Modi (Moderate): Mani, you look very pensive this morning.
Mani (Mainstream): I have a problem understanding something.
Modi: What is it you do not understand?
Mani: What does it mean when the Americans say our religion was hijacked?
Modi: The Americans do not quite understand Islam and our scriptures. They believe that some unscrupulous extremists have pushed everyone else away from the pulpit and the Mosque and are misinterpreting our scriptures to cause us to do things that are not called for in our scriptures.
Radi (Radical): I have listened to both Mainstream and Radicals and find they are not misquoting or misinterpreting anything. On the contrary, they are quoting exactly from the texts. Actually, they must quote directly because the people know these texts also and would know if something was not exactly as written.
Modi: Exactly. The Americans find it hard to believe that our scriptures would say such things as “kill them wherever you find them”. They do not understand that in Qur’an 2:191 the targets of the wrath are those Meccans who did not accept Islam and drove the Believers out of Mecca. In the Qur’an 9:5, of course, the targets became those who left the faith. That verse goes on to tell the Believers to let them alone if they rejoin the community and pay the tax. But today, the same ayats apply to those who fight against Believers militarily or economically.
Mani: I remember those ayats. Therefore, you are saying that the Americans hear or read our imams quoting from our scriptures and they say something has to be wrong, that our scriptures really do not say those things, when indeed they do. Remember also that our Most Beloved on his deathbed (T1834) declared there should only be one religion in Arabia. Many, many people object to Americans and others putting foot on Arabian soil because they are not Believers. Americans would never understand that.
Radi: Those people must be stupid.
Modi: The people are not stupid, Radi. They are not taught in school all of the things they need to know in order to understand the world they live in. The children of Christians and Jews are taught to despise Christianity and Judaism. Some American public schools actually teach Muslim subjects and Islam appreciation.
Mani: That’s nuts!
Modi: Now what, pray tell, would happen if a new imam began preaching in a Madrassa or a Mosque and told the students not to believe the scriptures or follow the religious traditions?
Radi: I would slice off his head, quickly
Mani: He would not last until the next class.
Modi: Our religion is protected everywhere. The smallest insult is met with outrageous wrath and violence, even death. The other religions are open for criticism, which means we can insult them as much as we want. The Europeans found out very quickly that their religion can be defiled in the most humiliating terms, while ours can not even be mentioned negatively.
Radi: That is as it should be. We are the premier religion.
Modi: Not on your tintype, old pal. The premier religions are those faiths whose adherents are strong enough in their faith to laugh or at least walk away from the worst insults with no thoughts of retaliation. Their faith is not at all threatened by adversity.
Mani: What the hell is Radi’s tintype? Look, you have him looking all over himself, trying to find it.
Modi: If I say Radi is an idiot and he is your friend, what do you think I mean? Have I truly insulted him?
Mani: Not really. We are three very good friends and we take a lot from each other—and incidentally, we expect to take a lot from each other and accept minor name-calling as friendly gibes. As I recall, Radi threatens to behead you at least once every day. He is still looking for his tintype.
Modi: Christians and Jews tell jokes about each other all the time and many times repeat jokes about themselves. I have seen very silly jokes about Moses on American TV and no one seems to care. The Christians have witnessed some very improper images of Christ and of His Mother, Mary—very indecent stuff. Apparently, the only concern from the Christians is that public funds were used to pay the artists.
Radi: That is showing disrespect for the religion. Hey! What is my tintype?
Modi: It’s an old and rediscovered photographic process (ferrotype). When one says “not on your tintype” you assume you are holding your own photo in your hand, thus the expression could simply mean “not on your life.” Radi, religions are supposed to survive people poking fun at them or even badly insulting them. Religion, remember, is tolerance and patience. Religion has to be bigger than disrespect or insults. If not, one could naturally suspect a lack of confidence in itself.
Radi: Insult my religion and I will kill you—and it is my duty to do so.
