Why is this lady still walking around freely and not in Jail.She is proclaiming its okay to behead people if some one makes fun of her primitive beliefs.I dont see any hindus/christians walking around and killing because some one made fun of their beliefs.
Yes Zainab, why Muslims?
You should ask yourself and dwell deep into your religious texts.
Muslims always defend those verses saying that it has a context on which it was uttered rather revealed. So why Muslims do such henious things even when those contexts are not there now. As most commentators pointed out why Muslims only behave in such a way and not Jews, Hindus or Christians if their texts are also have mentions of violence and revenge?. If you manage to get the answers for those questions then you got your answers for all the points you posed in your article. You tried very hard to equate Islamic terrorism with IRA, LTTE and KKK. Do you want the readers to believe that you do not know while the first two were purely political campaigns and the last one was a cult. With which one you want to equate Islam. Off course not political then it should be a cult. Knowing the French fairly well I think, France showing the cartoons all over the building is not to provoke Muslims but to give a strong message to the world that they will not be coerced into submitting their Freedom of Expression every French hold so “sacred” to their hearts in the same ways Muslims hold their prophet and his text. Now I am not very good at Hindu texts, but I can tell about my Holy Bible. In Christianity we have a New Testament where our duties and responsibilities are laid out and Jesus neither preach violence or revenge nor His apostles testify anything of that sort. ” if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. … To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either…. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two” If you call this violence and revenge I do not have anything to tell. This is the context which Christians refer when Charlie Hebdo comes out with a cartoon ridiculing Christian icons and principles 100000xvulgar ways than they do with Islamic icons. Though the 10 commandments are in the Old Testament, it mostly narrates the history of God moulding and preparing the Israelites to receive the Messiah upon his arrival. Another point I want to bring to your attention is about Wali Rahman’s latest video he made in view of the French incident. I used to adore that guy for being very courageous, knowledgeable and his commitment. But in that video he started by saying “…the french teacher has insulted the prophet in front of his students….” Really? I lost all my respect towards that guy and stopped watching it, because I knew then how it will go. Why waste my time? This is how Muslims twists facts starting from a small boy like Wali Rahman to the most learned Islamic scholar.
I will conclude with narrating a real incident happened in my state about 10 years back that some Muslims chopped the hands (the punishment explained in Quran is to cut off the right hand and left leg or left hand or right leg as I understood) of a professor accusing him of blasphemy. Happened in the 21st century in the most literate state!!! The real problem was that the Islamic press and their leaders inflamed the situation into such an extend that some muslims “had” to take action. And we know how the politician behave when a gold platter is shown to them. The sad part is that the professor in fact have not done anything blasphemous. He was just copying a text from a book (interestingly written by a Muslim story writer and approved by the Kerala University as part of curriculum ) and giving it to his students for placing correct punctuations in the right place!!! If your prophet instruct his followers to chop a professor’s hand for giving a test to his students then you really need an introspection. Its reported once Yusul Al Qaradawi said in Egyptian TV that if death penalty is not given to apostates Islam would have vanished with the death of the prophet. I am sure you can verify this statement this statement of this scholar.
Problem is with religion itself. Article missed how Bhagwad Geeta and Manusmriti propagates casteism and those who try to break it are killed.
Those who are telling that Hindoos don’t behead someone for offending them. Muslim were lynched in India for mere suspicion of consuming beef by Hindus. Many Sikhs were killed for assisnation of Prime minister. Dalits who adopted Buddhism were massacred in Khairlanji massacre in Maharashtra. Many Muslim were killed in Godhra riots. How Buddhist religious places were destroyed which was built by Smart Ashok
Typical apologist for inhuman behaviour. There are muslims, who do think of humanity first, first majority of the muslims always discriminate between muslims and everyone one else as non-muslims. For these people, Human race is dividied into two- muslims and non-muslims. The things Zakir Naik used to say about other religions when he was in India, if same was said about Islam, we would have seen scenes like Bangalore all over India. She was quiet about what happened in Bangalore.
Our liberals fail to understand that individuals have special needs, but these liberals believe that the whole community has special needs. Wherever musims go and live the natives have to adjust to them, not the other way around. The so called liberal scandanavian countries are feeling the heat right now. They kept on preaching liberal values and when the problem reached their borders, they shut it down after the initial euphoria about immigrants.
The problem is not islamophobes, the problem is with followers of the faith, who find excuses to look the other way when barbaric things happen. She is being dishonest in claiming islamphobes using the verses to deride the religion. She should go and see the muslim clergy who interpret it the exact way she describes a islamaphobe. I dont see any outrage from her ilk towards this.
The first thing these liberals do is try show how other religions are bad as well, time and again these people use excuses of IRA and LTTE, to say they were not called christian terrorists or Hindu terrorists even when they bombed and killed. Can she say which god was invoked and which christian clergies and Hindu clergies condoled the killings as just and for saving the religion. You have heads of Muslim states justifying the be-headings and she says it is Islamophobia. There is no Islamophobia, the word is coined by the apologists like Zainab, who use the word to deflect the criticism coming to their ideals. It is more of demonophobia, fear of people coming and refusing to behave like humans, wanting a medieval culture within societies about which they have no understanding and refuse to understand. No one fears Islam, so dont go lying about Islamophobia, the people of fearful of demons who think they believe an absolute truth of one religion and kill others invoking their god.
As long as there are dishonest and lying closet bigots and apologists, who masquerade as liberals, we all are in danger and demonophobia is real.
Did Prophet Muhammad ask the 18-year-old Chechen-origin Abdoullakh Anzorov to behead 47-year-old Samuel Paty, a teacher? No. Did he form Al-Qaeda? No. Was he flying the 9/11 planes? No. Did he hijack IC 814? No. Then why insult the Prophet?
Hey Zainab. They said Allah asked them to. They are all believers in the words of the Prophet. They say Prophet tells them of Jihad. Maybe it was a caricature of those ideas instead of Prophet.
Similar caricatures exist of every religion from Charlie Hebdo. They are not scared for their lives from clerics of any other religion.l This is why it is about Freedom of Speech. A person writing about the most difficult ideas in a website whose editor has done some of the most important stories of our country, should understand freedom of speech better than this.
If you listen to Macron’s yesterday speech, he talked about values of gender equality, humanism, freedom of speech, and enlightenment. If it is offensive to certain muslims, they are extremists in the liberal world we live. And he was right to point that. I understand why you think France is bullying Muslims, but France cannot say “Hey bully us” anymore when they have gone through such terror in 13/11 attacks, charlie hebdo killings, and now the beheading of Samuel Paty, and Nice attack.
Do not compare Al Qaeda to KKK please. It is an attack on our intellect. We all know KKK doesn’t fly planes into Buildings. There are certain differences that you are sweeping under the rug. Please don’t act like we won’t notice.
I admire your strength to write this in this anti-Islam climate. However, I think this is a moment of total condemnation of actions by Extremist and adopt Enlightenment values by Muslims all over the world. I respectfully disagree with your stance, but I will stand with you on your right to say it. That is the Freedom of Speech we all seek.
Author and members of her mawali/maskin community are under siege of victimhood.
But she and her ilk are condoning violence and signing paean to these killers. As the world opens its eyes and sees the violent and barbaric face of a tribal fundamentalism this siege will get prolonged further.
Disingenuously she contradicts the content of Quran and finds solace in comparing apples to oranges.
Quran is clear on kafirs, non believers, muahrak worshippers and how their beheading is wajib o katl.
Believe me people of India are waking up and when everyone ones are opened you and your ilk will have to book one way ticket to where your ancestors came from.
As the saying goes ‘ no country for old man’ just use imagination. It’s going to be reality in near future. After congress mukt bharat that is the next logical step.
Totally agree on this. Gita is warmongers philosophy and even justifies annihilation. Most religious books incites violence somewhere. Buddhism is probably an exception.
