"Reinterpreting the Qur'an"

Submitted by Lactantius Jr. (United Kingdom), Apr 25, 2007 at 11:48

Dear Moderate Muslim,

Thank you for offering to exchange email addresses privately, via DanielPipes.Org if that were possible, and in suggesting this, you highlight why you and I feel it necessary to conceal our true identities. I write as a deeply committed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was and is the Prince of Peace, and you write as a Muslim, who if you are to be obedient to the words spoken by Muhammad, the archetypal Islamic terrorist, are commanded by him and by the Qur'an he recited, to follow him, his teaching and his example. Muhammad spoke the following words during his last sermon on 7th.March 632AD in Mecca:- "I am leaving you with the Book of Allah (the QUR'AN), and my SUNNAH (the life style and the behavioural mode of the Prophet), if you follow them you will never go astray."

With the Qur'an saying:- "Ye have indeed in the Apostle of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah." Surah 33:21 (Abdullah Yusuf Ali) "And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character." Surah 68:4 (Hilali-Khan) And what was "the lifestyle and behavioural mode" of the prophet of Islam? what did he say and do? what pattern of behaviour did he leave for Muslims to emulate? "I have been made victorious with terror" (Sahi Bukhari V4B52N220) "I shall terrorise the infidels. So wound their bodies and incapacitate them, because they oppose Allah and his apostle." (Qur'an 8:12) "Killing unbelievers is a small matter to us" ( al-Tabari IX:69) "Paradise lies under the shade of swords" (Sahi Bukhari V4B5N73) "The believers fight in Allah's cause, they slay and are slain, kill and are killed" (Qur'an 9:111) "Muhammad said, ‘You are commanded to carry out jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam' " (Qur'an 47:4) "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." (Qur'an 9:5)

I really do believe that the majority of Muslims live very much better lives than Muhammad himself lived, and this results not from following his teaching and his example, but by disobeying it, if indeed they are aware of it, which is why I shall continue to critique Islam from its own most authoritative records, seeking to have it brought into the public square, where it is available to everybody with Internet access, rather than you and I exchanging emails privately, and I ask that you seek to do likewise, publishing your "theoretical framework on reinterpreting the Qur'an" in the public square. Absolutely central to world peace, is the issue of peace and violence in Christianity and Islam, and whilst violent jihad is nowhere commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ of His followers, and whilst they can find no support or warrant for it in either Old or New Testaments, the Muslim can find ample support and mandate for the use of jihad against kafirun, and although the distinction between the greater and lesser jihads is based on a weak hadith.

the greater jihad won't threaten state security or my life, but the lesser jihad most certainly will, which is why I write under the protective pseudonym of Lactantius Jr. (the original Lactantius being Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius, a Christian apologist of the 4th. Century AD) Surah 9 is the last Surah to be revealed in its entirety, with aya 29 being a war proclamation that has never been cancelled.

No passage comes after it that can cancel or abrogate it, and I recommend you look at Revd.Richard Baileys 26 page study of what the Qur'an and Sahi Hadith have to say about jihad, it is titled, "Jihad The Teachings of Islam From Its Primary Sources-The Quran And Hadith" posted at:- http://www.answering-islam.org.uk/Bailey/jihad.html If you really believe the verses on warfare have been cancelled, and that influential Islamic clerics will be persuaded by "good ideas instead of bad ideas," then please "go public," writing articles, speaking from platforms and seek to persuade the Islamists.

However, they believe they know their Qur'an and will disagree with you, are you willing to risk your life on the time-specificity of the verses? I now mention the recorded utterances of 2 prominent Islamic clerics, Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, and Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi about "true Muslims" and apostates from Islam, and how they should be treated. Al Fawzan is a member of the Senior Council of Clerics, Saudi Arabia's highest religious body, with his religious books being used to teach 5 million Saudi students, both within the country and abroad, including the United States, with his best-known textbook, "Al-Tawheed – Monotheism," saying most Muslims are polytheists, and their blood and money are therefore free for the taking by "true Muslims." He is a member of the Council of Religious Edicts and Research, the Imam of Prince Mitaeb Mosque in Riyadh, and a professor at Imam Mohamed Bin Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia's main center of learning for the strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam.

Al-Fawzan has threatened to behead a Saudi writer and scholar, Sheik Hassan Al-Maliki, for his criticism of Wahhabism, according to the independent Saud Information authority the SIA. Al-Maliki was fired from his position with the ministry of education after writing a 50- page paper criticizing Al-Fawzan's book "Al-Tawheed." Going public with your "theoretical framework on reinterpreting the Qur'an" would undoubtedly have Al-Fawzan and others such as Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, a popular Pakistani writer on Islam and Islamic law, declaring you an apostate from Islam, and what does Islam prescribe for apostates?

In his book The Penal Law of Islam Siddiqui claims that: ". . . the sayings and doings of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the decision and practice of the Caliph Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him), the consensus of the opinion of the Companions of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and all the later Muslim jurists, and even certain verses of the Holy Qur'an all prescribe capital punishment for an apostate." [Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, The Penal Law of Islam, (Lahore: Kazi Publications, 1979) p. 97] In several verses Siddiqui makes it clear that apostates will be severely punished in the other world. "Anyone who after accepting faith in Allah utters unbelief except under Compulsion …. Allah will not guide those who reject faith. Without doubt, in the hereafter they will perish."

Surah 16:106-107, 109 Sura 3: 86-91 emphasizes that on apostates rests "the curse of Allah, of His angels and of all mankind." And their penalty will not be lightened. Then adds: "But those who reject faith after they accepted it and then go on adding to their defiance of faith never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray. As to those who reject faith and die rejecting never would be accepted from any such as much gold as the earth contains, though they should offer it for ransom. For such is (in store) a penalty grievous and they will find no helpers." Surah 3:90-91 And these penalties are not limited to the other world. Muhammad ordering:- "if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them, Surah 4:89

If you really believe the verses on warfare against "infidels" and killing "apostates from Islam" have been cancelled, and that influential Islamic clerics like Al-Fawzan and Siddiqui will be persuaded by "good ideas instead of bad ideas," then please "go public," writing articles, speaking from plaforms and persuade the Islamists. However, they believe they know their Qur'an and will disagree with you, are you willing to risk your life on the time-specificity of the verses?

You say that "Ultimately one has to believe that there is a struggle to persuade the hearts and minds of people, and that a good idea will defeat a bad idea," and my heart and mind is indeed fully persuaded, not that good ideas will defeat bad ideas, (who decides what's good and what's bad?) but that Jesus, Who is God, will defeat every adversary when He returns. On His first visit He demonstrated He could do it, and He promises that on His return, He will do it. Now there's a sure and certain hope for the future, not that "good ideas will defeat bad ideas." With kind regards Lactantius Jr. "For I know Him who I have believed in, and am fully persuaded He can take care of what He's trusted me to do, right to the end." 2 Timothy 1:12-13

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