Situation of Muslims at your place

S

Shahzad

Junior Member
I would like every body to write about the situation of muslims in their locality/country.

The restricitions/racism they face and how they cope with it, how do they perform their rituals, How much they are willing to act on islam and how many of them are willing to act on islam.
 
O

Optimist

قل هو الله أحد
Currently living in England (a bit too famous really) so this is only my personal perspective.

There is a good degree of religious freedom. No one really interfers with you practicing Ibadah. Mosques in my locality are choking with people. Women can have hijab and study/work. Issues have arisen recently with khimar but by in large are work related (which I think has logic to it). You can organise Islamic charity events and some major muslim charities are based in England (Islamic Relief). Increasing number of peopel are converting to Islam and anecdotally women constitue a majority of converts. Islamic banking activities are on the increase. In general, the "Islamo-meter" is on the increase. Muslims count 1.5-2 millions of about 60 million Britons.

Tensions however exist. There is evidence to suggest that muslims are discriminated against in terms of jobs ..etc. Deep disagreements over UK foreign policy and multiple attacks/attempted attacks have created an environment of fear/anxiety/suspesion towards muslim. Islam is in the media everyday and in a negative way. "physical" attacks on muslims however are rare and sporadic.

Overall, I think muslim situation in England/UK is reasonable and I think there is good room for improvement in non-confrontational directions that can create major changes in the long run. Islam has a lot to offer to the UK. Muslims in the UK need to gain perspective and see the wider picture. Sometimes I think that too much focus on foreign policy make people unable to make any positive moves due to too much frustration. They although need to become better muslims (myself included) so they are better at conveying Islam's true picture.

Important thread BTW. I think it would be illuminating to see what others think.
 
al-fajr

al-fajr

...ism..schism
Staff member
:salam2:

Around our area, I think they need to chill and be themselves and not be scared to act as Muslims, some dont even respond to 'salam alaikum' and I think its because theyre either very rude, or very scared - neither is acceptable.
 
A

Aapa

Mirajmom
Salaam,

I have responded before but here I go ...I live in a very small community. It is mostly retirees. We have little industry...however, there are around 45 Muslim families here. 90% of the families are physicians. Twenty five years ago no-one young remained here and there was a need for doctors to serve the locals. They are Pakistani and Syrian. We have two businessmen who own local resturants. One is Egyptian and the other is Pakistani. We have two Blacks one is retired and has an on-line business, the other is a female who is raising a family. We have several college students. One is African..and very shy...the other is Indonesian. And then there is me. I am a counselor/teacher. I am Pakistani.
70% of the women wear hijab. The female physicians are split. We are left alone. We have a masjid and it has no minaret. We have an active community in terms of education. There are classes for children and adults.
Politically, I am one of the two active ones. There is a brother who goes to flee markets and spreads the word of Islam. I am a pest.
We are on the rim of the Bible belt. These people are very religious. They do respect us..but want no part of us.
I have to respect the fact that this community built a masjid. I have to respect the fact that this community is active. We are a small community that is rather isolated. We are near four major universities...Virginia Tech being the most known. We are five hours from Washington, DC. We have a membership that is well educated and well traveled.
 
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