by Nzinga Muhammad
The never-ending propaganda that demonizes Muslims and our entire faith gets annoying. More than annoying, it gets dangerous. This rhetoric has become a fact to many people, but it is a sinister view of Muslims and our faith that bears no tangible truth. The lies, myths, and straight up foolishness that I see and hear about Muslims needs to be debunked, and completely thrown away from our thinking.
“Muslims don’t believe in God or Jesus, they believe in Allah”
This is literally one of the most ignorant statements I’ve ever been encountered with. This lie attempts to accuse Islam as being anti-Christian and some radical religion with a grudge against Jesus. Jesus is loved and appreciated in Islam. In the Holy Qur’an, his mother Maryam (Mary) has an entire chapter dedicated to her. Muslims generally don’t worship Jesus as God, but see him as an important Prophet and Servant of Allah, and a good example in his obedience to God.
Do people who say that quote know what “Allah” means in English? It translates to God. If you are a person of any other faith besides Islam, and you speak arabic, then you would also say “Allah”. Jesus being a man who did not speak English, but most likely Arabic, would have said “Allah” too. We don’t have a “Muslim god”. There is but One God.
Muslims like ISIS want to kill everyone *inserts false verse allegedly from the Qur’an*
ISIS doesn’t even pray in the same direction as us, let alone read from the Qur’an! As far as I’m concerned, they are not Muslim. They are far off from Islam and the true teachings of it. Of course, you will have those who use the Qur’an as justification for their own political agenda. Kind of how the Bible was used to justify chattel slavery. Often times, people who claim that Muslims want to kill everyone, bring up verses from the Quran that have either been misinterpreted completely, or aren’t even in the book. If you’re going to quote the book, at least read it. Muslims do not want to kill everyone. And if you have read the Qur’an you would have read that it says killing one person is like killing all of mankind ( Surah 5:32). Don’t believe the hype.
Islam is wrong because all Muslims have an agenda to wage Jihad against America.
True “jihad” is the struggle with self. It truly is about overcoming war with yourself; your own personal challenges, often times, spiritual. Muslims are never to be the aggressors, however if we are attacked first, then fighting back is never a bad thing. In terms of a physical war, as Minister Farrakhan has said before, “No leader of any Muslim nation can call for Jihad or Holy War and cause the Muslim world to obey that call.”
I’ve been Muslims all of my life, and I’ve never been told to hate people of other faiths, or that it’s wrong to love Jesus. Islamophobia gets tiring. It, unfortunately, extends beyond some troll on twitter. This is propaganda that has been repeated post-9/11, and has not stopped since. This shaped the minds of many Americans (and people around the world) to potentially mistreat Muslims. Women have had their hijabs pulled off of their heads, and hate crimes against Muslims have happened many times. Words are powerful and should never be taken lightly, especially when it perpetuates harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about people of an entire faith.
(Nzinga Muhammad is based in Rochester, NY. Follow her on Twitter @QueenNzinga13)