Can Muslims be good Americans?

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Can Muslims be good Americans
AN MUSLIMS BE GOOD AMERICANS? BELGIANS?
  

You many have received an email with the heading, “Can Muslims be good Americans?” I have received this at least a dozen times. Do you need to respond to it? The choice is yours; no one has the time to hammer away hatred. 
There is a lot out there in circulation and I am pleased to have worked on responses, if you get that again, send them this or create your own. Indeed some of the Islamophobes like Robert Spencer, Nonie Darwish, Geert Wilders, MA Khan, Ali Sina, Walid Shoebet, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Newt Gingrich, Brigitte Gabriele, David Horowitz, Steven Shamrock, Wafa Sultan and others are consistently showing their dumbness in attacking Islam. These men with hate cannot speak love, the lust for power has made them abandon common good things about civility, just like some of the radicals among Muslims.

Let me ask you this, if there are 800 murders a year in New York City, can we say, all the New Yorkers are murderers? Can we deduce that if Dallas gives 5,000 traffic tickets a month, all the Dallasites are reckless drivers? If there are a few bad Muslims out there, how does it make all Muslims bad guys?
In the following, dialogues, some dude responded to it in a dozen ways to the question, can Muslim be good Americans followed by my response. 
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Can a good Muslim be a good American? 
Dude:  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Theologically – no… Because his allegiance is to Allah, The moon god of Arabia. 
Mike Ghouse: There is no such thing as moon God, no Muslim has ever heard of it. You can call any Muslim and find the truth for yourselves.  There is only one God; he (it or she) is merciful and just. Every one of the 114 chapters in Quran start with those attributes except one, where it is mentioned in the text. The allegiance is to the invisible creator of the universe who belongs to all of us, and all of us are his creation.  

Muslims are certainly good Americans and their loyalty to America is no different than any Americans. They are serving the nation in every which way; indeed, nearly 10% of the Medical Doctors in America are Muslims.  
  
Dude:   Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Religiously – no… Because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except Islam. (Quran, 2:256)(Koran) 
  
Mike Ghouse: This man could have at least read the quote. How many of you believed him when he said, “Because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except Islam.”  The quote reads differently.
Well, here is Quran 2:256 “Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error …” This is Islam’s unambiguous affirmation of freedom of faith, which also applies to changing of faith. The Qur’an illuminates before the humanity the two highways [90:10], one of which leads to salvation. Islam is an invitation to the highway toward salvation, but it is based on Freedom of choice.
However many a Muslims believe that “No other religion is acceptable to Allah except Islam” based on misquoting the verse: 3:85 (Asad) “For, if one goes in search of a religion other than self-surrender unto God, it will never be accepted from him, and in the life to come he shall be among the lost.” They take the verb Islam as noun Islam.
Islam in its general meaning is submission to the will of God; which is caring for life and environment and maintaining the balance within oneself and with others. The key word is “self-surrender unto the creator”. Anyone who follows the laws of goodness (surrender) to keep peace in the society is following the Den, the dharma, the righteous path to sustain peace. As the verses are quoted earlier, if you do the right karma, God will shower his grace regardless of whether you are a Muslim or not.

God in the Quran also repeatedly says, “Whether you are a Jew, Christian or a Pagan, you need not worry, if you are good to your fellow beings, your rewards are with me.” And the Quran addresses mankind thorough out the book, from the very first verse to the last one. (Check out “Our Mission at WorldMuslimCongress.com).
Quran 2;62 – “VERILY, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians — all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds — shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.”

