Doing a concert, I look at a room full of different people, and I see you’ve got Muslims, you’ve got Jews, you’ve got Christians, you’ve got gays, you’ve got straights, you’ve got blacks, you’ve got whites. I think, ‘How can I unite these people through song?’
The entire industry is a great commune. People from all walks of life come here – Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. Now, our films are also getting international recognition.
There were not that many people who were willing to come out and stand up for Muslims or stand up against the abuses of the Bush administration. That was post-9/11, so I think there was a lot of fear at the time about exactly what that meant – were they unpatriotic if they stood up?
In order to change the conversation about Muslims in American media, we need a diverse, unified movement of people who are willing to take a stand against anti-Muslim bias.
The whole idea of ‘Secret Life of Muslims’ is that we’re just ordinary people. We’re your neighbors; we’re your coworkers. We like coffee, you know? We’re everyday normal people with hopes and aspirations and fears.
We have been given a role to play. We have been asked to provide, to give lectures on the role of Islamic development and the way we do it here, so the people who are Muslims there would understand what the role of Islam is.
There are a lot of Arabs that are not Muslims. They are Christians; they are Jews. Muslim Arabs, especially in my family, are just so ecstatic that I get to play Jesus. They’re so proud.
I would rather live as a Muslim in the West than in most of the Muslim countries, because I think the way Muslims are allowed to live in the West is closer to the Muslim way.
Syria is the proud heir of an ancient civilization that has a unique spectrum of minorities that encompasses Muslims and Christians of various denominations. There are at least ten such ethnic and religious groups.
There have been huge Muslim demonstrations against cartoons depicting Muhammad and any other perceived insult against Islam. But I am unaware of a single demonstration of Muslims against Muslim terror directed at non-Muslims.
The opportunity here in the U.S. is so unique because we are so diverse, with so many different cultures living together. Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists, all with their own connections to the spiritual aspects of food and with lessons that we can learn from each other.
Adding to your list of enemies is never a sound strategy, yet ISIS’ ferocious campaign against the Shia, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, and Muslims who don’t precisely share its views has united every ethnic and religious group in Syria and Iraq against them.
When we blame all Muslims, all Syrians, or all members of any other group because of the actions of individuals, we fall into the trap of asserting collective guilt. We empower the narrow-minded ideology that we are trying to defeat.
When we were discussing ‘Holby City, ‘I told the producers that I wanted the Art Malik character to be honourable, and my other requirement was that he be a Muslim, because we need Muslims on TV.
What I find is that we’re all human beings and that it’s all very similar, what we believe. At the bottom, there’s really not that much difference between Christians and Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists. We all worship God.
I spent some time in Cairo, and you see these Coptic Christians and Muslims holding hands. They got a rich history together of working together and cohabitating. You couldn’t pay to see that in America.
India’s Muslims know that India is the only country in the world where Islam’s all 72 sects are found. No other nation, not even Muslim countries, have all the 72 sects of Islam.
Hindus and Muslims used to be like two neighbors, who had some issues but who also loved each other.
If they analyze the situation as thoroughly as they should, Muslims will realize they are the first targets. What are the fundamentalists really after? Simply taking over Islam and then turning its back on modernity.
My country, France, my homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims.
I have done more for Muslims than Mulayam Singh Yadav has.
American Muslims – young American Muslims in particular – are starting to understand that unless they are willing to stand up for all the other oppressed communities in this country, including those discriminated against for their gender or sexuality, then no one will stand up for them.
Disrespect toward Jesus, as we have seen all too often in our society, is very offensive to Muslims.
Muslims do drink, as anyone who has spent a wild weekend with Saudi booze tourists in Bahrain will know. Those Saudi tourists are like teenage girls in Manchester on a Saturday night. But each country and region is different.
Yes, we get death threats every week… from the Muslims.
Some Jews and Muslims accuse Christians of being idolatrous for believing in the Trinity. My response to both groups is that they fundamentally misunderstand the Christian understanding of the Trinity.
Malcolm X was the first political person in this country that I really identified with. If he had lived and not been purged, I probably would have joined the Muslims.
I would say that while most Muslims take offense at the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad in cartoons, they would never resort to violence. It is a minority of extremist Muslims who take such actions, and they do it for political and tactical reasons far beyond just being offended.
God’s love doesn’t leave out Jews or Muslims or anyone.
We would betray our values and play into our enemies’ hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that.
There are many Muslims of good will and despise this extremism as much as anyone of any other faith.
Asking Muslims to stay away from social media is downright absurd.
Of course, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not terrorists or sympathetic to terrorists. Equating all Muslims with terrorism is stupid and wrong. But acknowledging that there is a link between Islam and terror is appropriate and necessary.
Paradoxically, by insisting on engaging with Muslims as a separate group, the authorities make many of them feel even more excluded.
In quiet ways far too complex to hold Trump’s interest, Muslims in the United States and around the world are helping every day to prevent massacres such as Orlando from happening.
My brother, a cardiologist, was among thousands of Muslims visited by the FBI in November 2001 and forced to submit to special registration fingerprinting, his photo and information forever in Homeland Security’s files.
Not all Muslims wish to express themselves in public through a communal religious identity. Identities are multiple, and some may wish to speak instead just as citizens in their professional capacity, through their political party, or their neighborhood body.
I grew up in a town where there were no Muslims whatsoever, and there was not a lot of exposure.
I believe the Islamic ideology is a retarded, dangerous one, but I make a distinction. I don’t hate people. I don’t hate Muslims.
Religiosity amongst younger Muslims is not about following their parents’ cultural traditions, but rather, their interest in religion is more politicized.
Government policies to improve engagement with Muslims make things worse.
If Narendra Modi wants the hearts of two communities to meet, he must first truly love Muslims.
I stand on my public record as a defender of the human rights of Muslims, notably my work for Moazzam Begg and other British Muslims detained without trial in Guantanamo Bay.
The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country – I know, because I am one of them.
I have watched Muslims chant ‘Death to America!’ on the streets of Tehran, then privately beg me to help them get a visa to the United States.
Muslims, like most other voters, don’t just want ‘one of their own,’ they want someone who best represents their values.
Many Muslims honor people of other faiths and do not kill.
There is no more effective way to radicalize American Muslim youth than for political leaders to make public displays of prejudice against all Muslims. Suspicion will undermine their sense of identification with America and alienate some from both the culture and from politics.
This is why I have always said that it would be better if Muslims were poor.
I am concerned if 25 percent of Americans think that President Obama is a Muslim. I mean, it’s obviously a lack of knowledge. But also, it’s for the Muslims as well, you know, because a small numbers of Muslims have really painted a very negative image of Islam.
We have several million Muslims in France who are mostly moderates or non-practicing. If they feel that it is the only subject in public debate, they won’t feel at home and will be tempted to withdraw to their communities.
Of course there are peace-loving Muslims.
The wise Jewish Israeli must work with the moderate Muslim and the Christian leader of the free world against the crazy Muslims.
It is only in the fundamentalist religions that women are relegated to second class. Radical Evangelicals, Muslims, and Jews all have the same view of women.
