Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Why I Didn't Choose Islam

I'm not really sure what to say in this post, so it might get a bit rambly. You've been warned.

I was asked why, when I was looking at Christianity and Islam and trying to decide between the two, why I didn't choose Islam. Which isn't as easy to answer as I thought it might be.

Back then, I had prayed to God to let me know if He existed. I know that sounds so simplistic, but that's what happened. I'd been driven from atheism. I was not content with the label of agnostic. I wanted to *know*. And I prayed, one night, 'If you're real, prove it.' Nothing like poking Deity in the eye...But, I mean, literally, the next morning, I woke up, and I *knew*. *holds hands up* It's unspectacular. No lightning from the sky. No Eureka! moment. I went to bed one night doubting, and woke up the next morning, knowing it in a very placid, 'this has always been' sort of way.

I say all this to say that I didn't read any scripture and go, 'aha! This proves it!'. I was reading a steady diet of Karen Armstrong, Bart Ehrman, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. Their arguments failed to satisfy, for me.

I eventually, though I can't recall *how*, at this point, settled on the fact that either Islam or Christianity was true. So the problem came down to a choice between one or the other. And I felt that I knew Christianity, after all, I was raised Christian, so the issue was learning about Islam.

Funnily, through a Catholic message board, I came into contact with a Muslim convert who I greatly admired. She was polite, she was respectful, even when she was being attacked, and her answers seemed to make a lot of sense. I followed her every post, eagerly. I discovered she had a blog, and I read that as well. Her Islam was a beautiful and fascinating thing. Through her blog, I came into contact with another convert who actually was a salafi.

It's a truth about myself that I am drawn to strictness and ritual. Whether that is a good thing or not is debatable, since I only like strictness when it suits me. (I know, I know. But it's true.) This sister and her husband started an Islamic message board for themselves and others like them, who were being (apparently) shouted down and/or treated badly on mainstream Islamic boards for being too harsh and extreme in their interpretation of Islam. So I went there, and hung about, speaking with all of them, and learning.

Now, I don't want people to think, 'oh, *salafi*, well *that* explains it. they scared her off.' Not at all. They majority of the people on the board (it was a small community) were kind and helpful and not at all nasty. There was one, it's true, that, well. I did not like him. He *was* extreme, and, in my opinion, likely dangerous. But he was certainly the exception, and not the rule. But I do want you guys to know who I was talking to. Not your average, 'liberal' Muslim 'on the street'.

There were things, at first, that made me go, 'huh?' One, that I recall, was, and I don't know *how* this came up in a conversation, about how a Muslim had to be careful not to praise their neighbors new tree (or the like), to avoid the possibility of giving that neighbor the praise of creating that tree. So, you couldn't go, 'Nice tree!' when they plant a new tree, because they might think that you thought that they had created the tree. And that was just...I mean, *no one* would really think that their neighbor had *created* a tree...

Anyway. I just chalked that sort of disconnect to 'translation' issues. Perhaps we were misunderstanding each other. But as I went on, learning (mainly) from them, there were other things that bothered me.

The focus on Arab culture and language. Why is God restricted to one language? If the revelation is for all people and times, why is the Qur'an only complete and understandable in an (ancient) version of one specific language?

The continuity of the message. I know that Muslims believe that the previous messages were corrupted. However, it is possible to see a connection, a continuance, from Judaism into Christianity. But from Christianity to Islam? Not so much. I know of Muslims who claim that Mohammed was prophesied in the Bible, but I looked at the verses they claim for that, and they were twisting the verses so much that it was unbelievable to me.

The claim that those verses were corrupt, and that's why they don't line up doesn't work either. Because if the message was the same, then God would have ensured that the verses prophesying Mohammed would remain intact, so that when he came, people would be able to discern the truth.

So we're left with a man who suddenly claims to get visions from God (lots of people claim that), and that he is a prophet. The last, best prophet. And I ask, where's your proof? The Qur'an. The Qur'an proves that Mohammed is a prophet. And what makes the Qur'an authoritative? It comes from God. According to who? Mohammed. And what gives Mohammed that authority? He's a prophet. See the circle?

