The Reality of the Looking Glass: Seeing Muhammad

Re: # 95

The age of Ayesha has been extensively investigated - the conclsive evidence points to the fact ( as documented by Muslim historians) that she had not attained puberty when Mohamed`s eyes fell on her. He waited until she attained menarche to have intercourse with her.

re:#102 by HisExcellency >>>>This is the kind of ignorance and evil that polytheistic religions can spawn in society... Horror of India`s child sacrifice

And your conclusion is this because of polytheism? Once they become monotheistic everything will be hunky dory?

Do any of the following prove that Islam is a bad religion or a good religion?:
Talibani beatings of women televised in international media, Paki honor killings extensively reported in South Asian and international media, female genital mutilation done in Egypt, Somalia and Saudi Arabia?

re:#103
>>>>>A cartoon lampooning a man who died 14 centuries before the terrorist attack in NYC is an expression of bigotry and prejudice.

People born into western Christian societies have taken movies depicting Christ badly, have shown ``art`` exhibitions insulting Mary. Compared to this cartoons were nothing, just jokes. After all historical Jesus was a true gentleman; did not indulge in Pedophilia, did not take sex slaves, did not butcher people with swords, etc.

re: chaltahai

++
You know the saying ``a picture says a thousand words``...well a danish newspaper illustration might be more appropriate.
++

A cartoon lampooning the terrorist who blew up innocent people in New York is an expression of freedom. A cartoon lampooning a man who died 14 centuries before the terrorist attack in NYC is an expression of bigotry and prejudice.

So yes, a cartoon does say a thousands words. But about the cartoonist, not the subject.

Shahriar,

This is the kind of ignorance and evil that polytheistic religions can spawn in society...

Horror of India`s child sacrifice

In India`s remote northern villages it feels as if little has changed. The communities remain forgotten and woefully undeveloped, with low literacy and abject poverty.

They are conditions that for decades have bred superstition and a deep-rooted belief in the occult. The village of Barha in the state of Uttar Pradesh is only a three-hour car drive from the capital Delhi. Yet here evil medieval practices have made their ugly presence known.

Lured with sweets

I was led by locals to a house that is kept under lock and key. They refuse to enter it. Peering through the window bars you can see the eerie dark room inside, with peeling posters of Hindu gods adorning the walls and bundles of discarded bed clothes.

In one corner is the evidence we had come to find: blood-splattered walls and stained bricks. It is the place where a little boy`s life was ritually sacrificed.

Those who tortured and killed Akash Singh did so in a depraved belief - that the boy`s death would offer them a better life.

``The woman who did this was crazed,`` the villagers say. ``Akash was friends with all our children... We still cannot believe what happened here.``

Akash`s distraught mother discovered her son`s mutilated body. The family was told he was lured away with sweets and begged his captors to set him free.

``First they cut out his tongue,`` his grandmother Harpyari told me. ``Then they cut off his nose, then his ears. They chopped off his fingers. They killed him slowly.``

The woman who abducted Akash lived just a few doors away. She claimed to be suffering from terrible nightmares and visions. It was then she turned for guidance to a tantric, or holy man. It was under his instruction that she brutally sacrificed the boy - offering his blood and remains to the Hindu goddess of destruction.

There are temples across India that are devoted to the goddess. Childless couples, the impoverished and sick visit to pray that she can cure them.

We were met with a hostile reception at the temple in Meerut. The high priest did not want us to see the ritual slaughter. Tantrics like him clearly have an overwhelming grip on their followers. Often they are profiting from people`s fears. In extreme cases others have instructed their followers to kill.

Raju is a journalist for the Hindustan Times and has been reporting on child sacrifice cases since 1997 in western Uttar Pradesh. He has reported on 38 similar cases.

In one incident he says a tantric told a young man that if he hanged and killed a small boy and lit a fire at his feet the smoke from the ritual could be used to lure the pretty village girl he had his eye on.

