Forcing people to believe in a religion or to adopt its forms of belief is completely contrary to the essence and spirit of Islam. That is because according to Islam, true faith is only possible with free will and freedom of conscience.

In the contemporary world, there are people who envisage or support authoritarianism in the name of Islam. However this is a great misconception. Islam is a religion which provides and guarantees freedom of ideas, thought and life. It has issued commands to prevent and forbid tension, disputes, slander and even negative thinking among people. In the same way that it is determinedly opposed to terrorism and all acts of violence, it has also forbidden even the slightest ideological pressure to be put on them:

There is no compulsion in religion. True guidance has become clearly distinct from error. (Surat al-Baqara: 256)

So remind them! You are only a reminder. You are not in control of them. (Surat al -Ghashiyya: 21-22)

Forcing people to believe in a religion or to adopt its forms of belief is completely contrary to the essence and spirit of Islam. That is because according to Islam, true faith is only possible with free will and freedom of conscience. Of course, Muslims can advise and encourage each other about the features of Qur’anic morality. All believers are charged with explaining Qur’anic morality to people in the nicest manner possible. They will explain the beauties of religion in the light of the verse, “Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair admonition…” (Surat an-Nahl: 125), however, they must also bear in mind the verse, “You are not responsible for their guidance, but God guides whoever He wills.” (Surat al-Baqara: 272)

Thus true Muslims will never resort to compulsion, nor any kind of physical or psychological pressure. Neither will they use any worldly privilege to turn someone towards religion. When they receive a negative response to what they say, Muslims will reply along the lines of: “To you your religion, and to me, mine” (Surat al- Al-Kafirun: 6)

The world we live in contains societies with all kinds of beliefs: Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, deist and even pagan. Muslims living in such a world must be tolerant of all beliefs they come up against, no matter what they may be, and behave forgivingly, justly and humanely. This responsibility placed on believers invites people to the beauty of the religion of God by means of peace and tolerance. The decision whether or not to implement these truths, whether or not to believe, lies with the other party. Forcing that person to believe, or trying to impose anything on him, is a violation of Qur’anic morality. In fact, God issues a reminder to believers in the Qur’an:

If your Lord had willed, all the people on the earth would have believed. Do you think you can force people to be believers? (Surat Yunus: 99)

We know best what they say and you [O Muhammad] are not a compeller over them. But warn by the Qur’an whoever fears My warning. (Surat Qaf: 45)

A model of society in which people are forced to worship is a complete contradiction to Islam. Belief and worship are only of any value when they are directed to God by the free will of the individual. If a system imposes belief and worship on people, then they will become religious out of fear of that system. From the religious point of view, what really counts is that religion should be lived for God’s good pleasure in an environment where peoples’ consciences are totally free.

When we look at the history of Islam, the way that Muslims have translated this important feature of Qur’anic morality into the life of society can be seen quite clearly. Since the Prophet Muhammed, true Muslims have always brought with them an atmosphere of freedom and tolerance wherever they have gone. They have enabled people whose religions, languages and cultures are completely different from one another to live together in peace and harmony under one roof, and provided peace and harmony for its own members. One of the most important reasons for the centuries-long existence of the Ottoman Empire, which spread over an enormous region, was the atmosphere of tolerance and understanding that Islam brought with it. Within this multi-national structure, all ethnic and religious groups have been free to live according to their own religions, and their own rules.

Barbarism in the name of religion, that is so preoccupying the world at present, is the work of ignorant and fanatical people, completely estranged from Qur’anic morality, and who have absolutely nothing to do with religion. The solution to these people and groups who try to carry out their savagery under the mask of religion is the teaching of true Qur’anic morality.

Islam and Qur’anic morality are solutions to the scourge of bigotry, barbarism and terrorism, not supporters of it.

