The peerless historian Bat Ye'or replies to Muslim apologist Mustafa Akyol at FrontPage today. Akyol and I, of course, have carried on a dialogue here and at FrontPage. Score now: jihadists 5, Akyol 0.
From Bat Ye'or:
The hope inspired by Mr. Mustafa Akyol’s long article in Front Page Magazine is tempered by his deception. Mr. Akyol speaks of the necessity to re-interpret the fundamental teachings and scriptures of Islam, particularly the hadith and sira (the biography of the Prophet). Finally we see here a potential Muslim effort to continue and improve the critical exegesis initiated by the great Orientalists of the 19th century, particularly Ignaz Goldziher, whose work has since become anathema to the Muslim intelligentsia. However, Mr Akyol does not explain on what authority a selection of hadith and events of the sira will be made, since, he himself, in the course of his argumentation, simply uses them to prove the justice of Islam.Disputing the veracity of the claim in the sacralized biography of Muhammad regarding the massacre of the Qurayza Jews is most welcome since it negates the Muslim command to kill Jews in order to emulate the Prophet. This assertion must be fully encouraged, because the treatment of the Jews by the Prophet has became the standard by which the classical Muslim jurists formulated their policy toward non-Muslims, as embodied in the Shari'a and in the jihad’s rules. Hence, when non-Muslims (primarily Hindus and Christians) were killed in Bali, Amrozi, the Indonesian terrorist, invoked the fate of the Jews in the oasis of Khaybar, perhaps confusing them with the mass slaughter of their co-religionists, the Qurayza. Although many of the Jews of Khaybar were killed in an unprovoked jihad campaign by Muhammad, those vanquished Khaybar Jews who surrendered were not killed, but were dispossessed and became exploited dhimmi tributaries, until, within a decade later, they were expelled by the "Rightly Guided" Caliph Umar.
In fact, there is no way for us, in the 21st century, to know what really happened in a small Arabian oasis in the seventh century given the lack of contemporary evidence. But Mr. Akyol again contradicts himself by implying that the Qurayza’s punishment was justified, because they acted treacherously while of course there are no objective proofs for such accusations, which rest merely on the demonization of the victims. Moreover the problem does not concern only the Qurayza Jews but the Jews and Christians throughout the Hedjaz, who were, soon afterward dispossessed, and within a decade of Muhammad’s death, expelled, according to his professed (i.e., again, in the sira) deathbed wishes.
As Mr. Akyol stated rightly, this was not exceptional at that time. The problem now is that such acts have been attributed to the Prophet Muhammad who is the model to be emulated by all Muslims. Hence, while even worse wars might have been perpetrated in the world by rulers long since forgotten, the acts and sayings of Muhammad concerning non-Muslims are still binding for over a billion Muslims today. To decry Dr. Bostom’s analyses, based on 13 centuries of Islamic teaching and writing, and accepted today in all Muslim countries, is almost surrealistic.
It is true that now we see an effort by Muslim theologians to contextualize the actions and words attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, and thereby introduce an element of relativity between the seventh century, and the present. But this timid and belated tendency has not the slightest influence on the current jihadist war of terror against the West overwhelmingly approved in the Muslim countries.
Mr Akyol’s explanation of jihad itself is particularly disingenuous. In a democracy “a final jihad on western secular materialism” is shocking. This is especially concerning given that the word “faith” can be understood in its Muslim sense which states that the only true faith is Islam. (Qur’an 3:17).
What exactly is “western secular materialism”? Will that be replaced by a Shari’a morality? Much of Mr. Akyol’s reasoning seems inspired by the International Institute of Islamic Thought set up in 1983 in the U.S.A. to teach the Islamization of Knowledge. This program, financed by Saudi Arabia, was developed under the guidance of, among others, Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, a Palestinian Professor who taught at Temple University. A document from the Islamization of Knowledge program summarized its objectives:
“The new reform effort should present a systematic and methodological approach to rebuild Islamic knowledge on the same firm foundation that supported Islamic Civilization in its first cycle. The Muslims, being an Ummah (nation) of a Divine message, can only rise to civilization dominance if they carry the message in its original clarity, purity, and relevance.”1
The program to reform Islamic religious thinking thus aims at reinforcing traditional teaching through modern reasoning. Thus, one is imprisoned within a circular argumentation which goes back to its Islamic starting point. While I understand the difficulties of reforming a religion, a process that takes centuries, and does not relate to Islam alone, I deplore the violent animosity displayed against those writers and researchers in the West who denounce, very courageously, the brazen acts of terrorism perpetrated throughout the world, primarily against non-Muslims, by Muslims invoking the very texts that Ibn Warraq, Bostom, Spencer, and so many others have analyzed, and brought to public attention.
Mr. Akyol denies their self-evident interpretations, and that is his right, but he should try to convince – not a Western audience – but over a billion Muslims who curiously share the views of the Muslim texts and authorities quoted by the courageous authors mentioned above. Mr. Akyol prefers to try and persuade Westerners of the perfection of Islam, simply denying that the horrors that occurred in Muslim history, chronicled with great accuracy by Dr. Bostom, either didn’t happen, or were not done by Muslims. This sort of twisted logic is little removed from the warped thinking which justified the bizarre accusations that the CIA, Americans, or Zionists must have perpetrated 9/11 because Muslims could not commit such horrors. Many books elaborating this preposterous thesis were disseminated in Europe, and in the Muslim world.
It would be meaningless to answer all of Mr. Akyol’s affirmations, accusations and denials, including the genocide of the Armenians. His total rejection of the history of dhimmitude, despite copious documentation by both Muslim and non-Muslim sources, and its replacement by a glorification of a just and peaceful Islamic rule over tens of millions of subjected, non-Muslim peoples, precludes any understanding between those who call a jihad a genocidal war, and those who call it a liberation (even having the temerity to deny the jihad genocide of the Armenians). Mr. Akyol invokes testimonies which are contradicted, multiple times over, by others he chose to ignore.
