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Author Topic:   What's the difference between Islam and Radical Islam?
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1663 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 1 of 154 (799283)
02-08-2017 5:49 PM


This issue keeps coming up (regurgitating?) on many threads so I though one single thread to discuss Islam vs Radical Islam would be appropriate.
quote:
Islam without Extremists
Once in a while the news are filled about a group of extremist Muslims who slaughter people and commit the most unthinkable crimes under the name of Islam. ISIS is a recent example. If you ask such people that why they are committing such obvious wrong deeds and still consider it the command of the God, they would answer that they are trusting a Muslim scholar and that they receive the commands of the God through him. Based on this trust they consider the scholar's commands equivalent to the God's commands and blindly follow the scholar's instructions to make the God happy. But does not this method sound too similar to shirk, the exact opposite of Islam's primary message, which is not following anybody except the God? How did this happen? How did that origin with the most clear message came to this obvious contradictory point?
In the "Belief vs. Trust" article, we show that similarly to all modern religions, in the current understanding of Islam also believing in God is interpreted as trusting a religious package preached by the local religious scholars. After analyzing the roots of such interpretation in all religions, the article shows that key element that legitimizes the incorporation of trusting scholars into islamic practice is considering Hadith as a pillar of Islam. The current Islam which is mixed with Hadith has become so complicated that leaves an ordinary Muslim with no solution but seeking the advice of some Hadith experts (or scholars) about "what Islam says". This blind obedience creates potential for extremism: if the religious scholar is extremist, the blind followers also apply the extremism in the name of religion.
Then in the "Islam without Hadith" article, we list the pros and cons of existence of Hadith in the current Islamic practice, and show that by eliminating Hadith not only we do not lose any of the core Islamic values but also we are given the chance to rediscover the Simple Islam, the religion which guides us to nothing but reasonable, beautiful deeds. In Simple Islam, which is free from the complexities of Hadith, there is no space for religious scholars to instruct their blind followers to such unbelievable crimes. In the "Scope" article, we then revisit some of the controversial topics in Quran, such as slavery and women rights, and observe a Quran very different from what the scholars have been preaching for years.
This is the critical element (in bold above): "... This blind obedience creates potential for extremism: if the religious scholar is extremist, the blind followers also apply the extremism in the name of religion.
We can compare this to different Christian sects with different leaders, some of them charismatic evangelist cult leaders (the Branch-Davidians leader David Koresh come to mind) -- his extremism certainly lead his followers to a violent bloody death, and they had planned acts of violence, terrorism.
quote:
Hadith
A hadith (/ˈhdɪθ/[1] or /hɑːˈdiːθ/;[2] Arabic: حديث‎‎ ḥadīth, plural: ahadith, أحاديث, ʼaḥādīth[3]) is one of various reports describing the words, actions, or habits of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[3] The term comes from Arabic meaning a "report", "account" or "narrative". Hadith are second only to the Quran in developing Islamic jurisprudence,[4] and regarded as important tools for understanding the Quran and commentaries (tafsir) written on it. Some important elements of traditional Islam, such as the five salat prayers, are mentioned in hadith.[5]
The hadith literature is based on spoken reports that were in circulation in society after the death of Muhammad. Unlike the Qur'an the hadiths were not quickly and concisely compiled during and immediately after Muhammad's life.[3] Hadith were evaluated and gathered into large collections during the 8th and 9th centuries, generations after the death of Muhammad, after the end of the era of the "rightful" Rashidun Caliphate, over 1,000 km (620 mi) from where Muhammad lived.
So we can compare the Hadith to the Christian Gospels, written later from oral history.
The salient take-away is that it is the radical "scholar" leader that turns Islam into violent behavior, not the religion itself, and there are many sects that do not have radical "scholar" leaders and these are the moderate or liberal leaders.
Enjoy
Edited by RAZD, : .

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Replies to this message:
 Message 3 by Phat, posted 02-09-2017 3:22 AM RAZD has replied
 Message 5 by Faith, posted 02-09-2017 11:20 AM RAZD has replied
 Message 6 by bluegenes, posted 02-09-2017 2:51 PM RAZD has seen this message but not replied
 Message 147 by Eliyahu, posted 08-31-2024 10:42 PM RAZD has not replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1663 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 4 of 154 (799316)
02-09-2017 7:22 AM
Reply to: Message 3 by Phat
02-09-2017 3:22 AM


Re: Difference Defined
The best definition I could find came from a practicing Muslim.
quote:
Radical Islam = Quran + hadith
Moderaate Islam = Quran + reason + conscience
Sounds good, but I think there are differences between Radical sects that depend on the leader interpretations, and whether he is prone to promote extremist violence (eg ISIS) or work within society through laws.
That would break Radical Islam into two groups
Radical Islam (extremist) sects\cults where charismatic leader promotes or condones terrorism, violence and war as weapons for ...
Fundamental Islam sects where leaders advocate followers adhere to strict interpretation of Quran and Hadith and Sharia Law.
And I still see parallels with Christianity sects and cults.
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


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This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by Phat, posted 02-09-2017 3:22 AM Phat has seen this message but not replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1663 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


(1)
Message 7 of 154 (799364)
02-09-2017 3:13 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by Faith
02-09-2017 11:20 AM


Radical Islam is the most natural reading of the written holy books of Islam, so that violent jihad is easily justified.
Says the person who thinks there is only one way to read the bible and that is as infallible truth.
In a way it doesn't matter how many Muslims follow the radical teachings at any given time; the leaders will always be there to promote violent action or whatever it takes to rule over a nonMuslim country when they have the power to do so, and the people will follow them.
That's how I understand it.
Because that is the way you want it to be. Even though by sheer numbers the moderate Muslims way out-number the radicals.
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by Faith, posted 02-09-2017 11:20 AM Faith has not replied

  
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