Throughout the ages, the religion of Islam has always been a victim of prejudice and misconception in Western circles. A contemporary writer and Christian nun, Karen Armstrong, was so disheartened by what she saw as Christian aversion to Islam that she lamented in her book, MUHAMMAD, "In the West we have never been able to cope with Islam; our ideas about this faith have been crude, dismissive and arrogant,…" (Muhammad, 2001 edition, pg. 15).
Apparently, until recently, it wasn't always the Arabs and Muslims who suffered the brunt of Western condescension. Jews too have a long history of brushing shoulders with Western arrogance. Referring to the French philologist Ernest Renan, Armstrong quotes the said gentleman's so called 'scientific explanation' of why Europeans were such high class products, and the Semitic people such lowly creatures that deserved nothing but beatings and slavery; while their Semitic languages was at best 'flawed' and certainly beneath European notice.
The Semitic race, Arabs & Jews, was, according to this Western philologist, which evidently is shared by the bulk of erudite Christians, past and present, "une combaiaison inférieure de la nature humaine'. Armstrong goes on to quote from the European Super-breed:
"One sees that in all things the Semitic race appears to us to be an incomplete race by virtue of its simplicity. This race - if I dare use the analogy – is to the Indo-European family what a pencil sketch is to a painting; it lacks that variety, that amplitude, that abundance of life which is the condition of perfectibility…."
At the end of the quote Armstrong mourns: "yet again, Jews and Arabs had been fused in a single image which provides a flattering description of 'our' superior virtues." (MUHAMMAD, 2001 edition, pg. 39).
Which as Armstrong rightly concludes had lead to Hitler's extermination of Jews simply because they were of a different breed than the allegedly superior Aryans.
However, while Hitler's Christian debacle might have mitigated Christian hatred of Jewry, somewhat, Christians have yet to mend their ways with regards to Islam and Muslims.
It is a well known fact that Christians who otherwise pride themselves on being objective and balanced suddenly lose their equilibrium and common sense when confronted with the divine teachings of Islam.
A web of deception and deceit has seen to it that Islam is given a black eye at every step of its forward march; portrayed as it were as a strange creed practiced by a bunch of odd looking folks. Islam's detractors have a long history of blind defiance, arrogance and lack of judgment; a track record that had left in its wake a dark cloud through which only the sincere Seeker of Truth can penetrate.
Like their predecessors before them, the day's Zionists, lying politicians, diabolical Media networks, as well as Christian evangelists (who see Islam as a threat due to its compatibility with normal people's natural inclination), these working in tandem with the planet's other darks forces, such as greedy dictators and soulless hypocrites, have joined hands to dish out an Islam that has anything but the title in common with this divinely revealed message brought down to humanity through the Last Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Equally disconcerting is the notion on the part of some lying politicians and Zionist Terrorists that they can get away with murder and mayhem, so long as these atrocities are carried out wholesale; perpetrated as they are in the name of State for whom the life of a Muslim is a fair game. Children, women, men, villagers, mosques, nurseries, playgrounds, weddings, everyone and everything is fair game. But when a cornered individual raises some dust by returning the favour in kind, then woe to him, to his family, to his land, to his religion, and to anyone who happens to be around him! The shrill cry is heard all over the place: UN, US, UK, you name it, every worldly Aggressor in a neck-tie shrieks out in a cry: How dare they retaliate!
These State Terrorists being under the mistaken notion that as long as their aggression is carried out on Muslim soil, with or without UN blessings, than they are absolved of all blame. They can kill at will, maim at will, but God help anyone who dares to react in a similar fashion!
George Bush is not a Christian when he flaunts his deadly arsenal thousands of miles away from home, nor is an Olmert a Jew when he rides his Apaches a la his old mentors. Hitler was perhaps not a Christian when he incinerated 6 million Jews. Serbians were not Christians when they ethnic cleansed Bosnia...the list is endless. But when a maimed Ali straps a bomb around his person to send a strong message to the invader oppressor, then all hell breaks lose: woe to Islam! It is Islam that done it! No one pauses for reflection.
After all, who gives a hoot about the just orphaned or killed in the occupied territories! The Zionist-made-Homeless? Puff! Who is he anyway! Just some rubbish, sweep him off the map! Spineless creature that is what he should be! A fair game for aggression!
The way things are today a Muslim is being tolerated only if he 'turns the other cheek', even tough that's what Christians should be doing, i.e., of course if they were following their book. So now a Muslim is bombarded from above and below the Muslim is expected to wave and shake hands with the invaders: How you doing today, Sir!
When killed and maimed and subjected to the most cruel treatment by mere mortals employing the world's deadliest weaponry the Muslim is EXPECTED to reply with heartfelt gratitude: Ah! there comes a nice Apache to do me in! Hello Tank! Hi there Caterpillar! Come demolish my home!
Apparently, as far as the Muslim is concerned, occupation = freedom. The more submissive and abject the Muslim the better for 'world peace', so we're being told.
Unfortunately, some Muslims have unwittingly fallen into the trap of this 'new world order' or as our deceived Condeleeza's foiled strategy would have, the 'new middle east'.
