User talk:BrandonYusufToropov

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Archive1

"Hey, does User:BrandonYusufToropov reserve the right to delete, without explanation, material on his talk page that he, in his sole, exclusive, and perhaps even arbitrary judgment determines to be disrespectful or inappropriate?"

Contents 1 Your story 2 Eric Robert Rudolph 3 Hmmm 4 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

[edit] Your story

I read your story linked from Ibrahim's page. I wouldn't accuse you of being BhaiSaab. I do have a question for you. You disillusionment with Christianity is understandable. You might not be aware that the fact that the book of John is not a literal account was well known to early theologians of the church. I also believe Christianity to be bogus, not because of any of the arguments you raised, but because of the Old Testament. The consensus is developing now that the Israelites were originally Semitic polytheists like their neighbors, and they had their favorite god, the storm god Yahweh. Then at some point some of their leadership decided that in fact Yahweh was the only god. There is lots of evidence for this in the Old Testament, and you probably know where to read about it.

I also understand the pull of Islam. There are many compelling things about it. But as someone raised in a non-Muslim country, weren't you repulsed by the second-class status the Qur'an dictates for non-Muslims, and the injunction that apostates be put to death? In addition, you paid very close attention to the Gospel narratives and rightfully pointed out inconsistencies. Did you search for them in the Quran as well (they are there), before you embraced Islam? Arrow740 19:04, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

• Arrow, thanks for the nice note. Those who broadcast their discontent with Islamic punishments concerning apostasy have, I think, a flawed understanding of the history of the Islamic community in Medina, and, perhaps, a willful ignorance of the survival requirements of any nation-state, particularly an emerging one. Treason is treason, and that it is punishable by death is not, I think, a fact to be sugarcoated. We do not have an Islamic state today, however, so the question is moot.
• I was not in the least, and am not today, "repulsed" by the protection afforded to People of the Book under Islamic law, and I note with interest the thriving Christian and Jewish communities that persisted under various Islamic civil authorities down the centuries. There is apparently a group that followed John the Baptist (!) still functioning in Iraq -- assuming they haven't been blown up or anything in the late unpleasantness, of course. If you're truly interested in the plight of persecuted social minorities, you may well find them in Palestine and Abu Ghraib and various secret facilities in Europe.
• Finally, I have indeed searched diligently for inconsistencies in the Qur'an, and came away convinced, not of your position, but of the truth the message of Muhammad (pbuh). If you honestly believe you have found such problems (presumably in an English translation, for which we Muslims assume no responsibility), I can see how you might conclude that your best course would be not to become a Muslim. Personally, I have an aversion to the fire whose fuel is men and stones, so I urge you to study classical Arabic a little more carefully and then see what your take on the issue is -- and in the meantime avoid criticizing the traffic regulations until you have at least attained a driver's license for the locality in question.
• Ma-salaam, BYT 19:22, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Mash'Allah. BhaiSaab ^talk 19:29, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

It seems you agree with the scholarly consensus that Yahweh was originally a storm god of the Semitic pantheon. I'm not sure if the interpretation of the statements regarding apostasy implied by your first post is correct. At least it appears to clash with the view of the religious leaders of Afghanistan, who tried to execute a convert this year.

I don't agree with it or disagree with it. I don't know enough to have an opinion about it. As for Afghanistan, whenever it comes up in a conversation, I find myself doing my Humphrey Bogart imitation: (Arrow: "How would you feel if we invaded Afghanistan?" Yusuf: "There are certain sections of Afghanistan I'd advise you not to try to invade.") If you don't like the way people f$%k with you, then rule one would seem to be "don't invade their countries." Again -- concerned about the rights of oppressed minorities whose members actually have been tortured and put to death? I have a list for you.

Yes, I am concerned for them; I'll look at the list.

Great. Please comment. BYT 15:30, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

OK. Arrow740 03:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

[1]

That's horrific. Some of the worst things committed under Bush. Arrow740 03:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

[2]

There's something terribly wrong with the people who perpetrated those acts, and with any person who would abuse people under his power to that extent. That, at least, we can agree about. Arrow740 03:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

[3]

That's sad too. Both Jews and Muslims are committing atrocities over there; at least the Christians, Druze, and Bahai are staying out of it. Zionism was and still is a bad idea. Arrow740 03:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. We agree, then, that these are bad things. My question for you is: which would seem to be the more pressing global problem to you right now; the number of Muslim apostates being executed by Muslim politicians for renouncing Islam -- or the number of Muslims being beaten, tortured, falsely imprisoned, and murdered by non-Muslims? BYT 03:29, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

I guess you haven't heard about the apostate in question: he's Afghani. Arrow740 01:52, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm not running Afghanistan. There are a lot of things political leaders do that I would do differently. Were we talking about contemporary politics, or about Islam? BYT 15:19, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Islam. Arrow740 03:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Dhimmi status means a lot more than "protection," they also have to "feel themselves subdued." But since I haven't experienced it, let's forget it.

