Below is a list of issues that differentiate moderate Muslims from Islamic radicals. Hopefully you can help us grow this list.
| Issue | Radical | Moderate |
| Anti-Semitism | Yes | No |
| Caliphate | Pro | Against |
| Criticism of Islam | No | Yes |
| Deceiving non-Muslims | Yes | No |
| Democracy | Against | Pro |
| Dhimmitude for non-Muslims | Pro | Against |
| Every deed (and word) of Prophet Muhammad (according to Ahadith) was noble and is worthy of emulation | Yes | No |
| Freedom of (from) Religion | Against | Pro |
| Gender equality | Against | Pro |
| Gihad | Pro | Against |
| Government | Religious | Secular |
| Islamic reformation | Against | Pro |
| Islamic supremacy | Pro | Against |
| Israel | Against | Pro / Neutral |
| Koran over Constitution | Yes | No |
| Reaction to criticism of Islam or Prophet Muhammad | Anger / Violence | Reason / No reaction |
| Religious equality | Against | Pro |
| Sharia | Pro | Against |
| Terrorism | Pro / Neutral | Against |
| Theocracy | Pro | Against |
| Universal Human Rights | Against | Pro |
| Use of terms such as "Islamic terrorism" or "Islamofascism" | Object | Accept |
| Whitewashing terrorism | Yes | No |
Poll: Who Is a Moderate Muslim?
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Posts
45 comments:
So why is there nothing from so-called moderate muslim groups like CAIR CONDEMNING the muslim father who murdered his teenage daughters simply for being pro-western? How come the moderates are not joining the fight against the jihadists? Why do moderates remain silent and harbor terrorists, like they are doing in the UK and Europe?
Son Of Jor-El,
You must be really ignorant to believe that a Hamas front CAIR is a moderate organization.
"How come the moderates are not joining the fight against the jihadists?"
Mainly for two reasons:
1. Fear
2. The West embraces radicals and ignores moderates.
"Why do moderates ... harbor terrorists ...?"
Muslims who harbor terrorists are NOT moderates.
I have a couple of very provocative and challenging additions to your list.
I will offer them without explanation, and see how you digest it.
After your response, perhaps you will have problems with it, and we can discuss further:
1) Mohammed was a good man for individuals and societies to emulate:
Radical: Yes
Moderate: No (He had lots of "dysfunctions" lol!).
2) Muslims should have a system of military "self-defense":
Radical: Yes
Moderate: No.
What do you think?
Erich,
We added the first suggestion (re-phrased). Second (at least the way you phrased it) doesn't make any sense. Everybody should be able to have military, both Muslims and non-Muslims.
muslims against sharia,
"We added the first suggestion (re-phrased)."
Thanks. I only have one suggestion:
Your re-phrased addition reads:
"Every deed of Prophet Muhammad (according to Ahadith)
was noble and is worthy of emulation"
That's a good starting point; however, I have a couple of problems with it:
1) I suggest you also add "sayings" of Prophet Muhammad in addition to "deeds", since the Sunna is based upon "sunna qawliyya" (the sunna of sayings) as well as "sunna fi’liyya " (sunna of deeds) (in addition to the "sunna taqririyya" -- the sunna of silences: i.e., what Mohammed did NOT say or do)).
2) More blatantly, your addition doesn't specify WHICH deeds are good to emulate, which are bad; and why. I'm sure you believe the good ones are ones which comport with modern Western values. However, millions of Muslims would resent having to fit Muhammad into a modern Western box in order to "sanitize" him; so I am not optimistic about the effectiveness and broad appeal of such revisionist reconstruction of Muhammad.
"Second (at least the way you phrased it) doesn't make any sense. Everybody should be able to have military, both Muslims and non-Muslims."
I know that saying that Muslims should give up the notion of "self-defense" sounds counter-intuitive. However, what I mean is that Muslims need to give up their TRADITIONAL notion of SPECIAL self-defense that is formulated to allow, too easily (as history and current news shows), for the substitution of genuine self-defense for offensive military, guerilla-style, and vigilante violence.
Allow me to explain what I mean:
There is a large problem in Islam (Koran, Sunna and Islamic history) of the notion of the supposedly righteous deployment of violence for "self-defense", and the directly related secondary problem in Islam of the murky fungibility of the notion of "self-defense" on the one hand, with the idea -- robustly supported in Islamic texts, traditions and history -- of militarily (or guerilla-style) offensive expansionism as the supremacist birth-right of domination over the Earth granted by Allah to Islam and its representatives. The thin line between "defense" and "offense" can be seen, for example, in Ibn Kathir's tafsir of the Koran where he explains that when non-Muslims are successfully promulgating Shirk (anything resembling "polytheism" which includes ignoring Allah's Commandments) and Fitna ("disorder in the land" which can be broadly interpreted to mean anything un-Islamic), those non-Muslims are in effect OFFENDING Islam and must be fought against -- logically in "defense" of Islam.
Thus the linchpin here is the notion of "self-defense": it has to be extracted from its roots out of Islam. The question then appropriately re-worded becomes:
Does the Muslim in question support or condone violence even in the name of "self-defense" of Islam? [Correct answer: No]
AND...is the Muslim in question willing to leave all corporal "self-defense" of Islam up to secular authorities -- police and armies of their respective secular nations -- who will protect Muslims no less, and no more (and only after due process under a system of secularist equal rights), than they protect any other groups or individuals who feel their rights, persons or property are being threatened?" [Correct answer: Yes.]
