John Dudley Willis
I read your comments and am pleased to share my response; kindly share with your friends.
Ten years ago, I held a workshop on the Quran – the conclusion from that conference was,
If the Texas Supreme Court passes a judgment against an individual and suggests a lethal injection, it looks terrible. But, if you read the previous paragraphs of the decision, it explains why one should be given the injection. Capital Punishment is cruel, rehabilitation is a civil thing to do, but that is another topic.
Imagine if the court tells the public that rapists, murderers, and criminals will have no punishment. What will happen in society?
The Formula for Justice Verses in the Quran.
All the justice verses in the Quran have a formula based on the following seven, three, or five steps:
1- If the bad guys pull over their truck in front of your house threatening you, you ask them to back off.
2- If they keep coming at you, you ask them to back off again.
3- If they jump on you and want to throw you out of your own home, you act and chase them.
4- If they run and hide behind the bushes, you find them wherever they are. The verse is “Kill the infidels wherever you find them.”
5-Now, you can shoot the bad guys in self-defense to end the misery. It is an acceptable practice in several States of United States. The Quran is no different when it comes to justice but goes two steps further.
6-When you are about to smite them on their necks, and they beg for mercy and seek forgiveness, the Quran advises you to take a step back.
God says the best one among you is the one who forgives.
7-The Quran advises you to stop the retaliation and forgive the criminal. It prevents the revenge mechanism and frees you to live in peace. Forgiveness is one of the central values of both Christianity and Islam.
I suggest you read three verses before the “misunderstood verse” and three afterward. You will get a clear picture, and you will appreciate it.
Let’s take one of your examples, 5:33
5:32 Because of this did We ordain unto the children of Israel that if anyone slays a human being unless it be [in Punishment] for murder or for spreading corruption on earth-it shall be as though he had slain all mankind; whereas, if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all mankind. And, indeed, there came unto them Our apostles with all evidence of the truth: yet, behold, notwithstanding all this, many of them go on committing all manner of excesses on earth.
5:33 It is but a just recompense for those who make war on God and His apostle, and endeavor to spread corruption on earth, that they are being slain in great’ numbers, or crucified in great numbers, or have, is a result of their perverseness, their hands and feet cut off in great numbers, or are being [entirely] banished from [the face of] the earth: such is their ignominy in this world. But in the life to come [yet more] awesome suffering awaits them
5:34 save for such [of them] as repent ere you [O believers] become more powerful than they: for you must know that God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
Let’s take the example of 9:5
9:4 But excepted shall be -from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God – [people] with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant and who thereafter have in no wise failed to fulfill their obligations towards you, and neither have aided anyone against you: observe, then, your covenant with them until the end of the term agreed with them. Verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him
9:5 And so, when the sacred months are over, slay those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God wherever you may come upon them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every conceivable place! Yet if they repent, and take to prayer, and render the purifying dues, let them go their way: for, behold, God is much forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
9:6 And if any of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God seeks thy protection, grant him protection, so that he might [be able to] hear the word of God [from thee]; and thereupon convey him to a place where he can feel secure: this, because they [may be] people who [sin only because they] do not know [the truth]
The doctrine of abrogation.
Muslims believe every word in the Quran is God’s word. A few right-wingers among Muslims came up with the non-sense idea of abrogation theories.
It is as if God is telling us, “Look, man, I made a mistake in telling you what to do; here is the correct version.” Those men did not believe in God’s words; either you believe, or you don’t. There is no such thing as an abrogation of verses.
Of course, you have a right to believe in whatever suits you, but finding the truth is your responsibility – truth liberates you from confusion and chaos.
Please visit www.IslamAwakened.com here; every verse of the Quran is presented with at least 60 translations; about 35 are Generally accepted, 15 are controversial, and five by non-Muslim translators – you will find three translations to be dead wrong. Hilali Khan, Bijan Moeinian and one more.
Safi Kaskas’ meme is perfectly presented in verse 41:34, The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend
There are examples of how the prophet treated the people who threw trash on him and who pelted rocks. Forgive them, Lord, for they know not.
I hope you see the meaning in the above. If you need to know more, Kindly contact me at MikeGhouse@gmail.com
John Dudley Willis
Safi Kaskas, I am home now, so cite the Quran (not in Arabic, pardon) in support against what you have cited in the meme. I have gone to the chronologically Latest suras, since they overrule the earlier, more merciful ones, if both pertain to the same subject. Sura 5:33 (No. 112, or the third from the very end of the revelations, for those who make war on Allah and His messenger, and strive after corruption in the land, “they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off…”; and 5:45, We prescribed…”life for life, eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and for wounds retaliation….”; Sura 47:4 (No. 95 in chronology, meeting Unbelievers in battle, smiting their necks…tying up…grace or ransom); Sura 4:91 (No. 92 in chronology, petitioners for safety, note the first option, sufficient in itself for homicide, “if they do not keep aloof from you, nor offer you peace, nor hold their hands, then take them and kill them wherever you find them”, and 4:104, “relent not in the pursuit of the enemy…”; Sura 2:178 (No. 87 in chronology, “retaliation for the murdered….”), and 2:190-91, for aggressors who start the fight, “slay them wherever you find them…”, and 2:216, “war is ordained for you, though it is hateful to you….”
Safi
John Dudley Willis, who said that the later Suras overrule the earlier ones. Did you ever see me post that?
Your assumption here is wrong. I don’t accept it now and I never accepted it then.
It’s called abrogation. The scholars who invented this theory were wrong then and they are wrong now.
My God wasn’t guessing what works when He revealed the earlier Suras. Every word in the Qur’an is there to stay forever.
John Dudley Willis
I also add Sura 9:5 (No. 113, second from last, “…slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and beseige them, and prepare for them each ambush….”, and 9:29–the text to which I referred earlier, which makes clear enemies who harm the Faith are not given mercy–“fight against such…who have been given the Scripture as BELIEVE NOT IN ALLAH NOR THE LAST DAY….”, and 9:36, “…wage war on all of the idolaters as they are waging war on all of you”; 9:123, “…Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty”
Safi, what you see in my answer was, as you know, NOT a scholarly understanding, but just my own. Yes, the doctrine of abrogation is my foundational method for the organization, Because so many use this theory (and Jews and Christians do the same, with different terminology). Yet, what I see is proof-texting by All Three religions (and more religions as well), where the alleged inspiration means one can quote verses, phrases, and words, in a quasi-legal argument. YOU are the scholar here, but as you know, there are other Muslim scholars who disagree (perhaps extremely strongly) with your loving and generous approach. You KNOW I love what you do and say, as reflected here in FB, and as you report in meetings. I LOVE that, and love you. Yet, when you make generalizations as in that meme, THAT was when I kind of “thought like some Muslims” and decided to list, using the abrogation principle. So it was aggressive, but NOT because that is my nature, but because I felt the TEXTS were there, and good Muslims quite often read the clear ones, and ACT, just as some despicable Zionists abuse the “Conquest of Canaan” texts to commit genocide against anyone and everyone who does not honor the atheist Herzl, or his peer, Nordau. So forgive me, if I offended. That was NOT my purpose. And I have not read a thing you’ve written about abrogation, nor these texts I cited. I love you and your wife, though I’ve never met you…. John Dudley Willis
Dr. Mike Ghouse is a speaker, author, TV commentator, and Interfaith Wedding Officiant. The founder and president of the Center for Pluralism and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and policymakers. More about him at www.TheGhousediary.com