Muslim Response to US Supreme Court Decision on Gay Marriage

No one - neither secular folks nor religious folks - claims that the legal rulings of any country represent correct ethical values and true morality. The two are separate and distinct.

How many legal verdicts of a country have been considered unethical or immoral at a later date? At one time in America, slavery was legal; discrimination against other skin colors was legal; mass incarcerations against people of a different ethnicity was legal, and the list goes on and on. Even today, there are rulings that are technically legal yet opposed by large segments of the population (for example, abortion). The fact that a court rules something to be legal does not make it ethically valid for a particular faith tradition.

From the perspective of mainstream, normative Islamic law, any type of sexual union outside of marriage is unethical and immoral. This includes pre-marital, extra-marital and same-sex unions. The fact that none of these types of sexual encounters is deemed illegal in a country does not matter to us in terms of religious law: we believe that any Muslim who commits such acts has transgressed Islamic norms and should repent. Committing such an act does not disqualify one from being a Muslim, and his or her affair is with their Lord.

Just as Muslims understand that drinking alcohol is legal in America (and most countries in the world), yet unethical in Islam, so too should they understand that any sexual union outside of the bounds of marriage, as defined by the Shariah, is also unethical, even if legal in some countries. If some people drink alcohol in this land, that is their business, and we are not obliged to stop them, but we will believe that drinking alcohol is harmful to the body and soul, and we will preach this. The same applies for sexual matters as well: there are limits laid down by Islamic law, and we will continue to maintain those limits in our beliefs, and try to maintain them in our personal lives.

American Muslims have easily navigated through the potential conflict between the law of the land and of Islamic law when it comes to issues of alcohol, drugs, and pre- and extra-marital sex. Now, in light of the US Supreme Court's recent legalization of same-sex unions, they just need to add this latest issue to that list.

Lastly, just as all of us Western Muslims have non-Muslim friends (at college, or work, or our neighbors) who drink and 'party', yet we get along fine with them in civil society and benefit from their companionship in our lives, it shouldn't at all be a stretch to understand that people of alternative sexual orientations as well can be our colleagues and neighbors and classmates, and there is no need at all to be preach hatred against them or discriminate in any fashion or form. In fact, our religion commands us to be ideal role models for all people of all backgrounds. لكم دينكم ولي دين #

Taken from Dr Yasir Qadhi's FB

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Experience with Israeli Border Control

My Experiences with Israeli Border Control

A lot of people don't know this but I've been planning on retiring from traveling on Dec 31st, 2015, for more than a year now. When I made this plan I made a bucket list of all of things I wanted to achieve in my life before I retired from extensive traveling. On this list was going to masjid al Aqsa and building an orphanage. Al hamdulillah, Allah facilitated the process of potentially getting these both done on one trip. Allah is kinder and more generous than we can possibly imagine. I was traveling with Boonaa to the Israeli Border via King Hussain Bridge from Amman.

While waiting for the bus we met a Canadian Caucasian non-Muslim who is married to a Palestinian man. This was the 4th time she was attempting to cross this border in the last 6 days. The first time she was sent back after being detained for 7 hours! This gave us some insight as to what we can expect at the border. We get onto the bus and drive to the border. If you were to drive in a straight line without any checkpoints it might take about 10 mins. However, due to the barricades and multiple checkpoints it could take up to 3 hours!

Upon arriving at the border we saw people running out of the buses to get their bags and get into a line to get a tag for your luggage. It was 38 degrees and a few hundred people were in line with very little order. There were some that paid bribes to jump to the front of the line. Once you get a tag for your luggage you proceed to another line where you the security guard just looks at your face and gives you a sticker which tells you how much of a threat you potentially are. We both got 3, the highest level, surprise surprise!

You then proceed to a line which is now in door and is like airport security. You walk through the scanner and if you are a level three are asked to wait on the side so someone can come swipe your hands and bags to test for explosives. So far we have spent an hour and fifteen minutes at the border.

Once you are cleared you then go in further to be questioned to asses if you are eligible to enter or not. The lady I got seemed like such a nice lady and we were having an amazing conversation till something changed. I still don't know what it was...perhaps her manager gave her a look from far, that is what i suspect, then she became stone cold and gave me a paper to fill out and go wait in the waiting area. You are asked on this paper where you are going, why, your name, father's name, grand father's name, where you will be staying, and to list of any people you know on the other side.

