Posted on 10/04/2001 12:48:43 PM PDT by Turan
The True Islamic Morals
Some people who say they are acting in the name of religion may misunderstand their religion or practice it wrongly. For this reason, it is a mistake to form any idea of that religion from the activities of these people. The best way to understand Islam is through its holy source.
The holy source of Islam is the Qur'an; and the model of morality in the Qur'an is completely different from the image of it formed in the minds of some westerners. The Qur'an is based on the concepts of morality, love, compassion, mercy, modesty, self-sacrifice, tolerance and peace, and a Muslim who truly lives according to these moral precepts is highly refined, thoughtful, tolerant, trustworthy and accommodating. To those around him he gives love, respect, peace of mind and a sense of the joy of life.
Islam Is A Religion Of Peace And Well-Being
The word Islam has the same meaning as "peace" in Arabic. Islam is a religion that came down to offer humanity a life filled with the peace and well-being in which God's eternal mercy and compassion is manifested in the world. God invites all people to accept the moral teachings of the Qur'an as a model whereby mercy, compassion, tolerance and peace may be experienced in the world. In Surat al-Baqara verse 208, this command is given:
You who believe! Enter absolutely into peace (Islam). Do not follow in the footsteps of Satan. He is an outright enemy to you.
As we see in this verse, people will experience well-being and happiness by living according to the moral teaching of the Qur'an.
God Condemns Mischief
God has commanded humanity to avoid evil; he has forbidden immorality, rebellion, cruelty, aggressiveness, murder and bloodshed. Those who do not obey this command of God are walking in the steps of Satan, as it says in the verse above, and have adopted an attitude that God has clearly declared unlawful. Of the many verses that bear on this subject, here are only two:
But as for those who break God's contract after it has been agreed and sever what God has commanded to be joined, and cause corruption in the earth, the curse will be upon them. They will have the Evil Abode. (Surat ar-Ra'd: 25)
Seek the abode of the hereafter with what God has given you, without forgetting your portion of the world. And do good as God has been good to you. And do not seek to cause mischief on earth. God does not love mischief makers.' (Surat al-Qasas: 77)
As we can see, God has forbidden every kind of mischievous acts in the religion of Islam including terrorism and violence, and condemned those who commit such deeds. A Muslim lends beauty to the world and improves it.
Islam Defends Tolerance And Freedom Of Speech
Islam is a religion which fosters freedom of life, ideas and thought. It has forbidden tension and conflict among people, calumny, suspicion and even having negative thoughts about another individual.
Islam has not only forbidden terror and violence, but also even the slightest imposition of any idea on another human being.
There is no compulsion in religion. Right guidance has become clearly distinct from error. Anyone who rejects false gods and believes in God has grasped the Firmest Handhold, which will never give way. God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Baqara: 256)
So remind, you need only to remind. You cannot compel them to believe. (Surat al-Ghashiyah: 22)
To force anyone to believe in a religion or to practice it, is against the spirit and essence of Islam. Because it is necessary that faith be accepted with free will and conscience. Of course, Muslims may urge one another to keep the moral precepts taught in the Qur'an, but they never use compulsion. In any case, an individual cannot be induced to the practice of religion by either threat or offering him a worldly privilege.
Let us imagine a completely opposite model of society. For example, a world in which people are forced by law to practice religion. Such a model of society is completely contrary to Islam because faith and worship have value only when they are directed toward God. If there were a system that forced people to believe and worship, people would be religious only out of fear of the system. What is acceptable from the point of view of religion is that religion be practiced in an environment where freedom of conscience is permitted, and that it be practiced only for the approval of God.
God Has Made The Killing Of Innocent People Unlawful
According to the Qur'an, one of the greatest sins is to kill a human being who has committed no fault: ...If someone kills another person - unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth - it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as if he had given life to all mankind. Our Messengers came to them with Clear Signs but even after that many of them committed outrages in the earth. (Surat al-Ma'ida: 32) Those who do not call on any other deity together with God and do not kill anyone God has made inviolate, except with the right to do so, and do not fornicate; anyone who does that will receive an evil punishment. (Surat al-Furqan: 68)
As we can see in the verses above, those who kill innocent human beings without a cause are threatened with evil punishment. God has revealed that killing one person is as great a sin as killing all mankind. Anyone who respected the prerogatives of God would not do harm to even one individual, let alone murdering thousands of innocent people. Those who think that they will escape justice and punishment in this world will never escape the account they must give in the Presence of God on the Last Day. So, those believers who know they will give an account to God after their death, will be very careful about respecting the limits God has established.
