EXCLUSIVE – Taking a Stand: Muhammad in the Age of Jihad

Mr. Chopra,
a laudable effort indeed & timely.
Over time a number of great Western writers have researched Islam & written about the religion and prophet Muhammad. To name a few- Edward Gibbons,Simon Ocklay,Annie Besant, W.Montgomery Watts, Bertrand Russel, James A. Michener.
Currently Michael Anthony Sells, professor at Divinity School of University of Chicago. These efforts are important for the sake of civilization & co-existence.

Those blinded by hate & led by misguided religious extremists in the West should refer to these works for an unprejudiced view of a religion followed by 1.5 billion people .

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28

In other words:
if some people really must insist.. Bring it on! The time is short.”

Hearing Last night's discussion on Nightline made me wonder about the motivation behind this book. First of all, when you are not able to write a factual document, it is easy to base your plot with Fiction. You say what you really want and deny it as you wish. Also, when you start with "my family worried about a Fatwa", you are setting the stage for controversy and provokations. I think it is a slow season for Deepak Choopra, other then being Michael Jackson's friend and Guru! and want to follow the footprints of Salman Rushdi. My initial concern was his lack of knowledge and believe in Islam. But, then I was convinced that he has done his research and has sufficient information to contradict them to provoke Muslims. He might have written a few good words to camofloge his real intention. Just to hear a hint that a Jew might be responsible for writing the Quran or giving guidance to the prorphet is enough assume his misguided and mischivious intention. He want to be the center of attention by insulting 1.7 billions of Muslims, or for his sake (since he is against Islam and is out to discredit his values and teachiings), human beings and call it informative material disguised as a Novel is rediculous. Even the cover is controversial. Although he was warned by Barnes & Noble, but still he is choosing to ignore them. One thing is for sure and I admit it. He knows how to pick pockets and gain fame and finance by pushing the desired buttons to profit from the current situation of Islam Under Attack. But I believe "THIS SHALL PASS TOO".

Can you try the other side of the argument ?
Here are the few sites you can try

JihadWatchDOTorg
FaithFreedomDOTorg
TheRelgionOfPeaceDOTcom

Sounds like just what the doctor ordered. I will make it a point to purchase a copy soon and hopefully develop a clearer understanding of what it is about the Prophet Muhammud and Islam that attracts so many people to Islam. I like to think that I have an open mind but I doubt anything I find in this book will cause me to rethink my faith in God as known in the Bible.

Mssrs. CNN,

At a time when misunderstanding of Islam and Muslims is at a peak of anger and hatred, putting the Imam up for discussion and advertising the book by Chopra on Mohammed are very appropriate. You have really made an attempt at building a bridge towards better understanding between religious groups.

The Quran glorifies Jesus, as it does Moses and the other Biblical prophets of God. Ther is no non-christian religion that praises Jesus, as much as the Quran ( Islam) does. By burning the Quran, not only one would show disrespect to Islam, it would also be sacriligious to Judaism and Christianity, and all religions that believe in God.

If this 'exclusive' had any material on the early life of 'muhammad', the author would likely have a death fatwa issued against him almost immediately. Some 1,700 years ago was a very bloody period of time and 'Muhammad' was in the center of that bloodshed and the oasis's that were poisoned. There was no peaceful takeover of 'muhammad's' hometown although his own parents and the people of that village spared 'muhammad's' life when they exiled and banned him rather than executing a man they felt was insane, nearly rabid and inciting death and violence.

I suspect just like when Stalin dealt 'harshly' with his own family members and everyone greatly feared Stalin afterwards, 'Muhammads' foes, friends, associates and villiagers were told and knew what had previously occurred in 'muhammad's' own hometown previously. The early day's of 'muhammad' appear to be absolutely non-tolerant of other religions, and yet portions of the Koran appear to be directly lifted from the Jewish Torah and Christianity's Old testament writings. Such external and internal conflicts do not appear to be easily answered.

extremism does not in any way breed compassion,and integrity.Any individual of faith know's hatred,and violence is contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ,and Muhammed ect.There are others like them who walked among us,god bless them,they're lives are taken by people of such evil deeds.extremism is a mental sickness maybe it's time for all of us to re-evaluate ourselves.

