Category: philosophy/religion topics
hi all.
before i get started, i want to put it out their that i'm not posting this board to disrespect anybody, or to start any drama. i respect everybodies right to believe or not to believe. i just wanted to make that clear from the outset. the reason for this board, is to answer any questions the zone universe who are not familliar with aspects of islam that they have come across or find confuseing. i am aware of many misconceptions out their about the religion, and i'd like to clear them up if i possibly can. again i'm not trying to start a debate or convert, i just want to give people a better understanding of the faith. so please feel free to ask any questions you may have, and i will try my best to answer as clearly as i possibly can. all i ask is that you ask with respect, and i'll answer as respectfully as i can. thank you and i hope you find this board helpful.
Faraaz, are their places to get an electronic Braille version of the Quran? OK, second, am I even spelling that right? Sorry if I'm slaughtering it. But it's hard to know what my questions are without knowing more about the book that the faith uses for its basis. I know I've heard passages misquoted, but because I have no working knowledge of the book, I can't tell you which passages. I know there are brf versions of the Bible, and probably things like the book of Mormon, so I'm guessing there would be of this. Which is the other reason I'm asking how you spell Quran, because perhaps BARD or BookShare have it.
i'm not sure miss alicia. all i can suggest is qura'n explorer which is an online version of the qura'n. which is the one i use i trust it. also you can download pdf's to read of translations. if you want i'll give some names of authentic trusted sources.
One of the biggest challenges many in the West have to Islam and Christianity / Judaism is the deity's stance on women.
So, how does Islam measure up, and are there reform Muslims who are more genteel / civilized in this respect than some of the more fundamentalist groups? I don't know if Islam is divided in the same way that Christianity appears to be, or if the fundamentalist quarter is as popular among Muslims as Christianity's fundamentalism is among Christians.
Just curious.
the best answer i can give on this topic leo is this. women are held in the highest regard in islam, as a mother as daughters as sisters. the one person a human being should love and honour amungst any other human being after the prophet muhammad peace be upon him is your mother. now when it comes to marage and takeing a woman as a spouse, she must be provided for. it is a right of a woman for her husband to give her food, clothing and accomidation. if your talking about the covering up aspect, it her choice and her choice alone weather she does or not. yes it is in the quran to lower your gaze and cover your modisty, however she is not to be forced and it's her own personal choice to do so. that is her value in islam.
now when it comes to inheritence, as this is covered also. she does get a smaller share however that share is to do with as she wishes. so for example if her father dies, and she has an elder brother, and their is 75 thousand dollars to share out. she will get 25, and the brother will get 50 thousand. what we need to bare in mind is this. as the eldest mail relataive it is his responsability to make sure she has again the basic needs covered, food shelter and clothing. so she must be provided for by the eldest male member of the family. so he must split his money in taking care of his family if he is married, and take care of the woman as well. her money is her money and she is to do with it as she wishes.
i hope that answers some of your questions leo. women are held in the highest regard in islam, so in my opinion anyone who says a woman is oppressed in islam is very wrong.
Thanks for the explanation.
I guess as an egalitarian myself I tend toward equal rights / equal responsibilities, but I understand most religions aren't wired that way, and that egalitarianism as a perspective is actually quite new.
So, when western people say that the man gets more money than the woman in Islam, it's actuaqlly the case that he ultimately holds the responsibility. This has some parallels in some Christian sects also.
Thanks for your explanations.
Ah, just wonderful. I love the religion. I do not convert, because I'm not a group person, but I've done much reading, and had a good friend to talk with about it, and really came to respect it.
Practiced in the correct fashion, it is really beautiful.
Again, great topic. I'll be reading your responses.
I think what Leo was asking here is, it seems there are some sects of Islam that do oppress women. Or is that just our media? I know that could be possible too. But I think Leo was saying that every religion seems to have it's extremists. I know you are not one of them, but they do seem to exist. and of course, extremist groups in whatever religion are the ones that claim they are most closely following the Bible, or the Qura'n, etc.
