Originally posted by TheSkipper
Speaking of Islam...I read a fairly interesting book recently that devoted some time ot the question of Jihad and "suicidal aggression" here is a quote:
The End of Faith by Sam Harris
"Given the vicissitudes of Muslim history, however, i suspect that the starting point I have chosen for this book - that of a single suicide bomber following rhe conse ...[text shortened]... in a kind of unbelief.
Paradise is in the shadow of swords."
Yikes!
TheSkipper
Ahosyney can probably respond better than I. Nevertheless, I’ll just make four quick points:
(1)
Jihad does not always—or even mostly—refer to physical fighting. It simply means struggle. For a Christian, for example, monasticism would be a kind of jihad. Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance was a form of jihad.
(2) Context is important. Though you cited hadith, I only say this because people have taken so many Quranic statements out of context, a context that sometimes refers only to a specific historical situation.
Let me throw in a few statements of Jesus, that any Christian would (rightfully) accuse me of wrenching out of context—not only textual, but in terms of the whole thrust of Jesus’ message:
Matthew 10: 34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a
sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
Or—Luke 14:26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.
Or—Luke 22:36 He said to them, "But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one.”
(3) I am far more skeptical about hadith than perhaps most Muslims are. Any given hadith needs to be evaluated both according to its
isnad (the chronological chain that indicates whether or not a given person could have related the hadith to someone else), and content—e.g., does it conflict with other ahadith or the Qur’an.
I am always suspicious of folks who simply start to quote lists of ahadith to make their point.
(4) Different groups of Muslims probably argue with one another about who the “true” Muslims are as do Christians or Jews or anyone else. The Wahhabis, for example, think that anyone that does not toe the line to their severe strictures and “fundamentalistic” interpretations is an infidel. I don’t think it behooves people outside Islam to imply that the likes of Fatima Mernissi or Abou ibn El Fadl—both of whom struggle against extremist positions—that they are not “true” Muslims. (And, Skipper, I’m certainly
not implying that that’s what you’re doing—I respect your voice of reason on here, and take your post as simply asking the question....)