Faith is One Door to Good Works
There are many paths to social activism. One of them is being inspired by one's faith. Particularly for those who believe that God expects us to work for good in the world, faith can be a powerful motivator.
Poverty, disease, homelessness are all issues which scriptures take up time and time again.
Take for instance, Surah Maun, the 107th chapter of the Qur'an:
1) Have you seen the one who belies his faith?
2) He is the one who will repulse the orphan
3) and will not encourage feeding the needy.
4) Woe to the supplicant
5) who is heedless of his prayer
6) who prays to be seen
7) but denies kind deeds!
In Islam, the link between faith and good works is reiterated time and time again. A causal scan of the Qur'an will reveal dozens and dozens of reference to "those who believe and do good works." In Islam, faith without good works is meaningless and hollow, even hypocritical.
Hand in hand with the understanding that faith is only complete when it is put into action, is the understanding that human are God's representatives on earth -- His "khalifa." As such, we are responsible to care for the world in the ways that God would have it cared for. That includes feeding the poor, caring for the sick, and helping those in need.
One famous hadith talks about the Day of Judgement when Allah will say to a man:
"O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not."
He will reply: "O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?"
God will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not."
He will say: "O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds?"
He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found him with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink."
He will say: O Lord, how should I give You to drink whin You are the Lord of the worlds?"
He will say: "My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found him with Me."
One beautiful example of how scripture and faith can inspire good works is in the Compassionate Care Network in Chicago. I quote from their web site:
"The Compassionate Care Network (CCN) was started in January 2004 to promote positive health attitudes, encouraging prevention and providing access to affordable healthcare for the uninsured within the outpatient setting. For some time before that, a small group of Muslim physicians had been providing free monthly health screenings at Chicago’s Muslim Community Center, in an effort to identify individuals at risk of diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease, before they encountered a catastrophic health incident from these conditions.
"Screenings were also conducted for obesity, cataract, glaucoma, dental health and prostate cancer. Approximately 30-40 people were usually screened each month. Initially these screenings were offered monthly at just MCC, but with time they became weekly and were offered at several Islamic Centers, area churches and community centers.. Along with the screenings, free health information was provided to the public
"As physicians identified more and more individuals with undetected illnesses the need for follow up care became apparent. While federally qualified clinics were one solution, the demand for services was so great that patients reported waits of six or more weeks to get an appointment. Therefore the physicians took it upon themselves to develop an additional solution. The result was the creation of CCN, a network of a dozen Muslim physicians to begin with which has now grown to over 100 physicians which includes primary care physicians and specialists in addition to dentists, optometrists, physical therapists, chiropractors and podiatrists in the Chicagoland area.. Along the way they recruited 5 medical labs, and 10 imaging centers to join their network. Ninety nine percent of the physicians are still Muslim but the Network is now actively seeking to add physicians from other faith communities, particularly within the Hispanic and Arabic communities.
"There are five levels of care in CCN :
(1) free health education,
(2) free health screenings,
(3) access to affordable physician services,
(4) access to affordable lab an imaging services,
(5) access to affordable prescription drugs.
"Patients pay a flat fee of $25.00 for office visits and may choose their physician based on language and location preference. There is a small enrollment fee of $10.00 per month for individuals and $15.00 per month for families which is readily waived for those unable to pay. Periodic open enrollments are offered when people can join for free for periods of 3-6 months. Enrollment is open to everyone regardless of race or religion, immigration status or the presence of pre-existing conditions. An ID card is issued at the time of enrollment. Most of the work of screenings is done by volunteer physicians who are assisted by area medical students. Fellows of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship program have also joined the CCN team to provide free health screenings and health education.
"'We believe,' says Dr. Azher Quader, the founder and Executive Director of CCN, 'that affordable health care should be a basic right of every individual in a civil society. In a country which prides itself in the delivery of world class medical care, the plight of 47 million who are uninsured and have little or no access to affordable health care is an unacceptable paradox that needs to be corrected.” He added “We believe also that till such time that acceptable solutions become available for these millions who are uninsured, the members of different faith traditions can pool their resources to provide options for care that are both compassionate and affordable.'"
This is faith at its best, and it is only one example of countless good works, that unfortunately all to often go unnoticed by all except the recipients. I wish the people who get hysterical about teddy bears or cartoons would put their energy into this sort of work. And I wish we heard more about this grassroots efforts to make the world a better place instead of the loonies out there.
By
Pamela K. Taylor
|
December 13, 2007; 11:41 AM ET
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Posted by: Anonymous | December 27, 2007 3:47 PM
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Rose:
And learn to hate what???
- To speak for the truth!
- To defend our selves from savage oppersors!
And INSTEAD learn to love and adopt YOUR social values(which doesn't exist in Muslim community)of DAY IN AND DAY:
- Drinking compare to praying!
- Adultary, fornication and mistressness compare to simple mariage of w/o STATE INHUMAN LAWS.
- to have a selfish relation, use and leave instead of marrying, providing, respecting and taking responsibility of childern, wife, parents till death. THIS IS OUR ROUTINE LIFE, NOT ONLY YOUR IDEAL DREAM WORLD.
- Inslaving, violent and unjust to your women in disguise of liberating them. Compare to our countless women rights and there due respect and position given to them. YOUR MEDIA LIE AND ONLY MONIPOLATE OUR WOMENS CODE OF DRESS without knowing the complete code and flexibility, to justify there devilish wickedness and crulity towards you! woman!!
I can keep on going!
We have our reality of day in and day out life, like you have yours.
Some body rightly said,"day in and day out actions speaks louder than words".
And if you choose to hate us, then its your choice and not ours as we simply follow our BELOVED PROPHET(PBUH)!
For a believer : HE BELIEVES AND HE FOLLOWS.
with day in and day out actions and not only in dreams or in imagination.
Posted by: Moody | December 22, 2007 2:00 AM
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And Ross:
Non muslims don't realize while showing their hate based upon there at distance observation and elimentory information mostly negatively twisted by media and propoganda publishers due to your political AGENDA'S
THAT INFACT YOU TELLING US THAT YOU HATE MUSLIMS!
because we live (at least try to live) our lives from birth to death through the actions and sayinsgs of our Beloved Prophet. And no body can know our lives better than us.
Its like telling some body start your self learning how to hate your self.
Learn how to start hating of your day in and day out life style, physical efforts AND NOT JUST WORDS:
1- Praying and prostrating like Jesus, Moses, Adam, Abrahim All other Prophets and Mohammed(PBUH).
2- believing in NO DISCRIMINATION AND NO SALAVERY.
3- believing in ONE God, the Creator the Sustainer and making no parteners to Him.
4- believing in ritiousness, Truth and Justice AND NOT BELIEVING IN POWER FORCED LIES IN FEAR!!!
Posted by: Moody | December 22, 2007 1:25 AM
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Rose:
Happy new year!
Every thing said in Islam is not always from the verse of Quran. It is also from the sunnah (on record actions) and Hadith (authentic sayings) of our beloved Prophet(PBUH).
Even then it is not that simple!
But IT IS VERY CLEAR AND COMPREHENSIVE!!!!!!!!
if you read it in right context and DONOT MIS-QOUTE AND DONOT ONLY READ WORDS IN BETWEEN.
Thats why I gave you references to see your self!
Posted by: Moody | December 22, 2007 12:49 AM
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TO SOJA JOHN THAIKATTIL SYDNEY, AURTRALIA:
You mentioned that islam happens to be a theocracy as founded by Mohammed and that is true, I refer to it as a theowannabeocracy.
The reason that I refer to it that way is because I have met God, the Trinity, and God is Love, Pure Love.
Jesus is Who He said that He is, God-Incarnate, He flat out said it numerous times.
The god of islam claims Jesus as his prophet and a second-rate prophet at that, there are no second-rate prophets only true and false prophets.
If Jesus was telling the Truth and He was, then the being that came to Muhammed was lying.
If Jesus was lying then the being that came to Muhammed chose as his prophet someone claiming to be God that wasn't.
God is a searcher of hearts and minds not of religious affiliations or lack thereof.
There seem to be some that will be hiding behind their religion and/or their holy books but God looks at the heart of people not the label they put on themselves.
It is important what you do and why you do it and what you know.
A prophet is a messenger not necessarily one that is sent with a prophecy, all prophecy has been prophecized but not all prophecy has come about.
As I have said before God has a Plan and has had that Plan since before creation and God's Plan will come to Fruition, it is referred to as the Mysterious Plan of God.
God wins, satan loses, a tie is unacceptable.
Take care, see you and the rest of humanity in the Kingdom.
Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.
Posted by: Thomas Baum | December 21, 2007 4:39 PM
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There is one wisdom story that Victoria has mentioned time and time again as proof that Islam respects the rights of individuals and therefore any attempt to "squeal" on adultery by spying on one's neighbour would be discouraged. I knew for certain that it comes from another tradition (at best from a Sufi master), but there was something about the way she related it that disturbed me for it didn't reflect the truth. So here is what I remember of the wisdom story:
It was NOT about "squealing" about adultery. It was about a piece of trivial family gossip that a neighbour had overheard and related to the spiritual master. The master wanted to know the source of the gossip. On being told that the person carrying the gossip had tresspassed into the property of the neigbour in order to overhear the conversation (and was in the habit of such spying), the master rebuked the person reminding that the person was committing two sins which were more serious in order to report trivia: the sin of entering the property of the neighbour without consent in order to spy on the neighbour and focussing on the life of others while ignoring their own spiritual journey(of ignoring the log in one's own eye and focussing on the speck in the neighbour's).
If Victoria's version of the wisdom story is to be believed, reporting on adultery is supposedly worse than committing adultery itself, and it would be considered a graver sin to report adultery because it would constitute violating someone's privacy!
Adultery is considered a serious sin in all religions, and if one is dealing with belief in a God who can read the hearts and minds of human beings, it is outright silly to focus entirely on proof in a court of law as proof of sin. Islam is unusual in that it considers adultery a crime and requires four eye witnessess to the act to prove it in a court of law. (There is an explanation in the Quran that that particular Sura is associated with a specific incident in Mohammad's life, when Mohammad's child bride, Aishya was accused of adultery.) Only an insane couple or couples in swinger clubs (? "free love" groups) would have sex in the presence of four witnesses. Under normal circumstances only public rape could provide four witnesses! In the Quran I read that punishment for adultery includes public lashing, confining the woman to the house for the rest of her life or until Allah found another way... and according to Indonesian Sharia Law (which permits polygamy), it is supposedly seven years in prison!
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 21, 2007 3:37 AM
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Dear Pamela, Jihadist, Victoria and all Muslims worldwide!
Happy Eid Mubarak and a Happy New Year 2008!
Best wishes
Soja
----------------
Soja John Thaikattil
Sydney, Australia
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 21, 2007 1:40 AM
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Moody,
If the reference is authentic then please provide the verse ? If you cannot locate the verse then why do you call it authentic ?
It is you who cannot answer my query accurately, if you cannot locate the source then why can't you take help from other muslims. If you cannot they why do you post false incidents regarding your prophet.
Against who are the personal attacks that you accuse me of ?
Why does it matter if I am a jew or bahai or hindu or christian or buddhist or even an athiest or ex-muslim? I'm not a muslim, I'm a humanitarian who does not believe in treating people as dhimmis and kafirs.
--- I'm not against faith, I'm against hate ----
Posted by: ross | December 19, 2007 8:59 AM
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Ross:
So far YOU only asked questions.
And all the authentic references YOU DON'T WANT TO ACCEPT.
AND so far failed to put forward any authentic RECORD, from your side. OTHER THAN YOUR SELF OPINIONS.
I don't have any personl gurage with you but so far ALL YOUR POSTS ARE NOT MORE THEN PERSONAL ATTACKS AND ACCUSATIONS.
AND IT ONLY SOUNDS LIKE PROPOGATING YOUR CERTAIN AGENDA!
I'm pretty sure you are a Jew?
Are you from Israel?
Posted by: Moody | December 19, 2007 7:53 AM
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Sadly the only incident where Mo display's kindness to a non muslim has been shamelessly stolen from elsewhere. One only needs common sense to figure out this story is not true, after all Mo had a jewish poet Asma bint Marwan killed by his follower because she criticised him in her poetry, so why on earth would he perform an act of kindness for a jew who threw garbage on him ????
Posted by: ross | December 19, 2007 7:06 AM
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Moody,
The truth is this:
The story of the jewish woman throwing garbage at the Mohammad never took place. Garbage was thrown on a prophet but he was not Mohammad but Abdul Baha the founder of Bahaism and the woman was not jewish but muslim. Muslims have plagiarized this incident from the Bahais.
It you are certain this did happen to Mohammad please show us the exact verses.
Rgds
Posted by: ross | December 19, 2007 6:35 AM
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Well Ross,
What do you want? If I give you the reference, does it change any thing in you? Do you accept the truth if I give you this ref??
I seriously doubt you will ever be able to see through, since I remember I gave you much much more concrete evidence which you throw back on my face!
Any way above mentioned Writers are the authentic sources where you will find Prophets(PBUH) history stories.
And for your quick ref. below link is tell the same above stories and many more WHICH ARE PRESENT ON RECORD EVERY WHERE!!!!!!!
http://www.theprophetofmercy.com/Who%20is%20the%20Prophet%20Muhammad.pdf
Posted by: Moody | December 19, 2007 6:01 AM
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Dear Pamela
Thank you for your response addressed to me 12 Dec 2007, 9:56 AM. It came as a total surprise because I had addressed several posts to you in the past without getting any response.
Why did I take the post by anonymous as yours? Having read your essays and posts for several months now, I imagine I can detect your style of writing and the way you construct your arguments. The post by Anonymous seemed to reflect your style very much, hence my conclusion.
I would be very happy for other readers to cut and paste all your essays and posts since February this year and try to compare the style and line of argument with the post I responded to assuming it was yours.
So you have read several translations of the Bible during your days at Harvard Divinity School? That explains your familiarity with the Bible, that came through so strongly in your essay on forgiveness. Might it not be that you get the sources of your essays mixed up precisely because you have read widely from many religions, including several translations of the Bible? I have read only one translation of the Quran, but it is sufficient for me to know what Muslim Scripture is about (without trying to be a scholar on the subject of course). Since I have read the Bible, only in the context of prayer, and heard it discussed in religious worship and retreats but have done it over my whole lifetime of forty eight years, even if not as a scholar, it is easy enough for me to detect when the Quran refers to Bible passages and when you refer to Bible passages not found in the Quran.
