The messenger of Allah said: Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, to perform the prayers, to pay the zakat, to fast in Ramadan, and to make the pilgrimage to the House if you are able to do so. He said: You have spoken rightly, Jebreel (Gabriel) from Number 2 of Al-Nawawis Forty Hadiths. 1 bullet If anyone harms (others), God will harm him, and if anyone shows hostility to others, God will show hostility to him. Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1625. bullet Those who believe (in the Quran), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians...and (all) who believe in God and the last day and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. The Quran, 2:62 bullet Jim Jones, David Koresh and Meir Kahane do not typify Christianity and Judaism in the eyes of the civilized West, but those same eyes are prone to see Osama bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar as typifying Islam, Richard Bulliet 2 Webmasters note about attributing guilt and responsibility: One of the themes running through some holy books is that of scapegoating. 5 This is the concept that guilt and punishment can be transferred from those responsible for an evil act, to others who are innocent of that act. This theme is rarely -- if ever -- discussed in religious homilies or sermons. Yet it seems fundamentally unjust and evil according to every moral code that I have seen. By not holding perpretrators directly responsibility for their actions, innocent people become marginalized and denigrated. For example: •When some Muslims think of Christianity in America, they think of Pastor Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center in Florida as a typical Christian. He advocates burning copies of the Quran. • When some Christians think of Islam in the Middle East, they think of Osama Bin Laden or Musab al-Zarqawi, leaders of Al-Qaeda, as typical Muslims. They confuse the beliefs or practices of an individual or a small minority of believers for the entire religion. As one example, in the minds of some Americans, responsibility for 9/11 terrorist attack on New York City and Washington has spread from 19 radical, violent, fundamentalist Muslims and their Al-Qaida handlers to all 1.6 billion followers of Islam. We ask our visitors to consider two items when reading this section of our website -- and for that matter all of the other 6,000 essays: •The irrationality of blaming innocent persons for the sins of a tiny minority within their group. One of this web sites mottos is: When some people deviate from reality, others are often hurt. •When one refers to any religion or faith group/tradition/denomination within a religion, we are generally referring to more than the beliefs and teachings of its founder. The culture in which the religion developed has generally had a major impact as well. So, for example, the four main versions of Sharia law are all based on the Quran -- and to a lesser degree on the Hadith. However, they have been profoundly influenced by the cultures in which Islam grew. horizontal rule About Islam: Estimates of the total number of Muslims range from 0.7 to 1.8 billion worldwide and 1.1 to 7 million in the U.S. 3 We accept the best estimate of the worlds Muslim population as 1.57 billion, concluded by the Pew Forums. About 23% of all people on Earth follow Islam. The religion is currently in a period of rapid growth. Christianity is currently the largest religion in the world. It is followed by about 33% of all people -- a percentage that has remained stable for many decades. If current trends continue, Islam will become the most popular world religion sometime in the mid-21st century.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 18:24:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015