The Latest from Iran (14 March): False Strategies, Real Conflicts

1910 GMT: More on the Universities Purge (see 1145 GMT). The Revolutionary Guards get in on the act, with Yahya Rahim-Safavi, the former commander and current advisor to the Supreme Leader, declaring, "The universities aren't in good shape today, missing from them are revolutionary forces and experts who are beholden to the Imam, the Supreme Leader, and the Constitution."

Rahim-Safavi, speaking at a conference organized for the "cultural experts" of the IRGC, said, "The goal of soft war is to change the culture, values and beliefs of the youth....Our weakness is in this very issue of culture, which our enemies have identified before we did. Therefore we must battle against and overcome the attacking culture with our soft and cultural power."

NEW Iran: The Opposition’s Campaign in the US — Sequel With Revelations and A Lesson
NEW Iran: Connecting the Dots — 5 Signs of Regime Trouble
NEW Iran Letter: “I Am Still Alive to Tell the Story” (Shams)
Iran Special: Zahra Rahnavard on Women’s Rights and The Green Movement
Iran: The Opposition’s New PR Campaign in the US
Iran Analysis: Rafsanjani’s “Finger in the Dike” Strategy
The Latest from Iran (13 March): Settling In

1830 GMT: Let's Make Up a Cyber-War. More regime propaganda --- the Revolutionary Guard has briefed the Parliament on the nefarious cyber-plot of the opposition around Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, bringing in names like the filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and human rights activist Ahmad Batebi. (There's a video as well.)

After the briefing, the head of Parliament's National Security Committee said Human Rights Activists in Iran had fabricated a list of killed protesters and passed it to Mir Hossein Mousavi.


1725 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch --- One Who Did Not Remain Silent. Emad Bahavar, head of the youth branch of the Freedom Movement of Iran, has been re-arrested.

Bahavar was arrested earlier this year and released after a short period. However, instead of refraining from criticism of the regime, he wrote a long, incisive analysis of "The Hardliners' Project".

On Wednesday, after Bahavar had appeared in court to defend his case, security forces raided his house without a warrant, threatened his family, and confiscated personal possessions. Bahavar was re-arrested when he went to court to protest the illegal behaviour.

1705 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The former Chief Executive Officer and founder of Persian Blog, Mehdi Boutorabi has been arrested.

1700 GMT: We've posted an update and an analysis of this weekend's "opposition campaign", which proved to be far less than a campaign, in the US.

1530 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi has confirmed that Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbakhsh has been released for 15 days on $800,000 bail.

1525 GMT: Really, They Are All US-Sponsored "Cyber-Terrorists". Fars continues the propaganda overload attacking human rights activists with an "analysis" claiming that the Bush Administration and the CIA launched a $400 million campaign in 2006 for a cyber-battle against Iran.

This is a convenient pretext for Fars to lump together all the "bad guys" --- the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, monarchists, Baha'is, and human rights activists --- as traitors. Named groups includes Human Rights Activists in Iran, Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi's Center for Defense of Human Rights, and the Human Rights Committee and the One Million Signatures campaign for women's equality.

1515 GMT: Stopping the Fire Festival. As our readers have noted, the Supreme Leader has turned on one of Iran's national ceremonies, Chaharshanbeh Souri, as an event “void of religious roots and cause of great harm and corruption".

Chaharshanbeh Souri, which takes place on the eve of Iranian New Year, is an ancient Iranian pagan festival with the building of bonfires and symbolic gestures and chants. These summon the fire to burn all sickness and lend its energy to a healthy new year.

1500 GMT: Back from a family break (Happy Mother's Day to all those celebrating in Britain) to go on Rafsanjani Watch.

Looks like the former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has continued his careful prodding of the Government, this time with attention to state media. He urged Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (Seda va Sima) not to operate as “a gang”, warning that it would lose the trust of the public if it did so. He added that IRIB needs to assume a more “national” approach and pay more attention to people.

1145 GMT: Purge the Universities!

Press TV, from Islamic Republic News Agency, reports that up to 130 Iranian members of Parliament have written the Minister responsible for higher education, Kamran Daneshjoo, calling for strict action to be taken against proponents of secularism in universities throughout Iran.