Mohammed's conduct, or, rather, the Muslims view of same. Look, I am not, I hope, one of those people who judges ancient civilizations based on modern morality and ethics. People waged war, pillaged, plundered, married young, killed, and did all sorts of things, as a matter of course, that we consider barbaric and wrong. Prophets, in Judaism and Christianity, made horrible mistakes. They had flashes of temper and did things that make you look at them funny. They were *humans*. Flawed humans being used by God. Their flaws in no way negated their prophetic powers. However, in Islam, Mohammed is considered perfect. The most perfect example of man to ever walk the earth. His every move is copied, as best as can be. Everything that he did is 'good'. So when you see that he did things that, today, are unacceptable, you have a choice. You can be honest and say that these things were done then, but that they are not done now. Or you can cling to the idea of 'prophetic perfection', and fight to justify his behavior, so that he is still 'perfect' even by today's standards. The first is honest, but may make you feel that Mohammed was less than 'perfect'. The second is dishonest, but will allow you to feel that Mohammed was 'perfect'. It also allows for people to fight for their 'right' to wage war against their neighbors; for their 'right' to marry as many women as they want (I know Islam restricts it to four, but too many marry more because they can 'afford' it, it's a status symbol, and Mohammed did it - I know, I know, he had a 'special exemption' from God.); for their 'right' to child brides.

Women in Islam. You can tell me that the Qur'an granted women rights that they did not receive in the West until fairly recently all you want, but the fact remains that, in the West, we have those rights and may exercise them freely. Women under shariah law only have those rights in theory, not practice. When a woman is equal to *half* of a man, under the law, there is something flawed. And I've read explanations for that rule. They're not satisfactory either. 'Men have better memory than women'. *Not*. I have better memory than many men and women that I know. I know others who have better memories than I do. It's specific to people, not gender. A woman being 'unclean' during menstruation. Being unable to pray or *touch* the Qur'an. Sometimes being barred from mosques all together? How is that not insulting? How is that not making women less than the men?

Women being banned from schools! I know that's a matter of 'interpretation', but that, in itself, is a flaw. It's been proven that educated mothers raise more educated children. Do you want to condemn your future generations to ignorance?

The 'explanations' for why Jesus was not *really* crucified. I'm not going to delineate them now, as I'd just be going from memory, and I'm sure I'd forget one or two, but there are plenty. They boil down to the fact that Muslims view the death by crucifixion as 'shameful', and deny that God would allow a prophet to die like that. So He did...'something'. And while, at this point in time, *billions* of people have been deceived by the trick that God played on the people at the time of the crucifixion, it's *our* fault for not being able to see the 'truth'. God *tricked* people into believing it was Christ, crucified. He *lied* to us. God cannot lie. If God is *good*, then He cannot do things which are evil. And lying, bearing false witness (and I don't know how much more false witness-y it can get...) is *evil*. It's *bad*. It's counter to God.

But, finally, I think it was the comparison between Jesus and Mohammed. If Mohammed was supposed to be the last, final prophet. The 'Seal of the prophets', why did God spend miracles on Jesus' birth, but not Mohammed? What was the point there? Why was Mohammed not a better man than Jesus? If Jesus' mission 'failed', as one must assume from the fact that God needed another prophet, why is He given such honors whereas Mohammed, whose mission 'succeeded', is not?

Jesus rose above human expectation. Mohammed did not. Mohammed acted, as far as I can see, like any other man consolidating power and ruling an empire.

Take, for example, the differing reactions to 'threats' to themselves. Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, being arrested, being taken to His torture and death, rebuked Peter for cutting the ear off of a soldier? And then He *healed* the soldier. He restored his ear to him.

On the other hand, what about Mohammed's reaction to poems about him that were unfavorable? The poets were killed by his followers. Now, I've seen people argue that Mohammed didn't *order* the assassinations, but he didn't really have to spell it out, did he? Take Asma bint Marwan. She wrote a poem condemning the assassination of a 100 year old poet (by a follower of Mohammed), and blaming Mohammed for it. He heard of it, and said, 'Who will get rid of that woman for me?' I link this, in my mind, to Henry II of England shouting, 'Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?' in connection to St. Thomas Becket. He wanted Becket dead, and knew that someone would deal with it for him. Henry II had power, and used it, subtly, rather than overtly at that moment.

And even if you argue that Mohammed didn't *mean* it, that he was just frustrated and blowing off steam, how do you reconcile his reaction after learning of the assassination? The assassin, who had killed her in her bed, with an infant still nursing, reported to Mohammed what he had done. Mohammed responded that he had brought victory to Allah and Mohammed. And the assassin asked if anything bad might happen to him because of his deed, if he was going to have to pay for it in some manner, and Mohammed responded that 'two goats won't butt their heads about her'. As in...it means nothing. No one cares. She was nothing. If Mohammed hadn't *really meant it*, and wanted this woman dead, why did he not condemn the assassination? Why did he not tell the man that he had sinned? Why did he reduce this woman to *nothing*?

