Saturday, April 20, 2013

Understanding the Islamic Bombing of the Boston Marathon

In response to the Islamic bombing of the Boston Marathon, the "Why Islam?" campaign sent out a Tweet on one of history's most deliberately misrepresented verses.


Since the same verse has been ripped out of context by Fox News, CNN, the Washington Post, and President Obama, it's time for a careful analysis of the text.

51 comments:

Lettherebelight, Sweden said...

Thank you, David, to the point, and yet neither politicians, nor the press want to listen and take the debate on islam to the public.
A unforseen, random mistake happened to the biggest party, the Socialists(Social Democrats) in Sweden, temporarily electing an islamist to their board, and a very inflamatory debate is now on. It´s hot and hopefully something good is about to come out of it. I pray for that, and try to do my bit.

Unknown said...

Sir may God bless u 4 this eye opening massage, and I hiope this massage get to muslims and government to no what they really dealing

Christian A. said...

Islam is all about violence

Dk said...

Obama says he wants to protect Islam from "negative" stereotypes.

Yet he just gave Islam a "postive" stereotype, by quoting 5:32 out of context.

Shouldn't he be against ALL stereotypes, and more for TRUTH and ACCURACY?

Further more one of the common objections against critics of Islam is they cherry pick all the warfare verses, yet these men all cherry picked 5:32 and even miscited it! That seems to happen all the time with 2:156 and 109 aswell.

Everyone knows Islam began as peaceful (atleast not physically violent), then intiated self defense concepts, then were commanded to perform offensive jihad, this is what all three replacers (caliphates) of Mohammed executed. So while both sides may cherry pick, atleast the critics are cherry picking the most final and up to date instructions given by God.

Georgina said...

"We decreed apon the children of Israel"
Since everyone agrees that they are the "worst of people", why should a muslim follow a decree made apon them?

However, it does prove that Israel existed before islam

Osama Abdallah said...

"A senior Justice Department official told ABC News that federal law enforcement officials are invoking the public safety exception to the Miranda rights, so that Tsarnaev will be questioned immediately without having Miranda rights issued to him."

(http://gma.yahoo.com/boston-bomb-suspect-clings-life-134835744--abc-news-topstories.html)

DOES THIS SOUND RIGHT TO YOU??? Man man man man, I swear by Allah Almighty I smell zionist stink in this!!

David Wood said...

Interesting how Osama always manages to bring Jews into the equation.

Educate:me said...

When people take these kind of verses literally, then bad stuff is going to happen. I don't know very much about Islam, so I'll have to get a copy and read it for myself.
Well done for bringing this to light. It's all an education.
As regards this book, I'm as dumb as a box of spanners.
It's awful to see a " Holy " book advocating sheer violence.

WhatsUpDoc said...

Thanks David for putting things in proper perspective.

Michael F said...

You sir, are definitely not serving God, or your fellow men by attacking another faith. You have no excuse to condemn as the Catholics did by saying "All non-Christians are barbarians". You have not read the Koran and you are ignorant and dangerous. You could have asked an Imam to join you in a discussion, but no. How many crimes have been created in the name of Christianity? 21000 pales in comparison. You lack compassion, understanding and love, but I will pray to my God to forgive you.

Kufar Forever said...

yeah osama, hyper sensitive nose, you can smell jews from afar. but i guess you're immune to muslim smell, they got an explosive stink, but that's ok, since u r one of them...

Michael F said...

How sad it is to see a manipulative populist person as your self try all methods to make false statements while you ignore centuries of tyranny and bloodshed under the name of Christianity. Your pathetic attack on Obama shows your hidden agenda,as you are poor of values compassion and try to poison peoples minds with rubbish. I hope that God forgives you and recommend that you seek psychiatric help.

David Wood said...

Yes, Michael F, people calling themselves Christians killed a bunch of people a thousand years ago, and in your world, this means that we can never condemn terrorism. But I'm betting that someone in your family line complained about someone at some point, so according to your logic, you can never complain about anyone again. I'm guessing you've never taken a logic course.

Unknown said...

You know, for the record, verse 33 of that chapter says "Allah." Allah translates to "God," More-so the Abrahamic God (The same monotheistic God of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism). Therefor, the Quran states whosoever creates mischief against "Allah" or OUR [Abrahamic] God, shall be punished.

