Category Archives: Muslim and Non-Muslim Dialogue

My Experience with Christian Preachers at the Hospital

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

On Friday the 23rd of November, I was admitted into the hospital, yesterday I was subsequently discharged. During my stay there, I had the pleasure of being in the company of several Christian preachers. These encounters were four in number and in their entirety lasted all but 5 minutes.

First Meeting

A gentleman with a Bible whips around the corridor and approaches my bed. He pauses for a moment and observes me. After sometime he turns his head and walks away. To my knowledge he had been speaking with others on the other corridor, I therefore was awaiting his approach. After a few moments of him staring at me, he casually walks away. Whether or not he assumed I wasn’t worth saving or had other, more time worthy persons to preach to, is yet to be realised. I never saw this gentleman during my stay at any other time, I will never know why he never approached me to preach to me as he did the others.

Second Meeting

Perhaps the most unique and profound meetings of my life, this is one encounter I am certain to never forget. This was Sunday and so on this day I expected many Christians to come into the wards and preach the gospel. My mother and younger brother were with me, when from the corridor, I spotted a older gentleman, perhaps late 50’s with a cross on his neck, cautiously approaching us. At first he mentioned that he was a patient at this ward some time ago and was treated, subsequent to his treatment he was healed.

Suddenly, he says, “Let us bow and pray, In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Sp…”, I raised my hand and said quite calmly that we were not Christian. Some might wonder, how on earth did he reach this far into the prayer before being stopped. To be quite honest, we were all stunned that he was doing this. Can you imagine visiting a sick relative and a man approaches you, sympathizes with your situation and then out of nowhere, begins to pray, telling you to bow and listen to his religious beliefs? Sure, I understand that perhaps out of goodwill he was praying for me, I am willing to accept that this is part of his humanity, but what I do not appreciate, is that he began to pray a Christian prayer and especially so that he just began in the middle of a conversation.

After I got him to stop, the strangest response I have ever received, occurred. This Christian preacher, looks to me and says, “well we all know all religions are man made brother, good luck”, and he then walked away. My mother and I were confused, was this man pretending to be religious, or did he, out of embarrassment insulted his own belief that he moments ago was spurred on to force upon us? Strange indeed, I wished that this man had stayed longer, but alas, the situation may have been to awkward for him.

Third Meeting

Two older gentlemen are with their Bibles, they enter unto my bed area and approach my ward room mate, a Mr. Bernard, an elderly man who was suffering with Parkinsons Disease. Mr. Bernard was peculiar and I still remember him fondly. You see, Parkinsons disease affects your memory, so every few hours I was awoken by Mr. Bernard, saying to me: “Oye, well would you look at that, I have a neighbour!”. These two missionaries approached Mr. Bernard and prayed for him, whether Mr. Bernard was agreeing with them, or listening, is much to be desired as he looked as dazed and confused as ever. After they finished with him, they turned to me, glanced at me and disappeared. Again, I was left to wonder, did they assume I am damned and left me without preaching the gospel, or, if not, then why did they not preach to me? Strange indeed.

Forth Meeting

A group of Jehovas Witnesses’ ladies came to preach in the ward. Holding their NWT Bible’s and their Watch Tower Magazines, I observed as they ever crept closer to Mr. Bernard, my ward’s room mate. Of the group of 5, they all bowed and prayed for him, while 2 kept glancing at me. After they prayed for him, the group eyed me for a few moments, and murmured among themselves. I looked at them, and they each watched me and slowly departed from my view. Again, I am left to wonder why they did not approach me.

Conclusion

There are certainly more questions than answers, but at the end of the day, I can atleast boast that my presence is effective against 3 in 4 missionaries. I accept cash or credit, 30 days guarantee.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Pope: We Got Jesus’ Birth Year Wrong for 2000 Years

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

The leader of modern Christianity’s largest sect, in his new book, ‘Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives’ is reported to have written in the book:

“The calculation of the beginning of our calendar – based on the birth of Jesus – was made by Dionysius Exiguus, who made a mistake in his calculations by several years”

According to the Telegraph’s (UK) report, the Pope attributes the mistaken birth year of Christ to a sixth century monk, the article reads:

The ‘mistake’ was made by a sixth century monk known as Dionysius Exiguus or in English Dennis the Small, the 85-year-old pontiff claims in the book ‘Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives’, published on Wednesday.

“The calculation of the beginning of our calendar – based on the birth of Jesus – was made by Dionysius Exiguus, who made a mistake in his calculations by several years,” the Pope writes in the book, which went on sale around the world with an initial print run of a million copies.

“The actual date of Jesus’s birth was several years before.”