A mass of documents from a vast array of sources describe throughout the centuries and even till today, the trials of populations - Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists, Animists - vanquished by the Muslim armies. The affirmations of modern scholars that he quotes, just confirm the political rewriting of history but do not suppress, by overlooking them, the veracity of the facts enunciated by Dr. Bostom. Mr. Akyol’s affirmation that it was not Muslims who perpetrated the acts described is merely his personal opinion based on his current appreciation of Islam. Finally, while Mr. Akyol’s efforts to modernize religious beliefs are praiseworthy, they should be directed exclusively at convincing his coreligionists, not attempting to persuade the non-Muslim victims of Muslim aggression that their ordeal did not happen or was an idyllic era for which they should be grateful. Spare us another “Golden Age”.
Notes
[1] Amber Haque ed., Muslims and Islamization in North America: Problems & Prospects, Amana Publications, Maryland, 1999, p.19.
And from Akyol:
It appears that both Ms. Ye'or and Mr. Bostom believe that terrorists such as al-Qaeda spring from and represent the supposedly inherent violence of Islam. I argue, on the other hand, that the current "Islamic terrorism" we face stems from a distortion of the true Islamic faith.In order to defend my case, let me shortly answer the questions, counter the criticisms and unveil the misjudgments of Ms. Ye'or.
The first issue is about the traditional, post-Koranic Islamic sources. Ms. Ye'or welcomes my critical approach to the hadith and sira traditions but criticizes me for failing to "explain on what authority a selection of hadith and events of the sira will be made." (Hadiths are sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad and sira are his biographies.) I feel free to question these traditional sources, because they are very late constructs. The earliest sira was written about 150 years after the Prophet. Hadiths were compiled even later. And it is already known that these sources include many fake, irrational stories. I just argue that the inauthenticity is wider than commonly acknowledged.
But how will we judge these sources, as Ms. Ye'or rightly asks. Robert Spencer raised the same question, too. My answer is the Koran. The Koran must be the sole infallible Islamic criterion and hadiths should be compared with its verses and the overall message. There are some modern scholars who reach this conclusion. Professor Hayri Kirbasoglu, a theologian in Ankara University and an expert on hadiths, argues that a new method is necessary to evaluate the hadith collection and compatibility with the Koran -- a criterion much neglected before – should be its basis. The same holds for sira as well.
With this reasoning, I see the sira and hadith accounts about the massacre of the men of Bani Qurazya as incompatible with the Koran. Thus I reject it.
An interesting argument. But can a peaceful, tolerant Islam be constructed from the Qur'an, without serious reexamination of that book also? I doubt it. In any case, read the whole exchange; there is more from Akyol and a final reply from Bat Ye'or.
I'm with Robert Spencer on this one. Although we all hope that a reformation can occur, 1350 years of tradition that has checks against reform makes any positive change very unlikely. Islam's virulence is MANDATED in the Koran. It's spread is not acceptable and containment is not possible as we regrettably see.
Akyol's version of "sola scriptura" (it must give him a thrill to lift a phrase from Protestantism, as if the all-encompassing belief-system of Islam, with its overwhelming geopolitical component, is just like all those other religions and phrases well-known from the history of Western religions will help the pretense that they are all just --- just religions).
But first understand what he is about. He wants us to believe that someone will deal with all the bad hadith, the ones that should worry Infidels. There are two ways to do this, and he seems to suggest both of them.
The first way is to have a re-winnowing of the tens, or even hundreds of thousands, of hadith. Yea, verily, a new Bukhari, a new Muslim, will not only arrive, but will do his work, and his work, his study of isnad-chains and the like, will surely result in the throwing out, as "inauthentic," of all the hadith that make Infidels -- who, guess what, can now read the hadith on their own, and they may not exactly be charmed by what they discover -- wary and worried. And who would do this, Mr. Akyol? And how long would it take? Oh, and one final question -- what Muslims, through what kind of persuasion, would decide that yes, this effort has to be made, and that Bukhari, Muslim, and the rest of them, can all be ignored.
The second way to deal with the problem, according to Akyol, is even more dismissive of major parts of Islam. He thinks that somehow he, or someone, or the Arab League, or the Rector of Al Azhar or Al-Qaradawi, or god knows who, will be able to simply jettison the hadith and the sira (the sacralized biography of Muhammad) altogether, and rely only on the Qur'an. Again, one wants to ask how? Who will accept this? A few smiling ambassadors, assuring Infidels in London and Rome and Paris and Washington that don't worry, we've cleaned up our act, and that little problem of the hadith and the sira is now gone with the wind? Le vent se leve, il faut tenter de vivre. Are hundreds of millions of Muslims ready to throw out hadith and sira, even if Mr. Akyol is?
But there is a final problem. Akyol would have us believe that the Qur'an, all by itself, poses no problem at all. It is entirely a document with which we can be most assuredly safe. Really? Perhaps he is reading a special Qur'an. The one we Infidels can read, for example on-line at www.usc.edu, with several translations available for comparison, is full of passages, more than 100, that preach Jihad. The word "qital" or combat appears 27 times in the Qur'an. The instruments of Jihad of course include other weapons -- "wealth" (economic weapon), and "pen, speech" (the weapon of propaganda, including taqiyya/kitman which would embrace all the means by which Infidels are confused, or made unwary, for as Muhammad declares in a number of differnt hadith -- "war is deception"). And there is something not mentioned in the Qur'an, but it is all over the Islamic press on and off-line: Da'wa promoted by the demographic conquest of the Bilad al-Kufr. Does Mr. Akyol not know of these boasts, these plans?
Finally, oddest of all, Mustafa Akyol is allowed what freedom he does have to another Mustafa -- Mustafa Kemal, a/k/a Ataturk. Ataturk, unlike Mustafa Akyol, knew that Turkey, were it to survive, had to tie Islam as much into knots as he could. The Hat Act, the early vote for women, the constraints put on the wearing of hijab and on those who attended religious schools (through discrimination in government employment, or promotions in the army) -- what was all this about, if not a clear attempt to constrain the tiger of Islam, for Ataturk realized it could not be "reformed" but only constrained.
Akyol is most ungrateful to Ataturk for this systematic program. But without these acts of a strong-minded despot (note to Washington: it is the enlightened despots who have undestood, and constrained the full force of Islam -- Ataturk, Bourguiba, Mohammad V of Morocco, Shah Reza Pahlavi -- with different outcomes, and possibilities of success), would Turkey today be a country where at least the 25% of the population that is secular have been able to develop at all? That not all those who have been the beneficiaries of Ataturk's limits on Islam fully appreciate this, and think that this is all permanent, and thus have let down their guard vis-a-vis Mr. Erdogan, he of "the minarets are our bayonets, the domes are our helmets, the mosques are our barracks" fame.
A Turk ungrateful to Ataturk, or miscomprehending what, once he was firmly in the saddle, he did about Islam? Well, back to those history books.
FrontPage is on a roll today. Here is Steven Vincent's "Rootless, Grandiose and Islamofascist":
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15672
The entire dialogue with Mr.Aykol is bizzare. There are two distinct domains, the first, history and the scholarship of Koranic and post-Koranic sources, and the second, techniques for persuasion. In the former we argue about what claims can be historically warranted and justified, in the latter we are essentially doing psychology; we argue about what interpretations or ideas will be most effective in preventing Muslims from murdering people.
This is just plain weird. At least Bat Ye'or and Hugh keep the domains distinct. Note the Aykol must presume a-priori, that there is a happy marriage between the ways Islamic scriptures should be viewed from an historical point of view (that, of course, must involve the whole bogus issue of 'authenticity'), and how they should be viewed to avoid mass, indiscriminate murder of Infidels.
I suppose this a-priori truth is up there somewhere with the principle of noncontradition and the principle of identity.
Crock for scholarship that we must endure because people are getting (and have been getting) killed by the thousands and millions...that's about it.
Mike:
FANTASTIC article. Thanks!
kj, please read it, even though you discount the source/site. Please.
RE: the notion that getting rid of the bad hadiths and suras, and back to the Koran as a solution...
...seems to me that in a FrontPageMag forum last week on reforming Islam, one of the commentators said the problem was actually that the jihadists are mistaken in thinking that it is OK for them to do what Mohammed did, because he was a Prophet of God and they are not (sort of like those commericals featuring extreme road stunts that warn the viewers not to attempt the same themselves).
The more I read and hear the more it becomes obvious that "reforming Islam" is an oxymoron. How can you reform anything, that at its base, is so fatally flawed, let alone a pseudo-religious ideology that is no more than a rationale for an extremely aggressive fascist doctrine.
I'm sure some of you have listened to Michael Savage on the radio. If not, please find him on your radio dial and listen to him, he's part of the Paul Revere Society.
He's been going off on CAIR and a few other Muslim fountains of misinformation......
And Spencer, of course, keeps these ideas distinct as well: conflating these domains and issues is a natural consequence of the oddball project of seeking an 'authentic' Koran (or Islamic scriptural base) that won't destroy innocent people, societies, groups of Infidels, of course...(or something like that).
My thanks to Bat Yeór for her skillful presentation of the facts to Mr. Akyol, who unfortunately appears to be either an intellectual light weight or a dishonest brooker, the latter most likely.
Both Mr. Spencer and Ms. Yeór have provided a scholarly exposé of his inconsistancies, too numerous to list here and yet Mr. Akyol stoubbornly clings to his clearly false beliefs despite the skepticism raised by two highly respected expert scholars of Islam, to both his claims and his beliefs.
Mr. Akyol represents the PROBLEM with reform in the Islamic world. Unless REALITY can be embraced by those who profess the desire to revolutionize (civilize) Islam, the only continuing legacy of this belief system will be continued evil in the name of God.
It sadly seems that Ishmael's neverending scourge and blight onto all mankind will only grow bolder in the face of such abandonment of reason as examplified by Mr. Akyol and Western nievité and cowardice.
It's not easy being Mustafa Akyol.
CGW~ with the threats to the 1st Amendment rights that have been made in recent weeks (by members of Kerry's own team, no less), I wouldn't be surprised if Frontpage is already listed... to be Blacklisted. And likely investigated. But definitely shut down. Remember it is the democrats who wish to regulate the internet, or shut down people entirely, as Hillary tried:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37953
(just one of many articles)
Just think of how little news we will get about the islamofascists if they manage to do so!
One of the most disturbing things about Aykol and other moderate Muslims is the continuing rant that the sira and hadiths can't be factual because of all the bad things in them. Few of these moderates wish to entertain the idea that yes, these collections might be quite historically accurate even though they weren't written down until long after Mohammed's death. Apparently Aykol and others give the tradition of oral history short shrift.
If these collections were so factually inaccurate, why don't we see increasingly fantastical stories recounting supernatural miracles performed by Mohammed or some such thing. Why do the stories sound so plausible? Is it because our (non-Muslim) minds haven't been previously tainted by reading of the Qu'ran since childhood? Most Muslims, it must be acknowledged, have never read the sira or hadith collections.
What Aykol is suggesting is nothing short of attempting to erase history.
DCWatson,
I heard of Savage's program and I really agreed with his assessment of CAIR.
Unfortunately, he vents too much, and he encourages to much of his listeners to do the same.
