From the "TOP TEN MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ISLAM"

 

By Huma Ahmad

 

1-Muslims are violent, terrorists and/or extremists.

This is the biggest misconception in Islam, no doubt resulting from the constant stereotyping and bashing the media gives Islam.  When a gunman attacks a mosque in the name of Judaism, a Catholic IRA guerrilla sets off a bomb in an urban area, or Serbian Orthodox militiamen rape and kill innocent Muslim civilians, these acts are not used to stereotype an entire faith. Yet how many times have we heard the words 'Islamic, Muslim fundamentalist. etc.' linked with violence. 

 Islam literally means 'submission to God' and is derived from a root word meaning 'peace'.  Like Christianity, Islam permits fighting in self-defense, in defense of

religion, or on the part of those who have been expelled forcibly from their homes.  It lays down strict rules of combat which include prohibitions against harming civilians and against destroying crops,trees and  livestock. NOWHERE DOES ISLAM ENJOIN THE KILLING OF INNOCENTS.. The Quran says:

"Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits.  God  does not love transgressors." (Quran 2:190) "If they seek peace, then seek you peace.  And trust in God for He is the One that heareth  and knoweth all things." (Quran 8:61) War, therefore, is the last resort, and is subject to the rigorous conditions laid down by the  sacred law. 

       

2- Islam oppresses women.

The image of the typical Muslim woman wearing the veil and forced to

stay home and forbidden to drive is all too common  in most peoples thoughts. Although some Muslim countries may have laws that oppress women, this should not be seen as coming from Islam.  Many of these countries do not rule by  any kind of Shari'ah (Islamic law) and introduce their own cultural standpoints on the issue of  gender

equity.        

Islam on the other hand gives men and women different roles and equity between the two is laid down in the Quran and the example of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Islam sees a woman, whether single or married, as an individual in her own right, with the right to own and dispose of her property and earnings.  A marriage gift is given by

the groom to the bride for her own personal use, and  she keeps her own family name rather than taking her husband's.  Violence of any kind towards women and forcing them against their will for anything is not allowed. According to Islam, a Muslim girl cannot be forced to marry against her will.

 

3- Islam was spread by the sword and intolerant of other faiths.

Many social studies textbooks for students show the image of an Arab

horseman carrying  a sword in one hand and the Quran in the other conquering and forcibly converting. This, though, is not a correct portrayal of history.  Islam has always given respect and  freedom of religion to all faiths.  Freedom of religion is laid down in the Quran itself: "There is no compulsion (or coercion)  in the religion (Islam).  The right

direction is distinctly clear from error". (2:256) Christian missionary, T.W. Arnold had this opinion on his study of the question of the spread of Islam: " Of any organized attempt to force the acceptance of Islam on the non-Muslim  population, or of any systematic persecution intended to stamp out the Christian religion, we hear  nothing. Had the caliphs chosen to adopt either course of action, they might have swept away  Christianity as easily as Ferdinand and Isabella drove Islam out of Spain, or Louis XIV made Protestanism .…"

        It is a function of Islamic law to protect the privileged status of minorities, and this is why  non-Muslim places of worship have flourished all over the Islamic world.  History provides many examples of Muslim tolerance towards other faiths: when the caliph Omar entered Jerusalem in the  year 634, Islam granted freedom of

worship to all religious communities in the city.   Proclaiming to the inhabitants that their lives, and property were safe, and that their places of  worship would never be taken from them, he asked the Christian patriarch Sophronius to  accompany him on a visit to all the

holy places.  Islamic law also permits non-Muslim minorities to set up their own courts, which implement family laws drawn up by the minorities themselves. The life and property of all citizens in an Islamic state are considered sacred whether the  person is Muslim or not.

     

4- The Nation of Islam is a Muslim group.

Islam and the so called  "Nation of Islam'" are two different religions.  NOI is more of a political organization since its members are not limited to a single faith. Muslims consider this group to be just one of many cults using the name of Islam for their own gain.  The only thing common between them is the jargon, the language used

by both. "The Nation of Islam" is a misnomer; this religion should be called Farrakhanism, after the name of its propogator, Louis Farrakhan. 

Islam and Farakhanism differ in many fundamental ways. For example, Farakhan followers believe in racism and that the 'black man' was the original man and therefore superior, while in Islam there is no racism and everyone is considered equal in the sight of God, the only difference  being in one's piety. There are many other theological

examples that show the 'Nation's teachings  have little to do with true Islam.

Any serious student of Islam has a duty to investigate  and find the true Islam. The only two authentic sources which bind every Muslim are 1. the Quran and 2. authentic or sound Hadith. Any teachings under the label of "Islam" which contradict or at variance with the direct understanding of fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam form the Quran and authentic Hadith should be rejected and such a religion should be considered a Pseudo-Islamic Cult. In America there are many pseudo-Islamic cults, Farrakhanism being one of them. An honest attitude on the  part of such cults should be not to call themselves Muslims and their religion Islam. such as Bahaism which is an off-shoot of Islam but Bahais do not call themselves  Muslims nor their religion, Islam. In fact Bahaism is not Islam just as Farrakhanism is not Islam.