Ruhollah Khomeini Quotes

See {617157} for a similar legal opinion. The concern was that poor Muslims may desert their faith when they see how well housed the tolerated people, Christians and Jews, are. They might conclude that Christianity or Judaism is better at making people wealthy than was Islam. See {617162} for a Koranic support of the idea. The Western view of this is generally, that is what the marketplace of ideas is all about. In 21st century America, Jews and Mormons on the average were the wealthiest religious groups. The logic of al-Ramli is that Mormons and Jews—each only 6 percent of the population—should not be allowed to show their wealth, lest Roman Catholics for example—25 percent of the population—will convert from Catholicism to the other two religions. From a democratic point of view, the response should be, we so be it. That is their choice. But America is the living proof that the assumption of conversion and loss of faith is per se wrong. The Mormons and Jews are visibly more successful, yet there are very few Roman Catholics leaving their church and converting to the two wealthier religions. There are some, but not at any greater rate than people convert from “wealthier” religions.

This quotation demonstrates that religious persecution of non Muslims was a duty, This has been a characteristic of all religious persecution regardless of religion. The quotation also shows that after 600 years, the original limited tolerance the Prophet had urged for People of the Book (Jews and Christians) was waning. Instead of non-believers being tolerated if they paid the special tax and were second class citizens, leaders were urged to convert or eliminate “infidels.”

This sura illustrates why peace treaties between Islamic and non Islamic countries are difficult to negotiate and enforce. For some fundamentalist Muslims, even making a peace treaty with Israel would constitute a transgression of the word of God. Nonetheless, the first treaty that the United States ever made was with a Muslim nation—Tripoli.

The Koran is even more discriminatory regarding Jewish & Christian clerics: {584380}.

This was a document prepared by the Caliph and presented to Christians in Syria to sign if they wanted peace and to be free from assault in Islamic lands. For centuries thereafter these, and variations of them, were conditions imposed on Christians and Jews in Islam lands. Some of these can be recognized as variants of conditions that American and other coalition troops were required to adhere to in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. By today’s standards this was highly discriminatory and a gross imposition on a minority. However at the time, this was one of the more liberal doctrines. Jews and Christians otherwise could live in Muslim lands, practice their religion, work there, live where they would, acquire property, practice professions, and even achieve high office. Jews and Christians rose to the highest ranks of Islamic government administrators including Prime Ministries. Their persons were safe from assault and derisions all provided they followed the Pact of Umar or its current version. In contrast Jewish and Muslim minorities in Christian nations were treated much more harshly. They could practice only a few occupation, were constantly under physical attack, were forced to live in ghettos, had their property seized, and in many cases were tortured and killed.

Although this verse illustrates the particular enmity that some orthodox Muslims have for Christians and Jews, philosophically the hostility it not unlike that some orthodox Christians had (and still have) for Jews. The theory was that among the more primitive people a certain “ignorance” was tolerable, but “People of the Book” were not ignorant but actually rejected the word of Muhammed or in the case of the Jews vis a vis the Christians, they rejected the word of Christ. The hate message is preached within some Christian circles about Jews and Muslims today, but the overt, visible, statement in the midst of the holiest of Scripture makes the Koranic version even more socially and ethically difficult in a pluralistic society.

See {617160} for a similar legal opinion. The concern was that poor Muslims may desert their faith when they see how well-dressed the tolerated people, Christians and Jews, are. They might conclude that Christianity or Judaism is better at making people wealthy than was Islam. See {617162} for a Koranic support of the idea. The Western view of this is generally, that is what the marketplace of ideas is all about. In 21st century America, Jews and Mormons on the average were the wealthiest religious groups. The logic of al-Ramli is that Mormons and Jews—each only 6 percent of the population—should not be allowed to show their wealth, lest Roman Catholics for example—25 percent of the population—will convert from Catholicism to the other two religions. From a democratic point of view, the response should be, we so be it. That is their choice. But America is the living proof that the assumption of conversion and loss of faith is per se wrong. The Mormons and Jews are visibly more successful, yet there are very few Roman Catholics leaving their church and converting to the two wealthier religions. There are some, but not at any greater rate than people convert from “wealthier” religions.

