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RELIGION

The New Face of Islam

A critique of radicalism is building within the heart of the Muslim world.

By Christopher Dickey and Owen Matthews | NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Jun 9, 2008

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  • Posted By: SALAMWALAKUM @ 11/22/2008 8:34:50 PM

    MUSLIM MEN CAN MARRY FOUR WOMEN AT ONE TIME, MUSLIMS HAVE TO PRAY FIVE TIMES A DAY, WOMEN HAVE TO WEAR A HEAD COVER, COMMENTS POSTED BY QARTHA FROM THE QURAN I CAN GO ON. BUT THE FINAL QUESTION IS WHY DO SO MANY BELIEVE?

  • Posted By: qartha @ 10/10/2008 4:48:21 AM

    Muhammad experienced bitter persecution in Mecca, but when he became politically and socially powerful, he launched severe attacks and bloody wars against his enemies. He sometimes became intolerant and unforgiving. In the Quran, he commands more than sixteen times that his enemies, all unbelievers, and those who have slipped away from Islam should be killed:

    "Kill them wherever you come upon them. Expel them from where they expelled you; sedition is more grievous than slaying. Fight them not by the Holy Mosque until they should fight you there; then, if they fight you, kill them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers" (The Cow 2:191).

    "Take not to yourselves friends of them, until they emigrate in the way of God; then if they turn away seize them and kill them wherever you find them and take no friend nor helper from among them" (Women 4:89).

    "Fight them, till there is no persecution, and the religion is Allah's entirely" (Spoils 8:39).

    "When the sacred months are drawn away, slay the idolators wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush" (Repentance 9:5).

    Muhammad did not bring peace to the world, but many wars. He sent his followers into raids and holy wars more than thirty times. He himself participated in such attacks and expeditions twenty-nine times. He commanded his people to shed the blood of his enemies. He was the example of the believers and the political leader of the Arabian peninsula.

  • Posted By: qartha @ 10/10/2008 4:44:01 AM

    That's right, James. What we see happening in parts of the world regarding Muslim is similar to what was written in the Koran : killing "infidels", away from Christian community, killing anti islam community, etc.

  • Posted By: James4Truth @ 09/27/2008 7:43:51 AM

    The article is off base, the Koran does teach that killing infidels is ok, it does teach that a muslim cannot be a friend with a Christian or a Jew, and it does teach the killing of those who oppose islam.

    What we see happening in the middle east is similar to what has happened in must of the western world with Christianity, as people become more "enlightened" they become less believing in a God who has interacted with His creation. The key here is that when you look at the most dedicated followers of Islam you see terrorists, because thta is what it teaches.

  • Posted By: intermedusa @ 09/03/2008 11:32:11 AM

    WHAT IS ISLAM SUPREMACISM : PART 1
    By
    Larry Houle
    www.godofreason.com
    E-mail: intermedusa@yahoo.com

    THE TRUTH OF ISLAM

    Islam is all about Muslim men. It is an evil ideology created by a man - Muhammad for his male followers granting them unlimited sex, riches, and political power. Allah hates all Muslim women with a deep seated loathing. Muslim women are vile, dirty, stupid creatures. Muslim men can have multiple wives, unlimited sex slaves, can marry and rape Muslim baby girls, beat his wives, and murder them and his daughters if they dare impugn his honor. Whereas kafirs have zero humanity, Muslim women are only just slightly higher on the human evolutionary scale being half a human. This is the divine order of the universe ordained by Allah. This vision of the inequality of Muslim women to Muslim men, and the Eternal sub - humanness and lack of humanity of kafirs is FOREVER and can never be changed in any way.


    It is the prime directive of Islam to conquer the nations of the world for Allah by whatever means necessary. Allah seeks the extermination of all kafirs. By refusing to convert to Islam, kafirs have declared war against Islam, are a grave danger to Allah and must be destroyed. Islam is a declaration of war against kafirs. The Koran is not a holy book but a book of war. A book of genocide. Allah is a god of war. This war is permanent until all kafirs convert to Islam or agree to pay a devastating Jizya (submission tax) or be murdered.

    For Muslims, it is a holy religious duty to murder kafirs. The Quran is written in the language of terrorism. It is filled with numerous verses urging the Muslims to terrorize the non Muslims, kill them, and take possession of their lands and properties. The important points to remember is that whatever Muhammad did to terrorize the kafirs was actually the actions of God. Among the many verses which exhort Islamist terrorism, the following verses stand out as naked aggression of Allah/Muhammad on the unbelievers: 2:63, 3:151, 8:12, 8:60, 8:59, 9:5, 9:29, 9:55, 11:102, and 17:59 etc. These teachings are the Eternal Laws of Allah authorization murder and extermination as a holy duty.

    Deceit, torture, murder, assassination, massacre, genocide, pillage, robbery, enslavement and rape are halal (legal) acts in Islam deserving of paradise, as long as they are perpetrated on kafirs. These evil, immoral teachings are the ETERNAL Laws of Allah. These ETERNAL LAWS OF ALLAH are divine and can never BE CHANGED.

  • Posted By: intermedusa @ 09/03/2008 11:31:14 AM

    WHAT IS ISLAM SUPREMACISM : PART 2
    By
    Larry Houle
    www.godofreason.com
    E-mail: intermedusa@yahoo.com

    Again as a kafir, you are not a human being to a Muslim. You have absolutely no humanity. A Muslim has the full right granted to him by God, to murder you, take your wife and young daughter(s) rape and gang rape them (no matter what the age of your daughter) take them as sex slaves or sell them into slavery to be breed like cattle for future sex slaves and profit. Your male children will be beheaded if they are young men. If there is any doubt as to whether your young son is a young man or a young boy, Muslims will pull down their pants and examine their genitals for the slightest growth of hair. Just the slightest hair growth is enough for him to be beheaded. All your property will be seized and whatever the Muslim does not want to keep as his personal property, sold.


    If a Muslim kills or is killed murdering, raping, pillaging non -Muslims then they are guaranteed accession by God to a Paradise of full breasted, lustrous eyed virgins who regenerate as virgins after each sex act that they can sexually molest with external erections for all eternity. THIS IS THE EVIL INSANITY THAT IS ISLAM.

  • Posted By: Khadega @ 08/08/2008 7:19:49 PM

    That is not the new face of Islam, that is the always face of Islam. Osama Bin Laden, doesn't represnt Islam, as KKK doesn't represnt Christianity. Bin Laden and most of Islamic groups were created and encouraged by US policies to fight communist and Russia in the 1950s. Islam have been here for the last 1400 years, and if What Bin Laden message is the core message of Islam, no one would be walking in this planet. If 1.2 Billion muslims believe as Bin Laden believes, wouldn't the human race would be erased by now??????????

