[pnews-news] When was Islam Tolerant?

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Friday, March 31, 2006


"If The Muslims Are Serious About Presenting The Radiant Face Of Islam, 
They Must Acknowledge Their Dark Past" Says Reformist Writer Dr. Kamel 
Al-Najjar

     By:MEMRI
     In January 2006, the Austrian-Iraqi Association for Development held 
its first conference on extremism and terrorism around the world, in 
Vienna. The conference was attended by Arab, Muslim and European 
researchers, intellectuals and diplomats. In the closing statement, the 
participants made the following recommendations: to present the humane and 
rational side of Islam which calls for co-existence and acceptance of the 
other; to condemn all forms of violence and terrorism; to promote dialogue 
and cooperation among all the world's cultures; and to call upon religious 
scholars to halt the spread of extremism. The participants also emphasized 
the Palestinian people's right to an independent state, and called to 
consolidate Iraqi national unity based on citizenship, democracy, and 
peaceful co-existence between all sectors of Iraqi society, while 
preserving the country's Arab and Islamic character. [1]

     Dr. Kamel Al-Najjar, a reformist who writes on the reformist websites 
www.kitabat.com and www.elaph.com, expressed reservations regarding the 
validity of these recommendations. [2]

     The following are excerpts from his article:
     "Islam was Tolerant Only During the Mecca Period, When it was Weak"
     "The phenomenon of Arab and Islamic conferences has come to dominate 
activities in the Arab and Muslim world almost completely, especially 
since the tragedy of September 11, 2001 in the U.S... Experience teaches 
us that those who talk a lot do little, while those who act do not talk. I 
hope that the conference held by the Austrian-Iraqi Association for 
Development is not an Islamic conference of that sort, but a look at its 
recommendations does not inspire optimism.

     "The conference participants did not bother to explain what the humane 
side of Islam is. When was Islam humane, and when did it respect others 
and call for co-existence? Anyone who studies Islamic history discovers 
that Islam was tolerant only during the Mecca period, when it was weak. 
This is the period in which the tolerant verses were revealed, such as the 
verses... 'You have your religion and I have my religion [Koran 109:6]' 
and 'Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly preaching, and 
reason with them in the best ways [16:125].'

     "Later, the Prophet emigrated to the city of Al-Medina, and the first 
Koranic sura revealed to him there - the sura of Al-Baqara - starts with a 
rejection of the other... Later [verses] call to fight anyone who does not 
convert to Islam: 'And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them 
out from whence they drove you out [2:191]'... Subsequently, the sura of 
Al-Tawba was revealed, and the 'verse of the sword': 'So when the sacred 
months have passed, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and 
take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every 
ambush [9:5]'... The 'verse of the sword' and all the [other] warlike 
verses of the Al-Medina period were revealed later than the verses of the 
Mecca period, and as the newer verses, they [come to] replace the Mecca 
verses. According to the religious scholars, the 'verse of the sword' 
abrogates at least 120 tolerant verses. So where is the tolerant side of 
Islam?

     "If we put aside the theoretical statements of the Koran and the 
hadith, and examine the actions of the Prophet and his companions... will 
we find anything that can be regarded as tolerance and acceptance of the 
other? The Prophet, after all, drove the Jews out of the Arab peninsula 
and made raids on the Arab tribes so that they would convert out of fear.

     "[The First Caliph] Abu Bakr fought against the tribes who abandoned 
Islam, and [the Second Caliph] Omar [bin Al-Khattab] imposed his famous 
contract on the Christians, which forced them to cut their hair and wear 
special garments so they would be easily recognizable, and forbade them to 
ring their church bells. Islamic conquests of non-Muslim [lands] continued 
until the time of the Ottoman Caliphate during the 15th century, and even 
later. Can we find the radiant face of Islam in any of these statements or 
actions?"

     "Violence is Rooted [in Islam] From its Very Inception"
     Regarding the recommendation to condemn all forms of violence and 
terrorism, Al-Najjar wrote: "The problem with Islam is that violence is 
rooted in it from its very inception. Islam commands beating a 10-year-old 
child if he does not pray regularly. Islam permits beating a woman if she 
does not obey her husband.

     "The [Islamic] states terrorize non-Muslim minorities, as occurs in 
Egypt. There is also the terrorism of the religious clerics who carry a 
stick to beat women on their legs if any part of the leg is showing, and 
to beat the men in the marketplace on Friday so they hurry up and get to 
the mosque. There is the terrorism of religious groups like the Muslim 
Brotherhood, the Taliban, the Shi'ite groups in Basra, and the Sunni 
groups in Falluja which burned down shops selling computer diskettes and 
shops selling wine... Every day, we encounter the ideological terrorism of 
Al-Azhar [University] and other religious institutions, which ban books, 
newspapers and movies that do not conform to their views, and issue fatwas 
accusing Muslim intellectuals of heresy."

