The Foundations of Islam
The Watcher provides useful insight into matters of terrorism. However, I disagree with his 9/12/06 statement "I believe that Islamic extremists are people who hide behind a veil of religiosity and are pushing an evil agenda that is in direct contradiction to the true message of their own religion."
Terrorists not only practice their interpretation of Islam as found in the Koran, they also embrace the examples set by Muhammad and the early caliphs. The life of Muhammad is recorded in the Hadith, a recollection of the Prophet’s words and deeds written by his followers. Further detail on the Prophet’s life comes out in his biographies, the earliest of which is the "Sirat Rasul Allah", written by Muhammad Ibn Ishq, an eighth century Muslim. We’ll explore details of Muhammad’s life in later posts to this blog.
Although purported to be a "peaceful" religion, its founder, the Prophet Muhammad, was a man of violence with the blood of hundreds of people on his hands. As recorded by Muslim believers, the Prophet and his followers perpetuated thousands of murders, pillages, thefts, and lies during their time. Most Westerners are not aware that the conduct of the Prophet and his followers was quite different from the peaceful instructions for life as recorded in the Koran. In fact, their conduct was in even greater contradiction with the moral standards given by God to Moses, the Biblical prophets, and Jesus. Once the life of the Prophet is examined, it’s easy to understand that the Islamic extremists and terrorists embrace the lifestyle that was LIVED by Muhammad.
All Muslims believe that the Prophet was sinless, and therefore his actions on Earth were perfect examples to live by. Some Muslims believe that the atrocities committed by Muhammad cannot be true as they violate their view of his perfect life. Others accept but justify his conduct.
Therefore, it’s not easy to separate the "peaceful" religion of Islam from the violence practiced by the Prophet and caliphs. On one hand, the religious practitioners of the Koran necessarily must deny the immorality of the Prophet in order to hold him up as a sinless messenger of Allah. On the other, the clerics (scholars) and imams (mosque leaders) uphold the thousands of recorded sins of the Prophet as sanctioned under the circumstances by Allah and thus were "sinless" acts that justify his struggles then and their struggles today. Islamic extremists and terrorists accept the record of Muhammad’s life and practice his strategies of murder, theft, deceit, and revenge as perfect justification for their actions.
Significant twisting of commonly accepted moral truths is required to justify the extremist's belief structure, including the denial of other revelations of God/Allah as recorded by Moses, the Biblical prophets, and Jesus. If one understands the foundations of the Koran and Hadith, the extremists are not twisting the practice of Islam. Rather, they are practicing it. In doing so, they are ignoring ALL of the other recorded moral instructions given by God - a grave sin.
Terrorists not only practice their interpretation of Islam as found in the Koran, they also embrace the examples set by Muhammad and the early caliphs. The life of Muhammad is recorded in the Hadith, a recollection of the Prophet’s words and deeds written by his followers. Further detail on the Prophet’s life comes out in his biographies, the earliest of which is the "Sirat Rasul Allah", written by Muhammad Ibn Ishq, an eighth century Muslim. We’ll explore details of Muhammad’s life in later posts to this blog.
Although purported to be a "peaceful" religion, its founder, the Prophet Muhammad, was a man of violence with the blood of hundreds of people on his hands. As recorded by Muslim believers, the Prophet and his followers perpetuated thousands of murders, pillages, thefts, and lies during their time. Most Westerners are not aware that the conduct of the Prophet and his followers was quite different from the peaceful instructions for life as recorded in the Koran. In fact, their conduct was in even greater contradiction with the moral standards given by God to Moses, the Biblical prophets, and Jesus. Once the life of the Prophet is examined, it’s easy to understand that the Islamic extremists and terrorists embrace the lifestyle that was LIVED by Muhammad.
All Muslims believe that the Prophet was sinless, and therefore his actions on Earth were perfect examples to live by. Some Muslims believe that the atrocities committed by Muhammad cannot be true as they violate their view of his perfect life. Others accept but justify his conduct.
Therefore, it’s not easy to separate the "peaceful" religion of Islam from the violence practiced by the Prophet and caliphs. On one hand, the religious practitioners of the Koran necessarily must deny the immorality of the Prophet in order to hold him up as a sinless messenger of Allah. On the other, the clerics (scholars) and imams (mosque leaders) uphold the thousands of recorded sins of the Prophet as sanctioned under the circumstances by Allah and thus were "sinless" acts that justify his struggles then and their struggles today. Islamic extremists and terrorists accept the record of Muhammad’s life and practice his strategies of murder, theft, deceit, and revenge as perfect justification for their actions.
Significant twisting of commonly accepted moral truths is required to justify the extremist's belief structure, including the denial of other revelations of God/Allah as recorded by Moses, the Biblical prophets, and Jesus. If one understands the foundations of the Koran and Hadith, the extremists are not twisting the practice of Islam. Rather, they are practicing it. In doing so, they are ignoring ALL of the other recorded moral instructions given by God - a grave sin.
Not sure if you saw the firestorm of controversy that the Pope started up yesterday on his comments about Islam.
He is facing some backlash and the Vatican is trying to soften the perception of the rhetoric.
Here's what Reuters said about the topic:
"He [the Pope] repeated criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who is recorded as saying that everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
Most of the Pope's speech was about faith and reason but his historical references suggested that he shared the emperor's view that the Islamic concept of jihad showed that Islam was irrational and incompatible with God's nature."
You can read more about the firestorm that his comments caused here.
Link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060915/wl_nm/religion_pope_islam_dc_7
Posted by The Watcher | Fri Sep 15, 09:15:00 AM EDT