Three Types of Muslims

[Christian2]

The following report comes from Mark Gabriel, a former Muslim/now Christian, and I am posting it for general information.

Islamic Religious Culture

People in the West are very curious about the differences between Muslims. They see that some Muslims join radical groups and attack innocent people while others live quiet lives as business owners in the West. They find it hard to imagine that their nice Muslim neighbors or coworkers believe all the teachings of the Quran and support Muhammad’s practice of holy war.

There are between 6 million and 8 million Muslims living in the United States. Most of these are immigrants from Middle Eastern countries. The next largest group is black American converts. The smallest group is white American converts. Outside of the United States, there are 1.2 billion more Muslims. From my observations and experience, both in the United States and in other countries, Muslims can be divided into three main groups.

1.) Ordinary Muslims

Ordinary Muslims practice some of the teachings of Islam, but they don’t want to do anything difficult, like participate in jihad. They are more interested in having nice lives, providing for their children and running their businesses. They are Muslims because of their culture and tradition rather than because of strong religious beliefs.

Most of the Muslims in the United States are ordinary Muslims. Some even send their children to Christian schools. Even in the Middle East there are more ordinary Muslims than committed Muslims. It would take time and motivation to turn ordinary Muslims into committed Muslims.

From the point of view of a committed Muslim, this group should be referred to as secular Muslims because they are not submitting wholly to Islam.

2.) Committed Muslims

Committed Muslims are making great efforts to live according to Islam. They are praying five times a day (which can take 2 ½ hours per day), giving alms and fasting all food and water during daylight hours of the month of Ramadan. A committed Muslim may not be in a radical group like Hamas, but he could choose to cross that line at any time that he feels his religion or people are threatened.

3.) Orthodox Muslims

A subset of committed Muslims is the orthodox Muslims. Not only do orthodox Muslims want to follow the requirements of Islam, but they also want to do it in the same way as Muhammad did in the seventh century. They spend much time reading the Quran and Islamic books. Following the Quran and hadith, they may put severe restrictions on women. In Islamic countries, orthodox Muslims may choose to grow out their beards, but in the West they may not look different from other Muslims.

Sufites

This is the first sect in Islam that tried to transfer the meaning of jihad from spreading Islam with the sword to a spiritual struggle to fight evil within oneself. Sufism started six centuries after Muhammad’s death. Only 2 to 3 percent of Muslims worldwide are Sufites. Orthodox Muslims and fanatic Muslims reject them and do not consider them to be true Muslims.

Fanatic Muslims

These are committed Muslims who put their words into action. They are the types of people who join militant groups such as Hamas or work with al-Qaeda. They are ready to practice jihad (to kill or be killed in the name of Islam).

How to Tell the Difference

After the September 11 attacks, you could identify the different types of Muslims according to their reactions. The ordinary Muslims were pretty quiet. In the United States, they were even hanging American flags on their houses and showing support for the United States.

The committed Muslims were demonstrating in the streets in support of al-Qaeda. Their imams were praising the bravery of Osama bin Laden and his network.

The fanatic Muslims were taking their joy a step beyond talk. They were planning new attacks, such as the kidnapping and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl in February 2002. A year and a half after September 11, they were able to orchestrate major new bombings against Western targets overseas (including bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in May 2003).

What Do These Categories Mean?

These categories mean that not all Muslims have the same level of knowledge and commitment. Some ordinary Muslims do not even know about many things that are in the Quran and Islamic history about Muhammad.

Committed and fanatic Muslims often have a very clear understanding of the teachings of Islam. They use the Quran and the example of Muhammad and the early Muslims as a blueprint for their attitudes and actions today.

Dr. Gabriel's credentials:

Bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in Islamic History and Culture from Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt, Graduating second in his class of six thousand students for his bachelor's degree. This ranking was based on cumulative scores or oral and written exams given at the end of each school year, One of the youngest lecturers ever hired at Al-Azhar University. He started lecturing after he finished his master's degree and was working to finish his doctorate, Traveling lecturer. The university sent him to countries around the Middle East as a lecturer in Islamic history, Served as the imam at a mosque in the Cairo suburbs, Later Gabriel became a Christian and pursued a Christian education which include: Discipleship Training School with Youth With A Mission in Cape Town, South Africa, Master's degree in World Religion from Florida Christian University in Orlando, Florida (2001), Doctorate degree in Christian Education from Florida Christian University in Orland, Florida (2002), Induction as a fellow in the Oxford Society of Scholars, September 2003.

