I have a LOT of LDS friends, and a LOT of muslim friends. I have found a lot of similarity in their degree of religious commitment, blind devotion and cognitive dissonance. I hosted an exchange student from Tunisia last year (one of my favorite people on Earth!), and we had many long respectful and informative discussions about religion, culture, society. During that time I bought an english translation of the Quran. I have started reading it out of curiousity and wonder if anyone else here has done that?

It is quite informative. About half of the text is truly argumentative counterpoint to Judeo-Christian theology, basically a tongue lashing of the way the Judeo-Christian world has blasphemed God by twisting his words as revealed by all the prophets (including Moses and Jesus). According to the Quran, if not for the corruption of the "People of the book," we would know as a fact today that Moses and Jesus were Muslims. Even Abraham, who lived before Moses.

Example: Quran 3:64-67: "O People of the Book, why do you dispute concerning Abraham? The Torah and Evangel were revealed only after his time. Will you not be reasonable? Consider. It was you who argued about a matter of which you have knowledge. Why did you argue about a matter of which you have no knowledge? God knows you do not know. Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian, but a man of pristine faith, a Muslim, nor was he an idolater."

There are many more verses like this, frequently referring to the "People of the Book" as blasphemers, idolators and apostates. What I thought was interesting about this passage, as that it shows some cognitive dissonance. The Quran uses the fact that the Torah and New Testament were written after Abraham's time as proof that Abraham could not have been a Jew or a Christian, but fails to recognizes that this argument places the Islam at a more disadvantaged position because the Quran was written yet hundreds more years later. The Quran claims all previous prophets as true Muslims whose words and works have been corrupted by modern-day Jews and Christians.

There is a lot of information and misinformation out there. Personally, I tend to think that people labelled by Muslims as "Islamophobes" may actually be speaking truth. My history as an ex-mormon who has been labelled as an "anti-mormon" as a means avoid answering otherwise reasonable questions confirms that.

I have read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book "Heretic" and was struck by how many similarities there are in the critisicm and ostracization toward those who try to critique Islam and those who critique Mormonism. At least WE don't need armed body guards! And I'll bet John Dehlin could speak at a US university without being protested, unlike Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

In any case, if you want to understand the religion, without the rosy filter of editorial boards whose members don't want to die, or the possibly biased views of those who are apostates from Islam, simply read the Quran. It is very revealing. I am only 48 pages in (this translation is about 520 pages) which means I haven't even gotten to the more aggressive second half, and yet it is clear that contempt toward the Judeo-Christian world is one of the foundational themes of the book.

/slowly bow my head and say, "no, I have not". I think I wanted to at some point, but never quite got around to it. I would like to read the Satanic Bible some day too, but it's nap time right now.

I have read some of the koran and the similarities between islam and mormonism strikes me as uncanny. Joey boy was right when he called himself the 'american mohamed'.

Firstly, they both share the claim that all previous patriarchs were the same religion now being 'restored', secondly, all property and wealth is consecrated to god aka muslims or mormons, thirdly, only believe god's messenger aka 'the prophet' because everyone else is deceived by satan, etc, etc. Fourth, dissenters are exterminated, preferably by detaching their heads from their necks so blood is spilt on the ground (both mormon and muslim god likes that, apparently). As a recent example, in saudi arabia an atheist has been labelled as atheist and sentenced to death for disbelieving islam - all because of an online post. Sounds like early mormons, especially in brigham's utah days.

I could go on but as you mentioned, another massive similarity is the way ex or non believers are afraid to 'come-out' as such in case their life ends - with muslims it might be a literal ending, not just the end of an era or being ostracised from your family and community, however, there have been plenty of mormon offshoots that have murdered dissenters.

What does strike me about christianity and islam is the way, in islamic prophecy, the twelfth iman will lead an army to behead all the unbelievers so islam can finally reign supreme in a worldwide caliphate under sharia law, yet in christianity, the ultimate anti-christian (anti-christ as an individual is a modern phenomenon) - the leader of the false religion - will arrange to behead all the christian believers for their testimony of the messiah and refusal to worship the 'new and true' god. These two prophecies actually blend together quite well and it would appear on the surface that islam is the coming religion that will exterminate christians (or non-muslims). In addition, mormon prophcies could be described as tying into the one-world government & religious system warned of in the bible. Mormons believe one day the world will be mormon and the brethren will be in charge, just as the muslims believe allah and his servants will reign supreme worldwide. These are fascinating concepts, I believe.

