We all have different ideas about other's religions. I like to know how's your percieve on islam, from any viewpoints. Questions are also welcome. (but be patient, please. I don't online all time, and I don't know too much about it).
basic refs. Adopted from encyclopedia.com. ---------------------------------- Islam Pronounced As: isläm, isläm, [Arab.,=submission to God], world religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad. Founded in the 7th cent., Islam is the youngest of the three monotheistic world religions (with Judaism and Christianity). An adherent to Islam is a Muslim [Arab.,=one who submits]. Islamic Beliefs At the core of Islam is the Qur'an, believed to be the final revelation by a transcendent Allah [Arab.,=the God] to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam; since the Divine Word was revealed in Arabic, this language is used in Islamic religious practice worldwide. Muslims believe in final reward and punishment, and the unity of the umma, the nation of Islam. Muslims submit to Allah through arkan ad-din, the five basic requirements or pillars: shahadah, the affirmation that there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God; salah, the five daily ritual prayers; zakat, the giving of alms, also known as a religious tax; Sawm, the dawn-to-sunset fast during the lunar month of Ramadan; and hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The importance of the hajj can hardly be overestimated: this great annual pilgrimage unites Islam and its believers from around the world. The ethos of Islam is in its attitude toward Allah: to His will Muslims submit; Him they praise and glorify; and in Him alone they hope. However, in popular or folk forms of Islam, Muslims ask intercession of the saints, prophets, and angels, while preserving the distinction between Creator and creature. Islam views the Message of Muhammad as the continuation and the fulfillment of a lineage of Prophecy that includes figures from the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, notably Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus. Islamic law reserves a communal entity status for the ahl al-kitab, People of the Book, i.e., those with revealed religions, including Jews and Christians. Islam also recognizes a number of extra-Biblical prophets, such as Hud, Salih, Shuayb, and others of more obscure origin. The chief angels are Gabriel and Michael; devils are the evil jinn. Other Islamic obligations include the duty to commend good and reprimand evil, injunctions against usury and gambling, and prohibitions of alcohol and pork. Meat is permitted if the animal was ritually slaughtered; it is then called halal. Jihad, the exertion of efforts for the cause of God, is a duty satisfied at the communal and the individual level. At the individual level, it denotes the personal struggle to be righteous and follow the path ordained by God. In Islam, religion and social membership are inseparable: the ruler of the community (caliph; see caliphate) has both a religious and a political status. The unitary nature of Islam, as a system governing relations between a person and God, and a person and society, helped the spread of Islam so that, within a century of the Prophet's death, Islam extended from Spain to India. The evolution of Islamic mysticism into organizational structures in the form of Sufi orders was also, from the 13th cent. onwards, one of the driving forces in the spread of Islam. Sufi orders were instrumental in expanding the realm of Islam to trans-Saharan Africa, stabilizing its commercial and cultural links with the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and to SE Asia. Interpretation of the Qur'an The revealed word of Islam, the Qur'an, in a formal Arabic which became more archaic with time, required explication. A complement to the Qur'an is the Sunna, the spoken and acted example of the Prophet, collected as hadith. The Sunna is almost as important to Islam as the Qur'an, for in it lie the elaborations of Qur'anic teaching essential to the firm establishment of a world religion. There are serious disagreements in the hadith, and interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunna have varied so much as to be contradictory. These situations are resolved by reference to one of the most important of the sayings attributed to the Prophet, My community will never agree in an error. This leeway also allowed Islam to expand by incorporating social, tribal, and ethnic traditions. For example, with the exception of inheritance and witness laws, Islamic rights and obligations apply equally to men and women. The actual situation of women is more a function of particular social traditions predating Islam than of theoretical positions. For a complete description of Islamic law, see sharia; for discussions of the major branches of Islamic theology, see Shiite, Sunni. Qur'an or Koran Pronounced As: koran, -rän [Arab.,=reading, recitation], the sacred book of Islam. Revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad in separate revelations over the major portion of the Prophet's life at Mecca and at Medina, the Qur'an was intended as a recited text, and was not compiled as a single volume during the life of the Prophet. The establishment of the canonical text is attributed to the 3d caliph, Uthman, who appointed a committee (651-52) to reconcile the conflicting versions