The legislators warned Daneshjou of the activities that were carried out in universities by "certain individuals who are hostile toward the Islamic system". They insisted, "The cultural message of the [1979] Islamic Revolution is the most important topic that university professors and the elite must seek to promote....Activities of individuals, who feel enmity toward the Islamic establishment, are unacceptable. What is more, nowhere in the world are resources and opportunities generously handed out to those who seek to bring down the establishment and the principles that society is governed by."

Of course, the demand of the MPs for "serious and decisive" action against "the enemies of the Islamic establishment," "proponents of secularism," and "those who work to weaken the government" is a political set-up for the regime to get rid of unacceptable professors and limit scholarships and overseas education to only "proper" students. Last week Daneshjoo used a speech to denounce "deviant" academics.

0920 GMT:~Khomeini in the Cold. Looks like the regime is going to continue treating the family of the late Ayatollah Khomeini as too dangerous to acknowledge, given their criticisms of the Government. The memorial service for Khomeini's son Ahmad has been cancelled due to "mausoleum repairs". Most ceremonies at the Khomeini site since June 2009 have been postponed.

0915 GMT: Two Sunday Specials for You. We feature a defiant weblog from released detainee Foad Shams, "I Am Still Alive to Tell the Story", and Mr Verde has an analysis of 5 Signs of Regime Trouble.

0910 GMT: A Lament for the Election. Eshagh Jahangiri, the Minister of Industries and Mines in the Khatami Government, has declared that, after the Presidential vote on June 12, the chances of progress were lost for Iran.

OK, he would say that as he's a reformist, right? Yes, but the location of the criticism...the not-so-reformist Khabar Online.

0900 GMT: No More Satire --- Iran's Changing Flag. Remember a couple of months ago that we posted a comedy story about the apparent changing of the colours in Iran's flag, removing Green for Blue?

Well, look likes we might have to replace our satire warning for a label that this is Very Serious. From Khabar Online:

At the last session of Iran's Guardian Council in the current Iranian year (ends on March 20) held today, the speaker of the entity, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, answered the questions raised by the journalists.
He said that if a trustable evidence is provided on the national flag color change at the recent state ceremonies, the council will probe the issue."

"The rules are transparent on this case and must be abided by all executive bodies. If it's true, those organizations which have committed such act should be questioned," he maintained.

Recently at some ceremonies held by the government, the green stripe on the Iranian flag had changed to blue or black, including one attended by the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad staged a in Tehran for the head of the state-funded Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). At the ceremony in a graphic design behind Ahmadinejad, the green stripe of the country's national flag had turned to blue.

0650 GMT: I thought at one point on Saturday that the main story might be an opposition initiative to sway American opinion, with a purported spokesman for Mehdi Karroubi holding forth to US journalists in a press conference and private talks.

That proved a fizzle, however, as the "former senior aide" primarily offered a distracting thesis of an Ahmadinejad-Khamenei split and got little coverage from a nuclear-focused (obsessed?) US media. The New York Times, for example, prefers a tangential thinkpiece by David Sanger, and The Washington Post is also off on a Tehran and the Bomb story.

Still there's an important lesson for the Green Movement here in the diversion and possibly damage of those claiming to be "spokesmen" for the opposition, when they are in fact expressing primarily personal opinions, and how they could built up as Green representatives by a media started of significant information from inside Iran. We'll have an update later today.

So what were the real stories? Well, there is what appears to be a regime strategy to break the opposition through the "revolving door" of releasing some detainees --- with the threat that they go back to prison if they step out of line --- and taking new prisoners with declarations of terrorists front groups and agents for the US.

On Saturday, a number of high-profile prisoners, notably journalists and the Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbakhsh, were reportedly freed. At the same time, the campaign to break human rights organisations was declared with the propaganda of media like Fars and Kayhan, with their announcements of dozens of arrests of campaigners linked to the "terrorist" Mujahedin-e-Khalq and Washington, and the attack on the websites of Human Rights Activists in Iran.

The latest statement from the Revolutionary Court declares that those arrested belong to a group called “Iran Proxy,” which is accused of
“downloading national databases, infiltrating and sabotaging internet sites, resisting government filtering efforts, creating secure spaces for users of internet networks, creating secure telephone lines and data for interviews with Radio Farda, Radio Zamaneh and television networks of Voice of America”. The Court alleges, in a reference to a campaign to distribute anti-filtering software so Iranians can access the Internet, “Members of Iran Proxy in Iran were in receipt of significant salaries in Iran in order to distribute over 70 thousand proxies through the internet.”

