Islam & the Muslim faith- banishing myths

[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]