What word first comes to mind when you hear the word 'Muslim'? According to a poll carried out by You Gov, the words Britons most commonly associate with the religion are terror, terrorism or terrorist, higher than Mosque, Allah, Religious or even 'A religion/belief system/faith'.
I suppose we shouldn't be surprised; the Islam we hear about in news reports is that of the barbaric Islamic State group, who regularly force women into sex slavery, massacre minority groups, carry out beheadings of Western Hostages and destroy historical sites, such as Nimrod and Palmyra. The horrific murder of British soldier, Lee Rigby, on the streets of London in the name of Islam is also fresh in the minds of the public, whilst Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist attacks ensured that Islam became automatically associated with terrorism and brutality in the eyes of many. Indeed, some also question Islamic Shariah law and its attitudes to the death penalty, women, homosexuality and those who wish to leave the faith.
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| Images - telegraph.co.uk |
All this fear and prejudice isn't doing anyone good. I think we all need to really try to understand the
real Islam and the beliefs of Muslims, allowing us to gain a better insight into a faith that all to often seems scary, alien and a threat to our way of living. So here's my challenge for all of us this Ramadan; to find out a little more about the real Islam of real everyday people. It could be online, in the workplace, watching documentaries or reading about the faith...
whatever you choose to do, you might just find it rewarding and enlightening to do some research and find out about the faith over 1.5 billion people belong to.
And to all Muslims around the World, Ramadan Mubarak!
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