Solsticewitch13's BOS: Whose Side Am I On?

Friday, January 7, 2011

Whose Side Am I On?

Posted: 06 Jan 2011 11:28 PM PST

I HAVE OFTEN said that when you tell non-Muslims some basic principles of Islam, many of them think you are insulting Islam. They think, "How can you accuse people of such terrible things?" After simply explaining a few basic Islamic doctrines to people, many of them have told me it was a terrible indictment against the Islam.

But I always try to make the point that this is what they believe, and the faithful do not think of it as an indictment at all. In fact, calling it an indictment is the ultimate insult. Calling it an indictment is insulting to a devout Muslim. In other words, calling a list of Islamic principles "an indictment" means you believe there is something fundamentally bad about those principles, and since a Muslim believes these principles are Allah's last word and the only true expression of divine will on Earth, if you think there is anything bad about it, you are insulting Allah, the Prophet, and all Muslims. It doesn't get any more insulting than that.

I just got a great example of this attitude on my article, Basic Principles of Islam. Someone left this comment:

Your articles are extremely interesting.

You claim to be against Islam but its clear that any non-muslim that actually reads what you have written would end up being closer to Islam and more likely to embrace it.

I am trying to work out if you have either been counter-productive or are an extremely intelligent Muslim who is giving dawah (missionary work for Islam) from a reverse psychological point of view.

Either way I hope you keep up the good work of Allah and may he reward you for your deeds if your intentions are pure.

Allah Hafiz

Now think about it. This guy thinks I am promoting Islam, selling people on it, yet in my article I have listed as basic Islamic principles things like subjugating women, using a double standard, using warfare and bloodshed to spread the religion, the command that Muslims create Islamic governments, Muslims are forbidden to leave the religion, dying in jihad is the only way to guarantee a Muslim man's passage to Paradise, etc.

By telling people about these basic Islamic principles, Mr. Hafiz thinks I am doing a great service selling people on his "wonderful" religion!

Stranger than fiction.

In the future, if someone thinks you are insulting Islam when you list its basic principles, I hope you can straighten them out. I hope you can make it clear that their belief that you are insulting Islam is what would really be insulting to a faithful Muslim.