The assertion that the Christian calendar is based on a false premise is not new – many historians believe that Christ was born sometime between 7BC and 2BC.

But the fact that doubts over one of the keystones of Christian tradition have been raised by the leader of the world’s one billion Catholics is striking.

You can read the full article here.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Pastor Tries to Recite Bible

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

In this video clip presented by our friends over at iERA, while in their Mission Dawah tour in Africa, a Pastor tries to outsmart the Muslims by claiming anyone can recite their scripture from memory. The Pastor aimed to recite from Genesis to Revelation, check the video to see how far he reaches:

wa Allaahu ‘Alam,
and Allaah knows best.

Debate: The Message of Jesus and Muhammad; Conflict or Conciliation?

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Sami Zataari (MDI – UK), an Islamic debater based in London will be having a debate with David Wood, a Christian Apologist. This debate seeks to analyse the cohesive nature of Jesus’ message with that of the Prophet Muhammad [saws]. Both debaters have had previous engagements with each other and the topic of the debate is sure to stir some good discussion.

We look forward with great interest to this event and the subsequent posting of the video online.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Why the Lack of Posts?

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Via our Facebook Page, I let it be known that CC would have fewer articles this month of November. Besides planning and organizing for our Christmas Special, I’ve personally been keeping myself busy with doing some more studies:

I decided to pre-order James Daniel Tabor’s newest book on Pauline History, “Paul and Jesus“. In this article, James strongly recommended this book by E.P. Sanders, “Paul, the Law and the Jewish People“, so I bought it. I’m currently reading through Marting Ling’s Seerah of the Prophet [saws], “Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources” and upon completion I intend to re-read, Shaykh Muhammad Mustafa al Azami’s, “The History of the Qur’an Text: From Revelation to Compilation” (it’s free online, you just have to search for it). Then I intend to start my reading of E.P Sander’s book and then unto James’ newest book. It’s important to refresh and go over material that you’ve already studied. Sometimes the mind forgets the little details which often turn out to be the most important. There’s no special reason why I have chosen the month of November to do my reading, but it’s always good to learn new information. In the meantime, we have a large selection of articles to browse and we have lots more to look forward to in December, inshAllaah (God willing).

On the side, I still have a few responses to Sam Shamoun to finish, which probably would be done this month, if not, then they’d be published after our Christmas special. I’ll post more on our impending Christmas special soon, God willing. Thanks for visiting the site and we look forward to your continued support.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Some Musings About Jesus’ Death

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

‎1. Jesus died for the sins of mankind.

What does the word death here mean and who is the Jesus being referred to in this statement? The latter predicates the other. For if it is the human Jesus which literally died, then this was not the Son dying. If it is that the Son died, then the Son was not a God.

2. When you say death, what do you mean? Do you mean the death of the flesh or the spirit? If it is the death of the flesh, then the Son did not die, but a creation of God died and thus this was not an ultimate form of sacrifice. If it is the Spirit that died, then is it the spirit of the Son or the Spirit of the Man? If it is the Spirit of the Son, then God died and God cannot die, hence it is a paradox. If it is the Spirit of the man that died, then a creation of God died and thus this was not an ultimate form of sacrifice.

3. If we take John 3:16 as a literal study, then we have numerous paradoxes being applied, for if the Son did ‘die’, but did not truly ‘die’, then the ‘sacrificial death’ was not fulfilled. If you claim the sacrificial death was fulfilled, then this is disproven by Thomas touching a physical body of Christ, whose wounds he felt. Thus if Christ was meant to be an ultimate sacrifice but did not die, but merely suffered wounds and continued to live, then there was no actual sacrifice.

Too many problems.

wa Allaahu Alam,
and Allaah knows best.

Korean Christians Attack Buddhists and Buddhist Temples

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

The Buddhist Television Network is reporting an increase in recent Christian love for Buddhists in South Korea. According to the South Asian TV network’s website, Christians in Korea have gone on an unprovoked spate of violence which seeks to threaten the peaceful co-existence among faiths in that nation. The report states:

Vandalism and arson of Buddhist temples and treasures, and important cultural properties relating to Buddhism by the Korean Christian and Protestant communities continue. Although many legislative laws have changed to protect cultural properties and national treasure after the tragic arson of the Namdaemun gate, national treasure No.1, vandalism to Buddhist temples and Buddhist treasures continue in Korea.

On October 4th, 2012, an arson tried to burn down the Gakhwangjeon Hall of Hwaomsa Temple in Gurye County, Korea. Fortunately, the fire only made a small damage to the gate of the hall due to quick actions of the monks and the fire prevention restoration made in 2008.