After sitting and waiting for 2 hours a lady comes and finally takes this paper from us and we wait another hour there after. Now we are split up and taken for questioning separately. This lady had to be one of the most racist, condescending, and ignorant people I have ever met. She grilled me about everything! From why I didn't know my great grand father's name by heart, to why I chose a particular airline, to why I printed my itinerary at the airport and not at home, and why I chose these particular days of Ramadan and not any other. With all of this I was very calm and collected and thought it went really well.

As this was the first day of Ramadan we were fasting and already making a lot of dhikr and dua. With the intensity of the border it was taken to a whole new level! Boonaa actually compared it to the day of arafah!

Iftar time comes now and I go and look for a place to get water. No water fountains! They close the shops 10 minutes before Iftar. I asked multiple people just to get some water and was refused. Till this one lady genuinely tried to help me and took me a to few different places. She eventually takes me to the ministry of interior and gets me water from there. She seemed like a genuinely nice person and I pray that Allah opens her eyes to the truth.

During our time waiting I saw a blind woman being stopped for interrogation, along with a mother with 2 autistic children. One Palestinian man had his passport thrown back at him. Multiple times there was shouting upon helpless Palestinians. This whole time you can do nothing but wait and be patient.

We met several non Muslims that were stopped and detained for multiple hours just because they work for NGOs that do relief work. Constant harassment.

It is now 10 pm, we have been there for 7 hours and finally someone comes to us and asks us to get out luggage. I thought we were going to be let through at that time. These people tossed my bag inside and out and threw everything everywhere. The worst part is they would constantly laugh and talk about you in their language, while they hold machine guns right next to you. After they are done having their fun you are asked to pack your bag in a hurry and put your bag on a scanner. You are then escorted into an interrogation room that has no cameras. I was asked to spread my legs and every inch of my body was touched at least three times. They then go through your phone and laptop. I was then asked to wait again as Boonaa went in and went through the same process. He was then sent out and we waited together for a while till we were sent back to the original waiting area. It is now 11pm and the border is closed and we are the last ones there. After waiting some more someone comes out with a piece of paper and hands it to me and tells me to sign it without even giving me an opportunity to read it. It says you have been denied entry into Israel because it is feared you will ILLEGALY IMMIGRATE (ARE YOU FLIPPING KIDDING ME!!!???). Followed by a vague statement of Security concerns. While holding on to our passports they tell us to wait some more.

Then someone comes and gets you to go and pick up your luggage from the holding area and we were escorted out of the building. You only get your passport on the bus once you are in Jordan. As if all of this wasn't enough as we were standing on the side walk a lady comes with an angry face and starts shouting to go sit on the bench. She then within a split second turns to her friend and they start laughing. At that time you feel like kicking and screaming but are afraid of what further savagery you can possibly see from them. The absolute worst part about all of this is they stamp your passport saying: "Denied Entry into Israel" and high light it with 2 red lines to make sure you never forget this incident. This incident only made me feel more for the plight of the people of Palestine. May Allah guide them, protect them, be in their aid always. Ameen!

In a famous story of Umar sleeping at night a foreign king remarked, you were just during the day and thus you sleep peacefully at night. You can tell these people are scared because they recognize their oppression. With a lot of them you can see they have been engrained with hatred and the highest degrees of racism possible. They fail to realize that no oppressive state will last forever, and the way you treat people is the way you will one day be treated.

I urge all people to continue boycotting Israeli products and support the BDS movement. I encourage people to continue to travel to AlAqsa and never let it be abandoned. I urge all people to continue to make dua for the people of Palestine and never let them be forgotten.

"When is the help of Allah ?" Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near." (2:214)

Taken from the FB page of Navaid Aziz

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Did Zionists Steal Asghar Bukhari's Shoe?

To be honest, I would not be surprised if Zionists did carry this form of intimidation out as they do blame British Muslims for helping to expose Israel and it does seem like MPACUK's Asghar Bukhari may have been targeted previously by a Zionist smear job.

Asghar Bukhari And The Case Of The Missing Shoe #MossadStoleMyShoe



ARE ZIONISTS TRYING TO INTIMIDATE ME: Someone came into my home yesterday, while I was asleep. I dont know how they got in, but they didn't break in - the only thing they took was one shoe. Now think about that, the only thing they took was a single shoe - they left one shoe behind to let me know someone had been there.

Of course I cant prove anything and thats part of the intimidation. The game is simple - to make me feel vulnerable in my own home. Its Psychological. Neither can I do much about it.

It is not the first time I have heard this happening. I have had another Muslim leader call me a year or so ago, in tears - she told me they had been coming into her house and re-arranging things - just to let her know they had been there. There is one good thing that comes out of all oppression however - for those who are smart - from my misfortune, others can learn how they operate. Share this widely, for if it is happening to me, I am sure it happening to many, many others who have not exposed it. Asghar Bukhari And The Case Of The Missing Shoe #MossadStoleMyShoe

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Summer Solstice in Ramadan

Ramadan starts in barely a week.