then available, under the direction of Zaid ibn Thabit, one of the Prophet's scribes. The internal organization of the Qur'an is somewhat ad hoc. Revelations consisted of verses (ayat) grouped into 114 chapters (suras). The arrangement of the suras is mechanical: the first, al-Fateha or "the Opening, is a short prayer exalting God that has become an essential part of all Islamic liturgy and prayer. The rest are graded generally by length, from longest to shortest. It is thus impossible to tell from the book the chronological order of revelations; generally, however, the shorter suras, more electric and fervent than the rest, are the earlier, while many of the longer ones (and all of those revealed at Medina) are later. The Qur'an refers to religious and historical events but seldom provides comprehensive accounts. Its focus is their significance, rather than their narration. God in the Qur'an speaks in the first person. Tafsir, Qur'anic exegesis, initially emerged as a branch of the science of Hadith, in the attempt to gather Muhammad's elucidations of obscure Qur'anic passages, then developed into a separate discipline with the introduction of etymological and literary analysis tools. Being the verbatim Word of God, the text of the Qur'an is valid for religious purposes only in its original Arabic, cannot be modified, and is not translatable, although the necessity for non-Arabic interpretations is recognized. This has made the Qur'an the most read book in its original language and preserved a classical form of Arabic as an Islamic lingua franca and medium of learning. hadith Pronounced As: hädth, a tradition or the collection of the traditions of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, including his sayings and deeds, and his tacit approval of what was said or done in his presence. The term, which literally refers to an individual tradition, is also used as a synonym of sunna, the normative custom of the Prophet and his companions, and as the name of a scholarly discipline. Hadith, as a discipline, consists of two branches, the first concerned with the validation of the individual traditions through the process of biographic examination of its chain of transmitters back to the Prophet (isnad), and the second concentrating on the actual content of the validated traditions (matn) as a source of religious authority. Since the formalization of Islam, this source of authority has been viewed as second only to the Qur'an. Hadith currently exists in two main sets of collections, corresponding to the Sunni and Shiite division within Islam. Sunni Islam recognizes as authoritative the collections of Bukhari and Muslim followed in importance by those of Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, an-Nasai, and Ibn Maja. Shiite Islam accepts only traditions traced through Ali's family. The major Shiite collections are those of al-Kulini, al-Babuya al-Qummi, and al-Tusi. sharia the religious law of Islam. As Islam makes no distinction between religion and life, Islamic law covers not only ritual but every aspect of life. The actual codification of canonic law is the result of the concurrent evolution of jurisprudence proper and the so-called science of the roots of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh). A general agreement was reached, in the course of the formalization of Islam, as to the authority of four such roots: the Qur'an in its legislative segments; the example of the Prophet as related in the hadith; the consensus of the Muslims (ijma), premised on a saying by Muhammad stipulating "My nation cannot agree on an error; and reasoning by analogy (qiyas). Another important principle is ijtihad, the extension of sharia to situations neither covered by precedent nor explicable by analogy to other laws. These roots provide the means for the establishment of prescriptive codes of action and for the evaluation of individual and social behavior. The basic scheme for all actions is a five-fold division into obligatory, meritorious, permissible, reprehensible, and forbidden. Numerous schools of jurisprudence emerged in the course of Islamic history. Four coexist today within Sunni Islam, with one or more dominant in particular areas-Maliki (N and W Africa), Hanafi (Turkic Asia), Shafii (Egypt, E Africa, SE Asia), and Hanbali (Saudi Arabia; see Ibn Hanbal). While these schools of jurisprudence vary on certain rituals and practices, they are often perceived as complementary rather than mutually exclusive. Twelve-Imam Shiite jurisprudence is often referred to as Jafari. ----------------------------------
ismu, So here are my largely simplistic views of Islam based on only limited exposure and study. 1. Barbaric. 2. Primitive. 3. Aggressively and repressively authoritarian. 4. Used to control the dominantly ignorant and uneducated where it reigns. 5. Depends on heavily ritualistic indoctrination. 6. Doesn’t portray their human figurehead as divine. 7. Expects little distinction between religious and political power. 8. Non-aggressive basis. But I’m open to having my perspectives re-educated. Cris
Cris, If you don't mind I like to respond to some of your "views", But first I like to know the sources of your views, I mean what are you basing your views on?. What kind of knowledge do you posses?. I would like to discuss them with you. But I do like to knwo how you come to these assumtions or views. Thanks.
