The western prejudice of associating Islam to/with violence is nothing new but has been deep seated since ages ago - thanks to the Church. But I'm sure these prejudices are meant to cover up a more disgusting history of violence - their very own...
Their slaughtering of the indigenous peoples of Americas and Australisia; their policy of colonialism, their slave trading, their apartheid...we are talking about close to 100 million lives here, and over a few generations. As sordid as they are, these are historical evidence..which you and I can refer to. Just try super-imposing Islam onto those violence if you can...
Today, the brutal violence continues - in Iraq by the American war machines; in Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan - the crimes against defenceless people and guess what..? they are still blaming the Muslim while they are at it..
Quran is perhaps the only religious text that explicitly prohibits coercion in matters of faith- that even when Saladin recaptured Jurusalem from the Crusaders during the Holy War in 1187, he not only protected the Chrisrtian community, along with the Jews, but their place of worship as well (re: History..), as compared to the 30,000 Muslim massacred when Crusaders first captured Jurusalem in 1099.
That Islam had spread by the sword..? A myth they always try to create to justify and expalin the dramatic and rapid growth of Islam.
Sure there are violence and horrendous acts by a fringe within the Muslim community, but most of them are reactive in nature due to oppression and subjugation by the west, as would have been expected by any other community in the same oppressed and subjugated situations.
(w/out permission: some text are borrowed from Chandra Muzaffar articles..)
Their slaughtering of the indigenous peoples of Americas and Australisia; their policy of colonialism, their slave trading, their apartheid...we are talking about close to 100 million lives here, and over a few generations. As sordid as they are, these are historical evidence..which you and I can refer to. Just try super-imposing Islam onto those violence if you can...
Today, the brutal violence continues - in Iraq by the American war machines; in Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan - the crimes against defenceless people and guess what..? they are still blaming the Muslim while they are at it..
Quran is perhaps the only religious text that explicitly prohibits coercion in matters of faith- that even when Saladin recaptured Jurusalem from the Crusaders during the Holy War in 1187, he not only protected the Chrisrtian community, along with the Jews, but their place of worship as well (re: History..), as compared to the 30,000 Muslim massacred when Crusaders first captured Jurusalem in 1099.
That Islam had spread by the sword..? A myth they always try to create to justify and expalin the dramatic and rapid growth of Islam.
Sure there are violence and horrendous acts by a fringe within the Muslim community, but most of them are reactive in nature due to oppression and subjugation by the west, as would have been expected by any other community in the same oppressed and subjugated situations.
(w/out permission: some text are borrowed from Chandra Muzaffar articles..)
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