50 Muslim Quotes Breaking Misconceptions About A Beautiful Faith

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published January 24, 2023

Diversify your knowledge with our inspirational and informative Muslim quotes.

Islam is one of the world’s largest major religions.

Even though almost one-quarter of the Earth’s population follows Islam, many people still have misconceptions about this faith.

What is a Muslim?

The word Islam means to surrender to God, and followers of Islam are called Muslims.

In Arabic, the word Muslim means one who surrenders to God.

Check out these facts about Muslims below:

The Arabic name for God is Allah.
About 3.45 million Muslims live in the United States.
There are almost two billion Muslim people worldwide.

Similar to Judaism and Christianity, Islam is monotheistic, meaning they believe in one God, or Allah.

Below are some facts that dispel some common myths about Muslims:

Not all Muslims are Arab or Middle Eastern.
All religions have extremists, Islam is a faith of peace and equality.
The majority of the world’s Muslims are not Arab or Middle Eastern.

Get to know the Five Pillars of Islam

The Islamic faith is centered around five essential practices.

These duties are known as the Five Pillars of Islam.

The Five Pillars are:

The profession of faith (Shahada)
The duty to perform five daily prayers (Salat)
The obligation to provide (Zakat)
Fasting during the holy month (Ramadan)
A pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)

Islamaphobia is the fear, hatred and discrimination toward Muslim people.

The lack of understanding and assumptions about Muslims has led some people to normalize anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Recent Pew polls suggest that most people in Islamic countries negatively view groups like ISIS.

Some people make the prejudiced assumption that Muslims are synonymous with terrorism, which is not true.

If extremists exist in all faiths, why are Muslims stereotyped as terrorists?

Every religion has people who interpret their faith in an extreme way.

Extremism is not unique to Islam.

There are Christian, Buddhist and Jewish extremists in our world.

An overwhelming vast majority of Muslims reject violence and consider terrorism an extremist interpretation of their faith.

If you are interested in expanding your understanding of an often misunderstood faith, check out our Muslim quotes below.

You will also enjoy our article on Ramadan quotes.

Muslim quotes about being proud to follow Islam

Many people who are not Muslims misunderstand the spiritual path of Islam.

These quotes aim to correct some of those misunderstandings.

1. “Why should a Muslim not be a modern person?” — Recep Tayyip Erdogan

2. “He who becomes a Muslim does so in his own interest.” — Abu Bakr

3. “I, as a Muslim, fulfill all the requirements of my religion.” — Recep Tayyip Erdogan

4. “My grandmother was a Muslim. My mother is Christian.” — Gbenga Akinnagbe

5. “For a Muslim, there is no such thing as to be against modernity.” — Recep Tayyip Erdogan

6. “People think a Muslim has to have a turban or a big beard. It’s stupid.” — T-Pain

7. “I am a Muslim Arab, in my actions oriented very to the left, in my convictions.” — Ahmed Ben Bella

8. “In 2008, I spoke out against calling the president a Muslim as if that was a curse.” — Colin Powell

9. “The fundamental idea which defines a human being as a Muslim is the declaration of faith.” — Feisal Abdul Rauf

10. “There’s something different about growing up black and Muslim, especially in New Jersey.” — SZA

You will also enjoy our article on Islamic quotes.

Muslim quotes about faith and diversity in life

Islam is one of the world’s largest religions, with a very diverse population.

11. “There is a misconception that young Muslim women are oppressed. That simply isn’t the case.” — Halima Aden

12. “So I don’t operate from feeling like I have to be with someone who is Muslim or the other way around.” — Ramy Youssef

13. “My mom’s actually a Buddhist. My dad’s a Christian, and he was a Muslim, but he converted to Christianity.” — Jarome Iginla

14. “The Muslim community is completely fractured – it doesn’t really exist anymore; the only place it does exist is online.” — Reza Aslan

15. “Moderation is part of faith, so those who accuse Muslim schools of fostering fanaticism should learn a bit more about Islam.” — Cat Stevens

16. “My goal is to send a message to Muslim women and young women everywhere that it’s okay to break stereotypes and be yourself.” — Halima Aden

17. “The word ‘Islam’ means ‘peace.’ The word ‘Muslim’ means ‘one who surrenders to God.’ But the press makes us seem like haters.” — Muhammad Ali

18. “In New York, a Jew is a Jew, an Italian is an Italian, a Muslim is a Muslim: Nobody’s going out of his way to treat you in a special way.” — Peter Eisenman

19. “I was brought up a Muslim, and I respect the religion I was born into, but I don’t practice it. However, I do believe in thanking God for my happy life.” — Laila Rouass

20. “I choose to dress modestly and choose to cover my hair with a hijab; not all Muslim women make that choice, and that’s okay. We are all different!” — Halima Aden

Muslim quotes about peace, love, and art

Islam is a path of peace, and these quotes aim to celebrate that idea.

