Some cause for pause here, Moshe

Submitted by Nabil Ahmad (United States), Sep 12, 2006 at 17:29

"Well, let me just stick my head in the sand, ignore everything, and let me prove to the world that in spite of all Islam is not worse than any other religion."

Like I told you before, Moshe, I'm not trying to prove anything. All I've done is state what my own beliefs are. And I know where the fanatics among Muslims get their ideology from. They follow a twisted, selective interpretation of the Qur'an (I've read the entire English translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pikhthall more than once).

There's nothing wrong with the Qur'an. Violent verses are present in the Bible as well. And I know that there is a disproportionately high number of international terrorists who claim to be Muslim and sincerely believe that they're doing God's work. What they've completely ignored in the Qur'an are verses that could be used to condemn them, which they dismiss as "abrogated verses" which is a load of ignorant rubbish. Ignorance, hatred and religious fanaticism make for a dangerous mixture. Zealotry among the Jews of Judea led to civil war among the Jewish people there during their revolt against the Romans which then ultimately led to their massacre and exile by the Roman legions.

the murderous actions and fanatic hatred of your brothers in faith scares me…. And it should scare you too as well.

They don't scare me anymore. I know what they're like and have known about their atrocities over many years. But I'm really tired of them. Like I said before, I'd rather die than join them. Enough's enough...they've been starting wars across the world for decades, which is in itself a violation of Islam. And the Qur'an clearly commands Muslims to fight fellow Muslims who do wrong. They've been doing wrong for years, and it's about time that the fight was taken to them. And I just wish that left-wing, anti-West journalists would be a bit more forthcoming about their hatred of the West in general and the USA in particular.

Nabil, now let me ask you, why are you not joining a mosque where there are more people sharing your enlightened views? Do you mean to tell me that there is no such mosque in your area? Well, that's exactly what I myself was suspecting. I am suspecting moreover that even outside your neighborhood you will not be able to find such a mosque. If you happen to chance upon such a mosque anywhere on this earth, please let me know!

Unfortunately, there's only one mosque around here that is within close driving distance of where I work. Fortunately, I have come across a number of individuals who attend it who are more enlightened than most, and we often get together during the month of Ramadan to discuss our views. And the imam isn't too bad...he usually does his best to avoid controversy. Things were much worse between 2001 and 2003 around here before the current imam joined it, but even then, I may have my disagreements with him, but that's a given. And we have had a couple of pro-US people come in give the Friday sermon. Nonetheless, to me, the Mosque is simply a house of prayer and congregation, not a place for politics and ideology which need to be kept out, along with organizations that sympathize with extremists. As Muslims, we need to be loyal through and through to the country that we freely chose to live in.

I don't believe Islam is at war with the West any more than guns are the cause of crimes in inner cities here in the USA. The people who want the West subjugated among Muslims are driven by ideology, hatred and ignorance. They have a lot in common with leftsist groups that proliferated Japan, Western Europe, Central and South America during the Cold War.

And make no mistake: THIS EXPANSIONIST JIHADIC AGENDA IS THE ONLY THING WHICH REALLY THREATENS TO DESTROY THE ISLAM.

I agree...and that scares me. Islam has come close to being destroyed many times before but always managed to survive. The biggest enemies of Islam live not in the West but in the East, among the masses of ignorant people in Third World countries where anti-semitism and anti-modernism seem to have taken firm root. Perhaps Islam will survive, but not without Muslims paying a terrible price for having violated and flouted God's commandments in the name of political expediency.

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