"Myths About Islam..."

This is a post from PrisonTalk.com from the poster Sheyanne. I thought it was fantastic and interesting. Needed to be shared!

Myths About Islam 


[Hopefully this will clear up some of the ignorance that some continue to spread]

The crescent moon is a universal symbol of IslamThe early Muslim community did not really have a symbol. During the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Islamic caravans and armies flew simple solid-colored flags (generally black, green, or white) for identification purposes. The crescent moon and star symbol actually pre-dates Islam by several thousand years, and wasn't affiliated with Islam at all until the Ottoman Empire placed it on their flag.



Muslims worship a moon-godSome non-Muslims mistakenly believe that Allah is an "Arab god," a "moon god," or some sort of idol. Allah is the proper name of the One True God, in the Arabic language. The most fundamental belief that a Muslim has is that "There is only One God," the Creator, the Sustainer -- known in the Arabic language and by Muslims as Allah. Arabic-speaking Christians use the same word for the Almighty.



Muslims don't believe in JesusIn the Qur'an, stories about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ (called 'Isa in Arabic) are abundant. The Qur'an recalls his miraculous birth, his teachings, and the miracles he performed by God's permission. There is even a chapter of the Qur'an named after his mother, Mary (Miriam in Arabic). However, Muslims believe that Jesus was a fully human prophet and not in any way divine himself.



Most Muslims are ArabsWhile Islam is often associated with Arabs, they make up only 15% of the world's Muslim population. The country with the largest population of Muslims is Indonesia. Muslims make up 1/5 of the world's population, with large numbers found in Asia (69%), Africa (27%), Europe (3%) and other parts of the world.



Islam is intolerant of other faithsThroughout the Qur'an, Muslims are reminded that they are not the only ones who worship God. Jews and Christians are called "People of the Book," meaning people who have received previous revelations from the One Almighty God that we all worship. The Qur'an also commands Muslims to protect from harm not only mosques, but also monasteries, synagogues, and churches -- because "God is worshipped therein."



Islam promotes "jihad" to spread Islam by the sword and kill all unbelieversThe word Jihad stems from an Arabic word which means "to strive." Other related words include "effort," "labor," and "fatigue." Essentially Jihad is an effort to practice religion in the face of oppression and persecution. The effort may come in fighting the evil in your own heart, or in standing up to a dictator. Military effort is included as an option, but as a last resort and not "to spread Islam by the sword."



The Quran was written by Muhammad and copied from Christian and Jewish sourcesThe Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of two decades, calling people to worship One Almighty God and to live their lives according to this faith. The Qur'an contains stories of Biblical prophets, because these prophets also preached the message of God. Stories are not merely copied, but the oral traditions are referred to in a way that focuses on the examples and teachings that we can learn from them.

'And when it is said to them,'Believe in what Allah has sent down,'they say,we believe in what was sent down to us.'And they disbelieve in that which came after it,while it is the truth confirming what is with them. Surah 1,ayat 91 [verse from Qur'an]

Short Bio of Me

Okay, this post is per request. :-D

So, because this is a religion-related blog, I'm going to kind of focus more on the spiritual side of my life.

My parents didn't raise me in a religious household. My mother was Christian, but didn't regularly practice Christianity or impose it upon us kids. My father was atheist (which he didn't tell me until recently), so religion and God wasn't really brought up or taught to us that much as kids. When I was very young, probably about 12 years old, I read a book my sister had that was called "Conversation with God." After reading that book [series], that was basically my entire belief system. I was not assigned or restricted to any religion, but I had a strong relationship with God.

I grew up a very inquisitive and analytical child, teenager, young adult, and so on. Since I was young, I was interested in different cultures, different religions especially. I read any and all books I could about the major world religions, and they all interested me in their own way.

My mother became religious when I was around 16 years old. Among the many dramas of my teenage years, this basically was stressful for me. She was Southern Baptist Christian, and her views and church was very imposing and suffocating. I HATED going to church with her. All the talk from the pastor about fire and brimstone and how God hates Gays as much as Murderers was TOO much for me. I was in a bad mood the entire day when I had to go. Then, once the pastor came to our house and asked me what I believed, and I told them all and felt very judged and as though I had no idea what I was talking about. I was just "young and haven't found the truth yet." It always seems like people say that when you don't agree with their personal views. Hmmm.

So around the age of I'd say. . . 20 years old, I started going to one of my best friend's culture centers and Buddhist meetings with her. I loved the peace I felt when I chanted and participated and I became a Nichiren Buddhist. I had NOT changed my view on God in any way and Nichiren Buddhism is not necessarily a religion as more of a lifestyle? It's difficult to explain if you have not experienced it yourself.

After a couple of years, I stopped praying (read: chanting) and I just fell out of the loop with it. I didn't feel that the things I was doing was necessary for my happiness.

