Hey guys! I can't even tell you how excited I am to be here on Steemit for the first time. I don't know what it is about this site, but its got me sitting here at midnight working on this article knowing full well that I'm not going to get a bit of sleep. I tried earlier but that just wasn't going to happen so here I am. I think this site has the potential to change the world in ways we can't even imagine yet. And I believe one very positive way is going to be spreading important and relevant information that really matters. Unlike other sites, subjects such as the one I'll be discussing here today have a tendency to get lost in the mucky muck. Its too serious for Facebook which is basically an online hangout - people get turned off if you're too serious. And its proving to be really hard to get any attention on Youtube for the same reasons. But something is different here. Based on the posts I've read, I think other people sense that too. So I think I've finally found the perfect platform for the work I've been waiting to do for a really long time.
This particular subject has to do with fundamental tenants of Islam and its ideological, historical, and cultural impacts past and present. In future posts, I'll be covering everything from Philosophy, Ancient and Modern History, Psychology, Physics, Conspiracy, Spirituality, Astronomy; among others, to current events and how they tie into all the topics listed above. The world is a great big tapestry that can be seen and understood in its entirety if all the dots are connected and that's what I'm hoping to accomplish here. It's an ambitious undertaking but I'm confident that over time, it will all start to come together. The best part about all of reality being connected is that you can start your journey wherever you want. As long as you stay curious and keep an open mind and an open heart and always keep asking questions, you can discover the same awesome things as someone else who started in a completely different place. The truth can be a hard to accept sometimes, but nothing is more important that knowing it.
So, given current events, I thought I'd start on a topic that is a bit controversial but one that desperately needs to be understood. And that is the subject of ISLAM.
This article is titled: "Islam: The Radical Truth"
Radical: relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something
All of these statements and statistics can be referenced in the Christian bible and the Islamic Quran, Sira and Hadith respectively.
In order to understand any religion you only really need to understand two things;
1. The founder of that religion and 2. The subsequent religious documents used by the followers of that religion. In Christianity, the founder was Jesus Christ who’s gospels were preserved in the Bible; specifically the New Testament. In Buddhism, the founder was Siddartha Gautama, later known as Buddha, whose teachings were preserved in Buddhist sacred texts known as “The Sutras”.
The founder of Islam was a man named Muhammad who began his sermons in the city of Mecca in the 7th century. His teachings, biography and traditions were preserved in three main texts; the Quran, the Sira, and the Hadith. Together, this trilogy contains all the information Muslims use to practice Islam. Although these were written down and compiled after Muhammad’s death, they are believed to be the absolute word of god (Allah) as told through his final prophet Muhammad. They serve as a record of his life and teachings starting in Mecca and ending with his death in 632 at the age of 63. His prophet hood lasted 23 years with his first revelation coming by way of the way of the angel Gabriel when he was 40 years old. His life is defined by three main phases. The first 40 years as a child and later as a caravan merchant, his 13 years as a religious man in Mecca, and his 9 years as a religious man, politician and warrior starting in the city of Medina and ending with his death. The Islamic trilogy of the Quran, Sira, and Hadith focuses primarily on the last two phases of his life.
Unlike the Christian bible, the chapters or Surahs of the Quran are not arranged in a chronological order. The bible for example starts with the creation of the universe and ends with the gospels of Jesus. For unknown reasons, the surahs of the Quran have been arranged in order of descending length of the chapters rather than in order of events. Because of this, there is usually a great deal of confusion when you read it. This confusion is compounded by the fact that Muhammad drastically changed his religious tactics after he was forced out of Mecca and traveled to Medina. Muhammad’s account in Mecca was one of peace, acceptance of others and service to Allah and those passages in the Quran reflect that. In contrast, his account in Medina was one of violence, political infiltration, and forced conversion and the Quran also reflects that. After 13 years of a peaceful yet contemptuous ministry in Mecca, he had only garnered approximately 150 followers. The reason for this paltry following after such a long period of time was because Muhammad was beginning his ministry thousands of years after the establishment of native pagan religions, a couple thousand years after Abraham initiated the Jewish tradition and hundreds of years after the formation of Christianity. By the 7th century, the religious market for tradition and morality was saturated with options and was well established in the region. As a result, the teachings of Muhammad were seen as a rehash of these well-established doctrines. He claimed to be the last of the prophets from the line of Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus yet he could never prove in any tangible way that he was a prophet of god. Because of this, the residents of Mecca did not take heed to his claims. In Short, his ministry offered nothing new and was seen as redundant and unnecessary by his contemporaries. So after 13 years of attempted conversion by means of incessant repetition, fear, guilt, and insults, the residents of Mecca saw Muhammad as a nuisance and chased him out of the city. This is the moment that we see the beginning of the final Median phase of his life and a dramatic change in Muhammad’s actions.
