Three recent comments here:
There is a lot of misinformation out there that is fueling the fire against muslims. We need to be able to step back and take a rational, unimpassioned look and examine the actual facts honestly.
Mohammad was all for women's rights. He went so far as to alienate members from his own tribe over this very issues. He was a revolutionary concerning the treatment of women, allowing them to own property and receive things from their deceased husbands...etc. None of the "treating women as second class citizens" is from Mohammad (because he was avidly against it, as I stated, he made them "first class", in his tribe), and all of the verses in the Quran that are used to support that theology are hotly debated within Muslim circles (much like those verses in the Bible "condoning" slavery were used in defense of the practice in our history). There's always debate going on about these things. It's not just black and white, much like Christianity.
(e) Adultery through polygamy, even involving young girls, is o.k.
Again, this is a debated topic, and looked down on by most of Islam. Going back to the roots, Mohammad was against this practice as well, as history shows.
So TLF and Candide, perhaps you could educate me, perhaps help me to understand Islam so that I stop getting these panic attacks everytime I read something more about the religion.
Any gov't that will brainwash little children like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhbHVEGnYD8&mode=related&search
is never going to have "peace with Israel" until the Jews are utterly destroyed.
Now I don't want to think that I'm being brainwashed; I agree with you when you say:
Be careful of propaganda Rion. Our western news is rife with it.
So here are quotes related to the above, taken directly from the English translation of some of Islam's most revered books, including the Tarikh al-Tabari (History of the Prophets and Kings), written by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, who was one of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian historians and exegetes of the Qur'an.
Tabari VII:7
"The Prophet married Aisha in Mecca three years before the Hijrah, after the death of Khadija. At the time she was six." Ishaq:281 "When the Apostle came to Medina he was fifty-three." Tabari VII:6 "In May, 623 A.D./A.H. 1, Allah's Messenger consummated his marriage to Aisha."
Tabari IX:128
"When the Prophet married Aisha, she was very young and not yet ready for consummation."
Tabari IX:131 "My mother came to me while I was being swung on a swing between two branches and got me down. My nurse took over and wiped my face with some water and started leading me. When I was at the door she stopped so I could catch my breath. I was brought in while Muhammad was sitting on a bed in our house. My mother made me sit on his lap. The other men and women got up and left. The Prophet consummated his marriage with me in my house when I was nine years old."
Bukhari:V9B86N98
"The Prophet said, 'A virgin should not be married till she is asked for her consent.' 'O Apostle! How will the virgin express her consent.' He said, 'By remaining silent.'"
Bukhari:V9B87N139-40
"Allah's Apostle told Aisha, 'You were shown to me twice in my dreams. I beheld a man or angel carrying you in a silken cloth. He said to me, "She is yours, so uncover her." And behold, it was you. I would then say to myself, "If this is from Allah, then it must happen."'"
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No Muslim that I have spoken to denies that these statements are included in the teachings of Islam- but they claim they are not relevant today, just like they claim the suicide bombings and beheadings are no longer approved by the current Mullahs. So why does this abuse continue to happen, and how can it do anything but hurt the Palestinian cause?
When you study a religion, it is vital to understand the foundations of a religion; how it originated. Jesus certainly never condoned or partook in the abuse of children, or in suicide missions or beheadings.
The Palestinian situation is inexoribly linked to the teachings of the Islamic religion. We know already that it justifies the killings of infidels, especially Jews- but what about the abuse of children, as we see in the video, and as we read about in Islam's most revered reference books?
I sincerely ask you to enlighten me.