By: Anthony Cantanese
Scandalous priest, corrupt politicians, materialistic preachers, and even terrorist all hide behind a veil of religious doctrine, while manipulating their followers. No one who is a true follower of faith or citizen of their nation would support or follow any of these abominations. How do we perceive that these individuals or organizations are sacrilegious or corrupt? We look at their source of authority, and such people never actually follow the law or scripture that they are associated with.
Many falsely accuse Muslims as being terrorists or apart of another vice, and even though Muslims exclaim that they are not, the media clearly demonstrates that they are. It is harmful to believe the media because it is a labyrinth of interpretations, on top of interpretations, of a particular source. It is true that the the media conveys important information at times, but only when the viewer has done his or her research.
Everyone knows something about Islam, usually that there are certain Muslims that are terrorists, but how accurate is it to label Islam as corrupt and the majority of its followers as violent criminals or heretics? The very thought is hypocritical! Many don’t even know beyond this image of terrorism, and it is important that individuals become more familiar with the true image of Islam because according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion by number of conversions each year. Furthermore, “Although the religion began in Arabia, [starting in] 2002 80% of all believers in Islam lived outside the Arab world.” What is even more interesting is that there is a higher rate of women embracing Islam than men.
One must decide that either there is an alternate image of Islam or that people are inclined toward violent religions. How does one even begin to think about an opinion about such a significant subject? “Read in the name of thy Lord!” Take a look at the Muslim source of authority: Al-Qur’an.
The Qur’an itself is highly credible; it has been strictly preserved since the time of Prophet Muhammad. What makes it even more credible, is that the original is still kept in Arabia. Al-Qur’an, often translated as the recitations, consists of 114 chapters, and amazingly many Muslims still memorize it entirely.
Muslims believe that the message, known as the Qur’an, was revealed to Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel, like the prophets of the past. When Muslims are listening to the Qur’an, they are hearing the same message given to the Prophet, which makes it extremely sacred to Muslims, and not just because it is authentic, but because the Qur’an is the Word of God. This message proclaims salvation through simple forgiveness, it encourages righteous conduct,damns evil behavior, and narrates the beloved stories of righteous men and women (Encyclopedia of Asian History, 1988).
Muslims call God Allah: Allah is the Arabic name of the God of Prophet Abraham, in the same way that in Aramaic, the language Jesus the Messiah spoke, is Eli or Elah, and Elohim is in Hebrew, the language of the Children of Israel.
So what is Allah’s message?
“Say, [O believers], ‘We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him” (Chapter Al-Baqarah 136).
That’s right: Muslims believe in the Hebrew prophets, Christ, the Torah, Psalms, and even the Gospel. Much of these are already understood by many. Some may wonder why Muslims don’t just use the Bible. Actually, many Muslims do read the Bible, but they accept the Qur’an as the Word of God. The reason is because today we lack the Torah that was revealed to Prophet Moses, the Psalms that was revealed to Prophet David, and the Gospel that was revealed to Jesus the Messiah. This is why Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad received the Qur’an; he was sent as a final messenger with the ‘final testament,’ confirming the previous revelations and prophets that were before him.
Realizing that Islam is a part of the Abrahamic Faiths – a continuation – you already know more about Islam and the Qur’an then you initially realized. There are only slight differences, but that is expected; anyways it is true that we worship the same God.
“In the Name of God, the all-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.1 All praise and gratitude are for God, the Lord of the worlds,2 The All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate,3 The Master of the Day of Judgment.4 You alone do We worship, and from You alone do we seek help5 Guide us to the Straight path,6 The Path of those whom You have favored, not of those who have incurred Your anger, nor of those who are astray” (Chapter Al-Fatimah).
The Qur’an is a lesson book, a prayer book, a book of guidance, all aspects of life from spirituality to society, are mention in the Qur’an. In the same way the Bible teaches certain behaviors to be just in the sight of God, for example the Ten Commandments; in fact you can find all of the Commandments in the Qur’an.
One fascinating teaching of the Qur’an is universal “brotherhood” of mankind: “O mankind, indeed we have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted” (Chapter Al-Hujurat 13). Allah clearly made humans into peoples of race and nations, therefore we should not discriminate against each other, but learn from one another.
If one takes the time to actually read the Qur’an, then one will discover that Islam is not completely alienated from their own faith, and one will discover new values and attitudes. However, this is not the reason that the Qur’an is criticized, but because sometimes its verses are used in the company of Violence.
Indeed the Qur’an speaks of war, as mentioned above, it speaks of all aspects of life. Sadly, many humans do not want to get to know one another, and therefore we developed what we call war. If God gave you a book, would you expect him to be ignorant in this subject? Thus, God through the Qur’an speaks about violence and war. God is the all-Understanding, God knows that it is unjust to allow the wicked to slay the innocent; therefore, under certain conditions warfare is permitted in cases of defense and the removal of oppression, but still, in such circumstances violence is apposed. These matters are silent in the gospels and are ambiguous in the Torah, which as a result led to many tragedies issued by Christian nations. Throughout history, men like Saint Augustine, constructed guidelines on how Christians should act in war, but often such individuals were – and still – constantly ignored. Islam does not permit the betrayal of agreements, plundering, torture, attacks on children, women, elderly, and non-combatants, it does not allow destruction of orchards or tilled lands, the slaughtering of livestock, and disrespect towards clergymen as a means of war. Islam does not view war as something of play, once the threat is over, all violence must stop, and peace should be made as soon as possible.
Many misuse these verses, the same way individuals do with the Bible or any other documentation. Allah declares,“Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors . . . whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely (Chapter Al-Baqarah 190 & Al-Mā’idah 32). It is not a senseless holocaust that He orders.
“[Jesus said] But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.” Luke 19:27
Can you imagine a preacher or bishop using this verse to justify an act? Firstly, every Christian should know the context of this verse in their gospel, and they should know what it means. In the same way, individuals who are Muslim are able to misuse verses of the Qur’an. The majority of non-Muslims never read the Qur’an – that is what creates this fear – they only know a certain verse of the Qur’an without its context and nothing else. If I never read the gospel of Luke and my Christian brother only read me this verse (Luke 19:27), I would wonder ‘what in the world is he following,’ but thankfully I have read the New Testament and understand Luke 19:27 in its context. The example is candid.
The actions of some Muslims are simply wrong. People often fall into vices, but that does not mean that their religion is corrupt; religion often seeks to reform behavior, but sometimes its followers are “not on the same page.”
Rather than labeling Muslims and the Qur’an as a source of violence, we ought to label terrorists violent hypocrites. If anyone wants to understand, judge, or help the Muslim world, they can only do so by first reading the Qur’an. Non-Muslims and Muslims, no matter how hard or how far, must discover the true image of Islam.
“He sends down from the sky, rain, and valleys flow according to their capacity, and the torrent carries a rising foam. And from that [ore] which they heat in the fire, desiring adornments and utensils, is a foam like it. Thus Allah presents [the example of] truth and falsehood. As for the foam, it vanishes, [being] cast off; but as for that which benefits the
people, it remains on the earth. Thus does Allah present examples.”
(Chapter Ar-Ra’d 17)
