Are Muslims guilty of nepotism?

Question

Now I realize that Muslims even within their own community will not agree about everything but in my perception when it comes to Muslim vs. Non-Muslims they seem mostly to stand up for each other. Why is this? Is it nepotism? You may ask, why I ask this. Well to my perception when it comes to Israel they are always the bad guys. When it comes to countries that have a dominant Muslim population & a country like the US gets involved, we're the bad guys. And there are the protests and so on and such forth. But when acts of terrorism happen in the name of Islam or a Muslim country tries to subvert or overthrow another country to set up a theocracy, there is very little crying out of the injustice of it all. Again, this is my perception but I sincerely believe if Muslims were not Muslims they would not be overly sympathetic or quite about Muslim vs. Non-Muslim issues. Because of this fact I do not think it is easy for them to understand & be as tolerant and sympathetic to Non-Muslims.

Girl360, I agree with you to large extent, but in the case of Muslims this seems to be more pronounced than simply indentifying with your associative group.

Proud 2 B Saudi, actually I pride myself at striving to be objective. A long time ago I chose truth over all other pursuits. Does this mean I am not influenced by my culture. No, it does not. I see many things in terms of degrees and when it comes to Muslims in general it seems they have a unity that in some ways is good but in others enabling of bad behavior.

suzy19, Actually I am a graduate of Religious studies and have read a good deal of the Qu'ran and continue to do so. As for your criticism of muslims who do horrible things in the name of Islam against non-muslims I say good. My point is not that people do not disagree with their actions but that there is less protest to stop such injustices than if it is perceived that an injustice is being done against Muslims. Yes, it is natural to flock together with your own but if you love truth you try to transcend these bounds.

hersh108, I really enjoyed your answer, especially the part about Canadians. For the most part I agree with you. I know that Iraq is debatable but Afghanistan needed to happen. Overall you are right that success is the best way to win over peoples hearts but then again look at Lebanon. They were a thriving country till they allowed Hezbollah to have a foot hold. They even allowed them into politics and allowed them to be a militia separate from the Lebanese army essentially creating a state within a state. My point is that success is good but without some boundaries and yes, fighting for those boundaries it will enable bad behavior to the point of be completely assimulated.

Answer 1

There are a couple of things going on here:

1. Followers of Islam are human beings, no less human and no more human than any other human being on earth. Like other people, a follower of islam identifies himself or herself in terms of a group identity. Affiliating with a group has many benefits - membership has its priviledges.....whether its being a part of a religion, an ethnicity, a state, a corporation, a sports team, a biker gang, or a cub scout group. People are naturally social and are driven to identify with a something larger than themselves. Members of the islamic faith identify religiously, culturally, and emotionally with Islam. Americans identify emotionally with the U.S.

2. The downside of group identity is that creates tunnel vision in some people. People tend to idealize their group and denigrate other groups that they perceieve to oppose their own group. The tendency is to look for information that conforms to an idealized vision of the group, and downplay information that is inconsistent with this idealized vision. So, for an islamic person looking at current events.....they see Hezebolah fighting Israel in terms of an islamic group proudly standing up for islam against the enemy and justify or rationalize killing innocent israeli civilians as a natural consequence of israeli aggression. It is a biased way of looking at the world.....but its surely not a bias that is exclusive to followers of Islam....AMericans, Israelis, Europeans, Brazilians, and even Canadians have their own set of biases!!!

3, There are over 1 billion followers of Islam, who represent an extremely diverse group of people.....from the middle east....arabia, to the far east......Indonesia......to many western countries.....I believe that there is immense diversity in Islam, and while there is lots of Nepotism....there is also a great desire among citizens of the arab/islamic world to reach out to the western world and develop their nations....enjoy economic prosperity....watch Brittany Spears videos....drink beer....and roller blade.....If Islam is the enemy, I suggest that for the west.....that Success will be our best revenge....The more we can pursue democracy, education, human rights, science and technology, and arts & humaties in our own culture, the more irresitable our culture becomes....and the more the islamic world will want to emulate our way of life....We do not have to ram it down their throats with war and belligerance......Unfortunately, due to recent military involvement in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Iraq, much of the Islamic world feels threatened by the West...which only makes them less trustful, more paranoid, more likely to think in a biased manner, less tolerant, and more nepotisic.....While I strongly disagree with their nepotism...it is an understandable reaction to the current state of world affairs.

Answer 2

i want to tell you that you have no idea what Islam is and you are just writing things you are not even sure of. First of all Islam is a very peaceful religion and those stupid people like ousama binladin has ruined the great picture of Islam in peoples minds..uneducated people like you guys think that Islam is based on terrorism acts, but no if you read about Islam you will find that in Quran it is a big sin to kill innocent people. those people that took the name of Islam and ruined it made people like you think that Islam is the wrost religon on earth. In Islam religion every one is equal and all are human beings are the same and i don't know what books you read that gave you this idea...when Israel killed millions of Muslims they weren't considered to be terrorist. like every race and religion when something happens they all stand up for each other. So don't judge Islam before knowing it and read books because i think you never read anything useful..

Answer 3

To unbelievers Quran says in verse 109.006:
"You shall have your religion and I shall have my religion. "
That means, if you are non-muslim you live your religion your way. Muslims ruled many countries for centuries on which muslims, christian, jews and others lived together, If it was the case that their religion was teaching them to destroy others, for sure they had the power to do it, but they did not do it because islam does not teach them to do so. But Quran asks muslims to stand against agression, such as invasion of their countries by others. That is what we would do if we were invaded by others. But still there exists some extremists trying to kill innocent civilians contrary to what Quran teaches them. In the case of a war Quran commands not to kill women, children, old etc., and keep justice.
For the main question, islam teaches muslims that all muslims are brothers and sisters. Pain of one is pain of others. That is why you see them reacting on some issues together.

Answer 4

Friend in order to understand this you must realize that islam teaches that anyone who is not a muslim is an infidel. An infedel is lower than a dog not worth your time. This is a primary teaching of the Quran. The goal of Islam is to have everyone in the world be muslim... by force if need be.

Answer 5

This works the same with the majority. Most white people are, too. What is your point? It's the group and identity phenomenon.

Answer 6

It's the human nature to stand up for your nearest people even if you have some issue together.. we have a saying that says"" I fight against my cousin, and my cousin and I against the stranger '''...
don't you see it quite true to defines your same ethnic group of people???

Answer 7

yes, they seem to be.