Mohammed the prophet conquered the World with a Book and that Book is the Koran. There are passages in the Koran which exhort people to learn and write things down. I drove to work for two years passing a monument which had a ‘promote literacy’ verse inscribed on it. Iran & Saudi have made great strides in women’s education to such an extent that the ruling classes fear the consequences.
“Mohammed the prophet conquered the World with a Book and that Book is the Koran”————-There was no such book at the time.There are controversies about the collection, codification and authenticity of the Qur’an.Governments in Muslim countries are struggling between traditionalism and modernism.It is the duty of all progressive people to support the forces of modernism and help to end the tyranny of the Scripture which is anti-human.
“Iran & Saudi have made great strides in women’s education to such an extent that the ruling classes fear the consequences.”
Yet Iran and Saudi Arabia are sexist theocracies which limit women’s freedoms and their leaders are supposedly espousing Islamic revolutions or values. Hmmm..
There are passages in the Koran which exhort people to learn and write things down.
There are also a lot of other far less positive and uplifting passages in the Quran (& other religious holy texts) that threaten hellfire and eternal torment and lots of Mohammad’s chronicled actions are, quite frankly, ethically and humanly horrendous.
Quite apart from the good points already made by Abdul and Stevo, it needs to be pointed out that a religion is not just the contents of its holy books, or the platitudes that it likes to carve on monuments. A religion is the actual beliefs that its adherents believe and act on. The Old Testament is full of commandments to murder people for the most petty of minor offences, or even for totally imaginary crimes, yet most Christians and Jews have managed to arrive at a point where they are able to pay lip service to the idea of venerating those scriptures, while totally ignoring what those scriptures actually say about killing disobedient children, non-virgin brides, foreigners who worship other gods etc.
Likewise, even if the Quran contains passages extolling the virtues of education, the problem is that the Taliban have managed to figure out a way of venerating their scriptures while totally ignoring such passages (but paying very close attention to the passages that command believers to make war against the infidels, murder people who have sex outside of marriage, oppose attempts to achieve legal and political equality for women etc).
Short version: the problem is not so much what the Quran says, it’s what the Taliban believe and practice. If you think they’re reading the Quran wrong, they can just as easily say you are reading it wrong.
Noticed that the taliban are dishonourable gutless cowards so terrified and worthless inside that they tried to murder a schoolgilr – three schoolgirls for merely wanting to learn.
How powerful an educated woman must be that causes Islam and the bearded, nasty, frightened, violent murderous men with AK-47’s and the supposed promise of raisins in a mythological paradise to try to kill them.
Mohammed the prophet conquered the World with a Book and that Book is the Koran. There are passages in the Koran which exhort people to learn and write things down. I drove to work for two years passing a monument which had a ‘promote literacy’ verse inscribed on it. Iran & Saudi have made great strides in women’s education to such an extent that the ruling classes fear the consequences.
“Mohammed the prophet conquered the World with a Book and that Book is the Koran”————-There was no such book at the time.There are controversies about the collection, codification and authenticity of the Qur’an.Governments in Muslim countries are struggling between traditionalism and modernism.It is the duty of all progressive people to support the forces of modernism and help to end the tyranny of the Scripture which is anti-human.
Mohammad used a book?
Funny you say that given the use of brute force and violence Mohammad and his followers ever since him have used.
Are you, like the taliban’s cowardly thugs scared of schoolgirls learning to read and think about that book critically and logically?
@tony goddard :
Yet Iran and Saudi Arabia are sexist theocracies which limit women’s freedoms and their leaders are supposedly espousing Islamic revolutions or values. Hmmm..
There are also a lot of other far less positive and uplifting passages in the Quran (& other religious holy texts) that threaten hellfire and eternal torment and lots of Mohammad’s chronicled actions are, quite frankly, ethically and humanly horrendous.
Quite apart from the good points already made by Abdul and Stevo, it needs to be pointed out that a religion is not just the contents of its holy books, or the platitudes that it likes to carve on monuments. A religion is the actual beliefs that its adherents believe and act on. The Old Testament is full of commandments to murder people for the most petty of minor offences, or even for totally imaginary crimes, yet most Christians and Jews have managed to arrive at a point where they are able to pay lip service to the idea of venerating those scriptures, while totally ignoring what those scriptures actually say about killing disobedient children, non-virgin brides, foreigners who worship other gods etc.
Likewise, even if the Quran contains passages extolling the virtues of education, the problem is that the Taliban have managed to figure out a way of venerating their scriptures while totally ignoring such passages (but paying very close attention to the passages that command believers to make war against the infidels, murder people who have sex outside of marriage, oppose attempts to achieve legal and political equality for women etc).
Short version: the problem is not so much what the Quran says, it’s what the Taliban believe and practice. If you think they’re reading the Quran wrong, they can just as easily say you are reading it wrong.
She’s doing better today.
Been flown to the UK for treatment, see –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19944078
and the whole world has noticed.
Noticed that the taliban are dishonourable gutless cowards so terrified and worthless inside that they tried to murder a schoolgilr – three schoolgirls for merely wanting to learn.
How powerful an educated woman must be that causes Islam and the bearded, nasty, frightened, violent murderous men with AK-47’s and the supposed promise of raisins in a mythological paradise to try to kill them.
Great cartoon. Says it all.
Pakistan vs Taliban
https://iakal.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/pakistan-vs-taliban/