I was particularly turned off when he agreed with a caller who suggested that modern day Islamofascism was created by the Soviets to weaken the U.S.
The liberals who REALLY need to get the message about CAIR are going to hear this stupid conspiracy theory about the Soviets and draw the conclusion that the comments on CAIR (which happen to be true) are also B.S.
It's a pity (and profound irony) that the only radio host who has the guts to tell the truth about CAIR, also makes a big show of his hatefulness and ignorance.
This is no way to run an anti-jihad.
That Aykol is writing and speaking to the (mostly) ignorant kafir and potential dhimmi is quite evident, from the venue of his protestations and modifications.
The media and forums are full of these apologists and taqiyyah'i.
He should start lecturing fellow Muslims scholars and intellectuals,not gullible and ignorant westerners. If Aykol and his ilk focus their intellectual efforts towards their own kind, then I might take him seriously.
By the way Rublev, get a grip liberals are not the problem, nor the proper target of your anger, your own conservative god like hero's have stirred up the Jihadis, and in fact the plan actually is to create an Islamic Republic in Iraq. It already is an Islamic Republic, Art 7 of the Iraqi Interim Constitution.
We wasted our money and blood to create a fledgling Islamic Republic in Iraq. How stupid can the right wing be?
BTW, Islamofascism arose in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood, it was nurtured, financed, supported in Saudi Arabia, and the international Jihad is financed by Saudi ARabia.
And the Saudis are butt buddies with Bush and the neo cons, even joint partners in the Caryle Group.
The Bush's even call Prince Bandar, Bandar Bush, but google images bandar or bandar bush and you will see for your own eyes how cozy they are, including Dubya holding hands with Bandar striding across the White House lawn.
BTW Mr Spencer, the article does not address Islam's mythical golden age.
This however explains the Myth. The early Muslims were ignorant, unlettered Arabs, and all they had of Muhammad were poetic recitations. Poetry was, and is still, quite an important element of Arabic life,and the language lends itself to poetry (within the Arab Mentality).
As they poured out of the Nejd and Hijaz, and encountered wondrous new worlds, they were anxious and eager to adopt the new science and technology, that had been developed in Greece by Greek minds.
But in the 8th Century (751 AD) at the battle on the Talas River, they captured Chinese, as usual they killed the males whom had nothing to contribute, but found a couple of captives who knew how to make paper.
With the goal of putting the words of Muhammad to paper, they spared their lives, it took another century or so, but eventually most of Muhammads words, and doings were committed to paper, and with that arose the parasitic class called Ulama (muslim clerics) and mujtahids (clerics and jurists) who claimed the Allah ordained right and ability to interpret Muhammad, promulgate laws, adjudicate those laws and hand down punishments.
Of course such enterprises don't lend themselves to monopoloy, as being a mullah or mujtahid is a prestigious and lucrative business, so schools promulgated, as did writings (ahadiths) and sunnah (doings of Muhammad),as well as the proliferation of clerics and in Shi'i Islam the claim of being descendants (Sayyid) of Muhammad.
It's all a business, a lucrative and prestigious socioeconomic business, but with the development of written recitations (Quran) and (hadiths) Islam became inverted and doctrinaire and stopped changing and growing.
A benefit to the west was the Ottomon conquest of Greece and Constantinople, because with the invasion of Greece, the philosophers fled to Italy and started the renaissance,and the fall of Constantinople in 1453 is actually more momentous to the west than 1492,(when King Ferdinand issued his expulsion edict). With the fall of Constantinople all philosophers and men of letters who survived the conquest of the Muslims, fled to Florence, Venus and Genoa and that really spurred the renaissance.
The invention of the printing press,and subsequent mass production of Islamic holy text, sealed forever the fate of Islam. With mass distribution of Quran and Hadiths Islam became set in stone,more dogmatic and doctinaire than Christianity and Judaism, because Muhammad created a complete ideology, that governed not only the "spiritual" (not much if anything spiritual in the Quran BTW), but all things temporal to how one treats the wife, kids, enemies, and even the value of a man's vs a woman's testimony.
A cradle to grave political ideology, incapable of modification or reinterpretation, for such renders the reformist an apostate, a heretic, the penalty for which is death.
Islam can not change, for if it does it is no longer Islam, and no longer has a claim on the believers.
So is this what they will teach in true islam?? do not be fooled??
Qur’an 74:32 “Truly: I swear by the Moon as a witness, and by the darkness of night.”
Qur’an 53:19 “Have you then seen or thought upon Al-Lat and Al-Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs), and considered another, the third (goddess), Manat (of the pagan deities)? What! for you sons, the male sex, and for Him, daughters, the female? Are yours the males and His the females? Behold, such would be indeed a division most unfair!”
Qur’an 22:52 “Never did We send a messenger or a prophet before you, but, when he framed a desire, Satan threw some vanity into his desire: but Allah will cancel anything (vain) that Satan throws in.” [Another translation reads:] “He recited (the message) Satan proposed. But Allah abolishes that which Satan proposes.” [A third claims:] “Satan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but Allah annuls that which Satan casts,” [A fourth:] “whose recitations Satan tampered with, yet Allah abrogates what Satan interpolates; and Allah will confirm His Signs/Revelations.”
Qur’an 22:53 “He may make the suggestions thrown in by Satan, the Devil’s proposals, but a trial and temptation for those in whose hearts is a disease. Verily the wrong-doers are in a schism. And those on whom knowledge has been bestowed may learn that the (Qur’an) is the truth from your Lord, that they may believe, and their hearts may submit lowly before it.”
OR WILL THY TEACH??
INTOLERANCE:
Qur’an 9:71 “O Prophet, strive hard [fighting] against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be harsh with them. Their abode is Hell, an evil refuge indeed.”
