Can anyone give me the true Muslim view on this?

Question

First things first - I have the utmost respect for peoples faith's.

I refuse to believe the way Muslims are being protrayed by the media over the Jack Straw incident. Has his comments really angered a whole community or is this being blown up and sensationalised by the media? (again)

From what I can gather, he expressed a personal view, something we are all free to do, regarding veil's and it seems he may as well called for the immediate deportation of all Muslim's for all the fury it seem's to have provoked.

Now, here's the question - Is it really the general consencus amoung all Muslims that any comment no matter how well intentioned must be met with furious anger or are you being misrepresented again? I have my thought's but I know I can't ever trust the media to be non-sensationalist or headline grabbing.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Answer 1

I am Muslim and I have to agree with simon2blues that we are not truly represented in the media. The views of true Muslims do not get into the mainstream because it just doesn't make good news. Good news does not sell papers unfortunately.

Today Muslims are helping the media deface the beauty of Islam, its clear by the way these Muslims react to the stupid and ill provoking sentiments of the media. The Holy Prophet never reacted to in this manner nor should we!

People say this is because of the teachings of Islam and the concept of Jihad - let me tell you what the true concept of Jihad is.

JIHAD - THE HOLY WAR
A very important question which relates to the propagation of all divine messages. It relates to the instrument of propagation Adherents of almost all religions, as they move away in time from the source, are invariably known to have employed coercion either to keep people within the fold of their religion, or to convert others into their faith. But according to the Holy Quran, this in no way reflects upon their religion's attitude to coercion. No religion at its source has ever permitted the use of force in any form whatsoever. In fact all religions have been made targets of coercion, and no efforts were spared by their opponents to arrest the growth of religions at their source and to annihilate them completely. Every time a new prophet came, attempts were invariably made by the enemies to suppress his message through the use of force and merciless persecution. It is the most tragic irony therefore that of all the books, the Holy Quran is singled out today as proponent of the employment of coercion for the sake of the spread of its message. Even greater tragedy lies in the fact that it is the Muslim clergy itself which loudly propounds this view, blatantly attributing it to the Holy Quran.

The Holy Quran, it should be remembered, is the only Divine book which absolves all the prophets of the world, wherever and in whichever age they were born, of the crime of coercion in relation to the spread of their message. Hence it is inconceivable that the Quran should present its Holy Prophet (sa) as the harbinger of an era of bloodshed in the name of peace, and hatred in the name of love of God. This is no place to engage in intricate polemical discussions, so this brief introduction should suffice here. According to the Quran, the Holy War, called Jihad, is in reality a holy campaign which uses the help of the Quran to bring about a spiritual revolution in the world.



Fight against them by means Of it (the Quran) a great fight Surah Al-Furqan (Ch. 25, V,53)

These are the very words of the Quran which throw light on the nature of Jihad. It must be fought by means of the Quran and the Quranic message alone. Again, to tame one's rebellious nature into complete submission to God is another form of Jihad which is in fact the greater Jihad, according to the Holy Prophet of Islam. On returning from a battle, he is reported to have said:



We are returning from the lesser Jihad to the greater Jihad.4

Of course, defensive war is permitted only on the condition that the enemies initiate hostilities and raise sword against a weak, defenceless people for having committed the only crime of declaring that God is their Lord. All offensive wars according to Islam are unholy.

http://www.alislam.org/jihad/index.html

Answer 2

It's simply a case of being British. The moslems/seikhs/bhuddists/hari krishnas etc. come here and presumably want to be British. They're certainly very welcome then BUT, they should learn to BE British. If, on the other hand, they don't want to be British but prefer being moslem or whatever, they shouldn't be here ruining the place for others anyway.

Their national dress is fine within their homes and/or for specific celebrations but certain items of clothing are impractical - for example, I once saw a pair of obviously very wealthy Saudis walking through the London winter in their usual national dress. The headdress did little to keep the sandstorms off and the rest seemed totally inadequate against the snow and freezing wind. Poor ba$t@rd$!) so, common sense should prevail. Arab (or similar) dress is fine, in the right climate, but must be torture in our cold winters (in the days when they were cold!). Likewise, a veil that completely conceals the face is again fine in a sandstorm but unnecessary in the nothern areas. Also, the concealment issue comes to the fore. Who is it under the mask? A woman. a terrorist, Batman or all in one? Body language too. In Britain, women are best known for their need to "look" at a person while talking to them (ask any woman driver) but, in fact, men do the same, rather less obtrusively. Some 70% of information can be transmitted/received through facial moves and twitches. Inability to "see" the person being talked to reduces the presicion of the conversation to a level of semi-meaningless.

