your arrogance astounds me

Submitted by Abdul Rahman Reijerink (Australia), Jun 19, 2006 at 11:59

Your obsession with Baal is rather tedious. I mean really tedious.

I have read several translations of the Qur'an and many ahadith, and listened to what scholars say (far more important than just reading these things by yourself)....

I suggest that you read some modern muslim scholarship written by women and see what they have to say. They believe Islam liberates women (in a basically "western" feminist sense), and I am not talking apologetics here. They use a proper contextual tafsir which is something that is only about 15 years old. It takes into account the overall intent of the text to interpret its parts to minimise subjecting the text to our own biases (like the historical misogyny of many muslims which I have NEVER denied in my posts) by translating it piecemeal, which is what Allah talks about in the much touted Jews and Christians quotes about changing their texts relates to, ie something muslims do too and people who knock Islam like you in your christian supremecist arrogance. this refers to interpretation ("taking the words from their proper place" I believe is one common translation)and not just rewriting the text.

Classical arabic is a complex language not comparable to modern arabic so the knowledge of arabic that many knockers have is often irrelevant.

The Qur'an is not a patriarchal text that gives fathers authority over their children or husbands over their wives, it is authoritarian readings of the text that have done this, interestingly exacerbated by Christian converts bringing their own traditional understanding (which modern scholarship amongst christians has shown to be wrong including that of my Christian theology lecturers) of "bible based" gender relations into Islam in the early years when most traditional tafsir was fossilised and where it largely remains. It is a generally gender NEUTRAL text. The references which have been read to do these things (subject women to mens authority and permit violence) can be read in a better light, the qur'an enjoins us to take the better meaning, doing otherwise is following our own desires and listening to Satan and not guidance....qed.

There is a reason that most good scholars consider that you need at least TWENTY YEARS of formal training before you can give the kind of rulings your arrogant "source" has tried to do.

muslims are accused of being intolerant and claiming that our religion is better than everyone elses and everyone else will go to hell, this seems to describe you well "john" why can't you even use your real name? Followers of your religion generally see Jesus (AS) as the ONLY path to salvation, in Islam there are widely held opinions that Islam is just the best path but not the exclusive one. all that rubbish Islam haters tout about apes and swine (actually a reference to people who deny the sacred days due to God, not Christians and Jews as a whole therefor applicable to Muslims as well) and kaffirs in hell (Kaffirs must know the truth before they deny ie people who don't have the truth or a capacity for it cannot be Kuffar, which means to cover up the truth) etc ad nauseum with no understanding of proper context actually describes the stuff you spout. your Christianity seems hateful, I am glad that most christians that I know are nothing like you seem to be.

Its people like you that want to use nuclear weapons to bring on the holocaust and expect to be whipped up by Jesus (AS) in some premature rapture.

can't you just believe what you believe without being so ugly about it. We do ultimately worship the same creator whether you can accept it or not and I doubt that this type of conflict is pleasing to such a loving being. Surely a more noble path is to spread peace and find a common understanding, to focus rooting out the ugliness in peoples practise instead of claiming that only ugliness represents the others religion. I find the angle that people like you take is hopeless. You legitimate the sadists that exist in my religion (and yours) and delegitmate those of us who are reclaiming the beauty of it.... how worthy is that, just because you cannot accept that we may have some of the truth in recognising that God is one, loving etc...

What i believe is that there is only one God, that God sent us many prophets, in reward and punishment based on our actions and God's perfect Mercy, in the unseen and the day of Judgement and the unopposability of God's decree. This is what Muslims believe not all your clap trap that make you sound like some templar loving conspiracy nutcase.

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