Islam's peaceful, and it's defending our belief's together, in unity.
Don't be ignorant Woods.

Traeh said...

The part of the verse that is most disturbing is the punishment for the vague crime of "mischief" or "corruption" in the land. If Islam killed only for waging war against "Allah and his Messenger", that would seem to be nothing more than ordinary self-defense. Even the explanation that Americans who pay taxes are responsible for the wars "against" Allah, and thus justifiable targets, seems superficially reasonable, and unfortunately, many people listening to it will say it makes sense, even though it makes no distinction between soldiers and civilians. Some will perhaps point to World War II and the Allies' bombing of civilian targets.

So the strongest critique that can be made of the verse is the critique that focuses on the part about the bloody punishment for the incredibly vague crime of "mischief" -- to command the cutting off of limbs for "mischief" seems about as transparently totalitarian as one can get.

Tom said...

@ Michael F

You made some comments but You made no effort to refute what David Wood has put together!
David Wood has many of debates with muslims which is archived here.
You are shooting your "mouth" off without knowing his background.
How typical!

Traeh said...

Michael F,

Nowhere does David say "All non-Christians are barbarians." He doesn't say anything like that. Do you always put words in other people's mouths to slander them? Or did you just get careless this time? Careless? Wait, I thought you were the expert on compassion and love and caring? Yet so careless in how you speak. Take the log out of your own eye.

Traeh said...

Micheal F, you claim David has never read the Qur'an. That is one of the most stupidly false statements I've ever heard. David knows the Qur'an backwards and forwards, not to mention huge numbers of hadiths, as well as the earliest biographies of Muhammad. You also seem to be totally ignorant of how many "imams" David has been in discussion with. Look at all the formal video debates between David and various Islamic scholars -- there are large numbers of those debates posted at his website. Before you write or speak, you really ought to reflect a bit on whether any of the random prejudices that evidently pass for thoughts in your brain are true.

But David can defend himself a thousand times better than I can defend him. I only comment because your statements are such outrageous falsehoods that I'm angry.

Traeh said...

Ahmed Tempo,

The Christian/Jewish God is very different from the Islamic one.

Daniel Boorstin: "There is a vast difference...between the Hebrew-Christian God the Maker and the Muslim God of Fiat."

"For a believing Muslim, to create is a rash and dangerous act."

In a very short chapter of Boorstin's The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination (a book that with his The Discoverers and The Seekers forms a magisterial and deservedly famous trilogy), Boorstin sought the heart of the difference between Islamic and Judeo-Christian culture. Here are some choice excerpts:

…the Muslim God, though a kind of Creator, had a character quite different from the God of the Hebrews and the Christians...[I]n the Koran the role of the Creator is transformed. The familiar words of Genesis record that God spent six days on the Creation.

[Genesis 2:2] 'And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day...'

In the Koran God never rests, for he can never be tired.

[Koran, Chapter 50, verse] 38: We created the heavens and the earth and all between them in Six Days. Nor did any sense of weariness touch Us.'

It is no wonder that the Koranic God was not wearied. For He created not by making but by ordering, not by work but by command. The creation of anything occurs when He decrees it into being.

[Koran, Chapter 2, verse] 117: To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth; when He decreeth a matter, He saith to it: "Be," and it is.

Again and again the Koran describes God's fiat...


There are some similar expressions in Genesis of God creating by fiat...But there is a vast difference in emphasis between the acts of Creation in the Bible and in the Koran. And between the character of the Hebrew-Christian God the Maker, and the Muslim God of Fiat...

The Muslim Creator-God is notable not only, nor even mainly, for His work in the Beginning, but as an orderer, a commander, of life and death in our present. The Judeo-Christian God is awesome for the uniqueness of His work in the Beginning. Then He may intervene by divine providence...

After...the six days of fiat, the God of the Koran, having no reason to rest, simply mounted the throne of authority. From there he continued to rule by decree over life and death and every earthly act.

The relation of the Muslim God to his creature man, then, is quite unbiblical. The uniqueness of the biblical Creator-God was in his powers of making; the uniqueness of man and woman too would be in their power to imitate their God and after their fashion to exercise the power of creation. After God created the species in the Beginning, he blessed them to be fruitful and multiply...