On the CCTV, the video captured a man pouring a flammable substance across the hall, and according to witnesses they smelt a very arsenic substance coming from the hall before the man threw in a match to burn down the Gakhwangjeon Hall.

Due to this incident, the Korean Buddhist community is in shock once again and fighting for a stricter law enforcement for the perpetrators of vandalism and arson to Korean important cultural properties and National treasures.

Furthermore, on August 20th, 2012 a Protestant pastor, Seong, vandalized the dharma hall of Donghwasa Temple. This pastor self-proclaimed that he was from the SoonBokEum Church, was caught urinating in the dharma hall and vandalized the Buddhist portraits with a permanent marker. His poor actions was captured on CCTV of the dharma hall.

The Buddhist community was outraged by this act and urged law enforcements to put a stricter punishment as this act cannot be charged with a simple invasion and vandalism punishment.

Although the law enforcement captured the pastor, they considered this act as “unusual” and let the pastor go stating that he was under mental disorientation. Thus, enraging the Buddhist community because the Korean government and law enforcement is very lenient towards destruction of Buddhist artifacts and National treasures.

On November 2011, the stele that accompanied the stupa of National Preceptor Jigwangguksa of Beopcheonsa temple, Korean National Treasure No. 59 was vandalized. A giant cross was drawn across the five meter stone statue and was opened to public on a christian man’s Facebook and twitter page.

Similarly, in November 2011, near the Haewundae in Busan, Korea. Four Buddhist temples reported vandalism and invasion by the Korean Christian community, as they spray painted red lacquer on the hands and faces of the Buddha statues.

Various vandalism of Buddhist cultural properties and Buddhist temples, vandalism and destruction of Korean national treasures have been going for several decades, and these actions are the root causes of religious disharmony between the Korean religious communities.

One of the biggest and significant act of vandalism by Christians was in June of 2006 during the “Again 1907 in Busan” festival by Korean Christians. The Christians prayed earnestly for all the Buddhist temples and monasteries of the Busan area to be destructed, and many Korean citizens were dismayed to find Korean President Lee MyungBak to be the congratulatory commentator of this event.

In February of 2011, there was another scandal where three pastors came to the Jogye temple and ordered the monastics to “believe in Jesus, as {koreans} we are all children of God.”

In 2010, a pastor and college students of the Christian faith invaded Bongeunsa temple and began a “Ground stepping”  and had a protestant ritual for all the ground to be returned to the land of God.

This was wide spread throughout youtube and the internet.

These various vandalism sparks fear of Buddhist discrimination in Korea. Korea is in much need for the harmony of religions, and these vandalism of the Korean Christian and Protestant community need to stop.

A religion of peace and love? Not in Korea I suppose.

wa Allaahu Alam,
and Allaah knows best.

Man Prays to, then Sues Crucifix

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

 

The religion of Paul produces some really comedic news! According to this report from YAHOO! News, David Jiminez, a ‘deeply religious’ and ‘devoted’ Christian, often found himself at the foot of this cross, praying to and worshipping it after his wife’s cancer had gone into remission. He revered the Crucifix which he believed cured his wife’s cancer. The problem is that he’s now suing that same Crucifix (Jesus and the Cross) for 3 million dollars in damages after the Crucifix fell and crushed his leg, leaving it to be amputated. As awkward as it may be, here’s the full scoop:

A deeply religious man in upstate New York who believes a church’s giant crucifix cured his wife of cancer had his own leg amputated after the same crucifix collapsed on top of him.

CBS New York reports that the accident occurred when 45-year-old David Jimenez was cleaning the 600-pound crucifix, which was allegedly held up by a single screw. Jimenez has been a frequent visitor to the Church of St. Patrick in Newburgh, N.Y., where he made regular stops to pray for his wife, who is now cancer-free.

“The screw is useless. It supported no anchoring system,” said Jimenez’s attorney Kevin Kitson. “David attributed the cure to his devotion to that cross.”

Kitson told the Digital Journal that Jimenez is planning to sue the church for $3 million after losing his leg, because he will not be able to return to his job at a pizza restaurant. The church has reportedly raised about $7,000 for Jimenez’s recovery effort so far.

Kitson said the legal liability should reside with the church for “telling someone to go forward with an action and causing this accident.”

wa Allaahu ‘alam,
and Allaah knows best.

Refutation: Does Allah Love Unbelievers?

