Myth: All Muslim people are Arab or Middle Eastern
The Facts:
Although Islam began as a religion in the Middle East and its holiest sites are located there, the region is home to only about 20% of the world's Muslims. As of 2010, there were 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, which is roughly 23% of the world's population, according to a Pew Research Center estimate. While many people think that most Muslims are of Middle Eastern descent, in actuality Indonesia (in Southeast Asia) currently has the single largest Muslim population.
Projections into the future estimate that India (in South Asia) will have the world's largest population of Muslims by the year 2050.
In terms of Muslims in the United States, 75% of all U.S. Muslim adults have lived in this country since before 2000. The Muslim American population is significantly younger and more racially diverse than the population as a whole, with 30% describing themselves as white, 23% as black, 21% as Asian, 6% as Hispanic and 19% as other or mixed race.
Myth: Islam is a violent religion and Muslims identify with terrorism.
The Facts:
Within every religion, there exists a spectrum of attitudes and behavior and extremism is not unique to one particular belief system. There are people who sincerely view themselves as Muslims who have committed horrible acts in the name of Islam. These people, and their interpretation of Islam, is rightly called "extremist;" they are a minority within Islam and the vast majority of Muslims reject their violence and consider their interpretation a distortion of the Muslim faith. Extremism is not unique to Islam.
According to a 2015 Pew Research Center study collected in 11 countries with significant Muslim populations, people overwhelmingly expressed negative views of ISIS. It is important to keep in mind that Islam, like other Abrahamic religions, includes a large pool of opinions and different ways to understand the traditional holy text that was written in a different era. Terrorists use radical interpretations of Islam, which take a small number of texts that were meant to regulate warfare in the early days of Islam. Terrorists then apply these interpretations to contemporary times.
There is also a perception-even among many Muslims-that Muslim groups and leaders do not sufficiently denounce acts of terrorism. A 2011 Pew survey found that about half of all U.S. Muslims said their own religious leaders have not done enough to speak out against terrorism and extremists.
However, it is useful to note that there are many Muslim heads of state, politicians, organizational leaders and individuals who regularly condemn these acts. For example, after the 2015 terrorist attacks in France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt led condemnations of the attacks. A coalition of leading national and local American Muslim groups also held a press conference to condemn the attacks. Further, thousands of Muslim clerics worldwide passed a "fatwa" (i.e. Islamic legal opinion) against terrorist organizations such as ISIS, the Taliban and al-Qaeda and requested that these terrorist groups not be branded as "Muslim organizations."
Muslims are also subject to increased incidents of hate crimes. In 2014, there was an overall decrease in hate crimes in the United States, but the number of hate crimes targeting Muslims grew from 135 in 2013 to 154 in 2014. And this is most likely an underrepresentation of the number of Muslims targeted because the numbers reflect only those crimes reported to police.
It is important to remember that terrorist attacks in the United States have been committed by extremists who have adhered to a wide range of ideological beliefs including the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacy, antigovernmental, Islamic extremism and others. No one ideology is responsible for terrorism in the United States.
Myth: Islam oppresses women and forces them into a subservient role.
The Facts:
A common perception is that Muslim women are oppressed, discriminated against and hold a subservient position in society. The role and status of Muslim women in society cannot be separated from the role of women in the larger society because women around the world of all races, religions and nationalities face inequality on many levels. Muslim women are not alone in this. The Quran explicitly states that men and women are equal in the eyes of God and forbids female infanticide, instructs Muslims to educate daughters as well as sons, insists that women have the right to refuse a prospective husband, gives women the right to divorce in certain cases, etc. However, interpretation of gender roles specified in the Quran varies with different countries and cultures and in the Islamic world, there exist principles and practices that subjugate and oppress women (e.g. forced marriages, abductions, deprivation of education, restricted mobility). Many contemporary women and men reject limitations put on women and reinterpret the Quran from this perspective. It is also important to understand that, similar to other religions, people in positions of power will sometimes use religion as an excuse to justify oppression of women.
