Thank you for posting this article. I came to understand Islam after the honour killings of girls and women in North America. My reading and investigations, meetings with Muslims (both Sunni and Shia) have helped me learn about the natural consequences of an expanding Islamic population in a non-Muslim country. Nobody should be surprised by these atrocities.
Another compelling article from which I shall borrow shamelessly.. It's also extremely interesting to read such salient quotes from bin Laden as I am far less familiar with his words than I am with his ghastly "works".
There is something I have heard recently which has confused me somewhat, and it would be immensely helpful if you or one of your readers could help me understand. There have been reports recently of IS members threatening to descend on Mecca and destroy the ka'aba brick by idolatrous brick. Now I know they've been busy demolishing mosques built over tombs in Iraq and Syria and understand the motivation, but the ka'aba seems a whole other kettle of fish. Don't these particular Muslims pray towards their sacred mosque, and don't they believe in performing hajj? And what about the example of Mohammed - surely he would have destroyed the ka'aba if Allah had willed it?
Gabriella - that story about destroying the ka'aba is most likely a slander made up against ISIS in order to discredit them. It came from the twitter account of an alleged ISIS member, but most likely it was fabricated for propaganda purposes. The reason is that veneration of the kaaba is based upon Muhammad's example. ISIS will destroy shrines and venerated tombs, but not, I think, the kaaba.
Mark, that was 4323 words, a lot of reading requiring a great deal of understanding and memory to comprehend and form an opinion on. Let alone to act upon. I thank you for all the info but could you condense this into something that is a bit more understandable please. What I would like to take away from this is what lies at the core of this huge problem and how do we tackle it? I have an idea, but could be totally wrong, that is, if turning the other cheek could ever be wrong. Where do we draw the line between loving and fighting our enemies? Have we as a Christian civilization reached the point where we have to suffer the consequences for imperialistic colonization and exploitation of the Middle and far East and more and for own own materialism and a moral decadence ?
See http://www.lapidomedia.com/academics-lied-about-nature-jihad-extraordinary-claim-increases-government-pressure-rescue-iraq-s-te for a shorter summary of my article by Jenny Taylor. Islamic violence is not at all due to Western colonization or exploitation.
I think you're right about the West's theological illiteracy in it's posture to Islam. The broad signal we seem to transmit is that peaceful secularism is better than radical Islam. However, we fail to realize that such an appeal is likely to drive more idealists to join the fight in Syria because our "weak" ideology is the very thing they detest. We have to engage the fundamentals of Islam, which means also facing up to our own failure to engage questions of God, religion and faith.
One of these fundamentals has to be the relationship between the religious authority and the ordinary believer. I can't speak for Muslims, but I see many of them turning away from the "authorities" that urge them to fight. I worry that these "moderates" (whom the West's appeal seems to be mainly aimed at) might have the right instincts, but they don't have the theological reasoning to sustain them, especially when the thrust of the Islamic enterprise is all about dominance. Where, in Islam, do we see nobility given to forbearance and service? And, if those narratives exist, can we justifiably promote them as a ideological counter-offensive against the voices of war?
Finally, on a very minor note, I recall that Cardinal Ratzinger had not been elected Pope when he gave his Regensburg address in 2006. I read it. The remarks that so offended Muslims were made in a reported dialog between a Christian and a Moslem in the Ottoman Court. Ratzinger used this dialog to explore the question of whether it was justifiable to advance the religious cause by force. Ratzinger said "no", and the Islamists cried foul. I wonder if these are the same Islamists in Syria, who are now doing the very thing they previously denied?
Just today, The Australian records ASIO Director general David irvine describing the violence in Syria and Iraq as "self-righteous, twisted and I suspect hate-filled interpretation of one of the world's great and enriching traditions: Islam". The reality could not be further from the truth. There has been nothing great or enriching about Islam in its 14 century history of bloodshed. Gabriel Hingley
Thank you for sharing your knowledge on this subject and articulating it so well. What is happening to minorities in the middle east at the hands of Islamic jihadists is history repeating itself. I pray that this will cause an awakening across the globe to this evil which must be addressed - and indeed that many will see the truth and be freed.
Thank you for this fine article which is very helpful for any of my readers wanting to learn more about Islam. So I've linked this to my blog at http://richards-watch.org/2014/11/18/catholic-and-orthodox-churches-cave-in-to-7th-century-muslim-edict/ refers)
Comments are moderated. Avoid profanities or foul language. Stay on topic. Avoid ad hominem attacks. Posts which violate these principles or are deemed offensive in any way will be deleted.
