Fear of the Muzzies and the Religion of Peace©

Posted under Allah (swt), american muslim, current events, dhikr, forums, rant, salaam, terrorism

Obama Name Games Painful to Muslims

NPR covers some Pennsylvanian Muslims’ reaction to the whole muslim as a schmere re: Obama flap.

On a tangent, is anyone else sick of the “Islam is the religion of peace” bit?  It seems to me that this phrase emerged post 9-11, when the american muslim community was in shock and didn’t know how to respond to the increased, often negative attention their faith was given.  But here we are, several years later, and this phrase seems contrived and stale to me.  Shouldn’t we have had time to come up with something a little more descriptive, a little more accurate?  Islam is an increadibly complex religion, and this simplistic phrase doesn’t do it justice.

Islamophoboes have ceased on the phrase, and now everytime a muslim somewhere does something stupid and violent, they’ll be on their message boards crowing “look at this fine member of the religion of peace©.”  If I ever chose to engage these people (and my more recent response has been to steer clear of places where these kinds of statements are bandied about), my response is usually as such:

Islam is not a religion of peace.  It is a religion of balance that seeks peace.  Islam is the middle path.  We are not to vere off towards any extreme.  We are to be neither pacifists nor aggressors.  Islam allows for warfare, but it places strict guidlelines on it’s warriors.  Terrorism happens when muslims do not follow these rules.  They are not acting in accordance with the religion.  If they were, these incidents would not happen.

It saddens me that Islam is reduced to violent acts of those who have strayed off the middle path.  It saddens me because Islam is so much more than that.  Islam has had a profound impact on my life and my relationship with God.  For me, it’s all about the Rememberance of God.  Islam has given me the means and the encouragement to bring God into my everyday life, to thank Him, to praise Him, to worship Him in every act I do.  It’s not about killing people.  It’s about God.

Pet Peeve Phrase of the Day

Posted under law, rant

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“Seventh Century”

As in…

“…governed by seventh century rules…”

“…stuck in the seventh century…”

etc etc etc

Usually said or written in a derogatory manner towards those seeking to live their lives by sharia, or when some group of muzzies somewhere attempts to enforce their vision of sharia (usually in a barbaric manner that in all actuallity has no basis in sharia).

Why is this a pet peeve?  Because it shows a complete lack of understanding as to how sharia was formed and how it developed, nay, dare I stay, is developing.  Heck, one doesn’t even need to get all in depth with it.  A quick glance at good ol Wikipedia will show that sharia developed over several centuries.   Even if the gates of ijtihad were closed (which is debatable), they were closed in or around the 10th century, which is certainly not the 7th century.

[/rant]