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Shaking faith: How ISIS is causing Muslims to abandon Islam
Modern Muslim Living ^ | 21 hours ago | Omar Shahid

Posted on 08/30/2014 2:08:32 AM PDT by GonzoII

The extremist group that kills Muslims and non-Muslims alike is also driving countless of the faithful from our religion. By Omar Shahid

. Screengrab from VICE News documentary "The Islamic State" by reporter Medyan Dairieh. (Image: VICE/YouTube)
Screengrab from VICE News documentary “The Islamic State” by reporter Medyan Dairieh. (Image: VICE/YouTube)

One of the signs of the end times, according to Islam, is the inversion of reality – in other words, things being upside-down. For Muslims, there is nothing that more obviously illustrates this than Islam being made to appear bad to the world. For the first time in the history of our faith, an extremist fringe has hijacked the religion and is dominating the headlines, causing havoc and creating a global crisis.

Gone are the days when the extremists were few; we can no longer ignore them. They are popping up all across the world: Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Iraq. They are also growing rapidly, becoming more organised and better-funded. They pose a real and dangerous threat not just to non-Muslims with their religious intolerance, but also to Muslims too. That they kill Muslims is clear. But more than that, by muddying the image of Islam and making the religion appear violent, backward and completely out of touch with the modern world, they are causing Muslims to leave the religion.

ISIS, also known as the Islamic State (or perhaps more aptly, the Un-Islamic State), is the latest and most pernicious manifestation of this trend. They are nothing short of a global menace and incomparable to any other extremist group in Islam’s history. For months the world has been exposed to their savagery and thirst for blood; coverage of their beheadings and slaughtering frenzies, while joking and laughing about their next victims, has been unprecedented.

Muslims often think their biggest enemy comes from outside the religion. In fact, the biggest enemy normally comes from inside. Islam’s number-one enemy today is not the US government, nor Israel; it has taken its form in ISIS. The extremist group is the reason why millions of people will have a terrible perception of Islam, why many born into Islam will never accept the faith, and why many Muslims will leave their religion, perhaps even flocking to atheism.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, an American Islamic scholar, wrote in Q-News after 9/11:

Unfortunately, the West does not know what every Muslim scholar knows; that the worst enemies of Islam are from within. The worst of these are the khawaarij who delude others by the deeply dyed religious exterior that they project… The outward religious appearance and character of the khawaarij deluded thousands in the past, and continues to delude people today. The Muslims should be aware that despite the khawaarij adherence to certain aspects of Islam, they are extremists of the worst type.

Muslim extremists – the thugs of ISIS are a prime example – think they are advancing the cause of Islam, when they are actually doing the polar opposite. Their climate of fear, along with the multi-million-pound Islamophobia industry prospers under its clouds, leads many non-Muslims to hate Islam and causes swaths of Muslims to leave the faith. Extremism, along with the challenges modernity poses, is among the biggest factors in causing apostasy.

Sayeed, a Muslim in his mid-20s from London, lost his faith at university. He tells me what’s stopping him from embracing Islam again. “It’s the damage the extremists have done to the religion,” he says. “It’s difficult to be part of this religion that has such bad press.”

In the face of such negative headlines, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to belong to the Muslim community. The Prophet (peace be upon him) forewarned the difficulty of these times, and is reported to have said that holding on to your religion would be like holding onto “burning embers”. [i] While many Muslims maintain a tight grip on the coal, others are tossing it into the air because of its heat or dropping it when they become fatigued. The rest have let it slip through their hands, unable to grasp it tightly enough.

An agnostic who lives in Indonesia recently asked me: “Why would you choose to belong to a religion in which so many people sharing your faith follow twisted versions and do extreme things?” It’s a question plaguing many Muslims across the world. Some are responding to the question by leaving the faith – they’ve simply had enough.

In late June, a self-proclaimed Arab atheist female from Mecca tweeted (in Arabic): “ISIS (Islamic State): Peace be upon them, they did in one year what atheists couldn’t in a million years.”

