Read the words. Ponder the thoughts. Live the post.

Don’t judge a book by its cover. It’s what we have been taught since we were little kids. That a cover holds nothing but glamor. The real thing is always inside. But how many times do we actually dare to open the covers, to see what is really inside? How many times do we ACTUALLY stand and think to ourselves what is behind what we hear on a daily basis? If you haven’t, then this is the perfect time to sit here and ponder the thoughts in the following words.

The biggest, and the most untrue, stereotype is that of Muslims. We hear it all the time. Muslims are terrorists, Muslims will bomb us, Muslims will do this, Muslims will do that. How many times do we stop and ask why these prejudice opinions came to be.

Sure it says to kill the infidels in the Quran, but you have to realize the HISTORICAL context it is said in. In the early centuries, the Muslim empire was rapidly expanding. This means the Empire should have been eradicating the “non-believers.” But this is not the case. For example, India was under the rule of the Muslim Mughal Empire. There were many Hindus, as India was a Hindu nation. So theoretically, the Hindus should have been killed, forcefully converted, or expelled. But we can clearly see that this was not happening. India was a dominant Hindu nation, and after the Muslim rule, it still IS a Hindu dominant nation. If we look at the etymology of the word infidel, we find that it comes from a Latin word infidelis, meaning “unfaithful.” This word was used by the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages to describe the Muslims.

So if this has to do with thousands of years ago, why are people using it for their cause NOW? Well, radical Muslims, like Osama-bin-Ladin, are using parts of words from the Quran and using hem for their own use. For example, the word infidel. They see it says to kill nonbelievers, but they do not see the historical aspect on which it was commenting on. Many of the Surahs, or verses, are situational and contextual. It is very important to understand this statement.

I want to quote an amazing statement I ran into during my research:

“The Quran does not present Islam as a religion of unquestionable pacifism or relentless aggression. Those who do not transgress should be treated humanely and benevolently with complete respect. Those who transgress should be fought, “And fight in the cause of God those who fight against you, and do not commit aggression. Indeed God does not love those who are aggressors,” (2:190). In other words, Islam is a religion of peace, not in the sense that it is pacifist, but in the sense that Muslims can and should co-exist peacefully with others who respect them. Neither transgression is permitted nor forcing others to espouse Islam as the Quran says, “there is no compulsion in religion,” (2:256).””

This means that you should co-exist, or exist together or at the same time. So Islam is NOT a religion of war and aggression. The radical Muslims that back up their reasoning with phrases not in context with the time that they are using it in.

As you can see, there is always more than meets the eye. I could keep on listing facts after facts on why these stereotypes are wrong, but then we’d all be here all day. This is the end of the first post. And the beginning of a revolution.

Remember.

Read the Words.

Ponder the thoughts.

LIVE the post.

-Nizar