Musings of Maaia – Justin

Top ten reasons I know that Islam is not a militant religion:

To all people who are surrounded by the propaganda regarding Islam that is a result of the 9/11 bombings and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  All references are to verses in the Koran.

10.  Islam is not anti-semitic.  The Koran states, “We made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel and you have nothing of guidance until you observe the Torah and the Gospel” (5:70, 68)

9.  Allah is not a wrathful God.  God’s compassion and mercy are cited 192 times in the Koran; only 17 references are made to his wrath and vengeance.

8.  Islam does not condone terrorism.  “Defend yourself against your enemies, but do not attack them first: God hates the aggressor” (2:190)

7.  Islam does not seek to convert the world.  “Let there be no compulsion in religion” (2:257)

6.  Islam is tolerant of other religions.  “To every one we have given a law and a way…And if God had pleased, he would have made [all humankind] one people [people of one religion].  But he hath done otherwise, that He might try you in that which He hath severally given unto you: wherefore press forward in good works.  Unto God shall ye return, and He will tell you that concerning which ye disagree.”  (5:48)  Once, when a deputy of Christians visited him, Muhammad invited them to conduct their service in his mosque, adding, “It is a place consecrated to God.”

5.  Jihad does not mean “holy war.”  It means “struggle.”  Muhammad stated, after returning from a victory against the Meccans who had been hostile and oppressive to his followers:  “We have returned from the lesser jihad, to face the greater jihad.”  In other words, jihad primarily refers to the struggle against the evil within oneself.

4.  Islam is a religion of peace.  Whenever Muslims great people, it is with the arabic phrase “as-salamu ‘alaykum,” which means “Peace be upon you.”

3.  Ibn ‘Arabi, a popular and revered Islamic mystic, stated: “My heart had opened unto every form.  It is a pasture for gazelles, a cloister for Christian monks, a temple for idols, the Ka’ba of the pilgrim, the tablets of the Torah and the book of the Koran.  I practice the religion of Love; in whatsoever directions its caravans advance, the religion of Love shall be my religion and my faith..

2.  Islam is misrepresented by the American media and American emails.  A recent Smithsonian article documented how 300,000 people gathered to celebrate the message of peace and love during the festival of the Islamic saint Qalandar.  Meanwhile, about 300 people gathered to witness a beheading advertised by a group of Taliban.  Which one of these gatherings did you hear about in the news?

And the number one reason I know that Islam is not a militant religion…

1.  All of the Muslims I know were more afraid of me than I was of them when I first met them.

Additionally:

Head Scarfs: This custom is not prescribed in the Koran.  The Koran only says, “Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks closely around them (when they go abroad).  That will be better, so that they may be recognized and not annoyed” (33:59) Any culture that demands their women be covered is obeying their culture norm only, not something dictated by Islam.

Women: Muhammad’s wife Khadija was his first convert.  He met her when she hired him to work on the large estate she owned and operated.  They later fell in love and were married.

Marriages: Muhammad states in the Koran, “If you cannot deal equitably and justly with more than one wife, you shall marry only one.”  (He also limits the number of wives to four.)  Most modern interpretations of this statement take “equitably and justly) to include love and esteem as well as material possessions and time, in effect endorsing monogamy.  The only Muslims who typically marry more than one wife are the ones from cultures where that practice existed prior to Islam, such as in some parts of Africa.  The Koran also requires that a woman’s consent be given prior to marriage, that a woman may begin divorce proceedings, and also that a man must provide a wife with a sum of money which she retains should a divorce ensue.  These rules seem even more forward-thinking when we remember that Muhammad wrote them at a time when women were married without their consent and when prostitution was a ubiquitous and accepted practice.

Heaven: “Some of the signs are firm–these are the basis of the book–and others are figurative” (3:5) Many people criticize the Koranic descriptions of heaven and their literal, materialistic impression.  However, the Koran explicitly states that some of its passages are to be read mythically, or as symbolic representations of a reality that is beyond words.  As Thomas Keating has said, “The language of religion is often the language of the bedroom.  The lover tells his beloved that she is the most beautiful girl in the universe, of all time.  Does he truly think this is true?  Probably not.  But what he is trying to convey is the awesome love, esteem, and affection he feels for her.”

Science: Because Islam views the world as the “Cosmic Koran,” or another revelation of God, it has always embraced the discoveries of science.  A discovery about the world is a discover about God.  This is why Muslims were able to preserve and advance the scientific and mathematical discoveries of the ancient world while Medieval Christendom was burning books.  A recent book has hypothesized that if Charles Martel had not beaten the Moors in France, the European Renaissance would have happened in Europe centuries earlier.

The legitimacy of the information stated in this list can be checked directly in the Koran, or in Huston Smith’s The World’s Religions, or in various other books on the subject.