Category Archives: Muslim and Non-Muslim Dialogue

[Updated] Upcoming Short Talk: Allaah’s Love – Everyone is Special

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Update: The talk was well attended by both Christians and Muslims, interesting questions were raised and the question and answer session was most certainly a blast. I’ve received enough requests to repeat the talk as some would like to hear it again, so I’d try to add some more material to it inshaAllaah. Will keep our viewers posted on the latest updates. More talks to come soon in the AC Room. 

This Friday, the 1st of February 2013 I’ll be giving a short talk, maybe 20 – 30 minutes on the mercy, love, and compassion of Allaah ta ‘ala. Theological and Philosophical arguments will be addressed, God willing. Please see the below poster for details:

Allah_s Love

All are invited: Muslim, Non-Muslim, Jews, Christians, haters, even Sam Shamoun (and hey, we won’t dot you). You can use World Time Buddy to check the time and if not, we’ll have it uploaded to the website soon.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

CL Edwards Insults and Attacks the Wrong Muslim

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

CL Edwards is known for his outrageous comments for the purpose of attention getting. Earlier this week he seems to have gotten a bit of ‘Ijaz – fever’ and has been making some weird and unusual posts about me, especially in places where I am most certainly not involved in the least. One such example is a post by Br. Qmark concerning Christianity and Tawhid al Asma wa Sifat. CL found issue with this post and decided to ‘refute’ it, yet for some reason the post is littered with references to me, Br. Ijaz, when in fact I am not the author of the article. This leads me to question CL’s motives, reasoning and literacy, on the same note it does allow me to believe that he created that post with the intention to berate and attack me. Here’s the post in question. Here’s Br. Qmark’s post. With the posts having been provided, let’s now see how many times CL’s obsessive rant mentions me by name and reference:

  1. Ijaz Ahmad(A Muslim youth who holds no ijazah/endorsement/ authorization/ordination in any Islamic science, nor has he had any formal education in Christian studies of any sort)
  2. There are more relevant verses he could have quoted.
  3. CC is known to be very sloppy when it comes to making implications from quotes.
  4. CC is also known for having no care for quoting the Bible…
  5. CC says, “No wonder to prove….
  6. He go’s on to cite a portion of a article…
  7. CC attempts to summarize…
  8. CC doesn’t believe Keith meant to say….
  9. CC believes Keith really meant to say….
  10. CC instead of addressing….
  11. CC then says the following….
  12. Ijaz then says “On the same reasoning….
  13. CC’s admin Ijaz does such things constantly….
  14. Ijaz then lists many things….
  15. ….doesn’t teach the humanization of God in the manner Ijaz accuses….
  16. CC further exposes his lack of knowledge….
  17. Again CC ignores the actual topic of the passage….
  18. ….nor what the verse he quoted is addressing….
  19. He then go’s on to quote….
  20. Ijaz then puts on his Dan Brown hat….
  21. Then laughably Ijaz proceeds to….
  22. Ijaz then says….
  23. He then says….
  24. Ijaz says “Trinitarians would easily….
  25. The real issue clearly is Ijaz’s psychological hang ups about the incarnation.

Come on CL, try to be a respectful adult, before you attack someone, I urge you to read properly. In respect to CL’s rant, Br. Qmark does have a reply which would be posted shortly.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Culture of Pornography

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

The Telegraph (UK – News) posted a very disturbing article recently concerning the ‘culture of porn’ in the world among the youth today. According to the report, it states:

“Never before has girlhood been under such a sustained assault – from ads, alcohol marketing, girls’ magazines, sexually explicit TV programmes and the hard pornography that is regularly accessed in so many teenager’s bedrooms,” says the psychologist Steve Biddulph, currently touring the country to promote a book called Raising Girls.

It is a follow-up to his best-seller Raising Boys – and they are under pressure too, being led to believe that girls will look and behave like porn stars. Our children are becoming victims of pornification.

