In the last several months, we have seen a large rise in anti-Muslim sentiments expressed especially among commentators and the news media. Since 9/11, Islam has become a forefront issue for many in the West, especially in the US. With this constant attention to Islam and Muslims, many in the West have come to view the beliefs held by “those over there” as alien to “us” and the Judeo-Christian belief we hold to. This bias, which is subconsciously implanted by the media, has more to do with myths than facts. It is true there are differences between our society and Middle Eastern societies, but these differences did not sprout overnight. Western democracy, liberties, and freedoms have evolved not over decades but almost a millennium since the signing of the Magna Carta.
These myths help further create a wedge between “us” (the West) and “them” (Islamic world). The “them”, which constitutes 1.6 billion of the population, are not homogeneous by any stretch of the mind, yet the myths that are spewed as facts helps blob “them” together as one unitary and barbaric block. To help us better understand “them”, I set out here to dispel 5 myths I have heard spouted by both the left and right on the media. These myths are propagated as being part of Islamic and Quranic doctrine instead of being discerned to being cultural or specific to a region.
Female Genital Mutilation
This horrendous act is the removal of the female genitalia in order to control female sexuality. This act is rooted in patriarchal cultures of controlling the female population. There isn’t anything stated in the Quran or mentioned in the Hadiths. Such acts were eliminated under Muhammad and his early followers. Yet Fox News and other media outlets always perpetuate this action as part of Islam. In reality, according to UNICEF, 29 countries practice FGM. Out of these 29 nations, 27 are in Africa and some of those nations are Christian majority. The other two are in the Middle East, Iraq and Yemen.[1] In Iraq, the Kurds practice FGM not due to Islam but due to their culture, which preceded Islam. In Yemen, similar reasons are attributed to its practice. This is a differentiation that needs to be made. So to paraphrase Reza Aslan, FGM is an African problem not an Islamic problem. FGM was practiced not too long ago in the West including Britain and the US around the early part of the 20th century.[2]
Jihad
Jihad has become synonymous with Islam and terrorism. Thanks to the extremists like Al Qaeda and ISIS, this term has come to be portrayed as the means to the Islamic utopia of a global caliphate. The media has taken the definition of the terrorists, which represent a minute aspect of Muslims and disseminate it as if it was a Quranic definition. Jihad means struggle. Jihad in Islam has two aspects to it, the greater Jihad and the lesser one.[3] The former refers to the struggle within oneself to be righteous and pure. An upstanding role model for the society one dwells in. The latter refers to the struggle within warfare. This latter definition becoming more popular is a recent phenomenon that began with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan even though Islamic Jurisprudence has discussed the greater Jihad concept for centuries. This concept of Jihad is misinterpreted and exploited by the terrorists’ organizations to fit their agenda of power and control.
The lesser Jihad is equivalent to the Christian doctrine of Just War. Unlike Christianity, which struggled to balance war and peace until Thomas Aquinas developed it, Islam created this political concept of self-defense as an inherent right of an individual and state against aggression. But that is the key point of the lesser Jihad that is always ignored; it is only applicable when an individual or state is oppressed and enduring aggression. As soon as the aggression has been stopped, the battle must stop. This concept of Jihad as self-defense is what every nation believes and practices.
Yet there are has been recorded events of nations in history that believed and practiced the premise that aggression in the name of peace and justice is acceptable. We have seen this many times whether it was the Soviet Union, Christian and Colonial Europe, and of course with us as well. Hitler believed that he was doing the lord’s work by killing more than 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. The belt buckle of Nazi soldiers carried the term “Gott Mins Uns” or God with us. Now this does not mean all Christians or Germans condoned the killing of Jews but it demonstrates how a fringe group may be able to wield enough power sometimes to give a nation or religion a bad name.
Let us not forget recent history, the Bush administration was a great advocate for pursing wars in order to bring democracy and liberty to those who were denied it. This belief echoes very similar to the extremists who claim they are carrying out God’s work in promulgating Islam. These actions, whether in good intent or not, has yielded a great number of deaths all over and has led to the formation of extremists such as ISIS. Yet we know the majority of Americans did not and would not believe in warfare to advance liberty and democracy just like the majority of Islam does not believe in warfare to advance Islam.
Stoning
Stoning of adulterers is seen as a barbaric act that only exists in the Islamic world. The news media is quick to point out that the act of adultery is condemned within Islam therefore stoning is what the Quran dictates. Bill Maher and others are quick to point this out as well. They are not wrong in the sense that when they hear about a stoning it’s in Muslim nations and hence it must be part of their religion. The issue is instead taking what a few say or do as proof a religion is inherently evil or advocates ignorance and violence, they should research it instead. All Muslim countries do not practice stoning today, only a handful of these nations. Actually the punishment of stoning of adulterers is not mentioned anywhere in the Quran. Instead Islamic jurisprudence decided to look at what the people of the book (Christian and Jews) did since Islam holds both texts and faiths in high esteem. Both the Torah and the Bible prescribe this type of punishment. The Old Testament in Leviticus discusses putting the adulterer to death and stoning was used as a method of execution. Whereas in Islam, the actual punishment is not described in the Quran, it does condemn it but does not prescribe death unlike the Bible and Torah.
