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Is Islam Misrepresented?

 
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Amil



Joined: 12 Jun 2004
Posts: 91

PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:53 pm    Post subject: Is Islam Misrepresented? Reply with quote

Is Islam Misrepresented?

Decades ago Marshall Mcluhan observed, “The medium is the message.” As the print and electronic media penetrate more and more every aspect of life; their influence increases greatly in shaping views and behavior of the public. The power of the media is a mixed blessing. On one hand it can serve to expose injustices, wrongdoings, and flaws. On the other it is able to propagate misinformation and outright disinformation.

Manipulation and control of the media is of critical importance to the rule of totalitarian states. Free societies, although less subject to laundered information, are still at considerable risk of being selectively informed or misinformed outright. The public can be deceived more easily by the overlords of the media when political correctness is used as subterfuge for promotion of certain ideas.

A case in point is the media’s portrayal of Islam, articulated by politicians and pundits—the talking heads on television and radio, as well as the analysts who write for newspapers and magazines. Time and again we hear and read that Islam is religion of peace, in spite of the fact that Islam has been a religion of violence from its inception to the present. This mantra, “Islam is religion of peace” is repeated so often that it has become an undisputable statement of fact in the mind of many.

Even President George W. Bush on several occasions has repeated the mantra and attributed the horrific violence committed under the banner of Islam to a small band of extremists. The President’s assertion is either based on ignorance of the facts about Islam or his attempt at political correctness. Perhaps the President’s reticence to speak on the true nature of Islam was due to his desire to avoid inflaming the already charged feelings of many about Islam. In any event, truth is sacrificed and the public continues to cling to the false notion that Islam is a peaceful religion. People who dare to disclose the true nature of Islam run the risk of being castigated as bigot and hatemonger.

Even a cursory examination of Islam’s history and Islamic texts conclusively proves the exact opposite of peacefulness. Islam was and continues to be a movement of unbridled violence.

The Arabs who sallied out of the Arabian deserts did not fan out to the outside world with the Quran in one hand and flowers in the other, preaching love and peace from street corner to street corner, thereby capturing the hearts and minds of the people. Islam was forced on every people at the point of the sword and the imposition of backbreaking jazyyeh (special taxes) levied on those who were spared death and allowed to retain their religious beliefs. In spite of paying heavy Jazyyeh, the non-Muslims were treated, at best, as second class citizens in their own homelands.

The abominable persecution of non-Muslims in Islamic countries is a standard operating procedure. In many Islamic countries non-Muslim marriages are not recognized as legal unions and the children of the couples are stigmatized as bastards. Never mind Saudi Arabia, the cradle of barbarism, even Egypt, the more civilized Islamic country and recipient of billions of dollars in U.S. aid, treats non-Muslims as second class citizens and deprives them of their legitimate human rights.

The pundits, the analysts and the politicians are doing a great disservice to the public, each segment for its own expedient reasons, by parroting the mantra regarding the peaceful nature of Islam. As a matter of fact, the so called small band of Islamic extremists is the true face of Islam. Admittedly, from time to time and place to place, Muslims have shown a degree of tolerance for the non-Muslims. This tolerance dates back to the very early years of Muhammad himself. Early on Muhammad was meek and proclaimed, “For you, your religion, and for me my religion.” This assertion lasted but a few years until Muhammad’s movement gathered strength and Islam became the only alternative to death or heavy taxation. The imposition of Jazyyeh was a clever ploy for filling the Islamic coffer to support its armies and to finance its further conquests.

A longstanding Islamic practice is to be meek while weak and assume despotic intolerant power as it gains strength. Recent migration of Muslims to non-Islamic lands began as seemingly harmless, even useful, trickle of cheap needed labor. Before long, greater and greater number of Muslims deluged the new territories and as they gained in numbers—by high birth rate as well as new arrivals—Muslims began reverting to their intolerant ways by, for instance, demanding legal status for shariah (Islamic laws). The type of draconian laws that for most parts resemble those of humanity’s barbaric past.

Islam is indeed misrepresented. Islam is not misrepresented by its “detractors.” It is misrepresented by Islamic mercenaries: organizations and individuals generously funded by states as well as wealthy believers who are making billions of dollars pumping and selling oil at astronomical prices. Prestigious universities in the West, always looking for handouts, are tripping over one another to establish Islamic studies programs staffed by professors who sing the praise of Islam. Newspapers are routinely intimidated by Islamic association if they dare to print the truth about Islam. Legions of lawyers, both Muslims as well as hired guns are in the look out to intimidate and silence any voice speaking the truth about Islam. The media that fall in line may receive generous advertising and other incentives from Islamic lobbyists.

