Yes, this was the form of Islam that was mainly spread from the Coromandel Coast in India, and out of Aden and Goa.Originally posted by claudetnt:It was common for the Muslims in (Singapore, Malaysia + Indonesia) till the 70Â’s to practice a more tolerant and compassion form of Islam. Its a fact that South ArabiaÂ’s Wahabism Influence created a more extreme form which unfortunately had penetrated some of our muslim brothers. Regrettably none of the governments in these countries, including Singapore had earlier detected South ArabiaÂ’s negative influences. The changes were so obvious and yet our leaders were blind!
Originally posted by claudetnt:In the early history of this region, the daily grind to survive required Religions to serve as a balm, while Government and Society has left the various 'Religions' very much to themselves as long as they do not create any upheaval that threaten the peace and security needed for trade to thrive.
It was common for the Muslims in (Singapore, Malaysia + Indonesia) till the 70Â’s to practice a more tolerant and compassion form of Islam. Its a fact that South ArabiaÂ’s Wahabism Influence created a more extreme form which unfortunately had penetrated some of our muslim brothers. Regrettably none of the governments in these countries, including Singapore had earlier detected South ArabiaÂ’s negative influences. The changes were so obvious and yet our leaders were blind!
Originally posted by claudetnt:If one is to look at Indonesia's experience, it population of the Malay ethnic stock are not entirely Muslim, and there is relative 'freedom' for them to enter different religions besides Islam.
Atobe:
“---Are the Middle-eastern Muslims the only community capable to extremism ?
Can one label in a broad stroke of the brush an entire community of believers, when it is the leader on the pulpit and his followers that are creating and grabbing the headlines ?---”
You’re Right. However, let me remind you this topic caption is “[b]Middle East muslims are too extreme” so I have narrowed to the Saudis in particular cos they are the biggest culprits in the Middle East mainly because of their oil monies. The Saudis have not only spread all these negative teachings to SEA countries but also to the Indian sub continent, Africa, etc hiding behind charities and madrasahs, etc.
You are honest to admit that [i]“Islam has its own central theme that is corrupted by the various interpretation---“ But your solution of finding and getting the top to find the solution is questionable. Where / who is the top will be a never ending search and a waste of time!
The solution is much more simple. We do not need books and teachers to interpret for us. All we need to do is open our Hearts and Minds and bring out the nature within all of us and appreciate all living beings regardless of Race, Language, Religion etc.
From amongst the Indonesian Muslim community, the proportion of radical activists, agitators, and trouble makers is only a fraction of the entire Muslim followers.
Of Indonesia's population, 87.1 percent identified themselves as Muslim in 1980. This number was down from 95 percent in 1955.
The figures for 1985 and 1990 were not released by the government's Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), suggesting a further decline that would fuel the fires of Muslim indignation over Christianization and secularization under the New Order.
I agree it doesn't make sense at all. God does not need anyone to do His fighting for Him or to right any wrong done to Him. I am sure He is able to do that Himself. What gives anyone the right to kill scores of innocent people in His name? But then, there are lots of crazy people around who think they can score points with Him.Originally posted by free thinker:Yes... Even though i believe that it is wrong for the Danish company to provoke them by printing the cartoon and muslims around the world have the right to feel angry. But they should not react by attacking foreign missons. This suggests that the muslim religion preaches violence and not peace, love etc... Moreover, they feel that it is alright to blow themselves up among innocent people in the name of god or whatever and the printing of a mohammad is like a unforgivable sin.. Doesn't make any sense at all! Some even call for the total destruction of a nation or even race... the ironic part is that their quran tells them to be peace-loving people.. I feel that they are too extreme and should take a step back and ask themselves why are they acting like this.
The mistaken belief that they will be rewarded in heaven with the privilege of screwing 72 virgins if they do so.Originally posted by casefan:I agree it doesn't make sense at all. God does not need anyone to do His fighting for Him or to right any wrong done to Him. I am sure He is able to do that Himself. What gives anyone the right to kill scores of innocent people in His name?