Before commentators jump on Islam, it is the two preceding Abrahamic faiths that have advanced the punishment of death whereas Islam just condemns it similar to our current society. I would say it’s fair to assume that the preponderance of society would say committing adultery (cheating on one’s partner) is a bad act, definitely not worth death but we as a society would condemn it just like Islam has. Now it is up to current Islamic scholars to evaluate and dictate punishments. Islamic jurisprudence should dictate punishments through the context of society, time, and exegesis of the Quran. The majority of non-secular Islamic nations do not prescribe stoning as a form of punishment for adultery.
Suicide Bombing
Nothing is more synonymous as an act of Islamic terrorism than suicide bombing. Suicide bombing came to us in recent history during the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The actions of the bombers were more so for national aspirations not religious purposes. Yet it has always been claimed that Islam condones these acts of terrorism and the Palestinians exhibited it. The media and commentator do a great job of portraying it as a weapon of choice amongst Muslims. It did not help when the Taliban implemented it in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as Al Qaeda carrying it out in Iraq. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Fatwas (religious decree) have been given by many scholars decreeing it illegal and un-Islamic. One of the more popular fatwas was published in England directly refuting the Al Qaeda and Taliban ideology.[4] It was endorsed by Al Azhar, the oldest Islamic University in the world and widely respected Sunni institution of Islamic Jurisprudence. The Quran similar to Christianity and Judaism prohibits suicide. The killing of innocent people is highly condemned by the Quran and Islamic traditions. Thus the combination of the two in the form of suicide bombing is in no way justified by Islam or any Islamic traditions.
Again it is the agenda of these extremist organizations to justify their yearning for power by the umbrella of religion. Robert Pape in his book, Dying to Win, draws on an extensive body of research to dispel this myth that suicide terrorism and Islam are related. He demonstrates that the majority of these cases were nationalistic driven not religiously. Instead these acts were local insurgents or terrorists attempting to drive out occupiers from their territories.[5] Such acts have been carried out by Christians, Jews, and Hindus (Tamil Tigers). The very first use of suicide attacks as a tactic of war or politics were by the Christian and Jewish armies in the earlier history of man. In 1983, a Jewish zealot strapped himself with bombs and walking into the US Capitol with the intent of blowing himself up. But we do not go around saying either of those two religions endorses suicide terrorism because such rhetoric is nonsense. Yet today we have somehow convoluted Islam and suicide bombings as one of the same. It is true, most suicide attacks are perpetuated today by those claiming to be Muslims but a larger look at history shows us otherwise. The point being here is that just because a fringe segments of the population carryout such attacks; it is not a belief of a majority of adherents to Islam as the media makes it out to be.
Islam and Science
One thing I am sadly witnessing today is this belief that Islam contributes nothing to the world but hate, war, terrorism, and havoc. This notion that Islam is antiquated and barbaric with nothing to share but only destroys. Nothing could be further from the truth. Religion to many is a medium of hope and faith in something that allows them to lead lives of purpose. It is the basis of their moral compass. Today, the overwhelming majority of the 1.6 billion Muslims are not violent and extreme. Of course there are criminal and violent believers amongst Muslims but that number is very minute compared to what is sometimes arbitrarily attributed by the media.
We forget that Islam is one of the few religions that have been on the forefront of science, technology, and advancement. It was Islam that preserved the works of the Greeks and Romans when Europe descended into the Dark Ages. It was the Muslims who built upon that knowledge and gave us advancements in mathematics such as the concept of “0”, algebra, algorithm, advances in chemistry and medicine, which are still used to this day, optics, astronomy, etc. The Arabs prior to Islam were a nomadic set of people with minimal interest in such things; it was Islam that fostered the environment for growth in such ideas. The Quran gave the concept of the Earth not being flat but oval shaped like an egg to the Muslims. Female gestation periods were described and other advancements that took Europe several centuries to find out.[6]
Whether this was divine knowledge or whatever one may believe, it was verses like that allowed Muslims to foster a culture of science, education, and advancement. The first university in the world was created by a Muslim and a female Muslim on top of that. One of the most popular Hadiths (Islamic tradition) is attributed to the Prophet Muhammad as saying the ink of a scholar is worth more to God than the blood of a martyr. That sentiment alone captures how much Islam believes in education over warfare. Education and especially science has a special place within Islam.