I suggest that a more thorough read of the article is taken to grasp the full implications of the epidemic. Many usually condemn Islam for its strict laws on gender segregation, but as it turns out, Christian majority nations like the UK and the US are now facing serious issues with a porn enforced cultural heritage for their youth populations. The Qur’aan says concerning women:

“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of hands or one eye or dress like veil, gloves, headcover, apron), and to draw their veils all over Juyoobihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms) and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband’s fathers, or their sons, or their husband’s sons, or their brothers or their brother’s sons, or their sister’s sons, or their (Muslim) women (i.e. their sisters in Islam), or the (female) slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who have no sense of feminine sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allaah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful” – [al-Noor 24:31]

“And as for women past childbearing who do not expect wedlock, it is no sin on them if they discard their (outer) clothing in such a way as not to show their adornment. But to refrain (i.e. not to discard their outer clothing) is better for them. And Allaah is All‑Hearer, All‑Knower” – [al-Noor 24:60]

Thus, Islam is clear on gender segregation and the importance of both men and women having to shield their bodies from one another. Unfortunately for Christians, there is no such verse or commandment in the New Testament concerning the hijab (covering) of women.  However, that would be a lie, as there is such a verse:

“But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.” – 1 Corinthians 11:5.

The famed Christian commentary, Barne’s Notes on the Bible explicitly states that this verse refers to the wearing of the hijab:

“With her head uncovered – That is, with the veil removed which she usually wore. It would seem from this that the women removed their veils, and wore their hair disheveled, when they pretended to be under the influence of divine inspiration. This was the case with the pagan priestesses; and in so doing, the Christian women imitated them. On this account, if on no other, Paul declares the impropriety of this conduct. It was, besides, a custom among ancient females, and one that was strictly enjoined by the traditional laws of the Jews, that a woman should not appear in public unless she were veiled. See this proved by Lightfoot in loco.”

Yet Christians are vehemently opposed to the hijab. So traumatic is the concept of wearing a hijab that when Mrs. Obama (the first lady) donned one, David Wood of the Answering Muslims blog blew a fuse and attacked her:

“Since the First Lady of the free world is now wearing a hijab so as not to offend Muslims, I’m wondering if she’s willing to go even further. Some Muslims will be offended unless Mrs. Obama wears a full burka, so she should probably order one if she doesn’t already have one. She’d better make sure she lowers her gaze in the presence of men, and she’d better not object to sex with Barack, since he’s now free to beat her if she gets out of line. Of course, she should now be fine with Barack marrying three other women (or three prepubescent girls), since Islam allows this. Someone should probably inform her that she is now officially half as intelligent as a man.”

Observe the rationale of David Wood’s perverted and sadistic mind. He links the hijab with women’s abuse and sex with prepubescent girls (both of which the Qur’aan and Islam outlaw). If David Wood is a conservative Christian as he claims to be, then shouldn’t he rejoice at the fact that Biblical belief about the hijab is being followed? In fact, David’s reaction is in line with statistics coming out of America’s Bible Belt. As it turns out, David is not the only Christian who detests when women have modesty:

While Texas may be perceived as a highly religious and conservative stronghold, deep in the heart of the Bible Belt, it’s beat out only by California, and Florida is a close 3rd in the number of adults actively looking for sex on the internet.

Are we making this up? Now way!

These revealing numbers are reported by one of the largest adult web sites on the internet. The numbers will really surprise you…

If you don’t already know, Adult Friend Finder is the largest sex and swinger personals web site on the internet today with 22,319,717 members. That’s almost identical to the population of Texas which is 23,507,783. Hmmm… That’s a lot of people on just this one website.

What is a sex and swinger personals web site? Well, it’s basically a dating site for singles and couples looking for sex. What many people don’t realize is that Adult Friend Finder gets more visitors every day than Match.com and eHarmony put together!

That’s no big surprise. But what IS a surprise is that Texas is ranked #2 in the number of subscribers to this web site.