The more I expand my mind into the world of religion (I've taken classes in comparative religions in both HS & College) I have learned that if we strip away the Dogma the essence of the world religions is very similar. Instead of exploiting the differences let's come together in the similarity of love....let go of the need t be right & accept the love that is in every religion.

Bill...

There is only one religion, it happens to have over 6000 versions of it...caj

The Great Muhammed, Budda, Jehovah, Whatever You Want To Worship, In My Book Is Your God Given Right. Personally I Do Not Believe In Islam, Or The Muslim Religions. I Haven't Ever Heard Of Any Bapbtist Church Bombing Anyone, Or Any Buildings In The Nations Of Islam, Or Threatening To Kill Muslims, Or Islamic Factions. I've Never Heard of Any Jews, Catholics, Lutherans, Mormons, Episcopalians, Threatening To Kill Muslims, Or People Of Islamic Nations. But I Have Heard Muslim Leaders, And People of The Islamic Faiths, Threatening Americans, To, "Kill Them No Matter Where They Are.........!", And Burn Our Nations Flags, and Allow Them To Live Among Us In Peace.

During World War Two, American Germans, And Japanese Americans, Were Placed In Internment Camps Both During, and After The War Had Ended. Why Aren't We Doing This To Muslim Americans, Islamic Americans, Since Our Post 9-11 Years. Right Here In Hollywood Florida, Three Of The Pilots Who Were Involved In The Attacks of The World Trade Center, And Washington, DC, Lived Here, Walked Free, Used Our Freedoms To Do Their Ill-Will Against This Great Nation, Went To Flight School At Perry Airport. The #1 Muslim Wanted By Our Nation Next To Ben Laden Lived Right Here In South Florida, His Mother Still Does. Not All Muslims and Persons Of Islam Are Frantical Killers, But Their Not Taking The Perception and Show Us Goodwill By Not Building Their Mosque Near Ground Zero, Is Just Another Way Of Thumbing Their Noses At Us, Disregarding The Majority Concern of Not Wanting Their Mosque Built Just Two Blocks Away From Ground Zero. Our Enenimies Live Amoungest Us, and Our Government Does Nothing About It.

I Am Sorry For All This Fear And Anxieties That The Majority Of Americans Vent Towards These People Of Islam, And The Muslim Religions, But Those Fears, and Anxieties, And Folks Not Trusting Them, Is Not Due To Anyones Fault But Their Own. Muhammed, Well, If His Teachings Are To Kill All Infidels or Those Who Oppose His Religion Or Religious Follwers, Then nI Turn My Back On Him And His Horde of Followers!

God created us all, we have God in us, his message is love. Different religions were institutionalized by human beings, not God. It is the same God for all of us. So why all this bickering about Christians and Muslims, and jews and others ? because human beings are behaving according to their ego and not as beings with divine essences. Please leave the ego in th edrawer and start acting as a children of God. We had enough of all thi sbickering for 2000 years or more. Love you all.

Deepak, would you fly over to England and then insist on driving on the right side of the road? If so, you'd be driving in to a lot of English folks on their own turf.

It's the same thing in the USA. Our country was founded on God. Not some man named Muhammad, who by the way, tells Muslims to believe in God's truth written in the Torah and the Bible.

Tis better to go directly to the source for God's truth than worshiping some deceased man who tells you to read, comprehend, and abide in God's wisdom written in the Torah and the Bible.

Was Adolf HITLER who gassed 6.000.000 jews for no other reason than because they were different of another race and/or religion a MUSLIM or a Christian? Please enlighten me!