[petterwilliam]

I had bought quran with english translation. I had read Quran with full interest and understand the meaning of Quran. Quran guide us towards nature and show us the path where we all are one. Quran teach us how to convert our individual thinking into collective thinking so that peace prevails in our society.

quran with english translation

[Christian2]

I had bought quran with english translation. I had read Quran with full interest and understand the meaning of Quran. Quran guide us towards nature and show us the path where we all are one. Quran teach us how to convert our individual thinking into collective thinking so that peace prevails in our society.

quran with english translation

I have read the Qur'an too.

However, I do not believe the Qur'an comes from the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the God revealed to us by His Messiah, Jesus.

I do not believe Muhammad is a true prophet of the God of Israel.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I do not believe the Qur'an comes from the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the God revealed to us by His Messiah, Jesus.

I do not believe Muhammad is a true prophet of the God of Israel.

Same here.

I was helping a stranger put a piece of furniture into his car when I noticed his T-shirt. It had a drawing of the Twin Towers and the words ''I New York.'' Inside the were the words ''I don't give a F*UCK about'' ...I was about to say something nasty but I stayed calm and finished what I was doing. He thanked me and went his on way.

FL

[MarcusOfLycia]

I gotta be honest, I can't quite comprehend how someone can view thousands of deaths as something not to care about. I don't want to know how much acid is in that kind of soul...

[neo-x]

These categories of people are present in almost all religions, you can fit the same on Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and even atheists.

I know a lot of good Muslims and I also know Muslims that hate me for being christian but the fact is, there is something fundamentally wrong with the Muslim teachings. Those Muslims who are secular Muslims are not true Muslims, as in they are not following the true Islam. Islam does not give much choices. It is a very strict code of religious conduct, one can hardly find some margins.

[Christian2]

These categories of people are present in almost all religions, you can fit the same on Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and even atheists.

I know a lot of good Muslims and I also know Muslims that hate me for being christian but the fact is, there is something fundamentally wrong with the Muslim teachings. Those Muslims who are secular Muslims are not true Muslims, as in they are not following the true Islam. Islam does not give much choices. It is a very strict code of religious conduct, one can hardly find some margins.

I think there are some nice verses in the Qur'an, but I agree "there is something fundamentally wrong with Muslim teachings." A lack of love, perhaps?

The problem as I see it is that the Qur'an claims to come from the God of Israel, so that forces us to look at the previous revelations to determine how the Allah of the Qur'an measures up to YHWH, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the God revealed to us by His Messiah Jesus and this is where problems arise.

[neo-x]

Christian2 on Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:02 pm

neo-x wrote:
These categories of people are present in almost all religions, you can fit the same on Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and even atheists.

I know a lot of good Muslims and I also know Muslims that hate me for being christian but the fact is, there is something fundamentally wrong with the Muslim teachings. Those Muslims who are secular Muslims are not true Muslims, as in they are not following the true Islam. Islam does not give much choices. It is a very strict code of religious conduct, one can hardly find some margins.


I think there are some nice verses in the Qur'an, but I agree "there is something fundamentally wrong with Muslim teachings." A lack of love, perhaps?

The problem as I see it is that the Qur'an claims to come from the God of Israel, so that forces us to look at the previous revelations to determine how the Allah of the Qur'an measures up to YHWH, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the God revealed to us by His Messiah Jesus and this is where problems arise.

I live in a Muslim country and when I was in second grade we had our text books of school that said that no christian or Jew could ever be a friend of a Muslim. This is a quote from the Quran. Now considering I was the sole christian boy in whole of my class. I had a pretty hard time going through school, same through college. I mean I eventually made one or two friends but that was it.

[Christian2]

I live in a Muslim country and when I was in second grade we had our text books of school that said that no christian or Jew could ever be a friend of a Muslim. This is a quote from the Quran. Now considering I was the sole christian boy in whole of my class. I had a pretty hard time going through school, same through college. I mean I eventually made one or two friends but that was it.

Qur'an (5:51) - "O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people."