America's Islamic Problem
Before I discuss the problem I believe we have with Muslim immigrants, I would like to define myself before others do it for me. I am a non-church going Christian male who prays regularly. I believe Jesus is God, but I do not believe you need to believe this to be saved. To me, the teachings of Jesus can be summed up in two commandments. First, love your Creator (God, Allah, or other) with all your heart and soul. Second, love your neighbor as yourself. This means to treat everyone as you wish they would treat you
In regard to other religions, I have no problem with any of them and wish their followers well as long as they leave me be.
Politically I am a Libertarian which means I believe in a small, non-intrusive government. The main responsibility of the federal government is to defend our country which includes controlling our borders.
I consider myself a man of reason. When I debate with others, I always try to use logic and reason. After years of doing this, I have come to the realization that there are times when logical, rational people will not be able to agree. This normally is due to the fact that their different perceptions of reality and/or morality cannot be reconciled.
Lastly, I am not any kind of phobe, including xenophobe, homophobe, islamaphobe, or progressaphobe I love different cultures and have no animosity for anyone who does not want to hurt or change me and mine. I am for anyone who wants to come to America as long as they love our country and want to be a part of our culture. If they want to destroy us or change us into them, I would rather they stay out. Evidence of my inclusivity is that I have close friends whose personal views go from being born-again Christians to card carrying atheists (Ok, not really card carrying), including Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians.
In the United States today there is a debate on whether we should allow Muslim immigrants from the middle east and other selected parts of the world into our country. It seems to me that anyone who wishes to partake in this debate should know what Islam is. Having felt somewhat ignorant on the subject, I have spent a number of months studying it. This included reading all of the Qur'an at least once and selected passages numerous times. It also included studying the life of Muhammad, history of Islam, a number of Hadiths and the concept of Sharia Law.
So this is what I found out.
All Muslims believe that there is only one god who they call Allah, and Allah is the same God of the Jews and the Christians.
All Muslims believe that there are four holy books inspired by God. They are the writings of Moses in the Old testament, Psalms of the Old Testament (apparently some questions here), The New Testament (at least the teaching of Jesus) and the Qur'an. Muslims believe the first three books have included additions from the original and because of this there is some corruption, so they are not completely reliable. They believe that the Qur'an is the last and the greatest of these holy books.
All Muslims believe that Noah, Moses, Jesus and others were great prophets of Allah but that Muhammad was the last and the greatest.
Muhammad preached love, charity, humility and peace, as do most religions. That being said, he also preached there is a time for war. Of course this is not unique to Islam either.
So what about the Qur'an?
The Qur'an was written or dictated by Muhammad. There are several themes that are repeated over and over again, so it is pretty obvious what his position on these themes were. Christians and Jews would agree with much of what the Qur'an has to say. These positions are:
1. There is just one God (Allah) and He created all things in existence. He is the same God of the Jews and the Christians. Allah demands that we worship him and give him credit for all that is good. Allah knows your heart so while you can deceive other humans you can never deceive Him.
2. It is man's responsibility to take care of the orphans, poor and women.
3.Noah, Moses and Jesus were great prophets of God (Allah); Jews, of course, do not accept Jesus.
4.Allah demands that all people be kind to the weak and treat all with justice.
Where are the disagreements?
1.Mohammad is the last and greatest prophet.
2.Jesus is not God (Christians).
3.Women are subservient to men.
4.Muslims should not marry or be friends with non-believers.
If this is all there is to Islam, what is the problem? Though most Americans can find areas of disagreement, there is nothing that makes it incompatible with American life, as long as women have a choice in being subservient or not.
While there are many Muslims who stop here, there are many other Muslims who also believe in Sharia Law and a strict interpretation of the Qur'an.
What do I mean by strict interpretation? When Muhammad lived, the world was very different, so the idea that women should be subservient and men were responsible for their wellbeing made some sense if the society was to survive. I assume moderate Muslims, who want to be a part of western society, believe if Muhammad lived today this part of the Qur'an would be different. A strict interpretation would disagree with that view and would interpret it literally, regardless of modern views. This, of course, leads to major conflicts with western society today.
So what is Sharia Law, and are there countries that follow it? To the second question the answer is, yes.