Islam, as Mohammad founded it, does happen to be a theocracy. I do not have to read the history of Islam to prove that; the Quran and the political life of Mohammad as described in the Hadiths offers sufficient proof. It is possible to reform a religion but only in science fiction is it possible to go back and alter the past. Even God cannot change the past!!! So I am a bit confused when you suddenly try to explain Islam as a religion that had nothing to do with politics in the lifetime of Mohammad. Even if one were to ignore the political history of Islam after his death, it is not possible to ignore what is written in the Quran and Hadiths which clearly reflect a political arm to the religion. If the Quran and Hadith is to be believed, Mohammad led armies, not of angels but of men who wielded weapons of his day. Shariah Law after all was developed very early from the Quran and Hadiths.
Soja John Thaikattil
Sydney, Australia
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 19, 2007 5:04 AM
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The link to Medicins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders):
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 19, 2007 4:34 AM
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Dear Laila
I thought it was time to bow out of the discussion on Islam because the discussion has become too repetitive for my taste. Besides I learn nothing about Islam when, among others, known Christian and Hindu thoughts and teachings, which have no origin in the Quran is presented as Islam. Having read the Quran myself I find that I am able to judge somewhat the nature of the teachings that could stem from it; having read from other religious traditions, even if not as a scholar, I am also able to figure out where the non-Islamic teachings or interpretations stem from. One learns best from the those who did the hard spiritual work to generate the wisdom that gave birth to those teachings. I have found true spiritual teachers to be extremely humble and honest, always humble and honest enough to admit the work that went before their own and the sources from which they learnt. Even when they come up with original ideas they claim that they have nothing new to say!
Since I wasn't expecting any response to my posts, I didn't read your reply earlier. Thank you for taking the time to respond, and here a short spontaneous reply.
I gathered from Victoria's posts on another thread that the concept of Trinity is a big issue for Muslims. I have posted the Bible passages on which this belief is based on a previous thread. I suggest you read the Biblical basis for it.
All the non-political good religious parts of the Quran are borrowed from the Bible (especially the Old Testament). There is an Islamic "correction" to the Jewish and Christian Scripture which the Jews and Christians do not accept. The objections are recorded in the Quran. The objections have not changed in the fourteen centuries that has passed since the birth of Islam.
Alan Jones wrote thus about some of the contents of Quran:
"Old Testament stories, often in a guise somewhat different from that in the Bible, dominate much of the narratives of the Quran...There is much less material from the New Testament and Christian apocryphal sources...There are passages too numerous to mention about fighting the infidel and the sharing of booty. Disturbances within the community are dealt with in passages on retaliation...
"Orthodox doctrine renders discussion of the sources of the Quran irrelevant for Muslims: the Quran is the word of God. They are also able to dismiss discrepancies between the Bible and the Quran by recourse to the doctrine that if there are differences between the Jewish, Christian and Muslim version of the Scripture the Jews and the Christians have mangled the Message and Muslims have not. This doctrinal stance is however not without its problems. Mohammad's family (cf.' for example Q. 33:28-33) with the belief that each prophet has received the same message.
"For non-Muslims the Muslim standpoint is untenable, and non-Muslim scholars have given much thought to the question of how Mohammad might have acquired his knowledge of the Bible. The most commonly accepted view is that Mohammad received most of his information about the biblical stories through informants who talked to him; that this material was digested, meditated on and then absorbed into what became the text. There are two passages in the Quran itself that supports this view... (Q. 16:103 and Q. 25:4)It should be added that there is some corroboration in hadith that Muhammad received stories and information from various individuals, including Jews and Christians, and that the material he received from them found its way into Quranic form.
Be that it may, the question of sources in one where there is an unbridgeable chasm between Muslims and non-Muslims. Tolerance requires us to recognise the chasm and to respect the views of those on the other side, wherever our basic stance may be."
End of Quote
---------
Thus it is clear that the Bible is not about to be brought in line with the Quran anytime soon; Jews and Christians are not about to accept the Muslim interpretation of their Scripture.
There are many contradictions in the Quran that any Christian or Jew can easily detect. I leave it to the religious scholars to write about them, if they are interested.
Personally I started to post on Pamela Taylor's thread because I was interested in learning about the differences and similarities between Christianity and Islam only for the purpose of facilitating religious dialogue.
The list you have provided with apparent contradictions in the New Testament of Jesus' teachings were discussed in earlier threads as well when Pamela Taylor mentioned them in her essays as response to criticism about Islam brought primarily by ex-Muslims from faithfreedom.org. The collection seems to be a sort of standard collection meant for debate with Christians.
1. According to Christian belief Jesus was born of a virgin. His father was literally a spirit, God, the Father. (After all even the Quran admits God is all powerful and can do whatever He wants with a word.) The mission of Jesus was to bring salvation to all mankind through the example of His life, His teachings, His crucifixion and Ressurrection... Jesus was thirty years old when He started His three year earthly ministry. At that point His earthly connections were no longer relevant. He was in the process of fulfilling His mission as Messiah. Jesus said that ALL who obeyed His teachings were His mother, brothers etc. He did not give a special place to His biological mother. He gave equal place to all who accepted Him spiritually. So the truth is that Jesus considered all equal to His mother, rather than disrespecting His mother. He did not want to show favouritism and give a special place to His earthly mother, that is all. If He was God, then why should one human being be more special to Him when He loved all equally?
2. Anyone who is in touch with the reality of families know that there is mostly trouble when one member of the family follows a different drummer. All those who have gone against the status quo are not immediately accepted even by their own families. That is what Jesus meant by bringing a sword or division or whatever. There is nothing in His life or teachings to suggest that He meant a literal sword. If anything He meant that Christians would be put to the sword, which they were for a long long time.
3. Jesus did not wield a sword, lead armies or fight battles with an army of armed followers. Neither did His disciples. In fact when one of the disciples cut off the ear of the servant of the High Priest who came to arrest Jesus, Jesus rebuked His disciple, asked him to put the sword back, and warned that anyone who takes the sword would be killed by the sword. Jesus even healed the ear of the servant whose ear was cut off, the very man who had come to arrest Him. So any implication that Jesus came to preach that His followers were expected to wield swords and kill people is a lie. (In the history of Christianity it is true that those who had political power were involved in battles for political reasons. Christianity is not a theocracy, however Jesus said that there would be politicians and an earthly ruler. He said, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give to God what belongs to God." When rulers accepted Christianity as a result of preaching by the Apostles and other missionaries, there were naturally Christian rulers. Europe accepted Christianity as its official religion. But that must be differentiated from a theocracy where religious leaders seek political power as part of their religion.)
4. Turning out traders from the Temple in righteous anger because they had converted a place of worship into a marketplace, you consider as being contrary to the teaching of Jesus to turn the other cheek? Can you imagine what Muslims would do if a marketplace was set up at the holiest spot in Kabah in Mecca? Worshipping God with all of one's heart, mind and soul was an essential part of Jesus' teaching in accordance with the Old Testament as well. He taught that it was the first most important commandment. So He could not tolerate the place of worship to be insulted by turning it into a marketplace. Jesus forgave everyone as lay dying on the cross. That is the proof that He lived what He preached.
5. The verse you quote in which Jesus said that it would be better for one to gouge out one's OWN eye or cut off one's OWN hand was in context of explaining the sin of adultery. Note that He mentioned it would be BETTER for one to cut off one's OWN hand or gouge out one's OWN eye, RATHER than go to hell. It is easy to understand that He meant it to be a figure of speech to make it clear how strictly one should deal with temptations or triggers that lead to adultery, which is considered a serious sin in all religions. Jesus gave permission for divorce in the case of adultery. He did NOT teach nor mention anyone else should literally gouge out the eyes or cut off the hands of another person who indulged in lust. Any addict being treated for addictions will tell you the importance in dealing with triggers if they are serious about getting well.
What Jesus am I expected to worship as God? The Jesus whose coming was announed many hundred years ago by prophets; the Jesus who was born of a virgin; the Jesus who was worshipped by wise men who came from the East even while He lay in the manger as an infant, unknown to the rest of the world; the Jesus who worked miracles - fed the hungry, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, healed the leper; the Jesus who was crucified and was raised on the third day; the Jesus for whom His disciples gave up everything; the Jesus whose followers were willing to die for Him; the Jesus whose message was spread by many, many missionaries through centuries enduring hardship and persecution; the Jesus who has inspired millions of people to be good and loving not just to friends but also to enemies...
The same Jesus is mentioned in the Quran along with His teachings, even if many of the details of His life are not mentioned.
Best wishes
Soja
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 19, 2007 4:32 AM
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Moody wrote:
Read Biography of Prophet Mohummud(S.A.W)qouting authentic Hadith [Saying/Actions of Prophet(PBUH) supported by Evidence with chain of links]
BY
- Al Tabari Or
- Ibn -I- Hasham
I thought muslims were good at retrieving the correct verses from the quran or hadiths,
so Mr.Moody please show the verse in - Al Tabari Or - Ibn -I- Hasham where the story of the jewish woman throwing garbage at the prophet was sourced from.
You can ask your islamic brethren for help.
Why is this so difficult Mr. Moody ? are you unable to back up your claims because this is made up ? Not very HONOURABLE.
Posted by: ross | December 18, 2007 5:55 AM
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Ross,
Muslim reference:
Read Biography of Prophet Mohummud(S.A.W)qouting authentic Hadith [Saying/Actions of Prophet(PBUH) supported by Evidence with chain of links]
BY
- Al Tabari Or
- Ibn -I- Hasham
Western writer:
"Mohummud" (PBUH) By Karen Arm Strom
Documentory: Showing your scholar's comments
"Legacy of Prophet "
by Al Omer Al Qattan and Michael Schwarz.
Posted by: Moody | December 18, 2007 1:06 AM
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TO ANONYMOUS:
You wrote concerning antropomorphism as attributing human form and qualities to God.
Considering that we are humans and that we are limited by human speech in describing some things how else can we speak to each other about God.
I have mentioned that I have met God and I also said that He is Pure Love and I have also said that I didn't physically see Him but that He came into my heart so I could say that I saw God with my heart but does my heart have eyeballs, no, but is it my physical heart or is it my inner being, my spiritual heart so to speak.
I have also mentioned on a previous post that one of the commmandments that God gave was not to make graven images of Him and I said the reason God gave that commandment was that God knew it was impossible to make an image of PURE LOVE.
I thank God that God is literally a Being of Love.
I also thank God that He has a Plan and has had that Plan since before creation and His Plan will come to Fruition.
And I also thank God that He is not even remotely like what some of the people that know His Name think that He is.
Take care, be ready, see you in the Kingdom.
Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.
Posted by: Thomas Baum | December 17, 2007 7:29 PM
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TO HALOZCEL:
You wrote, "Dear Thomas Baum,
You say *God is the God of All*.
Yes, of course He is and by All, I mean not only people but everything.
Even tho I refer to God as He, God is not a He or a She or an It but is actually a Trinity of Pure Love.
God is a Trinity yet One and the bible is One as in taken as a whole not sliced and diced as so many do with such spiritual pride.
We are all equal in God's Eyes, we may not comprehend that, we may not believe that and we may not always act that either but God is absolutely nothing like what some of the people that know His Name think that He Is.
God has a Plan and has had that Plan since before creation and God's Plan will come to Fruition.
As I have said, God wins, satan loses, a tie is unacceptable.
Take care, be ready, see you in the Kingdom.
Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.
Posted by: Thomas Baum | December 17, 2007 7:05 PM
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Moody wrote:
I as a witness tell you above ref. post are ALL authentic. Though it seems of no use telling you!
Then it should be no problem to locate the source, so please show us where the story of the jewish woman throwing garbage at the prophet was sourced from.
Posted by: ross | December 17, 2007 4:49 AM
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Time and time again the writers of the Christian bible distort and mutilate the words found in the Hebrew bible. Upon closer examination we find the writers not only misquoting the original but also misinterpreting it to mean the opposite of whatt he original text was trying to convey. Take for instance the book of Hebrews chapter 10 which states:
Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
"Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a BODY you have prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, 'See, God, I have come to do your will, O God' (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)."
When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God," and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet." Hebrews 10:1-11
The writer tells us that God desires and needs blood in order to forgive sin. Accordingly, Jesus offered himself once and for all and as a final sacrifice so that God will be able to forgive sin. In other words if there is no blood there is no sin forgiveness. Apart from limiting God’s grace and mercy, this sacrificial system is bloody and has all the trimming of a primitive pagan human sacrifice which is to say the least is very revolting and sickening. What kind of a deity who rejects a person’s whole hearted and humble repentance but demands blood to be able to forgive.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 40 in order to support his view of the death of Jesus and what it means to him. At first it says “sacrifices and offerings you have not desired”; Okay, that sounds good so far-blood is not necessary for God to forgive. Next the writer indicates that, here Jesus is speaking, “a body you have prepared for me,” As in Jesus’ body was offered to God as a sacrifice. This sounds like a complete u turn from what was said at the beginning. It sounds like the author is trying to extract a meaning from the Psalm which was not there to begin with.
Sure enough, Psalm 40 is clear in its original form which states:
Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an OPEN EAR.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
Then I said, "Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart." Psalms 40:6-8
It is claimed that David wrote this Psalm. The Hebrew bible tells us that David committed a sin; He had one woman’s husband sent to the front lines in a war to die in order for him to have his way with her. David recognized his mistake, repented and asked God for forgiveness. He came to the conclusion that God does not require sacrifices but and a repentant heart would do.
Note how the words “BODY you have prepared for me” is not there; Instead the Psalm says:
“have given me an OPEN EAR”; this is close to what is said in Isaiah:
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens--wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. Isaiah 50:4-5
The author of Hebrews was definitely mistaken in his reading of what David was trying to say. In fact we find in Psalm 40 an idea that is opposite to what the writer of Hebrews and Paul claimed about Jesus’ death and its atonement for the sins of humanity; God does not like sacrifices; God does not need an innocent human being, Jesus in this case, to die or shed his blood to be able to forgive.
If that’s not enough elsewhere, the Psalmist says,
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:15-17
What David says here demolishes and lays waste to all the Christians claim about sacrifices in general and Jesus and his death specifically.
Also elsewhere in the Hebrew bible this same message is repeated again:
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6
Paul’s dogma and the Christian doctrine of blood atonement has no basis whatsoever in the Hebrew bible. How can two diametrically opposed doctrines, what’s found in the Hebrew bible and the Christian bible, exist in the same book is above any comprehension? It is just foolishness, pure and simple.
Also, Paul is not immune from twisting the Hebrew bible in order to justify his atonement doctrine. He writes in Romans:
Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that "the person who does these things will live by them." But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?
"The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:5-9
Here Paul claims that righteousness comes only through faith. And if someone ha faith he will be saved.
