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To Snuggle or to Struggle
19-Sep-2009
I feel a little uncomfortable with writing this piece because I love philosophy, critical thinking, and examining established views. So I feel a little odd about saying good and nice things about Islam (or any other orthodox religion) even while remembering its serious shortcomings, because I am not a traditional believer nor believe in an omnipotent God and the existence of heaven and hell in another realm. But this is a political and existential task which I find myself having many good reasons for setting upon.
Reader, you may have noticed that Islam is under heavy fire these days in the West. I want to argue that while Islam is susceptible to various important and serious criticisms, it is wrong and unfair to demonize Islam, and in some ways, it is counterproductive for Iranian-Americans to uncritically go along with this trend.
It is uniquely awful
Islam is an Abrahamic religion. It is heavily influenced by Judaism and Christianity and it is similar to them in its monotheism and its basic outlook on life and death and various other broad issues, and in its legal system and rituals. So it is unfair and a contradiction to single out Islam as evil and to treat these others at the same time as worthy and decent. Islam has in a broad way a civilizing effect and promotes living in peace with others. On the other hand, it also can provide justification for violence, particularly against non-Moslems, and for patriarchism. But these tendencies also appear in Judaism and in the history of Christianity.
Islam is anti-Modern
Some opponents of Islam argue that Islam is anti-modern and that Moslems reject modernity. From this perspective, Moslems societies are viewed in terms of what they lack, namely, modernity, progress, democracy, and rationality. These can of course only be imported from the West. But this view is based on the narrative of exceptionality of the West. This is what legitimizes it and gives it its force. It is built on the contrast between modernity and pre-modernity which is seen as backwards, darker, less civilized, less scientific and more authoritarian and cruel. This contrast is then transferred from the temporal plain to a spatial one and into a contrast between the West and its Other.
People in the West and those who consider themselves pro-West or influenced by the West latch on the view of Islam as anti-Modern with ease, because they are subtlety invited to feel good about themselves in virtue of this false contrast. This is almost irresistible. I however think that whatever are the problems with Muslim societies and people, disparaging them and calling them uncivilized will not address these.
There are many Moslems who do not want an Islamic state or to be ruled by the clergy. They live in Iran, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, and in just about every Muslim country. Many Moslems are educated and cosmopolitan and they are interested and open to other cultures and ways of being. Many Moslems also live under tyranny and under rulers who instead of development only care about holding power and establishing a total security state. I think that the main problem with many Muslim societies is lack of development, that is, poverty, and lack of good roads, good hospitals, good schools and universities, and good governments. If these problems were addressed and people in Muslim societies had basic democratic rights, then we would probably see Muslim societies transform themselves and become more dynamic.
It is a total way of life
Some opponents of Islam argue that this can never happen because Islam is not merely a religion, but a total way of life. But it is ridiculous to talk of a monolithic Islam. There are over a billion adherents of Islam and they live in many societies each with their own history and pre-Islamic culture. Islam is always influenced by the local histories and cultures. There is no pristine and pure Islam. Moreover, the lives of Moslems, much like the lives of others, are influenced and touched by many sources. It is a fact that there are many Moslems who do not have a religious life-style. There are many Moslems who do not even pray or fast. There are also many Moslems who do these things but do not regularly go to a mosque, and so on and so forth. For these Moslems, Islam is simply not an all encompassing ideology. This makes you wonder, how is it that many people in the West are often completely sure of this, but it is so difficult to find any Moslems who actually believe it, except a few mad lunatics who the media treats as our spokesperson? How is it that the identity of everyone else is also shaped by their job, education, interests, and political leanings, but the identity of Moslems is solely determined by their religion?
The response to the attacks on Islam
Islam shows up in the Western media most often in connection with Islamic fundamentalism, acts of terrorism and political violence. In this way ordinary people in the West and even many scholars connect and associate Islam with extremism and violence. Needless to say this negative perception began with the Iranian revolution, hostage taking and the fatwa on Salman Rushdie. It is prevalent and very loud and powerful. But the response to this negative characterization has been varied among Moslems.
In Europe this negative focus on Islam has made many Moslems offended and defensive and many in turn have embraced Islam even more strongly than they had previously. Many European Moslems, a large portion of whom originated from North Africa, have become aware of their identity for the first time. In this context many Moslems are going back to mosque and some Muslim women have taken up the scarf. This kind of retrenchment is a bit reactionary and superficial. It is also often uncritical.