God Commands Believers To Be Compassionate And Merciful< In this verse, Muslim morality is explained: ...To be one of those who believe and urge each other to steadfastness and urge each other to compassion. Those are the Companions of the Right. (Surat al-Balad: 17-18) As we see in this verse, one of the most important moral precepts that God has sent down to His servants so that they may receive salvation and mercy and attain Paradise, is to "urge each other to compassion".
Islam as described in the Qur'an is a modern, enlightened, progressive religion. A Muslim is above all a person of peace; he is tolerant with a democratic spirit, cultured, enlightened, honest, knowledgable about art and science and civilized. A Muslim educated in the fine moral teaching of the Qur'an, approaches everyone with the love that Islam expects. He shows respect for every idea and he values art and aesthetics. He is conciliatory in the face of every event, diminishing tension and restoring amity. In societies composed of individuals such as this, there will be a higher civilization, a higher social morality, more joy, happiness, justice, security, abundance and blessings than in the most modern nations of the world today.
God Has Commanded Tolerance And Forgiveness Surat al-A'raf, verse 199, which says "practice forgiveness", expresses the concept of forgiveness and tolerance which is one of the basic principles of the religion of Islam.
When we look at Islamic history, we can see clearly how Muslims established this important precept of the moral teaching of the Qur'an in their social life. At every point in their advance, Muslims destroyed unlawful practices and created a free and tolerant environment. In the areas of religion, language and culture, they made it possible for people totally opposite to each other to live under the same roof in freedom and peace, thereby giving to those subject to them the advantages of knowledge, wealth and position. Likewise, one of the most important reasons that the large and widespread Ottoman Empire was able to sustain its existence for so many centuries was that its way of life was directed by the tolerance and understanding brought by Islam. For centuries Muslims have been characterized by their tolerance and compassion. In every period of time they have been the most just and merciful of people. All ethnic groups within this multi-national community freely practiced the religions they have followed for years and enjoyed every opportunity to live in their own cultures and worship in their own way.
Indeed, the particular tolerance of Muslims, when practiced as commanded in the Qur'an, can alone bring peace and well-being to the whole world. The Qur'an refers to this particular kind of tolerance:
A good action and a bad action are not the same. Repel the bad with something better and, if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend. (Surat al-Fussilat: 34)
Conclusion
All this shows that the moral teaching offered to humanity by Islam is one that will bring peace, happiness and justice to the world. The barbarism that is happening in the world today under the name of "Islamic Terrorism" is completely removed from the moral teachings of the Qur'an; it is the work of ignorant, bigoted people, criminals who have nothing to do with religion. The solution which will applied against these individuals and groups who are trying to commit their deeds of savagery under the guise of Islam, will be the instruction of people in the true moral teaching of Islam.
In other words, the religion of Islam and the moral teaching of the Qur'an are not the supporters of terrorism and the terrorists, but the remedy by which the world can be saved from the scourge of terrorism.
The president himself has explained this to you, but you refuse to listen.
The terrorists are NOT true followers of Islam. They are NOT true Muslims. They are fundamentalist extremists who have taken the religion and perverted it to achieve their own ends. The president has asked the American people, over and over again, to refrain from this behavior. And yet you and most of the others in this thread persist. It does a great disservice to this great nation, and it is the blatent opposite of patriotism. You are hurting this country.
The difference is that we reserve this punishment for those within our own religion not for those from other religions. islam chooses to proscribe punishment and condemnation for all who are not of moslem faith.
Please go back and read the 1998 Fatwah by Osama and other clerics calling specifically for the killing of all Americans, military and civilian.
The very first Koranic verse he cites to justify his Fatwah is Surya 9-5: "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war"
Deal with reality, not fuzzy platitudes. The jets of 9-11 were flown into buildings by Moslems screaming "Allah Akbar!"
And they were cheered by millions across the Islamic world.
Deal with reality.
With every quote you post out of context, with every slap of your ignorance, you are committing a treacherous act to both your country and to God. Get it?
The Muslim: He (Of course, women have absolutely no official voice in Islam, and precious little unoffical voice) cannot say. "I renounce Jihad as a pillar of the faith."
He cannot say, "Jews, Christians, and Pagans are free to publicly practice their religion in Muslim countries and will not be harmed for doing so."
He cannot say,"You are free to worship your God in your way."
A Muslim cannot say, "Allah Bless America." To say these things would place a Muslim dead set against the actual daily practice of his religion. In regard to this whole "Moderate Mulsim" question: nobody is saying that all Muslims are radical terrorists.