Because of this change, it can actually be said that the Quran is not one book but two; jumbled together between the covers of a single book. We can call the 1st book the Meccan Quran or the peaceful Quran and the 2nd book the Medinan Quran or the coercive Quran. The same labels can be given to Muhammad himself depending on the context and chronology of his actions. Because we have this split contained within the book itself, a divided Islam has emerged; one that claims Muhammad as the last prophet of Allah while preaching a message of acceptance and charity, and another which sees a rejected and bitter Muhammad using violence to achieve his goal of absolute submission to Allah. So when people claim that Islam is a religion of peace, they are right. And when other people claim that Islam is a religion of fear and violence, they are also right. Both are true depending on the context and chronology of the passages they reference. The reason this is significant is that Islamic texts say that to be a true Muslim, one must use the life of Muhammad as a perfect example to be followed. There are 91 passages in the Quran to remind the reader of Muhammad's example. Now, the same holds true for Christianity. In order to be the perfect Christian, one must be Christ-like. In Islam, to be the perfect Muslim, one must be Muhammad-like. So in order to understand what makes a true Christian or a true Muslim, we simply have to understand the man. And it’s not important that what is written down is historically accurate. What matters is that people believe that it is. So let’s analyze the two. Keep in mind that these examples of Muhammad’s character are taken from the later Medinan Quran. The reason these selections are not cherry picking is because of the principle of abrogation found within the Quran. This means that in the chronology of Islam, the later verses supersede the earlier verses and are considered stronger. The earlier ones are not wrong per se but are viewed as weak or less effective Islamic doctrine compared to the later texts. The same holds true in Christianity where the gospels are seen as the final word from god brought to his people by Jesus. The previous commandments of Moses are still valid, but the image of god in the form Christ as the last living example of his law takes precedence. With this concept of abrogation in mind, we can confidently compare the two.
-Jesus Never married -Muhammad had up to 11 wives and even more sex slaves during his life One of his wives Aishia was 6 years old when they were married. Muhammad waited until she was 9 to consummate the marriage. -Jesus never had slaves -Muhammad owned and sold many slaves -Jesus traveled the land preaching a message of peace and love for all and healed the sick -Muhammad preached of charity but never performed such charity himself -Jesus said husbands should love their -Muhammad encouraged men to alienate, berate and abuse Wives and not be harsh with them disobedient wives -Jesus gave people a choice to follow -Muhammad also gave people a choice:
1. Accept Muhammad A message of love and a life without as the prophet of Allah and follow Islamic doctrine. 2. Keep Suffering would result your religion but become a tax slave and second class citizen Or Dhimmi.
3. Be labeled as a Kafir or evil criminal against Allah And be killed.
-Jesus taught the golden rule: Do unto - Muhammad taught dualistic ethics. Be peaceful to Others as you would do unto yourself Muslims who have submitted wholly to Islam and Universal ethics which applies to all people subjugate and destroy those who do not. -It is said that Jesus never harmed a person - Muhammad personally murdered many people in Battle and ordered the murder of thousands during His life. Ultimately, millions of people have been killed As a result of his doctrine of Jihad over the past 1400 years.
The content of the Quran and the distinction between the two men is made even clearer when we perform a statistical analysis of the texts. Keep in mind that Islam is not just the Quran. The trilogy of the Quran, Sira, and Hadith make up the bible of Islam. No one text in isolation is acceptable.
Concerning women: 71% of the time women are of low status in the Quran
Concerning Religion and Politics: In the Sira, and average of 22,000 words are devoted to politics and Jihad in comparison to 4,300 per year devoted to religion in the Sira
Concerning Kafirs: When taken as a whole, over 51% of Islamic texts are devoted to discussions on the enemies of Islam. This is not usual in religion. It us usual for a religious text to devote itself to the explanation of the doctrine rather than its detractors. If you are not a Muslim, this means that 51% of Islamic texts concern you. This is evidence of a political ideology rather than a mere religious conviction. There are 13 primary verses in the Quran that address how Kafirs are to be dealt with.
Concerning Jihad: When taken as a whole, one third of Islamic texts are devoted to the practice of Jihad or holy war. Concerning violence in Islamic texts compared to the Bible: There is certainly violence in the Bible, however this violence is periodical and mostly nonpolitical. There are 34,000 words about political violence; that is, violence between one group and another, in the Old Testament. In the Quran, Sira and Hadith there are 348,000; nearly 10 times as much political violence as is found in the Old Testament. There is no political violence in the New Testament.