Chris This is a good start Chris. I've tried to understand why you got theese view. I've tried to get some articles from neutral sources, which might help us having more objective views. Please don't get bored reading thes long post. Let me know if I've missed some of your points. ------------------------------------------------ Adopted from wfu.edu ---------- We need accurate picture of Islam Much of what Americans are hearing is distorted or incorrect By Charles A. Kimball GUEST COLUMNIST The intense media focus on daily developments since Sept. 11 has produced conflicting images of Islam, the world's second largest religion. On the one hand, the hijackers, Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida network and leaders of the Taliban, clearly reveal a militant interpretation of Islam. On the other hand, many Muslim leaders have declared emphatically that Islam is a religion of peace and that these extremists do not reflect true Islam. President Bush has echoed a similar message repeatedly since the attacks: "We have no quarrel with Islam, which is a good and peaceful religion." Other images further confuse the picture. A number of columnists and highly visible religious leaders -such as Jerry Falwell and Franklin Graham - have seized the moment to proclaim various messages. Some speak about Islam in generic terms as inherently violent, menacing and evil; some highlight selected passages from the Quran to "prove" a particular point. The vast majority of Americans still know very little about Islam. It is worse than simple ignorance: Much of what many people think they know is incorrect or distorted. To make sense of conflicting images or various passages in the Quran, it is helpful to know more about basic Islamic teachings about God, revelation and the religious and social requirements for the faithful. A fundamental commitment to accurate understanding is a small, but crucial, step. In my view, pursuing an accurate understanding of Islam relates to Christian responsibility in relationship to others based on central biblical teachings: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." (Exodus 20:16); "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18; Mt. 19:19; Galatians 5:14); and, "If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:18). How is it possible to avoid bearing false witness against, or to love one's neighbor, or to live together in peace if your fundamental understanding about your neighbor is inaccurate or distorted? Islamic self-understanding begins with a simple affirmation of faith: "There is no God but God and Mohammed is the messenger of God." Allah, the Arabic word for God, is clearly understood by Muslims as the same God that Jews and Christians worship. Having spent a substantial portion of my professional life working with mission and service ministries of U.S. and Middle Eastern churches, I believe that there is simply no ambiguity on this point. Fifteen million Arabic-speaking Christians in the Middle East pray to Allah. When my family traveled to Bethlehem during Christmas three years ago, we joined with Palestinian Catholics in the Shepherds' Fields and Palestinian Lutherans in Bethlehem in celebration and prayer to Allah. While Christians and Muslims are talking about the same God, their respective understandings of revelation differ. Christians affirm that God has revealed God's truths through various means: creation, prophetic figures, sacred texts and, most fully, in the person of Jesus. Muslims, on the other hand, speak primarily of revelation as coming through prophets and messengers (e.g., Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and others). Mohammed is seen as the messenger through whom the final and complete revelation was conveyed in the Quran. The claim that Christians and Muslims are not talking about the same God makes as much sense as saying Christians and Jews are not talking about the same God. There are clear differences in understanding - particularly as God's revelation relates to Jesus - but all three religions are linked to a common patriarch: Abraham. Muslims affirm a radical monotheism. God is the One who creates life and sustains us from moment to moment. Ultimately, according to Islamic teachings about the end times, all humans will stand before God on the Day of Judgment. A striking image of God's closeness is found in the Quran: "God is closer to you than your jugular vein" (50:16). According to Islam, none of us would live another minute apart from God's sustaining presence in our lives. If one accepts this premise and the idea of a final judgment, then the operative question becomes this: What does God require of me? Through revelation and the exemplary lives of prophets and messengers, Muslims believe that God has given guidance to humankind. Islam