Judge Islam by its teachings

Matodo · 07-02-2007

Among people who ask me about Islam, there are two major kinds:
Interested people: they are not joking and ask serious questions like: What is Islam? What are its teachings? Is there a life after death? Do you believe in Jesus? ...
Uninterested people: They just want to play funny, exploit any chance to laugh at Muslims, and ask questions like: Why do Muslims beat their wifes? Does your religion teach you to kill non-Muslims? ...
I answer all their questions, but the majority of them just don't care.
I figured out that they have a prejudgment about Islam, they didn't receive these wrong informations from real Muslims but from other sources. Like books written by non-Muslims, TV programs where they came up with an "Islam expert" (Guess what? He is not Muslim), or from fake websites that pretend they are Islamic websites...
Sometimes it is because of the behaviors of some Muslims like seeing them lying or drinking or smoking... (Islam forbid that) But they don't represent Islam, they just represent themselves.
Don't judge Islam by some Muslims' behaviors, but by its teachings.

Read the Qur'an, visit real trusted Islamic websites, meet good practicing Muslims, or visit the nearest Islamic center to you in your city. What you will hear may surprise you.
You won't lose anything if you did that. But you may lose everything if you didn't.

matthew · 07-02-2007

Jasper84 · 07-02-2007

I am fine with any religion as long as people can always still draw their reasons for their ethics from something more universal. That is why i dislike when people draw arguments from religious texts, it puts people with other/no religion off.

That said, judging Islam by its teachings, or rather its scriptures does reveal something that does draw suspicion to the religion.(although not as bad as seeing Jihad as a license to kill.) http://socialdiscussion.com/religion...m-country.html I am not saying other religions do not have this, of course. Maybe the interpretation is wrong but i am under the impression that it is not. (judging from matthew's reply in thread)

One could argue (other religions could too) that the text is either not entirely correct, but still containing lessons, or symbolic. Why the text is valuable in the first place does not really make sense to me for any of the religions so far. (although i have not read them, but even then, why would i value them more then just a good book..)

07-02-2007	#1 (permalink)
Matodo Just getting started Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 5	Judge Islam by its teachings Among people who ask me about Islam, there are two major kinds: Interested people: they are not joking and ask serious questions like: What is Islam? What are its teachings? Is there a life after death? Do you believe in Jesus? ... Uninterested people: They just want to play funny, exploit any chance to laugh at Muslims, and ask questions like: Why do Muslims beat their wifes? Does your religion teach you to kill non-Muslims? ... I answer all their questions, but the majority of them just don't care. I figured out that they have a prejudgment about Islam, they didn't receive these wrong informations from real Muslims but from other sources. Like books written by non-Muslims, TV programs where they came up with an "Islam expert" (Guess what? He is not Muslim), or from fake websites that pretend they are Islamic websites... Sometimes it is because of the behaviors of some Muslims like seeing them lying or drinking or smoking... (Islam forbid that) But they don't represent Islam, they just represent themselves. Don't judge Islam by some Muslims' behaviors, but by its teachings. Read the Qur'an, visit real trusted Islamic websites, meet good practicing Muslims, or visit the nearest Islamic center to you in your city. What you will hear may surprise you. You won't lose anything if you did that. But you may lose everything if you didn't.
Matodo Just getting started Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 5

07-02-2007	#2 (permalink)
matthew Eligible for a custom title Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 858	Re: Judge Islam by its teachings ... Last edited by matthew : 10-06-2007 at 07:28 AM.

07-02-2007	#3 (permalink)
Jasper84 under construction Join Date: May 2007 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Posts: 593	Re: Judge Islam by its teachings I am fine with any religion as long as people can always still draw their reasons for their ethics from something more universal. That is why i dislike when people draw arguments from religious texts, it puts people with other/no religion off. That said, judging Islam by its teachings, or rather its scriptures does reveal something that does draw suspicion to the religion.(although not as bad as seeing Jihad as a license to kill.) http://socialdiscussion.com/religion...m-country.html I am not saying other religions do not have this, of course. Maybe the interpretation is wrong but i am under the impression that it is not. (judging from matthew's reply in thread) One could argue (other religions could too) that the text is either not entirely correct, but still containing lessons, or symbolic. Why the text is valuable in the first place does not really make sense to me for any of the religions so far. (although i have not read them, but even then, why would i value them more then just a good book..) Last edited by Jasper84 : 07-02-2007 at 03:06 PM.