Good idea.

Indeed the fire apparently contains anything not divine which is worshiped, as well. You could be right that it is not possible to learn the contents of the Quran without learning classical Arabic. It is strange that only Muslims make this argument, though. Did you learn Koine Greek before rejecting the Bible, for example?

If I were persuaded that Jesus (pbuh) spoke Greek, I would have.

You said you were once Catholic. Maybe you weren't told that most Christian scholars have never understood the Gospels to be a literal account. The idea that a religion's holy book must be literally true to be true makes sense though. Arrow740 01:52, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't much care what most Christian scholars understand the Gospels to be. The texts were manhandled in a way that is unacceptable. BYT 15:19, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

The texts we have are actually essentially the same (this has been studied extensively; one later editor interpolated a story in John, that seems so be the most significant manhandling) as the ones that were written in the first century. The problems with the Gospels come from the original authors. Arrow740 03:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Not what I'm talking about. The reading I've done suggests a verbal tradition of "pearls" or sayings attributed to Jesus pbuh, a tradition that predates the Gospel narratives. Shoehorning these sayings into stories where they don't belong, or couldn't have been proven to belong, constitutes manhandling. Always this fixation on what was happening in 100 AD -- who cares? Not talking just about you here, but about the vast sea of academics and Christians who try to avoid the intellectiual responsibility to determine, not what the literary leanings of first-century church fathers were, but what Jesus pbuh actually was likeliest to have said and taught in 30 AD. BYT 13:04, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

I've found it reasonable that if the big three Muslim translators agree about a verse, it's safe to take their consensus as the meaning of the verse.

You are thus choosing to remain trapped in English, which is certainly your right. Chomsky points out that translation from any one language to another is quite literally impossible, inasmuch as language systems encode, not different vocabularies, but different worlds of experience. Nowhere, in my view, is this more true than in the Classical Arabic-to-English model. Do keep grinding that dead battery, though, and pumping the gas pedal.

Did you learn Arabic before becoming Muslim, or become Muslim with an incomplete understanding of the verses of the Quran? I'm taking Panjabi now because I'm considering Sikhism. Arrow740 01:52, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

A little, yes. But I certainly did not have, and do not expect to have, total mastery of Qur'anic Arabic. It's an interesting question how much Arabic I will have before Allah(swt) calls me from this joint, but alhamdullilah I'm learning more every day. Personally, I'm of the belief that the Qur'an is like an ocean that laps against a beach. Children (and knuckleheads like me) can play in the shallow waters; specialists can launch undersea missions to depths most of us will never fully comprehend. Will you deny me my tin pail and red plastic shovel? Mind is a good servant, a lousy master. (This is one of many intriguing points where Muslims and Zen Buddhists are in full agreement, BTW) BYT 15:30, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

That is an important truth about the mind. Since you started driving without a driver's license, to use your nice way of putting it, when you joined the ummah you were living by it. Arrow740 03:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

They seem to agree about this one, for example. Arrow740 07:50, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Not going to play, thanks. Suffice to say a) you're not going to find a verse I haven't looked at closely, including that one, and b) I'm still cool like unto Fonzie with following my personal decision as to what constitutes Divine Guidance. BTW, we do have classes here in my masjid for those who actually want to learn Arabic -- they take place from appx 6:15 - 7:00 am -- i.e., after Fajr. If you're ever interested, and ever curious about the status of your immortal soul after death, drop a line. If not (and this is ultimately your call, of course), then don't drop a line, and postscript don't make my talk page a hate site or a debate club over the merits of my faith choice, as that's bad maners. If you display poor manners here, PDYC (peremptory deletion of your comments) may ensue. Peace out, BYT 12:24, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Your response is strangely hostile for someone open-minded enough to adopt a new religion. I don't hate anyone. In fact I believe that God treats everyone equally regardless of religion, and so should we; after all, the religious beliefs of any particular person are determined by various factors, internal and external, some of which the individual doesn't control. Arrow740 01:52, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