*sigh* Okay. I'm done. I mean, I could go over the million and one little things that I see as 'wrong' with Islam, but I think this is enough. I'm not even sure if it answers the question, but there you have it. If you want to really, really boil it down, I didn't choose Islam because I don't believe that Mohammed was a prophet. And without Mohammed, there is no Islam.

22 comments:

  1. *Hugs* All I can say is : Are you reading my mind? Because those are my exact issues as well.

    Very respectfully written btw.

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  2. you are invited to follow my blog

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  3. Thank you so much for this post Amber.

    While reading your post it just occurred to me that yes, Christians don't believe that prophets are sinless and perfect people. So my question is if prophets are accepted with faults why do Christians not accept Muhammad with his faults? I'm not looking at the Muslim concept of his perfection, but what about the Christian perspective?

    I have heard Muslims complain that Christians do what Jews did to Jesus. Is there a religious reason why Christians think Muhammad wasn't a prophet or is it the fact that he was not perfect according to them?

    I think your post shows that you are a very sincere and genuine person and intelligent too. You studied both religions, weighed your options and made an informed decision. I like that. I admire it.

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  4. Very interesting. Parts of it remind me of myself when I was looking into Judaism.

    I really like the story of how you asked God to let you know. And the way you're strict when it suits you. :D Me too.

    The tree conversation reminds me of a conversation on a Christian message board I used to visit. Someone made a post about how we should avoid saying "good luck" or anything like that because it's not giving credit to God and people might think we were talking about some sort of witchcraft or something, trying to influence fortune. So...yeah. Craziness, everywhere. :D

    (And I'll pick on my own "religion", to even it up...at least with those, there's a consistency that they don't believe in luck and don't want to congratulate people on something they had nothing to do with...I always laugh when atheists say something like "Thank God"...What!? We're all weird.)

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  5. LK,

    *hugs*

    Yes, fear my awesome mind reading powers! *evil cackle*

    But seriously. I actually expect that, for people who've thought about Islam, many of these issues are the same, or similar.

    And thanks. I didn't want to come off as an 'Islam is evil' rant, so I'm glad to hear I succeeded.

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  6. Suroor,

    The non-acceptance of Mohammed as a prophet has nothing to do with his faults, really. We believe that prophets served (partially) to pave the way for the coming of Christ. He came and preached the Gospel, and we had no further need of prophets. Which is not to say that we lost the gift of prophecy, but rather that they were sent to make the people ready for God, and once He had come, the position was no longer needed.

    The last prophet, by Christian reckoning, was St. John the Forerunner (the Baptist).

    And, we were warned that false teachers would come, bearing a message different from that of Christ, and told to reject them and their messages. So, since Mohammed's message does not line up with the Gospel, he is discounted for that as well.

    For us, the only perfect person to ever walk the earth was Christ, and He was God. So He kind of had an 'edge', there. :)

    And thank you. Coming from you that last paragraph means a lot to me. :)

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  7. I must say I have never read or heard a better explanation of why Muhammad is not accepted as a prophet by Christians. That is a perfectly logical way to look at it, IMHO.

    I will think more about it before I fall asleep - "Which is not to say that we lost the gift of prophecy, but rather that they were sent to make the people ready for God, and once He had come, the position was no longer needed."

    Very interesting!

    Thank you.

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  8. sanil,

    'I really like the story of how you asked God to let you know. And the way you're strict when it suits you. :D Me too.'

    I was one of those kids who poked at things bigger than me... ;)

    I really think we're all like that, a little. You and I just happen to acknowledge it about ourselves. :)

    Yeah, craziness everywhere. It's hardly exclusive to any one group of people.

    It's part of what makes life so entertaining.... ;)

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  9. Suroor,

    'I must say I have never read or heard a better explanation of why Muhammad is not accepted as a prophet by Christians. That is a perfectly logical way to look at it, IMHO.'

    *glances around* I think you must have my ramblings confused with a coherent person...

    I'd be interested in hearing any thoughts you want to share. :)

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  10. "I'd be interested in hearing any thoughts you want to share"

    On?

    I have you on my religion blog's blogroll. If you are interested I can email you a link to my religion blog which is not public? Is the email with which you comment the one you use/check?

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  11. You rock in your rambling mode :)

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  12. Suroor,

    On the subject at hand. :) You'd said you were going to think about it more before you went to bed - I'm assuming you meant the prophets/prophecy discussion.

    But honestly, I enjoy all your thoughts that you share. :)

    oooh...yes, if you don't mind, I'd love to have that address. And yes, that's the email I use.

    Heh. Rambling is my *best* mode. It gets the most use, too.

