Thoughts of a Doubting Christian ✓

Thoughts on Islam

Especially amidst the current political climate and the conflict in the Middle East, Islam is a hot-button subject that gets many people heated. I always want to join in the discussions about Islam, but I've kept my mouth shut until now because I knew almost nothing about the religion. You can't speak on what you don't know!

So, in order to educate myself about Islam, I've spent the past handful months studying the Quran, cross-referencing it with the Hadiths and other explanations given by Islamic scholars to make sure I was comprehending it. And let me tell you — at least in the US, both the political right AND the political left get a lot of things wrong when it comes to Islam. (For more on this, I suggest looking up Ali Rizvi, author of The Atheist Muslim; he's a smart dude.)

First, the US political right. It's no secret that the far right has had a field day vilifying and dehumanizing Muslims. From the attempted immigration ban on Muslim-majority nations to the current ban still in effect, President Trump has kept his campaign promises and made it clear that Muslims are not welcome in the US. This has emboldened alt-right extremists to carry out acts of violence against innocent people, including vandalizing mosques, setting fire to Muslim-owned businesses, ripping off women's veils, and beating up or murdering Muslims. Hate crimes such as these have been on the rise since 2015. Some Christians, especially conservative and/or fundamentalist Christian groups, have been quick to jump on the bandwagon. This is partially due to the tension that has existed between Christians and Muslims for centuries, although this by no means justifies it.

In fact, let's clear one thing up right now: hate crimes are NEVER okay. Nothing justifies attacking/threatening people based on their religion, race, gender, or sexuality. I can't believe I actually have to say this, but whatever your opinion of Islam as a religion, it should NOT affect how you treat Muslims, whether they are US citizens, refugees, or citizens of other nations. I repeat: no matter what you think of Islam, Muslims have the right to be treated with kindness, dignity, and respect, just like any other human being!

(Honestly, why do I even have to say that? Seriously, people!)

So, is the way that the US political right treats Muslims wrong? YES, 100%! But does that mean that the US political left is automatically correct? Well . . . not exactly.

While the right makes the mistake of vilifying Muslims as a whole, the left makes the mistake of vilifying anyone who has the slightest critique of the religion itself, calling all critics "Islamophobic." The left does so to try to protect people, which is a well-meaning cause. Let me be clear: you should always defend people when you see that they are being treated unfairly! But as Ali Rizvi says, "that doesn't mean we must protect and defend all of their beliefs as well, many of which are just as illiberal as the beliefs of Christian fundamentalists." (Yes, Christian fundamentalists, we're looking at you. You pick on Islam, but your beliefs are problematic, too.)

Islamophobia is alive and well in America, perpetuated by the right and fueled by hate speech. But just because people critique the religion of Islam doesn't automatically mean that they are Islamophobic (i.e. the dislike of, prejudice against, or irrational fear of Islam/Muslims). As long as they're being respectful about their concerns, they should be free to point out issues with any religion, whether Islam, Christianity, or otherwise.

As I said earlier, I spent much of this summer studying the major Islamic texts in order to better understand the religion. After all of that study, I can confidently say that both sides of the US political debate are wrong. The right paints Muslims with a broad brush, committing hate crimes and making negative assumptions due to the actions of a few. Meanwhile, the left goes too far in the opposite direction, virulently attacking anyone who says anything negative about Islam itself, even those who have studied Islam's religious texts and history extensively and know what they're talking about.