Hi Sristi! Sorry to burst your bubble, but The Gita does not. The Gita is just ‘one’ book among many in Hinduism. I think you’ve failed to understand that this has been mistranslated. Dharma means ‘duty’ and not ‘religion’, Therefore, it is a sin to not perform one’s duty when one is required to. If you are working as a soldier, is it ot your duty to fight in battle? Likewise, Arjuna, being a warrior-leader of the Pandavas, was to fight the war for justice, not for religion. Think logically. The Kauravas were followers of Sanatana Dharma too. The idea of ‘religion’ itself wasn’t even prevalent 5000 years ago. Before criticizing something, please take out the time to truly understand what the text actually refers too. And FYI, Gita does not justify Annihilation. Just something you should probably look up too.
Dharma means duty of your current profile .Like same person has different dharma or duty in role be it fathers, teachers or soldiers duty or dharma
Dharma is not religion or faith
Macron knows what is best for his country. He and French public must do whatever it takes to secure their country. Wait and see the fruits of disastrous (so called humanitarian) gesture of AngelaMarckel of opening the floodgates of refugees into Europe.
I have been following zainab ma’am’s articles and her earlier youtube videos. I don’t agree with her politics or many of her views but i support her right to express them. Also i never thought she’d join the league of the likes of islamists. It’s sad. I will now come to the article in question point by point. I hope zainab maam and other reader will read them.
Comparing cartoons with porn and substance abuse is wrong for the simple reason being that the latter two actually are harmful to physical health. Publishing cartoons aren’t. And as per “attacking for no reason”…freedom of expression is freedom from having a reason and freedom from consequences. The author also asks how prophet is responsible…he is not. But when followers of a religion make it a point to kill people on his cartoons, a society like france is well within its rights not to bow down to terrorism.
The charge of Islamophobia doesn’t hold. No one is disenfranchising or showing supremacy over muslims in France. Which other muslim majority nations do to their minorities. And cartoons don’t constitute Islamophobia because they are not racist. The publication ridicules every religion.
The same old thing about “interpretations”. If there is so much headroom for interpretation between living peacefully on one end and bombing/killing people on the other hand, then may be the community and its religious leaders should plug the room for interpretation? Just a thought.
Also, you don’t get to go to a place and demand concessions. FoE without limits is a fundamental core for France’s society. It is their value. Just the way unbridled devotion for Prophet is yours. It’s not the french that are going to muslim majority nations and demanding FoE. It’s muslims going to a land of liberty and asking their society to impose limits on themselves. Illogical and unfair expectation.
There’s also a para trying to establish equivalence with Gita and other books. It’s just plain ignorant. Gita talks about duty and not religion. And its followers don’t consider it as the be all end all of life or that it is infallible. Every text, every God can be wrong is what the followers of Gita consider. So false and ignorant equivalence.
Now i will come to my concluding point. Those who sided against the cartoons have fundamentally done too much harm to the cause of coexistence. Clearly the values don’t and won’t match as people are ready to kill over it and also get huge support even from moderates and apologists.
Might i also suggest, a call for reformation, looking within for progress and change aren’t Islamophobic. As sad as it might sound to the author, islamists and even mainstream islamic leaders have done a lot of harm by not unequivocally condemning the killers but sound like apologists to terrors. Close to 6-7 bn people in the world don’t agree with that view. That’s how things are. When you act the way you are doing now, you will invariably push the otherwise open minded people to act “guarded” when they are with muslims. This will translate to more restrictions for muslims and less openness for other societies to accept them.
I hope the author shall ponder on this and not label me for my FoE to be a bigot or a racist or whatever.
Ms. Zainab Sikander is inching closer to be the next Zakir Naik.
She and others of her ilk are responsible for the crisis in Islam across the world. The educated and supposedly liberal Muslims never stand up to the Islamists. Rather they tacitly encourage through their silence or otherwise the rogue elements in their society to carry out violence targeting non-believers. They are found nowhere when Christians/Hindus/Sikhs are oppressed, violated and mutilated in Islamic majority societies such as Pakistan, Afghanistan etc. However, they are quick to jump to the defence of their co-religionists when any nation cracks down on Islamic terror.
And they have very able and vocal allies in the Left. The Left is primarily responsible for providing the intellectual defence of Islamism and Islamic terrorism.
Nonetheless, this article has confirmed what I have long suspected – Ms. Sikander is a closet Islamist. Someone who tacitly encourages and even welcomes violence against non-believers. Her commitment to free speech and freedom of expression has exposed as hollow amd fake.
Just an example-
If the Hindus had beheaded MF Hussain for painting nudes of their beloved Goddess, what would be her reaction to it?
Did she ever unequivocally condemn Mr. Hussain for having hurt the religious sentiments of over 1 billion Hindus?
Am pretty sure that she is a “bhakt” of Zakir Naik who masquerades as a liberal Muslim.
Despite having no expertise and authority on the basic religious texts of different religions, one can safely presume that that the basic texts would be quite similar. The problem lies with the interpreters quoting the texts out of contexts and calling it the truth.
In countries with little education and repressive regimes the out of context interpretation easy to sell and in most of the Islamic countries the rulers have ensured that the education levels are kept low so the rulers can manipulate the population through the interpreters on the payrolls.
Even in Turkey where the education levels are not low, the narrative is pushed through because the silent majority is helpless, undoing the reforms of ATA TURK who to a great extent tried to break the strangle hold of the interpreters.
Madam, again you have proved your lack of knowledge and understanding of other religions & their scriptures. You are typical of the narrow minded Islamism that is being criticised all over the world.
First, your translation of the Bhagavat Gita is itself wrong. Nowhere does the Bhagavat Gita mention religion or ritual. You translated DHARMA as religion. DHARMA means duty here, not religion. Secondly, in Hinduism, we follow the same code of military etiquette which was later copied by Prophet Mohammed in Quran. Early Arab invasions led by KHALID, sword of Allah, followed it without fail. Only military personnel were fought against. No civilians were attacked nor were any unrelated innocents. People who were blasphemous were still tolerated, for example you can read the story of Shishupala.
Secondly, you do not seem to be aware of the opinions of your own community. For every verse of the Quran taught by the Prophet, there are many more verses that he himself as well as his succeeding caliphs have introduced which contradict one another. That is common in all religious scriptures. That is because the context of that advise is not presented to the reader by the teacher. In other religions, it only leads to misunderstanding of the teachings whereas in Islam, it is leading to fanaticism. You only need to listen to Zakir Naik’s speeches or go through social media to understand who Muslim youth iconise from history. I was really surprised that they have no idea how the conduct of war between Khalik & Khilji & Timur was different & many of them idolise Khilji, Aurangzeb & Timur. Otherwise, how can you explain the almost blasphemous naming of Saif & Kareena’s son as Timur? Many in India were angry. Some gave vent to their anger through some comments. But, how many have threatened the Muslim family and were there any beheadings at all by Hindus? So, do not compare what is taught in your madrassas to what is taught by the Prophet or by Hindu scriptures. Most modern muslims are so hypocritical that they insult the prophet & Quran on a daily basis. By the way, hypocrisy is also frowned upon by the Prophet like your article here.
Again, no donations to the print because this is not an objective opinion piece nor a journalistic article. I seem to know more religious history of Muslims than the author herself, that too, with context unlike here.
I’m not familiar with any of the scriptures, namely Gita, Quran, Bible, Torah etc. mentioned by the author. Neither I’m qualified enough to interpret religious texts or sermons. But the author is plain wrong in equating ‘Dharma’ with ‘Religion’. ‘Dharma’ in Indian context is different from ‘Religion’ as is understood in the Abrahamic religious fraternity consisting Jews, Christians and Muslims. ‘Dharma’ is the call of duty of an individual with conscience at a given time and situation. Organised Religion, as it appears to me is more like a workshop manual with a list of dos and don’ts. But that again, may be a result of my unfamiliarity with it.
Getting offended by perceived insults to something or someone you are deeply & emotionaly connected is natural, human and rightful
The reaction to such offences though is so much different from person to person, group to group and followers of one religion to another including atheists.
