reply to dianamoon

Submitted by tariq (Pakistan), Dec 31, 2005 at 04:29

"100 years ago, the word gay meant happy. it now means homosexual."

is tht the only meaning? cant it mean anything else?
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=gay
this page shows 7 entries for 'gay'
Second entry:
1 .Of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.
2. Showing or characterized by CHEERFULNESS and lighthearted excitement; MERRY.
3. Bright or lively, especially in color: a gay, sunny room.
4. Given to social pleasures.
5. Dissolute; licentious.

wen we talk about Islam it is understood tht we will use old arabic not the modern 1. besides if non arabic speakers choose to change the meaning of arabic words, tht does not mean the arabs must change their language as well.arabs still use jihad to mean striving. many muslims who use jihad as holy war are using jihad as striving for holy war.
but it doesnt matter wot arabic-speaking ppl do or non arabic-speaking ppl. the rules of Islam and the meaning of Quran and Hadith remains the same. they have for 1400 years.

"the word jihad had 3 primary meanings. one of them was to struggle inwardly, one meant to struggle in resisitance to outside temptation, and the last was to struggle violently against nonmuslims."

jihad literally means to strive. so a person who is striving, wether muslim or not is engaging in jihad. but in the islamic context it has been used to mention striving for the cause of islam.
and there are 5 ways to do it.
the first and the most important one is wot u call to struggle inwardly. its properly refered to as jihad bin nafs. it means to control ur unislamic desires. for eg a muslim may want to watch tv wen its time for prayers. if he prays then he has engaged in jihad.
this kind of jihad is the most important kind of jihad and prophet Mohammad (pbuh) referred to it as the greater jihad.
while jihad bin nafs is the greater jihad, jihad bis saif is the lesser jihad. it is also the last kind of jihad. it means to STRIVE TO DEFEND Islam or its followers. and there are man limits for eg While engaging in Jihad bis saif a muslim cant destroy plants or vegetation, cant kill old or weak, and cant demolish a place of worship(wether a mosque, temple or church). there a re 3 more types of jihad all more imporant than jihad bis saif

"but popular, contemporary meaning among THE MAJORITY OF MUSLIMS ON THIS EARTH TODAY, means violent struggle against nonmuslims."

Majority? did u count them all? they seem to be the majority because they have more coverage in the media than ppl like me who do know wot jihad is.for eg wen i was writing this comment only 50 ppl were online. wen bin laden wrongly uses jihad as holy war, millions or ppl hear him in one day. Also Ignorant muslims who use jiahd as an exuse for war make better news int the western media then ppl who speak the truth.

"words change meaning over time"
as i said before, the meaning of words in quran remain the same, this is y there is a little distinction between Quranic arabic and modern arabic.

" really does not matter what the exact definition of jihad is, Islam is an inherently violent religion. It was founded by a warlord, and uses violent conquest to overcome anyone who stands in it's way"
either u know perfectly well tht Islam is a religion of peace and yet u choose to lie, or u are just ignorant wen it comes to Islamic history
Islam was not found by a warlord and never did it alow for muslims to attack other ppl just for the sake of expanding

" Islam can not be seperated from violence."
ofcousre u cant. u cant seperate 2 things which can never mix.(eg Islam and voilence. another eg. oil and water)

"Even for a moderate Muslim like you..."
there is no such thiing as moderate muslim or extremist muslims. the type of ppl to whom u refer to as moderates ar actually the ppl who know wot islam is all about. and the ppl like bin laden to whom u call Islamic extremists are not muslims. nearly everything they strive for is is un islamic. yes thats right. STRIVE. Yheir Jihad(striving) is UnIslamic.

"more you delve into it, you would eventually feel obligated to take up arms."
are u sure? of so then like always u re wrong again. recently i hav become more islamic. thanks to ppl like u and mr x. ur lies encouragesd me to delve further in my religion and i discovered tht Islam shows the path of peace, justice and equality for all humans, wether man or woman, old or young, muslim or not, black brown or white.

"You would justify it by the fact that your Qu'uran allowed it because of the NUMEROUS surras allowing for warfare against unbelievers."
Well, wot do u do wen someone attacks ur country? u have to defend. so Quran allows muslims to take up arms and defend themselves. which religion teaches its followers not to take up arms no matter wot? besides muslims in the time of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) were told to take up arms after tolarating abuses and torture from the pagans of makkah for many years.

"This is really a ridiculous subject to be quibbling over"
ur opinions are all ridiculous. they are totally opposite to wot reality is.

"Actions speak louder than words"
wot if actions are haram in Islam? besides nothing speaks louder than Quran wen it comes to Islamic laws.

" Islam is a violent religion"
sweet dreams in ur fantasy world(or nightmares)

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