Originally posted by iveco:The mistaken belief that they will be rewarded in heaven with the privilege of screwing 72 virgins if they do so.
(Actually, I'd rahter they got whacked by 72 Virginians)
Can anyone shed light on why 72 virgins and not some other number? Why not 100 or even 1000 virgins? And where would these virgins come from? Why would God use sex as an enticement/reward?Originally posted by iveco:The mistaken belief that they will be rewarded in heaven with the privilege of screwing 72 virgins if they do so.
(Actually, I'd rahter they got whacked by 72 Virginians)
This teaching of 72 virgins for martyrs came from the hadiths or traditions of Muhamad. Just key in '72 virgins' in google and read all about it. 72 is an arbituary number I guess, no logic, just overwhelming to the imagination. Not only would these martyrs get the virgins, he gets fair skinned boys as well as a free flow of wine.Originally posted by casefan:Can anyone shed light on why 72 virgins and not some other number? Why not 100 or even 1000 virgins? And where would these virgins come from? Why would God use sex as an enticement/reward?![]()
Salman, can anyone really take you seriously at your vain attempt at being a SUPER "NO BRAINER" - and a wicked one to the core ?Original post by casefan:
Can anyone shed light on why 72 virgins and not some other number? Why not 100 or even 1000 virgins? And where would these virgins come from? Why would God use sex as an enticement/reward?![]()
Reply by Salman:
This teaching of 72 virgins for martyrs came from the hadiths or traditions of Muhamad. Just key in '72 virgins' in google and read all about it. 72 is an arbituary number I guess, no logic, just overwhelming to the imagination. Not only would these martyrs get the virgins, he gets fair skinned boys as well as a free flow of wine.
I think its a great idea to encourage soldiers to die for a political leader on the battle field.
Where would the virgins come from? Nobody would bother to explain cos it won't matter once the suicide bomber dies. He can't come back for a refund from the dead if its not there. Smart huh? [/quote]Originally posted by Salman:Its a perverse world my friend. Humans are perverse, thats why it works.
The world is seen to be perverse - only because a "no brainer" do not have the supreme faculty to discern "what is" from "what is not"?Originally posted by Salman:Its a perverse world my friend. Humans are perverse, thats why it works.
Originally posted by protonhybrid:As I said, there can be no reconciliation. All I know is I place the sanctity of life and property above any religion. many muslims obviously don't. They spend their lives preparing for the after-life and their 72 raisins/virgins (which in any case I have it on good authority that allah is running out of).
you see danes are thinking only from their own views, and saying oh we're right, only our laws apply and muslims SHOULD do this and SHOULD NOT do that.
who decides what SHOULD and SHOULD NOT be done? surely not just one country or culture, or just the western countries? it should be from all around the globe? but if we follow your arguments, does the whole world decide it? or just the western countries's laws?
[b]like i said before, both sides went to extremes and i don't like either of their responses.
[/b]
Originally posted by Atobe:Its not the Quran you dummy, its the hadiths. Looks like you haven't been following the thread.
Does the Koran really promise Islamic martyrs 72 virgins ?
A couple observations. First, nonfundamentalist Muslims don't take the cosmological parts of the Koran any more literally than nonfundamentalist Christians take the biblical story of Genesis. They understand the bits about virgins and so on as metaphors for the ineffable joys of the afterlife.Its not from the Quran and its not cosmology.
Second, while dreams of celestial babes may motivate the impoverished Palestinian kids who blow themselves up on Israeli street corners, a number of the 9-11 terrorists were older and had known something of earthly delights. That these middle-class types nonetheless were suicidal fanatics is yet another indication that we've entered a scary new phase.Mohd Atta & Osama wasn't poor. They believe in the virgins talk, don't you.
Wow! Sound explicit. My goodness.
Now to your question. The difficulty in determining what the Koran has to say about virgins and such is establishing what the Koran says, period.
