The Truth about Islam

I have been studying Islam, I’m not converting to the religion, I am a neutral party. My personal views are neither theist or atheist, they are somewhere inbetween, and I’m not affiliated to any particular religion.

I wanted to find out more about the Muslim faith, and to gauge the truth of it. I have read and heard so many unpleasant biased opinions & reports of this religion, I wanted to get to the heart of Islam.

I think Mohammad would have been horrified by the Islamic extremists & terrorism we see today, as well as the oppressive way some Islamic states are run. These people in my opinion have completely missed the point of what Mohammed was striving to achieve in Arabia.

His final message was one of peace not war, he said that everyone, whoever they are, is equal. His vision was one of a society where people lived together in peace & equality, Muslims & Non-Muslims alike.

In his community in Medina there were different tribes who followed different faiths, and he accepted them as they were. There were Jews, Christians & Pagans. He never forced them to become Muslims, & even said that nobody should force anyone to convert to Islam. To become a Muslim had to be a conscientious choice, an act of free will. His only requirement in Medina was that people live in peace together, respect one another, see one another as equals & strive to do good and follow the common laws of the community. His mosque was open to everyone, and it didn’t matter who you were, you could go and talk to him and he would listen.

Yes, in his lifetime he did partake in wars, always through self-defence, and I get the impression he fought reluctantly, not liking war. He lived in a brutal and bloody society at the time & life in Arabia was very different back in 570 – 632 A.D.

His final victory in the end did not come about through war, but through peace, & this was part of his message- that war & conflict was wrong. He forgave his enemies & made peace with them. He was trying to show that the old tribal blood feuds of the past were not the way forward. That the way forward, was to put their differences behind them & work together in a community.

These Muslim extremists, terrorists & so called Jihadists have totally misunderstood his message.

Even the word Jihad is used out of context. In the Islamic religion it actually means to strive to do good, & the spiritual struggle in oneself against sin. It does not mean to go to war against unbelievers, that is a complete misunderstanding. The lesser Jihad, as the prophet called it, was the struggle in the outward world against persecution, & war was used solely as a means of self defence & only if there was no other option, if an opportunity to make peace presented itself then that took priority over fighting.

These terrorist acts targeting civilians, are completely abhorrent & an inversion of the Muslim religion.

Through what I’ve learnt, I would say, do not judge the Muslim religion based on the actions of Islamic terrorists and some of the oppressive states in the Middle East. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet or in newspapers. Muslim extremists do not reflect Muhammad and his teachings at all, and it seems many have sadly missed the essence of what he was trying to convey in his lifetime. At it’s heart the Muslim religion is beautiful & shares many of the values about social equality I believe in.

Another point to note is, Mohammad treated women as equals and he was the first person to give women the right to divorce their husbands if they wanted to, especially if their husband treated her badly. He never made it law they had to wear a veil or any of the other things. Many Muslim women like wearing the veil, but those that don’t like wearing it should not be under any obligation to do so. Mohammad also never said anything about FGM, this practise seems to have started centuries later in some Arab countries. In his final sermon he told men to treat women as equals and with respect and be kind to them.

I think Muhammad would be deeply saddened to see what has become of Islam today.

The same could be said of most religions actually. It is sad their real meanings often get twisted and misinterpreted to suit political agendas.

Peace & Keep it Real.