From Dave's source:



And



The whole pork thing shows how much misinformation is flying around about Islam (including some spread by fanatical Muslims themselves). I dated a very devout Muslim woman for while, who also happens to be fairly liberal and quite intelligent. I learned a lot about Islam from her, including how flexible the faith can be. For example, there is no requirement in the Qu'ran to cover one's head, so she doesn't (her faith is directed inward, not displayed outwardly). That said, she has no issue with women who want to wear a tudong.

Likewise, the dietary guidelines in the Qu'ran are just that, guidelines. It's what you should do if at all possible. But, for example, if faced with a choice between starving to death and eating pork, the real sin would be allowing oneself to die.

Sadly, misogyny is alive and well in many faiths, and probably worst of all in Islam. It's been said that while Islam is a beautiful faith, Muslims make some of it's worst practitioners (in fairness, the same can be said for most other faiths as well. Some Muslims just take it a bit farther). In the example of my friend, I said that she had no problem with women who chose to wear a tudong, because some women are more comfortable with the degree of "protection" afforded by dressing very modestly. What I didn't mention is that she has a serious problem with a husband who forces his wife to dress this way. She divorced her husband in part because of how he treated her and his attitude towards women.

My point wasn't to downplay some of the more repugnant aspects of how some people practice the faith, but to point out some of the misinformation about Islam (i.e., the idea that smearing a body with lard, or dipping bullets in lard prevents the person from entering heaven).

While I was going for my Ph.D., my advisor was a very Orthodox Jew. One of the most gracious people I've ever known. Shortly after I joined the lab he invited us all to attend the bris for one of his sons, while I was in the group he had two more sons (and we attended the bris-es for them as well). I asked him once what he would do if his wife went into labor on a Saturday, because he was quite observant, and he said, without hesitation "I turn on the cell phone, call the doctor, get in the car, and take my wife to the hospital."

I asked him (honestly curious) how that conflicted with his observance, and he said that it didn't in the slightest - God said to keep holy the Sabbath, and nothing is more holy or respected by the religion than the preservation of life. I found that quite moving.