Why is this god so intolerant?

[Daniel]

Please rephrase the question. I can't answer this mainstream crap lol

[Adam]

Why are Hindus feeding rats in their temples while children starve? What sense is that?

Why the hue and cry when a non-Hindu wants to eat some beef?

[Kadijah Michelle]

Ok, it's in interpretation. God knows the believer from the disbeliever. When the Quran says he is covering their eyes, it means that those who reject morality of any kind will have the worst in this life and the next. And yes, Islam is disrespectful to atheist and such because we believe you they are disrespecting God by not believing in him. Here's the thing, I will be kind to anyone, regardless of what they believe as long as that person is respectful of what I believe. Just as there are so called religious people damning people to hell (which is just wrong because if you are following the texts you know only God can damn), I have been attacked by atheists and pageans for believing in God. Sometimes quite viciously. I think what is most important is to keep asking these questions, and to be respectful of anything someone considers sacred.

[Kumar]

Do you know Quran was collected after death of Prophet (pbuh) so it means that reading is not as important as to understand it (Surah 43:3) else Prophet(pbuh) might have released a copy when he was alive.

And understanding Qu'ran needs an open mind. It is not God who is intolerant it is us who are impatient. We are impatient in finding out the exact meaning of every ayah. Qu'ran was revealed in 23 years and you want to understand it in few minutes :) (Fast Pace World, not your fault)

You will enjoy every day of your life if you start believing in God. You will unfold many mysteries. BTW as per Hindus Philosophy, in Ramayana when we say Pawan Putra Hanuman (son of wind) - did you ask any question? You have to prepare yourself to feel all these things and believe me you will enjoy your life much more if you do so..

One can't learn how to believe in God but can only be felt inside. It is the same feeling when you feel the cold breeze of air on your skin and feel happy... Try to look within not beyond.

[Daniel]

Philosophy and psychology unveils the mystery right in front of you. Know one know the truth and anyone proclaiming they do are potentially crazy or everyone is a made hatter per say lightly.

[Adam]

Madhubrata wrote: "Because a lot of people practising Hinduism are stupid.Neither of the things you mentioned is doctrinal to Hinduism,read the Vedas before attacking please..."

Are you saying that "Cow protection" isn't really a part of Hinduism?

Madhubrata wrote: "I am addressing the inherent terrorism in Abrahamic religion.
It's not just not believing in God that is condemned of the Quran, it is not believing in the "god of Abraham" and the scriptures and the "last day."..."

Pagan idolatry is condemned in the Bible as well. The Second Commandment forbids the worship of idols and false gods.

From a Judeo-Chrislamic perspective, there is only one God. Any other "gods" are demons from Hell bent on leading men astray. Lakshmi is no different from Baal in this respect.

[Kadijah Michelle]

Madhubrata wrote: "Kadijah Michelle wrote: "Ok, it's in interpretation. God knows the believer from the disbeliever. When the Quran says he is covering their eyes, it means that those who reject morality of any kin..."

Your right, doubt is a natural part of following a religion. I can't remember where I heard this, but faith would not be possible without doubt. Even Muhammad, peace be upon him, doubted what was happening to him at first, that's why questions like yours deserve kind answers.

[Ken]

Madhubrata wrote: "So god covers the ears and eyes of infidels so that they can't believe...AND makes them burn in hell for not believing?What sense is that?
Oh and isn't it disrespectful to atheists/pagans/polytheis..."You make a few mistakes here.

First, you assume that God must be tolerant. You're projecting human sentimentality onto the infinite. God can be anything.

Second, you appeal to ethical grounds for your argument rather than logical ones. I suspect you're just trying to incite trouble, but I've humored you with a reply, as have others.

You need to think more before you ask. I'm addressing the inherent instigation (I feel 'terrorism' is too often grafted into inappropriate uses) of your contributions here.

[Abhinav]

All the preachers here and their idols (lets zakir hussain etc) should not they go to ISIS and other Islamic terrorist hit areas to tell them how peaceful Islam or Koran is?

[Ken]

Hindsight is 20/20, they say. We can look back and ask why cavemen didn't have toilet paper, but ultimately it's pointless. Society when the text was written vs society now, judging it, are not the same. Not the same climate, level of technology, level of knowledge, nor values. You can't make that judgment.