  • Posted By: Stop the hate @ 07/30/2008 5:04:52 AM

    Reading some of the ignorant postings full of hatred that were presenting nothing more than the persons' hate and ignorance and their efforts to spread LIES, misinformation, and made-up statistics, and even a made-up Qur'an that they either did not understand the true meaning of the text or the events surrounding the time some of the passages were written.I have a message for all the readers who are intelligent, not bigoted, do not have that type of hatred, and can see through the lies and misinformation, people of all races and religion, we should not allow these ignorant and hate-filled people to try to spread their lies and hate between us. We have great examples of this from history: the KKK, the enslavement of the African Americans, the hate towards the Japanese/Asians, the hate towards the Latins/Mexicans, and the Native Americans, all of these things no Muslim has anything to do with it, and all these things were caused by the same type of a group of people full of hate and their love to divide.

  • Posted By: DEMİRCİ @ 07/27/2008 3:27:55 PM

    Comment: Honourable brother,Larry houl,
    first of all,
    would like to thank you,
    you have noticed my arguements /comments,
    regarding the innocent killing,
    on the name of islam,


    Mr,Harry Houl,
    you should consider the fact,
    my arguements were limited on the subject,
    I had presented my real view,
    regarding the innocent killing,
    being carried out on the name of islam,
    to which you have accepted with opened minde.


    As for as other things are concerned toislam,
    i presented no comments,
    Now you have raised my questions,
    which forced me say only one thing,
    pls first study the Quraan,
    then understand it,
    after this ,
    you have right to say what found and felt about islam or Quraan.


    Be sure ,
    i have read your all arguements,
    but have no similarity
    between your views and the teaching of islam,


    Killing of man is killing of whole mankind,
    who committed such crime or sin ,
    is liable to sever punishment,
    in the court of Allah.
    WWW.BEYAZRENKLER.ORG

  • Posted By: Sultan Ahmed @ 06/25/2008 11:13:53 AM

    Honourable brother,Larry houl,
    first of all,
    would like to thank you,
    you have noticed my arguements /comments,
    regarding the innocent killing,
    on the name of islam,


    Mr,Harry Houl,
    you should consider the fact,
    my arguements were limited on the subject,
    I had presented my real view,
    regarding the innocent killing,
    being carried out on the name of islam,
    to which you have accepted with opened minde.


    As for as other things are concerned toislam,
    i presented no comments,
    Now you have raised my questions,
    which forced me say only one thing,
    pls first study the Quraan,
    then understand it,
    after this ,
    you have right to say what found and felt about islam or Quraan.


    Be sure ,
    i have read your all arguements,
    but have no similarity
    between your views and the teaching of islam,


    Killing of man is killing of whole mankind,
    who committed such crime or sin ,
    is liable to sever punishment,
    in the court of Allah.

  • Posted By: existentialist @ 06/23/2008 10:35:24 PM

    I traveled to Muslim country a couple of weeks after 9/11. My friends there did not in any way support the acts of AQ. UBL will go down in history just as all of the other megalomaniacs that sought power and influence by espousing extremist principles based on warped interpretations of the human condition. Their quest for power always ends the same way - defeated in the face of freedom, liberty and individual rights. It is interesting how the profile of so many of his ilk is the same; outcast and marginalized in their youth, subscribing to fundamentalist and extremist ideologies in young adulthood and gathering like minded dolts around them. These movements have hurt mankind through the ages but they have never prevailed, and neither will this one. Freedom. liberty and choice are the ultimate truths of man that can never be vanquished. The likes of UBL and his followers, sadly, simply don't get it...

  • Posted By: existentialist @ 06/23/2008 10:35:05 PM

    I traveled to Muslim country a couple of weeks after 9/11. My friends there did not in any way support the acts of AQ. UBL will go down in history just as all of the other megalomaniacs that sought power and influence by espousing extremist principles based on warped interpretations of the human condition. Their quest for power always ends the same way - defeated in the face of freedom, liberty and individual rights. It is interesting how the profile of so many of his ilk is the same; outcast and marginalized in their youth, subscribing to fundamentalist and extremist ideologies in young adulthood and gathering like minded dolts around them. These movements have hurt mankind through the ages but they have never prevailed, and neither will this one. Freedom. liberty and choice are the ultimate truths of man that can never be vanquished. The likes of UBL and his followers, sadly, simply don't get it...

  • Posted By: Lionheart48 @ 06/23/2008 7:59:03 PM

    The Quran and Hadith have some explicit text advocating subjugation and violence against 'infidels'. This is not to say that the majority of Muslims advocate or support these positions. But one has to wonder about the jubilation expressed in many Muslim countries when the events of 911 first became known. Nonetheless, Osama bin Laden's interpretation of these 'scriptures' is the significant and worrisome one because he and his followers are the ones who subscribe to terrorism as a legitimate way of defeating infidels and establishing Muslim hegemony. Hence, arguments that the majority of Muslims do not subscribe to Obama's doctrine does not diminish the threat OBL and Co. represent.

  • Posted By: repudar71 @ 06/20/2008 9:25:28 AM

    i

  • Posted By: repudar71 @ 06/20/2008 9:24:46 AM

    If I wanted to read the Bible, I could do that by myself. I don't need your help here.

  • Posted By: Trooper101st @ 06/19/2008 8:24:10 AM

    LET me simplify this for some. These moslems that follow the wahhabbi version of thier oft twisted religion, must be met and vanquished. Whether its in the US, Europe or SW Asia, the only law is kill them or they will kill you. Those camps in p-stan gotta go....we are just waiting for the word....1st BCT 327, 101st Air Assault

  • Posted By: shaba @ 06/15/2008 3:32:09 PM


    DEUTERONOMY
    CHAPTER 17
    Those who worship false gods shall be put to death???Priests and judges shall determine the hard cases???Kings shall not multiply horses or wives or gold???The king must study the laws of God daily.
    1 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is ablemish, or any bevilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.
    2 ¶ If there be found among you, within any of thy agates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in btransgressing his covenant,
    3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
    4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
    5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt astone them with stones, till they bdie.
    6 aAt the mouth of btwo witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to cdeath; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
    7 The hands of the witnesses shall be afirst upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
    8 ¶ If there arise a matter too hard for thee in ajudgment, bbetween blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of ccontroversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the dplace which the Lord thy God shall choose;
    9 And thou shalt come unto the apriests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall bshew thee the sentence of judgment:
    10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee;
    11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
    12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
    13 And all the people shall hear, and afear, and do no more presumptuously.
    14 ¶ When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;


  • Posted By: shaba @ 06/15/2008 3:10:49 PM

    Deuteronomy 7:1 ???When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. [1] You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. THIS IS NOT VIOLENT? I guess most of you have not read the Old Testament

  • Posted By: benvolio @ 06/15/2008 6:23:07 AM

    Thoughts that derserve to be taken very seriously. To avoid the so-called clash of civilizations to be turned into a military armageddon, any voice of moderation must be heard.

