Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Extremism

If you have 40 minutes and want to watch something a little more interesting than the Cricket (or if you are at a lost over what to do during the break for lunch, this video on Youtube is an incredible expose of Islamic extremism by Glenn Beck, a well known TV pundit in the States who is famous for speaking his mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWIK8YTZS8

Gilly

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Salaam/Shalom :)

I came across your blog tonight and I noticed this link to Glenn Beck's video about "Islamic" extremism. In the beginning of the video, he says that this is not a balanced report at all, and I think that should indicate to the intelligent viewer that we shouldn't generalize about a group of people. I'm a Muslim living in the United States and I'm increasingly concerned about the way Islam is being reported and depicted in the media, because I, along with many fellow Muslims, believe there is an obvious daily televised onslaught of our way of life and our culture. I don't believe YOU are generalizing about Islam, your blog space looks very peaceful, but others who visit your blog may be influenced greatly just by viewing this video, which is self-described as an unbalanced perspective. Some of the things that upset me when watching the video were the scenes when they were picking apart the Qur'an and completely misreading verses that supposedly said to "kill the Jews and Christians." That is absolutely false, and anyone who has read the Qur'an front to back knows that is not true. I would like to share these verses with you from the Qur'an:

[2:62 & 5:69]: Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the converts; anyone who (1) believes in GOD, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve."

Islam is a way of Life that is found in the hearts of millions and millions of followers around the world, and like Jews and Christians, we descend from the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him). We are all the children of Abraham and we all come from the Same Source. Mr. Beck did not bother to correct the verses he misread and misinterpreted from the Qur'an, and this is quite unsettling because the media has a lot potential influences on the way people think. A 40 minute program compared to ...(how many programs are there that discuss the struggles of Muslims in America, or about the annually rising hate crimes against Muslims?)

I hope you have not taken offense to my comments. I do not like what is going on in the Middle-East between the Israelis and Palestinians, and I certainly do not support the war in Iraq (or the Bush administration for that matter). I for one believe religion to be the SOLUTION to the problems, instead of believing religion to be THE problem... I say this because if people truly believed in the Unseen and the Eternal God of the Universe, and if we truly believed Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and all human beings were created by God, we would treat one another like brothers and sisters. But not everyone believes in God, and not all world leaders are mindful of the Unseen world or Divine Truths. We live in a materialistic world, but that doesn't mean that people can't work for peace among human beings. Even the small things we accomplish equate to big acheivements in the eyes of God.

Thank you for reading :) Be well and peaceful. Salaam/Shalom

~JehanZeb~