With all due respect, P. Ami and others — your out of pocket rejection of the various skeptical posts above is frustrating. You admit little knowledge of the Koran, and then proceed to defend Islam, and reveal that you are “saddened” by posts above which point out some subtle but significant flaws in Dr. Mansur’s letter above.
Please — familiarize yourself with Islam before you defend it, or become saddened when you read more knowledgeable critics of it.
This trait among Westerners — our willingness to believe in the basic goodness of others, to believe in the basic redeemability of the human soul is usually an admirable trait. But what if Islam is different? What if Muslims are exploiting that trait in us?
What you and other posters above reveal is that you know very little about Islam, but are more disposed to excuse what Jihadi Muslims do as aberrant. What the truth reveals is that the violent and intolerant practice of the Jihadis is right in line with the basic tenets of Islam, and that the Jihadis have far more support for their position vis-a-vis Islam than Muslims such as Dr. Mansur do. If this is so, then Dr. Mansur’s assertions hold little water with his fellow Muslims, and only serve to lull Westerners to sleep who are so desperate to find a moderate way among Muslims. His positions doesn’t stand up to basic scrutiny.
So what are the basic tenets of Islam?
As I point out in my post above — I have learned that the basic tenets of Islam don’t just emerge from the Koran, as Dr. Mansur tries to maintain, but also rely on a body of work labeled the Hadiths and the Suras.
This is a body of writings which happened shortly after the death of Muhammad. His followers immediately began writing down every last detail they could remember of how he lived. They reasoned that Allah’s chosen prophet’s life must have been the most exemplary life for a human being to follow — and therefore began recording in shocking detail every aspect of Muhammad’s life that could be remembered.
This body of work forms a basis for the understanding of Islam, and actually serves to inform Muslims in interpreting the Koran as well.
Everything I’m about to assert comes from these “holy” Muslim texts. I am making none of this up in order to defame Islam. Muhammad’s record does that sufficiently:
Muhammad was a thief, as interested in gathering loot and booty from raids on caravans as spreading his “religion”. This is the truth according to the most sacred texts of the Muslims.
Muhammad personally slaughtered dozens upon dozens of people. He personally beheaded many people with his sword. He ordered torture, including burning to death, and the gouging out of eyes, the cutting off of hands, and the lopping off of legs right in his presence. This is the truth according to the most sacred texts of the Muslims.
Muhammad used terror to threaten and persuade people to follow him and adopt Islam (conversion by the sword — just picture the Saudi flag with the sword on it and the Shidada written in Arabic) This is the truth according to the most sacred texts of the Muslims.
Muhammad made and then broke treaties. This is the truth according to the most sacred texts of the Muslims.
Muhammad raped and kept slaves. This is the truth according to the most sacred texts of the Muslims.
Muhammad “married” a six year old girl, and then consummated his “marriage” with her when she was nine years old, and he was in his mid 50s. This is the truth according to the most sacred texts of the Muslims.
So when the Jihadis rape, behead, use terror to spread Islam, betray contracts (such as joining the U.S. Army, and then blowing up your officers with grenades as that Muslim soldier did at the onset of the Iraq war in order to “protect” other Muslims), when Muslims refuse to shake the hands of “infidels” because they consider us to be “unclean”, when they insist that toilets not face Mecca — all of these things are found in the basic tenets of Islam.
There will never be a reformation of Islam. Islam cannot endure a reformation. It is, at its very core, a violent, xenophobic, hatred based ideology. It is a merciless form of government. It is a creed which eternally divides the world into “believers” and “non-believers”. The “non-believers” are relegated to a perpetually inferior status. Women will never have any equality in any Islamic state. Islam cannot tolerate other religions. Muslims will never truly integrate with others as long as they adhere to Islam.
All of these things are FACTS. Please familiarize yourself with the subject. The lack of knowledge on the part of most Westerners regarding what we’re confronting with Muslims in our midst is perhaps a fatal ignorance. Muslims are here to spread Islam in our domain. A true Muslim must place fealty to Islam and its laws of sharia above fealty to any law of man. As such, Muslims are dedicated to a system which is the antithesis of everything the West represents, and pose a grave threat to our ongoing existence.
