What is a surprising detail about Islam?

Answer 1

That people call it a religion and that it actually has followers.

God Bless you and have a Happy New Year.

Answer 2

Muslims didn't originally hate Jews particularly - revered them a bit because they are the people of the book - but the Jews recently (70 years) moved to Palestine in big numbers and drove the Palestinians (mostly Muslims) off their farms and out of the country, saying that God gave it to the Jews. Since then the Palestinians fear Jews and other Muslims sympathise. Many Christains and Jews sympathise too but they can't do anything to help because the USA is on the side of the Jews.

Answer 3

A Lebanese friend who is Muslim told me the Koran teaches that men should shave their underarms. Pretty surprising?

Answer 4

islam is not surprising atall if it is then what about all the others i am not islam but i think that everyone blames them more than they deserve we have plenty of bad and crazy people in our religion too does that make ours bad???remember its not the religion its the people that are hiding behind it:

Answer 5

I am studying Islam, and I find it to be so much like my Judaism, in basic beliefs (except for Jesus being a prophet).

Answer 6

They hate jews! ...wait a minute. Thats not surprising at all.

Answer 7

it spells malsi backwards
interesting enough?

Answer 8

1) Muslims believe in Prophets Jesus. Moses, Abraham , Noah David etc as they believe in Prophet Muhammed. Muslims do not believe that Jesus was the son of God or in the doctrine of Original sin hence dont believe a sacrifice was needed to atone for "mankind's sins"

2) Only 20 % of Muslims are Arabs: and not all Arabs are Muslims

3) Muslims dont worship Muhammed: nor was he the founder of Islam nor author of the Quran: he was the last in a line of God's prophets preaching monotheism - that there is only one God - the central tenet of Islam

4) The country with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia - where no Muslim army ever set foot - islam was spread by traders and sufis

5) Islam gave amazing rights to women in the 7th century unheard of until very recently in the west - such as inheritance, total control over her own income, not having to change her name on marriage etc etc etc

The majority of converts to Islam today are women

Even though many aspects of Islam are misunderstood by non-Muslims, the ignorance, misinformation and incorrect assumptions that are made in regards to Islam's treatment of women are probably the most severe. Numerous verses of the Qur'an make it clear that men and women are equal in the site of God. According to the teachings of Islam, the only thing that distinguishes people in the site of God is their level of God-consciousness. Due to this, many people are surprised to find out that Islamic Law guaranteed rights to women over 1400 years ago that women in the Europe and America only obtained recently. For example, Islam clearly teaches that a woman is a full-person under the law, and is the spiritual equal of a male. Also, according to Islamic Law, women have the right to own property, operate a business and receive equal pay for equal work. Women are allowed total control of their wealth, they cannot be married against their will and they are allowed to keep their own name when married. Additionally, they have the right to inherit property and to have their marriage dissolved in the case of neglect or mistreatment. Also, Islam does not consider woman an "evil temptress", and thus does not blame woman for the "original sin". Women in Islam participate in all forms of worship that men participate in. Actually, the rights that Islam gave to women over 1400 years ago were almost unheard of in the West until the 1900s. Less than fifty years ago in England and America, a woman could not buy a house or car without the co-signature of her father or husband! Additionally, Islam gives great respect to women and their role in society --- it gives them the right to own property, marry who they want and many other rights. Also, it should be mentioned that the Prophet Muhammad's mission stopped many of the horrible practices in regards to women that were present in the society of his time. For example, the Qur'an put an end to the pagan Arab practice of killing their baby daughters when they were born. Additionally, Islam put restrictions on the unrestricted polygamy of the Arabs of the time, and put many laws in place to protect the well-being of women. Today, most of the so-called reforms in the status of women came about after the West abandoned religion for secularism. Even those in the West who claim to follow the so-called "Judeo-Christian tradition" really follow the values of Western liberalism --- but just to a lesser degree than their more liberal countrymen. For more on this subject, please read: Women in Islam versus Women in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition --- The Myth and The Reality. If women in the Muslim World today don't have their rights, it is not because Islam did not give them to them. The problem is that in many places alien traditions have come to overshadow the teachings of Islam, either through ignorance or the impact of Colonialization.


6) Muslims consider Christians and Jews people of the book and reciepients of divine revelation

7) There are massive non-Muslim populations in countries ruled by Muslims for 1400 years such as Egypt. In India ruled by Muslims for 800 years 88% of the population is non-Muslim

8) From 700 to about 1500 Muslims were the world leaders in science, technology and medicine, literature, arts etc and the most power nations on earth .Amongst the things Muslims brought to Europe were soap, paper and the numerical system

Islam civilization has produced some of the greatest art in human history from the Alhambra in Spain to the TaJ Mahal in India

http://www.muslimheritage.com/
http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2002/01/08/alphabet/index.html

9) The greatest civilization in Europe 1000 years was Muslim Spain : the only succesful multi-religious socities in Europe were Muslim Spain and Ottoman Turkey (where jews found refuge from persecutuion elsewhere in Europe)

When Europe was in the dark ages Islam civilization preserved and developed its Greek heritage

10) Killing civilians is a major sin in Islam - contrary to what muslim haters say islam is teh only religion which bars its followers from paradise for killing non-Muslims

The Quran says "Whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if be had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind" (Al-Ma'idah 5:32).

The Prophet Muhammed said "Anyone who kills a Dhimmi (non Muslim ) will not smell the fragrance of Paradise " (Al-Bukhari).

Similiarly other things practised in the Muslim world such as honor killings or FGM are evil and against islam

11) Islam is arguable the most succesful doctrine in promoting racial harmony in history

In his last sermon the Prophet Muhammed said
"All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action"

The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the outstanding achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue.
Famous historian Arnold J. Toynbee

Malcolm X a black racist before his trip to Mecca for the pilgrimmige of Hajj said this

"There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and the non-white.

You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have been always a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.

During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass and slept in the same bed (or on the same rug)-while praying to the same God with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of the blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the actions and in the deeds of the ‘white' Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.

We are truly all the same-brothers.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds."
http://www.soundvision.com/Info/racism/xletter.asp