#islam vs islamists

[sleepytinyangycutiebean]

question

ok so with everything going on rn in the world, do people hate EXTREMIST muslims or do they hate ALL muslims? i feel like it's going to get to a point where everyone hates EVERY SINGLE MUSLIM on the planet instead of just the terrorists and the fanatics

i'm muslim and i hate the regime that's happening in iran for example (but i'm not iranian so i may get things wrong), i'm just worried that all the hate will spread towards muslims like me who just want to have a normal life

don't forget about the cookie jar: even if you are wary of the whole jar, the problem is not solved and will never remain solved as the poisoned cookies will not go away

also, to the people who criticise islam (i'm not throwing shade at you guys, your views are definitely important) why do you do it? is it to get people to leave islam? is it to just help people think more critically about islam and parts of it that are problematic (which is a good thing)? or is it that you just like to see people trip over themselves (once again, i'm not trying to throw shade, i'm trying to understand)

i don't want to leave islam because islam has helped me through some really rough patches, i don't want to throw it all away to religions i don't particularly feel connected to because if i didn't truly believe, i'd be a liar and that would defeat the entire purpose

basically if i put it into one question: if i showed up at your house to say hello or give brownies (because that's something i'd most likely do) and you knew i was muslim, would you slam the door in my face, badmouth me or try to hurt me?

it's a completely hypothetical situation so be honest, i'm not trying to attack anybody, i just want to know what you all think because sometimes i wonder if my existence is a problem right now (>.< don't know how to not make it sound as dark as it's sounding right now but these are my current feelings)

if i didn't feel pain/have pain receptors, i'd have done something drastic i fear, but i'm too much of a coward so there we go, and it's haram anyway :,)

i'm rambling too much ;-;

it's like one of these things that randomly hits you during the day: imagine you're in your chem class and you're doing organic chem questions and then you suddenly remember that 9/11 happened and it was caused by members of your own community

i'm not defending anything but i still feel sad and hurt and honestly mortified

imagine if a group of christians (FOR EXAMPLE) went out and shot a bunch of people just like that (COMPLETELY HYPOTHETICAL, THIS IS NOT A REAL SCENARIO I AM TALKING ABOUT)? then i'm sure that lots of christians would be absolutely horrified, right? and maybe they'd start to question their faith and if it's really loving towards everyone (AGAIN, THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL), so yeah, that's how i'm feeling right now

if there was a painless way to go, i'd lwk take it bc i don't want to live around long enough to see what would happen to my family once everything gets out of control, though i guess for a lot of people it would be something to celebrate

i honestly don't blame you ;-;

idek atp bro, i lwk hate the politicians we have in the world today, i hate khameni and trump and everyone else and i'm scared i'll turn into a bitter, hateful person

i don't want to stop being a muslim but then everyone else will hate me for it

might as well just join the lost light or whatever (haha, transformers reference)

[sleepytinyangycutiebean]

TO ALL MY NON-MUSLIM, ICE-LOVING, TRUMP-SUPPORTING, ISLAMOPHOBIC OLD, WHITE, CRUSTY, MUSTY, RACIST PEDO-SUPPORTING AHH AMERICANS IN DESPERATE NEED OF PSYCHIATRIC HELP THAT ISN'T OVERPRICED BECAUSE OF YOUR HEALTHCARE INSURANCE (which is probably a very small percentage of America I hope so the rest of you, please don't freak out), READ THIS POST VERY, VERY CAREFULLY.

Do you have eyes? First of all, to be certain of that fact: take a look in the mirror. You see the two spheres that are lodged into your face, connected by the optic nerve that goes to your brain? Yeah, those are eyes.

Second of all, use them.

Disclaimer: As I was writing this, I realised that I had to acknowledge your feelings somehow so you don't come at me in the comments so here's what I came up with - it is not every member of Islam, but enough to make it a big problem. Which is why I'm here.

Context here: I'm a 16-year-old Muslim (albeit pretty lax). I live in the UK, I don't pray 5 times a day (because A-Levels are looooong and during school, they don't allocate times for every prayer). I go onto Tumblr for art, wholesome posts and updates about my favourite visual novel game ('The Freak Circus' is such a nice game, honestly). Recently, I've been seeing all kinds of conservative posts that I will assume are from the Trump supporters, ICE lovers and people who support Epstein. Basically: every single problematic person in this world.

In this day and age, from what I've seen, you guys really made Islam a hot topic. Especially Muslims. And yeah, it's understandable. September 11th (I use the British way of writing dates, not the American way) wasn't a great move on our part, ISIS and Al-Qaeda earned us folks a lot of haters, there's violence and all kinds of atrocious crimes happening in the Middle Eastern countries where there are Islamist governments (take a look at Iran right now).

