Good and Evil in Islam
Dec 19th, 2005, in Opinion, by PatungGood and Evil in Islam.
This is an excerpt from a very good post by IoshkaFutz:
It is in response to this post by CuteCoot.
Surely God created, among all other things, Islam. Was that not done as an act of love? What does your own living conscience say of God’s revelation through Mohammad? What could be God’s purpose in this? If God was not revealed through Mohammad, what was? What else is there?
IoshkaFutz’s response, while written in a rather “robust” manner, takes the critique of Islam beyond it’s often low-level baiting and prejudice in its instantly recognisable truth of feeling:
Mohammad, a murderer, a head-chopper, a child-ravisher, created Islam. There is nothing good or godly about Islam and the proof is in how it has degraded men and women around the world.
If you want to unite good and evil into some superior manichean philosophy, by all means help yourself, but nothing will come of it. God is revealed through love and virtue, through letting go and hanging on, through living here and now and in all times; through patience and courage to change; through defense and forgiveness, the whole guided by Corinthian love.
The Islamic way is antithetical to a good and godly life. It is not a way, but a set of edicts written in stone; it is about practices and not ideals.
Sufism is just the polite and ear-candyish and mind-satisfying entrance to the moral misery of a faith based on violence and fear, one that has created measurably dysfunctional societies. Islam is not the work of God, but the work of a power-hungry man pretending to be a prophet. A clever heresy, incorporating “useful” elements of Judaism and Christianity, that survives on tu quoque, accepted lusts, and the ability to give sinners a sense of satisfaction.
All the pillars of Islam are hollow. Faith is a statement; zakat is a help-Muslim-only tithe, Hajj is an only-if-you-can jaunt to celebrate a brotherhood without brothers in a locked out city, Ramadan is a weight-gaining, late-evening pantagruelian extravaganza that merely makes the participants more ravenous, and prayer is a public, all-together-now display of strength. Jihad, enjoined by the Koran, is an anybody-can-be-an-Islamic-leader license to wage war and engage in perpetual strife.
All this is a taunt towards genuine religions and philosophies and most certainly an insult to the potential of man. It is the tangled way of Islam, not a result of poor interpretation. There are no heresies in Islam, there are no right or wrong interpretations. Every Muslim has his “right” Islam. There is never anyone to blame or opportunities to collectively address issues or correct ways.
Naturally, if you put a pink filter around the Koran and pick and choose what YOU like, there’s more than enough material for great mystical experiences. But the same goes for my WINDOWS XP manual. “Where do you want to go today?”
The ultimate evil of the Koran is that there is good in it mixed with evil. There is “let there be non constriction in faith” WITH “fight ‘em high and low until there is no other Faith.” It is precisely the pick-and-choose chaos of a tangled Casbah as opposed to a broad path, a “WAY,” that makes the all-religious “God is Great” statement into the purely Islamic “I am Great, I am nothing” chaotic reality. By surrendering ALL to God they become either gods or worthless nothings (depending on mood, whim or the ability of the latest orator).
Losing conscience is necessary. Ultra-Awareness makes for bad dancing and poor tennis. At times one MUST give in, yield, let go… but unguided by the spirit of Corinthian Love, such yielding can easily degenerate into self-worship. Sleep, dream away, be trusting, but there ARE wake-up calls to full conscience and active awareness.
Such calls are being heard now by the west and by degrees, easy tolerance is becoming awareness that we have been giving slack to a CULT OF MADNESS that follows a war manual.
Therein lies the diabolical cleverness of Mohammad, for despite the madness, chaos and confusion, such Evil (lack of active conscience practiced in separating good and evil) is a tremendously unifying force. Despite all the bickering, the Muslims have an UMMAH. They have no common markets, they respect no conventions or charters for human rights, they are liable to kill each other egregiously, yet they have an Ummah. This is in all ways similar to the ethos of metropolitan gangs and mafias. (United, strongly united, but only against the cops, the public “good”).
Judeo-Christian values have – as a process – bred acceptance, tolerance. We and not others are at the forefront of racial tolerance and mutual understanding. We, guided by the wisdom of our books and LIVING faiths, though perhaps taking 20 steps back for every 21 steps forward, have a sense of progress while at the same time guarding over timeless values.
Islam breeds passivity. All progress either scientific or moral, must be somehow forced on or spoon-fed to them (whereas most vices they eagerly accept).
