The Misunderstood Religion
Islam: a religion of peace and tolerance. Contrary to popular belief, the Qur'an preaches amity and acceptance. However, most people reject this notion, labeling all Muslims as evil and odious. Frankly, I would too. The reason behind these vile misconceptions is a lack of education, and perhaps a lack of wanting to be educated about Islam. The Qur'an; chapter 60, verse 8: Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.
ICPC, the Mosque that I attend weekly, has invested six million dollars in buying English translations of the Qur'an in an effort to better educate Americans about Islam, the misunderstood religion. Dove World Outreach Center, a church in Florida, has gone out of its way to put the Qur'an on trial on charges of rape, murder, and terrorism. After finding the Qur'an guilty on these charges, the ignoramuses burned the Qur'an inside the church. This is the same church that advocated students to wear "Islam is of the Devil" t-shirts to school. Now, let us put aside the "charges" and focus on the bigger picture. Can we all agree that churches are supposed to preach peace and acceptance? Then why was the Qur'an, which is an integral part of a Muslim's daily life and is to be treated with utmost respect, burned to ashes inside a church? IGNORANCE is the answer. I was personally infuriated by this oblivious act and I had to find it within myself to relieve my rage. However, when Muslims in faraway lands protest this act, they are considered animals and socially unsound. That is surely unjust, and God loveth those who are just. Now, let us take a look at the "charges" on the Qur'an. Rape, murder, and terrorism. I promise 100 million dollars to the man who finds, anywhere in the Qur'an, the advocating of any of these things. Rape? The Qur'an; chapter 17, verse 32: Do not approach the bounds of adultery. Please, PLEASE, show me in anyway how Islam permits, or promotes rape. Murder? That's obviously a false claim, for no religion would advocate murder. “Whoever kills a person will never smell the fragrance of Paradise." (Sunnah). And terrorism? That is just ignorance.
Sharia
What is Sharia? The Arabic word Sharia refers to the way of life encouraged by Allah in the Islamic holy text, the Qur'an. Though some people call Sharia Qur'anic code, it is more an interpretation of religious practices outlined in the Qur'an.
Sharia law is often regarded as extreme and unjust, and Americans tend to condemn it and its followers. Perhaps beheading and stoning don't tickle your fancy, but does death by firing squad hit the spot? How about hanging, or the electric chair? These are punishments practiced by the United States, with no relation to religion. Now, sharia law is a cultural matter; and quite frankly, it offends me when people speak ill of it. Even though I do not support it, it is a part of my religion and I do not appreciate negative comments and purposeless involvement by various peoples, and I'm sure other Muslims feel the same way.
On September 25, 2003 an Islamic court in the Nigerian state of Katsina cleared Amina Lawal, a 31-year old mother of three accused of having sex outside of marriage and sentenced in March 2002 to death. Not to seem heartless, but the woman broke the supreme law, the law imposed by GOD, and deserved to suffer the consequences if you ask me. Americans would disagree because adultery is common and is in a way praised. It is simply a difference in culture and religion.
The Book of Genesis regards women as property, and permits the man to abuse the woman whenever he likes. Furthermore, Halakha, Jewish law, allows a father to have sex with his virgin daughter as young as three years of age. Are these laws any more extreme than Shariah? I think not. People in general must surmount the differences in culture before we can have peace on earth. Before judging a certain group of people, first become educated about them and their cultures and customs. Islam is no exception to this rule of thumb.
This post will be continued and reflected upon in future posts. Feel free to email me your opinions and perspectives, nzrmhmmd72@aol.com.
Islam: a religion of peace and tolerance. Contrary to popular belief, the Qur'an preaches amity and acceptance. However, most people reject this notion, labeling all Muslims as evil and odious. Frankly, I would too. The reason behind these vile misconceptions is a lack of education, and perhaps a lack of wanting to be educated about Islam. The Qur'an; chapter 60, verse 8: Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.