  • Posted By: benvolio @ 06/15/2008 5:49:12 AM

    These thoughts deserve to be taken very seriously by both sides of the so-called divide. To avoid a clash of civilizations threatening to turn into Armageddon, it is vital to give moderating voices their say.

  • Posted By: intermedusa @ 06/14/2008 11:59:30 PM

    ANSWER SULTAN AHMED

    By
    Larry Houle
    www.godofreason.com
    intermedusa@yahoo.com

    QUOTING SULTAN:


    The question is that Islam or Kuran says about it;

    ;;killing of man is killing of whole mankind;;

    END QUOTE

    Sultan is quoting Koran teaching 5:32. This is a favorite teaching of Muslims but they do not quote the entire teaching. 5:32 states is you can be killed for spreading mischief and corruption in the land. By refusing to convert to Islam, or rejecting Muhammad or rejecting Any teaching of the Koran, or declaring that Isam is bogus, that Allah does not exist, that Muhammad never met the Angel Gabriel, never received any revelations from Allah, that Muhammad created ALL the teachings of the Koran you are spreading mischief and corruption in the land and MUST BE MURDERED.

    In Koran 5:32 you can murder non believers (kafirs), rape and enslave their women and children, and loot their property. These are all holy acts in Islam.
    5:32 On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief (corruption) in the land it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then there came to them Our apostles with clear Signs yet even after that many of them continued to commit excesses in the land. 5:32
    Maim and crucify the infidels if they criticize Islam Koran 5:33
    The punishment of those who pit themselves against Allah and His Messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement, except those who repent before you have them in your power (5:33-34) 5:33
    When the sacred months have passed away, THEN SLAY THE IDOLATERS WHEREVER YOU FIND THEM, AND TAKE THEM CAPTIVES AND BESIEGE THEM AND LIE IN WAIT FOR THEM IN EVERY AMBUSH, then if they repent and keep up prayer [become believers] and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them (9:5)
    Kill the Jews and the Christians if they do not convert to Islam or refuse to pay Jizya tax. 9:29
    Verse 9:29 forms the basis of the system of dhimmitude prevalent in the Islamic empire, which institutionalised the second-class status of non-Muslims (specifically Christians and Jews) and forced them to pay tribute for ???protection???:

    FIGHT THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN ALLAH, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, NOR FOLLOW THE RELIGION OF TRUTH, OUT OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE BOOK [Christians and Jews], until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and THEY ARE IN A STATE OF SUBJECTION. (9:29)



  • Posted By: intermedusa @ 06/14/2008 11:32:39 PM

    ISLAM IS FASCISM
    ISLAM IS TERRORISM

    By
    Larry Houle
    www.godofreason.com
    intermedusa@yahoo.com


    ISLAM IS TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY BOGUS ??? A SHAM AND A FRAUD

    Islam is not a religion but an evil, political, military ideology.

    The ten commandments teach: Thou Shalt Not Kill.

    The Koran teaches: Thou Shalt Kill Infidels.

    In Islam, it is a holy religious duty to murder infidels. The Quran is written in the language of terrorism. It is filled with numerous verses urging the Muslims to terrorize the non Muslims, kill them, and take possession of their lands and properties. The important points to remember is that whatever Muhammad did to terrorize the infidels was actually the actions of God. Among the many verses which exhort Islamist terrorism, the following verses stand out as naked aggression of Allah/Muhammad on the unbelievers: 2:63, 3:151, 8:12, 8:60, 8:59, 9:29, 9:50 9:55, 11:102, and 17:59 These are the Eternal Laws of Allah authorizating murder and extermination as a holy duty. THIS IS THE EVIL INSANITY THAT IS ISLAM.

    Islam is murdering infidels, raping their women and little girls, selling and breeding them as slaves, looting and pillaging their property and keeping 80% of the proceeds from the looting and selling slaves, and distributing the women not sold into slavery as sex slaves.

    In Islam, deceit, torture, murder, assassination, massacre, genocide, pillage, robbery, enslavement and rape are halal (legal) acts, deserving of paradise, as long as they were perpetrated on infidels. These evil, immoral teachings are the ETERNAL Laws of Allah
    These ETERNAL LAWS OF ALLAH are divine and can never BE CHANGED.

    Allah permits polygamy, temporary marriages (muta), pedophilia, marriage with adopted son's wives, wife beating, and sex with slave girls.

    All Muslims believe the Koran is the Eternal divine word of God ??? the Eternal laws of God. All Muslims believe that God authored the Koran and a copy of the Koran is in heaven. The Koran remains for all Muslims, not just "fundamentalists," the uncreated word of God Himself. It is valid for all times and places forever; its ideas are absolutely true and beyond all criticism. To question it is to question the very word of God, and hence blasphemous. A Muslim's duty is to believe it and obey its divine commands without question.


    ITS ALL ABOUT ISLAM STUPID INFIDEL

  • Posted By: Sultan Ahmed @ 06/14/2008 7:42:28 AM

    Large number of incidents ,occured in and around,have seen womens and innocents killied by blsting the bombs detonated under the cart,behind the cycal or hidden portion of motorcycle.

    The question is that Islam or Kuran says about it;

    ;;killing of man is killing of wehole mand kind;;

  • Posted By: CHATO4444 @ 06/13/2008 2:43:59 PM

    You are all crazy. Do not let the media fool you. The islamic people are crazy and are a bunch of radicals. They do not drink beer and they eat spicy turkey necks.

  • Posted By: joe_mama @ 06/12/2008 12:11:39 PM

    Journalist Peter Bergen discussed this issue on NPR yesterday (6/11/08) and has an article about it on his web site:

    http://www.peterbergen.com/bergen/articles/details.aspx?id=346

    It's important to note that, so far, Al Qaeda appears to be the only radical Islamic Movement with global aspirations. The movements in Indonesia, North Africa and even East Africa are completely internal: they do not support the West, but they're more concerned with taking over their own countries than with destroying the West. No, I'm not defending them. If successful, they could create safe havens for all sorts of illicit activities--both criminal and terror-related.

    Nevertheless, we (Americans specifically and Westerners in general) should take a step back and recognize that this dissent does, in fact, exist and try to determine how or if it can be exploited.

