Sounds good, right?
See? Those Muslim people aren’t so bad, we’ve got them all wrong! They’re nice. Maybe we need to let them build more mosques, after all.
Most Americans, in their lovable but naive habit of thinking that everyone has the same good nature as them, would look at this story and conclude that maybe all this objection to Islam is a narrow-minded over reaction.
And that is exactly what you are supposed to think.
Here’s the story:
The Muslim Community of North East Tennessee (MCNET) donated the $11,000 it raised to help the families in the hard-hit town of Shabarra in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa Province (formerly known as the Northwest Frontier) to World Vision.
MCNET’s organizers, who are Pakistani Americans, praised the Christian aid agency for distributing relief supplies bought using the donation in a “very organized and dignified way.†The group said it wants to raise more money and support more families in Shabarra, which has not received any aid other than from WV.
“The fact that Pakistanis are helping Pakistanis is highly commendable,†remarked Shaharyar Khan Bangash, who manages World Vision’s programs in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province. “These donations from the Pakistani community through World Vision are an endorsement of the trust the Pakistani community has in our work.â€
To be fair, there are some truly kind, generous people out there who happen to have grown up in Islam. But there is another side to this story, that is not being highlighted in the news (this info from a non-Muslim emergency relief agency)
An overwhelming 15-20 million people in Pakistan are in need of food, water and shelter according to the UN. Many families have lost everything.
For some, the only place of refuge is their local mosque… where extremist influence is the strongest and Christians are, in fact, most vulnerable. Christians may even be refused basic resources for survival, just for being a Christian.
For those in Islam who are genuinely caring for hurting people that are non-Muslim: good for you. That’s moving in a good direction – although you might want to be careful: I would point out that, to the extent you are showing mercy to the kufar (infidels) you are not being a true Muslim, and some faithful, “true” Muslim out there might feel it’s his duty to kill you for it.
The Koran tells you to kill and oppress the non-Muslims, and you are ignoring that teaching when you extend mercy to non-Muslims.
Of course, if you are using it as a strategy of deception to trick non-Muslims into gradually accepting the oppressive rule of Islam, well then, that’s OK, that is taqiyya (deception to further the cause of Islam) and that is encouraged in the Koran, so you’re OK.
Personally, I am not impressed by this “generous” act of the Tennessee mosque. My opinion? It’s a publicity stunt, damage control, intentional deception to sway public opinion and allow followers of Islam to dig themselves deeper into our culture.
There is a difference between aid given by Muslims and that given by non-Muslims. Non-Muslim agencies do not discriminate with their aid: it is given freely to anyone, regardless of their religion. On the other hand, the Koran teaches that mercy is to be reserved for fellow Muslims only.
It is not the same. Do not be fooled into thinking that Muslim Charity and non-Muslim charity are the same. Read the Koran for yourself and you will see what I mean.
In fact, any kind-hearted non-Muslims who want to help may be killed for their efforts:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Compass Direct News) – Authorities on Wednesday recovered the bodies of three Christian relief workers who had been kidnapped and killed by members of the Pakistani Taliban in the flood-ravaged country, area officials said.
Military sources who withheld news of the deaths from electronic and print media to avoid panicking other relief workers granted permission to Compass to publish it in limited form.