God might be revealed through Mohammad, but only in a negative sense; and the same goes for man. What it means to be a man can be revealed by what it means to be a muslim: unthinking, passive, conspiracy-oriented, tribal, morally lost.
Surely if Islam had redeeming values, they’d have been seen. Instead we see well traveled MIT graduates, and Imams with high speed internet and satellite phones, and third generation “Europeans” still blaming everything on the Jews, still defending SUICIDAL TERRORISM, still bent on turning countries that have achieved peace, prosperity and fellowship among ancient enemies with histories of untold mutual violence into Sharia run Islamic states.
What are you defending? Nothing? A mind game? You should know by now that no matter how high-sounding or emotionally satisfying, it is a mind game to end all mind games.
Certainly it is not positively stating that “God was revealed through Mohammad” that can address any of the urgent issues of the day. Nothing short of Moral Clarity and focused and aware consciences can. The rest is pure rot, the type of sophistry that can explain away everything, even easily and trippingly on the tongue, but of no value and ultimately debasing.
Before defending the rosy back Sufi door of Islam, check what’s being preached at the Main Gates. Explain the mindset of the faithful crowding the biggest mosque in Europe and passively listening to the Imam, hailing from Al Azhar, considered Islam’s most prestigious “seminary” defending the use of children as ordinance delivery systems. Why is no one upset, worried, rebellious? Why is so much CLEAR AND WANTON EVIL passively accepted as if the man were urging them to love their neighbors?
There you see EVIL, moral passivity, tribality, hopelessness, at work… and it is at work in all mosques… as it is at work at the Mecca where friends cannot go, where the Dalai Lama and the Pope and a Medicins sans Frontiere worker who has spent years the best of his boogie years spoon-feeding starvelings are not allowed entry.
Islam is EVIL and EVIL is fascinating, alluring, tempting and sometimes even logical.
Perhaps it’s precisely the “logic” that makes it evil. There is nothing quite so logical as Taqqya and Hudna as opposed to hard truth and real, honest-to-goodness compromise. Paradoxically, it is wisdom and love that “let go” and give peace a chance, whereas Islam, never really submits… not even in its mystical manifestations. There’s always a mundane, earthly purpose behind it’s every action or thought. There is always an element of Jihad, of power. That is the trouble with Sufi mysticism: it’s logical. Better a tarantella with kids, parents, relatives, real and adopted uncles, neighbors and strangers than an only-men dervish prayer whirl. The former is submission, the latter is logical dizziness.
CuteCoot replies:
I can see no entry for discussion in your long reply wherein Islam, and everything associated with it, is EVIL. In my experience, that is a fortress mentality with no way in or out.
Listen only to what drunken lovers say,
And loosen passion’s ties to mean and low.
Each tribe draws you into its own circle;
The parrot sings of sugar; of ruins, the crow.
– RumiI want neither your sugar nor your ruins, my friend.
To which IoshkaFutz replies:
I understand, and normally I am more than happy to dwell in the gray areas where matters aren’t so cut and dry. I came to FFI years ago telling Ali Sina and his pals to cool off, to be more understanding… but then the enormity of the EVIL – let me repeat – EVIL – of Islam dawned on me.
Apostasy punished by death – actual physical death in the “capitals” of Islam or by social death! What’s there to defend when everything that you might see as good, right, proper, logical, reasonable, beautiful, will get you killed in Anno Domini 2005?
I came to FFI wondering why Germans and Poles were headed to a situation of no borders and the same loot in their pockets whereas nothing of the sort seemed possible or even distantly thinkable wherever Muslims were involved.
I discovered that this religion called “submission” NEVER lets go. Never submits to God. In other words, it’s just the opposite of what it’s called. Muslims are CLINGERS, tooth and nail; they are the ones who don’t have the spiritual dimension (or call it what you will) to open up, to imagine a better day for all involved, to at least leave a crack in the door open. Instead they must either triumph or be beaten down to the same sort of submission they would wish to impose on others. And look at what they cling to! Pedophilia, terrorism, wife-beating, anti-semitism, perpetual war.
Forget the drunken lover stuff. The world is not the dream it could be. The world is a place where kids hanging out at a disco get blown up by a religion. Not an opinion, a certified fact. Go to any Muslim site and you will see what simply must be refused for civilization to survive, either openly advocated, or worse, obliquely defended by the so-called reasonable.