develops a framework for living in response to these teachings. It begins with the ritual-devotional duties known as the Five Pillars of Islam (confession of faith; five daily prayers; fasting during Ramadan; charitable giving; and the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life). Larger systems of Islamic law developed in various parts of the Muslim world over time. These systems endeavor to present Islam as a total way of life, one that integrates religion with political, economic and social systems. Happily, many Jews, Christians and Muslims are increasing efforts to learn more about the others through study programs and personal interactions. Better understanding does not require or imply agreement. It is, however, a vital step toward peaceful coexistence. This much is clear: Jews, Christians and Muslims together make up almost half of the world's population. The ways in which these children of Abraham seek to understand one another and interact during the 21st century will have profound consequences for all three religions - and for the world. ---------- Kimball is the chairman of the Department of Religion at Wake Forest University. A Baptist minister, he served as Middle East Director for the National Council of Churches from 1983 to 1990. ------------------------------------------------ This is another one which may answer recent questions. ------------------------------------------------ Adopted from msnbc.com ---------- With 1.2 billion followers, Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion—but also its most misunderstood. Karen Armstrong, a scholar and former nun, tries to correct some of the stereotypes in her latest book, “Islam: A Short History.” One of her key arguments: that because fear feeds extremists, any sustained attack on terrorism must include Western efforts to cultivate a more accurate appreciation of Islam. KAREN ARMSTRONG IS CURRENTLY a visiting scholar at Harvard and the author of nine books on religion. “Islam: A Short History” was originally released in 2000 but became a best seller in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. NEWSWEEK’s Karen Fragala spoke with the writer about the true meaning of jihad, the myth of the suicide bomber’s heavenly reward, and the prospects for democracy in the Middle East. NEWSWEEK(Q): Your book has been described as an attempt to lay to rest the picture of Islam as a violent, backward and insular tradition. What are the greatest misconceptions about the religion? Karen Armstrong(A): Sadly, the events of Sept. 11 are going to confirm for many people a vision of Islam that is unjust. Islam does not preach violence, it does not preach vicious holy war, it certainly does not condone terror, suicide bombing or anything of that sort. Like all of the great world religions, it preaches compassion and justice, and that is why it has been a success. (Q):The term “jihad” originally referred to the struggle required to be a devoted Muslim, but today it is more commonly used to denote a holy war waged for Allah. Why the shift? (A):The first major Muslim thinker to make jihad—meaning holy war—a central tenet of the faith was [a] Pakistani thinker, Mawdudi [in the late1800’s] and now Osama bin Laden has put jihad at the center of his campaign. That is a very new development in the Muslim world, to focus narrowly on jihad as holy war, and the media also reinforced this. Jihad is the struggle or effort that is pursued on all fronts—intellectual, spiritual, social, moral as well as political. (Q): Do most Muslims today regard jihad, in the sense of holy war, as a central tenet of Islam. (A):No. (Q):Have militant groups hijacked mainstream Islam? (A):That depends on a lot of factors. Only a small portion of the Muslim world are what we would call fundamentalists and only a tiny proportion take part in acts of terror. The vast majority of Muslims loathe what happened on Sept. 11—it offends every tenet of their faith, but unfortunately, they still don’t like American foreign policy in that region. Muslims have got to make a huge effort now to enunciate more clearly than ever before the peaceful, pluralistic elements of their faith. Everybody’s got work to do now to make sure that those hijackers don’t hijack the religion. (Q)Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!sama bin Laden has cast the U.S. attack against Afghanistan as a battle between the West and Islam. Are the two civilizations set on an inevitable collision course? (A):Well, no. Osama bin Laden talks about the Islamic world being divided into two camps, and all Muslims must choose which side they’re going to be on. Are they going to join him and his battle against the godless world, or are they going to join up with the evil forces in their own countries as well as in the West? His real