Bottom Line: Muslims have to RE-LOCATE the idea of "self-defense" to a secular context outside of Islam, as all other groups have done in the modern world. Christians (and other religious groups) don't go around in the modern world "defending" Christianity with arms: they leave it up to secular authorities, because they have participated in the secularization of the modern state where protection and defense is already assured. The very rare exceptions -- like the David Koresh cult in Texas -- are usually PUNISHED by the secular state, because we recognize that this is bad for public order.
Hello Muslims Against Sharia,aka MASH! Thanks for stopping by my blog Kafir Warrior and leaving the comment that led me to this post. Your list of radical vs. moderate Muslims was interesting, but I have a question.
The book "Secrets of the Koran" talks about "pseudoIslam", which the author defined as anything claiming to be Islam but isn't based on the Koran.My question to MASH is this: how much of moderate Islam is really pseudoIslam?
I ask this question because it's crucial to knowing if the problem we face is a misinterpretation of Islam, or Islam itself. If it's the former then we have hope for peaceful coexistence between Islam and the West. If, however, it's the latter then the only solution is war, hot and cold, until Islam is no more.
And if the problem is Islam itself then moderate Muslims have no credibility as they are practicing both spiritual and intellectual dishonesty. If, for example, the Koran really does command Sharia law then anyone claiming to be Muslim while rejecting Sharia is a religious fake. How can you be a Muslim and oppose a direct command of Islam's holy book? It would be like saying you're a Christian while rejecting the doctrine of the Resurrection. And no real Christian is going to listen to a moderate "Christian" who rejects the heart and soul of the faith.
That's why it's crucial that we understand just what the problem is, Islam or a misinterpretation of it. If the Koran commands Sharia law, Islamic world supremacy, dhimmitude of non-Muslims, and violent jihad to bring it all about then the radicals are the true Muslims and the moderates are heretics.
Perhaps, MASH, you should tell us non-Muslims what the Koran really teaches before you ask us to put our trust in moderate Islam. Because if moderate Islam is a heresy then we "infidels" need to dispense with the false hope of detente with Islam and steel ourselves to fighting for our survival.
Erich,
“I suggest you also add "sayings"”
Word “deeds” serves the purpose. Our readers a fairly intelligent and they don’t need to be explained every nuance.
“More blatantly, your addition doesn't specify WHICH deeds are good to emulate, which are bad”
Word “every” is all-inclusive.
“However, millions of Muslims would resent having to fit Muhammad into a modern Western box in order to "sanitize" him”
Yes, but we are not trying to "sanitize" him. We are trying to look at Prophet Muhammad in historical context.
“I know that saying that Muslims should give up the notion of "self-defense" sounds counter-intuitive. However, what I mean is that Muslims need to give up their TRADITIONAL notion of SPECIAL self-defense that is formulated to allow, too easily (as history and current news shows), for the substitution of genuine self-defense for offensive military, guerilla-style, and vigilante violence.”
I believe that is addressed by “terrorism.” The notion of self-defense against anything that is offensive to Islam is covered under “Islamic supremacy.”
PoorGrrl,
“how much of moderate Islam is really pseudoIslam?”
Islam is moderate. You need to understand the difference between Islam, a religion, and Islamism, a political ideology. What radical Muslims practice is not Islam. The religion is a private relationship between a human and God. Political ideology (Islamism) is based on Islam, but it is not Islam. Try to read our manifesto. Hopefully it will answer your question more completely.
Muslims Against Sharia,
"I believe that is addressed by “terrorism.” The notion of self-defense against anything that is offensive to Islam is covered under “Islamic supremacy.”"
Thanks for responding to my long-winded post.
Your quote I pasted above, I'm afraid, is not satisfactory. Muslims qua Muslims (and Islam qua Islam) do not need SPECIAL self-defense. They only require the SAME defenses that all other individuals and groups have the right, under law, to receive in the world living under secular democratic states: defense & protection from the secular state's police and army. That's it. There is no need for a special Islamic self-defense force, in any way shape or form, in the world. The idea that there IS such a need is a way of retaining the fusion of Religion and State that in our time today, only Islam practices -- since the institutional organs of Police and Army are not part of Religion in the modern conception.
And if you continue to think there is such a need for special Islamic self-defense, then I am afraid you have not entirely cleared yourself of being part of the problem of Islam. For, as long as there remains that little loophole -- "Muslims need to physically defend themselves in Islamic terms" -- all manner of atrocities and injustices can sneak in the back door.
Your concept of "special Islamic self-defense" requires much explanation; we try to target general audience and not bore it with lengthy explanations.
"Your concept of "special Islamic self-defense" requires much explanation; we try to target general audience and not bore it with lengthy explanations."
Well, it is "my" concept in the sense that I am noticing it and articulating it. But it is definitely not "mine" but a concept that too many Muslims now, and throughout history, fervently support. Muslims created that concept.
If you require a brief catch-phrase, consider "Religious Self-Defense".
If a person doesn't know that all Religions of the world today (except Islam) do NOT continue to put forth a concept of religious self-defense (but instead leave the defense of their religion and religious members up to the secular authorities of Police and Army whenever they need them), then that person isn't worth educating.