Qur’an 8:59 “The infidels should not think that they can get away from us. Prepare against them whatever arms and weaponry you can muster so that you may terrorize them.”
Qur’an 4:168 “Those who reject [Islamic] Faith, Allah will not forgive them nor guide them to any path except the way to Hell, to dwell therein forever. And this to Allah is easy.”
Qur’an 4:114 “He who disobeys the Apostle after guidance has been revealed will burn in Hell.”
Ishaq:344 “We smote them and they scattered. The impious met death. They became fuel for Hell. All who aren’t Muslims must go there. It will consume them while the Stoker [Allah] increases the heat. They had called Allah’s Apostle a liar. They claimed, ‘You are nothing but a sorcerer.’ So Allah destroyed them.”
Qur’an 33:60 “Truly, if the Hypocrites stir up sedition, if the agitators in the City do not desist, We shall urge you to go against them and set you over them. They shall have a curse on them. Whenever they are found, they shall be seized and slain without mercy—a fierce slaughter—murdered, a horrible murdering.”
Qur’an 33:64 “Verily Allah has cursed the Unbelievers [whom he defines as Christians in the 5th surah] and has prepared for them a Blazing Fire to dwell in forever. No protector will they find, nor savior. That Day their faces will be turned upside down in the Fire. They will say: ‘Woe to us! We should have obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!’ ‘Our Lord! Give them double torment and curse them with a very great Curse!’”
Qur’an 5:10 “Those who reject, disbelieve and deny Our signs, proofs and verses will be companions of Hell-Fire.”
Qur’an 88:1 “Has the narration reached you of the overwhelming (calamity)? Some faces (all disbelievers, Jews and Christians) that Day, will be humiliated, downcast, scorched by the burning fire, while they are made to drink from a boiling hot spring.”
Bukhari:V1B11N617 “I would order someone to collect firewood and another to lead prayer. Then I would burn the houses of men who did not present themselves at the compulsory prayer and prostration.”
Bukhari:V1B11N626 “The Prophet said, ‘No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the Fajr. If they knew the reward they would come to (the mosque) even if they had to crawl. Certainly I decided to order a man to lead the prayer and then take a flame to burn all those who had not left their houses for the prayer, burning them alive inside their homes.’”
Bukhari:V4B52N260 “The Prophet said, ‘If a Muslim discards his religion, kill him.’”
Qur’an 5:51 “Believers, take not Jews and Christians for your friends.”
Qur’an 74:31 “We have appointed nineteen angels to be the wardens of the Hell Fire. We made a stumbling-block for those who disbelieve and We have fixed their number as a trial for unbelievers in order that the People of the Book may arrive with certainty, and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book, those in whose hearts is a disease.”
Bukhari:V4B54N487 “The Prophet said, ‘The Hell Fire is 69 times hotter than ordinary worldly fires.’ So someone said, ‘Allah’s Apostle, wouldn’t this ordinary fire have been sufficient to torture the unbelievers?’”
Qur’an 72:15 “The disbelievers are the firewood of hell.”
Qur’an 72:17 “If any turns away from the reminder of his Lord (the Qur’an), He will thrust him into an ever growing torment, and cause for him a severe penalty.”
Qur’an 72:25 “Whoever disobeys the Lord and His Messenger then there is for him the fire of Hell where they shall abide forever.”
Qur’an 88:21 “You are not a warden over them; except for those who turn away and disbelieve, in which case, he will be punished with the severest punishment. Verily to Us they will return.”
Qur’an 90:19 “But those who reject Our Signs, Proofs, and Verses, they are the unhappy Companions of the Left Hand. Fire will be their awning, vaulting over them.”
Qur’an 95:4 “We have indeed created man in the best molds. Then do We abase him, reducing him to be the lowest of the low, except such as believe.”
Tabari VIII:130 “The Messenger said, ‘Two religions cannot coexist in the Arabian Peninsula.’ Umar investigated the matter, then sent to the Jews, saying: ‘Allah has given permission for you to be expelled.”
Qur’an 2:64 “But you [Jews] went back on your word and were lost losers. So become apes, despised and hated. We made an example out of you.”
Qur’an 66:9 “O Prophet! Strive hard against the unbelieving Infidels and the Hypocrites; be severe against them. Their abode is Hell, an evil resort.”
Qur’an 60:1 “Believers, take not my enemies and yours as allies, offering them love, even though they have rejected the truth that has come to you, and have driven out the Prophet and you because you believe in Allah! If you have come out to struggle [fight jihad] in My Cause, and to seek My Pleasure, (take them not as friends), holding secret converse of love with them: for I am aware of all you conceal. And any of you that does this has strayed from the Straight Path. If they were to get the better of you, they would be your foes, and stretch forth their hands and their tongues against you with evil (designs).”
Qur’an 60:5 “We reject you. Hostility and hate have come between us forever, unless you believe in Allah only.’”
Qur’an 48:13 “If any believe not in Allah and His Messenger, We have prepared a Blazing Fire for them!”
Qur’an 48:28 “It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the Religion of Truth (Islam), that he may make it superior to every other religion, exalting it over them. Allah is a sufficient Witness. Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah. Those who are with him are severe with Infidel unbelievers.”
Qur’an 47:3 “Those who disbelieve follow vanities, while those who believe follow truth from their Lord: Thus does Allah coin for men their similitudes [resemblances] as a lesson. Whoever denies faith [in Islam and Muhammad], his work is of no account, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers.”
Qur’an 9:2 “You cannot weaken Allah or escape. Allah will disgrace the unbelievers and put those who reject Him to shame.”
Qur’an 9:4 “You cannot escape Allah, weaken or frustrate Him. And proclaim a grievous penalty of a painful doom to those who reject [Islamic] Faith.”