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  13. Have noted Steve Finnell's invitation and had a look at his blog. Comments on his latest post here:

    http://caraboska.livejournal.com/5907.html

    I may well comment at further length about Amber's post later.

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  14. I'm so glad you shared this, Amber! Thanks so much for putting it all down on paper...errr, your blog!

    I agree with what you said about why we don't accept Muhammad (in your comment to Suroor.) Being imperfect isn't a problem. Doing away with the need for Christ's death in the redemption of the world...major problem. This is the "other gospel" that Paul so strongly condemned, IMO.

    "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" (Gal. 1:8)

    So an "angel from heaven" (Gabriel) preached another gospel to Muhammad contrary to the one Jesus brought, therefore . . . you know.


    I agree that this was very respectful and I loved this also because I learned more about you. I never knew how you'd considered Islam. By the way, I read this to Samer as I read it for the first time. :)

    It's cute that you like rituals and rules SOME of the time. ;-)

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  15. "It's a truth about myself that I am drawn to strictness and ritual. Whether that is a good thing or not is debatable, since I only like strictness when it suits me."

    I am completely the same! I have a real love-hate relationship with it. The way I feel about it now is that it's something that can come and go and I don't have to settle on one way.

    I'm like that with modesty too... sometimes I love wearing abayas, then I go back to skinny jeans and love that... it's the variety I guess I like, and I've stopped trying to work out just one way of being.

    Great post - I love reading about how other people have wrestled with Islam like I have.

    Your comparison of Jesus and Muhammad in regard to threats is definitely something I agree with - I can only guess a lot of converts to Islam don't know or don't believe that he ordered or sanctioned assassinations for example. But even in the Quran there is enough, IMHO, to see a stark difference. Having had Jesus as a moral model growing up, it was really very difficult to accept the different approach presented by Muhammad.

    It frustrates me that people seem to turn a blind eye to some of the ugly realities of early Islam, but I think Islam becomes greater the more it loosens itself from Muhammad's precedents and it definitely has a strong appeal too.

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  16. Susanne,

    No problem. :)

    'This is the "other gospel" that Paul so strongly condemned, IMO.'

    Or one of them, at least. There've been plenty. This one's just lasted longer than most of the others. I remember seeing one person describe Islam as the only surviving ancient Christian heresy, though I don't think that's entirely accurate.

    'So an "angel from heaven" (Gabriel) preached another gospel to Muhammad contrary to the one Jesus brought, therefore . . . you know.'

    Yeah. 'Gabriel' brought another message. I don't believe for one hot second that, if Mohammed really spoke to an other worldly being, it was Gabriel.

    'By the way, I read this to Samer as I read it for the first time. :)'

    And did Samer have anything to say? I do find it amusing that you're reading a post of mine to someone in Syria. Or is he still in Germany? Either way...

    'It's cute that you like rituals and rules SOME of the time. ;-)'

    I wish to have my cake and eat it too. :p

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  17. Sarah,

    'I am completely the same! I have a real love-hate relationship with it. The way I feel about it now is that it's something that can come and go and I don't have to settle on one way.'

    *nods* Yeah. I want it in certain situations, but in others, it just annoys the crap out of me. I can never be totally satisfied!

    'Your comparison of Jesus and Muhammad in regard to threats is definitely something I agree with - I can only guess a lot of converts to Islam don't know or don't believe that he ordered or sanctioned assassinations for example.'

    I think that many converts only read the biographies that they're handed. I had to go looking for the oldest ones, the ones that weren't 'sanitized'. I'm guessing that most people don't do that. And if they do hear about it, they write it off as either a lie to cast aspersions on Mohammed, or give the 'he didn't mean it' argument, which, as I said, I don't think holds water.

    'But even in the Quran there is enough, IMHO, to see a stark difference. Having had Jesus as a moral model growing up, it was really very difficult to accept the different approach presented by Muhammad.'

    *nods* I agree. In Mohammed I see a typical man of the time. Nothing else. And he doesn't hold up to the model of Jesus, at all.

    'It frustrates me that people seem to turn a blind eye to some of the ugly realities of early Islam, but I think Islam becomes greater the more it loosens itself from Muhammad's precedents and it definitely has a strong appeal too.'

    And perhaps, in the future, Islam will evolve into a religion that can honestly look at it's past, and move away from it.

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  18. Amber, welcome back! Missed you yesterday, but I remembered you said work was busier than usual. It's just not right to have Amberless days. :)

    Yes, I meant Islam was ONE of other gospels, sorry. Not the only one for sure. There were many prior to Muhammad's coming. Agreed.