I realized that by defending the indefensible, I was a useful idiot. Some things ARE black and white. Evil is not an easy concept and in today’s world it’s practically banished because it doesn’t fit into a logical, “detached” way of seeing things. It is apparently too charged up with come-and-go emotions. Today we must be cool-headed as we might be while trying to develop a new and better air conditioner. I refuse that. As I refuse your hokey Rumian poem. Tribes drawing one into circles is fine, but it’s not the question. Here we have a tribe LOCKING their people into circles under pain of death. In case you’ve forgotten (and it’s easy to forget, or to become jaded), Mr. Ali Sina would go the same way as Theo van Gogh were he to show his face in public. That’s MURDER. And on such a wide scale, It’s Murder Inc. just like the Mafia. Not worth a fight? Is your answer a 13th Century Persian Poem?
Loosening passion’s ties to the mean and low is wonderful… but what could be meaner, lower and tighter than the Dalai Lama, a peaceful spiritual leader in exile not being allowed to set foot in the Mecca? The time has come for answers, dear Cutefoot, not hokey la-di-da poems. Bruises, sores and welts on women’s faces… scattered entrails… never ending battles in Thailand, India, Philippines, Indonesia, France, Australia, Israel…
If you can walk through the main portals of a religion and still come out a mystic by the time you reach the back door, you might have a religion worth considering and certainly one worthy of merit. If you can walk through the murderous Quttbas, the tribality, the Taqqya and Hudna, the wife beating, the curses on entire nations, the monkeys and swine, the pedophilia, the arranged marriages, etc… and still come out reciting hokey poems, then please inform us about what you have seen when you closed your eyes and what you have heard when you plugged your ears.
Theirs is the fortess mentality. Look at any Judeo-Christian country and you can build temples, ashrams, churches, mosques and suchlike to your heart’s content. Try building an ashram where the Dervishes whirl to the glory of Allah. Somehow despite all the universe-embracing giddiness and silliness of their whirls and swirls, they’ll remember that fortress of theirs. Be a Jewish man and try marrying a Muslim woman… suddenly love is no longer full of Rumi-style la-di-da. Eat a potato chip on the street during Ramadan. Why are you anathema? You the poetess, the open-hearted humanist ready to embrace all of humanity? Why are those looking at you so full of insane contempt and intolerance? What have you done?
The Muslims and not we, need to make the mind and heart efforts to fit in and join the rest of humanity.
You ask “If God was not revealed through Mohammad, what was? What else is there?”
Again I ask you in return: Why cannot an unislamic worker for Medicins sans Frontiere who’s spent the best years of his life taking care of children Aids victims, set foot in the Mecca or Medina. Why is such a saint, such a good person unfit to tread the same ground as an Egyptian car salesman? What kind of faith, outlook, mentality, perspective is that? We open our churches to sinners, they lock out their holy cities to saints. That’s something to get both very mystical and very, very, excruciatingly here-and-now real about.
20 Comments on “Good and Evil in Islam”
-
Hassan says:
freedom of faith is the right to practice your own religion without fear whatsoever, NOT the right to blast, blame, and discredit other faiths or religions. FFI and the author of this post and website should know that.
-
Ismail says:
This is a brilliant piece, I am just overwhelmed,when the truth is told about Islam, Muslims resort all all kind of tactics including name calling in all shades, a vigorous defence is impossible because you really can’t defend the EVIL called Islam.
“NOTHING GOOD BUT EVIL AND INHUMAN THINGS”
-
Kaykay says:
As a student of philosophy I am insulted by the lack of knowledge shown in this post.
Islam says exactly the same crap as any other religion, i.e. be good to each other. Clearly there are people who will distort any religion for their own purposes. I would like to know how if the author would describe the crusades as ordianed by the Christian God? Because they were certianly portrayed that way at the time.
Islam is currently being hyjacked by people who are angry at the western powers and are using religion as a political weapon. It’s funny because that is exactly what was done at the time of the crusades by the Christians, but that does not mean that Christianity is an evil religion. Only an idiot would conclude that.
If you want to learn more about Islam I suggest you look at its history. When England was in the dark ages, in Muslim Spain intellectuals were translating the philosophical works of Aristotle and Plato. It was in the libraries in Muslim spain that Christians, Muslims and Jews worked together to translate these ancient texts into Arabic, Hebrew and Latin. Jews were known to hold positions in Muslim courts, something that was not allowed in England until the last couple of hundred years. In fact, the renaissance spread to Italy by the Greek knowledge which was passed down with the help of the libraries in Muslim spain.