In addition to the above, in the current climate of intolerance of anything that could possibly offend even the local cats, we are slowly reaching a point where the police could well use intense firepower to stop or prevent any potential terrorist attack and, as I would see it, a totally veiled person might well be the prime target.

So, come on girls, recognise the fact that the veil and total robe covering evolved as a method of living in a desert environment, not anything to do with religion. that was a later idea, to enable a man to keep his wives/concubines, without fear of other males. Simple animal reaction. Just watch elephant seals guarding their harem, or even red deer, who do the same. Over the centuries, the origin became more or less lost and religion was used as an excuse. In modern days, the issue of low self-esteem might also be cited. Moslem women are so accustomed to being subservient to the menfolk that they no longer seem to notice it, except as it comes out, in low self-esteem and self-efacement.

Answer 3

Why is it that over 20 years ago in Wolverhampton I was arrested by a Sheik Policeman in a turban, and now headscarves are an issue, I think it's about time people stopped picking on Muslims and actually view individual people. What is wrong with headscarves British grannies have worn them for years, next time I see a granny I'm gonna call her a terrorist, wrestle her to the ground and rip it off, then I will apologise.

Answer 4

Jack Straw is allowed to have his own opinion of course and mostly what I have heard is not the furious anger as described by the media but more feelings of disappointment.
But of course he's a prominent figure in the UK and is 'allowed' to voice opinions like this.
If I came out with a statement like 'I don't feel comfortable with talking to Goths and would prefer they didn't dress like that when they come to see me' would I not be shot down straight away for being shallow and inconsiderate.

Answer 5

He is entitled to his opinion. This is probably just a distraction and his official position on torture etc are far more worrying.

The wars against countries like Iraq and the potential ones like Iran require a certain level of propoganda as in any war to demonise the "enemy" and get public support. The current trend to use a few selected reactions and apply this to a billion people is nothing new.

Incidentally, in a muslim majority country like Turkey, the hijab and beards are officially banned because the military sees itself as the guardian of a "secular" Turkey. This has lead to the ridiculous situation of the prime minister sending his daughters to study in the US where they are at least free to use their choice to cover up.

It also seems to go against current government objective of allowing muslim women to have greater "freedom" and this was one of the justifications given for the invasion of Afghanistan. It seems as if the "freedom" for women he is thinking of is only to to take clothes off, but not to cover themselves up for decency according to islamic principles.

Women do not need to cover their hands or faces faces in public, although some women choose this option. In theory, there should not be any objection (from muslims) if there was a request for women to uncover their faces and it is not a requirement.

Answer 6

It's really sad to see the behaviour of some Muslims. Their knowledge of Islam is too shallow and it has cause the image of Islam to be tarnished so badly. Many are just blind followers who over-react angrily, without even a slightest idea of what they fussing about.

Does those who were angered by Salman Rushdie ever read his book? Does those who burn effigies of the Pope really read the content of his speech? I don't think so.. .they just blind followers... doing nothing but causing unnessary inconvenience for others.

Peace.

Answer 7

The media serves to entertain the masses. There is no such thing as informing the public with facts anymore, at least not in mainstream media.

Answer 8

It seems to me that the Muslim community in England desperately needs a good, professional spokesperson who can give a true representation of general views in his/her community. Until they do this, they are doomed to be misunderstood and even perhaps resented.

Answer 9

Simple answer; The Veil is compulsary for a muslim woman as per The Islamic Rule.

If you want to know the reason???.
Please check the rate of woman-rape in your society and in any muslim society! Compare the difference.

You shall know the blessings of veil...

Answer 10

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?sortBy=2&threadID=4123&edition=1&ttl=20061006095603&#

This is from the BBC's Have Your Say regarding Jack Straw's comments