What do you think of Islam personally?

[gnostic]

Personally, I think it's a religion with both extremists and moderates, and the moderates deserve respect, however, at this point in time it's also a religion with a lot of extremists, and those extremists kill people around the world EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Funny... the same can be said of Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism... and probably others if I sat down to think about it for a bit.

I know of religion that doesn't kill.

TELETUBBISM!

Though I must say that the Teletubbies and their worshippers are somewhat freakish.

 

[DeitySlayer]

I know of religion that doesn't kill.

TELETUBBISM!

Though I must say that the Teletubbies and their worshippers are somewhat freakish.

They kill my sanity.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Allow me to expand this post, as I think we can make an interesting discussion out of it.
On many levels what you describe is how many people in Europe viewed the Orient or the middle east and the Islamic world in particular before the image of the near Orient went to the other extreme.
Don't get me wrong, its great to pick up the inspiring things about a social or cultural phenomena, but sometimes we take out the realism factor out of it by idealising a system without exploring the many issues and complexities in it and taking note of the human factor.
Edward Said, in Orientalism has said that the dehumanization of middle easterners and Islam arrived after people idealised the middle east and the Islamic world, creating a romanticized image of it, and then the pendulum swinged to the other direction, their romantic preceptions of the near Orient shattered, making way for highly Eurocentric perceptions.
By the way, I do agree with you in that, I also enjoy the poetry of Hafiz and Rumi, the historical cultural richness of the Islamic world which spans various fields, from architecture and art, to music, to medieval technological feats in the Islamic world.
So in case you were wondering, its not me being anal about your post just me taking advantage of it and trying to make this thread much more interesting and rewarding as we can explore the Islamic world beyond radicalism and beyond its cultural gifts. the 'Islamic world', if we can even call it that, as it is composed of about 50 countries, two dominate sects and other minor ones who all play part in its inner power play together with various ethnic and political tensions, should be explored on the many levels it plays its part on the world stage. this force or rather these forces today (as they have been in the past centuries) should be further understood beyond the hisotircal gems and individuals such as the Persian poets of the middle ages and the scholars of Cordoba. various world powers and nations are highly involved in the middle east, and the Islamic world needs to be studied and explored realistically it needs a deeper face.
When I travel Turkey, Egypt, or Jordan the social jigsaw poses many angles that are not found in the stories we know about Shahrazad and the Sultan from our youth, and the landscape prove to be more than exotic.

Caladan wins this round. :bow:

You elaborated wonderfully.

 

[gnostic]

They kill my sanity.

Who needs sanity?

 

[zenzero]

Friends,

Islam:
just another religion/way/path.
Islamic rulers: invaded India, looted, massacred people, demolished temples, forced religious conversion, etc.
Culture: developed, art, music, food, architecture, poetry, music etc. like all other cultures globally.
People enlightened following the path: if any not much known but is known that few have by following sufism which is not purely islamic.

Love & rgds

 

[MissAlice]

It's a monotheistic religion and like many other abrahamic faiths which tend to value alpha men over women and other men.

 

[.lava]

sufism which is not purely islamic.

how dare you tell me my path is not Islamic? who do you think you are, exactly?

.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

.lava is a Sufi! Oh my gosh, it all makes sense now! .lava can I start a thread about Sufism and ask questions about it?

 

[YmirGF]

i personally don't feel offended by someone elses ignorance. it is your burden to carry anyway. but of course, you have read these verses and more before. if there were no non-Muslims on Earth, there would not be any meaning to be a Muslim either. peace in Islam means, Peace, nothing more or less. peace between humans, not peace between Muslims. i always find it funny and tragic that your misunderstanding is same with those Muslims whom you somewhat oppose. truth is if you were born in a place where they were born, you'd be one of them. some blind man who thinks he is existed to force people into Islam or to death. let alone it is complete idiocy, it is also against Islam and verses of Qur'an. but go ahead, entertain yourself. i pity those who learn Islam from your hateful mind.

{Drivel snipped for brevity}

Thanks you, .lava. I keep forgetting that it is I who is the ignorant one.
Thanks for the clarification.

Perhaps you should take an objective view of the Muslim conquests and rethink the so-called "peace" that Islam offers.

 

[.lava]

Thanks you, .lava. I keep forgetting that it is I who is the ignorant one.
Thanks for the clarification.