     "How Can We Call for Co-Existence Between Religions When the Religious 
Scholars... Say Every Day That the Bible and New Testament are Falsified, 
That Christians are Polytheists... and That Jews are the Descendants of 
Apes and Pigs?"

     Al-Najjar next refers to the recommendation that calls for cooperation 
between the world's cultures: "How can we call for co-existence between 
religions when the religious scholars of Al-Azhar, Najaf, and Qom say 
every day that the Bible and the New Testament are falsified, that 
Christians are polytheists because they worship the Trinity, and that Jews 
are the descendants of apes and pigs? [When] every Friday, the [Muslim] 
worshipers call upon Allah to eradicate the Jews, and when the Muslims 
ridicule the Hindus for worshiping a cow? Who are those who [supposedly] 
call for [dialogue]? Are they religious scholars who believe in the 
superiority of Islam?"

     Regarding the recommendation to recognize the Palestinians' right to 
establish an independent state based on U.N. resolutions, Al-Najjar said: 
"The hostility that both sides have instilled in their children will not 
allow them to co-exist peacefully in the near future. As long as there are 
religious scholars like Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi who permit Palestinian youths 
to blow themselves up among Israeli civilians, [and as long as there are] 
religious scholars and sheikhs from Hamas who recruit and train these 
youths, there is no use in emphasizing the need to establish a Palestinian 
state based on international resolutions."

     About the recommendation to consolidate Iraqi national unity while 
preserving the Arab and Islamic character of Iraq, Al-Najjar wrote: "The 
homeland has no religion. Faith belongs to Allah and the homeland belongs 
to all [its citizens]. But since Islam does not recognize any other 
[religion], the conference participants called to preserve the Arab and 
Islamic character of Iraq. [However, it should be noted that] before it 
became Arab or Muslim, Iraq was Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and 
Christian, and now most of its population is Muslim. So how can we 
preserve the unity of the homeland and say that it is [only] Islamic and 
Arab? [Additionally,] which Islam are we referring to [when we 
characterize Iraq as Islamic]? Shi'ite Islam and the rule of the religious 
scholars, or Sunni Islam which accuses the Shi'ites of heresy?"

     "Since When are the Muslims a Nation of Peace?"
     "Islam includes theoretical principles that the Muslims do not 
implement in practice. For example [the Koran says in sura 42, verse 38]: 
'Those who... conduct their affairs by mutual consultation [shura].' But 
when the Taliban seized power in order to implement the laws of the 
Islamic shari'a, they did not come into power by means of shura and did 
not implement the principle of shura in governing [the country]. When 
Al-Turabi and Al-Bashir took over Sudan in the name of Islam, they [also] 
did not come into power by means of shura, and did not implement [this 
principle]. In the Gulf states, power is inherited, and not gained by 
means of shura"

     "The Muslims are always boasting groundlessly of what they do not 
have, and claiming that Islam has [characteristics] that it [actually] 
lacks. Mr. Khaled Mash'al, head of the Hamas political bureau, said in 
Damascus: 'Muslims are the nation of peace, and they extend their hand to 
anyone who wants to make peace.' Since when are the Muslims a nation of 
peace? Who spilled rivers of blood in Asia Minor, conquering its cities 
and enslaving its people?... Who conquered Spain and North Africa?

     "If the Muslims are Serious About Presenting the Radiant Face of 
Islam, They Must Drop This False, Hollow Arrogance and Acknowledge Their 
Dark Past and Even Darker Presen."

     "If the Muslims are serious about presenting the radiant face of 
Islam, they must drop this false, hollow arrogance, and acknowledge their 
dark past and their even darker present. They must establish a global 
judiciary council whose function will be to punish any sheikh that issues 
a fatwa encouraging or permitting violence - whether physical or 
ideological... They must also re-interpret the Koran, putting the warlike 
verses - the verse of the sword and similar hadiths - in historical 
perspective as verses that are no longer valid... Perhaps they should take 
an example from those who follow the Koran alone and do away with all the 
hadiths and with the sunna..."

     [1] For the full text of the closing statement in Arabic, see the 
website of the Austrian-Iraqi Association for Development: 
http://www.aiad.at/Arabic/viewarticle.php?id=news_austria-20060202-39.

     [2] http://www.kitabat.com/i12887.htm, February 3, 2006. For further 
criticism of Arab conferences by Dr. Al-Najjar, see MEMRI Special Dispatch 
No. 721, "International Islamic Conference: Genuine Call for Tolerance or 
Reiteration of Hollow Slogans?" May 25, 2004.

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