True Nature of Islam

Submitted by Shazia Khan (Canada), Sep 14, 2005 at 07:59

As a Sufi Muslim I would like to condemn the recent vandalism against Jewish holy sites in Gaza. There is no scriptual justification for it; on the contrary, the Qur`an enjoins the Muslims to preserve temples, synagogues and other places of worship and allow members of other faiths to freely practice their religions and even allow them to arbitrate using their own scriptures and religious laws.

The Qur`an tells us:

"Among the People of the Book are those who are upright in their belief; they recite the proofs of God throughout the night, and prostrate themselves in love of the Creator. They believe in God and the Last Day; they enjoin good and forbid evil; they are avid to do good, and they stand among the righteous." Qur`an 3:113-114.

There are other Muslims, like those who belong to the Center for Islamic Pluralism, who have also condemned these acts. Please see: http://www.islamicpluralism.org/news/againstsynagoguevandal.htm

Having said this, I realize that those who are bent on painting Islam as a religion of evil and ALL Muslims as evildoers, even though Islam and Muslims are not monolithic, will not be impressed by this condemnation nor will they believe it. They will certainly bring out other verses from the Qur`an saying, "What about this!?" without paying attention to the methodology that needs to be used to examine, interpret and apply these verses.

There is nothing we can do about them. God alone knows our inner secrets and we let Him judge us on the Day of Judgement.

We are told in the Qur`an: "Believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabaeans -- whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does what is right -- shall be rewarded by their Lord; they have nothing to fear or to regret." Qur`an 2:62

So we do not judge anyone and believe that the outer labels we have given to our paths are meaningless in the eyes of God.

Anyway, I hope that in the midst of an intense propaganda against Islam -- and not just Islamism, which I oppose -- ... these few words will have some positive meaning and effect.

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