Web Guide for Journalists and Others
TRAPPED IN A LEGACY FROM THE PAST:
(Is This a Nazi Kind of Thing?)
In a complex religious tradition, who determines today's meaning?
(What About Those 72 Virgins?)
*****
American Human Rights Reporting
as a Global Watchdog
(ENTER)
Islamic
Concepts
of
Law, Sex, and Human
Rights
"Fundamentalism" and Women
Islam: Scope and Doctrine
Political
Islam:
Fuller
versus
Huntington
Human
Rights
by
Islamic
Country
Human
Rights
and
Religious Defamation
Islam and Journalism
Islamic
Education
Islamic
Jewish
Relations
Anti-Islamic
Thinking
What About Those
72 Virgins?
View
an Iphone App
|
EDITOR'S NOTE: There
are many resources on Islam on the web, but there are
relatively few resources of established credibility brought
together in one place. I have heavily relied on
Wikipedia entries, along with other sources, to establish a relatively
reliable
"platform" for further exploration. Wikipedia has its limitations but
can help provide a useful beginning in a highly controversial field.
The
enormity
of
the
challenge
is
obvious:
relations
with
some
50
majority
Islamic
nations
--
all
different
but
sharing
in
varying
form
a
cultural
tradition
related
to
but
far
different
from
Christianity
and
Judaism.
The
most
pessimistic
of
Western
commentators
compare
global
Islam
to
an
aggressive
network
of
Nazi
like
expansionists.
Others
see
it
as
less
threatening
--
as
a
complex
religion
used
to
rally
differing factions, meaning
different things in different parts
of the world. In a complex religious tradition, who determines today's meaning? In
studying
human
rights
issues
a
key
question
has
often
been
Is this a Nazi kind of
thing? The label can make for emotional propaganda, for
imprisonment by analogies rooted in the past. But it may also
stimulate serious inquiry. The
challenge
of
making
both
war
and
peace
in
the
Islamic
"world"
easily
equals
the
challenge
of
the
bridge
building
that
ended
the
Vietnam
War
and
created
a
new
bond
with
China.
Can
an
American
people
soured
by
ignorance
and
war
meet
the
challenge?
Are
the
varieties
of
Islam
a
fertile
field
for
bridge
building?
Or
will
they
become
an
implacable,
permanent
enemy? The
verdict
is
not
in. The
essay below
introduces internet resources, as well as support for users of
applications for Iphone, Ipod Touch, and Ipad. The viewer can bypass
the essay by clicking on the links above.
|
|
"God gave humans
the truth, and the devil
came and he said,
Islam,
like
many
other
religions,
is
not
inherently
authoritarian
or
narrow. But
it
can sometimes
move
in
that
direction
because
it,
like other
religions, sometimes
delegates to a
human elite the power to dictate and interpret the scriptural law
emanating from something considered divine. Islam
was
probably
ahead
of
much
of
Christendom
in
much
of
the
Middle
Ages
in
the
sense
that
there
was
no
Pope
or
Islamic
leader
controlling
government.
There
was
often
more
tolerance
of
diversity
in
the
Islamic
World
than
in the Christian World.
Islam
has
in
some
ways
gone
backwards
with
governments
sometimes
enforcing
Islamic
orthodoxy.
Conservative
or
radical
rebels
can
seize
on
the
authority of the Qur’an for anti-government political
purposes.
Or to
conduct campaigns of terrorism or to abuse women. Even
though the Qur’an itself does not endorse or encourage such
actions. Still
religious
orthodoxies
often
require
the
believer to
obey
religious
texts
as
interpreted
by
religious
leaders.
This
often
defines
the
person
who
disagrees
as
a "heretic." That
label
can
justify
all
sorts
of
abuse. It
must
be
remembered
more than 50 nations have populations containing
at least a majority of Muslims. There is a large variety of
beliefs and practices contending both within these nations and between
them. The
internet
sources
cited
below
make it clear gross generalizations can be
misleading. But is
this a religion which offers challenges to peacemakers -- or is it
increasingly "a Nazi kind of thing."
