response to Boris Gorbis from Sajjad
Here is a response to Boris Gorbis' article from Sajjad, presumably a Muslim reader of rubyjewsday. Is there anyone out there with knowledge of Islam who would want to dispute anything Sajjad writes here?The simplicity of Mr. Gorbis comments regarding the worldview of Muslims belies an unfortunate ignorance that is pervasive in the minds of many. This ignorance is guided by political views and agendas rather than a sound knowledge of scriptural sources.
In Islam too all life on earth is seen as sacred. In the Qur'an (the sacred book of Muslims) we read that taking the life of one person is as if all of humanity has been killed while saving a life is as if all of humanity was saved. God himself says that he has made every life sacred in Chapter 17 of the Qur'an. In regards to the personal autonomy and responsibility each person has for his/her own actions Muslims believe that no soul can bear the burden of another.
On the issue of spiritual and physical uncleanliness it would be interesting to find the sources Mr. Gorbis found this information from. From a theological standpoint - nowhere in the Qur'an do we read anything whatsoever about any form of uncleanliness for Non-Muslims. In fact Muslims are taught to live with people of all faiths and creeds in peace and harmony. Nor are Muslims taught to forcibly convert or annihilate anyone. The latter can be drawn from the verses that speak to each life being sacred. The former issue of conversion is amply proven in the verse of the Qur'an which simply says "There shall be no compulsion in religion." Every human being is free to believe as he/she chooses.
In fact, it would be useful in this particular case to keep in mind that the Qur'an mentions the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) more times than it mentions the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The spiritual pedigree of the Children of Israel is the topic of discussion in a large portion of the Qur'an as the tests/successes/trials of the Children of Israel are discussed. Muslims revere the Prophets Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Solomon, Moses, and so many others (peace be upon them all). With this kind of honor and respect given to them how can Muslims see Jews as unclean in any form?
posted by Walter @ 2:20 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
The concept of Doublethink is not limited to 1984. Doublethink is what allowed good Catholics to go on Crusades, good Protestants to hang witches, and good Muslims to lob missiles at Sderot -- in spite of all the injunctions to the contrary in all relevant scriptures. I am excluding Judaism from the discussion because of Leviticus and Deuteronomy: I actually think we behave, by and large, BETTER than Torah tells us to behave -- and the nightmare scenario for the Middle East and the rest of the world is an Israel that actually follows the Old Testament.
Read Ahmadinejad's latest rant just now. A brilliant translation of one of Hitler's speeches -- the one where he says he has no interest in Poland. Not bad for a guy with a degree in traffic management.
Has it occurred to anyone that Islam per se is very much a side issue here? Osama is an engineer. He looks at the Western world as a humongous demolition project. Al-Zawahiri is a surgeon. He sees Westernism as a disease epidemic to be stopped. Westernism isn't what we call "democracy" or "freedom". Westernism is the propensity for shifting policies and shifting laws, promulgated on the spur of the moment by people whose only qualification is being liked by the hoi-polloi, enforced without regard for their wisdom or consideration of the result of their application. That's what they see -- and no wonder the West looks to them like a colossus with clay feet. What they don't see is lots of people doing the right thing without regard for law, which is why Osama and Ayman are still sitting in a cave somewhere, dreaming of a world where books that confirm the Koran are superfluous and those that contradict it are sacrilegious and the law, good or bad, does not change.
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