11 Little Known Facts About Islam
(with commentary)

By: Dean Tersigni
2015-04-21

This list of 11 facts about Islam has been making rounds on the Internet, but it has always lacked the necessary critical approach that should accompany all Internet forwards. Here is the list repeated with my personal commentary. I've reworded a few of the "facts" due to poor grammar, but left the spirit of the message intact.
        It should go without saying that the beliefs of any religious person varies, so when I say, "people of this religion believe such-and-such," I'm referring to the majority rather than the individual.

1.) Allah is not a special Muslim God, it's just the word "God" translated into Arabic!

"Allah" is a special Muslim god, despite the semantics of this argument. Remember that the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) do not ascribe a name to their gods, but instead use titles like "God" or "Lord." In the Hebrew Torah, you will find Yahweh, in the Greek New Testament, you will find Theos, and in the Arabic Quran, you will find Allah. These words all translate to the same English title: "God." However, just like how calling three people "Doctor," doesn't make them the same person, calling three deities "God," doesn't make them the same god. Here are some examples of how to determine if the god of each religion is the same.

1. Read how the Torah, New Testament, and Quran describe its god; do they give the same attributes?
2. Ask a Rabbi, Priest, and Mullah if they all worship the same god.
3. Ask Jews, Christians, and Muslims to tell you how their god wants you to live; do they all agree?
4. Examine countries that identify with a religious ideology; do Israel (Jewish), Great Britain (Christian), and Iraq (Islam) have similar morals, laws, and punishments?

2.) Muslims believe 100% in Jesus Christ and his immaculate conception.

While this statement may make Islam seem more favorable to Christians, it is not being completely honest. The belief that Jesus was born of a virgin is important to Christians, but it's not nearly as important as the belief that Jesus was their god in human form. Muslims, however, regard it as blasphemy to think that Jesus was a god, and instead view him as a mortal human prophet.

3.) Muslims believe in all scriptures of the Torah and the Bible, not only the Quran.

This is another statement that is presented in a dishonest manner. Muslims believe that the original Torah and New Testament were the work of their god, but they do not believe that the current Torah or New Testament are authentic. They believe that these books were corrupted by men throughout history and that the original manuscripts have been lost to the ages. Islam teaches that Muhammad was sent to restore these manuscripts which led to the creation of the Quran which they believe to be the only perfect holy book.

4.) Christians and Jews are respected in the Quran and referred to as, "People of the Book," not, "kafirs."

Kafir is Arabic for "infidel" which the Quran describes as anyone who doesn't follow the laws of the Quran. Kafirs are described as evil and deserving of death and torment. However, other parts of the Quran suggest that God will distinguish favorably between Jews and Christians and kafir. Over the years, Muslim clerics have argued and disagreed over which groups are kafir, some exclude other religious people like Hindus and Buddhists, others do not. Regardless of what the Quran says, what matters is how its followers act, and the fact is, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have been killing each other for centuries and will continue to do so because they can't respect each others beliefs.

5.) There are Muslims from every ethnicity not just Arabs.

This is an important point to make, but it is irrelevant as to whether the religion is true.

6.) The Virgin Mary wore a hijab and nuns wear hijabs, but nobody says they were being oppressed. Each holy book says woman must cover themselves conservatively, actually the Quran is less strict then the others.

I'll say it right now: all women in the Jewish society during Mary's life were highly oppressed and anyone who demands women cover their hair is most definitely oppressing them. The Torah is extremely oppressive to women and the New Testament doesn't do them any favors. Again, it doesn't matter if the Quran isn't as strict on paper, what matters is how strict Muslims are in practice. Look at the laws restricting women in Muslim countries, and you'll see just how strict they are.

7.) Muslims aren't the only ones prohibited from eating pork, the Torah and the Bible forbid it as well.

Yes, but all you're really saying is that the laws of the Quran are just as out of touch and ridiculous as the other Abrahamic religions.

8.) There are extremist in every religion.

Again, if you suggest, "other religions have psychopaths too," you're not making a very good case for yourself. The sad fact is, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic extremists who murder others are just following the letter of the law found in their cherished books. You may claim that these passages are taken out of context, but if their texts were really about peace and love, this shouldn't be possible. For example, if a book contains nothing but variations of, "be excellent to each other," it would be very hard to justify strapping bombs onto children and detonating them in crowded markets.

9.) The reason women pray behind men is not cause they're being oppressed, but because it's hard for a man to pray when a woman puts her butt in his face, and disrespectful to him as well!

This statement is insulting and oppressive to both men and women. Men are not feral beasts who can't control their libidos when a woman is present, likewise, women are not frigid maids, but in fact are often aroused by a man's posterior. Also, what about homosexual men and women? They are attracted to the butts of the same sex, yet they're forced to pray together? Considering the fact that many Islamic countries execute people who engage in homosexual sex, it's pretty obvious why they're ignored. And why does this statement say it's disrespectful for a woman to put her butt near a man's face, but doesn't seem to have a problem with the men who put their butts in a woman's face? Isn't that just as disrespectful?

10.) The Quran is the only holy book that contains the phrase, "marry only one." There are no other religious books that instruct men to have only one wife. Islam gives a man permission to marry two, three, or four women, only on the condition that he deals with them justly.

If the Quran says, "marry only one," then why does it also say to treat your multiple wives justly? Once again, this statement isn't honest. The Quran actually suggests men practice polygamy by taking wives among the widows and orphans whose fathers and husbands were killed in battle. Muhammad himself had at least eleven wives (around nine at the same time). Among them was Aisha who was six-years-old when they were married, and nine-years-old when Muhammad started having sex with her. Others include Rayhana, a Jew who was Muhammad's slave before they were married; Juwayriyya, another slave whom Muhammad refused to free even after her father offered to buy her back; and Maria, a Coptic Christian slave woman sent to Muhammad as a gift.

11.) Islam is not just a religion but a way of life!

This is a completely true statement… in the sense that Islam controls every aspect of your life including what food you can't eat, what clothing you're forced to wear, what types of sex you can't have and with whom you can't have it, which civil rights you must give up, which sexual preference and gender you can't identify with, what books you can't read, which economic models you can't practice, who you're not allowed to associate with, and so on.

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