Countering Muslim Stereotypes

[quote]Sloth wrote:
lixy wrote:
The people that go around killing, expropriating and pillaging in the name of Allah are criminals.

Like the Prophet? [/quote]

The keyword being “the Prophet”. As in, one who serves as intermediary between the Divine and Humanity. So, if anyone should be allowed to get away with doing things in the name of God, it is “the Prophet”.

If you know of any gratuitous killing or pillaging done by the Prophet, post here. We can discuss them to establish if they’re remotely comparable to Al-Qaeda.

[quote]lixy wrote:
IrishSteel wrote:
Should Islam stop its quest for global domination -I could live peacefully with Islam. But how are they to ignore a direct command from Allah to establish world-wide dominion in his name?

“Direct command from Allah to establish world-wide dominion in his name”?

Open up the Quran. It says that God will establish it, not the other way around.

The people that go around killing, expropriating and pillaging in the name of Allah are criminals. They’re the Islamic equivalent of Zionism for Judaism. Going around thinking they’re The Chosen People, dehumanizing anything that stands in the way.

Really, open up a Quran. You may learn a thing or two.[/quote]

Alrighty then - Please explain the following passages for me and help me to understand how this is not as I read it. Let’s start with the “Verse of the Sword”, revealed toward the end of Muhammad’s life:

9:5. Then when the Sacred Months (the 1st, 7th, 11th, and 12th months of the Islamic calendar) have passed, then kill the Mushrikun {unbelievers} wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. But if they repent and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat {the Islamic ritual prayers}), and give Zakat {alms}, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Having been revealed later in Muhammad?s life than 50:45, 109, and 2:256, the Verse of the Sword abrogates their peaceful injunctions in accordance with 2:106. Sura 8, revealed shortly before Sura 9, reveals a similar theme:

8:39. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of the world]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allah), then certainly, Allah is All-Seer of what they do.

8:67. It is not for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war (and free them with ransom) until he had made a great slaughter (among his enemies) in the land. You desire the good of this world (i.e. the money of ransom for freeing the captives), but Allah desires (for you) the Hereafter. And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

9:29. Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

9:33. It is He {Allah} Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam), to make it superior over all religions even though the Mushrikun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) hate (it).

The Quran’s commandments to Muslims to wage war in the name of Allah against non-Muslims are unmistakable. They are, furthermore, absolutely authoritative as they were revealed late in the Prophet’s career and so cancel and replace earlier instructions to act peaceably. Without knowledge of the principle of abrogation, Westerners will continue to misread the Quran and misdiagnose Islam as a “religion of peace.”

Following the conquest of Mecca, Muhammad outlined the future of his religion.

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 177; Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour {of the Last Judgment} will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."

Volume 1, Book 2, Number 24; Narrated Ibn Umar: Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform that, then they save their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah."

It is from such warlike pronouncements as these that Islamic scholarship divides the world into dar al-Islam (the House of Islam, i.e., those nations who have submitted to Allah) and dar al-harb (the House of War, i.e., those who have not). It is this dispensation that the world lived under in Muhammad’s time and that it lives under today. Then as now, Islam’s message to the unbelieving world is the same: submit or be conquered.

and one final note (i have lots of study materials) Muhammad Taqi Partovi Samzevari, in his ?Future of the Islamic Movement? (1986), sums up the Islamic worldview.

"Our own Prophet ? was a general, a statesman, an administrator, an economist, a jurist and a first-class manager all in one. ? In the Qur?an?s historic vision Allah?s support and the revolutionary struggle of the people must come together, so that Satanic rulers are brought down and put to death. A people that is not prepared to kill and to die in order to create a just society cannot expect any support from Allah. The Almighty has promised us that the day will come when the whole of mankind will live united under the banner of Islam, when the sign of the Crescent, the symbol of Muhammad, will be supreme everywhere. ? But that day must be hastened through our Jihad, through our readiness to offer our lives and to shed the unclean blood of those who do not see the light brought from the Heavens by Muhammad in his mi?raj {?nocturnal voyages to the ?court? of Allah?}. ? It is Allah who puts the gun in our hand. But we cannot expect Him to pull the trigger as well simply because we are faint-hearted."

OK- that’ll do for a start - let’s discuss how there is not a command from Allah to establish his dominion . . .

[quote]lixy wrote:
Sloth wrote:
lixy wrote:
The people that go around killing, expropriating and pillaging in the name of Allah are criminals.

Like the Prophet?

The keyword being “the Prophet”. As in, one who serves as intermediary between the Divine and Humanity. So, if anyone should be allowed to get away with doing things in the name of God, it is “the Prophet”.

