From: yagowaye@unity.ncsu.edu (Yasser Gowayed)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: Questions about Islam from an Innocent.
Date: 25 Jul 92 11:33:55 GMT
Organization: North Carolina State University Project Unity


Dear Sir,

First, I would like to congratulate you for getting rid of your TV. I
started to do the same yesterday and hope to make it through.  As for
a source of news I intend to listen more to public radio may be it
will be a little better.  
I am not the best qualified candidate to answer your questions about
islam,  but I'll give it a try.  To my moslem brothers please correct
me if I am wrong.  

> 1. The small amount of reading I have done in the Qu'ran (spelling?)
>   seems to indicate that people should not kill other people. Yet
>   I routinely hear of violence committed by muslems. Are these
>   acts of violence sins against Islamic beliefs? Are these people
>   sinners?
You are right islam is against unnecessary violence.  But we must always 
remember that necessity is a relative term.  To understand why violence happens 
you must put yourself in these guys (who commit violent acts) shoes.  They are 
oppressed, unable to express their beliefs and are called terrorist for a start. So actually there is a psychological, social and religious motives behind their acts.  Remember I am not discussing if these guys are right or wrong.  To discuss this we need to analyze special cases.   

>2. I consider Ghandi (a buddhist) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (a christian)
>   to be great people that changed our planet for the better principally
>   through non violence. How do muslems view these two men?
I need to do some reading and thinking to answer this question.

>3. I know the basic story of the discovery of the Qu'ran and of
>   the prophet Mohammed. However, the historical sequence of events
>   is uncertain to me. Also what regions of the world were the
The Qur'an was not discovered.  It was "descended" to profit Mohamed during 
the last 23 years of his life from God through the holly spirit.  Each Qur'anic verse was intended to solve a recent problem, explain an issue or discuss general islamic interests.  The historical sequence of events in very short words starts in Mecca,  west of Saudi Arabia, ~1400 years ago where profit Mohamed was born and raised until he reached 40 years old.  At this point God ordered him to convey the islamic message to the world.  He was tortured and ill treated during the next 13 years in Mecca after




 which he and his followers moved to Madina (~100 km from Mecca) and stayed there for 10 more years.  He died in Mecca shortly after that.  

>4. Why do you think so few white americans are muslems?
You answered this in the begging of your message.  It is the media.  Of course 
there is another reason which is the current conditions of the islamic states.  What the american people do not know is that these states are not ruled by islam but with monarchs and iron fists.  I believe such miserable conditions can be cured using islamic laws and teachings.

>5. Will non-muslems go to a sort of "paradise" after death if they
> live good lives? Do non-muslems have any afterlife at all?
Same as the answer for question #2 applies here.

>6. Why are there so many factions of muslems?
Same reason there is many factions of Christians, different interpretations plus historical events.

>7. Who is Rev. Farrakhan (spelling?)? For what does he stand?
>   Why do so many people recommend listening to him yet when
>   you hear what he has to say it sounds racist?
I do not know Rev. Farrakhan but I am sure the the islam is not a racist 
religious. The Qur'an have a verse that explicitly says that people will not be 
judged by there colors, sex or origin.

Please let me know if you need more details.

Yasser Gowayed
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam