Is Islam Responsible For The Acts of Muslims?

This article is a response to Lysium it was posted in The Society For Islamic Humanists message #1621

By One Thirsty Fish

Peace!

Lysium wrote:

“If a Muslim is caught stealing, nobody can blame Islam for his acts. But when women are treated second class citizens I don’t blame Muslims but I blame Islam. If the women are prevented from interacting with other members of society I blame Islam for it. If a Muslim discriminates a non-Muslim on the basis of his religion, I blame Islam for it. (Of course I am assuming that you consider these things as evil). If any Islamic country try to rule the country on the basis of religious laws, I blame Islam for this. Because all these teachings are as per Quran.”

You seem to be contradicting yourself here. You start by declaring that, in the case of the thief, the faith is independent of the practitioner. Then, you immediately declare the opposite by stating not only that Islam is to be blamed for discrimination against women and non-muslims, but also that these teachings are to be found in the Qur’an. In your first example, the trespass is caused by one individual (thief). In the others, we are talking about trespasses that are socially widespread (sexism, intolerance). However, in both cases the perpetrators are humans, and in both cases the ‘reason’ for the crime is a faulty interpretation of a religion. Furthermore, your distinction between the two cases is quite arbitrary: you give no persuasive argument as to why we should hold humans responsible in one case but Islam in the other.

Your second claim is that these teachings stem from the Qur’an. There again you are misinformed. The Qur’an is the only scripture that gives rights to women, and that distinguishes between humans not by their gender, but by their moral uprightness. The Qur’an also enjoins Muslims to say to non-Muslims: To you your religion, to me mine. You will hardly find a more tolerant statement in other scriptures. Why must we hold the Qur’an accountable for the thick-headedness of humans?

Lysium also wrote:

“My aim is to show that Quran is not God’s word. It is a product of specific historical and socioeconomic condition like all the scriptures of the world. All the teachings can not be applicable to all times and places.”

Whether you believe the Qur’an is the word of God or not is your business. However, I would like to argue that it is not divine discourse that is constrained by ‘socioeconomic conditions.’ It is the INTERPRETATION of that discourse that is. The interesting thing is that the Qur’an seems to be aware of this, and therefore advises us to use our reasoning to interpret the signs of God (there is no compulsion in religion, right? We must come to it through reasoning and mystical experience). The Qur’an never assumes that its message should endure through the ages without having to be reinterpreted. It is our failure as humans to reinterpret the Qur’an that is to blame for whatever injustices are committed in the name of Islam. It is of course EASIER to blame Islam as a whole and wash our hands off from any responsibility to oppose incorrect interpretations, even if they are socially widespread.

Allah knows best.

Response to this message

Lysium

 

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