So this may be a hot one, but I have to ask it. Well, okay, disclaimer. I don't judge all Muslims for what happened on 9/11, 2001. I know many Muslims were not in support of that. But what rationale were the ones who did it following? Were they taking passages of the Qura'n out of context, as I said I'm sure I've seen done earlier? I guess it's kind of like Christians who bomb abortion clinics. That's insane too, and those that do it shame the name of Christianity. Truth to tell, even as a Christian I'm not sure what they think they're using in the Bible to give them the right to do nonsense like that. So I guess I'm curious, what parts of Islam were being taken out of context to have caused that to happen? Again, I emphasize, I'm not trying to be hostile here, just wondering if you had any insight into that one.
firstly let me start by saying that terrorism in any form is wrong. weather it be religious or otherwise. no life is worth more than another for what they believe or don't believe. we are taught to tollorate all faiths, and to work with in the system that the law governing the country we are liveing in lives by. their are chapters in the quran that does talk about jihad, but let me give you some context. jihad also means to strive and to struggle. a war can be faught with in ones self, it is the unofficial 6 pillar of islam if that makes any sense. to strive and to struggle to be as good of a human as you possibly can be. to follow the teachings of the prophet muhammad peace be upon him, and all of the messangers of god that came before him. now their are chapters in the quran that do talk about war, as their are in the bible. however let me clarrify this, no ware does it say kill an innocent person nore does it say take life unjustly. the wars that are talked about in the scriptures were against tirents, and those who oppressed people, not innocent by standers, and those people who are liveing peacefully.
the tirm islam comes from the arabic word salam, wich translaets to peace. we are not here to hurt anybody, nore to force our values and ways upon the west. to losely quote the quran.
you live and let live about our faith, and we will let and live about yours.
their are plenty of narations about the prophet showing kindness and mercy to the christians and jews of his day. plenty of historical facts that will confirm this. as with any book 1 or 2 percent take the quran out of context and use it for evil. we condemn any act of terrorism, and we catigoricly distence ourselves from any person who uses god's word to perpitrate these acts.
i hope this helps answer your question. so just in summery if a muslim finds that he has a problem with a lw or is feeling oppressed in the west, he has the freedom to enter elections, work with the system, don't go to extreme measures.
This is an awesome topic. I will also continue to keep reading this as it's updated. Faraaz, the fact that you hold your faith in such high regard is one of the things I respect most about you. I know so many who take faith lightly but you do practice what you preach and that is amazing. Here's my question. Is it bad to marry outside the religion, or does it say so in the quran?
the answer to this question is quite intresting, and to some can be quite contravercial. it is permissible for a man to marry outside the faith, however he must marry someone who is a person of the book. this means either a christian or a jewish person. the line that is drawn so to speak in those who worship idols and attribute partners to god, that is not aloud so marage again isn't permissible.
for a woman it is not aloud, and the reason that is given is this. if a woman marries outside her faith, she may be pressured to give up her religion to please the man or her family and as a woman may find it difficult to keep practiceing, however in the case of all ruleings, allah knows best.
let me also clarrify that if a man does take a christian or a jew as his wife, she must be aloud to worship freely, with no condemnation or any harm comeing to her.
The rule assumes that a woman must follow her husbands lead, and that her husband will insist, that is not of the faith, because he is not bound by the faiths rule, correct?
This I also find interesting, because in the West, most matters of religion are either express or implied, that the man will follow the woman's wishes. I was told, when we attended fundamentalist Christian churches, that the woman is more submitted to God than the man, that she is more spiritual, and all.
Again, I'm on the outside on this one also, either side, because I am more of an egalitarian. But I do follow Western tradition in following Her wishes in this regard.
So, we can't judge those of the East for what it is we do ourselves, even if the roles may be reversed.
I have a friend who's of the OP's faith, and she says her parents are fine with her marrying a man of a different faith.
they're devout muslims, but like with other religions, some people are obviously more lenient than others.
I have three words to say about this entire topic. No true Scotsman. Look that up, and you'll know my entire thoughts on the subject at hand.
I am a bit better educated, thanks to that last post. I'd never heard that expression before.
Yes, you're right, and it is a troubling aspect to all religions and faiths and all that.
Faraaz, I can't deny that I disagree with Post 11. I'm for equality between the sexes, so I find that one difficult. But if it's part of your faith, it is, and I know you can't just keep parts and throw out others. Well, you can, but it's a slippery slope. But we agree to disagree on things, and such is the case here.
Leo, as for Post 14, usually the most fundamentalist Christian churches teach that a woman should submit to her husband, because he is the head of the household. I don't like that, either. That's one of those areas where I'm a much more moderate Christian.
Cody, I will look up the phrase you posted, simply because I am curious.
