Posted on 11/07/2010 12:15:42 PM PST by Federalist Patriot
Nothing like a tough, clear answer to a simple question!
Here is video of President Obama in India taking a question from a young lady who asked Obama very straightforwardly, “What is your opinion of Jihad?”
Obama’s answer? “Well, the phrase Jihad has a lot of meanings within Islam, and is subject to a lot of different interpretations.”
He then droned on about how Islam is a peaceful religion and the vast majority of adherents are peaceful people. He did say that violence on the part of any religion against others is not justified.
This young lady asked a very clear question, and Obama knows full well that by “Jihad” she meant the belief by untold numbers of Muslims that killing the infidel in the name of Islam is fully justified – even required of devout Muslims. Rather than address the root of Radical Islamic Jihadist attacks on the United States, India and other nations, Obama parsed the meaning of the word and gave his usual non-answer.
What a missed opportunity to condemn “Jihad,” and to call on Muslim leaders around the world to join him in condemning it. But that might hurt someone’s feelings. It might even make Radical Muslims want to do America harm.
(Excerpt) Read more at freedomslighthouse.net ...
JACKASS!
LOL, nice of the Indian woman to put him on the spot.
The obfuscation was predictable.
Islam is very clear about what it seeks to achieve through Jihad. Obama is in the wrong country for having given the answer he gave.
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Zero doesn’t use the position of POTUS to address the real roots of radical Islam — the religion IS radical, founded by a murder.
Back in the U.S., he says nothing to African-Americans to lift them beyond the slave plantation state gimme gimme mode.
Worst POTUS in American history. 2012 can’t get her fast enough!
He won’t condemn jihad because he believes that not only is the US evil, but so are all western countries and the industrializing east. The only world he imagines is good is one in which, save for a small ruling elite, we are all equally poor and miserable.
“Above my pay grade”?
He’s speaking to a Hindu audience. In another setting he could have been asked by a holocaust survivor, “What’s your opinion of Adolf?”
They’ve taken the measure of the man, and he is found wanting.
Spoken like a true “moderate” Imam. Taqqiyah is alive and well at White Crib. Was he able to acquire any sacred-cow wagyu beef from room service at the Taj?
JIHAD!
is what the democrats have HAVE INFLICTED on the YES the last two years .
For a man who claims to be the leader of a country whose citizens were brazenly butchered by Jihadists, he sure doesn’t appear to come across overly sympathetic or impressed by those 3000 dead Americans.
ANY true American leader of his people would immediately produce the clear and unambiguous description that they are blood thirsty savages who need to be tracked down and killed like wild dogs.
But this is Barrack Hussein Obama we are talking about here, so his provision of air cover for Psychopathic Murdering Jihadists Muslims continues.
Mohamed, you magnificent bastard! What can be more effective an enemy than one nobody wants to acknowlege -- especially the commander in chief of the nation you're out to destroy.
Do you know the meaning of equivocation? Well, here it is!
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=equivocation
Jihad does not have a lot of meanings...it has two.
All muslims, but perhaps the three on a desert island who have forgotten the Koran, know that it means HOLY WAR! They all also know that the other definition is for infidel consumption when cornered with a question about the real meaning...and it is some confusing load of crap about internal struggle.
When ANY muslim not using a teleprompter tries to define the "other" definition of jihad (the one about internal struggle), they get all discombobulated and confused.
Also, notice Obama chose to define the term "jihad" and steered a broad path around the term "jihadi" (which has only one meaning...holy warrier).
As a Muslim, Obama has to say these things.
ihad and the Qur’an
Since our topic is jihad, let us begin by looking at the meaning of the word jihad itself. It is usually translated “holy war,” and is often applied that way, but that is not its literal meaning. Literally, jihad means “striving.” But what kind of striving is it? The following verses from the Qur’an use different forms of this word (2):
O Prophet! Strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell, - an evil refuge indeed. (9:73, 66:9)
Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness. (25:52)
And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects the Truth when it reaches him? Is there not a home in Hell for those who reject Faith? And those who strive in Our (cause), - We will certainly guide them to our Paths: For verily Allah is with those who do right. (29:68-69)
In each case this “striving” (jihad), a Muslim’s duty, occurs in the context of opposing, or striving against, the unbeliever. The striving of jihad is primarily the striving to spread Islam and Islamic rule.
What forms is this striving to take? Muhammad himself was a warrior, and there is no doubt that at least one significant form of this striving is physical combat. Some apologists for Islam make a distinction between a “greater” and a “lesser” jihad, the former consisting of a nonviolent spiritual struggle for virtue, while only the latter refers to making war. As we shall see, in actual practice this distinction has hardly any relevance, and in any case it is unlikely that Muhammad himself ever made such a distinction. In one hadith Muhammad speaks of the greater vs. the lesser jihad, but most authorities consider it spurious and a forgery (3). And even if it were only a “lesser” jihad, military jihad would still be jihad and thus a duty and a virtue.
