Posted on 11/29/2001 10:30:57 AM PST by EclipseVI
Myself included, there are over one billion humans on earth who call God by his Arabic name, Allah. Out of that billion, over seven million of us call America our home. Many of us are born as Americans, study in American institutions and go on to work and pay American dollars to our tax system. Like everyone else, we eventually find our better half, have chubby babies, go to zoos, get season tickets to the Chicago Bulls, go on our childrens' field trips and fix the leak in our roofs. With all the growing pains in the life that we lead as normal Americans, everyday we turn our face to Mecca to pray to what our Christian brothers call God, our Jewish sisters call Yahweh and whom we call Allah.
Islam, Christianity and Judaism have exactly the same origin. We each believe in the monotheistic deity of Abraham, who was the father of all three of these noble religions. Islam's moral and ethical standards are equivalent, if not more stringent, than those of modern day Christianity and Judaism. We, as Muslims, believe in every prophet of both Judaism and Christianity. We believe the world began with Adam and Eve and great prophets, namely Moses, Aaron, Jacob, Joseph and Jesus (peace be upon all of them) were all divinely inspired by God.
We revere Jesus as a great prophet and the messiah of God. He is mentioned by name in the Quran 33 times. We equally revere the Virgin Mary as the mother of the Messiah. She is the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran and she is mentioned 34 times. Anyone who says Muslims don't respect women, read the entire chapter dedicated to Mary (peace be upon her). How many times was our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mentioned by name in the Quran? Five.
In Islam, a woman receives a monetary dowry from her husband, of which he has no legal claim. A woman is not obligated to change her maiden name. CNN happily broadcasts women being oppressed by the Taliban regime. Islam abhors the oppression of women. The Taliban says women are not allowed to work, yet the Prophet Muhammad's wife, Khadijah, was one of the most successful merchants in all of Arabia. Should we base our belief on a bunch of tribal warlords or the teachings of our Prophet?
In Islam, both men and women have to dress modestly. One aspect of this modest dress for women is the hijab (head covering). This is a religious mandate, but whether a woman decides to wear it or not, is an issue between her and Allah, because as the Quran categorically states, "there is no compulsion in religion." The hijab symbolizes empowerment, not oppression of women. It allows women to be judged on the content of their character, rather than the physical features that we men today objectify onto them. When we see a nun covered from head to toe in her habit, we commend her on her devotion to God. But when we see a Muslim woman wearing hijab, she is oppressed. In how many likenesses of the Virgin Mary, sculptures or paintings, is her hair not covered? Not one. Was she oppressed? Hardly.
Muslim American is not a paradox. As Muslim Americans we currently live in a diaspora having to deal with an attack on our, yes, our, country. We also have a dual anxiety because our way of life, which is not far different from our Christian and Jewish counterparts, is under attack.
I am a law student. I study international human rights. I have been to U2, Sarah Maclachlan, Dido and Outkast concerts. I have been a ball boy for the Chicago Bulls. I have owned a Ford Mustang. I pray for peace and have read Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech ninety-six times. I may be a dreamer, but I promise you, I am not the only one.
I am a Muslim and I am an American. I am proud of both and will compromise neither.
The SPLA contributes to the famine, poverty etc. They KILL Christian aid workers. They fight with the Lords Resistance Army out of Uganda.
I am too tired to go into all of it tonight or explain Indonesia to you so stick with your beliefs. Belief is a huge timesaver over education.
Whats funny? Its a true statement. The following is Islam's position on the treatment of women. Strange that many forget that of the, I believe, SIX countries that has had women heads of state, 2 of them have been Islamic countries - Pakistan and the current President Megawatti of Indonesia.
I would ask you to consider two distinctly separate views regarding mankind: According to one, all men (including women) are equal, and therefore a sound social system is one that is based on the principle of absolute "equality".
According to the other, all men (or women) are different – they are different in their mental, physical and emotional qualities, they are different in the opportunities life gives them and they are different in their natural strengths and weaknesses – and because they are different, a good society is not the one based on the principle of equality, but the one based on the principle of "justice".
