Trying to understand Islam:

I feel we are being taught or urged to fear or hate Islam in our current society. They are our new national enemy much like the communists of old that have now faded from prominence. My opinion is that we use a common enemy to unite the populace and to justify our actions and insane military budgets. I remember growing up as a child during the height of the cold war and looking up at the sky and seeing the contrails of jets. I feared they were the contrails of nuclear ICBMs and were going to foretell world war three. I was too young then to understand the complexities of the cold war.

I like to understand what I am being urged to fear or hate. I wanted to understand Islam from the view of a Muslim or ex-Muslim. I did a lot of research tonight and gained some insight into the minds of Islamic fundamentalists and Muslims. Here are some things that I learned about the religion:

To understand Islam you have to understand the basic holy texts and what is in them. There are three prominent texts which are the Quran, the Hadith, and the Fiqh. The Quran is believed to be words spoken by Allah (God) to Muhammad (his prophet). The Hadith is regarded as the words and deeds of the prophet as reported by followers down through the generations. The Figh is the work of Muslim scholars on Islamic law as they understood and extrapolated from the Quran and the Hadith. There are numerous translations and interpretations of these basic texts. The two main sects called Sunnis and Shiites disagree on which text is the correct version especially when it regards the Hadith and the Fiqh. The Sunnis are the majority. There are also many more minor sects that I will not go into here. They all have different views especially when it regards the Figh and Islamic law.

Here in most western countries we hold democracy in high esteem. I would argue that we are more of a republic than a democracy but that is another matter for another day. What about the countries in the Middle East? Would democracy work? It takes a deep look into Islam to find out. The more you look into Islam the more you see political as well as religious overtones. According to Islam the only person able to rule is Allah and Allah only. There is no democracy and the governments are founded on Islamic law. These laws are set by the Quran, the Hadith, and the Fiqh. Young people are indoctrinated and taught these ideals and laws from the beginning. The only decisions that rest with people today are those about which the decisions have not been already made because the problems did not arise for earlier Muslim generations to decide.

Well, enough for tonight. I enjoy learning about these kinds of things. Tomorrow or the next day I will reveal what I learned about Islamic fundamentalists and what in the Quran spurs them to die and kill so willingly for the cause of Allah. This kind of fanaticism is a big harbinger of our fears.