What are Islamic Values?

Recently, Afghani TV host Shaima Rezayee was found shot to death in her home after complaints by conservative Muslims, both leaders and laity, due to her adoption of Western-style dress (no headscarves) and position on a modern, popular culture show called "Hop". Apparently, she was murdered by Muslims who disagreed with her show. In effect, Islamic scholars condemned her show, saying that it was "contrary to Islamic values."

But within the last month as well, before (and not connected with Rezayee's death), the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) began broadcasting a commercial saying the Islam supports Western values. In fact, it has a white man, a hispanic woman, and a black man, all who profess to be Muslims, suggest that Islam supports Western culture and society.

This raises an interesting question- What are Islamic Values? I don't mean the individual values adhered to by a particular person, but rather I speak of the global picture. If I were to pick up a copy of the Koran and the Muslim Hadeeth (a series of "non-inspired" (from Allah) statements by Mohammed), what would they suggest about what Islam?

To do this, I pulled some familiar sayings from the Koran. Placing them in HISTORICAL ORDER (I will give approximate dates), I found the following:

ON FORGIVNESS:
Time: 616-621 AD
"We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them save with truth, and lo! The hour is coming. So forgive (O Mohammed), with a gravious forgiveness -Surah 15:85

Time: 628-629 AD
"O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be hearsh with them. Their ultimate abode is Hell, a hapless journey's end" - Surah 9:73


ON SAVING
Time: 617-618 AD
"Lo! Those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Sabeans, and Christians- Whosoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right- there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve: -Surah 5:69

Time: 626-627 AD
"And whosoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted, and he will be a loser in the Hereafter"- Surah 3:85

Time: 628-629 AD
"Verily, those who disbelieve in the religion of Islam, the Koran, and the Prophet Mohammed from among the Christians and Jews (Arabic "people of the book") and the Polytheists will abode in the Fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures"- Surah 98:6


Well, from these basic statements alone (I don't wish to quote endlessly), one can see that the Koran is immediately contradictory unto itself. It seems as thought the values of the religion actually changed over time. However, one should wonder that the later the revelations became in Mohammed's life, the more violent and dispising of non-Muslims they became.

So, for values, we have one already: Orthodox Islam seems to be intolerant of other religions on a religious basis.

Second, consider the development of terrorism. In 1927, the Islamic Brotherhood (Arabic: Ikhwan al-Muslimun) was founded in Egypt to combat the English presence in the Middle East. Prior to this, in the early 1800's a gentleman by the name of Mohammed Ibn Wahab founded an extreme religous movement in Saudi Arabia known as Wahabbiism, which supports a literal reading of the Koran, a return to Orthodox Islam, the destruction of all non-Muslim ideas and values, and (basically) a return to the 8th century of Arabia.

The Wahabbi's control Saudi Arabia, as their leaders are Wahabbi's themselves. Saudi Arabia was rated last week as the worst nation for women's rights, and continues to face criticism for torture, murder, and expulsion of Christians and Jews (it's illegal to convert or be a religion other than Islam in Saudi Arabia if you are a citizen; travelers and seasonal labourers are exempt).

Today, the Muslim Brotherhood is still alive in numerous forms, including the group al-Qaida. A few days ago, Egyptian police arrested seven Brotherhood leaders, but there still are many in the Arabian world.

So, for a second option, we can see that a wholesale rejection and destruction of all non-Muslim values and ideas are a part of the modern values held by certain groups.

Finally, I will draw off a personal experience to explain the last reason, and that is the willing exploitation of Western Values by these same fanatical Muslims, who use them for their own benefit and then backstab those who provided the services.

Again, turn to Saudi Arabia. In that nation, women aren't allowed an education after eigth grade. Furthermore, Muslim women in Saudi Arabia are forbidden to leave the house (in unmarried) unless their entire body except the face is veiled. After marriage, the woman is forbidden to leave the home unless accompanied by another male relative, must veil herself fully (except for the eyes), and is in many cases subjected to the mercy of her husband.

Last year, I worked a job as a janitor at a rich girl's private school. In one particular room which I was assigned to clean (it was a mess, by the way) was actually the daugher of the Head of the Saudi Arabian Education Ministry (no joke)!

In her room, she was dressed fully in Western Clothing (like any American girl), had an array of shampoos and perfumes to make a skunk blush, and tons of skimpy (low-cut, hip-hugger, two-piece) outfits strewn about the floor of her room. I saw nothing Islamic or even Muslim for that matter in her room.

It was then that it hit me- this is a big lie.

We have heard about bigotry and prejudice against non-Muslims in the Koran. We have seen the development of fanaticism by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Wahabbis. But this was the smoking gun- these same people who support terrorism in the name of God and are attempting to alter Western and World history by fashioning it into an Islamic state are more than fanatics, but exploiting the good which Western Society has created for everybody, trying to take it for themselves at the expense of others.

I cannot speak for what is happening, but I pray that we have the strength and the courage to stand up and defend what is right by showing what modern values of Islam really are:
-Prejudice against non-Muslims (in contrast to Western pluralism and tolerance)
-Fanaticism against progress and a rebellions (in contrast to progress and growth)
-Exploitation of others for gain (in contrast to love and working with each other)

I don't dare speak for God, but I pray that through this writing I speak the truth about what I see happening. If I have erred, than I humbly and with deep shame take back any error which I have made. Amen.

The Justification of Hypocrisy

It's been almost a week now, and fanatical Muslim protesters are still ranting about the alleged destruction of the Koran report from Newsweek magazine all around the world.

