Ten things people should know about Islam

[JimG]

Maranajewell:

Can anyone imagine an America run by Fundamentalists? Just go to any of their forums as a Catholic and many of you have, and you’d have a pretty good idea. Extremism in any religion gives all religion a bad name. - maranajewell

AMEN!!

 

[Petergee]

Allah is God. The great majority of the non-Muslims I meet believe that Allah is a kind of personal name for some kind of small-“g” god, perhaps like Jupiter or Vulcan (gods of the Roman pantheon).

I think you’ll find the vast majority of Christians know that Moslems worship the one true God.

The fact is that Allah is simply a compound word made from the Arabic words al (the) and lah, (god): the God. Monotheism – the belief in a single, supreme, divine creator – is the central and most important aspect of Islam. (And it’s pronounced uh-LAH, not “Al, uh?”) Even most English translations of the Qur’an I’ve seen do not translate the word. I believe it is really problematic and misleading not to translate such a key word for which there is an exact English equivalent.

Along these lines, I’ve taken several Muslims to task for using the Arabic term for God when they’re speaking in English

Fair enough. But why do you then turn around and do the opposite, and condemn people for using the words Mohammedan, Moslem and Koran, which have been in English for centuries, and demand they use the Arabic names? “Mohammedan” does not imply that you worship Mohammed, any more than Lutheran, Zoroastrian or Buddhist implies that people worship Luther, Zoroaster or Buddha.

Some Christian theologians and clergy believe that Christians err by placing too much emphasis on Jesus and elevating him to God’s level

No they don’t. You’d have to go to a fringe para-christian group like the Jehovahs Witnesses to find this idea.

quasi- and pseudo-Islamic countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran

I think 99%of Muslims would be surprised to hear this. The biggest criticism which Pakistanis seem to have of their government is that it’s not fundamentalist ENOUGH.

And while I would really, really like to believe this doesn’t even need to be said, recent events have proved me wrong: not everyone with brown skin or wearing a turban is a Muslim or an Arab.

Could you please tell that to the Moslems in Morocco etc, who demand that brown-skinned Hindus, Sikhs AND Christians obey Moslem laws but have no problem with “white” people eating pork, drinking alcohol, women exposing arms and legs, etc.

 

[janG]

Jonathan,

RE: Jihad Hadeeth

Thanks for your reply, however, please direct me to the specific hadeeth collection(s) and chapter/verse. I don’t like single lines taken out of context…I like to read things for myself.

 

[Ruthmary]

Maranajewell:

Just my two cents here, but I wonder if “Fundamentalist Christians” would want to pay closer attention to just how easy it is to take a teaching in this case happens to be in Islam and mis-apply it in order to further their own agenda? Can anyone imagine an America run by Fundamentalists? Just go to any of their forums as a Catholic and many of you have, and you’d have a pretty good idea. Extremism in any religion gives all religion a bad name. - maranajewell

It’s popular to use this as a method of downplaying the Muslim threat. When was the last time Fundamentalist Christians were guilty of bombing innocent men, women and children? Where are the countries run by fundamentalists that persecute and murder Muslims?

Whatever the mistakes of some Fundamentalist groups, we do not as a whole have anything to fear from them. It’s rhetoric, and our country has freedom of speech.

What we should look at is who we are following. Jesus is the Christian mentor, and He taught love. For hundreds of years, the Christian faith spread throughout the known world by word of mouth and peaceful means. Mohammed is the Muslim mentor, and he was a violent man who spread the Muslim faith by the sword. Some bring up the crusades as violence, but they were a defensive maneuver after hundreds of years of the Muslims conquering peaceful Christian lands by the sword.

 

[trustmc]

jcaz:

But rest assured, mosques all over the world are constantly condemning these acts of terrorism. And further, know that the Saudi Imaams, the ones who are appointed by the Saudi government, the ones who teach in the large mosques, know that these imaams do nothing except condemn these acts of terror and constantly explain how they are far from Islam.

