Hello Doug, thank you for your question. You've made a good point. However firstly i would like to know whether you have read the Quran? The whole book in english translation from an AUTHENTIC source? Or read any other holy scriptures if you follow any religion that is? im not being cynical, just out of curiousity.

Well if you have read the Quran you will see that before verse 9:29 come verses 9:1-28. As the Quran was revealed in stages over a period of time (23 yrs) these verses were revealed at a particular point in time; during a battle. It clearly says that there was a peace treaty between the Muslims and the pagans of Makkah. This treaty was violated by the pagans and a period of four months was given to them to make amends. And because they didnt thats how verse 9:29 came about. In this surah it also states something which a lot of critics of islam fail to mention: ''If one amongst the pagans asks thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of Allah; and then escort him to where he can be secure. That is because they are men without knowledge.'' Al Quran 9:6 So therefore The Qur’an not only says that a pagan seeking asylum during the battle should be granted refuge, but also that he should be escorted to a secure place.

You also need to take into account that when we talk about 'violence' in Islam, (its not the violence we see nowadays- those people are clearly in another world and mindset) the Quran does allow some force to be used to eliminate the anti-social elements of society,for peace to prevail and in ones self-defence. These type of references are also found in other holy books of other religions. However I do not deny for one moment the existence of so-called muslims who use the Quran (and people of other faiths who use their religion) for their own purposes in order to justify their violent actions as we see around the world (an example being the tragedy in this article), this is a sin: “Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loves not aggressors.” Al-Qur’an 2:190

The Quran also states: '' if anyone kills an innocent person it would be as if he has killed the whole of humanity; and if anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole of humanity'' Al Quran 5:32

Its just as absurd if I started quoting the Bible without doing my research such as King James Bible: Numbers 31:17-18 or quoted the Bhagvad Gita chapter 2. My intention is not to offend any Christians and Hindus but just to highlight a point that it is absurd to quote scriptures without knowing the full facts.

I would advise Doug that you see a GOOD muslim scholar, or contact the Sunnipath.com or another viable, authentic source as I am not a Quranic scholar and may not be able to answer EVERY question. However what I do know, I will try my best and answer. Wassalaam, Peace out brother.....

   Sandy, Please explain surah 9:29 in light of this story. According to this verse (and others), aren't muslims just being consistent followers of the teaching of Islam by treating those of other faiths poorly?

   S PATEL, you have no idea do you? Do you actually live on this planet? YES all religions have some followers that are racist,even though their religion does not permit this, but you say 'not all of them go round killing people'- Yes...not all but a lot of them still do! Just because you dont see it on TV or in Britain doesnt mean its not happening. Alongside the Taliban, Al Qaeda etc have you never heard of Hindu fundamentalists whose ideologies stem from the BJP and RSS parties? They aim to create a pure Hindu nation removing all those that are not Hindu- even the National Liberation Front of Tripura is going round forcefully trying to convert people to Christianity. And if they dont, death is the only other option. So you are incorrect.

Other are Nagaland Rebels, who have killed tens of thousands of people, the Real IRA, the white farmers in South Africa who have been killed by coloured men and so on. Being racist doesnt just mean one person attacking another for colour, it also includes religion, race, creed, caste, culture, state, systematic racism etc etc

I havent seen you condemn the racist attacks on the OAP in Stockport or on the poor girl in Rochdale, but i see that you always expect others to apologise for scum (like these people in this article who attacked this innocent man) just because they follow the same religion.

   There are many racist thugs out there from all religion but most of them dont go round killing people just because of their faith.

Pakistan is a law unto itself.

   And fyi it was initiated by the man who owned the tea stall which is why i put 'i am disgusted by this man's actions' ie. action being ,he called upon the others to beat him!! Silly you and secondly you say 'if a muslim was killed this way then would be full scale war'...hmm.. now you are exaggerating, i dont see that happening especially since so many muslims (alongside people from all faiths) have died in the middle east!

   S Patel, you need to read my comments PROPERLY! I put that 'this man and in fact ALL racist thugs need to be hanged'...this includes ALL the men included in this horrible attack plus all the other racist yobs around the world!!! Get your facts right!

   The majority of Muslims are suffering all over the world, because of so called Muslims like these...it is very shameful.

   Sandy - you made it sound like that there was only one killer here, this wasn't one mans action but a group of 14 who killed this person because he was not a Muslim, if a Muslim was killed in the same way then there would be a full scale war ?

The people that killed this poor person have no place on earth, they are all murderers

PLEASE RESPECT OTHER RELGIONS

   If you want to judge how good Islam is then judge it according to its authentic sources, i.e. the Glorious Qur’an and the Sahih Hadith.

   I am absolutely horrified!! I am muslim and completely disgusted by this man's vile actions!!! How dare he do this to an innocent man because of his religion?! This piece of scum and in fact ALL racist thugs should be hanged.

   We keep being told of the tolerance and loving nature of Islam, yet hear many examples to the contrary (quite apart from fundamentalist terrorism).

Pakistan is not regarded as being as extreme some other Islamic countries - it not controlled by fundamentalists. If a similar incident in reverse, a Muslim being attacked by a Christian, occurred in Britain, it would be a major issue and Muslims would be loudly lambasting British-Christian bigotry.