Islam's Double Standard

Question: If this sign were found anywhere in America, say, somewhere in New York City, telling Muslims that they (or their mosques) were not wanted in the roundabouts of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, would there be an outcry?

Why is there no outcry when Saudi Arabia does the same thing?

Moral dualism? Double standard?

The Common Basis of Islam and Liberalism: Reason Can't Be Trusted

There is a shared assumption between the Liberal Order and the Islamic Order: their common distrust of reason's ability to grasp the truth, especially in the moral realm. Hence both the Liberal Order and the Islamic Order reject reason as hopelessly leading to moral relativism. In response, one imposes the Liberal Order as the solution, and the other imposes an Islamic Order. In one we suffer the tyranny of relativism foisted upon us by the likes of the "prophet" of Liberalism, John Rawls. In the other, we suffer the tyranny of a supposed divine positivism of the "prophet" of Islam, really nothing other than just the personal judgments and foibles of a crafty 7th century Arab moral and theological simpleton, one whom, in the British bioethicist Jonathan Glover's words might be characterized as a "monster of self-confidence."

Rawls and Muhammad: Both Despaired of Reason

Consider this. Let us suppose that J. Budziszewski's* summary of the liberal mind is accurate:

The argument [of the liberal or relativist, one who rejects reason as a source of law, that is the natural law] seems to be "Because we don't agree with each other, you must do as I say"--for, if anyone should profess "But your opinion is just as controversial as the ones you complain about," they respond "See what I mean?" Or perhaps, like John Rawls, they respond that their opinion should have special privileges because it is "political not metaphysical." Here the argument seems to be "The ultimate truth of things is unknowable [by reason], and that's why you must do as I say."

Now, let us suppose also that Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri accurately summarizes the Islamic view of things in his book Reliance of the Traveler:**

[M]inds are in obvious disagreement about acts. Some minds finds certain acts good, others find them bad. Moreover, one person can be of two minds about one and the same action. Caprice often wins out over the intellect, and considering something good or bad comes to be based on mere whim. So it cannot be said that an act which the mind deems good is therefore good . . . its performance called for and its doer rewarded . . . or whatever the mind feels to be bad is thus bad . . . its nonperformance called for and its doer punished . . . . [So] the basic premise [of Islam according to the Ash'aris] is that the good of the acts of those morally responsible is what the Lawgiver [Allah] or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) has indicated is good be permitting it or asking ti be done. And the bad is what the Lawgiver [Allah through his prophet Muhammad] has indicated is bad by asking it not be done.

The liberal despairs of human reason, and he imposes his tyranny of relativism. The Muslim despairs of human reason, and he imposes the tyranny of Islam. In their foundational assumptions and distrust of reason, Liberalism and Islam are brothers? That would appear to be the case.

Might the solution to the ills of Liberalism and the ills of Islam be a re-commitment to human reason in its theoretical and its practical (moral) range? Might our re-commitment to the link between human reason and the divine Reason, that is, the Logos, the Word of God, be the solution to the ills of Liberalism and the ills of Islam? Taking it one step further: might that re-commitment to human reason, to the link between human reason and the divine Logos lead us to a re-commitment to the belief that perhaps that Logos became incarnate and dwelt among us full of grace and truth, in the God-Man Jesus? And might that belief, that faith, lead to the re-commitment that perhaps that Logos made flesh, the incarnated Logos, founded his Church on Peter and that it continues in his successors? Might a rejection of the despair of human reason, and a re-commitment to this chain--faith in reason, faith in Reason, faith in the Reason made Flesh, faith in the Reason made Flesh founding a Communion, that is to say, the Church, be the means to overcome the ills of Liberalism and the ills of Islam? For both Liberalism and Islam start with infidelity: they are unfaithful to reason, which means they are unfaithful to Reason, which means they are unfaithful to the Logos made flesh, which means they are unfaithful to His Communion, a Communion which ultimately extends from this world into eternity, from the world into Paradise.

____________________________________
*J. Budziszewski, What We Can't Not Know (Dallas: Spence Publishing, 2003), 52.
**Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Reliance of the Traveller (Nuh Ha Mim Keller, trans.) (Betlsville, Maryland: Amana Publishers, 1994), 2 (section a1.3, a1.4).

the (Non)Difference Between Muhammad and Eric Harris

I'm confused. I hope somebody can help me. I can't figure out what the difference is between Eric Harris (1981-1999, of Columbine infamy), who put on his website, "My belief is that if I say something, it goes. I am the law, if you don't like it, you die" . . . .

Eric Harris

. . . and Muhammad, who said in his Qur'an that (and I paraphrase) "my belief is that if I say something, it goes. I am the law, if you don't like it, you die."

. . . Well, other than the fact that pictures of Eric Harris are easier to find on Google than pictures of Muhammad, is there anything else?

Saint Abo of Tbilisi, Georgia

Saint Abo of Tbilisi (also referred to as Abo Tbileli, or Habo Tbileli) (ca. 756-January 6, 786) is a Christian martyr to Islam, and is considered the Patron Saint of the city of Tbilisi, Georgia.

