Islam a Religion of Peace?

== Introduction ==
Islam a Religion of Peace! Most would disagree or scoff at the thought of it, the reason being evidences out weigh against other opinion. Here is analysis of two renowned scholars on this topic. The first is [http://www.tawfikhamid.com/ Prof Tawfik Hamid], a former member of an Islamist terrorist group, and now an Islamic reformer and a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. He has brought out a new valid interpretation of Quran. And second is [http://absolutetruth.in/wiki/Islam_and_Vedas#Introduction Dr Akif Manaf Jabir] an Islamic scholar, who is an Islamic theologian and also a practitioner of Vedic vaishnava siddhanta. He is also a renowned scholar in this field of comparative religions.

== Need for introspection ==
” by Prof Hamid ”
The film “Fitna” by Dutch parliament member Geert Wilders has created an uproar around the world as it linked violence committed by Islamists to Islam. Many commentators and politicians — including the British Government, which denied him entry to the country last month — reflexively accused Mr. Wilders of inciting hatred. The question, however, is whether the blame is with Mr. Wilders, who simply exposed Islamic radicalism, or with those who promote and engage in this religious extremism. In other words, shall we fault Mr. Wilders for showing photos of the hanging of homosexuals, or shall we fault those who actually promote and practice this crime?

There is a certain schizophrenia among many Muslims who seem to believe that it is acceptable to teach hatred and violence in the name of their religion, while at the same time expecting the world to respect Islam as “a religion of peace, love and harmony.”

Scholars in the most prestigious Islamic Institutes and Universities continue to propagate statements like Jews are “pigs and monkeys,” that women and men must be stoned to death for adultery, or that Muslims must fight the world to spread their religion. Isn’t, then, Mr. Wilders’s criticism appropriate? Instead of blaming him, we must blame the leading Islamic scholars for having failed to produce an authoritative book on Islamic jurisprudence that is accepted in the Islamic world and unambiguously rejects these violent teachings.

While many religious texts preach violence, the interpretation, modern usage and [implementation of these teachings make all the difference. For example, the stoning of women exists in both the Old Testament and in the Islamic tradition, or “Sunna” — the recorded deeds and manners of the prophet Muhammad. The difference, though, is that leading Jewish scholars agreed to discontinue these practices centuries ago while Muslim scholars have yet to do so. Hence we do not see the stoning of women practiced or promoted in Israel, the “Jewish” state, but we see it practiced and promoted in Iran and Saudi Arabia, the “Islamic” states!

When the British government banned Geert Wilders from entering the country to present his film in the House of Lords, it made two egregious errors. The first was to suppress free speech, a canon of the civilized Western world. The second mistake was to blame the messenger — punishing, so to speak, the witness who exposed the crime instead of punishing the criminal. Mr. Wilders did not produce the content of the violent Islamic message he showed in his film — the Islamic world did that. Until the Islamic clerical establishment takes concrete steps to reject violence in the name of their religion, Mr. Wilders criticism is not only permissible as “controversial” free speech but justified.

So, Islamic scholars and clerics, it is up to you to produce a Shariah book that will be accepted in the Islamic world and that teaches that Jews are not pigs and monkeys, and that [http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/5916.html declaring war] to spread Islam is unacceptable, and killing apostates is a crime. Such a book would prove that Islam is a religion of peace.
Ref: From the Wall Street Journal Europe.

== Vedic Observer ==
”Our humble thoughts”
=== The real Prophet Mohammad ===
Prophet Muhammad is perhaps the most misrepresented person in history. He is perhaps the most loved and most hated person engulfing the world today. Many followers of Islam worship him as the most perfect personality in history. To them, anything written in name of Prophet Muhammad becomes example. And then, they attempt to justify the same. On other hand, ex‐Muslims and rationalists blame Muhammad for being a violent lascivious person whose teachings and manipulations have caused bloody warfare throughout history and cause terrorism today.

Spurred by the strong opinions – both positive and negative – that are available on Prophet Muhammad, lets set out to explore his life and evaluate what would have made him so hated and so loved? We shall produce detail summary of our findings in this post. But the conclusion is very clear – Muhammad was a legendary revolutionary far ahead of his times and perhaps one of the most inspiring persons of history. But only a few could understand the man and his vision properly.

Thus his character has been maligned both by his admirers and detractors. His admirers view him as final answer to everything ignoring the fact that he was a messenger, and as every messenger he was subject to social and cultural conditioning as per his era. On other hand, his detractors find him an easy scapegoat for all the nonsense that happens in name of Islam – gender discrimination, slavery, terrorism, bomb blasts, hijacking and superstitions. They refuse to dig deeply and explore the possibilities of Muhammad being victim of situations and false slander.

We would provide sufficient points to explore the third possibility – a visionary revolutionary noble intentioned legend being misinterpreted and misrepresented. Just think for a while. Why would he call his religion Islam (that means peace) and its followers Muslims (those who humbly submit) if he were to propagate violence and violent means? He could have chosen some other name as well. But why there has been a specific emphasis on Peace and Humility? To us that is Prophet Muhammad – A Genius misunderstood the primary theme of Muhammad’s message and everything else should be interpreted in this light alone.