What that faith entails someone to do is to confess that Jesus was raised from the dead and that’s how righteousness in the sight of God is achieved. His quote about righteousness and faith comes from Deuteronomy. I read the passage in Deuteronomy and I do not see how he came to that conclusion. The passage in Deuteronomy says “The Word is near you on your lips and in your heart”; here the word refers to the Law of Moses and the commandments of God contained in it. It is clear that God requires from the Israelites their obedience to and observance of his commandments and to walk in his ways; and above all his commandments are easy and not hard for anyone to do. So, all I take from reading this specific passage in Deuteronomy is that righteousness in the sight of God is the belief in him and obeying his laws and commandments; in a nut shell that’s exactly the teaching someone finds in the Quran.
The passage in Deuteronomy that Paul alludes to is as follows:
Then you shall again obey the LORD, observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and the LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?" Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?"
No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Deuteronomy 30:
In another one of his epistle, Paul discredits what is said here in Deuteronomy and calls God’s laws and commandments a curse:
For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. Galatians 3:10
Paul also says:
For "no human being will be justified in his sight" by deeds prescribed by the law. Romans 3:20
Obeying the laws of God is not necessary and that is in total contradiction to the above passage found in Deuteronomy.
Let’s see what Jesus has to say about God’s Law:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20
In conclusion then, Paul is wrong and I should add he is a deceiver and a liar in spite of his claim to the opposite, as in:
- The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I do not lie. II Corinthians
- what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! Galatians
- I am telling the truth, I am not lying Timothy
- I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying. Romans
That's usually a tell tale signs of a liar.
Posted by: hl | December 16, 2007 6:24 PM
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Josez you idiot
Posted by: Anonymous | December 16, 2007 10:08 AM
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REMEMBER: Voting for HilLlary Clinton, is same as re-Voting for Prez B. Clinton.
This is 'illegal' , aka PROXY President by Nepotism! Presidential 'Term-Limits' are being violated. Do not be Stupid! The Communist have infiltrated Sweet Sweet U.S.A's Government of 'THE PEOPLE!
So, Please do not vote for 'Hillary & Bill Clinton! Thank You!
IMPORTANT , Sweet Sweet America:
A Russian Communist Conspiracy in Sweet Sweet America "i" now EXPOSED!
HARK Humates of America!:
BEWARE:
Senator 'Chuck Schumer' (of N.Y., a 'Senior Senator) is been "BRIBED' by the RUSSIAN-INTERNATIONAL-MAFIA! Example:
He, Mr. Schumer et al, via "L*U*K OIL" got money from them, (via ex-'GETTY gas station(s) moguls, now turned "Russian Mafia Government Front" as Owners in America. Please call FBI & CIA!] and of Which "Chucky-Boy' Senator SCHUMER promoted , knowingly in such a great 'COMMY' Conspiracy!
Forgive me, but it is true!!!!!!!!!!
ATT: You get pais per "CLICK' , then pay 'US' [free Spirited Bloggers] for Stealing OUR ideas/Writings!
Note: You must Post [ALL & not SENSORED] or repost {hours of WORK (free, but NO more!) thinking & typing) what You-Failed to post. There was No Cuseses. Everything was acoording to 'YOUR' rules, not mine.
Yes, 34,000 people a year in AMERICA , the sweet, comit Suicide. So Better they Volunteer for Army & die Protecting the great REPUBLIC & FEDERATION of "Space-Ship" Planet EARTH against SuperStupidStitious Pre-Apocalyptic BIBLIO, QURANO, GEETAO, MANIACS.
WE "i"nellegent "i"ntellectuals "i"ndividuals. aka, HUMATES (not Humans, as JOKTANIAN, not PELEGIAN,Sporades (Wom) & Mavorites (Man)) Live on space-Ship Earth! aka S.S. GAIA, S.S. GEOID, S.S. TELLUSng Something instead!!
So please post ALL that you have sieved/selected & sensored! Not jus "i", but many many Bloggers!
NOTICE: "NEWS-WEEK" & WASHINGTON POST & CO, et al,;
IT is about your ten 'FACE's. not about our one honest Face's!
You will be sued , in 'Class' like, in Federal Court very very Soon!
not just "i" , but to many you say,
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VOTE:
'NO' to News-Papers Company's owning {your Kids minds future & yours too] against them owning T.V Stations & Satellite Station!
SAY: 'NO' , via F.C.C., to News Paper Company's! 'NO' Broad Casting! Say or Vote, No!
And, Say 'NO' to allowing Religious Satellite Televangelical(s) to broadcast their 'EVIL' Anti-Society Story's & Behavior's too!
Thanks, Eclati-On (nevr Off's) American Mon's & Monsa's!
Take Back your almost Hijacked Nation! Take back Sweet sweet America! Now!
Posted by: Blogg Owner(s)?????? | December 16, 2007 9:27 AM
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Liala:
You wrote a wonderful post regarding Western miss leading trend towards Islam in light of their believes like trinity.
T.G.
Excellent Authentic very common Hadiths in Muslim world regarding Prophent's(PBUH) Charactor.
Ross:
I as a witness tell you above ref. post are ALL authentic. Though it seems of no use telling you!
Posted by: Moody | December 16, 2007 7:51 AM
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well i don;t know why you're leaving jacob, but i wish you well in your life
peace
Posted by: victoria | December 16, 2007 2:04 AM
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Good bye Newsweek, Washington Post, Editor & POST et al:
Good bye every body!
Att: Washington Post, Newsweek & Company; You Suck!
Warning: Do not reproduce, deseminate, plagerize, copy, for profit or gain 'ANY of my "POST" on any onf these 'Onfaith' or "onreligion" bloggs, since MARCH.19/20th of 2007 until NOW! Dec.15th.2007!
Vote: ECLATi-ON Party for GRIDARIAN DEMOCRACY & TRANSFINITE CIVILIZATION 2012 & beyond! Bye Yo ALL!
Posted by: Anonymous | December 15, 2007 11:04 PM
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Dear Thomas Baum,
You say *God is the God of All*.
*Whoever is baptized will be saved,but whoever does not will be condemned* Mark 16.16
So,in that case proximately 75 percent of the world population will be condemned,so,can we say *the God of All*
Homosexual John says *the homosexuals,liars,murderers etc. will be in the burninig lake* Rev.21.8
How many people will go to the Heaven ??
You always say *be ready,see you in the Kingdom.
Book of God written by human Matthew say *a shephard separates the sheep from the goats* 25.32
Who is sheep and who is goat,only the God knows,so how can you *BOOK* a place from the Heaven ??
Besides,who is the *Last One* is a problem.
According to Christianity *Son of Jew* is the last one and he will come again with a *white horse* as written(to me,a white *spaceship* may be better).
According to islam *Son of Bedouin* is the last one.
So,shall they follow the Lamb or shall they follow the gamel driver ??
Wedding of Lamb or wedding of six years old child girl ??
Dear Baum,who will kiss the fairy girls in the Paradise ??
What will chineses,japaneses,hindus and africans do ??
Posted by: halozcel | December 15, 2007 1:29 PM
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Anthropomorphism refers to the perception of God in human form and quality. And that is no more evident than what is found in the creation story written in the bible.
We are informed by the author of the Pentateuch that God said "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," and that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him -- male and female created he them."
If this account means anything, it means that man was created in the physical image and likeness of God. Moses while he speaks of man as having been made in the image of God, never speaks of God except as having the form of a man. He speaks of God as "walking in the garden in the cool of the day;" and that Adam and Eve "heard his voice." He is constantly telling what God said, and in a thousand passages he refers to him as not only having the human form, but as performing actions, such as man performs. The God of Moses was a God with hands, with feet, with the organs of speech. A God of passion, of hatred, of revenge, of affection, of repentance; a God who made mistakes: -- in other words, an immense and powerful man.
It will not do to say that Moses meant to convey the idea that God made man in his mental or moral image. Some have insisted that man was made in the moral image of God because he was made pure. Purity cannot be manufactured. A moral character cannot be made for man by a god. Every man must make his own moral character. Consequently, if God is infinitely pure, Adam and Eve were not made in his image in that respect. Otherwise they would not disobey his commands.
Others say that Adam and Eve were made in the mental image of God. If it is meant by that, that they were created with reasoning power like, but not to the extent of those possessed by a god, then this may be admitted. But certainly this idea was not in the mind of Moses. He regarded the human form as being in the image of God, and for that reason always spoke of God as having that form. No one can read the Pentateuch without coming to the conclusion that the author supposed that man was created in the physical likeness of Deity. God said:
"Go to, let us go down."
Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” Genesis 11:7
"God smelled a sweet savor;"
Then Noah built an altar to YHWH, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And YHWH smelled a soothing aroma. Then YHWH said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. Genesis 6:20-21
"God repented him that he had made man;"
And YHWH was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So YHWH said, "I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created--people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." Genesis 6:6-8
"and God said;" and "walked;" and "talked;" and not omniscient of things around him.
And they heard the sound of YHWH Elohim walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of YHWH Elohim among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8
Then YHWH Elohim called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Then the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
And YHWH Elohim said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So YHWH Elohim said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. Genesis 3:9-14 ---How about that. A dust eating snake!
and "rested."
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day Elohim ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which Elohim had created and made. Genesis 2:1-3
All these expressions are inconsistent with any other idea than that the person using them regarded God as having the form of man.
As a matter of fact, it is impossible for a man to conceive of a personal God, other than as a being having the human form. No one can think of an infinite being having the form of a horse, or of a bird, or of any animal beneath man. It is one of the necessities of the mind to associate forms with intellectual capacities. The highest form of which we have any conception is man's, and consequently, his is the only form that we can find in imagination to give to a personal God, because all other forms are, in our minds, connected with lower intelligences.
It is impossible to think of a personal God as a spirit without form. We can use these words, but they do not convey to the mind any real and tangible meaning. Every one who thinks of a personal God at all, thinks of him as having the human form. Take from God the idea of form; speak of him simply as an all pervading spirit -- which means an all pervading something about which we know nothing -- and Pantheism is the result.
The question is asked, how were Adam and Eve created?
In one account, Genesis chapter one, they are created male and female on the sixth day of creation, and apparently at the same time.
Then Elohim said, Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So Elohim created man in His own image; in the image of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them. … So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:26-27
In the next account, Genesis chapter 2, Adam is created first, and Eve a long time afterwards, and from a part of the man. In other words, after the creation that took six days and the rest he took during the seventh day, God found out that Adam needed a helper and after trial and error he decided to create Eve.
And YHWH Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being… Then YHWH Elohim took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it… And YHWH Elohim said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Out of the ground YHWH Elohim formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. Genesis 2:7-20
So the creation of Eve was an after thought, in order to please Adam because the animals did not grab his attention.
And YHWH Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which YHWH Elohim had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Genesis 2:21-22
If the Mosaic account is true, we know how long man has been upon this earth. If that account can be relied on, the first man was made about five thousand eight hundred and eighty-three years ago. Sixteen hundred and fifty-six years after the making of the first man, the inhabitants of the world, with the exception of eight people, were destroyed by a flood. This flood occurred only about four thousand two hundred and twenty-seven years ago. If this account is correct, at that time, only one kind of men existed. Noah and his family were certainly of the same blood. It therefore follows that all the differences we see between the various races of men have been caused in about four thousand years. If the account of the deluge is true, then since that event all the ancient kingdoms of the earth were founded, and their inhabitants passed through all the stages of savage, nomadic, barbaric and semi-civilized life; through the epochs of Stone, Bronze and Iron; established commerce, cultivated the arts, built cities, filled them with palaces and temples, invented writing, produced a literature and slowly fell to shapeless ruin. We must believe that all this has happened within a period of four thousand years.
From representations found upon Egyptian granite made more than three thousand years ago, we know that the Negro was as black, his lips as full, and his hair as closely curled then as now. If we know anything, we know that there was at that time substantially the same difference between the Egyptian and the Negro as now. If we know anything, we know that magnificent statues were made in Egypt four thousand years before our era -- that is to say, about six thousand years ago. There was at the World's Exposition, in the Egyptian department, a statue of king Cephren, known to have been chiseled more than six thousand years ago. In other words, if the Mosaic account must be believed, this statue was made before the world. We also know, if we know anything, that men lived in Europe with the hairy mammoth, the cave bear, the rhinoceros, and the hyena. Among the bones of these animals have been found the stone hatchets and flint arrows of our ancestors. In the caves where they lived have been discovered the remains of these animals that had been conquered, killed and devoured as food, hundreds of thousands of years ago.
It will not now do to say that man has existed upon this earth for only about six thousand years. One can hardly compute in his imagination the time necessary for man to emerge from the barbarous state, naked and helpless, surrounded by animals far more powerful than he, to progress and finally create the civilizations of India, Egypt and Athens. The distance from savagery to Shakespeare must be measured not by hundreds, but by millions of years.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 15, 2007 1:24 PM
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TO LAILA:
You wrote about the Trinity not being mentioned in the bible, maybe the word, Trinity, is not mentioned but the Trinity is alluded to and also mentioned.
Jesus told His followers to baptize the people, "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
He also said to Phillip when Phillip asked Jesus to show us the Father, "Phillip how long have you been with Me if you have seen Me, You have seen the Father".
Jesus also said, "I and the Father are One".
Jesus also said, "I must go to the Father or the Holy Spirit, which He called various Names such as Comforter and Advocate, will not come and He will guide you into All Truth".
I have met the Trinity, Jesus was not lying. Jesus was not a second-rate prophet, there is no such thing.
Jesus flat out said that He is God.
He also referred to Himself as the Son of Man many, many times to try to get it thru, that yes He was indeed a Human Being, not just pretending to be one.
God is a searcher of hearts and minds, not of religious affiliations or lack thereof, it is important what you do and why you do it and what you know.
God's Plan, which is unfolding before our very eyes, is for All of Humanity.
I do not hold it against Mohammed that he was deceived but the koran is not from God period. A little twist here and a little twist there turns the Truth into not the Truth.
The Jews do not consider Jesus one of their prophets but they are still the Chosen People for the simple fact that God Chose them and Formed them.
I do not consider Jesus a prophet either, He is Who the prophets pointed to.
Jesus is the Message not the messenger.
As it says, "I, Myself, will come to shepherd them".
Jesus also said, "I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill the Law" and that "Law" is God, Himself, "Love".
God is the God of All and God is a Trinity and God is Pure Love, a Being of Love.
It doesn't matter what label, religious or otherwise, people put on themselves, that is not what God looks at, God looks at who you are and what you do, not what you call yourself.
Remember, God wins, satan loses, a tie is unacceptable also night is coming when no man, as in human, can work but the seventh day will get here in God's Time.
Take care, be ready, see you in the Kingdom.
Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.