Sam Harris, the famous atheist who is against Islamic doctrine, points this fact about Islam and its special relation to science unlike Christianity and Judaism. He points out the fact that stem cell research is not prohibited in Islam because of the belief of when conception and life take place. In addition, Muslims don’t believe the Earth was created 6,000 years ago like many Christian believers do. Instead some scholars argue that Islam believes in such theories as the Big Bang and evolution within an Islamic context of course. Now many commentators and liberals would be surprised to hear such a thing because to them what they know of Islam is what they have heard a few anti-Muslim demagogues who lack proper knowledge into the doctrines and history of the religion spout.
By the media continuing to perpetuate these myths, the wedge of difference between “us” and “them” continue to grow. We begin to view “them” as a homogenous group of extremists who are misogynists, racists, cruel, and barbaric. What makes it worse is we attribute this to a religion that holds 1.6 billion adherents who are all ethnically, racially, nationally, and culturally as diverse as possible. As humans, anything different is subconsciously considered inferior and even threatening. If we continue to allow the fourth estate to perpetuate myths instead of facts, its raison d’être as a check on government and medium of information is no longer existent. The media needs to do its job by checking claims and substantiating arguments instead of just allowing it to be continuously perpetuate even when it is a myth.
This article is not here to say Islam and Muslims live in a utopia by any means. Today, many Muslims live in a horrible state with repressive governments that create the environment for ignorance and extremism to be cultivated. With the lack of education, the leader of these extremist groups use that as a tool to recruit their mindless pawns into a war that gains the leaders many tangible worldly benefits such as power, fame, and wealth, even though they veil it in a shroud of religious liberation and pride. Many of these groups such as the Taliban and others lack proper knowledge in Islam themselves.
The Islamic world can be argued to be in its dark ages as Christianity was and perhaps on the cusp of its Renaissance, similar to that which allowed Europe to escape the abyss it was falling into. One way we in the West can help is to learn about Islam and that region’s history, its beliefs, and doctrines and know for ourselves what Islam and Muslims are about.
A quote that captures the current state of Muslims was mentioned by Muhammad Abduh, a Muslim scholar who lived in the 19th century, in his travels to Europe he made the following remark about the advancements of the Enlightenment: “Everywhere I look I see Islam but no Muslims and when I return home I see Muslims but no Islam”.
Notes
- http://data.unicef.org/child-protection/fgmc.
- J. Barker-Benfield, The Horrors of the Half-Known Life: Male Attitudes Toward Women and Sexuality in Nineteenth-Century America, New York: Routledge, 1999, p. 113.
- Streusand, Douglas E. (September 1997). “What Does Jihad Mean?”. Middle East Quarterly iv (3): 9–17. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- Tāhirulqādrī, Muḥammad. Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings. London: Minhaj-ul-Quran International, 2010. Print.
- Dying to win: the strategic logic of suicide terrorism Robert Anthony Pape – Random House Trade Paperbacks – 2006. Print.
- The Qur’an, Sura 23:13-14.
I see all the usual takiya is covered by the dhimmi journalist.
Propagating the myth that Muhammad was a prophet – a very dangerous myth indeed.
Indeed. It only leads to misery.
Once the myth of the prophet Muhammad is dispelled, Islam crashes down like a house of cards – “Allah” with it.
Yes, the false prophet certainly built up quite a myth around him. His followers continued on with it too.
Too late, they will find out they were dudded, while we continue in our ‘bias, which is subconsciously implanted by the media’.
The Juice-owned media.
So the narrative goes. Another convenient myth.
They have lots of narratives, depending on their needs.
If the life of the Christ is dispelled, Christianity cashes down linke a house of cards – amen.
and dito for the Easter Bunny and Santa
And I see all the usual ignorant, hate-filled Islamaphobia in your nonsensical comment. How many Muslims do you know in real life? Zero I bet.
Listen dick, can I call you dick? Thanks. So, dick, I know plenty of Muslims and the ones who are most devout are by far the nicest (same can be said about my Jewish and Christian relatives, amongst which 2 Rabbinical students and a Pastor are included)!
Well, Dick, OK, if you want us to call you Dick it’s fine by me. The name suits you anyway, Dick.
So, OK, Dick, you seem to want to present yourself as some sort of subject matter expert on pislam. In which case, you’ll have no problem citing the sura on circumcision from the koranus. You’ll also have no problem citing the hadiths and the koranus on jihad, stoning, and all the rest of the claptrap that Luis Durani wrote about.
Replying any time is fine. I’m not in any hurry.
Devout to what? See my new comment questionning the origin of Islam
Those aren’t the myth, but reality. Muslims when will you stop playing the victim game before you force every non-muslim to take action against your evil allah and his faith? You muslims aren’t the victims, we are! The writer of this page is a dhimmi liberal enabler that enables muslims to play their taqqiya games. Islam’s end is near, Paki terrorist.
Hey people, this verse from sahih bukhari explains how and where those muslim paki scums learned to stone everyone.