Alicia, I wonder if worldwide the human population is more egalitarian than any set of ideologies would portray. I'm with you, though: it's hard to figure out the physics of how someone is automagically the lead based on biological factors alone. In that case, we could decide anything Toyota made was going to be for pleasure only, and anything GM made was for monster trucks, and so on. Except there are any number of varieties of Toyotas and GM's. Egalitarianism is the only way that makes even the slightest shred of sense to me.
What are the pillars of Islam Faraaz? If you could describe them in a nutshell. Lol.
the 5 pillars of islam: the declaration of faith, their is no god but allah and muhammad PBH, is the last and final messanger. the second pillar is give zakah charity, the third pray 5 times a day, the 4th is perform the pilgramage to makkah if you can aford it and if you are healthy enough. the 5th and final one is fasting dureing the month of Ramadan, again if you can and if your healthy enough to do so. these are the fundimentals of islam in a nut shell, and are the foundations of what a muslim should try to live by.
My question is, why five times a day. I am sure there are circumstances in which one cannot pray and observe the ritual cleansing (i.e. in emergencies, when one is sick, stuck in a traffic jam, whatever)... Why is prayer so regulated?
I am curious,
Kate
when one is traveling, and the person know they will miss prayers. they can catch up once they get to ware they wish to go. however if a person is sick and what not, their is nothing they can do. a sick person is a sick person, they aren't expected to be able to perform all the obligations. the prayers are at such times so it can be managed by people easally.
But why 5 times a day? We are still missing that point?
5 Prayers? Wow. Lets say I had a flight for about 12 hours, and I missed about two, when I get to the airport I have to do 7? What difference will it make? Do they have to be the same prayers? I hope not. What about just praying from your heart? No I don't pray, but if I did i'd rather do that than repeat prayers over and over. But again, why five a day? What difference will one more or one less make a difference to your life or your relationship to whoever you serve/worship? I'm genuinely curious.
That was my question? While I understand the symbolism of the cleansing ritual, if I had the flu I would want to be able to pray that almighty God would heal me, protect my family, allow me to grow in knowing him, send down purple marshmallows from the sky... and not have to worry about whether I was "clean" or not. I think that's one part of this that I don't get.
Kate
There is no secret in the number of prayers. It is simply that they are related to the course of the day and relevant to the different states of nature (day and night) that are linked to the biological clock of any Muslim. Thus, the Muslim is in continues connection with God, through out the different phases of the day.
The day starts with Fajr (dawn) prayers, to renew the oath of worship and obedience. Then, the workday of a Muslim society should start after that. Zuhr is in the middle of the day, and ‘Asr is a bit later. As for Maghrib, it is with sunset and `Ishaa’ is when the night falls.
The prayer times are also related to the manners and times of rest in the social life. i hope that answers that. secondly your taking things to litterally, if your in travel to long distences, you do the prayers that are occuring at local time, not the ones you have missed. you can do the ones you have missed if you wish too, but not obligatory, and if you do so, then you pray a shorter version of the prayers.
secondly no one is saying that you can't ask god for things when your sick, and have the flu. that is between you and god. as i've said in previous posts allah knows best. you don't need to do the clennlyness thing when your just asking god to heal you, or asking for something. the being clean and purifying ones self is for when you read the quran and sit on the prayer mat to pray your5 dayly prayers. nothing is stopping you from calling to god in the mean times. that's between you and him.
i'd also like to point out i'm not trying to start a debate here. so please no argumentitive posts, i won't respond. i will only handle questions posted in a respectful manour.
I apologize if my post was considered disrespectful; I apologize that they may have come across that way.
Kate
no worrys kate. i'm just trying to educate here, not preach or convert anybody. yours wasn't disrespectful. i just wanted to make the point encase anyone thought to start the arguement.
Again, so glad you started this. It's nice to learn all this from a true Muslim's perspective. Crap, I had another question and forgot it. Typical lol.
Oh I remember now. You told me a long time ago you performed like a smaller version of the pilgrimage, could you describe that? If you want, of course, and do you have to go to Mecca at a certain time in your life or does that eeven matter?
i'll try and give as symple answer as i can.
1) Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam, and it is mandatory for everyone who is physically and financially able to perform it once in a lifetime. `Umrah is not a pillar of Islam and it is only recommended and not obligatory.
2) Hajj must be performed in the prescribed time period, namely the months of Hajj, and even more specifically, the major rites are done in the first two weeks of Dhul- Hijjah. `Umrah, however, can be done any time of the year.
3) 'Umrah involves only the rites of Tawaf and Sa`i with ihram; whereas Hajj involves staying in Mina, performing the rite of wuquf (standing) in the plains of `Arafat, staying in Muzdalifah, and pelting the stone pillars, as well as sacrifice in some cases. `Umrah, however, does not involve any of these.
i hope that answers your question.
