YOU tell me. The answer is yes.
Has Islam been betrayed by its fundamentalist leaders?
Take a look at these headlines along that line. First of all, from The Toronto Globe & Mail "The Two Faces of Islam: Islam Betrayed". Then these following two from BBC News "Iranians Protest against Muslim Clerics and Islamic Regime", and "Grand Sheik of Sunni Islam Condemns Suicide Attacks as Enemy of Islam". Then this from The London Daily Telegraph "Suicide Bombings are against Islam, says leading Iranian Cleric". Then from The Associated Press "Saudi Clerics Condemn Violence by Militants". And finally from ABC/Reuters Indonesia's President Denounces Muslim Militant Dogma".
Friends, murder in any religion is wrong. Jesus said we are to follow Him. Pray for those who offend you and for those who hurt you and love your enemies. Well, now these clerics are speaking up against Osama Bin Laden and the militants and saying, we shouldn't be killing. they're speaking up finally.
I received a book from a Doctor friend of mine written by a man they call the greatest theologian, the greatest scholar in Islam today — Sheik Muhammed Hisham Kabbani. He is the Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America. He has many titles. He has spoken for many organizations.
We have six pages of things this man has done speaking in the Muslim nations, speaking about love, speaking against the terrorists and their movement, and he wrote a book "The Approach of Armageddon?" and it is powerful and I read from it two weeks ago, but just one statement. Today I'm going to read a few more. Listen to this:
On page 113, 1400 years ago, the prophet described these ignorant leaders who would be asked about something that would give a wrong verdict. They are misguided and they misguide others and when the door of misguidance is opened, Satan comes in and what ensues is a disaster for the entire Muslim movement.
Oh, that is something.
Page 115 he says: when they get into their mosques and they start this kind of talk, have nothing to do with them.
Page 225: do you know that they believe in the virgin birth of
Jesus Christ and honor Mary? That they believe Jesus is one of their prophets who was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and that they believe He's coming again to destroy the antichrist during the tribulation hour? And that he will set up a kingdom of peace on the earth? Listen to this, the antichrist is a man. The prophet was informing us that in the last days, there would be someone who would deceive all of humanity.
Page 228: Allah, I seek refuge in you from the tribulation of the antichrist.
Then over to page 231: This is exciting: Jews are waiting for the Messiah. Christians are waiting for Jesus, and Muslims are waiting for both the Makdi and Jesus, all religions have described them as men coming to save the world.
Page 237: the return of Jesus Christ to earth from heaven is mentioned in many writings of the prophet Mohammed.
In conclusion, page 240, oh, man this is exciting -- Jesus will rule for 40 years and the earth will be full of peace and happiness.
You know, that's more than some Protestant denominations believe. They say there will be no Millennium. Here are Muslims saying that Christ will rule on earth.
There will be peace and happiness, but they only extend it for forty years where in Revelation it's for 1,000 years. Thank you, doctor, for sending me this book as a gift. It has ministered to my heart.
Now, hear me. We're to love one another. By this shall all men know you're my disciples because you have love one for another, John 13:35. From the lips of Jesus. And then 1 Corinthians 13:13, says now abideth faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. If you hate in any religion, 1 John 3:15, says, whosoever hates his brother is a murderer and no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
If only they added two more points: that Christ was God, the second member of the Trinity, and died for sinners they would be closer to what we believe.
Historical evidences, impartial logic, well versed references and all available circumstantial judgments can very well prove that—(a) Allah name of deity was pre-existed much before the arrival of Islam, (b) Pre-Islamic Pagan peoples worshipped Allah as their supreme deity (moon-god). Allah’s name existed in pre-Islamic Arab. In ancient Arab the Allah was considered to be the supreme God/deity (as Moon-God) and Arab Pagans worshipped Allah before Islam arrived.
Let us examine below some valid questions and answers :
Did the Pagan Arabs in pre-Islamic times worship 360 gods? Yes
Did the pagans Arabs worship the sun, moon and the stars? Yes
Did the Arabs built temples to the Moon-god? Yes
Did different Arab tribes give the Moon-god different names/titles? Yes
What were some of the names/titles? Sin, Hubul, Ilumquh, Al-ilah.