Translators vary widely in their rendering of the spare and often opaque text. For example, we find the following passage in a Web-based version of Islam's holy book (www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/index.htm): "Verily, for the Muttaqun [righteous], there will be a success (paradise); gardens and grapeyards; and young full- bre asted (mature) maidens of equal age; and a full cup (of wine)" (An-Naba 78:31-34). Whoa, one thinks--the Kingdom of Heaven meets the Playboy Advisor! However, most other English translations, both on-line and in print, replace "full-bre*sted maidens" with some tame construction such as "companions." Inquiring further, we find that the Arabic word at issue is WakawaAAiba, which appears nowhere else in the Koran. The French, less prudish in these matters, usually render it as something like des belles aux seins arrondis, "beautiful women with round bre*sts," so I think it's pretty clear what the Prophet, or at least his stenographers, had in mind.
Wah, looks like prostitution to me.
Nothing in the Koran specifically states that the faithful are allotted 72 virgins apiece. For this elaboration we turn to the hadith, traditional sayings traced with varying degrees of credibility to Muhammad. Hadith number 2,562 in the collection known as the Sunan al-Tirmidhi says, "The least [reward] for the people of Heaven is 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome of pearls, aquamarine and ruby."
A little hype from the marketing department, you may say. Fine. Let's return to the Koran, Islam's font of religious authority. Even if we leave out the racy detail and make allowances for metaphor, we're obliged to admit that Islamic heaven is a pretty rockin' place, with an emphasis on sensual pleasures. The provision of virgins in indeterminate quantities is alluded to at numerous points, and you know they're not just there to fluff the pillows. (In fairness to the Prophet, the physical quality usually attributed to the houris, as they're called, is "wide lovely eyes." ) The food, service, ambience., etc, are great. You're allowed to enjoy things the Koran explicitly denies you on earth, such as alcohol, and you won't even get sick. ("Wine . . . delicious to those who drink it . . . will neither dull their senses nor they will become drunk." ) Granted, the whole thing is skewed toward the male idea of a good time, a defect by no means confined to Islam. Were Muhammad to found a religion today, I'm confident that each female arrival in heaven would be assigned a comely stud who would provide fabulous sex and in addition hang the curtain rods the first time he was asked. Granted, also, the emphasis on virgins is a little weird. (Think back on the first nights you've been party to. Was this your idea of great sex?) Still, you have to admit, heaven as Party Central sure beats the Christian idea of angels with harps.
Sounds bad man. Real bad.
Does this make Islamic cosmology "unsophisticated and juvenile"? Maybe. (Oh, let's not be lame about this. Of course it does.) But don't be too quick to judge. Christianity, after all, invented the idea of paradise in the first place. Looking at things from the point of view of a cynical materialist, which is the more outrageous proposition--luring the proles with the promise of eternal life, or throwing 72 virgins into the bargain?
Originally posted by Atobe:How can anyone depend on a "no brainer" to read and comprehend ?
Does the Koran really promise Islamic martyrs 72 virgins ?
Response by Salman:
Its not the Quran you dummy, its the hadiths. Looks like you haven't been following the thread.
BTW the Quran has other promises and we can talk about that in another thread.
Originally posted by Atobe:Can we believe that a "no brainer" Salman can outshine the author of the luminating piece : Does the Koran really promise Islamic martyrs 72 virgins ? ?
A couple observations. First, nonfundamentalist Muslims don't take the cosmological parts of the Koran any more literally than nonfundamentalist Christians take the biblical story of Genesis. They understand the bits about virgins and so on as metaphors for the ineffable joys of the afterlife.
Response by Salman:
Its not from the Quran and its not cosmology.
The author of the article don't even know what you are talking about.
I think he is trying to fool people who don't know the Quran and hadiths like Atobe and Atobe bought hook line and sinker. Thats why he posted it here.
Originally posted by Atobe:Virgin or not, I will defer that privilege to your expertise and preference in deluding yourself to those sweet things whom you claim "sucks".
Second, while dreams of celestial babes may motivate the impoverished Palestinian kids who blow themselves up on Israeli street corners, a number of the 9-11 terrorists were older and had known something of earthly delights. That these middle-class types nonetheless were suicidal fanatics is yet another indication that we've entered a scary new phase.