Why did God create man? The God of the Bible would judge man by his fulfillment of his godlike image. Not so in Islam.


[Koran, Chapter 51, verse] 56: I have only created jinns and men, that they may serve Me. I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship me.'

...The People of the Koran prefer to call themselves Muslims, from 'Islam,' the Arabic word for submission or obedience. The Koran repeatedly reminds us that Allah's creatures are also his 'servants' or 'slaves'. What clearer warning against reaching for the new? For a believing Muslim, to create is a rash and dangerous act.

(my bolding; Boorstin, 1992, pp.63-69.)

Traeh said...

Osama Abdullah (i.e., Slave of Allah)

God doesn't want or need slaves. Slavery is a sin of man, not of God. Islam has never had a slavery-abolitionist movement, unlike Christianity. That's because Islam has no conception of the equal dignity of all human beings before God. The only reason slavery was banned in some parts of the Islamic world is that the banning was forced on you by outsiders.

Matt said...

David,

Here is my problem with your overall strategy. You are shooting bullets that are not building on each other. Your video was great, and I am going to post a link to this article on my blog. However, I am disappointed in your approach.

People in the West might be more concerned about a totalitarian system that seeks to overthrow their government. Framing the end-point as the overthrow of governments might be able to create a building process. In your current video, take killing Americans one step further by adding the ultimate goal - a new government. Radical Muslims are revolutionaries seeking a new form of government. It's 1913 again.

In my opinion everything about Islam needs to ultimately point to the overthrow of governments. It's all about government. Would Americans allow Nazi immigrants just because they had a religion?

I did like this video a lot. I learned a lot. I think most people will ignore it, unfortunately. It won't cause enough alarm.



Traeh said...

Notice how Osama Abdullah's comment is more worried about depriving the Boston bomber of Miranda rights than about questioning the bomber immediately to get information that could protect the public from further bombings by other jihadists. Osama Abdullah is more concerned to protect a murderer and bomber of children, than to protect the public. I guess Osama Abdullah thinks only Muslims are human beings, and the rest of us are trash that can be killed and bombed to death.

Foolster41 said...

@Amhed: Wow, lots of hand waving there. So, we should listen to you and not believe the violent verses in the video? Islam's peaceful because you say so!

Yeah, I think I prefer my "lying eyes". It seems pretty clear you KNOW that Islam teaches violence and you're lying to cover it up, which makes you yet another "peaceful" Muslim Supremescist who wages war with words and deception.

Christian A. said...

Michael F Jesus our Lord taught us to love even our enemies so if Christians kill in His name thats against His explicite teaching. When we come to Islam, killing nonmuslims is in perfect harmony with the techings and deeds of Muhammad the cursed prophet.

Deleting said...

Michael F said, "How sad it is to see a manipulative populist person as your self try all methods to make false statements while you ignore centuries of tyranny and bloodshed under the name of Christianity."

Haveyou considered the centuries of tyranny and bloodshed under the name of Islam?

I guarantee the bodycount is higher than the bodycount of the Crusades, which happened 800 years ago.

Obama is purposefully turning a blind eye to what happened just like he did with Ft. Hood. If he were president when 9/11 happened he would have turned a blind eye to that too.

Ask yourself why.

Craig said...

@Ahmed

Where did you come up with that conclusion? Are you in la la land, Q5:51 says don't be friends with us and ibn kathir says not to be friends with us because we are the enemy of Islam. Q98:6 we are also the worst of creatures, which also implies that we Christians and Jews are worst than satan and the demons, so where's the unity verse. And if we were always supposed to be unified then why didn't Muslims preserve,teach and pass on the previously revelations like the Christians did with the Jewish scriptures? Maybe if Muhammad gave a you know what about previous revelations then the Christian and Jewish bible would have gotten " corrupt ".


5:51
Sahih International
O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.

Ibn Kathir Q5:51

Allah forbids His believing servants from having Jews and Christians as friends, because they are the enemies of Islam and its people, may Allah curse them. Allah then states that they are friends of each other and He gives a warning threat to those who do this,(And if any among you befriends them, then surely he is one of them.)

Independent Security Researcher said...

Thank you for highlighting the reality. islam is not peaceful religion, recently many hindu women have managed to flee the slave trade in hindu women being practised in karachi , pakistan.

Hazakim1 said...

