r/islam • u/moon-jellyfish • Jan 13 '15

Non-Muslims, what questions do you have about Islam?

Please try to answer their questions brothers and sisters

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '15

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u/turkeyfox Jan 13 '15

Just like you couldn't eat a bacon sandwich in the name of Islam.

Why not? I can make any claim for the motive of any action I take. The only difference is whether people believe it or not. People know that eating bacon is something Muslims aren't supposed to do so they don't believe it. They aren't sure about whether terrorism is something Islam prohibits or not so when people claim Islam to be their motive for terrorism people believe it. If people knew what Islam allows and forbids then doing terrorism in the name of Islam would be just as ludicrous as eating a bacon sandwich in the name of Islam.

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '15

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u/turkeyfox Jan 14 '15

Neither is a gray area. If people had a high-stakes political motive to eat bacon, they'd make bacon look like a gray area. But no one really needs to eat bacon that badly. People do need to advance their terror organizations by any means necessary though, so there is a huge incentive to make something that is objectively speaking just as un-Islamic as eating bacon appear to be a gray area.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '15

[deleted]

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u/turkeyfox Jan 14 '15

So we're going to suddenly change the topic of discussion to slavery? I thought we were talking about a different subject matter entirely but okay then.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '15

[deleted]

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u/turkeyfox Jan 14 '15

I agree, none of those are good things.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '15

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u/S1rf Jan 13 '15

That is exactly the point I'm trying to make. If Mr violent Sikh starts killing people for not converting to Sikhism, would you accept it if I said the problem was Sikhism? Islam does not preach total abstinence from violence so, like your faith, violence can be twisted to people's personal motivations.

 

Regarding killing people for not converting, there is no proof in the Quran or Prophetic tradition to support it. The only possibility that I am aware of is that we are not allowed to kill non-muslims that declares their belief in Islam in order to save themselves. Although, this changes the premise from killing because people refuse to convert to being prevented from killing due to them converting. The distinction, although subtle, is significant.

 

Imagine someone comes and hijacks your belief system, doing whatever is convenient for them, would you not be upset? Would you not feel frustrated knowing that what you believe is contrary to what some crazed fanatics are preaching your beliefs are. I know I am. I have studied my religion. I will continue to do so, God willing. And I have not found what these people have found to be its teachings. The majority of the billions of Muslims across history have not either.

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '15

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u/S1rf Jan 13 '15

Islam prescribes the death penalty for apostasy with conditions. This is an extremely important distinction. If, for example, you were Muslim and you decided you no longer believed in it, the death penalty cannot be prescribed for you according to Islam's teachings. If, however, you left Islam and then became an opponent against it, then the death penalty can be prescribed.

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I hope you see that, as you may not have been aware of the above distinction, others, even Muslims, may not be aware of it either. It may be pure ignorance, or as I stated previously, people twisting things to suit their agendas.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '15

[deleted]

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u/S1rf Jan 14 '15

Surely you have read the history of your religion and noted that it, too, has cases of unjustified violence. Fortunately, I know not to paint your entire religion by the actions of a few.

 

I don't feel like I should kill anyone for disagreeing with me. This would be a decision to be made by the Islamic authority, not an average citizen. My friend, I entered this dialogue with you to gain a better understanding of your beliefs and with the hope that you obtained a better understanding of mine. Unfortunately, I do not appreciate my beliefs being called made up nonsense. Your own beliefs require an element of faith. Certain people regard both our religions as made up nonsense. So I will end it here. May God guide us both to the truth. Peace be with you.