Quran 22:34 – “For each congregation we have decreed rites whereby they commemorate the name of GOD for providing them with the livestock. Your god is one and the same god; you shall all submit to Him. Give good news to the obedient.”
Dude:   Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Scripturally – no… Because his allegiance is to the five Pillars of Islam and the Quran.
Mike Ghouse: This is as dumb as asking, if Muslims loved their mothers. America is their home and they will do everything to defend safeguard and protect their land. You will not find an individual American of any race, religion or ethnicity who will do nothing if his mother is attacked?
Muslim Allegiance is to God, the day of accounting and righteous deeds, the five Pillars of Islam are the ritual practices to achieve piety. They are 1) Witness that there is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet, 2) Prayers, 3) Fasting, 4) Zakat (tithe) and 5) Pilgrimage.  
By the way, a Muslims faith is incomplete without a belief in all the prophets and the name of Jesus is often referenced in Quran.   Islam also insists that no prophet should be treated as superior or inferior. In the eyes of God all humanity is created equal.
Dude:   Can a good Muslim be a good American?   Geographically – no… Because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day
Mike Ghouse: Mecca is the focal point to build uniformity and harmony. A system was created so all worshippers can face in one direction instead of multiple directions. There is no other value than that; it is a sanctuary where people walk in putting aside their conflicts, malice, ill-will and evilness.   It is as simple as 500 people sitting in a church facing the pulpit instead of each one facing in different direction. There is no allegiance to Mecca
Dude:  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Socially – no… Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.
Mike Ghouse: That is sheer non-sense, a Muslim is called upon to be an Amin – that is someone who tells nothing but the truth, who is just, who is fair, who is kind and who is trustworthy.  You’ll always find people in all faiths who keep it to themselves, and some who are friendly with their neighbors, this has nothing to do with religion, it about individuals.

 

Dude:  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Politically – no…. Because he must submit to the mullahs (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, the great Satan.
Mike Ghouse:  The statement is as truthful as saying Christians follow their pastors, if their pastors tell them to vote Republicans, they will vote Republican en masse, if they say no Christian should vote Democratic, they will not vote that way.  If you believe this is true, then I agree with your statement.
Muslims do not submit to any Mullah, they submit to God alone. I am really laughing at this.  For a majority of Muslims there is no Mullah, there is no central authority in Islam for the Muslims.  Mullah’s don’t govern and their variety is in every group, Pastor Hagee spews out hate, Obama’s pastor did… Mullah Pat Robertson is hateful, but does he represent the views of all Christians? Muslim clergy are no exception; there are a few bad ones.
However about 15% of Muslim who follow Shia, have some central authority, but they are divided as well and their allegiance to their leaders is for civic leadership.
Islam has nothing to do with destruction of Israel, the Hamas charter calls for it, it was written in 1988, where as the Israeli leaders have said the opposite since 1948 – to treat Palestinians as roaches and push them in to the desert holes. Islam does not even approve killing another human, unless it is in self defense.  Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians mean it, they want peace.
Let’s assume, Russians arm the native Americans and create a land for them in Texas, and if they become militant and as powerful as Israel and go on evicting people from their homes, and take over their lands …because it was their land before… what do you do, just lay down? While they pillage, bomb and steal your land?  That is what the Palestinians are doing, fighting for their rights.  
Dude:  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Domestically – no… Because he is instructed to marry four Women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him. (Quran 4:34)
Mike Ghouse: Read 4:32- 4:37 yourselves. An American Christian woman told me in the Quran conference.  She would rather be a Muslim woman who gets hit with a feather like stick upon infidelity, than an American Christian man who will violently kill her if he finds her sleeping with another man, or a Hindu man who would douse her in Kerosene and burn her alive. The instruction was not to kill but beat her with a feather like stick as a discipline… the new and correct understanding is “if you find your woman sleeping with another man, go for separation. 
The wrong interpretation has been in circulation that goes against the very grain of Prophet’s teaching – fair and equitable and to treat your spouse with utmost dignity. Check this out. http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2009/05/wife-beating-quraan-434.html
Polygamy has been around; while go through a legal process many a Men abuse women regardless of their religion. Muslims are no exception.  The instruction was limit to 4 for social justice purpose and not for lust.  It was not an ordinance, but exception in cases where the woman needed protection … for example after WWII and Vietnam war thousands of women were put on the street… men abused them and took advantage of them, spreading STD’s.. and other stuff… instead of treating a woman as a whore and dehumanize her, marry her and give her the dignity of life she deserves…  it was to be approved by his first wife to ensure it was justice and not lust. Abuses happen every where… look in our own backyard… Look at Wiener, Clinton, Newt Gingrich… and some of your friends.
I stand opposed to polygamy, but I have no problem if men marry more than one woman in Iraq, where Bush bombing has put over 250,000 women on street; what do you do with them? Men take advantage of women, whether they are American, Chinese, Mexican or Arabian they want to sleep with them.  Other than husbands, brothers, fathers and sons, most men when they support a woman, they are constantly battling the idea of sleeping with her, or keeping her for their sexual pleasures.