    On NPR, Bergen recommended doing nothing and letting it evolve on it's own. I'm not willing to leave that much up to chance, but I do acknowledge that we need to proceed carefully. Dissent within Al Qaeda DOES NOT mean support of or sympathy for America, her allies, or her interests. If we are too aggressive in trying to exploit this divide, people could get defensive and rally back to Al Qaeda's cause.

    For now....let's wait and see. This may well be the beginning of the end of Al Qaeda as a philosophical movement within the Muslim world.

    PS--Ahmed,
    Thank you for your postings....it's always good to hear from ACTUAL Muslims.

  • Posted By: Sultan Ahmed @ 06/10/2008 8:11:56 PM

    Wrong clarification,absolutely wrong done by Osama Bin Laden.It is not acceptable ,absolutely rejectable,wrongly narrated and delibrately interpratered.In fact ,such people have not real knowledge of Islam and Kuran.Due to such acts muslims are devided into many factins and every faction has different vviews about Islam and Kuran.


    Islam, teachings of Kuran,in fact a religion of peace.Every versus of this wholy book teach us brother hood not enmity or war.

    86 war had been fought in the early days of islam and during such long period you will find no suicide attack or conspiracy hatched by islamic leaders against others.
    Islam grante no permission of killing innocent people as is being done by blasting and explosions on public places

    It is an admitted fact that they have aggravated the face of islam by their evil deeds.
    Why they are instigating muslims.They don't know that they are ccountable to God.
    A fair part of the world is burning like hell.Who is responsible for that,Kuran? no,Islam ? no those peoples who are watching vision to rule over the entire world.

  • Posted By: saminu @ 06/10/2008 8:59:50 AM

    ANY THING ON ISLAM THAT COMES FROM TURKEY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTABLE TO THE REAL ISLAMIC UMMAH BECAUSE OF THEIR SECULAR STAND. THAT HADITH THEY ARE TRYING TO BRING MAY NOT BE AUTHENTIC AND ARE LIKELY TO BE FAKE SO THEY BETTER NOT WASTE THEIR TIME, PLEASE.

    SAMINU KILA

  • Posted By: theoabe @ 06/06/2008 2:52:23 PM

    The apocalyptic notion of holy war he promoted???and the reality of it that he demonstrated on 9/11???became the dominant vision of Islam for those with little understanding of the faith, whether in the West or, indeed, the Muslim world. Even many religious scholars were intimidated.
    ~~~~~~~~
    who were the religious scholars which were NOT intimidated?

  • Posted By: theoabe @ 06/06/2008 2:51:00 PM

    " The apocalyptic notion of holy war he promoted???and the reality of it that he demonstrated on 9/11???became the dominant vision of Islam for those with little understanding of the faith, whether in the West or, indeed, the Muslim world. Even many religious scholars were intimidated."
    ~~~~~~~~~
    Who were the religious scholars which were NOT intimidated?

  • Posted By: Xudayi @ 06/06/2008 8:17:01 AM

    The worst that can happen to a Muslims scholar is being seen to be pandering to the wishes of a different ideology. The Turk researchers cannot be seen to be sincere whatevet their motive. They cannot be allowed to gain any shred of acceptance if their goal is to try to find acceptance for "un-islamic" cultural issues in the traditions of Islam.
    It is not the time for Muslims to think about reforming Islam, you cannot reform anything under the threat of being nuked to smithreens. You cannot do independent research and interpretation of religion when you have already set yourself the goal of rejecting an existing thesis. Muslims agree on many issues and disagree on others. Disagreement is not a form of rejection, it is just a matter of opinion. Difference of opinion has always existed among muslims and that should not create dissent ot creation of supporters od Western Ideology among Muslims. Muslims should be united in the rejection of Western culture, imperialism and domination. Muslims should not allow division in their ranks which can be exploited by others to weaken their resolve in creating for themselves a better world.
    The paradoxes that exist in the Muslim world are there for everyone to see; dictators, unelected monarchy, forreign controlled puppets, poverty in a very rich society, internal feuds and external wars. The Muslim world is in deep trouble and solutions are needed. Some will suggest unreasonably violent solutions, others will give up any hope and essentially defect, while many will just live on to hope for better leadership and better days.
    The solution for Muslims is in self acceptance, reflection and resurgence. The solution is not to reject part of the society as radicals or liberals, the solution is discussion and finding the right way. Islam has richer history than any other civilization and Muslims should take pride in this. The Muslims should not allow themselves to become cheap targets for the Western media.

  • Posted By: Xudayi @ 06/06/2008 7:54:17 AM

    oK, I am just wondering what theturks can tell muslims now. They have zero credibilty. They cannot "rethink" Islam, they cannot even rethink Turkey itself. Turkish Ulama should tell the world whether women have a right to wear what they want in campus. The AK party should not attempt to fit Islam to their needs, they should fit their policies into Islam.
    Nobody has appointed Bin Laden to talk for Muslims, nobody has appointed the turks to "revise" Islam to fit into their skewed form of democracy and enforced secularism. Islam is Islam regardless of those who like it or dislike it. There are 1.5 Billion Muslims in the world and their interest is in unity of purpose, not to get apologetic towards the West.

  • Posted By: LIKEITIS @ 06/05/2008 2:02:32 PM

    WOW, THAT SOUNDS GREAT.......HOPE IT HOLD TRUE AS THE NEW DIRECTION OF THE MIDDLE EAST, IT COULD MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVING TO EVENTUALLY NUKING THEM.

  • Posted By: Yosemite Gem @ 06/05/2008 1:38:56 PM

    As Rodney said" Can't we all just get along?"

  • Posted By: Houlbelat @ 06/05/2008 8:30:34 AM

    If we rummage through various investigation reports available on the net, we will find enough credible material to know that, 9/11 was a highly complex planned Ground Zero created by the US agencies for covert sinister reasons. Osama bin Laden is their extremely dependable agent who is revered today by his contemporary agents, as disclosed by Michael Scheuer, one of the former agents, in his recently published book. Enough evidence is available in the book proving that, the war against terror is the biggest conspiracy in the human civilization of man against humanity because, it has specifically been created to exterminate religion ???Islam??? and promotion of ???shamism???.

    It has also been reported extensively by some honest and realist writers in the US media that, war against terror cannot be speeded-up, without increasing the terror itself. Therefore, planner of the farce are secretly training and helping insurgents for creating avenues of turmoil to increase terror, while on the surface, they are fighting terror in such a way that creates ever increasing hold of the terrorists every where, showing the success of real agenda.

