“Religion of Peace” My Foot! – Part 5: Treating Others

This is an extension to the “Golden Rule” discussion, focusing on the Islamic principles regarding tolerance: the approach towards the Unbelievers.
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Here are some quotes:
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2:256: “No compulsion is there in religion: already the right way is distinct from the wrong way. So whosoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has laid hold of the most firm handle, unbreaking. Allah is hearing, knowing.”
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The gist of this verse is: We will not force you to submit to Islam, but if you elect not to, then you are gravely in error, and on a shaky and fragile foundation.
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If we ignore the second part, this statement sounds fairly tolerant: we will not compel you to convert. This verse is used by Islamic apologists in support of their “religion of peace” claims.
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The reality, however, is different: the history of the Islamic empire is littered with events in which the sward was used to spread Islam, showing little or no regard to the “no compulsion” verse.
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It all goes downhill from here:
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9:29 “Fight those who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden — such men as practice not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book — until they pay the tribute out of hand and have been humbled.”
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This verse epitomises the Islamic principle of treating the Unbelievers:
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1. Those who do not accept the teachings of Muhammad and his god must be fought against and subdued.
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2. If these Unbelievers are of the “people of the book”, namely Jews and Christians, then they may hold on to their UNTRUE religion, but be reduced to a status of tributary cast, humbled and humiliated.
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3. By referring to Islam as the religion of truth, all other religions are branded false. Islam does not show any respect to other belief systems.
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The Quranic verses that preach intolerance towards the Unbelievers, and specifically towards Jews and Christians, are too numerous to list. Here are another two:
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5:51 ”O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Whoso of you makes them his friends is one of them. Allah guides not the people of the evildoers.”
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66:9 “O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey’s end.
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So, to summarise, Islam does not say much in support of peace, extols the virtues and rewards of was and killing Unbelievers, and shows no tolerance or acceptance towards those who hold other beliefs.
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There is no escaping the conclusion that Islam is definitely not a religion of peace.

“Religion of Peace” My Foot! – Part 4: The Golden Rule

(Reminder: we are still on a break from “book posting” while I post this series on the religion of peace. In the meantime, my loyal readers may view the many previous book posts and complete chapters on the right).

The “Golden Rule” is the basic rule of human decency which comes from the Hebrew Bible Leviticus 19:18 ”Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.”
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There are many other biblical passages regarding the fair treatment of the poor, the orphan, widows and strangers, that is, not only “the children of thy people”.
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The “Golden Rule” was epitomised nicely by the 1st century BCE Jewish scholar Hilel the Elder, who is quoted as saying to a gentile who asked to be taught the whole of the Jewish law (Torah) while standing on one leg:
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“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.”
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You would expect all major religions to contain this element in one form or another, but I was never sure about Islam.
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To find out what Islam has to say about the “Golden Rule”, I looked it up in Wikipedia. The Wikipedia article lists all major religions and how the “Golden Rule” is manifested in the teachings of each one.
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Scrolling down to Islam, I found that the article lists 2 Quranic references, 1 Islamic tradition, and one book written in 1938.
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With your permission and for obvious reasons, I will ignore the last reference. So let’s dispose of the 2 Quranic references first:
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83:1 – 83:4 is a discussion about weights and measures, warning the believers that if they cheat they will go to Hell. There are other rules that deal with fairness in business transactions in the Quran, which could be used here.
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Although there is an element of “using the same measure for yourself as you would for others”, this is really too specific to qualify as a “Golden Rule” reference.
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59:9 is about the poor emigrants who fled Mecca with Muhammad, and has absolutely nothing to do with the “Golden Rule”. It was an appeal for charity. How this can be interpreted as preaching the “Golden Rule” is beyond me. The author of this Wikipedia article should be ashamed for making this suggestion.
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The next Wikipedia reference is from a Hadith (Islamic traditions narrated by someone who heard it from someone else who heard it from… etc. etc. all the way to Muhammad’s contemporaries).
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This one is the quote that is most widely used in support of the Islamic “Golden Rule” claim. Here it is:
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Sahih Bukhari 1.12 “Narrated by Anas: The Prophet said, “None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself.”
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The insertion of “(Muslim)” in brackets is not mine. This is how it is interpreted in the English translation.
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This interpretation is correct, as it refers to people having faith, namely, accepting Islam.
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This is as close as Islam gets to the “Golden Rule”, and as you see, it is exclusive to Muslims only. The “others”, the “stranger”, and the “unbeliever” do not merit this privilege.
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This should not come as a surprise to those who have followed the posting of “The Cow” on my blog. The exclusion of the Unbelievers is a central element in Islam.
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So, there is a “Golden Rule” in Islam, but with a caveat: it only applies to Muslims.
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Also, Islamic writing is extremely scanty on this kind of preaching: this one is the only reference that comes close to the “Golden Rule”, and it is not even in the Quran.
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Tomorrow (or later): “Religion of Peace” My Foot! – Part 5: Treating Others