ICPC, the Mosque that I attend weekly, has invested six million dollars in buying English translations of the Qur'an in an effort to better educate Americans about Islam, the misunderstood religion. Dove World Outreach Center, a church in Florida, has gone out of its way to put the Qur'an on trial on charges of rape, murder, and terrorism. After finding the Qur'an guilty on these charges, the ignoramuses burned the Qur'an inside the church. This is the same church that advocated students to wear "Islam is of the Devil" t-shirts to school. Now, let us put aside the "charges" and focus on the bigger picture. Can we all agree that churches are supposed to preach peace and acceptance? Then why was the Qur'an, which is an integral part of a Muslim's daily life and is to be treated with utmost respect, burned to ashes inside a church? IGNORANCE is the answer. I was personally infuriated by this oblivious act and I had to find it within myself to relieve my rage. However, when Muslims in faraway lands protest this act, they are considered animals and socially unsound. That is surely unjust, and God loveth those who are just. Now, let us take a look at the "charges" on the Qur'an. Rape, murder, and terrorism. I promise 100 million dollars to the man who finds, anywhere in the Qur'an, the advocating of any of these things. Rape? The Qur'an; chapter 17, verse 32: Do not approach the bounds of adultery. Please, PLEASE, show me in anyway how Islam permits, or promotes rape. Murder? That's obviously a false claim, for no religion would advocate murder. “Whoever kills a person will never smell the fragrance of Paradise." (Sunnah). And terrorism? That is just ignorance.
Sharia
What is Sharia? The Arabic word Sharia refers to the way of life encouraged by Allah in the Islamic holy text, the Qur'an. Though some people call Sharia Qur'anic code, it is more an interpretation of religious practices outlined in the Qur'an.
Sharia law is often regarded as extreme and unjust, and Americans tend to condemn it and its followers. Perhaps beheading and stoning don't tickle your fancy, but does death by firing squad hit the spot? How about hanging, or the electric chair? These are punishments practiced by the United States, with no relation to religion. Now, sharia law is a cultural matter; and quite frankly, it offends me when people speak ill of it. Even though I do not support it, it is a part of my religion and I do not appreciate negative comments and purposeless involvement by various peoples, and I'm sure other Muslims feel the same way.
On September 25, 2003 an Islamic court in the Nigerian state of Katsina cleared Amina Lawal, a 31-year old mother of three accused of having sex outside of marriage and sentenced in March 2002 to death. Not to seem heartless, but the woman broke the supreme law, the law imposed by GOD, and deserved to suffer the consequences if you ask me. Americans would disagree because adultery is common and is in a way praised. It is simply a difference in culture and religion.
The Book of Genesis regards women as property, and permits the man to abuse the woman whenever he likes. Furthermore, Halakha, Jewish law, allows a father to have sex with his virgin daughter as young as three years of age. Are these laws any more extreme than Shariah? I think not. People in general must surmount the differences in culture before we can have peace on earth. Before judging a certain group of people, first become educated about them and their cultures and customs. Islam is no exception to this rule of thumb.
This post will be continued and reflected upon in future posts. Feel free to email me your opinions and perspectives, nzrmhmmd72@aol.com.
Thank you for the enlightening post.
ReplyDeleteThe test of the relative peacefulness of an ideology rests on two criteria; the first being what it teaches (which you adressed eloquently here) and the second based on what it produces, "by their seeds shall you know them".
How violent is Islam with respect to America? Would we expect a large number of terrorist attacks based on US Government forces occupying muslim countries, destruction of the nation-state of Iraq under the 12-year bombing and starvation campaign from 1991, and supporting the ethnic cleansing of muslim palestinians by the Israeli state?
One might think that hundreds of Muslims would have been motivated to commit attacks against The US government and Americans in general, but let's look for a minute at how many attacks by Muslims were recorded in the 25-year period between 1980 and 2005 by the FBI.
http://www.loonwatch.com/2010/01/not-all-terrorists-are-muslims/
Still reading? Stop. Read the link first.
The FBI data reveal a larger number of terrorist attacks by jewish extremists than muslim extremists.. But how many times have you heard of "jewish terrorism" on the television set? Have you ever? And yet every day you are treated to stories about the muslim threat. Does this indicate something to you?
Today I listened to Victor's jubilant podcast on the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. I imagine he might respond with, "yes, but just ONE Muslim attack on Sept. 11 attack killed thousands." While there is no doubt in my mind that 19 muslim hijackers planned, coordinated and took part in the attacks, there is also evidence pointing to involvement by ... other extremists.
The best and most uncontroversial summary of this evidence can be found here:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis205.html
Victor, you have a good mind and in your few years of consciousness have seen through many falsehoods that most americans will never understand. You have the courage and intellect to transcend nationalistic illusions about about the US Federal Government's foreign policy. Towards this end you will find no better resource than http://antiwar.com/radio podcasts, which is the only place to go for libertarian analysis of these issues.
I thank you for your consideration.