Here is the state by state breakdown of the top sex enthusiasts in the U.S., according to Adult Friend Finder:

* California – 1.2 million (That’s 3.3% of the state population)
* Texas – 800,000 (That’s 3.4% of the state population)
* Florida – 743,000 (That’s 4.1% of the state population)
* New York – 660,000 (That’s 3.4% of the state population)
* Illinois – 429,000 (That’s 3.3% of the state population)

Wow, what’s truly amazing here is that Texas – the heart of the Bible Belt – is #2 in all of the U.S. with a larger percentage of the population subscribing than California!

Is Texas shedding it’s ultra conservative facade? Or will the truth remain buried behind closed doors with faceless pictures on the top sex personals sites like Adult Friend Finder? – Source.

Therefore, the conclusion is clear. While Islam calls for morality and shuns pornography (which degrades both men and women), the team at Answering Muslims and at Answering Islam both have a significant issue with women covering themselves. It’s very interesting to note that while Islam calls to modesty and to chastity, our opponents call for more nudity and thus have created a culture of pornography. This habit of claiming that the hijab oppresses and thus women should be free to ‘uncover’ themselves has caused such a ideology to be indoctrinated into the youth of Christian majority nations that we’ve reached the point where there is a ‘culture of pornography’. Children are filming sex acts amongst themselves in growing numbers, many of them being forced by their peers. Yet, while this is ongoing, morally bankrupt Christians such as Robert Spence, David Wood and Sam Shamoun rather attack the one religion that wants to save their kids from becoming victims of a culture of sexual abuse which they themselves encourage.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Thanking Sam Shamoun for Our ‘Discussion’.

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

The Noble and Blessed Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) narrated the follow authentic ahadith:

“Nothing is weightier on the Scale of Deeds than one’s good manners.” (Al-Bukhari)

“The Prophet of Allah was never obscene or coarse. Rather, he used to tell us that the best among us were those with the best manners.” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim & At-Tirmidhi)

These words have never been more applicable to me, than today after my discussion with Sam Shamoun. To be quite honest I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of messages that Calling Christians has received since the ‘discussion’ was published. A recurring trend continues to be noticed from among the Muslims and Christians in their numerous messages. As it would seem, despite Sam’s coarse and abusive statements, both Muslims and Christians alike found my behaviour to be admirable in light of what Sam was doing. I didn’t expect to be commended on something as basic as my decorum, but it really did awaken me to the reality of people’s humanity. Lest some say I am boasting of myself, I’d like to quote a message from a Christian brother on Paltalk, his native language is not English so please excuse his spelling:

“<<(01/30/13 3:46 PM EST)>> Hey Ijaz, I saw a videoclip posted by Sam shamoun on the topic of what exactly is the mosque spoken of in surah al isra verse 1. What i found to be very strange is this: He at one point asked you, in order to further strenghten his argument regarding the uncerinatiy of the verses in the quran, how can a reader of the quran know if Surah 17:1 is adressed to Muhammed. This was a very weak argument since when the quran is read in its overall context it becomes very clear that Muhammed is the one who is receiving the verses of the quran. This also makes sense in light of another verse in the quran that says it was revealed pice by pice, meaning more and more information will be disclosed as the revelation progresses”

“<<(01/30/13 4:18 PM EST)>> And one more thing ijaz, i noticed you kept yourself calm, you didn’t shout or became angry, i really admire you for that “

Due to Sam’s petulant and rabid tirade, I unconsciously demonstrated Islamic adab (manners and etiquette) by being patient, relaxed, calm, level headed despite being bullied and verbally assaulted by Sam Shamoun. I most certainly didn’t think that my behaviour would have impacted people to the extent it did, but I’m really elated to see that Christians who admire Sam have had their eyes opened and their hearts exposed to the harsh reality of Sam’s lowly character. Not only was this Christian able to refute Sam’s position, but they even had the self respect to commend me on my decorum. This is most certainly a sincere Christian brother. Therefore, even though Sam believed he was doing a service by insulting me and screaming at me, the reality of the situation is that Christians themselves have been given a prime example of how Islam teaches a Muslim to behave and how Christianity teaches a Christian to behave (after all, Sam claimed his behaviour was Biblically based).