Religion of Peace My Foot! – Part 3: The Statistics of War

The Quran contains around 200 occurrences of the words “war”, “fight”, “kill”, and their derivations.
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This is 4 times as many as the mentions of “Peace” or words that have been translated as “Peace”. These are too numerous to list here. You may do a simple web search in sites like this one, or other similar websites.
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Most of the passages in which war and fighting are mentioned promote war and fighting: they define fighting the unbelievers as a noble duty and obligation of every Muslim, they contain instruction on how to wage this war, calls to war, the rewards of war, the rewards of martyrdom in Paradise, and so on.
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The Arabic word for War and fighting in the Quran is derived from the root Q.T.L., which also means kill.
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A few of the most notorious verses – 2:216, 47:4, 4:95, 8:39, 9:29.
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For example, 2:216 says “Prescribed for you is fighting, though it be hateful to you. Yet it may happen that you will hate a thing which is better for you; and it may happen that you will love a thing which is worse for you; God knows, and you know not.”
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Variations on 2:216 are found in many places in the Quran.
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The Bible does contain instruction to wage war against certain peoples, but these relate to specific times and places in the past, and no longer relevant. The rest of passages which mention war are descriptive, relating the histories of wars fought in the past.
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In the Section “No More Jihad” of the Epilogue to my book, I in fact maintain that this is how the Quranic war instruction should be viewed in Islam: confined to times and places in the past.
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Hey, that would really make Islam a peaceful religion!
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Alas, no Islamic authority has done so yet, and it is very unlikely that it will happen in the foreseeable future.
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Fighting in the path of Allah is glorified in the Quran and in Islamic traditions many more times than being a peaceful person.
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For example, Muhammad is quoted numerous times in the Hadith traditions, as saying that being martyred while fighting is the best deed and will earn the believer the highest reward.
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Nothing like that is said about peace in Islamic writings.
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So, the statistics of war do not look good either.
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What about just plain old preaching to be good and do good unto others? You know, the so-called “Golden Rule”. This is the subject of part 4, to be posted tomorrow (or later).
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”Religion of Peace” My Foot! – Part 2: The Statistics of Peace

I have searched the Quran for all the occurrences the English translators inserted the word “peace”.
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My search of the Quran yielded 51 occurrences of this word:
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As salutation, well-wishing (e.g. as in Salaamu Alekum)- 6:54, 7:46, 11:48, 11:69, 13:24, 14:23, 15:52, 16:32, 19:15, 19:33, 19:47, 19:62, 20:47, 24:61, 27:59, 28:55, 36:58, 37:79, 37:109, 37:120 37:130, 37:181, 39:73, 51:25, 56:26
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Paradise is peace – 6:127, 10:10, 10:25, 15:46, 19:95, 25:75, 33:44, 33:37, 39:24, 33:55, 50:34, 97:5
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Peace being the definition of unconditional surrender of the enemy – 4:90, 4:91, 8:61
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Not saying “Peace” (i.e. surrendering) to the enemy while you have the upper hand in battle – 47:35.
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Peace between quarrelling Muslims – 2:182, 2:224, 49:9
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Peace between a quarrelling husband and wife – 4:35, 4:128
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Hypocrites pretend to be peace makers – 2:11
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The Bible is a message of peace – 5:16
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Praying for peace and security for Mecca – 14:35
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Peace being protection from Allah’s punishment – 56:91
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Saying “Peace” when walking away from an argument with the Unbelievers – 43:89
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Now that last example looks very positive: walking away from a conflict. This is goodness. Two comments on this seemingly singular example:
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1. It could be a genuine instruction not to engage in quarrel, but it could also be good advice to the early Muslims to keep away from people who could, by arguing against the new religion, sway them from the prescribed path.
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2. No reasonable person claims that the content of the Quran is exclusively negative and violent. It does preach doing good. These passages, however, are few and far between. Case in point: verse 43:89, being the only reference to peace that could be considered positive.
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As you can see, none of the occurrences of “peace”, or any other Arabic word that is interpreted as “peace” by (mostly biased Islamic) translators, supports the claim that Islam is a peaceful religion.
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There is nothing in these verses that extols the virtues of peace. As you will see later, Islamic writings are full of verses and passages that extol the virtues of war.
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In fact, some of the mentions of the word “Peace” actually relate to war and hostilities.
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The word “Salaam” itself occurs less in the Quran, as some of the references above do not contain that word, yet were translated into English using the word “Peace”.
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Tomorrow (or later): “Religion of Peace” My Foot! – Part 3: The Statistics of War.