Furthermore, I think many of the items on your list would require further elucidation anyway. Many people will look at certain items on your list and say, "Wait a second, what exactly does that mean?" etc. I suggest there should be a separate section where each item on your list has a one-paragraph explanation.
May I humbly suggest your attempts at proving or disproving whether moderates are as equal a threat as the jihadists... is all to complicated:
ALL so called moderates MUST denounce the jihadists worldwide.. nothing less will do.
end.
The Muslim uprising is the most terrible thing that has happened this century and I hope all muslims go to hell with there virgins
see: plain and simple
Ian: "I hope all muslims go to hell"
The point of view of a genocidal maniac is always refreshing.
My comment rates among the very light hearted next to the bloodletting kill ALL none muslim cries of your fellow muslims..
Ian,
You don't have to explain yourself. We usually ignore harmless idiots unless we can make fun of their stupidity.
[“I suggest you also add "sayings"”: Erich
Word “deeds” serves the purpose. Our readers a fairly intelligent and they don’t need to be explained every nuance. : MAS]
Muslims against Shariah
While Erich can tend to unduly complicate things by applying his fine tooth comb, he did explain why the term 'sayings' too is necessary - the underpinnings of the Sunna being based upon "sunna qawliyya" (the sunna of sayings) as well as "sunna fi’liyya " (sunna of deeds) (in addition to the "sunna taqririyya" -- the sunna of silences: i.e., what Mohammed did NOT say or do)).
Given that your target audience is Muslims, including presumably Muslims who may be on the fence between Jihad and moderation, you would do well to explain to them - using traditional Islamic terminology - why every deed and saying of Mohammed is not worth emulating. If your target audience is what I mention, there should be no such wiggle room, their intelligence notwithstanding.
OK. Is this better?
Every deed (and word) of Prophet Muhammad (according
to Ahadith) was noble and is worthy of emulation
Yep!
umm, I hate to point out problems, but your definition of moderate Muslims DOES most definately contradict the Qur'an. In your own manifesto you state that there are many sections and passages of the Qur'an which are out-dated and bigoted. But they ARE a part of the Qur'an and to deny the Qur'an is heresy.
Christianity went through the same thing, and technically ANY protestant faith is heresy, as is the Church of England for allowing women and homosexuals to be ordained - most definately NOT allowed by scripture. Therefore modern Christianity is more like a modern humanism with some totems from the old religion tacked on to make people feel comfortable and to make it seem like it has the authority of god (if you want to believe in one, which I personally don't).
The problem is that religions of the Book cannot change their book, or update it as more accurate information becomes available. Joshua of Nazzareth (a.k.a. Jesus) got nailed to a tree for contradicting the Pharisee's version of their Book. Giordano Bruni got burned at the stake for contradicting the Roman Cathlolic Church (as did thousands of others).
There is no susch thing as a moderate religion. Religions (esp Islam) tell people how to live at a VERY basic level - in effect how to live their whole lives. They are a mthought virus complete with self-propagation elements ('Kill all Unbelievers!' being a favourite not just of Islam but of recent Christianity and early Judaism). Religions have ceased to be completely relevant in terms of states, they are only applicable to an individual, whom I agree I entitled to believe and act however they like provided they force no-one else to do anything. However, none of the religions of the Book are content to leave it at that and insist that in order to be a true believer one must control how others act.
Sorry if its a bit long winded, but your manifesto is technically heretical. If a way cannot be found to hold the ideals you so obviously do without contradicting the Qur'an then the path of moderacy may not be taken by a great many True Believers (i.e. fanatics) and war between religious and secular authorities may continue until one or the other is reduced to radioactive dust(or worse).
Who in God's name gave YOU the authority to define who is a moderate Muslim and who is not?
Who? How about common sense, of which, you apparently have none?
These people, Muslims Against Sharia, are no muslims but zionist agents provocateurs.
Cochise,
We sincerely apologize for not conforming to your Nazi stereotype of what Muslims should be. Effective immediately, we are starting to murder infidels and defend terrorism in order to combat our "zionist agents provocateur" image.
Great job what yall are doing. 2
questions are there other groups likes you and how many do you number.
Thank you.
1. Yes, look at the right side of http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/ under "ANTI-FASCISTS of ISLAM".
2. Not nearly enough
Just saw your poll question. I know this is not a scientific poll, and the sample is small, but it is still disconcerting to see that of the responses by Muslims, a greater number believe that "Islamic terrorism is a Zionist myth" than those who believe that Islamic fundamentalists are responsible for most terrorist attacks.
Nevertheless, I wish you well in your efforts to reform Islam.
"it is still disconcerting to see that of the responses by Muslims, a greater number believe that "Islamic terrorism is a Zionist myth" than those who believe that Islamic fundamentalists are responsible for most terrorist attacks."
How do you think we feel?! :(
In one comment : "I hope all muslims go to hell with there virgins"
In another comment : "zionist agents provocateurs"
Sometimes when I dream to a perfect world, I see these two commenters together in a scealled box, leaving the rest of mankind in peace...
Anyway, keep on the good work. Even though we don't know if reason will win some day, it's always worth trying.
If I understand your motives, you want to change the core of a religion to make it more into accordance with the present society. Then, I am a little bit puzzled: you pretend you can change change God's words as they are understood by the vast majority of Muslims. The logic, followed by that vast majority, is not to put the society in accordance to God's guidance ? I thought so.
