Expanding knowledge about islam

[Juno]

Ignorance and lacking the will to understand accompanied with fear are the breeding grounds for foolishness and unnecessary conflict. Understanding breeds tolerance and the possibility of cooperation.

As i have an interest in comparative religion, I was introduced to this video of this speaker (named Joshua Evans) by a friend seeking to expand my knowledge on islam.

I liked it and thought it was pretty helpful in doing just that..

Heres the vid..

 

[wize fool]

They're not interested in learning, bruh.

 

[DoubleClutch]

That's a long video. I probably watch later but can we get a summary?

 

[wize fool]

That's a long video. I probably watch later but can we get a summary?

It's basically saying what most Muslims have been saying on this forum all along. Stop "learning" Islam from the media. It clears up all the misconceptions that I've already seen cleared up here yet people ignore and choose to dwell in a life of ignorance.

He touches on jihad, an often misunderstood idea. He explains that jihad means struggle and the greatest struggle is he struggle of the self. So killing innocent people is not jihad but repressing the urge to lash out violently would be jihad.

It's a very good watch and very informative. If you can, check it out when you get the chance.

 

[SumBlackguyz]

in before TWISM, 88M3, TUH, and VVD

 

[DoubleClutch]

It's basically saying what most Muslims have been saying on this forum all along. Stop "learning" Islam from the media. It clears up all the misconceptions that I've already seen cleared up here yet people ignore and choose to dwell in a life of ignorance.

He touches on jihad, an often misunderstood idea. He explains that jihad means struggle and the greatest struggle is he struggle of the self. So killing innocent people is not jihad but repressing the urge to lash out violently would be jihad.

It's a very good watch and very informative. If you can, check it out when you get the chance.

Makes sense. So why are so many Muslims in the middle east getting it wrong/misunderstood. You'd think they'd know the Islam and its teachings better than anyone.

 

[the cac mamba]

Reservoir Dogs : The Mexican stand-off and shoot-out scene - YouTube

 

[wize fool]

Makes sense. So why are so many Muslims in the middle east getting it wrong/misunderstood. You'd think they'd know the Islam and its teachings better than anyone.

Not necessarily. A lot of people in the Middle East are Muslim just because it is cultural there, vs an American convert who became Muslim after thoroughly studying.

I would also like to point out that when you say "so many" you are really talking about a very small percentage of Muslims. In addition, most, if not all of the terrorism you hear about in the media is actually politically charged. Qur'anic verses are used out of context to fool the uneducated into thinking they are doing something righteous when in reality they are doing something un-Islamic and for reasons they aren't even aware of.

When non-Muslims read these verses and take the same thing from it they are essentially putting themselves on the intellectual level of the ignorant.

 

[DoubleClutch]

great response. I figure the one's who are just muslim by culture aren't as active/concerned and are not the problem.

But anyways......Islams core message should be simple enough that even the most "ignorant" muslims can understand and know whats right vs whats wrong....as well as people who know nothing about the religion. The fact that Islam is called the "religion of peace" or supposed to represent the "true" religion or give a positive way of living doesn't make sense no matter the circumstances when Muslims act the way they are right now. It's not wining any converts either.

Are all these people on TV rioting and burning flags not Muslim then? Are they aware of what they are doing?

 

[SumBlackguyz]

I would suggest you read up on Islam and the African Diaspora. In many areas islam had a positive effect on the population. Seeing how the first verse of the quran was iqra, or read, one of the main focuses of islam was to encourage the sharing of knowledge.

also if you look at some dynasties, you see where slavery existed in islam, it allowed it but its rules elevating their status in a sort could be suggestive of its abolishment. people were actively trying to be slaves of islamic dynasties for the benefits that came along with it. If you look at the janissaries and how the mamluks changed the game, many people that were slaves could achieve high status being a slave in islam, than otherwise. Slaves have to be treated with the same kindness, respect and privileges as family members, so it was a good way to join the winning team.

I believe Islam was one of the first religions to address racial inequality and womens rights. im at work, i'll have more later

 

[Juno]

Not necessarily. A lot of people in the Middle East are Muslim just because it is cultural there, vs an American convert who became Muslim after thoroughly studying.

I would also like to point out that when you say "so many" you are really talking about a very small percentage of Muslims. In addition, most, if not all of the terrorism you hear about in the media is actually politically charged. Qur'anic verses are used out of context to fool the uneducated into thinking they are doing something righteous when in reality they are doing something un-Islamic and for reasons they aren't even aware of.

When non-Muslims read these verses and take the same thing from it they are essentially putting themselves on the intellectual level of the ignorant.

True.

 

[RadaMillz]

There's no reasoning with the sodomites, they hate god and they hate those who recognize the power of almighty. The sodomites hate Muslims more because unlike our christians brothers of the people of the book we haven't stopped offing them.

 

[wize fool]

great response. I figure the one's who are just muslim by culture aren't as active/concerned and are not the problem.

But anyways......Islams core message should be simple enough that even the most "ignorant" muslims can understand and know whats right vs whats wrong....as well as people who know nothing about the religion. The fact that Islam is called the "religion of peace" or supposed to represent the "true" religion or give a positive way of living doesn't make sense no matter the circumstances when Muslims act the way they are right now. It's not wining any converts either.

Are all these people on TV rioting and burning flags not Muslim then? Are they aware of what they are doing?

