Okay, so I am just going to post in here because I think it is time I did so, especially in light of what has just happened in France. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who were murdered, regardless of motive.
First thing is first: Islam IS a religion of peace. Allow me to give a few examples before moving on to the likes of IS and any other "islamic" terrorist groups. All these examples refer to the Prophet or his companions, which means that they should be the basis for actions in Islam and for any Muslim.
Example One is of respect:
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was once sitting in the company of his companions. Whilst he was talking he saw a funeral procession approach. He stopped, and stood up quietly as it passed. When the companions saw a tear fall they asked him why. The Prophet replied, "Was he not a human being? Does he not deserve the same respect?"
Respect. Something that should be engrained in every Muslim.
Example Two is of tolerance, respect and conduct:
When the prophet went to the city now known as Madinah there were three major religions there other than the Muslims. They were the Jews, The Christians and the Fire Worshippers. From what we assume today about Islam, we would have thought that the Prophet would have gone in and told them all to become muslim or leave, right? But that was not what happened. Instead the Prophet invited all the people over to first sleep in his company, so that he could talk to people and get to know the community. Thereafter he wrote three treaties, one for each of the religions. Nowhere on those treaties did it say "you must become muslim". As a matter of fact, the first thing on each treaty was, "I will protect you, your families and your property". As well as this the prophet gathered all the Muslims and said to them that they must never harm anyone of those people under the treaty. Never to damage their property or steal from them. If they did, they would never smell the fragrance of paradise. That is how high in regard these people were held. On top of that, the Prophet met with the Monks, Rabbis and Priests and told them categorically that whilst he does not believe what they believe, he recognises them as the religious leaders and will respect them in that capacity.
Tolerance and good conduct at it's best.
Example Three: dislike of fighting.
There was an incident in which the Muslims were called to arms. When they reached the battlefield there was nobody to fight. They waited but nobody showed up. During this waiting some of the fighters began to get restless, ready to fight. Did the Prophet urge them to prepare more? No. Instead he chided them and asked them why they were eager to spill the blood of another human. If the enemy failed to show, then nobody would need to be killed.
Fighting? No needed unless necessary.
Example four: ettiqutte of war.
What were the rules that the Prophet said?
You will only fight the armed men.
You will not harm a woman, or a child, or an elderly person.
You will not fight in anger.
Amongst many others.
Even when fighting there we rules. Religious buildings were not to be harmed either.
Ettiquette.
Example five: mercy.
When the Prophet returned to the city of Makkah, did he come in weapons aloft? No. He walked in and retook the city without bloodshed. And he showed mercy on those who mocked him, spat on him, tried at assassinate him etc. Why? Because that was what Islam was. Peace.
Example 6: Sharing and Tolerance
A group of Christians were travelling and they came to Madinah. It was the time for their prayers yet they had nowhere to pray. The Prophet opened up one of the most sacred mosques in Islam and told the Christians that they could pray in peace in the mosque.
Sharing.
Example 7: Compassion
There was a woman who hated the Prophet, and every day she would throw her rubbish at him from a window. This happened a long time but one day this stopped. The Prophet enquired what happened to this lady and found out the she had fallen ill. Did he rejoice? No. Instead he went to visit her and wish her well.
Example 8: stoned.
The prophet heard of some people in a place called Taif. He thought he would go see who they were and if they would like to hear about Islam. These people stoned him until he was bleeding and he had to flee for his life. The angel Gabriel came to the Prophet and told him that if he so wished, he would drop an entire mountain over the town and kill everyone. What did the prophet say? Yes? Of course not. He said no. What does this show us? Even if we have the power to crush an enemy, it should not be used.
So what has happened? Have these stories all just disappeared from all Muslims? Have they forgotten what it means to be a Muslim? I do not see mosques opening thier doors when a church closes. But I do hear of churches doing that for Muslims. What is IS? They claim to be trying to implement shariah law on the world. Yet all they do is kill and terrorise. Everything they do is against the very nature of Islam. And then we have the media. Why is it when Israel attack Palestine it is barely shown. But when it is the other way around (which is just as wrong in many ways) it is all over the news? Some centuries ago, the Cherokee, Apache, Commanche, Iroquis etc were labelled as the bad people. Then it was the Black community who were substandard and treated like slaves. The media never defended them even though they were in the right. It took good men like Nelson Mandela their whole life. And slowly the world realised that Black people were not bad at all. We were the bad guys. We had Hitler, a rare time when the majority agreed that he was a bad man. There was a time when all Germans were called Nazis. Why? Why is everyone painted with the same brush. We had the IRA. Were all prodestants bad? No. Then why were they hated? We have the IDF. Are all jews bad? No, of course not. We have IS. Are all Muslims bad? No. They are not.
IRA, KKK, IDF, IS, Nazis etc etc. They all have one thing in common: they all take things to an extreme where it is religiously, morally and outright wrong. And in the minds of those who oppose them, they twist us into thinking that everyone from that area or religion is wrong. Worse: the media never helps.