“Narrated by ‘Amr bin Maimun
During the pre-lslamic period of ignorance I saw a she-monkey surrounded by a number of monkeys. They were all stoning it, because it had committed illegal sexual intercourse. I too, stoned it along with them.”
REFERENCE: – Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 188
Hey Gary Rumain, care to explain this? http://justice4garyrumain.blogspot.com
And the conversation between you and your “Mullah” friend are interesting, as I see comments by YOU “two” engaging in discussions spreading your propaganda about Islam on youtube as well.
My sincere advice? Get a life, you lead a pathetic existence. I recall you once making a comment on youtube in praise of Baruch Goldstein, the mad man who massacred dozens.
I see in your rush to stalk me, Dick, that you fell for my honeytrap. Thanks. Now that I have your computer details, the FBI will be interested in hearing what you have on your computer. And by the way, Dick, those photos you have are gross.
nonsense of an article.
origin of islam = isis.
islam is a very crude form of 7th century communism much less a religion. It has elements of mafia franchise built in as well ( collection of zaziya and 20% of the war booty belongs to muhammed)
the glory age of islamic architecture / science is revisionist history which goes unchallenged to this day because of the terrror induced by islamic mafia mobs which rampaged around the civilized world aka ISIS style and the world was powerless enough to deal with it. Those were the real glory days of islam.
the ancestors of current day muslims are the children of those raped into submission – they have to find some justification of the long lost glory of islam otherwise the cognitive dissonance becomes too much for them to handle.
You can’t delete my post. Support freedom of speech and defeat Islam. All muslims are terrorists and Islam’s end is near.
Those aren’t the myth, but reality. Muslims when will you stop playing the victim game before you force every non-muslim to take action against your evil allah and his faith? You muslims aren’t the victims, we are! The writer of this page is a dhimmi liberal enabler that enables muslims to play their taqqiya games. Islam’s end is near, Paki terrorist. Hey people, this verse from sahih bukhari explains how and where those muslim paki scums learned to stone everyone. “Narrated by ‘Amr bin Maimun During the pre-lslamic period of ignorance I saw a she-monkey surrounded by a number of monkeys. They were all stoning it, because it had committed illegal sexual intercourse. I too, stoned it along with them.” REFERENCE: – Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 188
Interesting that, the despite the claims of the author, the “myths” of FGM, stoning, jihad defined as holy war against unbelievers, and suicide bombings appear to be today primarily practiced in muslim majority countries. And why aren’t we seeing similar reports of these depredations in other countries, except within their minority muslim communities? It’s not the media that’s perpetuating these “myths”; it’s the ummah showing that they are facts that plague muslim society.
And as far as “islamic science” is concerned, what have you done for me lately. I’d submit that whatever scientific advancement that occured during the “golden age” of islam (now 1000 years gone) were done in spite of islam, and certainly not because of it. Many of these advancements were actually done by dhimmi Chistians and Jews that happened to be living under the yoke of oppressive muslim rule. Abdus Salam, one of only two Nobel laureates in hard science that happened to be nominally muslim, was an Ahmadi, and declared a heretic in his native Pakistan.
Yet another empty apology piece done by either a person ignorant of their own religion and societal history, or by a terrorist sympathizer spewing taqiyya in an attempt to whitewash the actions of their co-religionists.
Pathetic……
On the contrary, what is ignorant is to suggest that the actions of groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS represent Islam, and to suggest that the author is a “terrorist sympathizer” for pointing out that most Muslims are peaceful people is downright idiotic and illustrates you aren’t interested in having a reasonable discussion about it.
https://youtu.be/g7TAAw3oQvg
Truth in advertising: gramps was from Afahanistan. Raised on the edge of this culture, I don’t think the 5 myths are myths.
what about Ayaan Hirsi Ali? Can’t take her first person account seriously??
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2851680/13-Somali-men-convicted-running-inner-city-prostitution-ring-British-teenagers-abused-raped.html
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/27/guilty-prostitution-bristol-rape-girls-sex-abuse-somali
These are nice people who are being misunderstood by racist, white culture. Not.
Mr. EHNJ,
First of all thank you for your comment. I will make an attempt to deconstruct your response one by one, if I may.
First of all you do not know who I am nor what I practice so before you pass judgement, please do not assume. Second I find it highly offensive for you to call me a sympathizer of any sorts to terrorists, the fact that one resorts to such profoundly ignorant methods of argument leads me to question why I would dignify someone with such a close mind with an answer. But I am doing so because you throw around some terms and others may believe you might have an understanding or might be right.