quarrel with the West is that it supports a great deal of illegitimate regimes. He began his jihad against Saudi Arabia’s royal family, and he is also campaigning hard against Egypt’s secular rule, as well as Jordan and Iran. All extreme fundamentalism begins with an attack against your own people and your own co-religionists. (Q):Should Muslim leaders be doing more to convince their followers that suicide and acts of terror are contrary to Islamic beliefs? (A):Yes. There are a few fundamentalist leaders who have supported suicide bombing in Israel, and that’s a real moral flaw, and they should all come out against that...What was remarkable immediately after the atrocity was the number of political leaders as well as religious leaders who did come out against it. Even states that we normally regard as terrorist, like Syria, Libya, Iran, all came out in horror, so what more can you say? It was a precious moment, and we must try not to antagonize this unlooked-for goodwill, which will happen if Afghan civilians die. (Q):The democratic principles of social justice, compassion and egalitarianism are among the most basic doctrines of the Qu’ran. Yet most Islamic countries are anything but democratic. Why? (A): Democracy is part of the modernization process, but in the Islamic world, modernization is still at a fairly early stage and the majority of the population has not had the necessary education to understand modern political institutions. Looking back to the beginning of the 20th century, Muslim intellectuals were calling upon their own governments for democracy. In Iran, the progressive clergy joined with the more advanced secularists in a revolution that demanded the Shahs give them a constitution along modern lines with a parliament. Iran got its democratic institutions in 1906, but they were never allowed to function freely. The British kept rigging the elections. But [now] Iran is coming to democracy on its own terms, developing a Shiite democracy. They don’t want secular democracy, like the West, but they want their own democracy which comes in that familiar religious package that makes it more intelligible to the vast bulk of the population. (Q):All Muslims, regardless of faction, oppose Israel and cite American support of the country as one of Washington’s fundamental affronts against Arab interests. Why has this issue in particular united Muslims across the barriers of state and doctrine? (A):In the Arab world, Israel has acquired this nimbus of symbolic value, an image of absolute Muslim impotence [against] the united powers of the West. It’s not that they had anything against the Jews when this happened—there is no tradition of anti-Semitism in the Arab world—they’ve had to borrow European anti-Semitic tracts to enunciate their new hatred. So you see the Arab Palestinians losing their homes, and 50 years of a world completely indifferent to the Palestinian issue. This has acquired the same kind of symbolic focus as evolution and abortion in the United States. (Q):We’ve all heard that suicide bombers believe they will go straight to heaven and enjoy a paradise of milk and honey, with 72 beautiful virgins for every martyr. Is there any religious basis for this? (A):It is completely illegitimate. The Qu’ran and Islamic law forbid suicide in the strongest terms. You may not wage a war against a country where Muslims are allowed to practice their religion freely. You may not kill children or women in any war. It’s a cheapened version of it to imagine these martyrs as thinking that they’re buying a first-class ticket to heaven where they’ll enjoy all of these virgins. Martyrdom is something done to you and you must never take anyone else with you. But what annoys me somewhat [is that] none of these questions were asked in 1995 after 8,000 Muslims were killed by Christian Serbs. We knew enough about Christianity that [we knew] to say that Christianity condoned the massacre was illegitimate. The trouble is that most Western people just don’t know enough about Islam to make that correct judgment. (Q):Every major religion has its militant strains. But is there anything unique to Islam that would explain any aggression toward the West? (A):No...What those terrorists did shocked Muslims to the core and there is nothing in the Qu’ran that could justify this any more than you can say that Jesus would have wanted anybody to go and kill doctors and nurses who have worked in abortion clinics. (Q):Many Muslims say that religion is more important than nationality. What are the chances of an insurrection by Muslim citizens of countries such as the U.S. and the U.K.? (A):I’ll tell you a story. The BBC rang me up a few years ago and asked me if I’d like to help them with a program about a guy who wanted to do this, and about the support he had among British