In a civilized, educated society there is really no room for physical violence. That is what we teach our children’s well.
If a rare person indulges in crimes such as murder despite such exhortions, almost all persons disapprove of such behaviour, condemn it and there are provisions in the criminal procedure code to punish such behaviour.
When you consider group behaviour, more specifically the adherents of certain main stream religions, the contrast becomes crystal clear.
The people who standout not only in perpetrating violent crimes , simply on therir hurt feelings, but then the entire group sympathizes and supports them on their acts and in their defence justifications are pronounced as loudly as possible.
The irony is that the same set of people go begging for life as refuges or begging for visas for education or economic benefits into western developed democracies that are largly secular, committed to gender equality and take free speech as their birthright, they quickly learn about human rights- their own rights- but never learn about their duties as members of that society.
There is plenty in such societies to offend them, diets and drinks, public display of affection, their dress particularly the females and above all their irreverential free speech.
They are extremely intolerant but demand telerance from the host. They are unwilling to change and reform but demand others to change to accomodate them. They have the audacity to lecture others about the greatness of their thought. & when others express their thoughts then they react with violence.
They as a group remain a pathetic lot but instead of being true to their faith and accept this condtion ( InshAllah) introspect and reform they find faults in others !
Yes,indeed we are very good at using the victim card because the man we believe as messenger (saw) of GOD(SWT) prophecised the present situation ?? .You may ask why it took long for this to be fulfilled ? My argument is that there are verses in The Holy Torah prophecising arrival of Jesus (as),and the prophecies perfectly fit the events inofe of Jesus (as).But fact is that it took many 100s of years before it got fulfilled.Likewise this prophecy too ??( this is an authentic tradition i.e Islamic scholars have verified it to be true saying of Muhammad (saw) …
Messenger of Allah said: “The nations are about to call each other and set upon you, just as diners set upon food.” It was said: “Will it be because of our small number that day?” He said:
“Rather, on that day you will be many, but you will be like foam, like the foam on the river. And Allah will remove the fear of you from the hearts of your enemies and will throw wahn (weakness) into your hearts.” Someone said: “O Messenger of Allah! What is wahn?” He said: “Love of the world and the hatred for death.”
Sahih: Related by Abu Dawud (no. 4297)
So Muhammad (saw) has stated all nations will call upon to eliminate muslims and as per my faith,that time is close.If he(saw) was guessing aka bluffing,it would have sense to say that muslims will be able to defend against the attacks as they are huge in number,but he(saw) said otherwise.One can ask how did he(saw) know about this ????
Difference is you won’t be beheaded for this article. Whereas writing such article against Islam by Khafir will get him exposed to attack by Extremism.
So correct yourself. Start accepting fault.
Only by those kafirs who lack proper education academically and Islamically;while ppl like Zainab who understands these verses won’t do such evil things….And btw, kafir means a disbeliever.A disbeliever is one who has rejected Islam after getting an opportunity to know its message,as per Islam;only GOD can decide who got the opportunity and who didn’t.So you can’t make a blanket statement that all non-Muslims are kafirs.That would be like ALLAH SWT is unjust as there are tribal ppl who may have never heard about Islam,can you see the logical fallacy of saying Islam says all non-Muslims are kafirs ?
Angry rant to defend the indefensible. Not a single word on Mahatir Mohd. Not a single word of condemnation for Samuel Patty or church victims. It was all freedom of.speech and expression when Hussain drew nude paintings of Hindi goddesses but offensive when it came to cartoons.
Charlie Hebdo drew equally “offensive” cartoons of Christian and Hindu icons. How many of them beheaded people and killed Charlie Hebdo journalists?
Because MF Hussian was not beheaded. There is no Jihadi terrorism. Because There is no Hindu state.
So why compare Islam with Hinduism ?
Instead of trying fault with others. Reform your religion. Ban Jihad.
Because MF Hussian was not beheaded. There is no Jihadi terrorism. Because There is no Hindu state.
So why compare Islam with Hinduism ?
Instead of trying fault with others. Reform your religion. Ban Jihad.
I’m a Hindu. I’ve read the Gita, the Quran and the Bible.
The Gita is short, about basic tenets of Hinduism like Dharma, Karma, Bhakti and Yoga and does not incite hatred against any groups. It is not a revealed book but has a writer.
Quran incites a lot of hatred and violence directly against polytheists and idol worshipers – read Hindu. It is scientifically incorrect and is said to be revealed text – word of god.
Same for Bible – which also makes wild claims about science like world created in 6 days in 4004BC etc. There is a lot of hatred against Heathen – aka you Hindu people. There is also hatred against children of Ham – aka anyone who is not white and pure.
By making comparison the writer pushes a false narrative to a gullible audience. Go ahead read the books and see if you can come to the same conclusion as this dirt bag.
Mr Gautam : So why do upper caste Hindus ill-treat Hindus who are Dalits? And why do Hindus lynch Muslims ?
All religions have flaws, both in the theology as well as in the practice of the religion. And given the violence that one sees all over the world, no major religion can claim to have the moral high ground.
Hello ZAINAB SIKANDER,
Mahabharata happened in Treta Yuga ~5500 Years ago, at those time no other region will existed in Hindustan.So Krishna can’t tell fight for your religion. Krishna Advised Arjuna fight for dharma and fight for your own family against your relatives and your guru.
100% correct …dharma is not religion as it is individual based. Krishna said dharma and Hinduism did not have word for religion. Nowadays sometimes they maybe used interchangeably but it is still individual based and not absolute.
So are you saying whatever Krishna said then is not relevant in todays world ?
It is 100% applicable in today’s society that encourages individual responsibility and questioning attitude to promote individual judgement. Even 2000 years back Krishna was pleading not condemning Arjun to hell fire even after showing him Vishwaroopa. So individual is supreme and responsible for his own action not God or any God damned person. Nor was Krishna above others (and questioned and challenged even after his death) when Gandhari pointed out his failure to stop bloodshed and her personal loss ….. he readily accepted her curse on himself and his Yadava clan………he did not say that I am God head and you go to hell.
Evidently, this Muslim writer has not read Koran. Let her explain what does Surah 2.190-191 0r 5.33 mean. There are clearly identified 164 Jihadi verses in Koran. With such inhuman baggage, Islam still poses as the religion of peace. How easy it is for these people to whitewash their scripture!
Firstly she has already clarified regarding chapter 2 verse 190 of The Holy Quran in this article itself.As for verse 5:33;these are applicable only in a country governed by sharia and is not a universal call on muslims to do the same,I repeat only a sharia government such as in Saudi Arabia can give such a punishment.Some ppl may say that this is harsh etc etc,We muslims believe GOD will prescribe punishments which HE deems appropriate,and we also believe we muslims can’t reject or question GOD’S commandments……Also 5:34 asks a muslim ruler to forgive the concerned transgressor of he repents before he is caught….
Finally there are people like Anant Ranganathan who quotes verses of Holy Quran which says those who annoy ALLAH (SWT) and HIS (SWT) messenger will have a painful punishment.My belief is that The Holy Quran doesn’t make this claim to irritate Ananth Ranganathan or any person including a muslim;rather this threat is an article of faith for us muslims and we merely believe that ALLAH SWT will punish as claimed in the concerned verse.My point is that the aim of this verse was not to condemn any person muslim or non-muslim,Just that we believe ALLAH’s wrath is on one who does as stated in that verse.So I don’t understand why Ananth Ranganathan is getting personal with this verse, ALLAH SWT who we believe is The GOD doesn’t have any personal grudges or hate towards Ananth,rather Islam gives a chance to all humans (by its teachings)
“अथ चैत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं न करिष्यसि। ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि”- “On the other hand, if you will not fight this righteous battle, then, forsaking your own duty and fame, you will incur sin.” is the translation….its not religion, it is dharma. Afterall there is nothing called “religion” for hindus.
Apart from that, the article is really thought-provoking and well drafted.
She is simply defending the indefensible by drawing false analogies. Simple diversionary tactics.