Just for the sake of further clarification, "equality" means that all persons should be dealt with equally, irrespective of their needs, abilities or strengths and weaknesses. In other words, according to this principle, a sound society is the one that places equal responsibilities and gives equal priveleges and authorities to its members. On the other hand, "justice" means that a person should be dealt with on the basis of what he deserves.
In other words, acording to this principle, a sound society is the one that places responsibilities and gives priveleges and authorities to its members according to their abilities and qualities.
I would like to clearly state here (even at the risk of being misconstrued) that Islam has based its teachings on the presumption that all human beings are equal in all spheres of life, except in the case of their inherent abilities and in the case of their position in the family (or on a broader scale, the social) setup.
In other words, Islam after accepting that all human beings are equal, and should be dealt with accoridng to the principle of equality, wants the society to give only two exceptions to this principle. These exceptions are:
Because human beings are different in their inherent abilities, a person (man or woman) with more abilities should have the opportunities to progress further in life as compared to a person (man or woman) with less abilities. The system adopted to insure "justice" in this sphere is quite a simple one. Islam simply advocates that there should be no artificial hinderances in the progress of a person (man or woman) with more abilities.
In this sense, Islam although allows a differentiation among individuals, but this differentiation is not based on the sex of the individuals, but on their abilities.
Because a sound social setup is possible only through strengthening the basic unit of this setup, (i.e. the family) Islam wants the family to have a well defined authority-responsibility relationship.
According to the Qur’an, man and woman are two units of a pair. When both are taken independent of each other, there are ceretain obvious vacuums in the mental, physical and emotional personalities of each. God has created the two in such a way that they complement each other in different ways, so that these vacuums are generally removed to a great extent. For this very purpose, God gave different mental, physical and emotional qualities to the male and the female. These different mental, physical and emotional qualities, on the one hand complement man and woman, and on the other establishes for them different spheres of activity in their interpersonal relationships.
According to the Qur’an, man, for two reasons, should be the head of the family: One, because he is given the responsibility of earning the livelihood for the family (i.e. he is to strive for the provision of the financial requirements of the family); and two, because he is given the mental, physical and emotional qualities that are more suitable for this responsibility; just like women are given certain qualities that make them more suitable for responsibilities in a number of other spheres. It is only in this sphere (i.e. in the relationship of husband and wife) that God has given the man a degree of authority over the woman. Besides this sphere, both are considered equal.
If the above explanation is clearly understood, you shall be able to see that Islam does not assign a lower status to the womankind, as compared to the mankind, it is only in a particular relationship that one is given a degree of authority over the other, and that too for fulfilling the responsibility assigned to him from the perspective of this life as well as the hereafter. In this sense, it is the same thing as saying that:
The parents (both male and female) are responsible for the well being of their children (both male and female) and therefore should be given a degree of authority over them; or the teachers (both male and female) are responsible for the well being of their pupil (both male and female) and therefore should be given a degree of authority over them; or the head of the state (whether male or female) is responsible for the well being of the citizens (both male and female) and therefore should be given a degree of authority over them.
I hope it is clear from the above explanation that in my opinion, Islam does not differentiate between the status of a man or a woman. It is only in the particular relationship of husband and wife that Islam gives a degree of authority to the husband. It would be as wrong to say on this basis that Islam gives women a lower status in the social setup as compared to men, as it would be to say that Islam gives men a lower status as compared to women on the basis of the degree of authority that a mother has over her male child.
In Islam women are guaranteed the following fundamental rights:
1. The right and duty to obtain education.
2. The right to have their own independent property.
3. The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it.
4. Equality of reward for equal deeds.
5. The right to express their opinion and be heard.
6. The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more.
7. The right to negotiate marriage terms of her choice.
8. The right to obtain divorce from her husband, even on the grounds that she simply can't stand him. (pls note that God deeply frowns upon divorce as a solution unless there is hardly any other alternative but it does not mean that men have more right to divorce their wives than women do.)
9. The right to keep all her own money (she is not responsible to maintain any relations).
10. The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.
11. Custody of their children after divorce.
12. To refuse any marriage that does not please them
It's persuasive to a degree, but falls short. Islam is still the new kid on the block. Give it more time to grow up. Check back in a few more centuries, see if it has matured.
"NEWS EMBARGO AFTER ISRAELI LINK LEAK!
