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| EXPLAINING HIS FAITH: Mohammed Khan at the Bournemouth Islamic Centre |
SINCE the terrible events of September 11 and the terrorist attacks on London, Islam has become associated in many people's minds with suicide bombers and fanaticism.
Others have accused Muslim leaders of not doing enough to tackle radical elements that have at times threatened to tarnish the image of its whole community.
But Bournemouth Islamic Centre is aiming to get the message across that their religion is, in fact, a peaceful religion centred around the family and community values.
The Centre is running a series of open days over the next two weeks - during Ramadan - to educate people about the customs and beliefs of Islam and invite people to participate in question-and-answer sessions.
PC Mohammed Khan, Boscombe beat officer and practising Muslim, spoke to the Echo about his religion and its beliefs.
Many people's beliefs about Islam stem from a lack of knowledge about it and from generalisations and misinformation widely reported in the national press, he says.
Like Christianity and Judaism, Islam is one of the Abrahamic religions and believes prophets described in the Old Testament such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus to be important.
One of the main differences is that they believe Muhammad to be the final prophet and the holy Qur'an to be the unchanged word of God.
The holy book of Islam, the Qur'an, also teaches Muslims of the importance of peace and forgiveness, say Muslims.
PC Khan said: "People have many misconceptions about Islam. The media always reports the bad, and the good things about Islam don't sell in the media.
"Generally people associate Islam with terrorism but it is a religion of peace - that's the main thing.
"As Muslims we believe it is wrong to kill innocent people whether it's done by individuals or an army.
"Islam believes that with justice you get peace. You can't say we'll take over a country and then you'll get peace'. Islam says if you take over our country then we'll fight'. If somebody takes over your country you are allowed to fight back."
Islam holds many of the values that decent citizens of Bournemouth would also share, emphasised PC Khan.
"What we are trying to portray across to people is that Islam has the same values and community values. We are encouraged to be part of a family unit and help and assist each other.
"Islam encourages you to involve yourself in the community to assist as part of your public duty. Islam has a strong belief in the family and community life, which unfortunately we are losing in British society."
Muslims do not believe in oppressing women or denying them an education, added PC Khan. In fact one of the prophet Muhammad sayings is that paradise lies beneath the mother's feet.
The Qur'an says that women should dress modestly. The majority of Muslims believe that the wearing of the burkha or the veil is not obligatory, added PC Khan.
"In Islam the woman plays a vital role in the family unit. It is a very honoured and high position. We don't think of women as being only mothers'," he said.
"The other misconception is that women are not allowed any freedom or any work but the first duty of the mother is the nurture of the children.
"That is the most important thing before anything else and that is a very difficult job. Apart from that duty then they can work. Education is very important.
"It is said that if you educate a man you educate a person but if you educate a woman you are educating a nation.
"Islam says it should be loose fitting clothes for a woman which don't reveal the outline of the figure and also she should wear the headscarf. This is compulsory."
The Centre has already received positive feedback from visitors to the open day many of whom said they had learned things they hadn't previously known about Islam and the importance of keeping an open mind about other religions and cultures, said PC Khan.
Anyone interested in attending one of the Open Days can contact the centre on 01202 557072.
7:00pm Monday 24th September 2007
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CommentPosted by: the owl, bere regis 9a on 4:29pm Tue 25 Sep 07
O M G Whats all this then, if a religion comes anywhere near me wiyh the exception of CofE & cherries they wont be going back to their religion centre they'll be going to the broken nose centre, angels ghosts, flying saucers gods, tunnels, shining lights, haunted pubs its daft any way i thought we done all this,pigeon droppings is far more interesting
O M G Whats all this then, if a religion comes anywhere near me wiyh the exception of CofE & cherries they wont be going back to their religion centre they'll be going to the broken nose centre, angels ghosts, flying saucers gods, tunnels, shining lights, haunted pubs its daft any way i thought we done all this,pigeon droppings is far more interesting
Posted by: Kevvo on 8:52pm Tue 25 Sep 07
Before anyone says anything I belive in God I also respect all other religions but What really hacks me off about all this is The Koran preaches its wrong to kill inocent people the Bible preaches its wrong to kill another Human full stop so why do all these so called religious Men go around killing each other and in the case of the Muslims themselves I just dont think any of this will stop the fighting WE should keep our nose out of other cultures religions and they should keep there noses out of ours Its all about OIL I hope I dont get into trouble for saying that but it would be of more benifit if Christians learnt about what the Bilble says and Muslims learned about what the Koran says
Before anyone says anything I belive in God I also respect all other religions but What really hacks me off about all this is The Koran preaches its wrong to kill inocent people the Bible preaches its wrong to kill another Human full stop so why do all these so called religious Men go around killing each other and in the case of the Muslims themselves I just dont think any of this will stop the fighting WE should keep our nose out of other cultures religions and they should keep there noses out of ours Its all about OIL I hope I dont get into trouble for saying that but it would be of more benifit if Christians learnt about what the Bilble says and Muslims learned about what the Koran says
Posted by: Bas BNP., Dorset on 9:27pm Tue 25 Sep 07
After reading this article i would like to question why the Iranian girl who converted to Christianity, the 30-year-old Samar from Bournemouth who faced deportation back to Iran as reported in the echo on Monday 30th July 2007, and Tuesday 17th July 2007 'who converted to Christianity before leaving Iran originally, could be put to death for her religion on her return to her homeland.' 'A copy of a death warrant, issued on May 21 by the Islamic Revolutionary Court, stated that anyone who "backslides" deserves to be stoned to death.'