He has been campaigning for a crackdown on the practice of tantrics, alarmed at what he has seen. ``The masses need to be educated and dissuaded from following these men,`` he said. ``They play on people`s fears and superstitions - it is crazy.``

We visited the jail where those accused of murdering Akash were being held. The prison warden told us of over 200 cases of child sacrifice in these parts over the last seven years. He admitted many of the cases go unreported because the police are reluctant to tarnish the image of their state. He told us incidents of child sacrifice are often covered up.

Many of those killers are behind bars - but, chillingly, others poisoned by the same sinister beliefs remain at large.

Re: # 95

I would like to answer your two questions.

1. You say that Hazrath Ayesha (rz) was 14 years old when prophet Mohammed (pbuh)
married her. Some others have said that she was 6 years old. The fact is that she
was 18 years old.

2. You ask: Why all this love for one man, what did he do that was so worthy of enchanting so many. The simple answer will be: You have to be a muslim to feel it. I am not trying to convert you. Here is my answer: After Allah (swt), the one person who is respected and adored is prophet Mohammed (pbuh). Allah (swt) Himself says: Obeying prophet Mohammed (pbuh) is equivalent to obeying Me.

Let me repeat what I said in my other post on this board that the cause for the creation
of the Universe is Prophet Mohammed (pbuh).

Finally let me tell you a short story about prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and one of his
enemies Abu Jehal. Abu Jehal had some pebbles in one of his hands and closed his hand,
asked the prophet (pbuh) to tell him what he had in his hand. The pebbles started
saying in arabic: There is no God but Allah (swt) and Mohammed (pbuh) is His messenger.

Shahriar,

You have made several points in this article. A lot has been written about Muhammad, yet this man`s life and principles still remain largely unexamined.

Muhammad was not the first person to preach monotheism (belief in One God) to the Arabs. Centuries ago Arabs had been exposed to Judaism and Christianity. Several Judaic prophets traveled through Arabian peninsula and created pockets of followers.

However, Arab society regressed from monotheism to polytheism (belief in multiple gods). Polytheism was compatible with acute tribalism in Arab society since each tribe adopted its own gods and denounced those that belonged to enemy tribes. Polytheism became the menace of Arab society. Each tribe had to appease its god with sacrifices, superstitious rituals and war.

By restoring monotheism in Arabia, Muhammad rid the society of supersitions and rituals such as human sacrifice.

You know the saying ``a picture says a thousand words``...well a danish newspaper illustration might be more appropriate.

Re: # 97
> in the Hammam of fairy tales who is not naked -- including buddha, ...
Budhdhists too ???

Are u sure ? I don`t know of any fairy tale for budhdhists ... pls share which ones u had in
mind when u included them.
Also, there is only one that is as bloodthirsty ....

``They are interested only in their fairy-tale version in which mohammed is kinder than the buddha, more dynamic than krishna, more revolutionary than christ, more consistent than Zarathustra etc.``(pmishra)

mishra ji -- in the Hammam of fairy tales who is not naked -- including buddha, krishna, christ or Zarathustra.......:)

......if you really want to put mohammed in his place -- you should say that YOUR fairy tales as always are far far BETTER than mine.......:)

re:#56 by ahmedmadani
Ahmad Madani Sahib,
We look forward to the day when India will have common borders with Afghanistan. Having an Indian Consulate near the Paki border is but a small step in that direction.
Sridhar

re: this article
I respect the sentiments of the author but to me, Islam is no more than a cult and Mohammad, its most successful founder.
We don`t know much about Md but we see the legacy he has left behind. And, it is not a peaceful legacy.
(You love them so much that only prayers can come out, even if you didn’t believe in God. Every Muslim, every time the Prophet’s name is mentioned, says “peace be upon him” for our love is so deep that, through the ages, we are still sending prayers for him.)
Instead of saying ``peace be upon him`` and then go around killing people of other faith, just say nothing but do nothing. That will be appreciated by people of other faith.
(Why all this love for one man? What did he do that was so worthy of enchanting so many?)
What indeed! we non-muslims wonder.
(He was the champion for women at the time when women had little or no rights.)
That is why he married 14 year old Ayesha when she had not attained her puberty.
(His love for humankind was immense.)
Immense indeed!
This is from Ali Sinna`s testimonials as to why he left Islam:
excerpts:
(Sunan Abu-Dawud Book 38, Number 4396