  • Posted By: matthew.fumia @ 06/05/2008 8:18:42 AM

    The problem isn't just with Islam, but with religion in general. Religion is a disease of the mind, born of fear, which has done nothing but bring untold misery down upon the human race. These mind control cults have spread there lies and deceit around this globe for far too long. It's time we all moved beyond the need for this silly, superstitious mumbo jumbo.

    • Posted By: R Lawrence @ 06/08/2008 12:24:28 PM

      I certainly agree with Mathhew.fumia. The practice of religion throughout history has always resulted in bad governance and the many attempts to seporate religios views and beliefs from governance has been unsuccessful in most cases. Now, the practice of faith in God and a spiritual -collective and individual - communion or relationship can be very benefitual and the salvation of mankind. All organized and non-organized religions eventually become instruments for control and dominance, usually by the powerful, to develop and implement thier own sick and selfserving agendas. It is wonderful to read that the so-called Islamic World is now realizing that Osama Bin Ladin, the Taliban, and all these terrorists are using Islam to promote their own selfserving agenda to gain econmic and political power. The terrorist's agenda has nothing to do with promoting Islamic values or protecting Islam from external threats. On the contrary, Islam in modern times has not needed promoting and it certainly does not need protection because it is not under threat or attact by the West or any other force.

  • Posted By: matthew.fumia @ 06/05/2008 8:15:28 AM

    Sura (2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]...and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah."



  • Posted By: matthew.fumia @ 06/05/2008 8:15:02 AM

    Sura (2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]...and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah."

    Sura (3:56) - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."Sura (3:56) - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."Sura (3:56) - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."

    Sura (3:56) - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."

  • Posted By: ROBES @ 06/04/2008 9:29:55 AM

    hgfjhg

  • Posted By: ROBES @ 06/04/2008 9:29:23 AM

    Why are you publishing this? I thought the offcial line is that Bush has made us LESS safe, and created MORE terrorists? What, the media was wrong? Oh, my!

    • Posted By: joe_mama @ 06/12/2008 11:59:15 AM

      It was all part of Bush's plan:

      Act so recklessly and so foolishly that you instigate the terrorists into violating the tenets of their own religion thereby alienating themselves from their own community.

      BRILLIANT!!!

      And I thought Bush was an idiot...

  • Posted By: miss_maryland @ 06/04/2008 5:50:58 AM

    DISTANTSMOKE: Catholic militants in the IRA killed tons of people, Catholic and protestant, during the violence in Northern Ireland in the 20th century. Should we blame Catholics for their failure to prevent this carnage? Did their behaviour justify the retaliatory violence of the Protestant Orangemen, who also killed loads of innocent people? Why should Muslims be viewed any differently in this context? I know! It???s because they???re foreign, unfamiliar. They are the unknown ???other??? that terrifies us because they are different from us. It???s easier to reduce Muslims to a single, unflattering stereotype than to try to understand them as human beings with hopes and dreams of their own, and with a few bad apples among them like any other group of people.

  • Posted By: distantsmoke @ 06/04/2008 2:35:23 AM

    So some Muslims aare fearful of the backlash caused by other Muslims indiscriminate slaughter of both Muslims and Non-Muslims. Am I supposed to be pleased? Where were these people before 9/11?

  • Posted By: MFASA @ 06/04/2008 1:04:14 AM

    Muslims For A Safe America encourages American Muslims to take positions on important issues based on information and critical thinking, not based on emotion.

    "When Are Muslims Required to Fight, And Against Whom?"
    http://muslimsforasafeamerica.org/?p=4

    Muslims For A Safe America encourages honest and informed discussion about how to make Muslims and America safer.

  • Posted By: PMR1 @ 06/04/2008 12:49:39 AM

    It's funny that the article mentions Martin Luther-there isn't a "Martin Luther" figure here because there doesn't need to be one. This isn't really about "reforming" Islam as you suppose Luther did Christianity (little note to others who read this, Luther wrote THE seminal book on anit-Semitism in the West, called "The Jews and Their Lies", as well as oversaw witch burnings and urging the nobility to repress the peasants who mistook his "Reformation" for a shot at freedom). This is about Islam returning to its roots. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the religion and it doesn't need to be "reinterpreted" as you suggest in order to counter terrorists. IF you study the REAL Islam, you will find that it is a beautiful, resonant faith, and that its followers are good, pious people who have suffered quite a bit of misrepresentation.

  • Posted By: MFASA @ 06/03/2008 11:13:19 PM

    When Are Muslims Required to Fight, And Against Whom?
    http://muslimsforasafeamerica.org/?p=4

    Muslims For A Safe America encourages honest and informed discussion about how to make Muslims and America safer.

    • Posted By: Houlbelat @ 06/05/2008 8:41:42 AM

      Its simple. America will be much safer if Americans accept Obama without smearing him with his Muslim ancestory and American Muslims are allowed to play their positive role without fear.

      • Posted By: emmarcee @ 06/05/2008 10:05:13 AM

        Otherwise what ? you will strap a bomb around you?

  • Posted By: Ruqayya @ 06/03/2008 5:50:52 PM

    Well, well, well. Better late than never. Finally, EVERYBODY is realizing what Muslim thinkers and theologians in the west were saying. The lust for blood of few human beings should not, cannot, and shall not be understood as the "default" position of the majority. But then, there still will be people that refuse to accept that Muslims know more about their own faith than non-Muslims do.

  • Posted By: Eman @ 06/03/2008 3:46:43 PM

    Newsweek needs to stop making false propaganda against Islam, if one chooses to practice there religion that doesn't mean he or she will be a terrorist, in fact Bin Laden or against true Islam and it's proper practices and many religious scholars have clearly explained all terrorism is forbidden under Islam. Lastly, George W. Bush and his VP are the strongest terrorist and impose terror on innocent Iraqis, Afghans, and people throughout Latin America. Perhaps, Newsweek should write about that!

  • Posted By: 1-truth @ 06/03/2008 3:27:03 PM

    Semantics can lead to distortion and misunderstanding. The terms,"radical, fundamentalist, moderate and jihadist, are used without context or comprehension by nearly all western journalists who delve into the subject of Al-Islam. Journalists tend to seek out people and ideas that are close to their own personal prejudices. There has been an understanding of Al-Islam, in its historical context, by the vast majority of Muslims for several hundred years. You need to find the consensus opinion of the global community of Islam on these subjects and present that to the public.

