A question for non-western muslims?
357228
There are always people who twist words and the truth.  Jihad means to do something (NOT necessarily fight) in the cause of God (Allah).  That can include many situations.  Suppose a woman gets pregnant and her intention is that when her child grows up, he/she will be a strong Muslim and worship God. If that woman dies during labor, her action will be counted as Jihad because her intention was to do something good for God.  Another example:  if a person decides to educate other people about Islam, their actions would be counted as Jihad because they are doing it to get Allah's reward.  In the same way, it is warfare against infidels if they do something which we have to fight against.  It's not like all Muslims constantly think about killing non-Muslims.  That's a very wrong concept.  Islam is a religion of peace.  It does not promote or encourage war and violence and even if there is war, there are very strict rules e.g. women, children, innocent people, animals and even trees should not be harmed.  Prisoners of war should be treated humanely.  In one of the wars that Prophet Muhamed (PBUH) fought in, he said that prisoners would be freed if each prisoner taught a certain number of people to read and write!
984254
I wasn't going to answer your question because I am not Muslim.  The question is asked of Muslims, specifically.  Looks like people put in their 2 cents worth without addressing the question. It was called a naive question by a person who would not explain her stance, but you did not ask it.... you relayed it.  You sure got alot of people excited who gave you illogical responses.  Jihad on the west began before we went to Iraq.   I'll wait to see if any Muslims give sincere answers.
649595
so who died and made you ambassor for most people.  I personally am not afraid of any religion...in fact I know many muslims that are very good, productive members of society.
1136270
I am Muslim here ....trying  not to be angered by so many ignorant comments  here....
744504
Right now when people hear "Muslim" they instead think "terrorist."  I know better than this, but unfortunately, you're going to get a lot of ignorant answers to this question.\n\nThe Muslims I have known have been very loving, very sincere about their religion.  They behave very kindly towards others.  I notice two other things about them:  one is they tended to be a little more superstitious than I expected.  Another is that they tended to not hang out a lot with non-Muslims.  \n\nTake care
935490
Did you read parts of the Qur'an that tells Muslims to respect others and their religion, and to let them live in peace if they treat Muslims in the same manner? (read Surah Al Kafirun - to me be my religio, to you your religion) Islam is very tolerant of other religions.... some Muslims on the other hand are a different matter and that's not the way it should be!\n\nMany verses in the Qur'an balance each other out (not contradict one another).. for example Surah 5, verse 98:\nKnow that Allah is strict in punishment; And that Allah is Often Forgiving, Most Merciful. \n\nIslam and Christianity both teach good things and tolerance but somehow people have taken the teachings way out of context, and to justify them acting like animals. People are too quick to blame a religion, they forget that people are human beings who possess free will and will do what they want to do even if it is wrong by their religion.
607535
I'm a Muslim and we are thought to treat the other religions and their followers with respect. I would suggest you to try to do the same thing.
337874
First of all, do you think terrorists are really truly good muslims?  I mean just ask any muslim guy or gal, like me, and we will condemn whatever they have done.  As a muslim, I believe in peace and tranquility, i believe in diplomacy, and our Prophet always tried to handle things as peacefully as he could.  These so called extremists are NOT supported by majority of the muslims.  Most of the time, they are religously ignorant and you can't blame or stereotype all the muslims to do the same thing.\n\ninin jomo,  i really apppreciate you quoting the quran.  Thank you!
155044
The west is already at war with a small segment of Islam. The question is, will Islam go to war with itself and extinguish the radical element, or will mainstream Islam join the radicals.\n\nPeople should recognize that huge percentages of muslims are non practicing and don't even go to mosque. This is especially true in Europe where some estimates show 80% of the muslim population not really formally participating.
258832
Hey man I can't understand why could a person who claims that he is a muslim to hope the hell for others who are sharing the same relegion with him!!!!\nWell I'd to confirm that the true muslim will never call for destroying others...\nIslam is a relegion of peace which ask its follower to respect all people whatever their relegions,languages, gender...etc\nOn the other hand, if u r really a muslim, u must heard about the hadees of Prophet Muhammed(PBUH) which says that Allah (God) prefer to damage the Ka'ba(the holy mosque in Mecca)in stead of killing a muslim... \nSo I can't understand how u could hope murder for all arabs while they are muslim like u????
