While grazing through Trencherbone's excellent "Everything You Need to Know About Islam"
compendium, I cam across this address by Ibn Warraq on the subject of Islam, apostasy and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The whole thing is well worth the read, but this paragraph jumped right out:
Any verbal denial of any principle of Muslim belief is considered apostasy. If one declares, for example, that the universe has always existed from eternity or that God has a material substance, then one is an apostate. If one denies the unity of God or confesses to a belief in reincarnation, one is guilty of apostasy. Certain acts are also deemed acts of apostasy, for example treating a copy of the Koran disrespectfully, by burning it or even soiling it in some way. Some doctors of Islamic law claim that a Muslim becomes an apostate if he or she enters a church, worships an idol, or learns and practises magic. A Muslim becomes an apostate if he defames the Prophet's character, morals or virtues, and denies Muhammad's prophethood and that he was the seal of the prophets.
(Just an idle thought, but if Muhammad was the seal of the prophets, could he balance a ball on his nose while flapping his flippers together? For a fish?)
While such action may not be subject to enforcement of the death penalty against apostasy from Islam -- here or in other Muslim and non-Muslim countries -- the "chilling effect" of this traditional attitude expresses itself in the Muslim's fear of being ostracized by the Ummah for speaking out too boldly about the shortcomings of the Krayon, the cruelties built into Sharia, the injustice of accusations by Islamists against the West, arrogant jihadist imams seeking to build a rabat at Ground Zero, and the numerous other inconvenies living in a kuffar country imposes upon the Believers. They may secretly hope the jihad will fail and that they can continue their comfortable lifestyle amongst the kuffar. Let those such as Imam Rauf taqiyya away about "building bridges". The average "moderate muslim" is more concerned about not "burning bridges" with the Ummah if s/he can possibly avoid it.
2 comments:
Good point. Most that are nominally muslim likely just wish the horrible people that read things would go away -a truce of we won't actually read the koran if you won't. I wonder if they are really prepared to argue for the future of islam against those sober students of its past. Those students that seek to silence the infidel scholars by marginilizing them as islamophobic.
The average "moderate muslim" is more concerned about not "burning bridges" with the Ummah if s/he can possibly avoid it.
Discerning the fickle will of Allah and being part of the ummah play a huge role in silencing nominal Muslims. Ever in the backs of their minds is the concern that "radical" Islam just might be Allah's will after all.
Good post.
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