I took courses in Islam and Islamic history at the University I attended, which were taught by Muslim scholars. I've read the Qur'an and the aHadith (the Islamic traditions) countless times, as well as numerous other books about Islam authored by Islamic scholars highly regarded by the Muslim world.

Many of us in the West assume, either out of ignorance or arrogance, that everyone else on the planet thinks the same way we do, but that's definitely not the case. Our biased assumptions have lead to some common misconceptions being accepted as fact.

Here are three of the biggest misconceptions held by non-Muslims, followed by brief clarifications...

1) The Qur'an is hard to understand, and is therefore frequently misinterpreted by Muslims.

Only 12% of all Muslims are Arabs, and those in the remaining 88% who are literate generally read the Qur'an translated into their own language. The Qur'an does not need to be read in Arabic to be fully understood, you need only have an accurate translation done by an Islamic scholar. This site:

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/

Is the most popular Qur'an site on the web. It was founded by Muslims, is maintained by Muslims, and provides three different translations for each verse. If you wish to try reading the Qur'an yourself, which I would highly recommend, that is a reliable resource.

Christians believe men wrote the Bible; Muslims believe that Allah himself gave them the Qur'an and that the passages were authored by him, not mortals. Because of that fact, Muslims *do not* freely interpret the Qur'an in the way that we're accustomed to Christians interpreting the Bible. To change the meaning of a verse would be blasphemy to Muslims. Unlike the Bible, Qur'anic verses are quite literal in their message and meaning.

2) All religions are the same, and those who are violent aren't following their leaders' example.

In the case of Christianity, for example, this is true. Christians believe that Jesus never hurt anyone, and that he was about as peaceful and forgiving as someone can get.

Mohammad, by contrast, killed hundreds of people with his own hand, he had his opponents assassinated, and Sura 9:5 says, "slay the unbelievers wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them and prepare for them each ambush."

On a more personal level, in Surah 4:34, the Qur'an says, "As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, and beat them."

Those are just a couple of examples of violent behavior being condoned or even commanded in Islam. In addition, Mohammad led battles and took the possessions of the tribes he and his forces conquered to share among himself and his men. The booty gotten in battles included tribe members themselves, who were enslaved.

In the Islamic world slavery is still an accepted practice, since Mohammad himself owned slaves, and remains widespread today, particularly in Africa where many in Darfur, for example, have been forced into slavery.

Muslim men are permitted to have sex with slave women, as well as their wives, against their will. The idea that a man can rape his wife is a foreign concept in Islam and, hence, in Muslim-majority countries.

In short, Muslims who commit violent acts are generally not acting contrary to their faith and Mohammad's example.

3) The word "peace" has the same meaning in the Islamic/Arabic context as it does when used by Westerners.

"Peace" in the Islamic sense is when others have submitted to Muslim/Islamic rule and there is absence of vocal dissent.

Muslims claim (and a few actually believe) that the word "Islam" means "peace". In Arabic, however, the word "Islam" means "submission." The confusion arises in part due to the similarities of the words "peace" and "submission" in Arabic.

The catch phrase "Islam is the religion of peace" is far more accurately stated as "Islam is the religion of submission" if it being used in the Western/English context.

There are far too many misconceptions to cover them all here, but that at least covers 3 of the primary ones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since others regularly question my personal views, here are two points about my mind set which some might consider relevant to the subjects I usually discuss...

I'm an agnostic; I believe God exists, though I obviously can't prove it :-) I do not follow a specific doctrine.

I watch only BBC World News as a news source, because I feel they're the most objective. I want real news, not simply confirmation of my own views. (BTW... people write to me all the time about that remark. Notice it does not say "the BBC is always totally objective" just that it's the *most* objective. And you might be totally convinced that your favorite Arabic news channel or Neocon broadcaster is the only news source that tells the whole, unbiased truth, but I'll stick with the BBC. Thanks.)

Now, having said all of that...