It was President John F. Kennedy who articulated, like his Cold War predecessors, the notion that Communism was a monolithic, integrated, and ruthless conspiracy -- a notion which dominated the nation, its media and its universities. It was a notion which helped lead to the Vietnam War. Other
"experts" understood that Communism meant different things in
different countries, so it was no great surprise when China and the
Soviet Union went
to war. The
debate
is
rejoined:
is
Islam
a
monolithic
civilization
at
war
with
the
West
or
is
it
a
religion
meaning
different
things
to
different
people
expressing
the
varied
needs
of
many
parts
of
the
world
--
depending
on
how
interpreted?
*****
Islam is the world's second largest religion after Christianity. According to a 2009 demographic study, Islam has 1.57 billion adherents, making up 23 percent of the world population. Islam is the predominant religion in the Middle East, in northern Africa, and in some parts of Asia. Large communities of Muslims are also found in China, the Balkans, and Russia. Other parts of the world host large Muslim immigrant communities; in Western Europe, for instance, Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity, though it represents less than five percent of the total population. Approximately 50 countries are Muslim-majority. Around 62 percent of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million adherents in such countries as Indonesia (the largest Muslim country by population, home to 15.6 percent of the world's Muslims), Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh (all three being successor states to the former British Raj). About 20 percent of Muslims live in Arab countries. (All figures from Wikipedia) ***** At
times
Islam
has
been
associated
with
highly
advanced
civilizations,
but
like
so
many
other
religions, including Christianity and Judaism, it
can translate into notions of group superiority. Perhaps
it
is
not
the
religion
itself
which
is
to
blame
but
the
environment
in
which it often operates: countries with deep rooted cultures sometimes
in chaos, transition, or
authoritarianism -- where religion becomes hijacked by governments or
rebel groups as a tool toward political ends. Islam,
like Western
religions,
has
become entertwined
with
politics.
The
three
monotheistic
religions of Christianity, Islam, and
Judaism have posed problems for our age when they are used to
pursue nationalistic or revolutionary goals. This
is
not
to
say
that
religions
both
East
and
West
do
not
perform
many
very
positive
functions.
They
often
encourage saintliness, giving,
compassion. But there is always the danger they will be used and
abused. And turned into political strait jackets. My
own
evolving
view
is
that many current
abuses
of
Islam
reflect
the
nature
of
troubled,
changing,
unpredictable societies.
Societies coping with challenges to traditional values, economic
change, and repeated onslaughts of outside influence or
control. To consider all this a monolithic block, a dark and
threatening forest is premature.
Where this leads will depend upon not only what happens in Islamic countries but what happens in the West. And if Islamic extremists were to succeed in exploding a nuclear weapon in an American city, we can envision a longterm battle which truly polarizes the globe. ******
Then
came
American
fomenting
of
rebellion
and
civil
war.
Then
American
withdrawal,
then,
with
Pakistani
sponsorship,
the
emergence
of
hardcore
Pashtun
nationalists (Taliban) using Islam as a tool for order. Years
of
war
and
civil
war
can
bring
to
the
top
both
the
"best
and
the
worst"
of
religious
committment. In
America
the
end
of
the
Civil
War
and
end
of
Reconstruction
brought
the
terror
of
the
KKK
in
the
late 19th Century and "Jim Crow" segregation
in the 20th. In
the American South Christianity became part of a system of "terror" to
repress the ex-slave and also a powerful tool the ex-slave could use to
endure, persevere,
hold on, "to keep the eye on the prize." It
is
important
to
understand
that
a
religion
is
not
one
monolithic
entitity
or
movement
but
a
variety
of
things
in different places under
changing circumstances. In
that spirit let us look at Islam under a human rights spotlight.