In the middle of 2010, this organization was running public utility bus ads in major American cities.

Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, 1943-2010, was an modernistic Egyptian Islamic Scholar and a Professor at the University of Cairo. One of his writings argued that the discriminatory tax that the Koran specified for Christians and Jews in an Islamic nation was not fair or consonant with modern thought regarding freedom of religion and the rights of minorities. Some fundamentalist were outraged and charged him with Apostacy for criticizing a Koranic prescription. He was convicted and lost his professorship. That was the least of his problems. Since he was an apostate, he was not a Muslim the Egyptian Courts ruled, and therefore his wife, a Muslim, could not legally remain married to her. His marriage was legally dissolved and he was threatened with death by fundamentalists forcing him and his wife to go into exile in Holland where he taught at the Utrecht University. He never returned.

His quotations are very important because he wrote many of the Islamic legal opinions that governed Muslim Spain and influenced the Arabs of North Africa. This is yet another example of the classic antipathy that many Muslims have for People of the Book—Christians and Jews.

At the time, most Muslims and Jews of Andalusia lived together very amicably. Ibn Hazm was a brilliant scholar of philosophy, law, theology, and science and the leading Islamic intellectual of Andalusia. However, he had one major rival, a Jew named Samuel ibn Naghrela who was just as brilliant a scholar, but also one of the best military leaders, and physicians of the kingdom. (See {623786} & {623774}) Ibn Hazm was very jealous and tried to turn the Muslim Berber King Habbus al-Muzaffar against ibn Naghrela and other Jews. The king however made Samuel ibn Naghrela his hajib (prime minister / vizier) of Grenada in 1037. He was also made military commander and excelled at both areas while continuing his scholarly activity. Samuel ibn Naghrela held his political and military positions for 17 years and both these intellectuals wrote brilliant books in several field which added to the reputation of this era as the Golden Age of Islamic Spain.

Islam and Sharia do NOT require women to wear burkas or headscarves. The religious requirement is for women to dress modestly. The scarves and burkas are cultural customs which differ from place to place. However, in many places, the customs are so ingrained along with islam that many Muslims believe these forms of dress are required by their religion.

The Hijra was the spread of Islam after The Prophet organized the first Muslims. Islamic reformers have been trying to improve the legal and cultural position of women in Islamic Societies ever since with little success, even in modern times. The notable exception was the Turkish Revolution led by Ataturk. He was familiar with Aga Kahn arguments for reform and put the force of law behind them. See {444998}.

At the time, the Muslim discrimination, terrible as it was, was not as bad as Christian discrimination against any non-Christians where death was very common. For many Muslims, the older historical values and practices are desirable if not mandatory today, while many others are modernists like most Christians who reject the Christian practices and morality of the past,

A Kafir is a non-Muslim. This statement is a distortion of a number of passages of the Koran.

His quotations are very important because he wrote many of the Islamic legal opinions that governed Muslim Spain and influenced the Arabs of North Africa. This quotation is an excellent insight to the “tolerance” that Islam has had for Christians and Jews. These “People of the Book” The Prophet had instructed were not to be required to convert to Islam—as others were. They could worship provided that they pay a special tax. However the Prophet’s disciples went much further in establishing the way the “tolerance” was to function. Essentially, the Muslim society in general was to scorn the People of the Book and restrict their rights and freedom in many ways. In addition the attitude was to be very negative. In this famous quotation, the Christians and Jews were so lowly esteemed that Muslims had to be warned about the previous owner—the same as if the coat had belonged to a leper. Ironically, at the same time Jews were appointed to some of the highest positions in Andalus government, so these attitudes were not universally held. See {623775}.