As of this point, I can do nothing but express thanks to Sam Shamoun for opening the eyes of his congregation to the truth of Islam. I really can’t express just how much Sam is doing to further the cause of Islamic da’wah, May Allaah ta ‘ala continue to use Sam Shamoun to guide Christians to Islam, Ameen.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Did Paul Know he was Writing Scripture?

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

James White concedes that Paul had no idea that his words would eventually become to be seen and believed to be scripture. He says and I quote, “No, I don’t think Paul had to, be able to go when he was done writing Romans and he goes ooh, I definitely felt that one, it’s going into the canon“. Therefore according to James White, he merely repeats what Islamic scholarship has been saying for centuries, if Paul did not consider his own work to be scripture, why should we? Check out the video as assembled by Br. Muslim By Choice that takes James White to task over his contradicting position:

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Sam Shamoun vs Ijaz Ahmad

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Sam Shamoun tries to bully Br. Ijaz in a 30 minute ‘discussion’, where Sam speaks for 25+ minutes and Br. Ijaz only for 3 minutes. He mocked, cursed, abused, taunted, insulted, Br. Ijaz, yet the Br. kept his calm, remained collected, refuted all of Sam’s arguments and soundly debunked him, to the extent that Sam got mentally exhausted, had his recorded edit part of Br. Ijaz’s argument and both refuse to provide the raw audio! You can view the edited version of Sam’s rabid diatribe here.

Listen to the Debate: “Jesus the Christ, Man, God or Both?”

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Listen to the January debate between Br. Ijaz Ahmad and CL. Edwards! In what was a thrilling encounter, Br. Ijaz trimmed the fat from the carcass known as Christianity and went straight for the meat of the argument. For the first time in a debate about this topic, not a single New Testament verse was needed to be quoted by the Muslim side, rather Br. Ijaz approached the topic with a new argument based on logic, reasoning and rationalism. His opponent was literally gob smacked! View it here.

Debate: Sam Shamoun vs Ijaz Ahmad, “Is Masjid al Haram in Makkah?”

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

I can’t necessarily call this a debate, as Sam Shamoun would ask me 5 – 6 questions, give me 10 seconds to answer and then spend 5 minutes at a time calling me names such as punk, idiot, fool, child, deceiver etc. The video length is roughly 30 minutes, in total Sam speaks for about 25 minutes and I speak for maybe 3 minutes. In the 3 minutes I was allowed to speak by Sam, I proved that Masjid al Haram is the Masjid in Makkah. You can see my write out of events here. Unfortunately, Sam did not want me to speak and simply denied everything I said while insulting me for most of the time I spent in the room with him. At the end of the video, in the final 3 minutes, Sam explains that this is a method he employs against Muslims who write against his religion. The truth is, Sam Shamoun is unable to have an intelligent discussion and that when faced with a formidable opponent, he must silence them and forbid them from speaking in response to his claims. Unfortunately for Sam, despite his petulant tactics, his rabid diatribe, his curses, mockery, insults, and abuses, I kept my cool and provided ample evidences to refute his infantile arguments, while not returning any insults to him or cutting him off from speaking as he did to me.

You can read a full read out of my arguments and Sam’s questions located here. You can watch the ‘dialogue’ below, I’ve included video annotations for viewers to take note of Sam’s deception, silly insults and 3 – 4 minute tirades after giving me at the most 20 seconds to answer a question, thereby he then spends 5 minutes insulting me:

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Sam Shamoun’s Recorder Won’t Release Raw Debate Audio

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

sam shamoun hands

I returned to  “Why Jesus is the only way“, to see if Sam’s recorder was there. Millie Fiori was the recorder’s name. She was kind to me, I enquired about the debate recording and she did have some issues with uploading the recording. However she made it quite clear that she would not be able to upload the unedited version of the discussion. I questioned her about this and she replied that it was up to Sam Shamoun to decide if the raw audio was to be given to me or to be uploaded, but as it is she would only be uploading the edited version.