Please explain this.
After reading this article i would like to question why the Iranian girl who converted to Christianity, the 30-year-old Samar from Bournemouth who faced deportation back to Iran as reported in the echo on Monday 30th July 2007, and Tuesday 17th July 2007 'who converted to Christianity before leaving Iran originally, could be put to death for her religion on her return to her homeland.' 'A copy of a death warrant, issued on May 21 by the Islamic Revolutionary Court, stated that anyone who "backslides" deserves to be stoned to death.'
Please explain this.
Posted by: terry collins, bournemouth on 5:09am Wed 26 Sep 07
actually religion isnt so difficult to understand because in each and evey case you can change the rules as you go along and then beg forgiveness if you mess up which is always so graciously granted - by whom we dont know but it all looks like b*llsh*t to me ,it seems to centre around the wealth and power of a select few or am i being silly ?
actually religion isnt so difficult to understand because in each and evey case you can change the rules as you go along and then beg forgiveness if you mess up which is always so graciously granted - by whom we dont know but it all looks like b*llsh*t to me ,it seems to centre around the wealth and power of a select few or am i being silly ?
Posted by: aLUKEonLIFE, Bournemouth on 11:47am Wed 26 Sep 07
The problem with any religion, is its interpretation by man.
Why do most people find it so hard to understand that Islam, like christianity has different sects? The more fundamental/hardline wahhabi/islamist beliefs are just as different to most (more spiritual) Muslims as the Mormons are to most Christians.
"Bas" you may just as well ask any Christian to explain why it's acceptable to rape 14year old girls in multiple marriages? Or closer to your beliefs perhaps, why it was acceptable to massacre the jews in WWII?
The problem with any religion, is its interpretation by man.
Why do most people find it so hard to understand that Islam, like christianity has different sects? The more fundamental/hardline wahhabi/islamist beliefs are just as different to most (more spiritual) Muslims as the Mormons are to most Christians.
"Bas" you may just as well ask any Christian to explain why it's acceptable to rape 14year old girls in multiple marriages? Or closer to your beliefs perhaps, why it was acceptable to massacre the jews in WWII?
Posted by: Dave Turner BNP, Bournemouth on 11:52pm Wed 26 Sep 07
I take it in the interests of equality and all that, that Fiona Pendlebury will be allowing Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh coppers etc to bang on about how wonderful their faith is or not in the next few weeks?
I mean what role does a serving police officer provide by promoting his or her religion, I was under the impression that coppers were employed to nick motorists, litter bugs, council tax defaulters and other minor offenders and slap them with a fixed penalty notice. Surely promoting ones personal choice of religious deference is somewhat against the local constabularies laws?
Perhaps Fiona should have been a bit more searching in her interview and asked PC Khan what were his thoughts on Islamic (Sharia) law, for instance; A woman can be stoned to death, if after being raped she cannot find six male witnesses. Or the mandortary death sentence for conviction of being a homosexual and what about the hatred demonstrated by Islamists over a few cartoons.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing personal against muslims, I just wish they would choose to follow another religion or perhaps none at all (punishable by death according to sharia) and will treat people how I see them.
As Islam is a religion and not a race I feel it right to object to its indoctrinations. Islam is a religion of peace alright, but only if you submit to its every sexist, mysoginystic, racist decree, go against it though and you will find a whole world of pain.
With all this in mind, I will still attend the open day at the Islamic centre, I might hint as to my dissastifaction towards its fascist tendancies and I might even let it be known who I am.
Dave Turner, Secretary South West BNP
Bas is Jewish mate
P.S.
Luke with the malfuctioning CaPsLocK key
I take it in the interests of equality and all that, that Fiona Pendlebury will be allowing Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh coppers etc to bang on about how wonderful their faith is or not in the next few weeks?
I mean what role does a serving police officer provide by promoting his or her religion, I was under the impression that coppers were employed to nick motorists, litter bugs, council tax defaulters and other minor offenders and slap them with a fixed penalty notice. Surely promoting ones personal choice of religious deference is somewhat against the local constabularies laws?