Perhaps you should take an objective view of the Muslim conquests and rethink the so-called "peace" that Islam offers.

i am ignorant, i think we are all ignorant creatures therefor we keep learning and i was being polite to you calling "your point of view" ignorance considering you already know all about it since many times many Muslims very clearly explained it to you

so, what Muslim conquest?

.

 

[YmirGF]

so, what Muslim conquest?

.

I do love the Muslim sense of humor. I take it you are unfamiliar with the Muslim sacking of the Indian subcontinent, right.

 

[.lava]

I do love the Muslim sense of humor. I take it you are unfamiliar with the Muslim sacking of the Indian subcontinent, right.

i certainly haven't heard anything about it on news

.

 

[Azakel]

i certainly haven't heard anything about it on news

.

I think it happened long ago. One of those History things you wouldn' here on the news .lava.

 

[gnostic]

The extreme views that some muslims have towards others are not always precipitated by religious divides. Differences do not always matter very much. In the middle east, some muslims see the western world as imperialist occupiers.

Which is stupid. (No, I am not saying you are stupid, RiverSeed.)

Because before the fall of Ottoman Empire (and other Islamic empires before the Ottoman), it was the Muslims who were imperialistic. Their armies push all the way to Spain (en-route from Africa) and Hungarian/Czech kingdom in the west, much of northern and central Africa in south west, and India and western China in the east. That's imperialistic as you can get.

Which is why I didn't check Islam as religion of peace in the poll.

Even Muhammad himself is hardly a man of peace, especially when he expel the Jews from Medina, destroy one Jewish tribe after another, massacring most of the men in the process, while selling women and children in slavery. If anything he should get the badge for being a prophet of wars.

 

[zenzero]

Friends,

This thread is a poll conducted by our friend yosef the heretic and it is for him to respond and even if someone does not agree with comments of other posters it is necessary to place one's one justifications for negating such statements.

We accept we are all imperfect humans beings though coming from the same source and will go back to it because of the individual mind perceiving this oneness as different. Those whose mind do not understand this fact such minds have a long evolutionary journey ahead towards *back to source*.

Love & rgds

 

[dogsgod]

Which is stupid. (No, I am not saying you are stupid, RiverSeed.)

Because before the fall of Ottoman Empire (and other Islamic empires before the Ottoman), it was the Muslims who were imperialistic. Their armies push all the way to Spain (en-route from Africa) and Hungarian/Czech kingdom in the west, much of northern and central Africa in south west, and India and western China in the east. That's imperialistic as you can get.

Which is why I didn't check Islam as religion of peace in the poll.

Even Muhammad himself is hardly a man of peace, especially when he expel the Jews from Medina, destroy one Jewish tribe after another, massacring most of the men in the process, while selling women and children in slavery. If anything he should get the badge for being a prophet of wars.

What is stupid is discounting the fact that Muslims see the western world as imperialist occupiers. What happened years ago doesn't change the fact.

 

[gnostic]

We accept we are all imperfect humans beings though coming from the same source and will go back to it because of the individual mind perceiving this oneness as different. Those whose mind do not understand this fact such minds have a long evolutionary journey ahead towards *back to source*.

The source?

You means "The Matrix"?

 

[gnostic]

Empire has come and gone. East and West, such empires have existed. The Islamic empires were every bit imperialistic as those from the West and those from the Far East.

I think Muslims are deluding themselves if they think the Islamic empires weren't imperialistic. Their empires weren't built on faith and peace alone, but through the bloody swords and wars, when their armies invaded other kingdoms, well beyond the boundary of the Arabian peninsula.

So thinking that only the west were the only Imperialism, is either a purely hypocritical response or simply ignorant of their own history of empire-building.

 

[darkendless]

I wish people would get over Islam. I don't care, the moderates don't care. Extremists keep antagonizing the west into fear which have repercussions for everyone.

I'm sick of hearing that Islam is the religion of peace when their countries are full of violence and violent threats. I don't care if they're a minority, religions need to stop outcasting their wayward believers and take some responsibility.

 

[nameless]

how dare you tell me my path is not Islamic? who do you think you are, exactly?

.

cool down lava ,you should respect others opinion, if you have any sort of disagreement, just explain it or open a new topic. Zen has just made his opinion on islam and did not meant to insult you.