Bah I'm getting pissed off.
Me: aiyah. someone was about to hear my disserations on islam, but went to watch tv
He Who Must Not Be Named: well, do you want to discuss the topic with me? considering that i'm a far greater authority on islam than you are.
*helpfully* i'd love to picj (sic) apart your misbegotten, bigoted views.
While doing some research to supplement the skeletal points I have, I realise that all the sites on Islam say different things.
There seem to be many contradictions in the Koran, but when contradictions arise, people prefer to follow the more ascetic and puritan interpretation.
Maybe it's the same as flagellation - they worse they feel (physically), the better they feel (spiritually).
But even assuming that I follow the most liberal interpretations available, I still have some points which remain unrebutted :)
Anyhow my eyes ache from even a casual perusal of two mega-sites - one liberal Muslim site and one veiled as a "A Christian-Muslim Dialog and Apologetic" that seems to be trying to get Muslims to be apostates and become Christians. The latter seems rather biased (and this is coming from me), and towards the end, many articles become rambly and irrelevant.
This is priceless:
The extent to which Islam (Submission) has been corrupted is illustrated in the following table:
Islamic Practice Today:
Ridiculing Islam by accepting statements by the scholars that the earth is built on top of a giant whale!! (79:30; Ibn Kathir, 1200 AD & Ben Baz, 1975 AD)
Violated Quranic Principles:
Not in the Quran
Islamic Practice Today:
inventing an indefensible story about his ascension to the heavens on a horse, at the speed of light, and talking God out of 50 Salat prayers. At the speed of light, he would still be traveling within the Milky Way Galaxy.
Violated Quranic Principles:
17:1; 53:1-18.
Islamic Practice Today:
Insulting Muhammad by depicting him as a vicious man: they claim he gouged out people's eyes claiming he possessed sexual power of 30 men.
Violated Quranic Principles:
3:159; 68:4. 18:110; 25:20.
And this is interesting:
The "meat" of the pig is prohibited, not the "fat." Anything that is not specifically prohibited in the Quran must be considered lawful. See 6:145-146.
So pork is haram but lard is okay :)
"He only prohibits for you the eating of animals that die of themselves (without human interference), blood, the
meat of pigs, and animals dedicated to other than GOD. If
one is forced (to eat these), without being malicious or
deliberate, he incurs no sin. GOD is Forgiver, Most
Merciful." [2:173]
"Halal Meat" as we know it these days, is a term used more often for commercial profits than religious observance. Those who call their meat Halal, are in some way insinuating that any other meat is not Halal, or specifically the meat in the general grocery stores is not Halal. They make more money on their products by selling it more expensive while deceiving the naive public Moslems into believing that their meat is the only Halal meat for the Muslims.
"You shall eat from that upon which God's name has been pronounced, if you truly believe in His revelation." 6:118
God in these verses puts the responsibility, as usual, on the individual. It is you , I and everyone's responsibility to mention God's name on everything we eat. Notice here that God says "EAT" and not "SLAUGHTER" when it comes to mentioning His name. God knows that one day these slaughter houses will be run by machines and computers. He assigned the responsibility to every true Muslim to mention His name on his /her food. We can have machines say Azan and read Basmallah and mention God's name on everything, but this would not take away the responsibility of every individual to remember God and mention His name when it is time to eat. Individuals who work in the slaughter house can be idol-worshipers or aetheist while claiming to be Muslims, Jews or Christians . That is why it is your responsibility to mention God's name before eating. In brief, the slaughter house does not make the meat halal or haram but YOU do.
Well. Just look at Tuck Lee Ice Work's "Halal" Ice.
So Muslims are supposed to say "grace" over their food instead of praying before slaughtering the animals that you and I (eventually) will eat.
Truth is indeed a multi-faceted being.