h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

going back to Didi's point...

1) The title specifically poses the question about whether or not islam promotes destruction.
2) The main point of the article is that it doesn't.

In all fairness, shouldn't the article then address how and why some people have co-opted the religion to further their violent aims? And how these are inconsistent with islam?

The author has specifcally rasied the point in the title. Whether we like it or not, people have hijacked Islam for the wrong reasons (promoting destruction). To write an article discussing whether or not the religion is inherently destructive, and then ignoring/not applying the logic to those people makes the article's title misleading, or conversely, the article incomplete.

Dave

Maybe but if you think about its obvious that people like Osama bin laden use Jihad for there own goals. There are many mislead Muslim children out there who are picked on by these people which is how they get support in areas. Trust me I know it happens over here. There I am with my best friend Nimra on a coach coming from picking the Israel embassie when there was this group pf Muslims behind us saying they would blow them selves up to kill the Jews attavking Muslims.
After a thirty min debate using Hadith and Sura me and Nimra won and they realised they had misterpeted what they can do.
My aim was simpally to get rid of the myths about Islam and reveal the truth before peoples eyes and let them make there own decisions from there.

Adib

Hi Muzzakboy do you think you could incorperate all the points that you (and Dr Trout) have made in the Peer Review thread into the artilce?

I suppose I could do.

Adib

Well that would make it a much better article, because the questions that have been asked are going to be the ones that people reading the artilces are going to ask, so if you answer the questions for them then you are more likely to convince them of your arguements.

Muzaakboy

you didn't really answer my question. I appreciate your anecdote, and the point your making, but could you please address my question:

If the title of your article specifically addresses destruction and islam, shouldn't there be something about people who use islam for destruction in your article?

I mean isn't that basic common sense?

Well every one knows about Osama bin laden and that he is supposed to be a muslim, anyone reading the entry will see that what he is doing is not Islamic. I suppose I could put where it says about Jihad that people like Osama use it and the west medias portrayal of the word as a tool to further there own goals. When I called it 'Is Islam a religion of destruction?' I was referring to how people all over the world is saying Islam was spread by the sword and was born on voilence and death and is a voilent religion. I was not referring to terrorist's in general. What I was trying to achieve is that people go on the entry with a good idea of what Islam is about from the media and other sources and find that its true meaning is peace. I wanted people to come and see it and think oh this may be about Islamic fundamentalism. They enter it and find out that it does have the fundamentals of Islam and there not what a lot of people think they are.

Adib

Is that alright? If you want I can add it but I did not really want to get talking about things like Osama in the entry. Most people are sick of hearing about Osama and don't want it thrust under there face all the time. In some ways I want people to realise by looking at what it says that peolpe like Osama are not following Islam properly and to come to the conclusion on there own thinking.
Sorry if it sounds a bit sharp I do not mean it to.
Adib

I understand what you mean now. And I didn't mean mention Osama, I just meant maybe mention something as small as "Some people have misused the religion to justify their violence, and this has led to a misunderstanding of the religion". But now that I understand what you mean, I think it's fine. Thanks for the explanation.

Oh ok. Thats cool.
Adib

How about adding some headers now? It would make the piece much more readable, and keep people from getting exhausted before the end.

I have put a few headers in.
Adib

That looks good, but don't make them all caps.

Oh. I thought that as caps it would stand out more but your probabley right.
Adib

yeah it does look better in normal writing. Thanks.

Adib

Hi Adib,

Good entry. Perhaps a bit too much quotation, especially the 'Islam and Violence' section, where there is over a screenfull of quotations in a row.

Technically, this is opinion, I guess. However, it reflects the opinions of such a vast majority of Muslims that I would have no problem with seeing it in the guide.

A good way to include examples of Muslims who are violent without breaking the flow of the article would be to put them at the beginning, along with the claim that the media presents Islam as a violent religion. That way, you can 'answer these points' through your article and you will probably find that you carry your readers along better. (You will note that lots of TV documentaries etc. begin by proposing the theory they are opposing and stating its flaws.)

There are still a few spelling errors left in, have you tried running this through a spell-checker?

Otherwise, I think that this entry is close to being ready for editing.

Gif

Ok will double check it. Thanks for the advice.

Adib

Is that better?

I would change "the media shows" to "the media claim" - otherwise it sounds as though the media are correct. And I still think you should break up the long list of quotes under 'Violence and Islam' a bit. But on the whole, I think that this is very close to being ready to be picked.

Didi - if the title were changed to 'Teachings of the Koran Concerning Violence' or something similar, would that answer your points? It is surely not a matter of opinion that this is what the Koran says, even if not all Muslims actually follow these teachings.

Gif

I'm not sure how I am going to break up the qoutes part.
Any suggestions?
Adib