We will put terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. . . . The Fire shall be their home” (3:149–51
Now, tell me why such beliefs should be respected.
If you can't respect this board, then stay the hell off it. Or are you ignoring my board posts too? He asked for no debate, this is for questions only and he would answer them. Just because several muslims do things in the name of Allah that are not in Islam's teachings, doesn't mean all Muslims are like that. Just the way some Christians do not try to push their religion on people or judge others in the name of god. Now, back to the board's original intended topic. Sorry Faraaz, I just get really really frustrated that people obviously don't read and understand the meaning of no debate, they debate for the sake of debate, but I digress. What's a Muslim wedding like? If you wouldn't mind describing that.
I'll second the post above me.
He is not defending his faith, he has offered to explain it.
Beautiful.
I was quoting directly from the qur'an.
Perhaps the question itself could have been worded more respectfully, but the question is not in and of itself disrespectfully. How does one who adheres to Islam reconcile it as a religion of peace and putting terror into the hearts of unbelievers? I am legitimately curious.
Kate
As am I. If it is not disrespectful of some of us to challenge the idea of the Christian god doing certain things, then it is equally not disrespectful for us to challenge the muslim god and look for an answer.
I do agree with Kate, though, the question could have been better put though.
And considering it's history of war and bloodshed... No, I'm not saying the christians haven't had that either but.
And no, I'm not a christian either.
But the question is confrontational, and that is what he is not doing. He is not defending it, he is explaining it. To answer that question, he'd have to defend it.
And what's so wrong with that?
Because his topic states he wishes to explain the religion, not defend his belief in it, or how it effects others.
As has been said on other boards, these are public forums. If you put your beliefs out there, you should prepare for whatever questions, comments, yes, even insults, that might result. I'm not going to saysomething like, "oh, I disagree with that belief, but it's nice. Thanks for sharing." Note the quotation marks there.
True, you can ask whatever you wish, but you can't insist he anser. Smile.
no one can insist he answer, but if Christians have to answer, and people of other faiths have to answer, so should he.
I'm sorry, but I disagree with those who got pissy cause Imp asked a question they didn't like.
Thank you, Chelsea.
Hi, Farris, i hope you come back as I have a couple of questions.
I was going to steer clear of this topic but I just read all the posts up to date and it has clarrified some stuff for me so thanks for that.
OK I am stepping back a bit from some of these postss What is the reason you fast during the day for the Ramadan?
What is meant by a "pillar"?
What about Hajj?
And one last question, here in Australia, we're a Christian dominated country. I hear in the media that Muslims want to eventually dominate in their religion over Christians here? Why would this be so? This makes me sad and angry.
(only Farris's and other respectable answers will be read by me and taken seriously.)
I'll answer the last question.
The media will say anything to cause problems, especially in a Christian community.
Have you thought about what effect that has if the media said that muslim's want to dominate a Christian country?
Next, Muslim's, or some of them would be exactly like Christians, that dominate Australia. How did the Christians get in that position?
Now to his answering questions that are confrontational.
If I said I wanted to explain weight loss, must I argue the benefits or why to a person that is fat and wants to stay that way no matter what I say?
If I do this, it would take away from the other questions. .
Ok Faraaz, don't answer imp's question, but would you answer kate's? It's better put, lets say.. I'm genuinely curious. It depends on how you view it. When you explain something, you also have the chance to defend it without confrontation. How is this negative?
some muslims will say that imps question is a misconception at least I would hope so. So why not answer it
We in the U.S. have had claims that Muslims are "taking over" the U.S.
So, let's consider: In Western nations, Christians own more banks, houses, land, courts, governments, businesses, and schools than anybody else. Christnans, while not the absolute majority, are a supermajority. Imagine a great big sixth-grade boy hits a first grade boy. Imagine the first grader throws a puny punch back. now sixth grade bully goes and tries to get first grader in trouble, saying he's going around hitting people on the playground. Further, imagine there are a few of these little first graders, but most of the playground is made up of big sixth-grade boys.
In this example, in the west, the Muslim is the first grade boy.
How in the world, with so little power and influence in the West, is Islam supposed to "take over the country?"
