i agree when you say that issues are faced by all. sorrow and oppression are not an exclusive muslim domain
in the faith of islam, one looks at EVERYthing through the prism of worship of the Creator. everything. there is a clear distinction between the created and the creator and one keeps that fact in mind at all times. what did my creator have to say about so and so particular thing? if one follows the way of life set down by God, everything one does is worship, and this is how it’s meant to be. so for a muslim, he/she analyzes everything through the prism of his/her faith, because it’s so integral to them. its not something one puts aside for a while when dealing with an issue that seemingly doesn’t concern itself with religion. this is because as i indicated earlier, everything concerns itself with living life our Creator wanted us to.

this, however, does not mean that i concern myself with only muslim issues. God clearly says in the Qur’an that injustice and oppression will not be accepted of anyone, and anyone who condones it. God commands us to be just, fair, and compassionate while dealing with everyone, whether they have faith or not.

Al-Qur’an Chapter 4 verse 135: “O you who believe! be maintainers of justice, bearers of witness of Allah’s sake, though it may be against your own selves or (your) parents or near relatives; if he be rich or poor, Allah is nearer to them both in compassion; therefore do not follow (your) low desires, lest you deviate; and if you swerve or turn aside, then surely Allah is aware of what you do.”

so basically, a true muslim stands for justice. not necessarily other muslims. wherever there is unjustified oppression happening on a people, a muslim’s heart goes out to them. and if those people happen to be of his faith as well, human nature makes the heart more sympathetic to them. thats all. and it is a fact today that a large number of muslims in multiple places in the world are being persecuted for their beliefs and/or ethnicity. this does not take anything away from your points about a lot of the flashpoints of today’s world being larger than merely muslim problems, which i totally agree with.

as to your question on the percentage of population, i think it’s close to 90% in both territories you asked about. unfortunately, i didn’t quite get the point you were trying to make there.

peace.

all i was trying to say is that causes, problems, issues are faced by all. we should not look at it from a religious prism. yes there is world politics where the mighty throw their weight about. the advanced denied technologies to all, to india and to china too. those who were smart, acquired the technologies anyways. arab countries are not above politics are they? or using their oil for politics? they are just not strong, smart and honest enough to do it successfully. was not saddam killing muslims mercilessly too? were pakistanis soft on the bangledeshis? where is religion in any of this? similarly, kashmir is not a problem where muslims are exploited, its a problem where kashmiris suffer, and a lot of indians too…but its a political problem. religion is used by the terrorists to kill non believers in their religion. may be, just may be people like you and sharique should think abt this before mixing a post on bombings with any issues. to use your own argument, whats the % of all muslims living in kashmir and palestine? where is the siege?

i don’t know what books you’re talking about then. but if it’s something which incites violence like this, you’re wrong in saying they’re followed widely. more on this later.

“almost all muslim countries have laws based on sharia…”

get your facts straight dude…not a SINGLE country (not even the ones in which the population is majority muslim) is based on the sharia. not pakistan, not saudi arabia. a small percentage of their laws may be derived from the shariah (just this fact that it’s not ALL the laws nullifies it as a state based on the sharia). even in this case, they’re being implemented by selfish losers with no notion of governance, by people who’ve lost sight of the day of judgment, and by those who are out for their own gain.

“then how can you simply say you have nothing to do with what most of your community is doing?”

i have everything to do with what most of my community is doing. most of my community happens to be following the true teachings of islam (don’t kill innocent civilians who’ve done absolutely nothing to you!). let me illustrate: there are approximately 1.5 billion muslims in the whole world, give or take a hundred million. let’s suppose that 90% of them don’t follow islam in any way (this is an over-approximation, but just for argument’s sake). you claim that this sort of violence is a natural result of following islamic teachings today. if 150 million people all over the world indeed thought this way, do you not think there would be much more havoc in the world? would there be such relative peace across the globe? and why hasnt it happened in the 1400 years that islam has been with us? you need to realize that it’s a mere minority, in far off decimal points that gives people like you the misconception that “most of my community” is bomb-happy.

“if your religion as you say is infilterated by other things (heresies), then won’t you be judged for your inaction to purify your religion?”

of course i will. and i’m not looking away. i’ve just never happened to come across a person who follows this particular form of heresy. if indeed i knew people like this, it would be my responsibility to clear their notions, and i would. no question about it. you may not know of it, but scholars are working on this.

“i did not say lose faith in your faith, i said reform.”

i would say that there is a need for education. i do agree that most muslims in india are ignorant not only of their faith, but also of other worldly things, and thus they seem to not do the things you would expect them to be doing. the solution is education. it would also help if people like you didn’t have incorrect notions of islam and muslims and actually showed some understanding instead of brushing everything off and coming to simplistic conclusions.

i’ll stop this here..i don’t think anything constructive is coming of this. you’re welcome to continue this personally with me. my attitude is one of curiosity and healthy discussion, and i expect the same of you. if you’re just out to attack and stereotype and not listen or think critically, then i’m afraid that won’t be constructive either.

peace.

“If I consider this whole situation as a Muslim then the motivations are no doubt convincing. Muslims have become an object of exploitation all over the world. Be it the earthly heavens of Kashmir…” is this not presenting Kashmir as a muslim cause then what is it??? you think by denying such causes the violence will stop? al qaida’s goal is to establish muslim rule till span. simi’s official goal is to establish muslim rule in India. so lets assume they do that. then what… lets talibalize the country… then what .mmm… lets destroy all the idols ( like bamiyan…) then what… lets do the same in other lands… seriously, do you think radicals have any shortage of causes? can you deny them all causes? when someone throws stones at you, what do u do? hide all the stones in the world??? presenting kashmir as a muslim cause is one such trap. its a messy problem, undeniably violent and sad. but saying that in kashmir muslims are being exploited sounds like only muslims are suffereing. this is a blatant lie. sounds like written by a lashkar guy.

anonymous, since you are so rational and proud of your intelligent faculties, before giving up hinduism i’m sure you tried to find out if there was sanction for godhra (you mean post godhra right? because godhra was suicide and post godhra was riot) in hinduism? what did u find?

I am surprised that u haven’t heard arguments like these..orkut is crap..leave it. I hope u contribute to this and thus clarify many misconceptions.
And as far as being ashamed to be someone is…i don’t buy that argument. I am a born muslim and would always,inshAllah (God willing), be proud to be one! few bigots cannot deter me from the path of righteousness. Its because i will alone be held responsible for my deeds on this earth irrespective of my community’s