Many Iranian-Americans however have taken a different path and that is distancing themselves from Islam and in some cases rejecting and leaving it. The reasons for this renunciation are various. For one thing, Islam is the religion of a great majority of Iranians, but it is not our native religion. It is an import. The Koran is in Arabic and since this is not our language, it is always a bit remote and alien. Moreover, while we often voluntarily practice it (mostly because we are born into it), initially it was imposed on us through war and invasion. These facts make it easy for us to think of it as not truly ours when it is being vilified and it means trouble.
Many Iranian-Americans, like our brothers and sisters back home, are also turning away from Islam because of the damage that the clergy and their gang have done to it. Many of us can hardly help ourselves from equating Islam with authoritarianism, brutality and corruption. One can not get ahead in Iran unless one is always playing the role of the pious Muslim. This means that for many of us Islam also signals conformism, social-climbing, and embracing the regime.
Forsaking Islam as a coping strategy
Not withstanding these reasons which I just outlined, I want to argue that Iranian-Americans are mainly distancing themselves from Islam and in many cases leaving it as a coping strategy for dealing with the rise of Islamophobia and anti-Middle East sentiments in the United States. Iranian-Americans are dissociating themselves from Islam as a repositioning strategy to deal with the prejudices and suspicions which have been directed at them since 9/11. Feeling vulnerable and helpless, many Iranian-Americans have often unconsciously absorbed the fears and the sensibilities of their ordinary fellow Americans and the mainstream media about Islam and Moslems. They have accepted the negative characteristics associated with Islam and Moslems, and so they are trying to deflect these by pushing Islam away.
In some sense it is not unreasonable to think: well! Islam is like a sinking ship, who would want to stay around and drown? A lot of abuse and crap is being thrown at it, and frankly if you do not want to get some of it on you, you got to get out of the away. This is also how we sometimes act when a friend, acquaintance, or even a family member is in some kind of trouble or someone is saying something very bad about them. We look after number one and then tell ourselves that we are doing it for good ethical reasons and legitimate concerns or we line up and use the opportunity to settle any grievances we may have with this person and to see how we can use this to our own advantage. Alas the mind somehow freezes and we can not think of any good reasons to resist these charges or to doubt them, but only scenarios which support them come to mind. Overcome by fear and the concern for self-interest, we show no courage and we will not use our own mind and judgment but give way to the authority of others. Meanwhile, let us not forget, as long as we go with the flow, we do not have to worry about any possible harm to us and we are immune. When we apply some of these ways of being to politics and to the current social environment, we get the fellow Iranian-Americans who are targeting Islam and Moslems on behalf of the powers to be and do this with glee.
Despite these considerations, I want to argue that there are good reasons for Iranian-Americans to defend Islam or at least not to disparage it publicly, even if we are not religious or believers. Reader, please note that my concern is not mainly directed at those who are leaving Islam, particularly if they are doing this for reasons that are not superficial. By this I mean if they are in search for better systems of belief or looking for a spirituality that is more humane and egalitarian, then more power to them. But I am primary addressing those who publicly bash Islam and incite hatred towards it by openly baring witness to its oppressions and playing into the fears and concerns of Americans about Islam. I want to give four reasons why abusing Islam is not a good idea.
Reasons not to hate
The first is that when we portray Islam and Moslems as violent and aggressive, in a way we play the part of the foot soldiers in the War on Terror which is a war on Moslem nations. Even when we do this as powerless ordinary citizens, we unwittingly help to prepare a social environment in which there is support for such attacks. We are also contributing to a domestic environment in which more pressure is directed at those Moslem-American citizens whose origins are different than ours or who have not left Islam behind. In other words, we are helping to make Moslems the enemy within and outside the US.
The second reason that depicting Islam and Moslems as evil is a bad idea is that this is a form of racism and bigotry. Recall that there are over a billion adherents of Islam, living in many different cultures and nations. Putting Moslems under the same umbrella, painting a very unflattering caricature of them, and consistently attributing the worse motive to Moslems as a whole, is promoting prejudice and racism. Portraying Islam as a demonic and murderous religion is certainly not a criticism of Islam, which is done in a different spirit. I think that if we care about prejudice, racism and bigotry, then we should not do this. If it was wrong for the Nazi’s to promote hatred of Jewish people and to portray them as bad, devious, and alien in virtue of their religion and culture, then what those who promote fear and hatred of Islam and Moslems are doing is also wrong, even though there is no immanent threat of violence or mass-killing of the Moslems who are living in the West.
