Thursday, February 14, 2008
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Islam - Religion of Peace?
We've all heard Bush and Blair declare Islam to be a "religion of peace" whenever they discuss terrorism, and how terrorists go against the central tenets of the Muslim faith. But is this true? Not since the 17th century has Christianity inspired violence in the same way that Islam does today. Of course, much is to be said about the culture terrorists are raised in, with terribly violent regimes in the Middle East nations that are predominantly Muslim. But what of all the "homegrown" terrorists? The answer lies in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. Now, to dispel the inevitable cried of "racist" and "bigot" that one invariably gets for questioning a culture aside from the one they were raised in, I by no means believe that all Muslims are violent or terrorists. My qualm is with the book itself, not with any adherents of the faith (except, of course, those that ARE violent).
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The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)
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The Qur'an (or Koran, as many of you know it as) has many passages about peace, the ones toted about by those propagating the "Islam as peace" mantra.
"There is no good in much of their secret conferences save (in) him who enjoineth almsgiving and kindness and peace-making among the people." Surah 4:114
And of course, there's the ever famous quote of tolerance of other religions:
"There is no compulsion in religion." Surah 2:256
But many people do not know the Qur'an's doctrine of abrogation, whereby all later verses replace earlier verses:"None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things?" Surah 2: 106
"When We substitute one revelation for another, and Allah knows best what He reveals (in stages), they say, "Thou art but a forger": but most of them understand not." Surah 16:101
Unfortunately, most of the peaceful verses were from Mohammed's early teachings in his hometown of Mecca. These tend to be replaced by his later, more violent teachings in Medina, when Mohammed led an army and no longer had to remain under the radar. The Qur'an is not written in chronological order, as the Bible (basically) is. Instead, it is arranged by the length of the book, and thus the later teachings are not at the end. The last teaching is accepted as Book 9, often known as the Book of the Sword. Some of the teachings found within Book 9:
“Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of believers” Surah 9:14
“O ye who believe! Fight the Unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him” Surah 9:123
"Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them" Surah 9:73
These later passages (and many others) are the ones generally used to justify Jihad. Those that propagate the belief that Islam is a religion of peace generally don't know about the replacement of Allah's word.
Please let me know if there's anything else you'd like to hear about Islam or the Qur'an, or if is even a topic of interest.
Peace, Love, Krisko Disko
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Comments (12)
Simply put - those people are fuckin' crazy.
I wouldn't quite say it like ^ my friend here, but, there's definitely a lot of passages in the q'uran that pretty clearly endorse disdain (if not outright violence) towards any and all that differ from your beliefs. And that is fucked up, to put it nicely.
http://www.truthdig.com/images/diguploads/verses.html
ryc: Frankly, most folks who 'shroom regularly tend not to be anywhere near as hostile and psychotic as John of Patmos. I agree with Martin Luther's assessment, primarily because while the synoptic and Johannine accounts and Paul's seven authentic letters can be triangulated to construct a cohesive worldview, Revelation just doesn't fit with the resulting core metanarrative of Christianity. It is too deeply steeped in the martial symbology of first century BCE apocalyptic and the self-absorption of mystery-cult codespeak. Even if you only understand Jesus in terms of mythopoetics, the Revelation story just doesn't fit.
ry other c: While I understand that perspective, I hold that what the Gospels are doing subverts conventional apocalyptic, while co-opting some of it's imagery. I'm also of the opinion that apocalyptic literature is just prophetic literature that's been left out in the sun too long, so perhaps my bias is coloring my reading.
Christianity can be used the same friggin way. I like neither nor the parent of both Judism.
Buddhism seems to be violenceless but I am sure it can be used the same way if someone put their mind to it.
Religion is a scurge....we need to evolve out of the need for it. My like the appendix...it only causes problems.
You should see "Loose Change (2nd ed.), from which Zeitgeist lifts even more material, although it is cited in its sources.
I did learn, however, just why so many Pagan gods shared the same attributes as Jesus.
For once I completely agree with you. One thing though about the terrorists, is that supposedly the Koran forbids suicide, although it refers to stabbing oneself. I think one of the most major problems are all the Mullahs that issue Fatwas. People tend to follow the fatwas no matter how ridiculous they get, even if they supposedly condradict the Koran.
I haven't figured out how yet but if I ever do I'd like to put you on my friends list. Thanks for speaking out, to few of us are and the radical element of Islam gets stronger by the day. Don't be dicouraged by the cry's of "bigot" and "racists". This is life and death and we MUST wake people up before its to late! Good job, keep at it.
It's hard for me to put context to those verses because I'm not well versed in Islam, but it would be cool if you could provide primary theological sources and their interpretation of those scriptures.
@GodAintGood - ...And you are an ignorant, stupid godless homosexual who has nothing better to do than put down Islam.
@prettyinpink42 - @H_loves_C - @jmsnooks - @mskaremare -
Erm, just trying to understand those verses in the right context myself, so i copied and pasted the translation......
Surah 9: 10 - 15
10. In a Believer they respect not the ties either of kinship or of covenant! It is they who have transgressed all bounds.
11. But (even so), if they repent, establish regular prayers, and practise regular charity,- they are your brethren in Faith: (thus) do We explain the Signs in detail, for those who understand.
12. But if they violate their oaths after their covenant, and taunt you for your Faith,- fight ye the chiefs of Unfaith: for their oaths are nothing to them: that thus they may be restrained.
13. Will ye not fight people who violated their oaths, plotted to expel the Messenger, and took the aggressive by being the first (to assault) you? Do ye fear them? Nay, it is Allah Whom ye should more justly fear, if ye believe!
14. Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers,
15. And still the indignation of their hearts. For Allah will turn (in mercy) to whom He will; and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
(copied from http://www.harunyahya.com/Quran_translation/Quran_translation_index.php)
erm, so, i don't think it was like, a general statement of, "you all go and fight them!"
coz, each set of verses was revealed to muhammad according or in line with what is happening at each of that particular times....
and these verses if i'm not mistaken is to allow them to fight back when the non-believers violate their oath or promise and go against the believers....
and, it seems the other verses plucked out from the quran in the post are from the same surah/chapter......
perhaps you should read the reason why this particular surah/chapter was revealed, in what condition, at what time, what was the situation, who did what etc.....
coz i'm sure you are the kind of person that read and research before making conclusion, and not those who have conclusion beforehand and just find anything to justify that conclusion....
so, you probably should check out the story behind it, and you might notice, this is the only surah/chapter in the whole quran, from a total of 114 surah/chapters, that is without the opening of: In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. (if you have the translation together with arabic text, it can be seen clearly).... there's a story behind it, that the whole surah (this particular one) is about allowing fights and war (because of what had happened), why it should be done (and thus when it is actually allowed), and the way it should be conducted....
just a suggestion, as you seems like a person who find out and stand by the truth and not just another hatred minded person focusing only on justifying their hatred...
the quran is not written by muhammad, but revealed to him addressing the situation and event that happened, as a solution manual for them to follow, and for us to understand the context of each verse in the quran, of how it applies or address the issues surrounding us.... that is what i understand from my limited knowledge...
just a thought....