Was the title “al-ilah” (the god) used as the Moon-god? Yes
Was the word “Allah” derived from “al-ilah?” Yes
Was the pagan “Allah” a high god in a pantheon of deities? Yes.
Was he worshipped at the Kabah? Yes.
Was Allah only one of many Meccan gods? Yes
Did they place a statue of Hubul on top of the Kabah? Yes.
At that time was Hubul considered the Moon-god? Yes.
Was the Kabah thus the “house of the Moon-god”? Yes.
Did the name “Allah” eventually replace that of Hubul as the name of the Moon god? Yes.
Did they call the Kabah the “house of Allah”? Yes.
Were al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat called “the daughters of Allah”? Yes.
Yusuf Ali explains in fn. 5096, pg. 1445, that Lat, Uzza and Manat were known as “the daughters of God [Allah]”
Did the Qur’an at one point tell Muslims to worship al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat? Yes. In Surah 53:19-20.
Have those verses been “abrogated” out of the present Qur’an? Yes.
What were they called? “The Satanic Verses.”
The variable names (Sin, Hubul, llumquh, Al-ilah) of moon god were used by various tribes of pagan Arabs. Pagan god SIN was the name of Moon-god.
Allah is the name of the only God in Islam. Allah is a pre-Islamic name coming from the compound Arabic word Al-ilah which means the God, which is derived from al (the) ilah (deity). It was formerly the name of the chief god among the numerous idols (360) in the Kaaba in Mecca before Mohammed made them into monotheists. Today a Muslim is one who submits to the God Allah.
Islam means submission to (Allah), but originally it meant that strength which characterized a desert warrior who, even when faced with impossible odds, would fight to the death for his tribe. (Dr. M. Baravmann, The Spiritual Background of Early Islam, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1972)
Many believe the word “Allah” was derived from the mid- eastern word “el” which in Ugaritic, Caananite and Hebrew can mean a true or false God. This is not the case, “The source of this (Allah) goes back to pre-Muslim times. Allah is not a common name meaning “God” (or a “god”), and the Muslim must use another word or form if he wishes to indicate any other than his own peculiar deity.” (Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (ed. Hastings), I:326.)
According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, Allah corresponded to the Babylonian god Baal, and Arabs knew of him long before Mohammed worshipped him as the supreme God. Before Islam the Arabs recognized many gods and goddesses, each tribe had their own deity. There were also nature deities. Allah was the god of the local Quarish tribe, which was Mohammed's tribe before he invented Islam to lead his people out of their polytheism. Allah was then known as the Moon God, who had 3 daughters who were viewed as intercessors for the people into Allah. Their names were Al-at, Al-uzza, and Al-Manat, which were three goddesses; the first two daughters of Allah had names which were feminine forms of Allah. Hubal was the chief God of the Kaaba among the other 360 deities. Hubal was the chief God of the Kaaba among the other 360 deities. Hubal was a statue likeness of a man whose body was made of red precious stones whose arms were made of gold. (Reference Islam George Braswell Jr.)
“Historians like Vaqqidi have said Allah was actually the chief of the 360 gods being worshipped in Arabia at the time Mohammed rose to prominence. Ibn Al-Kalbi gave 27 names of pre-Islamic deities...Interestingly, not many Muslims want to accept that Allah was already being worshipped at the Ka'ba in Mecca by Arab pagans before Mohammed came. Some Muslims become angry when they are confronted with this fact. But history is not on their side. Pre-Islamic literature has proved this.” (G. J. O. Moshay, Who Is This Allah? (Dorchester House, Bucks, UK, 1994), pg. 138).
History has shown Mecca and the holy stone al-Kaaba were holy sites for pre-Islamic pagan Arabs. The Kaaba in Mecca was formerly named Beit-Allah meaning House of Allah. We are told it was first built in heaven. This is in contradistinction to what Moses was instructed to build, something overlooked by the Muslims in their reading of the Bible.
The Koran tells us that Mohammed drove the other idols away; he made one God now the only god and he was its messenger. He kept the Kaaba as a holy, sacred place and confirmed that the black stone had the power to take away man's sins. He obligated every believer to make a pilgrimage to the stone at least once in his lifetime. (Sura 22:26-37) No Old Testament saint ever had a pilgrimage to the Kaaba and kissed its black stone despite stories that Abraham and Ishmael restored it.