This piece in no way, shape or form supports or sympathizes with Muslim terrorists that claim to be acting in the name of Islam. If anything it points to their ignorance of their own religion. People without any true understanding of the region, its religion, or history jumps to baseless assumptions. As Mr. Hammond pointed out, the fact for you to suggest that AQ or ISIS represent Islam is just astonishing to me. If anything these guys have carried out the largest massacre of Muslims. Taqiyya is a term I see thrown around by people on the internet and many right wing fringe groups. I am by no means a religious scholar nor do I claim to be one but with my little time on this planet, I have done some reading and research into different religions. Taqiyya is a Shiite (the minority sect in Islam) religious concept and an equivalent does not exist in Sunni Islam. This notion is then applied by people like you to the whole of Muslims in the Western World. You will make statements such as Muslims are not assimilated and feign their true intent, which is to support overthrows of their local governments and bring about an Islamic caliphate. To believe in such a thought just makes me chuckle because the heterogeneity that exists amongst the Muslims’ that live in the Western World will surprise you. Obviously you do not know any Muslims.
In addition, such citations and claims remind of a more dire situation in Nazi Germany. The Nazis, did what you did sir, they looked at Jewish texts mainly the Talmud and Rabbinical doctrines to come up with blanket general terms for their Jewish population. Actually a similar claim of Taqiyya existed and still does in the Talmud for people of the Jewish faith but it by no way means that they are in a world conspiracy to eliminate the gentiles, such talks today would just be ridiculous, hateful, and dismissed. The differentiation between Gentiles and non-gentiles as argued by some Rabbis in the past and now, allows them to not apply the Ten Commandments to those who are gentiles. To think all Jews believe in such crazy ideas from my view would just be plain stupid. But we saw what unfortunately happened in Germany to the Jewish people, the Holocaust, because ignorant people learned a few terms and misappropriated it to an entire swathe of different people. Again to use such terms without any true and in-depth knowledge surprises me, actually it does not. Its people who you listen to and regurgitate without any true analysis on your part.
My article was arguing that Islam does not claim those myths not that Muslims do not practice it. I would not say ALL Muslim’s countries practice such barbaric acts, this is the problem with people that have your viewpoint, you paint the whole canvass with one brush stroke as if everyone over their has a similar legal system and belief but culture is the main variable in these arguments. With a little traveling, you will see how different cultures are from one region to another.
With FGM, as I explained above, we see Christian majority African nations practicing it as well. Again it is NOT IN ISLAM but Muslims do so. Like I mentioned scholars that derived such punishments look at what was happening in Judaism, Christianity and Christian Europe to derive it. The Koran does not prescribe such actions.
Now of course this is not to forgive the ignorant Muslims who do such practices, nothing is more abhorrent. Of course, another un-Islamic thing they practice is one of double-standards because culture always eclipses religion, this is something many including yourself does not understand. Some of these societies are heavily patriarchal and sexist thus they will stone the female but not the male. The entire system is un-Islamic.
Now Jihad, this is a term that is used in the Koran but never in the context of going on the offensive and converting people. This is what some power, money and territory hungry people came up with to help convince the masses that God supports such things but in reality these texts never claim it. Religion has been used for bad things unfortunately. Similar to how Pope Urban II initiated the crusades in the name of God but in reality cared about securing his role and securing riches. Christianity was hijacked and used to initiate the crusades as well as massacre innocent Jewish people for a hundreds of years similar to how Islam is used now by these barbarians to attack people and hurt them. Or how the state religion in nations such as the Soviet Union was used to massacre millions upon millions of their own people. People need an excuse or veil of something positive to carry out their act of evil.
With respect to science, you are right their were Jewish and other non-Muslims who contributed to the Islamic age of Science but the overwhelming Majority of those who made the major contributions to the sciences, mathematics, and medicine we see today were from Muslims, to deny such a thing, all I can say is I feel sorry for you sir. Abdus Salam, from my understanding, was never exiled or declared a heretic directly and actually venerated in Pakistan to a high level because of his contributions to their deterrence program in the Nuclear field. But Pakistan’s action to declare Ahmadiya’s in such a way was not tolerant and not right and un-Islamic.
I would hope such forums are used for reasonable debates with reasonable people but everyone whether knowledgeable or not has the right to their opinion.
Thank you for your comments. I hope this can help provide you with some information.
Mr. EHNJ,
First of all thank you for your comment. I will make an attempt to deconstruct your response one by one, if I may.
First of all you do not know who I am nor what I practice so before you pass judgement, please do not assume. Second I find it highly offensive for you to call me a sympathizer of any sorts to terrorists, the fact that one resorts to such profoundly ignorant methods of argument leads me to question why I would dignify someone with such a close mind with an answer. But I am doing so because you throw around some terms and others may believe you might have an understanding or might be right.
