as I think there is a problem with every organised religion.

The problem is, and always will be that the people who claim power within the religions are the ones who do not have the morals and ethics suitable for that level of power and as such they twist the religious texts and the will of the people to suit their needs and achieve their goals.

When you get down to the base tenants of every religion the core values are beautiful, care for each other, do no harm, be forgiving.... but somehow every religion finds a way to introduce hate.

They're all mysogynist and based on the idea that women are less than men. Homophobia is a part of them as well.

As long as you're not a woman or gay, you're ok.

How many religious texts have you actually read?

"Seeing as all religious texts were written by MEN in the first place, therein lies the problem!"

The Quran was revealed in Arabic and in English so Allah (God) never self identified using an English pronoun. As you know, there is no such thing as a perfect translation. Translators generally consider “He” to be the best translation for “huwa” (هو), which is the pronoun used throughout the Qur’an in reference to the Divine. However, this is not because they believe that huwa being grammatically masculine implies that Allah is male or male-like.

In short, Allah is neither male nor female.

I think there is a problem with all religions. And we'd be better off without it at all. How many disagreements and wars and unnecessary deaths result from 'religion'?!

All of the major world religions were birthed in times that had no real understanding of women having any bodily autonomy and where patriarchy was just unquestioned. They are all problematic for women. Trying to make arguments that they were progressive for the time is hardly helpful when their teachings ' of the time' are still expected by many adherents to apply today, and are way behind our modern western democratic understandings of the rights of women.

Progressive interpretations of these religions would be unrecognisable to the founding Fathers (and they were all men) of these religions.

Rape and violence isn't part of Islam and its teachings. It's never condoned at all. What people fail to realise is that people are humans and it's common for humans to make mistakes, and /or misinterpret what Islam teaches. So it's not that Islam is the problem, it's that it's human error and that's where the difference lies. So to paint Islam with a bad brush and say that such evil has no place here is just completely wrong.

People misunderstanding Islam and its teachings is exactly what brings about Islamophobia. It really pays well to do some research and understand something before judging something as evil.

How many Muslims do you know?
Were Christians and Jews asked the same question because it would be interesting to see the answers.
No one should be jailed because of how they choose to live it's their life.
But you can also be sure that in those countries you refer to that women are not attacked walking home from work, that scumbags aren't knocking on vulnerable people's doors pretending to be salesmen etc then breaking in an attacking people in their homes, stealing cars, so many other crimes that go on everyday.
Why? Because they have punishment thar fits the crime and are not soft on criminals.
A lot of islamophobes on here and in my opinion that's just ignorance.
There are plenty of bad people who do bad things and their religion has nothing to do with it.
Funny how the op stirred up the nonsense then stopped posting.

@MySnappySheep it's just another thread to feed the islamaphobes

I think that yes there is a problem with Islam, but in the same way as I think there is a problem with every organised religion.

I agree that there is a problem with every organised religion, however 8 out of the 10 countries with the worst records for women’s rights are predominantly Muslim countries and utilise Sharia law to varying degrees, which leads to significant restrictions on women’s rights and freedoms. The same can’t be said for any other religion.

If you go back years ago, the Catholic Church also oppressed women and they weren't allowed to have a voice.
But let's not keep blaming religion,because women have had to fight for their rights for years and still have to even today and that's to do with male oppression and no religion involved at all.

Yes it is and it's disgusting.
I have many friends of different faiths and beliefs and i find people's ignorance disgusting they don't even know people and judge them because of what others do.

Yes I believe there is. The impression I get is that Muslims put their religion above everything especially the laws of the country they live in. An example of this is this how there are sharia courts. These should not be allowed imo.

I also disagree the religious schools and think they should be banned. They are divisive and do nothing for integration.

I was very uncomfortable with how the vote pattern changed when many Muslims turned away from Labour because they wouldn't support a ceasefire. I would be extremely concerned if we started seeing a rise in a party that followed Islam and I think we need to be wary of independent MPs that are clearly aligned to Islam. This is not a minority there was a big shift.

Of course there are other religions that also fall into some of this but this thread is about Islam. As I say I don't agree with religious schools. If you want the state tied to your religion please go and live in a country that supports that, don't try and change another country.

We’re taking about today, not years ago. And it isn’t Islamophobic to take issue with the way religion is used to oppress women. These countries are using religious interpretations to justify restrictions on women’s rights and freedoms. If these were Catholic countries today using the Bible to oppress women then I’d be talking about Catholicism. But it isn’t.

Studies in the 21st century suggest that, in terms of percentage and worldwide spread,[1][2] Islamm_ is the fastest-growing major religion in the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growthoff_religion

I'm sure the peoples of South America and Africa who were forced to convert to Christianity at the point of a sword would be delighted to hear that, actually, they were being set free.

But it still goes on today in Christianity, and Judaism.
Do you think they approve of things that are forbbiden in their religion no they don't but people like you choose to pick on Islam.
You have no idea about people and you assume that because they dress modestly that is forced on them when actually you don't even know for sure.
Educate yourself

I’ve already detailed the ways in which Christianity oppresses women, in this thread, when The New Testament was brought up. So yes I did challenge that as well. If someone makes a thread about the problems with Christianity, I’ll post there too. I’m sick of religion being used to curtail women’s rights, any and all religions, belief systems, cultural norms, whatever. And your response is incredibly minimising and patronising.

I don't doubt that it goes in lots of countries but it's got nothing to do with the religions.
Men are oppressing women not religion.
People do bad things because they choose to because if they actually followed their religion whatever the religion may be they would not do these things.
You are completely ignoring the facts.
You have no idea who's oppressed by looking at them.