02-24-2008, 07:42 PM
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Sr. Correspondent
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 513
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Originally Posted by raytri
Yeah, it couldn't possibly be that western Muslims aren't subscribing to the same fringe radicalism that the Taliban do....
why is it "fringe radicalism" could there not be a continuum from "mecca islam to medina islam"
Quote:
The author of this article is bold and candid. He recognizes that non-Muslims keep on hearing the mantra, “Islam is a peaceful religion,” while the daily news brings them reports of violent acts perpetrated by Islamic groups all over the world. As I write these words, the news from Iraq tells of the brutal and barbaric killings of the two American soldiers that were kidnapped in mid-June, by some radical Jihadists, in the name of Islam. So, what are we to believe, is Islam is a religion of peace, or is Islam a religion of violence?”
The answer depends on two different and contrasting parts of the Qur’an. The surahs that came to Muhammad in Mecca proclaimed the unity of God, and the vanity of idols. However, after Muhammad’s Hijra to Medina, where he founded an Islamic state, the surahs altered their tone and began to deal with topics of war and peace, the status of Jews and Christians, etc. Then, after the death of the Prophet, the caliphs began a jihad for the conquest of the world; and within one hundred years, the Islamic empire spread from Spain to India. Both the facts of history, as well as the Medinan surahs of the Qur’an, testify that Islam is a religion that endorses violence and spreads by conquests. While Muslims never cease decrying Western imperialism, they love and cherish their futuhat (conquests) of vast areas of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Their sacred Book, at least in its Medinan part, implies the existence of a “divine” sanction for a global war against the Infidels. Eventually, this view gave rise to the division of the world into two parts: Daru’l Islam (House of Islam,) and Daru’l Harb (Household of War!)
Now some modernizing Muslims, recognizing the urgent necessity of avoiding a clash between Islam and the rest of the world, would like their worldview to change and become gentler, willing and able to co-exist with other members of the human family. So, they call for restricting the normative parts of the Qur’an to the Meccan surahs, i.e. to the peaceful section of their Book. This is the only way to stop radical Muslims, who find support for their jihadism, in the Qur’anic surahs that were revealed to Muhammad in Medina.
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http://www.news.faithfreedom.org/ind...&theme=Printer
the problem is that to argue for mecca islam against medina islam requires a reversal of the concept of "abrogation" because the medina suras came after the mecca suras.
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