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Islam claims to be a very clear religion.
The Qur'an says that it is Al-Furqan.
The criterion between
right and wrong, truth and falsehood.
It also says that it is Kitab Mubin.
A clear book.
Clear guidance.
And yet for a religion that claims to be so clear,
it is very confusing.
There are hundreds of different views.
Everyone and every group and every sect claims to be following true Islam.
And each one saying
that it is very clear that they're right and everyone else is wrong.
After the September 11'nth attacks and every single attack after that,
I constantly saw on television and heard
in, you know, the Mosques and in
talks
Muslims saying
that “These acts are completely against Islam!”
And yet, I also heard people saying,
they're trying to defend these attacks according to Islam.
And you know, it's obvious
that the people who are doing them
don't think that they're against Islam.
And these people are not just people from the street. These people are people who claim to be the most pious
the most religious. People who,
you know, have learnt the Qur'an by heart and practice every tiny little detail of it.
If they don't know,
that these sort of attacks are completely against Islam,
then obviously it's not as clear
and is obvious as
these people claim it to be.
And it's not just, you know, these sort of attacks that
there is confusion about.
There is confusion about every single issue.
You know, suicide attacks, some people say it's okay,
some people say it's haram.
Some people say some of them are alright, some of them are not alright.
Sharia Law.
Some people say “Sharia Law is for all times and all places,”
others say “Sharia Law is out of date,” others say “some bits are out of date some bits are okay.”
The Qur'an, you know, says
you can hit your wife, other people say “no it doesn't say you can hit your wife,”
other people say “well, you can hit them a little bit, but you have to use a feather or miswak or handkerchief or something like that.”
As soon as you mention any point about Islam, you can be sure
that there will be some people coming to say: “No that's wrong.”
So if you give their view
then somebody else will come and say “No they're wrong.”
You know, whatever view you give, everyone is moving the goal post.
So Islam seems to be this amorphous, you know
changing, sort of
ill-defined shape, that is neither this nor that and it's everything to everyone.
Then of course, there are those who tell you that
under an Islamic state everything will be perfect.
Everything will be fine.
There'll be no drugs, no prostitution, no crime.
Everyone will be happy!
But if you point to
actual examples of Islamic States, in Saudi Arabia,
in Iran,
under the Taliban in Afghanistan;
when Sudan was trying an Islamic State.
They will, of course, tell you “Oh no, those were not real Islamic States.”
“They were not practising true Islam.”
Can you really blame people
for saying:
“Will the real Islam please stand up?”