Under the pen name of Harun Yahya, Adnan Oktar has written some 250 works. His books contain a total of 46,000 pages and 31,500 illustrations. Of these books, 7,000 pages and 6,000 illustrations deal with the collapse of the Theory of Evolution. You can read, free of charge, all the books Adnan Oktar has written under the pen name Harun Yahya on these websites www.harunyahya.com

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Are you the parent of a child with autism that has been blamed for your child’s behavioral difficulties? Have you been told by special education personnel that your child’s learning disability, is your fault? This article will discuss a study of school psychologists about blame for children’s learning difficulties. And also, give you tips, on how to overcome the blame, placed by some disability educators.

Several years ago, I heard about a study where school psychologists were asked who they blamed, when a child had learning difficulties. The basic outcome of the study showed that 100% of the psychologists that were surveyed, placed the blame on the child or the parents. Not one school psychologist blamed the school district, teacher, inappropriate curriculum, lack of resources, or inadequate instruction, for children’s learning difficulties. Parents must overcome this blame, so that they can advocate for an appropriate education, for their child.

Tip 1: If a school person tells you that your child’s behavior, is because of something that is going on at home, stand up to them. Tell the person that you do not believe that this is true. If your child has autism, they may have a lot of behavioral difficulties due to their disability. Most families are not perfect, but most times do not “cause” a child’s behavioral difficulty; especially if the child’s behavioral difficulty is at school.

Tip 2: Try and figure out what your child is telling you by their behavior; perhaps the work is too hard, they are trying to avoid the work etc. Try and figure out the ABC’s of Behavior; A stands for antecedent (what was happening before the behavior), B stands for Behavior (what was the specific behavior), and C stands for the Consequence (what did the child get out of the behavior). By focusing on the behavior, and not the blame you will help your child.

Tip 3: If your child is struggling with academics due to a learning disability; make sure that they are receiving research based instruction, which is required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Children with learning disabilities need a reading program with five principles: Simultaneous multi sensory, systematic and cumulative, direct interaction, diagnostic teaching, and analytic instruction. Check out www.ortongillingham.com for more information.

Tip 4: Tell the special education person, that your child has the right to a free appropriate public education, and you will be holding them accountable for that. Be honest, and bring up any school related reasons that you believe your child is having academic difficulty. Many schools continue using outdated curriculums that do not work.

You can overcome the blame that some disability educators try and place on your or your child. Continue to focus on your child, and their needs, and this will help you overcome the blame. Your child is depending on you!

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As the crucial voting for energy legislation draws nearer, the American Wind Energy Association or AWEA will be taking a majors step towards advocating the use of wind power for energy consumption. The said group will launch a massive ad campaign today. The said ads are aimed towards supporting the move to have a renewable electricity standard or RES. The advocacy campaign will invade different mediums from TV commercials to print ads.

“The ad campaign is part of a broader effort to focus attention on this crucial referendum on American energy policy,” said Gregory Wetstone, director of Government and Public Affairs of AWEA. “We believe that greater public awareness will translate into more Congressional support for renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, which are overwhelmingly popular, but face well-financed opposition,” he added.

The RES being debated on widely is a mechanism which is based on the market. The RES calls for a fixed portion of the country’s source of electricity to be produced using renewable resources. Today, 25 states have already enacted renewable energy standards. But experts agree that a national RES will be much more beneficial.

This week, the House of Representative will decide on the matter. This issue is being targeted early on because of the increasing awareness to the threat of global warming.

There have been studies conducted to find out the benefits of an RES. According to results of these studies, an RES in place will slow down global warming. With renewable energy sources being tapped, less petroleum fuel will be burned. That translates to less greenhouse gases. This move will be beneficial in the future as automakers are now experimenting with vehicles which run on electricity alone. Automobiles like the Acura CL compressor -equipped luxury car are considered as one of the biggest producers of harmful greenhouse gases.

