Busting the Top 3 Myths About Islam
Islam is a religion of peace, prosperity, humanity, equality and spirituality.
Many people around the globe, however, have misconception relating to the principles and teachings of Islam. Some Muslims themselves confuse traditions with religion, giving rise to Bidat (additions in Islam). Such misconceptions and additions are the Myths which make Islam seem as a conservative religion.
The misconception is due to the anti-Islamic practices carried out by few distracted Muslims, those who find the luxuries of the modernized world more attracted than following the principles of Islam. This gives people of other religions a very different and incorrect picture of Islam.
Some of the major Myths will be discussed in this article.
ISLAM OPPRESSES WOMEN:
One of the numerous myths is that the Islam is a religion that degrades women. The misconception exists because in few countries like SaudiArabia, men dominate women, single-handedly. According to Saudi traffic law, women have no right to drive and that’s the reason that they are not entitled to a driving license. In fact, Women in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to vote till last year.
These are the laws made by the Muslims themselves in order to self-design their society while such laws are unrelated to the teachings of Islam. In majority of the situations,Islam provides equal rights to every Muslim woman and every Muslim man.
Additionally, many Muslims believe that it’s forbidden in Islam for women to work and earn a living for one self. As a matter of fact, that is not true, a woman is allowed to work and earn a living if her family is suffering from financial hardships.
JIHAD BY SWORD AND KILLING NON-BELIEVERS:
Another myth that contributes to the growing misconception towards Islam around the globe is that Islam promotes Jihad to spread Islam by sword and killing all non-believers. That is completely an incorrect meaning of the term JIHAD.
Jihad is an Islamic and broad term that refers to the religious duty of the Muslims, to strive and struggle in the way of Allah. Even if a Muslim compromises its anti-Islamic desires in order to follow the path of righteousness, that is also jihad. Islam is a religion that teaches to respect the non-believers but not to kill them and it’s a religion of peace and not violence.
ALL MUSLIMS ARE ARABS:
All Muslims are Arab and all Arabs are Muslims is another myth that has been prevalent for a while now. A Muslim, by definition, is someone who believes in the Unity of Allah and believes that Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is the last Messenger sent by Allah. Islam is the religion of over 1.6 billion people around the world and only around 15% of these are Arabs.
On the other hand Indonesia and India are the nations with largest Muslim population and Arabs also represents a number of different religions like Christians and Jews in Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and etc.
The Holy Quran is the primary source of information for the purpose of gaining knowledge of Islam. So the Quran should be consulted rather than falling for any inappropriate conclusions or misconceptions.