Islam & the Muslim faith- banishing myths

[Rook]

Good Morning..

Softness,
I'll pass the sentiment on to her

AtLast,
I'll try to tackle this from different angles..
I can't really say much in the "holy" area, because technically, there Really shouldn't be any "holy" people, that is why the Prophet is called "The Seal of Prophets", it means 'That's it, no more, this is the last of 'em"...
There are, of course, women that have important Status, alongside men in Islamic history.
To name a few, Maryam [mary, jesus mother], Khadījah bint Khuwaylid, Aisha bint Abu Bakr [Aisha is shrouded in controversy, and many anti-Islamic rhetoric thoroughly enjoy pointing grossly uneducated fingers at her story]
That Shi'ite sects place certain men on a pedestal of holiness, is irrelevant {not to mention Bid‘ah & borderline idolatry}
As for the Feminist Mosques, I'm not sure those exist.
Feminist Muslims, however, different story.
To my understanding, Feminism is about granting women Equal rights, and choice..
A muslim that is Feminist will demand her right to refuse marriage, to Inherit her parents estate, whether to have kids or not, able to Work as long as her children are taken care of {If she works, her income is hers to with as she pleases, the Bills are usually paid for by the Spouse, unless mutually agreed prior to working that she'll Help}, her right to Study on a Collegiate level.
And yes, her right to attend Khutbah on Fridays.

As for Newt's idiotic comment, there's always bound to be some asshat with an opnion in this country, that's why 1st ammendment exists.
However, what's good for the goose, is good for the Gander, soooo...I hope he can take the Heat.
Besides, the Swastika, if memory serves, was meant to be a religious Symbol to this day in Hinduism, Jainism & Buddhism, before the Nazi's had a collective brainfart and used it.

I'm out of time for more, hopefully this helps a little..

[MsMerrick]

I took some classes in Islamic Philosophy, and some classes in Arabic I had a couple teachers, but the primary one was a Coptic Christian, so bear in mind, that was his background.
Here's what I learned about the two main branches, within Islam...
An important part of the development of Islam, was that Mohammad, brought together, a country that was made up of nomadic tribes, that pretty much just scratched out food etc, and fought with one another. Islam or the Prophet, united them, into more common cause. Created more basic cohesive law ( like the you don't get to just rape a woman ..side note, I suspect the notion of rape didn't even exist, as woman didn't have rights of refusal ,...anyway , you have to provide care, as in economic care.. ) . I was taught, Mohammad may have married many woman, remember what Marriage was for here.. but his actual love and partner was a woman much older than himself.
He also had several men, that worked with him, to unite the country, and spread the faith. He directed them, that after his death, he wanted a specific person, to take his place, one of his Generals. The split within Islam, came after his death, with the people who insisted the person most fit, should be in charge ..and on the other hand, those that insisted it must be a Blood Relative ( I believe I recall he had no direct descendants, but I could be wrong ) . My Professor made a point of how different that was..the idea of the best person for the job, vs the blood relative ( very common everywhere and most disastrous also ! ) characterized the two different groups. The practical side, is the Sunni Muslims, and the more traditionally ( and I would argue more likely to religious zealotry ) are the Shi'ite.
The Imam, of the COmmunity Center erroneously dubbed the "Mosque at Ground Zero" is actually a Sufi, yet another very small, very spiritual, very progressive branch of Islam. He has a long history, of both friendship and standing up for Jewish Groups , and placing his own life on the lone, with the radical groups. That he is being vilified by people, and in particular some politicians, is just disgusting ...

[Glenn]

Folks may learn more about Sufi Moslems by googling this highly esteemed Sufi mystic: Hazrat Inayat Khan.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Rook

Good Morning..

Softness,
I'll pass the sentiment on to her

AtLast,
I'll try to tackle this from different angles..
I can't really say much in the "holy" area, because technically, there Really shouldn't be any "holy" people, that is why the Prophet is called "The Seal of Prophets", it means 'That's it, no more, this is the last of 'em"...
There are, of course, women that have important Status, alongside men in Islamic history.
To name a few, Maryam [mary, jesus mother], Khadījah bint Khuwaylid, Aisha bint Abu Bakr [Aisha is shrouded in controversy, and many anti-Islamic rhetoric thoroughly enjoy pointing grossly uneducated fingers at her story]
That Shi'ite sects place certain men on a pedestal of holiness, is irrelevant {not to mention Bid‘ah & borderline idolatry}
As for the Feminist Mosques, I'm not sure those exist.
Feminist Muslims, however, different story.
To my understanding, Feminism is about granting women Equal rights, and choice..
A muslim that is Feminist will demand her right to refuse marriage, to Inherit her parents estate, whether to have kids or not, able to Work as long as her children are taken care of {If she works, her income is hers to with as she pleases, the Bills are usually paid for by the Spouse, unless mutually agreed prior to working that she'll Help}, her right to Study on a Collegiate level.
And yes, her right to attend Khutbah on Fridays.

