Against my better judgement I'm resuming posting in this thread...
Quote:Didn't either you or Malik say that they elected rulers in the Caliphate and that there were provisions for this in the Koran?
Note that I said forbidden from partaking in
democratic elections. As I mentioned earlier, democracy doesn't mean electing your leader, democracy means human beings legislating right and wrong from their own minds. As far as I'm aware the word "republic" describes the system by which the leader is popularly elected to represent the people. Islam has no problem with a republican model of electing a leader, but when it comes to human beings legislating, the Qur'an and hadith are quite clear.
"And whosoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are disbelievers" (5:44)
Also from the hadith we have the story of Adi Bin Hatim (May God be pleased with him) who came upon a gathering around the Messenger of God (Pbuh) and heard him saying the Jews and Christians had stooped into polytheism. He interjected and noted that even though the Christians had done this, the Jews had not. So Muhammad (Pbuh) said that their Priests and Rabbis make right and wrong for them from their own minds, and the people follow it, and that is worship of them, instead of God.
Basically what it comes down is that one of God's 99 attributes/names according to Islam is Al-Haakim (The Legislator). And he is the sole being worthy of legislating, so anyone who competes with him in this matter is considered to be a false god, and anyone who subscribes to that legislation is a worshipper of a false god, ie. a polytheist.
That is why a Muslim is not permitted to partake in Democratic elections, whether in Australia or Makkah or in Timbuktu for that matter. Whether the party is the ALP or it is a so called "Islamic party". Democratic elections are a competition not simply for who will be ruler, but who will be legislator, Muslims are forbidden to elect a legislator, we may only elect a representative (Caliph) who will implement the legislation of the only true Legislator, God.
Quote:How would Muslims establish a theocracy if not by force and not by democracy?
I suggest you read some Islamic history, and learn about how Muhammad (Pbuh) attained control over Yathrib (now known as Madinah), that is our example.
Quote:How do they stop the inevitable - that power mongers who are not true to Islam try to usurp control?
There are institutions we must put into place to prevent such things, like the Majlis ash-Shura (Consultative Assembly), but in the end, nobody can guarantee they can prevent tyrants from taking control, it can seep into any system, as humans are imperfect beings.
Quote:Sure, I would be interested in that, especially if it was an apparent conflict between Islam and Australian values. After all, I have already listed polygamy and sex with young girls
Why is it you seek only to promote conflict and hostility between Muslims and non-Muslims? Are you afraid that if we share our commonalities that you might be "seduced" by our teachings and duped into letting us overrun your state?
Quote:This forum has really benefitted from having genuine Muslims here who can correct the misinterpretations of Islam put forward by people like sprint.
If you honestly value our input, why are you always so hostile towards Islam? Why can't you concede it would be only fair and balanced to also include commonalities in your wiki entry?
I'm not trying to claim it's all love and peace and living happily everafter, it's not. But there are many commonalities and things that can lead to cooperation and prosperity between Muslims and non-Muslims. All throughout the history of the Islamic Caliphate, Muslims and non-Muslims have cooperated and lived in harmony (not on every front, but in some way or another). Look for instance to the exchange between Harun ar-Rashid (May God be pleased with him) and Carlos Magnus (Charlemagne) and the prosperity and shared advancement in al-Andalus and Dar al-Hikmah in Baghdad, where wealthy Europeans used to send their children to be educated by the Muslims, and great scholars from both sides used to work together to translate and disperse knowledge.
Quote:Can you explain that Koran quote for us then? What does it really mean?
It's a hadith, not a Qur'anic verse.
And it quite clearly (in Arabic anyway) states "If he abandons the nation/community", indicating it is for the crime of treachery against the state. Which is punishable by death in many "modern" states today.
Quote:Does Islamic rule require a tax on non-Muslims?
It requires a tax on ALL citizens, as do almost all countries. The Muslim and non-Muslim taxes just have different names, one is called Zakaat, the other Jizyah. Both would probably be much lower than what you're getting taxed today, so living under Islam would be quite attractive to a lot of people today.