Posted by: Thomas Baum | December 15, 2007 11:15 AM
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no mr baum, the meaning of the question remains the same-
anonymous asked for examples of simple good deeds- (besides supernatural)
actaully, it got me thinking-
i think its a good enough question
he wasnt asking about those in the heavenly kingdom-
but people when they were on earth-
and on earth, i can see no difference between beig the greatest, and no one else being greater
but it still isnt an answer anyway
just a distraction from he question
can you think of some examples?
of the 3 mentioned? (whatever their status)
Posted by: victoria | December 15, 2007 10:36 AM
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TO ANONYMOUS:
You wrote, "How about three good deeds that John the Baptist did who according to Jesus, your god, was "the greatest man ever lived born of a woman"."
Actually what Jesus said according to the bible is, "No man born of woman is greater than John, but the least in the Kingdom is greater than he".
And as is known Jesus, Himself, was born of woman, was He not?
Jesus did not say John was greater what He said was no one was greater than John, Big Difference.
When something is read into something that isn't there, it can sometimes change the whole meaning, does it not?
Jesus, God-Incarnate, did become one of us and He, being born of woman, included Himself in the above statement from the bible.
Whether you or anyone else believes that Jesus is Who He is, True God and True Man, He did become human and He not only can identify with us but He can also speak to us Brother to Brother and Brother to Sister.
Some people have seemed to tear out Page One of the bible, "Let Us make man in Our Own Image and Likeness" and "God created man, male and female He created them".
God is Love, Pure Love and whenever Love shines thru us then God's Image is shining thru us also.
Take care, be ready, see you in the Kingdom.
Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.
Posted by: Thomas Baum | December 15, 2007 10:26 AM
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To whom it may concern,
Hierarchy in islam,
Ayatollah/Sign of Allah is the shia Pope.Yes,the sign of Allah.
Caliph,the Shadow of Allah(someones may defy this title,but like it or not this title had been used by the most of caliphs).Caliphate was the sunni papacy from the beginning to 1924.Yes,the Shadow of Allah.
Sheikh ul-islam was the title of *superior authority* as well.
Quran says,*because Allah hath made the one of them to EXCEL the other* 4.34
Woman in islam is the second class creature.
Infidels(non-muslims,no different between christian and buddhist) are second class citizen in muslim countries.
Islam hates from non-muslims.
Posted by: halozcel | December 15, 2007 8:07 AM
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i dont want to misrepresent gandalf-
from my somewhat limited understanding- sunnis and shia regard imams differently.
so, being sunni i'll speak to that from my own experiences and what little i know.
the first mosque i attended had an imam and he explained to me that traditionally an imams capacity was that of one ho recites qu'ran beautifully and leads the people in prayer.
that was his particular capacity in the mosque and his only job there.
he came from a school in egypt where their recitation is considered particularly beautiful for its precise enunciation.
but from what i understand imams can be anywhere from leading in prayer to also being spiritual and congregant counselors and mediators-
in that aspect they share the duties of a priest
also, the choice of an imam is more of a pubic affair, being one who is considered wise or knowledgeable and certainly deserving of respect by the people.
the people have a voice i their choice whereas a priest is appointed by a bishop or diocese board.
there is no hiearchal structure like in a priesthood-
no equivalent bishops, cardinals or papacy- but like any human organization there are administrators but this isnt a religious structure.
when ever people gather for prayer, whoever leads them is an imam
even when my husband and i pray together, he becomes the imam while we pray.
so anyone can be an imam - technically- its theperson who is leading the prayers-
(ive even been one on occasion in social situations when it was time to pray- i think my pronunciation tickles people)
here's an article i was snooping around and found-
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15149529&ft=1&f=1016
imam taylor i much better equipped to comment on this, and may i be forgiven if i have related anything misleading or untrue
peace
Posted by: victoria | December 15, 2007 2:26 AM
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may peace be with us all,
I just wanted to say this is a lovely and inspiring piece, Pamela. I the importance of good works cannot be understand, and I appreciate the well-written reminder.
best,
--Nooreen
Posted by: Nooreen Dabbish | December 14, 2007 6:40 PM
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Victoria, Just curious! What does Imam mean and who is qualified to be called one? Is it the muslim equivalent of priest?
Posted by: Gandalf | December 14, 2007 2:13 PM
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im going to out dr qader-
that was my mosque for 5 years-
despite the inhuman demands upon dr qader's time- i have caught him several times doing good deeds that he was trying to perform in secret-
(one time he even drove me many miles to submit a job application)
also, he was the only person who ever showed up for one of my many volunteer cleaning projects, and he dug in and got as dirty as i did.
soja-
there are muslim doctors involved with doctors without borders
muslim community center in chicago has a strong interfaith alliance, if you go to the community center in their area, you will certainly get a reference to their program. Anyone can.
it just so happens that there are all muslims in the center-
surely there can be nothing wrong with people helping people?
but we encourage others to come and participate.
when i was there, we had busloads of visitors every week- and given and take dialogue after jummah.
you seem to misunderstand that ALL prophets are respected in islam-
including Jesus(may ALLAH bless Him)
ive read the bible, for instance, more times than ive read the qu'ran.
there are many instances where the bible falls short for me, personally.
i try to stay away from these comparisons on this forum out of respect for others beliefs, and also it is distatsteful and unecessary to deconstruct another belif-
it does nothing to enhance my own.
(actually, i find such finger pointing or attmepts at proving superiority somehwat distasteful)
vilifying the "other" has never proven ones own excellence (not that im applying that to you, these are my thoughts on it)
i find just presenting our repsective preligions in the aspects that they enhance us- is enough.
to define ourselves.
imam taylor is well suited to this task and i appreciate this in her posts.
Posted by: victoria | December 14, 2007 1:13 PM
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Being an optimist I figure this century has to be religion's last.
We have access to information in this modern era,that our ancestors could only dream of.
Just a hundred years ago newspapers were just beginning,not everybody could read,electricity was in few homes,automobiles were happening,and a whole new world was just taking off,leaving the darker ages behind for ever.
Now we have it all;computers,the net,TV and radio,CDs,DVDs,newspapers,magazines,books,and a greater knowledge of the world,and a greater mastery of science and technology than the most optimistic could never have predicted.
We are becoming too literate and too knowledgeable to take religious thinking seriously,for too much longer. More and more people are having second thoughts about the irrationality of it all,and,since 9/11 we see how terribly dangerous it is too.
As more and more people get more education than ever before,and literacy levels rise,and computer and internet access increases worldwide,religious superstition would seem to be a commodity increasingly unreal,and irrelevant; a relic of our weird and nasty past.
Posted by: yoyo | December 14, 2007 1:00 PM
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Ross,
Now it's your turn; tell us three good deeds Jesus did(no suepernatural stuff), just what regular folk would do. Then tell us three good deeds Moses did.
How about three good deeds that John the Baptist did who according to Jesus, your god, was "the greatest man ever lived born of a woman".
Posted by: Anonymous | December 14, 2007 11:38 AM
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T.G.
You have forgotten *female poet Asma bint Marwan* and Qurayza tribe.
What you write the tales in your post,can not be the response and apology for the present islam terror and fanaticism.
Tell me about Saudi Arabia,islamic republic of Iran,Afghanistan,Malaysia and Indonesia,Pakistan and Libya,Algeria etc.
Please tell me about islam's arithmetic,*two equals one* or *two plus two makes four*
Tell me about *if dogs,donkeys and women pass in front of praying one,namaz is marred*
Tell me about the *compulsion* and oppression in islam.Tell me Canadian Pakistani who killed her daughter for headscarf.
Tell me Egypt.Islam came and the civilization gone.
Tell me the gardens of Babylon.Islam came and the gardens dried and got desert.
Tell me the difference.
Indonesia.It was the island of cannibals 200 years ago.Islam came,it is still cannibal.
New Zealand.It was the island of Cannibals 200 years ago.Protestants came,it got the island of civilization.
Dear T.G.,you accuse a poster saying *you dont want to know*,but do you know and understand *the cause* between Indonesia and New Zealand ??
Posted by: halozcel | December 14, 2007 8:54 AM
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Muhammad was such a vengeful man that he ordered the assassination of Abu Afak, a 120 year old man who was a Jew and whose crime was to compose a lyric ridiculing Muhammad and his claim. Muhammad asked one of his followers to get him rid of this man. Asma bint Marwan who was a poetess became so angry that wrote a poetry cursing the men of Medina for letting a Meccan kill an old man and do nothing. Muhammad asked one of his followers who volunteered to kill her. He entered in Asma’s home and pierced her chest with his sword while she was asleep with her five children beside her, the smallest was a nursing baby. How can such a man who could not bear someone criticizing him in poetry forgive someone throwing garbage at him?
Posted by: ross | December 14, 2007 6:06 AM
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TG wrote:
The prophet used to pass by a house on his way home. The woman in this house hated the Prophet because of the new religion he was preaching and so whenever he went by, she through rubbish at him. The prophet would ignore this and carry on walking. One day, the women didn't throw anything when he passed that way. This confused the prophet so he went to the nearby houses to enquire about the woman. They told him that she was severely ill. The prophet rushed to her house to see her and then brought her some medicine to relieve her illness. The woman was brought to tears by the kindness he showed and so, she accepted Islam.
Can you show me the source for the above good deed of the prophet or did you make this up ?
Posted by: ross | December 14, 2007 5:50 AM
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ROSS...
------------------
Ross wrote:
Sorry Pamela, most humans who walked this earth were far more honourable than this man, it's about time you take a look at other faiths.
-------------
Funnily enough, she has:
------------------------------------
Pamela wrote:
I have not only read the old and new testaments, I studied them in Divinity School, and I would dare say I have more different renditions of the Bible on my resource shelf than your average Christian home. Many, many of American Muslims friends have read the Bible, or at least the more entertaining parts of it (the begats do get a bit tedious...) And in case anyone else wishes I had read about their religion/social system, in the course of my undergrad and graduate studies I also took courses on Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Communism. While I have not studied paganism, Bahai, Sikh, Shinto, etc formally, I have done personal study on them as well.
---------
Ross, I don't think anything that you have to rant about will effect Pamela as she has studied many religions and decided that Islam is for her. I can bring you many incidents of the Holy Prophet Muahmmad's beautiful nature but the problem is Ross, you don't want to hear it (as you have already demonstrated). Regardless of what you think, I know who Muhammad (pbuh) really was.
When ever someone called his name, he would make sure his entire body was turned towards them (not only his face). He would only turn his face away when the person addressing him had turned away (out of respect)
Despite the fact that he had so many followers, he never sat in the middle of a gathering purposely but would sit at the back so as to demonstrate that he was no better than any of them.
Once a man came in to the mosque and out of anger at the Muslims, began urinating in the prayer room. The companions were angered by this but the prophet told them to relax (i.e not to take offence) and asked them to wash the place where he had uriinated. He himself went quietly towards the man (so as not to embarass him infront of the others)and politely told him that it was not right. Becuase of his calmness despite the mans actions, the man converted to Islam.
The prophet used to pass by a house on his way home. The woman in this house hated the Prophet because of the new religion he was preaching and so whenever he went by, she through rubbish at him. The prophet would ignore this and carry on walking. One day, the women didn't throw anything when he passed that way. This confused the prophet so he went to the nearby houses to enquire about the woman. They told him that she was severely ill. The prophet rushed to her house to see her and then brought her some medicine to relieve her illness. The woman was brought to tears by the kindness he showed and so, she accepted Islam.
Once the prophet was sitting in the house of Aisha when a group of people passed by and said to him 'may death be upon you' mocking the Islamic greeting 'may peace be upon you'. Aisha was enraged by this and so started shouting at the group of men for saying such a thing to the Prophet. The prophet however, told her to be quite and not to respond in such a harsh manner.
When the Prophet went to preach about Islam to the people of Taif, they were enfuriated and started pelting him with stones so that he would leave their village. The prophet at the time was bleeding severely , so much so that his slippers were filled with blood. Instead of cursing them, the prophet left taif and prayed to God, 'Oh God, forgive them and guide them'
An old woman was leaving mecca for another town carrying all her belongings. The prophet happened to walk by and asked her if she needed any help and so he picked up her luggage and started walking with her. He asked her where she was going and she told him that she was leaving Mecca bvecuase a magician, by the name of Muhammad, was leading people astray (i.e away fromt he worship of the pagan gods). She said that he is mental (and many other things) and that she feared hi and so she wanted to leave as soon as she could. The prophet continued to carry her luggage and walk with her until they reached the outskirts of Mecca. The women saaid that it was ok and that she would carry her own luggage from that point on. Before parting, she asked him who he was becuase she was impressed by his gentle character. He said that he was Muhammad. She began to cry at the fact that she was so mistaken about him and that he had stayed with him despite the horrible things she had called him. She accepted Islam.
I can go on (including the the prophets treatment of animals)these are just some of the examples I have time to write.
I just hope that you can look beyond the media, the acts of terrorists, and websites/sources with an anti-islamic agenda to realise that not all Muslims follow Islam becuase their parents followed it (especially after 9/11). Do realise that we have the intellectual capacity to assess the character of Muhammad and decided for our ownsleves whether we want to follow his message. Pamela and I know who he really was and not the 'barbarian' you make him as- the fact is, debating with you is futile and unproductive- becuase you don't want to know. I guess it all comes down to Ludwig Wittgenstein's 'Language Games'.
Peace :)
T.G
Posted by: T.G | December 14, 2007 5:11 AM
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Are any of you familiar with the psychological principle of the Shadow? It is everything we despise in ourselves but are unable to face so that we project it out onto others.
It’s pretty obvious that that Islam is Christianity’s Shadow.
This is how Christians can claim that Muslims are blood thirsty savages while killing hundreds of them in an unjust war. This is how we can claim to liberate them while invading and occupying their country. This is how Bush can claim that they hate us for our freedom while taking ours away. This is how we claim they want to kill us all while we throw bombs around like confetti. This is how we fault them for theocracy while we move to impose theocracy over here. This is how we can torture them while claiming that they are the evildoers. This is how we exercise our ‘manifest destiny’ all over the world while crying out that they want to impose their Caliphate on the world. This is how we can do all of this while waving our infallible book of superstitions around and pointing out that their book has issues. We are good, they are evil. We look in the mirror and then damn the mirror’s image as the Devil.
Posted by: Mad Love | December 14, 2007 3:36 AM
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Pamela wrote:
1) Depsite being in a position of power in his later life, Muhammad lived a life of simplicity, even poverty. His home was small, his clothing simple and unostentious, his food meager.
His harem had 10 wives and concubines, even if his chose a simple lifestyle there was nothing lacking as far as his LUSTFUL desires were concerned. Some desire wealth, some others desire lust.
