Islam for Dummies
Three Things About Islam, Taqiyya, Sharia Law, Jihad

This is a video response to TheWhiteR0ses video Three Things About Islam. Their video description says " Three surprising things you probably didn't know about Islam." Now, these 3 things are very surprising, especially to Muslims, because we've never heard of them before. As anti-Islamic propaganda, these ridiculous ideas are nothing new.
To refute TheWhiteR0ses video, we have to go no further than their own sources and referenced Quranic verses.
So now let's address their 3 false claims in reverse order:

THEWHITER0SES 3RD FALSE CLAIM
The Quran supposedly commands Muslims to lie about our violent goals using something called Taqiyya.

From TheWhiteR0ses video description, following the link to one of their sources http://newstime.co.nz/three-things-about-islam.html, the reference used to prove that Muslims supposedly lie to promote our religion http://schnellmann.org/taqiyyah.html says that taqiyya has something to do with the Shia minority.

The vast majority of Muslims have never heard what the heck " Taqiyya " is, so let's examine the wikipedia reference from TheWhiteR0ses video description:
http://www.wikipedia.org/taqiyya : Taqiyya is a practice in Shia Islam whereby adherents may conceal their faith when they feel that they are under threat, persecution or compulsion.
So the 10% MINORITY Shia, may use " taqiyya " to conceal their faith in fear of direct harm.
For example, wikipedia cites Quran 16:106, which:
wikipedia.org/taqiyya : ... refers to the case of 'Ammar b. Yasir, who was forced to renounce his beliefs under physical duress and torture."
This is very similar to the Old Testament, where God commands Samuel to deceive people to prevent Saul from killing him:
1 Samuel 16:1 - ... I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons."
1 Samuel 16:2 - And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'
So back to TheWhiteR0ses reference, what is the majority Sunni point of view:
wikipedia.org/taqiyya : While Sunnis agree that it is allowed to conceal the faith to protect their lives, they greatly differ with the Shia point of view. There is no such terminology as taqiyya in Sunni jurisprudence.

Now let's watch The White Roses 1st distortion of their OWN references about taqiyya:
TheWhiteR0ses : For non-Muslims this principle, called Taqiyya, is another surprising concept of Islam.
As we saw from their own reference, for the vast majority of Islam "there is no such terminology as taqiyya ".

Now let's continue where we left off with the reference:
wikipedia.org/taqiyya : Protecting one's belief during extreme or exigent circumstances is called "idtirar" (إضطرار) and this word is not specific to concealing the faith. For example, one is allowed to consume prohibited or haraam food to protect one's life under the jurisprudence of idtirar. However, in no way does this suggest that this is used as a means to promote the religion.

Now let's watch The White Roses 2nd distortion of their OWN references about taqiyya :
TheWhiteR0ses : 3. Muslims are allowed to deceive non-Muslims if it helps Islam.
Again as we saw from their own reference, for the 90% Sunni majority of Islam "in no way does this suggest that this (idtirar) is used as a means to promote the religion".

And even for the Shia minority, their vast majority Twelvers (according to wikipedia's own reference #6 http://www.al-islam.org/encyclopedia/chapter6b/2.html ), Imam Khomeini said: Taqiyya is permitted ONLY when one's LIFE is jeopardized but when  Islam is in danger, it is NOT permitted even if it leads to one's death.

Now let's watch The White Roses 3rd distortion of their OWN references about taqiyya :
TheWhiteR0ses : While most other religions speak highly of truthfulness the Qur’an instructs Muslims to lie to non-Muslims about their beliefs and their political ambitions to protect and spread Islam.
And again according to TheWhiteR0ses own references, the Sunni majority, and the majority of Shia, completely reject the concept of hiding our beliefs TO PROMOTE our religion, but where have we seen this idea before? Now I remember. TheWhiteR0ses are confusing the Quran with what Paul said in the New Testament:
1 Corinthians 9:20 - To the Jews I BECAME AS a Jew, IN ORDER TO WIN Jews. To those under the law I BECAME AS one under the law (though not being myself under the law) THAT I MIGHT WIN those under the law.
1 Corinthians 9:21 - To those outside the law I BECAME AS one outside the law ... (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) ... THAT I MIGHT WIN those outside the law.
1 Corinthians 9:22 - To the weak I BECAME WEAK, THAT I MIGHT WIN the weak. I have become all things to all people, that BY ALL MEANS I might save some.
Now that we know that this idea, to do and say anything to anyone to spread a religion, comes from Paul & not from the Quran, let's go back to TheWhiteR0ses video:
TheWhiteR0ses : Islam as a religion of peace. Muslim organisations worldwide often declare that Islam is a religion of peace, but what does that really mean?
Since THEIR references said that Sunni Muslims and the Shia's majority DO NOT LIE to spread our religion, "that really means" that TheWhiteR0ses own references have just debunked their entire video.

It's ironic that TheWhiteR0ses slander Muslims of lying to promote our ideology, by lying to promote their ideology.

THEWHITER0SES 2RD FALSE CLAIM
The Quran supposedly commands Muslims to replace all governments with Sharia law.

