wa alaykom assalam Dear Terminator,
your questions are really good! and here are my answers:
1- I believe that the American and western forces must withdraw from Iraq step by step! and NOT immediatly! they caused a big separation between the Iraqies, and to withdraw immediatly 100% from Iraq will cause a disaster! when they go out from Iraq they must replace the western forces by Arab and Islamic forces! until the situation become safer in Iraq!

2- I believe that the Iraqis can't take care from themselves for now! I said that the damage done by the separation between difrent sects is very big and needs some years to be corrected! we need an Arab or Islamic forces in Iraq, or even forces from the U.N. but without the American, British forces.

3- This is a good question! it's not easy to just predict! but I believe that the Arab countries have good intention, because Iraq is an Arab country and the other Arab countries chare some tribes with Iraq: same families! But the Persians! I don't know! Iraq was an ennemy of the Persians, and Persians hate the Arabs! let's hope that the best happens!

4- I believe that no one should be allowed to have necluar weapons!! not only Iran! The westerns Gov. don't want Iran to get necluar weapon because they don't want Iran have a strong position not because they fear that Iran use these weapons! Iran won't use them and they know this! all what they fear is that Iran take a strong position in any negotiation in the futur. By the way, in the Arab world, ARAB people hope that Iran get the necluar weapons, despite that they are Arabs and Sunni and Iran is Persian and shiit!! WHY? because they don't trust the western Gov. that allow Israel to have more than 200 Nuclear weapon and destroyed Iraq fro a lie about the "intention" to have these weapons!!

I hope my answers replies to your questions!
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Dear nonsqtr, welcom again:
it is clear for me that you know many things about Islam and that's good! not any one can know what is the 'IJTIHAD'! (To those who don't know it; the ijtihad is the fact to give a new fatwa or a new rule that never was given before in a new issue that never happened before! Exp: the Cloning! this never happened before so how to judge it? is it aceptable or not in Islam? the scholars of Islam must study this "cloning" why it is done? what are it's consequences? and many other things to see if it is good or bad for human! after that they give their judgement according what they knew and according what is good and bad in Islam! and this is an example of Ijtihad).

Now back to you nonsqtr, my exapmle of "Ijtihad" above may tel that we still use the Ijtihad and that we still need it! But let me tell you about the order in Islam to be able to use the Ijtihad:
1- The most important source of law in Islam is the Qur'an! nothing must be contrary to the rules of Qura'an because it's the words of God!
2- second source of law is the Holly or sacred Hadith: this hadith is said by the prophet (pbuh) who just say the words of God! the prophet says, as an ewample: "God says....." and what the prophet will say in this example is words of God but not written in the Qur'an!
3- the third source is the Hadith and rules given by the prophet him self! he don't say "God says.." but he directly give his teachings and reules!
4- Now come the Ijtihad of scholars of Islam! they can do the Ijtihad only if the new issue is not montioned in the Qur'an, in the sacred Hadith and in the Hadith of the Prophet (pbuh).

So my conclusion is that the Ijtihad still exist but we can't use it in everything, we must use it as I told you only when we don't find the sollution in the most important 3 sources of law in Islam! I hope I was usefull and clear in my answers dear nonsqtr


Example of sacred hadith said by God:
“‘O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it. O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself.’”[It was related by Muslim (also by at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah).] http://sacredhadith.com/hadith-qudsi-1/

Peace be upon you

..and peace be upon you. Interesting opinions. thank you.


Lots of common ground between the different sides, so hopefully our governments are smart enough to work together towards a common goal.. that of a stable peaceful Iraq.

I think that Arabs with other Islamic forces from Turkey and Asia should join the Multi National Forces in policing Iraq soon as possible. There is no need to wait on this, because the sooner the Iraqi people stop getting murdered, the sooner the US military can leave.

As for the Persians.. Once they see most of the Arab League, USA, EU, and UN countries in Iraq working together, the Iranian govt will cooperate. or be destroyed fighting against us all.