Apparently our debate lasted 30 minutes, I really thought it lasted 5 minutes so I am interested to see what the recording actually looks like after the Christian side has edited it. You can view the recording on her YouTube page located here. I can’t give an estimated time until Sam’s edited version is uploaded to the person’s page, but I will be checking regularly to see if/ when it’s uploaded at all.

jesus_facepalm

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

All Christians will Enter Hell – Bible

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Following from Part 1, where I refuted Sam Shamoun’s errant claim, we now look to the Bible where it pronounces that all Christians will be  punished by the fire. The final judgement as recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy states [1]:

New International Version (©1984)
For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of death below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains.

New Living Translation (©2007)
For my anger blazes forth like fire and burns to the depths of the grave. It devours the earth and all its crops and ignites the foundations of the mountains.

English Standard Version (©2001)
For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
For a fire is kindled in My anger, And burns to the lowest part of Sheol, And consumes the earth with its yield, And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
For fire has been kindled because of My anger and burns to the depths of Sheol; it devours the land and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.”

International Standard Version (©2012)
For a fire breaks out in my anger— burning to the deepest part of the afterlife, consuming the earth and its produce and igniting the foundations of the mountains.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

GOD’S WORD® Translation (©1995)
My anger has started a fire that will burn to the depths of hell. It will consume the earth and its crops and set the foundations of the mountains on fire.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with its increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

American King James Version
For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

American Standard Version
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And burneth unto the lowest Sheol, And devoureth the earth with its increase, And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Douay-Rheims Bible
A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell: and shall devour the earth with her increase, and shall burn the foundations of the mountains.

Darby Bible Translation
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And it shall burn into the lowest Sheol, And shall consume the earth and its produce, And set fire to the foundations of the mountains.

English Revised Version
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And burneth unto the lowest pit, And devoureth the earth with her increase, And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Webster’s Bible Translation
For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

World English Bible
For a fire is kindled in my anger, Burns to the lowest Sheol, Devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

Young’s Literal Translation
For a fire hath been kindled in Mine anger, And it burneth unto Sheol — the lowest, And consumeth earth and its increase, And setteth on fire foundations of mountains.

From this we, gather the following:

  • In the final judgement when the nations are gathered, God will unleash his fury.
  • His fury/ wrath/ anger will cause a fire.
  • This fire will burn so intensely that it would set fire to the foundations of mountains.
  • This fire will burn so intensely that it would extend unto the lowest level of hell (Sheol).
  • This devastating fire, kindled by God’s anger/ wrath/ fury will consume the entire earth.

The commentaries on this verse claim that it is to be on the day when all nations will be gathered for judgement:

The fire of God’s anger shall consume them, Deuteronomy 32:22. Are they proud of their plenty? It shall burn up the increase of the earth. Are they confident of their strength? It shall destroy the very foundations of their mountains: there is no fence against the judgments of God when they come with commission to lay all waste. It shall burn to the lowest hell, that is, it shall bring them to the very depth of misery in this world, which yet would be but a faint resemblance of the complete and endless misery of sinners in the other world. The damnation of hell (as our Saviour calls it) is the fire of God’s anger, fastening upon the guilty conscience of a sinner, to its inexpressible and everlasting torment, Isaiah 30:33. – [2]

For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And burneth unto the lowest Sheol, And devoureth the earth with its increase, And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains. We are disappointed that none of the commentaries we have consulted gets the point of these words at all. Here is a glimpse of the eschatological conclusion that shall at the last day terminate God’s toleration of the rebellious race of Adam. See Zeph. 1:2-3. Keil agreed that we do not have hyperbole here and that the judgment foretold cannot be restricted To the Israelite nation only, but he then limited the fire which is here said to extend even to the foundations of the mountains, stating that, The fire signifies really nothing else than God’s jealousy. To us it appears impossible to accept such an understanding of this passage. The mention of Sheol here, the place of the dead, indicates that the living and the dead alike shall participate in that final judgment. – [3]

and shall burn unto the lowest hell; which denotes an entire destruction, like that of the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone from heaven; which issued in a sulphurous lake, and which sulphureous matter sunk to the bottom of the Dead Sea; and to that destruction is this of the land of Judea compared, Deuteronomy 29:23. – [4]