So you cannot say that Islam is against science or other religions. In about the 9th-10th century, when the church would burn people for contradicting the fact that the sun orbitted the Earth, Al-Ghazali a great Muslim scientist/philosopher/surgeon was using Greek rational thought in all fields of study including astronomy.
The author is getting caught up in the moment. It is trendy to hate Muslims and Islam right now, so he felt he should jump on the bandwagon.
But the truth is that Islam and Christianity say the same stuff, but have both been perverted by human error. The prophet Muhammed preeched in one God and in compassion to ALL fellow human beings. I repeat ALL human beings.
The prophet Muhammed has been known to not eat his meal before he knew that he was satisifed that his Christian neighbour was given some of the meal to eat.
He has been known to give domestic help to an elderly Jewish woman when she was sick, even after she would throw stones at him and curse him.
Does this sound like a man who preeched evil? He basicaly preeched the same message as Jesus. forgiveness is of the utmost importance in Islam just like in Christianity.
Now, im not by any means a scholar but I know enough about Islam and the other major world religions to know that they are more similar than different, and that the author is, with all due respect, stupid.
-
Dude in Wales says:
In about the 9th-10th century
That was a long time ago. What Christendom was and was not like back then in comparison to Islamic civilisation is hardly relevant today. Since then, the West has embraced the Enlightenment and the Emancipation of Jews and Muslims, while Islamic civilisation has spurned their own Matazilite Enlightenment and instead gone into reverse. There is no comparison.
-
Chess Openings Guru says:
The amount of truth in IoshkaFutz’s statement is irrelevant. He (She?) is being completely disrespectful and, for lack of a better term, downright mean. I don’t believe that the Islamic faith is truth either, but that does not merit this display of online fuming.
If he is TRULY confident that he has discovered truth in life and proved Islam to be false, then so be it. But the fact that he is THAT angry and adamant about his claim shows that he either 1) is insecure about what truth really is or 2) has been hurt by Muslims in the past and is letting his unforgiveness and pain manifest itself right here. No matter how much of a scholar he may be, I’m not willing to completely believe someone who fits into one of those two categories.
-
Aluang Anak Bayang says:
Assalamualaikum Chess Openings Guru.
Thank you for your kind support. We certainly need more intelligent people like you who can see through IoshkaFutz and ilk’s hatred. He bemoaned the fact that ‘saints’ and ‘good people’ can’t enter the ground of Mecca. How misleading; and a pathetic attempt to discredit the ‘True’ religion. All Mother Teresa or the Pope had to do was to say the shahada and they will be welcomed as Brothers and Sisters.
Peace.
-
yassim says:
Islam has established a number of fundamental rights, valid for all humanity and must be observed and respected in all circumstances. To this end, Islam provides not only legal, but also a very effective moral system. Thus, for all that Islam leads to the well-being of the individual or society is morally good, and everything that is harmful is morally wrong. Islam attaches so much importance to the love of God and love of the man he cautioned against too much formalism.
We read in the Koran: \”Piety is not to turn your faces towards East or West. But piety is to believe in God, the Last Day, the Angels, to Scripture and the prophets. Is to provide – for the love of God – a testimony of generosity to his family, the orphan, the poor, the foreign visitor, to those who implore relief, and for the redemption of captives . That is the virtue of those who observe Prayer and almsgiving, comply with the commitments made and are patient in adversity and at risk are the true believers here and those who fear God \”(Surah 2, Verse 177) This is a beautiful description of the believer and virtuous, God-fearing, follows the precepts healthy but not stop to fix his gaze on the love of God and his neighbor. Acceptance of responsibility is personal and rational, because the believer yields more attractive than a pressure. It is the divine will, as an expression of absolute truth and justice which is perfect, not an abstract command from a supreme moral authority but poorly defined. Therefore, the distinction between \”legal obligation\” and \”ethical duty\” does not exist in Islam: the two are intimately linked to potentiating to affirm the strength of the system.
We have received four precepts: 1.Notre faith must be true and sincere. 2.Nous must be prepared to show it through acts of charity towards our neighbor, and not a \”habit\” of piety. 3.Nous must be good citizens and give our support to social organizations. 4.Notre soul must be firm and steadfast in all circumstances. As a result of this eschatological monotheism, God alone is the pillar of moral system of Islam: to Him will be the ultimate return, and we reward him alone.
This is the test that every individual is judged as good or bad. This test is essentially the core around which are linked all the elements that constitute the moral conduct of each.