As to the first, Sharia Law is based on several different factors. These are the following:
1. The life of Muhammad, which is used as an example on how to live a pious life.
2. The teachings of the Qur'an
3. Cultural traditions
4. The Hadith Volumes
What are the Hadith Volumes? These are thousands of sayings that are purported to be from Muhammad. Some are suspect and some are considered authentic. Who decides? Muslim Scholars, Imani, and others who are considered qualified. Do they all agree? No, but this is as with other religions such as Christianity where there are many different denominations that also have disagreements. In this, Islam is the same. Hence different countries and communities will have slightly different Sharia Laws.
That being said, Sharia law, in every place it is practiced, is quite similar. This includes:
1. Homosexuality is wrong and those who practice it should be punished. In over ten Muslim countries this includes the death penalty.
2. Women should be covered so as not to tempt men.
3. Punishment for thievery is severe, sometimes to the degree of having the hand cut off.
4. The practice of other religions is discouraged to the point that in some countries it is outlawed.
That leaves us with the uncomfortable fact that regardless of what our leaders in Washington, the media, and purported intellectuals tell us, what we call fundamental Islam is not a perversion of Islam but a logical and rational interpretation of it. Neither is it the view of a small minority but the view of a large minority, if not a majority in many countries.
The question is can the western nations live in peace with fundamental or radical Muslims who believe in Sharia Law?
Whereas I imagine moderate Muslims can and do logically and intelligently interpret Islam so that it can coexist with western civilization; I also believe that fundamentalist Muslims can logically and intelligently interpret Islam as meaning that it must destroy the non-believing westerners for their many sins against Allah. In other words, their interpretation is that our lifestyle is perverted, an affront to God, and therefore it is their duty to convert us or destroy us.
It would be foolhardy for us to let Muslims with this belief immigrate into our country.
Many of our leaders tell us that these fundamentalists are a very small minority and we can screen for them. Are they telling us the truth? As for the screening, the director of the FBI (James Comey) and other experts state there is not enough information to do this with many middle eastern refugees.
So what do modern Muslims believe? There have been a number of international and national surveys on Muslim attitudes. Most of the data I am going to use comes from The Pew Research Center, The Polling Company and the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) all of which are mainstream polling and/or research firms. My data on homosexuality comes from Erasing 76 Crimes, which is an organization that is a pro-gay rights group trying to repeal anti-gay laws around the world. I have more information on the data as well as links to where it can be found at the end of the article for those who are interested in the specifics.
So is it true that fundamental Islam which can include the killing of non-believers and homosexuals is extremely rare and does not follow Islam? Is it true that only a very few of the radicals will be among the refugees from the middle east and specifically Syria? Will the vast majority of these refugees accept our western values and fit into American main stream society?
The data shows that that over 70% of middle eastern Muslims believe that Sharia Law is the revealed word of Allah and 49% believe it should be the law of the land. Over 90% of Muslims from the middle east believe that homosexuality is wrong. At least ten countries in the middle east and northern Africa allow for the death penalty for homosexuality; all of them are majority Muslim countries.
In America, regardless of the left-right bickering, we all believe that women and men are equal in the eyes of the law and virtually everything else. More women than men graduate from college and stand shoulder to shoulder with men in day to day life. One of the questions on one of the Pew surveys is the following: “Must a wife always obey her husband? The sample countries from middle east and north African countries averaged 86% saying wives should be obedient to their husbands at all times. 14% disagreed. How will they fit in? Will they do as they do in Europe and form enclaves and try to get Sharia Law for themselves, even when it goes against the Constitution? Is it wise to bring refugees into this country who would replace our laws with their laws?
The single greatest factor we need to take into account on letting these middle eastern refugees into our country is terrorism. ISIS proudly admits that it is trying to sneak some of its people into Europe and the US, mixed in with the other refugees. In Paris two of the attackers were tentatively identified as Syrian refugees who came through Greece. There is reason to believe the passport of one of them was fake. This brings to the fore two questions: are terrorists coming in with the refugees and does our vetting system work? The answer to the first is almost assuredly they are. The answer to the vetting, though our president says it works, is that the vast majority of the experts, including the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul and the FBI director James Comey, say it is inadequate.
What is the attitude of Muslims in general concerning the use of terror? According to the Pew Research Center over 20% of Muslims across the world believe it is acceptable to use violence, including bombings, to defend Islam. Even more disconcerting is that 29% to 35% of young Muslims in selected European countries agree. Lastly, the BBC Radio reported in 2015 that over 40% of British Muslims believe violence against the west is acceptable.