#داعش عليهم السلام فعلوا خلال سنة ما عجز الملاحدة عن فعله خلال مليون سنة. #عقلانيون

— سمو الاميرة حفصة (ع) (@Hafsa1990) June 25, 2014

Ex-Muslims I spoke to confirm that radicalism drives people away from the religion. “Extremist ideas are a factor for some [to leave the faith],” tweeted the Council of ex-Muslims of Britain. Saif Rahman, an author and notorious ex-Muslim from Britain, told me: “9/11 was a critical moment for a lot of ex-Muslims. We started to think: ‘You know what, I don’t relate to these people [the terrorists]‘.”

If al-Qaeda’s actions could cause Muslims to leave their faith, what effect will we see from the actions of ISIS, regarded even by al-Qaeda as too extreme?

The Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said that people of these types would emerge. There would be khawarij who would appear from Iraq,[ii]would appear to be devoted worshipers[iii] and would be the worst of creatures.[iv]

ISIS, who act like a cult with gang-like behaviour, have nothing to do with Islam; they do not represent Muslims across the world. The vast majority of Muslims are united in their condemnation of the group, and no religious authority has given them any legitimacy.

The inability of the mainstream to retake the initiative has caused the mess we are in today. Yet it’s also important not to despair. Yes, everything may seem upside-down right now. But in the end, those who have faith know that good will prevail.




TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iraq; isis; islam; wot
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This has been happening for some years now.
1 posted on 08/30/2014 2:08:32 AM PDT by GonzoII
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To: GonzoII

Draw a circle around Iran, Iraq, Syria and Egypt. How many people over the past twenty years have been leaving? It’s more than obvious that they just aren’t happy or thriving in such environments. But as they go....they seem to drag an anchor with them....that helped to make the old environments unstable, corrupted and screwed-up. And they want the new place where they moved to....to be just as screwed up in two generations.


2 posted on 08/30/2014 2:30:42 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: pepsionice

Never before has islam been hijacked by extremists? islam is a murderous extremist cult, and i will not believe a word from the mouth of anyone that even hints that it is.


3 posted on 08/30/2014 2:48:03 AM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: GonzoII

I will think further on this, but my initial reaction is skeptical.

There have been no reports of huge uprisings of anger against ISIS in the Muslim world.

Here in the USA, we purportedly enjoy a vast breadth of freedom to speak our minds. One would think that the outrage on the “Arab street” against ISIS would be heard here.

I’ve seen silence.

JMHO.


4 posted on 08/30/2014 2:51:26 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: SoFloFreeper

The muslim world is waiting to see if ISIS has what it takes to win a victory against the west. Then they will flock to ISIS.


5 posted on 08/30/2014 2:57:13 AM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: GonzoII

Not. Believing. It.


6 posted on 08/30/2014 2:57:26 AM PDT by Mamzelle
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To: GonzoII
More taquiya. Anyone who knows anything about Islam is that Mohammad was a mass murderer whose motto was Kill, kill, kill. And he himself was khawaarij.

He himself declared that the First Given half of the koran was void: the nice passages lifted from the Bible and Torah. Going further, he declared that only the Second Given half was valid, sine that was the last word of allah: those parts dealing with nonbelievers, battle tactics, and the spread of the Islamic message by the sword.

Guys like Omar Shahid are having trouble keeping inline those whose fate in life was being born into a muslim nation. Also tracts like his serve a a self-justification for his passion for Islam.

He should read Talibari, Muslim, Isaq and Bukhari - the official Hadiths and Sunnahs (life, sayings, and times of Mohammad) without which the koran cannot be understood.

He should note that the word ‘love’ appears but once in the entire koran, then get back to the rest of us on the peaceful loving nature/philosophy of Islam and how it was hijacked by small groups during Mohammad's life time - wherein Mohammad led armies that slaughtered millions, and wherein Mohammad personally killed many captives. Please, Omar Shahid, tell us how following Mohammad's example make one a khawaarij.

Mohammad does not equal Christ, but the direct opposite. Everything Christ spoke and stood for is in direct opposition to the teachings of Mohammad.

7 posted on 08/30/2014 3:15:35 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: GonzoII

The first Islamic extremist to make Islam appear to be a murderous cult of rapists was Mohammed.


8 posted on 08/30/2014 3:35:51 AM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Brutal acts of commission and yawning acts of omission both strengthen the hand of the devil.)
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To: GonzoII

Arabs lie. It’s what they do.


9 posted on 08/30/2014 3:37:41 AM PDT by 867V309 (Don't tread on me, bro)
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To: pepsionice

Answer: Cut that anchor loose and let it go.


