Turkey: a question for Muslims on here, regarding ‘political’ Islam…?

Question by єνє: Turkey: a question for Muslims on here, regarding ‘political’ Islam…?
This may be a bit long, but please read all of it.
I would like to start out by saying that I am not Turkish, but I am a Muslim (American, by ethnicity & nationality) and hence, I am very pro-freedom, pro-democracy, and secular. This question is regarding Islam IN politics.

I have seen a couple of users here and a couple of Muslims even claiming that political Islam is a bad thing. That, when you mix Islam (the religious ideology) with politics, it will have a negative impact? I ask this question here particularly because Turkey is secular, and I have seen some claim this here. How exactly is Islam in politics a bad thing? “Islamic” governments of TODAY are full of corruption, and they claim to be ‘Islamic’ does not make it so.

The punishments such as stoning, execution of apostates, etc that happens in some “Islamic” countries does not mean Islam calls for that.

Regarding stoning, first and foremost, the Qu’ran makes no mention of stoning at all.
The case under Hadith involved Jews who were stoned to death in accordance with the Law of the Torah (not the Qu’ran). The Hadith is silent on the question whether stoning to death was ordered by the Prophet before or after the revelation of the Verse 24-2 of the Koran which addresses fornication.
It is well known that the Quran was revealed in stages over 23 years. Until revelation on a specific point was received by the Prophet, he followed the law of Moses or the traditions of Abraham but once a revelation was received, there was no question of his substituting it by his own will or by the law of Moses. In any case, there is no record in Sahih al Bukhari or any other accepted compendium of the traditions of Muhammad of another Rajm (death by stoning) carried out under the command of Muhammad. Stoning is PRE-Islamic, and if God wanted us to follow it, he would have put in the Qu’ran! Especially, since zina is one of the major sins! Stoning is not Islamic at all.

As for killing of apostates, this is not in the Qu’ran either. In fact, the Qu’ran states that GOD will take care of it, there is: “let there be no compulsion in religion” and countless verses like this.
Regarding Hadith which does mention the killing of apostates, Islamic scholars have agreed that this punishment was implemented back in those specific times for those specific conditions because “apostates” usually engaged in war against the [Islamic] state & the Muslim community’s safety was at risk. This was seen as treason. It wasn’t for apostasy in itself, but for treason. This rule was mainly for the safety of the Muslim state and community against traitors, not for apostasy itself.

Furthermore, there is another Hadith in Bukhari which a Muslim man converted to Christianity in Ethiopia and Muhammad freely let him – because he did so peacefully, and the conditions were peaceful, and another about a man who became an idol worshiper. I don’t want to spend too much time on this, but here’s a video which covers this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_oKXh2oy8E

So, death penalty for apostasy is not Islamic.
There are other punishments and “laws” which some Islamic countries follow, and apparently this is misguided as Islam?

As for Islam being a political system, there is nothing in the Koran about an “Islamic state,” and those under Muhammad’s leadership practiced a variety of religions.
Traditionally, in the Islamic world, the institutions that governed were always separate from the institutions that developed religion. In fact, they often checked and balanced one another. Every Islamic empire was a multi-religious, multicultural empire, in which religious minorities were governed by their own laws.

In fact, Islam contains plenty of concepts consistent with modern democracy — for example, shura (consultation) and aqd (a contract between the governed and the governing).

Even though I am pro-secularism, how exactly is Islam mixed with politics a bad thing when it is practiced PROPERLY? There is no compulsion or oppression in Islam. Islamic countries =/= Islam.

There even is freedom of speech in Islam – A’isha became a very powerful political leader, especially after Muhammad’s death. Her opinion carried much weight in the Muslim world of the time (and in fact was in part responsible for the ultimate schism between Shia and Sunni Muslims, as she *openly* CRITICIZED the Caliph Ali as being weak and unworthy of his position!

“All men are created equal” is in the American Constitution, and Muhammad declared this in his last sermon *thousands* of years ago.

Again, I’m not advocating religion to be mixed with politics & I’m very pro-secular when it comes to government, but in the defense of Islam, it seems to me that Islam is actually pro-democratic ideals when practiced properly. So is ‘political’ Islam the problem
(cont..).. is ‘political’ Islam the problem or is it actually radicalization, misinterpretation, and high corruption which is the problem is some ‘Islamic’ countries of today? Why blame the religion when it is misused? Why not blame the misusers?
dandini, perhaps you didn’t clearly read the title of this question. Read again :o)
I’m not an expert in secularism per se, but secular states HAD existed in the Muslim world since the Middle Ages/Islamic Golden Age. This is a fact. As for inheritance laws, Islam has different roles for men and women. It is *commanded* for a man to work, provide for his wife and family, and *share* what he earns, while it is not commanded for a woman to work (she very well can if she wants to – and encouraged to seek knowledge), and IF she does work she gets to keep ALL of what she earns. This is what influences inheritance rules. It is BALANCED if you see the bigger picture. One can make the argument Islam is unfair to men. In fact, men and women have a few different roles because men and women are different. There are rights women have over men in Islam. Different roles exist in other Abrahamic faiths also, particularly Judaism. Women do not equal half of a man. This refers to witnesses. It goes deeper than that anyways, but it does NOT mean women are seen as inferior, in fact, wome
…Women do not equal half of a man. This refers to witnesses. It goes deeper than that anyways, but it does NOT mean women are seen as inferior, in fact, women AND men are equal in faith – which the Koran confirms continuously.
Furthermore, to be a “Western” democracy, separation of religion and state is NOT required. In the U.S, we have religion (Christianity) interfering with some issues here (particularly marriage). Many countries have a state religion, including European. As I said above, Islamic empires of past allowed other religions to be ruled under their OWN religious rules. Freedom of CHOICE was given.
Israel is considered a Western democracy, while it offers all the world’s Jews — regardless of their nationality — immediate citizenship, providing them with a host of benefits and privileges OVER its non-Jewish citizens. It is a country in which the Orthodox rabbinical courts have jurisdiction over all matters relating to Judaism (including who is a Jew); where religious schools (yeshivas) are subsidized by the state, and marriages are religious, rather than civil affairs (meaning no official will marry a Jew to a non-Jew); and the government is dominated by religious parties such as the ultra-Orthod

Best answer:

Answer by Turka with a burka!!
WAT. amrikan?! me no lik amrikan. turkas like me and turkas ppls no like amrikan. u not welcome here in turka section. no no burka is good.

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