By Tawfik Hamid
President Barack Obama issued a special Ramadan message to the Muslim world. The president emphasized the importance of what the United States and the Muslim world hold in common. This is a great approach and concept to bridge the gap between civilizations ONLY if the areas of difference are not destructive. For example, emphasizing common values between the free world and the Nazi regime, such as the building of a strong economy, would not have bridged the gap between the two systems unless the latter had denounced its barbaric and anti-Semitic values.
The same principle applies to the current friction between the West and Muslim worlds. The problems that currently exist are not because of the common values but rather because of the difference in their values that pose a threat to human civilization. Those who criticized Islam after Sept. 11 did not do so because Islam promotes charity, fasting, and praying. The criticism was mainly about specific violent teachings in mainstream Islamic theology and the deafening silence of the Muslim world and its religious scholars against such teachings. These values that totally contradict the principles of freedom and liberty of mankind include:
• Declaring wars on non-Muslims to spread Islam
• Killing Muslims who convert to other faiths (Redda Law)
• Stoning women until death for having extramarital sexual relations
• Permitting the beating of women to discipline them
• Allowing polygamy, pedophilia, slavery, and gay killing
Read more ...
President Barack Obama issued a special Ramadan message to the Muslim world. The president emphasized the importance of what the United States and the Muslim world hold in common. This is a great approach and concept to bridge the gap between civilizations ONLY if the areas of difference are not destructive. For example, emphasizing common values between the free world and the Nazi regime, such as the building of a strong economy, would not have bridged the gap between the two systems unless the latter had denounced its barbaric and anti-Semitic values.
The same principle applies to the current friction between the West and Muslim worlds. The problems that currently exist are not because of the common values but rather because of the difference in their values that pose a threat to human civilization. Those who criticized Islam after Sept. 11 did not do so because Islam promotes charity, fasting, and praying. The criticism was mainly about specific violent teachings in mainstream Islamic theology and the deafening silence of the Muslim world and its religious scholars against such teachings. These values that totally contradict the principles of freedom and liberty of mankind include:
• Declaring wars on non-Muslims to spread Islam
• Killing Muslims who convert to other faiths (Redda Law)
• Stoning women until death for having extramarital sexual relations
• Permitting the beating of women to discipline them
• Allowing polygamy, pedophilia, slavery, and gay killing
Read more ...
Source: NewsMax
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