Is it good to hate the infidels?

[Peter]

According to Saudi school textbooks, yes, it is, and if you don't hate them, you're not a proper Muslim.  This is after the textbooks were supposedly reformed and made more tolerant of other religions and cultures.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901769.html

A 2004 Saudi royal study group recognized the need for reform after finding that the kingdom's religious studies curriculum "encourages violence toward others, and misguides the pupils into believing that in order to safeguard their own religion, they must violently repress and even physically eliminate the 'other.' " Since then, the Saudi government has claimed repeatedly that it has revised its educational texts.

A review of a sample of official Saudi textbooks for Islamic studies used during the current academic year reveals that, despite the Saudi government's statements to the contrary, an ideology of hatred toward Christians and Jews and Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine remains in this area of the public school system. The texts teach a dualistic vision, dividing the world into true believers of Islam (the "monotheists") and unbelievers (the "polytheists" and "infidels").

This indoctrination begins in a first-grade text and is reinforced and expanded each year, culminating in a 12th-grade text instructing students that their religious obligation includes waging jihad against the infidel to "spread the faith."

As the report of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks observed, "Even in affluent countries, Saudi-funded Wahhabi schools are often the only Islamic schools" available.

FIRST GRADE

" Every religion other than Islam is false."

"Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words (Islam, hellfire): Every religion other than ______________ is false. Whoever dies outside of Islam enters ____________."

FOURTH GRADE

"True belief means . . . that you hate the polytheists and infidels but do not treat them unjustly."

FIFTH GRADE

"Whoever obeys the Prophet and accepts the oneness of God cannot maintain a loyal friendship with those who oppose God and His Prophet, even if they are his closest relatives."

"It is forbidden for a Muslim to be a loyal friend to someone who does not believe in God and His Prophet, or someone who fights the religion of Islam."

"A Muslim, even if he lives far away, is your brother in religion. Someone who opposes God, even if he is your brother by family tie, is your enemy in religion."

SIXTH GRADE

"Just as Muslims were successful in the past when they came together in a sincere endeavor to evict the Christian crusaders from Palestine, so will the Arabs and Muslims emerge victorious, God willing, against the Jews and their allies if they stand together and fight a true jihad for God, for this is within God's power."

EIGHTH GRADE

"As cited in Ibn Abbas: The apes are Jews, the people of the Sabbath; while the swine are the Christians, the infidels of the communion of Jesus."

"God told His Prophet, Muhammad, about the Jews, who learned from parts of God's book [the Torah and the Gospels] that God alone is worthy of worship. Despite this, they espouse falsehood through idol-worship, soothsaying, and sorcery. In doing so, they obey the devil. They prefer the people of falsehood to the people of the truth out of envy and hostility. This earns them condemnation and is a warning to us not to do as they did."

"They are the Jews, whom God has cursed and with whom He is so angry that He will never again be satisfied [with them]."
   
"Some of the people of the Sabbath were punished by being turned into apes and swine. Some of them were made to worship the devil, and not God, through consecration, sacrifice, prayer, appeals for help, and other types of worship. Some of the Jews worship the devil. Likewise, some members of this nation worship the devil, and not God."

"Activity: The student writes a composition on the danger of imitating the infidels."

NINTH GRADE

"The clash between this [Muslim] community (umma) and the Jews and Christians has endured, and it will continue as long as God wills."

"It is part of God's wisdom that the struggle between the Muslim and the Jews should continue until the hour [of judgment]."

"Muslims will triumph because they are right. He who is right is always victorious, even if most people are against him."

TENTH GRADE

The 10th-grade text on jurisprudence teaches that life for non-Muslims (as well as women, and, by implication, slaves) is worth a fraction of that of a "free Muslim male." Blood money is retribution paid to the victim or the victim's heirs for murder or injury:

"Blood money for a free infidel. [Its quantity] is half of the blood money for a male Muslim, whether or not he is 'of the book' or not 'of the book' (such as a pagan, Zoroastrian, etc.).

"Blood money for a woman: Half of the blood money for a man, in accordance with his religion. The blood money for a Muslim woman is half of the blood money for a male Muslim, and the blood money for an infidel woman is half of the blood money for a male infidel."

ELEVENTH GRADE

"The greeting 'Peace be upon you' is specifically for believers. It cannot be said to others."

"If one comes to a place where there is a mixture of Muslims and infidels, one should offer a greeting intended for the Muslims."