Muslims, for setting up a separate Muslim parliament and a separate Muslim community not subscribing to the nation. They went off to do the research in Bradford, which is a center for the more extreme Muslims, and they came back in dismay, with their program in ruins because they had only been able to find one supporter [of the plan]. One or two people in Britain were similarly in the news saying they prefer Islam to the nation state, and of course, they got far more attention than they deserved. In America, I have been impressed by communities I have visited, in which they’re bringing up their children to be good Muslims and good Americans and want to create a bridge between the home countries and the West and say, look, it is possible. (Q)Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!ne of the stereotypes of Islam is that it oppresses women. Is there precedent in the Muslim tradition for the way in which Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers require women to wear a head-to-toe burqa and forbid them from holding jobs or attending school? (A):No. [But] none of the great world religions have been good for women. And I’d include Christianity in that. These are male-dominated religions. But Muslim feminists are now speaking against this. The prophet Mohammed was very keen on the emancipation of women—and there is nothing in the Qu’ran to insist that all women must be veiled or secluded. The Muslim women in the first community often fought beside men in battle and in the early Muslim community, the prophet’s wives had immense political power. (Q):Islamic history suggests a legacy of religious tolerance and Jerusalem experienced five centuries of relative peace under Muslim rule from 638 to 1099. What are the prospects for such religious harmony in the future, particularly in problematic areas such as Israel and Kashmir? (A):Rather bleak, I’m afraid. But not for religious reasons. The Qu’ran as well as the Jewish scriptures speak of honoring the stranger in your land and treating him as one of your own people. The Muslims had a system of coexistence in Jerusalem that would be unthinkable today. It was the Muslims who brought the Jews back to Jerusalem. They had never been allowed to take up permanent residence in Jerusalem under the Christians. Similarly, the importance of human rights, and the respect of all peoples is firmly in the Qu’ran, but it is politics that manipulate religion, and at the moment, the leadership in these places is not looking great on either side. ------------------------------------------------ I'm waiting your response, Cris (or anyone else).
ismu, If you don't mind I'll just highlight and briefly comment a few sections of your post that should be pertinent to Cris' impression of Islam, and certainly are to mine (though I don't single out Islam, the points apply to any religion.)
Bambi, I din't see your briefly comments representing Cris's views. As I've saw, most of Cris's posts based on Christian/Bible. Your views seems based on atheism. Btw, all comments are welcome. I like to see as much as possible about anybody's view of islam (as title says). So, I'll try not to arguing any of your views in this thread. I will only post some seeds (might) related to your opinions (and perhaps, short comment like this) and try to understand your pictures. Thanks for your post.
ismu, Sorry, I should have made it more obvious. My brief comments are in parenthesis throughout that text (usually right after the sections highlighted in bold.) I just felt that if I formatted any more that post would have bloated way too much. And yes, my point of view is obviously atheist. I think Cris' too (but I'll let him speak for himself.) I guess even if you don't agree with anything I say it could open a little door for you to see into my mind. Basically what I showed is what I see when I read such text (and yes, I do tend to read between the lines a lot.)
Bambi, Interesting post. I understand where you are coming from. I can't argue that. But little off topic question, What do you know about dark ages and Muslims scientists? I heard few things and doing my own research. But since you do have scientific info I like to have your help as well. I think my question could be directly related to cris's views regarding " 4. Used to control the dominantly ignorant and uneducated where it reigns" . Thank you
I recall reading a persian translation of the Quran. It corresponded almost exactly to the KJV old testament. Seen from that perspective, islam is simply a sect of judiasm and/or christianity. Ppl have addressed this idea before, to the extent of calling the combined religions "Chrislam". Strangely, I could find no references to "Chrislam" online and I cannot (presently) provide a reference to the articles where this idea was developed.