Before establishing the moral precepts, Islam seeks to establish firmly in the human heart, the conviction that it is in constant contact with God, Who is at any time and any place. It can hide around the world but not of God. It can deceive anyone but God, it can not escape the influence of anyone, but not of God.
Thus, doing \”what is pleasing to God\” the primary objective of all human life, Islam has laid down the criterion of the morality that is higher, thus the evolution of moral humanity unlimited prospects .
Seeing the divine revelation the primary source of knowledge, Islam gives permanence and stability to the moral principles which, while leaving a reasonable margin for some adaptations and innovations, exclude perversions, deviations, dissolute morals, relativism atomistic or loosening of the moral life. It provides a sanction to morality by love and fear of God that encourage men to obey the moral law without any external pressure.
Through the belief in God and the Day of reckoning, Islam provides a force that allows everyone to take a moral and sincere with all his heart and his soul.
It does not seek to invent, through some false originality or innovation, new moral virtues, or to minimize the importance of moral standards well known.
It does not, an exaggerated importance to certain standards while neglecting others without reason. It includes all the commonly known moral virtues and with a remarkable sense of balance and proportion, it assigns to each of them a place and a suitable function in the overall pattern of life.
It broadens the horizon of human life individual and collective existence domestic his conduct civic activities in the political, economic, legislative, educational and social. It covers the whole of its existence (from home to society, the table to the battlefield and conferences on peace), from the cradle to the grave. In short, no sphere of life, immune to the universal application and infinitely broad moral principles of Islam. Thus, with the supremacy of morality, all things in life, instead of being dominated by selfish desires and petty, are regulated by moral norms.
Islam is based, essentially, on Justice, and not only on love, because it is subjective and Justice standards. This gives the Justice Human Rights, but even more duties. Indeed, if the right can induce inertia, the duty to positively requires. The Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone has the right to work, right to respect, the right to culture; Islam also tells us that, but in Islam says that everyone has the duty to seek work, the duty to respect others, the duty to seek knowledge. Simple addition, big difference.
Islam provides a way of life based on everything that is good, rejecting everything that is bad. It urges people not only to practice virtue but also to win, eliminate vice, and urge to strive towards good and prevent evil. He wants the supremacy of conscience verdict and ordered that virtue is not subject to evil.
Those who respond to this call, are grouped in a community and are called Muslims. The purpose behind the formation of this community (Ummah) is an organized effort to establish and grow well, remove and eliminate the evil.
There are few fundamental moral information, relating to different aspects of the life of a Muslim. They both cover a wide range of personal moral conduct of its Muslim social responsibilities.
Awareness of God
The Koran states that awareness is the highest quality that can have a Muslim:
\”The noblest of you with Allah is the most pious\” (Surah 49, verse 13)
Humility, modesty, control of passions and desires, truthfulness, integrity and patience, perseverance and keeping promises are moral values, highlighted repeatedly in the Qur\’an:
\”… And Allah loves the steadfast\” (Surah 3, verse 146)
\”And competing for forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden (paradise) wide as heaven and earth, prepared for the righteous, who spend (to please God) in prosperity as in adversity, which dominate their anger and to forgive others – for Allah loves those who do good – \”(Surah 3, verses 133-134)
\”… Made the Salat (prayer), the appropriate command, forbid evil and what happens to you endure patiently. That is the resolution to take any business. And not divert your face men, and do not crowd the earth with arrogance: for Allah loveth not the presumptuous full boastful. Be modest in your approach, and lower your voice, as the most hated of the votes, it is the voice of donkeys \”(Surah 31, verses 17-19)
In a way which summarizes the moral behavior of a Muslim, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: \”The Lord gave me in September to stay aware commandments of God, whether in private or in public 1.de speak accurately, I am angry or happy, moderate 2.être both poor as rich, 3.de renew friendship with those who have broken with me, give 4.de that I refuse 5.que my silence is full of thought, my eyes 6.que an admonition, I 7.que command what is right. \”
Social responsibilities
The teachings of Islam concerning social responsibilities are based on kindness and consideration for others. Islam emphasizes the specific acts of kindness and defines the responsibilities and rights of everyone in the different types of relationship. In a growing circle of relationships, our first duty is to the immediate family (parents, spouse and children) on to other relationships (neighbors, friends, acquaintances, orphans and widows, those in the community are in need, our Muslim brothers and sisters (s) and all our fellow, and animals). The respect and care due to parents are highlighted in the teachings of Islam and constitute an important part of the expression of the faith of a Muslim.
