Comment by za3faran | Hacker News Reader

Comment by za3faran | Hacker News Reader

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> if you want to be outdone, "sharia" means "way".

That's but one of its meanings. Arabic is a very rich language, and the word and its derivatives are used in the context of "canon".

As far as your citations, this has been responded to countless times [1]

Regarding Jizya, If you were being honest, you would know that (1) Muslims are reqired to pay more because of Zakat, (2) Jizya is only required from able males who can serve in the army, in exchange for them not serving. Women, children, elderly, and priests (regardless of age) are not required to pay the Jizya. You will find many occurrences in Islamic history where it was forgiven due to circumstances - read about cases involving the 2nd Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab for example.

> with this belief that Islam is not predicated upon any belief of religious freedom

The Quran (which you cited when you thought it served your incorrect claims), Hadiths, and classical Islamic scholarship all refute this claim. Not to mention reality - Christian/Syriac people that exist in Muslims majority lands are but one example that prove that Islam enforces freedom of belief. Jews exist in Iran[2][3] who were bombed by israel, but you won't find it in the news.I bet you have not come across these Hadith before [4][5][6]

> all of which I sourced above.

No you did not.

> We can talk about bans on places of worship

Nope. Proof: churches and synagogues exist in Muslim lands, such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and (wait for it) Iran.

> it is not possible to call the beliefs of a pious Muslim compatible with traditional Western Values.

This is one thing we agree on. Classical liberal western values are at odds with Islam. The former has changed over time to fit the latest fad of the day; the latter is fixed at the core and root, while having branches flexible enough to encompass the needs of changing times and geographies.

[1] https://imgur.com/a/rG0ivUR

[2] https://x.com/FurkanGozukara/status/2041531958304403746

[3] https://x.com/BBN_Press/status/2047077899790962736

[4] https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6914

[5] https://sunnah.com/mishkat:4047

[6] https://sunnah.com/abudawud:3052

>"That's but one of its meanings. Arabic is a very rich language, and the word and its derivatives are used in the context of "canon"."

So you can agree calling out someone for fair-read Arabic semantics is shallow, gratuitous and often grandstanding? Great! Look at us, stranger: Making progress.

>RE: Jiyza, Zakat

Zakat was almost never more than Jizya in practice. Zakat is also the act of charitable giving to the poor, Jizya is state-collection of funds - even during Rashidun Caliphate's times. It was a tax, with threats of state-sponsored violence when not complied with. Deals regarding Jizya were made as non-believing groups were conquered (if you believe this somehow helps your case) and didn't follow a uniform standard, but were typically on a MUST-PAY basis, unlike Zakat - which could be forgiven for impoverished persons and other circumstances.

>"[1]"

I haven't the time nor the inclination to debate clearly textualist passages in a religious text, when some religious scholar tries interpreting them "purposively" to make them more palatable to ANY audience, particularly modern ones. If you do, more power to you.

>"[2], [3]"

2's last sentence is fiercely at odds with 3's position - and these are single rabbi claims. I'm not sure what I'm looking at here?

>"No you did not."

Did you want your verses via Sunnah URL? Lol.

>"[4], [5]"

A Mu'ahid is a may-issue protection and there are plenty of believers and People of The Book that are not granted such protection, because it is an explicit and protected procedure - that requires ACTIVE action (covenant, treaty, or pledge). It is often a coerced agreement made with MUCH concessions required from the protected. And to add, its protection is not passively or implicitly granted, nor shall-issued. It is also not required of Islamic States to conscript, or to implement.

>"[6]"

Noble verse, not sure what it illuminates here though? That the Qur'an has the occasional good take?

>"Nope. Proof: churches and synagogues exist in Muslim lands, such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and (wait for it) Iran."

Cherry-picking. "What do you mean there are minority lynchings??? I see plenty of them alive and well, working in fields!"

>"This is one thing we agree on."

Well with any reading comprehension, you'll know my position that a pious Muslim's beliefs are incompatible with traditional Western values is the entire purpose of my position and my underlying justification for each and every comment I've left in this chain - that DIDN'T resort to personal attacks. So, I'm glad we agree?

>"The former has changed over time to fit the latest fad of the day; the latter is fixed at the core and root, while having branches flexible enough to encompass the needs of changing times and geographies."

You said the same thing twice, and just made the one describing the ideology you agree with sound more mature and refined.

> So you can agree calling out someone for fair-read Arabic semantics is shallow, gratuitous and often grandstanding?

It's not fair reading, but let's leave this for now.

> Zakat was almost never more than Jizya in practice

Incorrect.

> Zakat is also the act of charitable giving to the poor, Jizya is state-collection of funds

Incorrect. Zakat is required to be paid, it's not an optional act as you are trying to imply. The state has collected it, just like how Jizya was.

> with threats of state-sponsored violence when not complied with

"violence" like what? You mean just like how any current nation throws people in prison if they evade taxes?

> unlike Zakat - which could be forgiven for impoverished persons and other circumstances.

As I explained, Jizya is waived for women, children, priests, the elderly and the disabled. It was also waived if an able man volunteered to join the army in exchange.

> I haven't the time nor the inclination to debate clearly textualist passages in a religious text,

What do you call very clearly taking something out of context?

> I'm not sure what I'm looking at here?

You're looking at zionist crimes against Iranian jews.