  • Posted By: miss_maryland @ 06/03/2008 10:40:39 AM

    OK, I haven't read much here but I can see that loads of people have really funny views about Islam. With articles like this one in reputable news sources, I am not at all surprised. I have a M.A. in Modern History from a top university and have been taught by leading academics in the subject of islamic politics past & present. And I did loads of research on the relationship between the Middle East and the West for my dissertation last year. So, first of all the article. I'm really concerned that Newsweek would print something like this. Turkey is a secular country and the political and religious situation there is completely different from anywhere in the Middle East. So you assume that just because Turks are Muslim you???ve identified a broad new movement in Islamic countries? The fact of the matter is, is that people in the Middle East are becoming more radicalized for two reasons: 1) Economic. That???s always been the case in Islamic history. Whenever times are bad, people take the view that God is disappointed with the current government and demand a re-structuring of government along the ???true??? (meaning stricter) lines of Islam. 2) Political. In the Middle East, a sizeable proportion of the population (if not the majority) believes that the region ??? and by association their religion and culture ??? is under assault from Western imperialism. When the US first invaded Iraq, few people listened to this argument. But as the years went by and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were killed ??? partly by American negligence, partly through a civil war that we Americans created by invading in the first place ??? more and more people came to accept this view. Even in Turkey, there is a disturbing resurgence of anti-western sentiment as a result of the Iraq debacle. As long as we stay in Iraq, Americans can only encourage the view that we want to rule the country ourselves and kill any muslim who stands in our way.


  • Posted By: miss_maryland @ 06/03/2008 10:15:02 AM

    d

  • Posted By: quix0te @ 06/03/2008 9:56:04 AM

    I certainly hope this movement takes root. I foresee some of the moderates being killed by radicals. The question is whether this quells the movement or turns them into martyrs for the movement.

  • Posted By: mowjoe @ 06/03/2008 9:24:18 AM

    I am not holding my breath that Islam will have its own reformation. A mosque and school three miles from my house is still teaching that Christians and Jews are infidels and if they don't convert should be killed. Its also clear that so-called Muslim moderates are doing nothing to condemn these practices nor take on countries like Iran. Maybe the drop in support for suicide bombing is due to young men deciding they want to live to fight another day. It will be a cold day in hell before the Saudis (the biggest funder of terrorism) will allow a woman to drive by herself. I wish the Turkish scholars the best of luck but they may be putting a death sentence on their own heads from their own "people." I've spent too much time in Israel and the middle east to believe that change is in the air. Islam's 1500 years of history doesn't provide much comfort that a kumbayah moment is emerging. But, I guess, one can only hope and pray that an Islamic reformation is beginning.

    • Posted By: 1-truth @ 06/03/2008 3:29:44 PM

      Have you ever actually talked to the people who attend that Masjid? I doubt it.

      • Posted By: Houlbelat @ 06/05/2008 8:51:44 AM

        Iran is not a main stream Muslim State and its rulings should not be taken as Islamic on face value. Only 8% of all Muslims subscribe to Shea sect.

  • Posted By: kapmep @ 06/03/2008 8:32:17 AM

    Given Newsweek's leftist bias, this kind of questionable article isn't surprising. However, we can only hope that some of what it says is true. A large infusion of moderation in Islam would be nice, and it would permit the rest of the world to live with less anxiety. Let's just wait and see what happens in the future.

  • Posted By: ahmedjafri @ 06/03/2008 7:41:03 AM

    Beware of what is passed off as Hadith--it may not be. The only authentic ahadith emanate from the House of Muhammad himself. If it does not bear the seal of Muhammad's bloodline, look upon it with more than just skepticism! The likes of ABU HURRAIRA--who did not exist during Muhammad's lifetime--have been the source of trumped-up "ahadith" .

    • Posted By: misr333 @ 06/05/2008 5:41:02 AM

      ahmedjafri
      you are wrong abu hurraira dd not trump up hadith, he new the the prophet muhammed [pbuh] for four years. abu hurraira narrated 226 hadith because muslims believe god gave him the blessing of time. he has narrated more hadith than anyone. when it comes to hadith the most authentic hadiths are the sahihs- that is shahih Bukhari, Sahihi Muslim, Trimidi, ibn majah and abu dawood. then it is the hasan hadiths, the weakest are the daef hadiths.

  • Posted By: PWiggy @ 06/03/2008 6:43:45 AM

    The problem with this piece is that it has a very clear agenda which isn't completely born out by the facts. Yes some interpretations of Islam are becoming more tolerant but this has always been the case - it is not a general trend and if anything the reality is the opposite especially in Turkey where an increasing Islamisation of society has seen court cases seeking to close down gay rights groups and ban books on evolution. The very Department of Religious Affairs that this article lauds has recently published an article on its website urging women not to arouse men by flirting and equating this with adultery: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/29/turkey.islam. This article conveniently brushes over many of the facts to make sweeping generalisations.

  • Posted By: toolazy @ 06/02/2008 11:15:37 PM

    Thank you, thank you, thank you....God bless the authors of this article n' the publishers of Newsweek.....American Muslims are tired of proving themselves to their neighbors, colleagues, the government n' their own country, the States....Klu Klux Klan doesn't represent the whole of Christianity nor do these terrorist groups represent Islam....

  • Posted By: toolazy @ 06/02/2008 11:14:41 PM

    Thank you, thank you, thank you....God bless the authors of this article n' the publishers of Newsweek.....American Muslims are tired of proving themselves to their neighbors, colleagues, the government n' their own country, the States....Klu Klux Klan doesn't represent the whole of Christianity nor do these terrorist groups represent Islam....

  • Posted By: swienke @ 06/02/2008 11:12:28 PM

    Montedoro, I suggest you read Reza Aslan's "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam." You yourself make some basic mistakes about Islam as well. First of all, you claim that all of these terrorist groups use the full Quran and don't cherry-pick, the implication being that the Quran sanctions such behavior. I don't know any Arabic, but from what Reza Aslan says, the problem lies in the fact that many Arabic words have multiple and often contradictory meanings. For example, the Arabic word for "to support" or "to respect" is also the word for "to beat" or "to hit." Such contradictory meanings mean that the Quran can often be interpreted in two or more ways, with most militants choosing to interpret it in the most violent or restrictive manner. However, this does not mean that the Quran is at fault, only those who choose to interpret it in such a manner.