The message is that God is One. Simple enough. It only becomes complicated when individuals are convinced that wrong is right. Early Muslims had to fight battles to establish the truth. Understand that before Islam the Meccans worshiped no less than 360 different idols. Mecca was the center of Arabia and the Kabaa, located in Mecca housed these idols. People came from all across Arabia to worship these idols. As you can imagine, it was BIG BUSINESS. Islam was a threat to this business. As such, early Muslims were persecuted, tortured and killed. Verses were sent down instructing them to fight their oppressors. The same verses are today being used to manipulate misguided souls into thinking they are fighting in some holy war when in reality, as previously mentioned, these are political wars.

What you see in the media is a very small percentage of Muslims. Like 1% or less. But the media is a powerful tool of propaganda and manipulation. Why do you think companies spend millions of dollars on advertisement? Subliminal messages. They are embedding their brand deep into the subconscious of man. Same thing here. If I was in charge of the media and wanted all white people to look like ignorant, racist KKK members then that's the only way I would depict them. Every time you saw a white person on TV they would be wearing a white hood and holding a burning cross. For anyone unaware, they would take that to be the majority of white people because that's all they would know of them.

So in summary, we are probably talking about a fraction of a percent of Muslims, who have been tricked into thinking they are doing something righteous and extremely disproportionate media coverage.

I'm sorry, friend, but you have been bamboozled by the media.

I would also like to add that no coverage is bad coverage. By keeping Islam in the media, curiosity will eventually become too strong in an inquisitive mind to resist learning on their own.

Conversion To Islam One Result Of Post-9/11 Curiosity

Converting to Islam in the U.S. Following 9/11 , 34000 embraced Islam !, why they converted to Islam

More in Hawai'i turn to Islam | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUbzJMQwoN0"]CNN: 1.5 Million converts to Islam since 9/11 !! - YouTube[/ame]

Here is a video of a woman who lost a loved one on 9/11 who converted to Islam afterwards.


Man plans and Allah plans, and surely Allah is the best of planners.

 

[SumBlackguyz]

Mamluk (Islamic dynasty) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

The use of Mamlūks as a major component of Muslim armies became a distinct feature of Islāmic civilization as early as the 9th century ad. The practice was begun in Baghdad by the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Muʿtaṣim (833–842), and it soon spread throughout the Muslim world. Moreover, the political result was almost invariably the same: the slaves exploited the military power vested in them to seize control over the legitimate political authorities, often only briefly but sometimes for astonishingly long periods of time. Thus, soon after al-Muʿtaṣim’s reign the caliphate itself fell victim to the Turkish Mamlūk generals, who were able to depose or murder caliphs almost with impunity. Although the caliphate was maintained as a symbol of legitimate authority, the actual power was wielded by the Mamlūk generals; and by the 13th century, Mamlūks had succeeded in establishing dynasties of their own, both in Egypt and in India, in which the sultans were necessarily men of slave origin or the heirs of such men

With the Ottoman victories over the Mamlūks in 1516–17, Egypt and Syria reverted to the status of provinces within an empire. Although the Mamlūk sultanate was destroyed, the Mamlūks remained intact as a class in Egypt and continued to exercise considerable influence in the state. As had been the case during the Mamlūk dynasty, the Mamlūk elite continued to be replenished by purchases from slave markets. The slaves, after a period of apprenticeship, still formed the core of the army and were soon being appointed to offices in the Ottoman government. Thus, gradually the Mamlūks infiltrated the Ottoman ruling class and eventually were able to dominate it.

There is universal agreement among historians that the Mamlūk state reached its height under the Turkish sultans and then fell into a prolonged phase of decline under the Circassians. The principal achievements of the Turkish Mamlūks lay in their expulsion of the remaining crusaders from the Levant and their rout of the Mongols in Palestine and Syria; they thereby earned the thanks of all Muslims for saving Arabic-Islāmic civilization from destruction. It is doubtful, however, that such a goal figured in their plans; rather, as rulers of Egypt they were seeking to reconstitute the Egyptian Empire. The Mamlūks also sought to extend their power into the Arabian Peninsula and into Anatolia and Little Armenia; to protect Egypt’s rear, they strove to establish their presence in Nubia. To consolidate their position in the Islāmic world, the Mamlūks revived the caliphate, which the Mongols had destroyed in 1258, and installed a caliph under their surveillance in Cairo. Their patronage of the rulers of the holy cities of Arabia, Mecca and Medina, served the same purpose. Spectacular success in war and diplomacy was underpinned economically by the Mamlūks’ support of industries and crafts as well as by their restoration of Egypt as the principal trade and transit route between the Orient and the Mediterranean.

 

[the cac mamba]

The message is that God is One. Simple enough. It only becomes complicated when individuals are convinced that wrong is right. Early Muslims had to fight battles to establish the truth. Understand that before Islam the Meccans worshiped no less than 360 different idols. Mecca was the center of Arabia and the Kabaa, located in Mecca housed these idols. People came from all across Arabia to worship these idols. As you can imagine, it was BIG BUSINESS. Islam was a threat to this business. As such, early Muslims were persecuted, tortured and killed. Verses were sent down instructing them to fight their oppressors. The same verses are today being used to manipulate misguided souls into thinking they are fighting in some holy war when in reality, as previously mentioned, these are political wars.

.

who are you to say that the meccans were worshiping the wrong thing? you dont know the truth because you havent died yet. Isnt it fair to say that no human can possbily possess this knowledge until they die?

to say 'this is what i believe' is one thing, but to call it the truth is simply an opinion