Dear fellow students, those of you who believe the basis of Islam is that “all infidels must be killed,” are sorely misinformed.
Allow me to set the record straight.
Islam is based on five pillars, some of which have striking similarities to Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and—you guessed it—Christianity.
The five pillars include the acceptance of the one God and the prophet Muhammad, the expectation of praying at certain times throughout the day, the obligation to practice charitable giving, fasting as a sign of dedication to God and Muhammad during the month of Ramadan and the expectation of all Muslims to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime.
How, may I ask, is that at all related to the “killing of infidels?”
As for the similarities Islam has with Christianity: Does the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me,” not sound awfully similar to the first pillar of Islam?
Is it not a Christian’s duty to play the good Samaritan? Are Christians not asked to regularly pray to our one God and prophet, the Christian prophet being Jesus Christ?
So, in certain respects, Islam and Christianity are not so different.
So what if President Obama has appointed two Muslims to Homeland Security?
Just because those individuals practice the same faith as a group of people who actually do seek to destroy us “non-believers” does not inherently mean true Muslims and Muslim extremists are one in the same.
Everyone views his or her religion in a different way.
How are Muslims any different? Extremists do not speak for an entire religion or ethnic group; they speak for themselves.
Eric Robert Rudolph bombed Centennial Olympic Park during the Olympic Games in 1996 in the name of Christ.
And we cannot forget the Ku Klux Klan: a group which promoted extreme violence, a group that not only terrorized African Americans, but also Jews and Catholics.
History has shown that acts of terrorism are not specific to Muslims.
Perhaps we should see President Obama’s appointments as his way of promoting unity among the religions of the world, instead of “sleeping with the enemy.” After all, the “enemy” is an extremist group separate from the average Muslim.
So yes, I will pray for our nation, not because of President Obama’s sympathy towards Islam (and all faiths), but instead because people like Mr. Anderson of Talladega are encouraging intolerance toward others.
When I read your comments I went through many different stages: First stage was shock to find a Christian (I assumed by your final statement) could be so judgmental, hurtful, disrespectful of different faiths and intolerant. Teachings of Jesus (which you suggested that we read) are all about love, peace, acceptance and tolerance. Second stage was analysis; trying to figure out why you chose to write these comments? Did you assume that 1.4 billion people chose Islam (a religion that has been around for almost 1500 years) because they were either miss informed (and desperately needed to view your link) or they were in fact killers, wife beaters and promoters of pedophilia!!
You spoke of an Islam that we don’t recognize and of a Mohamed that we are not acquainted with.
Allow me to humbly introduce Islam, Muslims and Mohammed to you. Islam is the Third Abrahamic religion, to follow Judaism and Christianity, Muslims worship God and follow the Teachings of Islam delivered by Mohammed and preserved in the Qur’an. To Muslims Mohammed is a prophet and a messenger of God, however he was a man who delivered his message in an environment (context). The following are some features and characteristics of this environment:
New born girls were buried alive (wa’ed) as women were viewed as a liability and a potential source of disgrace if they fell captive and became slaves during tribal wars.
They had Honor killings
Slavery was the norm
A man could have tens of wives
Adulthood was determined by reaching puberty
Corporal punishment was the common means of discipline used
Islam changed this environment in so many positive ways, through the teachings of Mohammed and his call for the implementation of many progressive ideas (back then) that many societies are still struggling to enforce. The Mohamed that we know and follow taught the following:
Gave women the right to own property, trade, inherit, bare witness in a court of law, choose their husbands, and choose to end a marriage.
Assigned women the responsibility to seek knowledge and learn just like men.
Honor killings were condemned (as were any other kinds of killing innocent life. The Qur'an says to kill one innocent person is as if one has killed all of mankind) and even though some societies still have them, it is a cultural practice that has nothing to do with Islam
Stated that all men were created equal and had equal rights (no racial discrimination)
Fostered the concept of citizenship where people from other religions could live in the Muslim society and have freedom of worship and feel safe
Aimed at ending slavery and had a reward system for freeing people.
Stated that corporal punishment (between spouses) should be used as a last resort after exhausting all other possible means and that was a first step and an indicator for future development and maturation in human relationships.
Stated that the best man in the eyes of God, is he who is kind to his family
Limited the number of wives that a man can have and added restrictions to taking more than one wife (again as a first step)
To understand anything, it has to be put within context, Religion is supposed to be a dynamic entity, guidelines are placed so that people can draw on them, modify and improve them to fit their ever changing environments. Islam has provided Muslims with many positive guide lines that when viewed now (out of context) could seem a bit dated when in fact these were very revolutionary and progressive ideas when they were first implemented.