Mohd Atta & Osama wasn't poor. They believe in the virgins talk, don't you.
Originally posted by Atobe:This peice alone must have been quite revealing of the Quran.
Now to your question. The difficulty in determining what the Koran has to say about virgins and such is establishing what the Koran says, period.
Translators vary widely in their rendering of the spare and often opaque text. For example, we find the following passage in a Web-based version of Islam's holy book (www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/index.htm): "Verily, for the Muttaqun [righteous], there will be a success (paradise); gardens and grapeyards; and young full- bre asted (mature) maidens of equal age; and a full cup (of wine)" (An-Naba 78:31-34). Whoa, one thinks--the Kingdom of Heaven meets the Playboy Advisor! However, most other English translations, both on-line and in print, replace "full-bre*sted maidens" with some tame construction such as "companions." Inquiring further, we find that the Arabic word at issue is WakawaAAiba, which appears nowhere else in the Koran. The French, less prudish in these matters, usually render it as something like des belles aux seins arrondis, "beautiful women with round bre*sts," so I think it's pretty clear what the Prophet, or at least his stenographers, had in mind.
Response by Salman:
Wow! Sound explicit. My goodness.
Originally posted by Atobe:By the reading ability of a "no brainer" - can we expect the understanding to be anything but only a "no brainer" outcome ? .
Nothing in the Koran specifically states that the faithful are allotted 72 virgins apiece. For this elaboration we turn to the hadith, traditional sayings traced with varying degrees of credibility to Muhammad. Hadith number 2,562 in the collection known as the Sunan al-Tirmidhi says, "The least [reward] for the people of Heaven is 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome of pearls, aquamarine and ruby."
A little hype from the marketing department, you may say. Fine. Let's return to the Koran, Islam's font of religious authority. Even if we leave out the racy detail and make allowances for metaphor, we're obliged to admit that Islamic heaven is a pretty rockin' place, with an emphasis on sensual pleasures. The provision of virgins in indeterminate quantities is alluded to at numerous points, and you know they're not just there to fluff the pillows. (In fairness to the Prophet, the physical quality usually attributed to the houris, as they're called, is "wide lovely eyes." ) The food, service, ambience., etc, are great. You're allowed to enjoy things the Koran explicitly denies you on earth, such as alcohol, and you won't even get sick. ("Wine . . . delicious to those who drink it . . . will neither dull their senses nor they will become drunk." ) Granted, the whole thing is skewed toward the male idea of a good time, a defect by no means confined to Islam. Were Muhammad to found a religion today, I'm confident that each female arrival in heaven would be assigned a comely stud who would provide fabulous sex and in addition hang the curtain rods the first time he was asked. Granted, also, the emphasis on virgins is a little weird. (Think back on the first nights you've been party to. Was this your idea of great sex?) Still, you have to admit, heaven as Party Central sure beats the Christian idea of angels with harps.
Response by Salman
Wah, looks like prostitution to me.
But there is no mention of studs for women anywhere, you are simply assuming wildly.
So looks like the ultimate destiny of men and women is to be studs and sluts.
Originally posted by Atobe:Surprisingly the "no brainer" got floored again.
Does this make Islamic cosmology "unsophisticated and juvenile"? Maybe. (Oh, let's not be lame about this. Of course it does.) But don't be too quick to judge. Christianity, after all, invented the idea of paradise in the first place. Looking at things from the point of view of a cynical materialist, which is the more outrageous proposition--luring the proles with the promise of eternal life, or throwing 72 virgins into the bargain?
Response by Salman:
Sounds bad man. Real bad.
Those are LIES - you know it as much as any learned persons (unless you are merely a fraud indulging in empty boasts).Originally posted by Salman:So you mean the virgins don't exists and those jihadhists died for lies?
Trapped by your crap about virgins ? .Originally posted by Salman:So you do believe in those virgins for terrorists then. You are trapped now. You can't say they are real, you can't say they are not real because its your faith.
Who can you fool around here mat?
Your evil taquiya ain't gonna work around here. I will make you expose yourself on this very forum.