I understand that people bathing in a brain-washing culture since their birth and still able to think by themselves are in a very uncomfortable position. Though the only honest answer to this dilemma is to throw away centuries-old sayings to embrace mental freedom. Not trying to reform something that is unreformable by essence.
"If I understand your motives"
You don't seem to.
what a .... , the news is, whiche is known since bigining of our profet's (peace upon him) message, sharia is no more than the orders of allah sobhanaho wa taala and the profet peace ba upon him whiche comstitute the law that evry beliver must behave according to.
claiming to be a muslim and against the sharia is the bigest of contradictions. muslim means "Surrendered" to surender to allah's will who is all wise.. have no doubt that you are not muslim. how can you be while trying to change you creator's words and orders.. the profet peace be upon him said: anyone who does anything that is not in our order is unexeptable.. and said: the most thing I fear for this Umma is that they prefer their opinions to what they know and to be missguided while not knowing. I have no hope that any of this words will be taken positively by any of you because allh sobhanaho wa taala says what means: "do you want to guide whome allah had missguided" IMPOSSIBLE!!. be sure that this religion that does not please you is to dominate. not with bin laden and his idiot followers who are "khawarije" the dogs of hell.. but with knowledge and his pepole.
>"If I understand your motives"
>
>You don't seem to.
Ok, after I read a number of pages of your blog, I thought I did. So, in one sentence, how would you describe your motives ?
Education
Would Moderate Muslims accept people who wish to convert to Reform Islam?
Anyone can convert to Islam (http://islam.about.com/c/ht/00/07/How_Convert_Islam0962933372.htm). A convert should be accepted by all Muslims.
Erich
Please unclinch! MAS are putting everything in the right light and are even taking suggestions from you (someone they don't personally know). I think think you are suffering some PSTD (seriously, I not kidding). No amount of rewording will ever make you safer, so try to relax and join the fight against sharia and radical Islamists with MAS.
Aish
this is by far the worst blog i have ever read. interesting though. so, education? WOW! didnt see that one coming. and moderate muslims? that is refreshing too!!!
Good effort. I hope this voice of moderation and your efforts to reform the book succeeds.I think, it is better to reform and present a benign version keeping with the times; your efforts sure are in the right direction. How about some suggestions:
Each and every word of Koran (in its present form) is the unadulterated word of God --- yes/no
I think if this basic question is answered no, it means that you can accept the rest as good guiding principles for life and reject/ignore those teachings that are not keeping with the times.
I wish you good luck. May the moderate and liberal voices of all religions and ideologies succeed in making the world a better place to live in!
Good effort. I hope this voice of moderation and your efforts to reform the book succeeds.I think, it is better to reform and present a benign version keeping with the times; your efforts sure are in the right direction. How about some suggestions:
Each and every word of Koran (in its present form) is the unadulterated word of God --- yes/no
I think if this basic question is answered no, it means that you can accept the rest as good guiding principles for life and reject/ignore those teachings that are not keeping with the times.
praveen
"Each and every word of Koran (in its present form) is the unadulterated word of God --- yes/no"
You have to be a reform-minded, not just moderate, Muslim to say answer "yes." There are some moderate Muslims who chose to ignore Koranic discrepancies, rather than admit that the Koran is NOT a literal word of God.
CORRECT DEFINITION OF A MODERATE MUSLIM
AL Aqidah ALTahawiyya
TAHAWI'S STATEMENT OF ISLAMIC DOCTRINE (AL-`AQIDA AL-TAHAWIYYA):
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate Praise be to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.
The great scholar Hujjat al-lslam Abu Ja'far al-Warraq al-Tahawi al-Misri, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is a presentation of the beliefs of Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a, according to the school of the jurists of this religion, Abu Hanifa al-Nu`man ibn Thabit al-Kufi, Abu Yusuf Ya`qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari and Abu `Abdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, may Allah be pleased with them all, and what they believe regarding the fundamentals of the religion and their faith in the Lord of the worlds.
We say about Allah's unity, believing by Allah's help that:
1. Allah is One, without any partners.
2. There is nothing like Him.
3. There is nothing that can overwhelm Him.
4. There is no god other than Him.
5. He is the Eternal without a beginning and enduring without end.
6. He will never perish or come to an end.
7. Nothing happens except what He wills.
8. No imagination can conceive of Him and no understanding can comprehend Him.
9. He is different from any created being.
10. He is living and never dies and is eternally active and never sleeps.
11. He creates without His being in need to do so and provides for His creation without any effort.
12. He causes death with no fear and restores to life without difficulty.
13. He has always existed together with His attributes since before creation. Bringing creation into existence did not add anything to His attributes that was not already there. As He was, together with His attributes, in pre-eternity, so He will remain throughout endless time.
14. It was not only after the act of creation that He could be described as "the Creator" nor was it only by the act of origination that He could he described as "the Originator."
15. He was always the Lord even when there was nothing to be Lord of, and always the Creator even when there was no creation.
16. In the same way that He is the "Bringer to life of the dead," after He has brought them to life a first time, and deserves this name before bringing them to life, so too He deserves the name of "Creator" before He has created them.
17. This is because He has the power to do everything, everything is dependent on Him, everything is easy for Him, and He does not need anything. "There is nothing like Him and He is the Hearer, the Seer." (al-Shura 42:11)
18. He created creation with His knowledge.
19. He appointed destinies for those He created.
20. He allotted to them fixed life spans.
21. Nothing about them was hidden from Him before He created them, and He knew everything that they would do before He created them.
