Neanderthals don't still exist (or exit). They went extinct around 40K years ago. But some of their DNA still survives in modern Homo sapiens. Like 2–3% in most non-African people. They were human like us, but a different species. They did pretty well actually, and survived for a long time (like 400,000 years or sth). So they must've got something right. They buried their dead, made artwork and tools. Maybe had language. They weren't the brutish "cavemen" of stereotypes"; they were actually pretty short and stocky, for starters. 400K years is a long time, so whatever they did must've worked. We may go that way one day and another species will take our place, or AI; who knows?
I bet they were less aggressive than us too. And probably didn't argue about libtards and conservatives on Twitter as much.
Some of you folks are so paranoid about Muslims it's kind of funny to watch tbh. Watch out: they're gonna cut your hands off. Allahu akbar. That's what they do, you know. Also, not speaking and typing perfect English is haram. Be careful, inshallah. I already lost a finger for misplacing a semicolon and comma, they mean business; for real.
Not an apologist for Islam, believe me. (I mainly just don't like stereotypes against Muslims as people or this whole Islamic culture versus the West in general narrative (yawn – that's been a thing for like a millennium already, folks, so maybe change the record?), because I don't have time for BS.)
But the 72 virgins thing is from a hadith. Not in the Qur'an for starters, but then loads of stuff isn't tbf. It's a bit like the cherubs with harps on clouds thing for Christians. It's not an "official" thing and it's more of a folk culture thing anyway. It's not an actual doctrinal thing. It's not like every Muslim actually believes in the whole 72 virgins in paradise thing (if they've even heard of it).
You also hear a lot online these days, especially in rightwing circles, about "taqiyya" being a core Islamic belief/practice. I've literally yet to meet a single Muslim who ever mentioned that. If they even ever heard of it. And I've met a lot of Muslims and been to a bunch of Muslim-majority countries. Literally never heard anyone talk about it. (Ikr? Sneaky or what? They're careful never to mention it. 👀) It's become some popular rightwing trope for some reason, as if every Muslim is taught this. They aren't.
And in any case, it doesn't mean Muslims are commanded by Scripture or dogma or something to lie to non-believers/kafirs to deceive them; it's specifically about if you're a Muslim living in a non-Muslim area and *in danger* if people find out you're Muslim, so you're "allowed" to hide your faith to avoid persecution. That's it. And it's mainly a Shia thing anyway (from centuries back, too). Which is a minority of Muslims (most of whom are Sunni).
It doesn't mean Muslims go around deliberately lying to kafirs so they can sneakily infiltrate countries and then take over or some shit. Lying is still a sin in Islam.
As for your bit about how Meccan surahs and Madinan surahs change, then yes, I'd agree, I guess. The early Meccan surahs were more "poetic" and shorter, and the later Madinan ones were longer and a bit more confident, shall we say. You need to take them in context though (inb4 lol). You can't just quote a single line like that. A lot of them are talking about war. They're not literally telling Muslims to go and kill every kafir whenever they see them. Muslims don't believe that. If they did, they wouldn't be able to live in Western societies. Those verses are talking about the polytheists specifically in the context of 7th-century war.
Do you live next-door to a mosque, bro? 😆 And, yes, cases of sexual assault against minors are a serious and harrowing issue for any level-headed person with a germ of morality, and I think we shouldn't pussyfoot around getting at the truth no matter how "culturally sensitive". Native-born white non-Muslim grooming gangs are a thing too, though. 🤷 Here's just one nasty example from the UK (white/non-Muslim as far as we know):
And, last I checked, Epstein and Maxwell weren't Muslim, to give an infamous example that the Politics stream loves talking about.
Not saying the so-called grooming gangs scandal isn't a thing worth talking about, and I'm not just here for whataboutery. Just pointing out it's (sadly) by no means exclusive to certain ethnic or religious groups. There are immoral individuals of all shapes, colours and beliefs. Two billion Muslims in the world (at least nominally). That's a lot of people to label as potential pedos. And a true practicing Muslim knows that's wrong and against their core beliefs. (Inb4 Muhammad supposedly marrying Aisha at 6, etc.).
By the way, a lot of the Muslim perpetrators of South Asian heritage that were caught to date weren't immigrants; they were born and raised in the UK. Not that that means much necessarily (maybe it makes it worse in your eyes), but just pointing it out again to be more accurate. So it's not just an immigration thing.