You may believe that Mosques all over the world are constantly condemning these acts of terrorism, but the original poster of this thread, gurrato alaien, obviously does not condemn such terrorism. Don’t be taken in by his supposed moderate approach to your religion. To him, the terrorists in Iraq are “celebrated Resistance fighters” and the coalition militaries are “occupation forces” who systematically kidnap and rape muslim women at Abu Ghraib. Read his other thread he posted today here and then decide for yourself how “moderate” he is. Judging by his tone and his willingness to exploit this forum to advance al Quaeda propaganda, you should think twice before you claim him as your own while defending Islam as a peaceful religion.

 

[Maranajewell]

Ruthmary-

I assure you that I was not trying to downplay the threat of fundamentalist Islam. But I was trying to make the point that I do not believe that every Muslim is just waiting to throw a bomb at me to end my life or yours. I would not like to be ruled by a Muslim government because I have heard the way they rule in their own countries. I can only go by those who were there and report on what they have suffered since I have no direct experience of my own. If we were a theocracy here in this country, I would not be surprised to see the "Fundamentalist"party trying to push their views on us as the radical Muslims do on the other side of the world and to a much smaller extent, here. But we are not a theocracy and therefore, fundamentalists know that they would have no chance…today. But you can’t ignore the Salem Witch “trials” which were conducted and condoned in the early years of our country killing many women just by the accusations of prominent citizens in that area. I hope I haven’t destroyed my point by rambling too much. God bless! -maranajewell

 

[Ruthmary]

Maranajewell:

Ruthmary-

I assure you that I was not trying to downplay the threat of fundamentalist Islam. But I was trying to make the point that I do not believe that every Muslim is just waiting to throw a bomb at me to end my life or yours. I would not like to be ruled by a Muslim government because I have heard the way they rule in their own countries. I can only go by those who were there and report on what they have suffered since I have no direct experience of my own. If we were a theocracy here in this country, I would not be surprised to see the "Fundamentalist"party trying to push their views on us as the radical Muslims do on the other side of the world and to a much smaller extent, here. But we are not a theocracy and therefore, fundamentalists know that they would have no chance…today. But you can’t ignore the Salem Witch “trials” which were conducted and condoned in the early years of our country killing many women just by the accusations of prominent citizens in that area. I hope I haven’t destroyed my point by rambling too much. God bless! -maranajewell

What bothers me is to compare Islam and the Catholic Church as though they are somehow equal. The differences are stark. Any “Fundamentalist” who would act as the extreme Muslims are would be acting against what Jesus teaches. Those Muslims are acting just like their founder, Mohammed.

I think that somehow words do get in the way here. I’m not very good with them in the first place, and then there are misunderstandings of the meanings of words.

I just worry that the Muslims are going to cause a lot more trouble as they have in France as well as all over the world before this is all through. And it’s not just because of what they believe. It’s because we are not living up to what we believe, and are allowing the atheists to take over our courts and schools. And people are not taking seriously the threat that these Muslims pose to our way of life.

God bless.

 

[DeExupery]

Want to add something to all brothers and sisters non moslem.
In other thread I read from a moslem named Gonzales, that apostasy means death in Islam.
So if people you know considering to convert to Islam, please make sure he/she knows that the real punishment for apostasy in Islam is death. I am sure moslems who do syiar will never mention this.

Fox

 

[cute2904]

DeExupery:

Want to add something to all brothers and sisters non moslem.
In other thread I read from a moslem named Gonzales, that apostasy means death in Islam.
So if people you know considering to convert to Islam, please make sure he/she knows that the real punishment for apostasy in Islam is death. I am sure moslems who do syiar will never mention this.

Fox

Fox, is syiar mean evangelist?

 

[manx]

b_justb:

Thanks. If there are a good amount of Islamic leaders condemning terrorist acts, how can that be made more public? I think some people here in the states grow suspicious because all we see on TV News is, “Terrorist attack of was done by …” and we don’t hear any outrage by the Islamic leadership.

I am sure there are many. The problem is the western media (such as CNN. FOXNews, BBC etc) is bias.