I can take your words. But honeslty I have been studying on Islamic history and Quran for last 4 years, and I have never heard of anything you mention. I also disagree that Quran corresponded almost exaclty to the KJV. Some concept or laws maybe same but if you read the Quran then you will notice what exaclty it is trying to tell. There is a huge difference when you read Quran and then Bible or vice versa. But when you mention about persian translation, I highly doubt it. I am not sure if you know the history of perisa or not but they are called them self shiatee muslims, they also believe that 9 chapters of quran were lost some where. They have no evidance or proof of that, you can call it myth or fantasy to justify their desires. Only good english translation of Quran I came acorss is by Yusuf ali. Try to go to www.islamicity.com and you can read that translation from there even with word search index etc. I will search more on that, and will let you know if I find anything on it.
Originally posted by Markx That's a mixed bag. It is true that when the Roman Empire collapsed and Europe entered into the Dark Ages, most of the European cultural and scientific endowment was lost and worse, deliberately destroyed. The Renaissance would have been far more improbable were it not for a few nearby Arab nations of the time whose scholars provided refuge for a portion of that ancient knowledge. It is also true that modern science owes much to the ancient Arabs -- including the well-known example of Algebra (however, the origin of this particular discipline lies in pre-Islamic times and outside of Arabia's borders.) It is typical for Islamic advocates to consider the past greatness of the Arab nations as a demonstration of Islam's general benevolence and fruitfulness. However, that sort of analysis overlooks the lessons of the past. The Roman Empire was also great and fruitful, but it disintegrated into dust. Prior to that, the Greeks ruled the Mediterranean -- but no longer. Before that, the Egyptians. Before that, a vast sub-Saharan empire whose name I can't recall at the moment. And that's just in the same geographical region. If you consider Asia, you'll notice the same pattern: emergence and disintegration of awesome civilizations. The Arabic khalifates just happened to coincide rather closely with the emergence of Islam. While it is true that Islam was conducive to establishing peace, that accomplishment was not due to Islam but rather to the politics of the region. Many such consolidations and reorganizations of power can be witnessed in history. Of course, since the heyday of the Arabic power the region fell behind in its development and declined dramatically. I would argue that the reactionary biasing through an overwhelming religion like Islam is vastly implicated in that deterioration. That which cannot adapt, perishes.
another seed, science in Qur'an Adopted from www.bensys.mcmail.com ------------------------------------ scientific discoveries which were stated as facts in Qur'an The muslim Holy book(The Quran), stated over 1400 years ago that you will know its meaning after some time.Today science may have just explained the meaning of some of these Quranic verses. Allah(The Creator) states in the Quran that only those with knowledge will (understand his signs thus) fear his displeasure. There are reported to be more than 900 (Nine Hundred) verses in the Holy Quran as related to relatively new scientific discoveries which were miraculously stated as facts over 1400 years ago. As to mention some of these: -The Rose Nepular as viewed by the Hubble Telescope -The Reduction of matter from the Earth's outer layers -The Rounded shape of the Earth -The development of baby's growth in a mother's womb -The Big Bang theory -The ending of sensation at the erosion of skin at which the nerves end -The fact that the sun and the moon are moving each in its own orbital path -The fact that the light from the moon is a mere reflection of the light from the sun -There are three types of rain clouds and the Quran describes each in detail such as raining process and cloud shapes and after effects such as the growth of evoluting shaped plants -The womb enveloping a baby consists of three layers -Allah swears by the positioning of the stars which draws attention to the fact that their positioning is critical -The Quran implys that mountains are their as an anchor for the earth -The Quran States that the Universe is Expanding -The Quran predicts Space Exploration -The Quran states where the lowest point on Earth is -Every Word in The Holy Quran is counted for ------------------------------------ My note: The ironic fact is most of discoveries was not invented by muslims, which hold the mighty Qur'an Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!.
links Theese are some links, also about Science in Qur'an. Sorry I can't found enough source from neutral sites. www.islam101.com/science/science.html www.it-is-truth.org/Index.shtml mlivo.hypermart.net Theese seed is related to Chris and Bambi's opinion which doubt scientific contents in Qur'an. I'm still like to hear other opinion in religion's view, more than personal view. But still, any opinion in all terms; including humanity, philosophy, social & politics, art, etc... are welcome. Thanks
Maybe the problem is that there is a discrepancy between what Islam teaches and what Muslims practice?