Then, however, there is the news of pressure on the Government, not through manufactured rings of secret US-backed agents but through members of Parliament. The  story of the battle between the Majlis and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the President's budget and subsidy reform plan seems to have attracted little notice. But, after the President appealed to the Supreme Leader and then gate-crashed the Parliament and still lost the vote on his proposal, it is a sign of Ahmadinejad's authority in jeopardy.

Comments

[Catherine]

RE 06.50 GMT, the revolving door policy regarding releases and arrests of political prisoners.

This now seems very much a deliberate policy to "process" these people much the same as you might treat sewage at a plant (from the regime's point of view).

Pedestrian puts it neatly in this post: 'Tehran is an Open Air Prison'

"Why release Tajzadeh? I wonder? And Jalaipour? Tabataie? Abtahi? … Well, just take a look at how quiet they have been after their release. They are forced to keep deathly quiet, because as soon as they speak out, it’s back to prison for them (as Emad Bahavar was “called” to prison this week). They keep the dissidents in jail for months and months and months, most of it in ghastly solitary confinement, in brutal conditions … and then release them, forcing them to renew their leave day by day … to make sure they remain quiet."

[Catherine]

Exports to Iran Watch

The news media, citing Census Bureau statistics, reported in 2008 that U.S. companies were exporting hundreds of items, including military equipment, to Iran in violation of the general ban on exports to that country. The Government Accountability Office recently issued a 47-page report about the matter. It found that, of the 278 types of goods exported to Iran from 2004 to 2008, 97 went to other countries. Rifles went to Iraq, the GAO found, and aircraft parts went to Ireland, Israel and Iraq. Hmmm ... Italy, Ireland, Israel and Iraq? All "I" countries?
http://www.timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?StoryID=911462&LinkFrom=RSS

Now we see that our friends at ISNA are reporting that the U.S. Census Bureau states trade between Iran and the U.S. almost doubled in January 2010 compared to December 2009. I wonder if they realise the difficulties some exporters have in filling out the two-letter international country codes for the recipients of their goods...
http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=1051080

[Catherine]

So much for New Years' fun: Iranian fire festival denounced by Supreme Leader

Khamenei described the ceremonies connected with the fire festival on the last Wednesday Eve of the Iranian year “void of religious roots and cause of great harm and corruption.” The religious evaluation of Iran’s Supreme Leader was published on his official site and goes on to add that Iranians must “avoid” celebrating this event.
http://www.zamaaneh.com/enzam/2010/03/iranian-fire-festival-den.html

[danial]

@Catherine's post...

Khamenei denouned the most important event on every Iranian's calendar. You know, for most people in Iran this day is not religiously significant.

There are two days in the Iranian calendar that can't keep Iranians behind closed doors and this is one of them.

It would be best for the govt. not to add more fuel to the fire.

[danial]

let me rephrase that...

Its: Khamenei deounced one of the most important events...

[Arshama]

Catherine and Danial,

Fully agree with Danial: impossible to take away Chaharshanbeh-Suri and Nouruz from Iranians. For 20 years the mullahs tried to do so, until they finally gave in and started to celebrate it themselves (I still remember, when IRIB put a Haft-Seen on its website, unbelievable).

The latest craze is... GREEN fire! Don't believe me? Look and see :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LORuo1UP9W4

[Catherine]

I have become rather jaded as of late, but KH's denouncement if THIS particular holiday. Although there have been lots of noises recently about zero tolerance for "trouble makers" during this festival, I didn't think there would be a move to prohibit people from celebrating it. Can some of you Persian readers check out the SL's official site to see how strongly he says that Iranians must “avoid” celebrating this event - and is this being carried on Iranian media outlets?

[Catherine]

Correction to post 7: I have become rather jaded as of late, but KH’s denouncement of THIS particular holiday has indeed surprised me.

[Arshama]

Scott,

Thank you for continuous posting and also for putting women's rights on the agenda. Lawyer and women's rights activist Shadi Sadr, actually living in Frankfurt, has given an excellent interview to BBC, in which nearly all current issues are discussed, i.e. nature and scope of women's movement in Iran, its relationship to the so-called Green movement, its strategies and shortcomings, but also its successes and specially its representation within the movement: http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/tv/2008/12/000000_ptv_hardtalk.shtml

I wished someone could prepare an English (and Persian) transcription for further discussion, as Shadi addresses pivotal questions discussed during the past few days on EA, pointing also to the fact that the movement lacks a representative female leadership.

