Heart of a Muslim

[Siddhartha]

by Jamal Rahman

The death of thousands of innocent people on September 11 is soul wrenching. I ask myself, as we all do, how a loving Creator could allow this horrific event to occur? The answer is wrapped in mystery. As the Quran says, “We have shown you the dust but concealed the wind.”

The perpetrators of the devastating attack, all of them Islamic extremists, claim to be martyrs. The real martyrs, of course, are the innocent people whose lives were tragically snuffed out.

How do I, as a Muslim, honor them? I honor the dead by honoring the truth.

Islam is a religion of peace. Force is permitted only in self-defense. The Quran says that if anyone takes one innocent life, it is as if “he killed all of mankind.” It advises a Muslim to “show forgiveness, enjoin kindness and stay away from the ignorant.” Repeatedly, the Quran tell us not to “sow corruption on earth” and to “stand firmly for justice, as witnesses to God even as against yourself or your parents or your kin, and whether it be against rich or poor.”

But if Islam espouses peace and moderation, how do we explain the growth of radicalism bent on violence?

Again, there are no easy answers. Like other religions, Islam has its share of zealots who clamor for attention. The mystic Rumi cautioned us about them, describing them as “All fireworks and no light, all husk and no kernel.”
…
The truth of Islam is quite different. A martyr is one who witnesses the truth and gives his life for it. The greater meaning of Jihad is about battling and taming the imperious fragments of one’s ego; the lesser Jihad is about defending one’s religion when it is attacked. Suicide is expressly forbidden in Islam. The vivid imagery of paradise is metaphorical, meant to incline the heart of the believer to engage in “deeds which are pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.”
…
We owe it to the brave, innocent people who have been sacrificed all over the world to find a better way.
…
In Islam, finding a better way is not about rushing out to change governments and institutions. Our actions must be rooted in higher consciousness. Otherwise, we are like the sincere, action-oriented monkey my beloved parents told me about. With great zeal, the monkey plucked fish out of ponds to save them from a watery grave.

Does this mean we should work only on ourselves? No. Work equally in the visible and invisible world, advise Islamic mystics. Participate fully in the bazaar of life—buying, selling marrying, raising children, and doing “abiding good deeds.” But complement this outer work daily with an inner practice that nurtures and nourishes the soul—prayers, silence, music, nature, play. Everything in the visible world, reveals the Quran, has its roots in the invisible world. Water those roots regularly.

 

[staffsgt7]

How do you explain the growth of radicalism bent on violence?

Well, while you are trying to tell us how peaceful the Koran is, it isn’t really that peaceful. In fact, the radicals have the Koran to back them in their violence. You have it to back your post up and it applies only to Muslims, not to anyone else. They are told that dying while killing unbelievers will get them on a fast path to heaven. They won’t have to sit in hell and they won’t be judged by Mohammed and Allah. (isn’t that shirk when someone in Islam puts themself as if they are a God?)

Anyway, my question is what sect of Islam are you? Depending on that depends if I can believe what you write. Although I don’t know how an Ahmadi can read the Koran and get peace out of it considering the peaceful surahs were replaced by the ‘sword’ surahs.

 

[Sister_Amy]

How do you explain the growth of radicalism bent on violence?

Well, while you are trying to tell us how peaceful the Koran is, it isn’t really that peaceful. In fact, the radicals have the Koran to back them in their violence. You have it to back your post up and it applies only to Muslims, not to anyone else. They are told that dying while killing unbelievers will get them on a fast path to heaven. They won’t have to sit in hell and they won’t be judged by Mohammed and Allah. (isn’t that shirk when someone in Islam puts themself as if they are a God?)

Anyway, my question is what sect of Islam are you? Depending on that depends if I can believe what you write. Although I don’t know how an Ahmadi can read the Koran and get peace out of it considering the peaceful surahs were replaced by the ‘sword’ surahs.