\”And your Lord has decreed:\” N\’adorez Him, and (show) the kindness to parents: if one or both must reach old age with you, then they said point \”Fi!\” and do not snap, but address them with friendly words, and mercy for them down the wing of humility and say: \”O my Lord, make them at both mercy as they have little high \”(Surah 17, v. 23-24)
\”And give to the near of kin his due and the poor and the passenger (in distress). And do not unduly wasted \”(Surah 17, verse 26)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: \”Not one believer who eats to his fill, while his neighbor is hungry. Believer is not one whose neighbors are not immune to its offensive conduct. \”In fact, according to the Quran and Sunnah (teachings of Prophet), a Muslim has to ensure its moral responsibility, not only to parents, relations and neighbors, colleagues, but also to all mankind, and only to animals, trees and plants. For example, it is forbidden to hunt birds and animals for sport, as well, it is forbidden to cut trees and fruit plants unless a basic need. The Muslim is the guardian of nature and therefore must be preserved and protected.
Thus, from basic principles, Islam builds a very high moral system by which mankind can realize its full potential.
Islam purifies the soul. Submission permanent Muslim divine will, creates an atmosphere of piety, which bathes its existence. This bid represents the fundamental motivation of his moral life.
Islam is a source of goodness, generosity, mercy, sympathy, peace, disinterested benevolence, loyalty and honesty to the whole creation in all circumstances. Its qualities, which are more noble, can only be the good. This is Islam, which must live in every Muslim
-
Barry Prima says:
takes the critique of Islam beyond it’s often low-level baiting and prejudice in its instantly recognisable truth of feeling:
This is evidently your true feeling patung and is nothing but low level baiting and prejudice,its a critique based on pure sentimentalism,not philosophy.
Patung thats why you take great attempts to show all the negative aspects of islam here and take great pains to show the defenders of Islam as one dimensional, humourless, ranters…(your selective censoring of my post, indicate that you of course are doing it with others) yet. You allow unabaited and thereby encourage racial hatemongering and infighting so as to tarnish even further the international image of indonesia and destroy indonesians own confidence in their identity.
Patung and you cronies who run sites like this with their hidden agendas: Islam will never die, and even if you believe it to be false and evil, it will be replaced by the same or even greater evil….you are fighting a battle you can never win on your own terms as the fight is within the soul of man until the end of time and will never cease to project itself in the world in social structures/ideologies and norms.
Islam and other revealed religions are a barakah from god to mitigate evil they make no pretense to eliminate it absolutely, in fact if man had no capacity for evil,their would not be any revelation..when religions are destroyed then evil will flow unmitigated, and the world will be turned upside down…man can only transcend the evil in him by the grace of something other than himself,when he dispenses of the need for that grace and rejects the mercy of the creator, you shall see real evil!
-
Mohammed Khafi says:
IoshkaFutz has actually said a lot that is undeniably true about the present face of Islam. It is not simply the terrorist aspects, although these are abhorrent they are practiced by a minority, It is not simply the hatemongering and intolerance of some of the Imams. The biggest problem is the silent masses, who do not practice violence and are not intolerant but who still do not stand up against these wrongs.
One major area however, where IoshkaFutz has failed, is in his labelling of these people as Muslims and their religion as Islam. These people do not follow the teachings of Allah in Al Quran, they follow Hadith. And IoshkaFutz has made the same basic errors in his interpretation of Allah’s words as they have. Their interpretations are based on hadith rather than on the original Arabic language and the context (historical/social)of the revealed verses in Al Quran.
Islam is a way of life or deen, it is not the religion of any group, it is simply submission to God. It existed before Prophet Mohammed was given Al Quran. It is the only totally inclusive creed, the only requirements being as stated in Al Quran:
“……Any who beleive in God, believe in the Day of Judgement, and does good deeds”Peace
-
ET says:
yassim Says:
It broadens the horizon of human life individual and collective existence domestic his conduct civic activities in the political, economic, legislative, educational and social. It covers the whole of its existence (from home to society, the table to the battlefield and conferences on peace), from the cradle to the grave. In short, no sphere of life, immune to the universal application and infinitely broad moral principles of Islam. Thus, with the supremacy of morality, all things in life, instead of being dominated by selfish desires and petty, are regulated by moral norms.
In short, a purely TOTALITARIAN system, where there is no room for introspection and self-improvement. Just do as you are told by the ‘holy’ book, bow to Mecca and hope for an afterlife where you can indulge all the cravings the system wasn’t able to provide in this one.