Thank you,

Arshama

[Catherine]

I don't see any other appropriate thread for this so I'll post it here. This will be of special interest to Bill, Ange de Paris, and others who are interested in the religious (and cult-like) underpinnings of the current regime's hold on power. I don't know enough about Shia Islam historically to judge how well-founded this author's conclusions/extrapolations are - but I'm sure we'll hear from those who do.

How Regime Claims Legitimacy
By Raha Tahami (the pseudonym of an Iranian journalist and social affairs analyst in Tehran)

The Iranian government’s violent suppression of the opposition over the last nine months is not just based on a determination to avoid a possible fall of the regime but also has deep-seated ideological roots.

The Islamic Republic has inherited the idea that it is a minority, which in its interpretation from Shia opinion equates to being righteous. Being a minority and righteous gives the government the mandate to oppress the opposition and challenge internationally accepted norms, as far as it is concerned.
Read on: http://www.mianeh.net/en/articles/?aid=281

[Samuel]

"However, Imam Ali, who had few supporters, was unable to establish a lasting rule and, in the view of Shia, he was wrongfully and unjustly denied his right to leadership."

This assertion is incorrect. Imam Ali did have numerous supporters and in fact was the 4th Caliph and is accepted as such by Sunnis. Like his two immediate predecessors he was assassinated.

[Adam]

Here is a post of Rafsanjani's new year message on Mir Hossein Mousavi's facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/victoria.hassid?ref=nf#!/notes/mir-hossein-mousavi-myr-syn-mwswy/jwnn-hrgz-swt-nnndd-w-sym-b-mlrd-bndy-rsnh-mly-nyst-rafsanjani-to-youth-never-st/365347007605

It seems to be Rafsanjani telling the nation's youth to keep fighting for their rights, but do it in a calm and logical way and in this atmosphere they will achieve the reforms they seek.
I think it shows that despite repeated misinformation, none of the key figures disputing the fraudulent Presidential election has backed down one bit. Rafsanjani is saying, as he has from the beginning, that the Greens have the public behind them, but that counterproductive acts (such as street rioting) have given the regime un-necessary excuses to crack down.

[Adam]

Moderator, please delete the preceding post, I sent entirely the wrong link

[Barry]

@Catherine

Thank you for that link. Very informative - and somewhat frightening. There are many countries/cultures/religions/groups whose norms are much different to mine. I am sure that my norms would be quite alien to them also. None of us are totally right or wrong in the things that we hold dear to us.

The Masai people of Africa drink fresh warm cows blood! But that is their business - they interfere with no-one else.

However these matters that your link refers to - are worrying, and certainly are just another reason why Iran must be prevented from attaining Nuclear powers (in addition to the ecological reasons given elsewhere).

Barry

[Bill]

Samuel, Catherine, and Barry,

Samuel first off I understand your point but I believe you may have taken a different meaning than intended. I believe the author's frame of reference was in line with the Sunni majority against the Shia minority. I also believe it alluded to the time Imam Ali was martyred when he was caught by an army and only had 70 followers with him.

As for the rest of the article I believe the regime gets it's legitimacy not so much from being a minority but simply from the edicts of religion. Frankly being a minority or majority doesn't really matters to them because it is "God's law" and that is all that matters. The regime being a minority today is simply a reflection of how theocracies are not designed to adapt and by extension accept change. If the population grows and becomes more educated it is only natural their outlook over time will come more and more into conflict with the rulers who refuse to change. Frankly this issue of "change" is a huge issue for the Islamic world as a whole.

The Quran explicitily says it is inviolate, perfect, and a transcendent message good for all time. It is why questioning the Quran is often equated to blasphemy. A good Muslim is not supposed to question his religion but follow it as prescribed in scripture. This outlook is also what leads to much conflict with the West who does not hold religion as "untouchable." Unlike the West, Islam did not embrace critical thinking(Greek thought) but in fact resoundingly rejected it(see AL Ghazali's work 'Incoherence of the Philosophers' for some background.) When you take into context Islams predispostion to not allowing critique of scripture, the prescriptive overtone of scripture, and the general rejection of critical thought it makes the perfect environment for a regime like Iran's.