A fire is kindled – Great and grievous judgments shall be inflicted, which often come under the name of fire. Are they proud of their plenty? It shall burn up the increase of the earth. Are they confident of their strength? It shall destroy the very foundations of the mountains. It shall burn unto the lowest hell: it shall bring them to the very depth of misery in this world, which yet will he but a faint resemblance of their endless misery in the next. – [5]

As the above commentaries demonstrate, everyone on earth will face this fury of God’s wrath [2a][6].There are many other verses which explicitly mention what will happen in correlation to the verse in Deuteronomy thus establishing this as a worldwide literal punishment, we read in Zephaniah 3 [6], something similar:

 Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them— all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.

The commentaries say of this verse:

Despite the fact of Deane and other respected commentators understanding this verse as a prophecy of the nations “being converted” unto God, it appears to us that the verse must refer to the eternal judgment. “All the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy” could hardly apply to anything else. See chapter introduction for the manner in which this verse actually ties the preceding and succeeding paragraphs together. The great theme of Zephaniah is the judgment; and the doom of Jerusalem for their sins soon to executed upon them by the power of Assyria prompted this reference to the final judgment, of which Jerusalem’s judgment, like all similar judgments, was a pledge and token….The gathering of this passage is a harvesting of the earth, the execution of the final judgment upon all men….This is parallel with the gathering of the nations, the purpose for which is stated in the next clause, that I may pour upon them my indignation….It is noteworthy that John D. W. Watts unequivocally assigned this verse eight to the final judgment. “The scene returns to the universal judgment with which the book began.”  – [7]

Then all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of his jealousy; both Jews and Gentiles shall be reckoned with for their enmity to the gospel. Principalities and powers shall be spoiled, and made a show of openly,and the victorious Redeemer shall triumph over them. – [8]

The outpouring of all God’s wrath, the devouring of the whole earth, in the fullest sense of the words, belongs to the end of the world, when He shall say to the wicked, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.” In lesser degrees, and less fully, the substance of the prophecy has again and again been fulfilled to the Jewish Church before Christ, at Babylon and under the Maccabees; and to the Christian, as when the Muslims hemmed in Christendom on all sides, and the waves of their conquests on the east and west threatened to meet, overwhelming Christendom. The Church, having sinned, had to “wait” for a while “for God” who by His Providence withdrew Himself, yet at last delivered it. – [9]

Devoured – Consumed as if burnt up. – [10]

The New Testament itself also explicitly mentions that Christians will be burnt as a test of their faith, we read in the Pastorial of Peter [11]:

“These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

This is something which the New Testament scholars also confirm [12]:

“though-“which perisheth, YET is tried with fire.” If gold, though perishing (1Pe 1:18), is yet tried with fire in order to remove dross and test its genuineness, how much more does your faith, which shall never perish, need to pass through a fiery trial to remove whatever is defective, and to test its genuineness and full value?”

We’re not done there, Paul himself continues this trend of a fiery punishment for Christians as a test of their faith, we read in 1st Corinthians the following [13]:

“his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.”

