What is Islamism all about? Why there are so many Islamic fanantics
who are so bloody and violent? What are they fighting for? What is
their ultimate purpose for all these fight? Most importantly, what are
their cultural, political and historical backgrounds? And do you think
extremism and fundamentalism are also growing graduatly and stealthily
among Christians and Catholic?

Dear Jackho,

The answer to your question is:
All religions tend to preach about realizing God and to lead a good
life. One does not find anyone who can say that they have realized
God. The main reason for the growing fundamentalism in Islam, and
other religions is that there is hardly anyone around who has realized
God and can direct people to the right path.

Advertising and promotion that you see these days is only by those who
want your money. You hardly see any advertisements in things like
"speak truth", "care for others", etc. The promotion of following a
particular religion is also done by those who want something from you.
Religion is being used by various propagators for their own selfish
persuits such as gathering money, low-intesity war (terrorism),
building property, low-cost labor, etc. The aspirants and followers of
religion too also do not strive hard to realize truth and just blindly
follow what they hear.

Those who are into terrorism believe that they are doing something
"holy", which will take them closer to God.

In order to find answer to your question, I went through many similar
questions answered by learned saint Swami Ramswarup at
http://www.vedmandir.com/questions.php. He has given wisdom on many
religions and common problems:

Some of the answers that link to your question include:
Irfan: Swami ji i want to know if all the gods are same then why we
fight over religion, and say that Islam or Hinduism is good. Even
though Islam is the only religion which back terrorism, but we still
stay islam is the best WHY?
Swami Ramswarup: It is not correct to say all the Gods because God is
one for this universe. Fight occurs due to fundamentalism and wrong
definition of Almighty God. I have already told that teaching of Islam
is Good.

Zahid Khan: Swami ji, hi my name is zahid khan & i m student of law, i
have some questions
1. Would u like to define "terrorism"?
Swami Ramswarup: I think terrorism is due to fundamentalism at all
level. Every religion say that God is one and we are children of God
but very few spread brotherhood. The preach of our forefathers
(Prophets of all religions) regarding humanity, mercy and to live and
let live etc., due to fundamentalism are not properly being adhered to
because I have studied all the religious and holy books mostly of all
religions wherein I have found no such type of terrorism which is
happening in the world. Religons do not spread terrorism. We are all
brother and sister being human first and must live and respect each
other. We must die while promoting brotherhood and serving human being
but we must never take life of anybody else at any cost. This is I
think fair religion. Now a days the terrorism must be solved
politically by the world's leaders with full faith.

soniachoudhary: tterrorism is not islamic !its jehad !of which allah
give muslims permission to perform when the enemies of islam arises to
finish islam !why should u call it terrorism?
Swami Ramswarup: Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christanity, and all
religions also teach about mercy and love each other. I have also
studied Holy Kuran where it is mentioned if someone attack on Mosque
baselessly then use Holy word Jehad. So now a days I personally feel
that every should go through Holy Kuran and must use the Holy word
Jehad properly as adviced in Holy Kuran. Yet forgiveness and mercy is
also a supreme preach of Holy Kuran. I have already said in so many
answers that if anybody does murder, theft etc., so he must be
pin-pointed and punished, everybody can not be treated as terrorist.

We all are human beings and must love each other first. Dignity,
kingdom, property, proud, our bodies, etc., one time will be left here
only & we will have to answer to the Allah /God as how much services
we did for all human being including animal and birds even. This is
the time to get rid of ravages of hatred. So everybody is not
terrorist. Terrorist may be Hindu, and of any religion also. Islam due
to his own good qualities has been adopted by most of the people of
the world. So how anybody can tell Islam a terrorism. Even it is a sin
to tell like this.

