Intolerance and Moderation

I have asked a question here on this blog in the poll – if the clash of civilizations is real or not… and though I know many people read – only a few have really answered the poll!

If the this incident of the decree against this convert from Islam to Christianity for death is not a sign of that – I dont know what is? And what surprises me is that a moderate in Afghanistan is talking the way he is doing!

I honestly feel something is awry in the Islamic world – but none is there to acknowedge it.. here is an example of the mindsets even among the educated and “moderates”.. and the way they quote the texts (its regarding Dr. Sultan – another potentially hot potato in the Islamic circles these days)

Wafa Sultan’s view does not surprise me as she has already stated her apostasy from Islam,

I lost my trust in their god and began to question all our teachings. It was the turning point of my life, and it has led me to this present point. I had to leave. I had to look for another god…

although the Qur’an states,

Those who reject Allah, and hinder (men) from the Path of Allah, then die rejecting Allah,- Allah will not forgive them (Qur’an: 47:34).

and then the blogger goes on to say this in the comments section:

Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said: “When you see an evil act you have to stop it with your hand. If you can’t, then at least speak out against it with your tongue. If you can’t, then at least you have to hate it with all your heart. And this is the weakest of faith.” (Muslim)

What I dont get is HOW can a Person of God talk at all of hatred? Why would you or how could he even suggest that someone needs to be hated?! What is wrong with this picture here??

Here is the effect of what such interpretations of the texts bring on in the real world – note the pronoucement of the Moderate cleric!

Senior Muslim clerics are demanding that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity be executed, warning that if the government caves in to Western pressure and frees him, they will incite people to “pull him into pieces.”

In an unusual move, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned President Hamid Karzai on Thursday seeking a “favorable resolution” of the case of Abdul Rahman. The 41-year-old former medical aid worker faces the death penalty under Afghanistan’s Islamic laws for becoming a Christian.

His trial has fired passions in this conservative Muslim nation and highlighted a conflict of values between Afghanistan and its Western backers.

“Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die,” said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered a moderate and was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before the hard-line regime was ousted in 2001.