Nature of Islam and misconceptions

Salam to All

To many people, in the world of today, Islam has come to represent a religion of force, violence, anger, extremism and of the sort. A religion which in its nature is spread by the sword. To take that view in to consideration and counter it, I would say that we should begin by first analyzing the word ISLAM itself. Islam is a word derived from the Arabic words: Aslama, and Salam

Aslama: is the arabic word for "surrender" or "to submit to . Put in context it means to surrender and submit to the will of Allah

Salam: is the arabic word for "peace".

The nature of these words shine light upon the word and the religion of Islam.

Tell me what u guys think?
If Islam is the religion of peace then how is it that its image all over the world has been tainted and tarnished?

Please feel free to post your side of the story.

Salam,

Man, the nature of Islam is indeed, very peaceful. However certain people in society distort Islam and its message and use it and manipulate it in order to further their own selfish interests. Personally, I find it quite disgusting and i fail to understand how so many people just buy into it.

Islam advocates peace, and that is quite obvious. I mean, just look at the way we're told to greet fellow human beings:

"Assalam wa alaikum wa rahmatu Allah wa barakatuh"

That phrase translates to be "May peace be upon you along with God’s mercy and blessings".

How can people following such a religion be seen as people who go and wage war and have no respect for human rights? The extremists i tell you. They're responsible for this, but not totally. We're also to blame: The Generation that never did anything to prove this image to be false. I think the majority of Muslims (who aren't advocates of extremism) should actively participate in dispelling myths about this religion such as islamofacism, jihad being nothing but an "evil Muslim plan to take over the world" (sounds prty kiddish, eh?) and that Islam preaches against basic human rights.

Allah Hafiz

Salaams

Well... NonMuslims will never want a Caliphate again... they don't want muslims in general to be "unified & strong."

They will always give examples of "Oh the Ottomans went to Hungary!" Or they will say "Oh, the Mughals Oppressed Hindus so much..."

That is all trash talk...

Today Malaysia is ONLY 60% MUSLIM. Who sent an Army there?

Today the Phillipines is only 5% to 10% MUSLIM Who sent an Army there?

Today Indonesia is only 88% MUSLIM. Although it has the largest amount of Muslims on Earth, its only 88%! Who sent an army there?

Today India is only 13% to 15% MUSLIM! In other words 80% Hindu! Rather, Who Oppressed Who?

& the only Hindu declared country on Earth is Nepal...India is a Secular declared country...

Today Burma/Myanmar is 20% to 40% MUSLIM. Who sent an army there?

Suriname... 20% Muslim...Who sent an army there?

There is much more...

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why are we to blame...if they make their own stories up & don't listen to us...

MujE wrote:

why are we to blame...if they make their own stories up & don't listen to us...

We are partially to blame because we sit like ducks and watch all the wrong things happen and we go like "oh that's not really Islam" and all that but we never really show them what Islam really is either. That was the point i made in the earlier post.

Salaams,

Yes, however people also need to have an initiative... to find out the truth or facts... Though I agree we need to make an effort...and we must convey the message...but the people need to be ready to listen & ask....

Yes...we must convey the message...

Admin wrote:

MujE wrote:

why are we to blame...if they make their own stories up & don't listen to us...

We are partially to blame because we sit like ducks and watch all the wrong things happen and we go like "oh that's not really Islam" and all that but we never really show them what Islam really is either. That was the point i made in the earlier post.

Like Ducks! Haha! I'll remember that for the rest of my life! All we do is sit on our fat...well behinds and talk about how no Muslims contributing. I hope we get the members we've been aiming for guys. I really do.

Mulciber Ilus

soo, is there compulsion in islam? or not?

jonescomplete wrote:

soo, is there compulsion in islam? or not?

Is there compulsion in Islam? There's somethings you have to do if you want to be a 'Muslim' in God's eyes (metaphorically speaking, cause I'm sure God doesn't need eyes, he is ethereal).

It is by compulsion, just like Christians were told by Paul to spread the message of Jesus. And Paul went so for as India and Corinth to spread it. I've read his history, no need to tell me what lengths he went to.

This is just one of the many verses in which Allah tells us to convey the messages of Islam:

Surah Al-Bakrah, Verse Number 143

"And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way, so that (with your lives) you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind, and that the Apostle might bear witness to it before you."