Perhaps Fiona should have been a bit more searching in her interview and asked PC Khan what were his thoughts on Islamic (Sharia) law, for instance; A woman can be stoned to death, if after being raped she cannot find six male witnesses. Or the mandortary death sentence for conviction of being a homosexual and what about the hatred demonstrated by Islamists over a few cartoons.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing personal against muslims, I just wish they would choose to follow another religion or perhaps none at all (punishable by death according to sharia) and will treat people how I see them.
As Islam is a religion and not a race I feel it right to object to its indoctrinations. Islam is a religion of peace alright, but only if you submit to its every sexist, mysoginystic, racist decree, go against it though and you will find a whole world of pain.
With all this in mind, I will still attend the open day at the Islamic centre, I might hint as to my dissastifaction towards its fascist tendancies and I might even let it be known who I am.
Dave Turner, Secretary South West BNP
Bas is Jewish mate
P.S.
Luke with the malfuctioning CaPsLocK key
Posted by: Kevvo on 3:53pm Sat 29 Sep 07
[quote][bold]aLUKEonLIFE[/bold] wrote:
The problem with any religion, is its interpretation by man. Why do most people find it so hard to understand that Islam, like christianity has different sects? The more fundamental/hardline wahhabi/islamist beliefs are just as different to most (more spiritual) Muslims as the Mormons are to most Christians. "Bas" you may just as well ask any Christian to explain why it's acceptable to rape 14year old girls in multiple marriages? Or closer to your beliefs perhaps, why it was acceptable to massacre the jews in WWII?[/quote] Point taken but Hitler was an atheist and stifled all religions . The point I am making is it wont make a blind bit of difference going to see these people and trying to understand because we are not the ones going around killing people and neither are they It will never change until all so called religious leaders practice what it says in their Holy Books eg that it is wrong to kill inocent People but most of us know that religion is an excuse used to mass the rabble to go and get themseves killed to further others quests for control and Power and I mean both sides
aLUKEonLIFE wrote:
The problem with any religion, is its interpretation by man. Why do most people find it so hard to understand that Islam, like christianity has different sects? The more fundamental/hardline wahhabi/islamist beliefs are just as different to most (more spiritual) Muslims as the Mormons are to most Christians. "Bas" you may just as well ask any Christian to explain why it's acceptable to rape 14year old girls in multiple marriages? Or closer to your beliefs perhaps, why it was acceptable to massacre the jews in WWII?
Point taken but Hitler was an atheist and stifled all religions . The point I am making is it wont make a blind bit of difference going to see these people and trying to understand because we are not the ones going around killing people and neither are they It will never change until all so called religious leaders practice what it says in their Holy Books eg that it is wrong to kill inocent People but most of us know that religion is an excuse used to mass the rabble to go and get themseves killed to further others quests for control and Power and I mean both sides
Posted by: Kevvo on 5:16pm Sat 29 Sep 07
[quote][bold]aLUKEonLIFE[/bold] wrote:
The problem with any religion, is its interpretation by man. Why do most people find it so hard to understand that Islam, like christianity has different sects? The more fundamental/hardline wahhabi/islamist beliefs are just as different to most (more spiritual) Muslims as the Mormons are to most Christians. "Bas" you may just as well ask any Christian to explain why it's acceptable to rape 14year old girls in multiple marriages? Or closer to your beliefs perhaps, why it was acceptable to massacre the jews in WWII?[/quote] It all political If we were all Muslims they would still be fighting most religions preach tolerance few practice it at the end of the Day the middle East situation is about Oil , setting up the state of Israel and all that.
We joined in with the Americans condeming Sadam Hussien but thought nothing of supplying him with Weapons when fighting Iran (Contracts) We supply the Taliban when fighting Russia then end up fighting them We use the excuse of protecting our soverign protectorates eg. the Falklands from an aggressor (argentina) but allowed America to invade another one of our protectorates (Grenada) although they didnt have minerals. We should go back to being in independant Country and try not to impose our will on others You only have to look at the fall of the Iron Curtain to see what it is really all about The Soviets moved out and the Western Commerce moved in McDonalds.
QWe need to look after our own People and allow others to do the same.
aLUKEonLIFE wrote:
The problem with any religion, is its interpretation by man. Why do most people find it so hard to understand that Islam, like christianity has different sects? The more fundamental/hardline wahhabi/islamist beliefs are just as different to most (more spiritual) Muslims as the Mormons are to most Christians. "Bas" you may just as well ask any Christian to explain why it's acceptable to rape 14year old girls in multiple marriages? Or closer to your beliefs perhaps, why it was acceptable to massacre the jews in WWII?