This Ramadan, of the 2015 Gregorian year (1436 AH) will be one of the 'longest' in our lifetimes (along with next year's one). The 21st of June is the longest day of the year (the summer solstice), and so we will have some of Ramadan before and some of Ramadan after the 21st of June. This means that, this year, for most of the globe, the iftar timings will increase slightly until the 21st, and then decrease slightly until the end of Ramadan. All in all, it will be the LONGEST Ramadan days overall until the next one in 30 years (since every 30 Gregorian years = 31 hijri years). And for most of us, it will also be the hottest.

But fear not, for Allah has promised to make it easy! In the very verses pertaining to Ramadan, Allah says, 'Allah wants to make things easy for you, and does not want to make things difficult for you' [2: 185]. So this is a promise from Allah that Ramadan WILL be easy, if only we trust in Him and attempt it.

And this is a reality that all of us have experienced. Before Ramadan, we worry about how we will manage to fast the hot summer months, and spend the entire day without drinking and eating. Yet, when Ramadan begins, we find it to be unbelievably (and perhaps miraculously!) easy. We feel as if sustenance is provided to us from sources we cannot see.

From Dr Qadhi's FB

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The Lying Hand of the New Testament Scribe

Junia/s (the female “apostle”) + Bible alterations?

We all know there were some dishonest scribes entrusted with the Bible but this bout of sexism-fuelled dishonesty is quite astonishing and embarrassing to the Church.

Junia/s is mentioned in Romans 16:7 by Paul and described as an apostle [1]. Many of us in 2011 would not bat an eye lid at this verse BUT it appears some of the scribes of the Bible considered it an appalling anomaly and even (dishonestly) changed it to a male name whilst others simply regarded it as a male name without reason:

Most strikingly, there is Junia, a female ‘apostle’, so described alongside another ‘apostle’ with a male name – this was considered such an appalling anomaly by many later readers of Romans that Junia’s name was frequently changed to a male form in the recopying of manuscripts, or simply regarded without any justification as a man’s name [2]

Patriarchal societies, I understand, but dishonesty…

Yes, I understand, these copyists/scribes were indeed from male dominated societies so I can contextualise their concern BUT to dishonestly change the Bible to suit your world view is quite staggering – even more staggering with a touch of embarrassment when it’s sexism which leads you to the tampering of “scripture”.

Von Tischendorf’s discovery of Codex Sinaiticus highlighted an unauthorised addition (forgery) to the Bible (12 verses added to Mark!) so we know scribes were willing to add hefty chunks (also refer to John 7:53-8:11) in order to suit their agendas – be they sexism, story telling, theological point making, or other agendas.

Muslims to help Christians find the forgeries?

I suspect there are still a number of unrecognised forgeries/alterations lingering in the Gospel manuscript tradition - a tradition from which scholars are compelled to reconstruct the New Testament as there is no Urtext.

To the Arabs and Jews in the Middle East, please check your attics, basements, valleys, caves, etc for manuscripts. Christian scholars would be appreciative – you could sell fragments off at $2.80 per square centimetre as Mohammed Edh-Dhib was doing for the Dead Sea Scrolls (OT specific) [3]

A light hearted post with a deadly serious subtext!

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[1] Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. [ Romans 16:7, NIV]. The Bible commentaries (Smith’s, Easton’s, Nave’s) seem to have very little information on Junia.

[2] A History of Christianity, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Penguin Group, 2009, p 117

[3] In 1947, Muhammed Edh-Dhib (a Bedouin) discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. This is a revolutionary discovery with regards to the study of OT textual criticism.

“The going rate for fragments was apparently $2.80 per square centimetre” - The Story of the Scrolls, Geza Vermes, Penguin Books, 2010, p47

Reactions to BBC Three's Anti-Muslim Video of Ex Muslim

BBC Three recently aired a video with the description:

Kicked out of home for not believing in the Muslim faith, Sara, a young, ex-Muslim has a powerful story to tell.


Here are a few responses to this silly anti-Muslim video which shows the BBC is trolling Muslims. Since when was the last time it attacked Jews, Sikhs or Christians in such a way?  

The BBC would never air a programme on youngsters being thrown out for accepting Islam. I am personally aware of individuals who were thrown out due to their belief in Islam. While the BBC deliberately ignores thousands of Muslim reverts, for obvious reasons, the organisation focuses on very rare cases of apostasy and attempts to paint them as normal.

