Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 5, “The Table,” verses 1-60

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 5, “The Table,” verses 1-60:

"Verses 27-34 retell the story of Cain and Abel, culminating in one of the most oft-quoted verses of the Qur’an, the one that President Bush refers to most frequently: v. 32, which contains the admonition that some who kills a human being, “unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” Sa‘id bin Jubayr explains 5:32 this way: “He who allows himself to shed the blood of a Muslim, is like he who allows shedding the blood of all people. He who forbids shedding the blood of one Muslim, is like he who forbids shedding the blood of all people.”
Never mentioned by the President or any of the others who quote this verse as if it condemns Islamic jihadist violence are several important facts: it comes within the context of a warning to the Jews, and is not presented as a universal principle; it contains the important exception “unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land,” and it is followed by v. 33, which specifies the punishment for that mischief: “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.”
Thus this passage is explaining what must be done with Jews who reject Muhammad, not dictating lofty moral principles. Ibn Warraq sums it up: “The supposedly noble sentiments are in fact a warning to Jews. ‘Behave, or else’ is the message. Far from abjuring violence, these verses aggressively point out that anyone opposing the Prophet will be killed, crucified, mutilated, and banished!” "

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 4, “Women,” verses 104-176

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 4, “Women,” verses 104-176

The Jews boast that they killed Jesus, but “they slew him not nor crucified him,
but it appeared so unto them” (v. 157). Ibn Kathir explains: “When Allah sent
‘Isa [Jesus] with proofs and guidance, the Jews, may Allah’s curses, anger,
torment and punishment be upon them, envied him because of his prophethood and
obvious miracles…” They stirred up “the king of Damascus at that time, a Greek
polytheist who worshipped the stars” to order his deputy in Jerusalem to arrest
Jesus. Jesus, perceiving this, asked those with him, “Who volunteers to be made
to look like me, for which he will be my companion in Paradise?” A young man
volunteered, whereupon “Allah made the young man look exactly like ‘Isa, while a
hole opened in the roof of the house, and ‘Isa was made to sleep and ascended to
heaven while asleep.” Then “those surrounding the house saw the man who looked
like ‘Isa, they thought that he was ‘Isa. So they took him at night, crucified
him and placed a crown of thorns on his head. The Jews then boasted that they
killed ‘Isa and some Christians accepted their false claim, due to their
ignorance and lack of reason.” Other sources offer other theories: Wahb bin
Munabbah, Qatadah, and Mujahid say that Jesus was with seventy of his disciples
when the guards came to arrest him, and all seventy were made to look just like
Jesus; one stepped forward and was crucified. The Ruhul Ma’ani identifies the
one who was made to look like Jesus and crucified as the one who betrayed him
for thirty dirhams — Judas. Allama Baghawi says it was a sentry who was guarding
Jesus after his arrest.
The assertion that “there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death” has been taken to mean that Jesus will return to earth – and when he does, according to Muhammad, he will “break the Cross and kill the pig and abolish the Jizya (a tax taken from the non-Muslims, who are in the protection, of the Muslim government).” That is, he will abolish the subservient dhimmi status of the non-Muslims, and Islamize the
world: “During his time, Allah will destroy all religions except Islam and Allah
will destroy Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal (the False Messiah).”

There are a few things in this that caught my interest. One is that they don't believe that Jesus was killed on the cross. That god was able to put a decoy in his place, and that person was killed on the cross. If you believe in god, like the Christians and the Muslims do, there is nothing that would put this above gods power. If he can bring Jesus back from the dead, he can make another person look like Jesus to trick those who would kill him.

The second is that the end of days for Muslims sounds a whole lot like the end of days for Christians. Jesus comes back, check. Establish his reign on earth, check. The only religion that will remain will be their religion - of course Christians say it will be Christianity and Muslims say Islam.

There is a lot of interesting content in this one, click the link to read more.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 4, “Women,” verses 35-104

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 4, “Women,” verses 35-104:

"Then v. 43 tells believers not to come to prayers while drunk. Ibn Abi Hatim
says this was revealed because one of the Muslims began to recite sura 109:1-3:
“Say: O disbelievers! I do not worship that which you worship; nor do you
worship that which I worship.” But the leader of prayer was drunk, and so he
said: “Say, O disbelievers! I do not worship that which you worship, but we
worship that which you worship.” 4:43 was revealed shortly thereafter. It was
the first stage of the three-stage Qur’anic prohibition of alcohol. First Allah
commanded the Muslims not to pray while drunk in this passage; then he told them
that alcohol was a “great sin, and some profit, for men” (2:219); and finally
there came the revelation that alcohol was “Satan’s handiwork” (5:90), and thus
to be shunned altogether. The last of these verses is considered to have
abrogated the other two. Muhammad himself became quite stern about drunkenness,
saying that drunks should be given three chances and then executed: “If he is
intoxicated, flog him; again if he is intoxicated, flog him; again if he is
intoxicated, flog him; if he does it again a fourth time, kill him.” "