10 posted on 08/30/2014 3:41:50 AM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: GonzoII

“Gone are the days when the extremists were few; “

What are these guys doing that the “prophet” didn’t do?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.


11 posted on 08/30/2014 3:42:33 AM PDT by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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To: PIF

Yep, doing what his “god”, who was a “thief, a liar, and a murderer from the begining” tells him to do.


12 posted on 08/30/2014 3:43:46 AM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: GonzoII

The vast majority of Muslims are united in their condemnation of the group, and no religious authority has given them any legitimacy.

No religious authority CAN give them legitimacy as that would amount to giving away the store.


13 posted on 08/30/2014 3:47:19 AM PDT by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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To: GonzoII
ISIS, who act like a cult with gang-like behaviour, have nothing to do with Islam; they do not represent Muslims across the world.

Wrong: MUHAMMAD VERSUS JESUS CHRIST

Meanwhile, 79% of new HIV cases are among male sodomites (CDC), and over half a million Americans and 25 million WW have died because of AIDS, yet this is promoted and defended as if it were a matter of civil rights.

In 2011, in the United States, MSM accounted for 79% of 38,825 estimated HIV diagnoses among all males aged 13 years and older, and 78% of infections among all newly infected men. .- http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/gender/msm/facts/index.html

A whopping 41% of people who are transgender or gender-nonconforming have attempted suicide sometime in their lives, nearly nine times the national average, according to a sweeping survey released three years ago. http://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_and_research/ntds http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-suicide-attempts-alarming-transgender-20140127,0,3324954.story#ixzz2vRHkyu7v

A whopping 41% of people who are transgender or gender-nonconforming have attempted suicide sometime in their lives, nearly nine times the national average, according to a sweeping survey released three years ago. http://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_and_research/ntds http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-suicide-attempts-alarming-transgender-20140127,0,3324954.story#ixzz2vRHkyu7v

Nearly 50% of sexually active homosexual men infected with the virus causing AIDS are unaware that they are carriers of the deadly disease [2010]. CDC http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cdc-20-of-gay-men-have-hiv-and-half-are-unaware-of-status

The rate of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) is more than 44 times that of other men and more than 40 times that of women. CDC; http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cdc-gay-men-over-44-times-more-likely-hiv-than-hetero-men

Add to that the discounted lifetime cost of comprehensive treatment per HIV-infected person being $385,000 (undiscounted cost, $618,900). - http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/45/Supplement_4/S248.full

14 posted on 08/30/2014 3:47:57 AM PDT by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)
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To: GonzoII

Yeah, like about 1500 years.


15 posted on 08/30/2014 3:49:28 AM PDT by jacknhoo (Luke 12:51. Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.)
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To: GonzoII
Muslims often think their biggest enemy comes from outside the religion. In fact, the biggest enemy normally comes from inside.

He nailed that one. America's biggest enemy and biggest danger in our history also comes from inside.

16 posted on 08/30/2014 3:55:36 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: GonzoII

Hats off to this guy for having at least a partial grasp of the truth. He’s still got a ways to go though.


17 posted on 08/30/2014 3:57:57 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: GonzoII

Have y’all checked out the new breakfast specials at Taquiya Bell?


18 posted on 08/30/2014 3:59:51 AM PDT by Junk Silver
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To: GonzoII

This writer is bemoaning the bad PR that Islam gets when old men and little children n are murdered for sport Muslim savages. Are these “moderate Muslims” preaching that those who slaughter non-Muslims will go to hell? We haven’t heard it. All we hear is that those who kill in the name of Islam are promised their 72 virgins in heaven.


19 posted on 08/30/2014 4:10:31 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: pepsionice
How many people over the past twenty years have been leaving? It’s more than obvious that they just aren’t happy or thriving in such environments. But as they go....they seem to drag an anchor with them....that helped to make the old environments unstable, corrupted and screwed-up. And they want the new place where they moved to....to be just as screwed up in two generations.

Sounds as though you're describing libs from, say, California, who move to Colorado, or libs from NY who move to Florida, to escape crime, high taxes and costs of living, and corruption caused by their lib overlords and then continue to vote lib in their new state.

20 posted on 08/30/2014 4:16:41 AM PDT by Salvey
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