“Religion of Peace” My Foot! – Part 1: Introduction

This is another “book posting hiatus”.
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I was recently asked by a blogger to comment on his blog, which was created to promote Islam as a peaceful religion, respectful, tolerant etc.
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I posted some comments arguing the opposite, but they were censured, which did not surprise me at all, so I decided to post my comments on my blog. Why should the fruit of my 4 finger typing go to waste??
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So here are my comments – substantially expanded – on how peaceful (not!) Islam is.
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Other people have written on this subject, demonstrating how Islam is far from being a peaceful religion, so there is nothing new here.
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However, like everywhere else in this blog, everything that I post is typed by own hands, on my own keyboard, based on my own study and research of source material. You will never see in this blog material that was copied and paste from other blogs, or the opinions of others presented as my own.
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I will demonstrate how Islam is anything but a religion of peace using only Islamic texts seen with my own eyes.
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For those who believe that Islam is a Peaceful religion: A question to ponder while you eagerly await the posting of Part 2: Why is Islam the only religion that requires its followers and supporters to put so much effort in convincing us that it is a “Religion of Peace”? Why doesn’t this need exist in connexion any other belief system?
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Tomorrow (or later): “Religion of Peace” My Foot! – Part 2: The Statistics of Peace.

The True Meaning of the Islamic Hajj

Today is the 10th day of dhu al Hijja, the Islamic month of the Hajj – the pilgrimage to Mecca.
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The subject of the Hajj is dealt with in a later chapter of my book “The Cow”, to be posted on a future date, but since we are in the middle of Hajj season, I thought it appropriate if not topical to post this one now.
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Last night the believers, after spending the day contemplating on mount Arafat, went to mount Muzdalifa to collect 49 stones, which they will throw at the devil today.
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The Quranic edict is to “Fulfill the Pilgrimage and the Visitation of Allah’s house.”
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This visitation has its origin in the pagan era of Arabia, when pilgrims would visit the sanctuary of their deities in the prescribed seasons, to give thanks and pray for prosperity.
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Like the Muslims of today, the pagans of Mecca too ran or walked from mount Arafat to Muzdalifa, stoned the devil, shaved their heads, circumambulated the Ka’ba, and so on.
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Muhammad, the robber chief of Medina, who’s interests were wealth sex and power, did not care much for religion, beyond its usefulness as a tool to control his followers.
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For that reason, the pre Islamic pagan Hajj rituals were introduced into Islam almost unchanged. They were modified only to include references to Allah and the hereafter.
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The changes that Muhammad introduced were politically motivated to serve his agenda: to make all these activities in honour of his chosen deity, Allah, the top deity of Mecca, and what he stood for.
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It appears that the pagans were practical and enjoyed the material life: they were interested in making the most of this world, and that was basically what they prayed for during the Hajj.
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They did not care much for the afterlife.
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Muhammad was going to change that: he needed followers who were willing to trade the good of this world and their own lives with those of the next.
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In other words, they should not fear dying in Allah’s cause, as they will be granted the good of the next world.
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Furthermore, if they reject this concept, swift chastisement awaits them. In case you wondered how “suicide bombers” are recruited, now you know.