So after having studied Islam for the past several months and researched surveys from main stream polling groups, my opinion is that it would be insane to let middle east Muslim refugees into this country until we get a better understanding on what is going on and develop a vastly superior vetting system. Let me iterate that I truly believe there are many foreign and American Muslims who can, and do, fit into our American society. Still, there are enough who don't to cause us grave concern, and until we know who is who, we should keep all refugees out. Where is my reasoning and logic wrong?
This is the end of my musing; the rest of the article is for those who want to check out my data sources.
Sharia Law:
Close to 70% of Middle Eastern Muslims believe Sharia Law is the revealed word of Allah. Over 70% of the middle east Muslims believe Sharia Law should be the Law of the Land. Of those that believe this:
At least 47% believe Sharia Law should apply to non-Muslims.
Over 60% believe adulterers should be stoned.
Morality of Homosexuality:
According to the Pew Research Center (respected by both the left and the right) 75% of all Muslims believe homosexuality is immoral. Over 90% from the Mideast agree with this. At least ten countries in the Middle East and northern Africa allow for the death penalty for homosexuality; all of them are majority Muslim countries. In 76+ countries in the world homosexuality is illegal.
https://76crimes.com/76-countries-where-homosexuality-is-illegal/
Muslims' View concerning Women:
There were three areas that I looked into concerning this. They are: Inheritance, Obedience, and Covering of the face. Since the Qur'an is very specific on these areas it makes sense that the more fundamentalist Muslims believe in following the strict interpretations.
Should sons and daughters have equal inheritance? These surveys were done only in Muslim majority countries. The opinion varied greatly from country to country. The country with the highest agreement was Turkey at 88% and two tied with the lowest at 15% (Morocco and Tunisia). The sample countries from Middle East- North African countries averaged 26% saying women should have equal Inheritance to men. 74% said they should not.
Should Muslim women have a choice about covering their faces? Again, the countries varied greatly with Bosnia-Herzegovina being the highest at 92% and Democratic Republic of the Congo being the lowest at 29%. The sample countries from Middle East- North African countries averaged 60% saying it is the woman's choice. 40% disagreed.
The last question is: Must a wife always obey her husband? Only three out of twenty-three countries had agreement less than 50%. The highest was Malaysia at 96% and the lowest was Kosovo at 34%. The sample countries from Middle East- North African countries average 86% saying wives should be obedient to their husbands. 14% disagreed.
http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-women-in-society/
The Killing of Non-Believers:
The following surveys do not say what percent want to kill us but it does say what percentage think it is acceptable.
Data from the Pew Research Center says that 47% of Bangladeshi Muslims believe violence, including suicide bombings, are justified in defending Islam. 25% from Tanzania and Egypt say the same as well as 20% from Turkey and Malaysia. What is even scarier is that 29-35% of young Muslims in selected European countries agree.
Pew Research (2014): 47% of Bangladeshi Muslims says suicide bombings and violence are justified to "defend Islam". 1 in 4 believed the same in Tanzania and Egypt. 1 in 5 Muslims in the 'moderate' countries of Turkey and Malaysia.
Pew Research (2007): 26% of younger Muslims in America believe suicide bombings are justified.
35% of young Muslims in Britain believe suicide bombings are justified (24% overall).
42% of young Muslims in France believe suicide bombings are justified (35% overall).
22% of young Muslims in Germany believe suicide bombings are justified.(13% overall).
29% of young Muslims in Spain believe suicide bombings are justified.(25% overall).
http://www.pewresearch.org/files/old-assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf#page=60
The Polling Company's data collected in 2015 says “25% of Muslim-Americans say that violence against Americans in the United States is justified as part of the "global Jihad (64% disagree).”
BBC Radio reported in 2015 that 45% of British Muslims believe that clerics preaching violence against the west represents mainstream Islam.
http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/bbc-radio-4-today-muslim-poll/
World Public Opinion (2009): 30% of Palestinians support attacks on American civilians working in Muslim countries. 24% support the murder of Americans on U.S. soil.
Only 74% of Turks and 55% of Pakistanis disapprove of terror attacks against civilians on U.S. soil.
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/feb09/STARTII_Feb09_rpt.pdf
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