If you don't spread the message Adam, how will people learn to live in Peace? As with Christianity. You believe Christianity is about Peace. If those people, the Mayans and Native Americans didn't hear about Christianity they'd probably still be playing 'bones'--you know what strange rituals I'm talking about, they'd be stuck killing themselves. Then again. The Puritans brought smallpox, and that was basically the end of Native Americans. Sigh. History.

Mulciber Ilus

As Mulciber put it. It is the duty of all Muslims (believers of Islam) to represent their religion as best as they can. And that is how we can convey the message. As far as compulsion goes, one cannot force islam on someone. as this hadith states:

Book 14, Number 2676:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

( When the children of a woman (in pre-Islamic days) did not survive, she took a vow on herself that if her child survives, she would convert it a Jew. When Banu an-Nadir were expelled (from Arabia), there were some children of the Ansar (Helpers) among them. They said: We shall not leave our children. So Allah the Exalted revealed; "Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error." )

"Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error."

One muslim brother puts it in some very good words: Yusuf Estes says that we (muslims) should have an attitude of gratitude.
That is, gratitude for Allah, for giving us the chance to embrace this religion. We cannot go abt forcing people into Islam because Islam is NOT MY religion. It is not YOUR religion. It is ALLAH's religion. We can only guide the way and leave the rest upon Allah. And guiding the way is our duty. We HAVE to help spread and protect the message from corruption. And by partaking in this, this is what we're accomplishing and will continue on to do so, inshallah!

btw Yusuf Estes (who converted from christianity) is an amazing lecturer of Islam and if u guys have time, then just check out his lectures at:
http://islamtomorrow.com/

Assalamulaykum



Again rightly said from both of you Mulciber & Zulfiqar....Good idea to also bring up Yusuf Estes. His site looks pretty good, however I need to delve deeper into it. He is on PEACETV (a TV channel) which is run by IRF, by the famous orator Zakir Naik.

Here is the link...there also free books to download and fatwas.

http://www.irf.net/irf/main.htm

In this link are answers to Common Question people may ask about Islam.

http://www.irf.net/irf/faqonislam/index.htm

Indeed, indeed... now please, back to the topic?

by compulsion, i mean spread through violence.
go look on the 60 reasons blahblahblah artical and see what i mean.

jonescomplete wrote:

by compulsion, i mean spread through violence.
go look on the 60 reasons blahblahblah artical and see what i mean.

If you say compulsion give it to us in that context Adam. We have seen the 60 reasons and we've debunked the whole article. I'm not sure if you know this, but they've quoted persons who had to write public apologies on the newspapers and newsletters which they used to mislead people. Example: Robert Morey

Mulciber Ilus

jonescomplete wrote:

by compulsion, i mean spread through violence.
go look on the 60 reasons blahblahblah artical and see what i mean.

Err... no... We dont spread Islam by means of sword. We might have taken over many places but we've never forced people to convert. Dont just buy into whatever some site says dude, that's plain ignorant. Go do research yourself.

Assalamulaykum


Spreading Islam Forcefully or by Violence is absolutely Unacceptable. You are only supposed to "Convey" the message, and Allah will do the rest.



NOTE:
THE EXAMPLE GOING TO BE GIVEN MAY BE OFFTOPIC BUT IS A MISCONCEPTION BY MANY NONMUSLIMS WHO BELIEVE MUSLIMS CONQUERED AND CONVERTED PEOPLE BY THE SWORD

Here is the example:
There was a Great Muslim General named "Tariq". Actually there is a place named after him called Gibraltar. This is the English translation from the Arabic "Jebel Al Tariq", or the mountain of Tariq. (So not the point, but anyways...)

This is Perhaps one of the BIGGEST MISCONCEPTIONS OF ALL TIME. Well here it is, people thought Muslims controlled Spain and converted people by the sword well this is the fact:

From 710-712 there was a "Visigoth" civil war and "Tariq" and some others were invited by the King Visigoth Wittiza & by Julian the Count of Ceuta aganist the King Roderic who occupied much of Iberia at the time. Perhaps supporting one of theses Christian countries may be beneficial to the Caliphate as we will see. So the Great General Tariq went with his army and reached Gibraltar, and burned down all of his ships so no one would run back... and he is known to have said:

أيّها الناس، أين المفر؟ البحر من ورائكم، والعدوّ أمامكم، وليس لكم والله إلا الصدق والصبر...
O People ! Where can you flee? The sea is behind you, and the enemy in front of you: There is nothing for you, by God, except for truth and strength of character.