Sajid Shah: hi swami ram!i,m asking y indian media spreading dis
information against muslims?all indian media and film industry
spreading hindu believes to inspire others..and show muslim the
terrorissts..exp in a film they show a police man coming out from
mosque and then take money from smuglers.. if u watch films of 80,s in
that age muslims were shown pollide and trustworthy...y this change
come?because hindu ism come in extreem maner..they want no 1 should
inspire from islam ..they now hate islam and mulims..if hindu
extreemists kill innocent people they dont call them terrorist and
when muslim walk on their actual religion they r terrorists..i don't
wanna protect those muslim groups..who r voilating islam and doing
terrorism..i ,m telling u about a common muslim..who life is now very
dificult due to islam every 1 consider him terr,,...y it,s so..?y ..u
show muslim a cruel nation.. y u don't condemn hindu extreemists..?
Swami Ramswarup: Every terrorists is against humanity and their deed
is condemned by all learned personnel keeping aside the religion. It
is philosophy of holy Kuran, Vedas, Gita and all holy books and we
accept it respectfully. When one man do murder or theft or bad deeds
then he must be pin pointed and he only must be punished. If some few
people do this bad deed, they must be punished but now a days most of
the people are not afraid of God and starts militancy for the innocent
people also. We must love humanity and promote international
brotherhoods. some people are having lack of thinking towards the
truth mostly perhaps due to fundamentlism. This is going on at world
level which should be stopped. All religions must be given respect.
Because they teach us about one God and therefore, we all become
brother and sister keeping aside the religions. Religion may be so
many but humanity is only one and also there is only one God who
nurses us all on only one earth with only one sun air moon water etc.
However, every hindu/muslim cannot be blamed and even religions can
never be blamed.

Elisa: Why exists so much hate and wars? God is one and love all his
creatures - why people are not able simply to love? Why exists so many
religions? i have asked my rabbi but he has no answers - and tell when
peace will come to my country - Israel? and finally can a jew be a
hindu?
Swami Ramswarup: Hate and war is due to lack of knowledge of true
spiritualism where both are condemned. That is why the facts are not
understood that God is love and love is God and we have to love God's
creature. We must increase the knowledge of true spiritualism. May be
reason of selfishness and suitability for so many religions. For peace
in your country I too pray to Almightgy God because peace must be in
whole of the universe. Everywhere fundamentalism is teasing the
humanity and in this process I do not think that Jew can be a Hindu.
We must always promote international brotherhood.

Zubbin Arora: WHY CAN'Y HINDUS &MUSLIMS LIVE IN PEACE?
Swami Ramswarup:The problem is only due to fundamentalism otherwise
preach in the religions are to co-operate to live together and to
promote brotherhood.

Hope that helps!

---

Request for Answer Clarification by jackho-ga on 08 May 2004 01:39 PDT

Thanks for your answer1

One more quick question. Are there any good books about this issue(the
fundamentalism of Islam and/or other religions)? I mean the books that
are objective, impartial, comprehensive and in-depth.

Thanks again.

---

Clarification of Answer by kapilr-ga on 08 May 2004 04:11 PDT

Dear Jackho,

There are many books that are available on the subject. 

Some recently launched books include:
The War on Terror (For the Common Man)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1413412319/qid=1084014221/sr=1-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-1118999-4802555?v=glance&s=books

Inside terrorism
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0231114699/ref=pd_sim_books_2/102-1118999-4802555?v=glance&s=books

The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0520236904/qid=1084014221/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2__i2_xgl14/102-1118999-4802555?v=glance&s=books

However, I would not say that the treatment in the books are totally impartial. 

A very old book on fundamentalism is written by Maharishi Dayanand
Saraswati. It is available online:
http://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org/chapterfourteen.htm

Hope that helps!