This is another campaign to spread hatred against Muslims. Such individuals can easily sell to Islamophobic institutions like the BBC for money or fame. Many of them apostatise due to personal inclinations such as homosexuality, extra-marital relationships, hatred of culture etc. Very often religion has little to do with their grievances. Mostly youngsters apostatise either due to lack of knowledge or lack of connection with their faith. While one or two leave the faith, thousands of others are joining every single day.

Her (un)belief aside, why is this unfortunate character hurting her parents by parading her story in public. It is evident that her parents are not happy with her disbelief. Just like any parents wouldn't like their children to leave their faith. llllllSuch cases of apostasy must be dealt with carefully and parents must convince their children with love and compassion. If parents do not practice the faith or take it seriously then such outcomes are inevitable. It is not the faith where the problem is, it is the way it is taught or not taught at all. [Adnan Rashid]

How come the BBC never shows a documentary about:Jews leaving Judaism [Taleb Al-Dean]

Waseem Khan: I used to eat donner kebabs but now I don't. Please send a camera crew to my house so I can tell you my powerful story. Thanks lads

Zhill AbdRahman: The irony about the ex-Muslim brigade, who by the way, most muslims would tell them that it's their choice, do what they want, but what you find is that it is them who can't let go and without their association with the word "Muslim", they appear to have no relevance.


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Tags:  Sara Viola, BBC Three, CEMB,

Muslim Scholar on Jealousy

When you feel jealousy against another person, the only person you're harming is yourself.

The Prophet (salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "I warn you against envy, for envy eats up good deeds just as a fire destroys wood."

If you really desire that which your brother or sister has, then instead of pleasing Shaytan and wishing evil for them, please Allah and pray that Allah increases your brother and sister in their blessing. If you do this, Allah will send an Angel who will make du'a for you to have the same!

The Prophet (salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "Whenever a Muslim makes du'a for his (Muslim) brother in his absence, an angel is appointed to say: 'Ameen, may the same be for you too'." ~ [Sahih Muslim]

Taken from Dr Yasir Qadhi's FB

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MPACUK Exposes Uncle Tom Maajid Nawaz and Western White Supremacy

WHITE PREJUDICE NEEDS EX MUSLIMS & UNCLE TOMS

 The fact that Muslims who attack their own people & ex Muslims are so famous in the West and are invited to glamorous speaking tours and media appearances proves ‪#‎Whiteprejudice‬

You see they need these paid insiders, circus-monkeys to help them justify their bigotry, for they think: "If one 'of their own' is agreeing with our prejudice, then it must be true!"

It re-enforces their prejudice and superiority they have. If they said we are violent, backward people who are savages due to our fanatical faith it might sound they were attacking a vulnerable community due to their racism - so instead they get a brown face, a Muslim to say the exact same thing for them.

Imagine a black man calling other blacks thieves - then surely the white audience was right all along - black people were saying it too!. The difference is Malcolm X and other leaders spotted the trick and called those people out as Uncle Toms or puppets for the white power structure - Muslims have failed to get to the root - failed to call out the puppet master. Just look at the audience of one these events - they are mainly white. Look at the topic - nearly always negative towards Muslims - a stereotype.

See how it works - and see how this white racism creates a need for ex-Muslims and Uncle Toms. They system itself demands they exist - and then it amplifies their voices and legitimises them. Thats how a brown face with no talent but the ability to hate on his own people to re-enforce the racist white narrative, gets rich and famous real quick. {MPACUK}

 

 

Maajid Nawaz needs to break free from the shackles of White Western Liberal Supremacists in order to remove himself from indignity and humiliation - I'd imagine the White Western Liberal Supremacists see Nawaz as not so bright and even less sharp when it comes to self respect. Up your self-respect Nawaz, break free from those shackles!

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Who Was Ibn Ishaq and Was His Work Reliable?

It's good to know a little about Ibn Ishaq as you may come across quotes from his work on various websites across the internet. The fact remains his biographical work is not binding on Muslims and each account in his work needs to be looked at in order to ascertain whether it's reliable or not. Just because it's in his biographical work does not mean it is reliable. Do not be fooled by Islamophobic spin.

Ibn Ishaq (d. 150/767)....was a very controversial figure. Malik, Ibn al Qattan, Ibn Hanbal, and others considered him highly unreliable because he accepted hadiths from questionable narrators as well as Christians and Jews. But Ibn Shu'ba felt he was impeccably reliable... [Hadith, Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World, Jonathan A C Brown, Oneworld Publications, Kindle, p86]


And here's further insight into who Ibn Ishaq was, his and his methodology:

Let us agree first that Ibn Ishaq is a controversial figure in the Muslim history. In what follows I will focus on his life and his work on the biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

His name is Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar. He was born in Madinah about 80 AH/699 AD and died in Baghdad in 151AH/730AD. He is best known as Ibn Ishaq. His father and two uncles collected and transmitted information about the Prophet in Madinah.