  • Posted By: Montedoro @ 06/02/2008 7:46:03 PM

    Unfortunately, the authors have far too little knowledge of the Koran and the Hadith to be making these misleading assertions.
    To start with, Bin Laden never said that he had the right to kill "innocents". He used the usual Islamic definition under which no person is innocent who engages, directly or indirectly, in actions against Islam. To Bin Laden, any American who pays taxes to the American government is NOT innocent.
    More important, bin Laden is scarcely the only "extremist" Moslem who relies on the Koran and the Hadith in order to promote what we call "terrorism". There are many Moslem terrorist organizations in addition to al Qaeda, and they are busily killing or plotting to kill people in many countries including the Phillipines, Thailand, Chechnya, Kashmir, India, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan, and many others. Read the Hamas Charter and you will see that their call to murder the Jews is based on the Koran and on the Hadith. Hizbollah, just as murderous towards Jews and also towards Christians, is strictly based on Islamic theology. So, of course, is Shiite Iran. Bin Laden did not "cherry pick" the Koran and the Hadith. He is simply putting into practice the traditional Islamic doctrine of jihad. The entire Muslim Brotherhood, which is usually not involved directly in terrorist acts, is nevertheless in the forefront of the Moslem world for promoting Islamic imperialism by any means necessary. Yes, there was one former terrorist imam who has now come out against Bin Laden, but that is because Bin Laden has been giving Islam a bad name, not because Bin Laden is basically wrong. And, where was this imam for all those decades before last year when, in an Egyptian jail, he suddenly changed his tune? As for Saudi Arabia cracking down on those thousands of extremist imams, they are doing so only in order to protect their own regime against the purists who feel that the Saudi rulers are cooperating too much with the West. In fact, Saudi Arabia, with its unlimited oil wealth, continues to be far and away the largest exporter of Islamic extremism all over the world including the United States. They support mosques, print the hate literature and the korans which are used in them, promote anti-Semitism and general hatred of non-Moslems everywhere. For the authors to focus on bin Laden and as Qaeda is to focus on one Islamic tree and entirely miss the forest of Islamic imperialism which is the greatest threat to western civilization today and for the foreseeable future.

  • Posted By: Holly Garfield @ 06/02/2008 4:06:26 PM

    Radicalism of any kind eventually eats away at the base from which it derives. The Islamic radicals are now having so much trouble attacking the military opponents that it is feeding on its own moderates. Osama bin Laden did a symbolic strike on the two WTC towers. The US did real strikes on two countries. Now the radicals are watched by unmammed eyes on the sky day and night, piloted by people an ocean away. The governments they once ran are now working against them, bringing their nations into the rest of the world. The path the people are following has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with staying alive and getting ahead.

  • Posted By: Cates @ 06/02/2008 4:02:16 PM

    http://www.apostatesofislam.com - You can be free of Islam!

  • Posted By: Cates @ 06/02/2008 1:03:06 PM

    All religions rot the mind.

    • Posted By: ben nevis @ 06/04/2008 8:26:02 PM

      You had to send your comment twice so I guess that you are very milti-religious. Sign of a rotten mind.

  • Posted By: Cates @ 06/02/2008 1:03:06 PM

    All religions rot the mind.

  • Posted By: denmill @ 06/02/2008 12:49:50 PM

    Even moderate Islamic people do not have the courage to denounce the muslem extremists due to fear of retaliation. I believe that I you do not comdem a problem you becoming a silent participant. The bombing of the Danish Embassy is a good example of the cowerdness of the muslem world.

  • Posted By: baybarsorsek @ 06/02/2008 12:16:53 PM

    Turkish approach could be a role model in middle east.A country that is secular and democratic in Muslim world must be an example to all muslim countries,As a Turkish citizen i could support ruiing party if only i can trust them on protecting my liberties.

  • Posted By: Jamal Olugosch @ 06/02/2008 4:57:59 AM

    Relative thinking and analysis toward Mohammad's words are not being expressed freely in some states where Islam is the dominating religion of the people. It is obvious that Turkish scholars are practicing their advantage of living under a secular state, and doing what should have been done to bring old words to current new masses and educate people. Kudos to them!

  • Posted By: mbronner @ 06/02/2008 3:27:41 AM

    To pretend that Islam is only one thing is to pretend that Christianity is only one thing or pretending that Judaism is one thing. The "New" Face of Islam isn't "new", but that buzz word certainly got my attention.

  • Posted By: andy_f90 @ 06/02/2008 3:10:22 AM

    As a Muslim, although I intially agreed with Dickey, the Turkish project is just hilarious and ridiculous.

    As someone who is a successful, pious, peace-loving, and educated I don't need the religious authorities of the Turkish gov't to "interpret" (just like bin Laden would interpret it another way) what I consider essential narrations and creed of my faith.

    Islam is a pretty straigt forward and spirtual way of life, those Muslims and non-Muslims who seek it, live it, and practice it would not go wrong regardless of the political trends and winds that blow ever constantly.

  • Posted By: Tigerboy @ 06/02/2008 1:41:44 AM

    I would invite you to consider radical Islam as a classic Crisis cult. There are many such examples of crisis cults such as the cult of the shining cross, the ghost dance, and even some of the dance cults in european history. The crisis cult consists of 1. a traditional culture confronted by a crisis and ,2. responds by developing a crisis cult thet, 3. is comprised of a return to tradition and, is mingled with new or syncretic elements and that is, 4. dedicated to radical social changes.
    Radical Islam is a reconstruction of a time and tradition that never was, it is a fantasy.
    The crisis in traditional cultures is the invasion of new ideas by media for which people and especially young people have an appetite such as western movies and music.
    The crisis is within the believer as to how to deal with these desires and retain a sense of decency and pride.
    The radical's jihad (or struggle) is to destroy within himself that which he finds unholy. The struggle is externalized and turned outward as a hatred of the West but it is a hatred of the desires of the self.
    Thus the innocent are destroyed as the Radical fundamentalist sees his own shadow in the souls of his victims.
    The traditional crisis cult falls apart when its members awaken from their fantasy and realize that their vision of glory was of a time that never was and that it promises an empty world that just isn't that much fun. The traditional crisis cult fades when the traditional culture realizes the crisis cult leaders are deluded fools who bring only destruction and ruin.
    Just give them time. Let their fantasy play out and soon they will live in their land of no music or dancing, no love and no joy. One by one their hypocrisy will be exposed and they will face the cruel shariah they have built for others.
    Or, they can simply submit to reality , to creation and creator, and awaken to a World as it is and enjoy it.

    • Posted By: emmarcee @ 06/02/2008 1:43:32 PM

      unless, they procure a n- bomb from one of those "republics".. Very informative, thanks.. But you may have to dwell into the violent history of spread of Islam. (not much different from Catholic Christianity) Hopefully the moderate majority will speak out one day.

  • Posted By: liberaldemokrat @ 06/02/2008 1:23:08 AM

    Islam does not despise anything. They are humbled in its grace.

  • Posted By: thorlin @ 06/02/2008 12:51:42 AM

    Welcome to fantasy island...

