The State of Today's Muslims: Reasoning

RaY-ZoR — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:39:44 EST

A religion should not be judged by its followers, but by its preaching and its values. In today's world, people believe Islam preaches violence, intolerance and hatred towards people of other beliefs. I am going to endeavor to rebut their misconceptions through a historical journey of the Islamic empire.

The word Islam has its roots in the word "Salam", which means peace. Once again, a population of 1 Billion plus people can not be bundled up under the title of terrorism, judging by the acts of a small number of people. In order to understand the violent nature of certain Muslims, one must rationally approach the reasoning behind their reactions. One must understand what it is that has separated the so-called "Islamic Nations" from each other, despite the fact that Islam emphasizes heavily on unity.

When Muhammad (PBUH) passed away, the Islamic empire, which was at that point mostly centered around Arabia, began to fall apart. It was the power of his message that kept the Arab tribes together, who for generations associated their religious beliefs with Idols.

At one point after the Prophet's death, the Islamic Empire stretched from Jerusalem to as far as the borders of China, and from the shores of the Iberian Peninsula, down to Egypt. Some of the greatest scientific achievements were made by Muslim and non-Muslim scholars who resided within this very empire. In fact, the Jews achieved their golden era within these very lands. The Jews and Muslims have always had an unannounced friendship, but it has only been in recent times that this bond has been severed, and that too by malignant political propaganda.

The famous explorer Avicenna was actually Muslim, and his name is Ibn Sina. Muslim explorers had landed in America about 500 years before Columbus set his foot on the "New land". The world "Algorithm" is a latinized form of an Islamic scholar named Al-Khawarizmi, from the city of Khawarizm. Algebra is a latinized form of the word: "Al-Kitab Al-Muhtasar fi hisab Al-Gabr wal-Muqabala". The title translates to "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion (Reduction, in other translations) and Balancing". He is also responsible for either inventing the zero, or bringing out the importance of it to the known world by working on Indian and Hebrew mathematics.

In addition, the father of Chemistry, Gerber was actually Jaber Ibn-Hayyan, who studied between 5 - 7 different fields of study, and propagated the fundamentals of alchemy, pharmacy, philosophy, astronomy and physics to a new level, along with important inventions and discoveries.

The Islamic world was home to some of the greatest philosphers of all time, who studied Greek philosophy in great detail, and advanced it further, always giving the author its credit, something that has not been the case when it comes to Muslims being given the credit for their contributions to the world today. Famous Islamic philosphers include: Ibn Rush (Averroes), Al-Farabi, AlGazel (Al-Ghazali), Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Ibn Arabi, and the list goes on.

One thing that was common to these individuals was that they held their religion in high regard, and always relied to God to guide them. They never crossed the boundaries of morality or religion, and stuck to their paths.

All this, of course, was abolished, and burnt to the ground with the invasion of the Christian crusaders that was sanctioned by the Papacy itself! The Christians were hell-bent on capturing the Hold Land of Jerusalem through a military venture against the Jews and the Muslims in that region. In addition, the hordes of Gengis Khan, which were proceeded further by his grandson, Hulagu khan, who exterminated entire dynasties, states and caliphites. His armies raped, pillaged, and incinerated libraries, places of worship and academic structures to the ground without a shred of mercy.

The greatest capital of culture, literacy, arts, philosophy, etc was obliterated by Hulagu Khan, and later, his people converted to the very same religion whose empire they collapsed.

From that point on the Christian crusaders conquered Islamic lands, followed by the emergence of the colonialists who further carved up the Muslim lands in to different states, which later gained independence, only to be recognized as autonomous nations. This systematic division and the elimination of a glorious empire is what has angered today's scholars and preachers, some of who are not entirely educated in religion itself to comprehend the true message of Islam. The golden era of literacy, discoveries, inventions, and progression was forever halted by the sword of the Mongols and the Christians.

These so-called preachers systematically select portions of the Qur'an that deal with war and defense of one's lands and use them to create a message of death and destruction through aggression, which is tantamount to the message delivered by the Papacy during the Christian crusades. Using the common logic that Islam preaches violence, it can be said that Christianity is a religion of hatred, intolerance and militancy because it was the invasion of the crusades and the bloody Spanish inquisition that is responsible for the state of the Muslims today; and in fact also in a profound way responsible for their violent attitudes today.

Such hasty generalizations and faltered logic are the reason behind today's misinterpretation of Islam and its message. This generalization of a population of nearly a sixth of the entire world is fundamentally erroneous, and should be abandoned. Unfortunately, the golden ages of education and literacy never blossomed again after the European renaissance of arts, science and culture, which was preceded by the Dark Ages of Europe. It was an era of ignorance, hatred, intolerance, and violence, which seems to have besieged the mentality of many people today.

Danish Cartoon Controversy: A Muslim's Perspective

RaY-ZoR — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:13:17 EST

In September 2005, Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of highly provocative caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him -- P.B.U.H.), which caused a furor amongst Muslims around the globe. There were massive protests and rallies, some peaceful, some violent, where people took to the streets to demonstrate their discontent with the publication.

Before the issue is addressed, it is imperative to understand first what the word "religion" means to Muslims, in contrast to its perception by people of other faiths.

Islam is more than just a religion in that it is a set of rules outlining the code of life for its followers. Islam sets out certain guidelines, a moral code and the emphasis in the existence of one God. In short, it is "a way of life" for Muslims to abide by, just as the constitution and the judicial laws are for citizens of a nation to respect and follow.

Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) is the central figure in Islam, as is Jesus Christ (P.B.U.H.) in Christianity. The difference is Christians consider Jesus (P.B.U.H.) as the son of God, whereas Muslims consider Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) as a simple and modest human being who laid out the foundation of Islam through his generous, modest, peaceful, honest and merciful nature; a paradigm that has been in several volumes, known as the "Ahadith," or "Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.)."

He is also credited for relaying God's message in the form of what Muslims today regard as their book of guidance, the Quran.

In my personal view, the reactions to the cartoons in certain instances were propelled to an exaggerated state, and violence was most certainly unwarranted. However, it is absolutely rational for Muslims to show their protest using economics, diplomacy and peaceful rallies.

The right to freedom of speech should not be exploited to serve malignant propaganda. There should be a distinguishing line between what should and should not be morally and socially acceptable.

As United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan wisely said, "I also respect the right of freedom of speech. But of course, freedom of speech is never absolute. It entails responsibility and judgment."

In seven European nations, denying the occurrence of the Holocaust is punishable by law. Any public display or mockery of Jews or the Holocaust is severely reprimanded by the media. In fact, when Prince Harry donned a Nazi costume at a fancy dress party, he was reported to the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons.

However, defaming Islam and its distinguished icons unfortunately falls under the umbrella of freedom of speech. Just as the Jews were persecuted and killed during the Holocaust, millions of Muslims died during the invasion of the barbaric crusaders, the invasion of the Mongols and during various wars with European colonialists, defending their religion and their lands.

These people died to defend their faith, their families and a message the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) delivered to them. Do you not believe the dignity of this peace-loving man is valuable to Muslims? Where is the justice, I ask?

Let us all join hands and work together toward achieving global peace and tolerance, which is exactly what Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) envisioned for this world. Mutual respect for other people's beliefs, values and cultures will go a long way in bridging the gap between the Muslim world and the West.

Desicritics Author: RaY-ZoR

The State of Today's Muslims: Reasoning

Danish Cartoon Controversy: A Muslim's Perspective