blacklabman said:
Islam is a religion of the Dark Ages that cannot adjust to the modern world. That is except when it uses the weapons of the modern world to kill the innocents.
These are also unsubstantiated claims with absolutely no proof. Only a person of complete ignorance of Islam would make such weak and pathetic claims. I wouldn't be surprised if you've never even explored Islamic theology or jurisprudence at all and base almost all of your opinions on xenophobic, racist, and biased sources.
People shouldn't be honest enough with themselves to look past the hatred espoused by individuals such as yourself and explore Islam independently and judiciously to see if these absurd claims are even true or not. Doing anything less would be intellectually dishonest.
With regards to your second claims about killing innocent civilians, see the post above that contains extensive resources on the condemnation of terrorism.
With regards to your first claim, that Islam cannot adjust to modern life, this is equally absurd and equally reflective of your ignorance of this religion.
On the Claim that "Islam is Medieval, Not Modern"
Fire was discovered almost 4,000 years ago. No one in their right mind would say 'we don't need fire because its from pre-modern era'.
This dichotomy between modernity and traditionalism is completely fictatious.
Firstly, the theory itself is too abstract too apply. When does the modern era begin and when does it end? Is the modern era after the dismantling of the colonial apparatus? If so, then does this mean that our Constitution itself is not considered a 'modern document' and should be abandoned? I would think the reasonable person would conclude no. Even though the Constitution is an ancient document, it holds mechanisms within it adapt to change.
These terms 'modernity' and 'traditionalism' are invented terms that are painfully insufficient for describing the complex phenomenon erupting in the Muslim world today. The problems in the Muslim world are not due to a lack of technology and adapting to modern systems of government or economics, the issue is social injustice from internal and external causes. Social injustice is not limited to particular social models. Social injustice can result from modern paradigms just as equally as they can arise from ancient paradigms.
Secondly, and this is the most important reason why claiming that the struggle within the Muslim world is between the forces of modernity and medievialism is absolutely flawed,
Islam holds within it the very same legal mechanisms to adapt to new circumstances just like the Constitution. Islam has systematically established dominance ine very corner of the world at different times without abandoning its core tenets by adopting its legal rulings to the particular needs of the people. Through the institution of taqleed, Islam is able to retain a corporate coherency that other religions have been unable to attain (such as Christianity) while the doctrine of ijtehad (independent reasoning) enables Islam to adopt a flexibility that prevents the law from being inefficient and unjust (such as Judaism). When the Muslim community is faced with a novel problem or issue that isn't directly addressed in the primary sources of Islamic jurisprudence, then one can engage in
ijtehad or "independent reasoning." Thus, Islamic jurisprudence is constantly being adopted, reviewed, and revised in order to make it adapt to modern circumstances. This shows that Islam as a whole is far from being outdated, but rather, it is transcendant and can subsist throughout the ages and through out history.
Furthermore, the underlying objectives of Islamic jurisprudence are analagous to the objectives underlying Constitutional jurisprudence. For example, the Declaration of Independence establishes three primary objectives for our subsequent Constitutional jurisprudence which is to preserve life, liberty, and property. Islamic jurisprudence recognizes that the underlying objectives of the laws is the preservation of faith, life, family, property, and intellect. The Constitution contains such objectives as well in various clauses.
So to those who say that "islam is a medieval religion", really don't understand Islam. It contains legal mechanisms for adapting to any era or locality.