The third consideration is that if when there is a conflict one is always conforming to the prevailing way of things, offering no resistance, acting mainly out of fear and self-interest, then one is liable to end up with a very thin and superficial sense of self. Personal strength and believing yourself comes from thinking for one-self, resisting strong forces, and acting out of other considerations besides what is good for me. No doubt, there is a lot of pressure on us, but we got to not let these social forces crush us and take away our individuality and ability to think for ourselves. We do not just chance upon character and substance; they must be aimed at and worked on. We are certainly not going to end up with much character or substance if we are always following other people’s suggestions, if we fail to take a stand every once in a while against the currents, and if we do not stand by or have any faith in anything or anyone besides personal interest and safety. Power and money can make us feel secure and better off than others, but they can not strengthen us or add much to our self-worth.
To Snuggle or to Struggle
Finally, the US is the home of a variety of different religions, cultures and peoples. This is one of the sources of its richness. So it is rash for us to try to hide and get rid off our differences and change who we are just because of the current ultra-patriotic climate. This is an unnecessary accommodation. There are undoubtedly many ways of being an American and some are better and more humane, considerate, thoughtful than others. I think that it is a mistake to uncritically imitate the most common and jingoistic Americans. It is also a mistake to give up part of our identity and our choices about who we are under social pressure.
Instead of carelessly accepting and adapting the identity and views which are presented to us by the mainstream media and projected by the majority culture, we ought to struggle against these and try to create our own unique identities utilizing all the options and resources which the broader American culture holds for us. The choice of whether we should embrace or struggle against the narrow identity options which are imposed on us by the American majority culture is not unique to us. Historically all minority groups have had to and continue to contend with them. Malcolm X was in part addressing this dynamic when he contrasted ‘the house nigger’ with ‘the field nigger’ in plantation life.
It is important to recognize that the coping strategies and responses to the post 9/11 patriotic environment which are available to Iranian-Americans go beyond the reactive and defensive options of behaving in a subservient manner towards the majority culture and giving up our religion and identity in order to be accepted into the mainstream culture. The repositioning moves and tactics can also be pro-active and assertive. We can be Americans and assimilate while still retaining our identity, dignity and self-respect, and without succumbing to blind conformism. We can protect ourselves from any kind of harassment and intimidation by standing up for ourselves in a civil manner and by appealing to our rights as equal citizens, to our freedom to worship, to live as we see fit and peacefully with people of other ethnicities. We can learn how to communicate better and find out a little more about Islam and about the other relevant social and political issues, so that we can politely resist hate speech and foolish claims, maybe raise consciousness, and even promote peace.
We can also protect ourselves from hostility and pestering by authorities and ultra-patriotic fellow Americans by utilizing the American social and political system and the tools provided by it. Many Iranian-Americans have taken up the task of informing themselves and others about their legal and political rights and have become more political. In the past decade, Iranian-Americans have formed various political and civil organizations in their communities, universities and at the city, state and national level, to raise awareness about us, our presence in the US, and our issues. Some Iranian-American scholars are trying to raise consciousness about Islam and to humanize it, while not overlooking its outdated and inhumane tendencies. Others are working on issues of international politics and are trying to show that things are more complex than those who divide the world into good and evil nations want us to believe.
-- Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Once again profit Amil is
by Dariush on Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:42 PM PDTOnce again profit Amil is preaching his Zionist prophecy.
Prophet Amil wrote, Islam has always been the problem and the world must confront Islam. If true, then the world should have been the heaven on earth prior to Islam. Has that been the case? NO Why? Because of Jews and Christians.
Haven't Jews and Christians been responsible for many wars and destruction prior to Islam, slavery, killing new born females, and much more, some of which still continues? In India killings of new born females still are being practiced today among non Muslims. Hell, how many preachers have been arrested for molesting children. But prophet Amil doesn't see any of that.
Why go back to prehistoric times? Just put the number of killings by Muslims, Christians and the Jews in the past few years and decades side by side. The numbers are not even comparable. The Christians and the Jews not only are responsible for millions of deaths and hundreds of millions injured, homeless, starved, they have also been responsible for most of the wars among Muslims. Prophet Amil himself has mentioned many examples that if you pay attention, they all show Christians and Jews involvements.
I have wrote this many times. It is the interpretation, understanding and what people decide to take from the book based on their intentions and interests that makes the difference. If in fact Islam and it's teaching were no good, then all Muslims would have been the same and this is true about Christians, Jews and others. And if religion was the problem, then communist countries should have been ideal countries. Is that the case? NO
The bottom line is, all these mumbo jumbo craps are nothing but propaganda and politics by bunch of self centered greedy Zionists and neo-cons who with all their faults and crimes, stay united and divide the Muslims, Iranians and other nations. This is not about Islam, Iran , nuclear energy, Ahmadinejad. It is about elimination of obstacles and it extends to other countries and individuals who are even Christians, such as President Carter. "IT IS ABOUT ONE WORLD ORDER RULLED BY ZIONISTS AND SLAVERY FOR THE REST".