Muslims blame the Jews for evertyhing....got gas? Its the Jews' fault! Penis too small? It's the Jews' fault! There's a Zionist conspiracy behind EVERYTHING!

Osama...God promised to regather the Jews into Israel - and behold (no surprise) the Lord did it, and even used secular Zionists to accomplish this in His sovereign power. Scripture also predicts that all the nations around Israel will converge upon her to destroy her. Then Yahweh Almighty in the person of His Divine Word (in flesh) will stain His robe with the blood of your heroes. Whose side do you really want to be on?

Hazakim1 said...

Michael F...shut up.

Joe Bradley said...

The victims of this bombing need to file lawsuits against the perps and name all of the mosques in America as co-defendants. Since they incite violence against Non-Muslims, the principle would be the same as in RE: "Jordan Gruver v. Imperial Klans of America" in which Gruver was awarded $2.5M from the Klan. The only difference is that the Klan of America incited violence against non-whites while Islam incites violence against non-Muslims. BOTH are hate crimes.

America needs to get smart and sue the mosques and their hate book, the Qur'an, out of existence.

Joe Bradley said...

Osama drones on about Miranda rights without fully understanding what the case of Miranda V. Arizona was about.*

The FBI is considering the larger issue of Islamic Terrorism and information that Tsarnaev may have regarding this issue even though any information gathered in the absence of the Miranda advisement will not be useable at trial.

*" . . . statements made in response to interrogation by a defendant in police custody will be admissible at trial only if the prosecution can show that the defendant was informed of the right to consult with an attorney before and during questioning and of the right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police, and that the defendant not only understood these rights, but voluntarily waived them."

Wikipedia

Osama, knowledge is power - Stop being powerless.

goethechosemercy said...

Islam is profane.
Mohammed is a false prophet.
The Muslim allah is a demon.
The beast of Revelation 20.
Muslim martyrs kill.
Christian martyrs die.

Anonymous Kafir said...

Thank you for the informative and thought provoking video.

Important points about Surah 5:33 also include it’s concept of legal jurisdiction, and the implications it has for the Islamic concept of sovereignty.

Surah 5:33 defines the following offenses:

"wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption" -Sahih International

"wage war against Allah and His Messenger and do mischief in the land" -Muhsin Khan

Is this intended to apply only to offenses in Saudi Arabia? Does this extend to offenses that occur in other countries such as Denmark or Thailand?

Surah 5:33 defines the following punishment:

“none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land” -Sahih International

"only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off on the opposite sides, or be exiled from the land" -Muhsin Khan

Are these punishments only to be implemented in Saudi Arabia? What about New York, or Boston?

This leads into the Islamic concept of sovereignty which according to Wikipedia, “differs from the western principles of international custom and law established by the Treaty of Westphalia”.

Traeh said...

Joe Bradley, I think you might be mistaken about the public safety exception to Miranda. I think when the public safety exception is invoked, the evidence thus gathered can be used at trial even though Miranda was not used. See
http://themoderatevoice.com/180621/the-public-safety-exception-to-miranda/

Traeh said...

Matt,

Muslims are not in a position to overthrow Western governments. The danger in Europe is more along the lines of their growing demographic influence on governments, and their imposition of censorship by violent intimidation:

Climate of Intimidation in the West: Muslim Death Threats against Journalists, Teachers, Artists, Politicians, and Others

Joe Bradley said...

Traeh, I stand corrected.

Daniel Calvert said...

It should be noted that, while scriptural source material can be cited with regards to killing other groups, or taking slaves, or any other unethical behavior in the modern context, that does not mean that every adherent to a given religion *interprets* those as applying in the modern context.

For instance, the Judeo-Christian scriptures can be cited for *justifying international slave trade* and *the death penalty for adultery* and *slaughtering children in nearby countries* but, as I am sure you are well aware, much of that has simply fallen out of favor like deactivated genes in the religious genome. People who call themselves Jews and Christians carry those scriptures with them to synagogue and church, but they for the most part do not interpret them as being currently applicable. The modern context has changed the interpretive methods.

Therefore, the millions of Muslims who live in America should not be collectively treated as enemies of the state simply because a handful of them choose to interpret their scripture in such a way that deems violence necessary. The fact that there are not hundreds of terror attacks a month on US soil clearly indicates that the vast majority of US Muslims do not interpret their scripture the same way as the Chechen brothers in Boston.

