Death for Stand-Alone Translation of Koran in Afghan? 20 Years

Have you studied the Koran?

It is a mixture of  "rich and philosophical" and "sura" such as the one where Mohammed points out to the Jews that the Jews had't been following Abrahamaic law when they stopped stoning adulterers to death.

The fanatics have plenty of real material in the Koran to justify their behavior.

That example was just one example. There are many.

Yes, but the "Old Testament" is OLD because it has been supplanted by a "New Covenant" which was a major step forward.

Mohammed actually rolled the wheel of progress backward.

In the incident where Mohammed was debating the Jews of Medina, the Jews had answered to his call to read what it said in the Torah regarding adultery, but they covered (according to the Koran) that part.

Mohammed called the Jews on it and stoning for adultery has remained a part of the practice of Islam ever since.

So, you cannot compare the Koran with the Bible on this. The followers of the "Book", as Mohammed called it, reformed themselves, both Jews and Christians.

Instead, Mohammed revived a reactionary position and enthroned it.

The problem for Islam is that the reactionary element triumphed over its progressive one centuries ago, and that was made all the more possible because of Mohammed's Koran.

Below is a piece from a lecture by Hoodhoy:

"First encounters

Islam's encounter with science has had happy and unhappy periods. There was no science in Arab culture in the initial period of Islam, around 610 AD. But as Islam established itself politically and militarily, its territory expanded. In the mid-eighth century, Muslim conquerors came upon the ancient treasures of Greek learning. Translations from Greek into Arabic were ordered by liberal and enlightened caliphs, who filled their courts in Baghdad with visiting scholars from near and far.

Politics was dominated by the rationalist Mutazilites, who sought to combine faith and reason in opposition to their rivals, the dogmatic Asharites. A generally tolerant and pluralistic Islamic culture allowed Muslims, Christians, and Jews to create new works of art and science together.

But over time, the theological tensions between liberal and fundamentalist interpretations of Islam—such as on the issue of free will versus predestination—became intense and turned bloody.

A resurgent religious orthodoxy eventually inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mutazilites. Thereafter, the open-minded pursuits of philosophy, mathematics, and science were increasingly relegated to the margins of Islam.1""

wow, this site is becoming a mouthpiece for fomenting hate in the world.

the usa stats on death penalty:

The Death Penalty Information Center's Year End Report for 2008 recorded 37 executions for the year that ends today.  That is a 12% drop from the 42 executions in 2007.

I suppose you will have no problem when a topic on the Catholic Church comes up and I am very critical of them.

What are the stats on the death penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Nigeria and other countries where the law of Sharia is in effect?

This is an example of the misuse of religion by letting a personal opinion prevail.

This post was put up by someone who wanted to write about six men who are risking their lives because they had the courage to express themselves.

The comments on it have transformed it into a bourgouis and semantic armchair debate on the merits or not of this or that religion and how such and such ancient writings should be interpreted or not. Thank god that those discussing it so glibly on the net do not live in Kabul.

I'm unsubscribing. Beurk.

Please note that the man facing death, Zalmai, only printed this edition at the request of his longtime-friend, the mullah, who now disclaims all knowledge. He did not make the translation.

Yeah, they had the courage to express themselves, or at least not follow orthodoxy and they have had to pay for this in a way which has historic precedent.

Yes, this has occurred in all major religions, but right now the major crisis of the Catholic Church is over the pope's pardoning of a Holocaust denier.

Contrast those two stories: the first one is about orthodoxy's monopoly on expression and the authorities win the war on this round, whereas the pope is in real hot water because no one buys the idea that he didn't know who that bishop was when the pope pardoned that excommunicated bishop.

So, where is the hate?

NowPublic has banned accidentaljournalist stories concerning the suffering in Gaza. is NowPublic becoming a rag? let web2.0 decide when all the mails received by NowPublic members are released with screenshots, and now a ban.

NowPublic is not citizen journalist and its ethics are way below average. It supports War against Gaza. accidentaljournalist, and it is becoming clear, at least 2 other peace activist NowPublic members have been banned, their information removed.

Act up! Thanks.

JewishVoicesforPeace.org

I think the whole idea of punishment and banning of this translation, is that the mullahs do not want the people of Afghanistan to actually know what is in the Koran. There might be change of hearts, and that is unacceptable to them.

good point Rene