Hello folks

[Akil]

I may not be unique but there are probably few people around here like me. For starters I am non-Muslim; second, I am a soldier in the US Army National Guard. After 9/11 I had an ignorant knee jerk reaction and began spewing hatful epitaphs like rag head, etc. etc. and so forth. I was 19 years old and had just joined the Army and my response was similar to those around me.

I was never deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, but my eyes were opened about four and a half years later when I was deployed to the Arab Republic of Egypt. I lived in Egypt for one year and everything from hearing the call of Adzan (spelling?) to meeting Muslim Egyptians, Muslim Bedouins and partying with secular Arabs, Arab people and Muslims became less of an abstract idea and more of a reality.

Since then in many forums ( actualy, mostly Muslim Unit on myspace.com ) I have been learning and discussing Islam with Muslims and non-Muslims, mainly because I think someone should know. There is a lot of ignorance among soldiers about Muslims and Islam, a lot of repeated propaganda and rhetoric. I have rarely backed down from someone espousing this hateful and dangerous nonsense from my superiors to my peers. For this, some of my fellow service members have called me a traitor and similar names.

I have also been rejected by some Muslims because of my connections to the US military ( For example I was told never to return to #Islam on irc.undernet.org, so I haven’t ), some casualty and some more specifically ( ie calling me a murderer, a demon etc. ) but for the most part I have had good experiences speaking with Muslims.

I look forward to many interesting discussions

[syilla]

hellooooooooooo

we have an ex-soldier in us army here in this forum...

maybe you can befriended with him....

but once he told us...that he is an old grumpy man...so careful :D

Have a beneficial stay...

[north_malaysian]

On behalf of all Malaysian forummers here (which includes syilla):

[BANANA]SELAMAT DATANG!!!
(WELCOME!!!)[/BANANA]

It's cool to have an america army here... maybe you can teach us alot of things .... COOL!!! I'll give you reps.:happy:

[starfortress]

:sl:

Welcome bro Akil:D enjoy posting.

You must have a lot of experiences:D hope u don't mind to share it with us InshaAllah:D

but once he told us...that he is an old grumpy man...so careful

Is it Uncle woodrow?

[BANANA]Welcome[/BANANA]
[MOUSE]Selamat Datang[/MOUSE]

[BANANA]Ahlan Wa Sahlan[/BANANA][/QUOTE]

p/s-Akil-like a Muslim name.

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[lolwatever]

welcome, all the best and enjoy ur stay on LI :)

Great to see open minded people joining us :)

[Muhammad]

Greetings Akil,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing those experiences with us.

We welcome people from all faiths and backgrounds on this forum and are always open to respectful dialogue.

I hope that you will have a beneficial and enjoyable stay here, God-willing!

Peace :).

[Pk_#2]

Hi...


Welcome...

You should have written so much more, it was ever so interesting :D


Tc Akil!..

[Aisha20]

hi akil

welcome to Li

[Malaikah]

Welcome to the forum.

There is a lot of ignorance among soldiers about Muslims and Islam, a lot of repeated propaganda and rhetoric.

:offended: :offended: :offended:

[Akil]

Thanks :P

I choose the name Akil because I am under the impression it means Knowledge or Knowledgeable or something like this in Arabic, so I guess it would be similar to an Islamic name >_< :P

Ignorance (I believe the Arabic/Islamic word is Jahl?) is prevalent in the world today despite the massive amount of information available and the world becoming as small as it has.

It might even be directly related to information overload. Kind of like an ignorance reflex.

The only way to dispel ignorance is to confront perceptions and to educate.

This cannot be done only by some, or one kind, it must be all of us, united as human beings despite our differences.

I have a lot of questions about Islam from general perception questions, to very specific questions about Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh?) and the science of hadith.

Many of them I know answers too, but I am gonna ask again to get your answer to them :)

In the end your either gonna love me or hate me :D

Generally not much middle ground lol

[lolwatever]

Thanks :P

I choose the name Akil because I am under the impression it means Knowledge or Knowledgeable or something like this in Arabic, so I guess it would be similar to an Islamic name >_< :P

Ignorance (I believe the Arabic/Islamic word is Jahl?) is prevalent in the world today despite the massive amount of information available and the world becoming as small as it has.

It might even be directly related to information overload. Kind of like an ignorance reflex.

The only way to dispel ignorance is to confront perceptions and to educate.

This cannot be done only by some, or one kind, it must be all of us, united as human beings despite our differences.

I have a lot of questions about Islam from general perception questions, to very specific questions about Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh?) and the science of hadith.

Many of them I know answers too, but I am gonna ask again to get your answer to them :)

In the end your either gonna love me or hate me :D

Generally not much middle ground lol

oh yeh it just clicked that your name means 'understander' lol! '3aqil... yeh kinda means someone with knowledge, more like someoen of understanding.

newayz all the best with ur LIxpreience :)

tc all the best

[Akil]

Someone with understanding works even more :)

[lolwatever]

Someone with understanding works even more :)

innit :D

[The Ruler]

Greetings Akil,

:welcome: to the forums...that was a nice intro :thumbs_up...and yes...you are different to a lot of people here :happy:

Peace

[strider]

Hey there,

I'm glad you've chosen to join us. Enjoy your stay. I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts, God Willing.

[Angelzz]

welcome to the forum ... Hope you enjoy your stay and looking forward to your posts. :)

[asma2]

have a great time staying and enjoy your stay :) :happy: ;D