How sad to ascertain that gullibility is also a characteristic feature of the human ‘superego’. -
Cukurungan says:
Islam is a way of life or deen, it is not the religion of any group, it is simply submission to God. It existed before Prophet Mohammed was given Al Quran. It is the only totally inclusive creed, the only requirements being as stated in Al Quran:
“……Any who beleive in God, believe in the Day of Judgement, and does good deeds”Adolph Hitler cooked some Jews to save Germany, Ariel Sharon slaughtering Palestine babies to secure Israel and Amrozy bombed night club to kill bule’s sinner….and all those gentlemen claimed himself doing good deeds, believe in God and the day of judgment
-
Cuk,
Can you not see the difference between “claiming” and actually “doing”?
Allah says:
Whosoever kills a human being for other than Murder or Creating Mischief in the Land, it is as if he had killed the whole of Human Kind and whoso saved the life of one it is as if he has saved the life of all Mankind. 5:2Peace
-
Oigal says:
Islam is a source of goodness, generosity, mercy, sympathy, peace, disinterested benevolence, loyalty and honesty to the whole creation in all circumstances. Its qualities, which are more noble, can only be the good. This is Islam, which must live in every Muslim..
The what on earth is happening in every Muslim (?) nation around the world (or even Aceh) perhaps its time to revoke a few million membership cards
-
Absolutely brilliant.. I truly enjoyed the way you wrote this article.. I also truly believe that ISLAM is the “cancer” of the World. You are right.. in the Muslim World everything is about ME, ME, I, I.. reminds me of our NEW President Obama.. what a JOKE he is.. I am sure he has some Muslim blood running in his veins.. he sure acts and talks like it.. someday the World will come to a dying halt and only GOD can save the World.. and guess what? The World won’t be saved by the god that Allah prays to!
Now all you Allah lovers out there can bash the heck out of me with your posts.. who cares? You have already chosen your path to destruction. I can’t help you!
-
nbrar says:
The time has come when all responsible people must do their own research and reading of the faith they believe in. No longer is it acceptable to blindly follow what is told to you in temples, churches,mosques etc.
Use the internet widely and read translations of the quran, bible and other holy books etc and make up your own mind. A religious book from God must have universal values otherwise it could very well be the work of some fraud for his personal gain.
What I have read so far is far from the goodness that many has expressed in Islam. What is the real truth. Seach and you shall find. Utimately there is only One and his love does not discriminate based on colour creed or caste nor does He sanction voilence against his creation.. Peace to all
-
Rosila says:
Good luck to you too Bob Campbell on your chosen path. Glad to see your “wisdom” in not caring about us muslims (who have chosen our own path without compulsion). As far as I am concerned as a Muslim and after reading this site, at least you and I have agreed to disagree on our own chosen paths, and this agreement is all it takes for us to be able to accept one another as humans sharing this earth. Different folks, different strokes. I hope your hatreds and disrespects are not what guide you for the rest of your life. What a pity that’ll be.
May peace be upon you, too.
-
sputjam says:
God sent prophets to warn mankind about organised religion.
Organised religion includes islam, christianity, buddhism, hinduism etc.
The after effect is that mankind used the names of prophets to create an even bigger organised religion.
Who do you think Mohamed, Jesus and moses entangled with during their time? Same people like today’s preist and imams.
Mohamed spent his entire life trying to destroy kaabah. It is the centre of arab idol worship culture. In the end, he failed and arab idol worship religion flourish.
Jesus tried to stop jews from embracing a religion. In the end, they betrayed him. The roman then created a new religion in order to control their colonies.
Moses warned Pharoah, the chief priest and later claimed hmself god, that he should stop all the rhetorics. -
RockX says:
To look deep into the heart of a religion and understand its true form, one must review the religion from the founder to the present. This allows one to get past the rhetoric and self-promoting extraction of specific verses to prove one religion is true and the other is false. Begin by looking at the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the life of Mohammad and ask a simple question – how many people died following each of these prophets. In the case of Jesus, only one person died during his three-year ministry – himself. He and he alone was martyred for his beliefs and teachings. He led nobody into battle and he killed nobody. If the Bible is true, he helped and healed so many people that thousands would come to his sermons and follow him peacefully. Now compare this life to the life of Mohammad. How many battles did he lead? How many people died following his military endeavors? How many people did he kill? How many people were healed by his very touch? Would one of you Islamic scholars answer these questions, please?