Oh? Did you see that? I said "Islamist" government, not "Muslim" government.

AND THIS IS THE PROBLEM.

IF YOU WANT TO HATE ON SOMEONE, AT LEAST HATE ON THE RIGHT GROUP OF PEOPLE. IF YOU (the pedo-loving, racist, Trump's ass-licking, braindead amoebas who are the reason why so much hate exists in the world today) CANNOT DISTINGUISH THE RADICALS FROM THE NORMAL MUSLIMS LIKE ME AND MY FAMILY, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A PROBLEM.

Oh, you want some more context? You think that every single Muslim lives off benefits and the taxes of the oh-so mighty Caucasians? Let me tell you a story...

My father's a stroke consultant. Yes. HE'S A DOCTOR. He did his medical school in Delhi in India and then moved to the UK for better job prospects. In fact, he was originally going to go to America. Now I'm not sure if there is a test that non-American doctors have to take to practise medicine there (like how we have the PLAB exam in the UK) but he did mention one. The reason he didn't go was because his friend didn't pass said test, so he remained in the UK.

After seeing everything that is going on in America right now, no wonder my father doesn't want to go there anymore.

He did his MRCP. Failed once and then twice. Said he was going to quit medicine to my mother and pursue medical law instead. He actually followed through with it, but didn't take the final exam to become a medical lawyer. On the third try, he passed. And you may wonder (understandably): "What's the point of telling us this?" What I'm trying to tell you is that NOT EVERY SINGLE MUSLIM OUT THERE MOOCHES OFF YOUR MONEY.

Going back to what I previously said: my father is a CONSULTANT. Not a resident, not even someone who's just started specialising. HE. IS. A. CONSULTANT. Definitely more than TEN years of training, okay? Consultants earn HANDSOMELY because they're so experienced. WHICH MEANS THAT HE HAS TO PAY A WHOLE LOAD OF TAX.

MY FATHER PAYS TAXES AND HE IS A MUSLIM. IF YOUR RELATIVE HAD A STROKE, IT IS HIM WHO YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GET HELP FROM. HE IS THE ONE THAT DIAGNOSES THE PATIENT AND RECCOMENDS TREATMENT. JUST THINK ABOUT THAT FOR ONE SECOND. THERE ARE MUSLIMS OUT THERE WHO ARE SAVING LIVES. YES: MUSLIMS. M-U-S-L-I-M-S. Allah-lovers. Qur'an-readers. They did medical school in the same way and studied the same things that every doctor studies to become a professional healthcare practitioner.

My mother. She's a nerd and I love her for it. She had two scholarships, went to AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) and JNU. The second scholarship she earned by competing in a national competition to earn a place to do her PhD in Molecular Biology. Her thesis is as thick as my OCR A GCSE Biology textbook and she did her teachers' training at Brunel University. She's a teacher at a secondary school, a thankless job but a job nonetheless. My point: SHE ALSO PAYS TAXES AND SHE IS A MUSLIM.

BOTH MY PARENTS ARE MUSLIMS AND SOMEHOW, I'M NOT FORCED TO WEAR A HIJAB, I'M NOT FORCED TO STAY AT HOME AND GET MARRIED OFF TO SOME RANDOM DUDE FOUR TIMES MY AGE.

So what's going on here?

You are confusing "Islamist" with "Muslim". These people are Muslims. My parents came from India. They were legal, they have a British passport and speak English just fine, even if they have an accent. My parents believe in Muhammad (PBUH) but they also believe in Musa (Moses PBUH) and Isa (Jesus PBUH). They support Palestine but do not slander the Jews because obviously, not every single Jew supports what Israel is doing. And harming innocent people in Iran just like that? That can never be condoned.

If you want to gang up against the Islamists. Be my guest. Islamists are ISIS, AL-Qaeda and the terrorists who carry out suicide bombings. They are the child molesters, the predators, the scumbags within our community. But do not get them confused with Muslims. NEVER mix the two of them because once you do, you are bringing people like my mother and father into this. You are bringing so many other people into this who have a life, a job, a family and friends just like you. You will create a false picture in your head that all followers of Islam are out to get you.

For example: "All Muslims are child predators". Mate, I am 16 years old. I AM a child. If I supported something as problematic as that, I'D BE SUPPORTING MY OWN DEHUMANISATION. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE.

Now change it to: "All ISLAMISTS are child predators". Because that's probably what most of them are if they're supporting things going on in Iran.

For all of you who are going to come at us and say "Ohh but Muhammad (PBUH) married a 6-year-old and went to bed with her when she was 9, all Muslims are like that". I can confirm that that has never happened to me. Ever. In some parts of the world (and it's abhorrent, repulsive and vile) it DOES happen and it happens in the countries where there are ISLAMIST governments. THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT TRUE MUSLIMS. THEY ARE A PLAGUE.

