DWOC's International Burn a Koran Day

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by saden1

What do you expect this Ayatollah to say? Unlike Christianity Islam and Judaism don't subscribe to turning the other cheek. In Islam one is expected to conduct himself/herself righteously towards others at all times.

I admit I am only a dilettante in Islamic theology and that, perhaps, the words spoken by the cleric resonate differently within an Islamic audience as opposed to a Christian one. Further, I admit to ignorance on Islam's stance as to the "turn the other cheek" tenet. Even if acting “righteously” is the Islamic standard, however, some Christian authors take the view that, when the Bible's "turn the other cheek" quotation is read in historical and textual context, it comes out much the same as conducting oneself "righteously".

Righteous personal conduct interpretation
There is a third school of thought in regard to th[e] passage ["turn the other cheek"]. Jesus was not changing the meaning of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" but restoring it to the original context. Jesus starts his statement with "you have heard it said" which means that he was clarifying a misconception, as opposed to "it is written" which would be a reference to scripture. The common misconception seems to be that people were using Exodus 21:24-25 (the guidelines for a magistrate to punish convicted offenders) as a justification for personal vengeance. In this context, the command to "turn the other cheek" would not be a command to allow someone to beat or rob a person, but a command not to take vengeance.

Turning the other cheek - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thus, if the Islamic standard is to act "righteously", and based on the fact that both early Islamic and Christian legal theory seem to be by culture and geography, fairly direct descendents from Hammurabic influences, I would expect the Imam to strongly condemn any vengeful response to the burning as being unrighteous vengeance that is repulsive to Allah and contrary to the Word of God.

Again, however, I plead ignorance of as to the Qu’ran’s specific teachings on what is considered “righteous” action toward others.