From TheWhiteR0ses video description, following the link to their same source,
http://newstime.co.nz/three-things-about-islam.html we can see that their reference for Islam's supposed objective of establishing sharia law is part of a sentence from the Quran 8:39 "...and that religion should be ONLY for Allah". Not only is the term sharia absent from this entire verse, it's also not surprising that Islam haters can only quote a partial phrase of the Quran. The context starts in the previous verse, as shown in our video response to Geert Wilders " Fitna ":
(Ibn Kathir: the Fitnah mentioned here means, until no Muslim is persecuted so that he abandons his religion)
Quran 8:38, Pickthall - Tell those who disbelieve that IF THEY CEASE (from PERSECUTION of believers) that which is past will be FORGIVEN THEM...
Islam Answers: The omitted previous verse explicitly forgives religious persecutors IF THEY CEASE, and does not demand conversion.
Quran 8:39 - And fight them until PERSECUTION is NO MORE and religion is all FOR Allah. BUT IF THEY CEASE, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do.
This verse calls to fight ONLY TO END PERSECUTION AND OPPRESSION. The expression "religion is all for Allah" means choosing Islam should be entirely for the sake of Allah, and not by force. Especially viewing that the omitted end of the verse repeats again "IF THEY CEASE" which proves that the objective is to end persecution.
As a result, quite the opposite of oppressing people to accept Islam, this verse commands to fight, if needed, to LIBERATE people from religious persecution or oppression.

So let's see TheWhiteR0ses distort this verse to the opposite meaning:
TheWhiteR0ses : It is the duty of every Muslim to keep striving until all governments have been converted to Shari’a law.

So not only does TheWhiteR0ses referenced verse (Quran 8:39) have absolutely nothing do with sharia, but it even offers the persecutors forgiveness IF THEY CEASE from trying to force THEIR religion ON Muslims!

TheWhiteR0ses have not merely taken the verse "out of context", they have distorted the meaning to the exact opposite of what the verse says!

And the fear mongering about Sharia from TheWhiteR0ses is that non-Muslims would be forced to adhere to Islamic law, but that is a direct contradiction to what the Quran says in 5:47 :
Quran 5:47 - Let the People of the Gospel JUDGE by that which God has revealed THEREIN
Reverence for the original Torah and Gospel is apparent throughout the Quran. But this idea of rejecting all other religious laws is very familiar... where have we seen it before? Now I remember, TheWhiteR0ses are confusing the Quran with what Paul said:
Galatians 1:8 - But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:9 - As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Now that's what I call religious intolerance.

THEWHITER0SES 1ST FALSE CLAIM
The Quran supposedly abrogated peaceful and tolerant verses with violent verses later.

From TheWhiteR0ses video description, following the link to their other source, http://bloggersbase.com/politics-and-opinions/3-islam/
we can see that their reference for the Quran's supposed abrogation of peaceful and tolerant verses, is not from a single Islamic scholar or site, but from their own dishonest misrepresentations.
First they point out Quran 2:256 that "There is no compulsion in religion" in Islam, which they expect us to believe has been abrogated by which verse? Yup, you guessed it (Quran 8:39) the same verse we just showed to forgive persecutors if they stop trying to force their religion on Muslims. And not surprisingly, this hyperlink leads to 10 translations of the verse, not one of which contains their false translation of " fight them until only Allah is worshipped ".

(Ibn Kathir: 2:256 "meaning, 'Do not force anyone to become Muslim',...")
The verse about "...no compulsion in religion..." (Quran 2:256) was revealed to prevent some Muslims from trying to revert their children back to Islam (after having vowed them to Judaism through a pre-Islamic custom). This verse cannot be abrogated, as clarified by the end of the verse: "... And he who rejects false deities and BELIEVES in Allah has grasped a firm handhold ..."
In other words, you're not allowed to force religion on people, because it's an internal matter of BELIEF.
How on earth can we force people to BELIEVE something that they don't BELIEVE in?

There is nothing controversial about the concept of Abrogation in the Quran, where a temporary law is replaced with a new law. An example in Islam is the gradual prohibition of wine for Muslims, where being intoxicated during prayer was prohibited, which was followed later with the outright prohibition of wine.
On the other hand, abrogation in Christianity is quite controversial. For example, even though the Messiah Jesus (who Muslims revere) taught the law of Moses and the commandments:
Matthew 5:17 - “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Matthew 5:18 - For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
However the Church radically abrogated the teachings of Jesus and the law of Moses by following the teachings of Paul:
Romans 3:21 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, ...
Romans 4:28 - For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Romans 10:4 - For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Oh really? I wonder what the Messiah Jesus would have to say about that:
Matthew 5:19 - Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,...
And the fear mongering about Abrogation from TheWhiteR0ses is that the Quran requires the Jihad to kill or convert non-Muslims.

In Islam, the Greater Jihad (defined "struggle") is against the ego for spiritual purification and growth. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said “the best jihad is that of speaking a word of truth to an unjust ruler”. In the Quran, armed struggle is only allowed against an aggressor, or to secure for people the freedom of religion.

And the Quran says 25:52
wajaahidhum bihi jihadan kabeeraa
and struggle against them with it (i.e. with the Quran) a grand struggle

So this Grand Jihad...is explaining the Quran to non-Muslims. How else can we use the Quran to make Jihad? By throwing it at people, hitting people over the head with it?

CONCLUSION

Being deceptive to promote a religion, intolerance of other religious laws, and the controversy of abrogation are big problems for Paul and the Christian Church, but not for the Quran.

And based on how TheWhiteR0ses dishonestly distorted their own references, it's really no wonder they didn't quote a single source or verse directly in their video to support any of their ridiculous claims.
It's really funny how TheWhiteR0ses accuse Muslims of lying to promote our religion, by lying through their teeth about Muslims and Islam. TheWhiteR0ses are insulting the intelligence of their own audience.