Ibn Ishaq was a contemporary of the second generation of traditionists such as al-Zuhri, Asim ibn Umar ibn Qatadah and Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr. He devoted himself to the study of Hadith from his youth. At the age of thirty he traveled to Egypt to attend the sessions of Yazid ibn Abi Habib.

In Egypt he was regarded as an authority because Yazid afterwards related Hadiths to Ibn Ishaq's authority. On his return to Madinah, he arranged and sorted out the materials he had collected. Al-Zuhri is reported to have said that Madinah would never lack knowledge as long as Ibn Ishaq was there. Al-Zuhri gathered from Ibn Ishaq the details of the Prophet's wars.
Yahya ibn Ma`in, an early Hadith authority, said: "Ibn Ishaq is firm in tradition." Abu Zur`ah (d. 281AH/860AD) said: "Older scholars drew from him and professional traditionists tested him and found him truthful."

Ibn al-Madini said: "Prophetic tradition originally lay with 6 men; then it became the property of 12, of whom Ibn Ishaq is one."

Al-Bukhari quoted him as an authority and Muslim cited him often.

On the other hand, other scholars accused him of being a Qadari and a Shi`i. In response to this accusation, scholars said that the narrations which might be interpreted as a support for Shi`isim were reported by Ibn Ishaq in the form of stories not as a support.

Ibn Ishaq excelled in the field of Hadith, Fiqh, Tafsir and Maghazi (the Prophet's wars).
Ibn Ishaq's biography of the Prophet is titled: The Book of the Campaigns or The Book of the Campaigns and the Prophet's Biography or The Book of the Beginning of the Campaigns. Al-Baka', a pupil of Ibn Ishaq, made two copies of the whole book, one of which must have reached Ibn Hisham (d. 218AH/797AD) whose text, abbreviated and annotated is the main source of our knowledge of the original work.

Throughout his work, Ibn Ishaq precedes every statement with the word za`ama or za`amu, he (they) alleged). It carries with it more than a hint that the statement may not be true, though it might be sound. This attitude reflects Ibn Ishaq's caution and fairness.

The phrase 'God knows best' speaks for itself and needs no comment. It is sometimes when the author records two conflicting traditions and is unable to say which one is correct. Another indication of the author's scrupulousness is the phrase 'God preserve me from attributing to the prophet's words which he did not use."

It is not always Ibn Ishaq's Sirah which is attacked but the man himself. Ibn Ishaq had another book titled Al-Sunan which if it ran counter to the schools of law that were in the process of development, the author would hope to escape strong condemnation.

By now, we can conclude that Ibn Ishaq is the main source of our knowledge about the Prophet as all later works relied on the narrations contained in his book which survives only in the recension of Ibn Hisham.

I hope this answers your query.

Note: This answer is based on Alfred Guillaume's introduction to his Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah (The Life of Muhammad), published by Oxford University Press, 1955. [OnIslam]

Ehteshaam Gulam writes:

 Several critics of Islam say that Ibn Ishaq's "Sirat Rasulallah" - "Life of the Prophet of Allah" is considered the most authentic biography of Prophet Muhammad. This is certainly false. While it is true that Sirat Rasulallah is the oldest and earliest biography of the Prophet-- no Muslim accpets Ibn Ishaq to be 100% true, inspired, a sunnah book or reliable. Most of the material of the Sira as we'll see has been rejected by hadith collectors such as Bukhari, etc. What several critics of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) fail to realize is that there is a huge difference between Sirah (Biography of the Prophet) and Hadith (the sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad). The Seerah is a collection of narrations about the people and events surrounding the Prophet (SAW) arranged in a chronological order. The amount of rigor put into authenticating and analyzing the chains and narrators [4] of an incident or event that is found in the Seerah is far lower than when a narration is used in the Sunnah or Hadith. Only the top of the top narrations, namely Sahih [5]  or Hasan [6] are used in the books of Hadith and Sunnah. As for Seerah this is not the case, the narrations used include all the authentic and acceptable ones, along with ones with weaknesses. The reason for including these weaker narrations is in order to fill in gapes or holes in the story. Muslims accept the hadith 100%. Muslims however don't accept the Sirah 100%--- rather Muslim scholars question 70% of the material found in the works of  Al-Waqidi, Ibn Sa'd, Ibn Ishaq, etc. These were more or less historians-- they were not hadith collectors. Ibn Ishaq, Al-Waqidi, Ibn Sa'd and Al-Tabri all operated outside of f all the sciences of Islam and isnaad (Arabic for chain of transmitters).  Ibn Is’haaq’s specialty was seerah therefore he was abandoned by the scholars of hadeeth (such as Bukhari and Muslim) when it came to narrating hadeeth and a reason for this might be because he might include those weaker narrations while he narrated the hadeeth.