Qur’an 9:17 “The disbelievers have no right to visit the mosques of Allah while bearing witness against their own souls to infidelity. These it is whose doings are in vain, and in the fire shall they abide. Only he shall visit the mosques of Allah who believes in Allah and the latter day, and keeps up devotional obligations, pays the zakat, and fears none but Allah.”
Qur’an 9:28 “Believers, truly the pagan disbelievers are unclean.”
Qur’an 9:30 “The Jews call Uzair (Ezra) the son of Allah, and the Christians say that the Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying from their mouths; they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah’s (Himself) fights against them, cursing them, damning and destroying them. How perverse are they!”
Qur’an 9:33 “He has sent His Messenger (Muhammad) with guidance and the Religion of Truth (Islam) to make it superior over all religions, even though the disbelievers detest (it).”
Qur’an 9:63 “Know they not that for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger is the Fire of Hell wherein they shall dwell? That is the supreme disgrace.”
Qur’an 9:66 “Make no excuses: you have rejected Faith after you had accepted it. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others amongst you, for they are disbelievers.”
Qur’an 9:113 “It is not fitting for the Prophet and those who believe, that they should pray for the forgiveness for disbelievers, even though they be close relatives, after it is clear to them that they are the inmates of the Flaming Hell Fire.”
Qur’an 5:78 “Curses were pronounced on the unbelievers, the Children of Israel who rejected Islam, by the tongues of David and of Jesus because they disobeyed and rebelled.”
Qur’an 5:80 “You see many of them allying themselves with the Unbelievers [other translations read: “Infidels”]. Vile indeed are their souls. Allah’s wrath is on them, and in torment will they abide.”
Qur’an 5:82 “You will find the Jews and disbelievers [defined as Christians in 5:73] the most vehement in hatred for the Muslims.”
Qur’an 5:86 “Those who reject Islam and are disbelievers, denying our Signs and Revelations —they shall be the owners of the Hell Fire.”
Tabari IX:78 “No polytheist shall come near the Holy Mosque, and no one shall circumambulate Allah’s House naked.”
Ishaq:246 “Hypocrites used to assemble in the mosque and listen to the stories of the Muslims and laugh and scoff at their religion. So Muhammad ordered that they should be ejected. They were thrown out with great violence. Abu went to Amr, took his foot and dragged him out of the mosque. Another Muslim slapped a man’s face while dragging him forcefully, knocking him down. One was pulled violently by his hair. ‘Don’t come near the Apostle’s mosque again, for you are unclean.’ The first hundred verses of the Cow surah came down in reference to these Jewish rabbis and Hypocrites.”
Ishaq:262 “Some Muslims remained friends with the Jews, so Allah sent down a Qur’an forbidding them to take Jews as friends. From their mouths hatred has already shown itself and what they conceal is worse.”
Qur’an 5:51 “Believers, take not Jews and Christians for your friends. They are but friends and protectors to each other.”
Ishaq:245 “The Apostle used to say, ‘Their religion will never march with ours.’”
Bukhari:V4B52N288 “Expel disbelievers from the Arabian Peninsula.’”
Qur’an 2:191 “Slay them wherever you find and catch them, and drive them out from where they have turned you out; for persecution and oppression are worse than slaughter.”
Qur’an 33:25 “Allah drove the disbelievers back...and helped the believers in battle.... He terrorized the People of the Book so that you killed some and made many captive.”
Tabari IX:167 “Muhammad waged war against the false prophets [slitting his own wrists would have done nicely] by sending messengers with instructions to get rid of them by artful contrivance [plot or machination].”
Bukhari:V5B59N727 “When Allah’s Apostle became seriously sick, he started covering his face with a woolen sheet. When he felt short of breath, he removed it, and said, ‘That is so! Allah’s curse be on Jews and Christians.’”
Qur’an 21:98 “Verily you (disbelieving Infidels), and the gods that you worship besides Allah, are the fuel for Hell, faggots for the fire! Certainly you will enter it! Had their (idols) been (real) alihah (gods), they would have kept them out of Hell. Therein, sobbing will be your lot. Breathing with deep sighs, roaring. You will hear nothing but wailing and groaning.”
Qur’an 18:103 “Say: ‘Shall we inform you of who will be the greatest losers? …Those who reject my Revelations… Hell is their reward, because they rejected Islam, and took My proofs, verses, and lessons, and those of My Messengers by way of jest in mockery.’”
Qur’an 52:9 “On the Day when heaven will heave in dreadful shaking, trembling, and mountains will fly hither and thither, woe to those who reject [me], that play in shallow trifles and sport in vain discourses. That Day they will be pushed down by force, thrust with a horrible thrust into the Fire of Hell. Unable to resist, they shall be driven to the fire with violence.”
Qur’an 40:10 “Lo, those who disbelieve will be informed by proclamation: ‘Verily Allah’s abhorrence is more terrible than your aversion to yourselves. Allah’s hatred of you is terrible, seeing that you were called to the Faith [of submission] and you refused.’”
Qur’an 40:35 “Those who dispute the Signs and Verses of Allah without any authority, grievous and odious, hateful and disgusting, is it in the sight of Allah and the Believers.’”
Ishaq:185 “Adam reviewed the spirits of his offspring. The infidels excited his disgust. I saw men with lips like camels. In their hands were pieces of fire like stones which they thrust into their mouths. They came out their posteriors.”
Qur’an 20:48 “Verily it has been revealed to us that the Penalty of Doom awaits those who reject and deny.”
Qur’an 20:100 “Whoever turns from it, he shall bear a burden on the Day of Doom. Grievous evil will the load on them. We shall gather the Mujrimun (disbeliever) blue or blind-eyed with thirst.... My Lord will blast them and scatter them as dust.”
