I'm getting sick and tired of hearing the same baseless accusations all over again: "Islam condones suicide bombings and terrorism". How the hell do you know? Did they have suicide bombings during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)? Heck, no. Does Islam condone terrorism? Not at all. But before we delve into this, let's take a look at what is happening today...
The sad thing is that many people actually take verses from the Quran out of context and use them to "prove" that Islam is a religion of violence. I can do the same thing with the Bible and the Torah, you know, and say that Christianity is a religion of stake-burning and Dark Ages and that Judaism is a religion of terrorism. But do you see people doing that? I don't know about you, but I certainly don't see a lot of people insulting Judaism and Christianity on these grounds. Then there are those who say that Islam is a violent religion now, but Christianity and Judaism are not "because the darkest events in the history of the two OT and NT religions happened long time ago and are irrelevant to what is happening now".
The last comment is a bit bigoted because right now any religion these days is an object of mock and satire. However, sadly, Islam is now the religion in focus, and is being portrayed poorly in the subsidized MSM. I mean, people will tell you that whenever they flip the news, they'll see some Muslims rioting and burning buildings. Why don't they show, for example, the Muslims who are openly condemning these acts of violence, or bringing about positive changes in their respective communities, like the many good Muslims who visit orphanages and hospitals? Or those who build buildings, construe scientific projects, and endeavor in many other fields of progress?
But wait: Christians are the ones who do this, right? Well, they're not the only ones doing so. Whenever I search the net, I see violence everywhere, and believe it or not, most of it is not from Muslims; in fact, a lot of the violence is perpetrated against Muslims! Have you people not seen Chechnya and its gruesome history? Or Pakistan and the military dictatorship that is oppressing its people? Or the Uyghur Chinese Muslims who are receiving the brunt of Communist oppression? Have you also seen the Hindu and Sikh terrorists who attack Muslim and Christian minorities in India? Or something closer to home: Palestinians being attacked by Israelis? I see it a lot, and I have yet to insult Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Sikhism.
Why?
Well, for one, many people who have insulted Islam were found to have a limited view on the world, and are ignorant of the real politics behind a certain situation. Another factor is bigotry and outright wilfull ignorance, and refusal to find the root causes of the situation at hand. Many people out there have an agenda against the Middle East and Muslims as a whole, and are willing to use anything to further accelerate their propaganda machines. Then there's bias: if it bleeds, it leads. For some reason, the media is focusing on Muslims. If you take a look at India, there is a hell load of violence going on against the Muslims on part of the Hindus, and vice-versa. But for some reason, the MSM is dominated by news about Muslims causing a ruckus, and all the cries of "Where are the protests to these acts of violence on part of the Muslims?" go on wilfully unanswered. The problem is that while such condemnations and protests, as well as Muslim dialogues, debates and conversations, on these matters exist, the MSM wilfully ignores them. Why bother picking up the sight of a protest when you can video-tape some violence and get more cash for it? For example, there's the controversy of Muslim cartoonists displaying anti-Semitic imagery. However, westerners still ask "Where is the outrage over these cartoons?" As'ad Abu Khalil said it quite well in this interview from DemocracyNow!.org (in this excerpt, As'ad is responding to the so-called "hypocrisy" of Arab cartoonists, who draw anti-Semitic cartoons):
Now let's get back to the topic at hand:
Terrorism is not Islam. And for sure, Islam is innocent. Only terrorists as individuals are guilty.
As I have said before, many anti-Muslims take verses from the Quran out of context to "prove" that Islam is an "intolerant" and "terrorist" religion. For now, let's focus on terrorism.
Suicide bombings, believe it or not, were first used by Vietnamese VietCong during the Vietnam War: suicide bombers would run into American bunkers and blow themselves up. They were also used by the Tamil Tiger rebels. Thus, suicide bombing is actually a borrowed tactic. It is used by many "Islamic" groups, most notably Al Qaeda and Hamas, which is not conducting such operations these days.
What's ironic is that anti-Muslims believe that in Islam, reward supercedes punishment; that is to say that "killing unbelievers" is more "rewarding" than "punishing". The favorite argument is that suicide bombers receive a multitude of "virgins" for their "martyrdom". However, when you look closer into the issue, you will realize that the only ones who consider them "martyrs" are the "martyrs" themselves. Well, I can go and blow myself up in the middle of nowhere and think of myself as a "martyr". Does that make me one? Not at all.
Why? Islam clearly forbids suicide. God said in the Quran:
Make no mistake: I believe that Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity and Sikhism are good religions, even though I don't agree with them. I tolerate their followers and beliefs, and that's what makes me a Muslim, not a terrorist.
Salaam, from
Saracen
The sad thing is that many people actually take verses from the Quran out of context and use them to "prove" that Islam is a religion of violence. I can do the same thing with the Bible and the Torah, you know, and say that Christianity is a religion of stake-burning and Dark Ages and that Judaism is a religion of terrorism. But do you see people doing that? I don't know about you, but I certainly don't see a lot of people insulting Judaism and Christianity on these grounds. Then there are those who say that Islam is a violent religion now, but Christianity and Judaism are not "because the darkest events in the history of the two OT and NT religions happened long time ago and are irrelevant to what is happening now".
The last comment is a bit bigoted because right now any religion these days is an object of mock and satire. However, sadly, Islam is now the religion in focus, and is being portrayed poorly in the subsidized MSM. I mean, people will tell you that whenever they flip the news, they'll see some Muslims rioting and burning buildings. Why don't they show, for example, the Muslims who are openly condemning these acts of violence, or bringing about positive changes in their respective communities, like the many good Muslims who visit orphanages and hospitals? Or those who build buildings, construe scientific projects, and endeavor in many other fields of progress?
