Groups

The hadith say this:

The Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: "Follow the way of the largest group of Muslims! For, he who deviates from this group will be thrown into Hell!" (Ibn Majah)

The Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) advised us to remain firm with the largest group of Muslims and remain steadfast upon their way in beliefs and in actions.

The Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: "Allah will never allow my Ummah to unite upon misguidance and incorrect beliefs. Allah's mercy, blessings and protection are with the largest group of Muslims. And he who deviates from this largest group of Muslims will be thrown into Hell." (Tirmizi)

The Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: "He who deviates from the largest group of Muslims, even as much as a hand span, has himself cut off his connection with Islam". (Abu Dawud)

But the Qur'an says this:

6:116 "And if you obey most of those on the earth they will lead you away from the path of God; that is because they follow conjecture, and that is because they only guess."

Anyone else see a problem here?

Get away from me; I never knew you.

I've been thinking all week on the ever-worsening reputations of Muslims in society at large. It occurred to me that non-Muslims associate all Muslims as one big group, with no different interpretations of the Qur'an, and that we are not viewed as normal people of faith with a random extremist thrown in -- we're viewed as extremists with a random rational person thrown in. Why?

I think this is because the ummah, generally speaking, accepts and defends people who claim the label of "Muslim", regardless of what their actions proclaim their true beliefs to be.

This also ties in with the question I've gotten from Muslims regarding my military service: "How can you fight against and kill your fellow Muslims?"

Answer: Extremists and terrorists are not my fellow Muslims. By committing (or attempting to commit) violent acts that will injure and/or kill innocent people, they show themselves to not be Muslims at all, just blood-thirsty, sick individuals who try to claim theological justification for their horrifying actions.

As Muslims, we should vocally and persistently deny these people who have the audacity to say they are also Muslims. I know that it's hard to do when the media doesn't want to show ANYTHING positive about Muslims, including us denouncing such violence. But if we don't do it, people are still going to accuse us of standing silent, and thereby condoning what has been done. Should we apologize for what they do? No, because when we apologize, we are saying that we are somehow also responsible. Don't take responsibility for one person or handful of people's personal choices! Christians don't feel the need to apologize for the existence of the KKK, the actions of Jim Jones, Anders Behring Breivik, the Army of God, the hatred and bigotry of the Westboro Baptist Church, or any of the other groups or individuals who act in ways completely contradictory to the teachings of Jesus. So why do we feel obligated to apologize for our own handful of crazy people?

I say: If you commit or intend to commit violent acts of terror against innocent people, YOU ARE NOT A MUSLIM. You are not my brother or sister in Islam, because your behavior shows that you do not believe in peace, acceptance, forgiveness, and working with those of different faiths to find our common ground. You are just a psychopath, and your beliefs are NOTHING like mine.

To paraphrase the words of Prophet Jesus, "Get away from me; I never knew you."

It's called Google, people.

Ten years. Ten years we've been at war with extremists in predominantly Muslim countries.

After all those years, don't you think that all military and DOD civilians should be able to tell if a book is a copy of the Qur'an? You only need to read two words: "Al-Qur'an al-Kareem". That's it. If you are tasked with disposing of copies of the Qur'an because said books had extremist sentiments scribbled in them by detainees, and you know that the Muslim populace of the country gets PISSED if you disrespect their holy book, don't you think you should...oh, I don't know... find out proper disposal procedures? Even if there weren't a few hundred locals on post you could ask, there's always our good friend Google. But you couldn't be bothered to find out. Why surprised, then, when some of the local nationals who work on the base find the half-burnt Qur'ans and word spreads like wildfire?

BAF, you are fail.

On another note, let me tell you about the guy who came through my line at work last night. He walked up to my register with his stuff and asked "What's that thing on your head?" When I told him it's called a hijab and that I am a Muslim, he said -- get this -- "Oh, is that like Buddha, then? You rub his belly for luck and pray to him?" >>>>>>.<<<<<<< REALLY?!?!?!?! My answer: "No."

He was all "I don't mean to be rude, I'm just curious", but his tone was rude and he had a smirk on his face the whole time. Either he was intentionally being a moron or he REALLY needs a copy of "Islam for Dummies: Redneck Edition". *facepalm*

EDIT: I just read that two soldiers (reports on whether they were NATO or American vary) have been killed, bringing the combined Afghan and coalition total to 14 since this riot began 3 days ago. May Allah grant them peace in the next life and forgiveness for their killer. InshaAllah there will be peace in Afghanistan one day.

Half a baby step forward, 200 steps back.

You know, some days I think the image of Muslims in society at large is improving and that people are starting to realize that Muslims are normal people with jobs and families and mortgages and prayers to say and lawns to trim and litter pans to clean--- and then the news puts out an article like this and calls a terrorist and would-be murderer a "devout Muslim". -.-

The title of this article? Underwear Bomber Abdulmutallab: "Proud to Kill in the Name of God"

http://news.yahoo.com/abdulmutallab-proud-kill-name-god-154229013--abc-news.html

>.< Glad I'm going to the mosque tomorrow...

Paws 4 Pogo

A friend of mine, Mandi, is a 100% service-disabled Navy vet. Her service dog, Pogo, is a rescue who was later trained to her current occupation. Pogo has a torn ACL (ligament) in her leg and needs a very expensive surgery ($3,500) to have it repaired. Due to her disabled status, Mandi is unable to work and is on a fixed income. She can't afford Pogo's surgery alone, and is largely confined to her home without her service dog due to her disability.

Here's where we can help! A fundraising campaign has been started at:

Paws 4 Pogo - Fundly.com

If you can donate, please consider doing so. Pass the word along to your family and friends through social networking. Please help us to reach our goal ASAP, as Pogo is in a lot of pain and suffers each day that she doesn't get this surgery.