Hence, it is a fact that Islam is misrepresented. It is misrepresented very effectively by non-Muslim individuals and institutions who are generously rewarded by the modern day Islamic conquerors. This time around the Muslims are using the immense petrodollar they extract from the addicted non-Muslims. The sword is temporarily replaced by just as deadly a weapon—petrodollar. Before long, the Muslims aim to add a more deadly modern version of the sword—the Islamic bomb. With the bomb on one hand and the other hand on the oil spigot, the non-Muslim world will be brought to its knees by the religion of peace and brotherhood.


Amil Imani is an Iranian born American citizen and pro-democracy activist who resides in the United States of America. Imani is a poet, writer, literary translator, novelist and an essayist who has been writing and speaking out for the struggling people of his native land, Iran. He maintains a website at www.amilimani.com


Last edited by Amil on Sun Jul 02, 2006 4:25 pm; edited 2 times in total
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cyrus
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Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 4993

PostPosted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Ami,
Thank you for another good article.

Regards,
Cyrus


Last edited by cyrus on Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:16 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Amil



Joined: 12 Jun 2004
Posts: 91

PostPosted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 4:27 pm    Post subject: Thank you Reply with quote

Dear Cyrus,

Thank you for the kind words. Also, thank you for informing me about the error. I have posted the corrected version.

Best wishes,
Amil
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Amil



Joined: 12 Jun 2004
Posts: 91

PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:11 pm    Post subject: Dear Muslims: What Is It That You Don’t Understand? Reply with quote

Dear Muslims: What Is It That You Don’t Understand?

By: Amil Imani

We, the non-Muslims—the infidels, heathens, unbelievers, apostates, enemies of Allah, najis (soiled), as you prefer to call us—would like to know what is it that you don’t understand and what is it that makes you behave so badly toward us? You blame us for your problems and believe if we embrace Islam and help establish the Islamic Ummeh the earth would be cleansed of us, transformed to paradise, and all your problems disappear?

Respectfully, we disagree. We believe that you and your system of belief are at the core of your problems; that you need to critically examine the facts rather than conveniently blame others for your ills. Keep in mind that beliefs and ideas make people human, that beliefs are roadmaps of life. To the extent that the roadmap is rational and enlightened, the path of life is illumined, pitfalls are avoided and obstacles are removed. The terrain of life has greatly changed since the roadmap of Islam was given to the wondering primitives of Arabian Peninsula.

The twenty first century presents great challenges and opportunities that demand new ways of thinking and behaving. The doctrine of Islam may have been appropriate for the dessert dwellers of some 1400 years ago, the people you yourselves stigmatize as “The Ignorant.” It is dysfunctional today to say the least. As a matter of fact, Islam went astray from the very beginning and inflicted a great deal of suffering on both its followers as well as those who resisted its advance.

Early on, Prophet Muhammad explicitly said, “There is no compulsion in religion.” He further confirmed that admonition, “For you, your religion; and for me, my religion.” Why is it that as soon as you gathered enough power, you violated those exhortations and set out to force your belief and way of life on others at the point of the sword? You further conveniently ignored your own teaching by unsheathing your sword at “the people of the book”—Jews and Christians. You spared them death only if they converted or consented to pay you backbreaking religious taxes of Jazyyeh.

Your cruel successful subjugation of the people of the Arabian Peninsula whetted your appetite for further conquests. You ventured into the civilized world—to Persia, the Levant, Spain, and eventually to the gates of Vienna. Cruelty and terror were your instruments of policy—weapons you liberally use today whenever and wherever you are able.

Contempt and hostility toward non-Muslims living under your rule as well as those outside of your domain have characterized your attitude and behavior throughout the history. Isn’t enough is enough? Is it not now the time to stand back and take a good look at what is the root cause of this pathological state of affairs?

