How can we Muslims double our efforts to provide an accurate perception of our great religion?

Answer 1

I truly believe that building a real and permanent dialogue between the West and the Muslim world would eradicate the misunderstanding, prejudice and the kind of tension we see today that has become so prevalent in our world, tensions that would eventually lead to catastrophic consequences. Building such dialogue is imperative in working toward our ultimate goal which is the propagation of Islam, something that we encourage our community to actively engage in and become a part of.

Disseminating the message of Islam and educating the world about it and offering our fellow citizens a real understanding of Islam is not only a religious duty that Islam encourages, but it is also a necessity that has been mandated by the extreme hardships that Muslims are enduring while living in the west where they face a fierce anti Islamic campaign aimed at defaming the religion, a campaign that smears Islam with terrorism and violence and labels it a backward, uncontemporary religion unfit to coincide with democracy.

Recent polls by the Washington Post indicate that 46% of Americans have negative views about Islam. This percentage has almost quadrupled from 13% right after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

This shows clearly that we Muslims must double our efforts to provide a more accurate perception about our great religion; the religion that respects the human being so much that it considers the human being the "most sanctified" of His whole creation. According to some ahadith, it is lighter in the eyes of God to vanquish the entire Earth than to shed one drop of human blood unfairly.

It is all of our duty, so let us all come together to fulfill this goal with the help of Allah.

Answer 2

Very simple :)
If everyone acted very nicely and very modest.. (well pretty much like islam wants us to do) others will be impressed and thats how they know about our religion, its us the ambassadors of islam , in every word every action .
I always think if i cant make a big accomplishment at once why not try the simplest way to achieve a very great thing ;)
PS;dunno bout you but i seriously like the guy on your pic! and yeah hope all political issues are solved back in lebanon and some great political party will be in soon :)

Answer 3

Wow, explosive question here. My two cents is that as a private citizen and follower of your religion you're not going to make much headway in this on your own. You will have to get your religious leaders involved and they will first off have to renounce the terrorism and bombings. Sounds harsh but that's the way most people look at it. To date very few Muslim religious leaders in this country have come out and vociforiously condemned the radical factions. This I believe is a prequisite to convincing the rest of the world of the precepts of your religion. I mean no offense but that is how I see it.

Answer 4

1st: Follow the Quran
A Dozen Reasons to Follow the Quran:
http://www.masjidtucson.org/publications/books/sp/1999/nov/page1.html
2nd: Follow the Sunnah
Why do we have to follow the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alayhi wa sallam) and not just follow the Qur’an only?:
http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9169
3rd: Get ready and answer questions about Islam in an orderly manner and in a peaceful way!
What is the best way to answer them????:
http://www.islamtomorrow.com/answers.asp
I am sorry for any mistake.

Answer 5

As salaamu 'alaikym.

Insha'Allah, by living our faith each minute of every day, treating all others as we have been taught in the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah al Hadiths to treat them, by going out of our way to be compassionate, kind and generous, to be tolerant and speak softly, to be such good examples of how all humans should live in this world, that all of the rest of humanity will find only good things to say about Islam with nothing negative to remember or bring up.

May Allah, Subhanna wa Ta'ala, guide us rightly in our daily lives, may we welcom His blessing and share them with all others. Ameen.

Ma'a salaam

Answer 6

Salam
Its no our religion we didn't make it and it doesn't belong to us.

The best is to be pious with steadfast patience and peace.
Surah Al Asr or terrible fitna upon us all. Well go read it for the first time inshAllah Tahala. Amen.

Answer 7

I'm not a Muslim but I can give you some of the reasons why the perception has obviously gone 'wrong'.

1) When an atrocity is performed by Islamic terrorists, at least make an effort to appear disgusted by it. When the West sees pictures of Muslim Arabs jumping for joy over bombings, then hears some mealymouthed condemnation from local Muslim leaders, well we tend to tar you all with the same brush. Its human nature to think that if you aren't standing side by side with us in protest at it, then you secretly support it. I know you're supposed to stick by your Muslim brothers before anyone else, but some of the sh1t done in your name is atrocious.

2) Try to integrate rather than forming your own cellular communities. You win no friends by forming unofficial governing bodies (like the MCB in UK) within the foreign countries that house you. Theres a definite feeling that once there is a critical mass of people or political power, then you'll start making trouble for non-Muslims. Simply brushing this off as western fear or paranoia doesn't work, because in just about every conflict in the world today there is an element of Islamic separatism.