****** Islamic Concepts of Law, Sex, and Human Rights "Fundamentalism" and Women Islam: Scope and Doctrine Political Islam: Fuller versus Huntington Human Rights by Islamic Country Human Rights and Religious Defamation Islam and Journalism Islamic Education Islamic Jewish Relations Anti-Islamic Thinking What About Those 72 Virgins? View an Iphone App ****** A Wikipedia analysis of civil law, common law, and religious law which helps put Islamic Sharia law into perspective. Sharia Law: Wikipedia's treatment of this this controversial subject involving issues of relationship of church and state. What countries heavily use Sharia Law? Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sudan, Iraq (pre 2002), Egypt, Bahrain, Azerbaijan. For details see The Spectrum of Modern Sharia Legal Systems, Wikipedia; and Council on Foreign Relations for a breakdown of where and how Sharia Law is used. Sharia Law: Contemporary Practice, a Wikipedi survey. Sharia Law: Contemporary Issues, a Wikipedia survey. Is Sharia Law coming to the United States? Although Sharia is widely feared, the religious "law" of other traditions is already enshirned in American secular law. The courts and the legislatures ultimately decide. See this National Public Radio piece. This Cairo Declaration of Human Rights is seen as an Islamic response to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. This Islamic version leaves everything in the hands of God, which leaves open the question who speaks for God. Western human rights codes have similar problems in that the leave ambiguous who will interpret and enforce them. Ann Elizabeth Mayer: Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics: a major volume dealing with the uneasy relationship between traditional Islamic law and developing concepts of universal human rights. Efforts to modernize Islamic law reduce the tensions, but they are still there. Click here for Amazon summaries and reviews. An examination by a Muslim intellectual of some tensions between "Western" and "Islamic" concepts of human rights. The author, Riffat Hassan, who teaches religion at the U. of Louisville, advocates a modernization and reinterpretation of traditional Islamic attitudes toward women. An interesting website on Islam and Western concepts of human rights. It is important not to let the growth of American anti-Islamic xenophobias distract from the real human rights issues and differences of opinion within various Islamic countries. Emory Law School. Islam and Human Rights: a useful web resource for exploring Islamic law and human rights issues in a variety of Islamic countries from Africa to Asia. About Islam: for Westerners seeking to understand Islam and issues such as the status of women: "I consider it essential to make a clear distinction between, on the one hand, the theology and religion of Islam and, on the other, politics and terrorism involving Muslims who sometimes swathe their local culture or regional geopolitical concerns in the cloak of Islam. Many born Muslims both overseas and among immigrant communities in the West conspicuously fail to differentiate between these."-- From the introduction to this website by a Western former Christian who converted to Islam. The plight of Muslim women under the Afghan Taliban: a subsection of the "Islam For Today" website. The broader website leads in many other directions concerning Islam. Designed for Westerners. Women in Islam: a Wikipedia survey. Women in Islam: a useful web resource with multiple links. Other parts of the site have lots of other material on Islam geared toward Westerners. Some contributions are self evident; with others care must be taken on sources and credibility. The Fundamentalist Agenda: an analysis by Unitarian pastor Davidson Loehr comparing extreme Christian Fundamentalism with extreme Islamic Fundamentalism. While harshly drawn, it can be a challenge to explore similarities among fundamentalists concerning the "place" of women. Religious Terminology: "Fundamentalism in Christianity and Islam," a wide ranging treatment of the nature and origins of fundamentalism in a variety of religions. From the Canadian website "ReligiousTolerance." Women's Wear: the head covering hijab (including modest body dress) and the full face covering burka. These links examine different national and government regulations on women's dress. For the classic treatment of Islamic views on sexuality and chastity see the Qur'an (Surah 24). Virgins in paradise? What is the background of the widespread belief that martyrs and terrorists will receive 72 virgins in Paradise? In the Qur'an, the houri are described as splendid companions of equal age who enter paradise after being recreated in the afterlife. Companions rendered pure and virginal. The houri are mentioned in several places in the Qur’an (Surah 56; 16-38). Check the passage itself to decide if this is a sexual reward. Although plural, no specifics are given as to the number of houries available. They are made granted to all Muslims in paradise, not just martyrs. Some commentaries (hadiths) specify 72, but their authenticity and degree of acceptance by Muslims is disputed. Here is "tongue in cheek" an American Jewish author's interview on YouTube with Palestinian "terrorists" on the 72 virgin