Author Archives: Ijaz Ahmad

A Clear Conscience?

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Recently my friend and colleague, Br. Aqil Onque debated Jonathan McLatchie on the Trinity Channel – yes, the same channel that his mentor Sam Shamoun accused of stealing money and misappropriating funds:

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Sam indicated that the Trinity channel was using donations to “fatten their pocket,” that is taking donations meant for evangelizing and managing the station, and instead using the money for their personal gain, i.e. theft. Yet, we find Jonathan openly promoting and working with the station. The question needs to be asked, did Sam Shamoun openly lie about his own Christian brothers and sisters at the Trinity channel, or is Jonathan colluding with Christians involved in fraud and theft? For those interested in inter-faith dialogue, the question of misusing religion for monetary gain or popularity seriously brings into doubt the actions of many Christian speakers, preachers and polemicists. As a Muslim, how can I trust what Sam Shamoun has to say if he is willing to fabricate claims about his own brothers and sisters in faith, or how can I trust someone who openly promotes a platform that engages in fraud and theft? Why Jonathan would knowingly promote a platform that engages in financial impropriety is a question he would have to answer himself.

Pursuant to this, I have to say that I am quite disappointed in the immaturity spouting from the Jonathan camp following his debate with Br. Aqil. I was shocked to see that both during and immediately following the debate, memes mocking and comments insulting Br. Aqil were shared to and posted on Jonathan’s Facebook profile. There is a stark difference between critiquing your opponent and openly insulting, mocking and ridiculing your opponent. While Jonathan himself did not post the offending comments or memes (photos), he did “like” them and did not remove them, nor did he caution his camp from such immature behaviour. This is surprising to me, because in the not so distant past, offensive memes ridiculing Jonathan were being shared on social media and I endeavoured quite greatly to not only stop the memes from being spread, but I also directly contacted Jonathan and expressed my disappointment and contempt with such behaviour from my Muslim brothers and sisters. To see that Jonathan would not only condone but engage in behaviour he himself found quite upsetting a month or two ago, is hypocritical to say the least.

In the end, we have to ask, do integrity, decency and maturity count for anything anymore?

and God knows best.

Terrorism in the Bible – Is the Godhead of the Bible Morally Upright?

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Most Christians either completely gloss over or ignore the violence of the Old Testament. Such an apologetic is usually framed in the form of contextualising this violence as being for a specific period and people. We’re speaking about genocide, mass rape, mass torture, and horrendous acts of this nature. When compared with the New Testament, it is difficult to reconcile the two versions of God being presented to us. Our most read article also inspects some of these stories of the Old Testament.

The Old Testament contains the single most violent passage among any scripture in world history:

However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. – Deuteronomy 20:16.

Rivaled by none, the scale of sheer violence and bloodshed in the Bible is not only disturbing, it is also extremely difficult to accept that this is the God that Christians want us to build a relationship with. Concerning the apologetic that such violence is meant for a specific place and time, this betrays the Bible’s teachings itself. To begin with, the Bible teaches that all of God’s laws are eternal:

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. – Psalm 119:160.

Pursuant to this belief, of the 613 commandments given in the Old Testament, several of them are to act upon the rules of Deuteronomy Chapter 20. This includes Deuteronomy 20:16. Some Christians in reading this chapter may state that it mentions Israel a number of times so it must only refer to the Children of Israel, however this is incorrect as the Church today is considered to be partakers in Israel, as is explained by one popular Christian ministry (emphasis mines):

Finally, Galatians 3:29 says, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” In other words, in Christ, believers are counted righteous by faith in the same way that Abraham was (Galatians 3:6-8). If we are in Christ, then we are partakers of the blessing of Israel and all nations in the redemptive work of Christ. Believers become the spiritual descendants of Abraham. Believers do not become physical Jews, but they may enjoy the same type of blessings and privileges as the Jews.

and God knows best.

Toronto Debates Release

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In August of this year I had the pleasure of debating my longtime colleague and friend, Luis Dizon in Toronto, Canada. Both events were held at the TARIC Islamic Center, moderated by Br. Sadat Anwar and recorded by Sr. Tabasum. The topics debated focused on the nexus which brings Muslims and Christians together to this very day, the status of the New Testament and Islam’s view of the Bible. Islam’s relationship with the Ahl al Kitab (the People of the Book) is one filled with centuries of fruitful discussion and dialogue, and with this tradition behind us, both myself and Luis decided to debate these core topics.

Debate 1: “Is the New Testament the Word of God?”

Date: Friday 12th August, 2016.
Debaters: Br. Ijaz Ahmad vs J. Luis Dizon.

Debate #2: “What Do the Qur’an and Islamic Tradition Say About the Bible?”

Date: Saturday 13th August, 2016.
Debaters: Br. Ijaz Ahmad vs J. Luis Dizon.

I sincerely pray that these debates can lead many to enlightenment and to the truth of Islam. Ameen.

and Allah knows best.