Entire surahs replaced? My, my, how troubling. Which surahs do you propose were “replaced?” Odd charge. There are plenty (in fact the vast majority) of Muslims who disagree with the violent radical extremism which threatens the world–why is it that you choose to believe only the terrorists? Honest question.

 

[staffsgt7]

Entire surahs replaced? My, my, how troubling. Which surahs do you propose were “replaced?” Odd charge. There are plenty (in fact the vast majority) of Muslims who disagree with the violent radical extremism which threatens the world–why is it that you choose to believe only the terrorists? Honest question.

Because the violent Jihadists are the ones who have the backing of the Koran. Mohammed encouraged deception, the ones who expend all their energy trying to tell us what Islam is when they do nothing to stop their violent Jihadists who are funded by ‘the vast majority’ of Muslims by their zakat, their silence, or their defense of them when they are finally attacked back by the true victims in Islam by ‘the vast majority’ of Muslims are deceiving us as to the true intentions of what Islam is. Islam only means peace in regards to other Muslims, nonMuslims are not even considered equal and must accept subjugation or slavery. In fact Islam doesn’t even mean peace, it has nothing to do with peace. It is a human rights disaster.

As for abrogation, or what Sharia laws call suppression, a Muslim is required to know about it to talk about the Koran. (r14) And I should have written verses instead of surahs. The surahs are a jumble of disjointed verses so one verse could be talking about one thing and then the next verse jumps to something else.

Four verses in the Qu’ran acknowledge or justify abrogation:

• When we cancel a message, or throw it into oblivion, we replace it with one better or one similar. Do you not know that God * has power over all things?
• When we replace a message with another, and God * knows best what he reveals, they say: You have made it up. Yet, most of them do not know.
• God * abrogates or confirms whatsoever he will, for he has with him the Book of the Books.
• If we pleased, we could take away what we have revealed to you. Then you will not find anyone to plead for it with us.***

I wonder if Allah ever replaced the verses that allowed Mohammed to be sexually perverse? I have not looked into that. He was pretty consistent in that regard, just not in the regard how to treat others.

 

[Teneas]

My question is this. How will non Muslims ever truly be able to believe that Muslims are peaceful, when your own scripture tells you it’s okay to lie to infidels?

 

[elwill]

How do you explain the growth of radicalism bent on violence?

Well, while you are trying to tell us how peaceful the Koran is, it isn’t really that peaceful. **In fact, the radicals have the Koran to back them in their violence. ** You have it to back your post up and it applies only to Muslims, not to anyone else. They are told that dying while killing unbelievers will get them on a fast path to heaven. They won’t have to sit in hell and they won’t be judged by Mohammed and Allah. (isn’t that shirk when someone in Islam puts themself as if they are a God?)

Anyway, my question is what sect of Islam are you? Depending on that depends if I can believe what you write. Although I don’t know how an Ahmadi can read the Koran and get peace out of it considering the peaceful surahs were replaced by the ‘sword’ surahs.

as a start for this discussion
can you first quote for me in context what those radicals exactly said ? and who said it

 

[elwill]

My question is this. How will non Muslims ever truly be able to believe that Muslims are peaceful, when your own scripture tells you it’s okay to lie to infidels?

when nonmuslims asks muslims then find out that their scriptures dosn’t say that

 

[elwill]

Entire surahs replaced? My, my, how troubling. Which surahs do you propose were “replaced?” Odd charge. There are plenty (in fact the vast majority) of Muslims who disagree with the violent radical extremism which threatens the world–why is it that you choose to believe only the terrorists? Honest question.

very ggod honest question Amy

you know , sometines i tell myself : "may be the nonmuslims are the ones who misguided the ignorants of muslims in understanding quran

as much as we (muslims) in this forum strive hard to convince them that our religion is peacefull , more they trying to convince us that our religion is evil as if they dislike our peacefull understanding for it

 

[StrawberryJam]

Who is the author referring to when he says this?:

“We owe it to the brave, innocent people who have been sacrificed all over the world to find a better way.”