They are human. The 80/20 Rule of Pareto applies to them, too. Out of the 1.3 Billion Muslims on this planet, 80% are not a much of a problem. And of course, not here.
20% have radical sympathies. Of that 20% (200 Million +), 80% may heartily believe, yet do nothing overtly harmful. That leaves 20% of 200 Million + people who believe and will take action on those beliefs. They will receive moral, financial, and logistical support from the belief base.
Beak, do your math. That's 40 million Muslims, and more, who will do whatever they are told to bring down non-Muslim civilization, supported by 160 million more who back them up.
So even granting your hypothetical point that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not terrorists, you can see we have a problem.
And so far, these peaceful Muslims, who I am do sure exist, have done very very little to curb their rambunctious co-religionists. In fact, the 80% has done little to nothing at all to rein in their bastards.
Where is their "Fair Play for the Christians of East Timor and the Sudan" committee? Where is the "League of Muslim Doctors and Nurses Against Female Circumcision?"
No Beak, this Friday in Brooklyn, New York,and every other big town in this country, a good number of Muslims will go to their mosques and positively rejoice in what their brothers have wrought at the WTC while listening to sermons of hate against the West.
Speak up moderately against that, you moderate Muslims, and I will personally buy you the non-alcoholic beverage of your choice.
May Allah Bless America. Doesn't sound that hard to say for us, does it?
Would it be a person who reads and interprets the Quran according to modern sensibilities?
Or would it be a person who reads and interprets the Quran according to the intent and life example of the man who wrote and founded it?
Did Mohammed demonstrate the "peaceful" intent of his religion by his own life? How did he deal with unbelievers, especially when they opposed him? What example did he leave for his followers?
Who truly deserves the name "Muslim"? A man who follows in the path of Mohammed's example and who interprets his writings according to Mohammed's intent, or one who interprets Mohammed's writings according to his own sensibilities?
To be fair, however, there are many calling themselves "Christians" who read and interpret the Bible according to their own twenty-first-century sensibilities rather than the intent of the author. They have taken the Book and made their own religion of it. If the Bible says something that would make God appear "judgmental," "homophobic," or "unfair" to them, they throw it away. They tell the world that the "core" of Christianity is for people to love God and one another. And they tell the world that all the major religions have the same "core." A lot of people believe them.
The core of Christianity is this: The holy and only God sent His only begotten son Jesus into the world to suffer, die, and rise again, to save sinners; of whom I am chief. And there is no other name given under heaven by which men may be saved. This is the intent of the Author. This is flatly denied by the Quran. Unfortunately, it is also denied by many who call themselves "Christian."
I think God calls all men to Him, and I think that there are many is Islam that have found the nuggets of truth that exist in it. But I do think that if you want the fullness of truth - that is, something that is neither ethnically connected (like Judaism) nor something that views force as the way to extend itself (like Islam) - you should look to to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Any Orthodox or Catholic priest or layman in your city (sorry, I don't know where you are) should be able to tell you this. By the way, the doctrine of Orthodox and Catholic Christians is the same; there are just historical problems separating the two. Either one of them can tell you the truth.
If you want to respond, please do. I can imagine how distressed you are, and I pray that God in His infinite mercy will bless us all and lead us to the truth.
Thus, those looking for the 'true' meaning of islam could find as many interpretations as there are muslims.
Under what authority can you decide bin Laden or Sadam Hussein are not true followers of Islam? Bin Laden would say he IS a true follower, each of the hijackers would say that he was a true follower. The hate spewing mullahs would claim they too are true followers. There is no Vatican or Pope or ultimate authority in Islam and you aren't it either.
Horse hockey! If they are NOT true muslims, then why do the "true muslims" tolerate them? The truth is, when a "true muslim" is wetting his pants, that's when he screams that the terrorists have no connection with his religion. Time for the "true muslims" to realize that the terrorists are the real muslims, and that the "true muslims" are being lead down the garden path.
They are not. In Christianity and Judaism, the Jews are God's chosen people, in Islam they are called infidels and are supposed to be killed. God is not two-faced.
But since the rest of us are no longer living in the 14th century, we no longer accept slavery, selective taxes,...
You know, that gave me pause. Are we not subject to selective taxes? I know I pay more than others and there are those who pay more than me.
As God is driven from our society, our religion has become wealth and possessions. We who are most "religious" are selectively taxed more than those who are not so "religious".
Just rambling.
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