ENGLAND: Home of the Islamophobe extremists...

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another interview. Doesn't stop ^o)

 

[Abdul-Halim265]

And this is a big part of the problem. From what I've read on Islamic forums Muslims see no reason why they should mix with non-Muslims at all, even showing complete disdain and superiority to them. And in wider society Muslims just don't mix. You just can't live in a non-Muslim country, isolate yourself and not expect there to be problems- that's just life. The problem between Muslims and non-Muslims cannot solely be blamed on non-Muslims.

This is true. Many Muslim communities don't integrate themselves, and some Muslims online routinely refer to non-Muslims as "kuffar", "kaffirs", etc, and praise figures that many would consider to be outright extremists. I'm not saying this is true of all Muslim communities; far from it, but some communities are much too isolated for their own good, and don't seem to see the link between self-isolation and people forming negative perceptions of them. If they made an effort to reach out more to the majority of non-Muslims in this instance, I think more progress would be made.

The same has been seen for centuries in Jewish communities in Europe, especially when they first settled in Europe and did their best to keep their communities separate. Self-imposed segregation is NEVER the answer.

- From a British Muslim (with a non-Muslim family) who associates with anyone, regardless of religion, as long as they're a good person.

 

[Insaanah]

From what I've read on Islamic forums

Not a good idea to deduce what attitude Muslims, either wholly, or as a majority, or generally, have, solely based on only your interaction with members of internet forums.

And in wider society Muslims just don't mix.

Where did you establish this fact from? What's the source?

Perhaps that's where you live. I live in a diverse multi-faith multi-ethnic society, where, groupwise, everybody gets on with everyone else. We also have an annual community fun day, organised jointly by the Muslim school and the church across the road from it, and this is now an annual fixture. A couple of roads get closed off, and there are rides for children, animals from the farm, stalls, arts and crafts, all types of food, free health checks, etc. There may be faith information available too, for those who are interested. Everybody is welcome, of all faiths and none. And indeed many people do seem to stop by, even if just for an ice cream.

The mosque regularly meets with Rabbis and leaders of other religious communities, with talks where all are welcome to attend.

The problem between Muslims and non-Muslims

I also know other people who live in other parts of England, where people get on, and this so-called problem just doesn't seem to exist. You'll never get every member of a group that wants to go and mix with others; even within members of the same group, not everyone will want to mix, but this by no means constitutes a problem.

 

[Abdul-Halim265]

Generalising from forums is never a good thing, indeed, as forums do often only bring out the worst in people, aren't representative of a broad range of people, etc. This isn't a widespread problem at all, even if it does exist in some places. Most Muslims I know aren't isolationist at all, and are open and friendly. The only real danger is that the extreme minority will influence the moderate majority, but this doesn't happen much either, thankfully (most British Muslims can't stand Anjem Choudary, for example, and rightly so).

 

[Pygoscelis]

Unfortunately, a lot of people in the west, and especially those in the USA, and especially those in conservative hotbeds of the USA where politicians are especially fond of using Islam as a bogeyman, interaction with muslims online is the only interaction they get with muslims at all. I live near Toronto in Canada, which is far more multicultural, and even I only know 6 or 7 muslims in real life.

 

[LauraS]

The source for what I've said is general life. Round where I live we have mix of people, but no Muslims. However about 10-15 minute drive are streets that are nearly only Muslim. I've seen Muslims discussing why they shouldn't integrate, quoting parts of the Qur'an that say they shouldn't befriend non-Muslims. Surely more mixing can only be beneficial to creating trust?

And sorry to do tit for tat but saying it's no good not judging Muslims by forums is true, but look at the title of this thread. Non-Muslims are judged by the actions of a few ALL of the time too. A number of times I've seen people say "look at the comment section" regarding news articles about Islam then people will have a discussion on the ignorance of non-muslims

If there isn't a problem, then why does this thread exist?