22. He ordered them to obey Him and forbade them to disobey Him.
23. Everything happens according to His degree and will, and His will is accomplished. The only will that people have is what He wills for them. What He wills for them occurs and what He does not will, does not occur.
24. He gives guidance to whomever He wills, and protects them, and keeps them safe from harm, out of His generosity; and He leads astray whomever He wills, and abases them, and afflicts them, out of His justice.
25. All of them are subject to His will either through His generosity or His justice.
26. He is Exalted beyond having opposites or equals.
27. No one can ward off His decree or delay His command or overpower His affairs.
28. We believe in all of this and are certain that everything comes from Him.
29. And we are certain that Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is His chosen Servant and elect Prophet and His Messenger with whom He is well pleased,
30. And that he is the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the godfearing and the most honored of all the messengers and the Beloved of the Lord of all the worlds.
31. Every claim to prophethood after Him is falsehood and deceit.
32. He is the one who has been sent to all the jinn and all mankind with truth and guidance and with light and illumination.
33. The Qur'an is the word of Allah. It came from Him as speech without it being possible to say how. He sent it down on His Messenger as revelation. The believers accept it, as absolute truth. They are certain that it is, in truth, the word of Allah. It is not created as is the speech of human beings, and anyone who hears it and claims that it is human speech has become an unbeliever. Allah warns him and censures him and threatens him with Fire when He says, Exalted is He: "I will burn him in the Fire." (al-Muddaththir 74:26) When Allah threatens with the Fire those who say "This is just human speech" (74:25) we know for certain that it is the speech of the Creator of mankind and that it is totally unlike the speech of mankind.
34. Anyone who describes Allah as being in any way the same as a human being has become an unbeliever. All those who grasp this will take heed and refrain from saying things such as the unbelievers say, and they will know that He, in His attributes, is not like human beings.
35. The Seeing of Allah by the People of the Garden is true, without their vision being all-encompassing and without the manner of their vision being known. As the Book of our Lord has expressed it: "Faces on that Day radiant, looking at their Lord." (al-Qiyama 75:22-3) The explanation of this is as Allah knows and wills. Everything that has come down to us about this from the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in authentic traditions, is as he said and means what he intended. We do not delve into that, trying to interpret it according to our own opinions or letting our imaginations have free rein.
No one is safe in his religion unless he surrenders himself completely to Allah, the Exalted and Glorified and to His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and leaves the knowledge of things that are ambiguous to the one who knows them.
36. A man's Islam is not secure unless it is based on submission and surrender. Anyone who desires to know things which it is beyond his capacity to know, and whose intellect is not content with surrender, will find that his desire veils him from a pure understanding of Allah's true unity, clear knowledge and correct belief, and that he veers between disbelief and belief, confirmation and denial and acceptance and rejection. He will he subject to whisperings and find himself confused and full of doubt, being neither an accepting believer nor a denying rejector.
37. Belief of a man in the seeing of Allah by the People of the Garden is not correct if he imagines what it is like or interprets it according to his own understanding, since the interpretation of this seeing or indeed, the meaning of any of the subtle phenomena which are in the realm of Lordship, is by avoiding its interpretation and strictly adhering to the submission.
This is the religion of Muslims. Anyone who does not guard himself against negating the attributes of Allah, or likening Allah to something else, has gone astray and has failed to understand Allah's glory, because our Lord, the Glorified and the Exalted, can only possibly be described in terms of oneness and absolute singularity and no creation is in any way like Him.
38. He is beyond having limits placed on Him, or being restricted, or having parts or limbs. Nor is He contained by the six directions as all created things are.
39. Al-Mi`raj (the Ascent through the heavens) is true. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was taken by night and ascended in his bodily form, while awake, through the heavens, to whatever heights Allah willed for him.
Allah ennobled him in the way that He ennobled him and revealed to him what He revealed to him, "and his heart was not mistaken about what it saw" (al-Najm 53:11). Allah blessed him and granted him peace in this world and the next.
40. Al-Hawd, the Pool which Allah has granted the Prophet as an honour to quench the thirst of his Community on the Day of Judgement, is true.
41. Al-Shafa`a, the intercession which is stored up for Muslims, is true, as related in the hadiths.
42. The covenant which Allah made with Adam and his offspring is true.
43. Allah knew, before the existence of time, the exact number of those who would enter the Garden and the exact number of those who would enter the Fire. This number will neither be increased nor decreased.
44. The same applies to all actions done by people, which are done exactly as Allah knew they would be done. Everyone is eased towards what he was created for and it is the action with which a man's life is sealed which dictates his fate. Those who are fortunate are fortunate by the decree of Allah, and those who are wretched are wretched by the decree of Allah.
45. The exact nature of the decree is Allah's secret in His creation, and no angel near the Throne, nor Prophet sent with a message, has been given knowledge of it. Delving into it and reflecting too much about it only leads to destruction and loss, and results in rebelliousness. So be extremely careful about thinking and reflecting on this matter or letting doubts about it assail you, because Allah has kept knowledge of the decree away from human beings, and forbidden them to enquire about it, saying in His Book, "He is not asked about what He does, but they are asked" (al-Anbiya' 21: 23).