Modi: I know, Radi, I know. That is the problem. Your religion should be able to withstand scrutiny, insults, and even condemnation. By showing anger and violence, Radi, you are saying your religion is not strong enough to ignore those things.
Mani: Modi, Radi has it right. It is his duty to do something about any insult to our Most Beloved, Allah, or the religion. It is written.
Modi: I know. You are referring to Surah 33, specifically ayat 57. I keep looking at that Surah repeatedly with wonder. I do not feel comfortable quoting from it.
Radi: What is wrong with you? You are now insulting our sacred documents. I should remove your head.
Modi: Radi, what I said was I am not comfortable with it. Many people have died because of that ayat, and I am not at all convinced that such general killing was intended. Allah loves His people and He is merciful. To ask a question about an ayat or a complete Surah could not possibly cause Allah to blink an eyelid. Don’t you ever look at Allah like a kind, old grandfather that takes you on His knee and explains how things work?
Mani: Don’t say things like that; that is terrible—insulting.
Modi: Allah knows what is in my heart and understands my quandary. You do not understand. If Allah wanted me punished, there are millions of stars that could fall on me, thousands of thunderbolts that could rip me apart, and untold numbers of other accidents that could befall me. What you can do to me in this life is like a pebble on the beach to what Allah could do without lifting a finger. Therefore, one wonders how we humans dare to consider killing a person because we think he insulted Allah or the Prophet.
Radi: If I think so, he did. I will kill him.
Modi: Mani, I think Radi just insulted Allah. Should we kill him?
Mani: I think he did also. Well, we don’t want to, but it is our duty.
Radi: Now wait a minute. I did not do anything.
Modi: But we think you did, Radi. Can we borrow your knife?
Radi: You can’t do this to me!
Modi: If I call down the street that Radi insulted Allah, what would happen? Would they ask questions, or would they run down here with their knives bare?
Mani: Modi, you made your point.
Modi: Hopefully. However, this is only Monday. By Tuesday I will have to start all over again.
Radi: He is going to die today, now.
Mani: I thought you learned your lesson.
Radi: This time he’s insulting me!
HJS
Mani (Mainstream): I have a problem understanding something.
Modi: What is it you do not understand?
Mani: What does it mean when the Americans say our religion was hijacked?
Modi: The Americans do not quite understand Islam and our scriptures. They believe that some unscrupulous extremists have pushed everyone else away from the pulpit and the Mosque and are misinterpreting our scriptures to cause us to do things that are not called for in our scriptures.
Radi (Radical): I have listened to both Mainstream and Radicals and find they are not misquoting or misinterpreting anything. On the contrary, they are quoting exactly from the texts. Actually, they must quote directly because the people know these texts also and would know if something was not exactly as written.
Modi: Exactly. The Americans find it hard to believe that our scriptures would say such things as “kill them wherever you find them”. They do not understand that in Qur’an 2:191 the targets of the wrath are those Meccans who did not accept Islam and drove the Believers out of Mecca. In the Qur’an 9:5, of course, the targets became those who left the faith. That verse goes on to tell the Believers to let them alone if they rejoin the community and pay the tax. But today, the same ayats apply to those who fight against Believers militarily or economically.
Mani: I remember those ayats. Therefore, you are saying that the Americans hear or read our imams quoting from our scriptures and they say something has to be wrong, that our scriptures really do not say those things, when indeed they do. Remember also that our Most Beloved on his deathbed (T1834) declared there should only be one religion in Arabia. Many, many people object to Americans and others putting foot on Arabian soil because they are not Believers. Americans would never understand that.
Radi: Those people must be stupid.
Modi: The people are not stupid, Radi. They are not taught in school all of the things they need to know in order to understand the world they live in. The children of Christians and Jews are taught to despise Christianity and Judaism. Some American public schools actually teach Muslim subjects and Islam appreciation.
Mani: That’s nuts!
Modi: Now what, pray tell, would happen if a new imam began preaching in a Madrassa or a Mosque and told the students not to believe the scriptures or follow the religious traditions?