issue. And another YouTube interview by pro Israel Algerian refugee Jewish activist Pierre Rehov purporting to show Muslims who believe the 72 virgin promise. Remember it's not always what is in the Qu'ran that counts -- but what you are told and how you are indoctrinated. Leila Ahmed is an Egyptian born Islamic feminist who has taught at the Harvard Divinity School. In Women and Gender in Islam (1992), Ahmed argues that oppressive practices toward women in the Middle East are due to interpretations of Islam in patriarchal countries rather than Islam itself. See a YouTube TV interview with a Muslim feminist, including a later interview with Leila Ahmed herself. Leila Ahmed argues the position of women in Islam is being used by "Western people in power" to discredit Islam. Honor killings in Islamic nations can target both men and women, but most victims are women. An honor killing is the murder of a family or clan member by one or more fellow family members, in which the perpetrators (and potentially the wider community) believe the victim to have brought dishonor upon the family, clan, or community. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the annual worldwide total of honor-killing victims may be as high as 5,000. Many women's groups in the Middle East and Southwest Asia suspect the victims are at least four times more. Honor killings had been reported in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Yemen, and other Mediterranean and Persian Gulf countries, and that they had also taken place in western countries such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, within migrant communities. Wikipedia. Islamic Human Rights Commisssion: a breaking news and background resource on cases and issues seen as human rights violations against Muslims.The practice of Zina, sex outside of marriage, gets considerable attention in Islamic history. What to do about it in the contemporary world is an issue in some Islamic countries.From the Hadith Muslim. commentaries on the Prophet a century or more after his death (570-632 AD): a justification of stoning for adultery, not in the Qur’an : "There came to him (the Holy Prophet) a woman from Ghamid and said: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. He (the Holy Prophet) turned her away. On the ...following day she said: Allah's Messenger, Why do you turn me away? Perhaps, you turn me away as you turned away Ma'iz. By Allah, I have become pregnant. He said: Well, if you insist upon it, then go away until you give birth to (the child). When she was delivered she came with the child (wrapped) in a rag and said: Here is the child whom I have given birth to. He said: Go away and suckle him until you wean him. When she had weaned him, she came to him (the Holy Prophet) with the child who was holding a piece of bread in his hand. She said: Allah's Apostle, here is he as I have weaned him and he eats food. He (the Holy Prophet) entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and then pronounced punishment. And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her. "This study from an Islamic scholar's point of view downloadable in .pdf format argues that Islamic punishments for adultery were more advanced than what came before. In a broad survey of punishments in many early civilizations he argues that some Muslims after Muhammad neglected his teachings and slid backward in judgement and punishment. The question for Islamic countries is what to do today. We can see in the below hadiths the foundation for modest veils and robes as man is seen as most vulnerable to the charms of the woman arouse the man's hunger for Zina: 1622. Abu Hurairah (May
Allah pleased with him) said: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Allah has
written the very portion of Zina which a man will indulge in. There
will be no escape from it. The Zina of the eye is the (lustful) look,
the Zina of the ears is the listening (to voluptuous songs or talk),
the Zina of the tongue is (the licentious) speech, the Zina of the hand
is the (lustful) grip, the Zina of the feet is the walking (to the
place where he intends to commit Zina), the heart yearns and desires
and the private parts approve all that or disapprove it.'' [Al-Bukhari
and Muslim hadiths].
If you wish to explore sex education Muslim style, there are a number of 99 cent Iphone/Ipod Touch/Ipad applications (apps) which systematically instruct on everything from how to deal with two wives, to gay sex, to contraception, and to photographing your wife while she is nude. A knowledge of sexuality in Islam is essential to understand the gap between traditional Islam and modern "Western" culture. Sexuality in Islam is largely described by the Qur’an and hadith, and the rulings of religious leaders' (fatwa) as confined to marital relationships between men and women. Intimacy as perceived within Islam -- encompassing a swathe of life more broad than strictly sex -- is largely to be reserved for marriage. Explore a rich selection of concise links in Wikipedia under sexual jurisprudence. The
official
Wikipedia "portal" to Islam: perhaps the single most useful
introductory web source of background information on Islam. Despite its
limitations, it will be an important guidepost to any inquiry
concerning Islam.