Quran (or Qur’an), not Koran

Another interlude in the “Cow Posting” process…
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The proper way to transliterate the name of the Islamic book is with a Q. Not K or C.
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This word comprises 2 syllables, with the accent on the second one, and the A pronounced as a consonant, not a vowel.
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Q should be used for all the “K” sounds that cannot be softened (for which the transliteration convention is “kh”).
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The Q sound in Arabic and other Semitic languages is a deeper, guttural K that feels almost like throwing up….
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The reason that some translators use K is because they cannot pronounce the Q consonant, which does not exist in European languages.
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But that should not stop them from using the correct equivalent.
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And when pronouncing the word Quran, the “U” sound should be very short, almost non-existent. Therefore, the “O” sound is not appropriate here either.
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OK?

Muhammad: The First Islamic Terrorist

Another interlude in the process of posting “The Cow”:
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The title of the post is really the only conclusion that I could arrive at, after extensive study of the Quran and some of the main Islamic texts.
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Just sharing my views, to counter the barrage of posts and blogs about the “Holy Prophet”.
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He was nothing more than a robber chief, whose main interest was rape, plunder, property and power, attained with the help of blood thirsty militants who hoped to receive some of the spoils and a perpetual brothel in the afterlife.
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Peace Be Upon all his victims, past and present.

Fort Hood Massacre – Could It Possibly Happen Again?

Those who have sufficient knowledge of the Islamic belief system – and this site is the best starting point for those who do not – did not need too much explanation to understand what drove major Nidal Malik Hassan to kill the Unbelievers (Crusaders, in this case).
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We also know for sure that this is not the last time a devout, pious Muslim will kill American soldiers and civilians on American soil in the name of this belief system.
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Judging by the way that this phenomenon is approached by the US government, future occurrences are unavoidable.
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Like in Israel, where Islamic terrorist acts have become part of the daily routine, to the extent that most are not even reported in the international press, so too in America they will become commonplace.
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And like in Israel, where layer upon layer of defensive measured are put in place in attempts to minimise the damage of these acts, so too America will adopt more and more defensive measures that will intrude on the privacy of the citizens and impact their quality of life.
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The US government will not even consider the possibility that these terrorist acts can be completely eradicated. Hardly any offensive and preventive measures will be considered by the US government, so as to not offend the “majority of Muslims who do not actively engage in or support or condone these terrorist acts” (or so they think, poor clueless bastards).
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In the name of freedom of speech, America will permit Muslim leaders and organisations to publicly applaud the perpetrators of Islamic terrorism on US soil, and publically preach the killing of more US soldiers, motivating more followers to carry out more of these acts.
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In the name of misinterpreted constitutional liberties, the sacrifices will be demanded of the Unbelievers, not of the Muslims. The targeted Americans will have to suffer, risking their personal safety and be annoyed as hell, while the Muslims, in their ever growing separatist communities, will continue to live the good life in the land of the free social security and other benefits, without fear of being shot at or blown up by their brethren-in-Islam.
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I truly want to believe that my assessment is wrong, but at this point in time, in my opinion, the answer to “Could It Possibly Happen Again?” is an alarming “YES”. It will happen again, and the US government’s response will again be less than adequate, encouraging more future attacks.

Fort Hood Massacre – OMG, Why Did He Do It?

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Allow me to deviate from the normal format of this blog (that is, posting the content my book), and from time to time comment on current affairs, which are not unrelated to the subject of this blog – the teachings of Islam.
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So, why did U.S. Army major Nidal Malik Hassan shoot and hit almost 40 people, while exclaiming Arabic words at high pitch?
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I would like to speculate on the motives and reasons for this act, in the following in-depth analytic post.
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A disclaimer: These are only the speculations of an uneducated simple man such as me, and I may be way, way off here.
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So, after carefully considering all the aspects of this act, I have come up with 10 possible reasons (drivers, if you will):
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1. Islamic teachings
2. Islamic teachings
3. Islamic teachings
4. Islamic teachings
5. Islamic teachings
6. Islamic teachings
7. Islamic teachings
8. Islamic teachings
9. Islamic teachings
10. Islamic teachings
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This diverse list of motives will present an intellectual challenge of the highest degree to the many experts on human behaviour who read my blog (are you there Dr. Phil?). I hope that they will take up the challenge.
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I also hope that the Islamic teachings that unfold – post by post – in this blog, will provide some of the necessary clues to help in the analysis.