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My experience is that most Christians, especially most fundamentalist Christians have at least a basic understanding of what Islam is. They know who "Allah" is claimed to be, but they do not consider Allah to be the God of Abraham in much the same way they do not consider Mormons to be true Christians regardless of how many times the Mormons invoke the name of Jesus Christ.
Misconception: All Muslims are Arabs
Islam is rightfully associated with Arabs regardless of the demographics of the religion. The Koran is written in Arabic and only Korans written in Arabic are considered authentic. By the same token, Christianity ought to be associated with Western Asia, but the Romans successfully co-opted Messianic Judaism and made it Euro-centric. Again, I think that most people are aware that Muslims comes in all races, but the ones they are most concerned about are Arabic. Where they aren't really picky is in differentiating between Arabs and Persians, a distinction which appears to matter most to the Persians. The spiritual center of Islam is Arabia. We don't associate Islam with Arabs because of terrorism just as we don't associate Christianity with Scots due to Timothy McVeigh or Germans due to Rudolf Whathisname. We associate Christianity with Rome because it is the spiritual center of the largest denomination. We associate Judaism with Jerusalem. We associate Krishna with India, and Buddhism with Tibet, and Zen with Japan, and New Age with California, and Amish with Pennsylvania, etc....
9Muslims and Jesus
Now it's starting to appear that this guy just wanted to write an article promoting himself or Islam. I have been taught from childhood in religious schooling that Islam regards Jesus as a prophet, but not divine. On the other hand, all religions seem to have a problem with the rank and file keeping straight on who and what is divine. By any measure, Catholics who are seriously into Mary-worship have elevated her to divinity whether they admit it or not. By the same token, treating Mohammed like a god, but denying that he is one is a game played in the head. In any event, I was never taught that Muslims hate Jesus.
Misconception: Children have no rights
Children, according to Islamic law, have various rights. One of these is the right to be properly brought up, raised, and educated. Islam encourages children to be brought up well because it is the responsibility of an adult to raise his child to become a moral and ethical adult. Children must also be treated equally. When giving financial gifts they should all be the same amount and there should be no preference among them. Children are even permitted to take moderately from their parent’s wealth to sustain themselves if the parent declines to give them proper funds for living. A child is also not allowed to get hit in the face or hit by anything larger than a pencil.
Steaming pile of shit. No other term to describe this. Children must be treated equally? Does the author mean "boy children must be treated equally"? Children can only be hit "in the face" with something small, but what can you hit or kill the rest of the body with? What parts of the body can be removed or sewn shut?
Misconception: Islam is intolerable to other religions
‘Kill the infidel’ is the phrase many people believe is the ideology that Muslims have towards the non Muslims. This, though, is not a correct portrayal of Islamic law.
OK, this is the "But they aren't doing it right" argument. The proof is in the pudding. One can point to numerous examples of being nonmuslim in a Muslim country being painful or fatal, and the response will be predictable, "That's not what the Koran says." or "That's not Islam, that's 'local custom'". Notice how no one ever excuses the burning of witches and other atrocities of Christianity's bloody past as 'local custom'; at best they dismiss it as being in the past. Either way, it is in the past and the same cannot be universally said for Islam.
Misconception: The Prophet Muhammad was a pedophile
While it is true that he married a girl that was at the age of nine that does not constitute pedophilia. Historically, the age at which a girl was considered ready to be married has been puberty.
Well, he got one right so far.
During the crusades when Saladin defeated the franks he honored the defeated Frankish army and supplied them with food and during the third crusade when Saladin’s enemy king Richard fell sick, Saladin sent him a gift of fruits and horses.
The history of civilization is one of monarchies waging war on each other with the lives of subjects; how they choose sides does not interest me and their good manners do not impress me. The most gut wrenching thing an Anglo/Celt can do is to read the history of subjects and their lords dying in the fields while their royals betray them before, during, and after the battles.
Misconception: Women have no rights
The image of a woman wearing a veil from head to toe, a woman who gets unfair justice or a woman who is not allowed to drive is an all too familiar notion when it comes to women treatment in Islam. And while there are Muslim countries in the world that do implement many harsh rulings against women, this should not be portrayed as Islamic law. Many of these countries have cultural differences that go against the teachings of Islam.
One again, the "they aren't doing it right" argument.
It should be noted that during pre-Islam Arabia women were used for fornication only and had no independence.
It should be noted that pre-Muslim Egypt had female rulers and women in the kingdoms of Israel, England, Babylon, Persia, and the Roman Empire had status. If Arabia was out of step with this it was not for lack of example, and Islam didn't bring this enlightenment to the rest of the world.
Misconception: Islam was spread by the sword
It would probably have been better to argue that most religion has been spread by the sword rather than to try to make a logical rather than factual argument that Islam was the exception. Saying that Islam was spread to the East without force is rather like saying that India speaks English because it was handy in trade.
Misconception: Muslims are terrorists
Perception game. No rational person thinks all Muslims are terrorists, they do associate terrorism with Islam for the same reason they associate Fish and Chips with England, even though one can find fried fish elsewhere.
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