BTW, if you don't mind my asking, which country are you from?

Far out! That's so cool - like, here we are rapping about politics and religion with a guy in Tunisia, in real time - what could be better?

This internet thing is wonderful....

Well Mr. Borkan, thank you sir, for reaching across the ocean to communicate with us, it's deeoly appreciated.

Can I ask you another question, then?

It's about the "authority" in Islam. I'm curious, how do you see the relationship between your religion and your government? And, if there were a conflict between the two, what would happen? (I mean, is there a "legal mechanism" to resolve such conflicts, or is there some kind of "religious debate" around political concepts, or how does it work in your country?)

In Islam, my best understanding is, that there is no "central authority" - there's no one like "the Pope" in the Catholic Church, who serves as a "unified leader".

Is that true? And if it is, how do you, as an individual, navigate through the competing "interpretations" that different scholars may have to offer, on a given topic?

If according to you only .01% of Muslims are extremists, then shouldn't the Iraqi resistence be finished by now?
If Iraq has 25 Million Muslims, and only .01% of them are extremist, it seems that all those good fun loving Muslims would have gotten rid of the bad ones by now.
Just this summer, American GI's claim to have killed 2,500 members of Al'Qaeda.

I guess I am just confused why there is any violence, when according to you, the number of extremists is soo very small. And both American forces and the peace loving Shia and Sunni of Iraq are hunting them down and killing them every day.


Ixtellor

P.S. You still have not answered why Allah rewards America with unlimited riches while many of us think he is fictional and make fun of him. Not me, I only make fun of Christians. (A weird liberal phenom, that is really prejudice, and wholly hypocritical)

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George W. Bush "I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building"

Blasphemy is a victimless crime.

My dear Ixtellor, Yes it's clear for me too that you are confused, and may be you don't understanad or you can't make a diffrenece between the legal resistance and the extremists!
First of all you have to know and understant that Iraqis have the right to fight the American forces, and other western forces in Iraq! WHY? because they see them as invaders who came to Iraq with a BIG lie, to steel their country and to put an Iraqi Gov. who follows America and works for the benefit of the west more than the benefits of Iraqis themselves!! just understand that Iraqis see things like that, they see your army as 'criminals' that came to kill them! and they have the right to deffend themselves! So, don't call those who fight for the freedom extremists! you must see the diffrence! Bush himself said one time: "If my country was attacked, I will fight the invaders too"! and we don't need the testimony of Bush to know that this is the normal and natural reaction!
Conclusion:
1- Those who fight the American forces in Iraq, don't fight it because they are extremists but because they want the freedom!
2- Those who fight the American forces in Iraq, are in part real Iraqis who loves their country and fight for it's freedom + some other extremists from outside Iraq, like Alqaeda and Iranians!
3- The fighters in Iraq are not 0.1% from Iraqis, they are more than 5% because it's mixed from real and legal resistance + Alqaeda + Iranians!

Second, when the American GI's claims to have killed 2,500 members of Al'Qaeda just don't believe any thing! You are a smart guy to understand that numbers of death is very important in the "media-war"! I personally don't believe them because I experinced the lies of the American army!! How?? The Iraqi resistance has a TV channel called "Alzawra TV", they show in this TV their operations against the American forces, they showed:
1- how they blow up hammers, tangs...and even American sildiers!
2- their snipers, especially the famous Sniper of Bagdad that the American forces called JUBA! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juba_(sniper) ) I thing the meaning of Juba is the king of death that no one can see!! correct me if I'm wrong!
3- they showed how they blow up soldiers themselves when they pass near of one of their bombs!
4- they shoed also very successful operation that they refused to do against Americans because some kids were near of them!

