Why are people so ignorant about Islam?

Question

I've seen many people reply to certain question regarding Islam on here. And to say the truth, judging by their replies, I can tell that their only source of education regarding this religion is Fox news. Whenever someone mentions Islam, it's always connected with terrorism or something violent. How arrogant can people get? Go learn about the religion before you point fingers people.

Answer 1

i think many people have misguided views but many more are fully aware of the beliefs in islam

i happen to completely disagree with the vast majority of islamic teachings that doesn't mean i'm ignorant quite the opposite actually  

Answer 2

Your words are empty to me. I have learned a lot about islam, and I do not like it. Why can't you understand that? It is quite obvious that islam is a very violent religion. Sure, many followers are not violent. So what. A great many are, too, too many.

Answer 3

No religion offers proof.  I am only interested in proof.

Answer 4

Because the Quran is not in English, French, Spanish or Chinese.

Answer 5

Islam is actually a pretty new concept to some people. Expect ridicule and specualtion. Its normal

Answer 6

Why?  Because Americans learn virtually NOTHING about religion in school.  (In part, it is because of a fear of violating some silly notions about the meaning of "separation of church and state".)  And if people never learn anything about world religions in school, they are left with few other options (unless they have some personal initiative to study up on their own which could be simple on the Internet).....and that means relying on the news media by default.  

Studies show that people who get most of their information about the world from the news (instead of by reading books and getting a broad education) will think that the murder rate is much higher than it is. After all, news (especially sound-bite TV news) is all about the UNUSUAL and BOMBASTIC......and that usually means VIOLENT EVENTS.  So how likely is it that a "non-violent" news event involving Islamic peoples or nations will be broadcast? Not very.

And yes, there is a lot of arrogance. (Indeed, just look at how often people on this forum respond to reasonable questions with name calling and claims of superiority etc.) And people tend to be afraid of what they don't understand.

And with Islam, a lot of Americans wonder why there are not more "moderates" from within Islam who denounce the terrorists and the extremists. Of course, in part that is because the media doesn't necessarily give a lot of air time to the moderate voices -- but in fairness to the media, they often complain that too many moderate Muslims are AFRAID to speak out against terrorists and others.  So in all fairness, I think some of the blame may lie at the feet of Muslims who ALLOW the extremists to define all of Islam by default. For example, every time Americans hear a Muslim call in to a radio program and declare that Israel must be driven into the sea and every Jewish man, woman, and child killed, other Muslims need to step up and declare loudly (e.g. by calling in that radio program): "The previous caller does not speak for Islam. We believe in peace." and why don't I ever hear Muslims in such contexts quoting from the Quran where it says that Allah loves mercy and the merciful....and Allah loves all the children of Abraham (PBUH)???

By the way, I think Americans also wonder why the enormous wealth of Islamic oil producing nations has not been invested in vast university networks producing doctors and scientists to bring knowledge and healing and progress to the world? And they wonder why natural disasters in the Islamic world bring larger donations from the "Christian" nations than from Muslims around the world. Americans have many questions (like these) concerning Islam -- but rarely hear any answers coming from the Islamic community.

So I agree that many people are at fault for their ignorance and intolerance concerning Islam. But I think it is also true that Islamic moderates need to do far more to speak up and speak out against those who defame Islam by their actions and words. Replace ignorance with knowledge? Are not all followers of Mohammad (PBUH) commanded by Allah to share his truths with the entire world? Why are Muslims so silent in DEFINING THEMSELVES instead of letting the terrorists and extremists define Islam for the rest of the world?

Answer 7

I'm not Muslim but my husband is.  I was offended by my grandmother's opinion...and still am.  She thinks that all Muslims are terrorist.  I love my husband and know enough about the religion to know she is wrong.  I don't know why people believe that.  If they got to know a normal Muslim they would know the truth.

Answer 8

Islam is judged by it's own acts..

It touts itself the "religion of peace" yet it calls for the death of Israel, America, and any other region it deems "anti Islamic"

It riots and kills over cartoons. Bali, Beslan, Spain, England, etc have all experienced the "religion of peace"

If the "moderate" muslims gathered in the numbers and with the volume of those who go offside over cartoons to protest these acts, it would indeed be noticed. However whenever one of these acts is commited, the moderates are usually the first ones to say things like "Oh I don't agree but I can understand because so and such did this and that to offend Islam...It's nothing more than excusing their behavior. As if their claims of being Muslim justifies their actions.