When Krishna says Dharma… He means duty, not religion. Author understands that but…
The problem in Islam is not about the extremists in the religion being violent but the liberals of the religion being too week and irrelevant. As a hindu I can say that there are some parts of Gita /Ramayan that I don’t agree with, and are no more relevant. Unfortunately, even liberal Muslims can’t say that about Quran. All they end up fighting about is the ‘interpretation’. That obviously is playing to the extremists hand. Still hope to see a group of liberal Muslims stand up and say – this is what we believe in, irrespective of what is written in that book.
Dude, you make the best point here. Islamic liberals are so damn weak, and the Left outright defends the extremists…dangerous abyss stares the Islam across the world…
Exactly, if you look at Vedas and Puranas, many of them have content that justifies caste and gender discrimination in one form or another. Still, we have discarded them (or at least working towards it). Today, when someone argues against caste they don’t use Gita and Manusmriti or talk about misinterpretation of this and that; for it really doesn’t matter, caste needs to be demolished no matter what anyone say, women should be treated as equal to men no matter what any religious book says. But, in Islam all the debates starts and ends with Quran and it’s interpretation. And, sorry to say but no matter how ‘progressive’ Muhammad might have been it was still 6th Century, and if you expect book from that era to justify 21st century emancipation and democratisation than you’re gonna fail, as Muslims have failed in most places. If you look at sensibly, radical Islamist are more close in their interpretation of Islam than most liberals (which is not surprising, it’s more or less same for most religion); and unless Muslim liberals develop guts to look beyond Quran and argue for using it’s teaching selectively, they and their community will continue to be marginalised.
Dharma in Sanskrit is not religion but a righteous way of life. Geeta do not distinguish between believers and so called non believers.
looks like in the name of FOE , Print’s is willing to publish any rubbish so long as it create controversy . let us see if they publish article challenging Islamic beliefs and interpretations.
Print- Shekar ji, why do you hire such writers who spread their religious propaganda, let them go and do their propaganda somewhere else. If it’s same like every other book then why go around killing people in the name of God. Apparently some Gods are so weak that humans have to fight for God. You can judge the book by the results of it’s outcome. This article was a very cunning attempt to justify the murder of innocent peoples. They came in as refugees and now slaughter the very people who welcomed them into their homes.
Christian mostly believe the old testament is been replaced, by new one which is less barbaric
I agree most Muslims are not Idiots, muslims are more orthodox than most religion in 21st century.
This tendency to become orthodox just by a slight push is the greatest problem in quran.
Also the concept of Fredom of expression, liberty, individual rights are mostly not practiced by most Muslims countries!
Untill they practice these they are no one criticise another country!
First of all in this of verse bhagvad Gita 2.33 there is no mention of religion if you are referring to dharmyam it means virtuous or sacred stop equating every religion to Islam.
This is what the verse meant
atha chet—if, however; tvam—you; imam—this; dharmyam saṅgrāmam—righteous war; na—not; kariṣhyasi—act; tataḥ—then; sva-dharmam—one’s duty in accordance with the Vedas; kīrtim—reputation; cha—and; hitvā—abandoning; pāpam—sin; avāpsyasi—will incur
And hindus never quoted anything from religion and started killing people.
Maybe you should ask the question why Muslims feel so offended that they resort to killing just because somebody showed a cartoon about their prophet
Why pick on muslims? Why don’t you ask the same question to yourself. And if you still can’t find the answer, perhaps it’s exactly the same reason they pick on mualims. U r so naive.
Why pick on Muslims in the second part of the title- the answer should have been somewhat clear to the author. Seemingly because verses are used for indoctrination by Maulvis to justify certain violent acts to secure a place in Jannat. As soon as some other religion uses sacred texts to justify violence, their sacred texts would also be picked on, dont worry. Hope the authors efforts to educate Maulvis emphasise context when they talk about Kaafirs, and that Quran should not be interpreted literally but contextually bears fruit.
Come on! has any one from another religion beheaded another person, because of some insult, real or perceived?
I agree Islamophobia is a problem in many parts of the world, but justifying such bizarre and savage acts only reinforces stereotypes.
Sometimes it helps to hold the mirror to oneself.
While we call out lynching done by other communities, definitely you can’t give a free pass for these acts.
How much of religious freedom is there for non Muslims in Saudi Arabia or even UAE? have you protested against the
persecution there? or the brutal forms of justice practiced in some Muslim counties.
madam ji dharma is not religion. it is duty. ab aap bekar mai assert karna chahte ho toh okay kyunki aajkal kon hi gita padta hai. bible bhi ab nhi bikti. only religion that follows 1600 year old traditions should now intospect and follow a mordern outline.
How many Hindus and Christians have killed Charlie Hebdo journalists for their cartoons?
How many Muslim were lynched in India for consuming beef by Hindus. How many Sikhs were killed for assisnation of Prime minister
more than 4000 for Indira Gandhi assassination, and those killed for beef are countless
topic was the cartoons and muslim reaction of beheading and killing. slaughter of cows and consumption of beef (cow flesh) is a crime in most Indian states and made so by your secular congress. and most of those killings were on account of cow theft and smuggling which is rampant in Mewat.
Since you are into muslims killed by Hindus, hope you know that 60 hindus were killed by muslims in godhra.
As for the sikhs in 1984 it was a pogrom spearheaded by your secular congress and the mob comprised of your Nizamuddiniyas and yamuna pushtas
Left ecosystem is filled with pot heads like this author…I knew someday they would justify this act ( beheading) too…but I didn’t know they would equate DHARMA=Religion… OMG plz …Right wing makes a lot more sense than these Left wing fools… common!!!
All lies. No other religious text talk about captivating female and treating them as sex slave. No one talks about kaffir and they should be hated. Today Islam is on the problem on this planet. In no other country christain , hindus or Jews roam.and stab the people or ram the truck
The problem is equating Dharma to religion. Dharma is not religion its the duty towards the humankind. That is what Krishna explained to Arjuna to keep his duty above his personal relations. And second thing is the people Arjuna was fighting were not from different religion and were not killed for being Kafir. Krishna never told Arjun to kill Kauravas because they have disrespected Krishna.
Yes but Hindus Christians don’t follow these verse radically…Muslims do it….innocents young mind are brainwashed by this verse…introspect within your community
Exactly man. How conveniently she put dharma is religion. She is acting like zakir naik.
Why defame others to defend you own?
@Shekhargupta you must be clearly knowing the meaning and difference between “Dharma” and religion….why are hiring such people who are just spreading their religious propaganda?
It questions the credibility of @ThePrint as a respectable journal….
The writer is just maligning Geeta to defend her religion and your giving a stage to that….
It is wrong to malign anyone not just your prophet…
But is your prophet so insecure such that some low level comments from some cave-minded people pulls his dignity to low level?…
You should decide that.
By publishing these writers you are defending the beheadings of innocent people…Does just an act of cartoon gives you a license to kill people….
I am sure there are lot of people make fun of jesus and krishna and surely about Ram in handling of Sita post war..but do people kill anybody for that?
This shows who are Radicals ….
author and 1.3 likes are serious threat to this nation
Why is this lady still walking around freely and not in Jail.She is proclaiming its okay to behead people if some one makes fun of her primitive beliefs.I dont see any hindus/christians walking around and killing because some one made fun of their beliefs.
Yes Zainab, why Muslims?
You should ask yourself and dwell deep into your religious texts.