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The Bible Believing Christian's Dilemma: A Response to Anthony Rogers of Answering Muslims

I recall reading a response by Anthony on the problem modern-day Christians face with regards to their confidence in the New Testament. It's clear one of the reasons why Christians of today cannot be confident in the NT is due to the point highlighted below.

It's been a while since I read Anthony's response. However, Anthony's response, IIRC, in a nutshell was him arguing that no more earlier manuscripts will be found - he even cited Ehrman's opinion on the unlikelihood of new NT MSS being found that would result in edits in the NT of today.

The Christians prior to the 19th century may well have been thinking the same thing and all of a sudden, BOOM!!! The Codex Sinaticus was found.

Another point on this is, are these folk confident there's no more new ones to be found because they have found them all OR rather that they believe that many were lost (thus meaning they have no certainty in what the autographs of each book in the NT said).

No matter how the fundamentalist Christian spins it, there are a problems for the Bible-believing Christian.

Here's the old post we are discussing:


Have you ever stopped to think about all those Christians prior to the 19th century discovery of Codex Sinaiticus who used to believe the last 12 verses of Mark were inspired by God and part of the Bible (they had similar beliefs about John 7:53-8:11 and that version of Luke 23:34). NOW you and other modern day Christians will claim those Christians of the past believed in forgeries/errors.

You have no guaranty that this will not happen to you in your life time (i.e. a new MSS discovery is made and a passage is denounced as an unauthorised addition).

Jesus taught people to do the Will of God (according to Mark 3:35) in order to become his brothers, mothers or sisters. A Muslim means one who submits to the Will of God. Do you want to become a brother of Jesus? If yes, become a Muslim. 

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Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk 

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James White and His Followers Should Think Deeper

White wrote:

MuslimbyChoice, a YouTube producer of videos, has been exposed to a tremendous amount of the light of truth, and yet remains the most blind to it. He listens to almost everything I do, whether it is YouTube videos, Dividing Lines, or here, my filling in for Janet Mefferd on her program last week. But what is amazing is that though he hears the truth repeatedly, it just doesn't sink in. The phrase, "there is a veil," fits incredibly well here, sadly. We surely need to pray for this individual, for to have encountered so much light, and yet to not even seem to understand what it is saying, let alone have a response to it, is a weighty thing indeed.

James White just doesn't get it. It's sad to see this quality in a man. He will label others as blind yet fails to the see (pardon the pun) his own blindness.

James fails to see what Muslims see when he starts talking about the additions in the NT. James White feels his mere pronouncement of an addition (i.e. a forgery) to the NT coupled with some background information concerning the manuscripts in question is 'a tremendous amount of the light of truth'. The information he presents on Luke 23:34, the last 12 verses of Mark and the periscope in John (7:53-8:11) is essentially a mere luxury addition to what the lay man can find by looking at the footnotes of the NT.

What James White is not doing is pondering upon 'the light of the truth'. 'The light of the truth' outlines that there are forgeries in the NT. However, James White and his followers are not benefitting from this light.

Think about it, prior to the 18th century when Dr Von Tischendorf discovered the Codex Sinaiticus the James Whites of the time (i.e. conservative Christians) believed they had the inerrant and inspired word of God. They believed they had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them and guiding them through Christian scripture. They really believed this. They also really believed that the last 12 verses of Mark were inspired parts of scripture, they really believed in that version of Luke 23:34 and they really believed in that periscope in John. What happened?

It turned out they believed in forgeries. Additions that were not supported by their most ancient 'witnesses' (manuscripts). Christians nowadays effectively believe their co-religionists of that bygone era were believing in forgeries. Yet those Christians of the past sincerely trusted the NT and sincerely believed the Holy Spirit as guiding them through the NT.

I think you can see where I'm going with this. James, to me, for some reason does not deign to reflect openly upon this?! For him his outward enunciation of what we all know coupled with some surplus manuscript information is 'the light of the truth'. In reality, this is not the light of the truth but merely a lamp which has not been switched on yet. It gets interesting when you switch it on - you switch the lamp on by following the thought pattern outlined above.