Barne’s Notes on the Bible says of this verse [14]:

“Because it shall be revealed by fire – The work, the edifice which shall be built on the true foundation shall be made known amidst the fire of the great Day. The “fire” which is here referred to, is doubtless that which shall attend the consummation of all things – the close of the world. That the world shall be destroyed by fire, and that the solemnities of the Judgment shall be ushered in by a universal conflagration, is fully and frequently revealed. See Isaiah 66:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Peter 3:7, 2 Peter 3:10-11. The burning fires of that Day, Paul says, shall reveal the character of every man’s work, as fire sheds light on all around, and discloses the true nature of things. It may be observed, however, that many critics suppose this to refer to the fire of persecution, etc. Macknight. Whitby supposes that the apostle refers to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. Others, as Grotius, Rosenmuller, etc. suppose that the reference is to “time” in general; it shall be declared ere long; it shall be seen whether those things which are built on the true foundation, are true by the test of time, etc. But the most natural interpretation is that which refers it to the Day of Judgment.”

“It is not to be supposed here that the material fire of the last Day shall have any tendency to purify the soul, or to remove that which is unsound; but that the investigations and trials of the Judgment shall remove all that is evil, as fire acts with reference to gold and silver. As they are not burned but purified; as they pass unhurt through the intense heat of the furnace, so shall all that is genuine pass through the trials of the last great Day, of which trials the burning world shall be the antecedent and the emblem. That great Day shall show what is genuine and what is not.”

Similarly, the People’s New Testament says [15]:

“Because it shall be revealed by fire. As fire destroys wood, hay, stubble, but leaves gold, silver, precious stones (see 1Co 3:12), so the work of some builders, when tested, will vanish. They do not do solid work.”

Wesley’s Notes on this passage says [16]:

“And therefore it is added, he who builds wood, hay, or stubble, shall be saved as through the fire – Or, as narrowly as a man escapes through the fire, when his house is all in flames about him. This text, then, is so far from establishing the Romish purgatory, that it utterly overthrows it. For the fire here mentioned does not exist till the day of judgment: therefore, if this be the fire of purgatory, it follows that purgatory does not exist before the day of judgment.”

Unfortunately for the Christians who claim that the Qur’aan states that all Muslims will be burned by the fires of hell, the New Testament and Old Testament jointly claim that Christians and non-Christians would be tested by fire, purified by the fire, enter into the fire of purgatory, will be judged by the fire of the Last Day also known as Judgement day. Thus the Christians at Answering Islam, particularly the joker titled Sam Shamoun is a clear Biblical apostate as he denies these verses and their clear meanings as countless Christian theologians have stated throughout the centuries. Thus in conclusion, it is a Biblical belief – which no Bible believing Christian can deny that all Christians will be purified and judged by the fires of the Last Day/ Judgement Day/ Purgatory.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

 

Notes:

[1] – Deuteronomy 32:22, Bible.
[2] – “Deuteronomy 32:22“, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. See note 2a.

[2 – a] Some commentators believe that the place of final gathering is Jerusalem in Judea, they reference Zechariah 12:3 for this when all the nations of the earth will be gathered. Some commentators also believe it to be figurative, however as Coffman and others indicate, see [7], it is impossible to have a proper understanding with such an interpretation, he does not consider it to be a hyperbole (figure of speech), but as being a literal final judgement, see [3]. Some like Wesley see it as an example of what they will face in the afterlife, see [5]. The fact that this is literal is given in Zephaniah 3, see [6].

[3] – “Deuteronomy 32:22“, John Burton Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament. See note 2a.
[4] – “Deuteronomy 32:22“, John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible. See note 2a.
[5] – “Deuteronomy 32:22“, Wesley’s Notes. See note 2a.
[6] – Zephaniah 3:8, Bible.
[7] – “Zephaniah 3:8“, John Burton Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament.
[8] – “Zephaniah 3:8“, Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible.
[9] – “Zephaniah 3:8“, Barne’s Notes on the New Testament.
[10] – “Zephaniah 3:8“, John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible.
[11] – 1 Peter 1:7, Bible.
[12] – “1 Peter 1:7“, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary.
[13] – 1 Corinthians 3:13, Bible.
[14] – “1 Corinthians 3:13“, Barne’s Notes on the New Testament.
[15] – “1 Corinthians 3:13“, People’s New Testament.
[16] – “1 Corinthians 3:13“, Wesley’s Notes.

 

 

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