Another benefit of an RES is that it creates jobs. According to a study conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, an RES will help create about 185,000 American jobs. Wind and solar energy are expected to be the biggest source of alternative energy. With a national RES, these industries will experience a boom thus creating jobs for Americans.

Studies also reported that an RES would “revitalize rural America”. According to the studies, rural land owners will be able to take about $3,000 to $8,000 per turbine annually while still being able to work their land. These benefits will be deliberated for sure before the House of Representatives decide on the issue.

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Islam and Democracy: Sociological analysis

By H. A. Yahya, Professor of Sociology

Opinions about Islam and democracy vary among Muslim thinkers and theologians. Those who are proponent of Islamic State or Islamic System tend to argue that Democracy is a concept imposed by the West. And that  democracy in this respect should not be applied particularly for Muslim community. Justifying their opinion, because they claim that democracy negates Islamic value, where Islam considers all people are equal regardless of color, or nationality, [but not of sex or gender, because man and woman are not equal in Islam for certain reasons debated widely between  believers in Islam- intellectuals and theocratic personnel].

Other groups, however, reject Democracy as exemplified, and should be resisted by Muslim communities, particularly represented by  fundamentalist, such view is obviously considered as a result of  Western colonization. For them, Democracy for both groups is the means to  split Islamic community (the Ummah) rather than unite Islamic community in  two ways by which the western colonialism intend to hamper Muslim community from unifying. 1) Muslim community is coerced to accept an understanding, belief, and parameter (Democracy) that is bequeathed by colonizers to be put into practice in Muslim countries even if it is clear not corresponding to Islamic belief. 2) The West synchronizes democracy with Islam so as to produce Muslim’s view that there is no such distinction between Islam and democracy. One of their strategies is to reject Democracy as exposed by the West .

In conjunction with the above arguments of fundamentalists, a group of intellectuals and Muslim thinkers (al_Azm, al-Nabulsi, and many others,  for example,] completely disagree with the compatibility of democracy and Islam. Such a view point is derived mainly from the western thought which splits the State from Religion. Which depends on logical reasoning and mostly derived from western scholars who strongly reject the argument that Islam and democracy is actually equal. Almost all foreign or Muslim intellectuals including Samuel Huntington, Martin Kramer and Francis Fukuyama who argue that Islam is not compatible with democracy. That’s why they claim that Islam as any other religion imposes  a threat for democracy and negates western democratic values such freedom and equality and justice since Islamic culture  rejecting any implementation of  democratic systems in the Islamic countries.

In conclusion, some Muslim groups reject the idea of democratization as a product of the West, and should be fought and rejected for that reason, it should not be accepted or implemented because  democracy is coined by infidels or comes from Western culture. Which I believe, such judgment, is based upon politics rather than theological thought. These groups can be described as prejudiced about the west and therefore, reject Western value of Democracy. Other Muslim groups argue that the one who has authority to command people is God alone can rule people or society not elected people in the case of Democracy. And for that reason they emphasize the nature of the principles of Islamic political theory which cannot give an authority over people to lead the other people.. By rejecting Democracy, they argue that God’s Law should rule every thing in earth. According to Abul Ala’ Maududi “no one should be allowed to pass orders or make commands in his own right and no one ought to accept the obligation to carry out such commands and obey such orders.” To support his opinion, he brought the Ayah which reads:

“The authority rests with none but Allah. He commands you not to surrender to any one save Him. This is the right way (of life). And “They ask: Have we also got some authority? Say: all authority belongs to God alone”. (Quran 3: 15)

The debate continues between the two opposing views toward democracy connection to Islam. Muslims, however were left to be ruled by what fundamentalists argue to encourage people to implement Shari’a as a fixed rule from God Himself described  in Qur’an as controlling both lives in the present and the Hereafter lives of humanity, rather than implementing Democracy as man made system deals with everyday reality.

Hasan Yahya is a columnist at wfol.tv, Malaysia, and TINA International News Agency,  Chicago,  USA

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