FEROZ KARMALLY

"Quran on Freedom and Human Rights"

 
 Reply to Aamer Rafi

Dear Rafi Aamer 

Your statement includes me:

It's presumptuous of them to think that the shiploads of scholars hadn't read that verse or if they did, they cannot interpret it in a way to completely agree with the capital punishment of apostasy.

Please read my posts. You will see from my reply to Ahsan Khan that 'it is both right and wrong'. The Islam we know today is the corrupted Islam which includes hadith and culture, although I agree that the punishment for apostasy is not cultural. The true Islam, that is Quran plus practices delivered to Abraham (salat and zakat) does say there is no compulsion. Also, Quran discourages capital punishment in the strongest terms (the male for the male .. if a male kills a female, you cannot take the life of the male). It is hard to imagine that all the 1000 years of scholarly work is wrong (the Christian scholars have been misled into believing the divinity of Jesus for twice that long).

For all intents and purposes what we see of Islam (the corrupted religion) does give the punishment of death for apostasy, it is not cultural and I never said that. But the faults we see with this Islam are too minor comparatively speaking.  It is what we do not see (the flagrant idolization of Muhammad) that is going to lead the Muslim masses to hell. 

Depending on which Islam we are talking about, we have two answers. Obviously satan's laws, promoted by the scholarls, are going to be diametrically opposed to God's laws. 

FYI, the punishment for adultery in the Quran is 100 (symbolic) lashes - symbolic because 100 lashes would kill someone. The punishment for the slave women is half that.  If death were the penalty (by stoning), as these same scholars would have us believe, how can you half kill someone? This should tell the intelligent person that the scholars have no clue as to what Quran, and the real Islam says. 

The reason they are prevented from understanding Quran is given below, 

"When you read the Quran we place between you and those who do not believe in the hereafter an invisible barrier. And we place shields on their hearts and deafness in their ears to PREVENT them from UNDERSTANDING. Consequently when you preach your Lord using the QURAN ALONE, they run away in aversion." 

The do not take ONLY Quran so they are prevented from understanding it. 

It is as simple a fact as that. It is not presumptuous of me to think that shiploads of scholars cannot understand the verse correctly. They cannot because they are prevented, for having disobeyed their Creator. 

You could pose a rhetorical question : You mean they are all wrong? You and I both know that they are not right on this (and most other) issues. 

Regards

Feroz

 

Send questions or comments to Pervaiz Salahuddin