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I just want to alert readers that the "quotes" from the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet being presented here by some anti-Muslim bigots are extremely distorted.
The verses of the Qur'an that urge fighting kafirs or infidels refer to the defensive war Muslims of Medina had to wage to prevent themselves from being massacred by the Meccan pagans who tried to wipe them out. Kafir has many meanings in the Qur'an but it seems to be used in these verses to talk about homocidal enemies of the faith. It does not refer to Christians and Jews who have no beef with Islam. It says that Jews and Christians who do good works and are pious need have no fear in the afterlife. There is one verse referring to the infidels among the Christians, which proves that the word does not usually refer to them; presumably they had allied with the pagan Meccans in attacking Muslims.
The Qur'an even instructs the early Muslims to make peace with anyone, including pagans, who sues for peace; aggression toward others is forbidden.
To quote the verses about Muslims needing to defend themselves from the attacks by bloodthirsty pagans as though they imply that Muslims should just fall on any non-Muslim is profoundly dishonest and hate-filled.
The verse about not taking Jews and Christians as wali is mistranslated as not taking them as "friends." A wali was a formal patron, a powerful person with clients. The Qur'an was advising the early Muslims, who were in a very weak social position, to avoid trying to social climb by becoming clients of a powerful patron of another faith, who might then misuse his power position to force them to leave Islam. The Qur'an praises Judaism and Christianity and both the Hebrew Bible and the Gospel and says that Christians are "closest in love" to Muslims. There is no prohibition on Muslims having Christian and Jewish friends, which they have had all through history.
It is to weep that these distortions of the Qur'an are passed off as "scholarship" by people who have no idea what they are talking about.
And, I advise those disturbed by the Qur'an's injunction that people defend themselves from their pagan prosecutors to try reading the book of Joshua in the Bible.
cheers Juan
