Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. 8Love never fails.
Now I am fully aware that Christians throughout history have proven themselves to be only human despite a calling of such high regard as:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like
it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments."
Now I don't bring this up in the context of the following news story argue against Islam, as I know relatively little concerning Islam. I am confident though that Muslim's believe Allah to be a god of love.
Indeed, "The Loving" is one of Allah's names as He said about Himself: "And He
is the Forgiving and Loving" (Qur'an 85:14). Love is just a word which must be
translated in action and it becomes obedience in the case of His creation, human
beings, and mercy in case of the Creator, Allah. You can see that when love is
translated into action it is mercy and His mercy is unconditional. You receive
Allah's mercy whether you are an obedient servant of Allah or you are a mushrik
(pagan, idolater) and a sinner; they all receive equal treatment in this life.
When people argue against Christianity, many bring up travesties perpetuated in God's name by professing Christians. The Crusades, The Spanish Inquisition and more recently the Church's actions during the rise of the Nazi's in Germany. I believe that honest thinkers understand that simply stating you are doing something in one's name does not mean that it is an accurate reflection of that person. While the Church would not have been able to stop Hitler, that does not mean that it should not have tried through both word and deed.
There is a similar moment happening today, but for the Muslim faith. I believe that, while the actions of these few don't necessarily accurately reflect either the religion or the being of Allah, I think that the Muslim 'church' is making the same mistake that the Christian Church made several decades ago. Just as the Church should have tried to thwart Hitler, modern Muslims should be trying to thwart Muslim extremists in both word and deed. They need to be fighting for the hearts and minds of their young so that they don't give in to a doctrine of hate such as this poor young woman.
From the BBC:
Just married and determined to die
There is a ceasefire in Gaza, but the BBC has found evidence of
militant groups preparing for a return to violence. One group, Islamic Jihad, is
training female suicide bombers.
Middle East correspondent Paul Wood went to meet a Palestinian woman
who has volunteered.
The young, veiled woman was sitting quiet and still as the room bustled around her.
The black flag of Islamic Jihad was pinned on the wall behind her and two Kalashnikovs were carefully placed in camera shot. Her husband, an Islamic
Jihad fighter himself, tied on her "martyr's" headband.
Umm Anas - not her real name - had just graduated from a programme to
train female suicide bombers in Gaza.
Our meeting was a highly-orchestrated propaganda event laid on by
Islamic Jihad. It was almost theatre - and certainly Israel accuses the
Palestinian leadership of manipulating young women like 18-year-old Umm Anas.
Yet, although she nervously twisted her wedding ring, Umm Anas did not
appear to be a cipher.
She was articulate - more so than the men staging the event - and she
knew her own mind.
Secret ambition
When she spoke of becoming a suicide bomber, Umm Anas's voice was
strong and steady: "This is a gift from God.
"We were created to become martyrs for God," she continued, her eyes
burning behind the full face veil.
"All the Palestinian people were created to fight in God's name. If we just
throw stones at the Jews they get scared. Imagine what happens when body parts
fly at them."
The bomb belt which she hopes will end her life - and kill many
Israelis - rested on the table next to us.
Her main motivation in becoming a suicide bomber appears to be
religious rather than nationalistic - the fulfilment of a long-held ambition.
Even getting married recently hadn't changed her mind.
"When my husband married me, he knew my way of thinking. He knew
exactly who I am and based on this he decided to marry me. Marriage doesn't give
me a second's doubt."
I asked if that would alter if she became pregnant.
"I would wait until I delivered the baby," she said. "I would give him
to my parents and ask them to look after him... Then I would leave them and the
baby would remain behind as a piece of me."
Her parents, brothers and sisters did not know.
"Martyrs - male or female - have to work in secret. No one can know
about it. We have to be careful not to give our parents any sign of what we are
about to do.
"Sometimes, maybe, they can tell and see on your face the signs of
martyrdom. They are suspicious but they don't know for certain."
Ready for death
Umm Anas thinks she knows the manner of her death, but she doesn't know
the timing.
She is waiting for the collapse of the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic movement which rules Gaza.
Would-be suicide bomber Umm Anas talks to the BBC Islamic Jihad
accepted the ceasefire, but accuses Israel of readying for another large
incursion into Gaza.
Israel meanwhile accuses militant groups of using the pause to refit
and rearm.
"There is a clear Zionist decision and trend to end and break the
lull," said an Islamic Jihad spokesman last month.