Dear Brothers,
Peace be upon you
As a muslim from Madinah,the city where Prophet Muhammad lived most of his life , I would like to clarify some basic points about Islam,

The Word "Islam"
The "root" of the word "Islam" in Arabic is SALAMA which is the origin of the words Peace & / or Submission, a submission to God and peace to all humanity. It is, thus, no wonder why the salutation in Islam is: "Al-Salamu Alaikum or Peace on You."

In this regard, prophet Mohammad ordered his fellow Muslims to salute others Muslims or non-Muslims with peace when he said: "Peace Before Speech"

It is a Rule in Islam that during war time, an enemy warrior who pronounces the word peace is totally immune.

No Coercion In Islam

Unlike many other religions where people were offered either conversion and peace or death, Islam came with the just word of our creator. In Quran 2:256; God said "Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error..." There are many other verses in the Quran that deals with the nature of spreading God's message. One of my favorites which I keep quoting is Verse 10:99 "If it had been thy Lord's Will, they would all have believed, all who are on earth! Wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe!" These verses and many others show how much emphasis Islam places on the mind of people, Muslims or non-Muslims.

Justice & Fairness to Non-Muslims
In This regard, Muslims are governed by the rules that the relationship with non-Muslims should be based on justice, mutual respect, cooperation, and communication. The Quran is very explicit about the justice part of the relationship when God stated in Verse 60:08 "Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just."

The Ultimate Justice

Another prominent example that I keep referring to concerning the just treatment of Islam to non-Muslims; is the fact that while a husband is allowed to ask his Muslim wife not to go to the Mosque; he has no right to ask his wife to go to Church or Synagogue if it happens that the wife is a Christian or a Jew.

Peace and Jihad

The root of the word Jihad is Jahada which means "spent the energy". The following need some clarification concerning the concept of Jihad in Islam:

The acts of Jihad are limitless in Islam. Work, going to school, even having sex with your spouse is classified as an act of Jihad in Islam that one will be rewarded for doing them.

The highest stage of Jihad is fighting the enemy of Muslims and Islam.

Defending your family, money, land, country...etc. by all means including the armed means are also considered Jihad
Misrepresentation of Anti-Islam
Anti-Muslims resort to a deceitful misrepresentation when they misquote the Quranic verses of the second chapter. They claim that Quran promoted killing the infidels wherever you find them. Indeed, this is true but only if the infidels attack Muslims. Here are the verses complete:

Quran 2:190-193.

Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors.
And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith.

But if they cease, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah; but if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression.
Contemporary Counterpart of Jihad

The United Nation's Charter does explicitly discuss the right of the occupied people to resist their occupiers. The legitimacy of fighting aggression by means of Jihad or armed struggle is extended not only from the Islamic teachings but also from the international law and UN Charter.

Morality & Ethics of Jihad

The legitimacy of annihilating the oppressive forces and military occupation is not limited to Islam or international law and UN Charter. In fact, it is very much morally and ethically unacceptable to people with minimum level of dignity and self respect to accept the life of slaves under the military machine rule of alien invaders. Who amongst the reader is willing to live in political and ideological slavery? Who is willing to give up his home for a Russian, an African, an American, or a Chinese? Who is willing to accept what courses are enforced on you in your school? And finally; who is willing to live under the Civil Detention Law; that Hitler used to massacre Jews; and, ironically, Jews are using the same law to massacre, deport, jail, and displace more than 5 million Palestinians?

Jihad is one of the most misunderstood, and abused aspects of Islam. There are some Muslims who exploit and misuse this concept for their own political objectives. There are many non-Muslims who misunderstand it. There are some non-Muslims who misinterpret it to discredit Islam and Muslims.

What is Jihad?

The word Jihad does not mean “Holy War”. It means “struggle” or “striving”. The word for war in the Qur’an is “Harb” or “Qital”. Jihad means serious and sincere struggle on the personal as well as on the social level. It is a struggle to do good and to remove injustice, oppression and evil from the society. This struggle should be spiritual as well as social, economic and political. Jihad is to work hard to do right things. In the Qur’an this word is used in its different forms 33 times. It often comes with other Qur’anic concepts such as faith, repentance, righteous deeds and migration.