What about Mosaddegh? Was he Islamist too? Even shah with all his stupidity finally realized who these Zionists are and what they are up to.
Prophet Amil is just another one of those miserable little creature who are no match for Iranians. We sat them free, we will put them back in cage, if they don't behave.
The Text
by Behnamjan (not verified) on Mon Oct 12, 2009 02:38 PM PDTBook is a Text.
Islam is Koran and it CAN NOT be reformed by definition
by Maziari on Wed Sep 23, 2009 05:22 AM PDTI challenge you to rationally and logically disprove this statement: Islam is based on Koran, Koran is the word of God and is therefore PERFECT and unreformable.
The rest of your arguments on reform can not hold unless you can disprove the above statement. What people do or not do in the name of Islam is not relevant.
A response to the comments
by Sasan Seifikar on Tue Sep 22, 2009 01:30 PM PDTI thank you all for your comments.
Dear cyclicforward,
You write that “People have good reasons to be apprehensive about Islam”. I agree with this. Like you, I also believe that Islam is outdated and has oppressive tendencies. I have not suggested that it would be a good idea for anyone to embrace Islam uncritically. But I have argued that it is wrong to associate Islam (and Moslems) only and narrowly with violence and brutality and to cast it as evil. I have also argued that many Moslems are modern, embrace peace, and reject an Islamic government, and that when we associate Islam and Moslems strictly with aggression, we make them into enemies and make their lives more difficult. My essay is a plea for tolerance.
You also write that “Unlike other religions, Islam has a strict code of conduct that takes you back 1400 years.” But I think that this is perhaps not true. Both Judaism and Christianity have very rigid and strict rules and they are older than Islam. However, many Jews and Christians do not pay a lot of attention to all of them because they are not fundamentalists, just as many Moslems are not.
You suggest that ‘intelligent people don't want Islam because they don't want to beat their wife and they don't want to kill anyone, and because they simply would like to live in peace’. You seem to suggest that Islam is simply an invitation or a license to brutality. But this is very unfair and denies that any manifestation of Islam can be nonviolent. It simply overlooks and dismisses many peaceful Moslems who live ordinary lives and do not harbor any aggression towards others.
Islam like any old religion is a complex phenomenon. There are elements in it that promote peace, justice and equality. So I think that it is not true to say that Islam is intrinsically violent. But it is also simplistic to overlook its bad tendencies and call it a religion of peace. Islam is what Moslems make of it. Some Moslems, who want to use violence for political reasons, manage to find support for their path and even encouragement from the Koran. But other Moslems completely overlook these parts and pay no attention to them. I suggest that these two groups should not be bunched up together.
Dear Baba Taher-e Oryan,
In one of your comments you write that “We are all victims for being born Moslems. We take all the verbal abuse and negative treatment by non Moslems and at the same time get violent punishment from the Islamic authorities in power for not being good Moslems.” I agree with this remark. I am arguing a similar point which is that Moslems are being misidentified. But you go on to insist that “Islam is not a religion but rather a Cult that promotes violence” and that ‘Iranians are in fact not Moslems and have never fully accepted Islam’. This however makes you another voice that misidentifies Moslems. Most Iranians consider themselves to be Moslems, followers of Islam, and to have a strong religious faith, and we must respect this. If you were to acknowledge this, then it would not be difficult for you to see that not all Moslems are fundamentalists. I wonder why do you imagine that we Iranians are the only Moslems, who do not follow Islam strictly? Are there not many Moslems everywhere who do not buy Islam wholesale?
Dear Amil Imani,
You consistently identify and connect Islam and Moslems with murder, intolerance and savagery and conclude that Islam is evil. But this is a little like pointing out that it was Christians who brutally plundered and colonized much of the world, perpetuated the Holocaust, and dropped atomic bombs, and concluding that Christianity then must be inhumane and evil.
You refer to the “us and them” mentality of Moslems which encourages enmity towards non-Moslems and the bloody in-fighting among Moslems. But this insider and outsider mentality can be found in most religions. Moreover here in Europe for centuries the Christians fought many vicious wars among each other. I think that it is a mistake to judge Christianity solely on the basis of this, just as it would be to judge it solely based on the actions of those who kill abortion doctors and the people who support and applaud them. But you insist that those who kill others in the name of Islam are not on the fringe and that Islam is truly violent to the core. However this shows that there is no place in your thinking for the many modern, peaceful, and ordinary Moslems who oppose an Islamic state. How do you account for them? It seems that you must either claim that they are not true Moslems or that they simply do not exist. Why is it that your view of Islam is untouched by the presence of these Moslems who think very differently than the mullahs and the fanatics, but it in fact mirrors the latter’s? Moreover, it seems like trying to persuade people like you that Islam can be peaceful is a little like trying to persuade violent Islamists that Islam can be nonviolent. It is just not going to happen.
