What Do You Think About Islam ?

[elmyra]

Personally, I think that Islam is misjudged by many Americans. I took a few courses on religion in college, and Islam was one of the religions we studied along with Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Catholicism, etc. My understanding of Islam at that time was that it holds many of the same beliefs as Christianity and Judaism. There are some differences in the scriptures of these faiths, but all three religions believe in one God with very similar characteristics. The main difference between these three faiths is apparently how they view the role of Jesus.

 

I think many Americans have a misconception about Islam primarily because al Qaeda associated itself with Islam, which is unfortunate. Al Qaeda represents Islam as a violent and combative faith that wants to slay all unbelievers, take over the world, and convert everyone - which isn't true at all. In reality, from what I understand, Islam is actually a very peaceful religion with many of the same beliefs as Christianity and Judaism. Although I've never read the Koran, I'm told that the Lord's Prayer is actually on the first page.

[i7Grendel]

[Apate]

All organized religion is a farce, a way to bend peoples wills to a certain belief system based on fear. It's used to control people. Thankfully most religions have started to move into the present, adjusting certain rules to fit today's society. They are still based on fairy tales and thus; in my opinion - foolish. On top of that, they want money, laughable. Now speaking on Islam specifically. It is antiquated, it has not even tried to update itself. This seems to be the cause of many of the zealots that appear, bearing the Islamic standard. Islam needs to make it's way into the 21st century, it's still stuck in the past.

[Brother Hassan]

Personally, I think that Islam is misjudged by many Americans. I took a few courses on religion in college, and Islam was one of the religions we studied along with Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Catholicism, etc. My understanding of Islam at that time was that it holds many of the same beliefs as Christianity and Judaism. There are some differences in the scriptures of these faiths, but all three religions believe in one God with very similar characteristics. The main difference between these three faiths is apparently how they view the role of Jesus.

 

I think many Americans have a misconception about Islam primarily because al Qaeda associated itself with Islam, which is unfortunate. Al Qaeda represents Islam as a violent and combative faith that wants to slay all unbelievers, take over the world, and convert everyone - which isn't true at all. In reality, from what I understand, Islam is actually a very peaceful religion with many of the same beliefs as Christianity and Judaism. Although I've never read the Koran, I'm told that the Lord's Prayer is actually on the first page.

Please do read the Qur'an if you have the time The violence thing is just a farce. If you read the book, all your doubts will be clear. Islam believes in a single transcendent being, whom we call Allah/God. We just don't consider Jesus to be God, as this is something he himself never claimed

But I've also heard a lot of "Death to the infidels!" stuff supposedly coming from the Quran (thanks to our national and rather well-known politician Geert Wilders).

I'm a Muslim. I read the Qur'an almost every other day. I suggest you read it too. The book is a miracle & nothing less. The Qur'an call for fighting against oppression. The verses that call to fighting have to be read in the context they were revealed. In Arabia, at the time of my Prophet ( peace be upon him ) oppression & cruelty was open. Women were teated as animals & daughters were buried alive. The Qur'an calls for a Jihad ( struggle ) against this kind of evil & oppression.

All organized religion is a farce, a way to bend peoples wills to a certain belief system based on fear. It's used to control people. Thankfully most religions have started to move into the present, adjusting certain rules to fit today's society. They are still based on fairy tales and thus; in my opinion - foolish. On top of that, they want money, laughable. Now speaking on Islam specifically. It is antiquated, it has not even tried to update itself. This seems to be the cause of many of the zealots that appear, bearing the Islamic standard. Islam needs to make it's way into the 21st century, it's still stuck in the past.

lol I completely disagree

Your observation is based on Christianity ( as far as I can see ), the same does not apply for Islam. Islam is a religion that is by nature different from Christianity. It has none of the "leap of faith" stuff & calls for rational belief. I request you to read a Qur'an if you wanna know what Islam is

[xwinuser]

I think I do not know enough about Islam to talk about it much.

 

I have grown up believing that Christianity is the one true religion.

 

I have often wondered how similar the Koran and Holy Bible are.

 

I had a Book of Mormon once but threw it away. I wish I had checked it out more.

 

I do believe that Islamic extremists (there are Christian extremists too) are misinterpreting the Koran but I also think their must be some verbiage in it that is easily applied to both peaceful living and absolute living.

 

Just curious. Why such a controversial and potentially upsetting topic on a web hosting site?

[Guest xaav]

Just curious. Why such a controversial and potentially upsetting topic on a web hosting site?

 

 

 

Actually, HelioNet is not really a web hosting site. HelioNet is a discussion board where people can talk about anything they want. Of course these days, most of the discussion is about HelioHost, but that doesn't mean you can't discuss other things.

[xwinuser]

Ok. Thanks for the reply.

[Brother Hassan]

I think I do not know enough about Islam to talk about it much.

 

I have grown up believing that Christianity is the one true religion.

 

I have often wondered how similar the Koran and Holy Bible are.

 

I had a Book of Mormon once but threw it away. I wish I had checked it out more.

 

I do believe that Islamic extremists (there are Christian extremists too) are misinterpreting the Koran but I also think their must be some verbiage in it that is easily applied to both peaceful living and absolute living.

 

Well Islam holds that Jesus ( peace be upon him ) was a prophet of God sent to the children of Israel. Islam also holds that the book revealed to him was from God but we believe that later on its message was corrupted and doctrines like the trinity were introduced after the Council of Nicaea.

 

The reason some extremists target innocent Americans is not because of verbiage in the Qur'an but because of Americas foreign policy. Do you know that 1,000,000 people died during the War in Iraq ?

[xwinuser]

Thank you Brother Hassan. I was not aware that so many had died. Is this from all the wars since the 1980's or just more recent wars? I was not really saying the verbiage in Qur'an told people to be violent, only that I think some may misinterpret it that may. Do you believe the Qur'an does say it is okay to be violent because of a country's foreign policies? Just curious.

[Brother Hassan]

So many have died in the recent war which had no cause. Islam is strictly against the killing of any innocents.

[i7Grendel]

The religion isn't the big problem in most cases. It's the people saying they represent it. The people stretching and twisting the Holy Words for their selfish, cruel goals.

[Brother Hassan]

The religion isn't the big problem in most cases. It's the people saying they represent it. The people stretching and twisting the Holy Words for their selfish, cruel goals.

I soo agree with you. The fault has always been of the people.

[viclou]

Religion doesn't really matter about who a person is. It's really the integrity that matters!

[Brother Hassan]

Religion doesn't really matter about who a person is. It's really the integrity that matters!

But what develops your integrity ? I think religion plays a vital role in it.

[Wikier]

Islam in what sense? Religions can mean multitude of things: a religion can be simply a set of beliefs seperated from your day-to-day life, it can mean a way of life, it can mean a culture, it can become the institution of a society ...

 

As a religion, I think islam is as evidencless and thus kinda silly religion as every other one. As a culture or an institution of society, I think islam is destructive. As a way of life, I think islam can make you do good things you could do without it, but it can make you do bad things you wouldn't do without it (just like any other religion).