As for Newt's idiotic comment, there's always bound to be some asshat with an opnion in this country, that's why 1st ammendment exists.
However, what's good for the goose, is good for the Gander, soooo...I hope he can take the Heat.
Besides, the Swastika, if memory serves, was meant to be a religious Symbol to this day in Hinduism, Jainism & Buddhism, before the Nazi's had a collective brainfart and used it.

I'm out of time for more, hopefully this helps a little..

Yes! Helps! Yes about the swastika, too. Oh, how twisted things become..... which is what I see right now in the US concerning Islam and Muslims.


Thanks!

[Isadora]

My father-in-law was of the Bahá'í Faith, also a form of Islam. "Bahá'u'lláh taught that there is one God whose successive revelations of His will to humanity have been the chief civilizing force in history. The agents of this process have been the Divine Messengers whom people have seen chiefly as the founders of separate religious systems but whose common purpose has been to bring the human race to spiritual and moral maturity.

Humanity is now coming of age. It is this that makes possible the unification of the human family and the building of a peaceful, global society. Among the principles which the Bahá'í Faith promotes as vital to the achievement of this goal are

* the abandonment of all forms of prejudice
* assurance to women of full equality of opportunity with men
* recognition of the unity and relativity of religious truth
* the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth
* the realization of universal education
* the responsibility of each person to independently search for truth
* the establishment of a global commonwealth of nations
* recognition that true religion is in harmony with reason and the pursuit of scientific knowledge"*

I used to love going to the Temple in Wilmette, Illinois to meditate. Everyone was welcomed.


*http://info.bahai.org/bahaullah-basic-teachings.html

[Miss Scarlett]

I wish the media would stop referring to the proposed Islamic Community Center as a mosque. There's a HUGE difference.They also need a geography lesson - it's NOT at Ground Zero.

They just did a story on one of our local TV stations about a new mosque being built down in Rock Hill, SC right on main street. They've had no trouble. Very interesting when you consider how things were there about 40 or so years ago...

There was an interesting piece on NPR yesterday:

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcr...ryId=129381552

[Rook]

On PBS, right now, east coast , they're giving a documentary called "Veiled Voices" discussing how 3 different modern muslim women make a Difference in Islam & the World.
It's worth a gander if you still have some nagging questions related.

[Jude]

Originally Posted by popcorninthesofa

With all of the negative kinds of actions and feelings in the US about Islamic ideology and Muslims, I believe too much myth is out there. So, anyone that can speak to this, please do! There are a lot of members here that have a wealth of information about so many things.

A list of all the Christian countries conquered by Moslems:

A partial list of all the Moslem countries conquered by Christians: Morocco, Algeria, Tunnisia, Libya, Egypt, Dudan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Iran Pakistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,Yemen, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Dubai...
This does not include minor Christian conquests such as North, South, and Central, America, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Africa.[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Isadora

My father-in-law was of the Bahá'í Faith, also a form of Islam. "Bahá'u'lláh taught that there is one God whose successive revelations of His will to humanity have been the chief civilizing force in history. The agents of this process have been the Divine Messengers whom people have seen chiefly as the founders of separate religious systems but whose common purpose has been to bring the human race to spiritual and moral maturity.

Humanity is now coming of age. It is this that makes possible the unification of the human family and the building of a peaceful, global society. Among the principles which the Bahá'í Faith promotes as vital to the achievement of this goal are

* the abandonment of all forms of prejudice
* assurance to women of full equality of opportunity with men
* recognition of the unity and relativity of religious truth
* the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth
* the realization of universal education
* the responsibility of each person to independently search for truth
* the establishment of a global commonwealth of nations
* recognition that true religion is in harmony with reason and the pursuit of scientific knowledge"*

I used to love going to the Temple in Wilmette, Illinois to meditate. Everyone was welcomed.


*http://info.bahai.org/bahaullah-basic-teachings.html

Agree, Isadora, the Bahia faith is a lovely one. Do you know what their stance is on homosexuals? Just curious.

[Jude]

Sorry, I have to withdraw my positive comment on the Bahai faith unless someone can correct. I can't speak for the authenticity of the site from which this is quoted below:

"Homosexuality according to the writings of Baha'u'llah is spiritually condemned," Shoghi Effendi, the second and final interpreter of Baha'i teaching.

"...the Faith does not recognize homosexuality as a 'natural' or permanent phenomenon. Rather. it sees this as an aberration subject to treatment," Universal House of Justice, 1987-MAR-22.

"LGBTI Let us live in Peace." Text of a mask worn during a protest in Kampala, Uganda, seeking and end to persecution of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transexuals, transgendered and intersex persons. Local Baha'i, Christian and Muslim leaders urged the government to arrest the protestors.

[Nat]