Another problem is that you seem to lack impartiality and make no attempt to call up or look for historical or contemporary Islamic rulers, thinkers, or poets that oppose authoritarianism and promoted tolerance, freedom, and liberty, in order to present a more complete picture. A little research can easily unearth many names and much evidence. For example, there was the 12th century Emperor Saladin who welcomed Maimonides, the distinguished Jewish philosopher who was fleeing from an intolerant Europe, into his royal court. There was also the Moslem Mughal emperor Akbar the Great who at the turn of the 16th century established and legally codified minority rights, including religious freedom for everyone, when some Europeans were still burning scientists as heretics at the stake. It is also an established fact that for centuries Jewish and Christian minorities living under Islamic rule in Spain were treated much better than Moslems were in Europe. Many Jews went there for safety because they were declared heretics in many Christian European states. Your views are such that they can not make sense of these historical examples, nor can they make sense of the idea of modernizing and reforming Islam. Yet today there are many contemporary reformist thinkers who use a variety of approaches to critically engage Islam. Among these are Abdolkarim Soroush (Iranian), Nasr Abu Zayd (Egyptian), Fatima Mernissi (a Moroccan feminist), Asma Barlas (USA, Pakistani), and Tariq Ramadan (Swiss).
Lastly, you seem to completely overlook and miss my discussion of the consequences of perpetuating the views which you do and my concerns against promoting prejudice and discrimination against Moslems. You do not want to be called a hate-monger, nobody does, but when you insist on putting all Moslems in the same boat and projecting the worse motives and instincts on them, you are moving in that direction. I think that we are both against intolerance. But you assume that Islam is evil and so you are cross with Moslems. I however am on the look out for all those who promote violence and enmity, and not merely Islamic terrorists and fundamentalists.
A general note
My aim has been to look closely at the social practice of the disparaging of Islam and Moslems, its history and its prevalence after 9/11. I am particularly interested in why Iranian-Americans participate in it. I have speculated about why we may be drawn to it and I have tried to argue that it has some bad and ugly consequences. I have tried to raise consciousness about this social phenomenon and encourage fellow Iranian-Americans to perhaps think twice about engaging in this practice and to think in a complex way about it.
Most people have no problem understanding you, if you say that some thing is good, wonderful, and very nice, in reference for instance to a restaurant, a movie, or a soft drink. This means that you think that they would enjoy it if they were to try it or experience it. They also understand you easily, if you say something is bad which means that you think that they should avoid it and would not like it. But some people seem to become a little confused and have difficulty when you asked them to look at something in a complex way, take into account many considerations, and carefully add up many important factors without loosing the sight of any of them.
I understand that Islam has bad and oppressive tendencies but this is not all there is to Islam. I have argued that it is wrong to only attach these to Islam and to portray it as violent and uncivilized. This is because there are many good and faithful Moslems who reject them and are appalled by them. Moreover, disparaging Islam and Moslems promotes prejudice and discrimination. I have also tried to look at these issues within the context of the Iranian-American identity to shed light on what may be happening to us and what options we have.
In short, Islam may well not be that great but it is definitely not a long recipe for violence. We ought to be very critical of it because it is outdated, but hating it is wrong because many ordinary and peaceful people believe in it. Moreover it promotes prejudice.
Thank you
by Ahmed from Bahrain on Mon Sep 21, 2009 04:04 PM PDTSasan for your thoughtful words. When some attack you for taking the middle of the road, then the word "blinded" take on another meaning.
Still, I have faith in the human spirit to rise to the challenges of being human.
All religions came to elevate us to this status. Sadly, public misleading is now an art form. Religion, politics, media; they all fall into the same empty hole.
Let me add; that Western influence in the Middle East and Asia in my time (60 years) is well documented. I don't want to go back to a thousand years ago. It is futile to bring in stuff that happened so long ago. It all depends who wrote such history. So, I limit my self to what I remember and have seen, then ask the question:
Who put military basis and appointed dictators in the Middle East in the first place? Who has massive power and unleashes it with impunity? Who supported Taliban against USSR invasion? Who supported Saddam and armed him to his teeth and ignored his crimes?. Who has stationed nukes in the Persian Gulf? Who supports Israel despite all the UN resolutions against it and stands in the way of progress and demands, by the likes of me for decades, not to side with self-appointed rulers and support democracy.
