" Islam an Arab religion” Do you agree or disagree?

I disagree, Islam has the most diverse of races and origins. Simply, it is a human religion

islam is not a religion just meant for arabs, it is a religion that Allah has given to the entire world to live and follow by. there are many verses in the Quran that have already pointed this out in this thread, as well as Allah created all of humankind, so why would islam only be reserved for the arabs? i dont understand the logic behind that

format_quote Originally Posted by Grace Seeker

Funny, but know that you mention it, the same is true for me. None of the Muslims I have any sort of personal relationship are Arabs. Rather, they are from Turkey, Pakastan, India, Iran, Malaysia, and USA (and of either European or African ancestory). The one Arab I know well enough to claim a personal kinship with is from Egypt and while once a secular Muslim is now a devout Christian and has been for more than 30 years. His name is Omar; I've never asked him what it's origin is or its meaning.

Funny in a way that we all have such different expediences as the Muslims I know are almost exclusively Arab but I guess that is primarily because I spend time in the Middle East.

I dont really know any Arab muslims, most are either white/black/indian/pakistani

Well, actual statistics would back up the fact the Islam has diversity. A quick Wikipedia (I know, not the most authoritative source, but still a rough guide anyway) gives:

Country- % of world Muslim population
_________________________________
Asia Pacific- 61.9%
Middle East & North Africa- 20.1%
Sub Saharan Africa- 15.3%
Europe- 2.4%
Americas- 0.3%


Given that there are around 1.6 billion Muslims, even slight percentages are significant.

Thats for the stats. From personal experience, I've met Muslim brothers and sisters from all over the world (by virtue from studying in an International Islamic uni).

format_quote Originally Posted by Hugo

If one is going to use stats with your figures then Islam is an Asian religion and definitely not a European or an American one.

You are correct, it does seem to be skewed that way since Asia consists of 60% the world population.

format_quote Originally Posted by Hugo

The thread is asking is Islam distinctively Arab and I have seen nothing so far that indicates that it is not. I don't know if this makes it bad, good or indifferent it just to me a fact.

Lets try to break it down. If the assumption is that "Arab" consists of regions in the Middle East and some northern African countries, then Islam is relatively dominant in these regions. But since we want to compare against other regions in absolute terms, a majority of Muslims are from countries not in this "arab" region.. and their cultures are quite diverse.

To put it into one perspective, the number of Muslims in China alone (who are minorities) is nearly equivalent to the total population of Saudi Arabia. I chose these two countries to that differ geographically, culturally and linguistically.

Therefore one conclusion is that Islam is not an Arab religion, rather a global religion with diversity amongst Muslims.

Its more profound than saying English is an international language, even if is only natively spoken by 27% of the world population and dominant in less than a dozen countries.

Islam is no more an Arab's religion than Christianity is a Jew's religion. Any religion that discriminates on the grounds of race is barbaric. Thankfully, very few religions are.

format_quote Originally Posted by Hugo

The thread is asking is Islam distinctively Arab and I have seen nothing so far that indicates that it is not. I don't know if this makes it bad, good or indifferent it just to me a fact.

I'm not trying to be an apologist for Islam, but I do see things differently than you do as far as this particular thread goes. As you noted yourself, the predominance of Muslims are not Arab. The posters to this very thread include people from Indonesia, Malaysia, the UK, Indiana, non-Arabs from the Middle East, and one Arab Princess. I myself told about the languages and foods that I experienced when attending a mosque in the USA as (in addition to of the dominant American culture) being largely representative of largely Pakistani and Indonesia and the races being dominated by Asians, Africans and Europeans -- but not Arabs. So, I don't know why you say that you don't see anything so far to indicate the Islam is anything other than distinctively Arab. Certainly none of that which I have mentioned is distinctively Arab.

So, if it isn't the people, the language, the food, or the culture of the community that is distinctively Arab, but you still consider Islam to be Arab, maybe we need to hear more from you as to what it is that makes it distinctively Arab, and you might begin by clarifying what you mean by distinctively. I'm wondering, once we see the measuring standard you are using for your determination of the distinctively Arab nature or character of Isalm, will Christianity still be a world religion, or might it be distinctively Western/European or perhaps even still a Semitic religion?

Islam is all muslims religion...but the way Arbans behave is selfish from my point of view....most of arabic country are closed society and thta is what make me angrre...noone of us did not chose where will be born....when someone ask me who I m, first i will tell: I m muslim, after that i m bosnian, european, girl , white....God is not arabic privacy...

format_quote Originally Posted by MT2

Similarly, considering all Muslims as Arabs is invalid. Islam does not distinguish between people or favor groups of people over others. It views everyone equally and is just in all matters.

Yes, but I don't think that is where Hugo is coming from. I don't hear him suggesting that either all Arabs are Muslims nor that all Muslims are Arabs. He knows better. We all seem to know better than that. If I can speak for Hugo (who surely could speak better for himself that I can, but he just hasn't posted today), what I am hearing him suggest is that the values and many key aspects at the core of Islam have their roots in the culture of the Arab people. Just as in the same way I have heard people suggest that 18th and 19th century Christian missionaries didn't just teach Christianity, they also taught western ways wherever they went, sometimes even going so far as to stamp out indigenious forms of Christianity in places where they found it already existing before they arrived there. Maybe another way to address the question is to ask if Islam is able to express itself as a religion independent enough of its Arabic origins?