It all political If we were all Muslims they would still be fighting most religions preach tolerance few practice it at the end of the Day the middle East situation is about Oil , setting up the state of Israel and all that.
We joined in with the Americans condeming Sadam Hussien but thought nothing of supplying him with Weapons when fighting Iran (Contracts) We supply the Taliban when fighting Russia then end up fighting them We use the excuse of protecting our soverign protectorates eg. the Falklands from an aggressor (argentina) but allowed America to invade another one of our protectorates (Grenada) although they didnt have minerals. We should go back to being in independant Country and try not to impose our will on others You only have to look at the fall of the Iron Curtain to see what it is really all about The Soviets moved out and the Western Commerce moved in McDonalds.
QWe need to look after our own People and allow others to do the same.
Posted by: Kevvo on 2:07pm Sun 30 Sep 07
I must say that I am also surprised that PC khan is making religios and indeed political statements whilst I of course respect his view his duty as a Police Officer is to uphold the law on behalf of the Soverign which i am sure he does . One question I would ask though is that if Muslims only fight when people try to take over their country how do that fit with the Madrid Bombings Have Spain taken over someones Country or is this going back to the time of Phillip the 2nd. Dont get me wrong I can understand defending your Homeland but the Bombers in Lodon were British so how does that work
I must say that I am also surprised that PC khan is making religios and indeed political statements whilst I of course respect his view his duty as a Police Officer is to uphold the law on behalf of the Soverign which i am sure he does . One question I would ask though is that if Muslims only fight when people try to take over their country how do that fit with the Madrid Bombings Have Spain taken over someones Country or is this going back to the time of Phillip the 2nd. Dont get me wrong I can understand defending your Homeland but the Bombers in Lodon were British so how does that work
Posted by: aLUKEonLIFE, Bournemouth on 10:24pm Sun 30 Sep 07
Kevvo - the answers to most of your questions can be found in the book by Ed Husain called "the islamist". Its a great, easy to read book that makes a good starting point in understanding Islam and fundamentalism in the world today.
Kevvo - the answers to most of your questions can be found in the book by Ed Husain called "the islamist". Its a great, easy to read book that makes a good starting point in understanding Islam and fundamentalism in the world today.
Posted by: aLUKEonLIFE, Bournemouth on 10:36pm Sun 30 Sep 07
Dave Turner - "in the interests of equality", 2 things in reply..
1 its not politics, where journalists have to legally give a fair % to each party during an election campaign and 2 if those other faiths were accused of being terrorists and held an open day, i'm sure you would see a similar article.
I'd also ask you to re-read my first reply, I think you missed my questions and the point that Islamic Terrorists are not the same as Muslims, they are (in maths terms) a subset of. It'd be as wrong as assuming that I must be a member of the BNP because I'm from England.
ps For the record, I think all religion is fundamentally stupid, but lets not go there.. I'm a signed up pastafarian (google it)
pps therE's noThinG wroNg witH My cAps key... I tHink...
Dave Turner - "in the interests of equality", 2 things in reply..
1 its not politics, where journalists have to legally give a fair % to each party during an election campaign and 2 if those other faiths were accused of being terrorists and held an open day, i'm sure you would see a similar article.
I'd also ask you to re-read my first reply, I think you missed my questions and the point that Islamic Terrorists are not the same as Muslims, they are (in maths terms) a subset of. It'd be as wrong as assuming that I must be a member of the BNP because I'm from England.
ps For the record, I think all religion is fundamentally stupid, but lets not go there.. I'm a signed up pastafarian (google it)
pps therE's noThinG wroNg witH My cAps key... I tHink...
Posted by: Kevvo on 12:02pm Mon 1 Oct 07
[quote][bold]aLUKEonLIFE[/bold] wrote:
Kevvo - the answers to most of your questions can be found in the book by Ed Husain called "the islamist". Its a great, easy to read book that makes a good starting point in understanding Islam and fundamentalism in the world today.[/quote] Ok I will look at it. I am not unreasonable I just dont understand how anyone would want to kill in the name of religion . Everyone knows that bombing is indescriminate and indeed inocent Muslims were killed in New York, London, Madrid and properbly in the other killings and of course there are muslims in the British army That surely is not encouraged by Allah
aLUKEonLIFE wrote:
Kevvo - the answers to most of your questions can be found in the book by Ed Husain called "the islamist". Its a great, easy to read book that makes a good starting point in understanding Islam and fundamentalism in the world today.
Ok I will look at it. I am not unreasonable I just dont understand how anyone would want to kill in the name of religion . Everyone knows that bombing is indescriminate and indeed inocent Muslims were killed in New York, London, Madrid and properbly in the other killings and of course there are muslims in the British army That surely is not encouraged by Allah
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