The only surprise for me about 911 is that it came so late. My reasoning: If you meddle in people's affairs for your own benefit for so long, then be prepared to accept the consequences.
Weak people use all the tools at their disposal to fight back. Faith and fanaticism are common ones. Does this justify Shock and Awe and Balckwater? Rush Limbaugh and his camp would say yes.
That is indeed the problem, creating camps; instead of belonging to the human race regardless of colour, race, creed or religion.
Do not attack the traffic light if the driver jumps red light.
Ahmed from Bahrain
Koran is the word of God
by Maziari on Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:55 PM PDTAll religions that mix with politics and governement had their problems, from Sassanid Zurvan theocracy to Holy Roman Empire and now the Islamic Republic.
Islam is the only religion whose followers believe that Koran is the word of God. Therefore its conents are absolute truth and can not be criticized or diverted from. This means that all civil and criminal laws and practices have to be in compliance with strict orders of a book which is 1400 years old. This is in conflict with human rights and progress in a modern society.
This gives rise to two kinds of regimes. Either a Taliban like regime which literally adheres to Koran or an Iranian Islamic Republic which is based on hypocrisy. The latter subsequently leads to a regime based on lies and duplicity and therefore corruption, which we are all witnessing.
God Vs. Good
by Minoo66 on Sun Sep 20, 2009 07:25 AM PDTSometimes it's easy to forget that our inherited adherence to religion has brought us up to this point of historical despair, hardship and confusion. we have to learn the lessons of "age of enlightenment"versus "inquisition era" in order to break away from the darkness of religious mentality.
You don't have to become a Marxist, or this-ist or that-ist for that matter, all you have to become is a "free-thinker"; just shed away the "ethno-cultural" skin of prejudice and bias off your mind.
We as humans need to belong. Let's belong to "humanity".
Unbelievable!
by tsinoizit on Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:50 AM PDTTwo observations I'd like to point out -
1. The aticle is great, and appears to be written by a very intelligent, open AND logical minded person.
2. With all of these anti-Muslim comments, are we forgetting that more than 80% of FELLOW Iranians are MUSLIMS???? Are we actually condemning all of them, when most of them are practicing the religion moderately???? Please tell me which Iranian Muslim you have met that actually has condemned your non-Muslim religion? I'm not talking about the extremist govt. I'm just talking about regular fellow Iranians. Are willing to go this far as to alienate one group, while at the same time condemning the govt of basically doing the same thing to other groups???? How much more hypocritical can we get???? This is why we are the LEAST united minority group in the US. It is truly sad. I am proud of the moderate practicing Muslim, Christian, Zoroastrian, Jew and Bahai Iranians.
Just remember this - we have extremists for every group. I'm willing to admit that the Muslim extremists are making more noise these days, but I can also go through and come up with bloody and notoroious extremist actions conducted by Christians and Jews in our time. I'm not ok'ing any act, but just saying that as much as some of us condemn and basically spit on the religion of Islam for lack of equality, freedom, etc ... the CURRENT extremist versions of other religions have the same problem. Instead of denouncing a religion and our fellow Iranians, why not promote moderation of religious acts? Just my thoughts. Peace.
Holding Islam to Account
by Amil Imani on Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:18 PM PDTIslam has spawned many sects that are master practitioners of the art of double standards. As far as Muslims are concerned, what is good for Muslims is not good for the non-Muslims; and what is bad for Muslims is good for non-Muslims.
What complicates matters is that there is no way of knowing which of the dozens of at-each-other's-throat sects is the legitimate Islam. As soon as Muhammad died, his religion of peace became a house of internal war: jockeying for power and leadership started, sects formed and splintered into sub-sects, and bloodletting began in earnest.
The internal infighting in Islam is presently playing in full color - in red - most dramatically, in the Iraqi theater. Shiite raid Sunni civilians, slaughter them like sheep, and toss their bodies like trash in the streets or the rivers. The Sunnis return the favor with just as much viciousness and savagery.
Question: If this is the way these Muslims treat each other, how would they deal with the infidels if they had the chance?
Answer: These devoted followers of Muhammad would deal with the infidels exactly the way Muhammad did: behead the non-believers, take them as slaves to hold or sell, or make them pay back-breaking jizyeh - poll taxes.
Some may object that writings like this are little more than hate-mongering and fanning the fire that rages between Islam and the non-Islamic world. They may further play the Islamic apologists' few, well-worn propaganda cards as evidence for their contention that Islam is not what its detractors claim.
Here are the few favorite cards:
* "There is no compulsion in religion," says the Koran. (But the full context is never shown.)
* Islam means "peace," so Islam is a religion of peace.