Life is precious. It is to be protected, nurtured and celebrated. Mankind is moving, perhaps at a glacier pace, toward reconciliation, ever-expanding inclusiveness without any group or ideology imposing itself on others. Any attempt against this trend of unity in diversity is doomed to failure, as exemplified by the demise of fascism and communism. Your charter, the Quran, for most parts, preaches discrimination, death and imposition of its dogma on everyone. Islam, just like fascism and communism, is a dysfunctional ideology that needs to be abandoned. Humanity has matured considerably since the time of Muhammad. In order to continue its forward march, mankind must follow a roadmap appropriate for its age and state of development. It is foolish to insist that a book written over 1400 years ago must serve as the one and only guide for humanity.

Progress thrives in a marketplace of free ideas, where beliefs and viewpoints, not people, clash. It is through the unimpeded clash of ideas that the best decisions and actions are reached. Islam is anathema to this invaluable principle. By forcing itself on any and all people it could, Islam violated this vital principle and it aims to continue to do so to this day. Islam’s inflexible and intolerant dogmatism is at the heart of Islamic world’s stagnation and backwardness. It is evident that staying put, so to speak, does not allow going forward. It is not the non-Muslim world, the convenient scapegoat, but Islam itself which is the culprit for your chronic ills.

The non-Muslims of the twenty first century treasure freedom in all its forms and are not going to lend their necks passively to the yoke of blind obedience and imitation.

Is the present argument too difficult to understand? Is it too threatening to the security of your mindset to concede its validity? Please have the courage and take that fateful step. Leave Islam, as many of us “apostates” have done, and inhale the life-nurturing fragrance of freedom. Islam is a slaveholder. It feels that it owns you; it condemns you as apostate to be beheaded if you dare to leave its chains. The non-Muslims, by contrast, respect you as a free human and support your inalienable right to believe whatever you want to believe—even if it is a non-belief. If you still wish to wrap yourself in your suffocating security blanket—Islam—please keep it to yourself and refrain from forcing it on others.

Amil Imani is an Iranian born American citizen and pro-democracy activist who resides in the United States of America. Imani is a poet, writer, literary translator, novelist and an essayist who has been writing and speaking out for the struggling people of his native land, Iran. He maintains a website at http://amilimani.com/index
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anusiya



Joined: 01 Apr 2006
Posts: 237

PostPosted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 9:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amil, I'm assuming every question in that was rhetorical, but I'll answer anyway.

Note: Unless stated otherwise, everything here is from the Ahmadi point of view.

Quote:
We, the non-Muslims—the infidels, heathens, unbelievers, apostates, enemies of Allah, najis (soiled), as you prefer to call us

Non-Muslims is fine.

Quote:
would like to know what is it that you don’t understand and what is it that makes you behave so badly toward us?

I'm sorry, but you'll have to back up that claim. What has ahmadiyyat done to you? It hasnt blown up anything or issued threats anywhere. And I'd hardly call building schools and hospitals in Africa "acting badly."
Sure, I can understand that if youre talking about mainstreamists. But, like I said, I'm not answering for mainstreamists because they are, essentually, skrooed.

Quote:
You blame us for your problems and believe if we embrace Islam and help establish the Islamic Ummeh the earth would be cleansed of us, transformed to paradise, and all your problems disappear?

Actually, no. Im a big fan of diversity. And I give blame where its due (and if I dont please correct me)

Quote:
Respectfully, we disagree. We believe that you and your system of belief are at the core of your problems; that you need to critically examine the facts rather than conveniently blame others for your ills.

I'll agree with you there - people should take responsibility for their actions. However, with our sect, there is no extremism to take responsibility for.

(ok, there is extremism, but it extends to people hassling us for money to build a new mosque)

Quote:
Early on, Prophet Muhammad explicitly said, “There is no compulsion in religion.”

That hadis is one of the major factors of Ahmadiyyat. My dad often quotes it when he's denouncing terrorism.

Quote:
Why is it that as soon as you gathered enough power, you violated those exhortations and set out to force your belief and way of life on others at the point of the sword?

ISlam being spread by the sword during that era is a myth that was started by the Pope and has been proven false.
And besides, the Jizyah was still better than what Europe was up to at that time - anyone who disagreed with the Christians was burnt.

Quote:
weapons you liberally use today whenever and wherever you are able.

The only weapon our sect uses is communication. Internet, TV, radio, journals.

Quote:
he non-Muslims, by contrast, respect you as a free human and support your inalienable right to believe whatever you want to believe—even if it is a non-belief.

You may have seen this:


Amil, your article is well written.
Doesnt apply hugely to my sect though.
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