Jihad is to protect one’s faith and one’s human rights. Jihad is not a war always although it can take the form of war. Islam is the religion of peace, but it does not mean that Islam accepts oppression. Islam teaches that one should do one’s utmost to eliminate tension and conflict. Islam promotes non-violent means to bring change and reform. Actually, Islam urges that one should eliminate evil through peaceful means without the use of force as much as possible. In Islamic history from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until now, Muslims most of the time resisted oppression and struggled for liberation in non-violent and peaceful manners.

Islam teaches proper ethics in the situation of war also. The war is permissible in Islam, but only when other peaceful means such as dialogue, negotiations and treaties fail. It is a last resort and should be avoided as much as possible. Its purpose is not to convert people by force, or to colonize people or to acquire land or wealth or for self-glory. Its purpose is basically: defense of life, property, land, honor and freedom for oneself as well as defense of others from injustice and oppression.

The basic rules of war in Islam are:

1. Be strong so that your enemy fear you and should not attack you.
2. Do not begin the hostilities. Work for peace as much as possible.
3. Fight only those who fight, no collective punishment; non-combatants should not be harmed. Weapons of mass destruction should not be used.
4. Stop hostilities as soon as the other party is inclined to peace.
5. Observe the treaties and agreements as long as the enemy observes them.

Allah says very clearly: (Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not do aggression, for Allah loves not the aggressors.) (Al-Baqarah 2: 190)

(The prohibited month, for the prohibited month, and so for all things prohibited, there is the law of equality. If then any one transgresses the prohibition against you, transgress ye likewise against him. But fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.) (Al-Baqarah 2: 194)

Jihad is not terrorism:

It is to be emphasized that terrorism against the innocent civilians, whether through aggression or suicidal means, is under no circumstances permissible in Islam. Islam encourages the oppressed people to struggle for their liberation and it commands other Muslims to help those who are oppressed and suffering, but Islam does not allow, under any circumstance, terrorism against non-combatants and innocent people. Terrorism is not Jihad, it is Fasad (mischief). It is against the teachings of Islam. There are some people who use their twisted arguments to justify terrorism for their causes, but it has no justification: Allah says: (When it is said to them: 'Make not mischief on the earth,' they say: 'Why, we only want to correct things.' Indeed they are the mischief doers, but they realize (it) not.) (Al-Baqarah 2: 11-12)

Islam wants to establish a world order where all human beings – Muslims and non-Muslims – can live with justice in peace, harmony and good will. It gives its followers full guidelines to find peace in their personal and social lives, but it also tells them how to extend the good will on the basis of human relations towards others. Muslims worked under these principles for centuries. People of many faiths lived with them and among them. Islamic societies were known for their tolerance, generosity and humanity.

In our modern society where we are living in a global village, where non-Muslims are living with Muslims in the Muslim countries and Muslims are living with non-Muslims in countries where non-Muslims constitute a majority, it is our duty to bring better understanding among ourselves, work for peace and justice for all people and cooperate with each other in matters of goodness and virtue in order to stop all terrorism, aggression and violence against the innocent people. This is our Jihad today.

Can you explain Jesus vs Muhammad. My family and I are Christian and believe in Jesus. Unfortunately, I don't know much about Muhammad, please explain.

Thank you.

Renee from New Jersey

A question for DR.??? "MAYBE" CHOPRA.

I hope you can help.

Is there really 12 Virgins waiting in Allah's heaven if a person is willing to commit suicide by blowing himself/herself up in his name and honor.

There is absolute proof that Jesus Christ did really inn fact exist on this earth.

But why is there absolutely no proof whatsoever that a person called ALLAH ever even realy exist in any fashion.

My last question is: If it is the will of ALLAH that women are considered nothing more than a chattel by the teachings of the Quran, why on earth would a muslim man want to die for 12 of them.???

I simply dont understand the logic in that.