This, says the organisation, is why it has been running its secret
training programme for female suicide bombers. They want to be ready.
Trainees are being prepared to attack invading Israeli soldiers. But
would Umm Anas be ready to walk into a restaurant full of civilians, too, and
blow herself up?
"Israeli soldiers, of course... are the easier target when they come
here, but [I would kill] civilians too because both civilians and soldiers took
our land."
But wouldn't she have any difficulty killing people not holding a gun?
Wouldn't she feel pity for women and children?
"It is not important because all of them have violated our land.
Children are civilians, but they grow up to become soldiers... They are all
brought up to hate us. Palestine is only for Palestinians. We must kick them all
out in any way we can."
Propaganda of fear
The use of Palestinian women as suicide bombers was once thought of as
immodest - and therefore un-Islamic - but that changed, the militant groups say,
because of shortage of male candidates and because women were better able to get
close to their targets.
That's the official explanation, but female bombers also have much greater
propaganda impact.
Their participation in suicide attacks was made possible
by religious rulings in Gaza.
Chairman of the Muslim Scholars Association Marwan Abu Ras told the BBC
there were many precedents in Islamic history for women joining military
operations.
"We do not encourage death," he said. "Islam prohibits you from harming
yourself, even to cause a small cut in your finger, but now we are fighting a
war of resistance.
"If one nation violates another nation's land, it is the obligation of
everyone - men, women, and children - to fight back."
Finally, I asked Umm Anas if she was ever able to put out of her mind
what she was about to do.
"I never stop thinking of this," she said.
"I take each step carefully because I know I am going to sacrifice
myself. Martyrs must pray all the time. They must fast.
"There are many duties to perform before we are ready to face God. I am
trying not to make any mistakes so that I do not miss this opportunity."
Video
8 comments:
i wonder if the romans thought that christians martyring themselves was equally repugnant?
If I remember my Pliny correctly, I believe that they did.
Also there is the difference in simply dying for one's beliefs and using yourself as a bomb delivery system.
In the latter sense you are more of a weapon than a martyr. Of course cloaking yourself in martyrdom makes the act seem so much more profound.
Yes. I would agree with you it seems a horrendous act, to take your life while killing others. One which most Muslims i know would abhor. However there are those Christians who would interoperate the act of martyrdom within this violent context; much like the guy who when around killing abortion doctors with a rifle. An act that most would oppose, however many christians would understand the impulse, if not condone the action.
I guess my thought would be that most religions foster these ideas, and the suicide bomber is just the latest incarnations. Christianity too has a rich and varied history of martyrdom and murder, and many modern Christians are not free from framing their worse human impulses outside ideological blinders.
I guess i wonder the point of pointing this article of a sick young woman? Most Muslims would abhor these acts, and all but the most extreme clerics have come out in opposition to the use of violence against the innocent (strictly forbidden in the koran) What is the point? Yes there are nutjobs who would like to use their religion to cloak their actions in a religious mantel; It is not new, in fact it is a very old story. So why raise it in response to one religion rather than fully exploring this ugly byproduct of faith and certainty in other religions?
better yet. Why frame this as a religious impulse rather than a human impulse?
I'm not the one framing it as a religious impulse, the walking weapon and her handlers are.
50 cents of one half dollar of another. This is an article, and reprint an article which specifically points to the faith of Islam, and destructive and lamentable within. But it places these impulses of, say the christian faith, squarely in the past. Rather than pointing out that they are under the surface.
General William G Boykin, Commanding General U.S. Special forces Command, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for intelligence:
"Discussing the battle against a Muslim warlord in Somalia, Boykin told another audience, "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."
"We in the army of God, in the house of God, kingdom of God have been raised for such a time as this," Boykin said last year."
"But I want you to think about this: Heres the way I want to enter the gates of Heaven. I want to come skidding in there on all fours. I want to be slipping and sliding and I want to hit the gates of heaven with a bang. And when I stand up and I stand before Christ, I want there to be blood on my knees and my elbows. I want to be covered with mud. And I want to be standing there with a ragged breast plate of righteousness. And a spear in my hand. And I want to say, "Look at me, Jesus. I've been in the battle. I've been fighting for you." Ladies and gentlemen, put your armor on and get into battle. God bless you."
So what is your point?
Do you agree with what she and many like her are doing?
Is it that in order for me to point to the shameful distortion of the Islamic faith I have to bash the Christian faith even after acknowledging that it does occur in Christianity?
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