tuco wrote:Islam is a relative phenomenon in a sense that, unlike Christianity or Catholic Church for example, it lacks central source of authority and no single scholar or institution have right, in the name of "whole" Islam, to speak for and act as the representative of Islamic interests.

In other words, this dude with a name like from Karl May books, Durchs wilde Kurdistan and related, can essentially babble all he wants and I am not worried much. Historically, Islam is known to be quite tolerant to other religions, and from what I've read forceful indoctrination and conversion is prohibited in Qur'an. That Muslims are expected or ought to try to convert others is no different from other religions or ideologies. After all, some militant atheists try to do the same, the difference is that they do it for the .. right .. reasons

edit: some militant atheists instead of atheists .. just because I do not want to be eaten alive.
edit2: Hadji Halef Omar Ben Hadji Abul Abbas Ibn Hadji Dawud al Gossarah <- that was the one, cool dude btw

Oeditor wrote:Don't be too quick to blame the wonderful faultless Mohammed for people imitating "him". There are good arguments for the idea that Mohammed was invented (or his name recruited) to symbolise the ways Peninsular Arabs of around his time behaved. Thereby justifying them and perpetuating them.
I think this was mentioned somewhere in the Quranic Origins thread:
islam/qur-anic-origins-and-immutability-t3001.html