Can A Muslim Do Wrong?

[burns]

Originally posted by Amar-Sonar-Bangla

Burns, yes, I believe that there are certain interpretations of Islam current today, which can lead to evil. But then, I am hardly alone in thinking that. If Islam were perceived as some monolithic system of guidance, one would have thought Muslims worldwide would rise to implement such a system? Yet not one Muslim society or polity the world over has done so to even a halfway decent point.

Islam can be misinterpreted – we have the ‘freedom’ to follow however which way we please. We can, if we like, rape a woman and say we are doing gods work. Its a central aspect of islam – The freedom of choice.

Is it your argument that the Quran and Sunnah isn’t ever misinterpreted? That it’s only ever interpreted and that every interpretation can correctly be called Allah ta’s wish?

Or is it that you wish Islam wasn’t open to interpretation? That we should be as robots? The latter is a view I can kinda sympathise with cos that would wipe out all evil.

U see, I get the feeling, where I would maintain that a Muslim is responsible for the evils he does you would maintain that he was Islamicly justified in doing the evil bcos its his interpretation ie Islam is justifiably responsible for his sins.

You believe Islam is at fault for allowing itself misinterpretation. In fact you would go further and say that Islam promotes certain evils. I am genuinely confused as to how you can follow a religion that you believe is responsible for many of the worlds crimes.

(now there is the question of whether or not God is responsible for all evil – that’s a separate question and I don’t think it’s the one your asking)

Originally posted by Amar-Sonar-Bangla
If they are following the tenets of their faith eg. in war it is permitted to take slaves, indulge in rape, murder and forced transfer of non-Muslim civilians, the fault lies, at least in part, in their faith. It is fact that during the Prophet (PBUH) time, he and the companions undertook actions which can be interpreted as the above.

If I thought Islam was a religion that accepted and prompted the things you mention above I couldn’t be a muslim. If I thought that the Prophet had raped or that his closest companions had raped I couldn’t be a muslim.

Do you believe that the Prophet committed these crimes or sanctioned them? Im specifically talking about “indulging in rape” and “murder (unjustified killing)”. Do you believe that he did those things and if you do where does that live ur Shahada

And if you don’t believe he did those things do you believe that there are some that have misunderstood the history we have (that’s if you believe in misinterpretation).

[Hasan_Ali_Imam]

Assalamu Alaikum,

Interesting discussion.

I agree with the contributors that Muslims are only human and can do wrong. So God in His mercy forgives our sins if we are sincere.

Regarding justice and equality, it depends on which yardstick we use. Ideally, Muslims should be using God's yardstick as He knows best what justice and fairness are. God, in His wisdom allowed Polygyny (Men having multiple wives). This is justice and fairness for us according to His standard, and who knows better what is fair for us other than our Creator, who is independent of time and trends?

Now, let us use the Western secular model as a yardstick. In this model, Polygyny is unfair because only men have the right to have multiple partners. And if a society believes in equality then either women must have the right to have multiple husbands or men should not be allowed to have multiple wives. The secular model has opted for the banning of bigamy because it deems it as unjust. Instead we have a situation where men can have as many girlfriends as he wants or they can commit adultery without any retribution from the law. Likewise prostitution is legal and looked on as a service provider for men (including married men with one wife) etc. In the overall scheme of things, can this society be deemed as fair and just?

Let us therefore have recourse to the Creator of the universe. Not all women object to polygamy. I have been in touch with a sister who is in a polygamous relatonship and she said she and her co-wife are happy. Like, monogamy, if polygamy is practised properly then the relations between the co-wives can be friendly. It takes a unique man to look after more than one wife and it takes a unique woman to be a co-wife. Such people do exist and let us support them....God certainly has!

Wassalam
Hasan