quaint customs

Submitted by the Grand Infide of Kaffiristan (Australia), Oct 8, 2010 at 06:05

Customs, reflect a way of life and not necessarily religion."

My point exactly.Of course not all weird customs are practiced solely by muslms - but the great majorty are.

"Take the case of female circumcision as practiced in some African Muslim societies."

Ooops - there you go again - obfuscating the truth. FMG is practiced almost exclusively by
northern african muslim societies and in the muslim Middle East.

" This is peculiar to them and Islam does not sanction it or asks this of us."
Obviously you've picked up on the point that it's not quite cool any more to be cutting women's genitals
and appreciate how abhorrent westerners find this practice. But it must be very confusing for many muslims seeing that it is still practised by muslims who have moved to Dar al Harb to live alongside infidels

I say confusing because after all, even old Mo wasn't entirely against the idea:

"'Um Atiyyat al-Ansariyyah said: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina.
The Prophet (pbuh) said to her: Do not cut too severely as that is better for a
woman and more desirable for a husband'." 1,8"

and various fatwahs and edicts from learned 'gentlemen such as the following arise from time to time:

1981-JAN-29: The Great Sheikh of Al-Azhar (the most famous University of the Islamic World)
stated that parents must follow the lessons of Mohammed and not listen to medical authorities
because the latter often change their minds. Parents must do their duty and have their daughters circumcised.

It is a particular area and its local customs. Or the case of foot binding in China that has now ended..
It is essentially Chinese.

we should be talking about customs that are still current - wearing burkahs as a demonstration of islamic identity - or stoning maybe - a 'custom' only practiced in the muslim world. Or whippings - or limb amputations used as a judical remedy. How about plain old hanging for non-capital 'crimes'?

"We in the world of Islam are holding up mirrors to ourselves and some antiquated legal interpretations
and ways of doing things. "
Antiquated when compared to what ? Surely you don't mean what's happening in the world of the Infidel?
We are of course seeing the wonderful effects of muslim mirror holding.
Even in your own country we notice the astonishing rise of those paragons of mercy,
compassion , enlightenment and tolerance - the Taliban.

'.......This is one of the reasons that he Al-Qaeda's ranks have not swollen into millions.'
The other reason might be that the biological drive for self-preservation has overridden the desire to
kill or be killed for what in the end is just a set of beliefs in an individuals' mind..
Beliefs which change over time and can be changed. Hardly something worth dying for.

'.....Out of some 1.25 Billion Muslims,there are a few radicalized Muslims who probably don't number
in tens of thousands whereas most Muslims are quite willing to live and let live.'

Pathological mental illness affects over one percent of all societies.
Muslim s are especially behind the 8-ball - because quite apart from
immersing themselves in a fantasy 7th century middle eastern millieu - complete with the belief in buraqs, djinns, 'the child- marrying 'prophet', infidels, muslim superiority - the muslim world is highly illiterate.

All these factors will push the tendency to extremism and psychotic behaviour well past the 1% figure - and with a lack of diagnosis and no access to treatment - even 1% of 1.25 billion is 12.5 million individuals.

If there is an undercurrent of support at the exploits of Al-Qaeda or deep anti western
sentiment prevailing in the Muslim world, it is because we have been relegated to a second
class citizen status.

'self-relegated' though. Sorry - can't play the victim on this one.
Also - socially and technologically - the muslim world is seen as having
little to offer. Muslims in western countries are not treated as second class citizens
as we have laws that treat citizens similarly independent of race and creed. But the converse is not true. Non-muslims are actively persecuted in Egypt, Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Niger, many oarts of northern Africa. Chechnya etc etc etc

"...This is because of the attitudes of the West towards us and not because of what Al-Qaeda is doing in the name of Islam."
Now why on earth would the West single out muslims for special treatment? Any ideas?
Have they singled out japanese shinto buddhists? Or Chinese Taoists? Could it possibly have anything to do with muslims in their imagined superiority as 'the best of people ' looking down their noses at the rest if the world ?? Why be concerned with what the west thinks? Is this just a projection of collective ego? A need to base one's self worth on what others think? Or is it a massive sense of entitlement; You want everybody else to hold yourselves in the same esteem you hold yourselves?

Instead of holding up a mirror to us, may I suggest a line from a Credence Clearwater Revival song.
from the late1960s and early 1970s it goes something like this "Before you kill me take a good look at yourself."

No need to waste our lives fomenting a desire to kill other people - that's quite sick. But if there are people
desiring to harm western societies/European ( including Russian here) it is the right and duty of agencies of those societies to deal harshly with those individuals and groups. Do you not agree?

Basically, the islamic world is an irrelevancy to western societies - what goes on in the muslim world does not directly affect the lives of individuals in western countries. Muslims can can have it if they are happy with it.
Obviously many are not - hence the flood to western countries.
One of the great things about the west is the freedom to say and do and think as we like.
We can freely and openly criticise whatever we please. No one gets killed for doing so, no buildings
are burnt down by frothing at the mouth apopleptic fanatics. The press and media are continually making us evaluate our lives and beliefs. Sort of an existential winnowing. Something that would be very destabilising in traditional musli cultures - more content to accept that whatever happens is the 'will of Allah.

So if anyone needs a mirror - it is the muslim world. And it is getting it whether it likes it or not.

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