The problem time and time again with Islamic theocracies is their inability to see or even do self critique--they are simply innoculated by their own belief and the backing of scripture to not consider change because all is "perfect" already. The problem with this mindset is that it does not take into account the evolution of man and the new variables brought about by evolution. Thus theocracies, while at one time being a majority, will always end up being a minority simply because of their refusal change while the populace around them does. Islamic theocracies breed monocoltures and as we have all seen monocultures very rarely last long!

Thx
Bill

[Barry]

@Bill

You have hit upon a very important matter - change and human acceptance(or otherwise) of it.

Change of thinking does happen - and ultimately humans do accept it. But sometimes it takes a long time - and is dependent on the depth of indoctrination that precedes it. In regards to religion - there was (and still is to some extent) the matter of Roman Catholic Papal infallibility, which is quite different today compared to past times. Poor old Galileo would attest to that (if he were still around).

Human reason can be denied -- but only for so long. The "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" (previously known as "Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition) no longer has the work to do that it used to have.

Barry

[Samuel]

Bill,

"I also believe it alluded to the time Imam Ali was martyred when he was caught by an army and only had 70 followers with him."

I think you are referring here to Imam Hussein not Imam Ali.

[Cameron]

Bill,

I don't think there's anything unique about the strict followers of Islam believing in its total perfection. Looking at the Christian Right in the US, they have very similar beliefs and unlike Muslim countries, they are sitting on several thousand nuclear bombs that can destroy the entire humanity.

I think what you describe applies to fanatic followers of any ideology including the ones that do not believe in God: leninists, maoists, etc.

[Maria Rohaly]

Regarding the cyber-plot, not only did IRI implicate Batebi, but in their report on PressTV, they state that they have filed his name and the name of one other Iranian human rights activists with INTERPOL.

This is very serious, as INTERPOL's list of Iranian dissidents has been growing recently, and there appears to be no check or balance on the Islamic Republic's right to submit name of dissidents to INTERPOL.

MFI is taking this up as a campaign issue. For more info: http://wp.me/PKzXK-6g

[Catherine]

Keeping Ali and Hussein straight (with added bonus of who is Yazid):
http://www.islamfortoday.com/shia.htm
The first 4 paragraphs under 'History'

[Bill]

Cameron,

I apologize first off for being a bit pedantic with this response. I am not intending to be a know it all but I have spent the last three years studying the differences of Islam visa via other major world religions. I am also a Christian so I fully admit, while unintentional, my views may be somewhat biased.

First off I think your making the cardinal mistake trying to view Islam in the light of other religions. It is actually a very common but a huge mistake to view Islam from one's own religious or cultural background. Doing so then attributes values to Islam it does not inherently own or value. Your statement " I don’t think there’s anything unique about the strict followers of Islam believing in its total perfection", in my humble opinion is symptomatic of this type of view point.

While at a 10,000 foot level all religions will look to be "similar" that's were it ends especially so with Islam. Below is a brief description of the predominant differences of Islam vs Christianity:

Islam
1) The Quran is the word of God not to be critiqued or challenged in any way
2) Is prescriptive governed by what is permitted, not permitted, recommended, and not recommended
3) Scirpture is not contextual but a transcendent message good for all time
4) It's golden rule is all must submit to Allah
5) Over 50% of the Quran, Hadith, and Sira talk about the non Muslim and it places a clear negative predisposition on the other
6) The greatest evil in Islam is disbelief
7) Explicitly says Sharia(God's law) must be the law of land not secular law. It is why Islamic states use Sharia for the basis of all law governing the people, state, and their interaction with others
8) Because of it's predisposition to Sharia democracy in the Western sense is not possible
9) Muhammad is the perfect example and all must follow his ways. From my view point some of things Muhammad did are questionable and downright wrong such as condoning slavery, war, and raids to obtain booty

Christianity(even for evangelicals)
1) While some view the Bible as God's word most recognize it as the writings of man
2) Is not prescriptive but viewed as a narrative how to live life
3) The Bible is highly contextual with a message anchored to a specific place, time and event
4) Follows the clear universal golden rule of "live and let live." "Love the enemey" clearly demonstrates this
5) The majority of scirpture focuses on the believer and his or her interaction with the world in general
6) Some can argue disbelief is the greatest evil in Christianity but the better arguement is the value it places on the adherence to truth regardless of faith.
7) Clearly places value in secular law and Jesus' statement "leave unto Cesar's what is Cesars" clearly demonstrates this. In fact secularism largley arose from Christianity and by extension Christianities embrace of early Greek thought(critical thinking.)
8) Democracy was born out of secularism and by extension Christianities acceptance of it allowed it to flourish
9) Jesus as a role model did not steal, condone war(Crusades were actually against the edicts of Christianity), or permit stealing. He did just the opposite and his central message was love for all regardless of faith