Muslims always defend those verses saying that it has a context on which it was uttered rather revealed. So why Muslims do such henious things even when those contexts are not there now. As most commentators pointed out why Muslims only behave in such a way and not Jews, Hindus or Christians if their texts are also have mentions of violence and revenge?. If you manage to get the answers for those questions then you got your answers for all the points you posed in your article. You tried very hard to equate Islamic terrorism with IRA, LTTE and KKK. Do you want the readers to believe that you do not know while the first two were purely political campaigns and the last one was a cult. With which one you want to equate Islam. Off course not political then it should be a cult. Knowing the French fairly well I think, France showing the cartoons all over the building is not to provoke Muslims but to give a strong message to the world that they will not be coerced into submitting their Freedom of Expression every French hold so “sacred” to their hearts in the same ways Muslims hold their prophet and his text. Now I am not very good at Hindu texts, but I can tell about my Holy Bible. In Christianity we have a New Testament where our duties and responsibilities are laid out and Jesus neither preach violence or revenge nor His apostles testify anything of that sort. ” if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. … To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either…. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two” If you call this violence and revenge I do not have anything to tell. This is the context which Christians refer when Charlie Hebdo comes out with a cartoon ridiculing Christian icons and principles 100000xvulgar ways than they do with Islamic icons. Though the 10 commandments are in the Old Testament, it mostly narrates the history of God moulding and preparing the Israelites to receive the Messiah upon his arrival. Another point I want to bring to your attention is about Wali Rahman’s latest video he made in view of the French incident. I used to adore that guy for being very courageous, knowledgeable and his commitment. But in that video he started by saying “…the french teacher has insulted the prophet in front of his students….” Really? I lost all my respect towards that guy and stopped watching it, because I knew then how it will go. Why waste my time? This is how Muslims twists facts starting from a small boy like Wali Rahman to the most learned Islamic scholar.
I will conclude with narrating a real incident happened in my state about 10 years back that some Muslims chopped the hands (the punishment explained in Quran is to cut off the right hand and left leg or left hand or right leg as I understood) of a professor accusing him of blasphemy. Happened in the 21st century in the most literate state!!! The real problem was that the Islamic press and their leaders inflamed the situation into such an extend that some muslims “had” to take action. And we know how the politician behave when a gold platter is shown to them. The sad part is that the professor in fact have not done anything blasphemous. He was just copying a text from a book (interestingly written by a Muslim story writer and approved by the Kerala University as part of curriculum ) and giving it to his students for placing correct punctuations in the right place!!! If your prophet instruct his followers to chop a professor’s hand for giving a test to his students then you really need an introspection. Its reported once Yusul Al Qaradawi said in Egyptian TV that if death penalty is not given to apostates Islam would have vanished with the death of the prophet. I am sure you can verify this statement this statement of this scholar.
Problem is with religion itself. Article missed how Bhagwad Geeta and Manusmriti propagates casteism and those who try to break it are killed.
Those who are telling that Hindoos don’t behead someone for offending them. Muslim were lynched in India for mere suspicion of consuming beef by Hindus. Many Sikhs were killed for assisnation of Prime minister. Dalits who adopted Buddhism were massacred in Khairlanji massacre in Maharashtra. Many Muslim were killed in Godhra riots. How Buddhist religious places were destroyed which was built by Smart Ashok
Typical apologist for inhuman behaviour. There are muslims, who do think of humanity first, first majority of the muslims always discriminate between muslims and everyone one else as non-muslims. For these people, Human race is dividied into two- muslims and non-muslims. The things Zakir Naik used to say about other religions when he was in India, if same was said about Islam, we would have seen scenes like Bangalore all over India. She was quiet about what happened in Bangalore.
Our liberals fail to understand that individuals have special needs, but these liberals believe that the whole community has special needs. Wherever musims go and live the natives have to adjust to them, not the other way around. The so called liberal scandanavian countries are feeling the heat right now. They kept on preaching liberal values and when the problem reached their borders, they shut it down after the initial euphoria about immigrants.
The problem is not islamophobes, the problem is with followers of the faith, who find excuses to look the other way when barbaric things happen. She is being dishonest in claiming islamphobes using the verses to deride the religion. She should go and see the muslim clergy who interpret it the exact way she describes a islamaphobe. I dont see any outrage from her ilk towards this.
The first thing these liberals do is try show how other religions are bad as well, time and again these people use excuses of IRA and LTTE, to say they were not called christian terrorists or Hindu terrorists even when they bombed and killed. Can she say which god was invoked and which christian clergies and Hindu clergies condoled the killings as just and for saving the religion. You have heads of Muslim states justifying the be-headings and she says it is Islamophobia. There is no Islamophobia, the word is coined by the apologists like Zainab, who use the word to deflect the criticism coming to their ideals. It is more of demonophobia, fear of people coming and refusing to behave like humans, wanting a medieval culture within societies about which they have no understanding and refuse to understand. No one fears Islam, so dont go lying about Islamophobia, the people of fearful of demons who think they believe an absolute truth of one religion and kill others invoking their god.
As long as there are dishonest and lying closet bigots and apologists, who masquerade as liberals, we all are in danger and demonophobia is real.
Did Prophet Muhammad ask the 18-year-old Chechen-origin Abdoullakh Anzorov to behead 47-year-old Samuel Paty, a teacher? No. Did he form Al-Qaeda? No. Was he flying the 9/11 planes? No. Did he hijack IC 814? No. Then why insult the Prophet?
Hey Zainab. They said Allah asked them to. They are all believers in the words of the Prophet. They say Prophet tells them of Jihad. Maybe it was a caricature of those ideas instead of Prophet.
Similar caricatures exist of every religion from Charlie Hebdo. They are not scared for their lives from clerics of any other religion.l This is why it is about Freedom of Speech. A person writing about the most difficult ideas in a website whose editor has done some of the most important stories of our country, should understand freedom of speech better than this.
If you listen to Macron’s yesterday speech, he talked about values of gender equality, humanism, freedom of speech, and enlightenment. If it is offensive to certain muslims, they are extremists in the liberal world we live. And he was right to point that. I understand why you think France is bullying Muslims, but France cannot say “Hey bully us” anymore when they have gone through such terror in 13/11 attacks, charlie hebdo killings, and now the beheading of Samuel Paty, and Nice attack.
Do not compare Al Qaeda to KKK please. It is an attack on our intellect. We all know KKK doesn’t fly planes into Buildings. There are certain differences that you are sweeping under the rug. Please don’t act like we won’t notice.
I admire your strength to write this in this anti-Islam climate. However, I think this is a moment of total condemnation of actions by Extremist and adopt Enlightenment values by Muslims all over the world. I respectfully disagree with your stance, but I will stand with you on your right to say it. That is the Freedom of Speech we all seek.
Cancer can never be cured so does the mindset of muslims. Worst writer with extremist thoughts.
Author and members of her mawali/maskin community are under siege of victimhood.
But she and her ilk are condoning violence and signing paean to these killers. As the world opens its eyes and sees the violent and barbaric face of a tribal fundamentalism this siege will get prolonged further.
Disingenuously she contradicts the content of Quran and finds solace in comparing apples to oranges.
Quran is clear on kafirs, non believers, muahrak worshippers and how their beheading is wajib o katl.
Believe me people of India are waking up and when everyone ones are opened you and your ilk will have to book one way ticket to where your ancestors came from.
As the saying goes ‘ no country for old man’ just use imagination. It’s going to be reality in near future. After congress mukt bharat that is the next logical step.
Totally agree on this. Gita is warmongers philosophy and even justifies annihilation. Most religious books incites violence somewhere. Buddhism is probably an exception.
Totally disagree. Please read it.
Hi Sristi! Sorry to burst your bubble, but The Gita does not. The Gita is just ‘one’ book among many in Hinduism. I think you’ve failed to understand that this has been mistranslated. Dharma means ‘duty’ and not ‘religion’, Therefore, it is a sin to not perform one’s duty when one is required to. If you are working as a soldier, is it ot your duty to fight in battle? Likewise, Arjuna, being a warrior-leader of the Pandavas, was to fight the war for justice, not for religion. Think logically. The Kauravas were followers of Sanatana Dharma too. The idea of ‘religion’ itself wasn’t even prevalent 5000 years ago. Before criticizing something, please take out the time to truly understand what the text actually refers too. And FYI, Gita does not justify Annihilation. Just something you should probably look up too.
Dharma means duty of your current profile .Like same person has different dharma or duty in role be it fathers, teachers or soldiers duty or dharma
Dharma is not religion or faith
Macron knows what is best for his country. He and French public must do whatever it takes to secure their country. Wait and see the fruits of disastrous (so called humanitarian) gesture of AngelaMarckel of opening the floodgates of refugees into Europe.