[Ken]

Alright, I can't win against fundamentalist thought.

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough Simon. And I'm not up for a tit-for-tat web-war either, so I'll only write this once, more clearly.

One can judge the past. You are misunderstanding me, or I've not stated it clearly enough. We can discern many facts about the past, and we call this "history". Much of it is not concrete fact, but inferences based on first-hand account.

What we can and should not do, is hold past and future societies to present-day standards. It is anachronistic and false to suggest, for example, that society X were heathens because they didn't bathe so often. Or that society Y were morally unjust for the ways they disciplined their offspring. This is both oversimplifying incredibly complex social and environmental influences, AND setting the arbiter of judgment according to the environment of the judge.

Irritatingly, this belief is all the rage in fashion at the moment. Armchair opinion columns fill with critiques of Hellenistic society, of early 20th century literature, of all sorts of things. They demand that such works of art as were created during those periods be "updated" to reflect current senses of morality and ethics.

This is an absolute outrage.

Shall we slap R, PG-13 stickers throughout art galleries? Black censor bars across the oil paintings of Renaissance masters because current society doesn't approve of public displays of nudity? The entire affair is a prudish, misguided endeavor to homogenize history in order to simplify sensory input, to simplify ethical and moral quandaries for those who would rather avoid the messiness of reality.

You can pick on the deities of the Bible, Koran, or any book you choose. Show me one who conforms to modern ideals. You may argue for atheism. Fine. But you can't argue that a book written millennia ago "isn't tolerant" because it doesn't fit your worldview. It's narrow-minded.

[F.W.]

Here's an example of how the Koran came about, and it answers the question that was originally asked:

Muhammad leads 300 men to attack a Meccan caravan that was returning from a trade mission to Syria with 2,000 to 3,000 camels loaded with merchandise and profits. Muhammad's intention is to capture it and steal everything. To defend their caravan, the Meccans send an army of 900 men. A battle ensues and most of the Meccan leaders are slain and the army routed. The battle of Badr it's called. Muhammad throws their bodies down a well and crows victory. After a number of the captives are slain and the rest held for ransom, he divides up the spoils among his men and crafts a Koran chapter (a sura in the parlance) called "Booty" or the "Spoils of War."

He tells everyone God ordered a fifth of the booty to be apportioned to him and that God has just dictated 75 fresh verses to him containing immortal lines such as: "It is not for any prophet to have captives until he makes slaughter in the land (8:67)."

and

"Now enjoy what ye have won (meaning booty), for it is lawful and good (8:69)."

And many more immortal lines. The Koran is impossible to understand without a detailed knowledge of Muhammad's life, and then it becomes crystal clear that it is like a blog or a diary he maintained for 23 years. It's very often a recap of the action and a critique of the behavior of his corps of fanatics. It's basically the diary of a neurologically and psychologically disturbed man (a psycho) who killed people who refused to accept him and his religion, which answers the question at the start of this thread.

Dover Books published a chronological Koran in 2005, a faithful reproduction of the original first published in 1909. This is the J. M. Rodwell translation. If curiosity or any other motive pushes you to read the Koran, that's the version to get.

P.S. I got into this discussion late because I only recently joined Goodreads.

[Richard]

I think some of you understand, some miss the point.
God is love, love is God. God's love is unconditional. Know what unconditional means and you will know that intolerance is not possible with God.
We are created from God, we are created from Love. We exist as Love and Energy (Note: the body is 99.9% empty space.)
Now, as to religion. Religion was created by man for the purpose of controlling man. This is not necessarily a bad thing because people begin running amuck and need some control in their lives. However, along come some people filled with evil thoughts and they begin manipulating the information in their religious text and start abusing people.
The abused people get angry and start denouncing God because they attach God to the abuse of religion.
So, we get to the point of idols. All those people running around holding up their sacred books declaring the book the work of God have apparently began worshiping the book instead of God. I call that idolatry, i.e. the religious book has become their idol.
Bottom line: Evil only exist in the hearts of man. Intolerance comes from man, not God.
God loves you, love always
Nathaniel

[Mohamed]

Peace be unto you all,

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions flying around here.
There is this question of why is Allah intolerant, and a lot of the arguments and examples put forth here prove that relying on one or two English translations lead to vast misunderstandings.

