WARNING!
If you are a Muslim, you will be offended by the following statements!
Now that I have warned everyone, one with speaking the truth about Islam. Nearly every page of the Koran speaks of violence against anyone who doesn't follow Allah. It is not a few verses, it is a never ending Jihad (struggle) against the enemies of Allah. It advocates reward for death if you die defending the beliefs of Allah which covers nearly every kind of death.
If you die in service to Allah, you skip the judgement and go straight to Allahs gardens and get to bring 70 of your friends with you when they die. You get virgins and usually your family gets tons of money and gifts. Its practically a retirement plan to die for Allah.
The majority of Muslims world wide take the Koran as the perfect word of Allah and take it literally. The moderates are few, as my research has unfortunately shown out. Faith in Islam has been deadly to the modern world. History shows christianity as the most violent religion of all time in death toll, but Islam seems bent on breaking that.
Faithful Muslims are a danger to the world and anyone not part of Islam. If Islam did not exist, or perhaps never existed, the world would be much more peaceful. By virtue of our lack of belief in Allah, much of the world is hated by Islam and gets attacked more and more often. Islam is inherently dangerous to the world. It is a danger to religious tolerance, to freedom from religious rule, and a freedom to most basic human rights. If Islam didn't exist, the world would have fewer terrorist acts, and less human rights violations and perhaps, just maybe, the militant Islam countries in the middle east would come into the modern era instead of living in huts wearing ancient religiously required garb.
Is this offensive to say that the world would be a much better place if Islam didn't exist? Sure it is, but its truth in its purest form! I can back up every statement with my trusty Koran which I have read and keep handy. Islam has failed to evolve into a religion that doesn't take their gods call for ultimately destroying people seriously as most of christianity has. This faith in the absoluteness of the death of enemies of Allah makes Islam dangerous and barbaric!
The current world would be an incredibly different place if Islam had never existed. During the dark ages in Europe, the Muslim world was going through a golden age. The single, unified empire allowed many mathematical advancements including the integration of the Hindu-Arabic numerical system (which includes a zero, something absolutely necessary for science to function) with the ancient Greek ideas of abstract geometry, producing concepts such as the algorithm (named for al-Khwarizmi) and the entire subject area of algebra. These developments and advancements would not have been possible at that time had there not been a single, unified empire stretching from Spain to India. While Islam may not have been strictly necessary to create this empire, no other culture, religion, person or ideal was up to the task at that time. Had the Muslim empire not developed these concepts then, they would likely eventually have been developed elsewhere, but it would have delayed scientific progress by several hundred years.
As destructive and terrible as the crusades were, they served to unify Christian Europe as nothing else seemed to be able to do. Large-scale collaboration was necessary for the development of European culture and to seed the beginnings of allowing Europe to pull itself out of the dark ages. Without Islam as a perfect opponent for Christianity in that time, it may have taken centuries more before Europe found a way to become even slightly integrated and sow the seeds of the renaissance.
Without the huge Muslim empire, there would have been less standing between the Chinese empire and Europe in the 8th century. In particular, the Chinese empire may have extended considerably further west than it actually did, changing the cultural influences over much of central Asia. In particular, it may have been some time longer before paper was brought to the Middle East and longer still before it reached Europe.
All told, I think that without Islam we would not be close to the global, secular society we have today. Since much of the good that came from Islam was an indirect result of its desire at the time to conquer as much of the world as possible, I think that postulating a more pacifist variety of Islam would have had similar results to removing it entirely.
Don't mistake the good done by a religion with the damage it has done. We had running water to the home, bath houses to keep down the spread of disease by filth, equality of women and men, and tolerance of other cultures until Christianity got ahold of the Roman Empire. Right now, Islam is preventing the advance of most countries that it rules. Islam is the primary cause of war in todays world. Islam is the primary cause of terrorism in the world today. If we didn't have Islam, or Christianity for that matter, we would be FAR more advance than we are today. Much of what Islamist discovered was a re-discovery of something already invented then suppressed by christianity earlier. Islam and indeed religion in general have slowed invention and discovery much.
Islam to me is essentially a peaceful religion. A religios of progress and enlightment. However granted that their are many so called muslims who defy that description.
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Nearly every page of the Koran speaks of violence against anyone who doesn't follow Allah. I can back up every statement with my trusty Koran which I have read and keep handy |
Name: Winfred
Comments: Since Karbarla asked:
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To Allah, there are no animals viler than those who do not believe and remain unbelievers" (Sura 8:57). "Here is the fate of those who fight Allah and his messenger: you will put them to death or you will make them suffer the torture of the cross; you will cut their hands and their feet alternately. They will be driven from the country" (Sura 5:37). |
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"The true believers say: Has not God ordered a chapter that commands the holy war" (Sura 47:22); or elsewhere: "Kill the idolaters wherever you find them, imprison them, besiege them, ambush them" (Sura 9:5); and, "Make war on unbelievers" (Sura 9:29). "When you come upon unbelievers, massacre them, tighten the bands of the captives that you will have taken. Then you will set them free, or you will release them for a ransom" (Sura 8:57). "Cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads. Strike off even the tips of their fingers!" (Sura 8:12). "Fighting is obligatory for you Muslims." (Sura 2:216). "And if you shall be slain or die on the path of God, then pardon from God and mercy is better than all your amassings; For if you die or be slain, verily unto God shall you be gathered." (Sura 3:151,2). |
Name: Yusef
Comments: Without Islam many of the philosophical developments we see today wouldn't exist. Europe would still be in the dark ages and the Arabs would still be burying there daughters alive. anyone who says that Islam had a negative impact on humanity clearly doesn't know any thing about history whatsoever. you say that every page of the Qur'an is about killing? where did you get this from? Jihad isn't even 1 of the 5 pillars of Islam. and even so where did you get the notion that jihad=killing and terrorism? certainly didn't get it from bin laden or Zawahiri. they justify there acts by saying that the people voted in the governments. jihad of the sword means FIGHTING. in the way of Allah. not slaughtering or killing or raping. Prophet Mohammad(saw) didn't kill civilians in war. I guess he was a moderate Muslim too.
Name: Farshad
Comments: Mohammed was moderate? You gotta be joking! Look him up in wikipedia or even read his words in the Koran.
Source 1: The Koran
Source 2: Wikipedia