By Ted Belman
Last week I recieved this email from The Ahmadiyya Muslims Community
Hello Ted,
The Ahmadiyya Muslims Community, one of America’s oldest Muslim communities, condemns the ISIS attacks in Paris, France. These attacks truly are an attack on all of humanity. ISIS claims to do these attacks in honor of Prophet Muhammad whereas such attacks do him the greatest dishonor. Islam teaches in the Quran that the killing of an innocent is like the killing of all mankind. Prophet Muhammad was a noble, kind, and patient man who protected the lives of all, regardless of religion, and did not engage in such terrorist acts.
We would like to present this important perspective.
To which I replied:
ISIS is right about honouring Mohammed and you are wrong, in my opinion.
“such attacks do him the greatest dishonor. Islam teaches in the Quran that the killing of an innocent is like the killing of all mankind. Prophet Muhammad was a noble, kind, and patient man who protected the lives of all, regardless of religion, and did not engage in such terrorist acts.”
I don’t believe any of this.
“the killing of an innocent is like the killing of all mankind” is a Jewish teaching which long predated the Koran. What’s more, it is not followed at all by Muslims with their honour killings and indiscriminate killing of “infidels”.
Prophet Muhammad was a noble, kind, and patient man who protected the lives of all, regardless of religion, and did not engage in such terrorist acts.
This is so fallacious that I want to through up. The opposite is the truth. Whenever a Muslim kills he takes the position that he is honouring Mohammed.
“Ahmad’s advent has brought about an unprecedented era of Islamic revival and moderation.”
I don’t see any evidence of this.Quite the contrary.
Do you believe that Israel’s legitimacy? Do you believe that Israel has a right to be a Jewish state? I doubt it.
I am waiting to see in Paris and all of France the non Islamic-jihadist Muslims standing shoulder to shoulder with their non-Muslim French compatriots in mourning and in vowing to fight back against the jihadists. I’m waiting. I’m waiting to see them emerge in large numbers as the representatives of the religion of peace that they are. I’m watching and waiting for them to do that.
Islam is not what is in a book .. the world-wide Muslim population does not each one read and analyze a book and invent themselves – it is inherited culture adopted by the following of conformist culture and authority and there are many version of this inherited culture – they are all different Islams though in a sense they are all Islam.
Islam is what various groups of people do , not what some few scholars read in a book.
People try to adopt a single image to represent themselves – then they think that the image itself IS themselves. So they are wired like puppets to an image – it is a false representation of reality to represent anything complexly human by a single image.
In a phrase – all these kinds of Muslims are victims of identity manipulation — they do not separate themselves – who they personally are from the image of something.
I call this ‘induced identity dysfunction’ simply identity disease.
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This simple teaching or understanding can free the masses – but it is a teaching that none of the world leaders want taught as they rely on identity manipulation for control of the masses.
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Being identified with an image or not can make the difference between having a violent murderous response if the “image’ is insulted (usually an interpretation and not objectively so) and having an objective relaxed reaction in which one chooses the most constructive happiest course for oneself and the world-wide community of humans. Because if one is not identified with an image, it is not oneself that is insulted – it’s not personal.
Group sports like football and hockey are where the masses are trained in identity dysfunction. This is where the masses learn to have their identities manipulated – without realizing it and they are rewarded for it (with an illusion) in such a way that they will hold on to the illusion and resist self-inspection and self-awareness. The illusion to feel wonderful because your team has “won” when in fact nothing real has happened to your life or that has any real connection to you – in fact the game needn’t have ever been played if the propaganda method is done well.
Did they ever respond?
I have heard of this group, and it is possible that there adherents do not practice the more violent and dangerous acts that are so typical of many Muslims. Still, their defense of Muhammed, their selective memory of his character, is at best delusional; at worst they are lying. I’d give some of them the benefit of the doubt. I do notice a lot of Muslims in my American community who do not seem the type to engage in honor killings, violence against others, etc. Those who do not engage in such acts are still too quick to excuse the Koran, the other teachings and Muhammed himself. It might be more naievete and self-delusion than outright dishonesty, though. That is my impression from talking to some Muslims in America. I think many overlook or look the other way when it comes to the more dangerous teachings. That, in and of inself, is bad. Still, I’m not sure it’s always done deliberately which I think taqiyyeh is. I might be wrong.
Of course, I’m sure this comment will bring at least a few attacking me and saying that I’m naive. I’m just stating my observations.
We always keep hearing about this truncated text of the Qur’an in one verse, and we are never told about the immediately following verse.
Here is the full picture (emphasis added on the “Dawood” English translation):
Sura 5:32:
The above is directly copied from Mishna Sanhedrin 37a (4:5). But the very next verse, which reflects Sharia law, states:
Sura 5:33:
Perfect response Ted.
You nailed it to the hilt.