Quote:Could you elbaborate on this 'Islamic etiquette' please Abu?
The first rule is to extend to a Muslim the benefit of the doubt, and in fact this goes for all cases of accusations, innocent until proven guilty, I'm sure there's a similar legal concept in the West, is there not? Media reports and accusations in tabloids don't amount to proof of guilt
Quote:Is it a cultural thing or is it derived from doctrine?
If it were cultural, I wouldn't be supporting it, would I? I only support those things derived directly from Islamic teachings, I couldn't care less about Arab cultural practises, or Indian cultural practises, or Indonesian cultural practises, or Albanian cultural practises etc.
It is indeed enshrined in the Islamic texts:
Narrated by Anas Ibn Malik (ra), the Prophet (pbuh) said:
"Support your brother if he is the oppresser or the oppressed", it was asked:
"O Messenger of Allaah: (we understand about) supporting him when he is oppressed, so how do we support him when he is the oppresser?" He (pbuh) said:
"Restrain him from oppressing (anyone), for that is supporting your brother." Quote:What if there are two muslims in a disagreement and one seems to be more 'devout' (eg a cleric vs a rebellious teenager)?
As per the above hadith, you must support the one who is oppressing (wrong) by restraining him. As mentioned numerous times (to you fd) before, there's no such thing as an "Islamic cleric". The most knowledgeable scholar has no special right over the most jahil teenager.
Quote:Does it contribute to the inability of the Muslim community to root out terrorists and extremists?
The vast majority of extremists and terrorists in this world are on your side of the fence, and I don't see you doing anything to 'root them out', in fact they're running the show and are causing bloodshed and mayhem all over the Islamic world and have been doing so for about a century now... You should look in your own backyard, and then sling mud at Muslims, once you've completely cleaned it out.
Quote:Does it undermine justice where it is combined with a legal system that considers the testimony of a non-Muslim to be inferior?
No, as it's not a pretext for lying or falsifying information. In fact we only even stumbled into this subject because I was pointing out how easily people are prepared to accept any accusation brought against a Muslim.
Quote:Does it cause the Muslim community to blame external factors for their problems while failing to 'get their own house in order'?
Actually if you had a more sincere dialogue with Muslims, I think you'd find we don't blame anyone but our ownselves for our situation. Doesn't mean we for instance won't name the perpetrators of clear agressions against us, but is that really blaming? I don't think so.
In fact the Islamic texts are full of statements which clearly show that the one who does not find good in this world should blame his own self.
"Whoever finds some good, let him praise Allah, and whoever finds other than that, let him blame his own self"
However this has nothing to do with for instance recognising Sharon as the instigator of the Sabra and Shatilla massacres, or the Irgun and Stern gangs for the numerous massacres and ethnic cleansing that occured during the occupation of Palestinian villages, or the USA of invading Muslim countries and supplying Israel with weapons to fire on Muslim civilians constantly... We blame ourselves for our clear failure to prevent it, but recognising the aggressor is not blaming them.
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