Whataboutery instead of finding the elephant in the room!
dharm means “duty ” in Geeta
Religion translates to “Mazhab”
Dharm translates to “Duty”
Dear Print , Please remove this article
One, Gita is not the counterpart of Holy bible. In fact, there is no One Holy Book in Hinduism as in most of other religions.
because they take the scriptures too seriously than any other religion. they need to be bit more liberal and witty when it comes to religion.
I have been following zainab ma’am’s articles and her earlier youtube videos. I don’t agree with her politics or many of her views but i support her right to express them. Also i never thought she’d join the league of the likes of islamists. It’s sad. I will now come to the article in question point by point. I hope zainab maam and other reader will read them.
Comparing cartoons with porn and substance abuse is wrong for the simple reason being that the latter two actually are harmful to physical health. Publishing cartoons aren’t. And as per “attacking for no reason”…freedom of expression is freedom from having a reason and freedom from consequences. The author also asks how prophet is responsible…he is not. But when followers of a religion make it a point to kill people on his cartoons, a society like france is well within its rights not to bow down to terrorism.
The charge of Islamophobia doesn’t hold. No one is disenfranchising or showing supremacy over muslims in France. Which other muslim majority nations do to their minorities. And cartoons don’t constitute Islamophobia because they are not racist. The publication ridicules every religion.
The same old thing about “interpretations”. If there is so much headroom for interpretation between living peacefully on one end and bombing/killing people on the other hand, then may be the community and its religious leaders should plug the room for interpretation? Just a thought.
Also, you don’t get to go to a place and demand concessions. FoE without limits is a fundamental core for France’s society. It is their value. Just the way unbridled devotion for Prophet is yours. It’s not the french that are going to muslim majority nations and demanding FoE. It’s muslims going to a land of liberty and asking their society to impose limits on themselves. Illogical and unfair expectation.
There’s also a para trying to establish equivalence with Gita and other books. It’s just plain ignorant. Gita talks about duty and not religion. And its followers don’t consider it as the be all end all of life or that it is infallible. Every text, every God can be wrong is what the followers of Gita consider. So false and ignorant equivalence.
Now i will come to my concluding point. Those who sided against the cartoons have fundamentally done too much harm to the cause of coexistence. Clearly the values don’t and won’t match as people are ready to kill over it and also get huge support even from moderates and apologists.
Might i also suggest, a call for reformation, looking within for progress and change aren’t Islamophobic. As sad as it might sound to the author, islamists and even mainstream islamic leaders have done a lot of harm by not unequivocally condemning the killers but sound like apologists to terrors. Close to 6-7 bn people in the world don’t agree with that view. That’s how things are. When you act the way you are doing now, you will invariably push the otherwise open minded people to act “guarded” when they are with muslims. This will translate to more restrictions for muslims and less openness for other societies to accept them.
I hope the author shall ponder on this and not label me for my FoE to be a bigot or a racist or whatever.
Badhiya al taqqiya kar lete ho
Ms. Zainab Sikander is inching closer to be the next Zakir Naik.
She and others of her ilk are responsible for the crisis in Islam across the world. The educated and supposedly liberal Muslims never stand up to the Islamists. Rather they tacitly encourage through their silence or otherwise the rogue elements in their society to carry out violence targeting non-believers. They are found nowhere when Christians/Hindus/Sikhs are oppressed, violated and mutilated in Islamic majority societies such as Pakistan, Afghanistan etc. However, they are quick to jump to the defence of their co-religionists when any nation cracks down on Islamic terror.
And they have very able and vocal allies in the Left. The Left is primarily responsible for providing the intellectual defence of Islamism and Islamic terrorism.
Nonetheless, this article has confirmed what I have long suspected – Ms. Sikander is a closet Islamist. Someone who tacitly encourages and even welcomes violence against non-believers. Her commitment to free speech and freedom of expression has exposed as hollow amd fake.
Just an example-
If the Hindus had beheaded MF Hussain for painting nudes of their beloved Goddess, what would be her reaction to it?
Did she ever unequivocally condemn Mr. Hussain for having hurt the religious sentiments of over 1 billion Hindus?
Am pretty sure that she is a “bhakt” of Zakir Naik who masquerades as a liberal Muslim.
Despite having no expertise and authority on the basic religious texts of different religions, one can safely presume that that the basic texts would be quite similar. The problem lies with the interpreters quoting the texts out of contexts and calling it the truth.
In countries with little education and repressive regimes the out of context interpretation easy to sell and in most of the Islamic countries the rulers have ensured that the education levels are kept low so the rulers can manipulate the population through the interpreters on the payrolls.
Even in Turkey where the education levels are not low, the narrative is pushed through because the silent majority is helpless, undoing the reforms of ATA TURK who to a great extent tried to break the strangle hold of the interpreters.
Madam, again you have proved your lack of knowledge and understanding of other religions & their scriptures. You are typical of the narrow minded Islamism that is being criticised all over the world.
First, your translation of the Bhagavat Gita is itself wrong. Nowhere does the Bhagavat Gita mention religion or ritual. You translated DHARMA as religion. DHARMA means duty here, not religion. Secondly, in Hinduism, we follow the same code of military etiquette which was later copied by Prophet Mohammed in Quran. Early Arab invasions led by KHALID, sword of Allah, followed it without fail. Only military personnel were fought against. No civilians were attacked nor were any unrelated innocents. People who were blasphemous were still tolerated, for example you can read the story of Shishupala.
Secondly, you do not seem to be aware of the opinions of your own community. For every verse of the Quran taught by the Prophet, there are many more verses that he himself as well as his succeeding caliphs have introduced which contradict one another. That is common in all religious scriptures. That is because the context of that advise is not presented to the reader by the teacher. In other religions, it only leads to misunderstanding of the teachings whereas in Islam, it is leading to fanaticism. You only need to listen to Zakir Naik’s speeches or go through social media to understand who Muslim youth iconise from history. I was really surprised that they have no idea how the conduct of war between Khalik & Khilji & Timur was different & many of them idolise Khilji, Aurangzeb & Timur. Otherwise, how can you explain the almost blasphemous naming of Saif & Kareena’s son as Timur? Many in India were angry. Some gave vent to their anger through some comments. But, how many have threatened the Muslim family and were there any beheadings at all by Hindus? So, do not compare what is taught in your madrassas to what is taught by the Prophet or by Hindu scriptures. Most modern muslims are so hypocritical that they insult the prophet & Quran on a daily basis. By the way, hypocrisy is also frowned upon by the Prophet like your article here.
Again, no donations to the print because this is not an objective opinion piece nor a journalistic article. I seem to know more religious history of Muslims than the author herself, that too, with context unlike here.
I’m not familiar with any of the scriptures, namely Gita, Quran, Bible, Torah etc. mentioned by the author. Neither I’m qualified enough to interpret religious texts or sermons. But the author is plain wrong in equating ‘Dharma’ with ‘Religion’. ‘Dharma’ in Indian context is different from ‘Religion’ as is understood in the Abrahamic religious fraternity consisting Jews, Christians and Muslims. ‘Dharma’ is the call of duty of an individual with conscience at a given time and situation. Organised Religion, as it appears to me is more like a workshop manual with a list of dos and don’ts. But that again, may be a result of my unfamiliarity with it.
Getting offended by perceived insults to something or someone you are deeply & emotionaly connected is natural, human and rightful
The reaction to such offences though is so much different from person to person, group to group and followers of one religion to another including atheists.
In a civilized, educated society there is really no room for physical violence. That is what we teach our children’s well.
If a rare person indulges in crimes such as murder despite such exhortions, almost all persons disapprove of such behaviour, condemn it and there are provisions in the criminal procedure code to punish such behaviour.
When you consider group behaviour, more specifically the adherents of certain main stream religions, the contrast becomes crystal clear.