Who Decides: the Qu'ran and other Islamic religious documentes can be differently interpreted to justify vastly different social, moral, and political actions. Symbols of Islam: in the absence of credible, readable web materials on Islam, Wikipedia fills the vacuum, even though many of its entries have been tagged as needing improvement. This one contains a useful index to its major contributions on Islam. It amplifies in detail the Wikipedia "portal" to Islam. Sunni Islam: a Wikipedia portrait. The largest branch comprising 90 percent of the world's Muslim population. Wahhabi is the dominant Sunni form of Islam in Saudi Arabia. It has developed considerable influence in the Muslim world in part by funding mosques, schools and social programs. For a detailed analysis see Global Security, January 2010. Shia Islam: a Wikipedia portrait. The world's second largest Muslim branch, with a different interpretion of Islamic history. This is a Wikipedia
list of
countries listing Muslim
population. Islam is the predominant religion in the Middle East, in
northern Africa, and in some parts of Asia. Large communities of
Muslims are also found in China, the Balkans, and Russia. Other parts
of
the world host large Muslim immigrant communities; in Western Europe,
for instance, Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity,
though it represents less than five percent of the total
population. Approximately 50 countries are Muslim-majority.
This is a Wikipedia
list
of approximately 50 countries in which Islam is the
majority
religion. In a geopolitical sense these countries are often considered
to
form the Muslim world. The list only contains countries where at least
50 percent of the population is Muslim. The table is presorted by the
largest
population by country. It can be sorted on other criteria by clicking
the tab of the appropriate column at the top of the table. The
percentage shows the proportional amount of Muslims out of the total
population of each country.
A Wikipedia portrait of the history and culture of the Arab peoples. Those self-identifying as Arab, however, rarely do so with it as their sole identity. Most hold multiple identities, with a more localized prioritized national identity -- such as Egyptian, Lebanese, or Palestinian -- in addition to further tribal, village and clan identities. Wikipedia's description of the "Muslim World." Click on country of choice for Wikipedia portrait of Islam in the following Islam majority countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Morocco, Iraq, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Syria, Kazakhstan, Niger, Burkina, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Guinea, Somalia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Sierra Leone, Libya, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgystan, Turkmenistan, Chad, Lebanon, Kuwait, Albania, Mauritania, Oman, Kosovo, The Gambia, Bahrain, Comoros, Qatar, Djibouti, Brunei, Maldives. Islam in Europe. Islam in the United States; a list of prominent American Muslims. Explore the history and current practices of Islamic missionary activity. Wikipedia. Surprising as it seems
today, Americans
before
the
Revolutionary
War
were
familiar
with
the
Qur’an
, even
read it, according to a Boston Globe article by a Brown University
librarian. It had none of the threatening aura it carries
today. Many of the
founding fathers had
a high
opinion of Muslims. Despite its foreign air, John Adams’s
Koran
had a strong New
England pedigree. The first Koran published in the United States, it
was printed in Springfield in 1806. Surprisingly, there was a long
tradition of
New Englanders reading in the Islamic scripture.
Here is a nuanced portrait of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is charged by some with controlling America's Mosques and Islamic Centers. Reminds a bit of the issues raised by Stalin's old Comintern, the international grouping of communist groups which became a tool of Moscow. Leadership in the Islamic world is much more diffuse. This search
engine out of the University of Southern California allows
one to
search words and concepts in both the Qur’an and the hadiths,
which are
addendums or interpretations of the Qur’an . The hadiths are
controversial because some add things not in the Qur’an --
like
the
stoning of adulterers. Some practices by fundamentalist Muslims may be
from literal interpretations of the Qur’an or from later
hadiths
which
are no longer universally accepted. So far I have found no references
to beheadings in the Qur’an. There may be some reference in some
hadiths. In some cases practices have been adopted
by Muslims from traditions of areas to which Islam has spread.