Can you imagine if we enforced this in the west, how many stars would have been killed? Lindsay would be on her last chance, looking at death if she got drunk again. One of the things that I respect about Islam is its approach to alcohol - no I don't think drinkers should be killed. Alcohol is a dangerous social ill, and Islam may be one of the first laws the saw that danger.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 4, “Women,” verses 17-34

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 4, “Women,” verses 17-34:

"Wife-beating exists in all cultures, but only in Islam does it enjoy
divine sanction. Amnesty International reports that “according to the Pakistan
Institute of Medical Sciences, over 90% of married women report being kicked,
slapped, beaten or sexually abused when husbands were dissatisfied by their
cooking or cleaning, or when the women had ‘failed’ to bear a child or had given
birth to a girl instead of a boy.”Aisha herself said it"

That might be the saddest part of all, that the womyn think they deserve it.

Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 4, “Women,” verses 1-16

Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 4, “Women,” verses 1-16

V. 3 is the basis for Islamic polygamy, allowing a man to take as many as four
wives, as long as he believes he is able to “deal justly” with all of them. For
according to the Mishkat Al-Masabih, Muhammad said: “The person who has two
wives, but is not just between them, shall appear on the Day of Judgment in such
a condition that one half of his body will be collapsing.” But of course,
justice in these circumstances is in the eye of the beholder. Ibn Kathir says
this the requirement to deal justly with one’s wives is no big deal, since
treating them justly isn’t the same as treating them equally: “it is not
obligatory to treat them equally, rather it is recommended. So if one does so,
that is good, and if not, there is no harm on him.”

It seems like it would be hard to be honestly just with even one womyn, but more than one would be impossible.

Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 3, “The Family of Imran,” verses 121-200

Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 3, “The Family of ImraVerse

Verse 121 begins a discussion of lessons of the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of
Badr. At Badr in 624, the Muslims overcame great odds to defeat the pagan
Quraysh tribe of Mecca; in a return engagement at Uhud the following year, the
pagans defeated the Muslims, and Muhammad was slightly wounded. Allah reminds
Muhammad that when he and the Muslims set out for the battle at Uhud, two groups
of Muslims almost deserted. They shouldn’t have been afraid, for “Allah was
their protector,” and the believers should trust in him (v. 122). After all,
when the Muslims were a “contemptible little force” (v. 123) at Badr, Allah
granted them victory. According to Islamic tradition, 313 Muslims defeated a
much larger force at Badr, because Allah sent down three thousand angels to
fight alongside the Muslims” (v. 124). This is one reason why superior American
military might doesn’t overawe jihadists today.

One of the main forces in Iraq is named after this battle where the Muslims won a victory though they were out numbered. The reason that we cannot defeat them with force, is that their faith is stronger than our force.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 3, “The Family of Imran,” verses 64-120

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 3, “The Family of Imran,” verses 64-120:

"On earth, meanwhile, the Muslims are “the best community that hath been
raised up for mankind,” while most Jews and Christians are “perverted
transgressors” (v. 110). However, the Muslims need not fear, for the Jews and
Christians are also cowards: “if they come out to fight you, they will show you
their backs” (v. 111). They are covered with shame – “except when under a
covenant (of protection) from Allah and from men” (v. 112). This, says
Bulandshahri, refers to the non-Muslims’ agreeing “to pay the atonement (Jizya)
to the Muslim state, in which case they will be accorded the rights of a
Dhimmi.” These rights are not equal to the rights of Muslims: the dhimmis must
accept subservience and second-class status (cf. 9:29) in exchange for a
guarantee of protection – as long as they do not offend the Muslims."

This sounds like the standard doctrine of a number of religions on earth. Every man thinks his wife is the most beautiful, every mother thinks that their children are the greatest. Every believer thinks that their faith is the holiest and only way to heaven, or salvation.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 3, “The Family of Imran,” verses 1-32

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 3, “The Family of Imran,” verses 1-32:

