Posted on 06/09/2009 7:52:19 AM PDT by Califreak
Foes of the global jihad are constantly accused of quoting the Qur'an "out of context," but when Barack Obama actually did so in Cairo yesterday, no one seems to have minded.
He quoted one Qur'an verse in connection with speaking of our shared interests as human beings:
As the Holy Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth." That is what I will try to do – to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.
Ironically, the Qur'anic passage from which his quote comes actually is about fighting unbelievers, and doesn't remotely lead to thoughts of coming together with people with whom one has differences.
Obama quoted 9:119, which Pickthall renders this way: "O ye who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah, and be with the truthful."
The passage continues:
It is not for the townsfolk of Al-Madinah and for those around them of the wandering Arabs to stay behind the messenger of Allah and prefer their lives to his life. That is because neither thirst nor toil nor hunger afflicteth them in the way of Allah, nor step they any step that angereth the disbelievers, nor gain they from the enemy a gain, but a good deed is recorded for them therefor. Lo! Allah loseth not the wages of the good. Nor spend they any spending, small or great, nor do they cross a valley, but it is recorded for them, that Allah may repay them the best of what they used to do. And the believers should not all go out to fight. Of every troop of them, a party only should go forth, that they (who are left behind) may gain sound knowledge in religion, and that they may warn their folk when they return to them, so that they may beware. O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him). -- 9:120-123 In that passage, the Qur'an is scolding Muslims who refused to accompany Muhammad on his expedition to Tabouk in northern Arabia, where he wanted to fight a Byzantine garrison. The Byzantines weren't there when he arrived, and so there was no battle, but he was considerably angered that some Muslims in Medina and among the Bedouins ("wandering Arabs") had refused to make the trip -- they "prefer[red] their lives to his life." The Qur'an promises that if they do anything that "angereth the disbelievers," they will be credited with having done a good deed, and Allah will repay them for such good deeds. The Muslims should fight the unbelievers and be harsh with them.
Obama picked out of this one sentence that made it appear as if the Qur'an was simply counseling one to speak the truth, mindful of the divine presence. In reality, the passage is about the necessity to wage jihad warfare against unbelievers, and not to fail to perform this duty. He took a passage about warfare and division and passed it off as part of a call for us all to come together and sing kumbaya.
Yet neither Honest Ibe Hooper of CAIR nor any other Muslim spokesman is complaining today that Obama quoted the Qur'an out of context. How strange!
King James Bible is fine.
I believe the koran causes brain damage.
Groomed almost from birth. Don’t forget where hitler’s Final Solution came from.
And you are right. He allowed it to look as if he was the one being used. His allegience is to islam. NO Caps on anything I disrespect.
I don’t respect the Final Solution either, but I honor those who died as a result of it.
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