:bism: (In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)
It always depresses me to see Muslims cataloging the injustices done to them by the west
First and foremost,
welcome to the board; I have been observing you on the board, and I want to thank you for your posts because I liked them.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
As a fellow American, I sympathize with your words. I have in the past opposed the cataloging of specific Western injustices because I find it a magnet for the extremists (few though they are) to come out of the woodwork to express negative radicalized opinions that these same individuals inevitably try to veer into the dubious direction of support for terrorist organizations or terrorist actions. Both are unacceptable, and should you see the latter occurring on this board, report the individuals by clicking on the black triangular icon below the post; I say this so that you have a heads-up.
I am lucky enough to live in an area where there is a relatively large Muslim population that is very prosperous and happy: these people are doctors and lawyers, professionals with nice homes, and they get along great with the community. Their kids attend good colleges, and they receive good medical care. By our constitution they are granted freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
There is interfaith dialogue and cooperation here towards common social and political interests. Even refugees from Syria come here.
Just as a Muslim does not want to be stereotyped as a radical and dangerous person, the American doesn't want to be stereotyped as an imperialist butcher.
Americans, you'll inevitably find on Muslim majority forums, being stereotyped - it is unfortunately a symptom of style of thinking that has been adopted by the type of theists who tend to rather have black-and-white views of the world. Having said that, we as Americans also have to be honest about the harms of specifics of bad foreign policy decisions made in the past and the imperialistic ambitions that has resulted in specific harms; acknowledging this in no way means that Americans or any non-Muslims or any human being living in the West deserves even an iota of harm of terrorists or would-be-terrorists.
I would also invite anyone to look and see what places like Germany and Sweden are doing for Muslim immigrants. These people receive generous public assistance, help with housing, etc.
But in western nations, I think we need to go beyond interfaith dialogue and try to see where we agree in terms of ideology. I suspect most Muslims would agree that
1. Private property is a right
2. Freedom of political expression should be guaranteed
3. Freedom to practice religion should be guaranteed
4. We should be free to educate our children as we see fit, in the schools of our choice, or at home
5. There should be equality under the law
I can honestly and unequivocally state that the Constitution and
shariah (Islamic law) converge and agree with one another on innumerable points; and you are obviously
right on Muslims agreeing with the aforesaid listed points.
Areas in which some discussion or disagreement might occur are
6. The right to free elections
7. The separation of church and state
8. Polygamy (I actually do not have an issue with this, but western law generally forbids it)
9. The right to create separate courts of law for specific people (Sharia for instance).
In Islam, the governance which decides leaders is known as
shura (council) which is how pious Muslims of the past how to elect specific leaders; it is a democratic and egalitarian process, but it is not the electoral college and individual voting system to which we're used to here in the U.S. Having said that, as you know, Muslims too vote in elections in the West, and that is because
shariah (Islamic law) allows for any person to vote in a Western democracy with the intention to avert harms or evil.
By the way, it is true that Islam envisions a theocratic state rather than a secular state, but
shariah (Islamic law) enables and advocates for Muslims living in Western countries to respect the laws of the land.
Polygamy is
not required in Islam - it is only a permissible action granted to men; one of the the wisdom of this allowance is providing protection to women, namely those who might have become widowed, poor, orphaned, divorced, or otherwise remain single so that they do not have to feel compelled to seek to financially support themselves if they're either unable or unwilling to do so; it is also one of the ways in which Islam envisions a stronger community existing so that women don't have to fend for themselves by turning to things like prostitution or working for an employer when instead they might have children which they might want to prioritize as mothers. I do emphasize that Islam forbids deception and men are encouraged to obey the law of the land. However, practically, there have been and continue to be instances of Muslim men marrying in an informal ceremony another wife while only one wife remains registered under Western law; personally, I am not generally in favor of men doing acts like this because presently Western law does not guarantee equal protection of any wife not formally recognized under the law and so in the case of a divorce the other wife will never receive any state protection in terms of being able to be the recipient of any estate or monies should the husband die intestate or should there be a divorce. And to be honest, I have heard on Muslim majority Internet boards like this about the ways in which Muslim men have abused the allowance of polygamy to deprive women of either or both their Western legal and
shari (Islamic legal) rights.
I don't know how much you know about
shariah (Islamic law) courts but this should in my opinion not be an issue for the reason that there are already rabbinical courts in the U.S. alongside some ecclesiastical courts in the U.S.; moreover, this does not run against the idea of equality under the law or objectivity of courts, because any such setups work only to provide an optional route for those practicing who want faith-based courts to give judgment; and any of the aforesaid do not operate as rivals to the current operating legal court system in the U.S.
Many Muslim countries have free elections, so that isn't typically a big issue. Point #7 is one of contention. Point #9 runs up against the idea of equality under the law, and objectivity of the courts.
I hope I've clarified some issues; and if you have any questions or concerns or would like further clarification, I would be happy and honored to be of any assistance.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and peace.
Sincere Regards & Best Wishes,