By this point, I think that everybody is sick and tired of hearing about this incident. Aside from the fact that there is NO PROOF WHATSOEVER that US Soldiers ripped up a Koran (as both the American Government and Newsweek have mutually stated numerous times), there's new evidence emerging that seems to say the opposite: That in fact, Muslims in these US Military Prisons have actually been destroying their own Korans! Quote from MSNBC today (Sunday, 22 May):

According to Di Rita, when the first prisons were built for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo in early 2002, prison guards were instructed to respect the detainees' religious rituals. The prisoners were given Qur'ans, which they hung from the walls of their cells in cotton surgical masks provided by the prison. Log entries by the guards indicate that in about a dozen cases, the detainees themselves somehow damaged their Qur'ans. In one case a prisoner allegedly ripped up a Qur'an; in another a prisoner tore the cover off his Qur'an. In three cases, detainees tried to stuff pages from their Qur'ans down their toilets, according to the Defense Department's account of what is in the guards' reports. (NEWSWEEK was not permitted to see the log items.) The log entries do not indicate why the detainees might have done this, said Di Rita, and prison commanders concluded that certain hard-core prisoners would try to agitate the other detainees by alleging disrespect for Muslim articles of faith.

My friends, disrespecting the Koran on account of religious hatred is intolerable. However, the same applies to disrespecting the Bible or the Torah as well. If this report is true, that these prisoners were ripping up and destroying their own Holy book by themeselves, that who is to believe who? Shouldn't all of these Muslim protesters turn against these people, who (according to thier views would have) betrayed the relgion of Islam and God as well?

But no, they will not mention this. Rather, the hypocrisy of this situation is clear. They will continue to argue, saying that America is responsible and should pay for this, with or without evidence, while they continue to preach hate against Christians, Jews, and non-Abrahamic religions (Hindus, Buddhists, etc.) in the name of God, all the while it was (according to the report) at least in enough instances they who were the ones ripping up their own Koran and flushing it down the toilet.

The Myth of Islamic Tolerance, Part I

Last semester, I took a class at my University about Jewish Philosophy, Religion and Culture. The course, taught by a secular Jewish Professor from Israel visiting for the semester, was intended to cover and discuss the relationship of Jews to the Christian and Muslim worlds over the centures after this diaspora of 70 AD (when the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple) up through the Holocaust and to the present day of Israel.

Before I make my next statement, I want everybody to know that I have nothing against Jews at all. My girlfriend is Jewish, and without Judaism to support the faith, Christianity wouldn't exist.

However, what bothered me about this professor (I'll call him Dr. Goldman- not his real name, however) was that Dr. Goldman inferred in his class that the Muslim world wasn't only welcoming to Jews while the Christian world was hostile, but that the Christian world was DIRECLTLY RESPONSIBLE for the Holocaust!

You heard right- the problem with Christianity was that it lead to the Holocaust. He actually had the nerve to make such a bigoted, prejudiced statement- to blame the death of not just 6 million Jews, but AT LEAST 30 million Orthodox Christians and 10 million Catholics on the fatih that held Europe together for 1500 years and still connected for another 415 (until World War I).

But according to Dr. Goldman, the Islamic world was like (from his reasoning) a heaven for Jews for hundreds of years. According to his reasoning, the Islamic world only turned against Jews when (you guess it!) Christian missionaries came into Middle East and began to, as he claims, incite nationalist movements, which made the Muslims hate Jews up until even today.

Following Dr. Goldman's self-proclaiming secular logic (he's a non-practicing Jew), all of the world's problems are because of Christians. He even inferred (although never said directly) that if Christianity never existed, the Jew would be a whole lot better off today. On the other hand, the Islamic world (as he described it) was the perfect place for Jews, and once all of the current problems between Muslims and Jews are worked out, it will be great again.

My friends, Dr. Goldman is but one of a few men who believe this lie and distortion of the facts- that Christianity is all bad. The truth is that without Christianity, the world as we know it couldn't exist and would most likely be still in the dark ages.

Over the next several blog essays, I will attempt to convince you, my reader, that this "Islamic Tolerance" idea isn't only false, but a blatant distortion of history. In fact, contrary to Dr. Goldman's views, it was Europeans who borrowed certain ideas from Muslims about discrimination!

In fact, despite the faults of mideveal Christian Europe, Islamic society was awful for both the Christian and the Jew. These next few entries will attempt to provde elementary, but fundmental logic as to why this is the case.

Tune into the next several days for a series of arguments coming up.

Intolerance is inexcusable, period.

For this past week ever since Newsweek broke the story about alleged desecration of the Koran, Muslims around the world have been up in arms protesting. The latest one was in Great Britain outside the US embassy, where protesters shouted "9/11 Again", "Your so-called democracy will fall under the sword of Allah," and burned an effigy of Tony Blair on a Cross. For those who want to read the whole text of the article, you can find it here

The Council of American Islamic Affairs website said nothing about the protests. However, CAIR was more concerned with pushing an amendment to condemn any desecration of the Koran. However, my only question is, if those protesters in Britain burned an effigy of the Cross with Tony Blair on it, where are all the massive Christian protests and riot about desecration of their faith?

And even then, where's the Koran that got thrown into the toilet? There's no proof that it even happened. In fact, the US government even provided Korans to prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay camps. If our tax dollars are going to pay for giving Korans to terrorists or people who want to destroy Western Society, what right to they have to complain?

The fact is, this was just a minor protest on the surface. However, it's just the surface level of a much uglier root system of fundamentalism, intolerance, and religion-justified hate. There's no excuse for what happened today in Britain, and we cannot afford to sit back and let these people try to influence our politics by force of arms and fear.