Radi: I would slice off his head, quickly
Mani: He would not last until the next class.
Modi: Our religion is protected everywhere. The smallest insult is met with outrageous wrath and violence, even death. The other religions are open for criticism, which means we can insult them as much as we want. The Europeans found out very quickly that their religion can be defiled in the most humiliating terms, while ours can not even be mentioned negatively.
Radi: That is as it should be. We are the premier religion.
Modi: Not on your tintype, old pal. The premier religions are those faiths whose adherents are strong enough in their faith to laugh or at least walk away from the worst insults with no thoughts of retaliation. Their faith is not at all threatened by adversity.
Mani: What the hell is Radi’s tintype? Look, you have him looking all over himself, trying to find it.
Modi: If I say Radi is an idiot and he is your friend, what do you think I mean? Have I truly insulted him?
Mani: Not really. We are three very good friends and we take a lot from each other—and incidentally, we expect to take a lot from each other and accept minor name-calling as friendly gibes. As I recall, Radi threatens to behead you at least once every day. He is still looking for his tintype.
Modi: Christians and Jews tell jokes about each other all the time and many times repeat jokes about themselves. I have seen very silly jokes about Moses on American TV and no one seems to care. The Christians have witnessed some very improper images of Christ and of His Mother, Mary—very indecent stuff. Apparently, the only concern from the Christians is that public funds were used to pay the artists.
Radi: That is showing disrespect for the religion. Hey! What is my tintype?
Modi: It’s an old and rediscovered photographic process (ferrotype). When one says “not on your tintype” you assume you are holding your own photo in your hand, thus the expression could simply mean “not on your life.” Radi, religions are supposed to survive people poking fun at them or even badly insulting them. Religion, remember, is tolerance and patience. Religion has to be bigger than disrespect or insults. If not, one could naturally suspect a lack of confidence in itself.
Radi: Insult my religion and I will kill you—and it is my duty to do so.
Modi: I know, Radi, I know. That is the problem. Your religion should be able to withstand scrutiny, insults, and even condemnation. By showing anger and violence, Radi, you are saying your religion is not strong enough to ignore those things.
Mani: Modi, Radi has it right. It is his duty to do something about any insult to our Most Beloved, Allah, or the religion. It is written.
Modi: I know. You are referring to Surah 33, specifically ayat 57. I keep looking at that Surah repeatedly with wonder. I do not feel comfortable quoting from it.
Radi: What is wrong with you? You are now insulting our sacred documents. I should remove your head.
Modi: Radi, what I said was I am not comfortable with it. Many people have died because of that ayat, and I am not at all convinced that such general killing was intended. Allah loves His people and He is merciful. To ask a question about an ayat or a complete Surah could not possibly cause Allah to blink an eyelid. Don’t you ever look at Allah like a kind, old grandfather that takes you on His knee and explains how things work?
Mani: Don’t say things like that; that is terrible—insulting.
Modi: Allah knows what is in my heart and understands my quandary. You do not understand. If Allah wanted me punished, there are millions of stars that could fall on me, thousands of thunderbolts that could rip me apart, and untold numbers of other accidents that could befall me. What you can do to me in this life is like a pebble on the beach to what Allah could do without lifting a finger. Therefore, one wonders how we humans dare to consider killing a person because we think he insulted Allah or the Prophet.
Radi: If I think so, he did. I will kill him.
Modi: Mani, I think Radi just insulted Allah. Should we kill him?
Mani: I think he did also. Well, we don’t want to, but it is our duty.
Radi: Now wait a minute. I did not do anything.
Modi: But we think you did, Radi. Can we borrow your knife?
Radi: You can’t do this to me!
Modi: If I call down the street that Radi insulted Allah, what would happen? Would they ask questions, or would they run down here with their knives bare?
Mani: Modi, you made your point.
Modi: Hopefully. However, this is only Monday. By Tuesday I will have to start all over again.
Radi: He is going to die today, now.
Mani: I thought you learned your lesson.
Radi: This time he’s insulting me!
HJS
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