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:
A thief was brought to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He said: Kill him. The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah! Then he said: Cut off his hand. So his (right) hand was cut off. He was brought a second time and he said: Kill him. The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah! Then he said: Cut off his foot.
So his (left) foot was cut off.
He was brought a third time and he said: Kill him.
The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah!
So he said: Cut off his hand. (So his (left) hand was cut off.)
He was brought a fourth time and he said: Kill him.
The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah!
So he said: Cut off his foot. So his (right) foot was cut off.
He was brought a fifth time and he said: Kill him.
So we took him away and killed him. We then dragged him and cast him into a well and threw stones over him.

Ali Sinna`s observationSeems that Muhammad passed judgment before hearing the case. Also by cutting a thief’s hand he is left with no other means to earn his bread except begging, which would be difficult since he is defamed as a thief and so hated by people. Therefore re-offending becomes his only means of livelihood.)
(Muhammad is not a man to be easily forgotten,...)
You are right about that. Everytime there is a terrorist act, we are reminded of Mohammad.
Sridhar

#86 bharath

Of course, there is a lot of research into mohammed`s life and times. But the point is that most muslims aren`t interested in it. They are interested only in their fairy-tale version in which mohammed is kinder than the buddha, more dynamic than krishna, more revolutionary than christ, more consistent than Zarathustra etc.

You get the idea. Its impossible to have a discussion with people who are so overly full of self congratulation. Mohammed`s real strengths and weaknesses are lost in all this mush.

#83 hamidm2

In 400 BC, the emperor Ashoka wrote:


[quote]
Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, honors both ascetics and the householders of all religions, and he honors them with gifts and honors of various kinds.[22] But Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, does not value gifts and honors as much as he values this -- that there should be growth in the essentials of all religions.[23]

Growth in essentials can be done in different ways, but all of them have as their root restraint in speech, that is, not praising one`s own religion, or condemning the religion of others without good cause. And if there is cause for criticism, it should be done in a mild way. But it is better to honor other religions for this reason.

By so doing, one`s own religion benefits, and so do other religions, while doing otherwise harms one`s own religion and the religions of others. Whoever praises his own religion, due to excessive devotion, and condemns others with the thought ``Let me glorify my own religion,`` only harms his own religion. Therefore contact (between religions) is good.[24]

One should listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others. Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, desires that all should be well-learned in the good doctrines of other religions.
[quote]

The indian state takes these statements as ideals; this is one reason why the indian flag includes Ashoka dhamma chakra.

why should it ban or uproot any sect that wishes to live in peace, deobandi or whatever? You should be aware that deobandis in india are excessively strict and inward-looking but not to my knowledge violent.

Re: # 86

correction:
p.s
to those Pakistani converted Hindus vigorously posting about Manu Smiriti and caste system. Perhaps this is what you learned in your text books. 99% of Hindus have never even laid THEIR EYES on this book, if you abuse this book on an Indian street people will cheer you. If you abuse Koran in Pak (or for that matter in India) u will be lynched on the spot!!!!!!

Sorry for typo in #88

Please, omit (no)

{{They have all the right to CELEBRATE whatever they wish to as long as their celebrations are harmless and benign. }}

Re: # 89
>>>>. but then we would have a bunch of whiners cry their a$$ off on minority rights and what not.... Besides - they have been quite tame on our side of the border.... so we would rather just let them be for time being.<<<<<.

Also it will instantly prove to Pukis that we are not secular.

Re: # 87 kaal

True.... but at this point - any pre-emptive action is probably not warranted....

Re: # 83 hamidm
[...you know that deoband is in india ....... why don`t you guys shut down it down before it is too late ? ...]

Just say the word :)..... but then we would have a bunch of whiners cry their a$$ off on minority rights and what not.... Besides - they have been quite tame on our side of the border.... so we would rather just let them be for time being....

BTW - Where do you meet all these Indian Muslism you say are fanatics?.... we hinuds have been chest-beating for a while how our muslims are all doodh ke dhule - never participated in global jihad and all that...... I mean, we know some are getting recruited for ``jihad in mainland``, but didn`t know the problem is that bad.....