Quizzes & Puzzles0 min ago
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Untitled; //what was the arab world like before islam? i don't like it as a religion at all but i know very little about what came before it//
Well there was Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, Taoism plus the polytheistic religions such as Hinduism and then of course there were the Greeks & Romans.
The problem is that an insignificant, poorly educated, paedophile bandit came along later in the 6th century, claiming he had been spoken to directly by God and what he had been told negated every previous religion, and that any followers of those religions were to be despised and classed as 'infidels'.
But Islamic art has enriched the world, losing that would be a pretty heavy price to pay.
It's also worth remembering for every fundamentalist there are probably dozens of families living the Islamic equivalent of the average church of England member, going to the mosque on holy days and maybe observing Ramadan but otherwise just having the same problems and aspirations as the rest ofus.
As usual TGM put it correctly over a century ago:
How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries, improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.
It's also worth remembering for every fundamentalist there are probably dozens of families living the Islamic equivalent of the average church of England member, going to the mosque on holy days and maybe observing Ramadan but otherwise just having the same problems and aspirations as the rest ofus.
Exactly Rowan. There are some very bitter prejudiced people in this section at present. It's very disturbing.