Qur’an 21:06 “Not one of the populations which We destroyed believed: will these believe? ...So we saved whom We pleased, and We destroyed the disbelievers.”
Qur’an 21:10 “Verily, We have sent down for you a Book in which is your reminder. Have you then no sense? How many towns have We utterly destroyed because of their wrongs, exchanging them for other people? When they (felt) Our Torment, behold, they (began to) fly. Fly not, but return to that which emasculated you so that you may be interrogated. They cried: ‘Woe to us!’ Their crying did not cease till We mowed them down as ashes silent and quenched.”
Qur’an 21:98 “Verily you (unbelievers), and that which you worship besides Allah, are faggots for the Hell Fire! And come to it you will! There, sobbing and groaning will be your lot.”
Qur’an 46:20 “On that Day the unbelievers will be placed before the Fire: ‘You squandered your good things in this life and you sought comfort from them, but today shall you be rewarded with a penalty of humiliation.’”
Qur’an 59:4 “If any one resists Allah, verily Allah is severe in Punishment, stern in reprisal.”
Ishaq:249 “Fear Hell, whose fuel is men and stones prepared for the infidels.’”
Qur’an 2:39 “Those who reject and deny Our Signs will be inmates of the Hell Fire and will abide there forever.”
Qur’an 2:99 “We have sent down to you Manifest Signs; and none reject them but those who are perverse.”
Qur’an 2:71 “The semblance of the infidels is one who shouts to one who cannot hear. They are deaf, dumb, and blind. They make no sense.”
Qur’an 2:174 “Those who conceal Allah’s revelations in the [Bible] Scripture Book, and thus make a miserable profit thereby [selling it to Muhammad], swallow Fire into themselves; Allah will not address them. Grievous will be their doom.”
Qur’an 2:175 “They are the ones who bartered away guidance for error and Torment in place of Forgiveness. Ah, what boldness (they show) for the Fire! (Their doom is) because Allah sent down the Book in truth but those who seek causes of dispute in the Book are in a schism of great opposition.”
Qur’an 2:256 “There is no compulsion in religion.”
Qur’an 4:90 “If they turn back from Islam, becoming renegades, seize them and kill them wherever you find them.”
Bukhari:V5B59N572 “O Muslims, take not My enemies as friends, offering them kindness when they reject Allah, the Prophet Muhammad, and his
Qur’an. And whoever does that, then indeed he has gone (far) astray. You have come out to fight in My Cause, seeking My acceptance so do not be friendly with them, even in secret.” [60:1]
Qur’an 8:12 “I will terrorize the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks and every joint and incapacitate them. Strike off their heads and cut off each of their fingers and toes.”
Qur’an 8:13 “This because they rejected Allah and defied His Messenger. If anyone opposes Allah and His Messenger, Allah shall be severe in punishment. That is the torment: ‘So taste the punishment. For those infidels who resist there is the torment of Hell.’”
Qur’an 8:20 “Those who do not obey are the worst of beasts, the vilest of animals in the sight of Allah. They are deaf and dumb. Those who do not understand are senseless.”
Qur’an 8:36 “The unbelievers spend their wealth to hinder (man) from the Way of Allah, and so will they continue to spend; but in the end they will have intense regrets and sighs. It will become an anguish for them, then they will be subdued. The unbelievers shall be driven into hell in order that Allah may distinguish the bad from the good and separate them. Allah wants to heap the wicked one over the other and cast them into Hell. They are the losers.”
Qur’an 8:39 “So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).”
Qur’an 8:40 “If people are obstinate, and refuse to surrender, know Allah is your Supporter.”
Qur’an 8:50 “If you could have seen the infidels when the angels drew away their souls, striking their faces and smiting their backs. The angels said: ‘Taste the penalty of the blazing Fire.’”
Qur’an 8:52 “They denied and rejected the revelations of Allah, and Allah destroyed them, punishing them for their crimes: for Allah is strict, severe in punishment.”
Ishaq:231 “Muslims are one ummah (community) to the exclusion of all men. Believers are friends of one another to the exclusion of all outsiders.”
Ishaq:363 “Say to those who do not believe you: ‘You will be vanquished and gathered into Hell, an evil resting place.’”
Qur’an 61:7 “Who does greater wrong than one who invents falsehood against Allah, even as he is being summoned to Submission? And Allah guides not the disbelievers. Their intention is to extinguish Allah’s Light (by blowing) with their mouths: But Allah will complete His Light, even though the Unbelievers detest (it). It is He Who has sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth (Islam), that he may make it conquer all religion, even though the disbelievers hate (it).”
Qur’an 2:104 “To those who don’t submit there is a grievous punishment.”
Qur’an 3:4 “As a guidance to mankind, He sent down the criterion (to judge between right and wrong). Truly, for those who deny the proofs and signs of Allah, the torture will be severe; Allah is powerful, the Lord of Retribution.”
Qur’an 3:10 “As for those who deny [Islam], neither their wealth nor their children will help them in the least against Allah. They shall be faggots for the fire of Hell.”
Qur’an 3:11 “The punishment of Allah is severe. So tell the unbelieving infidels: ‘You will surely be vanquished, seized by Allah, and driven to Hell. How bad a preparation.’”
Qur’an 3:26 “You [Allah] exalt whom You please and debase and humiliate whom You will. Those who believe should not take unbelievers as their friends…guard yourselves from them.… Allah commands you to beware of Him.”
Qur’an 3:32 “Say: ‘Obey Allah and His Messenger;’ If they refuse, remember Allah does not like unbelieving infidels.”
Qur’an 3:55 “Allah said, ‘Jesus, I will take you and raise you to Myself and rid you of the infidels (who have forged the lie that you are My son).… Those who are infidels will surely receive severe torment both in this world and the next; and none will they have as a savior for them.”