* "For you, your religion, and for me, my religion," Muhammad reportedly said.
The Muslims and their apologists quickly run out of their few cards, and the rest of the Islamic deck is all about intolerance, hatred and violence toward the infidels, toward all others who are not true Muslims, and even toward those who consider themselves Muslims. Shiites, for instance, judge the Sunnis as traitors to Islam, and Sunnis condemn the Shiites as heretics. Each side deems the other worthy of death and hellfire.
This internecine Islamic war of the religion of peace is not confined to the Shiite-Sunni divide. There are so many internal divisions within each side that listing and describing them comprehensively would be an encyclopedic work.
So, who is right? What are the facts about Islam and how does Islam impact the ever-shrinking village Earth and its inhabitants? Admittedly, this is a huge question and cannot be answered satisfactorily in one article. However, some facts can be presented to help the reader decide.
There is no need to belabor the point that Islam is not, and has never been, a religion of peace. The word Islam is derived from taslim, which means "submission," while the term for "peace" is solh. Another derivation of the word taslim is salamat, which means "good health" and so on.
Irrespective of what the term Islam may mean, the facts on the ground conclusively demonstrate Islam's violent nature from its very inception. No need to go back to the time of Muhammad and examine the historical records. Just a few contemporary events should make the point.
Here is a partial list: the savage Shiite-Sunni bloodletting in Iraq; the barbarism of the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan; the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region; the Somali killings; the Iranian mullahs' murder of their own people and support of mischief abroad; the cross-border attack on Israel by Lebanese Hizbullah; the incessant terrorist acts of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and the fatwas of the Palestinians against Israel; the bombing of Shiite mosques in Pakistan, and the Shiite retaliation against soft, innocent and civilian targets.
Clearly, there is no place on the planet where Muslims reside that is in peace from the religion of peace. Spain, France, Holland, England, Thailand and Indonesia have already been attacked, while others, such as Denmak, have been threatened and sanctioned.
Stretching the benefit of the doubt beyond limits, one may believe that all these acts of horrors are committed by a small minority of thugs and radicals who happened to be Muslims. Fine, let us ignore all those "fringes" for now - those who are giving Islam a bad reputation. And never mind Saudi Arabia, the cradle of barbarism, fixed in formaldehyde since Islam's inception. Also, let us overlook the dastardly Shiite fanatics presently ruling (ruining) the great nation of Iran. Iranian Shiite Hitlerists are hell-bent on wiping Israel off the face of the planet, while viciously devastating Iran's own largest minority - the Baha'is, people universally-recognized as law-abiding and peaceful.
Would someone account for what is happening in the "civilized" Islamic country of Egypt? The world owes Egypt a debt of gratitude for giving it the Muslim Brotherhood - the lead promoter of Sunni hatred toward the infidels, with chapters and front organizations in much of the world. With typical hypocrisy, the Egyptian government claims that the Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed, when, in actuality, the Brotherhood holds twenty-five percent of the seats in the Egyptian parliament. The same country that gave the world vicious American-killers like Al-Zawahiri is the recipient of huge largess from the American taxpayer.
The latest shameful action of the Egyptian government is the issuance of identity cards that require listing of one's religion. In order to be issued an ID card, which is essential for just about any and all exercises of the rights of citizenship, the individual must list his religion as one of the three sanctioned faiths - Islam, Christianity or Judaism. No one is allowed to leave the religious affiliation blank or list any other religion. Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'is, or agnostics and atheists, have to either lie and fake a religious affiliation, or run the serious risk of having to survive as non-entities in the "crown jewel" of modern and moderate Islamic society.
These are the conditions on the ground wherever Islam rules. Violence of all forms is endemic to Islam and is not confined to any fringes. Islam itself is the fringe--a fringe that is oppressive, hateful of others and violent to the core.
The world must confront Islam and demand that it mends its ways in conformity with the Bill of Rights, according to which every man, woman and child is fully entitled to equal treatment under the law, irrespective of any and all considerations.
"Taghieh" & playing "Athiesm" card
by SamSamIIII on Sat Sep 19, 2009 08:14 PM PDTIt is a routin practice nowadays for Ommaties & the so called closet sympathizers to do Taghieh & impersonate an athiest since "hanashoon rangii digeh nadareh". So the cover of athiesm gives them that extra edge to speak their leftist/ommatie hate speech against true Iran,west & Jews without being tagged as an IRI sympathizer or an Islamist.