To understand why Cris got these distorted views, here is amazing reading: ''The case against Islam is being built upon a tradition of "scholarship" that goes back to at least the eighteenth century. This tradition has produced numerous "scholarly texts" on Islam that bring out a host of ideas and images in the Western mind which stand in stark opposition to their intellectual, emotional and psychological makeup. This creates fear and hostility; there are, of course, many obvious religious, psychological and political reasons for this. Some may argue that we are now well past the stage of invoking the Crusades to rationalize this overbearing attitude toward Islam, but in any serious analysis one cannot discount history. What constitutes the most basic ingredient of this response to Islam by an average Westerner is the perception that somehow Islam is outside the framework of his or her life. This may not seem like an important factor in shaping attitudes toward Islam and Muslims, but at the psychological level it is indeed a remarkable factor, because anything outside one's frame of reference is bound to induce fear, which can then produce numerous other reactions. This fear of the unknown is, however, not working in a vacuum; it operates within the atmosphere created by an entire industry of "scholarly and scientific" institutions and studies which, since the early eighteenth century, have contributed to the West's "understanding" of Islam. That there is a definite connection between our contemporary situation and the works of early Western commentators on Islam, such as Peter the Venerable and Barthelemy D'Herbelot, is beyond doubt. That Silvestre de Sacy, Edward Lane, Ernest Renan and Hamilton Gibb built upon this foundation is equally true. That this whole tradition has been and is being promoted in the name of learned, objective scholarship, is likewise indisputable. One has only to look at the range of contemporary sociological, anthropological, and political works of scholars who "teach Islam" and Middle Eastern studies at Princeton, Harvard, Chicago and other American universities to know that history is, indeed, at work in these "unbiased" and "scholarly" studies. '' http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/2186/ And I add that western media is very very biased against Islam and Muslims which make people like Cris automatically indoctrinated with hate and fear.
I would agree that Western Media is indeed biased against Islam if only because they have so few Islamic employees, and how can you have an opinion on something you don't understand? Furthermore, "news" stations like FOX News are just atrocious. They stie the entire American nation up into anti-Islamic moods with no real justification.
Ismu, perhaps you can straighten out the following , maybe I'm totally mistaken. I posted this as "Is it true" on a previous post. http://www.answering-christianity.com/360_joints.htm http://www.geocities.com/freethough.../360joints.html http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7180 http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/c...y/1089/id55.htm Islam's claim about the 360 joints in the human body was proven to be true! "Aisha reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Every one of the children of Adam has been created with three hundred and sixty joints; so he who declares the Glory of Allah, praises Allah, declares Allah to be One, Glorifies Allah, and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and removes stone, or thorn, or bone from people's path, and enjoins what is good and forbids from evil, to the number of those three hundred and sixty-four, will walk that day having removed himself from Hell. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Zakat (Kitab Al-Zakat), Book 005, Number 2199)" Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib: "I heard the Apostle of Allah peace_be_upon_him) say: A human being has three hundred and sixty joints for each of which he must give alms. The people asked him: Who is capable of doing this? He replied: It may be mucus in the mosque which you bury, and something which you remove from the road; but if you do not find such, two rak'ahs in the forenoon will be sufficient for you. (Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab), Book 41, Number 5222)" Beside from the beautiful teachings about Worshiping the One True Living GOD Almighty and removing obstacles from the paths of people, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him made a very important scientific claim, and that is: Our human bodies have 360 joints in them Hopefully this will be enough
Aren't they are funny bunch these muslims - 360 bones in the human body - my arse. Next they'll be telling us the Sun revolves around the Earth. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Next they'll be telling us the Sun revolves around the Earth you mean it doesnt? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! allah akbar
