An open discussion / dialog between Christians and Muslims

[francisca]

exoflare:

What strikes me as particularly odd is that even though he’s recognized by his peers as having read the Quran front to back in the “official” way, every time I ask him a particularly tough question about his faith I pretty much always get the response “I’ll have to ask my imam.” He seems like a very tolerant person usually, just like you mentioned, but a lot of times you can tell his religion is really just so engrained into his cultural identity that he will adamantly defend it no matter what.

Like you, I have also generally found that the Muslims who are more “religious” and understand the Quran and the original interpretations more on their own (usually they tend to come straight from foreign countries in the instances I’ve seen) do indeed tend to be more prejudicial toward certain things.

Yes, there are millions and millions of muslims do not speak Arabic, they do not understand their Quran, but willing to defend their religion.

Outside Arab area, Islam is more noticeable as “a form of solidarity” than as a doctrine.

 

[Irene]

The Muslim speaker at the interfaith talk is originally Sri Lankan, and she said very forcefully that the “brand” of Islam practiced there has traditionally been a moderate, folkloric, cultural Islam.

 

[Prayer_Warrior]

My daughter’s soccer coach is a Muslim from Morocco. He is my husbands best friend. He would do almost anything for our family and is a very nice guy. We have had some discussions of faith. He has asked the “normal” kinds of questions that Muslims ask, ie. if Jesus was God who did he pray to? etc. All of our discussions have been polite and respectful. I have met some of his family and they are the same as he is.

Interestingly, our friend also had a Moroccan Muslim friend that we got to know through soccer. He was not very nice or respectful. He is living in America and has nothing good to say about America. He is not a good guy.

My conclusion based on what I’ve seen first hand: there are good Muslims and there are bad Muslims and everything in between. Just like every other religion out there.

I am a very open minded person and although I have specific reasons for disagreeing with Islam I do not bash. You are right that some out there live for bashing and that is not necessary. But there is nothing wrong with questions and there is nothing wrong with defending our own faith.

Good thread Muslim!

 

[pro_universal]

I have made plenty of muslim friends, and they have all been respectful, honest, good people. Especially those I’ve met who have been Arabs, I can honestly say I’ve never met a single one who was not warm, open, and generous.

 

[Dimmers]

I lived briefly in Astoria Queens. Lots of Muslims from Pakistan. One in particular was this sweet lady who baby-sat my best friend’s kids. She was very hospitable. Cooked some wonderful dishes. I don’t know the names of them but they were great. One was a spicy beef stew type thing, a SUPER spicy shrimp in some type of sauce as well (identical to the beef dish) and the other which was a favorite of mine was these Spicy Hamburger looking patties. Wonderful lady. Wonderful people.

 

[Muslim]

thanks for responding everyone
the more people here that respond the better…
see, Muslims are just like anybody else…there are nice people, there are not so nice people… and anti American is not really a Muslim thing…most people outside America hates us…i wish they didnt and they could really see what a great country ours is but oh well. USA! USA! (sometimes i feel like a redneck… only thing missing is a can of bud and hot dog and a shot gun)
lets get this thread going…any non Muslims got a q for a Muslim, feel free to ask…

 

[Lance]

Muslim:

thanks for responding everyone
the more people here that respond the better…
see, Muslims are just like anybody else…there are nice people, there are not so nice people… and anti American is not really a Muslim thing…most people outside America hates us…i wish they didnt and they could really see what a great country ours is but oh well. USA! USA! (sometimes i feel like a redneck… only thing missing is a can of bud and hot dog and a shot gun)
lets get this thread going…any non Muslims got a q for a Muslim, feel free to ask…

I asked ‘Muslim’ but anyother followers of Islam, make that anyone knowledgable on the issue, should feel free to give their opinion of the situation in Lebanon. Rather than repeat my question please see post #18 in this thread.

 

[Lance]

Dimmers:

I lived briefly in Astoria Queens. Lots of Muslims from Pakistan. One in particular was this sweet lady who baby-sat my best friend’s kids. She was very hospitable. Cooked some wonderful dishes. I don’t know the names of them but they were great. One was a spicy beef stew type thing, a SUPER spicy shrimp in some type of sauce as well (identical to the beef dish) and the other which was a favorite of mine was these Spicy Hamburger looking patties. Wonderful lady. Wonderful people.

The hamburger looking patties were probably kafka.

 

[Muslim]

Lance:

Muslim,
My son in law is a Christian from southern Lebanon. He said that the civil war in Lebanon was the fault of the Palestinians who came into Lebanon when they left Israel, or were driven out depending on your point of view. He gets along with most Lebanise Moslems but detests the Palestinians for what he said they did and are doing to his country. He thinks the Syrians were a little better than the PLO and the Israelis a little better than the Syrians. He wants them all out of Lebanon, including the Palestinians most of who were born in Lebanon.** Are you familiar with the situation there and if so what is your perspective as a Muslim?**

oh did not see that…
well I don’t know too much about the Palestinians in Lebanon. However, I do have few Syrian and Lebanese friends. All of them are Christians and they dislike each other. There are sometimes fights between Lebanese Muslims and Christians but one thing all of them have in common is their dislike for Israel. They have I would call something of a sibling rivalry kind of thing with Palestine but when it comes to Palestine vs Israel, all of them supports Israel. With the PLO gone, lets see what Hamas does. I honestly have high hopes for them, if they decide to stop killing civilians.