Therefore, anyone who asks: "Why did Allah do that?" has gone against a judgement of the Book, and anyone who goes against a judgement of the Book is an unbeliever.
46. This in sum is what those of Allah's Friends with enlightened hearts need to know and constitutes the degree of those firmly endowed with knowledge. For there are two kinds of knowledge: knowledge which is accessible to created beings, and knowledge which is not accessible to created beings. Denying the knowledge which is accessible is disbelief, and claiming the knowledge which is inaccessible is disbelief. Belief can only be firm when accessible knowledge is accepted and the inaccessible is not sought after.
47. We believe in al-Lawh (the Tablet) and al-Qalam (the Pen) and in everything written on the former. Even if all created beings were to gather together to make something fail to exist, whose existence Allah had written on the Tablet, they would not be able to do so. And if all created beings were to gather together to make something exist which Allah had not written on it, they would not be able to do so. The Pen has dried having written down all that will be in existence until the Day of Judgement.Whatever a person has missed he would have never got, and whatever he gets he would have never missed.
48. It is necessary for the servant to know that Allah already knows everything that is going to happen in His creation and has decreed it in a detailed and decisive way. There is nothing that He has created in either the heavens or the earth that can contradict it, or add to it, or erase it, or change it, or decrease it, or increase it in any way. This is a fundamental aspect of belief and a necessary element of all knowledge and recognition of Allah's oneness and Lordship. As Allah says in His Book: "He created everything and decreed it in a detailed way." (al-Furqan 25: 2) And He also says: "Allah's command is always a decided decree." (al-Ahzab 33: 38) So woe to anyone who argues with Allah concerning the decree and who, with a sick heart, starts delving into this matter. In his deluded attempt to investigate the Unseen, he is seeking a secret that can never be uncovered, and he ends up an evil-doer, telling nothing but lies.
49. Al-`Arsh (the Throne) and al-Kursi (the Chair) are true.
50. He is independent of the Throne and that which is beneath it.
51. He encompasses all things and that which is above it, and what He has created is incapable of encompassing Him.
52. We say with belief, acceptance and submission that Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend and that He spoke directly to Musa.
53. We believe in the angels, and the Prophets, and the books which were revealed to the messengers, and we bear witness that they were all following the manifest Truth.
54. We call the people of our qibla Muslims and believers as long as they acknowledge what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought, and accept as true everything that he said and told us about.
55. We do not enter into vain talk about Allah nor do we allow any dispute about the religion of Allah.
56. We do not argue about the Qur'an and we bear witness that it is the speech of the Lord of all the Worlds which the Trustworthy Spirit came down with and taught the most honoured of all the Messengers, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is the speech of Allah and no speech of any created being is comparable to it. We do not say that it was created and we do not go against the Congregation (jama`a) of the Muslims regarding it.
57. We do not consider any of the people of our qibla to be unbelievers because of any wrong action they have done, as long as they do not consider that action to have been lawful.
58. Nor do we say that the wrong action of a man who has belief does not have a harmful effect on him.
59. We hope that Allah will pardon the people of right action among the believers and grant them entrance into the Garden through His mercy, but we cannot be certain of this, and we cannot bear witness that it will definitely happen and that they will be in the Garden. We ask forgiveness for the people of wrong action among the believers and, although we are afraid for them, we are not in despair about them.
60. Certainty and despair both remove one from the religion, but the path of truth for the People of the Qibla lies between the two.
61. A person does not step out or belief except by disavowing what brought him into it.
62. Belief consists of affirmation by the tongue and acceptance by the heart.
63. And the whole of what is proven from the Prophet, upon him be peace, regarding the Shari`a and the explanation (of the Qur'an and of Islam) is true.
64. Belief is, at base, the same for everyone, but the superiority of some over others in it is due to their fear and awareness of Allah, their opposition to their desires, and their choosing what is more pleasing to Allah.
65. All the believers are Friends of Allah and the noblest of them in the sight of Allah are those who are the most obedient and who most closely follow the Qur'an.
66. Belief consists of belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and belief that the Decree -- both the good of it and the evil of it, the sweet of it and the bitter or it -- is all from Allah.
67. We believe in all these things. We do not make any distinction between any of the messengers, we accept as true what all of them brought.
68. Those of the Community of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who have committed grave sins will be in the Fire, but not forever, provided they die and meet Allah as believers affirming His unity even if they have not repented. They are subject to His will and judgement.
If He wants, He will forgive them and pardon them out of His generosity, as is mentioned in the Qur'an when He says: "And He forgives anything less than that (shirk) to whomever He wills" (al-Nisa' 4: 116); if He wants, He will punish them in the Fire out of His justice, and then bring them out of the Fire through His mercy, and for the intercession of those who were obedient to Him, and send them to the Garden.
This is because Allah is the Protector of those who recognize Him and will not treat them in the hereafter in the same way as He treats those who deny Him, who are bereft of His guidance and have failed to obtain His protection. O Allah, You are the Protector of Islam and its people; make us firm in Islam until the day we meet You.
69. We agree with doing the prayer behind any of the People of the Qibla whether rightful or wrongful, and doing the funeral prayer over any of them when they die.
70. We do not say that any of them will categorically go to either the Garden or the Fire, and we do not accuse any of them of kufr (disbelief), shirk (associating partners with Allah), or nifaq (hypocrisy), as long as they have not openly demonstrated any of those things. We leave their secrets to Allah.
