Dubai Forums

Paranoid, Islam basically teaches that the foundation of a stable society is the family unit. Having a mother and father is the ideal, and if there is a breakdown of the marriage or a death, re-marriage is encouraged for the benefit of the surviving spouse and also the children. Similarly fostering ...

From BBC news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6389157.stm A study of medieval Islamic art has shown some of its geometric patterns use principles established centuries later by modern mathematicians. Researchers in the US have found 15th Century examples that use the concept of quasicr...

Wow, you group gays with drunk, violent people and drug addicts. Gotta admit I'm offended. But yep, totally your opinion. Cause you have nothing to prove that a missing mom or dad will make that big of a difference in the child's life. As long as there's good parenting and understanding between fam...

Jabba, The Quran does ordain the amputation of the right hand as the ultimate punishment for theft - but it is the last resort, and as this is how it has as is being carried out, I would imagine this is how it is being taught as well. As for the killing of Gays - yes, there are many muslims who beli...

benwj wrote:
And since Islam does not allow gay marriage, it is impossible for a gay person to have a legal relationship?

That's right.

In Islam, s.ex is only lawful within marriage and marriage is between a man and a woman.

Cheers,
Shafique

A gay person can choose to consumate his urges, as can a paedophile - and I agree in both cases it doesn't really matter whether they were born that way or not. I do not think I am being sensationalist in the comparison - both are differing forms of attraction - both were universally seen as repugna...

I think that it is unfair to include gays and paedophilles in the same boat. My point is that both have 'urges' and both can choose to follow through or not follow through on these urges. Both relate to whom they want to sleep with. Anything that stops short of the physical act though is just frien...

Shafique, I think it is no more then your own assumption and a self conceited statement to say that Gay people just need to stop acting on urges and that is all there is to it. I've been called worse than self-conceited. :) Hom.o.se.xuals are typically repulsed by the idea of sleeping with the oppo...

If you believe everything in Islam is perfect, you don't need to twist facts. When you say cutting hands is the last resort, that's you just saying stuff. You have nothing to back it up, and the actions of the prophet speak otherwise. He said: "If Fatima the daughter of Muhammed stole. I'd cut...

A couple of references for cutting off the hands as a punishment (sorry, only had a couple of minutes to do a search): http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/archive/article.php?lang=E&id=29178 http://www.victoryscent.co.uk/cutting_hands_for_theft.htm (reference for 1/4 dinar's worth of goods stolen - but...

No probs benj. Paranoid, the first reference says" The Penalty for Theft: Concerning theft, Islam legislates cutting the thief's hand off as a maximum punishment and under certain conditions . In countries that apply this punishment, like Saudi Arabia, we notice that theft is a very rare occurr...

I thought I'd start a new thread to clarify that not all thefts lead to the punishment of amputation. http://www.islamic-study.org/Islamic%20Penal%20Law.htm According to Islamic law, the maximum penalty for professional theft is cutting hands. It should be understood that this policy does not mean t...

Yes Shafique I GET that. What I was saying is, if the "seriousness" of the case exeeds 1/4 dinar the hand is gone- if there are 88 dirhams stolen, the first thing they will do it cut the hand. If not 88 dirhams, other stuff will happen. You can't choose to tell me what's in your mind and ...

I have to say I was not aware of the details of blood money - other than knowing it was part of Arab culture/society even pre-Islam. Generally, it is the money paid to the family someone who was murdered. It is meant to compensate the family for the loss - a concept that also appears in secular civi...

Nope - you're not the only one who has noticed

Cheers,
Shafique

[Goes back to Philosophy and tries to keep order]

Paranoid - 88 dhirams is a false analogy. At the time of the Prophet, dowries for some women was 3 dates only. Gold was more expensive then (as a % of someone's wages) than it is today. You have chosen to interpret the Hadith in one way - but unfortunately for you and your argument, the way in which...

The usual number of witnesses is two, but in the case of adultery four witnesses are required. In which case are there four witnesses for adultery? I really do not believe, that all the people that were executed in islamic countries for adultery were observed by four different people. The requireme...

Paranoid, I asked for evidence that 88 Dirhams was being used in a Sharia court. Then you ask me to blame my 'brothers' for spreading disinformation. A few posts ago you said you could provide evidence: You proved all those things successfully, but I already knew them. You said "well they cut h...

duplicate post

Ok Paranoid, let me just get your argument straight in my head - I want to be clear that I'm answering your query/objections. 1. I think you are saying that chopping any person's hand off for theft is unjustified and barbaric. Theives should not be punished in this way. Is this your argument? 2. The...

Thanks Paranoid, I think we are getting somewhere. I totally agree with you that if Islam teaches that all petty theives should have their hands cut off for a small amount, then this is wrong and barbaric. You and I can disagree on the deterrent effect of capital punishment - fair enough. I think th...

The deterrent effect of punishment on crime rates merits its own thread! My opinion is that the incidence of crime is a multi-factorial problem - of which the severity of punishment is only one fact (an important one though). Crime at the end of the day is a risk-reward decision, either conciously o...

Given the preponderance for threads asking inane questions, I thought 'if you can't beat them, join them' :) I believe in God and also believe that God still communicates today as He has always done, listens to prayers and answers them (I don't understand the point of any religion that says otherwis...

From an Islamic point of view, the best form of Governance is one that rules with justice. This means that in terms of trade, there is free and equitable trade. In terms of social justice, it means there are opportunities for all and the poor aren't exploited (so there is no poverty spiral). The rul...

Jabba - you forget that Muslims pray before dawn and are encouraged to read the Quran after this prayer. (Also, we have young children who don't know the meaning of a lie-in )

Cheers,
Shafique

In my mind, the farthest thing from a minimal government society is theocracy; judging from the history of theocracies. May be I'm exaggerating, given the example of UAE. Obviously the UAE is much more capitalistic than communism. As for the redistribution of wealth, I think it should be voluntary....

Problems with religious Faiths Performing rituals and following a faith should be strictly by choice. It shouldnt be forced up on to anyone. Politics, ruling and religions should never be mixed. Religions shouldnt promote such faiths and rituals that separate people from the society. They must try ...

Y do u say so? Do u think moral values cant exist without being strictly religious. Long preachings from religious authorities and organizations have only promoted people to believe that their faith is better than other ppl's and that is the best. Which leads to seperating people again. This has on...

asc_26 wrote:

shafique wrote:
As to the title of the thread - Is Religion such an important thing?

NOT REALLY. We can survive without religion.

Some people aspire to do more than just survive.

Cheers,
Shafique

asc_26 wrote:We can aspire more, dream more, achieve more even without religion. Religion will only make people more chaotic and confused.

Will only?

Sounds like preaching to me.

I respectfully beg to differ.

Cheers,
Shafique