Faith tainted by wrong-doings

Hi all

Daw'ud's letter to the editor in this post http://www.islamicboard.com/world-affairs/22642-iraqi-womens-battle-just-beginning.html#post349230 made me think:

How do we deal with situations when we feel our faiths are tainted by the actions of other fellow-believers?

Recently I was reading a book about the history of Christianity, and I came across parts in distant and recent history which, quite frankly, I would love to erase from the records!
Why?
Because, in my mind and my understanding, some people have done and still do things in the name of Christ, which are entirely un-Christian!

Equally, I understand, that many Muslims would say that some things which have and are being done in the name of Muhammed and Allah, are not always Islamic. (Is that fair to say?)

Not only is it bad enough when people make mistakes which may reflect badly on your religion, you can also bet your bottom dollar that somebody (usually the media) will be there, ready to launch their assault.
Often, that's what leads to stereotyping:
All Muslims oppress their women!
All Christians support the Iraq war!
(You get the idea!)

I was once chatting to a couple of Christians who ran a stall with Christian books and other items. A friend of mine, who describes herself as a white witch, came along, and when addressed by one of the Christian ladies, launched into a tirade of "What you people did to my people during the witch hunts in the middle ages ... don't talk to me!"
Frankly, I was flabberghasted at her strong reaction. (And I spend the next hour over a cup of tea explaining that I was a Christian too. And yes, we are still friends! ;D )

Question:
How do you deal with people doing wrong and reflecting badly on your faith?

Some possible reactions may be:
1. Go into denial and pretend it isn't true. The media are lying. It's a conspiracy.
2. Try to change the people who caused the damage in the first place (possible if it is a friend, not so easy of we are talking about a person in high power)
3. Try to emphasise the positives of your religion (as Daw'ud was trying to in his letter)

Feel free to share what you think.
Or what you're experiences have been.

:thankyou: Peace.

I usually do the one you haven't included, number 4: Take the mickey.

Sarcasm is fun, comedy is good, laughter heals and I don't get shot.

More seriously, I think the best approach is to show the best aspects of the religion rather than going into denial about the actions of some of its followers.

Numbers matter. The only thing that can be done is to educate the masses by the intellectually superior.

I pretty much try to follow along with what Muezzin said.

I have a strong feeling that if you brought together a group of people that were truly aware of what their beliefs meant, intend to teach and they followed those things. The group would be very civil and respective of each other.

We can never judge the actions of all people by the actions of a few members.

Someday there is a possibility that we will come in contact with people from another civilization. there is a possibility that one of us may be the sole representation of all humans. What impression would we give as to what a human is?


Perhaps we should keep in mind that there will be times when we are the only view somebody will see of what we believe. We should also keep in mind that until we meet and know every member of any group, we have a very limited perspective.

First, understand that all men are various combinations of Good and Evil. Then, recognize that religion is the shared beliefs of millions......and that is earthly power.

Men of largely Evil intent seek power. So they sometimes clothe themselves in the garments of religion in an attempt to harness the power of religion to their own agenda.

The Qur'an is clear on their fate.

Take, for example, The Women, verse 93 (4.93). It tells of the penalty for bombings at Moslem wedding parties, bombings in Mosques with worshippers at prayer, and targeting of the nearly 100% Moslem Iraqi Polce Force.

The identical fate awaited the leaders of the Inquisition and all others throughout history who dared to practice their abominations with any of the names of the Allmighty on their lips.

So, live your religion, loudly denounce those who defile that religion, and leave vengeance and penalties to a power whose scope we cannot even imagine.

But let the true faithful beware. Let not your people pay honor to these High Priests of Baal. The greatest threat to any religion always comes from within.

So my husband dawud wrote another letter to the papers which he didnt tell me about along with the thousand other letters he writes n forgets to tell me about lol!!! men!!!

Daffodil said:

So my husband dawud wrote another letter to the papers which he didnt tell me about along with the thousand other letters he writes n forgets to tell me about lol!!! men!!!

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Your husband is known across the nation for his letters to The Independent, and you didn't know about it??! ;D
(I'll keep you informed, if you like) :giggling:

Blessings.

glo said:

Your husband is known across the nation for his letters to The Independent, and you didn't know about it??! ;D
(I'll keep you informed, if you like) :giggling:

Blessings.

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I did know that he wrote letters to papers but he writes so many n is a teeny bit known in the media that i lose count, when we first got married i was like wow ur in the paper n kept little snippets etc but he writes so many that its not that facinating any more so i dnt bother lol. like the other day he was on the radio talkin about national mosque open day n situation in palestine, that was pretty cool. hes even been on tv wen he was involved in politics but before he was a muslim, dnt think id wanna watch that as ive never seen him without his beard n wud be too weird for me to see him without it.

xx