Are There Any Muslims

[wildwood]

who frequent this R&S category and are willing to publicly declared their outrage at the atrocities carried out by extremists in the name of Islam?

[ludwig]

5 days later and 120 answers, and no condemnation from any muslims.

Either there are none who frequent this category, or they're not prepared to condemn attrocities.

[grasscarp]

Yes Ludwig. A muslim person who happened to be registered on Answerbank and who also dared to speak up about this controversial matter in the dreaded R&S section of this site is very unlikely.
Also if such a person did turn up and say I condemn these atrocities - you would not know if they really are Muslim and you wouldnt know if they meant it, so such a post would be meaningless

[ludwig]

We'll never really know the reasons grasscarp. As no-one's made any claim one way or the other we're left guessing as usual.

[naomi24]

One Muslim who is not known for avoiding this 'dreaded' section of AB has contributed to this thread - but his response to the question was non-committal.

[agchristie]

There you go again Naomi! ;-)

[naomi24]

Haaa! Indeed. :o)

[wildwood]

Perhaps we should view this from a 'different' angle. Why do Islam leaders so publicly condemn non-muslims (sometimes with fatal repercussion threats) for wondering about the visual image of their Icon.

[EDDIE51]

^^ I agree asking the 'average Muslim' to apologise for the actions of the tiny number who support extreme fundamental groups such as Islamic State is akin to asking all males to apologise for the actions of rapists or murderers ( who are overwhelmingly male) just because they happen to be the same sex.

[Zacs-Master]

But Wildwood wasn't suggesting they apologise, just condemn.

[EDDIE51]

Moderate Islam DOES declare its opposition to terrorism and condemns all forms of violence.
Read this, it describes the Fatwa against terrorism issued by one of Islam's foremost scholars and world wide respected Imans.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kemal-argon/whos-really-behind-tahir-_b_1266232.html

[Zacs-Master]

I read it on Saturday ta.

[naomi24]

Eddie, asking the average Muslim to 'apologise' for the actions of extremists hasn't been suggested. However, as has already been mentioned, the average man has no option but to be the average man, whereas the average Muslim does have the option to choose to align himself to radical Islam or not. It's a ridiculous analogy.

Again as has already been mentioned, this thread is about individuals, not about people who elect themselves to speak on behalf of nameless individuals.

[FrogNog]

Naomi, again you are failing to separate islam from radical islam.
My view is that they are two different things, like men and male rapists are two different things.
You insist on lumping them together and I don't think that's useful or accurate.
You say the average muslim has the choice whether to align himself to radical islam or not. Yes. Yes, he d or she does and most don't.
Why should those who don't have to shout it from the rooftops because outsiders cannot tell the difference between muslims and radical muslims?
The majority of muslims do not owe it to you to teach you to separate extremists from the norm. That is your responsibility alone.

[naomi24]

Frognog, I'm at a loss to understand why you think I'm 'lumping' them together, but I gain the impression from your posts that you, personally, are privy to the opinions of the majority of Muslims and therefore speak with some considerable authority on their behalf. Do you?

[FrogNog]

Naomi, I don't know how to make you understand me.
Sometimes I think you deliberately misunderstand me for fun, which is fine by the way.
You say that the average muslim has the choice to assign himself to radical islam or not.
This is true. They also have the choice not to align themselves. You seem to blank this bit out.
As an atheist I am totally bamboozled by why people are hoodwinked into religion but they are and to say they have a choice is a misnomer. If they believe it they have no choice, so that argument is not worth pursuing. To them, they are right, it doesn't turn them into terrorists.
To say muslims have a choice to either be terrorists or to give up Islam entirely is not plausible.
My only argument with you is that you don't seem to be able to separate muslims from radical muslims or tell me why muslims should have to voice their every concern from the rooftops when no other faction of society is expected to do the same.

[naomi24]

FrogNog, make no mistake. I understand you perfectly. You don't want to face the truth. No other faction is expected to do the same because no other faction in society produces the sort of people that fundamentalist Islam produces. I'm blanking out nothing. I said "the average Muslim does have the option to choose to align himself to radical Islam or not". There are two choices there, so your second sentence in that regard is surplus to requirements. I haven't suggested that Islam turns people into terrorists, but Islamic fundamentalists are turned into terrorists by Islam. Neither have I said that their choice is either "to be terrorists or to give up Islam". You're making it up as you go along. If moderate Muslims really do oppose the atrocities that are committed in the name of the religion they hold dear, and if they really do care about preserving and enhancing social cohesion, they will make a concerted effort to distance themselves from the unspeakable horrors that fundamentalist Islamic madmen are imposing upon this world. I make no demands on them - I know what's happening so it is not in my interests that they do it - but in their own. That said, if you think people who support terrorist actions are in short supply, read the results of the polls listed in my link - and for goodness sake, dispense with the rose coloured spectacles and instead of purposefully ignoring the unsavoury, acknowledge the stark, if unpleasant, reality.

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/opinion-polls.htm

[FrogNog]

naomi opinion polls are just that, opinion.
I don't wear rose coloured spectacles. All religion is harmful in my view but I will defend any situation that I deem to be unfair. I believe your position to be unfair to many muslims.
Moderate muslims were not a problem to society until radical islam reared its ugly head, so why should they be now. Why should they distance themselves from anything when they have done nothing to be ashamed of? Even more to the point, why should any of their views be visible to you?
You still miss my point. My point is in answer to the OP. No, muslims should not speak out to defend their lifestyles because they are doing nothing wrong.
Radical muslims on the other hand have a lot to answer for.
I can see that you are not going to accept what I am trying to say and it is difficult to debate with you when you refuse to see the main point and pick the side issues to focus on.

[agchristie]

Frognog, you suggest that opinion polls are just opinions. They are more than that as they reflect a large sample of ideals to a number of questions.

The link that Naomi included was a real eye opener to myself and to at least one other person on here. If I was a moderate Muslim I would be disturbed by many of the percentages, which is not a work of fiction, and I would want to put the record straight about the real message of Islam in the interests of reputation and social cohesion.

If you believed strongly in anything would you allow another person, who was meant to be following the same doctrine, to muddy the waters in pernicious fashion?

This isn't about making their views known for the sake of you or I, it is for the sake of upholding their values of a religion they care deeply about. The problem of radical ideology has worsened in the past few years alone so all the more reason to speak out and protect the values that they hold as true and not allow the radicals to undermine them further.

[mibn2cweus]

Perhaps one reason for the reluctance of many Muslims to speak out against the atrocities carried out by Islamic extremists is for fear of being labelled a hypocrite towards the dictates of their own religion . . . something many of the Christian persuasion apparently manage to do without blinking an eye.

[agchristie]

Mibn2cweus, you received BA which included 'silence speaks volumes'. Is it being scared, fear of labelling, the truth is we have no idea, just the sound of silence.