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

This is a response to David Wood’s article, which bears the aforementioned title. He says:

One of Allah’s 99 Names is al-Waddud, “the Loving.” Allah is called al-Waddud twice in the Qur’an. In 11:90, the prophet Shu’aib tells the people of Midian, “Ask pardon, then, from your Lord, then turn to Him; verily, my Lord is merciful, loving!” Likewise, in 85:12-16 we read:

Lo! the punishment of thy Lord is stern. Lo! He it is Who produceth, then reproduceth, and He is the Forgiving, the Loving, Lord of the Throne of Glory, Doer of what He will.
Nevertheless, other passages in the Qur’an qualify Allah’s love significantly. While Allah is said to love those who do good deeds (2:195), those who are pure (2:222), those who are righteous (9:7), and those who fight in his cause (61:4), the Qur’an is equally clear that Allah has no love for transgressors (2:190), ungrateful sinners (2:276), the unjust (3:57), or the proud (4:36).

David has a contention with God not loving those who transgress his law, although when we read the Bible, the God which David also believes in, punished transgression, He did not reward it:

The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. – Daniel 9:9-14.

According to this passage, transgressors and ungrateful sinners were promised to be punished by God, David’s God. If this is currently not the case, or David would appeal to the New Testament and ignore His God’s history, then David concedes one of two things, or both, those being:

  • YHWH was unloving, unmerciful, hateful at some point in His existence.
  • David has double standards and ignores YHWH’s pronouncements.

What’s worse for David is that his poor reading of the Bible, brings into question the love of YHWH, for even YHWH promises to destroy, torture and punish disbelievers, while on earth when Jesus returns in Zechariah 14. Where YHWH promises to rule ‘with an iron fist/ sceptre’ in Revelation 2:26-28, all of which I have covered extensively in my post concerning Christ’s Second Return According to the Bible. David also seemed to have a problem with God punishing the unjust and proud, yet his namesake, David of the Bible, prays to their God and asks Him to punish such people:

“Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve.” – Psalms 94:2.

The irony is staggering to say the very least. David goes on to say:

Even more significantly, the Qur’an states that Allah does not love non-Muslims:

Qur’an 3:31-32—Say [O Muhammad]: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Say: Obey Allah and the Apostle; but if they turn back, then surely Allah does not love the unbelievers.

Qur’an 30:43-45—Then turn thy face straight to the right religion before there come from Allah the day which cannot be averted; on that day they shall become separated. Whoever disbelieves, he shall be responsible for his disbelief, and whoever does good, they prepare (good) for their own souls, that He may reward those who believe and do good out of His grace; surely He does not love the unbelievers.

David’s inconsistency shines through once more, as even YHWH, as the Bible testifies, hates those who disobey Him and break His laws:

Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them! I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre planted in a pleasant place.
But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer.”

Give them, Lord—what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry. “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.” – Hosea 9:11-16.

According to David’s own God, He hates, He stops loving, disbelievers and sinners. In fact according to this verse, David’s God promises to never love Israel again. David’s own God, promises to damn an entire nation and stop loving them. Therefore, how can David say Allaah is wrong, when his own God, does the same?

Notice that 3:31-32 makes Allah’s love contingent on whether a person believes in Muhammad. This is similar to what we find in 19:46, which declares: “Lo! those who believe and do good works, the Beneficent will appoint for them love.”

How is this different to God dying for the sins of mankind (John 3:16) and then making this grace conditional on accepting Christ as a God? What’s the difference David? There is none.

Hence, although Allah is called “the Loving,” the Qur’an only means by this that Allah will love people once they believe in him and obey his prophet. The god of Islam has no love for sinners and unbelievers.

David seems to be forgetting that this is also the modus operandi of His God, as we saw in Zechariah 14, Revelations 2, Hosea 9, Psalms 94, and it is what his God promised in Deuteronomy Chapters 28, 29, 30 and 31.

Interestingly, the “Love me first and I’ll love you back” kind of love exhibited by Allah in the Qur’an is condemned by Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so 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. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Except that according to these verses, Jesus is condemning His ‘Father’s’ laws as demonstrated above. Which brings me to my conclusion. David seems to have ignored what YHWH has said about Himself in the Old Testament, what YHWH has promised to do to unbelievers, ungrateful sinners and the proud when he sends Jesus to return, and what YHWH declared as an eternal covenant to hate an entire nation of people because of their sins and transgressions against Him. Double standards, funny aren’t they David?

wa Allaahu Alam,
and Allaah knows best.

Can Jesus Be the Ultimate Exemplar? [Video]

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Mufti Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera has an excellent video on the deification of Christ by Christians, wherein he also expounds upon the Islamic view of Jesus. It’s worth the watch, especially since the Mufti is hailed as being one of Islam’s most popular speakers and represents authentic scholarship:

Indepth, education and sensational, this lecture is simply brilliant and very informative for both the Muslim and Christian.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam,
and Allaah knows best.

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