Since the latest feedback from the Wahabi corner I started thinking, that maybe I am doing more harm than good. Although I still think we cannot ignore criticism and should examine our behavior and interpretation of Islam in a changed world. Today I received a heartwarming Email, that I wish to share with you:
Assalaam Alaikum!
I’ve found your blog browsing blogcatalog and it is one of the best muslim blogs I’ve found so far!
I’m fromMoscow, Russiaand it is not easy to find information about islam because of the fact that muslim community here is divided into several ‘tribes’ by which I mean that nationality is more important for them then religion. Me and my husband are jewish but we feel that Islam is the religion that suits our views the best.
Back to your blog: I wanted to comment your latest post about provocative writers and such, but unfortunatelly didn’t find a comment form so I’m writing it here.
About 2 month ago on the second day after my marriage I was arrested by police (forunatelly for 1 night only). I was placed in a waiting caged room with some illegal immigrants from muslim countries (both men and women, but mostly men). After a while a policeman came to us and started abusing islam and prophet Mohammad. One of the men replied to the policeman telling he shouldn’t say such words. After a short conversation the muslim guy shrugged his shoulders and went silent. Later on he explained that it is useless to explain smth to an ignorant person…
With best regards,
Alexandra.
May God, the All-mighty and Creator of all mankind show us all the right path and bring us Peace!
All these years since The Satanic Verses controversy and the death sentence by Iranian Mullah’s I am wondering how it came exactly like Rushdie had planned. He wanted controversy and he knew that conservative Muslims would be infuriated. The news would go around the globe like a forest fire and he would be famous.
Why are Muslims so easy to trick to do exactly what is the aim of these provocateurs?The same phenomenon was with the infamous Danish Islam caricatures. They were publishes i.e. in Egypt half a year earlier and nobody bothered to protest. Only after it came international news, when radical Muslims started burning Danish flags and puppets. Governments were forced to give statements that they are powerless, because there is a law for freedom of speech. Again and again provocateurs are trying the same trick. These days, so I read, in Holland is a new cartoon movie in the making about Islam.
Fortunately Muslims are awakening and do not react as they wish anymore. There is a sura in the Quran that advice believers to answer to provocateurs with words of peace:
“And the servants of the Beneficent God are they who walk on the earth in humbleness, and when the ignorant address them, they say: Peace.”Quran [25.63]
I am not a literature critic but at the beginning of this all I read several critics which suggested that Salman Rushdie is a mediocre writer at best. Now there are even rumors, that the Swedes would give him a Nobel literature prize soon.
I should mention a short Email I received the other day from a reader:
”Quite a terrible site, may Allah guide you back to the truth. Regards M. “
By looking closer I found out, that it came from a very conservative corner of Islam. Where i.e. stoning of women is standard punishment.
It hit a sensitive nerve, because that is exactly what I always ask from my Creator – to show me the right path. And I am confident.
I think Islam’s image in the rest of the world is so tarnished and misinterpreted, that we cannot bury our heads in the desert sands.We must confront the accusationsand look at the things like they are, and yes, it can be painful.
“zeppelinsteenIn Malaysia where I come from, there is approx. 60% Muslims. We have a lot of Christians as well. But the Muslims here are totally different from theMiddle East. For example we don’t have any problem with women rights or whatsoever. Yet, other religions are going well with Islam. I think it’s not about challenging stereotypes, it is changing attitudes of the ARABS! “
Yes, he or she is right:the Problem is not Islam.
The problem is, that some Muslims do not realize that what they believe to be Islamic teaching is in fact tradition.The Hadith’s (traditions) sometimes clearly contradict the Holy Quran. The best example is the stoning of adulterous women as it still happens in some areas in theMiddle East. It was common practice before Christianity, which Jesus abolished (pls. read the article below“Stoning of a child”).
