I blame the Government for King Kong
The religion is designed to be flexible to ensure that it remains suitable for all man, throughout all the ages. It’s that same flexibility that allows for the religion to be twisted and perverted by the hands of Man.
By Aizuddin Danian
Seeing what a Muslim missionary do on YouTube prompted me to think about my religion in a critical way. This, in part, led to me writing “The Exclusiveness of Islam and Heaven“; it’s something i’ve considered ever since the first posting on the Volume of Interactions nearly 10 years ago, but i rarely put these type of thoughts down for obvious reasons.
Its been a while since something i’ve written has generated so many email responses, some in praise, most in condemnation.
I think the thing that we need to understand as Muslims is that the Quran, the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad and the various fatwas and sermons from our clerics can be interpreted in so many ways.
The Quran has 109 verses dealing with war and punishment, specifically against non-Muslims. Some of it is incredibly graphic including the often abused (Quran, 2:191-193) which seems to encourage the “slaying” of non-Muslims. However, i believe that there is a context for everything in the Quran, and if we strip the verse of the context, than we are doing nothing less than the gravest of injustices to our faith.
Yes, you heard that correctly. I said “our” faith — the saddest reality of all is that Muslims are doing this to ourselves. It’s not some global conspiracy by the much-maligned Jews or the scheming American Devil that is messing around with the Quran. It is us. You, me, my brother, your sister, our parents, the neighbours next door and the imam on the pulpit. Collectively, we are responsible, collectively, we are Muslims.
When an American fighter bomber accidentally bombs an Afghan village, killing women and children, do we blame the pilot, or do we blame the American people for allowing such an act to happen. After all, its their tax dollars, its their President and its their will that allowed for it. Yes, we blame America.
Similarly, when a cleric, a respected member of PERKIM stands up and makes fun and jokes about Buddhists and their way of life, we as Muslims have to take the blame. In the presentation of ideas and principals, unfortunately, the collective is always responsible for the individual.
