context

Submitted by Reader (United States), Jan 10, 2006 at 00:11

You have to read up on the context behind the Koranic militaristic verses. Relying on the statements of terrorists will only lead to an interpretation that the terrorists believed in. The majority of Muslims understand what was meant by the verses - not conversion of other people, but there were instructions in specific situations when wars were going between the pagans and the first muslim generation.

If Muslims were to follow the interpretation you are quoting, a majority of them would have been hostile to the West, for instance. They are not.

Only a small minority that is equally ignorant and unintellectual believes in the meaning you are quoting (or believing). While you use Arabic words and references to Koran, more research is required regarding what Muslims have always believed.

While I'm at it - there were actually Sufi warriors as well who participated in the crusades. But everyone understands the Jihad to be a very different thing than what a terrorist or a newcomer does.

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