Are Taliban Really Muslims?
As a Muslim girl I was taught to do good. The Prophet never said anything about killing the innocent. Rational Muslims must declare a Jihad on the false Jihad.
Ghazal Omid (8/12/2007)
The writer is an Exile Iranian Political Activist, A Shia Scholar and an Author of "Living in Hell"
As a child every Muslim girl learns that she needs to be good, do her prayers five times daily and know that God is more than just a word. He is closer to our body than our veins and He sees and hears everything, as we say in Arabic many times over in our five daily prayers. He said so Himself.
This closeness means God watches us as we make our daily decisions in everything we do; from laundry to politicking and playing God with people's lives. Our Creator has said many times over in the holy books, Torah, Bible and Koran, that He watches us without resting. He says this not to scare us but to give us assurance we can lean on him in thick and thin. We can seek Him and He will answer. It is not to make Him important, even though He is, but to let us know that He knows who is who and what we are doing.
Muslims believe in an afterlife as the Prophet taught in the holy Koran. It seems surreal that what we were taught as sacred is now regularly on the daily news. Seems to me the Muslim Afterlife has become more a fad than the real deal. Everything from virgins to heaven seems to be for sale!
Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and other Islamist teach that you can buy your way to heaven by killing innocent non-Muslims! That blasphemous concept was not in the lesson plan when I studied Islam. I am still trying to figure out, where did the Prophet say that you can kill the innocent and go to heaven?
Once upon time, Muslim children were taught they should behave and do good things because their book of deeds will be opened in front of everyone in the afterlife. There was a time when children were told that if they do naughty things, God would let everyone in the afterlife who comes to get their assignment to Heaven or Hell know about their misuse of Islam or any other religion. Children became good people, embraced, fear out of respect and, of course, deep love for God during their adult years.Money was never part of the Islam agenda until Bin Laden become the entrepreneur Muslim!
We were taught that the Prophet himself (Peace be upon him) was the symbol of kindness. As a moderate Muslim, perhaps I should be the last to admit this but I am very distraught when non-Muslims challenge me about the time of Prophet Mohamad and recite a litany of disturbing stories, some with a hint of truth and some entirely bogus.
My blood boils when people wrongly judge a Prophet who was so kind. I have studied his path that he used to pass on the same street every day, allowing a non believer to insult and pour hot ashes on him. After many years of heaping abuse on the Prophet, when the man became sick, Prophet went to his bedside, calling him friend and asking about his health.
It bothers me when people seem to have an On and Off switch for history and jump from the 21st century to 1400 and judge Prophet Mohamad based on what they see today. As heart broken as I am, I can not really blame them because I too am upset with the behavior of some ignorant individuals who call themselves Muslims.
When sincere but uninformed people judge the actions of Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) based on the actions of a bunch of killers of innocents such as the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, Khomeini and Khamani, I do not blame the questioners and can offer little defense because we, as Muslims, don't do anything to stop these contemporary madmen. So, what can we expect of others who don't share our knowledge and belief in the Prophet.
As a Muslim, my pain doubles. It is my Muslim duty to stand up to those who insult the Prophet but first I must stand up to the men who use Him and destroy our Prophet's legacy as they destroy Islam that he worked so hard to bring to his good followers. What is our mission? When a Muslim is called to a Jihad, he is not called to kill but to defend his religion. That is the meaning of the word Jihad and the true purpose: to defend our religion when it is threatened. Our religion has been hijacked by so-called Islamist. A billion Muslims are suffering the consequences of a bunch of Pirates calling themselves Muslims and we do absolutely nothing to censure or stop them.
They are killing the innocent, robbing, bombing and turning our children into the next generation of suicide bombers to bargain for Heaven, or, more likely, Hell. I challenge my fellow Muslims to ask themselves, if Prophet Mohamad was here would he agree with this? If your answer is No, you ought to stop this madness. You ought to stand up.
Our God, the God of Creation who created 124,000 prophets, in giving us books mentioned in the Koran, called five of his prophets the greatest men of three religions: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohamad. He has created every man, woman and child in this world and he is the only one who can give a life or take a life.
When the Taliban commits the great sin of taking hostage innocent Korean civilians and kills them while calling themselves Muslims, I am at the end of my talking point. I can no longer tell non-Muslims, you can't say that about my religion or prophet because I myself am guilty of doing nothing!
Remember, on the day that we go back for judgment, God says, "I am going to place you in rows." He doesn't say, Row One Christians. Row Two Muslims. Row Three 3 Jews. He said in Rows. You shall stand and you shall answer. He will ask, "What you have done for me?" We may be tempted to answer, "Dear God, you didn't need anything." He is going to tell us, "No, I didn't but your neighbor did. Your friends did. And, he is going to ask all of us, "Why, as Muslims didn't you stand up to the Taliban and demand freedom for the innocent the day you heard the news of innocent people becoming their hostage? Why didn't you say that God will never forgive the man killers who wrap themselves in phony religious protection?
He is going to tell us He will not forgive the Muslims because they didn't stand up to the religious charlatans. Even though we knew this was the right thing to do, we didn't do it. God has said many times, not only to his prophets but also to others, "You will feel me in your heart." While you are reading this article, close your eyes knowing that killing the innocent in the name of God is "Haraam" or Taboo in Islam. Then you will know that God has spoken to you.
Every Muslim must demand today, "Stop killing the innocent and free the hostages." Or, in your after life, you will be answering to God Himself for not standing up for the truth.
The misnamed Jihad responsible for the atrocities now enveloping our world is the real threat to the future of Islam. Rational Muslims must declare a Jihad on the false Jihad.
Don't just stand on the side walk waiting for someone else to do something. Muslims must shout, "Spare the innocent. Release the hostages. Stop playing God with people's lives in the name of God."
Ghazal OMID.
Shiah Islam Scholar
Author, Living in Hell
www.ghazalomid.comwww.livinginhell.comhttp://www.omedia.org/Show_Article.asp?DynamicContentID=2515&MenuID=702&ThreadID=1014004 
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