Sam Shamoun’s Illogical Pagan Assertion Refuted

A Response to a Christian missionary article entitled: Muslims at the service of Allah and Muhammad his associate
I sit here aghast after having skimmed through Sam Shamoun’s latest article. I hope you are sitting down; Shamoun is now claiming Muslims have associated Muhammad with Allah, he then goes on to accuse Muslims of paganism!

Crikey, anybody who has a modicum of research and fair reasoning behind them will tell you Islam is very much about pure monotheism and certainly does not set co-equals with God (Allah). Firstly, let’s do away with Shamoun’s outrageous claim of associating Muhammad with Allah





One Quranic Verse is sufficient to teach us Shamoun is quite clearly wrong:

Such is Allah, your Lord. There is no God save Him, the Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He taketh care of all things. (6:102, Pikthal translation of Quran)

Here we realise there is NO god besides Allah and Allah created everything (including Muhammad, Jesus and Moses), therefore it goes without saying that Muhammad can never be considered equal to Allah. This clearly shows Sam Shamoun is either ignorant or being disingenuous.
.
In the Quran (4:48) we also learn setting partners with Allah is a terrible sin; therefore we realise Muslims do not and must never associate Muhammad (or Jesus or anybody else) with Allah:

Lo! Allah forgiveth not that a partner should be ascribed unto Him. He forgiveth (all) save that to whom He will. Whoso ascribeth partners to Allah, he hath indeed invented a tremendous sin. (4:48, Pikthal translation)

Quite why some fundamentalist Christians maintain this ridiculous medieval misconception of Muslims worshipping Muhammad is beyond me – it is not difficult to drop.

Having laid the basic groundwork and dispelled Sam Shamoun’s erroneous assertion we can look at Shamoun’s misguided reasoning. Shamoun’s reasoning for his claim of “paganism” is that Muslims must obey the Messenger Muhammad.

Why Do Muslims Obey Prophet Muhammad?

Let’s get something clear, Muslims obey the Prophet’s teachings because God instructs Muslims to do so in the Quran.

O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority; and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end. (4:59, translation of Pikthal)

Sam Shamoun fails to understand it is God who is instructing people to obey His messenger (Prophet Muhammad). Furthermore, God also instructs people to obey those in authority. Shamoun does not attempt to make the “pagan” claim concerning “those of you who are in authority” – I guess even the farfetched Sam Shamoun thought the gullibility of his flock did not extend far enough for such a claim

Shamoun illogically thinks obeying a messenger of God is tantamount to associating partners with God (despite God instructing people to obey the messenger!!!). Not only should Shamoun enrol on a logic course, he should open up the Bible and realise Jacob OBEYED his parents

Genesis 28:7
and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.


Is Shamoun going to call Jacob a pagan because of this? Shamoun has other problems with his claim; if he is going to be consistent he will have to claim the Ten Commandments contain paganism.

Has Shamoun ever read the Ten Commandments?
Through the Commandments we realise God wants us to OBEY our parents:


"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12)

Does Sam Shamoun see how ignorant, humiliated and inconsistent he is looking? I suggest he deletes his article and apologises. Just in case Shamoun is reluctant let me give him a bit more encouragement in the form of the Bible.

Does Sam Shamoun Think the Bible Teaches Paganism?

Let’s open up the Bible again and note slaves are instructed to OBEY their masters, according to the absurd “reasoning” of Sam Shamoun this means the Bible associates slave owners as equals to God. Welcome to the inconsistent world of Sam Shamoun:

Colossians 3:22
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
I guess Christian fundamentalists such as Sam Shamoun are oblivious to the harm they are doing to the reputation of Christian missionaries the world over. Sam, have some self-respect.

One for the Road - OBEYING Joshua and Moses
Obviously people of the past obeyed their respective Prophets. Let us look at the example of Joshua and Moses in the Bible; According to the Bible the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh obeyed Joshua and Moses:

Joshua 22:2
and said to them, "You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded.

According to Shamoun’s warped logic this means the people in question were guilty of paganism because they obeyed Joshua and Moses – how absurd is Sam Shamoun’s reasoning!

I think this is enough for us to see Sam Shamoun’s argumentation can be dismissed for the errant nonsense it is as well as sufficing as a warning to all of us regarding Shamoun’s lack of scholarship and desperation to attack Islam with every erroneous and inconsistent claim under the sun.

Conclusion

Prophets are people who are meant to be OBEYED. It is not paganism to obey a Prophet – it is piety and righteousness to do so.

A case of Synchronicity
Just yesterday, via email, I was voicing concern to a Muslim blogger and apologist with regards to Shamoun’s unfortunate state. May Allah guide this man.

Sam, I guarantee if you come to Islam and follow it sincerely you will be emancipated from the current blighted predicament you find yourself in and you will certainly develop a sense of pure monotheism; not a compromised (polytheistic) form which we find in Trinitarianism. Sam, you were recently reported as an individual who believes an angel in the OT was God; please realise these beliefs of yours are pagan. God has never been an angel nor a man

Convert to Islam

I invite all the non-Muslim readers to Islam. If you want a relationship with God; Islam is for you. If you love Jesus; Islam is for you. Please give Islam a chance; go to your local Islamic centre, read a translation of the Quran, ask Muslims sincere questions whilst praying to God for guidance

Search for the Truth and the Truth shall set you free

May Allah guide us all. Ameen

Note

“Allah” is the word for God normally used by Arabic speaking Christians as well as Muslims

All biblical Quotes from the New International Version of the Bible

Quranic translations from that of Pikthal
Recommended Articles
You must read this if you believe in the incarnation

Would you like to be the brother or sister of Jesus?
Recommended book for Christians

What Every Christian Should Know About Islam, Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood

View this site
Would you like to learn more about Islam?

Converting from Christianity to Islam

Have you ever seen an ex-deacon convert to Islam? You have now! Dr Jerald Dirks is well learned in the study of christian theology...find out why he converted to Islam:



Dr. Dirks is a former minister (deacon) of the United Methodist Church. He holds a Master's degree in Divinity from Harvard University and a Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Denver

FEEDBACK: yahyasnow@hotmail.com