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Fishman
11-02-2006, 06:28 PM
:sl:
Lot's of people say the French emperor was a Muslim. This is not true, he was simply a jerk who used Islam to his own advantage:
It has been alleged that Bonaparte, when in Egypt, took part in the religious ceremonies and worship of the Mussulmans; but it cannot be said that he celebrated the festivals of the overflowing of the Nile and the anniversary of the Prophet. The Turks invited him to these merely as a spectator; and the presence of their new master was gratifying to the people. But he never committed the folly of ordering any solemnity. He neither learned nor repeated any prayer of the Koran, as many persons have asserted; neither did he advocate fatalism polygamy, or any other doctrine of the Koran. Bonaparte employed himself better than in discussing with the Imans the theology of the children of Ismael. The ceremonies, at which policy induced him to be present, were to him, and to all who accompanied him, mere matters of curiosity. He never set foot in a mosque; and only on one occasion, which I shall hereafter mention, dressed himself in the Mahometan costume. He attended the festivals to which the green turbans invited him. His religious tolerance was the natural consequence of his philosophic spirit.
Doubtless Bonaparte did, as he was bound to do, show respect for the religion of the country; and he found it necessary to act more like a Mussulman than a Catholic. A wise conqueror supports his triumphs by protecting and even elevating the religion of the conquered people. Bonaparte's principle was, as he himself has often told me, to look upon religions as the work of men, but to respect them everywhere as a powerful engine of government. However, I will not go so far as to say that he would not have changed his religion had the conquest of the East been the price of that change. All that he said about Mahomet, Islamism, and the Koran to the great men of the country he laughed at himself. He enjoyed the gratification of having all his fine sayings on the subject of religion translated into Arabic poetry, and repeated from mouth to mouth. This of course tended to conciliate the people.
I confess that Bonaparte frequently conversed with the chiefs of the Mussulman religion on the subject of his conversion; but only for the sake of amusement. The priests of the Koran, who would probably have been delighted to convert us, offered us the most ample concessions. But these conversations were merely started by way of entertainment, and never could have warranted a supposition of their leading to any serious result. If Bonaparte spoke as a Mussulman, it was merely in his character of a military and political chief in a Mussulman country. To do so was essential to his success, to the safety of his army, and, consequently, to his glory. In every country he would have drawn up proclamations and delivered addresses on the same principle. In India he would have been for Ali, at Thibet for the Dalai-lama, and in China for Confucius.
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/612/
:w:
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Keltoi
11-02-2006, 06:34 PM
I have honestly never heard of Bonaparte being a Muslim, that is a new one on me. I'm sure Bonaparte did use Islam, or his supposed acceptance of it, to further his own agendas in the region.
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The Ruler
11-02-2006, 06:37 PM
:sl:

really :ooh::ooh: and i actually respected that dude :heated:

:w:
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Trumble
11-02-2006, 07:34 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by Fishman
Lots of people say the French emperor was a Muslim.
Who?! I must have read a dozen books on Napoleon, and I've never even seen it suggested.

he was simply a hypocrite who used Islam to his own advantage
He wasn't a hypocrite in that he had no double standards. Sure, he used Islam to his own advantage, but then he used Christianity (especially Catholicism) in the same way, political movements in the same way, the military in the same way, and individuals in the same way. If anything, he was less hypocritical than most of his contemporaries in that at least Islam got equal treatment!

That's the nature of power for you, or at least the nature of the sort of power sought by Napoleon and others like him, before and since. You can't get it without squashing other people, be it social power, political power or even religious authority when mixed with either of those things; that's the lesson of history.
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`Abd al-Azeez
11-02-2006, 07:43 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by +*Glacier*+
:sl:

really :ooh::ooh: and i actually respected that dude :heated:

:w:
:sl:

Guess you can't trust short guys after all :D

:w:
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Pk_#2
11-02-2006, 09:20 PM
AasalmuAlaykum,

Fishman, baby bro, get rid of the term 'hypocrite' Allah (swt) will be the judge :)

Abd'Al Aziz leave short ppl alone :)

Let the bunnies hop @ purest!! :)

Tc
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Asyur an-Nagi
11-03-2006, 03:12 AM
it's something new for me, Fish. i read some about mr.Nap, but i just heard that thing from your thread. it's interesting anyway. thanks!
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zain.ali
10-26-2009, 08:09 PM
the difference between Napolean and a muslim

"Although I never supposed that he [Napoleon] possessed, allowing for some difference of education, the liberality of conduct and political views which were sometimes exhibited by old Haidar Ally, yet I did think he [Napoleon] might have shown the same resolved and dogged spirit of resolution which induced Tippoo Saib to die manfully upon the breach of his capital city with his sabre clenched in his hand.
Sir Walter Scott, commenting on the abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, wrote
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