Tag Archives: Ijaz Ahmad

Brief Summary of Points of my Incarnation Debate

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I recently debated Pastor Samuel Green on the topic of, “An Incarnate God: Fact or Fiction”. I argued that the Incarnation of a God, in this case – Christ, was fiction using the following reasoning:

  1. The Jews have no concept of the hypostatic union or of theophanies in their religious literature.
  2. The earliest Christians debated the nature of Christ and each group ascribed their view to a disciple/ apostle.
  3. The earliest Christians were primarily Greek gentiles who were familiar with incarnation philosophy and theology.
  4. The early Church therefore read the Jewish books with a Greek philosophical and theological understanding.
  5. In both the Greek and Jewish cultures, men of fame and great public interest were declared to be of divine birth/ natures.
  6. The Greek concept of a Theophany is at odds with the Jewish belief of Shali’ah.
  7. The Church unfairly forced a fixed vote promoting one Bishop’s arguments for a pro-hypostatic union Christ.
  8. The members of the Church revolted and in 359 CE Arius’ position (ante-Nicene) was adopted.
  9. Athanasius’ hypostatic union/ dual natured Christ was declared a heresy under larger Ecumenical councils throughout the Christian world.
  10. My conclusion therefore is that an incarnate Christ as a God was a theology developed by Greek minded elements of the early Church, adopted by the Church, refuted and declared heretical by the Church and later re-adopted, thus showing it’s early development into a doctrine as opposed to something which was initially and always believed by the majority of Christians.

Pastor Samuel’s arguments were:

  1. The incarnation theology can be found in the Torah, Prophets and Psalms.
  2. Daniel 7 is an evidence of this.
  3. It’s God’s promise to live amongst us.
  4. To listen to God is to read what He has mentioned in the Prophets.

and Allaah knows best.

Debate Video Release: Samuel Green vs Ijaz Ahmad – “An Incarnate God: Fact or Fiction”

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Here’s the debate video from our Paltalk debate which took place last night between Pastor Samuel Green and I. It’s just about two hours and the audio is quite clear and consistent. Two edits were made, there was a lot of technical sorting out at the beginning (mic testing etc) and the Pastor clarifying the time not to be used during his pre-Opening Speech’s Introduction. The audio gaps of 10 seconds or so were not removed, this occurred when the speakers were changed and I decided to leave them in as it set a good pace and tone for the event.

It hasn’t even been more than a day and we’re already releasing the debate! Much thanks to the room recorder, Br. Abdul Wadud (a fellow Trinidadian Uncle), without his hardwork, dedication and efforts, we would not have been able to release the debate this quickly.

Much thanks to Pastor Samuel and Sr. Waduha who worked through the Day Light Savings time error and allowed us to amicably decide on how to have proceeded with the night’s event. There is one point of note, this is the first debate against a Muslim speaker in which Pastor Samuel chose not to speak off topic on the alleged corruption of the Qur’aan, I’m not sure if this is because he’s found it useless given his discussions with me on it, or if he simply didn’t have the time to do so, either way, it’s a good sign of the intensity and excitement that the discussion carried.

wa Allaahu ‘alam.

Fantastic Debate with Pastor Samuel Green

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Last night’s debate with Samuel was absolutely splendid. The events could not have gone better than I’d hoped and the experience was certainly uplifting and motivating. Here are two quick incidents from last night:

Pastor Samuel: Ijaz you keep asking me for a verse which demonstrates the incarnate Christological (man-God) creed, well I’ve been providing it all along, here it is:

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him.” – Daniel 7:13-14.

Me: Pastor, did you even LOOK at the verse? It literally says that GOD was GIVEN authority, glory and power. That’s funny, because the very definition of God is an all powerful deity, how can an all powerful deity be GIVEN power?

If you that that was bad, this was even worse!

Pastor Samuel: Ijaz you’re confusing Greek mythology with Greek Philosophy, the belief in the Son of God in the Greek culture was mythology not philosophy, you need to study ancient Greek culture.

