The Compact of Medina and Other Things

Compact of Medina
There is an good account of the Compact of Medina established between the first Muslim community in Medina and the non-Muslims of the city. This will be instuctive for people who judge the political theory of Islam to be based solely upon dhimmitude and second class citizen status.

This is true whether these who judge are non-Muslims or Muslims, for both are prone to error. It would be rather unfair to judge the political acumen of Muhammad by the actions of subsequent leaders. It would be rather like judging the abilities of George Washington based upon the acts of the current President.

http://www.ijtihad.org/compact.htm  

Religion and Politics I was talking to my psychiatrist recently ( finally!, I hear a gasp of relief.) Actually he is not my psychiatrist in a professional role; he is an old friend who happens to be a trick-cyclist (as I call him. Most people call him a shrink, so trick-cyclist is a welcome change.) Anyway, the upshot of it was that the rise of political Islam has tracked and been tracked by the rise of political Christianity. The tenor of both movements is aggressive. They are Paganism on the one hand and Jahaliyya on the other. Jesus once said to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's. This statement establishes the basic conceptual difference between the realm of Caesar and God. They are different in understanding and they are different in reality.
The divide bewteen them is illustrated by the nature of people who pursue power. Consider the people you know who have pursued power. Look at the Congress and Administration of the USA. The appetite for Power overwhelms the taste for morality.
Desire for Power does not even guarantee that these people can perform their basic functions. Once they have been elected, they face the great void of their own being: there's nothing there except that Lust for Power, and then they indulge themselves in their tawdry vices of degradation, greed, and corruption.

Asking One's Higher Father The President said that when he was considering the Iraq War, he consulted not his father, but his Higher Father. If this was a political ploy, it was shameful. If it was true, it was a thing whose name I will not mention, for I still believe we should talk respectfully of the President.