Saturday, April 01, 2006

Reinstate Ijtihad, Or Is It, Hey George, Do We Need A ‘War on Islam’?

History – “Bush Praises Islam as Religion of Tolerance” (Reuters/Oct. 22, 2003)

Some time back ‘President Bush praised the world's most populous Muslim nation for its support in the war on terror and said Islamic terrorists defiled one of the great faiths.’ He also said, “We know that Islam is fully compatible with liberty and tolerance and progress because we see the proof in your country [Indonesia] and in our own.” That makes about as much sense as saying a dog has four legs and a cat has four legs therefore a cat is a dog… and it just doesn’t wash. Blair’s more recent statements in a similar vein could lead one to suspect that they are both crumbling under pressure or worse, in spite of their legions of advisors, are of a out of touch with reality.

The most disturbing question is; are they and their constituents losing their resolve? If the answer is yes, we are likely headed for an even more aggressive exporting of Arabic culture, with its draconian outlook and an ever more confident Muslim effort to convert others. Recent events would seem to indicate that Bush’s ‘tolerant Indonesia’ for example, is seemingly becoming more radicalised and ‘Arabized’ by the day.

Before Any Progress Toward A More Peaceful World Can Be Made, Difficult As It May Be, Muslims Will Need To Recant

According to the Muslim tradition the Qur’an contains the words of God and is to be read as if God himself had spoken the words exactly as stated in it. As the word of God it should not contain any errors and it supposedly should hold true for all times. According to many who have studied the Qur’an however, their belief is that it does contain errors. A quick search of the Internet can provide the detail of these studies and the resulting conclusions. Muslims however are taught, enticed, cajoled and forced to follow the Qur’anic verses as ‘God’s actual words’ and to follow those words to the letter. Often much of a child’s early teaching of ‘God’s word’ is designed to develop their ability, by rote learning, to eventually be able to recite of the entire document, even before they can understand it.

For those of other religions or of no religion at all (the rest of us) it should be obvious that until Muslims can change their fundamental view of the Qur’an to one of; ‘perhaps its man’s interpretation of God’s word’, no reduction in what really is the ‘clash of civilizations’ can be achieved. Additionally until Islam and its followers can walk away from (as a minimum) the following versus of the Qur’an it will be impossible for the non-Muslim world to accept those that adhere faithfully to its tenants as anything more than promoters and/or perpetrators of crimes against humanity.

A few hate-laden ideas from verses of the Qur’an

9.005 slay idolaters, 9:029 & 9:123 fight (kill?) disbelievers, 2:193 fight (kill?) non-believers until the only religion is that of Allah (Islam), 3: 028 Muslims are advised (not permitted?) to have friends (or helpers) that are unbelievers “except by way of precaution, that ye may guard yourselves from them”

Bush’s statement, as with Blair’s more recent assertions that ‘its only a few radicals’ (see previous post) could lead one to believe our political leaders are acting out of fear, or the need for oil/energy, or perhaps an unwillingness to honestly inform their comfortable electorates as to the full extent of humanity’s most pressing threats. Will their ‘forced’ political correctness end up by leading ‘the faithful’ to believe the ‘kafir-world’ are appeasers who are bargaining from a position of weakness. Are we all ready for greater levels of conversion, or worse, more aggressive attacks? Much of the Qur’an is more peaceful in its message than the above verses, however these verses are always going to cause a problem.
Much as with those that take the Bible literally, there are many contentious ‘laws’, ‘rules’ and stances taken by followers of the Qur’an, Hadith and Shariah that will continually lead to conflict. So… now more than ever the world needs intelligent people of conscience that will actively stand up and resist those who are blinkered by unquestioning faith.

www.caliibre.com

Refs:
http://www.faithfreedom.org/faq/7.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1005676/posts
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate/koran.html

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