It is unclear who he is talking about in that statement.

 

[Teneas]

when nonmuslims asks muslims then find out that their scriptures dosn’t say that

Hmm…am sure I saw a quote somewhere saying this. I will look for it.

 

[dzheremi]

Are you referring to taqiyya? I don’t think you’ll find it in the Qur’an explicitly, though obviously the people who defend it must base it on something in there (I don’t know what). Also, I thought it was mainly a Shi’a doctrine? (Not that non-Shi’a can’t use it, but I would think it would be less common or less defensible to the Sunni majority)

 

[Teneas]

Hmm…am sure I saw a quote somewhere saying this. I will look for it.

I could not find a piece of your scripture that said we “infidels” should be lied to. There were pieces that seemed that way, until you read the verses before and after. I will not become like my Protestant brothers and sisters and pick a verse and quote it as fact. All must be taken into consideration. Thanks for your answer. I was just asking, as I know so little about Islam. Glad I could learn something.

 

[Teneas]

Are you referring to taqiyya? I don’t think you’ll find it in the Qur’an explicitly, though obviously the people who defend it must base it on something in there (I don’t know what). Also, I thought it was mainly a Shi’a doctrine? (Not that non-Shi’a can’t use it, but I would think it would be less common or less defensible to the Sunni majority)

I honestly don’t know what scriptures or writings it would be in other than the Qur’an. It is where I looked for it, but I know little of any other Islam writings.

 

[staffsgt7]

when nonmuslims asks muslims then find out that their scriptures dosn’t say that

Unfortunately for you we already know that your prophet told his followers to lie if it advanced Islam.

Qur’an 9:3 “Allah and His Messenger dissolve obligations.”
Qur’an 66:2 “Allah has already sanctioned for you the dissolution of your vows.”
Qur’an 4:142 “Surely the hypocrites strive to deceive Allah. He shall retaliate by deceiving them.” (this one talks about the hypocrites which are explained in the Koran as Muslims who are Muslims on the outside and not on the inside)

There are many other verses and more hadith to show that Mohammed was all about deceit.

Telling the truth only applies Muslim to Muslim, not to non-Muslims.

Anything that is a positive in Islam is only applicable to Muslims. And even then when there are people of different sects living together there is deceit coming from the ones who are not in power, or the majority. And that example is the Shia living among the Sunni.

Do we need to show you links to words such as taqiyya and kithman? And it is not just a ‘Shia thing’ either. They just have to practice it more since they are a minority in many countries where Muslims rule.

 

[staffsgt7]

very ggod honest question Amy

you know , sometines i tell myself : "may be the nonmuslims are the ones who misguided the ignorants of muslims in understanding quran

as much as we (muslims) in this forum strive hard to convince them that our religion is peacefull , more they trying to convince us that our religion is evil as if they dislike our peacefull understanding for it

Why try to convince us? Go tell it to the Jihadists. Go and do something about Sharia laws in Muslim lands that persecute and kill others just because they are non-Muslims. Go and do something about Sharia laws that treat women like chattel. And don’t start the junk that Muslim women are elevated above everyone else because I can show you a picture of them being elevated by a crane, on a rope by their necks because they didn’t have 4 witnesses to their rapes.

Once you guys take care of your own dirty laundry maybe the world will believe you because as time passes fewer and fewer people are falling for the ‘Islam is peace’, or has anything to do with peace and that is totally due to the violent Jihadists and the masses doing nothing to change things such as zakat going to support them and them being looked upon as martyrs.

I know the excuses I will read how this cannot be done, or that ‘I am only one person’, blah blah blah. Well you are among the masses who keep proclaiming that you are mostly peaceful. And since the whole message of Islam is to dominate over everyone else, that right there is a big problem no matter what type of Jihad you wage. Who wants to be dominated by a barbaric, backwards ideology such as Islam?

