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Islam

 

 

What is the true nature of Islam?

 

 

Whether good or bad you have probably made up your mind. 

 

 

We shouldn't judge by mere appearances, we should let Islam's most sacred texts speak for themselves.

 

 

The Muslim Students Association have put the Quran and Hadith (Islamic traditions) on-line.

 

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/

 

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/

 

 

In the Quran we are told that Allah is "Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful,"

 

"Tell My servants that I am indeed the Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;"

(Sura 15:49, Note: A Sura is the equivalent of a chapter in the Quran.)

 

 

According to the Quran Muslims are the best of all people.

 

"Ye are the best community that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah" (See Sura 3:110)

 

 

The Quran says Allah is good and he will work through his followers

 

See Sura 9:14

 

 

Sura 9:81-89

 

 

Sura 9:5

 

 

Sura 2:216

 

 

 

Sura 4:95

 

 

 

Sura 8:65-69

 

 

 

Sura 5:51

 

 

 

Sura 5:33

 

 

Sura 5:38

 

 

Sura 9:29

 

 

The Hadith also has many similar verses

 

See

 

Sahih Bukhari vol 1, book 2, no. 35

 

Sahih Bukhari vol 4, book 52, no. 46

 

Sahih Bukhari, vol 4, book 52, no. 196

 

Sahih Bukhari, vol 4, book 52, no. 220

 




"Comparison is the mother of clarity."  

 

To say something is good is a meaningless statement unless you have something to compare it to. Good compared to what? We are told Islam is good. So let's do some comparing.


Recently some Muslim students were expelled from an Islamic school in Melbourne Australia for urinating on a Bible, as if that was not enough they tore pages from it and burnt it. (This was reported on the national news via television and the news papers.) Do Christians respond in the same way that Muslims respond to insults or do they honour the New Testament by treating the "enemies" of God the way they are told to in the New Testament?


As a Christian I am proud of how Christians are responding to insults. We say Christianity is a peaceful religion and we prove it by the way we respond to insults and violence.

Now many will say that just because some Muslims have behaved badly does not mean that Islam or its founder were not good. Good point. So we need to do some more comparing.

 

To get some idea of how good Mohammed (pbuh)* was read the earliest and most respected biography about him (see The Life of Muhammed: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq) and compare that to someone else who is believed to be good. (e.g. Someone whom even atheists' claim was a good man; Jesus as found in the Gospels.) We must compare the best and worst of each for even Hitler looks good if you only look at the good things he did. According to Islam's most respected sources Mohammed did some very violent things.)

 

To find out how good Mohammed's (pbuh) earliest followers were read about the expansion of Islam in its first 100 years (from 632 AD to 732 AD) and then read about the expansion of the early church in the book of Acts.

 

Note: When comparing the history of Islamic nations to those of the west we must be careful that we have some understanding of Islam or we will be easily misled. For example, many refer to the treatment of Jews in the Ottoman Empire as an argument for tolerance within the Empire. This seems reasonable until you understand that Jews and Christians are regarded as believers in the Quran, not unbelievers (admittedly they are second class believers). To make a fair comparison between the Ottoman Empire and the west we would have to look at how non-believers (Pagans) were treated. We would also have to compare the prescribed treatment of Pagans in the Quran to the prescribed treatment of Pagans in the New Testament as it is wrong to judge any religion by its abuse. Many westerners also make the mistake of looking at oppression of the poor in Europe and oppression in the Ottoman Empire as if they were the same thing; but they fail to ask, "who was oppressed and why were they oppressed?" For example, there are important differences between the oppression in France (before the revolution) and oppression in the Ottoman Empire. The oppression of the lower classes in France was not based upon religion but upon class within their society; in the Ottoman Empire however, non-Muslims had to pay more tax; had less rights in a court of law and the punishment was also less severe for Muslims if convicted of a crime (for example, if a Muslim stole from a non-Muslim his hand was not to be cut off). So in a very real sense all Muslims within the Ottoman Empire were the nobility. This is why they resisted change in the 19th century as they did not want to recognize non-Muslims as equals. And this is the same reason why many Muslims wish to see the Sharia enforced today. (For an in-depth discussion on the treatment of Christians (and Jews) within the Ottoman Empire see The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude by Bat Ye'or. This book contains over 200 pages of primary source documents from Muslim Historians and theologians, non-Muslim historians and authors, and British Ministers, ambassadors and diplomats.)


To get some clarity about how good the Quran is read it as well as The New Testament.  (Jay Smith makes a very good point on U-tube about comparing Islam and Christianity. He says that the New Testament should be compared to the Islamic traditions, not the Quran. He also says that the Quran should be compared to Jesus because Muslims believe the Quran is the eternal uncreated Word of God and Christians believe Jesus is the eternal uncreated Word of God. But this might be hard for Muslims to do because Islamic leaders do not allow Muslims to read the New Testament. But why do they do this? Where in the Quran does it say not to read the New Testament? Perhaps it is because they think the Bible is corrupt.) Note: When you read these texts keep the following in mind, is the verse you are reading prescriptive or descriptive? Compare the prescriptive verses of each. Swap the words: Pagan, Christian and Jew in the Quran for Muslim. Then swap the word Muslim for any other group. Would you like to be treated like that if you were a Muslim? If you think that is unfair do the same with the New testament, change the word Christian to another faith then swap the word pagan, unbeliever, Jew etc for the word Christian. Would you like to be treated that way if you were a Christian?)