The head scarf is often cited as an example of oppression. The Quran directs both men and women to dress with modesty but how this is interpreted and carried out varies a great deal. Many people think that Muslim women are forced to wear a hijab (head scarf), niqab or burqa. While it is true that in some countries with significant Muslim populations women are forced to wear the hijab, this is not the reason Muslim women wear the hijab in most cases, particularly in the United States. In fact, many women choose to wear a hijab, niqab or burqa on their own and do so for a variety of reasons including a sense of pride in being Muslim, a collective sense of identity or to convey a sense of self-control in public life. Another measure of women's roles in Muslim society is leadership. Since 1988, eight countries have had Muslim women as their heads of state, including Turkey, Indonesia, Senegal, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh (two different women), Pakistan and Mauritius. Many Muslim countries- including Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia-have a higher percentage of women in national elected office than does the United States.
Myth: All Muslims are Arabs and all Arabs are Muslims
The Facts:
Muhammad lived in Mecca (in present day Saudi Arabia), thus the first Muslim were Arab. Since Islam began to spread with Muhammad's revelation in 610, Muslims have spread throughout the world. There are currently 1.3 billion Muslims in the world and 300 million Arabs. Most but not all Arabs are Muslims: in some Arab countries (for example Lebanon) the percentage of Muslims live in Arabic counties. The vast majority of Muslims live in places as diverse as Indonesia, China, Europe and Unite States. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world with about 200 million Muslims 11. Being Muslim is a religious affiliation, while begin Arab is an ethnic background.
Myth: According to the Qur'an, men are superior to women.
The Facts:
The Qur'an does not state that men are superior to women but it does say that men and women are different, and as a group has certain traits in common. This is in part physiological and part cultural. However, the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions (sunna/hadith) have throughout history been interpreted by men living in patriarchal societies and some misconceptions have emerged. Only 5-6 verses of the whole Qur'an form the basis for the misconception of men's general superiority in the most negative manner. Today women in many Muslim countries use a more positive interpretation of these verses in their battle against discriminatory laws and customs.
Myth: Mean with beards and women with scarves are the most devout Muslims.
The Facts:
Traditionally the amount of clothing that a woman wraps herself up in has been regarded as a barometer for her devoutness and modesty. Even today, many Muslims - men, women and children - fins it hard to believe and accept that women without headscarves who wear modest European clothing instead of typical Arabic, African or Asian clothing do indeed read the Qur'an and pray every day, fast during the Ramadan and undertake their pilgrimage to Mecca.
In recent times, some Muslim women have taken to wearing the headscarf as political statement, claiming their right to dress as they choose and to affirm their identity in the face of prejudice.
While the beard is a tradition from the Prophet, it is neither compulsory nor part of Muslim man's dress code. Sometimes Muslim men wear a beard as a way to identify themselves as a Muslim, or as a means to command respect, as they grow older.
In many ways, the myth is upheld within the Muslim community, perhaps more outside it. It should be emphasized, however, that a person's devoutness is measured by one's actions and sincere devotion towards God. It is about what is inside rather than what is on the outside.
Myth: Islam is not compatible with Western values.
The Facts:
The concept of "Western" values is not in any way comparable to any specific set of religious values. As humans in a globalized world, we are all influenced by many different cultures and traditions. The same goes for the societies we have built up over centuries which have been influenced by different religious and cultural traditions. For example, one fundamental "Western" value is the acceptance of diversity and freedom of expression. Respect for diversity is also found within Islam amongst many other common values, demonstrated by the hundreds of thousands of Muslims who are well-integrated and successful in Western societies. More extreme interpretations of any religion could be found to be incompatible with "Western" values, and it is important not to confuse cultural traditions with religious teachings.
Myth: Muslim divorce laws are unfair to women.
The Facts:
In Islam, a woman can seek divorce simply by applying to the relevant authorities; she does not need to establish adultery or abuse. There are sufficient grounds if she no longer wants to be with her husband. As for the custody of children, Islam suggests that it should always be decided by appropriated (Islamic) courts who would take into consideration the welfare of the children first.
In reality, however, it is easier for a man to obtain a divorce than for a woman as within many cultures women are in a less powerful position. Patriarchal structures often dominate the public and private domains. This does not reflect the rights determined by Islam, however, the two often become synonymous and inadvertently dictate how a woman who seeks divorce is perceived.
Myth: In Islam, women are not allowed to work.
The Facts:
Islam neither prohibits nor forces a woman to work and earn money. A woman is allowed to work, run her own business and keep her own money and belongings. Culturally many women have tended to stay at home and bring up their families, and at the same time, there are numerous examples of successful Muslim women's in a diverse range of professional fields. Numerous network of Muslim professional women exist as proof that in Islam women indeed working.