Missionary Mishap: Origin Stories of the Disciples

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The origin stories of the disciples is perhaps some of the most contentious passages of the New Testament Gospels. Earlier today I had a conversation with Samuel Green on this very topic, which led to the conversation below:

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One Gospel – Matthew indicates that Jesus initially meets Peter and Andrew beside the Sea of Galilee casting their nets. John 1 disagrees and has Andrew go fetch Peter, bring him to Jesus and there they meet with Jesus near the River Jordan. One version has Jesus going to them (Sea of Galilee), the other has them coming to Jesus (River Jordan). Quite the contradiction!

and God knows best.

Advice for Nabeel, the Muslim & Christian Communities

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Br. Abu Ayoub, Br. Aqil and myself have a solemn discussion on the news regarding Nabeel Qureishi’s cancer. We offer advice, help and prayers for everyone involved. One of the most prominent teachings in Islam focuses on mercy, and for this I reference the hadith of Rahma (mercy):

“The merciful are shown mercy by Ar-Rahman. Be merciful on the earth, and you will be shown mercy from Who is above the heavens.” – Tirmidhi.

and Allah knows best.

Nabeel Qureishi has Cancer

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Earlier today, Nabeel Qureishi posted on Facebook that he had advanced stomach cancer. This is quite unfortunate news. To the Muslim community, I simply ask that you pray for his healing and guidance, he has an opportunity to come closer to the truth and we need to support him during this time.

To Nabeel,

I know that being diagnosed with an illness with a grim prognosis, turns your life upside down. It might take a few days, a few weeks, or in my case, a few years to come to understand what you’ve been diagnosed with and what treatment options you have. Whatever plans you had for the future are most certainly inconceivable now, and I know that the urgency and immediacy of all these changes to your life can be overwhelming and most certainly physiologically draining.

I know that you must be suffering from a great deal of pain and sickness. On an array of medications that turns daily life into one big blur, where you find yourself having to seclude yourself from a public lifestyle. The weight of this on your new family must be excruciating and seeing them suffer because you’re suffering must be mentally tortuous.

He knows, Nabeel. Trust in the plan of God. At one point in your life you had a transition that led you to live a drastically different lifestyle and to take a path you had never imagined. Sadly, you are now facing a much more difficult transition with a very uncertain end. Pray to God during this trying time and seek His rahma (mercy), seek His rizq (provision/ sustenance), and most importantly seek His salam (peace). You’ve been through a difficult and life changing transition before, with God all things are possible, so hold on tight to the rope of God, rely on Him, trust in His plan and seek Him with ikhlas (sincerity) through sabr (patience).

And whoever fears Allah – He will make for him a way out. And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent. – Qur’an 65:2-3.

Your Brother from Adam (peace be upon him),
Br. Ijaz Ahmad.

Note to Muslims: Try to lift Nabeel up during this time, don’t mock him as some have done with respect to the passing of Shaykh Deedat. Rise above the negativity and pray for his healing and guidance.

and Allah knows best.

Qur’an says “Sun Setting in Muddy Water,” claim Refuted – By Br. Ijaz and Br. Abu Ayoub

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In this in-depth video, myself and Br. Abu Ayoub examine the claim that Qur’an in Surah  18:83-86 literally says the sun is “setting in a spring of muddy water.” We walk through the phenomenological statements the Bible also uses in respect to the sun rising and setting, usually known as semitisms which is a form of language behaviour or syntax in the Semitic languages. In the end, we see that the Arabic and Hebrew languages use many language devices that are not meant to be interpreted hyper-literally and which use hyperbole to express some geographical boundary.

and God knows best.

Missionary Mishap: Steven Tilley & Vladmir Susic

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It’s that time of the day again! Steven and Vladmir are friends of Sam Shamoun and Jonathan McLatchie. Most people would remember Vladmir from the several hour videos that him and Jonathan have made for YouTube. In the below discussion, Steven Tilley, a Christian missionary, posts a photo from a book claiming that this shows the Qur’an has been “tampered with”. Changes in the way vowels have been represented is not tampering, but the development of the written text to make it easier to read, in this case, known as orthography. A common example is of “sonne” and “son” (others include “mi” and “my”, “saule” and “soul”, “gode” and “good)”, the way the written language represents the word has changed, but it carries the same pronunciation and the same meaning. Nothing more, nothing less. So, I point this out to Steven. He immediately replies that I’m wrong. Then his friend and colleague, Vladmir comes along to say that I’ll be ripped to shreds by Steven on this topic.

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I didn’t recognize the book at first, so I asked him what the name of it was. After a minute of posting that question, I remembered the name and found the book that the photo was taken of. Steven never bothered to let us know the name of the book, and it is most likely he’d never do that for a very good reason. That reason? The very photo he posted was taken from the chapter on….you guessed it…..orthography!

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So what does Steven decide to do when he’s been caught lying? Well he apologized, corrected himself and his friend Vladmir did the same. Sorry, I got that wrong, Steven did none of those things and decided to do the following:

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After being caught lying, and having quoted a paragraph from the book by Keith Small, literally mentioning the word, “orthographic”, he decides to delete the entire post and pretend like it never happened. Fortunately for Steven and Vladmir, I enjoy conversations like these and knowing that they are influenced by the characters of Sam Shamoun and Jonathan McLatchie, they’d never correct themselves. This once again shows that these missionaries know very little about the topics they “discuss” and it is more about pride than it is about knowing the truth.

and God knows best!

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