Comments on: Extraordinary article by former Sudanese slave, plus video about violence and slavery in Africa today

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 03:57:10 +0000

The problem is, of course, that the violent passages are indeed in the Qur’an and the hadith, and when casual Muslims become “very religious” they sometimes are caught up in the violence. I knew Muslim women in Cairo who would cross the street to avoid walking by a woman in the full covering including body, head, and face, because they trusted such people no more than I did. It could be anyone under there, they said, perhaps a criminal.

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 03:51:26 +0000

R2L, many Muslims, even educated ones, are not Qur’anic scholars. They are culturally Muslim, but as my landlord said when he shook my hand, “We are not fanatics.” A Turkish friend of ours used the same expression, “fanatics.” There are lots of people like this, perhaps a large majority. They fast during Ramadan, won’t eat pork, sometimes (the men, anyhow) drink wine or spirits in spite of the rules, but they aren’t hard-core adherents of strict Islam. They would dispute your idea that they’re not “real Muslims.” Indeed, from outside, I cannot say such a thing, any more than I could say that some cultural Jews are not “real Jews,” or that Christians who don’t belong to my kind of church aren’t “real Christians.” What I would say is that we are wise to distinguish between those Muslims who are moderate in their observance and don’t aspire to kill kaffirs, and the ones who do.

By: R2L

R2L — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 03:38:59 +0000

Kate: “Militant Islamism is a serious threat to civilization everywhere. It must be defeated wherever it is.”
Having lived in a Muslim society, you undoubtedly know more about this than any of us who have only read a few books, but why do you qualify Islam as “Militant Islamism?”
I could guess that:
1) those Muslims whom you found to be friendly and supportive of Western values were not “real” Muslims (Islamic believers) but pretending to be for their own safety?
2) those Muslims who seemed to be supportive were in fact devoted to advancing (even violent) Islamic jihad if and when the time was right?

The folks at the Middle East Forum make a similar distinction between Islam vs. Islamism. In the past Newt Gingrich offered “the violet wing of Islam” or some such language.
But as GB points out, if the Quran is the unalterable word of Allah and cannot be questioned, then prospects for moderation seem pretty poor. We now know from the last 50 or so years of Western critical scholarship that the heritage version of Islamic history is wrong on many counts, that the Quran and other documents were certainly man made, evolved over time, and the final versions aided political aims of rulers from 691 to 1200 AD or so [coupled with burning older extant copies when possible.]

The implications from this “harder” (realistic?) view are also daunting, or terrifying.
I respect and welcome your view/ experience.

By: Geoffrey Britain

Geoffrey Britain — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 23:09:36 +0000

Communism’s death toll pales in comparison to Islam’s. Add in the millennia of millions enslaved and Islam is the greatest evil ever perpetrated upon the human race.
Even Satan would be hard pressed to exceed it. In fact, arguably it is satanic.

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 21:03:14 +0000

Well yer absolutely right about Darfur…

By: Miguel cervantes

Miguel cervantes — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:39:33 +0000

Ibn khaldun i can grok it, im not going to spell out the other one

By: Steve57

Steve57 — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:32:58 +0000

Like I’m stupid. Like my parents couldn’t afford an education

By: Steve57

Steve57 — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:29:06 +0000

The mispellings must remain forever

By: Steve57

Steve57 — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:25:43 +0000

For some reason despite multiple attempts I can’t do a damn thing

By: Steve57

Steve57 — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:20:52 +0000

Arab slavery is racist Read what The Arabs said about the Zanj. Their word for n**”et. Start with inn Khaldun