What happened to the wealth he looted from the jewish tribes in arabia ?
The honourable thing to do was not to attack the jewish tribes. The honourable thing to do was not to behead men and marry their wives.
Pamela wrote:
2)He demonstrated interfaith acceptance at a day an age when it was not the current pc thing to do. One example from the hadith, "The Prophet stood up when a funeral procession passed before him. After it was gone, the people told him, "This was the coffin of a Jew!" The Prophet said, "Whenever you see any coffin passing by, stand up, whether it is of a Muslim or a non-Muslim." (reported in Bukhari) This basic respect extended far more deeply... When Jews came to the Prophet for rulings he would rule by the Old Testament rather than by the Qur'an.
Respect for the dead is what people of all religions or no religion are taught, nothing special here. Apparently he did not have enough respect for LIVING jews when one reads about the genocide committed by him. If he honestly respected jews or other non muslims then why did he introduce the concept of a caliphate controlled by muslims ?
3) And finally, a hadith which touched me deeply, again found in Sahih Bukhari, and narrated by his wife Aisha.
A man came to the Prophet in the mosque and said, "I am burnt!" The Prophet asked him, "With what?"
. . .
All the goodies if any were for ths CULT members. Nothing for mankind.
Sorry Pamela, most humans who walked this earth were far more honourable than this man, it's about time you take a look at other faiths.
Posted by: ross | December 13, 2007 9:22 AM
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Are you joining me in a chorus of "Let her speak." JJ?
Come on, people. Let her speak.
Posted by: Paganplace | December 13, 2007 2:19 AM
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Oh, hi, J:
Just on this:
"I have never heard of Rick Warren's Saddleback Church until this question. Where do they get names like that? Saddleback? Why and how?"
It's likely a place-name of somewhere that incorporates a geographical feature which looked, to the namer of the place, ...like a saddleback. :)
Posted by: Paganplace | December 12, 2007 7:06 PM
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" halozcel:
"Dear Laila,
"Instead of writing the long empty words,sophistry and utopic tales,could you please to show any islamic country where muslims live as the human being ?"
How about, omitting the 'Islamic,' ...America?
Though some may tell you differently.
I admit to a great deal of skepticism about claims 'Islam is not theocratic,' ...sure looks like it to me, ... But Ms. Taylor is constantly being accused of representing a *Muslim* theocracy while *teaching,* quite the opposite. (To Muslims, as well, I hope.)
Really, I might say the same of Christians, who will say,'This isn't theocracy we want, this is a Christian nation,'
Which sounds about the same to everyone else.
I certainly won't say Islam holds any *guarantees* against theocracy, but neither does Christianity.
I'm tired of Ms Taylor being drowned out by people who will harp on Islamic states, while denying what Christian states have done.
The actual 'poor' become an abstraction in some other kind of game.
Posted by: Paganplace | December 12, 2007 7:01 PM
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Assalamu Alaikum
Imam Pamela Taylor
I have never heard of Rick Warren's Saddleback Church until this question. Where do they get names like that? Saddleback? Why and how?
As for the world's biggest social problems -- poverty, disease, homelessness -- it is real and certaintly can be "cured" by the time and money of "well-intentioned" religious believers.
Of course, the question posed on well-intentioned believers, is, naturally, in reference to religious entities and evangelical groups who may have certain reservations on certain social mores that their faiths do not look likely at as a cause of inter-personal rift, social discord and what is believed, will lead to social breakdown.
And yet, religious groups and well-intentioned believers are the first to build schools and hospitals/clinics where there are none. Certainly the of these are targetted not only to their fellow faith adherents, but those of other faiths or no faiths. Of course, for many evangelical groups, the possibility of getting new converts to their faith is also an impetus for doing good work, and with a certain "belief cost" for the recipients.
Of course on well-intentioned believers, "well-intentioned" being a sarcasm to imply wrong headed or mucking up eventually, do a lot of good in complementing and supplementing states in providing for the health and educational needs of those who may not, otherwise, have access to them due to shortage of state funds, or the state do not provide for health and education at minimal cost for its citizens.
It is rather dismissive to speak of "well-intentioned believers" stepping in where states don't do the needful for people without access to basic social needs. Well-intentioned believers, of any religious affiliations, would naturally have rights to decide whom they want to assist, and even to state under what terms. No one has a right to say that "well-intentioned believers" are wrong to decide on what kind of charitable work they want to fund and for whom. The possibilities are endless - the poor, the sick, the elderly, the homeless, the orphaned, the widowed etc due to any reason.
Certainly, one of the Five Pillars of Islam is for Muslims to contribute to and do charitible work for those in need as part of community responsibility for social well-being. While most do think it is only contribution of funds, many don't seem to know that it is also translated into giving time of one's expertise in specific areas as well as to collectively undertake a specific project.
I congratulate those who initiated and contributed their funds and time to the Compassionate Care Network (CCN), and is most impressed with the fact they offered care to everyone regardless or race, religion and immigration status.
I wish you a Happy Eid El Adha which falls on 20 December 2007 here. And to those performing the Hajj, I wish to say "Lord, here I am" together with them.
Peace be with you
Thank you and best regards
"J"
Posted by: Jihadist | December 12, 2007 4:54 PM
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Dear Laila,
Instead of writing the long empty words,sophistry and utopic tales,could you please to show any islamic country where muslims live as the human being ?
You say,
1-...to submission to one true God.First,muslim believe in Allah not God.Second,do you know what or who was Allah before islam ? The dad of the founder was Abdullah(he was not a muslim).What does Abdullah mean ?
2-...to national solidarity and cohesion.What about whole middle east,Iran,Central Asia,India and Spain ?
3-...to sobiety and piety.Is 'Fear Kingdom'Saudi Arabia sobiety ? You say 'debaucher'.Do you know '5 million muslim afghans are smoking hashish'
4-...to disciplined living.No,it is not.It is 'islamofascism'.Islam rejects Human Rights or in other words,islam doesnt know what Human Rights are.
Dear Laila,please,dont write 'empty words'.Please,tell me 'an ideal islamic country'.
Posted by: halozcel | December 12, 2007 2:23 PM
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Sounds familiar Roy!
Luke 6:36-38
36"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37"(A)Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; (B)pardon, and you will be pardoned.
38"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour (C)into your lap a (D)good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."
Posted by: Jon Matthew | December 12, 2007 2:17 PM
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Roy,
I love people, Christian and Muslim, who quote their scriptures to make their points with others assuming that everyone believes their specific Bible or Koran is infallible.
"And it shall come to pass all those who torment people of other faiths shall be equally tormented in the next life by being of the faith they originally tormented. Those who torment gays will be gay. Those who kill in the name of God will be killed. Those who hate Jews will be Jews. Those who discriminate against and hate Blacks will be Black. Those who love and help others will be equally loved and helped. Those who show forgiveness will be forgiven. Those who show tolerance will be tolerated. This will be God's lesson: you will reap what you sow - if now now, later" - Maluth 3:23
Posted by: Roy | December 12, 2007 2:00 PM
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From the New York Times
Islam’s Silent Moderates
By AYAAN HIRSI ALI
Published: December 7, 2007
The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with 100 stripes: Let no compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. (Koran 24:
"The key to ending this tyranny of interpretation of the Koran is within the Koran itself, if the people have the courage to use it."
IN the last few weeks, in three widely publicized episodes, we have seen Islamic justice enacted in ways that should make Muslim moderates rise up in horror.
A 20-year-old woman from Qatif, Saudi Arabia, reported that she had been abducted by several men and repeatedly raped. But judges found the victim herself to be guilty. Her crime is called “mingling”: when she was abducted, she was in a car with a man not related to her by blood or marriage, and in Saudi Arabia, that is illegal. Last month, she was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes with a bamboo cane.
Two hundred lashes are enough to kill a strong man. Women usually receive no more than 30 lashes at a time, which means that for seven weeks the “girl from Qatif,” as she’s usually described in news articles, will dread her next session with Islamic justice. When she is released, her life will certainly never return to normal: already there have been reports that her brother has tried to kill her because her “crime” has tarnished her family’s honor.
We also saw Islamic justice in action in Sudan, when a 54-year-old British teacher named Gillian Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in jail before the government pardoned her this week; she could have faced 40 lashes. When she began a reading project with her class involving a teddy bear, Ms. Gibbons suggested the children choose a name for it. They chose Muhammad; she let them do it. This was deemed to be blasphemy.
Then there’s Taslima Nasreen, the 45-year-old Bangladeshi writer who bravely defends women’s rights in the Muslim world. Forced to flee Bangladesh, she has been living in India. But Muslim groups there want her expelled, and one has offered 500,000 rupees for her head. In August she was assaulted by Muslim militants in Hyderabad, and in recent weeks she has had to leave Calcutta and then Rajasthan. Taslima Nasreen’s visa expires next year, and she fears she will not be allowed to live in India again.
It is often said that Islam has been “hijacked” by a small extremist group of radical fundamentalists. The vast majority of Muslims are said to be moderates.
But where are the moderates? Where are the Muslim voices raised over the terrible injustice of incidents like these? How many Muslims are willing to stand up and say, in the case of the girl from Qatif, that this manner of justice is appalling, brutal and bigoted — and that no matter who said it was the right thing to do, and how long ago it was said, this should no longer be done?
Usually, Muslim groups like the Organization of the Islamic Conference are quick to defend any affront to the image of Islam. The organization, which represents 57 Muslim states, sent four ambassadors to the leader of my political party in the Netherlands asking him to expel me from Parliament after I gave a newspaper interview in 2003 noting that by Western standards some of the Prophet Muhammad’s behavior would be unconscionable. A few years later, Muslim ambassadors to Denmark protested the cartoons of Muhammad and demanded that their perpetrators be prosecuted.
But while the incidents in Saudi Arabia, Sudan and India have done more to damage the image of Islamic justice than a dozen cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, the organizations that lined up to protest the hideous Danish offense to Islam are quiet now.
I wish there were more Islamic moderates. For example, I would welcome some guidance from that famous Muslim theologian of moderation, Tariq Ramadan. But when there is true suffering, real cruelty in the name of Islam, we hear, first, denial from all these organizations that are so concerned about Islam’s image. We hear that violence is not in the Koran, that Islam means peace, that this is a hijacking by extremists and a smear campaign and so on. But the evidence mounts up.
Islamic justice is a proud institution, one to which more than a billion people subscribe, at least in theory, and in the heart of the Islamic world it is the law of the land. But take a look at the verse above: more compelling even than the order to flog adulterers is the command that the believer show no compassion. It is this order to choose Allah above his sense of conscience and compassion that imprisons the Muslim in a mindset that is archaic and extreme.
If moderate Muslims believe there should be no compassion shown to the girl from Qatif, then what exactly makes them so moderate?
When a “moderate” Muslim’s sense of compassion and conscience collides with matters prescribed by Allah, he should choose compassion. Unless that happens much more widely, a moderate Islam will remain wishful thinking.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Posted by: Drew | December 12, 2007 11:40 AM
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Before I became Catholic I could careless about the poor, the hungry and the needy! I was the center of my own world! I was selfish, materialistic and vain!!!
I experienced a miracle one day and that miracle converted my heart! Christ had mercy. True love!!! I pray that all can find this hidden love… It’s truly amazing but don’t take my word for it!!!
Christ’s mercy changed my heart to love and give all of myself for those in need! My heart is filled with mercy, compassion and love. I’m compelled to give myself because the love of the Lord is so strong! I would be wrong not to share his love with others in need. Like the Apostle James says, faith without works is dead!
We can make this world a better place for believers and non believers! It all starts when we look beyond our own selves! We need to stop blaming each other for the faults of the world and start laboring for the good fruits for those who are in need. If you’re a Catholic share your love of Christ and be thankful for your blessed life! If you’re a non believer share your generosity for your fellow man. We need to start working together in harmony rather then opposing each other! No good seed comes from conflict. Only from peace can charity, hope and love spring.
Seasons Greetings.
Have wonderful and Happy Holidays!
Posted by: Jon Matthew | December 12, 2007 10:27 AM
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First, Soja, I'm not anonymous; I've never hesitated to post responses under my own name.
Second, again to Soja, I have not only read the old and new testaments, I studied them in Divinity School, and I would dare say I have more different renditions of the Bible on my resource shelf than your average Christian home. Many, many of American Muslims friends have read the Bible, or at least the more entertaining parts of it (the begats do get a bit tedious...) And in case anyone else wishes I had read about their religion/social system, in the course of my undergrad and graduate studies I also took courses on Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Communism. While I have not studied paganism, Bahai, Sikh, Shinto, etc formally, I have done personal study on them as well.
Third, Concerned, I was invited to this board to talk about Islam. I have on various occassions affirmed that all religions teach the same basic morals, and that one can reach a moral stance through reason alone, but my job here is to discuss Islam, not to discuss Christianity, Judaism, Hindusism, Paganism, Atheism, etc, etc, etc. On Faith has panelists who follow those religions, or none, to speak about them.
Fourth, back to Soja, there is a HUGE difference between working for a just world and religion as a political system. Islam makes a very clear statement that faith without manifestation in one's behavior is hypocrital. That does not mean that it demands a theocracy. Rather it demands personal action in response to one's beliefs. To please Concerned, this obviously is not unique to Islam. As an atheist, I would have said anyone who believed an action was moral but then chose to do otherwise was morally bankrupt. Islam agrees. To delve into the Arabic grammar -- the word "Aminu" -- believe -- is consistently paird with the phrase "amilu salihat" -- do good works -- that anonymous refers to. Belief goes hand in hand with action. As I asid before, this action is a personal responsibility, not a state dictated one. In numerous places, the Qur'an emphasizes that no one is responsible for the actions of another -- individual accountability is the bottom line. Futher, the importance of intention is emphasized time and time again. As in the Surah I quoted where the prayers of one who prays only to be seen and respected are a waste. So too, Prophet Muhammad talked about people receiving the results of their actions according to their intentions. A famous hadith reported in both Bukhari and Muslim is, "All actions are judged by motives, and each person will be rewarded according to their intention. Thus, he whose migration was to God and His Messenger, his migration is to God and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated.”
Personal responsibility is, in fact, diametrically opposite theocracy. Islam's insistence on personal responsibilty (in addition to the verses about no coercion in religion which I have cited here numerous times) rules out the posibility that the state can be responsible for the morality of its citizens. Rather the state's job is to safeguard the well-being of its citizens -- protect them from physical harm, fraud, murder, theft, help them if their circumstances are difficult, keep them from starvation, living on the street, going without medical care, and so on.
I don't see why that is hard to understand, but I'm glad to continue discussing it if you are still confused.
Fifth, Ross, three honorable things the Prophet did. So easy! I am picking three things that made an impression upon me when I was first studying Islam, a very personal list as it were.