This piece in no way, shape or form supports or sympathizes with Muslim terrorists that claim to be acting in the name of Islam. If anything it points to their ignorance of their own religion. People without any true understanding of the region, its religion, or history jumps to baseless assumptions. As Mr. Hammond pointed out, the fact for you to suggest that AQ or ISIS represent Islam is just astonishing to me. If anything these guys have carried out the largest massacre of Muslims. Taqiyya is a term I see thrown around by people on the internet and many right wing fringe groups. I am by no means a religious scholar nor do I claim to be one but with my little time on this planet, I have done some reading and research into different religions. Taqiyya is a Shiite (the minority sect in Islam) religious concept and an equivalent does not exist in Sunni Islam. This notion is then applied by people like you to the whole of Muslims in the Western World. You will make statements such as Muslims are not assimilated and feign their true intent, which is to support overthrows of their local governments and bring about an Islamic caliphate. To believe in such a thought just makes me chuckle because the heterogeneity that exists amongst the Muslims’ that live in the Western World will surprise you. Obviously you do not know any Muslims.
In addition, such citations and claims remind of a more dire situation in Nazi Germany. The Nazis, did what you did sir, they looked at Jewish texts mainly the Talmud and Rabbinical doctrines to come up with blanket general terms for their Jewish population. Actually a similar claim of Taqiyya existed and still does in the Talmud for people of the Jewish faith but it by no way means that they are in a world conspiracy to eliminate the gentiles, such talks today would just be ridiculous, hateful, and dismissed. The differentiation between Gentiles and non-gentiles as argued by some Rabbis in the past and now, allows them to not apply the Ten Commandments to those who are gentiles. To think all Jews believe in such crazy ideas from my view would just be plain stupid. But we saw what unfortunately happened in Germany to the Jewish people, the Holocaust, because ignorant people learned a few terms and misappropriated it to an entire swathe of different people. Again to use such terms without any true and in-depth knowledge surprises me, actually it does not. Its people who you listen to and regurgitate without any true analysis on your part.
My article was arguing that Islam does not claim those myths not that Muslims do not practice it. I would not say ALL Muslim’s countries practice such barbaric acts, this is the problem with people that have your viewpoint, you paint the whole canvass with one brush stroke as if everyone over there has a similar legal system and belief but culture is the main variable in these arguments. With a little traveling, you will see how different cultures are from one region to another.
With FGM, as I explained above, we see Christian majority African nations practicing it as well. Again it is NOT IN ISLAM but Muslims do so. Like I mentioned scholars that derived such punishments look at what was happening in Judaism, Christianity and Christian Europe to derive it. The Koran does not prescribe such actions.
Now of course this is not to forgive the ignorant Muslims who do such practices, nothing is more abhorrent. Of course, another un-Islamic thing they practice is one of double-standards because culture always eclipses religion, this is something many including yourself does not understand. Some of these societies are heavily patriarchal and sexist thus they will stone the female but not the male. The entire system is un-Islamic.
Now Jihad, this is a term that is used in the Koran but never in the context of going on the offensive and converting people. This is what some power, money and territory hungry people came up with to help convince the masses that God supports such things but in reality these texts never claim it. Religion has been used for bad things unfortunately. Similar to how Pope Urban II initiated the crusades in the name of God but in reality cared about securing his role and securing riches. Christianity was hijacked and used to initiate the crusades as well as massacre innocent Jewish people for a hundreds of years similar to how Islam is used now by these barbarians to attack people and hurt them. Or how the state religion in nations such as the Soviet Union was used to massacre millions upon millions of their own people. People need an excuse or veil of something positive to carry out their act of evil.
With respect to science, you are right, there were Jewish and other non-Muslims who contributed to the Islamic age of Science but the overwhelming Majority of those who made the major contributions to the sciences, mathematics, and medicine we see today were from Muslims, to deny such a thing, all I can say is I feel sorry for you sir. Abdus Salam, from my understanding, was never exiled or declared a heretic directly and actually venerated in Pakistan to a high level because of his contributions to their deterrence program in the Nuclear field. But Pakistan’s action to declare Ahmadiya’s in such a way was not tolerant and not right and un-Islamic.
I would hope such forums are used for reasonable debates with reasonable people but everyone whether knowledgeable or not has the right to their opinion.
Thank you for your comments. I hope this can help provide you with some information.
Would an Islamist scholar please put me right, so I don’t have any more misconceptions. I am simply asking.. from where does Islam originate?
We are told that.. an invisible, silent, non-human, non-material deity of unknown abode, instructs a non-human, invisible messenger, (termed an angel, in this case Jibriel, Gabriel), also of unknown abode.. in 6000+ verses. How and where did this happen? The verses are MAINLY of self agrandisement and threats to all would be and actual believers.
Jibriel then instructs an illiterate in these verses, who learns them perfectly. How did the non-human, invisible Jibriel do this?
The verses are handed down through some generations and written up in the Quran, without any error from their first transmission to Jibriel. by the deity.
The verses, one would have thought, would have been The Creational Laws, as Mohammed was a true Prophet in the Nokodemion Line of Prophets.
–the ink of a scholar is worth more to God than the blood of a martyr–
The cause of Islam well defended by Mr Durani. That kind of understanding each other will definitely bring together the followers of different religions and we can hopefully avoid that Clash of Civilizations.