Just as organised religion lost it's grip on rational people over a few generations last century, islam in the west will follow suit, when muslims properly integrate into western society and learn that people are actually quite nice and principled, mostly. This is why mormons as well as muslims do not encourage friendships outwith the faith, except as a measure to lead to conversion (reason number 6). It is also the reason many muslims live together in self made ghettos - so they do not mix with the infidel and learn their questioning ways, ie, be led astray by satan, which is the same fear mormons have about stan loving non-mormons.

The similarities are almost identical, the differences between the behaviours of both sets of religious adherants are actually quite small. What they actually believe does not really matter when those beliefs dictate such similar behaviours.

Well said!

+1

Although I was given a copy of the Quran by someone I used to know well, and worked with when I was writing for the fan magazines (he was a Muslim from India who became a top-tier North American cover fave for a time), I have never read it.

My impression, from reading other accounts about the writing of the Quran, is that Muhammad used what he had been told (so: second hand, at best) ABOUT Judaism and Christianity and the Bible, and based his "authoritative" take on that. My strong impression has always been that Muhammad had never actually read any of the Bible himself, but was basing his views on oral accounts from others regarding not only the Bible, but also Judaism/Jews and Christianity/Christians.

So, yes, I do own a copy of the Quran...and no, I have never read it.

I checked out a few audio courses (college courses, great professers, etc.) on it and learned quite a bit.

(I LOVE checking out things from "Great Courses" at the library!)

I've come to understand more of its verse and recitation nature.

It really helped me appreciate and understand Salman Rushdie's novels, like the Satanic Verses. I've read most of his work which gives an interesting perspective on a culture I did not know much about.

I can't say I view the Quaran differently than I do the Bible. It's important literature, but the sooner we stop promoting it as "sacred" the better.

Living in NJ during 911, it was all everyone talked about and lots of people knew someone affected by it.
The local B&N had a big Islam display in the middle of the store.
I was looking through a couple of Qurans, read verses on " the evil one preys ( forgot the word used) upon women, children, the weak and old". Well, they were all the 911 victims. They also weren't militant enemies during wartime either.
There's a lot of controversies in it and the wAy they talk.
Of course, maybe just the radical ones have those beliefs,
I do know that Judaism came before Islam and Christianity.
Before Abraham, everyone still worshipped idols, nature, etc

I've read it cover-to-cover twice and studied the religion pretty extensively at one point. The translations I read were beautiful although I'm told the Arabic is much better.

My view is that the book employs forceful enough metaphors to be read in dozens of ways, including intolerant and aggressive ones. In that sense it is like the Bible, the Brahmanic epics, and even the Bhagavad Gita and some of the Upanishads. Essentially, religious metaphor, excepting that of Confucius and the Taoists, almost always includes references to war, struggle, destroying evil, etc.

The fact that one of the interpretations it supports is a form of extremism does not mean that is the proper reading. One gets a better understanding of the faith by looking at the ways it has been construed over time, meaning that an interpretation that was upheld over very large geographies and time periods is as valid as any other. In that sense the Koran is a major influence in the many different religions that Islam has been over the centuries. It would be a mistake to insist that the extremism that exists in some places today is the "true" religion largely because such a thing does not exist in a book or in reality.

Are parts of Islam like Mormonism? Yes. That is probably inevitable given that both were rebellions against other religions just as Judaism was a reaction against earlier and truer Canaanite religion and Christianity was a reaction against Judaism. That also explains the militancy, the repression, the organized violence, the assassinations, etc., that all these religions have at times demonstrated. But Judaism, Christianity and, to a lesser extent, Mormonism have all had their "good" periods as well.

I don't think it is fair to describe Islam as a religion as it appears in at any particular point in time as the actual religion. That said, today's Islam in major parts of the world and especially in some places is a very dangerous and reprehensible thing.

No.

reading it. Read it after work evenings and finished it in a week or two. That was about six years ago.

Impressions: Same old weird God being schizo, blood and guts, us against them and marginalizing women.

I think everyone should read it so they can make up their own mind. Personally, I was repulsed and disgusted by the version I read on par with a reading of the Book of Mormon. Civilization would be better off without both of these books. The Bible could use a visit to the recycle bin as well.