Stern-Intel (Canada) - A US military intelligence source revealed details of an internal intelligence memo that points to the Israeli Mossad intelligence service having links to the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. The intelligence source, who requested his name be withheld, confirmed the internal US intelligence memo circulated four weeks ago described information that pointed to the threat of a covert Israeli operation on US soil to turn mass public opinion against Palestinian Arabs via an apparent terrorist attack on US interests that would give Israel the green light to implement a large scale military onslaught against the Palestinian Arab population.
The 11 September attack has been described experts as being too sophisticated for a lone terrorist group to execute. "This attack required a high level of military precision and the resources of an advanced intelligence agency. In addition, the attackers would have needed to be extremely familiar with both air force one flight operations, civil airline flight paths and aerial assault tactics on sensitive US cities like Washington, Stated David Stern an expert on Israeli intelligence operations.
The attacks targeted the Pentagon, World Trade Center towers, with the White House and Air Force One also being targets according to the FBI.
"The attacks have certainly turned US public opinion firmly back in Israel's favor after 11 months of Palestinian uprising, heavy criticism of Israel over war crimes allegations and racism a UN conference in Durban. The attacks serve no Arab group or nation's interests but their timing came in the midst of international condemnation of Israel for its policy of death squad assassination of Palestinian political and police figures", added Stern."
Got tinfoil hat?
They may say Jesus is the Messiah..but what do they mean by that? Certainly NOT what is meant scripturally. That Jesus is God in the flesh and the only way to God the Father.
Regarding the Jizyah tax, it is not tax levied on non-muslims for the purpose of allowing them to practice their religion. Since non-muslims are not required to serve in the militaries of muslim countries and fight in defense of that country (if need be), the tax is paid to the state as a substitute for their military service.
Regarding Islamic governments imprisoning (or worse) non-muslims, I can't speak on that issue since Islam does not permit the abuse of non-muslims living in Islamic countries simply because they are non-muslims.
You are a Muslim, that's for sure.
Yes, I do believe in Allah and America and thats exactly why I posted that "swill" as you put it. I hope that ALL lovers of America would encourage our government to leave no stone unturned and leave no questions unasked and unanswered. No one; repeat NO ONE, should be automatically placed beyond suspicion. Why would you suggest otherwise?
I believe Jesus and accept his every word as gospel-but why does Islam respect one who according to his words and their belief's is lying?
Never the less we will take the writer at his word and ask that America's seven million Muslims and the billion others around the world, join the war against the terrorists who claim to be practicing Muslims, rather than enlisting in their demonic jihad. Help us isolate and destroy the monsters who hide behind that religion,while calling for terrorist attacks upon innocent law abiding people, all over the planet..
Heathen marching in the streets and rioting in Muslim governed countries around the world and swarming to enlist in the Al Quada hordes of destruction, belies the writers argumant that only a hand full of misguided Muslim zealots are causing all the terror and unrest in the world.
Jesus came to teach us what he knew and that is GOD is within YOU not outside of you or Any Other Being!
What you posted is no better that all the anti-semitic nutball urban legends that were all over the internet after 9-11.
Israel is not even on the list of ME countries having visas held up. You are just another Muslim trying deflect blame and smear Jews. Gotcha.
WRONG!!
"We revere Jesus as a great prophet and the messiah of God."
Impossible statement. IF moslems revered Jesus at all, they would believe His claim to be God incarnate. IF he were not God incarnate, He would be a liar and not worthy of any reverence at all.
I have a question for the author - "When an islamic mullah sends out a dictum for all moslems to rise up and kill Americans, is the mullah speaking to him?"
Yes, Islam is a peaceful religion; that part you have correct. Regarding EVERYONE KNOWING Muslims committed the murders on 911, well, I think the jury is still out on that one. I'll wait for the final verdict if you don't mind.
OH, Yes, Osama is a terrorist and he's getting exactly what he deserves. But he is just one person; just one piece of a puzzle that may contain thousands of pieces, and those pieces might turn up in some embarassing places.
Many Christians don't even agree that Jesus is GOD IN THE FLESH. Does that make them not christian?
They already have. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, mosques in the USA, (many clerics have scurried back to the ME) - mosques in Europe, over 80 Islamic orgs. in the Michigan area alone.
Embarassing, indeed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.