Please let me know DEEPAK CHOPRA

I have been a long time dedicated follower of Deepak Chopra, and I hope this book does not "sugar coat" the beliefs of Islam. The problem as I see is; we cater way too much to political correctness. For some reason we "infidels" must reach out a "loving hand" to Islam, all the while all they want to do is cut it off along with our heads! I am open minded and I am NOT a Christian, nor a Jew, the best word that describes me is Pagan. I am a spiritual person, but I fit NO standard belief. I am sure the radicals on all sides either want to behead, or "save" me. I care not to be "helped" by any of them. But I do detest the Muslims, I do NOT trust any of them. I truly think it is either kill them or be killed by them. There is no reasoning with them or bridging any gulfs with them. To believe otherwise is only to allow them more control and terror over the rest of us.

I asked, why all these discussions about Old teachings, are we not all a book. We all have our own stories and experiences to talk about. Can't we all look at our own lives and the lessons we have learnt and live and experience life thru trial and error? Isn't our heart the best guide? Who keeps our heart beating? Does anyone ever think about it? I say find your own truth and walk it, listen to your heart, it's the best guide. Looking for truth in books which is really someone else thoughts will only make one more confused and lose ones identity and individuality. Knowing yourself and loving yourself, is truly loving the God in you, thus giving you the ability to find God in others. The goodness of ourselves is really God acting thru us. Let's all get together and put our focus on world peace, universal love and brotherhood, joy, health and happiness for one and all. It's time we switch our focus to a different world order and start creating heaven on earth instead of focusing on past teachings and recreating those past experiences. Stop this vicious cycle, we can do it together, yes we can. God is energy, God is neutral, He/She gives to all just like the sun shines for all. Those who have not seen God, you have seen the sun, why can't you be like the sun and shine your light on one and all.
In love and light

Here's the problem. Us non-muslims do not care about mohammed, or care to learn about him whither its fiction or fact.

But muslims gasp at this and get angry. why? because they force their religion and beliefs on non-believers.

What other Religion goes as far as muslims to force their beliefs on others? Do Buddhists? No. Do Hindu's? No. Do Atheists? No. Do Christians? some would say yes, but modern-day Christians do not kill in the name of their prophet.

muslims will always have a sect which follows the extreme views of the parts of the koran that calls on them to attack non-believers.
No book or blog is going to disprove thousands of real (not fictitious) killings in the name pf mohammed.

I have a feeling that Dr Chopra 'A man who cares about the well being of the universe" will handle this issue with the wisdom and study he is capable of doing.

It is clear from these posts that there are many viewpoints from absolute left to absolute right.

Firstly Mr. Deepak's comment regarding the prophet having a wife age 6 is INCORRECT.

A Fatwa in Islam is nothing suspicious, it is a ruling, the same as a ruling in a court of law. I think if people educate themselves they will know and understand. A good example of a fatwa/ruling is that of Alcohol; alcohol is legal in the USA for example but not legal in a country like Saudi Arabia! Now the question is, Who is Right? Who's ruling is correct and on what basis?? To gulp from a fatwa is slightly over the top.

I also think it is very naive and improper to make statements about prophet Muhammad such as bloodshed and what not unless you are sure and go do your homework.

My point is that the best way to understand something or to critique something is to go and research that topic carefully and make sure that you don't throw away judgements haphazardly. Universities around the world are spending millions of dollars on research on various topics yet whenever someone speaks about Islam it is unfortunate that those who speak are not well informed.

The burning of American flags is unfortunate and disrespectful but is not done in a vacuum and unless we try to understand why and if we don't engage muslims and listen to them and understand their viewpoint then we will never know why some of them are doing this then we will keep going round in circles!

As a muslims I have been taught Ibrahim, Moses ,Jesus and Muhammad all are prophets of Islam, we have equally respect them all and their books. But we believe Muhammad is the last prophet.

Samuel, I am not a Muslim, but I do care to learn. I have books on World Religions and want to take a comparative religion course. Please don't assume that you speak for all. Abraham is the common link between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I believe that is fascinating and wish to keep an open mind to understand why 3 of the world's major religions do in fact have commonality. Thank you.