21. “Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America.” — Colin Powell

22. “However, my characters do not necessarily behave as ‘good’ Muslims; they are not ideals or role models.” — Leila Aboulela

23. “Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president?” — Colin Powell

24. “I write fiction that reflects Islamic logic: fictional worlds where cause and effect are governed by Muslim rationale.” — Leila Aboulela

25. “My wife and I have what’s known as a mixed marriage. I am a Methodist; she is a Muslim. So we’re keeping it in the M’s.” — Grover Norquist

26. “Iraq was home of the Abbasid Caliphate, a golden age when the Muslim world was at the forefront of math, science, and medicine.” — Richard Engel

27. “I’m Muslim, but not really. My family did not care. And I always managed to skip religion classes when I was living in the Gulf, even when they were obligatory.” — Yasmine Hamdan

28. “I was a girl who was told that girls should not have their voice. I was from a conservative Muslim family where they only think about their daughters getting married.” — Urfi Javed

29. “Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, a lot of the roles that I am offered are of Muslim characters, maybe because I looked a certain way in ‘Neerja.’ But I am actually Parsi.” — Jim Sarbh

30. “Even if you didn’t see the movie, you’d see two words you’d never seen put together before – comedy and Muslim. Comedy is friendly – it’s the least offensive word in our language.” — Albert Brooks

The best Muslim quotes about politics and equality

True diversity occurs when everyone is afforded the space to be themselves.

31. “While the West tries to turn its civilization into cultural variety hour, Islam tries to turn Muslim lands into a cultural monolith.” — Ben Shapiro

32. “My films often have a spiritual dimension which comes from my Muslim background, and I’m happy to tackle that in cinema.” — Asif Kapadia

33. “The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated media outlets in Egypt tried to sour the ties between our two countries, but our ties are very strong.” — Mohammad bin Salman

34. “The same West that justifies the rap culture thinks that every Muslim terrorist bombing is an expression of economic angst or social alienation.” — Ben Shapiro

35. “Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won’t understand how anyone can have a problem with how they’re treated.” — John Lydon

36. “Fighting for one’s freedom, struggling towards being free, is like struggling to be a poet or a good Christian or a good Jew or a good Muslim or good Zen Buddhist.” — Maya Angelou

37. “Indonesia is the world’s third-largest democracy. And we also have the world’s largest Muslim population. This demonstrates that democracy and Islam are not incompatible.” — Joko Widodo

38. “If I were a child of Tibet or of Arabia, I suspect the path I’d walk would be the Buddhist path or the Muslim path. And I don’t mind saying that I don’t invalidate any of those paths.” — John Shelby Spong

39. “A lot of people have the misconception that, as a Muslim woman, I am somehow against women wearing bikinis. No, I want women to feel comfortable and confident in whatever they wear.” — Halima Aden

40. “Pakistanis can’t trust. They’ve seen in history that people, particularly politicians, are corrupt. And they’re misguided by people in the name of Islam. They’re told: ‘Malala is not a Muslim, she’s not in purdah, she’s working for America.’” — Malala Yousafzai

The top Muslim quotes about injustice and culture

Islam is based on equality, yet Muslims are often sterotyped or portrayed otherwise. These quotes explore this misunderstanding.

41. “When I was doing theatre, my Muslim friends would invite me to an Iftar party, and I’d go wearing a dhoti while others would be in a kurta-pajama.” — Vijay Deverakonda

42. “The Muslim leaders swallow the advice of the Western powers and bodies like the IMF and World Bank, even when it is bad for their countries, and they know this.” — Abu Bakar Bashir

43. “My dad is Arab. I’m not Muslim, but half of my family is, so I see a lot of injustice happening in the portrayal of Muslims that they don’t have any heroes.” — Lexi Alexander

44. “It is immoral to brand children with religion. ‘This is a Catholic child.’ ‘That is a Muslim child.’ I want everyone to flinch when they hear such a phrase, just as they would if they heard, ‘That is a Marxist child.’” — Richard Dawkins

45. “As an artist, I try and be controversial, and I have been a bit offensive at times. I have a view on the burka, and I’m sure a few of the Muslim girls and their families would have a view of me on stage in next to nothing!” — Jessie J

46. “Some Muslim children, both male and female, have little choice in who to marry, what to study, what their careers will be, and who they can socialize with. Their lives are constrained under the expectations of family ’honor.’” — Deeyah Khan

47. “I see no reason why the Shias should be debarred from having their voice in the elected bodies and governmental institutions in any matter which affect the Shias. We must so organize the Muslim League that justice is done to every sect and section inside it.” — Muhammad Ali Jinnah

48. “I think we have to understand that when tolerance becomes a one-way street, it will lead to cultural suicide. We should not allow the Muslim Brotherhood or associated groups to be influencing our national security strategy.” — Allen West

49. “I do identify as a Muslim, and I do identify as a Bangladeshi girl. I identify as British, as well, and a woman and I’m a woman of color, and why am I ashamed of that? And I used to not want to talk about it. But that is me.” — Nadiya Hussain

50. “I’ve realized that it’s important to stop trying to think I’m any one thing. People are confused as to their identity and try to cling to one aspect of that identity to describe what they are: American, Republican, Muslim. These are really incomplete.” — Mohsin Hamid

Misconceptions can lead to new understandings if we keep an open mind

Islam teaches that Allah (God) revealed the holy word to the prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.

The Muslim holy book is called the Quran and the Hadith is also an important text.

Muslims worship in a place called a Mosque.

The Kaaba Shrine in Mecca, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque in Medina are all very important sites in Islam.

Muslims respect prophets like Abraham, Moses, Noah and Jesus, believing Muhammad was the final prophet.

It is always beneficial to understand diverse groups through our own analysis and research.

Unfortunately, many groups remain misunderstood.

The 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York turned the world upside down.

Anti-Muslim sentiment existed prior to the attacks, but the amount of anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence directed toward Muslims increased significantly after 9/11.

It has been over twenty years since 9/11, yet in the United States the number of hate crimes targeting Muslims continues to rise.