That is a shameless men trait no matter where that man is from. I rather see dignity given to a woman than make her dependent and use her as a sex object.  

Dude:  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Intellectually – no… Because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.
Mike Ghouse:  American constitution and Islam have a lot in common- Justice, Equality, dignity and respect for all. Don’t give me that it is not the case, indeed it is, we (Americans) did not treat women and African men equally until 50 years ago because we misread our own constitution.
You should also know that Averroes (Muslim) influenced the two other wise men Aquinas and Maimonides, who are influential in our constitution drafting. Indeed, the US Supreme court has the frieze that shows Quran. 
Dude:  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Philosophically – no… Because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran does not allow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic. 
Mike Ghouse:  ” … Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error …” [2:256] this is Islam’s unambiguous affirmation of freedom of faith, which also applies to changing of faith. The Qur’an illuminates before the humanity the two highways [90:10], one of which leads to salvation. Islam is an invitation to the highway toward salvation, but it is based on FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
5:8 (Asad) O YOU who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity; and never let hatred of any-one [19] lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Be just: this is closest to being God-conscious. And remain conscious of God: verily, God is aware of all that you do.
Dude:  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Spiritually – no… Because when we declare ‘one nation under God,’ The Christian’s God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran’s 99 excellent names. 
Mike Ghouse:  It’s a pledge every Muslim takes. One nation under God indivisible … looks like this dude who wrote is divisive.
 [4:59] O you who believe, you shall obey GOD, and you shall obey the messenger, and those in charge among you. If you dispute in any matter, you shall refer it to GOD and the messenger, if you do believe in GOD and the Last Day. This is better for you, and provides you with the best solution.
Dude:  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  Therefore, after much study and deliberation… Perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country. – – – They obviously cannot be both ‘good’ Muslims and ‘good’ Americans.  Call it what you wish it’s still the truth… You had better believe it. The more who understand this, the better it will be for our country and our future.
Quran 49:6 “O YOU who have attained to faith! If any iniquitous person comes to you with a [slanderous] tale, use your discernment, lest you hurt people unwittingly and afterwards be filled with remorse for what you have done.”
 “i.e., verify the truth before giving credence to any such report or rumor. The tale-bearer is characterized as “iniquitous” because the very act of spreading unsubstantiated rumors affecting the reputation of other persons constitutes a spiritual offence.”
President Reagan had echoed the same sentiments with the phrase, Trust, but verify and Bhagvad Gita guides, finding the truth is one’s own responsibility. 
“O you who believe, you shall be equitable, and observe GOD, when you serve as witnesses. Do not be provoked by your conflicts with some people into committing injustice. You shall be equitable, for it is more righteous. You shall observe GOD. GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do” (Quran 5:8)
Mike Ghouse:  I hope you can see the BS this guy has given and I pray that you circulate this to the same sources you got this from. And I ask you to check it out:
An item about Quran Mistranslations:
To check Quran Translations go to: http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch/    
By the way, there were similar articles by many:
All these men and women are about making money, frightening the crap out of you and ask for money, every time.
Geert Wilders – check out his questions and my response:http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/01/muslim-response-to-wilders.html
Robert Spencer
Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, Interfaith Wedding officiant, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism,  human rights,  India,  Israel-Palestine,  motivation, and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. All  his writings are at: www.TheGhousediary.com 
 


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