3) Accept that your religion has its bad points and that constructive criticism is a good thing. Stop burning flags and calling for peoples deaths over dodgy interpretations of what they've said. Some of what is preached just doesn't wash well in the West - and as with other religions, we reserve the right to tell you when we don't like it. Embrace the differences rather than trying to change them. Chanting 'religion of peace!' while you have a sword hidden under the table isn't going to work.

4) Stop hating the Jews so much. We have an uneasy relationship with them ourselves, but we know well enough that they aren't the baby eating monsters you are trying to paint them out to be. We're just asking for a bit of a reality check.

5) Moderates Vs Extremists. Whats all this about? As far as we can see, the moderates cower in fear while the extremists do exactly what they want to do, and because your communities are consistently failing to integrate we know no better as to who truly represents you.

6) 'Kaffir'. Unless you change the language and mentality behind this derogatory sh1t, how the *** do you expect the perception of your religion to change?

Hey - maybe you think I've been a bit too harsh. Feel free to post a load of abuse here about Christianity or whatever. Or how its all about the oil. But the fact is - you're loosing the popularity battle, and its a shame because you have a lot to contribute to the world.

EDIT

This is what I'm trying to say Ammad (below). You may not like it but its human nature to group people together, and unless you stand aside from that 'one Muslim' and say clearly that you do NOT agree with what he is doing, you will be seen as the same.

As individuals, Muslims have done this. But as a group Muslims will ALWAYS stand shoulder to shoulder with Muslims, whether they are right or wrong. Any consideration for the culture of the country you're living in, the people who have shown you generosity, or existing friendships goes out of the window.

The Muslim world stood up and marched when a few Danish cartoons were printed in a magazine, burning embassies and issuing death threats. Where were the marches of protest on 9/11? There were none of course, because deep down us westerners deserved it, didnt we?

EDIT 2

Ammad? Ammad? Where are you? Why have you deleted your post?

Answer 8

Tell the morons who unfortunately, practice the same religion, to stop bombing, raping women, degrading women, torturing people, acting like apes etc. It is not easy to change perception. Just like with racism, it still exists but is not as prevalant. I find more people racist against americans than ever before. Society is stereotypical and egotistical. Keep your head up, and your heart open. If people ask you about your religion, share with them, don't try to convert them or say yours is better. Even if you share with one person, imagine how many people they might tell, and so on. Remember Pay IT Forward.

Answer 9

You could start by joining in the efforts to stop the radical extremists who are giving your religion a bad name. I am not preaching from some pedestal here. We have them too, everybody does. Many of your traditions however, have nothing to do with the writings in the Koran and it has given people the perception that your religion denigrates the dignity of women. We could all benefit by examining our beliefs as opposed to what is actually written and taught in our supposed "Holy" books. We should start by determining how accurate the translation actually is, how much of what is written comes from our spiritual mentor and how much was a product of the culture of the times, or has been added to manage a particular congregation or out of political expediency.

I have friends who practice Islam and we have much more common ground than you might ever believe. I am just as disgusted by the excesses practiced by fundamentalist Christianity by the way. Our Holy book has been misinterpreted and badly translated so often that our Protestant churches often resemble a Medieval kingdom more than they do a loving religious community.

GOD / ALLAH / created us all in GOD's / ALLAH's image. This is just a fact. If anyone of any sex, race, creed, color, or cultural background is held back, thought of as less, or threatened with harm, it is the same as threatening GOD / ALLAH! If we could agree on this one simple precept, everything else could be worked out. It is a lot to swallow in one bite, but over time we may be able to assimilate this one simple truth. Anyone who chooses not to believe it should simply be left alone unless they threaten another person with violence. Our Native Americans, or the indigenous people of these lands if you object to the term American, believed that the people we judge as being crazy, are touched by GOD / ALLAH and should be revered, respected and cared for. They believe that the people who do harm to others however, have no soul and should be put out of their misery as quickly and humanely as possible. How many conflicts could be immediately put to rest if we all accepted this belief? Is it of GOD / ALLAH? I think we should all pray on this matter and decide. Until then, I have no quarrel with you, I hope you have no quarrel with me, and I respect your beliefs as you respect mine. If you cannot respect my beliefs, that would be a good first step toward improving the perception of your great religion.

Answer 10

Asalam alaykum warahmat Allah wabarakatuh,
inshallah show the Islamic manners wherever you are and whenever you have a chance spread and introduce Islam in its beauty and truth.
inshallah that helped,

Asalam alaykum warahmat Allah wabarakatuh