Twisting Islam to Justify Cruelty Essay - 1457 Words

Journal Article 1: Twisting Islam to justify cruelty Paul Sheehan in his piece titled ‘Twisting Islam to justify cruelty’ which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald (27/05/2013) responds to the 2013 murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, a British soldier, and explores the Islamic stance on the killing of non-Muslims. Sheehan argues that Islam advocates the murder of non-Muslims, and validates this view using the opinions of a Muslim cleric, Omar Bakri Mohammed, selected verses from the Qur’an and statistics from thereligionofpeace.com. Sheehan’s perspective, while evidently substantiated, generalizes the Muslim population and fails to acknowledge the complexity of Islam and its followers. Firstly, the writer is over simplistic in his approach†¦show more content†¦It can be seen that the Qur’an permits fighting is strictly defined, limited circumstances, such as military scenarios and in times of self-defense. It does not, by any means, promote rampant killing, but rather dissuades Muslims from doing so, as suggested through the following: â€Å"Fight in the path of God [Allah] those who fight you, but do not transgress limits for God does not love transgressors.† (Qur’an, Sura 2:190) Sheehan also fails to consider the many factors which collectively contribute to create a radical or terrorist. While he does acknowledge that Michael Adebolajo was a thug long before he gravitated to ‘Muslim Fundamentalism’, he ignores or overlooks the other issues, such as psychological problems, soci-economic issues and political agendas, which can contribute towards fundamental leaning. Journal Article 2: As a Muslim, I struggle with the idea of homosexuality – but I oppose homophobia In his opinion piece titled ‘As a Muslim, I struggle with the idea of homosexuality – but I oppose homophobia’ which appeared in the Huffington Post