maraml
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@Don Alman Don, Have you read and heard the statements of condemnation by one organisation and leader after another, from the Muslim community? The thugs who caused the riot did so without the knowledge of ANY reputable organisation and most Muslim are ashamed of how they have behaved. This behaviour is in no way part of Islam and is bred out of ignorance of their religion. There is absolutely nothing in Islam which encourages it. THe people who indulge in it are renegades, like the Taliban.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Muslim VIllage, for the common sense articulated in 'Muslim community in damage control after Sydney unrest ' by Michael Vincent. Islam is in far more danger from the violent thugs than from any outside influence.
I wish someone would teach this to MEN. Many, many men seem to be completely ignorant of what Islam says about women. They must be, or there would not be any domestic violence or other abuse.
Well, Abdul, I am Australian first and Muslim second. How many Pakistanis, Lebanese, Saudis and Turks, for example, do you know who would not say the same? At least, if they didn't say it, have a look at how they act. Do they mix socially with Australians? Do they speak good English? Do they understand that we have our own ways of doing things and that doesn't necessarily make them wrong?
Andrew M, I really feel for you, and agree absolutely that converts tend to know more than most Muslims brought up in 'Muslim' communities. You will find (even inthis forum) that there are plenty of Muslims who will seek to push their interpretations down your throat and tell you that you HAVE to do certain things, or not do them. Those people refuse to accept the Qur'anic injunction that there is no compulsion in religion.I suggest you continue to do your own reading and make up your own mind. The Qur'an exhorts us to seek knowledge continually, and we also know that everything we do is between us and God. Only God can judge us, though try telling that to certain other Muslims!I hope your wife will come in time to understand that not all factors of Australian life are going to send her to hell. I believe we all can blend into an Australian community, and the way Australians express Islam may well vary from the way other nationalities express it. We will certainly never seek to segregate women into sub-standard conditions in mosques, or immure them at home, or subject them to genital mutilation. We will never carry out 'honour' killings. THese are some of the practices called Muslim, but are really cultural atrocities from countries who have found a way to meld them, in their minds, with Islam.
If you live in Sydney, there is a prayer place (not a mosque) where you can go if you want to move away from male-dominated mosques and find friendly, knowledgeable people to help you. I'll find a way to get the information to you privately.
DaughterOfAbraham, it is a pleasure to have you on this site. Your balanced and thoughtful comments are a relief and a delight to read. Thank you.Do please have a look at this: The Official Website of A Common Wordwww.acommonword.com. It is so interesting, and is also very refreshing in the authors' appeal for outreach through peace and love and understanding.
Here is what 138 Muslim scholars from across the Schools have to say on this topic:
The Official Website of A Common Wordwww.acommonword.com
muslimlioness, I am Australian and neither you nor anyone else is going to make me turn my back on my own culture. I am not a new Muslim and I was fortunate not to have been taught by fundamentalists. It is the utmost arrogance to say that by wishing people 'Happy Christmas' I am encouraging them in their bidah, because it is NOT their bidah, it is their usual culture. I was also fortunate to have been taught by people who did not allow their own background culture affect their practice of Islam, though I have certainly had forms of Islam, filtered through Pakistani and Saudi culture, forced down my throat over the years.
Please remember that everything we do is between the individual and God. No one can force a Muslim to do or not do anything, because the bottom line is God, not a person. I presume you meant well by making so many assumptions about me, but please don't. I can assure you that your assumptions are incorrect.
Thank you , Andrew. I deplore the way Muslims can be 'got at' and induced to be arrogant towards other religions. I refuse to accept that being polite and saying 'Happy Christmas' constitutes any kind of shirk. Far from shirk, it embodies kindness and politeness and the Qur'an requires those things of us. Even Christians know that the date of Christmas was originally pagan, but so what. No one but pagans care about that. Christians and non-Christians simply celebrate the season either as a way of honouring the birth of Christ, who is so important in Islam, or as a cultural time of holiday and celebration. Muslims have no right to try to force non-Muslim society into turning its back on itself. The Qur'an says that 'There is no compulsion in religion,' and that 'I will not believe what you believe, and you will not believe what I believe; you to your religion and me to mine'. I do wish more Muslims would remember this.
Andrew M, it's sad that your wife has so little understanding of her religion, yet doesn't know it. I am a convert and find that converts in general tend to know far more about Islam than 'cradle Muslims' because we take the time and trouble to read widely before making the decision to convert. I get very upset and frustrated by the ignorance shown by so many Muslims and as a result I mix only with other converts.As regards Christmas, I see it as a cultural festival as well as a religious one. Christians who practice their religion see it as religious but the others don't. I celebrate it because it is part of my cultural heritage, though not as a religious occasion. I give small gifts to family and friends and receive them in return, cook mince pies and Christmas cake and have a more-or-less traditional Christmas lunch. My Muslim faith is not compromised by this and in fact I think that it is very silly for Muslims to make a big deal of separateness if they live in a non-Muslim country. We all need to get along and there is no reason why Muslims shouldn't join in Christmas celebrations if they want to. I am not alone in this view, though I may be the only one to say it aloud.In your case, good on you for sending gifts to your family. You can't suddenly change your whole culture when you convert to Islam and no one has the right to try to make you. It is always between the individual and God. Sometimes you may need to remind other Muslims of this, if they try to pressure yo or make you feel guilty.
It's so good to hear someone say how wrong it is for Muslims to revile Jews and Christians. Those who do it clearly don't understand the context in which it is said in the Qur'an.
Very well deserved, Muslim Village. Thank you so much for being so good.
Thank you, Wansaifuddin, for your thoughtful and well-expressed post. It is refreshing to find a Muslim who does not just knock everything in the West. The family, the community and the school all teach the young, though today, with so many people living in huge cities, it is harder to get the message through.
If we lived a permaculture life, as GiovanniGalluzzo sugests, we are closer to the earth and the rhythm of life. It is not possible in cities. The whole world needs to control population growth so we don't all end up impoverished in body, mind and soul.
Does anyone know of a book about Hagar? She is praised in Asra Nomani's book, Standing Alone in Mecca, but that is the only place I have ever seen her recognised.
To those who are surprised that a Jew can do something good, why are you surprised? Jews are people too, just like Muslims. They worship one God, just as we do.
There are good people who are Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, atheist and pagan. It is not a person's religious belief that determines whether they do good or not - it is what is in that person's heart. Everyone in the world can do good things and bad things, including Muslims.
I am astonished that some people are refusing to acknowledge that when we are speaking English, we use English words. When we speak Arabic, we don't intersperse it with words in English, do we. If we use Arabic words when speaking English to other Muslims, that is all right, but not if we are speaking to non-Muslims. Doing that only emphasises separation and leads to fear on the part of the non-Muslims.
Thank you, Battena Shafel, for your understanding of this issue. I am a Muslim and I believe that the ethnic divisions, such as that created by the LMA (though not only by them) are amongst the reasons that Muslims are seen as working against Australia and being unwilling to integrate. By all means keep customs and language, but not in ghettos and exclusive mosques. And while we are about it, let's be egalitarian Australians and give women the same standard of washing facilities, access and prayer space that men give themselves without any thought for the needs of the women.
This is so interesting. Now I can articulate what I have often thought.
Thank you for this very interesting article.
I still want to know what an 'extremist pawn terrorist' is. It is the word 'pawn' I have trouble with. Do you mean 'porn'?