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Originally Posted by Veritas
It’s not a matter of maturity as to whether or not you live in the West, as you claim.
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I never said it was. I simply asked you to be mature enough to accept the fact that I was born in the West, and live there also. Your earlier statement implied that I was ignorant of some values Western which you claim are inherent. But you don't have to advise me as to what those values are, simply by virtue of the fact that I was born in the West, was educated there and I live there also.
In other words, you assumed that I was an outsider and that you knew more than me about "the Western world".
And I merely asked you to be mature enough to accept that your assumption was wrong.
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We hear a lot of this flowery language you proffer. However, the reality is far removed from the glossy veneer of no compulsion in religion you claim.
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Since your continuous display of ignorance demands that you be publicly schooled in that which you know nothing of, I will oblige.
This is nothing about flowery language. I don't play that game. I tell you straight up like it is.
Verse 256 from the second chapter of the Qur'an states - [using Marmaduke Pickthal's translation]: There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower.
The background of this verse is relating to an incident whereby an Arab pagan couple had initially embraced Judaism, before the advent of Prophet Muhammad, because they were keenly aware that their observance of multiple and false deities was wrong. Their kids also embraced Judaism. The Jews at that time knew and were expecting the arrival of another Prophet, so this couple was also aware of the same.
When Prophet Muhammad did indeed arrive, this couple accepted Islam as their faith and wanted their kids to do so also. The kids refused and stayed with their Judaic faith. Their parents tried pressuring them to become Muslim and thereupon, this verse as you see above was sent down by God indicating that you cannot force anyone to become Muslim.
And thus, this has formed an integral part of the Islamic belief, that one must become Muslim by free choice and
not by compulsion.
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Above them is the Khalifah (Caliph) who is "God's shadow" on Earth, ruling over all Moslems. There is no plurality. There is the unyielding insistence that all mankind accept Islam's supremacy. There isn't even the slightest pretense of that one, true hallmark of political freedom: the ability to vote the leader out of office.
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Wrong again.
Under an Islamic system of governance, it is the common people that elect a
group of leaders who are known to be competent, reliable, and trustworthy, to represent them in the government. And then of this group, they elect the formal figurehead - the Khalifah.
It becomes an obligation on this leader to lead the people appropriately according to Islam, and it becomes incumbent upon the people to follow him as long as he leads them appropriately. If he is found to be in dereliction of his duties as the sovereign leader, then the council of leaders that was voted into power prior to him, has the power to remove him from his post.
Feel free to open your mind and learn a great many things about Islam that you do not know. If however, you came here with the intent to argue and make absurd statements, then please don't cry when we put you in your place.
And as always, thanks for trying.
Better to try and fail miserably than to have never tried at all.