James, if you do decide to turn on that lamp you will also come to the question; how can you be sure there is no manuscript discovery around the corner which will wrench whole chunks from the NT just like what happened to John 7:53-8:11 and Mark 16:9-20 in the 18th century? You have no guaranty. Thus you will see that your NT is not reliable as the precedent has been set - another discovery (similar to Codex Sinaiticus) would mean you would have to pronounce other parts to be forgeries. Another discovery cannot be discounted. It's happened before to such an extent that the Bible-believing Christians prior to the 19th century are now considered to have believed in NT forgeries!

James when you sincerely turn that lamp on you will realise it to be faith shattering.

I invite you and your followers, after switching the lamp on, to Islam - the direction the light leads to.

If you are a James White supporter PLEASE think. Really. It's insufficient for him to basically pronounce the forgeries we all know about and not even ponder upon the SIGNIFICANCE of such forgeries. This is a huge problem within Christian apologetics today. The absolute unwillingness to go beyond the mere text book apologetics.

I understand why James considers the mere pronouncement of these forgeries as a big deal as there is a closed-ear approach within certain sectors of the Christian community when it comes to textual criticism. Today I came across a Christian who began to abuse me and claim I was presenting nonsense (in a crude fashion) at the mention of the last 12 verses of Mark being forgeries. Thus there are still Christians out there who don't even have the lamp never mind being at the point of contemplating on nudging that  'on' switch.

For the record, here's Prof Bart Ehrman confirming those verses in Mark being additions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt78TFDLdOc

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Jesus taught people to do the Will of God (according to Mark 3:35) in order to become his brothers, mothers or sisters. A Muslim means one who submits to the Will of God. Do you want to become a brother of Jesus? If yes, become a Muslim. Now is the time.

Learn about Islam:
http://www.thedeenshow.com

Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk

Contradiction: Robert Spencer Runs Away From Muslim Debater Yusuf Ismail

Robert Spencer the Coward

ROBERT SPENCER is one of the most vicious and cowardly Islamophobic extremists in the world today! After having agreed in principle to DEBATING me in S.A. and claiming that most "defenders of Islam" run away from him, HE has now BACKED out from the in- principle debate, stating he wants nothing to do with me because he finds me RUDE (?!?)...wow. Nice excuse! Taken from Yusuf's FB

Robert Spencer, somebody who his Islamophobic financial backers would call a courageous man as he puts his life on the line by criticising Muslims and Islam, is running away from an experienced Muslim debater  (one of the more articulate and intelligent ones out there) due to...erm ... perceived rudeness.

This is a guy his fan boys and girls would have us believe is risking life and limb...yet somehow he is afraid a Muslim debater may upset his feelings due to rudeness.

I don't buy Robert's excuse for a second. Any fan of his with an iota of reasoning would not buy it either.

In any case, doesn't it not serve Spencer's propaganda if he does share a podium with a rude Muslim? Of course!

Think about it, Robert Spencer wants to tar Muslims as savages so it kind of defeats his purpose in not conversing with 'rude' Muslims after all he's constantly prattling on about Muslims who have committed some sick crime here in Europe and trying to paint us all with that brush so surely it would have served his smear campaign to share a podium with a rude Muslim.

Having said that, I've followed a fair bit of  Yusuf Ismail, I don't really see much rudeness from him. Being robust in a debate is not rudeness. Debaters can be and are regularly robust. I guess Robert Spencer feared being exposed by Yusuf Ismail for the charlatan he truly is.

It's quite sad. It means Robert Spencer just ducked being taken apart logically by Yusuf Ismail.

Cowards will be cowards.

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Invitation to Islam

Jesus taught people to do the Will of God (according to Mark 3:35) in order to become his brothers, mothers or sisters. A Muslim means one who submits to the Will of God. Do you want to become a brother/sister of Jesus? If yes, become a Muslim.
Christians having dreams and converting to Islam

Learn about Islam

Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk

Jesus was not a Trinitarian

Jesus was a Unitarian. as is shown by his affirmation of the Jewish creed, the Shema.

Why does not the Church agree with Jesus in Mark 12:29?

Jesus was not a believer in the Triune God. Why are you?

From Anthony F. Buzzard's FB


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Reza Aslan on Prophecies of the Messiah

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Learn about Islam

Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk 

Unitarians Have a Better Case Than Trinitarians

Dr. Leonard Hodgson on lecturing on the Trinity, Oxford Univ:
 
"Perhaps the most significant of all admissions about the attempt to base the Trinity on the Bible comes from a leading Trinitarian theologian of the 20th century. Dr. Leonard Hodgson informs us that in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century debates between unitarians and Trinitarians, both parties “accepted the Bible as containing revelation given in the form of propositions.” He then concludes that “on the basis of argument which both sides held in common, the unitarians had the better case.”[1] This observation deserves careful consideration by all Trinitarians."
 
