The Koran and the Jews
We Americans have been taught to respect all religions, rightfully, but Islam is a religion that does not follow this concept. Terrorists have zeroed in on certain aspects in their Koran that are giving them a free hand to kill Jews and Christians. I note that Jews are considered "infidels", also. Anyone that isn't a Muslim is an infidel.
The story as I remember it goes back to around 700AD when Mohammed lived in an area also populated with Jews and Christians, both called, "People of the Book," and he wasn't a part of this group. His people had no book. He was an illiterate man, with a pretty good memory, so heard stories from each of these religions from their book. Finally somehow he wrote his own book, either by learning to read and write or to get help, and presented it to the Jews, trying to get them to switch over and follow him, which he thought would be an easy thing to do. They didn't leave their religion, of course, which angered him immensely. Possibly that is why he has such a hatred for us. We wouldn't convert.
Remember, Mohammed did have quite a time of convincing even his own tribe to follow his teachings. He wound up having to convince people with a sword over their heads. It wasn't easy. He wasn't really a popular man, as I remember reading.
Now it's the fastest growing religion and the 2nd largest religion in the world. On this earth there are 1,482,596,925 Muslims as of 1996. That means that 26% of the people in the world were Muslims. By 2000 they should have numbered 1,902,095,000. Today, it must be at least two billion or more people that are Muslims. Their growth rate is also due to having four wives and many many children that each man is allowed.
In Australia their growth rate was 257.01% from 1989 to 1998. In North America they have enjoyed a 25% growth, either by birth, conversion or immigration. Interestingly, in Latin America they have seen a decline of -4.73%, probably due to a higher popularity of Catholics, though the Christianity growth rate in 94-95 was only 1.46%.
Being that Jews make up only about 1% of the total world population, we have seen a growth rate in Israel, but I doubt if we have much a rate in the USA. We do not proselyze. It's a religion that you are born into if your mother is Jewish. We have always taken in converts that have requested it and are indeed serious in doing so.
Views of Islam Towards Jews
Posted by Abdulameer on 01/06/09 at 3:58PM
Here are some "troublesome" passages from the Koran. Any reader can verify on the Internet that the Koran really does say these things.
--Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve. (8.55)
-- The unbelievers are your inveterate enemy. (4:101)
-- Mohammed is God's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another. (48:29).
-- It is unlawful for a believer to kill another believer, accidents excepted. (4:92)
-- Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. (5:51)
-- Make war on them (non-Moslems)until idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme. (8:40)
-- Fight against them until idolatry is no more and God's religion reigns supreme. (2:193)
-- The true believers fight for the cause of God, but the infidels fight for the devil. Fight then against the friends of Satan. (4:76)
-- We will put terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. (3:151)
-- I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers. (8:12)
Muhammad, who all religious Moslems are required to consider the perfect model to follow, said this:"You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "
"I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,.."
"Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him." Vol. 9:57
"No Muslim should be killed for killing a Kafir" A Kafir, according to Wikipedia, is an apostate, and infidel, an unbeliever, someone who does not recognize Allah or Muhammad, who hides the truth, a rejector, ingrate.
There are many more quotations like these from the Koran and the sayings of Muhammad (Hadith). What will Zahar tell us about these verses which are considered sacrosanct by all believing Moslems -- even if they have never read the Koran.
-- The unbelievers are your inveterate enemy. (4:101)
-- Mohammed is God's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another. (48:29).
-- It is unlawful for a believer to kill another believer, accidents excepted. (4:92)
-- Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. (5:51)
-- Make war on them (non-Moslems)until idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme. (8:40)
-- Fight against them until idolatry is no more and God's religion reigns supreme. (2:193)
-- The true believers fight for the cause of God, but the infidels fight for the devil. Fight then against the friends of Satan. (4:76)
-- We will put terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. (3:151)
-- I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers. (8:12)
Muhammad, who all religious Moslems are required to consider the perfect model to follow, said this:"You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "
"I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,.."
"Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him." Vol. 9:57
"No Muslim should be killed for killing a Kafir" A Kafir, according to Wikipedia, is an apostate, and infidel, an unbeliever, someone who does not recognize Allah or Muhammad, who hides the truth, a rejector, ingrate.
There are many more quotations like these from the Koran and the sayings of Muhammad (Hadith). What will Zahar tell us about these verses which are considered sacrosanct by all believing Moslems -- even if they have never read the Koran.
There is hope. In the book, The Faith Club, by Ranya Idliby, a Muslim, Suzanne Oliver, a Christian, and Priscilla Warner, a Jew, all living in New York, get together to solve the problems of recognizing, learning and understanding about each other. I'm sad to say that the Jewish lady knew less than the others about their own faith, and that the Christian seemed to be the more educated in hers, though I'm not surprised. I thought Ranya was wonderful, but I doubt if she was aware of these parts of her Koran. Their book led to the formation of groups similar to theirs in searching for answers, which is a very good thing. I believe that all three were very spiritual ladies, as demonstrated by their search.
This certainly could be the underlying cause of enmity between the Arabs and the Jews in the Middle East and why the Palestinians have been so against having Israel as a neighbor, which was also demonstrated in 1948 when 6 Arab nations attacked Israel at its birth. In trying to force these two different religious groups together in peace is not even on the same level as Ireland's Catholics and Protestants. They at least are both Christian groups. You could say our differences started in 700AD.
There was a time when Jews lived in Arab lands. The Ottoman Empire even invited us there to help out in certain areas, and we left the Russian Empire and its pogroms and headed for Turkey. We never suffered persecution as we did in the Western countries, but were held in 2nd position as citizens under the class of dminnis. Somehow those more enlightened Muslims tolerated us. Times have changed.
What saddens me is to see the Palestinians cheering as they hear of a Jewish person that was killed. Long ago when we left Egypt, we also cheered as the Pharoah's charioteers drowned in the sea that had allowed our passage through, and we were chastised by G-d not to do so, that they also were his children. You'll notice that we haven't cheered in this Operation Lead or any other time. It saddens us to see life taken, also. It's not our choice to kill and we're not trying to, only in self defense. We're trying to get rid of the ammunition and the tunnels that bring it in.
No comments:
Post a Comment