If you know of any gratuitous killing or pillaging done by the Prophet, post here. We can discuss them to establish if they’re remotely comparable to Al-Qaeda.[/quote]

Qurayza.

[quote]lixy wrote:
Sloth wrote:
lixy wrote:
The people that go around killing, expropriating and pillaging in the name of Allah are criminals.

Like the Prophet?

The keyword being “the Prophet”. As in, one who serves as intermediary between the Divine and Humanity. So, if anyone should be allowed to get away with doing things in the name of God, it is “the Prophet”.[/quote]

We only have Mohamads word that he is a prophet.

[quote]
If you know of any gratuitous killing or pillaging done by the Prophet, post here. We can discuss them to establish if they’re remotely comparable to Al-Qaeda. [/quote]

The Qayrash Jews. All the men and boys past puberty were killed and the women and girls were hauled off as slaves.

[quote]lixy wrote:
The people that go around killing, expropriating and pillaging in the name of Allah are criminals. [/quote]

Does this also include radical Shites, like those ruling Iran?

[quote]lixy wrote:

Really, open up a Quran. You may learn a thing or two.[/quote]

What good would that do?

I would have to learn to read Arabic to fully understand it, right? That’s what was said on this forum.

And the same excuse will no doubt be used to twist the quotes mentioned above…

[quote]Chushin wrote:
Irish Steel, my friend, I sure hope you enjoy dancing.

Because you’re in for a whole bunch of it when you engage with Lixy about Islam.

Prepare to enter the Looking Glass Dimension…[/quote]

Thanks for the warning. I’ve been here with other apologists as well, but coming from a long line of teachers I have to be willing to try to help - and who knows - perhaps I may learn something new.

I’ll try to keep it clean and hopefully a little entertaining as well.

[quote]Chushin wrote:

Prepare to enter the Looking Glass Dimension…[/quote]

Abandon all logic all ye who enter here.

IRISHSTEEL, Thanks brother! I was about to write the same thing back to lixy’s little comments to me. I just havent checked in here since last night. After all Islam is a dynamite religion! (pun intended)

[quote]Chushin wrote:
IrishSteel wrote:
Chushin wrote:

BTW, you should know that when Lixy has no effective response, he takes his ball and goes home: “I’m no longer talking to you!” Witness PRCal and GKahn, for example.

Also, your posts are, indeed, QUITE entertaining. :wink: Hope you’ll stick around. [/quote]

Yeah - I’ve seen his type before,no matter how hard you try to be nice and civil to them - they aren’t happy. Like this:

Well, after all the syrup . . .nah - that was just corny (sorry)

[quote]Rogue57 wrote:
IRISHSTEEL, Thanks brother! I was about to write the same thing back to lixy’s little comments to me. I just havent checked in here since last night. After all Islam is a dynamite religion! (pun intended)[/quote]

Fell out of my chair on that one!! Great stuff!

[quote]Sifu wrote:
yusef wrote:
lixy wrote:

It should be obvious that I acknowledge no other authority than God’s when it comes to “what Islam is and isn’t”. The prophet Mohamed himself was ambivalent when it came to interpreting the Holy Text. There’s a quote attributed to him that goes: “The one who interprets the Quran from his own point of view, and is right, then he erred.”

Besides, I am certainly not the one who “likes to come on here and talk about what Islam is and isn’t”. I don’t start threads on Islam. The only reason I started hanging out here was the sheer amount of propaganda trying to demonize Islam.

Lixy, I think your comments are wasted on these forums, with responses such as ‘er… Wahabis, aren’t they islamic?’ and ‘Whats your point?’.

You’re making assumptions that the intelligence of some that you’re speaking to is actually enough for them to be able to comprehend, let alone actually question their own view rather than try to shoot you down without considering what you say.

If people have this kind of view of Islam, they will look for things that back up their views and disregard that which doesn’t. Bigotry, I believe it is called.

If that is the route you wish to go down there are several other terms you should learn.

For example, when a person has a serious behavioral problem that is readily apparent to others but they refuse to acept that they have a problem even when it is clearly made evident to them. The term for that is denial.

Then there is a defense mechanism that goes along with denial, where one come up with excuses that make sense of what they are being told. That is called rationalisation.

Since you are in denial that there is anything wrong with Islam you use the rationalization that any criticism of Islam is motivated by bigotry. [/quote]

There is also the psychological term called projection, where you put on other people your fears and hangups. that’s a favorite of the lefties. But if all morality is equivalent, Moslems beheading people is cool because they attacked Israel, had their ass handed to them and so now want to kill US citizens and Jews. Seem to me that if the Arab world left Israel alone years ago, things might be a little different.