First of all, disbeliever is not the best translation of the word "Kuffar". Kuffar in it's literal definition means 'one who covers up'. One who conceals, rejects, denies. I will admit that a lot of Muslims and non-Muslims alike misuse this term.

Christians, and Jews are considered 'People of the book' and do not fall under this term. Also polytheists are idolators, or in Islamic terms, one who associates partners with Allah, its arabic term is 'Mushrikoon'.

So who are the Disbelievers(Kuffars)? They are the individuals who have seen, read, heard the positive teachings of the Prophet(pbuh), and the Qur'an, but 'choose' to reject it. Take careful note of the word 'positive' in the previous sentence. If you have only read negative things about the Prophet (pbuh) that excludes you from being a Kuffar. This includes individuals who are completely ignorant of the message of Islam, they are not considered Kuffar. Kuffar is one who has read the positive message in its pure form, and knows it to be true, yet 'conceals it'.

One then wonders 'how can anyone prove one to be a Kuffar, if they don't profess it?' That's just it, in Islam only Allah knows. Allah knows what is in the heart of His creation.

In the Qur'an whenever it calls for violence on the Polytheists, or Disbelievers(Kuffar) it is referring to the early Meccans who fought against the Prophet(pbuh). So why not call them Meccans? The distinction is made for a few reasons, one being that there Muslim Meccans, and Polytheist Meccans. Another being that for 13 years Muslims were tortured, oppressed, and denied the right to worship, by the Polytheists, simply because they believed "There is no God(Illah) but The God(Allah)". Therefore, the Polytheists chose to segregate themselves from the Muslims as a distinct group.

Why the two terms? A Polytheist only includes invdividuals who worship multiple deities, it doesn't necessarily mean they are Kuffar. When they are referred to as Kuffar, Allah is exposing out what they conceal in their hearts. Also for example, during the 2nd battle there were Muslims who were polytheists in the previous battle, but have converted to Islam since then.

The Hijra (Migration) from Mecca to Medina was to escape the prosecution of Muslims. It was after these 13 years that the 1st revelations compelling the early Muslims to fight back were brought down. Meccan Muslims had to flee Mecca leaving all their properties, and arrived in Medina with basically nothing. Majority of them taken in by the inhabitants of Medina, who housed them and fed them. What that caravan was transporting was what the Polytheists forcefully stole from the Muslims.

Was the violence that Allah called upon indiscriminate? Many may have come across the incomplete verse 9:5 :And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush." Sure if you read this it is easy to respond with an emphatic 'YES!' However, I will show you the full context of that verse from the Qur'an. Hopefully, accurately answering the question,

9:3 And [it is] an announcement from Allah and His Messenger to the people on the day of the greater pilgrimage that Allah is disassociated from the disbelievers, and [so is] His Messenger. So if you repent, that is best for you; but if you turn away - then know that you will not cause failure to Allah . And give tidings to those who disbelieve of a painful punishment.

9:4 EXCEPTED are those with whom you made a treaty among the polytheists and then they have not been deficient toward you in anything or supported anyone against you; so complete for them their treaty until their term [has ended]. Indeed, Allah loves the righteous [who fear Him].

9:5 And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. BUT if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

9:6 And if any one of the polytheists SEEKS your protection, then GRANT HIM PROTECTION so that he may hear the words of Allah . Then deliver him to his place of SAFETY. That is because they are a people who do not know.

9:7 How can there be for the polytheists a treaty in the sight of Allah and with His Messenger, except for those with whom you made a treaty at al-Masjid al-Haram? So as long as they are upright toward you, BE UPRIGHT TOWARD THEM. Indeed, Allah loves the righteous [who fear Him].

A quick glance over this one might not be too convinced. However, lets look at this a little more closely. Allah says kill the polytheists wherever you find them, BUT if they should repent...let them go their way, AND if any should SEEK protection, GRANT HIM PROTECTION. So...all the Meccan polytheists had to do is either Repent or ask for mercy. And there's a mention of a treaty? A treaty in 7th century Arabia? What is this treaty that Allah speaks of? Al-Masjid al-Haram is a place of worship in Mecca and there was a treaty made there between Muslims and the Meccan polythiests, one that was heavily in favour of the polytheists. You can do your own research about this treaty, I just ask that you be true to yourself and seek knowledge from logical sources. One doesn't go to an Atheist website seeking knowledge on Christianity, and vice-versa.


