Why are some Muslims the nicest people you could ever meet, while others are the most evil? (For a good example of a person who had intimate dealings with both kinds of Muslims see the interview of Erik Aude by Jordan Harbinger. Imprisoned in Pakistan for a Crime He Didn’t Commit.)
What is particularly interesting is Islam produces such mixed results amongst the most devout Muslims. (These are people who pray five times a day, read the Quran in Arabic, and who sincerely try to follow Muhammad’s example.) This is particularly hard to understand for non-Muslims (and Muslims) who have never read Islam’s earliest and most respected sources (i.e. The Quran, Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and the earliest biographies of Muhammad (Sirah)).
So how are we to get to the bottom of this? Should we assume that Islam is good if we have met some Muslims who are good people? Or should we assume that Islam is evil if we have met some Muslims who are evil people?
The key to understanding how Islam produces such varying results is to look closely at the life of Muhammad.
It is said that Muhammad was the only man to live out the Quran perfectly. You cannot rightly understand the Quran without learning about Muhammad. To understand any verse in the Quran you must first understand what he was doing or saying at the time, as that will explain the proper context of the verse. (The most respected, and most widely read Quranic commentators, such as Ibn Kathir, attempt to do this.) What is interesting is very many of the nicest Muslims you meet do this, and very many of the most evil Muslims also do this. So it would be foolish to assume that the nice Muslims are not well informed, or that those who are wicked are ill informed. They both could be well informed, but have their reasons for ignoring certain things Muhammad did or said.
So, are we likely to find out the truth from devout Muslims? Or will they leave out some important details?
Sometimes you can see more clearly if you are on the outside looking in, than if you are on the inside looking out. For example, if you wished to know the truth about a cult leader would you ask a member of the cult? Of course not. You would have to ask a non-member who has studied the cult in depth, or someone who used to be a member. A member of a cult will be completely blind to the faults of their leader as they will only focus on the good things their leader has said or done. (Or they will justify the evil things the leader has done by saying, “If he did it, it must be good, because he is good.” Much evil in this world is inspired by blind obedience. See here.) If you only look at the good things a person has done, you might not see what that person is really like. To really understand what a person is like you must also look at the questionable things in their life.
For this reason I strongly encourage Muslims and non-Muslims to read The Third Choice by Mark Durie. The author is a scholar who has spent years in the Islamic world living amongst Muslims and studying Islam’s most respected sources. (Mark particularly focuses on how sharia is shaped by Muhammad’s example, and what it has been like for non-Muslims to live under sharia.) Because he is an outsider, he is able to look at Muhammad’s life more objectively than most Muslims can. (See Understanding Islam and Understanding Afghanistan, Jihad and Islam: A Conversation with Dr Mark Durie) The preface to the The Third Choice can be read here (used with permission). Check out the reviews on Amazon.
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