Your scholarship and due diligence on the subject of Islam has been an amazing learning experience for me, and I have a Master’s in Religious Studies. Question: A young reporter for a local suburban paper wrote an article about her having been invited to a mosque and painted the experience in glowing terms. She ended her piece stating that ” like it or not, Islam is a part of our culture”. I wish to respond to her but am only allowed 250 words to editorialize. What points are key to refute her?

I thank you for your hard word. You are the torch-bearer for legions who would be ignorant about the topic most crucial to the survival of Western civilization.

I chatted with a friend last night who told me that there are many peaceful Muslims who don’t conform to the “stereotype” of Muslims and that Christianity is “violent” as well. I told him that peaceful Muslims are merely lazy Muslims because Islam itself is not peaceful. He said, “I don’t know about that.” So I asked him, “If a jihadist said to a peaceful Muslim, ‘Your actions are un-Islamic. You MUST wage jihad and hate the unbeliever.’, then how could the peaceful Muslim disagree and have his disagreement be theologically-justified in the Quran, the Hadith, and the Sunnah?”

He replied, “I don’t know, and you’ve obviously more well-read about this than I am.”

And what he said is true only because of you. And I thank you for it.

Read Numbers 31. I think that is as close as the Bible gets to that. It is pretty brutal stuff.

HeIsSailing on November 4, 2007 at 12:43 PM

It is. But it doesn’t prescribe brutality in the name of their god as a standing and continuing action to be upheld for all time.

And that is the subtle yet crucial difference between the Bible and the Quran. Yes, the god of the Bible was a merciless and bloodthirsty god. But he shaped up. The god of the Quran did not.

And that is precisely why Islam is worse than Christianity. Period.

I wasn’t implying that the 2 explanations contradicted each other: I just thought that different, but consistent, explanations for the 2 verses were interesting in and of themselves. From your response, I’m concluding that both explanations apply to each.

One more thing – have you considered sometime spelling out the Islamic understanding of terms that in the Infidel world may be not only innocuous, but also good – things like truth, justice, fighting oppression, et al? (I recall a Quranic verse that explicitly states that only non-Muslims are liars, implying that the truthfulness of a person in normal life is verifyable by his/her acceptance of the shehada, which has its implications in shariah law where the evidence of infidels weighs less than that of Muslims)

A sincere Thanks.

Is there any information on who these ancients might be that told the tales?

Most likely this is how the Jews and Christians of Arabia responded when Muhammad retold Bible stories.

And, when was the mosque in mecca built, and by whom?

The reference in sura 8 is to the Ka’ba, which was at the time still a pagan shrine. According to legend it was built by Abraham and Ishmael.

Had the muslim religion been around long enough to have such a structure built and then barricaded by the quraysh?

No. It was not a Muslim house of worship at that time.

I don’t see any disagreement between what I said about 8:39 and what I said about 2:193. What difference do you see?

I intend to go through the entire Qur’an, but that’s it. There are many, many volumes of Hadith. It would take decades to go through it all. This will take long enough as it is, and I’m grateful to Michelle Malkin and all at Hot Air for hosting it as long as they already have, and for as long as the Qur’an will take.

Is there any information on who these ancients might be that told the tales? And, when was the mosque in mecca built, and by whom? Had the muslim religion been around long enough to have such a structure built and then barricaded by the quraysh?

In my reading of 8:39, it doesn’t look remotely different from 2:193, yet here, you seem to have a different explanation for 8:39 than you did for 2:193. We discussed the latter at length when you blogged that surah, and your conclusion then was that it’s consistent with 9:29. How did fitnah, shirk and idolatory come in here, and not there? I’ve always read these 2 verses as Islam’s mission statement – convert the world to Islam.

As for this column, I generally read it to see your explanation of verses I consider interesting – 2:190-193, 5:32-33, 8:39, 9:5,29,111, and another which states that only non-Muslims are liars (I forget which one it was at the moment, but will tell you whenever I find it).

Incidentally, how long will this exercise be? Do you plan to ever cover the hadiths as well?

I’ve been reading how the Barbary Pirates terrorized Europe for over four-five hundred years. They were given leave to prey upon all nonbeleivers by their religious leaders. They took over 1.5 mil Europeans captive in that time period. Hard to beleive but at one point they emptied out a village in Ireland! The U.S. Navy was born putting a end to their sahnanagians and if you follow the news, the Navy is still fighting the bloody Moors! GO NAVY!

I do wonder sometimes if anyone is actually reading this, or finds it all as fascinating as I do. Maybe I should stick with the former and give up on the latter!

Wrong – I find it equally as fascinating. I have long wanted to read the Quran, and this series gives me the incentive to do so. I read the assigned portion every Sunday. Your commentary and links to other commentaries are a huge help in that regard. In fact, I became a hotair member, just so I could participate in your Blogging the Quran series. Just for the record, I am an atheist, but am also a bit of a religion nut on an academic level. But in this day and age, it think it is very important to know what Muslims actually believe and this is the best way I know of to do that other than living under an Islamic regiem! Thanks again, Mr Spencer.

BTW, if I ever win my dream date with the Chenbot I’m going to slay her with that line.

And giving most of it back to Jihad is a wonderful example that would be emulated by aspiring booty wealthy ‘Slums. I find Muhammed to be more blackly brilliant the more I know of him.

Thanks to all. I appreciate it. I do wonder sometimes if anyone is actually reading this, or finds it all as fascinating as I do.
Robert Spencer on November 4, 2007 at 2:43 PM

Not only do we read it, I for one, look forward to it, and recommend it to friends! I appreciate your responses as well. This is one of the most dynamic exchanges on the web, IMHO.

I think we are all a bit overwhelmed too by it all. We read and really think about what you are telling us and read the resources you provide.

Anyway, Zane, Muhammad did not die an extraordinarily wealthy man. According to the traditions, he had devoted his resources to jihad.

Do any other religions provide instruction on the proper way to divide stolen property?

forest on November 4, 2007 at 9:51 AM

That’s a good question, but I bet not.

abinitioadinfinitum on November 4, 2007 at 10:10 AM

Same here, I read, but rarely comment.

Do any other religions provide instruction on the proper way to divide stolen property?

Read Numbers 31. I think that is as close as the Bible gets to that. It is pretty brutal stuff.

Bwahahahaaa

If he were French, his name’d be “Count DeMonay” Thank you Mel Brooks!

maybe robert can explain if muhammed used this money to fund a lavish lifestyle with huge palaces etc, as blackbird thinks.

or did he live the life of a payper even as leader in medina?