For Kapilr. Relating to the second paragraph of your answer  about
money grubbing advertising. Yes it does go on, but there is a group of
people worldwide, who do not seek monetary gain but do seek the Truth.
Yes, they use the Bible which they regard as the word of God. And in
that Bible, at Isaiah 44;6, God said, through Isaiah, "I am the first
and I am the last, and besides me there is no God. Is the God of the
Christians the same deity as Allah of the Muslims. Only personal study
by each individual person can answer that one. Although being totally
powerful, having created us and the stars, The God of the Bible sent
Jesus to preach love and forgiveness, and those doing what Jesus
taught have been promised everlasting life ON A PEACEFUL EARTH. Only
144,000 have a prospect of entering Heaven [Revelation 14;1-5]. The
followers of Allah seem to need to carry out war against any who not
follow him. Jihad. And any who die in this endeavour are promised
entry to Paradise. With many bonuses. Few Muslim women seem to be
involved in Jihad, so what is the benefit, if any, for other Muslim
women who die?. Seems the first option is the better. Have we been
sidetracked. The Bible says yes. Revelation 12; 7-9 and 12. "And war
broke out in heaven, Michael [ Jesus] and his angels battled with the
dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled. [8]but it did not
prevail, neither was a place found for them in heaven. [9] So down the
great dragon was hurled, the original serpent [in the garden of Eden]
the one called Devil and Satan, who is mis-leading the entire
inhabited earth ; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were
hurled down with him. And [12] On this account be glad you heavens and
you who reside in them. Woe!, for the earth and for the sea [
governments and people][nothing can harm the literal earth and sea]
because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he
has a short period of time". This scripture explains all the violence
we see in the world today. But there is an end to it coming[ Psalm
37;28,29]

Dear Pugwashjw,

Thank you so much for your comments. Your clarification is very much
in line. According to what I understand, God is only realized while
being alive, and those who want to realize God can only do so when
they are alive. Who knows what happens after we die. :)

Hi,

First of all its very important to understand the reason for terrorism.

Terrorism had been there before the Middle east people got involved in
such acts. There were terrorsit acts in Britian by IRA in India by
LTTE,etc.

You will find terrorist acts pervasive and not confined to one
particular community. The attack by the middleeast residents have
gained prominence and media glare is due to the magnitude of the
violent acts.

Terrorism is mostly a regional factor than a religon factor. Observe
acts of terrorism closely and you will find that its due to the
regional instability and oppression that such acts materialze.

Islamic teachings have been misquoted widely. In Islam there is no
place for terrorism. In fact Jehad (which  has been misunderstood by
many) too has two dimension, the first jehad which is Akbari jehad is
supposed to be waged against your own (morally)weak self and should
aim to gain mastery over your willpower.

The second type of Jehad which usually half knowledegebale people
quote is that you should uprise only when there is danger to your
religion.

The violent acts taking place worlwide by middle east residents (who
happen to be muslims) is a geo political factor, created by groups
with vested interest.

Islam advocates peace and harmony. But then its a general tendency of
people to be carried away by popular opinions rather than use their
own sense and readings to understand the event.

Shazy

It all boils down to attention.  In order to understand what is going
on one should take a look under the surface.  A good look would tell
one that they are out to distroy Christianity.  Why do they want to
distroy it?  Because Christianity teaches that "it is finished".  The
Islamics do not want to give up their system of works, for a system of
freedom.

I wish to ask pugwashjw-ga  what was ment by:"Only
144,000 have a prospect of entering Heaven [Revelation 14;1-5]. "? 
This is a refrence to the 144,000 chosen Jews that are given the job
of spreding the gosple.  This is not a job that is limited to them. 
However, it is not saying that they are the only ones gettin into
heaven.

Dear jackho-GA,
I believe my Comment will give you a much more profound and useful 
answer to your question, than has thus far been given.
You will find the following Comment at this URL:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=269774
I also highly recommend the profound Comment that came after mine 
there, by amalik-GA.  The still, small voice of God is whispering, 
to those who care to listen. And the truth shall indeed make us
free....

