First, I am not a good Muslim, but I try. But something disturbed me and I would like a Muslim response:?

Question

It occurred to me that the extremes of religion get a bad rap, because with most faiths, if everyone practiced the extreme, the group would be better off and nicer. If all Catholics were good third order Carmelites, the catholics would be pretty descent. If all Jews were Neturei Karta, the Jews would be pretty decent. If all Protestants were Amish, that would be good.

But with us, if all Muslims were like the most extreme Sunni clerics; we'd still be in conflict with others. What do you think?

Answer 1

Your try to be a good Muslim has failed.

Your logic is so twisted that I doubt that you will comprehend this but I will try any way

When you use the word extreme it means, the opposite of moderate which means that there is always TWO extremes.

If you want to compare the extreme Muslims you should compare them to the extreme Catholics and Jews on the same side.

So they compare to the Crusaders for the first and the Zionists for the second.

Here is a video for you to see what I mean by extreme Jews, which I call Zionists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW1-_JmXQt0

You don’t compare those Zionist to NETUREI KARTA do you.

The latter denounces EVERY ACTION done by the Zionists.

But I have to say it is a nice try of you.

let me just add this if All Jews follow NETUREI KARTA there will be no problem in the middle east because they don't recognize the Zionist state of Israel as a legitimate state. They consider it against God’s will.

You can read about it here

http://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/index.cfm

Answer 2

I think U get yourself being carried away with your feelings and influence from ppl around U. As U mentioned that U are not a good Muslims, then U should start to be good Muslims and seek help from ALLAH S.W.T for guidance and protection. This is extremely important so as U can remain as Muslims and avoid yourself from becoming a Murtad ( out of Islam ). I am not saying that U will be Murtad, but praising other religion as good is extremely wrong. If U say that the Catholic is good, protestant is good and Jews is good, are U saying that the Muslims are not good? U should realised that Islam brought knowledge to mankind by telling them to read - " Surah Iqraq. " As such, mankind able to salvage tremendous knowledge about the existence of this entire world and its secrets . Being extreme is an act of individuals, there is nothing to do with Islam. Islam is always moderate and average. That is why Islam is suitable to everybody, at anytime and anywhere.

Answer 3

You make some valid observations.

To me the most vital thing Islam needs is some centralized authority speaking out against the acts of the radicals. Unfortunately, Islam is very non-hierarchical, so there is no central group of perceived leaders of the Islamic faith that speak with one voice and condemn the actions of the heretical.

Where is the public outcry from Islam's theologians over the acts of these radicals? It is missing in the media and the silence among the leadership and over one billion peaceable Muslims is deafening to the observers on the sidelines.

If Christian radicals were performing the acts that we see Islamic fundamentalists doing, there would be a world outcry among the leaders of Christian organizations condemning these persons as heretics. It would be in all the newspapers, television, etc.

Muslims are quick to point to the violence recorded in the Christian bible and claim that Christianity’s early history was violent, too. But unlike the Bible where some very awful HISTORY is recorded, the violence described in the Qur’an is part of Islamic THEOLOGY. This is a very significant distinction between the two belief systems.

The famous Muslim scholar and “father of modern history” Ibn Khaldun (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldun) states the dichotomy between jihad and defensive warfare thus:

In the Muslim community, the holy war [i.e. jihad] is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force... The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the holy war was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defense... They are merely required to establish their religion among their own people. That is why the Israeilites after Moses and Joshua remained unconcerned with royal authority [e.g. a “caliphate”]. Their only concern was to establish their religion [not spread it to the nations]… But Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations (The Muqudimmah, vol. 1 pg. 473).

I believe Islam is going through what the Christian faith went through during the Reformation. During the Reformation religious leaders were forced to carefully define their doctrines, that is, what do Christians really believe? This established a baseline of orthodoxy that then could be used as a litmus test for the practices of self-professed Christians.

Islamic leaders must do the same thing. They must reclaim the Islam now ruled by radicals who have plunged Islamic countries into the Dark Ages. New leaders must codify their acceptable theologies, especially the violence now part of the Sharia, Muhammad’s Sunna (4:24, 4:92, 8:69, 24:33, 33:21, 33:50), and the “sword-verses” of the Qur’an (e.g., 9:5, 9:29). Then Muslim leaders should defend these theologies against heretics loudly and publicly.

I have found non-Christian religions, such as Islam, to be philosophically indefensible, being internally incoherent or undermining human reason and experience. To better understand Islam, I suggest you review the following sites:

http://www.carm.org/islam.htm
http://www.americanthinker.com/2006/04/islam_apologists_tell_a_partia.html
http://hnn.us/articles/16536.html
http://answering-islam.org/

Answer 4

well i am Muslim and my answer to you is that it isn't just the terrorists who have a bad rap. because of their actions, and because the terrorists claim these actions are from Allah, Islam in it's self has been giving a bad rap. and we have those terrorist extremist to thank. i am Sunni but i don't agree with either ****'e or Sunni extremists. i follow my deen and that is it. i pray to Allah as i can. i give to charity as i can. i am unable to make hajj at the current moments...NSA, i believe none has the right to be worshiped except Allah alone and i believe Mohammed .pbuh. is his final messanger, and i fast as i can through Ramadan. so long as shayton has his way we will never get alone until Allah rids the shayton and jinns from creation and puts them where they belong. we need to spend more time worrying about our deen and less time concentrating on who thinks of what about this or that. it really is enevitible. nothing is really in stone. Allah has giving humanity free will. and this is exactly what humanity intends to fullfill...their free will. some just don't do it quietly. like terrorists...they think Allah has giving them the right to take the free will from the ppl. they think that they have the permission from the God to play God. what ppl think and how they act will build and build. Allahu a3lam, (God Knows) Alhumdullia...because what the ppl think they get away with they have no true fearing idea what is in store for them. humanity will always have conflict. always. until the day of Resurrection when Allah says enough...then will the conflict be final.

Answer 5

When u r a Muslim and u know Islam is the ONLY true religion, then u shouldn't have asked aquestion like that. Already, the Non-Muslims have lot of misconceptions about Islam.

Regarding what u have asked, conflict arises between anyone. What do u mean by extremism???
Islam teaches love and respect for one another and when difference in opinion rises, true believers do not react in a wrong manner. The Prophet's companions are the perfect models for us. No body of us can say that, we follow Islam as we r supposed to be. But, they were so puntual in their deeds, but never had any conflict with each other.

Answer 6

It's still ultimately the divisions & cultural differences which lead to conflict I think.

Answer 7

There is only one religion that is good when taken to the extreme. (or good at all for that matter)

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1 27

Answer 8

Actually people have their own hateful personal agendas. They just facade it with excuses such as religion.

And people are dumb enough to buy that.

Answer 9

no matter what one does, or what one thinks, conflict with others in inevitable, be it religion or anything else.

Answer 10

I'm not a Muslim, but I just thought I'd say that I agree with you that radicals, of whatever faith are bad.

Pax vobiscum, pax dominic.

Simon Templar