A little light bed time reading

[The PIT]

I'm reading Koran to try and understand where these people are coming from. I know one thing I'm going to have a lot of questions by the time I'm finnished.

[ayoub_ibrahim]

I'm reading Koran

hope it's the english translation version as I'm pretty certain you don't read Arabic!

[The PIT]

It's got both actually. However I can't read Arabic so I have to read the English translation.

[mdhome]

Pit
Although I think that what you are doing is commendable, I dont believe the problems are due to the Koran and or Islam. Its just easy to wrap them up in the Islamic cause to ferment hostility against the west. Although there are issues that need to be addressesd in the middle-east, killing innocents isnt the way to do it. This sort of behaviour serves no-one except the extremists (on both sides).

As an aside, reporter Robert Fisk was on BBC this morning and he has met Bin-Laden 3 times. He genuinely believes that this mans aim is to topple the (corrupt) Saudi royal family and not necessarilly the west. Believe what you will.

regards MD

[Dr Mordrid]

Trying to figure out Islamic Fundamentalism by reading the Q'uran is like trying to figure out Ethnic Cleansing policies or the Inquisition by reading the Bible: an exercise in futility and frustration.

Both books contain things in parable and metaphor that some interpert way too literally, usually for political, social or financial gain.

None of those motives have anything ligitimate to do with ones relationship with God.

Dr. Mordrid

[Wombat]

TP,
First, I applaud you for trying to educate yourself on an unfamiliar subject.
Call your local university, and see if there is an Islamic Studies department. They can probably help you find out a little more than just by reading the Qur'an. I have two (one partial) translations of the Qur'an, and they are radically different in some places.

[Joel]

He genuinely believes that this mans aim is to topple the (corrupt) Saudi royal family and not necessarilly the west. Believe what you will.

We know that and so do the Saudis. Same thing with Israel and the rest of the Middle East Region. But now instead of it just being the US that stands in his way there is now a world wide coalition. I don't think he expected that though. He was stupid enough to believe that the US would tuck tail and run as soon as we were hit. Then after we didn't he thought the US retaliation would turn the rest of the world againist us. Each day he just digs himself a deeper hole. Won't be long and all we will have to do is fill it in.

Joel

[The PIT]

Wombat you're quite right about the translations and people will put their own feel on the subject. Rumour has it that the oldest example of the Quran found shows signs of being tampered with and rewritten in parts something thats not allowed to happen.
I'm not reading this expecting to find exactly why Islamic extremists do what they do. It's an exercise to gain knowledge of something I'm totally unfamiler with.
I'm working at a University so finding a course shoudn't be too difficult although night school maybe better.

[Joel]

Rumour has it that the oldest example of the Quran found shows signs of being tampered with and rewritten in parts something thats not allowed to happen.

http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Text/index.html Can shed some additional light on that.

Joel

[The PIT]

Thats where I got it from you posted me the link.

[The PIT]

Watching the BBC Panarama last night the Muslims said they found the Bushes and Blair speeches offensive. Is this because they mentioned the word Muslim extremists and soon as you attach the word muslim to anything you mean them all even though Blair said the majority are peace loving?
By the way the Muslims on the program thought it was a Holy war being raged.

[Wombat]

TP, a course would be a good idea, but I bet you'd still gain a lot just from visiting a professor during their office hours.

As for this being a holy war, one thing that is difficult for most Westerners (including myself) is that Islamic cultures usually don't have a secular government. There is none "separation of church and state" that I value so much. It's not the "wrong" way to do things, but it's different enough that I can't really understand how they feel.

[The PIT]

We just seem to have a society within a society here. The inclining I got from the pananroma program was that they're slightly paranoid and that we don't understand them. Yet they shouldn't try and understand us. I heard the Blair speech and to be honest I couldn't see anything offensive about it.