> and there are plenty of believers and People of The Book that are not granted such protection , because it is an explicit and protected procedure - that requires ACTIVE action (covenant, treaty, or pledge).

You're speak as if you are certain of what you are saying, but I confidently say you are 100% incorrect. Remind us, what are your qualifications in this matter, or anything you claim to refute?

> Noble verse, not sure what it illuminates here though? That the Qur'an has the occasional good take?

It's not from the Quran. I think this is sufficient to prove my point - that you have no qualifications on this matter. I think we're done here.

"Incorrect [...] Zakat is required to be paid, it's not an optional act as you are trying to imply. The state has collected it, just like how Jizya was."

To pick my words more wisely: Yes, Zakat comes in the form a mandatory pillar of Islam under an Islamic state - often a tax, it is very rarely an "optional" charity. My point was more the framing between the two, and that Zakat is a financial obligation upon believers to share their wealth, while Jizya is a discriminatory tax on non-believers as a penalty for their refusal to accept Islam, paying for their "protection" from the state.

>"'violence' like what? You mean just like how any current nation throws people in prison if they evade taxes?"

Having a practice persist today isn't necessarily an argument that it's a good practice, or even a morally acceptable one (if you agree on this RE: tax, you'll find yourself agreeing with some prominient Western Enlightment thinkers, ironically). But, nonetheless, equating a religious tax to modern tax systems is a dishonest take. Modern tax regimes don't target you specifically for your refusal to convert to a state religion. The Jizya verse I mentioned earlier (though didn't cite: Surah 9:29) explicitly states non-Muslims must pay it "while they are disgraced, humiliated and belittled." It is not framed as a civil duty like most taxes; it is quite literally a religious-mandated humiliation ritual.

>"As I explained, Jizya is waived for women, children, priests, the elderly and the disabled. It was also waived if an able man volunteered to join the army in exchange."

The case remains, extorting the people of a minority group to fund an Islamic state - while politically and socially persecuting them - is morally reprenhensible.

>"What do you call very clearly taking something out of context?"

The oldest excuse in the book - and I already called this excuse out when I noted earlier that it's the exact same defense Christians use to wave away the violent commands in their own scriptures. If citing explicit, accepted verses and mainstream Sunni Tafsir is "taking things out of context", then the text is practically meaningless - and it doesn't sound like good faith in the material to me. The words are right there on the page.

>"You're looking at zionist crimes against Iranian jews."

I've already said Israel is a problem state. Doesn't change Islamic States can be, too.

>"You speak as if you are certain of what you are saying, but I confidently say you are 100% incorrect. Remind us, what are your qualifications in this matter[..]"

I don't need "qualifications" to engage in this conversation, besides understanding language. A Mu'ahid literally translates to "one who has a treaty/covenant". You cannot be a Mu'ahid without an active, explicit treaty with the Muslim state. Without that, traditional Islamic law classifies a non-believer as Harbi (at war).

>"It's not from the Quran."

Fair. I looked too quickly at your Sunnah.com links, wasn't familiar with their UI, and incorrectly referred to a Hadith as a Quranic verse. I apologize for calling it a Surah. It was a genuine slip on my part.

>"I think this is sufficient to prove my point - that you have no qualifications on this matter. I think we're done here."

Take the out if you need it. As I noted in my last comment, we already established that we agree on my foundational point: that pious Islamic beliefs are fundamentally incompatible with traditional Western values - and we should conduct ourselves accordingly..

Have a good one!

> it is very rarely an "optional" charity.

It's not optional, not even rarely. It's important to understand the system that you're arguing against.

> as a penalty for their refusal to accept Islam,

That's your words. As I said, it's not imposed non non-fighters (women, children, elderly, and priests, among others). Fighter aged men got waived for serving in the army.

> Having a practice persist today isn't necessarily an argument that it's a good practice, or even a morally acceptable one

Who defines morals? We've seen the supposed morality of the west, on full display now especially after the epestein fiasco.

> too convert to a state religion

That's beside the point. There are many other "discriminatory" practices in present day secular nation states if you're going down that route. Some of these are fundamental to how states are run.

> to fund an Islamic state

You just assumed that (1) funding is the main goal, and (2) Jizya is able to support the system, even though I explained it was much less than today's income + sales taxes, which as we see, are not able to support the usurious financial system. More claims without evidence.

> it's the exact same defense Christians use to wave away the violent commands in their own scriptures

Apples to oranges. You literally snipped the text without reading the text that came before or after it. This is disengenuous. The small image I posted literally cites the text before and after it, and you explicitly admitted that you refused to read it.

> The words are right there on the page.

Exacltly, and you refused to read them.

> Doesn't change Islamic States can be, too

But not because they're Islamic.

> I don't need "qualifications" to engage in this conversation, besides understanding language

Totally incorrect (and you also showed you didn't understand the language). Please go educate yourself on how Islamic Scholars deduce rules (e.g. Fiqh, etc.). Language is one aspect of a whole curriculum. Ironically, it is this way of thinking that gave rise to certain fringe groups I'm sure you're quite aware of, and not just in Islam.

> that pious Islamic beliefs are fundamentally incompatible with traditional Western values - and we should conduct ourselves accordingly.

Yes, and we maintain that is a good thing, very clearly so given where the world is heading especially these days.

> Have a good one!

You too.

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