Islam, a peaceful religion

Submitted by Shaji (United Arab Emirates), Apr 2, 2009 at 06:43

No my dear, I am not tablighee. The term Hindu itself coined much later in the history and it is restricted to people of specific geographical area. According to the history, through Aryans the culture of present Hinduism is spread all over India. I find strange with your observations; if Hindus were brutalized by Muslims, why those Hindus escape to UAE and practice Islam there….??. Escaping was required when they wanted to defend and practice own religion, isn't it?.

My dear, I am an Indian working in United Arab Emirates and not an Arab. I am not regarded as "maskeen" here; in fact, I hold a well honored job in government sector.

Who told you, I cannot read Arabic…??. Where in Qur'an says "iqtollo al-mushrikeen aka ayat al-sayf"….??. Can you help me in finding that "statement" from Qur'an….??.

Yes, Qur'an said to kill "mushriqeen"………!!!!. But where….in the battlefield where those 'mushriqeen" come to fight to exterminate Muslims. If you remove the context, that is "battlefield", it could have satisfied your desire to portray "Islam spread by sword". Before you criticize, learn something Mr. dhimmi……

If Mushrik had the option to either convert to Islam or killed by sword, why huge number of people of other faiths still living in Muslim part of the world….??. Muslims were the lords of Arabia for 1400 years. For a few years the British ruled, and for a few years the French ruled. Overall, the Muslims ruled Arabia for 1400 years. Yet today, there are over 22 million Arabs who are Coptic Christians. Also, if Islam spread by sword, why there was no widespread killing at the time of Makkah victory, which became the turning point of the influx of people to Islam in early Islamic period…..??. Open your eyes and realize who is ignorant……!!!!. I would certainly go to the extent of calling you a "liar", as you did with me but I you are advised to learn about Islam.

You find time to insult me. I don't know who you are your whereabouts. I can only recommend you to go through Qur'an in the language you know best at least once and try how that is catching you. If you are a truth-seeker with good intentions, just explore through Qur'an without a prejudiced mind.

Allah didn't make you infidel. HE has given you the freedom to select right from wrong. Nobody is Muslim because he born in Muslim family and follow principles against Islam. When the person willfully chooses this ideology and submits his will to ONE and ONLY GOD, then only he becomes Muslim. So the CHOICE is yours……

Coming to the issue of abrogation (nask wal mansukh), we need to understand one focal point, which is that Allah Almighty's knowledge covers everything. It is not subject to change because it is not limited by the boundaries of time. This means that when Allah Almighty reveals something in the Qur'an and later on gives a fresh command that adjusts the old one or cancels it, He surely knows already that He is going to reveal something to adjust the old command or cancel it. In other words, the new command is not new to Him; it is new to us because we have no access to His knowledge and we are bound by time limitations.

In the light of this, we can understand that Allah Almighty has already had knowledge that He is going to give a new command at a certain point in the life of people telling them to change their way of life or correct certain concepts in ways that suit the new stage. Behind this, there is surely great divine wisdom, which sometimes we are aware of and sometimes we are not.

To illustrate this, let's think about a father whose five-year-old child asks him about the origin of life; where do males and females come from? At this point of the child's age, the most suitable answer will be something like "We come from Adam and Eve." But later on when this same child grows up, the simple answer will be abrogated by telling him about the mechanism of production and fertilization. This example gives a bit of an idea about how this process of abrogation works.

As for Allah, His infinite knowledge neither has a start nor an end. Yet, here we need to ask, if that is what abrogation is like, what is the benefit or the wisdom of doing that?

In fact, scholars have counted a number of wisdoms behind abrogation. First, abrogation can happen as a way of gradual legislation that aims at making things easy for people.

Sometimes, Allah Almighty commands that a certain strict thing should be observed and then alleviates it to make the life of people easier. An example of this is when Allah Almighty commanded that anyone who wants to speak to the Prophet (peace be upon him) should offer something in charity. Later on, Allah (Glory be to Him) removed this requirement and just encouraged people to establish prayer and do good deeds.