EDUCATE YOURSELVES. IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY ANYMORE. I'M SICK OF IT. I'M GENUINELY SO TIRED OF THIS. I THOUGHT IT WAS RAGEBAIT AND NOW I'M ASTONISHED AT HOW NOBODY IS DOING THEIR RESEARCH.

HATE THE ISLAMISTS. NOT THE MUSLIMS.

I will be putting links for you all to read (if your neurons aren't severely degraded enough already) about the difference between Islamists and Muslims. Please, please, PLEASE ingrain it into your brain (if you have one, or whatever device passes for one over there) because the longer you lump us all together, the more harm you're going to be causing to people like my family in the end.

Thanks for listening to me crash out.

The difference between Muslims, Islamists, and Jihadists (explained by an ex-Islamist)

A blogpost by Rishvin Ismath, founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka.

Islam and Islamism are often conflated, but they represent fundamentally different ideas.

^ A Christian website, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is an interesting provenance. I gathered from all the comments glazing the blatant misinformation that quite a lot of you are Christian. Maybe check this one out.

Muslims vs. Islamists

Islamism is not a form of the Muslim faith or an expression of Muslim piety; it is, rather, a political ideology that strives to derive legi

Islamism, Salafism, Jihadism: Understanding Key Differences

Shadi Hamid clarifies the distinctions between Islamism, Salafism, and jihadism amid recent attacks.

14K views · 161 reactions | "Islamism should never be confused with Islam." Communities sec Michael Gove makes a distinction between the de

"Islamism should never be confused with Islam." Communities sec Michael Gove makes a distinction between the definition of 'Islamist and th

Defining – and distinguishing between – the terms Islam and Islamism has broad consequences for America, both domestically and international

^ Whilst I disagree with the bit about Islamist beliefs not being wrong, this person makes some very interesting points and if it shall help you understand better, then I shall put it in here. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything or make you believe in something that isn't the truth. There is a lot of verified history (you can check the references at the end and the legitimacy of the person who wrote it). Also, THEY'RE WHITE.

Islamism - Wikipedia

Criticism of Islamism - Wikipedia

^ Normally, I don't use Wikipedia for looking up things. Only use it as a starting point, do not believe everything you see on Wikipedia because of trolling. Scroll down to the bibliography and read the references where certain bits of information came from. Those sources you can trust.

Now I'm also going to put some of these in here as well. This will contradict what I have mentioned earlier on in my long rant and this will prove my point. These are all criticisms of Islam and guess what? I AGREE. MARRYING A CHILD IS WRONG. HITTING YOUR WIFE IS WRONG. ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE WRONG. Muslims have to evolve with society to keep the religion alive. As the FPRI article states: there is no single definition of Islam and where I live and from all the Muslim people that I have met in Britain, all of them send their children to school, none of them are married and they want them to get jobs.

Islam has its ups and downs. I will not hide them from you. I'm not here to sugarcoat it. I'm here to tell you the truth. There will always be bad people in every group of people. Society has changed from the early ages of Islam to the modern day. What was acceptable then, is not acceptable now.

Criticism of Muhammad - Wikipedia

Once again, scroll down to the references section and click on those articles to read.

Okay, I'm done here. I'm tired... goodbye.

[sleepytinyangycutiebean]

Q&A

hello

i am a muslim :D

before i tell you something, i'd like to tell you a scenario:

imagine there is a cookie jar, i have poisoned some of the cookies, you have no idea HOW MANY are poisoned and HOW BADLY the poison will affect you

EXHIBIT A: you take your chance and try a cookie, there is a chance you may eat it without any problems or you eat it and the poison's effects will take hold

EXHIBIT B: you ignore the cookies completely and get on with life, after a while, all the cookies become stale

EXHIBIT C: you put on your PPE and conduct a rigorous testing of all the cookies to determine which ones are not poisoned and which ones are poisoned so you can eat the safe ones

if you decide to go for exhibit A, you are taking a great risk, there's a chance you may get a poisoned cookie (which would obviously be bad) BUT there's also the chance that you may get a nice cookie (which would be good), the CHANCE is there but because you don't know what your odds are, it is very hard to be certain of anything in this scenario which definitely makes it unsafe

if you decide to go for exhibit B, you are playing the safest option, you protect yourself from the poisoned cookies and you remain unharmed, however, you miss out on the chance of the good cookies and the cookies will all taste bad (if you decide to come back, take your chances and get lucky, that is)

if you decide to go for exhibit C, you will be able to identify the good cookies from the bad cookies but it will take time and during that time, nothing is stopping the cookies from becoming stale

