Nice use of the word "irenic."

Posted by: kamala at December 30, 2006 6:41 PM

Why is it nearly impossible to understand the obvious? What became of the art of thinking? Why must there always be stylized counterintuitive but oh-so-artful "surpises" at nearly every corner that turn reality on its already dented head?

Yes, there's always room for debate, but you can't argue this: There is an unwritten law in today's academy that fact and theory must be filtered and bent and otherwise perverted to attain a pre-determined result.

Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at December 30, 2006 7:13 PM

I just finished looking at photos of little muslim children sent to me by a friend, these little 6 and 7 year old children are all adorned in suicide belts and carrying ak 47s with mommy and daddy looking on so proudly, dreaming of the day when little abd muhammad will blow himself up while sitting on a bus full of infidel children.
I was thinking to myself ,how do we protect our children from their children, we teach our children to love and respect to help and support others, while they are teaching their children to live only to murder our children.
Then i read ole bullet here telling me im an islamophobe and i need to embrace islamic principles!
Washington, we got a problem!!!!

Posted by: thndrbang1 at December 30, 2006 8:10 PM

muslims who love to clasim there is no compulsion in islam over look or seek to hide the very ayah in the qu'ran where allah himself commands his most faithful and trusted servant "khizr" to murder an innocent child whose only crime was allahs "fear" that child would grow up to be a nonmuslim!
i post that ayah and tafsir here, for yopu to see the barbaric way inwhich the muslim murdered this innocent young child!

SURAH 18-74,So they journeyed on until they met a boy, and Khizr slew him. Moses said: "You have killed an innocent person though he had killed nobody. Surely you have done a horrible deed!

SURAH 18-80-81,As for the youth, his parents are true believers, and we feared lest he would grieve them with his rebellion and unbelief.[80] It was our wish that our Lord should grant them another in his place, a son more righteous and better in affection.[81]All this was done as a mercy from your Lord.
What I did was not done by my own will.

Tafsir al-Jalalayn: SURAH 18}-74
So they set off, after leaving the ship, making their way on foot, until, when they met a boy, who had not yet reached puberty, playing with [other] boys, among whom his face was the fairest - and he, al-Khidr, slew him, by slitting his throat with a knife while he lay down, or by tearing his head off with his hand, or by smashing his head against a wall, all of which are [different] opinions (the coordinating fā' [of fa-qatalahu, 'and he slew him'] is used here because [it indicates that] the slaying took place after the encounter; the response to idhā, 'when' is [the following statement, qāla …]) - he, Moses, said, to him: 'Have you slain an innocent soul, that is, a pure one that had not reached the age of [legal] responsibility (a variant reading [for zākiya] has zakiyya), [one slain] not in retaliation for another soul?, in other words, one that has not slain any soul. Verily you have committed an dreadful thing' (read nukran or nukuran), that is to say, an abomination.

Tafsir al-Jalalayn:SURAH 18}-80
And as for the boy, his parents were believers and We feared lest he should overwhelm them with insolence and disbelief - for he is as [described] by the hadīth of Muslim, 'He was [incorrigibly] disposed to disbelief, and had he lived [longer] this [disposition of his] would have oppressed them, because of their love for him, they would have followed him in such [a path of disbelief]'.

Tafsir al-Jalalayn :SURAH 18}-81
So We desired that their Lord should give them in exchange (read yubaddilahumā or yubdilahumā) one better than him in purity, that is, in righteousness and ALLAH-fearing, and closer, than him, to mercy (read ruhman or ruhuman, in other words [it is to be understood as] rahmatan, 'by way of mercy') namely, [closer to] dutifulness towards his parents. Thus ALLAH, exalted be He, gave them in exchange a girl, who [afterwards] married a prophet and gave birth to a prophet through whom ALLAH guided an entire community.

Tafsir al-Jalalayn :SURAH 18}-82
And I did not do it, namely, what has been mentioned of [his] slaying of the boy , of my own accord, that is, [out of] my own choosing; nay, it was because of a command in the form of an inspiration from ALLAH.

Posted by: thndrbang1 at December 30, 2006 8:19 PM

Muslims seem to have a problem grasping the concept of convert or die as a form of compulsion!

Posted by: thndrbang1 at December 30, 2006 8:21 PM

fatwas against suicide:

http://www.shaykhabdalqadir.com/content/articles/Art001_17022004.html

http://www.fatwa-online.com/fataawa/worship/jihaad/jih004/0001027_3.htm

these would be comical if they wernt so sad!
in the first the so called islamic scholar claims jews who refused to surrender and submit to muslims and romans and prefered death were committing suicide!

Posted by: thndrbang1 at December 30, 2006 8:29 PM

After reading the previous JW link about Bonney's book I noticed a comment detailed the following information which puts things in perspective:

". . .Professor Bonney is Director of the "Centre for the Study of Religious and Political Pluralism" (?) at the University of Leicester. Leicester has around one third "ethnic minorities", which translates in this context as Muslims. It is also home to Yvonne Ridley, convert to Islam and Respect Party candidate, and a place where Labour shamelessly courts the Muslim vote."

At Amazon.com I notice there are scant reviews of Bonney's book, of which it received only 2 1/2 stars - ranking #637,939 in Books, compared to Mr. Spencer's latest ranked at #206 in Books with overall 4 star reviews.

It appears that Mr. Spencer's review is timed to coincide with the release of the 'paperback' edition of Bonney's book.

Posted by: justamomof4 at December 30, 2006 9:34 PM

Your reviews are so gentile, Robert. Especially that of what's-his-name--ah--Bulliet.

On Bonney you are a bit stronger in your dissection.

Both books deserve demolishing. Same-old, same-old, and it is again apologizing for the shortcomings of the ideas and their followers.

Posted by: unicorns62000 at December 31, 2006 3:31 AM