Anyways he defeated King Roderic, who too was fighting the Basques and Franks at the same time. So basically an Invasion from the South, a Civil War in the Middle, and a war with the Franks in the North. He was noted to have been slained in battle. Now much of Iberia was a vacuum.
Hence now with the Ships being burned and nowhere to go, the people settled there. And you may ask what about the Visigoths? It turns out due to poor leadership and now disorganized finally agreed to be ruled by now the Moors or moved North.

Also King Roderic's Widow Egilona Balthes decided to marry the Emir of Andalus, Hence leaving a possiblity that whatever lands were still under her possession were then inherited to the Emir, thus increasing the Moors lands. Now the Franks were pushing south while the Moors pushing North... and eventually saw each other and fought each other till they could control all of the Peninisula of Iberia. (Present day Spain and Portugal)

Finally the Battle of Tours which was the final battle, because the Franks had defeated the Moors, and finally the Moors then receded back to the Iberia...with the Emirate of Cordova being Born...

So in truth... Nothing was really spread by the sword... it was just alliances...and settlement that caused the Moors to fill up the "Power Vaccuum" at that time...

However Unfortunately later on in the 1100's... The "Reconquista" waged war was lit on, and was basically to extreminate/ forcfully convert all the Moors from Iberia, which the christians had done. The Christian Moors known as Moriscos were then later expelled during the late 1400's, just because they still spoke Arabic and also for they were of Arab decent, not European. In the end Many left off to the Ottoman Empire or Morrocco...

Finally also Jews living in the Empire had the same treatment...

The main point.... Despite many misconceptions by nonmuslims,...muslims truely did not spread by the sword...and this example is just one of the many misconceptions cleared up...

Allah Hafiz

Romi Topi wrote:

Assalamulaykum


Spreading Islam Forcefully or by Volence is absolutely Unacceptable. You are only supposed to "Convey" the message, and Allah will do the rest.

+1. It isnt our job to make people convert, just our job to deliver the message and that's it.

Salam.
It is said that a non-Muslim will complain to Allah, on the Day of Judgment, that we did not do our best to guide them to the truth.
Our job is not ONLY to deliver, but to convey the message with our full potential so that we actually convert... them
I like to use the word REVERT instead of convert, because everyone is born as a Muslim, some of the unfortunate people convert..and those who accept Islam are actually coming back...So i like to use revert..would appreciate if you guys used it too.
Allah Hafiz.

Abdallah wrote:

Salam.
It is said that a non-Muslim will complain to Allah, on the Day of Judgment, that we did not do our best to guide them to the truth.
Our job is not ONLY to deliver, but to convey the message with our full potential so that we actually convert... them
I like to use the word REVERT instead of convert, because everyone is born as a Muslim, some of the unfortunate people convert..and those who accept Islam are actually coming back...So i like to use revert..would appreciate if you guys used it too.
Allah Hafiz.

Yes, but conversion requires a change of heart, and that is up to Allah, we just have to try our best.

very interesting Romi. Thanks btw I understand that the radicals are the only ones that misinterpret the simple yet eloquent Scriptures in the Koran. I want to apologize for being unethical and close-minded previously.

Yeah, Admin..i agree...just wanted to specify that we are actually supposed to try...not just say the message..

jonescomplete wrote:

very interesting Romi. Thanks btw I understand that the radicals are the only ones that misinterpret the simple yet eloquent Scriptures in the Koran. I want to apologize for being unethical and close-minded previously.

Jonescomplete, we love you man! By the way is your screen name off of Robocop or something? Whenever I see 'jonescomplete' I imaginet the shiny robotic armor. Anyways...enough of my Robo childish fantasies! LOL!

Mulciber

When people talk about 'compulsion' in relation to Islam, they are probably thinking about apostasy. We read that it is forbidden to convert to any other religion, and the punishment is death. Example here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7131763.stm

Is this attitude representative of Muslims as a whole? What proportion of Muslims think that people who leave Islam deserve to die? Does it depend on what part of the world you live in?

Cheers,
John.

I'm sure your priest wouldn't be too trhilled if you converted to Islam.

The Instant Classic wrote:

I'm sure your priest wouldn't be too trhilled if you converted to Islam.

I don't have a 'priest'.

Well if yo were Christian and you did attend Church then that would be the case.