There are other violent verses and they also address these Meccan polytheists, and there are others that give Muslims the right the defend themselves without transgressing limits (these limits are described in the same verse, or the following). Also, there are verses that explicitly forbid Muslims from fighting non-combatants.

Thus, one can see that there is no indiscriminate unjustified violence. The Qur'an is a text that there you can't just pick one verse, or chapter(surah) and completely understand it. It is meant to be taken as a whole, it has to fit with overall message. There can be no contradictions. If you perceive something to be a contradiction, don't be quick to judge arrogantly, if you read it to seek knowledge be true to yourself.

I will end this with some random verses to show how tolerable Islam is.

"There is no compulsion in [accepting] religion. The right course has become clear from error." (The Qur'an 2: 256)

"And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them entirely. Then will you compel the people until they become believers?" (The Qur'an 10: 99)

"Allah does not forbid you concerning those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes from being righteous towards them and acting justly towards them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly." (The Qur'an 60:8)

"And do not argue with the People of the Scripture (Christians and Jews) except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say we believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him." (The Qur'an 29: 46)

"To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged; and verily, God is most powerful for their aid...If God did not defend one set of people by means of another, then monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of God is commemorated in abundant measure, would surely have been destroyed..." (The Qur'an 22:39-40)

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even if it be against yourselves, your parents, and your relatives, or whether it is against the rich or the poor...” (The Qur'an 4:135)

“If you fear that you can not be just, then marry only one…” (The Qur'an 4:3)

[F.W.]

This is the kind of nonsense you can expect from someone who has been brainwashed into believing God talked to Muhammad. Muhammad was a delusional epileptic and his "religion" consisted of ideas he stole from Judaism and Christianity, particularly ideas about the afterlife: Day of Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Heaven, Hell, etc.

He inserted himself into these ideas and made himself out to be the hero of a new epic tale: Muhammad, the interface between God and man. He will be the first to be resurrected and will intercede for the faithful with God, so that in the event they get tossed into Hell for their behavior he will get them released. This is why "Muslims"--meaning people brainwashed into submitting to Muhammad's criminalized--and criminalizing--concept of God--bang their heads so fervently during their enervating prayer routines that many of them end up with bruised foreheads. Fear of hell. That was how Muhammad controlled people, and it still works today.

Muslims have rationalizations for all of Muhammad's criminality--the plunder, assassinations, mass murder, enslavement of men, women, and children, and much more. He was the Messenger of God, don't your know, God's chosen, and as such he was sinless. Nothing he did constituted a sin because it was all done to advance the "cause of Allah."

It is belief in all these idiocies that Muhammad claimed about himself that leads the brainwashed to massacre non-believers--people who aren't about to buy into all this Muhammad crap that he pushed about himself. It accounts for the Charlies Hebdo massacre, it accounts for the recent massacre of 147 students in Kenya, it accounts for all the ISIS atrocities in the Middle East, it accounts for the murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. It accounts for the deliberate and premeditated murder of some 270,000,000 people over the last 1,400 years. And that's very likely nothing compared to what's coming from this 'religion of peace.'

This vile cult is based on one and only one premise: That God talked to Muhammad through an angel. And who is telling you that? Muhammad. And who was Muhammad? A mass murdering thug who on one occasion beheading 900 men and boys because they refused to believe in all the crap he claimed about himself, a man who sent hitmen to murder his critics and opponents and then congratulated the killers when they returned to report mission accomplished.

Islam is all about him--about the incitements to violence of his Koran and the example of his behavior--his Sunna, which includes his savagery toward people who rejected him and his 'religion.' (This, by the way, is where the Sunnis get their name. They are the followers of the ways of Muhammad, including his savagery.)

Here we are 1,400 years later and we get people like this brainwashed individual named "Mohamed" who comes into our world via our technology to push this violent garbage on people.

I can tell you what you can do with your "religion" and your Koran, bud.