    Well, Gabriel or "Gabriel." Yeah, I don't believe it was the biblical one. Maybe there is another one with that name. *shrug* What bothers me is that Muhammad himself didn't know what was happening and was only convinced by others that he had heard from God. Since I know that the devil goes about often as an angel of light and he is the "father of lies", it puts angel appearances as a bit questionable to me. Also, as your post pointed out, who verified Muhammad? The Quran. (I'm seeing that more and more and more as I read it!) Which came from Muhammad...or from God to Muhammad, but still. At least in the Bible there are places where the crowd heard from God as witness to the messages (e.g. Moses, Jesus', even Paul's companions on the road to Damascus.) Another thing I recall that in the NT, when angels appeared to people nearly always they brought messages of "do not fear," but it seems Muhammad was somewhat terrified when he first heard from "Gabriel." So, it just all makes it suspect to me. I'm sure if I were "born Muslim," however, it would all be fine though. I do realize my bias..at least some of it. :-)

    Samer is in Germany now, but I would have read it to him in Syria. We happened to be talking via Skype when you gave notice that this post was up. I was too interested to wait until later so I said, "Samer, I haven't read this yet, but Amber just wrote a post I think will be interesting. Do you want to hear it?" He agreed and so we both 'heard' it together. He thought you had good points. Really, I think your statements about God being the author of the Big Lie were right on. I don't think most religious people can come to grips with God being a first-rate liar. (especially when Jesus called *the devil* a liar!) And Samer has always agreed with the fact that some Muslim women don't get the rights they are *supposed to get* according to what people say Islam affords them. He's always been fair about that. He read the Bible with me and he's heard a LOT about Jesus' teachings from his 2.5 years of knowing me. So anyone who compares Jesus' life and teachings with the way Muhammad lived can see which of the two truly had the more idealistic, superior message, IMO. So, yeah, your post was good and also brought this out in the example you gave. He asked if any Muslims had read it. :)

    Also I agree with your point about the Quran's ties to Arabic and that culture. That leaves a LOOOOOOT of people out in the cold if they never are able to learn Arabic and then hear God's Word to mankind. It's very exclusive to us nonArabs. At Pentecost people were speaking in all languages so that others could understand the message of Jesus. Why would Jesus leave it only in Aramaic or Greek or the local language when he told his followers to go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone? I don't recall learning a specific language being part of the deal. Jesus is the Good News and, thankfully, he can reach beyond any language or cultural barrier to speak to my heart. I declare he even talks in English to me. American. Southern-accented. No Aramaic/Greek/Hebrew necessary for God to reach my heart.

    Yeah, having your cake and eating it too....I can relate. :) Have a good weekend!

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  19. Wow, Amber -- great job on this. No rambling at all, really. You were extremely clear and concise. *gives you pat on the back*

    I must admit to agreeing with all of your points, and have had a few "rants/explanations/ramblings" of my own on the subject, as I know you've seen.

    I think Islam is becoming...well, better (as much as I know some folks will object to that word)... when distanced from Muhammed.

    After a good 6 months or more of reading anything and everything I could get my hands on last year, I, like you, leaned towards Islam. But the more I searched, the more I found my own core beliefs were those of Christianity. That being said, I will never criticize anyone else for their own choices, and I can certainly appreciate the beautiful things in/about Islam.

    For me, Christianity is where it's at. Even if my clothing confuses the uninformed. ; P

    Much love.

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  20. Heather,

    Thanks. :)

    I know there's plenty of people who would argue that Islam is losing itself as it distances from Mohammed, but I think it has to, to a certain extent, or it won't be able to survive in the modern world. But that's just my opinion, of course. :)

    'I will never criticize anyone else for their own choices, and I can certainly appreciate the beautiful things in/about Islam.'

    Definitely. People are free to choose what works best for them, and I can disagree with their choices all I want, but it is their choice. And there is a lot that I still like about Islam.

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  21. OK, I am not Anonymous(e). In fact, this is my real name, promise!

    I just want to say that this was a well-written post. I must make it a point to reread it again. If there is something I can learn from this post, it must be that I have a lot of room to improve myself in the way I phrase my opinions so that I won't sound too "direct" or rude (smile).

    And oh! I also agree with your views as well, except that I don't really believe in Christianity too. But if I have to choose between the two, I would choose Christianity anytime.

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  22. Hi Cornelius,

    I believe you when you say you're not an anonymous(e)! :) Or even pseudonymous(e).

    Thank you very much. I'm happy with the reactions I've gotten to the tone of this post. I in no way wanted it to come off as insulting, and I'm glad that it didn't.

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