----EDITED TEXT OF THAT COMMENT FOLLOWS----
Dear (edited name),
As any fool can plainly see, I am no scholar, but since I have been
blessed to have access to the new revelation that God wants us all to
know, I understand "the bottom line" of Mohammed, and Islam, much
better than any scholar not aware of this new revelation.  If this
revelation had been taught as God Willed it, since 1960, then events
such as Nine-Eleven would have never occurred.
First of all, it is a seemingly strange fact of history, that such
great religious leaders as Buddha, Confucius, Zoroastro, and others,
came at the same time, approximately 400 years before the birth of
Jesus Christ.  Why?  From God's viewpoint, they were all sent to their
respective people with the mission to prepare their people for the
Advent of the Messiah.  But that Advent never came to their people,
because Jesus was crucified. The teaching of the Advent of Christ was
since "lost", but if one digs deeply into, (for example), Buddhism,
one finds the statement, "The Avatar will come".  Mohammed is the
great exception, coming 600 years AFTER Jesus. Why?

God's first Will for Jesus, was that He be accepted, and obeyed, first
by the "Chosen People", who had been prepared by God for 2,000 years
to receive Him, and then by the rest of the world.  It was only
because of multiple failures, that Jesus had to go the way of
crucifixion, thus making it necessary for Him to say, "I will come
again".  Also, He did not pray, "Let this cup, (of the crucifixion),
pass from me", out of weakness, in Gethsemane, but because He knew it
was not God's Complete, Prime Will, that He be crucified.  Instead, He
was supposed to marry, raising up His bride to the position of
Restored Eve, and then He would have served to officiate for the 
marriages of  those following Him,
creating the foundation for the return of the Garden of Eden, on
Earth, as it was before the Fall of Man. God knew from the time of His
birth, that enough failure to accept Jesus would allow only a partial,
"spiritual" victory, if Jesus had to go the way of the Cross, but it
was obviously not God's First Will, for Jesus.  At the age of thirty,
when Jesus started His mission, He said, "God's will for you is that
you love me".  It was only later, when certain failures to follow Him
had occurred, that He said, "I must be raised up, (on the Cross)".

But I digress.  The same God sent Mohammed, Who had sent Abraham, and
Jacob, and Moses, and Jesus. Mohammed is the only real exception, to
the fact that all those great leaders, (mentioned two paragraphs
above), came 400 years before Jesus.  Mohammed came 600 years after
Jesus. Why did God send Mohammed?  It was because the Christian
Church, which was one, Catholic Church, and all Christianity, had
become completely corrupt.  Because of this, God's plan was that all
blessings would be "transferred" into the Muslim world, TEMPORARILY,
since God must have and maintain the central Christian teaching of the
Second Advent to come. Then, the entire Christian mainstream of
history would be struck, and purged by God. The "Crusades", whereby
Christians lost so much, are an example of this.  Later, (it was about
500 years later), God returned the blessings back into the Christian
mainstream, and the Muslim world was left as a "remnant" and a warning
from God to all Christians, that if they become corrupt enough again,
God does have a way to answer that corruption.

This is why the Muslim faith is so strict, because it is God's pained
answer to Christian corruption, not because the Muslim faith is
"purer", or "more holy".  Hence, they ask you, if you are a thief,
"Which hand did you steal with?", and then they cut off that hand. 
Hence, the women are more "covered", and subject to execution for
adultery. And hence, the ORIGINAL Koran states that, if any Christian
tries to "convert" you, KILL THEM.

So, Osama Bin Laden is not a "radical", or even an "extremist", but in
fact, is reading the ORIGINAL Koran, which makes him an Orthodox
Muslim, if you will.  If only he understood that the Koran was only
TEMPORARY direction, and that the violence that was done to Christians
within God's Will was only meant by God to be TEMPORARY, then he would
not believe that the past glory of the Muslim world, during that 500 
years, could be regained by that sort of violence, and Nine-Eleven 
would not have happened.

