You are misinformed, my friend

Submitted by Anti-Islamophobe (United States), Oct 6, 2007 at 04:36

Please don't take offence to my comments on your post. Misinformation (and prejudice) about Islam is widespread.

A little about me -- I came to the faith after studying every negative point made about it -- I have found satisfying solutions to them all after deep study. I love the US and the American way of life to which I am accustomed (May Allah continue blessing America!). I think following Islam makes me a better American (most converts to Islam in this country will tell you this!).

Fact is, if we were working together, you will never guess that I am Muslim! :)

To answer your question: "1. Does Islam forbid the killing of innocent non-Moslems?" Absolutely and repititively. I can quote verses from the Quran, but I will give a few references instead: in Islam the killing of one human soul is equated to killing all of humanity. Under Islamic shariah law, as long as minority faiths do not impinge on practicing Islam, their followers' rights and temples are to be protected. "

2. Do Moslems who kill innocent non-Moslems go to Hell? " Yes -- and the Quran is very clear about this. The oft-quoted versus in the Quran about fighting Non-Muslims is shrouded in cautionary language. People forget to mention the context of the versus in the Quran which asks to fight ONLY when 1) Non-believers are the aggressors, and 2) they have BROKEN any treatise.

In other words, fighting is only prescibed for self-defense. This may seem like a moot piont, but remember, at this time when the faith was revealed to the largely ignorant Arabs, when the earliest Muslims were being butchered because of fears of divine punishment for retaliation against aggrossers in war, rules for self-defense to the New muslims was necessary for preservation of the faith. Very clearly, the Quran warns that if either of the two conditions don't apply, and if a killing occurs, then only Hell will be the home of the perpetrator.

One example of many: "Fight in God's cause against those who fight you, but do not overstep the limits. God does not love those who overstep limits." Quran 2:190. " 3. Did the 911 highjackers/terrorists kill innocent people? " Yes they did. This is what "highjackers/terrorists" normally do. I do not see your point, however. What has that to do with Islam? It is also true that such Christians as Adolf Hitler, Moussilini, Stalin, and Bush, if you total all their murders, have taken more innocent lives than the regrettable actions of all Islamic terrorists combined. However, I (or muslims for that matter) have better sense than to blame "Christians" for such acts.

Please do remember that Islamic Fundamentalism and Terrorism was born, according to one highly-respected, American, non-muslim scholar (Karen Armstrong), in the 1960's - largely due to the sudden exposure to the open culture of the West which was percieved as a threat in Muslim societies, and also as a reaction to the Arab-Isreali conflict. So Islamic terrorists have done their major acts only in the last 50 years. Islam has been around for 1400 years, and history has shown many terrorists acts by Christian and Jewish fundamentalists in its Muslim empire (Armstrong has said these fundamentalists appeared much earlier, and stayed around much longer, than the short -but recent- history of Islamic extremists).

Please keep in mind that the oft-quoted acts of violence by "Muslims" in recent history are really not about religion at all, but about politics. It is natural for the disenfrachised class to rebel against the priviledged class, as the Christian extremists did in Muslim societies centuries ago. http://www.islamicamagazine.com/Issue-20/Divisions-in-our-world-are-not-the-result-of-religion.html "4. Are the 911 highjackers/terrorists in Hell now? " Technically not yet -- they will be after the Day of Judgement. See 1 and 2 above for Quranic explanation why. " Moslems, even so-called moderate Moslems will never condemn these acts of murder because their religion encourages them to kill infidels in the name of Allah. Even if they do not participate in the killings, they will never condemn a fellow Moslem who does.

The inescapable conclusion is that Islam is an evil religion..." You may not have been informed that all the largest Muslim organizations in the US and around the world, including CAIR, have vehemently condemned that heinous act. Bin Laden was banished from Saudi Arabia many years before the tragedy because of his percieved extremism . We all know that the Sept. 11 murderers will go to Hell, because the Quran says so. I hope I have shown you something about the faith which will, in some small way, pique your curiosity to study the orginal scripture in context and with its intended meanings.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".