After the comparison between the two men, we start to gain a clearer understanding of the cultures that resulted from each. The modern western culture encourages peace, diversity, equality and freedom between all races and genders. In contrast, Islamic cultures enforce strict adherence to Islamic religion and law at the expense of all else. This isn’t to say that evil has not been done in the name of Christianity, it certainly has, but because Christianity requires a person to be Christ-like to be called a Christian, those who committed such acts were not really Christians. A common defense of Islam and Muslims is that the vast majority of Muslims are good peaceful people.
It may be true that they are good people, but because they do not follow Muhammad’s example, because they are not Muhammad-like, they are not truly Muslims as Muhammad himself defined it. This is why we see so much violence between Muslims in the middle-east. It’s not just evil people that just call themselves Muslims going around killing real peaceful Muslims. It’s actually the exact opposite. What we are seeing is true Muslims, those who follow the example of Muhammad, going around killing those that are not adhering to Islamic doctrine like they are supposed to.
Groups such as ISIS are not some alien fringe element in the world of Islam. ISIS is Islam. ISIS is what Islam is supposed to be; what it has always been [strict adherence to Islam and Jihad against the Kafirs or non-believers]. This is why Islam is so powerful and influential. If it were merely a religion, they would have their beliefs and traditions and the rest of the world would have its beliefs and traditions. However, because Islam is coupled with a strict doctrine of law that dictates all aspects of life from what you wear to what you eat to how you interact with non-Muslims, it’s not merely a religious doctrine but a political doctrine. When a group starts to press their ideas upon other people, the group becomes a political force. This is why the west saw fit to separate the church from the state so there wasn’t any conflicts of interest. In Islam, the religion, the government or law, indeed the whole of the culture, IS Islam; through and through.
So when people in the west express concern at a growing Islamic influence in their primarily Christian/secular nations, they are justified in doing so. The history of Islam attests to this pattern of infiltration, conversion and ultimate conquest of non-Muslim nations.
Muhammad had 150 followers after 13 years when he was peaceful, but after he initiated Jihad against all who opposed him, he went from a handful of Muslims to over 100,000 in just 9 years.
All of Arabia had been conquered and cultural diversity in the region was gone. After his death, this conquest continued; spreading Jihad across the middle east, North Africa, and into Spain. Islam and Sharia law was on the verge of conquering all of Europe. It was at his moment that European nations united under the Christian church to combat the threat. This period of conflict is known as the Crusades.
Islamic doctrine has not changed at all in the past 1400 years. What's happening in Islamic regions and what's beginning to spread to Europe and the Americas in recent times is nothing new. It's simply a revival of true Islam. ISIS has merely become the face of the revival and comprehensive polls across the region show increasing support for it. Recent pew research polls have revealed a sentiment that western countries did not expect.
Support for Sharia in Muslim nations:
Support for harsh punishment:
Attitude towards women's rights: we see high support for female submission to male authority.
Support for religious influence in politics:
The research ends with this statement:
"American Muslims are even more likely than Muslims in other countries to firmly reject violence in the name of Islam. In the U.S., about eight-in-ten Muslims (81%) say that suicide bombing and similar acts targeting civilians are never justified. Across the globe, a median of roughly seven-in-ten Muslims (72%) agrees".
That still leaves nearly 20% of American Muslims and 30% of Muslims globally who think violence against Kafirs is justified. That's around 500 million Muslims worldwide. And in cases of political violence against non believers, the Quran is always used as justification for the acts. What we are now witnessing is a clash of civilizations. 2000 years of western ideals promoting empirical logic as the foundation for thought and actions has the potential to be supplanted by an ideology that promotes ideas through mere repetition and physical and psychological threats. Universal ethics, those simple moral rules like don't steal, don't kill, and don't lie; the rules that apply to everyone, has the potential to be supplanted by dualistic ethics; one that has a set of rules for Muslims and another set for everyone else. This dualism is logically contradictory but very simple to understand. It says to be peaceful to all Muslims and do whatever you can to convert or destroy all non Muslims. In this way, Islam is indeed a religion of peace. All that it requires is that the whole world submits to Islam. Our systems of government have the potential to be supplanted by Sharia law. And our religious or secular way of life have the potential to be abolished and supplanted by a single all encompassing ideology. Over a million Muslims poured into Europe in 2015 alone and they have not been successfully assimilating into European culture as had been hoped. Crime rates have gone up across Europe, isolated Muslim communities have sprung up and refuse to obey local laws and customs. They are not learning the languages. They are not adopting the culture. And because of welfare programs and lack of assimilation, they are not bothering to make an economic contribution to the region. They bring a culture of their own; a culture they are forbidden to abandon. If you understand Islam, what we have seen makes perfect sense.
Thank you guys so much for taking the time. If you found this information valuable, let me know. If enough people are interested in this kind of stuff, there's ton of important topics about all aspects of the world that I'm interested in sharing.
-Brian A. Nichols