71. We do not agree with killing any of the Community of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, unless it is obligatory by Shari`a to do so.
72. We do not accept rebellion against our Imam or those in charge of our affairs even if they are unjust, nor do we wish evil on them, nor do we withdraw from following them. We hold that obedience to them is part of obedience to Allah, the Glorified, and therefore obligatory as long as they do not order to commit sins. We pray for their right guidance and ask for pardon for their wrongs.
73. We follow the Sunna of the Prophet and the Congregation of the Muslims, and avoid deviation, differences and divisions.
74. We love the people of justice and trustworthiness, and hate the people of injustice and treachery.
75. When our knowledge about something is unclear, we say: "Allah knows best."
76. We agree with wiping over leather socks (in ablution) whether on a journey or otherwise, just as has come in the hadiths.
77. Hajj and jihad under the leadership of those in charge of the Muslims, whether they are right or wrong-acting, are continuing obligations until the Last Hour comes. Nothing can annul or controvert them.
78. We believe in the the noble angels who write down our actions, for Allah has appointed them over us as two guardians.
79. We believe in the Angel of Death who is in charge of taking the spirits of all the worlds.
80. We believe in the punishment in the grave for those who deserve it, and in the questioning in the grave by Munkar and Nakir about one's Lord, one's religion and one's prophet, as has come down in the hadiths from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and in reports from the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all.
81. The grave is either one of the meadows of the Garden or one of the pits of the Fire.
82. We believe in being brought back to life after death and in being recompensed for our actions on the Day of Judgement, and the exhibition of works, and the reckoning, and the reading of the book, and the reward or punishments, and the Bridge, and the Balance.
83. The Garden and the Fire are created things that never come to an end and we believe that Allah created them before the rest of creation and then created people to inhabit each of them. Whoever He wills goes to the Garden out of His bounty and whoever He wills goes to the Fire through His justice. Everybody acts in accordance with what is destined for him and goes towards what he has been created for.
84. Good and evil have both been decreed for people.
85. The capability in terms of divine grace and favor which makes an action certain to occur cannot be ascribed to a created being. This capability is integral with action, whereas the capability of an action in terms of having the necessary health and ability, being in a position to act, and having the necessary means, exists in a person before the action. It is this type of capability which is the object of the dictates of the Shari`a. Allah the Exalted says: "Allah does not charge a person except according to his ability." (al-Baqara 2: 286)
86. People's actions are created by Allah but earned by people .
87. Allah, the Exalted, has only charged people with what they are able to do and people are only capable of doing what Allah has granted them to do. This is the explanation of the phrase: "There is no power and no strength except by Allah." We add to this that there is no stratagem or way by which anyone can avoid or escape disobedience to Allah except with Allah's help; nor does anyone have the strength to put obedience to Allah into practice and remain firm in it, except if Allah makes it possible for him to do so.
88. Everything happens according to Allah's will, knowledge, predestination and decree. His will overpowers all other wills and His decree overpowers all stratagems. He does whatever He wills and He is never unjust. He is exalted in His purity above any evil or perdition and He is perfect far beyond any fault or flaw. "He will not be asked about what He does, but they will be asked." (al-Anbiya' 21: 23)
89. There is benefit for dead people in the supplication and alms-giving of the living.
90. Allah responds to people's supplications and gives them what they ask for.
91. Allah has absolute control over everything and nothing has any control over Him. Nothing can be independent of Allah even for the blinking of an eye, and whoever considers himself independent of Allah for the blinking of an eye is guilty of unbelief and becomes one of the people of perdition.
92. Allah is angered and He is pleased but not in the same way as any creature.
93. We love the Companions of the Messenger of Allah but we do not go to excess in our love for any one individual among them; nor do we disown any one of them. We hate anyone who hates them or does not speak well of them and we only speak well of them. Love of them is a part of Islam, part of belief and part of excellent behavior, while hatred of them is unbelief, hypocrisy and rebellion.
94. We confirm that, after the death of Allah's Messenger, peace be upon him, the caliphate went first to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, thus proving his excellence and superiority over the rest of the Muslims; then to `Umar ibn al-Khattab; then to `Uthman; and then to `Ali ibn Abi Talib; may Allah be well pleased with all of them. These are the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and upright leaders.
95. We bear witness that the ten who were named by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and who were promised the Garden by him, will be in the Garden, as the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, whose word is truth, bore witness that they would be. The ten are: Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman, `Ali, Talha, Zubayr, Sa`d, Sa`id, `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Awf, and Abu `Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah whose title was the Trustee of this Community, may Allah be pleased with all of them.
96. Anyone who speaks well of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his wives and offspring, who are all pure and untainted by any impurity, is free from the accusation of hypocrisy.
97. The learned men of the Predecessors, both the first community and those who immediately followed: the people of virtue, the narrators of hadith, the jurists, and the analysts-- they must only be spoken of in the best way, and anyone who says anything bad about them is not on the right path.
98. We do not prefer any of the saintly men among the Community over any of the Prophets but rather we say that any one of the Prophets is better than all the awliya' put together.
99. We believe in what we know of the karamat or marvels of the awliya' and in the authentic stories about them from trustworthy sources.