As an ethical thought experiment, imagine if Judeo-Christian believers were treated as followers of a violent, evil religion because of *ethically compromised scripture* and *abortion clinic bombers* and *Westboro Baptist Church*. This would not be allowable given that most people know, and therefore care about, self-described Christians who edit scripture for the modern context.

David Wood said...

Daniel,

Absolute nonsense. You're acting as if the Bible commands us to fight and kill, but that we just don't like doing that anymore. Ridiculous. The final marching orders for the Christian are to love everyone, to harm no one, and to live in peace with everyone. I challenge you to find one command THAT IS DIRECTED TOWARDS CHRISTIANS that commands us to fight or kill anyone.

Muhammad's final marching orders, however, are found in Surah 9 of the Qur'an. Here Muslims are commanded to violently subjugate all non-Muslims. Hence, while many Muslims do not follow (or even know about) the Qur'an's commands to commit violence, this situation is hardly parallel to that of Christianity (as you have mistakenly claimed).

Traeh said...

Daniel, your post is well-written, but based on a number of false assumptions.

One of them seems to be that Christianity and Islam have roughly equivalent doctrinal content, when it comes to freedom and totalitarianism and violence. That's just not true. Even if Christianity and Islam are both a tissue of fantasy, Christianity, for a variety of reasons, leads over the long run toward open societies. Islam leads toward closed societies.

Traeh said...

goethechosemercy -- what is the origin of that nickname? And how did Goethe choose mercy?

Richard said...

I am not an American, but can some American tell me how it is part of the duty of an American President to "combat" the negative stereotyping of Islam "wherever it may appear"?

Is this one of the very important duties of an American President? Or indeed is it a duty at all? Does this not violate the basic principle of separation of Church and State where the State (represented by the President) cannot promote any religion, leave alone one that consistently attacks the U.S., democracy and democratic western states?

Hazakim1 said...

Daniel...using the standard liberal Westboro argument I see....yeah Westboro Baptist...a congregation of about 35 family members. Christians are ALWAYS attending the funerals of soldiers with "God Hates" signs. This Western concept that all things must be equal forces you to make such absurd comparisons. A church of 35 deranged family members vs. a well organized network of cells, political parties, military units and nations bent on seeing Muhammad's dream of Islamic domination come to fruition.....yeah....that comparison makes a lot of sense.

Billiegirlsoco said...

@Richard... it is not normally the United States President's duty to "speak for" any religion... what he is doing is wrong... and I wish all Americans would snap out of it and see him for what he truly is...

Billiegirlsoco said...

@Richard.. this is NOT something the United States President should be doing... and I wish the other half of this country would snap out of it before its too late...

Anonymous said...

David, as usual Muslims are targeting your video on youtube...they can't stand the truth

Ismael said...

They just blocked your video Understanding the Boston Bombing on YouTube.

Selecta Mark said...

Terror plot: Jail terms for Birmingham bomb plotters

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22290927

They'll be no 70 virgins in Prison!

Gatorvet said...

Even a brief study, of the circumstance and historical evidences of the past Crusades, centuries ago; spiritually minded believers cannot help but be reminded that the western agenda is a steady and continual campaign to colonize, with it's unholy ideology. Welcome to the modern Crusades, where the good guys and bad guys are defined not by the Popes of Rome, but by Zionist and dangerous false doctrines vomited out of mouths of deluded wannabe Christian sympathizers. May the God of Abraham, the God Issac, and the God of Jacob; cover His beloved and divinely elected, children within the shadow of His wings. Strong delusion is upon the world. Will the real terrorists please stand up!

Unknown said...

Woods, you really should make it so that if a reply was made to your comment, you'd get a notification via email (or something).

Richard said...

David you should really have transcripts of your excellent videos.

Maybe some kind person(s) could volunteer?

BlackmooreJoe said...

I look at all these comments and I want to ask one question. How many of you knew about this competition beyond the usual before the unfortunate event happened? It seems to me that this clearly shows that we are all risk-averse. In a normal situation, you can satisfy this by watching dangerous sports such as boxing. It can also be compensated by placing bets - https://melbet.com/ Such is human nature. You shouldn't fight it.