Mohammed used the name Allah which was formerly the name of a specific idol without ever distinguishing it from the idol the Meccan’s were already worshipping. This was a modification of their former worship but never a complete break. He never did say for the people to stop their worship of the wrong Allah, for the right one. It can still be monotheism and not be the God of the Bible
Al-Lat which is a T at the end of the name of Allah, was represented by a square stone whose major sanctuary was in the city of Taif. In the sanctuary was a black stone in the town of Qudayd between Mecca and Medina. She was the goddess of fate, a female counterpart of Allah. Al-uzza was the goddess of east Mecca. It has been said there were human sacrifices made to her and Islamic tradition tells of a story of Mohammed’s grandfather almost sacrificing his son the father of Mohammed to her. What prevented this was his seeking counsel from a fortune teller which told him to ransom his son with one hundred camels. Muslims look to this as the will of Allah to bring Mohammed into existence. (Reference Muhammad husain haykal, Hayat mohammed)
“The name Allah, as the Qur'an itself is witness, was well known in pre-Islamic Arabia. Indeed, both it and its feminine form, Allat, are found not infrequently among the theophorous names in inscriptions from North Africa.” (Arthur Jeffrey, ed., Islam: Muhammad and His Religion (1958), p. 85.)
The literal name of Mohammed's father in Arabic is Abd Allah. His uncle's name Obred Allah. These names show the devotion of Mohammed's families pagan roots, and also prove that Allah was part of a polytheistic system of worship before Allah was made the supreme and only god from the other God's. This should be proof to the pre- Islamic root of the name of Allah to the Muslim. Remember they were pagans who used this name. He kept his family name above all the other names. Mohammad had good intentions in removing the people from their polytheistic worship however he did not go far enough in his reform.
Mecca was the place where the idol Allah was located, so the people would face in that direction when they prayed. Prior to Islam the people would pray 5 times a day facing Mecca (The Encyclopedia of Islam p.303) Prior to Islam's beginning each Arab tribe used Allah to refer to its own particular high god. This is why Hubal, the Moon god, (known by other names) was the central focus of prayer at the Kaabah and people prayed to Hubal and they used the name Allah. The crescent moon was the symbol of the moon God Allah (Hubal) and is still used as a symbol of Islam today (although they have changed the meaning to be -from Mecca to the moon Islam will spread). Today there is hardly a Muslim that knows its ancient origin. History records it as an ancient pagan fertility symbol that is found throughout the Middle East. Mohammed smashed all the idols that led the people into idolatry but the black stone was kept which Muslims continue to kiss today. This was another practice that preceded Mohammad.
Mohammed made Allah into a single being who, unlike the Bible's God who is called Father, has no Son. Because of this portrayal, there is no fellowship or love among the godhead before God created man. Creation and man therefore become a necessity for God to express His attributes or characteristic's. This God has never revealed Himself to man but revealed only His will. This God is so removed from man that it is impossible to know him in a personal way, he relates to man only through his will and law. It is a religion of obedience no different than any other.
To the Muslim God is strictly singular, all seeing, all hearing, almighty, He is the first and the last. But what differs is that he has no Son and he cannot be called Father who relates to His son in a unique way (Son and Father does not mean offspring in historic Christianity).
Of the 99 names of God in Islam, not one is “Father” or has a personal connotation. The difference is not to be overlooked. The God of the Bible is personal and wants an ongoing friendship with each of us. Islam portrays God as one who expects us to do our religious duty or He angers. There are rules to be obeyed and one can only please him but not know him personally. No Muslim would ever consider being able to have a personal relationship with him, by talking to him, and loving him. Jesus instead taught Christians to pray “our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). Throughout the Old Testament God was real to the prophets who had him personally speak to them and they to him. “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?” (Mal 2:10)
In Islam some state that if one memorizes the 99 names of Allah and repeats them he will get into paradise because they give the believer power, making them conscious of God. Neither the Koran nor the Hadith speak of these names in such a way. The Suras in the Koran begin with “In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful. Yet in practice Islam's god is portrayed as stern, harsh, having compassion on those who do right and deals severely with those who do not.