We had a few silly kiddies claim that Muslims wanted to set up Sharia courts in the U.S. How can that be? Court appointments are by elected representatives, meaning governors and in some cases in many states in the U.S., they are even elected on the ballots! These states are supermajority Christian, the Bible being the best-selling literary work on the common market. But in the West, if a Christian organization gets assessed for its nonprofit status, as does everybody else, they all cry persecution. If someone has to pay for the use of a parking lot or something, a group will claim the Christian church is getting persecuted.
Only these requirements come from largely Christian courts, largely Christian governments, and so on. Sure, we are from a civil standpoint a secular society, but most people in positions of power and influence are Christians of one flavor or another.
You can thank Charlemagne for the widespread adoption of Christianity as the absolute majority religion in Europe, starting from the 7th century. I do realize that most of these people claiming that Muslims are taking over everything probably would need to look up who Charlemagne is, plus a bit of elementary civics wouldn't hurt them.
I'm not defending or opposing Islam in this post, merely stating the obvious. Muslims aren't taking over the west. Even if some of them hypothetically wanted to. No Christian has ever succinctly answered my above questions: where are all the muslim banks, where are all the muslims in power, and which muslim majority is electing the representatives who appoint them, or electing muslims themselves?
I realize this elementary civics is far too heady for the reactionaries. But my playground description describes what we're looking at.
if Muslims are supposedly taking over, we would see them in all three branches of U.S. government (oops, civics again), the Federal Reserve and other privately-held influential corporations (oops economics), and education. Instead, the religion fully established in the west by Charlemagne's conquest is the one who owns all this.
Christians own more banks, corporations, government seats, and businesses, than any other group in the West, because they are the supermajority. They are the supermajority because their ancestors were converted by the sword of Charlemagne, and his Spear of Destiny. They had three options: Convert, give up your land and titles / exist as nomads, or lose your heads.
Sounds an awful lot like what we did later, but Charlemagne's campaign is where it was finally settled in Europe.
Sorry to have gone off topic, Faraz, but I took liberty in answering this question because it's so inconceivably improbable except to those with little education in history or Western Civics.
It is unfortunate but mostly expected that verses would be quoted out of context as we saw in post 33.
Firstly, the Line that was quoted did not include all the verses 149, 150 and 151, as the poster might lead us to believe. Only a partial quote was presented.
These verses talks about a battle that have just occurred that the Muslims have lost.
Verse 149 reads:
﴿Åöä ÊõØöíÚõæÇú ÇáøóÐöíäó ßóÝóÑõæÇú íóÑõÏøõæßõãú Úóáóì ÃóÚúÞóÜÈößõãú ÝóÊóäÞóáöÈõæÇú ÎóÜÓöÑöíäó﴾
(If you obey those who disbelieve, they will send you back on your heels, and you will turn back (from faith) as losers)
Verse 150:
﴿Èóáö Çááøóåõ ãóæúáóÜßõãú æóåõæó ÎóíúÑõ ÇáäøóÜÕöÑöíäó ﴾
(Nay, Allah is your protector, and He is the best of helpers)
And finally, verse 151:
﴿ÓóäõáúÞöì Ýöì ÞõáõæÈö ÇáøóÐöíäó ßóÝóÑõæÇú ÇáÑøõÚúÈó Èöãó ÃóÔúÑóßõæÇú ÈöÇááøóåö ãóÇ áóãú íõäóÒøöáú Èöåö ÓõáúØóÜäÇð æóãóÃúæóÇåõãõ ÇáäøóÇÑõ æóÈöÆúÓó ãóËúæóì ÇáÙøóÜáöãöíäó ﴾
(We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they joined others in worship with Allah, for which He sent no authority; their abode will be the Fire and how evil is the abode of the wrongdoers)
so their is a reason that particular quote is in the quran. question me by all means, but all i ask is that you do it with respect, as i would try and do you. you may not like my answers, and that also is fine. i'm not trying to preach, nore am i trying to make people believers. i'm just trying to educate and give some background.
The reason for these verses was a battle the muslims lost. There were people who stood to fight for good in the name of Allah and there were those who, when they were outnumbered, abandoned their men and went to plunder the enemy. That's what the verse means. Allah will strike terror into the hearts that, in his name, think only for themselves than that of the common good. He would, in my mind, say the same thing to terrorists who commit atrocities in the name of Allah, such as suicide bombings and hurting the innocent. Those are not the true believers of Islam.
Oh, oh oh, I thought of another question last night. When you go to Mosque, is there like an equivalent to Sunday school, or do kids stay in mosque?
Ok I do have another question. That I just now thought of. Is there a rule about not having sex before marriage in Islam?
