I personally think that headline should more accurately read, "Is there a place for tolerance in Islam," but let it pass. Here's yet another fresh steaming pile of religious deception, this time from the illustrious Khaled Abou El Fadl. From Malaysiakini, with thanks to Skeetstreet:
In his book, 'The Place of Tolerance in Islam', (2002), Khaled Abou El Fadl, a distinguished Islamic scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, makes a clear statement about the close interaction between the Quran as the text and the Muslim as the reader and interpreter in the construction of intolerance in Islam."If the reader is intolerant, hateful, or oppressive," he argues, "so will be the interpretation of the text."
Oh, I see. Those who see intolerance in the Qur'an only do because they are intolerant themselves. Of course! How simple! How clear! All we need is an army of Gandhis to read the Qur'an, instead of the gentle, teary Zarqawi (whose tears no doubt mask his inner intolerance) and it will suddenly become the world's most loving, benign book!
In particular, the intolerant interpretation of Islam is then attributed to the Muslim puritans and extremists who read and interpret the Quran strictly, literally, and ahistorically. In support of his thesis, Khaled points to a number of these puritans and extremists in the course of Islamic history.First, intolerance in Islam, as Khaled postulates, may be traced back to the formation of the Kharijites in the first century of Islam. The Kharijites were commonly considered 'seceders', 'rebels', or 'revolutionary activists', because they seceded and fought against the leadership of the fourth caliph, Ali b Abi-Talib (r 656-61), cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad.
According to Khaled, the Kharijites were responsible for the assassination of Ali b Abi-Talib by one of their members, Ibn-Muljam, in 661, and the deaths of both Muslims and non-Muslims at that time. He regards such historical events as examples of intolerance and fanaticism in the first century of Islam.
And those nasty Kharijites apparently read the Qur'an and imposed upon it all their violent, intolerant presuppositions, and taught others to do so. Ah, if only Rod McKuen had read it first!
Before the rise of the Kharijites, however, Khaled disregards several earlier examples that could also be taken to demonstrate intolerance in the course of Islamic history. One of these incidents involved the assassination of the third caliph, Uthman b Affan (r 644-56), at Madina by the mutineers - a modern term for religious extremists - who broke into Uthman's house and killed him in the year 656....
Wow. A journalist who knows enough to pierce the fog of misinformation! The journalist in question here is named Sukidi Mulyadi. Bravo, Sukidi!
Here's looking at you, Sukidi.
Tolerance cannot exist with out Prudence(rightness or wrongness).
Why would someone tolerate killing of innocent people?
I think he cribbed that line from Christians, whom have directed it against secularists.
Kharjites are known today as Salaf's,Wahabbs, in fact true Muslims.From a secular western point of view, there is not a dimes worth of difference between any sects of Islam.
Family quarrels are of no interest to me, and that goes for the battle for god.
Sukidi doesn't mention does he, the slaughter of Hussein (the Shi'a saint, son of Ali) at the direction of the Caliph Yazid, or the massive blood bath of the Century old Umayyad Caliphate in 750. It was an operation which was carried out in such large scale by the first Abassid ruler, Abu al Abbas, who prided himself on the sobriquets "The Shedder of Blood" and "The Butcher", He had every single living Umayyad tracked down and exterminated, only one escaped (abd al Rahman)and he fled to Egypt then to Spain where he met in battle the Emir of Cordova, defeated him and claimed all of Islamic Spain as his.
I strongly recommend Paul Fregosi's Jihad (in the West), he had to scour old manuscripts and hidden history, but it is well worth the read.
This theory is SO true!
I was reading the Sermon on the Mount the other day, and wondered about the words:
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.", and, being in a bad mood, thought:
"AHA! I suddenly know what this minor prophet Jesus really meant! The 'meek' should be killed ["blesed"] and buried in dirt ["inherit he Earth"]! Now!!!"
As I was fulfilling his divine command and constructing a pipe bomb, I began to feel better and decided to read another of the Beautitudes:
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
And, as I carefully stuffed acceleranat into the length of iron tubing, it hit me:
"Yes! You know, 'peacemaker' was the name of the Colt pistol used in the Wild West, and, since Jesus could into see the future, he probably meant we should get revolvers and start shooting all of those who do not agree with his words! Send them to meet God! Just as the famous French Inquisition warrior put it in his ingenious formulation of extermination: 'Kill them all, and let God sort them out!'"
This interpretation problem clearly crops up every day in Christianity. As people 'misunderstand' the Bible.
Look at all of the Christians beheading people. Setting fire to their neighbors. Perpetrating 'honor' killings. Cutting off hands. Blowing themselves up outside of mosques and hospitals.
Good thing El Fadl cleared this mystery up!
P.S.-
Is his brother named "El Fidl"? And are they congenital twins? Or idiots?