But let's not get disheartened. The good news is this world did not create itself, nor does it sustain itself. Today's tyrants are tomorrow's sad history. There are no superpowers, just simple mortals of clay. The one who says "I am supreme" soon will have his snooty nose dragged by a tiny worm.
Moreover, and this might disillusion some, the other good news is, Muslims are not all clones of each other. There are more than one billion Muslims and the figures are increasing as we speak. Needless to say, Muslims are a macrocosm of humanity, black and white, red and yellow and all shades in between. They are human beings, flesh and blood. And their blood is very dear to Allah. Anyone who hungers after it needs to screech to a halt. There is a limit to everything. Even sin. And there is only so much aggression the Lord will allow on the face of this planet.
More good news, Islam is not the creation of any man. It is not a fair game for man's imagination. If all the CNNs, FOX News, the Jinns and the Liars of this world put their lying heads together they would never be able to remake Islam. Those who naughtily create their own version of Islam, whether they call themselves Muslims, Atheists, Christians or Jews, I say to them, Employ your skills elsewhere. You can't remake Islam, Take up another fad.
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Copyrighted Oct. 2004, (c) Safi Abdi. Edited with minor adjustments.
Disclaimer:
This article is not addressing the countless sincere Westerners, Christians and Jews, who too are just as much a victim of their lying leaders.
For a further elucidation of the topic, I suggest you read:
"To set the record straight" posted under article section. I thank you for your openness and continued support of my works and always look forward to your honest feedback.
Warm regards from the desert,
Safi
Robert Williams,
Your learned comments are always appreciated. I'm sure many readers will benefit as I have from your balanced inputs.
By the way, I am a she, not a he.
Safi
i read with interest this article, and i commend you for posting it.
i do take issue with one thing, however. you say that george bush is not a christian when he kills. what about muslims? are they exempt when they behead innocent people or blow themselves and injure and kill scores of others in carbomb and other attacks? is it because muslims declare jihad on non-believers? it is okay to kill me because i don't believe as you do? i'm sorry you feel that way.
perhaps i need to learn more, but i cannot and will not kill you because you are muslim. i consider you a friend and talented writer first, whom you believe in is your choice. teach me. i will teach you. if we keep killing each other, there will be no teacher or students.
thank you for your past friendship and encouragement. i value your input, and will always take the time to read your words. if i don't comment, it may be because i don't know enough to respond.
((((HUGS)))) and love, karla. :(
The writer is correct when he notes that WWWIII is being waged in lands resident to Muslims. The global corporatists waging this war and the information warfare in support of it are not doing so on behalf of religion; they do so on behalf of monetary interests, i.e. oil.
But the problems experienced in Muslim lands began long before the global corporatists' ascendancy to the world stage. In fact, the problems for Muslims began with Muslims. Too many Muslims are Islaam's false friends.
Islaam did not last very long after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) died. Anti-Islaamic Muslims took over the affairs of state and killed his grandson. Ever since, Muslims have been ruled by anti-Islaamic kings, despots and other dictators. True, today's kings and dictators in Muslim lands were put there by the British or CIA and maintained by America and Britain. But before that, anti-Islaamic Muslims put them into power. The corporatists simply maintained it to their advantage.
Bukhari, one of the main compilers of verifiable hadith, was tortured and his limbs removed piece by piece by a Muslim king because the King wanted Bukhari to change hadith, and Bukhari tells us he wouldn't do that. What Muslim came to Bukari's aid? What Muslims stood up and said that kings and dictatorship are anti Islaam?
Today's movement of the Arab Sons of Liberty to rid themselves of monarchy today is a noble one, George Washington would be touched by their love for liberty and disdain for monarchy. But they're methods of liberation including copying the state terrorists who bomb them is not right, not Islaamic.
The early Americans fought the British monarchy as if God was watching them. They tarred and feathered British officials and fought army versus army on battlefields. They did not go to London and set fires to the city and its inhabitants. They maintained the moral high ground. Many British supported their bid for independence.
The cause of Muslims to free themselves of monarchy is just and noble, but their methods must remain godly, i.e. Islaamic. Not only will many Americans support Muslim independence, but God will also support it. We humans are not judged on if we win the game (God tells us we can not win the game), but on how we play it. That is how we are judged.
Amongst Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses seem to know this and during World War II they killed no one, getting locked up in Britain and America, and put in concentration camps in Germany. They still no not kill and there is a special prison for them today in Strasbourg, France where the European Court of Human Rights is located because they will not join the French military. No matter how hard Satan tried to get a JW to kill another human and send himself to the hellfire, the JW wouldn't do it (and a JW doesn't even believe in hellfire, just the grave).
Is there an Islaamic equivalent to the Christian JW's? Maybe there are Islaamic Muslims who do not get caught up in war? Like the JWs do not follow the unChristlike Christendom's wars, maybe there are Islaamic Muslims who do not follow the unIslaamic Muslimdom's wars. Muslims I know in Britain and America are very peaceful yet subdued, shy because of the violence portrayed in the Arab and Central Asian resistance to CIA-intalled and maintained dictators.
Nobody should have to live under a CIA-installed and maintained dicators, and certainly Uncle Sam is wrong to invade and occupy Afghanistan and Iraq. But I don't think these wars have anything to do with Christianity or Islaam. It's oil.