Quote:
Originally Posted by
Captain Maxx Power
Straight up honesty from me here; I have Muslim friends. I get on with them, some I would consider my best friends. But it is in spite of their Muslim background. The Islamic religion, from what I've read of the Quran, is offensive to my sensibilities on every level imaginable. Although I imagine you don't take everything in the Quran literally (most liberal Muslims are the same way), I can't say that the ideology endears itself in the least. In short I'll respect Muslim "people" but I don't respect the belief system.
I respect that you have many Muslim friends, and that you respect them, as human beings and as friends, and not judge them by what you understand about their religion, this is a really noble trait that many of us actually lack, as many of us fall into the trap of judging people by their labels (in this case their religion) without actually getting to know them.
But I am interested in knowing: What is it you find offensive in the Quran, and "to your sensibilities on every level imaginable"?
As this is not the place to get into much in detail (ref eoeo), let's see if we can make some basic things a bit clearer (I'm hoping this won't be too long a read :)):
A. You need to study history and language to be able to understand the Quran; for every chapter in the book there is a background and explanation, which is difficult to understand if you don't know the Arabic language and if you don't have notes that explain the chapters from someone educated, along with the Quran (terrorists committing crimes in the name of God or Muhammad are among the most uneducated people you can find; this actually goes for actual Muslims too, who can be good people but don't understand their religion and therefore give the wrong message to non-Muslims about Islam. And usually in that case the non-Muslims don't do the research themselves and are wrongfully content with asking anyone, claiming to be Muslim, about the religion).
B. If you've read a translation of it in English or any other language, you obviously didn't get a good translation, as per your own interpretation of it being offensive, (also, the meaning of a message is pretty much lost when the message is translated to another language, and when it comes to a complicated language such as Arabic it's very difficult to translate the text correctly because the way the Arabic language is used in the Quran is unique).
Islam is a beautiful religion that has attracted over 1 billion people, and has gained the respect of millions.
C. Every translation of the Quran must follow with notes, explaining the passages in it; because you were correct in saying the Quran is many a times not to be taken literally; it is mostly filled with analogies and metaphors (and many times for a specific event, for specific people living in that era back then).
D. To understand the Islamic religion it's not enough to only do the above mentioned; yes, the Quran is a start if you want to learn about the religion, for it is the core in the faith, but after the completion of the good book back in the days, the prophet Muhammad explained many of the chapters of the Quran to the people, because they were difficult to understand (because of the unique way it was written); hence, the Quran is followed up by what are called '
hadiths'; written documents (sayings and teachings) of how Muhammad solved everyday problems, explaining the many meanings behind the commandments and analogies in the Quran. Unlike many religions which only have one book, the Islamic teachings have two sources in understanding the meaning of the faith (Quran). The Quran has the core foundations, and the prophet's practices and sayings explain them and elaborate the true meaning and applications of those foundations.
E. Most of what is written in the Quran is historical events that happened in Prophet Muhammad's time. In the Quran, in several chapters, God is commanding Muhammad what to do in given situations. Therefore, for someone who is new to this, reading eg a single sentence and then finding it offensive is really lazy on that person's part. If you don’t have a good understanding of Arabic (you don't have a degree in the language), and you get a bad translation without notes of explanation to the chapters, and you don't read the so called
hadiths, then you will not understand the meaning behind the text in the Quran, and therefore not understand the context of the Islamic belief system.
F. I wish people would do more to investigate the true meanings of Islam (if they decide to assume something is offensive because they think they got the right idea about it) and actually go do some research and talk to educated people (and even then bring questions forward and ask others, and not just one person). (As a sidenote it's also good to remember that culture and religion are two separate things, which many don't realize and understand, thus ppl sometimes believe something specific being, per example, next to sinful in accordance with his/her religion, when in fact it is a cultural thing that has nothing to do with the religion).
G. It's probably a good idea to talk to your Muslim friends, as I hope they may be able to clarify many misconceptions that you might have about the religion that they follow.
If you have any specific questions or interest at all, you can PM me and we can talk. :)