"Verses 28-32 is mainly concerned with warnings of Allah’s judgment, but v. 28
warns believers not to take unbelievers as “friends or helpers” (َأَوْلِيَا — a
word that means more than casual friendship, but something like alliance),
“unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them.” This is a foundation
of the idea that believers may legitimately deceive unbelievers when under
pressure. The word used for “guard” in the Arabic is tuqātan (تُقَاةً), the
verbal noun from taqiyyatan — hence the increasingly familiar term taqiyya. Ibn
Kathir says that the phrase Pickthall renders as “unless (it be) that ye but
guard yourselves against them” means that “believers who in some areas or times
fear for their safety from the disbelievers” may “show friendship to the
disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly. For instance, Al-Bukhari recorded
that Abu Ad-Darda’ said, ‘We smile in the face of some people although our
hearts curse them.’ Al-Bukhari said that Al-Hasan said, ‘The Tuqyah [taqiyya] is
allowed until the Day of Resurrection.” While many Muslim spokesmen today
maintain that taqiyya is solely a Shi’ite doctrine, shunned by Sunnis, the great
Islamic scholar Ignaz Goldziher points out that while it was formulated by
Shi’ites, “it is accepted as legitimate by other Muslims as well, on the
authority of Qur’an 3:28.” The Sunnis of Al-Qaeda practice it today."

I don't know of any religion that condones lying to others, just because they are not of the same faith as you. I don't know of any other religion that advocates lying in wait, pretending to be friends with someone until you have a chance to over come them. The more I read about Islam the more I find that it is a religion that is focused on conquest at any cost.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 2, “The Cow,” verses 222-286

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 2, “The Cow,” verses 222-286

Immediately following is the famous statement that “there is no compulsion in
religion” (v. 256). Islamic spokesmen in the West frequently quote it to
disprove the contention that Islam spread by the sword, or even to claim that
Islam is a religion of peace. According to an early Muslim, Mujahid ibn Jabr,
this verse was abrogated by Qur’an 9:29, in which the Muslims are commanded to
fight against the People of the Book. Others, however, according to the Islamic
historian Tabari, say that 2:256 was never abrogated, but was revealed precisely
in reference to the People of the Book. They are not to be forced to accept
Islam, but may practice their religions as long as they pay the jizya (poll-tax)
and “feel themselves subdued” (9:29).
Many see v. 256 as contradicting the Islamic imperative to wage jihad against unbelievers, but actually there is no contradiction because the aim of jihad is not the forced conversion of
non-Muslims, but their subjugation within the Islamic social order. Says Asad: “All Islamic jurists (fuqahd’), without any exception, hold that forcible conversion is under all circumstances null and void, and that any attempt at coercing a non-believer to accept the faith of Islam is a grievous sin: a verdict which disposes of the widespread fallacy that Islam places before the unbelievers the alternative of ‘conversion or the sword.’” Quite so: the choice, as laid out by Muhammad himself, is conversion, subjugation as dhimmis, or the
sword. Qutb accordingly denies that v. 256 contradicts the imperative to fight
until “religion is for Allah” (v. 193), saying that “Islam has not used force to
impose its beliefs.” Rather, jihad’s “main objective has been the establishment
of a stable society in which all citizens, including followers of other
religious creeds, may live in peace and security” – although not with equality
of rights before the law, as 9:29 emphasizes. For Qutb, that “stable society” is
the “Islamic social order,” the establishment of which is a chief objective of
jihad.

I think this is the key to the debate about the nature of Islam. When it calls itself a religion of peace, is it the peace of equal coexistence as we see it in the west. Or is it the peace of all groups being in submission and under the rule of law of Islam. When we talk about a choice or religion, is it a choice like we think of in the west of equal choices. Or is it the choice of Islam, death or submission. In the west, we think of all people being equal and having equal rights to practice their faiths and to speak their mind. I don't know that Islam has the same ideas when it is talking about peace, justice and choice.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 2, “The Cow,” verses 211-221

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 2, “The Cow,” verses 211-221

On the way home to Medina Abdullah set aside a fifth of the booty for Muhammad.
But when they returned to the Muslim camp, Muhammad refused to share in the loot
or to have anything to do with them, saying only: “I did not order you to fight in the sacred month.” But then Allah revealed v. 217, explaining that the Quraysh’s opposition to Muhammad was more offensive in his eyes than the Muslims’ violation of the sacred month: the raid was therefore justified: “for persecution is worse than slaughter.” Whatever sin the Nakhla raiders had committed in violating the sacred month was nothing compared to the Quraysh’s sins. Ibn Ishaq explained this verse: “they have kept you back from the way of God with their unbelief in Him, and from the sacred mosque, and have driven you from it when you were with its people. This is a more serious matter with God than the killing of those whom
you have slain.”

