I'm a Muslim. Ask me anything!

[Anonymous]

"He was apparently a very compassionate human who married sometimes to help a family, never for lustful reasons."

Never? How do you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard accusations leveled against liberal Muslims for not speaking out more strongly against terrorism and oppression in the name of radical Islam. Do you think there is merit to this position, and if not, why not? Thanks.

I'm not OP, I'm 7:37. But conservative and liberal Muslims alike speak out against terrorism ALL THE TIME. The mainstream media just doesn't cover it. But if you go to websites of Islamic organizations and/or read foreign papers or watch foreign TV news programs, you'll see a lot of outcry about terrorism in particular.

I really recommend folks here watch Al Jazeera English News. It's a real eye-opener. In a lot of ways.

Okay, I'm the OP. Sorry it took me so long to jump into this, but to say conservative and liberal Muslims alike speak out against terrorism all the time is just not true. There are certainly SOME Muslims that will speak out against terrorism and oppression but most Muslims don't. There is a bit of a mafia tendency among Muslims, a feeling that one should not speak out against their own. Don't watch Al Jazeera. Go out and meet with Muslims. If you're a caucasian American it's not likely that many Muslims will open up to you honestly. But if you are able to befriend Muslims, you'll learn how they truly feel. Many do oppose terrorism and oppression to some degree but are afraid to speak up against their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been wondering this ever since I moved to arlington.

What the heck is going on, noonish, Fridays on Leesburg Pike between 7 corners and Baily's crossroads.

EVERY SINGLE TAxi cab in the dc metro area is parked over there, there are cops, and burkas and men in pajama-looking cloths. and lots of normal looking people too but those are clues to me that this is indeed a question for a Muslim.

Namaste.

OP here: Namaste is the greeting used by people in India, not by Muslims. Muslims greet one another with "Salaam" which means peace. Friday is sort of our 'sabbath' day, our day of Friday prayer. It's mandatory for men to attend prayer. Thus the traffic and congestion as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:not OP: but i go to the beach and wear a bathing suit 0 bikini versus tankini versus one-piece, depending on who we're with and the beach we're on.

my in laws are muslim and very republican. business people in the midwest. they want to keep their money. they are very anti-obama. they want no new taxes and don't believe in supporting social services too much.

Interesting. Because charity is very much a part of Muslim life. Is it because most tax money goes to non-Muslims?

My Muslim husband is a flaming socialist, FWIW.

OP here: DH and I are democrats. We support Obama and social services. We are not socialist, however. There is a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you find yourself judging other Muslims over most often?

Is there racial discrimination in the Muslim community?

OP here: Sure there is racial discrimination among Muslims. Dark complected Muslims feel discriminated at times by light complected Muslims. I judge most Muslims over their lack of open mindedness. There are some very educated Muslims who remain ignorant, don't associate with nonMuslims at all, and thus, continue to pass on their close minded thinking to generations after them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For religious muslim women who cover their hair, at what age are girls expected to start wearing a head scarf? I saw a toddler on the train with a head scarf, and was of the (perhaps mistaken) view that most girls did not cover their hair until they got older.

OP here. I don't wear any head covering. I don't feel it's mandatory. And even if it were proven to be mandatory, I don't think I'm going to hell because I don't wear it. I think Muslims place way too much emphasis on women covering themselves up. Men go to work in ordinary suits but women are sometimes expected to cover their wear and wear long skirts or burqa's. It's just nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The modesty requiremen kicks in at puberty, so younger girls may wear fun, little girl clothing like swimsuits, short skirts, and not cover their hair (assuming they will even when they are older). Same with little boys and shorts. As a matter of practice, though, I believe it is easier to gradually accustom your children to modesty requirements rather than springing them at once; and girls will often wear headscarf to go to the mosque or Sunday School at a younger age, like 5-8. Toddler seems young, but recall that some women/girls *like* wearing the headscarf, think it's fashionable, and want to "be like mommy" -- the same way you might paint your toddler's fingernails for a fun treat.