Me: Reminds the kindly Pastor that Plato and Pythagoras were seen as ‘the Sons of God’ and in Greek Philosophy (as quoted by the Apostle Paul himself!), all men were ‘like’ God because we all possess the faculties of ‘reason’.

I should have the debate uploaded to our channel in a day or two, God willing. There were a few technical glitches and timing issues last night, but we were able overcome these trials and have an eventful debate. At one point I lost internet connection and was unable to hear Samuel’s second rebuttal. The room itself was packed with 120+ persons, and to be quite honest I’m certain it went beyond this number, but because I was busy having a debate – I didn’t think to keep checking the room count, in any case there certainly was a significant turn out from both the Muslim and Christian communities.

Lastly, I’d like to thank Sister Waduha, our moderator who was fair and unbiased. This makes it 3/3 debates in which I’ve worked with her and she pulled out all the stops last night by gifting both Samuel and I a week’s worth of Paltalk Extreme, i.e. we get a full week’s service of the paid Paltalk experience.

In relation to the debate and my performance, I’ve been told by Muslims and Christians alike that perhaps my quotations and my use of them in my arguments seemed to have gone over the heads of most people. I presented an unbiased Christian historical perspective on the development of the incarnate Christology, something in which Pastor Samuel was not prepared for and it clearly shows in his rebuttals that he really didn’t know how to respond and so he went into a hundred and one directions and gifted me three smashing cross fire questions that seemed to put him into the hot seat!

Many have been asking for the sources of the quotes I used during my Opening Statement, rest assured that in the coming days, perhaps after my debate with Bob Siegel, I’ll put something together for the public’s use inshaaAllaah.

wa Allaahu ‘alam.

10 Christian Riddles

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Riddles, questions, thoughts, I wonder what the answers to these would be? These aren’t meant to be insulting, and we do apologize if they seem to be so, these are just honest inquiries into the Christian faith.

  1. If God is love (1 John 4:8), why are babies sent to burn in hell forever if they’re not baptised? How is this ‘loving’?
  2. If Mary is the Mother of God and believers are told to Brides of Christ (Revelation 19:7), is the Mother of God, also his bride?
  3. Is God a sexist for coming in the form of a man? Why not as a woman?
  4. Is God racist for coming as an Israelite, why not as an African, or Indian?
  5. If humans are literally created in the image of God, is the Christian God a hermaphrodite?
  6. Why does Christ not speak of a punishment for rape, murder or incest? Since the gentiles aren’t meant to follow the Mitzvot – they live under grace and not the law, why didn’t Christ mention that these things were sins or crimes, or even mention their punishments?
  7. Where does God speak of the hypostatic union in the Old Testament or the New Testament?
  8. Where did Christ command Christians to believe in the Trinity, Hypostatic Union or Crucifiction in order to be saved?
  9. If Christ has two wills (human and Godly), how do you determine which act was done with Godly intent and which was done with human intent?
  10. Where does Christ teach that he has two wills?

Answers are welcomed, I’m sure there are some who can give some interesting responses.

and God knows best.

A Message from one of Shamoun’s Fans

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Found this message on our Facebook Fan Page (Sam’s been around for 10+ years, I’ve been around for less than 2 and I’ve already got more followers on Facebook than he has, what a shame!).

1 Calling Christians

 

Let’s examine what a fan of Shamoun presents as a ‘proper’ Christian:

  • Begins a sentence by insulting an individual he does not know.
  • Insults a person’s beliefs because he disagrees.
  • Believes that Sam Shamoun has not, and never will be wrong – deifying him to a great degree!
  • Repeats calling names and insults.
  • Challenges me to debate Sam Shamoun.
  • Calls me names once more.

Hi there Loius! Unlike you or Sam, I don’t need to insult your Prophets or mock your beliefs when I communicate with members of other faiths. I’m not sure where you learned your decorum, but it seems you’ve taken on some of Sam’s attributes and mannerisms. In the adult world, we don’t call people names, we don’t curse or insult their beliefs because we disagree – there is something called respect, something that both irreligious and religious persons abide by.

