Responses to False Claims, Lies, and Distortions About Islam and Muslims

compiled by Sheila Musaji

Please see also Responses to Islamophobia, Arabophobia, and Extremism for many more examples. 

ANTI-CHRISTIAN— The murder of a New Jersey Christian Coptic family was falsely charged to Muslims. — An American Christian Missionary in Africa didn’t face possible murder charges and hanging because of a traffic accident. — The ridiculous complaints about crosses at Catholic University were not made by Muslims

ANTI NON-MUSLIM — Muslims are not forbidden to have non-Muslims as friends. — Muslims are not intolerant of other faiths (Gallup poll)

ANTI-SEMITISM — The story that Iran was considering forcing Jews to wear a yellow star or yellow badge appeared in several publications and it was totally false. — An Urban Outfitters tee-shirt was not part of a “left/Islamic coalition” to incite to violence and genocide against Jews. — Muslim students did not “target Jewish students” with eviction notices at a Florida University. — Delta Airlines does not have a “no-Jew” policy for flights to Saudi Arabia — Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf did not make a comment blaming “the Jews” for 9-11 — There was no Muslim plot hatched in an on-line forum to attack British Jews over Israel’s actions in Gaza, and there was no “Islamist” named Abu Islam making these fake postings.  — It is not true that Muslim scholars have not spoken out against holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. 

APOSTASY & FREEDOM OF FAITH — It is not true that Muslims have not spoken against any punishment for apostasy, and in favor of freedom of faith for all.   

ARABIC TERMS — A Madrassah is simply a school.  — The Muslim statement of faith (Shahada) is not an expression of hate, or is not  an “expression of hate” “closely identified” with terrorism.  — It is not true that the Muslim concept of taqiyya means that Muslims have permission to lie to non-Muslims to “advance the cause of Islam”.  It is also not true that Christian and Jewish scholars haven’t discussed the same concept and come to similar conclusions.

CELEBRATING TERRORISM— Arabs did not celebrate 9/11 at a Dunkin Donuts in New Jersey. — Budweiser did not pull all its product from the shelves of a convenience store because there was a celebration of 9/11 attacks,  this never happened.

CHILD BRIDES — The Hamas “child bride” incident was nothing of the sort.

CITIZENSHIP & CIVIC PARTICIPATION — A government officials’ conversion to Islam is not “like joining the Nazi party during WWII”.  — Muslims also died on 9/11.  — A spelling bee for students at Muslim schools was not an example of the inability of Muslims to integrate. — Requesting reasonable religious accommodation in the public sphere is not “creeping Sharia”.  — The White House Iftar was not a “ghoulish” or “disgraceful” attempt to appease Muslims — Whole Foods offering halal products during Ramadan was not “shilling for jihadist interests” — There is no plot by Muslim cabdrivers in New York City to impose Sharia on America because they objected to pornographic signs. — The best buy Happy Eid statement on an ad was not a subversive attempt to “water down” American holidays — Muslim environmentalists are not part of a sinister plot to colonize the west. — Keith Ellison’s use of the Qur’an in the photo op after his swearing in was not “undermining American culture”

CRESCENTS & “MUSLIM” SYMBOLS — The Nuclear Security Summit logo is an atom on a circular path, not an Islamic symbol.  — The U.S. Missile Defense Logo is not evidence of ‘Submission To Shariah’, and neither is the Flight 93 memorial. — The Google Veteran’s Day logo doesn’t display a secret Muslim agenda.

CULTURE & CUSTOMS— Wearing a tee-shirt with Arabic writing on it does not make a person dangerous.  — Ashura is not a “Muslim blood festival”.  — There is no  Muslim sword through the 41-cents mark on the U.S. Eid postage stamp. — The zebibah (prayer bruise) on some Muslims foreheads is not a sign of a “commitment to jihad”. — Muslims don’t hate dogs. — Muslim handshaking customs are not an attempt to force Sharia on others. — An Eid party for Muslim special needs kids was not any sort of “stealth jihad” —Muslims do not block New York streets to pray every Friday. 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH — “Islamophobia” is not an “attempt to silence freedom of speech”  — It is not true that American Muslims have not defended freedom of speech

HATE CRIMES — Muslims are not more likely to report “fake” hate crimes than anyone else.

“HONOR KILLING”— Opposition to Geller & Spencers “human rights” conference on honor killing does not equal “supporting honor killing, gendercide, and the subjugation and oppression of women.”

INBREEDING — Claims about Muslim inferiority due to “inbreeding” are racist and a misrepresentation of the issue

ISLAMO-FASCISTS, ISLAMO-NAZIS — The Mufti of Jerusalem was not “the leader of the Muslim world” and most Muslims fought the Nazis and Fascists.