Deepak chopra is so great to see you. I am really grateful to see you in Larry King congrats to all of us people talking about this finally the light going to shine in the truth.

go big d. i thoroughly enjoy buddah and jesus cant wait. Namaste my friend i am sorry i am missing JIH but know none are seperate and will be with everyone at sunrise....distance is just local=)thanx heavy d n every success

Why are we here?

great idea!you are trying to do what the modern day masters have tried!i wish you all sucess in the great venture!may god bless you!

It may be a well timed book. Historical discussion is okay, but I am weary of fictional twists. One has to read it with enormous caution!

I was extremely dissapointed in the program that aired last night. Depak Chopra was not given adequate time to present his position and was repeatedly cut off by the other guests.

Science proves only one thing....there are no absolutes.. As some men attempt to disprove God, an intelligent creator, there are events, and instances, shall we say "miracles" that cannot be explained by science. More shall be revealed in man's quest to answer the ultimate question, does God exist.

My belief is there is something at work in our universe and it is more than "Nothingness".

@
No-one should be forcing their beliefs in whatever on anyoneelse. We all should have free choice.

Deepak will now be yet another person in hiding for saying something about Mohammed.
The cult of islam is just dangerous, every follower is a potential assassin.

Reading some of the posts, I can see that there is so much fear and narrow-mindedness around religion. Someone, for instance, mentioned that the US was founded on a belief in God and not Mohammed. That's the kind of thinking that fans the flames of discord. Voices of tolerance must stand up.

Peace to you, Deepak:

Your book is necessary – many resources are vital at this time. Enlightenment is about Loving Kindness, Compassion and Respect. There is a lot of hatred in the world of Man. Solutions are difficult to imagine, to engage. Your book is on the engagement side of things. You have Guts. I respect your work.

Admiringly, Peter

Dee –
You may be absolutely CORRECT about Muhammad NOT marrying a 6 year old girl; but there is some controversy over the age. However, there is NO dispute that she was no more than 11 when he married her and consumated the marriage no later than age15. He was about 52/53. Her name was A'isha bint Abi Bakr. She was the third of eleven wives, all but one of them in the course of his last 10 years . Yeah, like I'm going to follow the teachings of a polygomist pedophile. NOT!!! Freud would have had fun figuring him out.

Next time you state that something is incorrect, it would be helpful if you knew the facts and stated them as rebuttal. The rest of your comment qualifies as yada yada yada.

Jesus and Muhammad(peace be upon them) were both created by the same God . Christians call themselves children of God, Muslims say they are servants of God(complete submission to Allah the creator the ONE God) Muslims beleive as mentioned in the Quran that Jesus did not ask to be worshipped he was preaching the same message as Muhammad which was to worship the ONE GOD. Also, since God could not see his prophet being so harshly treated took him up to heaven and a look alike of Jesus was killed at the cross instead. God is merciful to all those who fight in his cause and strive to spread his Word. All the prophets mentioned in the Quran -which is the final version(the latest model of all religions that came prior to it which were given a holy book) were created by Allah and were sent down by Him to preach to their respective peoples the same religion. It is the actions of these people that make them good or bad and determine their destiny in this life and in the hereafter...Muslims are people who not only believe in the Quran but also act upon it. All those who are creating havoc in the name of religion are neither believing in the Holy Book nor acting upon it.
The prophet Muhammad's life was very unusual and full of tests and trials that no ordinary human could have handled. His life is an example for all of creation to follow. Just because his one wife Ayesha was below 15 when she married does not mean she was not matur enough or was married against her will. This was a lesson for us to let our daughters decide when they want to marry even at that age if they are intelligent enough to take that responsibility...There will be less teenage single parents in this world if men and women were told to take their responsibilities seriously and not just fool around when it came to matters of taking care of children and women and giving them the status they deserve.
A family is considered a sacred responsibility with duties to be shared equally by both parents irrespective of age.
All those who think women are not respected in Islam please read up on women like Ayesha and Khadija and other wives of the prophet and his daughter Fatima. Women in the prophet's days were well educated and some were scientists , writers and knew the laws that related to religious and family life. After the prophet's death the companions of the prophet and his wife Ayesha wrote down his sayings and compiled his life stories in the form of books called Hadeeths and Seerah of the prophet. Hope this helps..
The reason why he married so many times was to give protection to widowed women and give them a better life than they would have had if they had to fend for themselves in times of war and didfficulties.