If you don't like what people think, then perhaps more should be done to reign in those who claim they are acting "Islamic" when they commit these atrocities..

Answer 9

There is a high degree of extremism and violence in the name of Islam.

How can I ignore it?

An even larger number of Muslims (still a minority) pander to extremist causes by supporting violent martyrdom, terrorist jihad in Iraq / Afghanistan, and denial of Arab fanatics behind the 9/11 attacks.

I have met Muslims who are excellent people. I don't hold it against them.

But I have no reason to ignore the extremism brewing in the mosques of France, Great Britain and many parts of the Middle East.

P.S. I read the New York Times (liberal bend), CNN online, BBC news online, and conservative political blogs.

Double P.S. I asked Muslims in the Ramadan section (educated, English speaking, eloquent) if they believed in the death penalty for people who convert out of Islam. Nearly half said yes. There's no way to accept violence in the name of religion.

Answer 10

They point their fingers and walk with their noses up in the air and they completely forget that they may stumble too.

The media has taught them to hate muslims so they can justify their illegal wars. Bad people can be of any race and of any religion if they believe that muslims are worse then i must say these individuals have some serious problems bec. humans are humans. Yes. some muslims are really bad and are a shame too but it's just wrong to hate all muslims bec. of a few bad ones.

They call us violent yet the U.S. is the one that has currently invaded two countries and is threatening  a third one.

The west has obviously a few bad ones in their societies too like Fritzle who jailed his daughter in a tiny cell raping her repeatedly for 24 years without anyone noticing anything and then they say that we are uncivilized and evil.  In the U.S. every few weeks we get to hear about some mentally ill person who goes on a shooting spree in schools, shopping malls, universities, churches and then comitts suicide. Not to mention women who are exposed to domestic violence in the U.S. or in the west in general.  Every minute in the U.S. someone gets sexually assaulted.  Just a few days ago a woman in the U.S. was charged with a crime of microwaving her own baby.  What about some of the serial killers who mutilate their victims alive. Why don't they just start looking at their own disasterous society before judging us.??  The problem here is people hating too much and then they explode and comitt their atrocious acts and this is not a muslim problem this is a human race problem.

Also the meda labels only muslims as being terrorists.

Catholic schools have been attacked in India by non muslims but the media made sure not to use the word terrorism once.  I wonder why?!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/75...

Islam has existed for over 1400 years and once upon a time the Islamic world used to be one of the greatest civilization with many great scientists, great mathematicians, literature , great thinkers etc. whereas the west was regarded as barbaric world that still lived in the dark ages.  So Islam is certainly not to blame for the actions of a few evil or ignorant ones in today's world.

  I admit that the Muslim world has to change a lot but the majority of us are not terrorists and also some people say that "all terrorists are muslims" this is again a false accusation and the article above proofs that.

The media is also partly to blame. What other way could the U.S. possibliy justify her support of the terror state israel? How could they justify their illegal war in Iraq?  Why do you think didn't they focus on finding Bin Laden? What about Bush who agreed on torturing muslims in Guantanamo  prison who turned out to be innocent?

Our main problem is that we are a developing world and it's easy for superpower like the U.S. to take advantage of us.

The U.S. could have focused on the real terrorists if they felt so threatened. Bombing the whole region wasn't obviously a very wise thing to do.

Here for the ones who want to read the Quran

http://www.free-minds.org/quran/

Don't call me that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_1hYyV7t...

Arab=muslims=terror=war??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nb9275XZ...

Queen Rania on Arab and Muslim women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyCB-ULCh...

Arab and Muslim women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dDNf4Qyb...

How to break it down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAmJlUdjS...

Edit discord-  Israel is established on land stolen from the Palestinians and the U.S. supports Israels ethnic cleansing and apartheid regime.  Israel has been condemned 500+ times by the U.N. Human Rights Council for violating human rights.

Why does the U.S. support such a criminal state called Israel??  The state of israel is based on terrorism yet the American media would never ever dare to condemn Israel.

Gaza facts Palestinian suffering

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zCbl_NF3...

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCL6WdnuN...

Masscre at Sabra and Shatilla

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xocy0r44f...

These crimes were never condemned and yet you expect us to condemn everything all the time.  We are not supporting our terrorists and we have condemned them but the U.S. is supporting terrorism by supporting Israel and you don't even see that these acts should be condemned in the first place.  To those who are willing to insult 1 billion muslims for a few criminals can go crawl back to their own little world filled with hatred and prejudice.