[quote]tom63 wrote:
Sifu wrote:
yusef wrote:
lixy wrote:

It should be obvious that I acknowledge no other authority than God’s when it comes to “what Islam is and isn’t”. The prophet Mohamed himself was ambivalent when it came to interpreting the Holy Text. There’s a quote attributed to him that goes: “The one who interprets the Quran from his own point of view, and is right, then he erred.”[/quote]

Considering that the koran was written 30 years after mohammad died, I find it difficult to believe that he made statements reffering to it.

[quote]
Besides, I am certainly not the one who “likes to come on here and talk about what Islam is and isn’t”. I don’t start threads on Islam. The only reason I started hanging out here was the sheer amount of propaganda trying to demonize Islam.

Lixy, I think your comments are wasted on these forums, with responses such as ‘er… Wahabis, aren’t they islamic?’ and ‘Whats your point?’.

You’re making assumptions that the intelligence of some that you’re speaking to is actually enough for them to be able to comprehend, let alone actually question their own view rather than try to shoot you down without considering what you say.

If people have this kind of view of Islam, they will look for things that back up their views and disregard that which doesn’t. Bigotry, I believe it is called.

If that is the route you wish to go down there are several other terms you should learn.

For example, when a person has a serious behavioral problem that is readily apparent to others but they refuse to acept that they have a problem even when it is clearly made evident to them. The term for that is denial.

Then there is a defense mechanism that goes along with denial, where one come up with excuses that make sense of what they are being told. That is called rationalisation.

Since you are in denial that there is anything wrong with Islam you use the rationalization that any criticism of Islam is motivated by bigotry.

There is also the psychological term called projection, where you put on other people your fears and hangups. that’s a favorite of the lefties. But if all morality is equivalent, Moslems beheading people is cool because they attacked Israel, had their ass handed to them and so now want to kill US citizens and Jews. Seem to me that if the Arab world left Israel alone years ago, things might be a little different. [/quote]

Projection is probably the biggest problem we have in coming up with intelligent policies to deal with the Muslim world. I see it on this forum all the time. People who just can’t get it into their head that there are people in this world who have radically different values and goals from them. People who have a typical affluent, materialistic, American lifestyle as their greatest goal in life, who can’t get their head around the fact that there are millions of Muslims for whom that is not the goal they aspire to.

In world war two the initial battles with the Japanese were very costly for the allies because they did not understand the Japanese culture and mindset. ie The commanders at Corregidor and Singapore did not understand that surrender was not an option with the Japanese. Cultural misunderstanding got a lot of good people killed. People haven’t learned their lessons from history.

[quote]yusef wrote:
I’ll respond.
I mean this as respectfully as possible: I genuinely don’t feel you have an interest in learning about Islam.

You do not want to change your view of Islam, and neither do I. That’s fine, I’m not asking you to.
I don’t think you’re asking me to either.
You seem to be happy keeping it at this distance where you can safely point fingers at the apparently violent, backward people.

I am happy in my state too.

My point is that if you truly did want to learn and understand, you would find many Muslims willing to teach. You would pick up a Quran and read from the beginning, in context, with a fresh mind. Leaving behind any prejudices or ideas you picked up. You would not spend time on here finding things that confirm your view from unverifiable sources.

But at the moment it seems like only fights want to be picked rather than any actual education.

Say you, O Non-Muslims:

I worship not that you worship.

And nor you worship what I worship.

And I shall not worship what you worshiped.

And nor you shall worships what I worship.

For you, your religion. and for me my religion.

My intention is not to undermine you, I am simply saying that either you 1: have a genuine interest in Islam, then you should go to a mosque and learn - rather than listen to what I have to tell you about it on an internet forum.
2: You do not have a genuine interest in learning about Islam. Then you’re entitled to your view. Carry on thinking what you do, I won’t argue with you. There is enough material in the Quran alone to dissolve any queries you have about it. Otherwise if you do not want to learn, you do not have to.
‘For you, your religion. and for me my religion.’

The answer to that question you posted, Chushin, is in the rest of that Surah in the Quran. Read the notes/background if it is not clear.

If you catch me trying to establish dominion over you, then call me on it. Say ‘no yusef! that is wrong. Go and squat peacefully like a nice muslim’. [/quote]

ahh, there you have it . . . the two choices - become a Muslim or don’t - no explanation or voice of reason.

I would love to change m understanding of Islam - if I have it wrong - but every time I raise these questions, I get one of two responses - mumbo-jumbo or “you should attend a mosque”.

And stop mocking the people of my heritage - we’re not a violent and backward people - well, maybe a little violent.

I have read the Quran, and still have never had my questions answered.

by the way - I’m half Irish and half Syrian, so don’t assume I’m asking these questions from a uneducated or inexperienced perspective on being Arabic.