1) Depsite being in a position of power in his later life, Muhammad lived a life of simplicity, even poverty. His home was small, his clothing simple and unostentious, his food meager. The fact that he did not take advantage of his position and his influence for personal agrandizement or ease has always struck me as a measure of his moral authority. (Please note, in order to back up this example with texts, I would have to cite ten or twelve hadith which talk about his living conditions, and as this post is already very long, I will refrain from doing so.)
2)He demonstrated interfaith acceptance at a day an age when it was not the current pc thing to do. One example from the hadith, "The Prophet stood up when a funeral procession passed before him. After it was gone, the people told him, "This was the coffin of a Jew!" The Prophet said, "Whenever you see any coffin passing by, stand up, whether it is of a Muslim or a non-Muslim." (reported in Bukhari) This basic respect extended far more deeply... When Jews came to the Prophet for rulings he would rule by the Old Testament rather than by the Qur'an.
As a side note, this is another piece of evidence that Islamic theocracy was never envisioned, nor practiced by the Prophet.
3) And finally, a hadith which touched me deeply, again found in Sahih Bukhari, and narrated by his wife Aisha.
A man came to the Prophet in the mosque and said, "I am burnt!" The Prophet asked him, "With what?" He said, "I have had sexual relation with my wife in the month of Ramadan (while fasting)." The Prophet said to him, "Give in charity as atonement." He said, "I have nothing." The man sat down, and in the meantime there came a person driving a donkey carrying food to the Prophet. On that the Prophet said, "Where is the burnt person?" The man said, "Here I am." The Prophet said to him, "Take this food and give it in charity." The man said, "To a poorer person than l?" The Prophet replied, "Yes," to which the man responded that there was none poorer than his family and that they had nothing to eat." Then the Prophet said to him, "Then eat it yourselves."
Posted by: Pamela | December 12, 2007 9:56 AM
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Laila,
Lets see if muslims understand the nature of God,
Please explain why God cannot manifest as the million deities of hinduism OR the the three Gods of Christianity.
Posted by: ross | December 12, 2007 4:00 AM
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sorry my letter came thrice as it didnt appear for more than 12 hours.also this anon is again me as i posted the second without my name
Posted by: laila | December 12, 2007 2:08 AM
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sorry my letter came thrice as it didnt appear for more than 12 hours.also this anon is again me as i posted the second without my name
Posted by: laila | December 12, 2007 2:08 AM
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Dear soja,
The myths publicized by critics of Islam include a strange collection of people involved only in their arrogant ideas. They criticize Islam that is not very different from the Biblical religions. They criticize Prophet Muhammad who is not very different from Biblical prophets. They criticize Islamic history that is not very different from Biblical history. They criticize Islamic values that are not different from Biblical values. And all of that criticism is based upon obscure references, imperfect Quranic translations, and unsubstantiated events. They are driven by arrogant idea of attempting to bring Islamic traditions to Biblical traditions instead of the other way around. However, if they spend their time studying the Quran and their own Bible, they would discover what Muslims found fourteen centuries ago: that true Christianity is very close to Islam, and that the pure monotheism taught by Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them) is the same.
The western media and fundamentalist Christians promote animosities between Christians and Muslims. To a great extent translators and interpreters of the Bible are responsible for that. Instead of emphasizing the belief of One God, with one set of religious moral values, they are used to Jewish tribal feud in the Old Testament, and stories that are difficult to believe in the Old and New Testaments. It is a fact of life that the Bible is seen as full of serious contradictions, and there are many references that expand on this subject. The average Christian attends Sunday classes and Bible study to listen to pastors and priests promote the Trinity in the most assertive voice based upon few verses in the Bible that have been deleted, mistranslated, or added by humans for 15 centuries after Jesus. Muslims, then, are accused of believing in One God that is not represented by the Trinity, and therefore, they do not believe in the same God of Christianity.
Very few Christians ask themselves why all the prophets, from Noah to Muhammad, advocated One True God, and how Christian theologians came up with the concept of Trinity without any clear definition of this concept in the Bible. If Jesus were to say clearly in the Bible “I and the holy ghost are made of the same substance as that of God, and I am the son of God, part of the Godhead, or God Himself. Humanity was not ready to understand this complex concept, and that is why previous prophets did not explain this concept of Trinity, and I am here now to introduce it,” then one may be tempted to consider the Trinity. Not once did he utter any such statement. Jesus certainly would not use vague language to explain this central and vital issue, or leave it to people’s own imagination and interpretation. Prophet Muhammad did not object to any form of worship as decreed by God, the Quran states:
Surah 43, Ayah 81 “Say (O Muhammad): “If The Most Gracious had a son, I would be the first to worship (him)”
The Old Testament and the Quran, the Ultimate Testament, include hundreds of verses that spell clearly the Unity of God in the strongest way. Scientific logic advocates that if you have hundreds of the same event (Unity of God) repeated over thousands of years by all the prophets of God, and you have one event (Trinity) that surfaced only during turmoil and persecutions, then you would have to exclude this event as an abnormality. Due to the doctrinal difficulty of the Trinity, no one in the history of humanity, neither theologian nor layman, had been able to explain it in a convincing way. However, Trinity resolved itself, to the common mind at least, in a sort of godhead-by-committee, shared between God the Father, who ruled the world from heaven; His son Jesus Christ, who saved humanity on earth; and the Holy Ghost, who was pictured as a white dove and appeared to have a considerably minor role. Why God the Father cannot rule the world, save humanity, and provide faith by Himself, without a need of a Son or a Holy Ghost?
A Jew can explain Judaism or a Muslim can explain Islam in minutes without any confusion. Yet Christian scholars could not explain Christianity in 2,000 years in a satisfactory approach. All that one hears from some TV Evangelists or Christian preachers is slogans such as “Jesus is lord, Jesus loves you, Jesus died for our sins, so be a good Christian.” One has the right to ask: which Jesus, which trinity, which Christianity, which version of the Bible, and which Christian experts do you trust? Some of the TV Evangelists and preachers are experts in presenting half the truth about both Jesus and Muhammad. They stress only one side in the most forceful and persuasive way. So, one should have the right to ask, which Jesus?
· The one who said honor your father and mother, Matthew 15:4, or the one who called his mother Woman, John 2:4?
· The one who said love your enemies, Matthew 5:44 or the one who said he did not come to give peace on earth, but rather division, Luke 12:51.
· The one who said if some one slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him, Matthew 5:39 or the one who went to the temple and drove people out and overturned the tables, Matthew 21:12?
· The one who said have peace with one another, Mark 9:50 or the one who said he did not come to bring peace but a sword, Matthew 10:34 and the one who asked the apostles to sell their coats and buy a sword, Luke 12:36?
· The one who said forgive, and you will be forgiven, Luke 6:37, or the one who said if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you, Matthew 18:8?
· The one who said bless them that curse you, Matthew 5:44, or the one who said he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death, Matthew 15:4?
As a Muslim, I understand both sides, because Jesus, like Muhammad, was both merciful when mercy was required and powerful when power was required. Both were balanced human beings. God himself is the Most Powerful and the Most Merciful. Yet half the truth Evangelists never failed to present only the merciful side of Jesus, and only the powerful side of Muhammad.
Christianity is a big business. Biblical preachers seem to use the advice of Abraham ibn Ezra, who was a twelfth century Spanish rabbi. He said “And he who understands will keep silent,” when he was defending contradictions in the Old Testament. Preachers keep silent, because if they don’t, they would be expelled from their offices; lose their mansions, swimming pools, and their luxury cars. Politicians keep silent, because if they don’t, they would be defeated in following election by strong religious establishments. Professors in colleges keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose their income. Apologists keep silent, because if they don’t, they would not write books or develop websites that show their interpretations of the complex issue of the Trinity. Editors of newspapers and magazines keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose subscriptions. Shopkeepers keep silent, because if they don’t, they would lose sales during Christmas, the largest business sale of the year. Publishers and translators of the Bible keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose sales of millions of books. Consequently, if the truth about the Bible were known, many Christians would loose their income, prestige, and fame.
Regards, Laila
Posted by: laila | December 11, 2007 11:33 AM
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The myths publicized by critics of Islam include a strange collection of people involved only in their arrogant ideas. They criticize Islam that is not very different from the Biblical religions. They criticize Prophet Muhammad who is not very different from Biblical prophets. They criticize Islamic history that is not very different from Biblical history. They criticize Islamic values that are not different from Biblical values. And all of that criticism is based upon obscure references, imperfect Quranic translations, and unsubstantiated events. They are driven by arrogant idea of attempting to bring Islamic traditions to Biblical traditions instead of the other way around. However, if they spend their time studying the Quran and their own Bible, they would discover what Muslims found fourteen centuries ago: that true Christianity is very close to Islam, and that the pure monotheism taught by Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them) is the same.
The western media and fundamentalist Christians promote animosities between Christians and Muslims. To a great extent translators and interpreters of the Bible are responsible for that. Instead of emphasizing the belief of One God, with one set of religious moral values, they are used to Jewish tribal feud in the Old Testament, and stories that are difficult to believe in the Old and New Testaments. It is a fact of life that the Bible is seen as full of serious contradictions, and there are many references that expand on this subject. The average Christian attends Sunday classes and Bible study to listen to pastors and priests promote the Trinity in the most assertive voice based upon few verses in the Bible that have been deleted, mistranslated, or added by humans for 15 centuries after Jesus. Muslims, then, are accused of believing in One God that is not represented by the Trinity, and therefore, they do not believe in the same God of Christianity.
Very few Christians ask themselves why all the prophets, from Noah to Muhammad, advocated One True God, and how Christian theologians came up with the concept of Trinity without any clear definition of this concept in the Bible. If Jesus were to say clearly in the Bible “I and the holy ghost are made of the same substance as that of God, and I am the son of God, part of the Godhead, or God Himself. Humanity was not ready to understand this complex concept, and that is why previous prophets did not explain this concept of Trinity, and I am here now to introduce it,” then one may be tempted to consider the Trinity. Not once did he utter any such statement. Jesus certainly would not use vague language to explain this central and vital issue, or leave it to people’s own imagination and interpretation. Prophet Muhammad did not object to any form of worship as decreed by God, the Quran states:
Surah 43, Ayah 81 “Say (O Muhammad): “If The Most Gracious had a son, I would be the first to worship (him)”
And I would say the same thing, and we all should say the same thing.
The Old Testament and the Quran, the Ultimate Testament, include hundreds of verses that spell clearly the Unity of God in the strongest way. Scientific logic advocates that if you have hundreds of the same event (Unity of God) repeated over thousands of years by all the prophets of God, and you have one event (Trinity) that surfaced only during turmoil and persecutions, then you would have to exclude this event as an abnormality. Due to the doctrinal difficulty of the Trinity, no one in the history of humanity, neither theologian nor layman, had been able to explain it in a convincing way. However, Trinity resolved itself, to the common mind at least, in a sort of godhead-by-committee, shared between God the Father, who ruled the world from heaven; His son Jesus Christ, who saved humanity on earth; and the Holy Ghost, who was pictured as a white dove and appeared to have a considerably minor role. Why God the Father cannot rule the world, save humanity, and provide faith by Himself, without a need of a Son or a Holy Ghost?
A Jew can explain Judaism or a Muslim can explain Islam in minutes without any confusion. Yet Christian scholars could not explain Christianity in 2,000 years in a satisfactory approach. All that one hears from some TV Evangelists or Christian preachers is slogans such as “Jesus is lord, Jesus loves you, Jesus died for our sins, so be a good Christian.” One has the right to ask: which Jesus, which trinity, which Christianity, which version of the Bible, and which Christian experts do you trust? Some of the TV Evangelists and preachers are experts in presenting half the truth about both Jesus and Muhammad. They stress only one side in the most forceful and persuasive way. So, one should have the right to ask, which Jesus?
· The one who said honor your father and mother, Matthew 15:4, or the one who called his mother Woman, John 2:4?
· The one who said love your enemies, Matthew 5:44 or the one who said he did not come to give peace on earth, but rather division, Luke 12:51.
· The one who said if some one slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him, Matthew 5:39 or the one who went to the temple and drove people out and overturned the tables, Matthew 21:12?
· The one who said have peace with one another, Mark 9:50 or the one who said he did not come to bring peace but a sword, Matthew 10:34 and the one who asked the apostles to sell their coats and buy a sword, Luke 12:36?
· The one who said forgive, and you will be forgiven, Luke 6:37, or the one who said if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you, Matthew 18:8?
· The one who said bless them that curse you, Matthew 5:44, or the one who said he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death, Matthew 15:4?
As a Muslim, I understand both sides, because Jesus, like Muhammad, was both merciful when mercy was required and powerful when power was required. Both were balanced human beings. God himself is the Most Powerful and the Most Merciful. Yet half the truth Evangelists never failed to present only the merciful side of Jesus, and only the powerful side of Muhammad.
Christianity is a big business. Biblical preachers seem to use the advice of Abraham ibn Ezra, who was a twelfth century Spanish rabbi. He said “And he who understands will keep silent,” when he was defending contradictions in the Old Testament. Preachers keep silent, because if they don’t, they would be expelled from their offices; lose their mansions, swimming pools, and their luxury cars. Politicians keep silent, because if they don’t, they would be defeated in following election by strong religious establishments. Professors in colleges keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose their income. Apologists keep silent, because if they don’t, they would not write books or develop websites that show their interpretations of the complex issue of the Trinity. Editors of newspapers and magazines keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose subscriptions. Shopkeepers keep silent, because if they don’t, they would lose sales during Christmas, the largest business sale of the year. Publishers and translators of the Bible keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose sales of millions of books. Consequently, if the truth about the Bible were known, many Christians would loose their income, prestige, and fame.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 11, 2007 7:13 AM
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The myths publicized by critics of Islam include a strange collection of people involved only in their arrogant ideas. They criticize Islam that is not very different from the Biblical religions. They criticize Prophet Muhammad who is not very different from Biblical prophets. They criticize Islamic history that is not very different from Biblical history. They criticize Islamic values that are not different from Biblical values. And all of that criticism is based upon obscure references, imperfect Quranic translations, and unsubstantiated events. They are driven by arrogant idea of attempting to bring Islamic traditions to Biblical traditions instead of the other way around. However, if they spend their time studying the Quran and their own Bible, they would discover what Muslims found fourteen centuries ago: that true Christianity is very close to Islam, and that the pure monotheism taught by Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them) is the same.