“Everywhere I look I see Islam but no Muslims and when I return home I see Muslims but no Islam”
I felt the same way when I went to the middle east the first time looking for the Marxists I had spent two years and a lot of money studying.
This article is an apologist’s attempt to gloss over very nearly everything of any import about the threat Islam poses to civilisation and only repeats myths of its own.
Here’s some actual facts:
1. Suicide Bombings
There are no such thing as ‘Suicide’ Bombings. These are ‘homicide’ attacks…and the suicide involved is merely a byproduct of this. Terror has always been a component of Islam and Mohammed and his followers routinely used it as part of their preferred toolkit, along with rape, enslavement, murder, theft and lying.
2. Jihad
Jihad is pointedly not ‘an inner struggle with oneself’, it is always a struggle against infidels for the purpose of conquest and subjugation. Mohammed does not forgive anyone in this struggle except for the ancient and the infirm. Any donation to any Islamic charity means that a certain portion of it inevitably falls into the hands of terrorists and funds their mayhem and barbarity. The austere, ‘inner-struggle’ and self-abnegation he wants us to believe happen in isolated communities of Sufi mystics and others; the general population quietly or noisily is busy inflicting harm on themselves, their family members, their neighbours, dhimmi and infidels. Aggression is almost always directed outwards, not inwards. The fact that they also suffer is, again, inevitable.
3. Islamic Golden Age
Another non-entity. There is a 300-year ‘hole’ in the archaeological record. What does show is that there was a general depopulation following Islamic invasions ( in Spain, India, Persia and Byzantium ) and almost no new structures built. The Arabs and their allies merely ‘occupied’ existing structures and repurposed them. They could build nothing themselves, being nomads skilled only in desert survival and warefare, so whatever did get built relied on the subjugated natives. We see in Spain especially, the wholesale destruction of existing churches, or their gradual ruination as no repairs were permitted–or churches being retrofitted as mosques. The ‘populous, thriving cultural centres of Cordoba, Toledo, et. alii were a myth, and the ‘tolerant, advanced and peaceful’ occupation in fact was the opposite, since each fresh wave of Bedouin, Moor and Berber were more fanatical and intolerant ( and deadly ) than their predecessors. Most learning was still concentrated in the hands of Jews and Christians, who suffered terribly.
The Dark Age of Europe was caused by the Islamic invasions of Europe, the severing of the trade routes to the East and the fracture of the Roman / Byzantine power structure that resulted. It was not a result of German invasions. The Germans wanted to become Roman…and did, preserving Classical civilisation in the West and North Africa ( and struggling with Byzantium in the process, of course ). Visigothic Spain was amazingly wealthy, learned and vital and the equal of Byzantium. So much wealth and gold were carted away by the invading Saracen that Arabian chronicles were properly awed and flabbergasted, in fact.
But even during this onslaught and the general fracturing and decay of Western Europe, Byzantium was still the seat of learning and knowledge. When the West began to ‘learn again’ from ‘Muslim’ Spain, they learnt from Jews and Christians who kept things alive within Spain, but soon found that the libraries at Constantinople were much better sources. The Muslims did not ‘pass along’ knowledge back to the West; the West just started recovering from the catastrophe of the initial onslaughts of Arabian aggression.
There WAS a period when, during the Abassid Dynasty, certain polymaths were beginning to experiment in Neoplatonism, Astronomy, Chemistry and Maths, but most of these were non-Arabs, none of them were very good Muslims…and they suffered continual persecution, suffering maimings, exiles, the indignity of having their works burnt. Many fled for their lives repeatedly, as their ‘fortunes’ at the various Sultanates changed capriciously.
Al Ghazali ( arguably the second most important person in Islam after Mohammed ) leaned toward Sufi mysticism, adopted a completely unscientific mindset and helped squash free thought and discourse. The ‘Golden Age’ only existed amongst a loose, disconnected fraternity of free-thinking men–many of whom were not Muslim, most of whom were not Arab, none of whom were particularly ‘orthodox’ Muslims–and who were harassed and disgraced for their efforts.
Every great civilisation that Islam touched–Byzantium, Visigothic Spain, India, Persia, Armenia, etc.–met with impoverishment and a slow erosion into poverty, mysticism and dogma until they mostly reflected the pre-scientific, anti-intellectual and vicious barbarism of the Dark Age Arabs who gave birth to Islam.
During the supposed ‘Golden Age’, most of the inhabitants of the conquered lands were still non-Muslim and still possessed of their skills. Within the space of the ensuing centuries, all of this was lost.
‘Islamic’ architecture is actually Byzantine and Persian and Visigothic, ‘Islamic’ Gardens were actually Sassanid Persian and even earlier–envisioned first in 500 B.C.E., ‘Arabic’ numerals were actually Hindu Indian, ‘Islamic’ Astronomy was actually Indian, Babylonian and Persian and ‘Islamic’ Algebra was actually Greek and Hindu.
