If Islam is so vulnerable to misinterpretation, why not just avoid it?

All religions are vulnerable to misinterpretation. Musilms who believe Islam to be absolute truth should not avoid Islam because it is vulnerable to misinterpretation. Part of Islam (submission) is studying and meditating on the Koran and learning the true meaning of God's word.

You made a good point cannial, and I dont think I can really answer your question. For one I am not Muslim and I do not practice their religon. I am Christian so I can only say what I have to say from a Christian point of view. We are all individuals, we all think differently and act different. Peoples interpretation of the quran is different also. Some think it is peaceful and others think if they kill for their religon then they are blessed in the hereafter. That is when religous extremists come in. They misuse and distort the "words" of Allah, God or whoever. It happens in all religons. When you get extremists in the mess then they brainwash others to believe that way. Next thing you know there is a holy war. It is also hard to avoid something that has been around you your whole life. It becomes part of you so to speak. Some examples(from a Christian standpoint): The bombing of abortion clinics. Some people are so against the killing of the unborn that they murder women and think it is ok. That is an extremist. I am against abortion but I would not kill a woman to make a point! The KKK!!! Wonderful people huh? NOPE! They arent. They use bible scriptures to back up their racism. They distort the meaning of the scriptures to fit their lifestyles of hate. I believe that is what happens with ALL religons. You dont like what the holy one says so you "change" the meaning.

I have two takes on this. First, forget about organized crime, even an event as insignificant to us as naming a teddy bear, can make the Muslims see red. Yes, I am referring to the incidence of the British teacher in some predominantly Muslim school in some African country naming a teddy of her small pupils as Muhammad! Practically the entire Islamic population of the world went up in arms baying for her blood! How much more insecure can you get…Muslims defend it by saying that Muhammad is so dear to them that they cannot bear to see his name being misused! Oh yeah? Then what about the thousands of Muhammads who are crooks and criminals and thugs? Go and hang them first! Secondly, as you said, the latest defense for all those organized crimes is that Islam is being misinterpreted! Again, oh yeah? Then why don’t the ordinary Muslims go out on the streets against these Jihadi Mullahs and Madarsas and militants and tell them unequivocally, what is the truth in Islam! To me, monotheism is the only good point of Islam…other than that, whatever else humanitarian aspect that religion has, is there in all other religions minus the violence. I don’t know how Islam was years back but now, day by day, it’s the most insecure religion in the world from within. Remember the saying…empty vessels make more sound? Muslims are turning their religion into an empty vessel by reacting negatively to every small criticism of their religion and by confining themselves to the medieval times of the creation of their religion. They avoid every change like plague coz they are forever scared of their religion, their identity being blown away by the winds of change.

I like your question a lot, but even though I would tend to agree with you on a personal level, I don't think this is something practical from the other viewpoint. About why this is so, just think about it - Countless people have been brutally killed in the name of Christianity (witch burnings anyone?) and scores of communities wiped out forever, especially in Europe. Would you hold Christianity responsible for this? Would you say if it is possible to misinterpret the Bible so grossly, then we should leave it?

Hi, I am not a Muslim but I do not think that difficulty in interpretation is a reason to reject Islam. The works of Hussel, for instance, are far harder to interpret! all the best urban

In the Quran, there are those verses which recommend peace and friendly attitude and there are also those verses which recommend killing people. Violent people will get inspired by the latter. Moreover, we are largely influenced by people around us. Was it the muslim countries who started and developed weapons of war? Everybody knows that the christian countries did it. The muslim terrorist attacks are a crime against humanity and indeed surprsing that the 'good' muslims are not protesting. But then, do we need weapons of war in the first place? How many of us will protest against these weapons? How many of us really want to live in love and peace? The problem of Quran is that most muslims follow it blindly; without thinking any logical thoughts. But sufism, a small group of Islam does not read the quran blindly. Sufis are the most peaceful and spiritual people and if other muslims cannot take them as role models, then who is to blame? The point I am trying to make is; people will be violent, Quran or no Quran. Cruelty existed even fore Islam existed. The Quran is not the founder of cruelty and violence. If we wish for non-violence, then spirituality is the only solution. Through meditation and awareness, man reaches God who is called by various names 'Allah', 'Christ', 'Brahman or 'Tao.