The United States may be corrupt in many ways, but it has not even
begun to reach the state of complete corruption of the Christian
Church at the time of Mohammed, so this Muslim dream, of reclaiming
"the good old days", by violence, is truly impossible to realize. 
Still, if Americans understood the ORIGINAL Koran, and the above
explanation, they would not think Osama Bin Laden to be such a
"criminal gangster kook", for being so adamant about wanting
Christians OUT of Saudi Arabia.  Given the fact that we are living at
the very time that the Second Advent of Christ walks among us,
Americans have the means of containing this violence, through applying
the new revelation, called "Divine Principle", that He brings to us.
Muslims would also do well, to study and follow the teaching of the
"Divine Principle", as well.

And so, (name edited), the attitude of the Koran towards Jews is most
likely as vitalmed-ga states, but history tells us that Muslims and
Jews lived together quite successfully, while all those Christians
were being "purged" and killed.  This is because the Jews have never
been "evangelical" in their demeanor, as are the Christians.  The
original "purpose", of the Koran, from God's viewpoint, allows for
that friendly relationship with the Jews, during those 500 years of
the glory of the Muslim world, because the Jews never had any designs
to "convert" anyone, to Judaism, as the Christians did, to
Christianity.

As for the above Comments by pugwashjw-ga and lahoria-ga, I can only
hope that they can now understand, that if anyone is to be blamed for
the violence that is taught in the ORIGINAL Koran, we must blame the
Christians of the 6th Century.  Or, we should blame God, because it
was God's Will that brought Mohammed, and purged the Christians for
hundreds of years.

And so, any responsible scholar would of course want to examine and
study the "Divine Principle" revelation, which is in fact in the 
position, historically speaking, of "The Completed Testament", 
following on and fulfilling the Old Testament and the New Testament. 
To follow up on this, three URLs I can suggest, are:

<http://www.unification.net/dp73/>

<http://www.unification.net/teachings.html>
<http://familyfed.org/>
<http://www.euro-tongil.org/>
<http://unification.net/>

I would like to add, that I would caution anyone that you should not
automatically trust anyone who is a member of this movement, which is
in fact centered on the Second Advent of Christ, The Most Reverend Sun
Myung Moon.  However, you can and should absolutely trust the new
revelation that has been revealed, called "Divine Principle", which,
technically speaking, consists of every word spoken by Rev. Moon,
since 1954, and before.

Incidentally, (name edited), you might be interested to know, that there
are actually two Messiahs on Earth, now.  During the 1980s, Rev. Moon
announced that His wife, Hak Jah Han Moon, had paid the extreme
indemnity necessary, to become His "equal".  As it was in the Garden
of Eden, before the Fall of Man, the Third Adam and the Second Eve are
restoring the positions of the unfallen Adam and Eve, and ushering in
the age of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
And so, God Bless, whether you believe that the name of God
cannot/should not be spoken, or you say Yahweh, Allah, or God,
Most Sincerely,
trueparent-GA

Well, I have read with interest all the comments. Buddha-ga said that
Islam preaches peace and harmony and that attacks are carried out by
people " who happen to be muslim". If so, they can hardly be genuine
Muslims because they are not following the tenets of their faith. For
MrGreenjeans, when the apostle John wrote Revelation, under
inspiration from God, the 144,000 he spoke about were actually in
heaven and the last part of Revelation 14;3, states "who have been
BOUGHT from the earth". that is, paid for by Jesus sacrifice, not
BROUGHT as meaning transported. I agree that, when these ones were
alive on earth, they had been chosen to preach the coming of God`s
KINGDOM, [also mentioned at Daniel 2;44]These ones will be resurrected
to heaven. Jesus called this group "my little flock" [Luke 12;32], It
is imortant to remember that when John wrote Revelation, he was
relating a future event when all those 144,000 "chosen ones", not
necessarily Jews, had been resurrected to heaven to act as Kings and
Priests[Rev.5;10]. Jesus included all people in this number when he
took the GOOD NEWS to the Gentiles. But He did not forget other people
who listened to his teachings. John 10;16, where Jesus says " And I
have other sheep which are not of this fold. those ALSO I must bring
and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock,
[with] one shepherd".