polite_gandalf wrote on Jul 30
th, 2015 at 4:24pm:
In fact, the ways in which Islam has been permanently doomed to always be a force for evil are very easy to identify. Firstly there is the prophet himself: The religion of Islam has been inextricably bound to the effective worship of Prophet Muhammad (though muslims themselves will vehemently deny the charge of worship) - through passages in the Quran ordering muslims to follow his example and to revere him as "the best of men". This clearly puts muslims who profess to follow a peaceful and tolerant Islam in a bind - as the historical Muhammad was undeniably anything but peaceful and tolerant: a typical brutal warmonger who once executed between 600 and 900 jews who posed a threat to his authoritarian rule in Medina. He would also provide some cognitive dissonance to those muslims who hold Islam as the greatest religion of sexual morality - having up to 12 wives (even the Quran limits muslims to 4 wives), including marriage to a 6 year old, which he consumated when she was 9. Not to mention countless sex slaves.
The second key way in which Islam has been 'locked in' as a force for evil, is through the uniquely Islamic way of setting in stone Islamic jurisprudence - or 'fiqh'. During the first few hundred years of Islam, contemporary Quranic and ahadith scholars got to work interpreting Islamic doctrine into earthly laws, to which every muslim was bound by. This process evolved over a long period, but there came a point where Islamic authorities unanimously agreed that there would be no more changes. The doors of 'ijtihad' (debating and altering Islamic law) were closed forever. This is rather unfortunate for muslims living in the modern world, pretending to stand for a 'progressive' Islam - who are inescapably bound to a barbaric medieval legal code, which consists among other things stoning for adultery and execution for apostasy. Of course it could be argued that there's nothing stopping the 'doors of Ijtihad' to be reopened, and Islamic law reformed to be more in line with modern values. But once again the proof is in Islam's history: if muslims could change it - why haven't they done so already? For all the cries of Islam being misunderstood for its barbarity by some muslims and their non-muslim apologists, the barbaric side of Islam has been remarkably resilient at maintaining its dominance as the "official" and accepted version.
I will conclude with a slight twist - and propose that muslims themselves are not incapable of reform, and they may even do in the name of "true" Islam. However such an exercise will necessarily require mental contortions of such magnitude, that their "Islam" becomes something that loses any sort of meaning. It will necessarily be an Islam that condemns the barbaric activities of their beloved Prophet - which is basically equivalent to a Christianity without a Chri
This one’s got it all - the 900 Jews in a day, Ayisha, evil, the lot. If you could fit that Jew being tortured for his gold in there, you’d have it all.
The excellent thing about this piece is its sincerity. This is definitely one for the Wiki. Why don’t you whack this on the anti-Islam board for discussion?
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