WHY I tell all of this? because when this TV channel show how many American they killed in one day, they also show in the same day the speaker of the American soldier saying: "we have only one death today with some injyries" in the time when this TV showed from 7 to 10 killed from the American army! = lies and lies to not make you, people of America ask to them to go out from Iraq!
I saw in Alzawra TV an American soldier who stopped the hammer and walked to see something like a bomb in the street! and then the bomb explosed in his face, he was just 50cm far fro it, and the explosion devided him into parts, the rest of his body fly about 10 mters! in the same day the army says: "simple injuries of a soldier"!!! it's the media-war!
Conclusion: when they tell you that they killed 2500 from Alqaeda, don't believe any thing easely!

I answered you my dear Ixtellor, I said:
And let me add some verses from Quran that can answer you:
- They ask thee to hasten on the Punishment (for them): had it not been for a term (of respite) appointed, the Punishment would certainly have come to them: and it will certainly reach them,- of a sudden, while they perceive not! They ask thee to hasten on the Punishment: but, of a surety, Hell will encompass the Rejecters of Faith!- (Quran 29:53-54)
- Yet they ask thee to hasten on the Punishment! But Allah will not fail in His Promise. (Quran 22:47)

see u

Actually I do. But when a group of Shia's takes a family of Sunnis and uses an electric drill to "drill" the entire family to death, are they extremists or part of the legal resistance?

Of the Million plus Iraqi's who fled the nation, did they do so because GIs, extremists, or "resistance" fighters?

Of the thousands of dead bodies found in Iraq that had been tortured to death, again who was responsible?
Are there enough extremists in Iraq to torture to death thousands and thousands of Iraqis?

I don't believe the American numbers. But I also dont believe the "resistance" fighter numbers.

You seem to take those on good faith.

Just for the record:
I was against the war from before the beginning.
I don't believe what our gov and media portray.

But by far, the largest number of people doing the killing is Muslims. And by far the largest recipient of all that death, torture, and hatred, is Iraqi muslims.

As far as quoting the Koran, to me.
There is no need. I don't put any more faith in the Koran or the Bible or the Old Testemant than I do in Space Aliens and childrens fairytells.

I believe that you will summerize all arguments in 1 of 2 ways.

The Koran supports your idea and the Koran is infallible. (When you interpret it and not anyone else - like extremists)
I am a naive person who is being fooled by my government and media, who can not see the obvious truths to which you are privy.

While having a dialogue with a rational Muslim who is familiar with the situation in Iraq would be fascinating. I do not consider you to be a rational person. No offense. Again, all your arguments will come down to our naivity and your "proof" in the Koran. Neither of which is a rational argument.

Ixtellor

P.S. If you want to prove rationality, explain why the vast majority of deaths in Iraq are the result of mulsim on muslim violence, and account for your accusation that the extremists are too small to do any real damage.

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George W. Bush "I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building"

Blasphemy is a victimless crime.

Fascinating.

So, it sounds then, like it is "each individual's responsibility", to study and properly interpret the word of God.

That's a very unusual "mechanism" for such a thing, in terms of the various living religions. But yes, many have "councils", as you say, that is probably a similar model to the "Synods" in the Protestant Christian churches (they don't have a Pope either).

It seems to me, that this "council" mechanism is a good one. But one must really make an effort to gain a broad set of inputs, yes? Because if one's "council" is narrow, one's perception of one's "choices" will also likely be narrow. We have similar concepts here, the vernacular goes something like "bounce it off your brother", and "two heads are better than one").

I can draw a "political" analogy, for those on this side of the pond - if you've only got two friends, and one of them's a Democrat and the other's a Republican, then it's not likely they'll encourage you to vote Libertarian....

Hmm... okay, so I got the other part of your message too, so now I'm going to go do a little research on Tunisia.

But I do have another question, if you wouldn't mind - do Muslims consider that Mohammed was the "last" prophet, or will there ever be another one? How do concepts like the "hidden Imam" fit into this, or is that something completely different? I mean, that's not a "re-incarnation" concept, is it? It's more like "someday God will choose another messenger"?