But one may ask, "What is the point of this?" The answer is, there are many wisdoms behind it, one of which is to make people aware of the fact that Allah is merciful to them and that He looks after them and cares for their well-being. Another wisdom is to refine the souls of people and train them on how to observe to higher levels of morality.

For instance, if your child is not studying hard and spending much time playing, you can discipline him saying, "You are not allowed to play anymore for the coming month." Later on, you may see that he has complied with the command and became very good in his studies, so what you do is to alleviate the restrictions and allow him to play for a certain number of hours. In this way, you create a balance in his life. In this exact way, Allah Almighty trains us on how to lead a life of balance.

Sometimes, abrogation comes to establish a certain ruling that needs to be established gradually because it is difficult for people to apply it completely. Suppose that you want a drug addict to give up drugs, it would be unpractical to ask him to give up right away. The most practical way will be to train him how to give up bit by bit. The same is applied in the Qur'an when Allah Almighty commanded the believing community to give up wine: He did not do that at one shot. Rather, Allah Almighty first spoke about wine and that it may be beneficial for some people (i.e. traders) but it has some greater harm. Later on, a new instruction came prohibiting any drunken man to engage in prayer and, in fact, that was stage two. Then, when the community was fully prepared to receive a final decision and were able to apply the law, Allah Almighty told them to avoid drinking wine completely and never approach it.

I hope you got the idea of abrogation from the above explanation. There are many things more to be explained in this aspect but let me leave it for now and will present you as per your response, Insha Allah.

Secondly, Islam is not the religion of Arabs. It is your misconception. See what Qur'an says in 3:84 - Say: "We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah do we bow our will (in Islam)."

Then why Qur'an and Prophet (peace be upon him) was required….??. Read Qur'aan 2:213 – "Mankind were one community, and ALLAH sent prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners, and revealed therewith the Scripture with the truth, that it might judge between mankind concerning that wherein they differed. And only those unto whom (the Scripture) was given differed concerning it, after clear proofs had come unto them, through hatred one of another. And ALLAH by His Will guided those who believe unto the truth of that concerning which they differed. ALLAH guideth whom He will unto a straight path".

It is for us mankind require guidance to lead life which suits with nature. Allah's duty is to reveal the guidance (Qur'an) and to send Prophets for humankind to follow.

I am not working against Allah's plan. Qur'an has the answer for this query. It says in 16:125 – "Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance." Hope you got why I sit with you and it depends on my convenience.

So what I am doing is, as per instruction of Allah through HIS divine guidance, which is Qur'an.

Kissing black stone is not offering prayers to it. Islam is against offering prayers to the creations. Kissing the black stone is a ritual. Nothing else. Nobody is worshipping it. I will give you reference how Muslims consider about this black stone from the following Hadith.

According to Sahih Bukhari, Volume 2, book of Hajj, chapter 56, H.No. 675. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit nor harm. Had I not seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) touching (and kissing) you, I would never have touched (and kissed) you".

How adoring city of Makkah (or) kissing black stone (or) doing prostration on the earth's surface (or) ink and paper used to present Qur'an turned to worshipping that…..??. One can only say, it is a sense of respect shown to it. If I respect somebody, does that mean I am praying to him….??.

At the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) people even stood on the Kaaba and gave the 'adhaan' or the call to prayer. One may ask those who allege that Muslims worship the Kaaba; which idol worshipper stands on the idol he worships?

I can give you references from Hindu scriptures, instructing to worship unseen God.

1) "There is no image of Him" YajurVed 32:3

2) "He is bodyless and pure" Yajurved 40:8

3) " They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (air, water, fire). They sink deeper in darkness whose who worship sambuthi (creted things: furniture, idol, etc) Yajurved 40:16

4) "verily, surya , thou art great; truly, aditya, thou art great. As thou art great indeed thy greatness is admire: yea, verily, great art thou, O God". Atharva Veda samhiti vol 2 William Dmight Whitney pg 910)

5) "O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One." Rigveda Book 8:1:1

I hope you will learn about Islam. If Allah wishes you will find the truth.

May Allah helps us to learn and follow the truth (Amen).

Shaji

---

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".