This comes to us from Azra (a blog reader and a Muslim):
Justice in Islam is less “Military” and more about Moderation and Fairness.
For instance, we are not allowed to OFFEND ie. give the first strike because thats a sin. But we are allowed to DEFEND ourselves from attack.Even in defence, Justice has to be served. So for example, if someone kicks me, I’m advised to turn the other cheek. But if I want to, I could retaliate with a kick…meaning I would be allowed to kick my offender (and heres the twist) with a kick that is equal to that suffered by me. Meaning that the kick shouldn’t be harder or more severe than the one I received because that would change my status from being the ‘oppressed’ to becoming the ‘oppressor’. And being an Oppressor in Islam is a major sin.
I’d like to point out to Right Wing Libertarian that Muslims don’t hate Christians. In fact, we’re not allowed to hate. We are instructed to respect all religions and faiths. The problem comes in when people confuse Culture with Religion.Modern day concepts of Jihad are driven by Politics and Politicians who drive their own agendas. It has nothing to do with religion, in the exact same way that (at the core) Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism. The world is full of power hungry people driven by their own greed to employ deplorable tactics and advance their own political agendas. It should not be confused with religion. It would be like saying that all Christians are morons because of George Bush. It’s incorrect and unfair to make that statement like that. Understand, that most of what goes on in this world today is against everything Islam stands for. As Muslims we operate under the banner of unity…there is no race, creed, colour in Islam. We are all brothers and sisters.
My Commentary
To echo what Azra wrote in her response to the previous posting (cited above), there is a political aspect to religion (to ALL religion). Islam, Christianity and every other faith falls prey to it. There are those who would condemn all Muslims for the actions of a few. There are those who would condemn all Catholics or Baptists for the actions of a few. The same is true in America of Republicans and Democrats. It’s important to separate radical individuals from what is the norm. For example, because Dear Leader is a closet communist/socialist, it doesn’t mean all Democrats are communists. Many Democrats were duped by Dear Leader, many believed his blandishments, his appeals to race, his appeals to pick somebody else’s pocket for their benefit, for his promise of empowerment.
We have seen very recently how Dear Leader, now unmasked, is joined at the hip with CRIMINAL RACKETEERING ORGANIZATIONS such as ACORN. We have seen how he is joined at the hip with COMMUNISTS who he has appointed as czars with the purpose of subverting the established system of checks and balances (and Congressional oversight). Does that mean that everyone who voted Democrat knew that was what they were signing on for? No, not at all. No more than the late Rev. Jim Jones and the People’s Temple was representative of Christianity or that all Jews are represented by the teachings of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane. We have seen vast divisions in Iran recently driven by the people’s discontent at the (rigged) election of Ahmadinejad in Iran. To presume that all Persians/Iranians were content with the election is to deny the public reaction. In Iran where all matters of state are all matters of religion as well, we see sharp divides. The people in power have used religion as a tool to obtain and maintain power over a generally decent population just trying to get by day-to-day.