100. We believe in the signs of the Hour such as the appearance of the Antichrist (dajjal) and the descent of `Isa ibn Maryam, peace be upon him, from heaven, and we believe in the rising of the sun from where it sets and in the emergence of the Beast from the earth.
101. We do not accept as true what soothsayers and fortune-tellers say, nor do we accept the claims of those who affirm anything which goes against the Book, the Sunna, and the consensus of the Muslim Community (umma).
102. We agree that holding together is the true and right path and that separation is deviation and torment.
103. There is only one religion of Allah in the heavens and the earth and that is the religion of Islam ("submission"). Allah says: "Surely religion in the sight of Allah is Islam." (Al `Imran 3: 19) And He also says: "I am pleased with Islam as a religion for you." (al-Ma'ida 5: 3)
104. Islam lies between going to excess and falling short, between the likening of Allah's attributes to creation (tashbih) and divesting Allah of attributes (ta`til), between determinism and freewill, and between sureness and despair.
105. This is our religion and it is what we believe in, both inwardly and outwardly, and we renounce any connection, before Allah, with anyone who goes against what we have said and made clear.
We ask Allah to make us firm in our belief and seal our lives with it and to protect us from variant ideas, scattering opinions and evil schools of view such as those of the Mushabbiha, the Mu`tazila, the Jahmiyya, the Jabriyya, the Qadariyya, and others like them who go against the Sunna and Jama`a and have allied themselves with error. We renounce any connection with them and in our opinion they are in error and on the path of destruction. We ask Allah to protect us from all falsehood and we ask His Grace and Favour to do all good.
"What does be a muslim moderate mean?"
[R = Radicals; M = Moderate]
Allah is God and Arabic God's language: R yes, M no
Allah is God in Arabic, God is God in English, Gott is God in German, Dieu is God in French, ...: R no, M yes
Killing apostates is good: R yes, M no
Religion is Spirituality too, and it exists just since 610 A.C.: R yes, M no
Religion is Spirituality, and Spirituality exists since the beginning of the World: R no, M yes
The original Adam was a male, and Eve came from him: R yes, M no
The original Adam was an androgyne, it got splittet into the male principle (Adam) and the female principle (Eve): R no, M yes
If Allah AlHaq, then is "taqyyah" [to lie] forbidden: R no, M yes
AlHaq is more important than "taqyyah": R no/same, M yes
The relation between Mohammad and Aysha was an act of pederasty: R no/who cares?, M yes
Aysha could become the [Sunni] "mother of believers" even without having sex at 9 with a 53 old Mohammad: R no, M yes (definitly)
Isa of Quran is not Jesus of New Testament: R no, M yes/can be s (most probably)
Quran's Sourah [Chapters] are inspired by the Bible: R no (Quran is original job/revelation), M yes/it really seems to be so (quite obviously)
[and so on]
[and so on]
this must be one big joke. The prophet (saw) was the best example of a moderate muslim and he fought 29 battles. We are being defeated in Palestine because we have lost our deen (Jihad) we r trying everthing except the way of Islam -running to the kufar, engaged in politics, asking help from nato, etc but we r not following the way Allah has ascribed to us. Look at the father of Israel - America they have already been defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan because the muslims over there have stuck to their deen and Allah has given them victory.
oh yeah btw to all the apostates who claim they are muslim - if u think man made law is superior to Allah's law (the creator) you are a kafir.
Hey all!
Rationally your views dont hold any strength to a muslim, since you are removing the core points of being a muslim.
PoorGrrl asked an important question, if the issue is within Islam or just the interpretation of the Quran.
Here is an except of Surah al-Baqqarah.
"Wa man lam yahkum bima unzila Allahu fa ulaika hum Al-Kaffiroun"
And those who does not rule with what Allah has decreed, they are the disbelievers (infidels).
And one could go on with a thousand more excerpts showing that people who renounce Allahs rulings and orders can no longer be labelled muslims.
That being said, a fundamental barrier is already blocking co-existence between Democrasy and Islam, since in Islam sovereignty is to Allah alone and in democrasy its to man alone.
How can such systems co-exist when they are fundamentally different?
What goes for Islamic concepts, its interesting to see how attacks are being made to the islamic Jihad (physical fighting) from the Western medias, politicians and philosophers, of course, they wish that muslims had an understanding of peace in terms of Jihad - so that the colonialist countries can continue to wage war, plunder their ressources and occupy their lands without facing any resistance.
Jihad is what gives these colonialists countries trouble when they occupy and enter muslim lands and that is probably why we see so much focus on the understanding of Jihad.
It is funny, in a scaring way, how the west promoted the idea of Jihad-ul-nafs (inner struggle with yourself instead of physical fighting) based on 1, ONE, fabricated hadith - when in fact there are 119 Quranic verses talking about the latter form of Jihad - and here I havent mentioned the amount of hadith in the Quran on the subject of Jihad-ul-Qital (physical fight).
Now, it is of no surprise how a "group" (or individual) like you is gaining support from the western part of the world. But let it be said, that the muslim Ummahs opinions are steering fastly towards the love of jihad and the islamic caliphate.
Dont take my words, look at University of Marylands study on the middleast. It showed that 70% of inhabitants in the islamic nations desired to be united into one caliphate.
As a student of Hizb ut-Tahrir, I am smiling :)
Thank you, Ammar. You show a great example of what is NOT a moderate Muslim and prove our point of why Islamonazism must be defeated.
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