10 Most Common Misconceptions about Islam

[Sahar]

Kai, you replied in my own post. This is funny, LOL!

 

[England my lionheart]

Apart from religions and its unfruitful arguments, what would you do if foreigners invaded your country, drove you out from your home and occupied it and destroyed your land? And you have no power to fight them and your country doesn't have an organized army to fight and retrieve the land.
If you blew yourself up among some of their solders I'll consider you a free and brave man.

Its better to live for your country than die for it,you are of no use dead,other than propaganda to recruit more Martyrs,in reality the Woman is dead,blown into tiny bits of flesh,sometimes your lucky to find anything left of the body,sure she took some Soldiers with her but she'll never know how pointless her death was,if you consider that as freedom,maybe nothingness is freedom,brave?,i would say it was stupid.

As for foreigners invading your country look no further than the Muslim Brotherhood
who were a foreign element and the Grand Mufti for todays conflict and of course a good dose of religion,anyway back to the OP

 

[England my lionheart]

There appears to be some misconceptions regarding this hadith

The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim).

 

[Bismillah]

How can someone be "influenced by Islam" (?) if he doesn't follow it? Who is the active element here? It's us. We are the ones who follow or not. That's why it's called free will. Does being called "Muslim"/accepting Islam mean you will be programmed to be/do this and that?!!
Is religion supposed to be a magic wand that will suddenly turn you into another being? You deal with human beings not computers. Yes you are endeavoring to become a different being a Muslim being, by becoming a Muslim you are undertaking to follow Islamic teachings you are reverting ,When you take up Christianity you are reborn.Isnt it because we are human beings that the Quran was revealed ?

Muslim means you are in a continuous struggle to follow this guiding map called Qur'an and Sunnah. The map does lead you to the desired goal of purification and happiness, if you follow it. When people deviate from the drawn map, is it the fault of the map or those who deviate? Its the fault of the person who didnt read the map properly

The Qur'an says through its Ayats that most people don't know, don't believe, are ungrateful, etc.

The Qur'an is a book of guidance for those who want to be guided. The Qur'an never suggested that we will turn into angels. Islam emphasizes human weakness and thus it provides the healing medication which is forgiveness.

So, the conclusion is people fail and will fail to follow Islam/the map with different degrees. And in Islam, people are not asked at all to follow it 100%, no, people will deviate sometimes, and we thank our God that He is Forgiving. The important thing is when you deviate, you return to the original track again and again, i.e. that the overall sum of your life is on the path of God's pleasure; that the good deeds outweigh the bad ones. There are always bad deeds/failure to follow as long as you talk about human beings.

The burden of "failure" is on the person lack of will/desire or simply weakness, not on the divine book. If God wanted 100% obedience, to program people into a certain state, this would mean there is no free will. This is not the will of the Creator for us to be like.

"And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed – all of them entirely. Then, [O Muúammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?" Yunus:99


The rest i agree with. people are selfish and weak willed, they will do what they wish to do, and justify it any which way they can.I dont think there is a revelation that can be universal because people are not universal.

Excellent points Sahar, Islam is a revealed path of action. If man does not abide by revelation then it is his own personal failing and Islam understands that man is an obdurate and rebellious by nature and as such he will face a day to testify and justify his failures when presented with truth.

 

[Bismillah]

Ah, the pick and choose method.
Gotta love it.

Not a pick and choose but rather an examination on the ultimate purpose of religion. It is to give guidance on the condition and pretext of existence and a means to live accordingly. In that sense, Islam is indeed a religion of peace. It is inner-peace and it reconciles conflicting reality into one outlook. Islam is and never has claimed to be pacifistic it is a pragmatic means to live one's life. And it is through this pragmatism that one finds peace.

 

[YmirGF]

And it is through this pragmatism that one finds peace.

Sadly, one man's pragmatism is often another man's oppression.

I will agree though that Islam is very effective at silencing all opposition wherever it gains prominence.
(That's when things get peaceful as no one dares to step out of line.)

 

[Sahar]

Separating kai's replies from my post:

How can someone be "influenced by Islam" (?) if he doesn't follow it? Who is the active element here? It's us. We are the ones who follow or not. That's why it's called free will. Does being called "Muslim"/accepting Islam mean you will be programmed to be/do this and that?!!
Is religion supposed to be a magic wand that will suddenly turn you into another being? You deal with human beings not computers.

Kai's reply:
Yes you are endeavoring to become a different being a Muslim being, by becoming a Muslim you are undertaking to follow Islamic teachings you are reverting ,When you take up Christianity you are reborn.Isnt it because we are human beings that the Quran was revealed ?

Muslim means you are in a continuous struggle to follow this guiding map called Qur'an and Sunnah. The map does lead you to the desired goal of purification and happiness, if you follow it. When people deviate from the drawn map, is it the fault of the map or those who deviate?

Kai's reply:
Its the fault of the person who didnt read the map properly

The Qur'an says through its Ayats that most people don't know, don't believe, are ungrateful, etc.

The Qur'an is a book of guidance for those who want to be guided. The Qur'an never suggested that we will turn into angels. Islam emphasizes human weakness and thus it provides the healing medication which is forgiveness.

So, the conclusion is people fail and will fail to follow Islam/the map with different degrees. And in Islam, people are not asked at all to follow it 100%, no, people will deviate sometimes, and we thank our God that He is Forgiving. The important thing is when you deviate, you return to the original track again and again, i.e. that the overall sum of your life is on the path of God's pleasure; that the good deeds outweigh the bad ones. There are always bad deeds/failure to follow as long as you talk about human beings.