Here is a useful online Qur'an at the University of Southern California which allows one to compare three English translations of each phrase. This online Qur’an also has a search engine to check for concepts. However, if you try to read chapter by chapter, you will find the text broken up by the Arabic version. Here is another very convenient way to survey and read the Qur’an online. However there is no search engine to check out contents.Perhaps the most useful electronic version of the Qur’an comes on applications ("apps") for the Iphone/ Ipod Touch/ Ipad. One of the most useful is "alQur’an ," which is free and contains access to about 15 English translations and to many in other languages.Those of you with the Iphone/Ipod Touch/Ipad can also download a marvelous application ("app") allowing you to explore four hadiths which contain some of the most controversial teachings of Islam, including "holy war" or jihad. This app contains a search function which allows you to check out four hadiths.Secrets of the Qur’an : a multimedia YouTube reconstruction of the origins of Islam. The Qur’an has a number of different translations and has been interpreted in many ways -- much like the Bible -- in accord with the beliefs and politics of those who interpret it. Similarly English translations differ according to the orientation and politics of the translator. Some are by Turkish scholars, some by Indian, some influenced by the Saudis. This documentary hints at the fascinating bonds between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.A Survey of the English Translations of the Qur’an : (Middle East Quarterly) In the past Muslims were reluctant to translate the Qur’an into English -- for fear the translator might intentionally or unintentionally move the meaning in unorthodox directions. When English and other missionaries began to make translations (many in the 18th Century and on), concern grew that the missionaries were changing the meanings in ways hostile to Islam. Gradually Muslim scholars began to make their own translations into non-Arabic languages to insure the meanings were faithful to the Arabic.An example of how
modernizers in
the
Islamic tradition modify
the
substance
or
interpretation
of
certain
hadiths
(accounts of
Muhammad's words or deeds) to make the Qur’an and hadiths
more
compatible with modern times. These Turkish scholars argue that by
removing incorrect hadiths they are recreating a more authentic version
of Muhammad's practices (a higher place for women), a version distorted
by later additions.
Different strains of Islam
interpret the
Qur’an differently, as do different English language
translations. The
English
version translated by Turkish scholar Ali Unal is less orthodox than
some -- and uses an easily read modern style of English. This evolution
is very similar to what has happened to the Bible in the Christian
tradition -- with fundamentalists stressing the authoritarian,
sometimes violent verses of the Old Testament and liberals spotlighting
love and social service found in the New Testament Gospels.
What's
Really Wrong With the Middle East: A very useful website
covering
many aspects of Middle East politics and life by the Middle East Editor
of the Manchester Guardian.
The Roots of Islamic Rage, by Bernard Lewis: a noted scholar with a relatively dark view of Islam attributes the rage to the tendency in contemporary Islam to reject modernism and secularism. A survey of Islam with many useful resources on the website of "ReligiousTolerance," Ontario, Canada. POLITICAL
ISLAM
Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations, 1993, a Harvard political scientist's classic analysis of an inherent geopolitical and ideological clash between Islamic and Western Civilization. "It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will be the battle lines of the future." Whither
Political
Islam: Columbia
University
professor
Mahmood
Mamdani
argues
in
the
January,
2005
issue
of
Foreign
Affairs
that
thinking
of
modern
jihad
as
simply
a
cultural
extension
of
Islam
is
a
common,
and
unfortunate
mistake.
He
cites
two
new
books
by
Gilles
Kepel,
The
War
for
Muslim
Minds, and Olivier Roy, Globalized
Islam, as better historical and sociological explanations,
but they
are only a start. Roy argues that the Koran's most
important
feature is not what it actually says, but what Muslims say about it.
"Not surprisingly," Roy observes, "they disagree, while all stressing
that the Koran is unambiguous and clear-cut."
Political
Islam: a collection of documents and writings, Mt. Holyoke
College.
A wide ranging collection of articles, historical and contemporary by
Middle Eastern analysts of many persuasions.