To a Muslim the God of the Bible who is described as triune is offensive and pagan, reminding them of what Mohammed destroyed. This is recorded in their Qu'ran. They interpret this as 3 separate Gods and not a unified one. “ They are unbelievers who say God is a third of three. No God is there but one God.” While Muslims affirm Jesus' virgin conception, they deny He had any pre-existence that would imply He is God. To call a prophet God is the ultimate in blasphemy to them. “ Verily God will not forgive the union of other gods with himself.” This is a true statement; however if Jesus is who He said He is, the true God, then it is they who are in union with another than the true God.
Muslims claim that the name Allah can be found in the Bible. This is no different than what the Jehovah's Witnesses do for the name Jehovah. Allah is not called Yahweh once in the Koran but neither is Yahweh called Allah in the Bible. So they can't be the same God. Neither is the word Elohim which is applied to Yahweh over 2,500 times in the Bible used in the Koran. Neither is he called I Am, which He said to Moses would be His name forever.
The God of the Bible identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacobs name is later changed to the name Israel, being the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. The God of the Bible calls Jerusalem the city of David and that the Messiah would descend from his lineage. Neither does the God of the Bible does not mention Mecca or Medina but instead Jerusalem 800 times. Yet Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran, which the Muslim claims as there own.
The God in the Bible is called the God of the Jews, an impossibility with Allah. They are called his chosen people, but they are not Allah's chosen. Allah commands the Muslim to not take the Jews or Christians as friends, Sura.5:51 disdains the Jews. Mohammed said, “The last hour will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims kill them.” (Mishkat Al Masabih Sh.M. Ashraf pp.147, 721, 810-11, 1130). So how could Israel inherit the land or any of God's promises from Allah, if he is their God. Clearly he is not the same God of the Bible.
Muslims trying to prove their position from the Bible point to the Old Testament with the word alleluyah, interpreting the first portion of the word alle as Allah. The word [H]alleluyah is not a compound Hebrew word. It is not two words but a singular word meaning praise to Yahweh. (alle- praise, lu-to, yah-Yaweh). The beginning of the word is Hallel meaning praise. This has nothing to do with an Allah, and the last syllable of the word is a reference to Yahweh the God of the Bible, this is hardly any evidence for their assertions. They are also confusing Aramaic with Arabic. This is not unusual, as Muslims will often take words and meanings set in another language and culture and adopt them for proof of their own book or religion.
This word play only gets more ludicrous as they try to have Jesus saying the name of their God. When Jesus was on the cross they claim when he cried out Eli, Eli it was really is Allah, Allah. The New Testament was written in Greek, however it points us to him speaking the Aramaic language, not Arabic. Jesus was quoting Psalm 22:1 which read in full says, Eli, Eli Sabbathani “My God, My God why have you forsaken me.” What makes even less sense for this position is the fact that they don't believe that it was Jesus on the cross in the first place, but that another took His place. Some think it was Judas; so it was Judas crying out Allah, Allah?
The first Arabic translation of the Bible came into existence about the 9th century. Nowhere is the name of Allah found in the Old or New Testament. When Islam became the dominant political force people were coerced to use the name Allah for God or suffer the consequences from the hands of militant Muslims. Because of Islam's dominance Allah became the common name of God. The translators of the Bible gave in to the religious pressures and substituted Allah for Yahweh in the Arabic Bibles, but this is not the name of the God of the Hebrews, nor of the creator who made heaven and earth because of its source in paganism. His nature and attributes have only a few basic similarities and many more differences. And the most important point is that all through the Qu'ran it says Allah has no son.
HOLINESS
God's vs. Allah's
Islam claims that their "Allah" is the same god as the God of the Holy Bible (Scripture).
Let's find out by comparing the two, particularly where HOLINESS is concerned:
Keyword: "Holy"
Quran = 6
Scripture = 611
Keyword: "Holiness"
Quran = 3 (all in "unholiness")
Scripture = 43
Keyword: "Hallowed"
Quran = 0
Scripture = 22
In trying to compare God's TRUE Holiness with Allah's, one problem quickly becomes evident:
Allah DOESN'T HAVE ANY!
.That's right, there is not much at all in the Quran to compare with; there is no contest really - Allah seems to be bankrupt where holiness is concerned. On the other hand, God has plenty, and has clearly stated and shown HIS true HOLINESS. Since Allah can't seem to make even the smallest showing for himself, I'll go on without him, and expound on God's true Holiness. From the outset, the Quran doesn't hold much promise at all for showing Allah's "holiness".