The people who standout not only in perpetrating violent crimes , simply on therir hurt feelings, but then the entire group sympathizes and supports them on their acts and in their defence justifications are pronounced as loudly as possible.
The irony is that the same set of people go begging for life as refuges or begging for visas for education or economic benefits into western developed democracies that are largly secular, committed to gender equality and take free speech as their birthright, they quickly learn about human rights- their own rights- but never learn about their duties as members of that society.
There is plenty in such societies to offend them, diets and drinks, public display of affection, their dress particularly the females and above all their irreverential free speech.
They are extremely intolerant but demand telerance from the host. They are unwilling to change and reform but demand others to change to accomodate them. They have the audacity to lecture others about the greatness of their thought. & when others express their thoughts then they react with violence.
They as a group remain a pathetic lot but instead of being true to their faith and accept this condtion ( InshAllah) introspect and reform they find faults in others !
This special community is really good at waving the victim card.
The thr0at cutter is now being labelled as the victim.
Yes,indeed we are very good at using the victim card because the man we believe as messenger (saw) of GOD(SWT) prophecised the present situation ?? .You may ask why it took long for this to be fulfilled ? My argument is that there are verses in The Holy Torah prophecising arrival of Jesus (as),and the prophecies perfectly fit the events inofe of Jesus (as).But fact is that it took many 100s of years before it got fulfilled.Likewise this prophecy too ??( this is an authentic tradition i.e Islamic scholars have verified it to be true saying of Muhammad (saw) …
Messenger of Allah said: “The nations are about to call each other and set upon you, just as diners set upon food.” It was said: “Will it be because of our small number that day?” He said:
“Rather, on that day you will be many, but you will be like foam, like the foam on the river. And Allah will remove the fear of you from the hearts of your enemies and will throw wahn (weakness) into your hearts.” Someone said: “O Messenger of Allah! What is wahn?” He said: “Love of the world and the hatred for death.”
Sahih: Related by Abu Dawud (no. 4297)
So Muhammad (saw) has stated all nations will call upon to eliminate muslims and as per my faith,that time is close.If he(saw) was guessing aka bluffing,it would have sense to say that muslims will be able to defend against the attacks as they are huge in number,but he(saw) said otherwise.One can ask how did he(saw) know about this ????
Difference is you won’t be beheaded for this article. Whereas writing such article against Islam by Khafir will get him exposed to attack by Extremism.
So correct yourself. Start accepting fault.
Only by those kafirs who lack proper education academically and Islamically;while ppl like Zainab who understands these verses won’t do such evil things….And btw, kafir means a disbeliever.A disbeliever is one who has rejected Islam after getting an opportunity to know its message,as per Islam;only GOD can decide who got the opportunity and who didn’t.So you can’t make a blanket statement that all non-Muslims are kafirs.That would be like ALLAH SWT is unjust as there are tribal ppl who may have never heard about Islam,can you see the logical fallacy of saying Islam says all non-Muslims are kafirs ?
Angry rant to defend the indefensible. Not a single word on Mahatir Mohd. Not a single word of condemnation for Samuel Patty or church victims. It was all freedom of.speech and expression when Hussain drew nude paintings of Hindi goddesses but offensive when it came to cartoons.
Charlie Hebdo drew equally “offensive” cartoons of Christian and Hindu icons. How many of them beheaded people and killed Charlie Hebdo journalists?
Because MF Hussian was not beheaded. There is no Jihadi terrorism. Because There is no Hindu state.
So why compare Islam with Hinduism ?
Instead of trying fault with others. Reform your religion. Ban Jihad.
Because MF Hussian was not beheaded. There is no Jihadi terrorism. Because There is no Hindu state.
So why compare Islam with Hinduism ?
Instead of trying fault with others. Reform your religion. Ban Jihad.
I’m a Hindu. I’ve read the Gita, the Quran and the Bible.
The Gita is short, about basic tenets of Hinduism like Dharma, Karma, Bhakti and Yoga and does not incite hatred against any groups. It is not a revealed book but has a writer.
Quran incites a lot of hatred and violence directly against polytheists and idol worshipers – read Hindu. It is scientifically incorrect and is said to be revealed text – word of god.
Same for Bible – which also makes wild claims about science like world created in 6 days in 4004BC etc. There is a lot of hatred against Heathen – aka you Hindu people. There is also hatred against children of Ham – aka anyone who is not white and pure.
By making comparison the writer pushes a false narrative to a gullible audience. Go ahead read the books and see if you can come to the same conclusion as this dirt bag.
Mr Gautam : So why do upper caste Hindus ill-treat Hindus who are Dalits? And why do Hindus lynch Muslims ?
All religions have flaws, both in the theology as well as in the practice of the religion. And given the violence that one sees all over the world, no major religion can claim to have the moral high ground.
Hello ZAINAB SIKANDER,
Mahabharata happened in Treta Yuga ~5500 Years ago, at those time no other region will existed in Hindustan.So Krishna can’t tell fight for your religion. Krishna Advised Arjuna fight for dharma and fight for your own family against your relatives and your guru.
Don’t propagate wrong message .
100% correct …dharma is not religion as it is individual based. Krishna said dharma and Hinduism did not have word for religion. Nowadays sometimes they maybe used interchangeably but it is still individual based and not absolute.
So are you saying whatever Krishna said then is not relevant in todays world ?
It is 100% applicable in today’s society that encourages individual responsibility and questioning attitude to promote individual judgement. Even 2000 years back Krishna was pleading not condemning Arjun to hell fire even after showing him Vishwaroopa. So individual is supreme and responsible for his own action not God or any God damned person. Nor was Krishna above others (and questioned and challenged even after his death) when Gandhari pointed out his failure to stop bloodshed and her personal loss ….. he readily accepted her curse on himself and his Yadava clan………he did not say that I am God head and you go to hell.
Evidently, this Muslim writer has not read Koran. Let her explain what does Surah 2.190-191 0r 5.33 mean. There are clearly identified 164 Jihadi verses in Koran. With such inhuman baggage, Islam still poses as the religion of peace. How easy it is for these people to whitewash their scripture!
Firstly she has already clarified regarding chapter 2 verse 190 of The Holy Quran in this article itself.As for verse 5:33;these are applicable only in a country governed by sharia and is not a universal call on muslims to do the same,I repeat only a sharia government such as in Saudi Arabia can give such a punishment.Some ppl may say that this is harsh etc etc,We muslims believe GOD will prescribe punishments which HE deems appropriate,and we also believe we muslims can’t reject or question GOD’S commandments……Also 5:34 asks a muslim ruler to forgive the concerned transgressor of he repents before he is caught….
Finally there are people like Anant Ranganathan who quotes verses of Holy Quran which says those who annoy ALLAH (SWT) and HIS (SWT) messenger will have a painful punishment.My belief is that The Holy Quran doesn’t make this claim to irritate Ananth Ranganathan or any person including a muslim;rather this threat is an article of faith for us muslims and we merely believe that ALLAH SWT will punish as claimed in the concerned verse.My point is that the aim of this verse was not to condemn any person muslim or non-muslim,Just that we believe ALLAH’s wrath is on one who does as stated in that verse.So I don’t understand why Ananth Ranganathan is getting personal with this verse, ALLAH SWT who we believe is The GOD doesn’t have any personal grudges or hate towards Ananth,rather Islam gives a chance to all humans (by its teachings)
“अथ चैत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं न करिष्यसि। ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि”- “On the other hand, if you will not fight this righteous battle, then, forsaking your own duty and fame, you will incur sin.” is the translation….its not religion, it is dharma. Afterall there is nothing called “religion” for hindus.
Apart from that, the article is really thought-provoking and well drafted.
She is simply defending the indefensible by drawing false analogies. Simple diversionary tactics.