Finally I would like to assure you that the essence of Islam could be summarized in “Connect with those who separate from you, give those who deny you and forgive those who wronged you” Hadith by Mohammed peace be upon him.
GOOGLE: AMERICAN THINKER SHARIA LAW
IS THIS WHAT YOU BELIEVE? DO YOU BELIEVE THERE SHOULD BE NO FREEDOM OF SPEECH WHEN CRITICIZING THE VIOLENT TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD?
DO YOU BELIEVE WOMEN SHOULD BE BEATEN BY THEIR HUSBANDS?
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT HOMOSEXUALS SHOULD BE KILLED?
DO YOU BELIEVE PEDOPHILIA IS "ACCEPTABLE" BECAUSE MUHAMMAD DID IT?!
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ANYONE WHO DENOUNCES ISLAM AND BECOMES A SECULAR PERSON OR CONVERTS TO ANOTHER RELIGION SHOULD BE MURDERED - AS REQUIRED UNDER ISLAMIC LAW, WHICH WAS BASED ON THE TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD?
IF YOU BELIEVE THESE THINGS, THEN YOU ARE A FOLLOWER OF MUHAMMAD AND YOU WILL BE ON AN INEVITABLE PATH TO VIOLENCE AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SUBSCRIBE THE PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM - EVER.
IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD, THEN YOU MUST DENY ISLAM AND BECOME A SECULAR PERSON OR CONVERT TO A PEACEFUL RELIGION.
PERHAPS YOU SHOULD TRY READING WHAT JESUS TAUGHT INSTEAD!
WHAT MUSLIMS DON'T UNDERSTAND IS THAT THEIR "HONOR KILLINGS" ARE FUTILE, AND A WASTE OF HUMAN LIFE; BECAUSE YOUR "HONOR" HAS ALREADY BEEN RESTORED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!
Please note the following corrections:
* Muslims do not believe Mohammed to be the Messiah. In fact the Qur'an clearly states that Jesus is the Messiah.
* The definition of "jihad" is no where near "holy war". The concept of "holy war" does not exist in Islam; war cannot be holy. Jihad actually means "to struggle". Most of jihad is internal -- us struggling against our inner desires to do what is right. Even in self-defense, Muslims are not allowed to damage buildings, trees or harm anyone who is not attacking them with a weapon.
The Qur'an says to kill one innocent person is as if one has killed all of mankind, and that is how the person will be judged on the Day of Judgement. Muslims also cannot commit suicide, so the very concept of suicide terrorist attacks are the against what Muslims believe.
* Not sure where you got the bit about 60%; and also not sure where you got the bit about 16 virgins.
Basically it is clear you have never read the Qur'an, yet comment on it as if you have. That's pretty shameful and sad. Stop letting other people, no matter how "corageous" (or courageous) they may seem to you determine how you interpret your faith and the faith of over 1.5 billion people.
You ask, "How are Muslims any different?"
60% of the Qur'an is about "Jihad". Holy war against the non-believer. Do you think that terrorists wake up one morning and say, "hey you know what, I feel like killing some people." No, they are trained and taught the Qur'an. They wage "jihad" because according the the Qur'an it is the ONLY direct way to heaven, where they will receive 16 virgins. (Is God a pimp?)
You won't find any of this in your high school reference books, neither did I. If you can actually have someone translate the Qur'an for you, you could see for yourself. The Qur'an states that it is written in plain Arabic (Surah ash-Shura: 192-195) so anyone can read for themselves.
A useful website is www.islamrevealed.com. Here you can find direct quotes from the Qur'an and an explanation of Mohammad's and his life.
Just because Muslims are overall good people, doesn't make Islam an acceptable religion. Only ten generations ago, their ancestors were killed and they were forced to convert to Islam. After that, they were known as Muslims, otherwise they would risk death. After countless rebelions, Islam persists because it always offers the most viscous killers heaven.
Islam is a completely intolerant political ideology. Islam requires that Christains and Jews pay taxes. Islam has governing laws called Shariah. The first day of the Islamic calendar is the day Mohammad conquered Arabia.
Christains fought Christains in order to take power away from the Catholic church, they fought to reform and change Christianity, they created a New Testament. Where is Islam's reform? Where is Islam's freedom?
Here are some other misguided people writing about how Islam and Christianity are similar. Read the comments:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/08/fear_of_islam_violates_our_traditions.html
Here is a truly corageous writer:
http://www.tulsabeacon.com/?p=4599