The western media and fundamentalist Christians promote animosities between Christians and Muslims. To a great extent translators and interpreters of the Bible are responsible for that. Instead of emphasizing the belief of One God, with one set of religious moral values, they are used to Jewish tribal feud in the Old Testament, and stories that are difficult to believe in the Old and New Testaments. It is a fact of life that the Bible is seen as full of serious contradictions, and there are many references that expand on this subject. The average Christian attends Sunday classes and Bible study to listen to pastors and priests promote the Trinity in the most assertive voice based upon few verses in the Bible that have been deleted, mistranslated, or added by humans for 15 centuries after Jesus. Muslims, then, are accused of believing in One God that is not represented by the Trinity, and therefore, they do not believe in the same God of Christianity.
Very few Christians ask themselves why all the prophets, from Noah to Muhammad, advocated One True God, and how Christian theologians came up with the concept of Trinity without any clear definition of this concept in the Bible. If Jesus were to say clearly in the Bible “I and the holy ghost are made of the same substance as that of God, and I am the son of God, part of the Godhead, or God Himself. Humanity was not ready to understand this complex concept, and that is why previous prophets did not explain this concept of Trinity, and I am here now to introduce it,” then one may be tempted to consider the Trinity. Not once did he utter any such statement. Jesus certainly would not use vague language to explain this central and vital issue, or leave it to people’s own imagination and interpretation. Prophet Muhammad did not object to any form of worship as decreed by God, the Quran states:
Surah 43, Ayah 81 “Say (O Muhammad): “If The Most Gracious had a son, I would be the first to worship (him)”
And I would say the same thing, and we all should say the same thing.
The Old Testament and the Quran, the Ultimate Testament, include hundreds of verses that spell clearly the Unity of God in the strongest way. Scientific logic advocates that if you have hundreds of the same event (Unity of God) repeated over thousands of years by all the prophets of God, and you have one event (Trinity) that surfaced only during turmoil and persecutions, then you would have to exclude this event as an abnormality. Due to the doctrinal difficulty of the Trinity, no one in the history of humanity, neither theologian nor layman, had been able to explain it in a convincing way. However, Trinity resolved itself, to the common mind at least, in a sort of godhead-by-committee, shared between God the Father, who ruled the world from heaven; His son Jesus Christ, who saved humanity on earth; and the Holy Ghost, who was pictured as a white dove and appeared to have a considerably minor role. Why God the Father cannot rule the world, save humanity, and provide faith by Himself, without a need of a Son or a Holy Ghost?
A Jew can explain Judaism or a Muslim can explain Islam in minutes without any confusion. Yet Christian scholars could not explain Christianity in 2,000 years in a satisfactory approach. All that one hears from some TV Evangelists or Christian preachers is slogans such as “Jesus is lord, Jesus loves you, Jesus died for our sins, so be a good Christian.” One has the right to ask: which Jesus, which trinity, which Christianity, which version of the Bible, and which Christian experts do you trust? Some of the TV Evangelists and preachers are experts in presenting half the truth about both Jesus and Muhammad. They stress only one side in the most forceful and persuasive way. So, one should have the right to ask, which Jesus?
· The one who said honor your father and mother, Matthew 15:4, or the one who called his mother Woman, John 2:4?
· The one who said love your enemies, Matthew 5:44 or the one who said he did not come to give peace on earth, but rather division, Luke 12:51.
· The one who said if some one slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him, Matthew 5:39 or the one who went to the temple and drove people out and overturned the tables, Matthew 21:12?
· The one who said have peace with one another, Mark 9:50 or the one who said he did not come to bring peace but a sword, Matthew 10:34 and the one who asked the apostles to sell their coats and buy a sword, Luke 12:36?
· The one who said forgive, and you will be forgiven, Luke 6:37, or the one who said if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you, Matthew 18:8?
· The one who said bless them that curse you, Matthew 5:44, or the one who said he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death, Matthew 15:4?
As a Muslim, I understand both sides, because Jesus, like Muhammad, was both merciful when mercy was required and powerful when power was required. Both were balanced human beings. God himself is the Most Powerful and the Most Merciful. Yet half the truth Evangelists never failed to present only the merciful side of Jesus, and only the powerful side of Muhammad.
Christianity is a big business. Biblical preachers seem to use the advice of Abraham ibn Ezra, who was a twelfth century Spanish rabbi. He said “And he who understands will keep silent,” when he was defending contradictions in the Old Testament. Preachers keep silent, because if they don’t, they would be expelled from their offices; lose their mansions, swimming pools, and their luxury cars. Politicians keep silent, because if they don’t, they would be defeated in following election by strong religious establishments. Professors in colleges keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose their income. Apologists keep silent, because if they don’t, they would not write books or develop websites that show their interpretations of the complex issue of the Trinity. Editors of newspapers and magazines keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose subscriptions. Shopkeepers keep silent, because if they don’t, they would lose sales during Christmas, the largest business sale of the year. Publishers and translators of the Bible keep silent, because if they don’t, they would loose sales of millions of books. Consequently, if the truth about the Bible were known, many Christians would loose their income, prestige, and fame.
Posted by: LAILA | December 11, 2007 5:11 AM
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In the beginning Christianity was treated as a Jewish sect, and the Christians even met in the synagogues for prayer sometimes.
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 10, 2007 4:59 AM
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Dear Laila
Jesus was accepted as a Jewish Rabbi (even if not as the Messiah) by the Jews themselves. He taught in the Jewish synagogues with the permission of the Jewish Pharisees and other religious leaders. They referred to Him as 'teacher' whenever they came to ask Him questions to trap Him. Jesus always referred to the Jewish Scripture to prove the point that He was the Messiah whose coming had been foretold in the Old Testament (the Scripture of the Jews). In the Sermon on the Mount, He said, 'You have heard it was said..., but I say to you..' That is the proof that He referred first to the teachings of God first as written in Jewish Scripture, then went to say that He (as God) was taking the old Scripture further. That is the word of authority that is reserved for God. He forgave sins, and explained that He had the power to forigive sins. No man has the power to forgive sins, but only God.
John the Baptist is the last Prophet as far as Christians are concerned. A prophet to the Judeo-Christian understanding is one who talks of coming events. John the Baptist announced that Jesus Christ was the Messiah whose coming had been foretold in the Jewish Scripture. It is vital to remember that all of the disciples of Jesus were Jews, so were all the early followers. Christianity was initially spread by Jewish converts to Christianity, Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah their Scripture referred to. Saul who was called Paul after his conversion, had been a zealous Pharisee who persecuted the Christians, and knew the Jewish Scripture like the back of his hand. He later went on to become the most zealous Christian missionary, bringing the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles.
The early history of Christianity will show that the prediction of Jesus that His followers would be persecuted had come true. All of the disciples had to lay down their lives for the sake of their belief in Jesus. In the days of Nero, thousands of Christians were fed to the lions and otherwise persecuted or killed. Christians paid for their faith with their own blood; they did not shed the blood of others. It was only much later that Christianity was adopted by Europe as its official religion and attained political power. Even at that time there were Eastern churches, that did not enjoy political power. Christianity had to undergo persecution even when Islamic power was on the rise.
Muslims say that the Bible is not the words of Jesus, but the Quran is. I didn't read any words/teachings of Jesus in the Quran though, neither of Moses and others for that matter. The Old Testament was complete seven hundred years before Mohammad was born. The New Testament was written between 50-120 AD by people who knew Jesus in His lifetime, some centuries before the birth of Mohammad in 570 AD.
Mohammad should have read the Bible himself. It is clear that he had got some information from his Jewish and Christian friends in his days as a travelling merchant.
Read the Quran carefully and pick out the verses which explain in detail the objections brought by the Jews and Christians to the claim of Mohammad that they didn't know their own Scripture. Mohammad had put some Jewish tribes to the sword only because they would not accept Mohammad's version of their Scripture and refused to worship Allah (who by the way was the name of one of the gods of the Arab pagans).
If Mohammad himself could not convince the 7th century Jews and Christians that they had got their Scripture wrong, how are you going to convince 21st century Jews and Christians that they don't know their own Scripture?
Best wishes
Soja
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 10, 2007 4:52 AM
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Dear Concerned the Christian now Liberated:
Many thanks for your kind words. They are greatly appreciated!!!!!!!! (I came back to read this blog only now, hence the delay in responding.)
Best wishes
Soja
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 10, 2007 4:14 AM
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Laila wrote:
Do you think that 1.5 billion followers(and still growing) don't believe that he had even 3 truely honourable deeds? Anyway for your consolation I will refer to 4 (one bonus!)....
Those are not deeds but his evil ruthless achievements. Forcing people to follow islam and threatening those to wish to leave is not honorable. Threatening to burn peoples houses for not attending prayers is not honorable.
He converted the entire arabian area out of force using the sword. Even his son-in-law was brutually murdered after his death by his followers. He replaced the idols of the pagan with a wicked alter ego called Allah. The arabian genocide against various ethnic groups is well documented.
Laila wrote:
If you ask me and 1.5 billion others, I am sure these above mentioned deeds account for more than a million honourable deeds. Also I would like to mention that Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)was ranked first by Michael H. Hart in 'The 100 - A ranking of the most influential persons in history.' with the reasoning that he contributed to the benefit and upliftment of mankind.
So Laila, is the islamic growth rate your excuse to follow islam ?
It is a fallacy islam is growing, muslims love to bloat figures to convince themselves due to the lack of virtues in islam. Everyday more muslims born intellectuals are leaving islam in droves. Its is the fear of death for apostasy thats keeping people in this evil CULT.
Now even if this CULT is growing does it necessarily mean islam is a true faith ? Crime is increasing throughout the world so does it mean crime is good ?
Michael Hart list also contains names like Hitler, there is no denying Mohammed was influential but in a very evil way like Hitler, Stalin etc.
Posted by: ross | December 9, 2007 1:56 PM
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Prophet is the most respected and adored person for muslims. As adults and tolerant human beings, i request people posting comments to use decent words. After all we are here to just exchange views and to ahve better understanding of each other.
Posted by: anon | December 9, 2007 11:17 AM
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This is for Ross,
First of all, when the Holy Quran says 'Say:' Allah is asking the Prophet to say to the unbelievers.And 'system' here refers to the religion of the believers and that of non believers. Why do you repeatedly ask for only 3 honourable deeds? Do you think that 1.5 billion followers(and still growing) don't believe that he had even 3 truely honourable deeds? Anyway for your consolation I will refer to 4 (one bonus!)....
Prophet Mohamed(PBUH) converted the entire Arabian peninsula
1. from paganism and idolatry to submission to one true God
2. from tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion
3. from drunkeness and debauchery to sobriety and piety
4. from lawlessness and anarchy to disciplined living
If you ask me and 1.5 billion others, I am sure these above mentioned deeds account for more than a million honourable deeds. Also I would like to mention that Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)was ranked first by Michael H. Hart in 'The 100 - A ranking of the most influential persons in history.' with the reasoning that he contributed to the benefit and upliftment of mankind.
Posted by: Laila | December 9, 2007 10:44 AM
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Laila wrote:
this is what quran says to people like you
6. “To you is your system, and to me is
mine"
If its from the quran I presume you consider them to be allah's words, so according to allah's own words he has his own system and I have mine. So the question is:
Does'nt Allah own the entire system ?
If I have my own system then I am more of a business rival to Allah.
You failed list 3 truly honorable deeds of Mohammed.
Posted by: ross | December 7, 2007 9:54 AM
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Ross,
this is what quran says to people like you
1. Say: “O rejecters,”
2. “I do not serve what you serve,”
3. “Nor do you serve what I serve,”
4. “Nor will I serve what you serve,”
5. “Nor will you serve what I serve,”
6. “To you is your system, and to me is
mine"
Posted by: LAILA | December 7, 2007 9:39 AM
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Laila,
What makes you so sure that the quran is god's wod ? How do you know Mohammad did'nt lie ?
Afterall Mohammad was a wicked war mongering arabian chief who commited the crimes of looting, killing, paedophlila, stoning etc.
Please tell us why do you trust this man ? Why would any person who is in contact with God lead an immoral life like Mohammad ?
And please list 3 truly honorable deeds of Mohammed.
Ross
Posted by: ross | December 7, 2007 5:06 AM
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The Qur'an lays great emphasis on 'adl (justice). It is the central value in the Islamic ethic. The Qur'an says that "Be just; it is closest to being pious." (5:8). Thus in Islam there is no concept of piety without being just. The opposite of 'adl' is 'zulm' (oppression)
Islam basically lays emphasis on establishing a just society free of all forms of oppression. Thus Islamic ethic conceives of a society which will be free of all forms of exploitation and oppression. Islam basically is a non-violent religion. It does not approve of violence at all. The most basic attribute of Allah is mercy and compassion . But Islam approves of violence (in a highly controlled sense, of course) only to remove zulm, the structures of oppression.. Thus the Qur'an says, "And how could you refuse to fight in the cause of Allah and of the utterly helpless men and women and children who are crying, "O our Sustainer! Lead us forth (to freedom) out of this land whose people are oppressors, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, a protector, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, one who will bring us succour!". (4:75)
Thus the Qur'an's emphasis is on fighting against injustice, against oppression. Everyone has right to live in peace in ones own country. If someone tries to throw them out just because they have their own inner conviction, they cannot be thrown out of their homeland. And if someone tries to do that, one has to stand up to that and fight against this injustice. Islam does not permit violence in matters of preaching of religion. It believes, as is obvious from the above verse also, in full freedom of conscience. In fact if this freedom is violated that Islam permits use of regulated force. As for preaching of religion it has to be done only through 'goodly exhortation and wisdom' (16:125). There is no question of use of violence or that purpose. If some one does that it is against the Divine injunction. It is zulm.
There is much misunderstanding about inter-connection between Islam and violence which needs . The word Islam has been derived from the root s.l.m. Which means to escape danger, to be free from fault, to deliver or hand over, to commit oneself to the will of God, to lay down arms, to establish peace. Thus the best meaning of the word Islam will be to establish or promote peace in harmony with the Will of Allah. Thus a Muslim is not a true Muslim if he commits acts of violence either for spread of Islam or for purposes of achieving power be it in the name of Islam. His primary duty is to establish peace so that justice prevails and humanity prospers. The Prophet has also said that the best form of jihad is to say truth in the face of a tyrant ruler. Tyranny could be both physical and psychological.