The absolute purity of Holiness of God Almighty ("YHWH"), is a concept that stands head and shoulders above the little god Muhammad hallucinated into his own image. Allah and his little kingdom are based on HUMAN LUSTS, and bear no likeness or resemblance to God's character and Kingdom. God is far above the false god of Islam, and HIS true Holiness shows it.
Source(s):
In Islam, what is the greatest act of love Allah has ever accomplished? I asked this question of several Muslims and I got similar answers: he forgave us of our sins; he gave us families and provisions; he showed us mercy; he gave us the Qur'an. The answers didn't vary much beyond these responses. I found them lacking.
Most Muslims believe that the Bible is not trustworthy, that it has been corrupted, that the Injeel (gospel) of Jesus has been lost, and the Qur'an restores God's truth to mankind. But, that is another subject to be debated.
In John 15:13 Jesus said, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay his life down for his friend.” I have the Nestle Aland Greek New Testament with the textual apparatus is included in it. The textual apparatus is the complete listing (per verse) of any textual variants that occur in any of the ancient New Testament manuscripts. Therefore, it is a very easy thing to go to John 15:13 and look at the textual evidence to see if there are any manuscripts at all, anywhere that have any variation on that verse. There are none. In other words, there is not a single manuscript of the more than 25,000 manuscripts of the NT that have any derivation on that verse. Every single one of them says the exact same thing. I will, therefore, conclude that it is an authentic and reliable saying of Jesus.
Again, Jesus said, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay his life down for his friend.” According to Jesus, the greatest act of love is to sacrifice one’s life for another. This means that giving one’s life for another is a greater act of love than providing food for him, giving him a family, being nice to him, or honest, or helpful, or whatever. Self-sacrifice, to the point of death, is the very greatest act of love.
Has Allah performed the greatest act of love? The answer is no. Allah has not sacrificed himself at all. Allah has not died for another. Allah has not loved us to the point of death.
In Christianity, Jesus, who is God in flesh (John 1:1, 14), laid His life down for us. Jesus performed the greatest act of love.
If Islam is true...
If Islam is true and Allah is the true God, then Jesus, a creation (according to Islam) has performed a greater act of love than Allah (according to the Bible). A mere man has outdone Allah in love and sacrifice. But, of course, Islam denies that Jesus ever died. They then say that Jesus has not done the greatest act of love. Their denial does not change the fact that Jesus died on the cross as is amply attested to by the eyewitnesses who wrote the gospel. Besides, whether or not the Muslim believes Jesus died on the cross does not change the fact that Jesus told us what the greatest act of love was -- and Allah has not done it. Yet, according to Christianity He has. Since Muslims want Christians to adopt Islam, they are asking us Christian to give up our Lord who has performed the greatest act of love on our behalf. Why would we want to do that?
If Christianity is true, then God has performed the greatest act of love. If Islam is true, then God hasn't. Which "god," then is more loving, the one who speaks of love, or the one who acts out love?
I have found no where in the Qur'an where it says that Allah is love. The Qur'an says that Allah loves people, but it never says that Allah is love. By contrast, the Bible clearly tells us that God is love. "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him," (1 John 4:16).
Who does God love?
Does God love all? In Islam, the answer is no. In Christianity, the answer is yes. Consider the following verses from the Qur'an.
"Whoever is an enemy to Allah and His angels and messengers, to Gabriel and Michael,- Lo! Allah is an enemy to those who reject Faith," (2:98, Trans. Yusuf Ali)
"Say: Obey Allah and the Messenger; but if they turn back, then surely Allah does not love the unbelievers," 3:32, Trans. Shakir).
Consider the following verses from the Bible
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life," (John 3:16).
"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you 45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same? 47 "And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt. 5:43-48).
We can easily see the huge difference between the God of Islam and the God of the Bible. In Islam, God does not love all people. In the Bible, God does love all people. In Islam, Allah did not die for the sins of those who were not his. In the Bible, God did do that. In Islam, Allah has not performed the greatest act of love. In the Bible, God did exactly that.
My question to the Muslims is, "What makes you think that I want to give up my Lord who loves me so much that He would die for me, and did, for a god who has not and cannot perform the greatest act of love?
2006-06-21 00:06:08
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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