Can I turn the question back to you? I talk to a lot of atheists and have learned that the term is very open to interpretation. Some believe that the end of life is the end of self awareness and nothing happens beyond the last breath we take. Others believe that our self awareness goes beyond the life of our bodies, but there is no god or supreme being. So, if atheism is so vulnerable to misinterpretation, why not just avoid it? Come to think of it, that might explain agnostics. ;~D

I have read a very hopeful side of Islam, its real challenge is releasing the hold of thousands of years of Dogma and human made orders that are not a part of the Quran. Now a lot of young Muslims are embracing new Ideas, breaking away from the corruptible ways of Clerics who can infect this Passionate religion with cruelty and Apathy. I hope that these young generation of New Muslims can make a breakthrough sometime soon, they need it because we in the outside world need to see the light that Islam emanates that makes it so dear to the hearts of these people. I can't remember if it was Time Magazine or some other reliable source, but the new Islam movement has even reach Arabia and its challenge now is Palestine and Afganistan. But surely I think in our generation there will be big changes in the Islamic religion that will allow it to rise up from all of this bad publicity. I had an ex who was Muslim, and she wasn't a fanatic...she was normal like anyone else. She was fortunate to be a part of a very liberal Muslim sect "Which I forgot what it was" but the bottom line is, free thinking muslims who can live with us side by side is not a dream it can be achieved we just need to wait and if a chance comes that they are asking help from the outside world we should not hesitate in giving them a helping hand :)

quran cannot be misinterpreted. allah has said categorically that quran is written in very simple, easy to understand arabic so that muslims understand it well and apply it in their life. Refer to 44:58, 54:22, 54:32, 54:40. so it is clear that whatever is written there is what it means. Literally. so there is no interpretation possible. if anyone interprets, then he is misleading humanity. so the interpretations of apologetics, intellectuals, secularists and thinkers (usually brainless or pea-brained) are wrong. quran has many messages that are directly anti-human and with a sole purpose of advocating violence against people of other faiths. they do not need any provoation to attack others, all that is required is that the other has to be of a different faith. What a wonderful philosophy of the god of the religion of peace! refining quran is not possible. for that to happen the world should be devoid of muslims. if refinement enters quran, it ceases to be quran. many verses have NO relevance to the chapter in which it belongs. rather than being a book of guidance, quran is more of a book of threats. and logicall fallacis.

Maybe because you need to misinterpret Islam to make it violent but (some) other religions need to be misinterpreted to make them peaceful.

Hi! I am a Moslem but i don't think becoming a Moslem is a big problem, to me. Yes, a lot of people accusing Moslem for doing so many crimes in the world. They're judging people whom they do not know and I think JUDGING and ACCUSING people without any basis is a crime especially in the eyes of our Lord!

Ok im a islam,but you cannot just simply target all Islam because of the terrorism, it's the person themselves.Did they even a Muslim Or Islam? maybe they just use the "islam" because Islam is famous in terrorism to get rid of their own problem.Well, i dont.And please do not target this to all Islam.Can you tell who the hell that try to take over Iraq? are they Islam or Muslim?

Bang !!!! This is the most logical discussion I have come across on mylot...... Well talking about Islam I wont say whether it is right or wrong......I think the Muslims themselves can tell whether their religion is doing good to them or bad...... If you see the statistics most of the terrorists are Muslims......and I guess it is written in the Quran somewhere(correct me if i am wrong)......."behead your enemies".....I wonder which religion will tell you to behead your enemies......I don't know about the other religions......but the religion I follow it certainly says that forgive your enemies.......and hence you wont find much retaliations and blood bath in Christianity......In my country there are some goon outfits like RSS,VHP which go on a killing spree as and when they want to and innocent Christians die every now and then..... Coming back to the topic I feel........let alone the terrorists.......even if we talk about Muslims, one word is enough to get their blood boiling.......they just cant take anything against them......they would always talk about killing,hitting and all such destructive words.......not all Muslims are like that, some are extremely good......but the problem is majority of Muslims are like that.......they just love getting into fights and hitting innocent people as and when they want to.....I have come across many such people...... If you talk about altering the Quran......I think personally no religion would like to edit their respective scriptures as they are supposed to be the word given by god himself........