My responses in blue
Here are a few:
[strike]"make war" against them so they might be sent to their "homes in hell."[/strike]O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination. (Surah 9:73)
This is as incorrect quote. This is God specifically telling the prophet Mohommed to try and convert as many people as possible to save them from hell.
[strike]Fight unbelievers who are near to you.[/strike] O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil). 9:123
Incomplete, and Specifically does not state kill or make war. It also says you should not make friends with them after it says fight them. This is talking about debating and contradicting idolaters. (If one is talking in public, and you overhear them, do not let them go unchallenged about their beliefs.)
Allah has cursed the unbelievers and proposed for them a blazing hell. - [strike]33:60[/strike]
This is surah 33:64, note all people of the book believe in this.
[strike]Make war on them until idolatry is no more and Allah's religion reigns supreme[/strike]And war with them until there is no more persecution as religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do. - 8:39
This is also a misquote. A big one. This line actually states to make war until there is no persecution of believers in God's religion by Idolaters. It further stipulates if they continue to perform idolatry after persecution has stopped, God sees what they do. (this means it is His concern) (This means it is not OK to continue war on idolaters who aren't persecuting believers.)
[strike]It is not for any Prophet to have captives until he has made slaughter in the land.[/strike]It is not fit for a prophet that he should take captives unless he has fought and triumphed in the land. - 8:67
This is ALSO A MISQUOTE. It states the Prophet may not take slaves or prisoners except those of war. (In Islam, slaves may only legally be obtained from the refugees of war. Their terms are not always lifetime, and their children are not slaves, but must still be provided for. They are also not to be sold. Even more so there were practical reasons for this, given the times.)
Allah will humble the unbelievers. Allah and His apostle(Prophet) are free from [strike]obligations[/strike] treaties to idol-worshipers. Proclaim a woeful punishment to the unbelievers. - 9:2-3
First part is irrelevant since their are no Prophets till Jesus returns. Second part says you should inform non-believers of the punishment for disbelief(warn them about hell), same as Christians do.
I don't know of any other religion that converts by the sword.
There is no compulsion in religion. 2:256
Whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve. 18:29
Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion. 109:6
Now I assume you are going to say what an "inward" struggle jihad is and all. It doesn't seem that the 9/11 terrorists saw it as an inward struggle did they? Stop relating these people to me. They were crazy. Just because they claimed to be Muslim doesn't make us the same. I am just as much a victim of 9/11 as any other American. You don't see me comparing you to so-called Christians who blow up clinics and assassinate doctors.
I am also sure that you can quote some peaceful surah's from the koran too. [highlight]The problem is that the later Surah's that contradict the earlier ones are held with more weight[/highlight]. (cite please? this is not true) Through history as islam was smaller and weaker it boasted peaceful coexistence. As it gained strength it transformed to converting by the sword and killing all enemies. [highlight]It is also a religion that allows lying to advance itself[/highlight](CITE PLEASE this is not true. In Islam you may only lie to an opponent DURING battle, (except about discussing terms). At no other time is it acceptable.) so I can't believe anything you or any other muslim says to placate us.(Nice cop-out)
In my opinion muslims themselves have been deceived and I hope they wake up. Oh another thing, what other religion calls for the [highlight]death penalty for someone who leaves their religion?[/highlight](cite please)
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I would also like to make note, Surah 9 is called "The Immunity" and it deals with a specific time during Mohommad's life. Muslims were a persecuted minority at this time. This dealt how to go about fighting for freedom from persecution. It required the Muslims to wait 4 months, It required you could not fight against an Idolater until you had taught him about God. It also stated you could not fight Idolaters who made a treaty with you and held their end of the bargain and did not work against you.(see 9:4, which is an exemption from 9:3) This Surah has a lot of information, much of it valid, but some of it is historical as it deals with a specific gameplan to a specific event, and will not correlate to modern times well as an overall chapter. It can be a little challenging, but you can
read it here. It should be referenced for general guidance, and carefully for modern day interpretation. Understand some things may seem ambiguous as portions of other chapters affect the understanding of this chapter.
For instance, the slavery issue. You may not realize, but during this time, Mohommad and his followers were under tribal laws. If a faction broke a treaty their lives were forfeit upon losing a fight. That means women and children too, usually. These tribes were rather small, and if they lost a fight, most or all of the men would be dead. The women and children and remaining men were killed because there was nobody left to take care of them. Islam however, took them into indentured servitude (A form of slavery not similar to American slavery) instead. Most were eventually freed and were assimilated into the community.
As with the Old and New testaments, taking a line out of context rarely gives you any truth. Slightly mis-quote it and it means whatever you want. The same bastardizations 45AcpForMe used (unintentionally, I'm sure), is how Al'Queda and other terrorist twist Islam to their will. Hopefully everyone who reads this will learn from it, as perpetuating these falsities only helps the terrorist/extremest groups recruit.
A Note for reading, Believers, people of the book, God's/Allah's religion does not refer to Islam, but Christians and Jews and followers of Mohommad. similarly 'Idolater' does not include Christians and Jews or any of the religions of Adam. The Qu'ran tells us there were 400 prophets. Obviously we don't know who they all are, so you can't simply say anyone who doesn't believe A-Z is an idolater.