I was talking to a Muslim the other day. In fact, I’d travelled several hundred miles, not to visit his home specifically, but his home-land at least, and to walk the same streets that he walked every day. To shop in the same shops. Eat the same food.
We spent all morning together, walking and talking and sharing views on architecture, history and culture, current affairs. He didn’t have a beard. I have a beard. He wasn’t a terrorist. Neither am I. He was a Sunni – he said.
I confessed that I had read about a third of the Quran. So you are more open minded than most British people, he said. I was both complimented and disappointed. Maybe you’ll finish the book after today, he smiled.
We do have Sharia law here, he said. And then grinning, – but if someone steals something we don’t cut off their hands – we’re more tolerant than that.
We follow the teachings of the Prophet, he went on, there are five tenets to Islam.
And he stressed each one with embellishment – Submission – Supplication – Sincerity – Obedience – and Peace.
You see, he held my gaze as I listened intently, there is Real Islam, and there is Fake Islam. This is real Islam.
At the end of our morning we shook hands and smiled our farewells. I had been grateful for his company and his knowledge.
Perhaps we were both grateful that we accepted each other.
singlemaltmonkey 
“If you wish to know how civilized a culture is, look at how they treat its women.” ~Bacha Khan.
(And this is all I shall say. Well, that and ‘patriarchy’ 😛 )
Happy Women’s Day!
Ah, interesting, and your comment reminds me of something Youssef said that morning. We were talking about women and their role and he said that in the Islam he follows women are revered and shown the utmost respect. The Matriarch is all. I know that in some places however, that’s not the case. (Saudi – Afghanistan for instance)
It might appear that women are treated equally here but you only have to read the newspapers and listen to radio discussions to realise that even though, on the face of it, women are treated equally it is often far from the case.
Equal treatment for women in a society ? Try Cuba, where mutual respect for each other regardless of gender is part of the school system from 5 onwards – where they have the highest ratio of women to men politicians in the world – where equal pay means equal pay. Happy Women’s Day, Mun …. hope Huz cooked the dinner. 😉
PS. This post was prompted by this … http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/06/legoland-closes-hotel-far-right-threats-muslim-fun-day
It is getting to the point where we are going to have to stand up and be counted if we want to maintain some semblance of a tolerant society.
Just read the Guardian article…must say the far right in UK sounds a lot like the extremists here. Are they ultra-Christian or just fascists?
Fascists….. with big mouths.
It’s a difficult world out there isn’t it. Good for you for trying to breach some of the divide. There are good and bad people in every culture. We need only hope that the good prevail.
Thank you, Tina. I’m just trying to break down some stereotypes that shape the world we live in.