  • Posted By: HolyRoller @ 06/02/2008 12:25:29 AM

    Islam is the spawn of Hell. A deception and lie created by, an alliance of a pedophile warrior and the father of all lies. The children of, Ismael were at one time, a great people. World leaders in, the Arts, Sciences, Literature, Medicine, Architecture, Astronomy, Archeology, etc. It is virtually all gone. The children of Ismael, now have few of these great gifts. What happened? Islam happened. It has taken from them the Gifts, of Father Abraham, and replaced them with bondage..A complete lack of freedom of choice. A culture death and destruction.

    I pray for the children of Ishmael, that these bonds may be broken. And true peace and freedom once again, be a birthright.

    NOBAMA!!!

  • Posted By: underdog @ 06/02/2008 12:20:45 AM

    Does the "new face of Islam" include the London subway bombers?

    • Posted By: emmarcee @ 06/02/2008 1:45:26 PM

      of course and those who set up the car bomb in front of embassy in Pakistan. all because some persons drew a caricature of Muhammed. How peace loving.

  • Posted By: ben nevis @ 06/01/2008 6:46:22 PM

    Known narrations of the profhet's "sayings" total 170,000! Impossible! What does it mean to "tone down the fire and brimstone"? You still have FIRE AND BRIMSTONE!

  • Posted By: eveeeet @ 06/01/2008 11:32:06 AM

    I was born in a contry that, %99 of the people are muslims. I've never seen or heard of FGM for 26 years that I've spent there. Then another muslim told me after I moved to the States (after 26 yaers) thatthey do it in some muslim contries. I was suprised but as Vatican not being the sembol of christianity, egypt or saudy arabia is not the sembol of islam. Muhammed (S.A.V) was the sembol of islam. Now everybody is responsible for themselves, there is no FGM in Qur'an.

    • Posted By: filizly @ 06/01/2008 11:52:59 AM

      are you from turkey?
      please read my writing above..

    • Posted By: filizly @ 06/01/2008 11:52:17 AM

      are you from turkey?
      please read my writing above

  • Posted By: Human-Android @ 06/01/2008 11:07:48 AM

    Some people have called me a bigot. I happily wear that name if you are referencing my hate for organized religion - and that includes Judiasm and the followers of the Ja-sus cult. These religions have lost their zeal for crusading, however. Islam is busy night and day forcing brown and yelow skinned people to join the club through outright force, intimidation, and legal discrimination.
    I used the example of female genital mutilation because it's titilating. Titilation is about the only way to get white Americans interested in the travails of brown and yellow skinned people, it's been my sad experience to note. FGM is widespread throught the Muslim world, particularly in S.E. Asia and states in the Persian Gulf. Muslims lie to promote their religion. The claim that FGM is only practiced by misinformed African Muslims is a lie. This suposed 'wave of liberalization' coming from the Mosques (many funded by that champion of human rights, Saudi Arabia) is just another lie to get Americans and westerners to back off, in regards to exposing Islam's dirty laundry. I won't stop, and millions of others won't either. We know too much about Islam now to stop caring.
    By the way, it was the Nazis who conflated race with culture and religion. Get that straight. No one is 'born' a muslim, the way they are born black or asian or white.
    When we turn away from exposing injustice at the hands of Muslims, Hindus in Kashmir (the ones that are left after Pak's ongoing terror campaign, funded by Bhutto, you should know) loose, along with their co-religionists in Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Black African Christians and animists loose. Jews all over the world loose, and so on.
    When Muslims can convert to another religion or to no religion at all without fear of death, prison or discrimination, then I'll say true progress is being made. Converting away from Islam is illegal in most Islamic states. I'm sure if your survey of the news strays farther than periodicals like 'Newsweek' you would know that.
    Tex, you are the pot calling the kettle black. Stop being a useful idiot for those who want to spread the most discriminatory force alive in the world today. Educate yourself.

    • Posted By: Lionheart48 @ 06/23/2008 8:20:11 PM

      You are absolutely correct in everything you say about Islam. The US may be the land of the "free" but it is hardly the land of the 'truth'. People here are 'educated' by the ignorant media who's only purpose is to increase circulation and ratings. Those actually doing independent research on their own are very few indeed. Most people are more interested in how many children Angelina Jolie now has than in what Islam actually teaches, let alone what the Bible teaches. Unfortunately this will never change but it still is refreshing to find that once-in-a-while you can meet someone who seeks the truth and is not reluctant to share it once found.

    • Posted By: toolazy @ 06/02/2008 11:23:27 PM

      omg....where are u getting your info frm? i have one answer....just read the Quran, no, ...my plans aren't to convert you, just to show what Islam is....what it means....just read, n' get your evidence against Islam from there itself....

  • Posted By: filizly @ 06/01/2008 8:21:43 AM

    im from turkey.
    ?? read your articel from haberturk.
    in my idea and its a realite, islam dont need reform.
    so feto is need reform.

    • Posted By: ben nevis @ 06/01/2008 6:52:24 PM

      filizly please explain this verse 27 from the Koran : " Let not believers take infidels for their friends rather than believers: whoso shall do this hath nothing to hope from God..."

      • Posted By: filizly @ 06/03/2008 3:42:04 PM

        ben nevis, (ali imran, 28. verse). you must read this verse. feto have to read this verse.
        so, do you know koran. Feto have not teach koran. they have read only risale. feto is in usa, why? some stupid muslim like feto have dangerous then non muslim for muslim world and islam.

        • Posted By: filizly @ 06/03/2008 3:48:59 PM

          you dont know koran. this verse is ali imran,.28.

  • Posted By: filizly @ 06/01/2008 8:19:50 AM

    islam dont need reform.
    feto is stupid.
    in turkey there are a lot of st??pid muslim, like feto.
    anyone doesn change islam.
    bot you can change yourself.

  • Posted By: filizly @ 06/01/2008 8:17:19 AM

    this article is very stupid.
    feto is stupid.
    islam dont need reform.

  • Posted By: perumanian @ 06/01/2008 12:41:03 AM

    stupid Newsweek Editors, say this to people who died in Bomb blast last week in India... where do they get there sugared folktales? How much stake do Arabs have in Newsweek now adays?

    • Posted By: sgoldbarg @ 06/01/2008 10:39:04 AM

      Tell it to Nichols and McVeigh. Tell it to Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. Tell it to Hitler, the choir boy, and Stalin, the altar boy.

      How much of a stake does perumanian have in the cult of fear?

      • Posted By: HolyRoller @ 06/02/2008 12:32:42 AM

        Your analogy is foolish. Those individuals were just that. Individuals. Islam is a major religion. Islam is Islam. Islam despises all thngs non-Islamic. Islam rules through intimadation and fear. Islam will stop at no bounds, in order to institute Sharia Law. Islam is a cult of death and bondage. To see it as anything else, is naive....and dangerous. It is evil, incarnate.

        NOBAMA!!!