Thank you for posting this article. I came to understand Islam after the honour killings of girls and women in North America. My reading and investigations, meetings with Muslims (both Sunni and Shia) have helped me learn about the natural consequences of an expanding Islamic population in a non-Muslim country. Nobody should be surprised by these atrocities.
ReplyDeleteAnother compelling article from which I shall borrow shamelessly.. It's also extremely interesting to read such salient quotes from bin Laden as I am far less familiar with his words than I am with his ghastly "works".
ReplyDeleteThere is something I have heard recently which has confused me somewhat, and it would be immensely helpful if you or one of your readers could help me understand. There have been reports recently of IS members threatening to descend on Mecca and destroy the ka'aba brick by idolatrous brick. Now I know they've been busy demolishing mosques built over tombs in Iraq and Syria and understand the motivation, but the ka'aba seems a whole other kettle of fish. Don't these particular Muslims pray towards their sacred mosque, and don't they believe in performing hajj? And what about the example of Mohammed - surely he would have destroyed the ka'aba if Allah had willed it?
I'm struggling to make sense of it.
Gabriella - that story about destroying the ka'aba is most likely a slander made up against ISIS in order to discredit them. It came from the twitter account of an alleged ISIS member, but most likely it was fabricated for propaganda purposes. The reason is that veneration of the kaaba is based upon Muhammad's example. ISIS will destroy shrines and venerated tombs, but not, I think, the kaaba.
DeleteMark, that was 4323 words, a lot of reading requiring a great deal of understanding and memory to comprehend and form an opinion on. Let alone to act upon.
ReplyDeleteI thank you for all the info but could you condense this into something that is a bit more understandable please. What I would like to take away from this is what lies at the core of this huge problem and how do we tackle it? I have an idea, but could be totally wrong, that is, if turning the other cheek could ever be wrong. Where do we draw the line between loving and fighting our enemies? Have we as a Christian civilization reached the point where we have to suffer the consequences for imperialistic colonization and exploitation of the Middle and far East and more and for own own materialism and a moral decadence ?
See http://www.lapidomedia.com/academics-lied-about-nature-jihad-extraordinary-claim-increases-government-pressure-rescue-iraq-s-te for a shorter summary of my article by Jenny Taylor. Islamic violence is not at all due to Western colonization or exploitation.
DeleteI think you're right about the West's theological illiteracy in it's posture to Islam. The broad signal we seem to transmit is that peaceful secularism is better than radical Islam. However, we fail to realize that such an appeal is likely to drive more idealists to join the fight in Syria because our "weak" ideology is the very thing they detest. We have to engage the fundamentals of Islam, which means also facing up to our own failure to engage questions of God, religion and faith.
ReplyDeleteOne of these fundamentals has to be the relationship between the religious authority and the ordinary believer. I can't speak for Muslims, but I see many of them turning away from the "authorities" that urge them to fight. I worry that these "moderates" (whom the West's appeal seems to be mainly aimed at) might have the right instincts, but they don't have the theological reasoning to sustain them, especially when the thrust of the Islamic enterprise is all about dominance. Where, in Islam, do we see nobility given to forbearance and service? And, if those narratives exist, can we justifiably promote them as a ideological counter-offensive against the voices of war?
Finally, on a very minor note, I recall that Cardinal Ratzinger had not been elected Pope when he gave his Regensburg address in 2006. I read it. The remarks that so offended Muslims were made in a reported dialog between a Christian and a Moslem in the Ottoman Court. Ratzinger used this dialog to explore the question of whether it was justifiable to advance the religious cause by force. Ratzinger said "no", and the Islamists cried foul. I wonder if these are the same Islamists in Syria, who are now doing the very thing they previously denied?
Thanks Martin - I believe that Ratzinger was already the pope in 2006 - he was elected in 2005.
ReplyDeleteJust today, The Australian records ASIO Director general David irvine describing the violence in Syria and Iraq as "self-righteous, twisted and I suspect hate-filled interpretation of one of the world's great and enriching traditions: Islam". The reality could not be further from the truth. There has been nothing great or enriching about Islam in its 14 century history of bloodshed. Gabriel Hingley
ReplyDeleteExcellent job, Mark! Keep up the good work. Even though the West remains willfully blind, all the more reason to continue to expose Islam.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your knowledge on this subject and articulating it so well. What is happening to minorities in the middle east at the hands of Islamic jihadists is history repeating itself. I pray that this will cause an awakening across the globe to this evil which must be addressed - and indeed that many will see the truth and be freed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this fine article which is very helpful for any of my readers wanting to learn more about Islam. So I've linked this to my blog at http://richards-watch.org/2014/11/18/catholic-and-orthodox-churches-cave-in-to-7th-century-muslim-edict/ refers)
ReplyDelete