Let's be humans guys, let's really follow the messages of the prophets we follow, or for those who are athiests, let's follow the moral centre within us all. Islam is peaceful. Christianity is peaceful. Judaism is peaceful. Athiesm is peaceful. Humans... Now we are the evil ones. Let's not be anymore.
Going to continue this post here; 0100 was not the best time to be writing but I felt I had to. So, next thing I wish to clear up is culture and religion. It is very true that culture becomes entangled in religion very often. But that does not make the culture part of the religion, or vice versa.
A very specific point I wish to make is to do with women, their rights and their status in Islam. I know that many of us probably see Islam dipicting women as a lower species, designed only to please man and that is it. But Islam does NOT teach that at all. As a matter of fact, when the Prophet got married for the first time he married a lady who went by the name of Khadijah. Was she a simple (not belittling any of these people) housewife? Was she a women who sat at home all day? No. She was in fact a businesswomen, and ran one of the most successful businesses throughout the arabian empire. That is pretty in contrary to what we see right? Women cooped up in houses, forced to not work? Which is religion and which is cultural? From that example it is pretty obvious, right?
Now let's fast forward almost 1500 years to this day and age. Are women forced to wear modest clothing in Islam? No. But they are encouraged to do so. Are they forced to wear a hijab (a headscarf) or else cover their whole face? No. But again, they are just encouraged. If ANYONE forces this upon a woman, then they are in error because Islam is not a religion of force. The question then arises, how did all this come about? Well allow me to explain that too.
Islam is a very complex religion, just as any others. It is full of examples that to you and I would seemingly contradict each other. There is the Quraan (the holy book, akin to the Bible and Tablets in a sense). Then there is the Hadith (a collection of narrations about things the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did and said). A guide for muslims to try and follow. To you and I, it is easy to read these and say, "Well, this is obviously what it means." And this is what people like IS try to build upon. This is what people who wish to knock Islam build upon. Because after all, if it is clearly said then what arguement is there, right? Wrong.
If I were to show a random person an engineering diagram for a 1980s F1 car today, he would associate it with a car. That much is certain. Then if I were to not say anything further, this person would believe that this car is the ultimate F1 car and is the best you can get. However, if I were to then further explain the aerodynamics, mechanics, electronics etc of the car then the person would realise that it is not in fact the best design but there is now a context to why that design is used or was used. Now the person is a lot more knowledgable about this car and understands what it really means.
Similarly, in Islam there are people like this. The rest of the muslims and the world is like the random person. The higher ranking scholar is like the engineer who studied the diagrams for years. They could spend four or five months, if not more on a single page of the Quraan or a single saying in the Hadith, disecting it bit by bit until it was fully understood. Then they will tell us what it really means. It says in the Quraan itself that "This book can lead you to good, but it can also lead you to bad". The warning is clearly there, but nobody ever talks about that do they? The simple fact is that we are ALL victims of our own ignorance because we do not bother to seek the truth about anything if it does not suit us. I am guilty of it, you all reading are guilty of it at some point. All we like to do is knock things we do not like by highlighting discrepencies that may or may not be related to the subject matter. We are sitting here droning on about IS and how muslims treat women and how they want to kill everyone else etc etc. But have any of us just took a step back, away from the media and wondered how much of it is truely religion and how much of it is down to the downright bad nature of us as humans? I quoted a number of examples in the early hours of the morning. If I could have half the tolerance or kindness or patience of Muhammad as mentioned in those stories then I would class myself as a good man. I have nothing against a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Atheist, Agnostic etc. I take issue with people who twist religion into their own selfish reasons for violence and destruction. I take issue with people who take things without looking at context and then use that as a reason to hate. I take issue with people who do not learn the full story before making their conclusions.
What next? Oh yes, the worldwide condemnation of what happened recently in France. I was browsing twitter earlier and I noticed that a trending topic was "Muslims". So I decided to take a quick peek and see what the world was saying about them. I saw churches in Australia defending Islam. That is Christianity. I saw French citizens apologising for the way mosques are now being targetted. Humanity. But I also saw people full of hate for Muslims. This hate is the same hate that caused two world wars, segregation between coloured and white, racism around the world and the general predicament the world is in right now. If I have learnt anything from studying Islam and anything from being a proud British citizen, it is that fighting fire with fire only gives you more fire. The only way to fight fire is with water. You don't like what someone does? You talk to them about it, understand why they do it and then make a judgement. You do not go in guns blaxing because you do not agree with it. That is not what Islam teaches, nor is it what humanity consists of.
Let's end the fighting by starting here, now. The pen (or keyboard) is truely mightier than the sword (or gun). Why don't we work towards a common goal of peace without blaming religion. Blame the people responsible. And before you proportion blame, always look beyond what you see. There is more going on in the world than any of us knw, and it is about time we used our minds and found out, instead of exhuasting ourselves on mindless debates that could rage on until the end of time itself.
