The first Quran was translated in the year 1142,
and it was commissioned by the European Kings to Paint Islam as a bad religion,
and they frightened their subjects that Muhammad was going to slaughter the
people of Europe if they don't stand up against the advancing Arab armies. The work was carried out by the French Abbey
for a fee. They coined word the word
"Mohammedan" religion for Islam.
It is a big story I would like to tell, as it is
easier than writing it out. Please read the full story with many videos and
write-ups at www.QuraanConference.com.
Quran is a book of guidance in building cohesive
societies where no human has to live in fear or apprehension of the other; it
is as simple as that. I usually refer to
at least 5 different translations to get the essence of a single verse, and of
course, our formula to understand the Quran is to read three verses before and
three verses after a given verse to understand the context and meaning behind
the verse.
However, every faith including yours has a % of
people who do things that go against the very teaching of the faith they claim
to espouse. That is an insignificant number and less than 1/10th of 1% of any
group.
Over the years, I have collected about 20
different translations for reference. A
few are in this picture. I have also
visited the Library of Congress and checked Jefferson's copy of Quran
translation by George Sale.
You may like this article in Dallas Morning
News;
In defense of Islam, pursuing a civil dialogue
By Steve Blow, sblow@dallasnews.com Published 19
September 2010 02:28 AM
Over and over you hear it said: If Muslims
oppose terrorism, why don't they stand up and say it?
If that has been you, Mike Ghouse ought to be
your hero.
It is hard to imagine that anyone has worked
harder than the Carrollton resident to demonstrate the peaceful and moderate
side of Islam.
And that effort includes personally visiting
Dallas' First Baptist Church last Sunday just to put a friendly face on the
"evil, evil religion" that the Rev. Robert Jeffress denounced a few
weeks before.
"It was wonderful," Ghouse said of the
visit. "We were so warmly received."
He hopes a quick chat with Jeffress will be the
start of a deeper discussion about Islam and the importance of respect between
religions.
"I want to have a dialogue with him, not to
say he is wrong but to share another point of view," Ghouse said.
The 57-year-old Muslim was born in India and has
lived in the United States for 30 years. He owns a small property management
firm. But most of his day is devoted to building bridges between people of
different faiths.
"It is my passion," he said in his
distinctive raspy voice.
He has been a guest a dozen times on Sean
Hannity's TV and radio talk shows. "I don't like the way Sean cuts me off,
but I have to honor him for giving the American public a semblance of another
point of view."
Ghouse said he can understand fear and criticism
of Islam because he went through a time of similar feelings. As a teen, he was
troubled by passages of the Quran. He called himself an atheist for a while.
But he said deeper study led him to realize the
Quran had been purposely mistranslated down through history.
In the Middle Ages, European leaders
commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim
invaders.
Later, Muslim leaders produced another
translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews.
"It was all for politics," he said.
Ghouse said he hopes to present Jeffress with a
modern, faithful translation and challenge him to find evil verses.
"If he can, I will convert. I will join his
church," Ghouse said. "If he can't, I will call on him to retract his
statements and become a peacemaker."
Ghouse acknowledges that deep problems persist
within Islam. "Three steps forward, two steps back," he said with a
sigh.
And he agrees that mainstream Muslims have not
done enough to counter violent images of their faith.
"That is very true," he said.
"But part of it is that many Muslims have given up hope that we will ever
be heard."
He said repeated denunciations of terrorism seem
to fall on deaf ears.
And some efforts have backfired – like the
proposed Islamic information center in New York. He said it should be hailed
for furthering the moderate Muslim cause.
Instead, it has deepened hostility toward Muslims.
I have been astounded by the amount of
anti-Islam propaganda that circulates via e-mail. Tons of it has come my way in
the last few weeks.
One theme is that people like Mike Ghouse can't
be trusted, that Islam encourages deception.
But Ghouse says actions speak louder than words.
And he points to elections in Muslim nations.
More than half of Muslims live in countries with
some degree of democracy. And time and time again, Islamist parties are
overwhelmingly rejected in favor of secular, mainstream parties.
"The religious parties don't get more than
3 percent of the vote," Ghouse said.
Polls show deep mistrust of Muslims. "But
the most important question in those surveys is: ‘Do you know anything about
Islam?' " Ghouse said. "Most people say no."
What keeps him going is faith in Americans, he
said.
"The majority of Americans, if they know
the truth, they will change their minds."
# # #
www.MuslimSpeaker.com
www.MuslimSpeaker.com
Mike Ghouse is a speaker, writer, thinker,
futurist and an activist of Pluralism, Islam, India and Civil Societies passionately
offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.