In the Quran there is NO mentioning of it but a sura, that cannot be misinterpreted:
“And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death comes close to them or God opens some way for them.”(Quran 4:15)
They somehow manage to distort the Original Message of Righteousness, Tolerance and Humanity. It was Islam, that introduced 1400 years ago all these virtues to then pagan Bedouins, who were warring each other in bloody tribal conflicts. And it is not solely the problem of the Arabs, who count only around 15 % of the Muslims worldwide.
The reason is that many preachers still prefer the Hadith’s, even if there are clear instructions of tolerance, forgiveness, human rights, even animal rights and “do not kill” in the Quran.
… ” The YouTube Visionary Award was established to highlight those who use YouTube as a global platform for positive social change.
As the site has become a destination for humanitarianism, philanthropy, education and public service, this award pays tribute to individuals whose videos advance these principles in innovative, thought-provoking ways.
“Queen Rania sets the standard for breaking down stereotypes and her YouTube videos are nothing short of inspirational,” said YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, adding “It is both a pleasure and an honor to present her with this much-deserved tribute.”
” Queen Rania launched her YouTube channel in March 2008 to foster an open dialogue and combat ignorance and stereotypes.
Her YouTube videos bridge the gap between Eastern and Western cultures by examining the increasing involvement of women in the Middle East workforce and by debunking misguided assumptions about Muslims and Arabs.
To date, Her Majesty’s channel has generated nearly 3 million video views and received more than 43,000 messages from users around the world.
November 1, 2008 - MOGADISHU,Somalia(AP) – A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death inSomalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said.Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city ofKismayo, Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. The Islamic militia in charge of Kismayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.Initial local media reports said Duhulow was 23, but her father told Amnesty International she was 13. Some of the Somali journalists who first reported the killing later told Amnesty International that they had reported she was 23 based upon her physical appearance.
It hard to come to senses after news like this knowing that it was Islam that introduced righteousness to a then pagan community. For thousands of years stoning to death and nailing on a cross (in Palestine) were the most common ways of death penalty,I suppose since Stone Age.
Jesus, who is also a Prophet for Muslims like all the other Prophets of Christianity said: “If any of you have not committed a sin you can throw the first stone at her.” (Bible, John 8:1-3)
Painting: Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery, by Vasiliy Polenov
The Story in the Bible- The Adulterous Woman. (John 8:1-3)It was about a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and had to stand in front of the teachers of the law and Pharisees and also Jesus, and they said that “In our law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death,” and then they put all the pressure on Jesus by saying what do you think, and then said to Jesus, so that they could accuse him, but they didn’t trap Jesus. Jesus then said “Ifany of you have not committed a sin you can throw the first stone ather.” The older people left first and eventually everybody had gone,and there was just Jesus and the woman left. Jesus said to her “Whereare they all, there is no one left to condemn you,” and then said ” Idon’t condemn you either, go, but do not sin again.”
As true Muslims believe in ALL the Prophets before Phophet Mohammed in my opinion this is a significant statement from Jesus. And most importantly itdoes not contradict the Quran.
In the Quran the stoning of an adulterous woman is not advised.“And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death comes close to them or God opens some way for them.” (Quran 4:15)
Some extreme branches of Islam still practice the stoning to death. In their understanding its justification must be based on Hadiths, because in the Quran there is no mentioning of it.
“Surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware (of the evil), are cursed in this world and hereafter, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.” (Qur’an 24:23)
“And those who speak evil things of the believing men and the believing women without their having earned (it), they are guilty indeed of a false accusation and a manifest sin.” (Q. 33:58)
I pray to God, the Allmighty, that all Muslims would finally start realizing the real Teaching of Islam, righteousness and human rights.
Edit: The complete story on BBC News from Somalia. Her 62-year-old aunt told the BBC that the teenager had in fact been raped by three armed men - and she took Asha to the police station to report it.
“I don’t know what crime she committed other than being raped - and I was not even allowed to see her body.” - Asha Ibrahim Dhuhulow’s aunt
“They are wrong if they committed a kidnap. They will have to be punished under Sharia law.”- Hiiran’s al-Shabab Chairman Sheikh Ali Dheere
