BETWEEN THE LINES
DOES ISLAM NEED A REFORMATION?
Exclusive: Joseph Farah says with verses from Quran, 'the devil is in the context'
As Christianity this year observes the 500th anniversary of its Reformation, there are many voices suggesting what Islam needs is a similar movement.
Let me suggest that notion springs from fundamental misunderstandings of the nature of the Christian Reformation as well as the nature of Islam.
First, what were the major contributions of the Christian reformers?
Foremost, they called for a return to solo scriptura, the idea that the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God. In theory, at least, the reformers rejected the dogma and rules of men – specifically, papal authority.
It should be noted that it resulted in the 30 Years War that claimed the lives of some 8 million people in Europe – the most destructive war in the continent until the 20th century.
This from a faith based on a loving God, loving one another, repentance and grace.
Now let’s look at the problems associated with Islam. It has always been a religion of war, a religion calling for conquest and forced conversions. That is not an aberration of the creed; it represents the heart and soul of its “scriptures.”
How would one go about “reforming” that?
I will quickly add that there are many within Islam who honestly seek to “reform” Islam through reinterpretations of the Quran and Hadith in a way that would render it a more peaceful religion.
However, one cannot do that through an approach similar to what Martin Luther and the other Christian reformers sought to do, letting the Scriptures speak for themselves as God’s Word revealed.
If a solo scriptura application of Islamic writings were applied, the inevitable result is a jihadist faith along the lines of ISIS and al-Qaida clerics. That’s what Islam yields through strict, fundamentalist interpretation of its writings. There’s just no way to say this delicately and diplomatically.
So we’re left to ask ourselves: “What would be the basis for an Islamic “reformation”?
It would actually be the reverse of the Christian Reformation. Rather than to emphasize the literal words of the Quran and Hadith, it would be to amend, allegorize and, let me invent a word here, a-literalize Islam’s supposedly sacred writings.
Space does not permit me to dive deeply into the Quran for examples. So let me just cite one dramatic example of a verse often mentioned by apologists for Islam – people like former President Barack Obama. In his famous speech in Cairo in the very beginning of his first term, Obama quoted verse 5:32 as an example of just what a religion of peace Islam is.
“We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.”
Sounds pretty good, right?
But the devil is in the context. The next verse provides that context by explaining precisely what is meant by “corruption in the earth.”
Verse 5:33 says: “The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.”
In other words, this is actually a commandment for or justification of mass extermination of all non-Muslims.
How does one “reform” a verse like that?
In other words, if the Christian Reformation is the model used to reform Islam, it would have the opposite effect of what most Muslim reformers actually seek – a more tolerant and peaceful brand of Islam. In fact, one could argue, it already has.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2017/04/does-islam-need-a-reformation/#gOXy0FqMtv9DXlvE.99My comments: As Joseph Farah points out it is FUTILE to try to Reform that which is from its Inception FALSE and EVIL.
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