Secondly, Sam Shamoun will not debate me, he cannot debate me because he is afraid of me. I’ve sent him numerous challenges and he’s always responded by insulting me and ignoring the challenge. So while I’m not afraid to confront Shamoun, he’s very wary and afraid of me. If you don’t believe this, you can ask Shamoun to take an oath by God (see Psalm 63:11) and let him show you the numerous email challenges I’ve sent him. You need to ask why he runs from Muslim challenges, especially my own.

Thirdly, Sam has been refuted by many persons, in fact, he’s been solidly debunked by me many times, I even have an entire section dedicated to responding to him. He is very easy to refute and I’m being quite honest when I say that no educated Muslim takes Sam seriously, in fact, his articles are sometimes used in some circles to teach children just how awfully he misrepresents Islam – if children can learn what Islam isn’t from Sam’s articles, it goes to show you that he is of very little worth.

Lastly, I will gladly take up your challenge, unfortunately, Sam will not endorse it. He will not debate me, because he knows that he cannot, hence why he is unable to respond to any of my articles refuting his writings.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

Event: Lecture on the Preservation of the Qur’aan

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Update: Repeat lecture tonight (19th), due to the high demand, Alhamdulillah.

I (Br. Ijaz) will be giving an exclusive lecture on Paltalk tonight on the “Preservation of the Qur’aan“. Originally,  I had planned to deliver this as a khutbah to the students at my University, but it was decided that it was perhaps a bit too technical and a bit too much for the crowd to fully value and understand. As such, I’ve decided to present it as a lecture to a live audience on Paltalk, where we’ll examine the history and nature of the Qur’aan, while highlighting some of the contemporary research about its preservation, as well as responding to and examining some of the claims against its preservation and transmission.

cc-2013-preservationofquran

All quotes and references used are from Scientific Journals, well known and qualified Orientalist and Textual Critic scholars, the citations will be subsequently provided. Most importantly, I will be fielding a question and answer period, Muslims and non-Muslims are invited to attend the event and ask their questions. There may be a repeat of the event, given the demand after the lecture is given.

If the crowd does ask for a comparative study of the Bible, I can do so while speaking as well. Any questions not answered during the event can be sent to:

callingchristians@gmail.com

Event Details:

Speaker: Br. Ijaz Ahmad
Time: 11 PM EST.
Location: Answering Christianity Room, Paltalk.
Date: Tonight, 19th October, 2013.

Paltalk Download.

Who is Bob Siegel and Why am I Debating him?

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The information about Bob Siegel is provided through his website here:

A graduate of Denver Seminary and San Jose State University, Bob Siegel is a radio talk show host and popular guest speaker at churches and college campuses across the country, using a variety of media including, seminars, formal debates, outdoor open forums and one man drama presentations.

Bob grew up in a strong Jewish home, but was led to Christ while in college, through the ministry of Campus Ambassadors. cc-2013-bobsiegelkayaf(Mission To The Americas).

Bob has debated many outspoken atheists, including, Dan Barker (Freedom From Religion Foundation), Phil Paulson, (Fundamentalists Anonymous) and Dr. Robert Price (The Jesus Seminar).

Bob is listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the West. In addition to his own weekly radio show (KCBQ 1170, San Diego) Bob has been a guest on many other programs, including The 700 Club, The Dr. Gina Show, Andy Parks, Live from the Washington Times, The Rick Amato Show, KUSI Television’s Good Morning San Diego, The Way TV, an outreach satellite network that broadcasts all over North and South America, Europe and the Middle East, and the world popular Jonathan Park radio drama series, for which Bob guest starred in two episodes and wrote one episode, The Clue From Ninevah.

Bob is a regular contributor for Communities @ Washington Times, San Diego Newsroom and San Diego Rostra. Between 2007 and 2010 his daily blog was frequently found in the National Top Ten on Townhall.com. Bob does a good deal of playwriting as well (14 plays & 5 collaborations), including the award winning, Eternal Reach. Bob has also published two books. A Call To Radical Discipleship, and I’d Like to Believe In Jesus, But…

Bob recently had an interesting debate with Br. Shadid Lewis (colleague at MDI) and I found his debate to be very poor. He did not present any strong arguments, his reasoning was weak and as I stated previously (in other articles) he simply embarrassed himself. Having heard my remarks, Bob Siegel has taken offense to them and has offered me a debate challenge, which I have accepted (and he’s confirmed my reception via e-mail). I will be challenging Bob on the same topic, the reliability of the New Testament. Now he thinks I was unfair in my assessment of his performance, which he is entitled to disagree with.