I never stopped researching and studying religions. I never felt the need to be part of a major religion and I definitely didn't think I would fit into one. I started researching Judaism more and more and was completely intrigued by the religion. I was agreeing with so much of it, and I wanted to learn more. I was trying my best to find synagogues around me that had introduction classes or q & a's or something similar, but all of those were available. . . at a price! And an expensive price, at that! I wanted to learn more, but from people, not just books. I wanted questions answered and all of that. Alas, I found nothing free.

So as I've said, I love studying religion and I did find a Qur'an study class that was available in the area I live that was free of charge and every week. I started attending those classes and absolutely loved it. I loved the people and everything. I learned a lot of what the speaker thought about certain things, and what Sunni Muslims view on Islam was. It was incredibly interesting.

I decided that I believed the Qur'an was divinely relayed to Mohammed, and the rest is history!

Why Muslims SHOULD Celebrate Christmas

If you are Muslim, you should know to respect all prophets and messengers of Allah. ALL of them. Equally, might I add. That includes Moses, Noah, Jesus, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, David, etc etc etc. According to the Qur'an, Islam was taught by all of these prophets. Islam being, of course, the belief in the one god & belief in the Day of Judgement, and of course, submission to Allah.

2:136 We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac,

Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all)

prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them . . 

Why then, may I ask, is Christmas not celebrated among the Muslim community? Mawlid is a public holiday in many Muslim countries (Mawlid being Mohammed's birthday). When you celebrate someone's birthday, are you worshiping that person? NO. You are celebrating the day that person was brought into this world because you love & value him/her. This really isn't a difficult concept.

3:45 O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ

Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the

company of) those nearest to Allah.

As the Qur'an states, Jesus was an important prophet; this isn't argued. Why not celebrate his birth? Was he not an extremely important figure at his time, and even now? Did he do amazing things and deliver Allah's message with love and acceptance? Why would you celebrate a relative or friend's birthday, while excluding a revolutionary religious figure (if you are a religious person)? The only reason to neglect this holiday is because you don't recognize the validity or impact of Jesus on humanity. In that case, one cannot legitimately say that he/she follows Islam & the holy Qur'an.

There are countless (and I mean countless) songs in the Muslim world praising Mohammed past appropriate, but how many songs are of any other prophet? I shall direct you again to the about ayah stating, "We make no different between one and another of them." What should this mean to Muslims? This should mean WE should make no difference between one and another of them, period. They were all divinely inspired and given the holy spirit of Allah.

You can guarantee that I'll be celebrating Christmas with my Christian brothers & sister. No doubt about that. Jesus was an amazing prophet with love and compassion and a wonderful message from Allah. I will PROUDLY celebrate Christmas and sing songs about how great he was. Allah made no mistake in choosing Jesus or any other prophet and messenger. I will respect the message that Allah relayed through Jesus and the prophet Jesus himself.

People Who Turn Away

Top reason why people turn away from religion: Unsavory followers.

Obviously, there are members of every group that are embarrassing. People in your family, people on your team at work, people in your classroom, people in your city/state, people in your political party, people in your country, people in your gender, and of course and most of all, people in your religion.

People who turn away from religion and/or faith are not repulsed by how courageous and admirable Moses was, or offended about how loving and amazing Jesus was, or disgusted about how respectable and gentle Mohammed was. Not at all! How could they be? That is not what people who turn away are worried about.

They are worried about how repulsive it is for people who claim to be religious kill innocent people in the direct name of God. They are offended by how judgmental many religious leaders and followers are to everyone. These people are disgusted how hypocritical and harmful religious speakers' words are to many others.

It is not hard at all to see why people turn away from religion and faith. Although, I don't find this to be an excuse.

For me personally, if I do not like something or find something a little off, I do research on the subject. If you grow up around a family who claims to be Christian, and you see nothing but negativity and bad influences, why not research exactly what being Christian means, instead of taking your family's bad example as truth? Why not read the Bible yourself? You can NEVER take anothers' opinion & word as your own if you don't look into exactly what it means for you.

Every American on television reality shows are an embarrassment to me as an American citizen, but I definitely wouldn't want a non-American person to watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians and think all Americans are like that family. That is most definitely a FALLACIOUS hasty generalization.

You cannot accurately judge an entire faith based on the limited followers you run into in your life. You cannot judge it based on the people you know + the people you see on TV & in the news. You must find things out on your OWN, because if you don't, aren't you just a clueless follower yourself?

For me, it's difficult to know that others connect me to the type of Muslim that I definitely don't agree with on most levels. That is why I try to avoid the label Muslim if possible, and prefer saying that I practice Islam, or follow Islam. Unfortunately, others connect bad things to the word "Muslim" (and "Christian," etc) and that really is a shame, because it's very far from facts. When people do their OWN research about faiths, they see it in a whole new light.