Qur’an 3:61 “If anyone disputes with you about Jesus being divine, flee them and pray that Allah will curse them.”
Qur’an 3:62 “This is the true account, the true narrative, the true explanation: There is no Ilah (God) except Allah; and Allah—He is the Mighty. And if they turn away, then lo! Allah is aware of the corrupters, the mischief-makers. Say: ‘People of the Book, come to common terms as an agreement between us and you: That we all shall worship none but Allah.’”
Qur’an 3:84 “Say (Muhammad): ‘We believe in Allah and that which is revealed to us and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes [of Israel], and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered, bowing our will (in Islam).’”
Qur’an 3:85 “If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (Surrender), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who are losers.”
Qur’an 3:87 “Of such, the reward is the curse of Allah, of His angels, and of all men, all together. Their penalty of doom will not be lightened.”
Qur’an 3:118 “Believers! Take not into your intimacy those outside your religion (pagans, Jews, and Christians). They will not fail to corrupt you. They only desire your ruin. Rank hatred has already appeared from their mouths. What their hearts conceal is far worse. When they are alone, they bite off the very tips of their fingers at you in their rage. Say unto them: ‘Perish in your rage.’”
Qur’an 3:141 “This is so that Allah may test the faithful and destroy the unbelieving infidels.” [Another translation:] “Allah’s object is to purge those that are true in Faith and blight the disbelievers. This is so that Allah may test the faithful and destroy the unbelieving infidels.”
Qur’an 3:150 “Soon We shall strike terror into the hearts of the Infidels, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority: their abode will be in the Fire!”
Qur’an 33:8 “He has prepared for the Unbelievers a grievous Penalty.”
Qur’an 33:58 “And those who annoy or malign Muslims bear (on themselves) a crime of calumny and a glaring sin.”
Qur’an 24:39 “For those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in the desert. There is no water for the thirsty. He only finds Allah, who will pay him his due in Hell.”
Qur’an 23:40 “Soon they will regret. Torment and an awful cry will overtake them. We have made such men rubbish, like rotting plants. So away with the people.”
Qur’an 24:57 “Never think that the unbelievers can escape in the land. Their abode is Fire!”
Qur’an 4:12 “Those who disobey Allah and His Messenger and transgress His limits will be admitted to a Fire, to abide therein: And they shall have a humiliating punishment.”
AND WE DIDN'T GET IN TO THE CUT PEOPLES HEADS OFF AGAIN DON'T BE FOOLED!!!
Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and ALL who Fight with her give them Strength,Wisdom,Sight and Courage to stay the course to Victory to Defeat the Islamic Terrorist and ALL who Support them Open the Eyes of the World to their Threat Amen
Islam had a period of enlightenment (Golden Age)???? Not that I know of.
Call Islam at its supposed prime a golden age, if you wish, but if Islam at any point in time placed even the most minute value on human advancement why then did Muslims destroy the library of Alexandria in its conquest of Egypt? The destruction of the library of Alexandria was a premeditated (and monstrous) act perpetrated by the very movers and shakers of the Islamic Empire and cannot be explained away by circumstance. In fact, Islam went to unbelievable lengths to destroy the truly extraordinary civilization of Egypt in its entirety, a civilization in fact thousands of years old. Egypt and its famed library at Alexandria were storehouses of information and knowledge that to this day may not be equalled. MANY AUTHORITIES CLAIM THAT HUMANITY WOULD BE ADVANCED OVER ONE THOUSAND YEARS AHEAD OF ITS PRESENT STATE IF THAT LIBRARY WERE LEFT IN TACT. Now somebody, PLEASE, tell me why would any people who placed the slightest value on knowledge, enlightenment, and/or truth do such a numbingly ass-backwards thing like that?
But deep down, I think we all know: the answer is they would not. Islam places no value whatsoever on enlightenment. Islam does not permit humanity the opporunity to move forward. The qur'an actually states the world is flat!!! Islam is a product of the darkest recesses of the human mind as are all such totalitarian cults that worship manufactured deities and practice the sacrificial offering of humans to please those deities.
The destruction of the library of Alexandria, is one of the worst things that has ever happened in the world. I remember being told that as a child, and I didn't even know that muslims had done it.
what i found quite interesting in the debate is aykol's idea that part of his reforming of islam is to define the jihad as an intellectual war against materialist philosophy (hedonism, epicurianism, and the like). he specifically points to the debate of intelligent design vs. evolution
now correct me if i'm wrong, but this man is attacking the foundations of leftwing postmodernism. why then do lefties swoon to a cause that considers them lower than the hated jews & christians?
Voltaire~ Well, the Afro-centrist (read: Leftist) view is that most of the works in the LoA were written by blacks (it is even claimed that philosphy, worked up by the Greeks, was actually stolen from the LoA/African thinkers. The fact that those particular Greek thinkers were dead before the LoA was built is ignored). So one can see right away one big reason islam would want it destroyed...
If that were true. But all it really required was for them to see books that made hash of their 'holy' book, and the rampage was on.
Giaour:
Spend a few minutes checking out the various sources that debunk Michael Moore and F9/11. Clinton & Co were no less chummy with the Saudis than the Bushes were, and by invading Iraq, W went 180 degrees against what the Saudis want.
As for Carlysle -- the Bushes were in and out of there quickly and only held a small interest. George Soros (you may have heard of him), on the other hand, has a vast interest in Carlysle.
Posted by: pythagoras at October 26, 2004 08:58 PM
Yes when we look through history they have been the destoryers of beauty !
Look at the Parthon and just reslenty we have the Buddas they have been rewritting history for a very long time? Now they are Teaching American children that it was mulsums who discoverd the USA??
Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and ALL who Fight with her give them Strength,Wisdom,Sight and Courage to stay the course to Victory to Defeat the Islamic Terrorist and ALL who Support them Amen