I’ll appear on his radio programme and the debate will be moderated. Details such as the time and date would be published soon. I’m excited to debate Bob and I am more excited to reach out to him and demonstrate to him, that the New Testament was not, is not and can never be considered reliable.

and Allaah knows best.

My Experience with an Elderly Catholic Missionary

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I suspect that a lot of our Christian counterparts think that Muslims such as myself are anti-Christian, that we probably make fun of Christians all day long and taunt them. The truth however, is quite contrary, and I’d like to demonstrate this by writing about my brief but meaningful experience with a very elderly Catholic. On Wednesday last, the 18th, I sat at a bus stop (my first ever use of one) to head home for a surgeon’s appointment the next day. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a cloaked figure, a person wear a sun hat and an all white cloak, huddling along to the bus stop. All the seats at the stop were taken. He carefully made his way towards us and put his bags down. He was en elderly old man, very old, I suspected he was a Catholic missionary by the way he had dressed. In the time he put down his bags and opened up a book to read, roughly 3 or 4 minutes had passed and no one as of yet had offered him a seat – they all left the old man standing. Alas, it was not for too long, for by the time he’d read a paragraph from the book he was reading (religious in nature, not the Bible), the bus had arrived.

cc-2013-adolpho

To get on the bus, he’d have to hold his bags and join a queue. I took my chance then, I walked up to him, smiled and asked if I could hold his bags for him – he seemed perplexed, but obliged. Despite my horrid health, in my heart, as a Muslim – I felt compelled to help this elderly man, regardless of his faith. Islam has taught me to be a mercy to all and in helping this elderly Catholic man, I felt it was my duty to assist him in some way. I held his bags for a few minutes as we all walked up to the steps on the bus. When my turn had arrived, he asked for his bags and I returned them. Yet, before stepping on to the bus, I stepped aside and I offered him to go first, again, kindly extending a means of ease for this elderly gentleman. He boarded the bus and sat a seat ahead and across from me. Eventually while the bus was making stops, he took a seat behind me.

Finally, my stop came and the Catholic gentleman stopped me. He shook my hand and thanked me for my kindness, very quickly, he introduced himself as a Catholic named Adolpho Bueno, with family from both Colombia and Venezuela, he lived very near to our region’s main University which I attended. He extended his hand and gave me a lovely gift, something to remember him by – which I seem to have inadvertently misplaced during my moving between the North and South of my island, inshaaAllaah I find it soon so I can post the photo.

We do not sit and ill speak our Christian brothers and sisters, I didn’t debate him, didn’t argue with him, insult his religion. I accepted his gift which was a prayer through a Saint, I helped him, smiled with him and shook his hand. I’m a Muslim and I love my Christian brothers and sisters, I don’t see them as our enemies, but as the sons and daughters of Adam (‘alayhi as salaam).

and Allaah knows best.

Interaction with James White of AO Ministries

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Very recently I published an article on the Muslim Debate Initiative’s website on the Christian mandate of believing in the Graeco-Roman New Testament as a scripture. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries sought to do an informal response (and yes, I’d like to acknowledge it as such), on his ‘Dividing Line‘ program, minutes 34 to 41. It would be in our readers’ best interests to listen to the criticisms James lays out before continuing with reading my response to him.

I listened intently to what he had to say and then I respectfully replied in this post, once again published on the Muslim Debate Initiative’s website. It’s certainly a healthy, and lively theological interaction between two individuals on opposite ends of the religious spectrum. Do listen to what James has to say, and do enjoy my response to him.

Please note: I was incorrectly named as Ijaz Muhammad on AO’s website, my pen name is Ijaz Ahmad – it has not changed.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.

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