But wait: Christians are the ones who do this, right? Well, they're not the only ones doing so. Whenever I search the net, I see violence everywhere, and believe it or not, most of it is not from Muslims; in fact, a lot of the violence is perpetrated against Muslims! Have you people not seen Chechnya and its gruesome history? Or Pakistan and the military dictatorship that is oppressing its people? Or the Uyghur Chinese Muslims who are receiving the brunt of Communist oppression? Have you also seen the Hindu and Sikh terrorists who attack Muslim and Christian minorities in India? Or something closer to home: Palestinians being attacked by Israelis? I see it a lot, and I have yet to insult Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Sikhism.
Why?
Well, for one, many people who have insulted Islam were found to have a limited view on the world, and are ignorant of the real politics behind a certain situation. Another factor is bigotry and outright wilfull ignorance, and refusal to find the root causes of the situation at hand. Many people out there have an agenda against the Middle East and Muslims as a whole, and are willing to use anything to further accelerate their propaganda machines. Then there's bias: if it bleeds, it leads. For some reason, the media is focusing on Muslims. If you take a look at India, there is a hell load of violence going on against the Muslims on part of the Hindus, and vice-versa. But for some reason, the MSM is dominated by news about Muslims causing a ruckus, and all the cries of "Where are the protests to these acts of violence on part of the Muslims?" go on wilfully unanswered. The problem is that while such condemnations and protests, as well as Muslim dialogues, debates and conversations, on these matters exist, the MSM wilfully ignores them. Why bother picking up the sight of a protest when you can video-tape some violence and get more cash for it? For example, there's the controversy of Muslim cartoonists displaying anti-Semitic imagery. However, westerners still ask "Where is the outrage over these cartoons?" As'ad Abu Khalil said it quite well in this interview from DemocracyNow!.org (in this excerpt, As'ad is responding to the so-called "hypocrisy" of Arab cartoonists, who draw anti-Semitic cartoons):
"Yes, it is true there are many media in the Arab world that have published grotesque anti-Semitic depictions and images. But these are the responsibility of the government, and many of them are allies of the United States. And she is also, again, ignorant – perhaps she doesn’t know any Persian or Arabic -- to know that there’s a big debate and there’s a lot of condemnation about anti-Semitic writings that have come out in some of those publications..."Kudos to Mr. Abu Khalil for explaining, in the same interview, the other factors that lead to such reactions from certain Westerners and other Islamophobes. However, just to clarify this bit: what he meant by "responsibility of the government" is by holding the government responsible for either allowing or prohibiting protests against such imagery. Also, he mentions that indeed there are protests and condemnations from the public concerning such bigoted imagery.
Now let's get back to the topic at hand:
Terrorism is not Islam. And for sure, Islam is innocent. Only terrorists as individuals are guilty.
As I have said before, many anti-Muslims take verses from the Quran out of context to "prove" that Islam is an "intolerant" and "terrorist" religion. For now, let's focus on terrorism.
Suicide bombings, believe it or not, were first used by Vietnamese VietCong during the Vietnam War: suicide bombers would run into American bunkers and blow themselves up. They were also used by the Tamil Tiger rebels. Thus, suicide bombing is actually a borrowed tactic. It is used by many "Islamic" groups, most notably Al Qaeda and Hamas, which is not conducting such operations these days.
What's ironic is that anti-Muslims believe that in Islam, reward supercedes punishment; that is to say that "killing unbelievers" is more "rewarding" than "punishing". The favorite argument is that suicide bombers receive a multitude of "virgins" for their "martyrdom". However, when you look closer into the issue, you will realize that the only ones who consider them "martyrs" are the "martyrs" themselves. Well, I can go and blow myself up in the middle of nowhere and think of myself as a "martyr". Does that make me one? Not at all.
Why? Islam clearly forbids suicide. God said in the Quran:
"O ye who believe!... do not kill yourselves, for truly Allah has been to you Most Merciful. If any do that in rancour and injustice, soon shall We cast him into the Fire..." (Qur'an 4:29-30).Thus, suicide is forbidden no matter what. Moreover, harming innocents, regardless of race or religion, is forbidden, even during times of war, by God. Even trees and crops were not to be scathed. But then again, people will tell you that Islam condones attacking innocents and other people even when unprovoked, but I think this verse from the Quran sticks a fork into this baseless argument:
"And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you. But do not transgress limits. Truly Allah loves not the transgressors."Islam is a religion of peace. It only instructs us to use violence in self-defense, but does not allow us to harm those who are innocent. Islam teaches us to fight against those who oppress us, but not those who are bystanding in the conflict from the side of the oppressors. In Islam, everyone, regardless of background, is innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. Contrary to popular belief among the Islamophobic crowd, Islam does not condone forceful conversion:
- Qur'an, Surah Al-Baqarah (2:190)
[2:256] There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever rejects Satan (and what he calls to) and believes in Allah, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handhold, which shall not break off, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.This link explains my above points in greater detail. It should be noted, also, that one has to take the context of a verse, and must read the entire verse to understand it. Unlike the Torah and the Bible, the Quran is contiguous: not all verses have complete meanings. It is necessary, therefore, to read all verses before and after the desired verse to understand its full meaning.
Make no mistake: I believe that Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity and Sikhism are good religions, even though I don't agree with them. I tolerate their followers and beliefs, and that's what makes me a Muslim, not a terrorist.
Salaam, from
Saracen
Comments
Post a Comment