689536
Hello Levente...\n\nFor a practising Muslim, any kind of western style dating is not allowed... Holding hands, hugging, kissing, oral sex, even being in the same room alone together are banned!\n\nLet me explain...\n\nOutside marriage any kind of fornication is a sin, and by fornication a mean anything even a lustful look. There is a Hadith that says that it worse for a man to have an axe through his head than even accidentally touch who is not his mahram (wife or blood relative) women.\nFor women (like me) when I'm outside or with non mahram, I must wear hijab (cover myself fully) and I'm not allowed to be alone with a man. etc etc.\n\nWhen I do decide to get married it is not Islamic to have a long engagement etc. And I won't be alone with my fiance until after marriage. Typically family and friends help find prospective partners, and then arrange a meeting where maybe they leave us 2 in a room, and they wait outside with the door open! And then if you are still not sure it is OK to ask questions by phone etc, before you get married.\n\nAs you see it is very different from the western version of romance!! \n\n\nOf course not all Muslim women follow the Koran as strictly as this and we do live in the modern world..but this is the ideal!\n\nAnd I forgot... Its the same for men too of course they are not allowed relationships outside marriage too
261750
I've had the pleasure of working with many Yemenis and a few Saudis, and have generally found them to be gracious, well-mannered, kind, and hard-working.  Also, they always show up for work sober.\nThey are not very different from most people around the world, in that they just want to live their lives in peace and work for a better life for themselves and their children.\nMany of the Muslims I've worked with did not agree with Western customs and morals, but none of them wanted to use violence to change things.  They just accepted that the West was different.
938850
I'm not muslim, but you're absolutely right!\n\nPlease can you translate that heading of yours that's all in Arabic? I'm interested in knowing what it says! =)
1181217
--->Is it impossible to get an actual answer?<---\n\nYes actually because you are overlaying a Christian/Western understanding of justification/salvation onto a foreign system.  You cannot do that!  The question is not "are you saved" for a Muslim but rather "are you Muslim?" and "are you being obedient to the Qu'ran/the will of Allah?"\n\nThere is really no need to think about "forgiveness" or being forgiven, just about being Muslim.\n\nThat is why the appeals of Protestant Christianity (which is the "are you forgiven" / "are you saved"....non-Protestant Christians don't ask the questions that way) tend not to work, because there is nothing to be forgiven about if you have. submitted to Islam.  The whole question just doesn't make sense and can be viewed as insulting to Muslims.\n\nYou have to find a different approach if you want to make any headway in a discussion with Muslims over Christianity vs. Islam.
245081
My understanding of the question wasn't "Why don't non-Muslims respect Muslims?" or even "Islam respects other religions; why don't other religions respect Islam?"\n\nRather, my interpretation was "Why do non-Muslims disrespect religious figures, blaspheming both deities and supposed representatives of deities? Don't you feel uncomfortable speaking in such a manner?"\n\nPersonally speaking, I feel that there is nothing wrong with speaking one's mind. The fact that we have the freedom to speak ill of religious figures is VITAL to freedom. You only have to look at the Taliban to see what happens when people aren't allowed to express their religious stance.\n\nAs for people blaspheming a god or gods, it would depend on the person doing it, as to whether they felt "funny" when they did it. An atheist has nothing to fear when s/he blasphemes, so why would s/he feel funny? People who don't believe in your god or religion aren't going to feel afraid or uncomfortable when saying things that you find offensive because it isn't of spiritual significance to them like it is to you.\n\nIn the west, there are millions of children that believe in Santa Claus. Their belief in Santa Claus does not change the fact that there are millions of people who DON'T believe in Santa Claus. People who DON'T believe in Santa aren't going to worry about saying something bad about Santa, Mrs Claus, or any of Santa's elves or reindeer because to them, it doesn't matter.\n\nYou perceive the way people speak of religious figures and "God" as something terrible, because it matters to YOU.\n\nIt is simply a value judgement. People who believe in a deity will respect it; those who don't believe won't feel fear when using blasphemy.
1070858
Westerners don't know nor do they care too much about Islam. But for most, when we first heard about the motivation of terrorists, we hear new words like "Jihad", "Allah", etc.\n\nThat's the first impressions for a lot of us. We didn't go looking for this "first impression", -some of Islam's "Jihadists" threw it on our doorstep.\n\nNow you ask westerners to accept a full clearer picture of what Islam is?? Then fine, -tell us how you condemn the barbaric practice of random murders and killing innocents.
864268
nobody really cares that much about Islam in the west.\n\nJust a fact.