The Qur'an says that no human life can be taken except in keeping with law. Thus we find in the Qur'an that "whoever kills a person, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he had killed entire humanity. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved lives of all men." (5:32) The Qur'an, it will be seen is against violence against humanity. It could be resorted to only for a just cause that too after great deliberation and if all other doors are closed. It is true the Qur'an has permitted retaliatory violence (for qisas). But the Qur'anic statements should also be seen at various levels. At the level of the Arabian society, with its customs, norms and traditions, permitting qisas (retaliatory violence) was necessary. The Qur'an had to deal with a given society. But at the higher moral level retaliation is not a good moral practice. It may be necessary in a society which is not highly morally developed. But in a morally developed society the virtue of pardon is he highest virtue. There is great moral worth in the act of pardon. One of Allah's attributes is that He pardons. He is Ghaffar i.e. He is forgiver. Forgiving is the great moral virtue. Retaliation may be human but forgiving is divine. Retaliation amounts to giving vent to ones anger but forgiving amounts to suppressing ones rage and suppressing ones anger or rage is described as great virtue by the Qur'an. Those who suppress their anger are called kazim al-ghayz. On moral level the Qur'an deals with this issue in the verse 3:133. The verse reads, "Those who spend in ease as well as in adversity and those who restrain (their) anger and pardon men. And Allah loves doers of good (to others).
This verse (3:133) deals with the moral aspect whereas the verse dealing with the question of qisas deals with the prevailing practice. The Qur'an's intention is not to perpetuate the practice of retaliation but to build a human character on the basis of restraining anger and forgiving. To absolutise the verse on retaliation and to maintain that it is the ultimate divine will is to do injury to the spirit of the Qur'an which is to cultivate higher morality among human beings. It is the verse 3:133 which represents this higher morality. This is further reinforced by Allah's own attributes of being Merciful and Compassionate on the one hand, and repeated assertion by the Qur'an of the concept of ihsan (doing good to others). Thus it will be seen that the Islamic scripture does not morally approve even retaliatory violence which has at least some justification.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 7, 2007 3:54 AM
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CHAPTER 103
________________________________________
In the name of God, the Almighty, the Merciful.
1. By time.
2. The human is indeed in loss.
3. Except those who believe, and do good works, and support one another with the truth, and support one another with perseverance.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 7, 2007 3:37 AM
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SOJA,
Quran is what God said. What prophet said is called HADITHS.
Similar stories and statements are seen in Bible and Torah. Do you mean to say Jesus copied Torah?
God send prophet Mohammed because Bible are not the words of Jesus. It was written many years after CHRIST died.
You can reinforce your belief in Jesus if you accept Quran .
Posted by: LAILA | December 7, 2007 12:08 AM
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Soja,
I appreciate and compliment persons who review the proper references and make quality observations about said references. My appreciation and compliments to you!!!!! Most Excellent!!!!!!
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | December 6, 2007 4:10 AM
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Dear Utopiac Anon,Dec.5,2007,1:16 PM
*Salih* with meaning to mend,to improve,to be suitable,peace and reconciliation etc.
Mr.Salih,could you please to write any *the improved islamic country*(if exists).
Would you show any *suitable(to what) or peaceful* islamic country.
You say *islam basically lays emphasis on establishing a just society free of all forms of oppression*.
Where is that *islamic Utopia* ?
Where is that *Alice in Wonderland* islamic country ?
Where is that *palaver* islamic Land ?
-Islamofascist Malaysia and Indonesia.
-Afghanistan,Pakistan.
-Islamic Republic Iran,Fear Kingdom Saudi Arbia
-Libya,Algeria
-USA,Minneaistan.
Are they *just and free society* ?
Mr.Salih,islam is zulm.Yes,yes.Islam is zulm.
Headscarf and black wrap is a zulm(under desert heat or everywhere).Five times arabic worshipping is a zulm and brainwashing.The fasting is a zulm(oppression).Islam is compulsion.Yes,yes.
Islam teachs *speaking lie* 3.28(taqiyya).
The first islamic state *Umayyads* that was founded by Muawiyya who was the son of Livereater cannibal Hint(She ate Hamza's liver),had been overthrown by people because of zulm.
Posted by: halozcel | December 6, 2007 2:44 AM
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Anonymous (? Pamela Taylor) wrote, "Islam basically lays emphasis on establishing a just society free of all forms of oppression. The Prophet also says that a society can live with unbelief (kufr) but not with oppression (zulm)."
1. Please provide the Quranic verse that confirms the above statement.
2. The Quran opens with the verses, "This Book is not to be doubted. It is a guide for the righteous, who believe in the unseen (mine: not a worldly society!) and are steadfast in prayer; who give in alms from what We gave them; who believe in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed before you, and have absolute faith in the life to come (mine: not in the just society of the world!)." (2:1-4)
3. There are several references which point to a religion rather than to a political system alone: reminding everyone that everything returns to God, life after death, Last Day...
4. Why was it considerd necessary to convert the Jews and Christians to Islam, after all they were people of the Book? Why were the Jewish tribes of al-Nadir, Qurayzah, Khaybar etc put to the sword because they would not accept Islam (mentioned in the Quran)? Why was Jerusalem taken over politically? They were not living under oppression at all and did not need to be liberated from anyone. Jerusalem is holy to the Jews and Christians, just as Mecca and Medina are sacred to the Muslims because Mohammad lived in both places.
Anonymous (?Pamela Taylor), the logic of your position is getting quite difficult to follow because they are full of contradictions about what a religion means in the first place, and what actually happened in the history of Islam. It is true that Islam has a political system embedded in it, but it was not propagated as a political system. Religious conversion to Islam went hand in hand with the political conquest. Once political power was established, those who did not convert to Islam were given the freedom to follow their own religion but had to pay an extra tax. Social justice?
If I were a Muslim I would take offence at the implication that Islam is not about belief in God but only a worldly political system to fight oppression.
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 6, 2007 1:07 AM
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Could the 'Anonymous' in the post prior to the one by Concerned the Christian... please step forward and let the readers know which Quran he/she is referring to? The Quran I have read doesn't quite give me all those exact impressions mentioned. Once again I hear the words of Jesus during the Last Supper (about persecution etc), not the words in the Quran.
Wasn't it Winston Churchill who had the first sneaky suspicion that Islam might be more about politics than religion(mine: kind of like a Mohammedan Empire with the religious aspects borrowed from the Book, perhaps)? The message by Anonymous seems to confirm that view for it states that 'a society can live with unbelief but not with oppression!'
But as a political system, how does Islam compare with other political systems before it or after it? After all the mighty Babylon (present day Iraq) and the Persian Empires were all only a stone's throw away from Mecca at the time of Mohammad. How does the political system of Islam compare with the Egyptian, the Roman Empire where Caesar was considered a 'god,' the Christian Europe etc? As far as human rights go, how does the translation of Islam into a social structure compare with other religions when translated into social structures? We know that Judeo-Christianity didn't do too badly, considering that the Western civilisation has a pretty good concept about human rights, including rights of women. The persistent complaint is that there is no mention in the Quran about men and women being equals.
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 5, 2007 11:43 PM
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To all Muslims:
The Quran says, 'He has revealed to you the book with the Truth, confirming the Scriptures which preceeded it; for he has already revealed the Torah and the Gospel for the guidance of mankind, and the distinction between right and wrong.' (3:1-4)
I encourage all Muslims to read the Bible, which contains both the Old Testament (which includes the Torah and other books of the Jews exactly as they have them) and the New Testament which contains the Gospels, including the early history of the Christians and the letters written by the Apostles with instructions to the early Christians.
I encourage this for five reasons:
1. Many persons from the Bible are mentioned in the Quran: Adam, Moses, Abraham, David (and the Psalms), Jesus Son of Mary etc. Every religious aspect mentioned in the Quran can be traced back directly to the Bible - creation of the earth, angels, satan, Ressurrection, Judgement on the Last day, atonement for sins etc. etc. [There are some unique Islamic aspects of course, but it is mainly political including military, (reasons to go to war, how to deal with booty, prisoners etc), instructions on how to deal with non-Muslims and their objections, the role of women being among the most important.] It would be very instructive for Muslims to read the primary literature on their religious beliefs. The Bible is written in a chronological order which makes reading and understanding of the Bible persons mentioned in the Quran very easy.
2. Reading the Bible will not make a Muslim a Christian or Jew anymore than it made me a Muslim after reading the Quran. So if I can read the Quran and still remain a Christian, why shouldn't a Muslim not read the Bible and still remain a Muslim? Reading the Bible will increase the knowledge of Muslims not just about Judaism and Christianity, but also the Bible persons mentioned in the Quran. Reading the Quran increased my knowledge about Islam.
3. In order to enter into a genuine and respectful dialogue it is vitally important to know exactly what the other believes and respect the differences. It may not lead to one agreeing with the other on many points, but common ground can be looked for only if there is real knowledge.
4. It is my conviction that all Muslims and Christians of goodwill can find sufficient common ground to work together on issues that concern us as human beings.
5. There are 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide. Luckily Islam advocates approaching God directly without a mediator. So why should any Muslim wait for their Imams to read the Bible on their behalf to mediate genuine dialogue and understanding? Every Muslim is free to increase his/her knowledge by reading the Bible themselves and enter into a direct dialogue with Jews and Christians whereever they find themselves.
Every Muslim I have met so far in my life have been nice persons. I relate to them as human beings, and not based on their religious belief. I have not discussed Islam with Muslims except on this forum.
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 5, 2007 10:55 PM
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Pamela, Pamela, Pamela,
You noted:
"In Islam, the link between faith and good works is reiterated time and time again. A causal scan of the Qur'an will reveal dozens and dozens of reference to "those who believe and do good works." In Islam, faith without good works is meaningless and hollow, even hypocritical."
You should have said:
In Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and in modern philantropy, the link between good people and good works is reiterated time and time again. A casual scan of the koran, OT, NT, UNESCO digests, Peace Corps digests et al will reveal dozens and dozens of references to "those who are good and do good works". Religion may or may not be a factor.
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | December 5, 2007 3:59 PM
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Islam puts great deal of emphasis on equality and justice and emphasises dignity of all human beings. However, there are also universal moral values, which Islam lays emphasis on. The Qur'an gives us the concept of what it calls `amal salih which, translated into English, would mean 'good deeds'. But this translation does not adequately convey the meaning. The key word here is 'salih'. The root of the word is slh from which are derived many words with the meaning to be good, to repair, to mend, to improve, to be righteous, to be efficient, to be suitable, peace and friendliness, reconciliation etc.
Thus it will be seen that 'amal salih leads to a society which is reformed, good, efficient, suitable (to humanity), improved and above all which is peaceful and friendly to all human beings. The Qur'an uses the word 'amal salih' repeatedly. For a moral conduct, according to the Qur'an, 'amal salih' is very necessary. In the chapter 103 the Qur'an says, "By the time! Surely man is in loss, except those who believe and do good work ('amal salih'), and exhort one another to Truth and exhort one another to patience." Thus the key ethical concepts here in this chapter are 1) 'amal salih'; 2) to be truthful and 3) to observe patience. One can say that these are key elements of Islamic ethic. Man is surely in loss but those who perform good deeds are truthful and patient would not be. Thus for 'amal salih' truth and patience are highly necessary. One can say that this is most comprehensive statement of the Qur'anic ethic.
Here important question is why so much emphasis on 'patience'? Why truth and patience are made integral to each other? Because to be truthful is most arduous and challenging. One has to face great problems in order to be truthful. One will have to face opposition, even intrigues, from vested interests. It is, therefore, necessary, to be steadfast and patient and face all these challenges with fortitude and courage. All this requires great deal of patience. Hence the Qur'an lays so much emphasis on being steadfast and patient to follow the path of truth. Only a man of great patience can be truthful.
In Islamic system of morality, as in some other religions too, it is establishment of a moral society that is very fundamental. The emphasis of Islamic teachings is not personal salvation but establishment of a society that is just and free of zulm (oppression).
Islam basically lays emphasis on establishing a just society free of all forms of oppression. The Prophet also says that a society can live with unbelief (kufr) but not with oppression (zulm).
Posted by: Anonymous | December 5, 2007 1:16 PM
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Dear Ms Taylor
In reponse to your essay of Nov titled, 'Forgive as you would like to be forgiven,' I mentioned how I was surprised by the fact that on reading the Quran I found many of the passages almost exactly as in the Bible, including the verses you have used in this essay. In the introduction to the Quran I read that Mohammad had been impressed and influenced by the monotheism of Jews and Christians he had known in his days as a merchant traveller and had been influenced by the teachings in Christianity and Judaism. I also read that his first wife had a Coptic Christian in her household, which explains why the infancy narratives of Jesus figure in the Quran.
I have quoted the passages from the Bible which correspond with the passages you have quoted in my response to your essay in Nov.
The Catholic Church for centuries has followed the command to help the poor. Charity work for the poor has always formed a large part of the Catholic ministry, building schools and hospitals where thousands and thousands of nuns and priests over the centuries have dedicated their whole lives to the service of the poor (even if it meant living the "unholistic" life of celibacy in order to offer totally selfless service without the responsibility of families). It is hartening to hear of the Muslim doctors doing some charity work for the less fortunate in the US.
Maybe you'd like to encourage Muslim doctors also to serve their Muslim brothers and sisters for a while in war torn Muslim countries of Africa through the organisation, "Medicins sans Frontieres" (Doctors without Borders) although of course MSF volunteers do not act on behalf of any particular religion and yet serve even Muslims?
Soja John Thaikattil
Sydney, Australia
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 5, 2007 4:22 AM
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Please read also my response to Hadia Mubarak.
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 5, 2007 3:30 AM
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Please read my posts in response to Ms Taylor's essays in November, especially the last two.
Posted by: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia | December 5, 2007 3:28 AM
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ROSS WROTE:
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Can you show me the source for the above good deed of the prophet or did you make this up ?
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As a Muslim, lieing is one of the most major sins and so i dont like to make things up :)/
It is recorded in Sahih Al-Tirmidhi and is regarded as 'hasan sahih'- i.e it has a reliable chain of narration(s) (isnad). This is what i recall rom memory and since I do not atthe moment have access to the collection of Tirmidhi, hee is a link which also mentions the event:
http://www.theprophetofmercy.com/Who%20is%20the%20Prophet%20Muhammad.pdf
Regardless, of te event, its weird how you and Halozel quote things that Muslims do not regard to be islamic law. The story of Asma Bint Marwan has been regarded by many scholars as a f0orgery and it is only reported in texts written over 2 centuries after the supposed event. If I am not mistaken , it is first mentioned in Ibn-Ishaq;s biography of the Prophet and he makes it explicit that although he records this, he has no knowledge of the historical accuracy (i.e no isnad (chain of narration) to back up the claim- unlike how Sahih Hadiths are recorded). It is due to this that many scholars have regarded this so-called killing as a forgery. Here is a reference if you are interested:
http://www.answering-christianity.com/karim/forgeries_about_killing.htm
But again, you, Ross, may believe whatever you want to believe. I couldn't care less.
May God allow me, you and all of us to learn to respect one another's faith.
Peace:)