Response to Mohammed

Submitted by Shazia Khanum (Canada), Sep 28, 2005 at 08:58

Mohammed wrote:

Based on the quran and hadith I was taught , you are going aginst islam's teaching and are thus an apostate. And according to hadith and quran (4.89) apostates must be killed.

My Response:

No, I am not. What we are taught is not necessarily based on the Qur`an. For example, the loving nature of God is not taught and God is presented as a moody tyrant. Respect for other religions is not necessarily taught especially in those countries that are created on the basis of religion and are not pluralistic.

For the punishment of apostasy, read the following book carefully:

http://www.islamicpluralism.org/texts/apostasy.htm

You'll see how this penalty was invented.

It is through examining the secondary sources of Islam IN LIGHT of the Qur`an are we now finding the erroneous beliefs and practices that have been integrated into the "mainstream" Islam.

We are all witnessing the destruction that this has caused.

In Sufi Islam, especially the Shadhili tariqah (path), love is most prominent. You may wish to read Ibn 'Ata Allah.

You may also wish to read Fethullah Gulen, especially this:

"Fethullah Gülen and the 'People of the Book'; A Voice from Turkey for Interfaith Dialogue", at http://en.fgulen.com/a.page/press/review/islam.in.the.contemporary.turkey.contributions.of.f.gulen/a2012.html

Mohammed, these days, the evildoers are making most of the noise. As a result, one needs to really pay attention to hear the voices of reason. Suspicions are deep and are next to impossible to remove these days since the jihadists are blowing themselves up killing innocent people, mostly other Muslims (like in Iraq). But there are those who are trying very hard to do positive things often risking their lives, e.g., those who have been working on the Iraqi constitution.

But we must keep our hopes for peace and mutual respect alive no matter how difficult it seems to obtain.

---

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".