I guess am doing doing this only because I'm a little idle but its something I've always had the intention of doing. I have always wanted to put the religion ISLAM in the front burner of rational, albeit fiery, discourse on nairaland. If there is a similar topic, pardon me.

I wish to state that this piece basically focuses on the so-called 'liberal' muslims predominantly found in the southern part of Nigeria from the get go. This is because some other muslim folks have a clearer idea of 'what's up' and are pretty comfortable with it.

Anytime a bunch of muslims carry out a terrorist attack, the first thing we hear from the muslim camp is how Islam is a religion of peace and how it does not condone killing etc. The funny thing is this statement is actually close to the truth. The reality is that its not the truth. This is where there is confusion. Islam is potentially a peaceful religion. Islam would be a peaceful religion only when the whole world recognises " Allah as the one true God and Prophet Mohammed as his last messenger".

The Quran, as 'REVEALED' to Prophet Muhammad, just like the Bible, is full of contradictions. What makes it easier to deal with the Quran's contradictions is a principle contained in the same Quran which instructs believers to regard all the commandments in the book as the final word of Allah. it goes further to tell believers that in case there are any contradictions, the latter passage of the Quran should have precedence over the former. Being a lawyer by training, this is quite sophisticated if you ask me. The simple truth, which admittedly is no longer simple to many muslims, is that the peaceful passages in the Quran are all in the earlier books revealed to the prophet. As the book 'gathered in momentum', it became more violent and intolerant. Thus by the principle provided in the Quran, the latter passages must prevail in the event of any contradiction.

So, this is what it is- Islam is in a constant war-mode with the rest of the world until we all direct our prayers to the kabbah in medinah. When that day finally comes, the world will see what a peaceful religion Islam actually is!

Liberal muslims include those who agitate for better rights for women in Islamic societies, those who clamour for democracy, those who believe the Sharia legal/penal system should be watered down to 'meet the demands and sensitivity of the 21st century' etc. I have met a good number of such muslims, some are even family. What they like to emphasize is that the hot-headed muslims, the so-called fanatics are just misguided muslims who have mis-understood the tenets of Islam. Listen fellas, if you haven't heard this before somewhere, I hate to be the one to break it to you, that these seemingly good people are actually the ones who have misunderstood Islam and the hot-head you are so quick to call fanatic or misguided is actually the true muslim. The Quran has instructed the muslim to lie, kill and oppress when he is dealing with non-muslims. The muslims who do not accept the sharia as prescribed by the Quran and the Sunnah are misguided and are only muslims by name. The muslim who wants to run a society with concepts different from the one provided in the Quran and Sunnah is misguided. The muslim who wants equal rights for women and minorities should seek another religion instead of trying to reform the word of Allah.

I heard Gov. Fashola of Lagos is a muslim married to a Christian who has in turn raised their offsprings to be christians. Seriously this is a joke. Mr Fashola, if indeed he is a muslim, should know better than this. If he cannot adhere to what the law of Allah says about marrying non-muslims, he should just call it quits with his faith and stop being clever by half. Under Islamic law, a muslim is allowed to marry only one set of non-muslims- the people of the book. The people of the book are basically Jews and Christians. This is because the Quran recognises Moses and Jesus as prophets of Allah. This leverage is granted to only males and denied to females. Upon marrying among the people of the book, it is the muslim's obligation to make sure the woman converts to Islam. There are no two ways about it. Thus for a muslim man to come out and announce gleefully to the world that he is a minority in his own household is not only comical but embarrassing to the law of Allah.   

In Nigeria, the liberal muslims are people who were born into muslim homes and who in turn do not have the courage to see the religion for what it truly is,  They cannot convert because of so many reasons. Reasons that fade into insignificance once whats at stake is understood. A good number convert into something else, most especially xtianity.  In the SouthWest where I come from, most muslims will tell you with sincerity that they cannot condone a system of justice like the sharia which okays arm cutting, stoning to death, whip-lashing and a death sentence for daring to convert away from Islam. Well, that's too bad because it means they cannot condone Islam and yet claim to be muslims.   Being muslim means allowing Islam to be your culture, your thoughts, your ideas, basically your everything. It would take something very mighty to totally eradicate the core of Yoruba values and ideas of how life, society and the concept of justice should look like among the generality of the Yoruba. A probable reason why the best Islam can do in those parts is to create a bunch of misguided muslims  .

The real reason for this is to offer my own little contribution in the quest to help stop the 'mis-labelling' in the Islamic world. It would be better for the world to know who the real muslims are as against the fake, misguided ones.