When one begins the journey of discovery all "Holy Books" become stumbling blocks in universal understanding- yes they have inspired many to do all kinds of things- because this is what stumbling blocks do.
All leaders in the field of spirituality have taught the journey to "go Within'" yet man keeps searching outside to find an inner truth. Deepok has helped many to open to deeper understanding- but like all humans: is a "piece of the puzzle." No being has the whole puzzle- but all are pieces. We turn our piece and expound a truth- and discover the piece doesn't fit. We later turn the piece and expound another truth- with this approach we learn every step of the way how to put the puzzle together. When we expound one truth over another or try to force the pieces to fit- frustration and chaos follow. I leave "Holy Books" where they belong in the past as well as so-called "teachers." Not because I disagree with what they taught- but because "The human experience" filled in the blanks.

Abdurham of Saudi Arabia gives an informative rundown of the basics of Islam. But the strife, bloodshed, animosity, mistrust & murders occur with all religions because differing groups interpret 'sacred' writings differently.
We regularly hear of Muslim suicide bombers filling other Muslims , & often while at prayer in mosques.
Here in the west, one constantly sees references to 'true' & 'false' Christians. There are well over a thousand denominations. And even in this day & age of literacy & cyber communications; people are trying to re-write US history; ignoring the innumerable quotes from the Founding fathers that demonstrate beyond any doubt that they envisioned a secular nation with religious liberty for all.
Religions would be almost perfect if they didn't have membership, & claim it has perpetual "rewards"........(for only a small regular love offering.)

I Do not judge and i live each day respecting those who i meet.

@kathy 40 September 10th, 2010 9:05 am ET

Was Adolf HITLER who gassed 6.000.000 jews for no other reason than because they were different of another race and/or religion a MUSLIM or a Christian? Please enlighten me!
------–
Seems like Hitler was the devil himself. I think, we will never completely understand or comprehend why Hitler did what he did. Other than to say he was a madman – and I am judging here, I suppose. Jehovah God will be his ultimate judge in the end as will be the case with all of us.

Hopefully, we can all live and learn and make amends in this world for the wrongs of the past and come to a better understanding of each other and things.

Peace and Love To All On Earth!
Our One Earth!
We Are All Brothers and Sisters!
Heal The World!
One Love!

According to Swami Vivekananda, Mohammad practised Yoga without a proper Guru and as result of it lost his mental balance.

"Therefore, in Islam we not only have good things but a lot of superstitions as well, and how much suffering mankind had to endure, because of these superstitons! So I tell you all, please go to a Guru and practise yoga under him." - Swami Vivekananda

Anyone that really wants to read and learn about the religion Islam as well as the final Prophet and Messenger should not rely solely on writings by such Gurus. Honestly now, how many of you would actually read a book about Christianity written by a Muslim? As a Muslim woman born and raised in the West, I do not refer to such books and novels written by gurus that only aspire to further their personal agenda. Go back to books such as "Understanding the Life of the Prophet" by Muhammad Al-Ghazali, or "Footsteps in the Life of the Prophet" by Tariq Ramadan. Such scholars are experts in their fields, that of Islamic jurispudence and Islamic law, as well as Islamic history and Islamic studies.

Anyone looking for the truth and nothing but the truth needs to keep their eyes open and not succumb to such individuals that only wish to have many people believe in nothing but an opinionated text that is biased and does not refer back to reliable texts, rather than listing the facts and going back to the experts.

Thank you.