I think this is part of the basis for arguing that Muslims can fight during the holy months of Ramadan. It is interesting that when the war in Afghanistan was starting there was talk in America about holding back during the holy month. Clearly if we had done that, the terrorists would have used that month to attack us before we attacked them.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 2, “The Cow,” verses 141-210

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 2, “The Cow,” verses 141-210

What constitutes a defensive conflict? A clue to that comes in v. 193: “And
fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah.” Ibn Ishaq
explains that this means that Muslims must fight against unbelievers “until God
alone is worshipped.” Says Bulandshahri: “The worst of sins are Infidelity
(Kufr) and Polytheism (shirk) which constitute rebellion against Allah, The
Creator. To eradicate these, Muslims are required to wage war until there exists
none of it in the world, and the only religion is that of Allah.” This conflict
would be essentially defensive, against the aggressions of unbelief: if Muslims
must fight until unbelief does not exist, the mere presence of unbelief
constitutes sufficient aggression to allow for the beginning of hostilities.
This is one of the foundations for the supremacist notion that Muslims must wage
war against unbelievers until those unbelievers are either converted to Islam or
subjugated under the rule of Islamic law, as 9:29 states explicitly. As the
Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, puts it: “I have been commanded to fight against
people, till they testify to the fact that there is no god but Allah, and
believe in me (that) I am the messenger (from the Lord) and in all that I have
brought. And when they do it, their blood and riches are guaranteed protection
on my behalf except where it is justified by law, and their affairs rest with
Allah.” Thus one may reasonably assume that if one does not accept him as a
prophet, one’s blood and riches are not safe from those who read these words as
the words of a messenger from the one true God.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 2, “The Cow,” verses 1-39

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 2, “The Cow,” verses 1-39:

"The verse immediately following those letters contains a key Islamic
doctrine: “This is the Scripture whereof there is no doubt.” The Qur’an is not
to be questioned or judged by any standard outside itself; rather, it is the
standard by which all other things are to be judged. That, of course, is not
significantly different from the way many other religions regard their Holy
Writ. But there has been no development in Islam of the historical and textual
criticism that have transformed the ways Jews and Christians understand their
scriptures today. The Qur’an is a book never to be doubted, never to be
questioned: when one Islamic scholar, Suliman Bashear, taught his students at
An-Najah National University in Nablus that the Qur’an and Islam were the
products of historical development rather than being delivered in perfect form
to Muhammad, his students threw him out of the window of his classroom. "

I think this is a clear and important difference between the west, and the religions of Christianity and Judaism and Islam. In the west we have developed an attitude of accepting those that hold views that are different than our own, even on things as important as god. The eastern world has not gotten to that point it appears.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 1, “The Opening”

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 1, “The Opening”:

"The Fatiha (Opening) is the first sura (chapter) of the Qur’an and most
common prayer of Islam. If you’re a pious Muslim who prays the five requisite
daily prayers of Islam, you will recite the Fatiha seventeen times in the course
of those prayers. According to an Islamic tradition, the Muslim prophet Muhammad
said that the Fatiha surpassed anything revealed by Allah (“the God” in Arabic,
and the word for God used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews, as well as
Muslims) in the Torah, the Gospel, or the rest of the Qur’an. And indeed, it
efficiently and eloquently encapsulates many of the principal themes of the
Qur’an and Islam in general: Allah as the “Lord of the Worlds,” who alone is to
be worshiped and asked for help, the merciful judge of every soul on the Last
Day."

This is just the beginning, the rest of the post that you should read if you can talks about how the passage is understood. I really think that this is an important project, that if we are to live in this world peacefully we need to learn to understand each other.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Blogging the Qur’an:

"This will be a weekly feature — to be posted every Sunday at Hot Air — with
within-post updates as warranted. I intend this to be a participatory
exploration of the Qur’an — a two-way conversation. Thus I welcome feedback and
criticism in the comments section, in e-mail correspondence, and on other blogs,
and will answer questions and respond to the most thoughtful comments,
criticism, and challenges. Next week: chapter one, the Fatiha, the most
important prayer in Islam."

Just a little bit more about this, it sounds like a good experience and a great way to gain knowledge and understanding of Islam. I hope that he is able to maintain that balance and allow the book to speak to the readers of the blog, while explaining it but not packaging it.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Hot Air introduces: Blogging the Qur’an

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Hot Air introduces: Blogging the Qur’an:

"Blogging the Qur’an was inspired by Slate’s Blogging the Bible project, but
Blogging the Qur’an will be very different in at least one respect. In Blogging
the Bible, David Plotz is blogging about the Bible as he reads through it for
the very first time. Robert Spencer, on the other hand, read the Qur’an for the
first time in 1981 and has been studying it and the Islamic traditions and
teachings that inform students of the Qur’an ever since."

This sounds like an interesting conversation and I will do my best to bring it to you, along with my comments and hopefully you will add some of your own.