polite_gandalf wrote on May 27
th, 2013 at 8:37pm:
Lionel Edriess wrote on May 27
th, 2013 at 6:01pm:
However, One of the few unifying ties in Islam appears to be a re-stablishment of the Ummah
I disagree.
My local imam for example teaches that the "global Ummah" is a myth, and pursuing it misses the point. The "ummah" is simply any local muslim community - regardless of whether its in a muslim majority country or not. It doesn't matter. As long as muslims are free to worship and enjoy basic human rights (as they do in Australia), then that is all the "Ummah" they need.
You're dissembling. If, then, that word were to be translated into Islamic doctrine, which would describe it - kitman or taqiyya?
While your local imam dismisses the idea of a global Ummah, he then maintains that a local Ummah is the ideal - for muslims in a local area. Is that your complete answer?
While we, on a local level, may question your own allegiance to our social laws/mores, what are the ultimate aims of Islam, of which you are a part?
All over the globe, are muslims so marginalised? Like the blacks that your religion radicalises and then discards?
Make no mistake, it is not muslims we fear, it is Islam. Which, as muslims, in all your different interpretations of the Word, you revere - often to the cost of your own people's suffering.
This nay-saying of, "Oh, it wasn't us, it was them, those bloody radicals." It all breaks down when Islam becomes the target.
We see what Islam is capable of, even against it's own adherents. As kafirs, we know what's in store.
When your imam starts honestly preaching 'love thy neighbour', you'll fit in just fine. Until then ....
No hate exists in my heart, but I would be remiss in my duties as a father if I could not answer questions asked by my children in the future.
Wars are often the end-result of raised voices.