Answer 11

good question. i dont know anything about islam except about the terrorists and extremists which is why i dont comment on islamic questions. i cant have an opinion on something i dont know anything about. athiests should take this advice

Answer 12

Okay sweetheart, here is the deal. When a culture like that of radical Islam keeps women subjegated and abused as wel as threatens non believers with death and destruction, they deserve to be judge for what they are.

Where are the moderate Muslims? I mean seriously, where?

Also, sometimes words change meaning. I'm sure Jihad at one point truly did mean "Inner stuggle" but now it means "Holy War". That IS the TRUTH. Sorry.

Answer 13

The same reason they are ignorant of the ingredients of the fish food at Leo's pet store.  

Answer 14

Because to the majority of people who know nothing about Islam, the decent Muslim people are tarred with the same brush as the extremists. Sad, but true.

Answer 15

You muslms have given your religion such a bad name that no one even wants to learn about Islam or the so-called "peaceful religion".

If I wanted you to know about Christianity, I would show you the positives by words and deeds.

The words by different muslims do not match each other.  Some say "to kill", etc. etc. while others say the opposite.

The words and actions also do not match with each other.

Please clean your house first before you would want others to know more about your religion.

Answer 16

Fox news reports the news while you may doubt their credibility they do not create these stories.

I learn about Islam by reading the Qu'ran and speaking with Muslims.

I don't ignore the things that you might choose to ignore but have a more objective view.

I don't think basing an opinion on Islam with regard to terrorist on the news is exactly arrogant.

Answer 17

Many people are ignorant of Islam. Although I have read parts of the Quaran I haven't done an in-depth study of it.  Most of the reactions that you see against Islam are based mainly on what they see on the internet, and television and to be honest, I can understand why they react the way they do.  There's no doubt that there is a large and violent faction of Islam present in the world and their tactics can be and are extremely barbarous but then, they aren't the only religion that has carried out such barbarous acts on humanity. The Inquisitions are a case in point.  Man's inhumanity to man is a hideous and ever-present virus that has plagued mankind since Cain murdered Able and shows no signs of abating anytime soon.

Answer 18

When people like you care enough to get Christianity right, I'll start listening to you.

Islam is filled with violent and radical people ~ more so than ANY other religion. Aside from the entire falsehood of your belief system, one of the biggest problems I have with it is ~ whenever an act of violence or terrorism occurs at the hands of Islam's radical adherents, there's no outcry from the rest of you. You remain disturbingly silent.

How ignorant, blind, and hypocritical can you get? Stop demanding others to learn about your religion, and start opening your eyes to the message it's sending.

Answer 19

Fox is the ONLY channel, i never watch.

I use Internet, to get my info from all prospectives.

Period

Answer 20

I don't believe it's ignorance.  

Extremists in the name of islam and allah making news world wide on a daily basis.  Do YOU not read the papers or watch the news -outside of Fox News-

Remember, not all muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are islamic muslims.

Answer 21

I guess I should stop using the Quran as a source for information on Islam.  It kind of gives it a bad image.  Do you suggest I listen to apologetics like you?  

Answer 22

So me asking what Islam was, makes me ignorant. Forbid I ask what it is!

I never say bad things about Islam.

EDIT: I understand, but why not just leave it how it is?? Us Christians get picked on all the time! and sometimes are evern made fun of for our beliefs... so if you can't handle it, then get off yahoo, no offense... you just have to take it like i do. good day.

Answer 23

I can come back and ask all the muslims/islamics why are there so many ignorant about Christianity?

I read a question on here from a muslim girl talking about how there are books about how to convert "your christian neighbor to islam" etc.. wow.. thats all i can say.

I just cant see how you justify peaceful muslims and terrorist muslims all going to heaven..

Why do some live for blowing themselves up and killing others? I guess I fail to see the holiness in that...

Answer 24

Well if all the muslims would pressure the fanatics to stop doing terroristic acts, maybe there would be a change in perspective.

Answer 25

The culture and everything about  a Nation is VERY tied up in what it's people believe.

Just look at the nations of the world, and the way they live- which nation would you pick?

Everyone in the world seems to want to pour into Europe and the USA and Canada. Why?

Islam insists on being a theocracy. A very very cruel theocrasy.

We don't want it.  The FREE world fought off theocracy long ago and we have THE best culture EVER.