JIHAD (STEALTH JIHAD)— Rachel Ray’s Paisley scarf is not a symbol of “murderous Palestinian Jihad” (and neither is a Keffiyah). — There is no “spit jihad”— There is no hijabi employment jihad. — There is no Muslim “marriage to important men” jihad plot. — Jihad is not terrorism.  — There was no Muslim Thanksgiving turkey “stealth jihad” plot — There is no Muslim vehicular jihad plot — There is no devious Muslim plot to groom attractive Muslim women to marry important men or politicians - an Islamic/socialist/left wing plot to advance a pro-Muslim Agenda and take over America.

LOYALTY— A Muslim student in Florida did not refuse to stand for the pledge of allegiance. — It is not true that American Muslims don’t support and defend the Constitution of the U.S. 

MOSQUES — The judge did not rule “that construction of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro must stop”. “Islamic supremacists” are not “defying the chancellor’s order” or “defying American law” or “demonstrating their contempt for American jurisprudence”.

POPULATION, MUSLIM DEMOGRAPHICS —There is no plot to have terrorist babies born in the U.S. 

PROPAGANDA— Muslims did not destroy the Library of Alexandria. — The Song of Roland is propaganda, it was not “Saracens” but Basques that attacked Charlemagne.  — The photo of a Yemeni passenger on the Mavi Marmara holding a dagger was totally misrepresented — Barack Obama is not a Muslim, but so what if he was? — Mattel is not promoting Sharia with a subversive doll that supposedly says “Islam is the light”.  —There is no Muslim scholar named Sheikh Haron, and everything he does or says as a supposed member of the Muslim community is a lie.

QUR’AN — There is no verse of the Qur’an (supposedly 9:11) on “The Wrath of the Eagle”. — It is not true that “to go away from” as a translation for darabah in Qur’an 4:34 was never used before Laleh Bakhtiar’s translation.  see Responses to Misinterpretations, Mistranslations, or False Claims Made About the Qur’an for many more examples

RAPE — All of the rapes Oslo, Norway over the past three years were not “committed by Muslim immigrants using rape as a weapon of cultural terrorism”. —Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazd did not justify and provide Islamic guidelines for the raping of prisoners.  The story was a lie. — All rapes in Norway have not been committed by Muslims (not even most)

SHARIA (CREEPING SHARIA, ENFORCING SHARIA, STEALTH SHARIA) — The story about the British banks banning piggy banks so as not to offend Muslims thus enforcing Sharia never happened.  — Nurses in Britain were not “ordered to drop everything and turn Muslims’ beds toward Mecca five times daily” thus enforcing Sharia. — A bus driver in Britain didn’t tell passengers to get off the bus so he could pray, no creeping Sharia. — It is not true that Sharia and Halakha have nothing in common.— The supposed Egyptian “necrophilia law” was not an accurate story. —The story about a flight from London to Malta being stopped because a Muslim man was praying in the aisle was a lie — Straight prayer lines, beards, hijabs, gender segregation during prayers, wearing a watch on your right hand, wearing “non-western” clothing, etc. are not “Sharia adherent behaviors” that might correlate with the promotion of violence.

SLAVERY — The word Slav does not come from the word for slave and has nothing to do with Islam.  Slavery is not only a Muslim problem.

SPEAKING OUT — It is not true “that absolutely none of the self-professed “moderate” Muslim leaders in the U.S. will disavow Hizb ut-Tahrir or its goals.”— MEMRI was wrong when they issued a statement doubting that Imam Ali Khamanei ever issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons. — The Amman message does clearly “address violence or non-violent jihad activity against non-Muslims” claiming that it does not is a lie

STEREOTYPING — Muslims are not a monolithic group or Borg-like collective

TERRORISM & VIOLENCE— The supposed bomb threat made by an Arizona student that led to an evacuation of the school was a hoax by non-Muslim students.  — Muslims are not more likely to support terrorism and violence than Christians or Jews.  — The University of Oklahoma bombing had no connection with Islam.— The Virginia Tech massacre had no connection with Islam. — The story that Iran was going to attack the U.S. and/or Israel with nuclear weapons on August 22, 2006 was a lie. — There were no Muslims acting suspiciously on Air Tran flight 297. — 17,000 “Islamic terrorist” attacks exist only in fevered Islamophobic brains — Muslims did not paint graffiti on Southwest jets as a “jihadist” or “Islamic threat” — The tragic Belgian massacre by Nordine Amrani was not a “jihad” attack and Amrani wasn’t a Muslim   — The Hollywood shooter, Tyler Brehm was not a Muslim — There was no assassination attempt on an EDL leader in Britain. — Muslims are not more likely than non-Muslims to approve of violence against civilians (PEW poll). —The Holocaust museum shooting had nothing to do with Islam. — Anders Breivik’s terrible massacre in Norway was not “a jihad” or even commited by a Muslim — The “Muslim plot” to kill the Pope never happened — Five American Muslim soldiers never plotted to poison their fellow soldiers.