OP here: This is one of those things I judge Muslims about. Many Muslim communities place way too much emphasis on the modesty requirement, especially for women. I disagree. Women don't need to walk around looking like they put on a potato sack over their heads, nor do they need to walk around wearing a bikini. I don't believe the head covering is mandatory. I certainly also detest how our boys are permitted to wear almost whatever they want but our girls are expected to dress modestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you gone on Hajj? If not, when are you going to go? Is there some sort of "penalty" if you die before you have gone to Mecca?

OP here: Yes, I've been on Hajj. It was a great experience. Hajj is required if you can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does Islam impose a higher moral standard for how you treat other Muslims than for how you treat non-Muslims?

OP here: Absolutely not. There is a certain trust Muslims afford other Muslims, for sure. But one is not supposed to treat nonMuslims with any less respect or dignity than they treat Muslims. In our holy book, the Quran, it states that Muslims should be keep very intimate relationships with nonMulims but that must be read in context as that particular paragraph was written during a time of war and mistrust between Muslims and nonMuslims. The Prophet Muhammad was friendly and kind to people of different religions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does Islam impose a higher moral standard for how you treat other Muslims than for how you treat non-Muslims?

Not OP but Another Muslim poster: nope- a person is a person.

A Muslim man once told me if want fine for him to sleep with non-Muslim women outside of marriage but that he would be defiling a Muslim woman if he did that with her before marriage. I found that insulting. What was he talking about?

OP here: That Muslim man was obviously a jackass (sorry for my language but as I said, I'm a liberal Muslim and I take liberty to use colorful language when I get upset with people like this). Too bad you can't publish his identity so that all Muslim women can know to stay away from him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you allowed to take birth control? Can your husband have vasectomy?

OP here: Yes. I was on birth control for a short while in the beginning of my marriage. We can certainly determine for ourselves when the time is right for us to have children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a basis in the Koran for it being ok to wear makeup but requiring hair to be covered? I've seen several muslim women wearing headscarves with really terrific makeup on, it looked nice but I didn't understand how it was consistent.

OP here: I think it's hypocritical to cover one's hair and then wear lipstick and mascara. I don't get it. Modesty is modesty and it requires that you either embrace it or not. I don't do either. I'm not that modest. I see no issue with wearing makeup. There isn't harm in appearing pretty. It's not being seductive, it's just looking more attractive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does Islam impose a higher moral standard for how you treat other Muslims than for how you treat non-Muslims?

Not OP but Another Muslim poster: nope- a person is a person.

My grad school friend's roommate wouldn't shake my hand because as a non-believer I was unclean. I thought there were special tax rules and protected statuses for People of the Book vs. atheists and polytheists, too?

OP here: Your grad school friend's roommate was a jerk. In Islam we are never supposed to avoid shaking hands with someone who offers their hand to us. That is just despicable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you forbidden to have dogs as pets?

Not OP but Another Muslim poster: Some schools of thoughts say no to having dogs as pets but another school of thought says it's okay. Many muslims have dogs as pets. The only thing is that clothes that have been touched by a dog or a place that has been touched by a dog is not considered to be clean for prayers and so families who have dogs may keep them outside or in limited spaces indoors.

OP here: I have had dogs and do let them stay in my home. They don't go to the room where I pray though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a basis in the Koran for it being ok to wear makeup but requiring hair to be covered? I've seen several muslim women wearing headscarves with really terrific makeup on, it looked nice but I didn't understand how it was consistent.

Not OP but Another Muslim poster: nope it's not consistent... you're not supposed to beautify and attract attention in any way... everyone interprets that in a different way. I don't think wearing makeup (natural looking) is attracting attention but a headscarf is and so i don't wear a scarf.. other women feel differently about the subject. The Quran encourages modesty and has different rules for it. As always people interpret them differently. But a truly conservative person would say that a scarf with makeup in public is not allowed!

OP here: Sorry but this is a bit of bull shit. Sorry for the language but as I said, I am liberal! It is fine to beautify oneself just to still try to remain modest in doing so. So wearing short shorts and a tube top with lots of makeup might be blatantly skirting the modesty rule. Wearing light makeup and revealing one's hair along with jeans and a shirt is not blatantly seductive or avoiding modesty. The Quran never said not to wear makeup. It said to cover thy bosom with one's cloak. From this the Muslim world population has determined that we women are not supposed to wear makeup or beautify ourselves either. Not surprisingly it is the men who have made the rules that dictate what women can and can not do or wear.