Iranian-Americans dont need self appointed speakers to teach or remind them about their Islamic identity since they have an identity and that identity is "Iranian identity"
Path of Kiaan Resurrection of True Iran Hoisting Drafshe Kaviaan //iranianidentity.blogspot.com //www.youtube.com/user/samsamsia
Solid article
by Ari Siletz on Sat Sep 19, 2009 07:53 PM PDTDon't blame Islamic Republic JJ
by Baba Taher-e Oryan on Sat Sep 19, 2009 07:17 PM PDTDon't blame the Islamic Republic nor the Talibans or Al Qaida for the negative publicities against the Moslem world. They are only carrying out the teaching of Islam with some variation in their methods
We are all victims for being born Moslems. We take all the verbal abuse and negative treatment by non Moslems and at the same time get violant punishment from the Islamic authorities in power for not being good Moslems. This has to be stopped and the way forward is to return to our ancient believes and customs. We are able to do it because we are the only Moslem nation that have been with odds with Islam for 1400 years. we have never fully accepted Islam and have always tried to modify the Islamic laws and teachings and make it more acceptable by mixing it with our own ancient and cultural believes.
We can do it because today we have one of the most politically active and highly educated young generation in the world that want to go forward rather than backward or stay still.
Islam is not a religion but rather a Cult that promotes violance. It is unfortunate that the non Moslem world see us individuals in the same way. This is the price we have to pay until we have it corrected
Sasan
by Sohraby on Sat Sep 19, 2009 06:15 PM PDTYou are way out of line. Iranians are fed up with Islam because it is not their religion, because it was forced upon them, because it ruins their land, culture, language and their Iranian identity etc.
Islam is a religion for people with Lichtenstrasse mentality!
Sorry for Islam
by Jahanshah Javid on Sat Sep 19, 2009 01:38 PM PDTThank you very much for this thoughtful piece. The other day I was joking with a friend. I said, "I feel sorry for Islam." I'm an atheist but in a way I do feel sorry that in 30 years, the Islamic Republic has ruined the reputation of a world religion. Today around the world the name Islam and Muslim automatically bring up thoughts of violence and backwardness. That is because the theocracy in Iran has proudly committed all its inglorious actions under the banner of Islam.
It doesn't matter where you are or what kind of religion you impose on people. Mix religion and politics and you will destroy the spiritual, peaceful aspect of religion. Look at Christian activists in the U.S. and the impact they had on the Bush administration in the invasion of Iraq. Have you seen the racist attacks on Obama? Most of the hatred comes from White fundamentalist Christians. All this hate and anger in the name of Jesus.
And look how Israel has treated the Palestinians in the name of defending the Jewish State. Look at what Al Qaida, Hamas and Hizbollah are doing in the name of Islam. They are ALL from the same cloth. They are all hypocrites. Christians kill Muslims, Muslims kill Christians, Muslims kill Jews, Jews kill Muslims, Muslims kill Muslims and the result is mutual hatred of people simply because they happen to be Muslim, Jew or Christian.
You are right in pointing out how unfair it is to judge individuals by their religion. If I tell an American that I'm Iranian, I don't want him to look at me as if I may be a Muslim and therefore a potential terrorist. At the same time we cannot deny that brutal actions by the regime in Iran has and will have a huge impact on world public opinion. To change that we need to change from a theocracy to a democracy.
I have no religion. But I feel bad for Muslims who have to bear so much humiliation because of savage actions by Islamic states like Iran and Saudi Arabia, and groups like the Taliban and Al Qaida.
Mr Haparoot!
by Baba Taher-e Oryan on Sat Sep 19, 2009 12:46 PM PDTDo you live in Rotterdam or Haparoot?
I tell you what, Go and live in Tehran south of Darvazeh Gazvin
To rent a room will cost you a few of your Euros a month and Chelokabab for both lunch and dinner cost less than a half price of a cup of coffee in your Rotterdam. Then enjoy living in an Islamic society. Not for good but one month will suffice
Sassan
by cyclicforward on Sat Sep 19, 2009 07:47 AM PDTPeople have good reasons to be apprehensie about Islam. Unlike other religons, Islam has a strict code of conduct that takes you back 1400 years. Well, intelligent people don't want that. They don't want to beat their wife, they don't want to kill anyone and they simply would like to live in peace. So, your article really does not touch those points.
I Don't Want To Sound Offensive But...
by میرزاقشمشم on Sat Sep 19, 2009 06:03 AM PDTحالا بیا و یک کلمه از مادر عروس بشنو. این بابا مثل اینکه تازه از تو کما اومده بیرون. بچّه جون با سپتامبر وبی سپتامبر ایرونی حکومت جاهلی متحجّر دینی نمیخواد. اگه سنّتون قد نمیده حدّاقلّ مطالعات و ملاحظات تاریخی خودتونو تکمیل کنید.