Beyond Self-Defense
Jihad very frequently refers to combat. That is undeniable. The Qur’an makes copious references to fighting in the cause of faith. The question, however, is whether this fighting is sanctioned only for the purpose of self-defense.
The Qur’an itself seems to be of two minds on this matter. Some critics of Islam carelessly quote the following verse to illustrate Islam’s aggressiveness:
And slay them wherever ye catch them.... (2:191)
However, the full quotation is:
Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors. And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith. But if they cease, Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. (2:190-192)
From the context it would sound, at least in this passage, that the Qur’an prescribes fighting only in self-defense. However, this is not its only word on the subject. Some verses seem to prescribe fighting without qualification, except that the enemy be a nonbeliever:
Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not. (2:216)
Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do. (8:38-39)
O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding. For the present, Allah hath lightened your (task), for He knoweth that there is a weak spot in you: But (even so), if there are a hundred of you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred, and if a thousand, they will vanquish two thousand, with the leave of Allah: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere. It is not fitting for a prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he hath thoroughly subdued the land [Pickthal: “until he hath made slaughter in the land”]. Ye look for the temporal goods of this world; but Allah looketh to the Hereafter: And Allah is Exalted in might, Wise. (8:65-67)
But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. (9:5 [often called the “sword verse”])
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya [poll tax] with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (9:29)
O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers who gird you about [Pickthal and others: “who are near to you”], and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him. (9:123)
Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been Allah’s Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself); but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah, - He will never let their deeds be lost. (47:4)
We will have occasion to return to some of these verses later, since they have played a significant role in Muslim history and have been used by Muslims to justify “holy war,” even when not in the cause of self-defense.
Taking all these references together, it is clear that unbelief alone can serve as reason for the faithful to attack. Other verses in Sura 47, as well as 48:17, provide the basis for the belief that those who die in jihad go immediately to paradise.
The “Sword Verse” in Context
Sura 8 was received after the Battle of Badr, which was supposed to be a raid by Muhammad on a Meccan caravan but escalated into a full-scale clash between Muhammad and the pagan Meccans. This battle is legendary in the history of Islam and often taken as a prototype for holy war against nonbelievers in general. Although it was received somewhat later, Sura 9 is traditionally considered an extension of sura 8; it is the only sura not separated from its predecessor by the bismillah formula (”In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate”). Together these suras describe Islam’s attitude toward confronting nonbelievers.
Perhaps the most infamous of these verses is the “sword verse,” “slay them wherever ye find them” (9:5). Some commentators point out that this verse applied only to nonbelievers who broke treaties with the Muslims, since verse 4 states that treaties with nonbelievers who have not broken them must be honored. However, once “the end of their term” (v. 4) has been reached, the Muslims are free to attack.
Muhammad’s intention was always to convert the Arabian peninsula to Islam, whether by forceful or peaceful means. He made treaties to strengthen his position and to prepare for future action, not to achieve a state of permanent coexistence. He made the famous Treaty of Hudaybiyya at a time when he was militarily weak, then broke it on a pretext after he became stronger. (The story is complicated, but it started when a Meccan tribe allied with Muhammad killed a member of another tribe, which retaliated, allowing Muhammad to exploit the situation.)
The verses following the “sword verse” clarity its meaning as well as Muhammad’s attitude toward nonbelievers:
In a Believer they respect not the ties either of kinship or of covenant! It is they who have transgressed all bounds. But (even so), if they repent, establish regular prayers, and practise regular charity, - they are your brethren in Faith. (9:10-11)
These “regular prayers” are the salat, the prayers Muslims recite five times a day, and can only be prayers to Allah. These pagans, whom Muslims are to treat kindly, have become “brethren in faith” - they have ceased to be pagans. Verse 9:5 uses the same language: if the pagans “repent,” establish regular prayers (salat) and adopt the practices of Islam, they are no longer to be treated as enemies. The ultimate goal is the conversion of pagans to Islam, through whatever means, peaceful or aggressive.
The other verses from suras 8 and 9 do not even mention treaties as a mitigating factor. The effect of treaties is at best temporary. The only thing that truly saves an unbeliever is to “desist from unbelief” (8:38). This is what both the textual and historical context of these verses really have to tell us.
There will be more to say about context later. It is an important issue, and one often misunderstood.
As a Muslim, Obama has to say these things.
Taqiyya.... and 0bama is good at it.... in the eyes of the ignorant.
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