4. The Koran is NOT a Scientific Document
The Koran–despite attempts by Maurice Bucaille, the Saudi Authorities and recent Muslim fanatics–to present the Koran as presaging Western scientific discoveries, is completely a product of its time. Many modern Korans have tried to change the language to ‘prove’ this, but in fact, it regularly presents world views and beliefs prevalent in the day, myths from surrounding cultures and Mohammed’s own ‘bizarre’ beliefs and medical practices. Mohammed was frightened by a lunar eclipse, not knowing that the Moon was passing in front of the Sun. He believed the Earth was flat, that semen was formed ‘twixt the backbone and ribs’, that the sexual partner who climaxed first determined the sex of the child and the resemblance of the child, etc. He prescribed camel urine for stomach ailments, drank filthy water from springs contaminated with menstrual discharge and animal carcasses ( reasoning that water is pure and cannot be made impure ). He believed that Alexander the Great visited both the place where the Sun set ( in a warm, murky pool ) and where it rose, and related how Allah let him decide what to do with the people who lived in each place. He stated that some stars were missiles lobbed by Allah to knock down Djinn who had strayed too close to heaven, whilst others were ‘mere’ decorations of the lower heavens and others were ‘signposts’. It goes on and on and on….
5. Shariah Law
Stonings, beheadings, amputations, genital mutilation and–this is important: slavery–still go on with complete regularity all throughout the Islamic world ( dar-al-Islam ). Especially in the Persian Gulf and surrounding countries. Most Muslims, East and West, do in fact hold radical views and sympathies. They are ‘peaceful’ only in regards to them not strapping on suicide vests. They remain apart and do not integrate well, nor do they have much desire to do so. Their children do become terrorists, as we have seen, and most terrorists in Western lands are now home-grown, doing mayhem in their host countries and going oversees to perpetrate more. Muslims also practice Taquiyya, Tawriya and Kitman ( all different ways to lie to infidels in order to secure advantage for Muslims ). Mohammed tells them that they suffer no moral penalties for doing so. Mohammed still tells them with every fresh reading of Koran or Hadith, that they must not befriend us and they must eventually subdue us or kill us.
*****
Barbarians believe barbaric things. Barbarians do barbaric things. Muslims are barbarians and no amount of liberal apology or double-think and duck-speak will change this. They are an alien nation metastasising in our midst, thanks to the profoundly limited ideology of the New Left, which will allow no criticism of Islam, is engaged in Denial and worships at the throne of the Multicultural Demon they have embraced.
Muslims are not ‘Special Snowflakes’ deserving of refrigerator privileges; they are people who quite frankly deserve to be criticised for their beliefs and practices and must be disciplined, chastised and changed if they are ever to once again participate in a proper civilisation and have true discourse with and contribute to World Civilisation.
islam is a very crude form of 7th century mafia cult. It has elements of mafia/jihad franchise built in as well ( collection of zaziya and 20% of the war booty belongs to muhammed)
the glory age of islamic architecture / science is revisionist history which goes unchallenged to this day because of the terrror induced by islamic mafia mobs which rampaged around the civilized world aka ISIS style and the world was powerless enough to deal with it. Those were the real glory days of islam.
the ancestors of current day muslims are the children of those raped into submission – they have to find some justification of the long lost glory of islam otherwise the cognitive dissonance becomes too much for them to handle.
islam is a very crude form of 7th century mafia like cult much less a religion. It has elements of mafia franchise built in as well ( collection of zaziya and 20% of the war booty belongs to muhammed)
the glory age of islamic architecture / science is revisionist history which goes unchallenged to this day because of the terrror induced by islamic mafia mobs which rampaged around the civilized world aka ISIS style and the world was powerless enough to deal with it. Those were the real glory days of islam.
the ancestors of current day muslims are the children of those raped into submission – they have to find some justification of the long lost glory of islam otherwise the cognitive dissonance becomes too much for them to handle.
I think you are a crusader bitch truth is otherwise islam is the pure monotheism which is correcting the corruption of judaism and christianity and you are talking of rape actually most of the children of israel are actually children of israel are bustards your biblical prophets are real rapists you killed boys and women and kept virgins for sex read islamic history we are the children of nabi saw sahabah e ikram born in purity and wedlock and even concubine has far honour in our faith then your so called west where women are functional property
posting again and again since the foreign policy journal is scared of the truth:
islam is a very crude form of 7th century mafia like cult much less a religion. It has elements of mafia franchise built in as well ( collection of zaziya and 20% of the war booty belongs to muhammed)
the glory age of islamic architecture / science is revisionist history which goes unchallenged to this day because of the terrror induced by islamic mafia mobs which rampaged around the civilized world aka ISIS style and the world was powerless enough to deal with it. Those were the real glory days of islam.