I can't say "wa alaikum" to this because I'd be promoting shirk (polytheism).
Only if you are under the mistaken assumption that the Trinity = three gods. Not unlike some Christians who believe Allah is a moon god.
And I don't believe I will get any peace from a human that is not in control of anything.
I don't either.
That they have the right to fight against who they see as oppressors? Certainly.
No, that you hope they will fail in seizing non-Muslim land, like you hope non-Muslims fail in seizing Muslim lands.
Oh, well I take Indonesia as a Muslim country (and West Papua is part of Indonesia).
Indonesian forcibly annexed and militarily occupied West Papua in the 1960s. West Papua is as much part of Indonesia as Bosnia is part of Serbia, or the West Bank is part of Israel.
I listened to an NPR segment on West Papua and I did some research on
the country itself. That's about it for now.
It is good you are getting started. Why do you legitimize the occupation by saying West Papua is part of Indonesia?
A killer can be a Christian.
True, but not an unrepentant killer like Obama and the presidents before him. It is one thing to sin, realize it's wrong, and ask for forgiveness. It is another to keep committing it and saying that you are doing the right thing or worse, that God told you to commit it.
Actually, Islaam does offer religious freedom, just not to the extent that you want it. It offers religious freedom so long as it does not go against not go against the laws (which would be based on the Qur'aan & sunnah). And this amount of freedom has actually made Western historians say that the non-Muslims under the protection of these Islaamic countries enjoyed a significant amount of freedom not found in areas ruled by other religions (particularly Christianity).
By the standards of medieval religious tolerance, Islam was (usually) impressive. I would state however that many non-Muslim countries today give their Muslim citizens far more religious freedom than Islaam gives to non-Muslims.
Persecuted Christians would actually prefer to live under Muslim rule than Christian rule. Same with the Jews & there are records of Jews encouraging other Jews in Christian nations to move to the Muslim nations. And at this time, the Muslim nations had considerable Islaamic influence.
True, this was in a time when Christian majority countries were more intolerant. Today, secular countries with Christian majorities for the most part are more tolerant that Muslim countries. Many Muslim refugees and immigrants come to Western European nations, there are few immigrants from Western Europe seeking to settle in Muslim countries.
They can fight back. And I believe that they are resisting in China.
Some of them are. Yet does not the Quran instruct Muslims who are being oppressed to flee to Muslim countries?
Do you hope that the Chinese Muslims fail in their struggle for religious rights and autonomy, as you would hope that Pakistani Christians would fail if they tried the same thing?
I virtually know nothing about the Muslims of North Korea so I can't really comment.
Fair enough.
But Muslim nations are not determining the laws for non-Muslim nations? If they want to attack the theoretical Islaamic nation, obviously the Islaamic nation won't want them to, but I doubt that the non-Muslim nation will abide by the wishes of the Islaamic nation.
That doesn't change the fact that according to Islam, non-Muslim nations who kill Muslims are to be attacked, but the Muslim nations will not take similar action against Muslims who kill non-Muslims.
I'm confused. Are we talking about other nations attacking the offending Muslim nation? Or the Muslim population of the Islaamic country attacking its own government?
The first case.
Yeah, there is no punishment for conquering lands. As for intentionally targeting non-combatant non-Muslims during war, I'm not sure what is supposed to happen in terms of punishments though I DO know the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) strongly disapproved when he found a woman killed during a battle (which was when he told us that non-combatant women and children are to be avoided if possible). As for intentionally targeting non-combatant non-Muslims who are supposed to be protected, then this is a sin, but again, I don't know what the punishment is for a person who does this. This is completely outside the little level of knowledge that I do have about Islaam (which is very little compared to what I should have).
Thank you for your honesty. Given that in Islam there is no punishment for Muslims conquering non-Muslims but there is punishment for non-Muslims conquering Muslims, I believe the religion takes a double standard on this issue.
Also, it seems that what happens legally to a Muslim who kills an innocent non-Muslim is very ambiguous. The same does not seem to be for non-Muslims who kill innocent Muslims.