"Hostile" is in the eye of the beholder. So is "snide," which is what I've been picking up here with your lectures about Yahweh and the church fathers. From my own side, you should know I've reached a point in my life where I will no longer a) undercut a given individual's beliefs unless asked specifically for my opinion about something or b) listen passively while people attack Islam to my face. You're a guest on this page, and so I believe your etiquette in dealing with such standards is your responsibility, not mine. That "strangely hostile" reaction you sense may be a reason for you not to have a conversation here. It is, however, what happens when you search out individuals to lecture about theology, or hold an entire faith system responsible for the actions (or, in this case, non-actions) of a small, carefully selected group, such as the Afghani jurists you identified. Finally, note that I didn't say you hated anyone -- I said you were trying to turn my talk page into a hate site, and the reason I said that was that that's where these kinds of rhetorical ploys are generally found. If you stop doing doing that kind of thing, we'll be fine. BYT 15:19, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Ploys? I'm not trying to lecture you. I read your website, linked from your userpage, where you eloquently discussed some of the aspects of the New Testament which should give anyone pause, and I responded to it. More fundamental problems with Christianity as a belief system arose a lot earlier than the first century. Modern textual criticism and archaeology have given us a clear picture of the worship of the ancient Israelites; their monotheism evolved out of polytheism. The other local cultures had paradigms similar to that of Israel, and some of their ancient texts have been discovered with similar stories (replace "Yahweh" with "Chumash" and "Israel" with "Moab," for example). Arrow740 03:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Right. You are responding. And I am responding your response. I am doing so by sharing frankly my discomfort with your blithe repetition of all-too-familiar rhetorical hot-buttons that I believe are designed, not for discussions with three-dimensional Muslims like me, but, rather, designed to further terrify non-Muslims already pre-disposed to be terrified of CARTOON Muslims. Cartoon Muslims slaughter apostates, or (gasp) think about doing so. Cartoon Muslims oppress Jews and Christians as dhimmies. The scripture of cartoon Muslims is a caricature of religious belief, deficient and extreme.

These are hate radio talking points, and when you use them, you should expect to polarize a dialogue, not improve its chance of resulting in meaningful communication. I'm glad you know what you know about the current theories on the ancient Israelites. That's not as relevant to me, though, as the irony that it is the three-dimensional Muslims who are ACTUALLY encountering the very abuses you appear to be ascribing to the hands of the cartoon Muslims. WE are the ones who are ACTUALLY being slaughtered and tortured. WE are the ones who have ACTUALLY been relegated to second-class status in Europe and North America. WE are the ones who are ACTUALLY paying the price for the scriptural dementia of milennialist Christians, such as the one currently inhabiting the White House. The more you sound like him, alas, the less attention I am likely to pay to your theories on archeology. BYT 03:29, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Qur'an is saga of the preaching mission of the Prophet Muhammad. As the basic principle of Tadabbur-i-Qur'an, every word can have multiple meaning, but if it is put it in a sentence and then sentence is put in the context and the text is also flawless then it should bring only one meaning. And the context of every verse in Qur'an is the life of prophet Muhammad himself. Hence, from this very view, Muhammad performed Itmam al-hujjah (completion of the proof) and then those people who denied were punished. These punishments are all discussed here:[4][5]. I am not an appologist and I don't think every Muslim should be! Polytheists of Arabia were persecuted and people of the book were subdued and similarly apostasy was also punishable by death. But can these punishments apply even afte the prophet and his companions (who, according to the Qur'an, were raised to the level of witness of the truth)? I, in this case, agree with Ghamidi that it cannot be applied. And those people who say that christians and jews shouldn't be friends according to Qur'an, they are understanding out of the context, as Qur'an also says that you can marry from people of the book hence if first is considered eternal directive, the second will be contested. But this is only because of our flawed understanding of Qur'an ,when we understand things out of the context. Cheers! TruthSpreader^Talk 11:29, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Eric Robert Rudolph

Hey Brandon, I've been doing some more research on the "Christian"ness of Rudolph. It is undeniable that his terror motivations were founded upon fundamentalist Christian ideologies but the closest reliable source that I've found that approaches establishing that he was indeed Christian was here with the line: "He said, 'I was born a Catholic, and with forgiveness I hope to die one.'". Are you aware of any other reliable sources that establish that he was indeed Christian at the time of his acts? (→Netscott) 22:00, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hmmm

Cause for concern. (→Netscott) 07:17, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Brandon, I know you've expressed an opinion about Ahmadinejad previoulsy regarding Holocaust denial so I was wondering if you might join this discussion? Thanks. (→Netscott) 04:40, 12 December 2006 (UTC)