When Muslims warp Islam

Fasting during the month of Ramadan became a religious duty for Muslims in 624 C.E., during ‎the Medina period when Islam began to spread rapidly. Fasting is not only a ‎religious observation but also an important message to the Muslim world ‎with immense spiritual value.

However, this spiritual value becomes ‎apparent only when the true religion, as described in the Quran, is practiced. Ramadan does not  ‎mean that a person should strive for peace, display moral behavior, show forgiveness ‎or say nice words merely for a single month, but is a reminder how one ‎should live one's entire life. ‎

However, the Muslim community has largely forgotten the religion preached in ‎the Quran and the true moral values that should be upheld. The ‎superstitions fostered over the centuries, fabrications presented as ‎Islam, traditions that have become entrenched, and fatwas of some so-called religious figures have managed to make many Muslims stray ‎away from the Quran.

In fact, according to the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad ‎complained: ‎"My Lord, my people treat this Quran as something to be ignored" (Quran 25:30)‎.

As a result of their abandonment of the Quran, many Muslims are unaware of ‎many verses and have come to hold irrational, non-Quranic ‎beliefs. ‎

For example, several verses of the Quran praise Jews, such ‎as: ‎"Those who believe and those who are Jews, Sabeans and Christians – anyone ‎who believes in God and the Last Day, and acts honorably, should have no ‎fear nor will they be saddened" (Quran 5:69).

All Muslims should remember ‎that God clearly warns in the Quran against coming up with rules that are not in ‎the Quran: "What is the matter with you? How do you reach your judgment? Will you not pay heed?‎ Or do you have some clear authority?‎ Bring your Book, then, if you are telling the truth!" (Quran, 37:154-157)‎.

In the Quran, God requires believers to treat the People of the Book with love ‎and respect in a spirit of unity.

But the Islamic world has witnessed the rise of ‎anti-Christian and anti-Jewish sentiments.

These communities, which coexisted ‎in harmony and trusted Muslims with their lives and possessions in our ‎prophet's era, have now become unable to live in the Muslim world.

This ‎stems from the fact that the Islam practiced by some segments is not in ‎compliance with the Islam in the Quran. ‎

According to the Quran, a Muslim does not have the right to attack another ‎person or start a war. All of the wars mentioned in the Quran are defensive ‎‎(Quran, 2:191, 4:89-91, 9:5, 9:13, 5:33, 8:57, 47:4, 4:89). Muslims are ‎granted only the right to defend themselves when attacked.

Today, however, ‎certain Muslims who abide by superstitious philosophies seek to distort the real ‎meaning behind the use of war defined in the Quran and ‎present those distortions as appropriate acts of worship. Terrorism, which is ‎never mentioned anywhere in the Quran and is at complete odds with its spirit, ‎has become associated with Muslims. ‎

No matter how terrifying the deeds of the communities who have abandoned ‎the Quran are, the response should not be impulsive, but rational and faith-based. The biggest mistake would be to associate and label all Muslims with these communities ‎and create enemies based on the behavior of a few groups. Islam that is ‎practiced according to the Quran is the only solution for the communities that ‎have adopted hatred as their religion. ‎

Our decades-long efforts to promote the true Islam as described in the Quran, ‎and the traditional iftar banquets we hold every Ramadan in particular, help to ‎spread the beautiful message of Islam, in addition to encouraging all Muslims to ‎turn to the Quran.

It is in these iftar dinners that the fact that Ramadan is a month ‎of peace reveals itself most clearly. People of all religions, beliefs ‎and views come together and embrace one another. The iftar ‎banquets demonstrate respect, reverence, friendship, solidarity and sincerity to ‎the whole world.

‎Ramadan is about striving ‎to be "the person God expects." Such behavior and attitudes should ‎extend beyond Ramadan and be prevalent throughout one’s life.

Adnan Oktar's piece in Israel Hayom (Israel) :

http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/when-muslims-warp-islam/