ISLAM DEBATE (Cont'd)

In the last blog, I reprinted a letter I wrote
to the local paper. It spoke of the variety
of opinions and teachings within Islam,
and the important difference between
mainstream thinking and that of the
extremists. Below is an answer to my letter,
and my response to that and others like it:

"A deeper examination of the Quran, its
history and the concept of abrogation
reveals that the "lovey, huggy" portions
of the Quran were written while Mohammad
lived in Mecca and was advocating peace,
cooperation, and mutual respect to get the
people of Mecca to turn away from poly-
theism and idol-worship. He even hoped to
get Jews and Christians to help him in this
effort. After his flight to Medina however,
the writings of the Quran take on a decidedly
different tone toward Christians, Jews, and
other non-believers. Islamic eschatology
also offers a glimpse of what the final
disposition of Jews and Christians will be.
I encourage you to look into it. Oh, and by
the way trying to deny that Islam spread, in
large part, by the sword is just pure bunk
that ignores well established facts of history."

Well, the "deeper examination of the Quran"
that the writer calls for has been done by
Resa Aslan (referred to in the last blog),
and John L. Esposito, who teaches world
religions at Georgetown Univ., and many
other widely recognized scholars of note.
My own field of professional study is world
religions, which I have taught at the univ.
level for over thirty years. So I have some
background with which to evaluate the
various writings on Islam and the Quran.

Here is my response the above: "you can
find anything you want in the Bible or the
Quran, depending on how you want to "spin"
it. Critics of Islam, such as Robert Spencer
(one of the fave "authorities" for the anti-Islam
crowd) have a field day taking disputed
passages out of historical context and riding
off on their hobby horses. Mohammad
complicated things for us by mixing local
and specific directions for day to day issues
with general principles for all time. We are
free to mix them as we wish. Polemicists
like to take the harshest statements of
fanatics and imply or suggest that those
are representative or standard for main-
stream Islam. If you want the truth, rely
on genuine scholars who have made the
study of Islam their life work, and are
recognized by Muslims, Christians, and
Jews alike. They won't have an axe to
grind. (Definition of a fanatic: someone
willing to kill you over your religion. They
are raving fools. Nothing they say should
be credited when it comes to religious
authority. HELLO! You can't use them
as authorities on mainstream Islam. That's
hogwash!)

Now, did the Arabs conquer the Middle
East, N. Africa and most of Spain? Yes
they did. Was it to make converts? No, it
was for land and booty and plunder, just
like other armies of the time. Not only did
they not seek converts, they had no
interest in making converts, and some times
discouraged seekers who wanted to convert.
Spain, under Muslim rule, saw a golden age
of philosophical and religious discussion
among leading scholars of all three faiths. A
new book just out that covers such relations
from the time of Muhammad to the present is
Peace Be Upon You: The Story of Muslim,
Christian and Jewish Coexistence, by
Zachary Karabell. It is a masterpiece of
scholarship, but reads like a newspaper. It
will become the definitive work on this
subject. The author is an internationally
recognized authority, with a Harvard Ph. D.
in his subject. He writes: "For a millenium
and a half, until the end of WW II, Jews
under Muslim rule enjoyed more safety,
freedom, and autonomy than they ever did
under Christian rule. Muslim states over
the course of fourteen centuries have
allowed for religious diversity and not
insisted on trying to convert those who
followed a different creed . . . The Quran
instructed Muslims to respect the People
of the Book (Jews and Christians), and
that is precisely what they did. The early
history of Islam, therefore, unfolded
against the backdrop of toleration for the
religions of the conquered." (pp.28,29)

That's what real history shows! I know
you are being fed contrary nonsense by
folks with an agenda. The vast majority
of Muslims want peace, as do most Jews
and Christians. If we can ever join hands
to promote understanding and brotherhood,
as all of our religions require that we do,
we'll solve the world's problems without
war. That is not necessarily what everyone
wants, it seems!

The Pope who mounted the first Crusade
also started the lie that Islam was spread
by the sword. That lie has been repeated
so much for so long that anyone who doubts
it is seen as a nut. That's how "pure bunk"
becomes "an established fact of history"
that everyone "knows." Like Saddam was
in on 9/11!

Have some Muslims at various times
disobeyed the Quran and misused their
power in regard to Christians and Jews?
Undoubtedly. Do they seek to justify it
from the Quran? Absolutely! Have
Christians ever done that to captive
peoples? And justified it from the Bible?
Is the Pope Catholic? There's lots of dirty
linen in everyone's closet, if you're looking
for dirt. Let's be looking for the light!

To be continued. Feel free to comment.

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net