"Do not yield to them [Christians and Jews] on a narrow road out of honor and respect."

TWELFTH GRADE

"Jihad in the path of God -- which consists of battling against unbelief, oppression, injustice, and those who perpetrate it -- is the summit of Islam. This religion arose through jihad and through jihad was its banner raised high. It is one of the noblest acts, which brings one closer to God, and one of the most magnificent acts of obedience to God."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/21/AR2008072102357.html

Q. "Is belief true in the following instances:

(a) A man prays but hates those who are virtuous.

(b) A man professes that there is no deity other than God but loves the unbelievers.

(c) A man worships God alone, loves the believers, and hates the unbelievers."

The correct answer, of course, is (c): According to the Wahhabi imams who wrote this textbook, it isn't enough to simply worship God or just to love other believers; it is important to hate unbelievers, too. By the same token, (b) is wrong as well: Even a man who worships God cannot be said to have "true belief" if he also loves unbelievers.

[Pyraxis]

It's got all the hallmarks of a massive cult.

[TheoK]

Islam must be fought before it's too late. This is what happened when some Muslims were thrown out of a building they used as a mosque but didn't pay the rent for. It happened in a well known problem area in Swedens 3rd largest city. You don't have to understand Swedish, just watch the movie and the pics. They attack the cops as well as the firemen and ambulance personnel!

http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/artikel_2224451.svd

[Lucifer]

any chance of a "predictable" smiley?

[odeon]

any chance of a "predictable" smiley?

I think you're using it.

[Frolic_Fun]

It's got all the hallmarks of a massive cult.

Doesn't ANY religion?

[Pyraxis]

Only the more extreme sects.

[Alex179]

If you read the Quran correctly at all, then this should be obvious.   It isn't written like the Bible at all.   There is no mincing of words and room to take shit figuratively. 

[odeon]

Actually I think the Bible is pretty straight-forward, too. Especially the old testament.

[Peter]

The Old Testament and the Qur'an are both rather unambiguously violent texts, but there are important differences.  In the Old Testament, God tends to command or condone violence in specific situations, i.e. "I command you, the tribe of Israel, to go forth now and annihilate tribes x, y and z and take their land."  In the Qur'an, violence is more open-ended and broad in scope:  "I command you to wage war against the unbelievers for all time.  It is your religious duty to kill, convert or subjugate all non-Muslims".  While the Old Testament gives historical accounts of wars that were fought in the past, the Qur'an is more concerned with laying down the rules of how and against whom wars should be fought in the future.  There's a big difference between "we had a battle and God was on our side, so we won", and "here's a step by step guide to world domination".

[odeon]

Actually I was thinking more about the ethics displayed by the Bible: its views on women, homosexuality, incest, slavery, and so on. Yes, it can be seen as an historical account but you know as well as I do that it is regarded as a source of wisdom by its followers, just as the Qur'an is.

I'm well aware of the Qur'an being more about guidance than historical narrative, but you're voicing interpretations commonly attributed to its critics rather than to most of the modern scholars. I'm not about to reopen that particular can of worms, though--plenty of old threads about that, I feel--but I'd like to point out that the vast majority of today's Muslims are no more terrorists than the average Christian is a fundie living somewhere along the Bible Belt.

Both books should be regarded as products of their time, with their respective interpretations as products of ours.

[Parts]

It's best just to not like anyone

[TheoK]

Actually I was thinking more about the ethics displayed by the Bible: its views on women, homosexuality, incest, slavery, and so on. Yes, it can be seen as an historical account but you know as well as I do that it is regarded as a source of wisdom by its followers, just as the Qur'an is.

I'm well aware of the Qur'an being more about guidance than historical narrative, but you're voicing interpretations commonly attributed to its critics rather than to most of the modern scholars. I'm not about to reopen that particular can of worms, though--plenty of old threads about that, I feel--but I'd like to point out that the vast majority of today's Muslims are no more terrorists than the average Christian is a fundie living somewhere along the Bible Belt.

Both books should be regarded as products of their time, with their respective interpretations as products of ours.

Mr. Bush isn't the Osama of the West. Not even Åke Green is. Fred Phelps is. That's the difference between Muslim and Christian fundamentalists, and you know how many who like Phelps...his closest family and...?

[odeon]

Plenty of Christian fundies throughout history, actually.

Mr Bush is responsible for quite a few deaths, btw, and according to what he said he was practically on a mission from God.

[TheoK]

He killed a lot of towelheads. Good riddance.