Next, take a religion and project its beliefs and laws on a people and see the outcome over hundreds of years. Followers of Jesus and his teachings founded the United States of America. It is now the most powerful and prosperous county in the history of the world. More people around the world have been helped because of the generosity of the people of this country founded on Christianity than any other country ever. Look at the medical, scientific and engineering marvels that have and continue to originated from Christian countries that have affected people all over the world. If you have ever taken any medicine, chances are it was discovered in a Christian country. Every time you touch a cell phone, turn on a light, look at a television, drive in a car or pull open your child’s Velcro shoes, you are utilizing technologies that originated in counties based on Christian principles. As a comparison, what medical, scientific and engineering marvels in the last 500 years have their origins from countries built on Islam? Please, Islamic scholars, provide us a list of anything in the last 500 years that originated from Islam that is now pervasive across the modern world and has changed the day-to-day lives of millions of people. Whatever list is provided, we all know it will pale in comparison to the list that each of us could build off the top of our heads of things from countries based and built on Christian principles.
One must be compelled to ask why this is so – why have Christian countries produced so much and so little has come from Islamic countries. The answer, I believe, shows a bright light on the differences in the two religions. Christianity is about freedom from the suppression of the law and the complete submission to God that leads to the ability to overcome the temptations and evils of this world. In Christianity, the concepts of loving God and others before yourself, individual freedom, honor and liberty are the inevitable outcomes. What are the outcomes of Islam? What do we all see going on in Islamic countries? I have a friend that attends a Mosque in a Christian country in complete peace. If I tried to start a Christian church in many Islamic countries, what would happen to me? I would be murdered. It is these comparisons that show the truth about each religion today. (For those of you thinking about the Crusades, here are two truths. The first is why the Crusades were started. Here is a quote from Pope Urban II from Nov. 27, 1095. “The noble race of Franks must come to the aid their fellow Christians in the East. The infidel Turks are advancing into the heart of Eastern Christendom; Christians are being oppressed and attacked; churches and holy places are being defiled. Jerusalem is groaning under the Saracen yoke. The Holy Sepulchre is in Moslem hands and has been turned into a mosque. Pilgrims are harassed and even prevented from access to the Holy Land.” The Muslim Turks started the war. The second is that more people were killed by the Muslim conquest of North Africa and Spain than by Christians during the Crusades. If you are still willing to bring up the Crusades as a blight against Christianity, please pull your head out of the sands of the past and look at the world today).
With Christianity, we are required to follow only three laws:
1. Love God with all your heart, your soul and your mind.
2. Love other before yourself.
3. Accept Jesus Christ as the complete and final sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins so you can be justified, sanctified and righteous in the presence of God.
Once these 3 laws are completely understood, they bring the freedoms that have produced so much good in the world for the entire world. What laws must a Muslim follow to be considered a righteous Muslim? What laws must a Muslim follow to keep from being persecuted in his own country? What laws must a Muslim follow to be sure he will be with God in Heaven?Find the truth. Follow the truth. The truth will set you free. The truth will set nations free.
I pray for my Christian brothers and sisters in Indonesia that they are able to continue to survive in a Muslim country and not have to become martyrs for their faith. Christianity is about life, love and enjoying all that God has given us. Indonesia matters to all Christians
-
Andy says:
How about not just comparing Christianity and Islam, but rather broaden our horizon of that point of view. So America and Britain pretty much created industrialization, yet there are the Christians in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe. Northern Africa, etc… Why didn’t these people create and make great things and ideas. Why does Germany and Italy which gave birth to Protestantism and Catholicism both take on totalitarian governments during World War Two. Especially Germany, where there was a democracy before Hitler took power.
You can look at the world and think you know it in a nutshell. But branding Muslims evil is just stupid. 1.3 billion of them and they are not going away and insulting them if anything would only increase the anger towards the west.
1,000,000 Iraqi’s died in this last war, can anyone here comprehend the enormity of a million. Have you ever done anything except breathing a million times. Can you comprehend every single person who died. This Neo-Conservative Radical Republicanism will only bring more hate against usa, in the form of more terrorist attacks. We fought to make this country free and independent from a giant imperialistic power. Now we are that giant power asserting our will on the world.
Comment on “Good and Evil in Islam”.
Copyright Indonesia Matters 2006-2023
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact
Wow, that is f*ckin brilliant! Find of the year. Thanks champ. Expect to see copious amounts of this sprinkling mine!