i hate to be yet another non-muslim telling muslims What They Should Do, but that's ok - i'll go right ahead and do it anyway.
first i want to be clear that i am not talking about assimilation in the sense that you are supposed to water down your religion and culture to fit in. you do not need to change who you are and tailor your value system to become another ingredient in the "melting pot".
i feel, and have felt that way for a long time - so it has nothing to do with the recent Thing - that muslims need to break out of their isolation. i think it is imperative for the future of muslims living in non-muslim countries. i realize that because of the racism and the negative attitudes, many muslims understandably feel on the defensive, but i think in this case, muslims are going to have to take the innitiative.
it is so easy for people to believe others are as the media tell them they are. too many people have never really been around or known a muslim. when you work side by side with someone on a mutual problem, you begin to suspect that they are quite human after all.
there are many ways muslims could work together with non-muslims. skywalker posted a thread in "campaigns" about muslims working with christians:
"On Tuesday, one of Britain’s most influential Muslim charities and one of the Christian world’s most prominent relief agencies signed a landmark partnership to build peace and help relieve poverty currently afflicting millions of people across the globe."
there are many problems that are "universal" - not "muslim" not "christian" not "sikh" - poverty, peace, education, homeless people, health care etc etc.
to a degree i think muslims are co-operating with their own marginalization. the future of muslims in non-muslim countries does not look good and there is a very ugly backlash building up.
suspicion, fear and anger are mounting on both sides. someone has to break through this. is it possible? desirable? what do you think?
i'll shut up now (it's hard work telling other people What They Should Do) and hide and go back to minding my own kafir business.
let's see if this thread can be free of hostility....
each man thinks of his own fleas as gazelles
question authority
Comedy is also universal. If you make people laugh (deliberately ), they'll like you. I'm not saying everyone has to be the class clown, but tell some howlers if you know 'em. That initial liking greatly eases any further tensions that may arise over politics or religion, and a sense of humour is always a plus.
Just day to day things, it's kind of easy to greet people with a smile. It's nice to be cheerful with people, too. I know that depends on your day to day mood, but it does help.
As another poster said, it takes 2 to tango. I think everyone has to do a little something in order for the borders to come down (even if just a bit).
People isolating themselves doesn't help, but sometimes the attitude of people forces you to isolate yourself. The media can be used for good, but often it doesn't go in-depth enough to explain what the whole situation is (and so it is biased) andencourages people to make assumptions based on next to no information. I know this one local channel had a few episodes where this one news anchor went around and talked to people from a different minority every week (to experience their culture, their customs, to discuss politics and how they feel living in this province). I never got to watch the show since it was on when I was never home, but shows like this, made to sensitize people to other cultures is great.
One does not need to sacrifice their beliefs or morals, but if only everyone would just take a bit of time to listen, make a bit of an effort to understand, then things would be much better.
But we all know peopel generally don't like change, they don't like things that are even just a little bit different from them, people easily feel threatened... It's hard to explain but if we work at it, some changes can be done.
I am pleased that a number of charities are working together with the Islamic Relief charity. I am also pleased that three of the charities I support are amongst the ones listed, Christian aid, World Vision, and Cafod. If you go to:
A number of good points have been raised. I just wanted to point out a lecture done by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi which covers this subject very well.
"I believe the correct approach as a community should be a healthy integration. Not total isolation, and definitely not assimilation. A healthy integration." - Yasir Qadhi
A number of good points have been raised. I just wanted to point out a lecture done by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi which covers this subject very well.
"I believe the correct approach as a community should be a healthy integration. Not total isolation, and definitely not assimilation. A healthy integration." - Yasir Qadhi
i just listened to that. i agree with the speaker - that the "middle way" should be taken. he is talking about exactly what i meant. i feel that this in extremely important - that muslims break that bubble and connect. yes, it takes two - but i think with all the bad images that people have of muslims - it might need to be necessary to take that first step. it is too easy to believe the caricatures and stereotypes when you have never known each other.
as he said, it is not "us" vs. "them". there are many problems facing everyone and there is no reason we should not work together to solve them.
each man thinks of his own fleas as gazelles
question authority
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), they'll like you. I'm not saying everyone has to be the class clown, but tell some howlers if you know 'em. That initial liking greatly eases any further tensions that may arise over politics or religion, and a sense of humour is always a plus.
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