RE: It wasn't Mohammed who founded Islam.
January 14, 2015 at 2:29 pm
(This post was last modified: January 14, 2015 at 2:33 pm by Rayaan.)
(January 14, 2015 at 1:15 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Rayaan, I love ya, man. But sometimes you are so engagingly naive. Religion is, and always has been, about power. In the real world...not in some crazy "afterlife."
Then explain why the Quran - the very basis of Islam - consistently denounces man's desire and competition for wealth and power in the present life, instead of approving it.
"Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children - like the example of a rain whose (resulting) plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes crushed bits of straw. And in the Hereafter is a severe punishment, and (also) forgiveness from Allah and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion." (Surah 57:20)
"O you who believe! Let not your wealth and your children divert you from remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that - then those are the losers." (Surah 63:09)
Does any of that match with the view that religion is always about power, in this world?
(January 14, 2015 at 1:37 pm)JesusHChrist Wrote: If consolidation and creating a framework for political power wasn't the primary purpose, it was one hell of a bonus. File under
"unintended consequences"? I don't think that is remotely believable.
Those maps are just showing the spreading of Islam. That still doesn't prove that political control on the earth is the primary purpose, nor something that is required of Muslims, although yes it can be a huge bonus for them.
The Quran itself does not advocate such a politically-oriented mindset, as I've just shown above.