And yes, non-Muslims are able to understand your Islamic texts and history. And we are continually told that Muslims do not read their Koran, are not able to question it and usually memorize it in a language they do not even know which is Arabic. Sharia laws even state that Muslims are not to have an opinion on the Koran, and they are to know about abrogation. (Sharia laws r14)

Tio even think that a non-Muslim cannot read and comprehend the Koran is just absurd and it should tell you that it isn’t Universal, for people of all countries and even relevant if you want to go pursue that line of thought. The Koran is a muddled mess and is very hateful.

Dr. Bill Warner of the Center for the Study of Political Islam has done extensive statistical analysis of the doctrine. These are his findings:

62% of Koran is devoted to how Islam interacts with the Kafir (or, the unbeliever)
98% of the Sira is devoted to the struggle against kafirs.
70% is jihad;
28% is argument and insults.
20% of Bhukari Hadith is devoted to jihad.

So the texts is mostly concerned about us and it is a failing of ours if we don’t learn it out of detriment to our own preservation since it is mostly a call for violence and deception against us.

Jihad can be done with the ‘sword’, the mouth, the pen, and with money. So violence, deception and bribary is all a part of Jihad. Sounds like a bad mafia story.

The jihad of the sword and war is the Lesser Jihad. But the hadith tell us about the greater jihad --the inner spiritual struggle. But only 3% of the hadith are devoted to this kind of struggle. The other 97% are about killing the kafir. Is jihad the inner struggle? Yes. Is jihad killing the kafir? Yes. Notice … a duality.

 

[StrawberryJam]

No one knows the answer to my question yet?

 

[elwill]

No one knows the answer to my question yet?

it’s clear that he is agianst the terrorism , didn’t you read this words
"
The perpetrators of the devastating attack, all of them Islamic extremists, claim to be martyrs. The real martyrs, of course, are the innocent people whose lives were tragically snuffed out.
"

 

[staffsgt7]

it’s clear that he is agianst the terrorism , didn’t you read this words
"
The perpetrators of the devastating attack, all of them Islamic extremists, claim to be martyrs. The real martyrs, of course, are the innocent people whose lives were tragically snuffed out.
"

The response is nothing but taqiyya and also kithman since what is left out that the word innocent, only applies to Muslims. Kithman is deception by omission.

I will believe all the claims from Muslims when they change Sharia laws to make women and non-Muslims equal. When they release slaves and stop the slave trade. I will believe them when they apologize, and their zakat goes to help those they previously persecuted and give back the lands they have been stealing in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Gaza from Christians and others. They don’t have to go back into the centuries to pay restitution, but at least in the 21st Century. I will believe them when they put in jail their Jihadists instead of funding them with their zakat. I will believe them when their zakat goes to non-Muslims and they start REAL charity and reach out to others, and their own, in the form of REAL medical care and help (food, etc).

More non-Muslim carnage and one more Islamic Jihadist who is a martyr - here.

So much energy spent by Muslims trying to convince us that Islam is peaceful. No energy spent trying to stop their own from making it so.

 

[mark_a]

The perpetrators of the devastating attack, all of them Islamic extremists, claim to be martyrs. The real martyrs, of course, are the innocent people whose lives were tragically snuffed out.

How is it that innocent, unsuspecting, unjustly murdered folks of various religious backgrounds or even no religion at all, are all martyrs?

 

[StrawberryJam]

it’s clear that he is agianst the terrorism , didn’t you read this words
"
The perpetrators of the devastating attack, all of them Islamic extremists, claim to be martyrs. The real martyrs, of course, are the innocent people whose lives were tragically snuffed out.
"

There is a reason why I can’t let this reply of yours be accepted.

Here is my question again, if you forgot.

**Who is the author referring to when he says this?:

“We owe it to the brave, innocent people who have been sacrificed all over the world to find a better way.”

It is unclear who he is talking about in that statement. **

So, what does he mean by SACRIFICE here? And, I want an answer about WHO he is talking about.

I appreciate honesty and straightforward answers.

And yes, I can read. You are insulting me by asking me if I read this man’s words. You better believe I did.