This is only the tip of the ice berg and I encourage to seek other opinions. I don't hold myself to be univerally right as well--I could very well but wrong but my research has lead me to believe I am not. I would also ask you to compare the a state of the current world respective to the Islamic world. Ask yourself which states are better at protecting human rights, religious rights, and in general fostering human development. A particular case in point I would like you to pay attention to is Darfur vs the Isrealie Arab conflict.

Since the ealy 90's 2 million have died in Darfur(thousands die each month) while only 50,000 have died in Israeli Arab conflict since 1948. Yet despite this the Islamic world's response to criticism was to state "it is an attack on Islam" and claim a real genocide is underway in Palestine. I don't know about you but this seems like a pure political(mind you politics an religion in Islam are one in the same) play by the Islamic world. To them the crisis in Israeli is the bigger issue than the one in Darfur. All I can say is WTF? How on the world can the Islamic world ignore Darfur? Well the reason is the focus their religion places on certain things. Israel for right or wrong did the unthinkable they took back their homeland. Islamically speaking this is a no no because it had already been conqured(once conqured by Islam it becomes an Islamic Wafq good for all time) and Muhammad declared the Arabian penisual was to have been cleared of all non Muslims on his death bed. Darfur does not fit that bill simply because in the view of the Islamic world it is an internal issue and not dealing with infidels.

In closing I would highly encourage you to read the Quran, Hadith(ie Bukhari), and the Sira for some more background. After reading these works it really helped me understand Islam and by extension how it deals with the world. Again please don't take my word for it but find out yourself. I also encourage you to critique what I said and point out any errors you may see. All the best to you.

Thx
Bill

[Bill]

Barry,

Couldn't agree with you more. The early Christian periods were dark and you pointed out a good example. However as we know now it was actually a contradiction of what Christianity was. It just shows how some will use religion to ply their trade. The good news was Christianity itself provided the tools to combat this from within. Without those tools the enlightenment and the reformation may never have happened.

Thx
Bill

[gunni]

@Bill

Your explanations about Islam are highly interesting - thank`s for that. The Christians have a special relationship between living on earth and having a constant life in heaven after death. That means - if they had spent a “good live" on earth - for example a life according to their 10 commandments– you will have a good place in heaven and an everlasting live.
That means – the focus is the living on earth – you are not allowed to die before the mighty God will take you to heaven.
Could you tell us something about the spiritual connections between life on earth – death – and heaven in the Islamic religion ? Don `t you think that this
is one of the central points between Christianity and Islam?

[Cameron]

Gunni,

Although I don't mean to defend Islam by any means, the whole concept of martyrdom has been hijacked by the extremists to justify their actions.

Muslims believe in the same need to live a pure life in order to earn the right to enter heaven. For every verse in the bible about love and peace, muslims can produce one from the qoran and their prophet's life (of course the muslim ones are more reliable because they occurred 600 years later and allowed better documentation and less speculation on their credibility).

I wonder if the main differences that we see now are less philosopical and more environmental.

Was Jesus under the same constant violent attacks on himself, his family, and his ideas as Moses and Mohammad were? I'm asking relatively since of course I know that Jesus was also pursued, arrested, and killed.

My sense is that Mohammad's surroundings in the tribal arab region was much more cut throat and that maybe what added more emphasis on self-preservation (and also armed expansion) in his time.

What I mean is: how different would jesus have turned out if he was born in place of Mohammad? An impossible question to answer but I do wonder how much their environments affected their words and actions.

[gunni]

@cameron

The function of Jesus is one of the vital differences between Islam and Christianity. In Islam Jesus is one of the prophets – next to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and the last is Mohammed. In the Christian faith Jesus is the herald of God – and very important – his sun. He was send by the almighty god to take the sin away – he is the Redeemer. In the Islam they are still waiting for their Redeemer - the Mahdi, who will take the sin away. It is to be said that before the Mahdi will come – there will be a big catastrophe – that’s why this part of Islam is political interesting today.