The Arab of his times were deeply drenched in immorality and superstitions. If you carefully study his life, you would find that he risked even his life to bring the corrupt Arabic culture of his times towards enhanced sensibilities. He was born in an era where people even used to marry each others daughters. Incest was also prevalent and so was slavery. He knew that these practices could not be stopped instantaneously. Not having opportunity to learn from any teacher and complete even a basic education, he began a self motivated journey of analysis of the practices of his times and trying to discover what should be the right way. He did it to best of his capabilities and knowledge. And considering his education and society, he could think of a long way. He then tried to stop or dilute many of these practices through a variety of tactics – by explaining to them, by showing them fear, by giving them incentives and at times even fighting them.

And another reason to give this third possibility a deep consideration is Meat was primary diet of his era. Yet he called for compassion on animals. We may complain that he did not ban meat-eating altogether. But we forget that it would have been too ridiculous for his times considering that meat was staple diet of his times. We should admire the foresight shown by Muhammad that has made many Muslims are the most ardent proponents of [[Islam_and_Vedas#Vegetarianism_in_Islam|Vegetarianism]].

=== Suspicion of Interpolation ===
Also the fact that Koran was compiled at least twenty years after the disappearance of Prophet Mohammad brings to focus the possibility of [http://www.faithfreedom.org/10513 corruption]. There are numerous evidences that Prophet Muhammad’s teachings were caught between manipulations by several sadistic individuals and genuine followers. Hence Quran and Hadiths become a mixture of original teachings of Muhammad interspersed with unverifiable manipulations. This is where the scholars believe all these [http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/5916.html ”Satanic Verses”] have found their way to serve the interests of some political zealots.

=== Islam in modern context ===
What we need to understand is Prophet Muhammad had to preach the message of God in an extreme conditions where people were almost barbarians had no regard for rules or regulations. They had been tyrants to the core. So in order to deal with them he had instructed prospective muslims to be vigilant and adopt some tactics which would ensure their survival and propagation of God’s message. But in the modern day context where there is a well established ethics and sense of morality in the society. And there is a sense of rationality being perpetuated through education and people are much saner and open minded towards other culture. And as everyone hopes to see a better tomorrow that is more tranquil, relevance of such extreme instructions ceases to exist with no purpose to fulfill. Instead the radicals would do better if they take their fight inside against the eternal vices who rule us namely lust, greed, envy, pride and illusion. That would fulfill the soul of Prophet Muhammad.

=== Islam and Vedas ===
The conservativism in Islam or any religion is required to bring in a regimen and discipline amongst its followers which is necessary for any sane and civilized society. If these strict regimen is not in place cultural degradation in society cannot be checked. This is there in all scriptures of the world. The Manu Samhita talks about so many rules and regulations to be followed. The secular society would however prefer liberalism. That being one extreme the other is the is proselytizing [http://agniveer.com/jehad/ fundamentalism] in Islam, and intolerance towards other authentic spiritual faiths without giving a proper thought on how actually it compliments Islam should be condemned and banished. So there is a need for proper understanding of Islam, have a completely different perspective free of all the stereotypes in conjunction with the eternal spiritual truths the Vedas. That is where the contribution of scholars like [[Islam_and_Vedas| Dr Akif Manaf Jabir]] have a role to play.

The followers of Islam would benefit to know that Koran is not the summum bonum because it is no more than a bunch of rules and regulations. Whereas the Vedas is an encyclopedia of science and arts. It goes far beyond rules and regulations. For instance the Bhagavad Gita talks about the laws of karma which explains the differences amongst humans at the time of Birth. Both Bible and Koran and the derivative scriptures have no explanation for this phenomenon of differences at birth, they only talk about one life of humans but it fails to explain why someone is born blind or born in a poor family. There are many such [http://absolutetruth.in/forums/topic/questions-for-our-islamic-friends questions] that Bible or Koran doesn’t satisfactorily answer.

== Conclusion ==
The Vedas are the first and foremost knowledge that had been from the time of creation. There are many instances where Prophet Mohammad has mentioned that there is more to Quran. Like for instance it is said in Quran that when Mohammad met Allah, the Lord clearly prohibited him to not teach few things that was taught to him. Muslims would benefit if they give benefit of doubt to these statements and explore the Vedic knowledge which assimilates all the good instructions in Quran and teaches much more than the rules and regulations. To know more on what we are talking, visit [[Islam_and_Vedas|here]]. To conclude the scholars of all religions should come together and work for a fresh and legitimate interpretations of Koran and Bible keeping in mind their temporal relevance they should look them in the light of transcendental vedic scriptures. This can benifit the humanity and peace can be given a chance.

[[Absolute_Truth:Citation_needed|SOME OF THE CONTENT AND LINKS REQUIRE CITATION]]

== References ==
#[http://www.tawfikhamid.com/abcs-test-for-radical-islam/ ABC Test of Radical islam].
#[http://www.gurumurthy.net/articledisplay.pl?2008-09-18 Holy Text and Terror]
#[http://agniveer.com/jehad/ Scrutinizing study of Islam]
#[http://jaibihar.com/pakistan-bangladesh-plan-a-mughalistan-to-split-india/20092246.html Islamic designs for India]