The burden of "failure" is on the person lack of will/desire or simply weakness, not on the divine book. If God wanted 100% obedience, to program people into a certain state, this would mean there is no free will. This is not the will of the Creator for us to be like.

"And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed – all of them entirely. Then, [O Muúammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?" Yunus:99

Kai's reply:
The rest i agree with. people are selfish and weak willed, they will do what they wish to do, and justify it any which way they can.I dont think there is a revelation that can be universal because people are not universal.

 

[Sahar]

Excellent points Sahar, Islam is a revealed path of action. If man does not abide by revelation then it is his own personal failing and Islam understands that man is an obdurate and rebellious by nature and as such he will face a day to testify and justify his failures when presented with truth.

Well said.
N.B: I hope you subtracted kai's replies from my post.

 

[earlwooters]

Let me rephrase my last question. What does the Qur'an say about keeping dogs as pets? And what does Islam say about keeping dogs as pets

 

[kai]

Kai, you replied in my own post. This is funny, LOL!

Oh i am sorry Sahar i am an idiot at times , i do that quite often , i usually notice and have to delete it all and start again .

 

[SageTree]

I have to ask how would a "religion of peace" aka Islam , get a reputation of being violent unless violence has been an issue. and from the very first it most certainly has.

Yeaaaaaaa....so I'm stepping out of this conversation now.

 

[kai]

Yeaaaaaaa....so I'm stepping out of this conversation now.

why? and why did you edit my post?

 

[SageTree]

why? and why did you edit my post?

1. Arguing over who is 'right/wrong/best information/misinformed' is something that tends to drives me nuts about RF and something I find alienating...

I am not going to be a hypocrite by continuing to engage in this conversation.
I've spoken what I had to say, and feel it's not really worth my while to keep spinning my tires.

2. Weren't you asking a question? All I did was changed the punctuation.

However, I made an erroneous correction and this would be a more correct punctuation without adding or subtracting words....

I have to ask how would a "religion of peace" aka Islam , get a reputation of being violent unless violence has been an issue? From the very first it most certainly has.

3. If you want to talk further with me about my choice to abort my participation in this conversation, take it to PMs and let's leave this thread on topic so the mods don't have to clean it up .

:namaste
SageTree

 

[kai]

1. Arguing over who is 'right/wrong/best information/misinformed' is something that tends to drives me nuts about RF and something I find alienating...

I am not going to be a hypocrite by continuing to engage in this conversation.
I've spoken what I had to say, and feel it's not really worth my while to keep spinning my tires.

2. Weren't you asking a question? All I did was changed the punctuation.

However, I made an erroneous correction and this would be a more correct punctuation without adding or subtracting words....


3. If you want to talk further with me about my choice to abort my participation in this conversation, take it to PMs and let's leave this thread on topic so the mods don't have to clean it up .

:namaste
SageTree

Ok your choice to leave, i will leave the PMs thanks for the offer though.


The OPs about misconceptions , so theres going to be a few. lol

 

[Vendetta]

Well for one I believe Islam isn't the problem, it has and always will be interpretation. I know I am in disagreement with kai on this one but Islam didn't fail. Because of Islam or let's say influences of Islam, we have decorative mosques, kalam, Islamic theology etc. I guess because I like Islam better than I like Christianity. Although I may disagree with some of the Islamic principles I will say its a decent religion. I think Islam as practiced today isn't the same as it was when Muhammad existed

 

[kai]

Well for one I believe Islam isn't the problem, it has and always will be interpretation. I know I am in disagreement with kai on this one but Islam didn't fail. Because of Islam or let's say influences of Islam, we have decorative mosques, kalam, Islamic theology etc. I guess because I like Islam better than I like Christianity. Although I may disagree with some of the Islamic principles I will say its a decent religion. I think Islam as practiced today isn't the same as it was when Muhammad existed

you know what Vendetta? i think no religion is practiced in the same way as the "founders" because someone will come along and interpret.

Look at the encrustation that Christianity has growing all over it. Dont get me wrong i live in a country that has architectural masterpieces in cathedrals etc and i love them .Fair play to the masons who built them, but are they follies? thats a question someone like me asks. Do you reckon the carpenters son would be comfortable in here?

inside St Pauls London

 

[Vendetta]

you know what Vendetta? i think no religion is practiced in the same way as the "founders" because someone will come along and interpret.

Look at the encrustation that Christianity has growing all over it. Dont get me wrong i live in a country that has architectural masterpieces in cathedrals etc and i love them .Fair play to the masons who built them, but are they follies? thats a question someone like me asks. Do you reckon the carpenters son would be comfortable in here?

inside St Pauls London

Ok point taken. So, let's go back to the "founders." Do you think as Christianity Judaism or Islam developed the people were peaceful?

 

[beenie]

Interpretation will always be the problem. Times change, and the religious powers-that-be often struggle with progression. In Islam, Tariq Ramadan and Hamza Yusuf are two examples of scholars who wish to help interpret Islam in modern times, yet more traditional scholars resist their interpretation and have no qualms letting that be known.

Religion is supposed to transcend time; all the resistance by scholars/clerics is only making religions look weak.

 

[kai]

Ok point taken. So, let's go back to the "founders." Do you think as Christianity Judaism or Islam developed the people were peaceful?

hey when have "people"ever been peaceful, The environments at the time were certainly not ,the early stages of Christianity seem to have been though, but jeez what happened there?

 

[earlwooters]

I see every Muslim on this thread has ignored my question as to, what does the Koran say about keeping dogs as pets and what does Islam say about dogs?