THREE
BACKGROUND
OVERVIEWS
Wikipedia:
Political
aspects
of
Islam:
a
historical
and
contemporary
survey.
Wikipedia: islamism. "Political Islam" is a set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a
religion
but also a political system, and that modern Muslims must return to
their roots of
their
religion, and unite politically.
Wikipedia:
Jihad.
A
wide
range
of
opinions
exist
about
the
exact
meaning
of
jihad.
This
general
article
gives
a
useful
overview
noting
the
sometimes
different
meanings
given
to
it
by
Western
and
Middle
Eastern
scholars.
Muslims use the word in a religious context
to refer to three types of
struggles: an internal struggle to maintain faith, the struggle to
improve the Muslim society, or the struggle in a holy war. The differences of opinion are
the result
of different interpretation of the two most important sources in Islam,
the Qur’an and the ahadith (singular: hadith).
Muslims in China's Northwest
Xinkiang
Province
HUMAN RIGHTS BY ISLAMIC COUNTRY Use this Wikipedia
list
of countries in which Islam is the majority religion of
the
people to gain basic religious and political data on the country whose
human rights record you explore.
In a geopolitical sense these countries are often considered to form the Muslim world. The list only contains countries where at least fifty percent of the population is Muslim. The table is presorted by the largest population by country. It can be sorted on other criteria by clicking the tab of the appropriate column at the top of the table. The percentage shows the proportional amount of Muslims out of the total population of each country. Click on country of choice within the Human Rights Watch Report (2010) on the following Muslim majority countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Morocco, Iraq, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Syria, Kazakhstan, Niger, Burkina, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Guinea, Somalia, Axerbaijan, Tajikistan, Sierra Leone, Libya, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgystan, Turkmenistan, Chad, Lebanon, Kuwait, Albania, Mauritania, Oman, Kosovo, The Gambia, Bahrain, Comoros, Qatar, Djibouti, Brunei, Maldives. Click on country of choice within the Amnesty International Human Rights Report (2010) on the following Muslim majority countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Morocco, Iraq, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Syria, Kazakhstan, Niger, Burkina, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Guinea, Somalia, Axerbaijan, Tajikistan, Sierra Leone, Libya, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgystan, Turkmenistan, Chad, Lebanon, Kuwait, Albania, Mauritania, Oman, Kosovo, The Gambia, Bahrain, Comoros, Qatar, Djibouti, Brunei, Maldives.. Click on country of choice within the U.S. State Department Human Rights Report on the following Muslim majority countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Morocco, Iraq, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Syria, Kazakhstan, Niger, Burkina, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Guinea, Somalia, Axerbaijan, Tajikistan, Sierra Leone, Libya, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgystan, Turkmenistan, Chad, Lebanon, Kuwait, Albania, Mauritania, Oman, Kosovo, The Gambia, Bahrain, Comoros, Qatar, Djibouti, Brunei, Maldives.
Since
1999
several
heavily Islamic countries have argued for international restrictions on
defamation of religion, a position Americans tend to oppose in the name
of free speech. When should words or book burnings be regulated -- and
when do they become a form of symbolic violence, symbolic
terrorism? Americans do make some exceptions: KKK cross
burnings
are generally beyond the pale. Religion
and
Ethics
Newsweekly,
PBS.
The Supreme Court upheld in 2003 a 50 year old Virginia law making it illegal for Ku Klux Klansmen and others to burn crosses with the intention of intimidating or harming. What about acts of "defamation" which are like "yelling fire in a crowded theater?" Should they be permitted even though death of injury may resultIn 2009 the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a non-binding resolution, backed by several Islamic states, condemning defamation of religion as a human rights violation. While many see this as protecting Islam, in theory it would also condemn anti-Semitic and anti-Christian defamation."Crying
Fire
in
a
Crowded
Theater:" the famous quote from Supreme Court
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (1919). This limit on free speech and
action in America is notoriously difficult to apply in real life, as it
requires "a clear and present danger" of imminent harm in order to
transcend rights of free speech.
|