I'm just gonna leave this here one more time, cuz I think you all need to know exactly what it is, and the only way you're gonna do that is to look it up. Remember, no true Scotsman. Its all over this board like white on rice, or stink on a pig, fur on a bear, tim tebo on any chance to make himself look pious, pick a simile and run with it.
I'll also point out, faraaz isn't explaining islam, faraaz is explaining faraaz. Lets not give it the respect of calling it a religion. Its one man's modernistic, geographically removed, incredibly secularized, and repeatedly countermanded interpretation of one religion which he's explaining. So everything he says here should be taken with enough salt to make you need a bottle of water afterward.
Ok, Cody. I understand what you mean, but I do think he's answering questions that are being posed to him. I don't understand the religion, and I don't plan to. But, I think he's trying. I don't see him making personal opinion based answers. I really don't know, maybe you know more about this than I do. But this is what I see.
Dolce, look at post five again.
oh, the last sentence? Yeah ok... but still, do you think he's talking about the "good" of islam? ...
Good?
Again. Because some do not like religion, they will try to turn any topic about it in to a debate about why people need it, and why it is stupid.
You will pose questions that are confortational to try an show why he's religion is wrong, dumb, and any other terms you'd like to use.
He isn't here to defend, but explain what is close to his heart. You wish to argue, open your own topic and say what you want, but he is answering questions.
Yes, he is answering questions. I never said he wasn't. I'm saying that he is only able to explain to you his idea of what islam is because islam isn't a thing. Islam, like Christianity, Hinduism, a whole list of other things that include but are not limited to most religions, is an idea. So while Bob may think one thing, Bill may think another, and neither of them are able to say definitively who is wrong.
For example, the verse quoted earlier, Faraaz said it was taken out of context. The religious leaders who use it to convince young men to blow themselves up would disagree. The only person who could say who is right and who is wrong is Allah, and Faraaz is not allah. AT least, I assume Faraaz is not allah. I think its a safe assumption.
So for Faraaz to say that he is explaining islam, in all its completeness, is to say that he knows exactly what Allah wants. Now faraaz may feel comfortable saying that because he has faith. But remember that Faraaz is, as I said, geographically removed, historically removed, experientially removed, and probably other facets I don't know about. Hense, everything he says has to be taken with a grain of salt because he can only explain to you his version of islam.
Now, if he wants to open each of his answers with "well I believe", then that's fine. Then he's making it perfectly clear that he is simply stating what he believes. That's all well and good. A bit pointless in my opinion, but who am I to tell someone they can't do something pointless?
However, this isn't what faraaz said. Faraaz said that he is going to answer questions about islam. Not his beliefs in islam, not his views of islam, not his personal experience with islam, islam. That, dear readers, is either grossly overconfident, or intellectually dishonest.
Okay, from that point of view, you'd be correct. I just assumed he is answering his view or his teachings.
And that is a good assumption, but reading the previous posts, you would be one of very very few in that club.
do both men and women pray in the same room when at mosque?
do both men and women pray in the same room when at mosque?
Cody, please politely bite your tongue until it breaks.
I absolutely have no patients for idiots.
If you don't respect those who are religious keep those thought unto yourself.
Oh, and here are my answers, based on 7 years of studies.
First, you can get the coran from bookshare, believe it or not.
You can get the bible from there too--just so you know.
Secondly, yes, there's an equivalent to Christian Sunday school though I have no idea how common it is in the West.
Third, no, men and women do not pray together, at least not according to regulations.
Forth, I am not anti-Semite or conspiratorial or anything, but no, you're wrong--Christians don't control the most banks Jews do.
And that's because in the middle ages, the Catholics didn't want the Christians to loan money or own banks, and the Muslims are forbidden from lending, so guess who jumped in?
Yep.
Jews were the only ones who could do it, and they've had a monopoly on that industry ever since.
So history gave them the monopoly there.
And as far as the bloodshed, you are right as far as why the majority of Christian countries are Christian.
It would take decades of Arab immigration before that would ever even start to look like its changing.
I've heard that men and women pray together if they are at work or on a job site that allow for prayer time.
I have learned so much from reading this thread. A lot of young people I know unfortunately have misconceptions about Islam due to the recent terrorist activity, which is horrific because the percentage of Muslims who support those groups is very small. Before this, I didn't know much about the religion. I believe everyone's beliefs should be respected - challenging them is alright, as long as you don't really offend them, because they could do the same back to you.