there is no way to win in this situation

imagine the poisoned cookies are islamists (people who believe in islamic political ideology) and muslims (followers of islam without believing in the political side)

the problem with the first scenario is that you could have a run-in with an islamist (and that would be extremely problematic), emphasis on COULD

the problem with the second scenario is that although you don't meet an islamist, by pushing both islamists and muslims away, you will alienate both islamists AND muslims, to me, the cookies becoming stale represents how when you're isolated, you become bitter towards everyone

imagine your friendgroup ended up bullying you and hurting you, would you feel friendship towards them? the same could be said here for all the MUSLIMS experiencing this kind of alienation - how long do you expect us to be okay with being compared to TERRORISTS? i understand that gr00m1ng gangs are vile, i understand that child marriage and abuse is cruel so why am i put into the group that does all of that ie: what the helly did I do?!

like, are you afraid i'll jump you? i don't even have the physical capability for that even if i WANTED to (i'm a couch potato man)

the problem with the third scenario is that whilst you are able to get a definitive result, bad things will still continue to happen in the background so you may solve one problem but there will be another one to solve, then another one, then another - you can never catch up

i feel like most countries dealing with radical islam are at exhibit C but are slowly moving towards exhibit B by banning the niqab, making halal meat illegal (correct me on that one because i may be wrong) and so on

this is why i made this corner so an analogy can help us visualise this

obviously this analogy is not wholly representative because it doesn't account for any external factors (for example: if you have had any issues with cookies BEFORE that would influence your judgement before you even SAW the cookie jar) but then again, the atomic model that we have isn't fully accurate either

idk why i yapped on and on and on about this, i was just fed up of people using islamist and muslim interchangeably

if you guys have anything to say to me, i am welcome to answering questions or listening to stuff about life and things like that (I AM NOT BY ANY MEANS A PROFESSIONAL SO WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO GET IS MY OWN OPINION THAT MAY NOT BE FACTUALLY ACCURATE) however i have a criteria for you all:

be respectful (no swearing, no name-calling, no d3@th threats, no r@p3 threats, no threats towards my family or friends or towards each other in the comments) i will screenshot you, report you and post your comment to lots of other people warning them about the kind of person that you are

know the difference between islamist and muslim, think about it this way: to me, if you say "all MUSLIMS are terrorists", you imply that i, a 17-year-old girl currently studying for her a-levels, is going around jumping people with a bomb, however if you say that "all ISLAMISTS are terrorists", you are containing that statement to the islamic governments and the people who believe for extreme political ideology to be in place

if you're going to accuse me of being a p3d0ph1l3, do note that in point number 2, i have explicitly stated my age: why would i support a crime that encourages my own dehumanisation? i will either not respond to you or you will get an extremely cold reply, if you decide to harass me with this, just like point number 1, i will screenshot you, report you and post your comment to other people, warning them about the kind of person that you are

when you're talking about head coverings, do tell me what one you're referring to because hijab ≠ niqab and i have different views on each of them

do tell me how many actual muslim people you have met in your life versus how much media about terrorism you consume so i can have further context into what it is that shapes your views

for any ex-muslim people (only if you're comfortable because i know that everyone has their reasons), please share the reason why you decided to convert from islam to another religion (it helps provide the context so i don't jump the gun)

tell me if you're quoting from the hadiths or the Qur'an (basically, in my opinion and a lot of other muslims' opinions: Qur'an > hadith), some hadiths i may not even know because i don't read them at all

no other kind of discrimination is welcome here, even if you're a muslim and you're going to put down other religions, i will screenshot you, report you and broadcast your comment to other people in order to tell them what kind of person you really are behind the screen, basically: DO NOT HARASS ANYONE ELSE ON THIS POST

any backhanded apologies will also be screenshotted, (not reported) and shared because that's not an apology, i'm not stupid and it tells me what kind of person you really are behind the screen

by no means am i a professional about islam, i'm only going to share my opinion because people need to hear about islam from the REAL muslims, not the islamists

take care, stay safe <3 love from the UK

PS: here is an example of a comment i do not wish to receive:

^ (had a look at their account and they're a trump supporter T_T so i guess that says something)

i am very bad at phrasing things and because i am fasting during ramadan (and i get hangry) i will try my very best not to sound abrupt, rude, insensitive or unkind however, if i DO sound like that please call me out nicely and give me an example of how to do better:

example: "hey, i know this may not be what you meant but to me, you sounded a little harsh, is it okay if you could [insert example of how to be better] next time? i hope that i have not misread the situation"

basically: if you're nice to me, i'm nice to you

thanks for listening to my TED talk

PPS: <3 ramadan mubarak to anyone celebrating :3