We must compare the grounds in which violence can be used in Christianity to the grounds in which violence can be used in Islam. We must also look at who the violence is used against. Can the individual or religious leaders take the law into their own hands or should only governments enforce the law and protect the people? (Os Guinness in Long Journey Home uses Martin Luther King to give an example of when it is permissible for individual Christians to disobey those in authority. The Lamb and the Fuhrer: Jesus talks with Hitler by Ravi Zacharias gives a real life example of a devout Christian who was involved in a plot to kill Hitler. Some of the events which led to this plot are described in that book. It should be noted here that it is permissible for those in local and state governments to disobey the federal government on a particular issue if what they are asking is immoral. Of course this is very serious and must only be done after careful consideration.)


Most people assume that Muslims value telling the truth as much as non-Muslims. To get some idea of the importance of truth in Islam compare it to the importance of truth in Christianity. To do this we must compare the doctrine of lying in Christianity to the doctrine of lying in Islam (Taqiya). This is extremely important because,


"...the moment lying is accepted instead of condemned, it has to be required. If it is just another way to win, then in refusing to lie for the cause or the company, you aren't doing your job" --J. Budziszewski (cited in Time for Truth by Os Guinness).



To see how many freedoms Islam grants we should compare freedom of speech in Islamic countries to freedom of speech in non-Muslim countries. How do western governments treat their citizens if they criticize or attack the Bible? How do Islamic governments treat those who criticize or attack the Quran? If something is not allowed to be criticized it will appear to be better than what it is. (If criticism of the Bible, the west and its history is freely allowed does it not follow that more people will criticize the west, its history and its dominant beliefs? Because of this it is only natural that the west appears worse than the Islamic world to many people.) I suspect that the reason threats and violence are used by Arab governments against their citizens is that their religious leaders have much to hide.


"Let us not forget that violence does not and cannot flourish by itself; it is inevitably intertwined with lying. Between them there is the closest, the most profound and natural bond: nothing screens violence except lies, and the only way lies can hold out is by violence. Whoever has once announced violence as his method must inevitably choose lies as his principle.... The simple act of an ordinary courageous man is not to take part, not to support the lies! Let the lie come into the world, even dominate the world, but not through me." --Alexander Solzhenitsyn  (1918--), Nobel address, 1970


Islam claims to be a peaceful religion. To get some idea of how peaceful Islam is we should take a look at how peaceful it is toward those who turn from Islam. What does the Islamic community believe should happen to those who turn away from Allah and his prophet to another religion? How are those who turn away from Jesus to another religion treated by the Christian community? Which is most peaceful?


To get some idea how good the Sharia (Islamic law) is we must compare it to other forms of government. Are those with dissenting voices in Islamic countries given the same rights as those with dissenting voices in non-Muslims countries? Are all people, despite race or religion, treated equally under the Sharia? Does the punishment fit the crime? (For example is there the same punishment for stealing a TV as it is for steeling a million dollars?)


 


If Muslims want people to believe that Islam is good they have to do three things. 1. More Muslim men have to fight for the rights of women in many countries which claim to be Islamic. 2. Muslims have to confront those who are doing horrible things in the name of Islam by proving to Islamists that they are misusing the Quran and Hadiths. (This should also help young Muslim men to see through the arguments of the Islamists rather than believe them.) 3. Muslims have to prove Islam is peaceful by responding to insults in a peaceful manner. 


When Muslims respond to insults with violence they actually encourage people to mock Islam; people have a hard time believing that it is peaceful when they see many Muslims behaving as they do. They think that Muslims are just saying Islam is peaceful to hide the truth. (Perhaps Islam is not good enough to address the apathy and violence within the Islamic world?) Actions speak louder than words. Insults and violence are an opportunity to show the world just how good you are. Instead of using violence, it is time for Muslims to win people over with love, gentleness and kindness. It is time that Muslims proved to the world that Islam is what they claim it is, peaceful. (Muslims should at least investigate an issue, such as the Danish cartoons, before protesting.) Until that happens Islam will continue to be mocked and many will continue to believe that Islam has not been hijacked.



(By the way, it is forbidden for Muslims to use the sword to convert others to Islam. But only someone who does not know history would deny that Islamic empires were spread by the sword  (part 2), (part 3).)

 


From where do the following words come from? Can you say this short prayer and mean it?

 

"God, forgive my sins as I forgive those that sin against me." (A terrorist couldn't say that prayer and mean it; not without laying down his gun.)


The ethic of unforgiveness

 

 


*pbuh stands for "peace be upon him" (Salla Allahu 'Alaihi Wa Sallam) and should be said after the name of any prophet is uttered.



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