When Krishna says Dharma… He means duty, not religion. Author understands that but…
The problem in Islam is not about the extremists in the religion being violent but the liberals of the religion being too week and irrelevant. As a hindu I can say that there are some parts of Gita /Ramayan that I don’t agree with, and are no more relevant. Unfortunately, even liberal Muslims can’t say that about Quran. All they end up fighting about is the ‘interpretation’. That obviously is playing to the extremists hand. Still hope to see a group of liberal Muslims stand up and say – this is what we believe in, irrespective of what is written in that book.
Dude, you make the best point here. Islamic liberals are so damn weak, and the Left outright defends the extremists…dangerous abyss stares the Islam across the world…
Exactly, if you look at Vedas and Puranas, many of them have content that justifies caste and gender discrimination in one form or another. Still, we have discarded them (or at least working towards it). Today, when someone argues against caste they don’t use Gita and Manusmriti or talk about misinterpretation of this and that; for it really doesn’t matter, caste needs to be demolished no matter what anyone say, women should be treated as equal to men no matter what any religious book says. But, in Islam all the debates starts and ends with Quran and it’s interpretation. And, sorry to say but no matter how ‘progressive’ Muhammad might have been it was still 6th Century, and if you expect book from that era to justify 21st century emancipation and democratisation than you’re gonna fail, as Muslims have failed in most places. If you look at sensibly, radical Islamist are more close in their interpretation of Islam than most liberals (which is not surprising, it’s more or less same for most religion); and unless Muslim liberals develop guts to look beyond Quran and argue for using it’s teaching selectively, they and their community will continue to be marginalised.
Dharma in Sanskrit is not religion but a righteous way of life. Geeta do not distinguish between believers and so called non believers.
looks like in the name of FOE , Print’s is willing to publish any rubbish so long as it create controversy . let us see if they publish article challenging Islamic beliefs and interpretations.
Print- Shekar ji, why do you hire such writers who spread their religious propaganda, let them go and do their propaganda somewhere else. If it’s same like every other book then why go around killing people in the name of God. Apparently some Gods are so weak that humans have to fight for God. You can judge the book by the results of it’s outcome. This article was a very cunning attempt to justify the murder of innocent peoples. They came in as refugees and now slaughter the very people who welcomed them into their homes.
Christian mostly believe the old testament is been replaced, by new one which is less barbaric
I agree most Muslims are not Idiots, muslims are more orthodox than most religion in 21st century.
This tendency to become orthodox just by a slight push is the greatest problem in quran.
Also the concept of Fredom of expression, liberty, individual rights are mostly not practiced by most Muslims countries!
Untill they practice these they are no one criticise another country!
?Jews and Sikhs are equally religious as muslims and Buddhist too.
Is bullying freedom of expression too? Is pornographic content freedom of expression too? Is substance abuse freedom of expression too?
The answer to all of these is Yes!
First of all in this of verse bhagvad Gita 2.33 there is no mention of religion if you are referring to dharmyam it means virtuous or sacred stop equating every religion to Islam.
This is what the verse meant
atha chet—if, however; tvam—you; imam—this; dharmyam saṅgrāmam—righteous war; na—not; kariṣhyasi—act; tataḥ—then; sva-dharmam—one’s duty in accordance with the Vedas; kīrtim—reputation; cha—and; hitvā—abandoning; pāpam—sin; avāpsyasi—will incur
And hindus never quoted anything from religion and started killing people.
Maybe you should ask the question why Muslims feel so offended that they resort to killing just because somebody showed a cartoon about their prophet
Why pick on muslims? Why don’t you ask the same question to yourself. And if you still can’t find the answer, perhaps it’s exactly the same reason they pick on mualims. U r so naive.
Why pick on Muslims in the second part of the title- the answer should have been somewhat clear to the author. Seemingly because verses are used for indoctrination by Maulvis to justify certain violent acts to secure a place in Jannat. As soon as some other religion uses sacred texts to justify violence, their sacred texts would also be picked on, dont worry. Hope the authors efforts to educate Maulvis emphasise context when they talk about Kaafirs, and that Quran should not be interpreted literally but contextually bears fruit.
HINDUS must be aware that what happens when they are in minority.
pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir are examples how HINDUS are raped n murdered and FORCEFUL conversion along with ethnic cleansing is carried out.
HINDUS are interested in education and science and prosperity But will not accept jihadist groups RIOTING in INDIA to establish terror.
AND we want to enjoy present life and not life after death.
Come on! has any one from another religion beheaded another person, because of some insult, real or perceived?
I agree Islamophobia is a problem in many parts of the world, but justifying such bizarre and savage acts only reinforces stereotypes.
Sometimes it helps to hold the mirror to oneself.
While we call out lynching done by other communities, definitely you can’t give a free pass for these acts.
How much of religious freedom is there for non Muslims in Saudi Arabia or even UAE? have you protested against the
persecution there? or the brutal forms of justice practiced in some Muslim counties.
zainab sorry to say u are suffering from a disease yes a disease called nabi muhammad
madam ji dharma is not religion. it is duty. ab aap bekar mai assert karna chahte ho toh okay kyunki aajkal kon hi gita padta hai. bible bhi ab nhi bikti. only religion that follows 1600 year old traditions should now intospect and follow a mordern outline.
? many follow and bible is followed by christians most of them ….like Qur’an ..no difference at all..
Bravo Zainab on this opinion !
How many Hindus and Christians have killed Charlie Hebdo journalists for their cartoons?
How many Muslim were lynched in India for consuming beef by Hindus. How many Sikhs were killed for assisnation of Prime minister
more than 4000 for Indira Gandhi assassination, and those killed for beef are countless
topic was the cartoons and muslim reaction of beheading and killing. slaughter of cows and consumption of beef (cow flesh) is a crime in most Indian states and made so by your secular congress. and most of those killings were on account of cow theft and smuggling which is rampant in Mewat.
Since you are into muslims killed by Hindus, hope you know that 60 hindus were killed by muslims in godhra.
As for the sikhs in 1984 it was a pogrom spearheaded by your secular congress and the mob comprised of your Nizamuddiniyas and yamuna pushtas
Left ecosystem is filled with pot heads like this author…I knew someday they would justify this act ( beheading) too…but I didn’t know they would equate DHARMA=Religion… OMG plz …Right wing makes a lot more sense than these Left wing fools… common!!!
All lies. No other religious text talk about captivating female and treating them as sex slave. No one talks about kaffir and they should be hated. Today Islam is on the problem on this planet. In no other country christain , hindus or Jews roam.and stab the people or ram the truck
She’s one of them
Dharma means not religion….what a dumb author.
The problem is equating Dharma to religion. Dharma is not religion its the duty towards the humankind. That is what Krishna explained to Arjuna to keep his duty above his personal relations. And second thing is the people Arjuna was fighting were not from different religion and were not killed for being Kafir. Krishna never told Arjun to kill Kauravas because they have disrespected Krishna.
Main problem is liberals in Muslim community are too weak.
In India secular polity always pamper fundamentalist elements among Muslim.
Then give me the reason why terrorists are mainly and fully from one religion itself??!!
Dharma means righteousness and responsibility.. not religion.
Yes but Hindus Christians don’t follow these verse radically…Muslims do it….innocents young mind are brainwashed by this verse…introspect within your community
You should become atheist, stupid writer
Such a pathetic article.Trying to whitewash everything ??Dharma means duty not religion get it right first.
Exactly man. How conveniently she put dharma is religion. She is acting like zakir naik.
Why defame others to defend you own?
@Shekhargupta you must be clearly knowing the meaning and difference between “Dharma” and religion….why are hiring such people who are just spreading their religious propaganda?
It questions the credibility of @ThePrint as a respectable journal….
The writer is just maligning Geeta to defend her religion and your giving a stage to that….
It is wrong to malign anyone not just your prophet…
But is your prophet so insecure such that some low level comments from some cave-minded people pulls his dignity to low level?…
You should decide that.
By publishing these writers you are defending the beheadings of innocent people…Does just an act of cartoon gives you a license to kill people….
I am sure there are lot of people make fun of jesus and krishna and surely about Ram in handling of Sita post war..but do people kill anybody for that?
This shows who are Radicals ….
All Islamists act like Zakir Naik.