Zaghloul El-Naggar Quotes

She was born a Muslim herself and her life has been threatened by other, Muslims who are fundamentalists who are living proof or her point.

This is another of De Tocqueville’s prescient statements that in retrospect seem so amazing given the time. This quotation could serve as an op ed in a newspaper of any of the industrial democracies of the early 21st century. However, he did not have the information of the details we have today that showed Islam as the pinnacle of scientific, philosophical, literary and medical achievement at the beginning of the second millennium, while the Christian nations of Europe were mired in the Dark Ages. It was the same Koran but a very different interpretation and framework that led to the decadence while it was the Protestant Reformation that triggered a Christianity that was hospitable to modernity and enlightenment.

A fatwa is a legal / theological ruling or decision made by an Islamic legal expert. Many disagree with each other just as American legal opinions often disagree.

To make matters worse for the Muslims, the tiny foreign entity in their midst—populated by "heathens who do not follow the command of God"—have created a much higher standard of living for their people, improved the land and its productivity in ways that have been far superior to traditional Islamic methods, reclaimed much of the desert that the Muslims could not, and produced a military that has staved off the hostilities of all of Islam, and has done all this without any oil or other natural resources to sell. Israel is a living counter-example to the superiority of Islam and its traditions which is so important to Muslims.

Ibn Rushd is generally considered the greatest of the Islamic philosophers. In this famous quotation he observes that the Koran is contradictory when it addresses issues of determinism and free will, a subject inquired about in most religions philosophies. While the same thing can be said of the Bible, what surprises some, is that a great Islamic scholar could say that there were contradictions in the Koran as many think of Islam as requiring literal adherence to and faith in the validity of the Koran. Contradictions are not admitted as possible. It illustrates that not all Islamic scholars are fundamentalists, but also that the leading Islamic scholars of the 12th century could hold such a view and freely publish it. Such ideas might get one killed in fundamentalist parts of Pakistan or Saudi Arabia today. Although valid for Muslims, the Hadith is less well known than the Koran which is recited by all good Muslims.

This quotation helps to explain the religious revelry in military achievements in Islam.

The “People of the Book” are the Jews and the Christians who believe in the Old Testament book of God which Muslims recognize. Others who would not accept Islam would be killed, but if Jews and Christians are submissive and fell so, they may pay a special additional tax, the Jizyah.

This is a particularly interesting passage of the Koran. On the one hand it provides the religious justification for the sexist dominance of the male in a marriage. However, at the same time, it gave wives rights at a time when few cultures and religions did--such as the right to own and inherit property. Women in the Western world did not obtain some of these rights until the last hundred years. So historically, Islam was somewhat ahead of Christianity when Muhammed lived, but while most Western interpretations of gender role and rights have changed and advanced, a small minority of Islam has been reformist and modern so Islam has gone from a leader in modern gender relations to an obstacle to equality and fairness by not changing and reforming.

In September of 2005 a Danish Newspaper published some political cartoons showing the hypocrisy of some Muslims who use Islam to justify murder of innocents and terrorism. Months later, in January of 2006 many in the Middle East protested vehemently and Muslim riots broke out because the Prophet Muhammad's visage was depicted against Islamic tradition. Many Muslim nations started a boycott against Denmark. Many Muslim leaders claimed that insulting religion was an “abuse” of freedom of speech including those from nations which regularly publish material that is virulent against Christians and Jews.

In September of 2005 a Danish Newspaper published some political cartoons showing the hypocrisy of some Muslims who use Islam to justify murder of innocents and terrorism. Many in the Middle East protested vehemently because the Prophet Muhammad's visage was depicted against Islamic tradition. Many Muslim leaders claimed that insulting religion was an “abuse” of freedom of speech including those from nations which regularly publish material that is virulent against Christians and Jews. Momani reprinted the cartoons and wrote this editorial arguing that the cartoons insulted Islam far less than the terrorism and murder—especially a recent murder of Muslims in Amman attending an Islamic wedding ceremony, He was fired by the newspaper owners and then actually arrested by the Jordanian authorities for “Insulting Religion.”

The “People of the Book” were the Jews and Christians who received special status in Muslim lands and societies. Despite the enmity and Muslim fundamentalist terrorism of modern times, Jews have historically lived in relative harmony in Islamic lands, and with the exception of the Christians in the Crusades, Christians were also given a place in Muslim societies. The “Book” refers to the Bible.

Patton was leading troops in north Africa in world war two. They came into much contact with the Arabs and Patton thought that his officers should know more about them. He wrote this memo.

Despite the fact that the statues were holy symbols to Buddhists, they were offensive to Muslims who say statues as “graven images” prohibited by the Koran. See Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil {608419} and Jamal’s other quotation {604665}.

See Quadratullah Jamal {604665} and {604664}.

Joseph ben Matthias. The term was coined by Josephus to refer to the fundamentalist, orthodox Jewish view of a proper state, as opposed to a secular government. The Jewish fundamentalist dream of a theocracy came down through modern times. There were ultra-orthodox Jewish groups who opposed the creation of the State of Israel on the grounds that it is not a theocracy and there are some who still want to see Israel transformed. The term became generalized and is applied to any state where the religion is the state and religious leaders dominate and control the state. The ultra orthodox Muslims, as in Iran, are generally the only religious group who have created theocracies or semi-theocracies as Islamic states. See {638106} for the context in which the term was first used.