Abo was Arab by descent, and was raised in the Muslim religion in Baghdad. He followed the Georgian Prince Nerses, the ruler of Kartli, to Tbilisi in Georgia, when the prince, who had been jailed by the Caliph Al Mansur (754–775) for allegedly slandering him, was released when a new Caliph succeeded him. Upon his return to Tbilisi, he took Abo with him as part of his retinue.

Abo's profession at Baghdad was that of a perfumer. Not only was he proficient enough in his trade to attract the attention of Prince Nerses, he was also pious and was said to have gained a good grasp of Muslim religious traditions and its teachings. Sometime following his arrival to Eastern Georgia, he learned Georgian and began to experience their life and culture, so thoroughly imbued by the Christianity that vivified it. During this time, Abo became convinced of Christianity's veracity. His conversion was the result of an internal struggle and interaction with Christian priests and bishops with respect to a variety of questions. The result of his internal struggle with Christianity was to convince him that truth was to be found in Christianity.

St. Abo of Tbilisi

Since that part of Georgia was then under Islamic rule, Abo was hesitant to convert publicly. He however stopped the Muslim practice of salat (five daily prayers) and he replaced it with Christian prayer disciplines. For political reasons, Prince Nerses was forced to seek refuge in Khazaria north of the Caspian Sea, an area that was outside of Muslim influence. Abo accompanied his employer. The departure allowed Abo to practice his Christian faith freely, and at Khazaria he was baptized. Following a stay at Khazaria, Prince Nerses travelled to Abkhazia, and, once again Abo followed the prince. At Abkhazia which was also free of Muslim control, Abo grew in his knowledge of Christianity.

Prince Nerses returned to Tbilisi in 782, and Abo, though aware that there was some risk to his life in following the prince to Tbilisi, decided to go. During the next three years, Abo openly confessed his Christian faith in the streets of Tbilisi, thereby giving Christians and encouraging conversions from Islam.

He was threatened numerous times, and the threats ultimately led to his denouncement to the authorities as a Muslim apostate, that is, a Christian. He was arrested by the Islamic officials, and was tried for apostasy. He confessed his Christian faith at trial, and was imprisoned and subsequently martyred on January 6, 786. On his way to the place of execution, he thanked God for having brought him out of his earthly occupation as a perfumer to a more transcendent occupation of following the "sweet fragrance of Christ's commandments."

The Christian martyr's body was put into a sack, dragged outside the city, and burned it near the banks of the Mtkvari River. The ashes were then placed in sheepskin and cast into the river. Eventually, a chapel was built on the hillside of the banks of the Mtkvari river.

Metekhi Church, Tbilisi, Georgia

Saint Casilda of Toledo: Patroness of Muslim Converts

One of the patronesses of this blog, is Santa Casilda of Toledo (died ca. 1050 AD). According to legend, St. Casilda was a daughter of a Muslim king of Toledo (called variously Almacrin or Almamun). Although she assiduously studied the Qur'an, she was moved to become a Christian through the reading of a hagiographical work on St. Marina. She showed special solicitude to Christian prisoners imprisoned by her father in the prisons of Toledo, bringing them food by carrying it surreptitiously underneath her skirts. On one occasion, the Muslims guards stopped and demanded to know what she was carrying under her skirt. As she pulled out the bread from under her skirt, it turned into a bouquet of roses. This miracle is usually the one chosen on statuary, paintings, or icons to distinguish her.

Naturally, St. Casilda was raised a Muslim, which presented her with a problem in terms of converting to Christianity. When she became ill, she refused treatment by the Muslim doctors and instead implored that she be allowed to travel to the north of the Iberian peninsula to the shrine of San Vincento, near Buezo, close to the town of Briviesca and the nearby the city of Burgos. She was cured of her ailment by the miraculous springs there, and then was baptized at Burgos. She took evangelical vows, of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and lived a life of solitude and penance at a hermitage not far from the miraculous spring that had cured her. Purportedly, she lived to be a centenarian. She is now buried close to her hermitage at the Sanctuario Santa Casilda.

St. Casilda was the subject of many a Spanish playwright's work, including the famous Lope de Vega (El Milagro de las Rosas) and Tirso de Molina (Los Lagos de San Vincente). She was also the subject of many a Spanish painter, including, Francisco de Zubarán and Juan Rizi.

St. Casilda de Toledo by Francisco de Zubarán


St. Casilda de Toledo by Juan Rizi


St. Casilda de Toledo by Francisco de Zubarán

For more information see the Spanish website:

Hospedería e historia del Santuario de Santa Casilda.

The sanctuary in which St. Casilda of Toledo has been laid to rest is in the province of Burgos at near Briviesca by the Salinillas de Bureba.

Altar and Effigy of St. Casilda of Toledo

Inside of the Sanctuary of St. Casilda

View of the Sanctuary of St. Casilda from Outside

Sancta Casilda Toledonensis, ora pro nobis et pro mussulmanis! Amen!