User:Shamina

A Misinterpreted Religion
By Abdullah Al Rahim, Special to Gulf News www.gulfnews.com It is not just Islam. Indeed, all known religions are not synonymous with terrorism. However, Islam is today exclusively the target of both, those who claim to belong to it even as they defile Islam and those whose political agendas and historical hostility to Islam have found fresh impetus.

The war between these two sides has become an unholy alliance of sorts against a religion which stridently calls upon co-existence between faiths. These are wars fought between narrow minded neo-religious fundamentalists of all colour, race and creed and the result is people and nations killing each other, all in the name of God, the very same God they all purport to worship, the same God they all, in their own conflicting ways, claim to speak for.

And it does not matter what technologies or what deception they employ to obliterate their innocent victims. Whether it is a "smart bomb" lobbed from the skies or a "suicidal bomb" exploded within a crowd, whether it is weapons of mass destruction or forty virgins in paradise, in their uncompromising persistent struggle to establish victory for their creed and God, the neo-religious fundamentalists don't pause even for a moment to ask themselves the simple question: Did this God sanction the carnage?

To understand a religion one must not look at the behaviour of those who claim to profess it but must instead look deeply at the religion itself. For we as people, unfortunately, are not the standard bearers of our faiths, particularly in today's world. Otherwise we will be misled into believing that the Taliban represented Islam, that God talks to someone like George Bush and tells him to wage an unjust war, that the recent civil war in Algeria was Islamic, that the First and Second World Wars were Christian wars, that the wars in Northern Ireland were driven by Christian values, that Sharon's atrocities and land grab are acceptable in Judaism as a faith, and that atrocities committed against Christians and Muslims in India are part of Hinduism. In the process, this misrepresentation of the truth will only inflict more damage to humanity by creating the momentum for religious wars.

No compulsion

Rather than trying to understand Islam from Muslims, try to understand Islam from the Quran itself. Consider these quotations:

Those who have faith [ie in the Quran], and the Jews and the Christians and the Sabines, those among them who profess faith in God and the last day, and do righteous acts, shall have their reward from God, on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve. 2-62 There is no compulsion in religion. Right has become distinguished from wrong. 2-256 Had God not used people as a means [of prevention] against another then surely many monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques would have been destroyed, where the name of God is commemorated in abundance. 22-40 And never was a people without a warner [read: prophet] living among them. 35-24 God does not forbid you from those who have not waged war against your faith nor expelled you from your dwellings to be kind and just with them. God loves those who are just. 60-8. How can a religion that has set for itself such criteria be accused of violence? In 2-62 it is clear that the Quran is inclusive. It becomes even more clear in 22-40 whereby not only the mosque but also monasteries, churches and synagogues are described as places where the name of God is commemorated in abundance. More so, we are told in 2-256 that we cannot compel people on matters of religion. In 35-24 we are even told that religion is not a matter of monopoly for a specific people or specific part of the world. In 60-8 the Quran calls for harmony and justice with others unless they have initiated war against your faith or expelled you from your dwellings.

So where then does this demagogue-like attitude that we have come from? It comes from our own naked selfish interests, narrow minds, inability to co-exist with one another and the dictatorial belief inside us that tells us we possess the ultimate truth, whatever that may mean. This belief is enhanced by our so-called religious leaders, whether in mosques, churches, synagogues or temples, many of whom are ignorant of the religious values they claim to believe in. Centuries ago, the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) warned that podiums, when vacated by scholars, will be quickly occupied by the ignorant. Today, they are also occupied by self-serving leaders with an unholy agenda of their own.

Accusing religions and then continuing to fight over our religious beliefs creates the opportunity for the real culprits to get away while preventing us from attacking the real problem at its core. It is time right-minded people act together before those hatching the clash of civilisations and clash of religions can claim victory.

'''Abdullah Al Rahim is a freelance writer based in Yemen. He can be contacted at arahim@gulfnews.com.'''