Islamist on the bus ~ would you have just minded your own business?

I would have minded my own business; as is perhaps the norm for many public transport these days. At the end of the day, they clearly won't agree with you and just cause further trouble.

Reminds me when I was on a bus and a Muslim was reciting the Qur'an, clearly trying to make others aware of what he was doing; I had the good luck of sitting by him. I simply ignored him and put in my headphones

Ignore these idiots, they're not worth your trouble

Interested to know what the rest of you would have done in the same situation (hence poll)

So today I caught the bus (near Kingston/Richmond - quite a multicultural area but not all that many Muslims), waded through a small army of school kids and managed to nab the last seat on the top deck. I was sitting there for a little while, not paying too much attention to those around me, when I heard someone sat behind me use the word kafir (unbeliever) once or twice, and my ears pricked. I then heard:

'Do not let the devil influence you. Insha'Allah. If you become a kafir it is the devil's work'

At which point I turned round and said: "Do you mind?"

The guy was a young, bearded Asian man of medium build wearing traditional intricate white Taqiyah and Eastern attire, his counterpart was a stocky South East Asian with a similarly pronounced beard and distinct attire, but no Taqiyah

Initially the Asian guy didn't seem too bothered by my interjection (I think he assumed I didn't know what kafir meant and that perhaps I was complaining about him talking), but then I explained to him that he was talking within earshot of plenty of 'kafir'. He remonstrated that he was having a private conversation, so I reminded him that public transport is just that.. public

He didn't back down so I told him "this is the UK, people don't go around speaking like that here"

To which he insisted that he was "English, British, a British-Muslim!"

I said, 'I'm sure you are mate, in which case you'll know that ours is a secular society. If you live in a multicultural society you need to show a certain degree of respect and sensitivity. You're surrounded by "kafir", you're talking one'

He said something like 'Do you know what, not even gonna bova' and piped down

I turned round and tried to cool down (this situation was pretty intense as you can imagine, turning to confront someone that is sitting immediately behind you). He muttered to his sidekick for a little while, I did my best not to listen and started to think perhaps it hadn't really been my business, heard a few more Insha'Allah's and then..

..eventually felt him tap me on the shoulder. He had calmed down and was clearly trying to make peace/make himself/Islam not look like 'the bad guy'. He tried to explain that he wasn't saying that all kafir are the devil, but that the devil is a kafir and that in Islam Muslims are thought of as being 'the highest level' and kafir is just a distinct group

I just let him say his piece, accepted his almost-apology, and explained that I wasn't trying to have a go at Islam per sae, and that "I would say the same thing to a Jew, a Christian, a Hindu but i'd be failing in my civic duty if I didn't say something in that situation", before turning back around. I got off the bus a few stops later but not before an asian schoolgirl who must have overheard our conversation from further back down the bus got off - she shot me a sort of deep, dark eyed, pensive glare as she went down the stairs

TL;DR An islamist was talking quite loudly about how non-believers are the devil's doing and I interrupted and asked him to tone it down - would you have done the same?

Interested to know what the rest of you would have done in the same situation (hence poll)

So today I caught the bus (near Kingston/Richmond - quite a multicultural area but not all that many Muslims), waded through a small army of school kids and managed to nab the last seat on the top deck. I was sitting there for a little while, not paying too much attention to those around me, when I heard someone sat behind me use the word kafir (unbeliever) once or twice, and my ears pricked. I then heard:

'Do not let the devil influence you. Insha'Allah. If you become a kafir it is the devil's work'

At which point I turned round and said: "Do you mind?"

The guy was a young, bearded Asian man of medium build wearing traditional intricate white Taqiyah and Eastern attire, his counterpart was a stocky South East Asian with a similarly pronounced beard and distinct attire, but no Taqiyah

Initially the Asian guy didn't seem too bothered by my interjection (I think he assumed I didn't know what kafir meant and that perhaps I was complaining about him talking), but then I explained to him that he was talking within earshot of plenty of 'kafir'. He remonstrated that he was having a private conversation, so I reminded him that public transport is just that.. public

He didn't back down so I told him "this is the UK, people don't go around speaking like that here"

To which he insisted that he was "English, British, a British-Muslim!"

I said, 'I'm sure you are mate, in which case you'll know that ours is a secular society. If you live in a multicultural society you need to show a certain degree of respect and sensitivity. You're surrounded by "kafir", you're talking one'

He said something like 'Do you know what, not even gonna bova' and piped down

I turned round and tried to cool down (this situation was pretty intense as you can imagine, turning to confront someone that is sitting immediately behind you). He muttered to his sidekick for a little while, I did my best not to listen and started to think perhaps it hadn't really been my business, heard a few more Insha'Allah's and then..

..eventually felt him tap me on the shoulder. He had calmed down and was clearly trying to make peace/make himself/Islam not look like 'the bad guy'. He tried to explain that he wasn't saying that all kafir are the devil, but that the devil is a kafir and that in Islam Muslims are thought of as being 'the highest level' and kafir is just a distinct group

I just let him say his piece, accepted his almost-apology, and explained that I wasn't trying to have a go at Islam per sae, and that "I would say the same thing to a Jew, a Christian, a Hindu but i'd be failing in my civic duty if I didn't say something in that situation", before turning back around. I got off the bus a few stops later but not before an asian schoolgirl who must have overheard our conversation from further back down the bus got off - she shot me a sort of deep, dark eyed, pensive glare as she went down the stairs

TL;DR An islamist was talking quite loudly about how non-believers are the devil's doing and I interrupted and asked him to tone it down - would you have done the same?

'idiots' seriously??!! please have some respect and get a life

Well as a young woman I would turn around and give him a dirty look, how dare he say that in public he should not try and influence other people's chooses. If he continued I would have said something probably like" Excuse but there is no need for that..."( I am quite a shy person). He would probably start talking to me in Urdu or similar about kafir, then I would have just ignored him, as I am Asian. Oh by the way, I was born into Islam but I am an Atheist so most people would just assume I am Muslim...

I would have done exactly the same. Good on you. I'm sorry, but in a sexular society, it isn't acceptable to talk like that. I'd say exactly the same to any Christian, Jew, Hindu or anyone else who was doing the same.

I would have done exactly the same. Good on you. I'm sorry, but in a sexular society, it isn't acceptable to talk like that. I'd say exactly the same to any Christian, Jew, Hindu or anyone else who was doing the same.

in Islam Muslims are thought of as being 'the highest level' and kafir is just a distinct group

I would have done exactly the same. Good on you. I'm sorry, but in a sexular society, it isn't acceptable to talk like that. I'd say exactly the same to any Christian, Jew, Hindu or anyone else who was doing the same.