Is this why there is almost no protest from the Muslim world for the genocide in West Papua? Why there was silence when East Timorese were being killed in the hundreds of thousands and South Sudanese in their millions?
May Allaah guide us all to the Straight Path.
Ameen.
They should keep resisting or emigrate if possible. I did say that if a portion of the population does not like the laws & does not want to agree to them, they have the right to resist.
But earlier you said that you expect nations to abide by their laws. The Chinese Communist Party law makes the practice of non-state sanctioned Islam a crime.
I'm saying that I'm not taking away their ability to fight. I would not want them to succeed in overtaking the country, though.
Fair enough. Do you feel the same way about Chinese Muslims?
Probably, but I know of 3rd hand accounts of entire families being killed by Sikhs. And yet I have met people who generally ignore that and assume that Sikhs are more peaceful than Muslims.
Perhaps this is because, unlike Muslims and Hindus, Sikhs are not in control of a state and are not launching state sanctioned persecutions against non-believers. You can't say the same for either Pakistan or India.
You're welcome & answered above.
Great.
1.) We demand that nations rule by their own laws.
In China, the law calls for Islam to be persecuted, unless it is twisted to ally itself with communism.
2.) It's still hypocritical of your religion even if you do not want to say that it's hypocritical of the Israelites.
When did the Israelites ask the Amalekites for mercy?
I'm asking why *we* should conform to Christianity's rules in our nations. That's my point.
Why not? You are demanding that non-Muslims conform to some of Islam's rules in their nations, such as allowing Muslim women to wear the niqab.
Khidr (peace be upon him) was ordered by God to kill an INDIVIDUAL boy due to his future sins. Khidr was not ordered by God to kill entire cities, including babies & livestock, due to the sins of others. And the fact that Moses (peace be upon him) was so shocked by the killing shows that this is not normal, though the genocides appear to be normal in the OT. It shows that it was not accepted during the time of Moses as shown by his reaction.
Nevertheless, a child was killed on purpose. And doing this would be a crime according to Sharia. This is not different from Moses doing some things- like genocide- that would be a crime according to what Jesus taught.
Another question for you- what do you make of verse 2:190?
Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors.
I have heard Muslims say that according to this verse, Islam teaches that it's only acceptable to fight people who are fighting Muslims, and that aggressive warfare is not allowed. Is this true?
I don't see how this is different to my previous explanations that the population of a government can resist (whether it's through words or by sword) or emigrate if they do not agree with the leadership.
OK, thanks for clarifying.
We don't govern the rules for other countries.
Then why would you expect them to govern by their own laws? If you don't govern how the rules for other countries, would it not matter whether they follow their laws pertaining to religious freedoms for Muslims, or abuse them?
In your religion, your scriptures convey that God did not approve of the way the Amalekites oppressed the Israelites, but then the Israelites turn around and mercilessly kill the inhabitants of entire cities.
True. However, nowhere did the Israelites ask the Amalekites for any mercy.
You have said in the past that the fact that I am not outspoken about West Papua & Indonesia but am about Palestine (or whatever countries), I am hypocritical. So would it be hypocritical of you to support marriages between men and women but not between those of the same gender? Would you protest in favor of one but not the other in terms of marriage rights?
Do you see the denial of the right to change and pervert the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman the same thing as checkpoints, shooting children, dropping napalm and white phosphorous on people's homes, and death squads? No offense, I think that such a comment greatly cheapens the suffering of the Palestinian and West Papuan people, and all people who are the victims of occupation.
I don't care if two people of the same gender choose to get married. To me it is a perversion and it is disgusting, but it is their choice. As long as no church or other religious group for that matter is forced to conduct such a ceremony, they can have a "civil marriage" or even one in a church that has chosen to abandon what the Bible teaches, because sadly there are some like that. There are some mosques and synagogues like that also. I am not against them sharing their inheritance or insurance, I am opposed to them being allowed to have children, because I think it is harmful to the kids.