[1] The Doctrine of the Trinity (Nisbet, 1943), 220, 223, emphasis added. The “unitarian” understanding of the nature of God which we propose in the following chapters should not be confused with contemporary Unitarian Universalist theology.

 From Anthony F. Buzzard's FB

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Christians having dreams and converting to Islam

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Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk 

Tongue 'Sucking' Hadith Explained

It appears Islamophobic rabble-rousers on the internet have been distorting the reason behind Prophet Muhammad allowing his grandchildren (Hassan and Husayn, ra) to suck his tongue. [1]

Sadly, these folk have very little research behind them and even less desire for the truth. They have twisted these actions of genuine devotion and concern for these boys to reflect their debauched minds by accusing the Prophet of homosexuality.



What is the actual reason behind the tongue-sucking?

The answer lies in Ash-Shifa of Qadi Iyad. The reason behind the tongue-sucking was to quench their thirst and help settle them down. We must remember this was an arid environment (desert) where water was scarce, thus loving parents/guardians did go to such lengths in caring for children:

He gave al-Hasan and al-Husayn his tongue to suck. They had been weeping from thirst and upon this they became quiet. [2]

This was a genuine act of devotion; had Jesus (p), Gandi, Guru Nanak or Mother Theresa carried out such an act of devotion to children they would have been praised for it. Sadly, this is not always the case for Prophet Muhammad (p) as malicious Islamophobes on the internet have dark agendas they are pursuing assiduously.

Outrageous Islamophobic spin on a genuine act of devotion!

Islamophobes who present Ahadith (narrations) of such a nature in order to promote the idea of homosexuality or child abuse should desist immediately as their spin amounts to nothing more than a fallacious and fanciful attempt at character assassination.

May Allah guide these people. Ameen.

Muslims and Non-Muslims should be alert…

If a hater does present a claim where this occurred between the Prophet (p) and his grandchildren or his daughter (Fatima) please realise there is nothing untoward and the action was a genuine act of devotion that any caring person would undertake for the betterment of the infants. Do not be swayed by such hollow and outrageous distortions.

We must also remember homosexuality is forbidden and sinful in Islam. [3]

The Prophet’s saliva

 Prophet even used to spit in the mouths of suckling children in order to satisfy them until nightfall [4]. Further examples of the blessings within the Prophet’s saliva are given in footnotes [5], [6].


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Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk 

Footnotes

[1] A couple of narrations Islamophobes erroneously “use” in their efforts to degrade and dehumanize the Prophet (p) and Islam:

Bukhari, 1183. It is related that Abu Hurayra said, "I never sae al-Hasan without my eyes overflowing with tears. That is because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out one day and I found him in the mosque. He took my hand and I went along with him. He did not speak to me until we reached the market of Banu Qaynuqa'. He walked around it and looked. Then he left and I left with him until we reached the mosque. He sat down and wrapped himself in his garment. Then he said, 'Where is the little one? Call the little one to me.' Hasan came running and jumped into his lap. Then he put his hand in his beard. Then the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, opened his mouth and put his tongue in his mouth. Then he said, O Allah, I love him, so love him and the one who loves him!'" [Al-Adab al-Mufrad Al-Bukhari by Imam BukhariTranslated by: Ustadha Aisha Bewley] From - http://www.sunnipath.com/Library/Hadith/H0003P0046.aspx
Also:

Musnad Ahmed Hadith Number 16245, Volume Title: "The Sayings of the Syrians," Chapter Title: "Hadith of Mu’awiya Ibn Abu Sufyan": "I saw the prophet – pbuh – sucking on the tongue or the lips of Al-Hassan son of Ali, may the prayers of Allah be upon him. For no tongue or lips that the prophet sucked on will be tormented (by hell fire)

[2] Muhammad, Messenger of Allah – Ash Shifa of Qadi Iyad, translated by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley, Madinah Press, 2004 pg 184

[3] Imam Dhahabi’s list of enormities (sins), p17.0 he writes, “…There is consensus among both Muslims and the followers of other religions that sodomy is an enormity…” [From the list of enormities presented in Nuh Hamim Keller’s translation of Umdat as Salik, Amana Publications, 2008, p17.0 (page 644)]

[4] He used to spit into the mouths of suckling children and his saliva would satisfy them until nightfall [page 184 in Ash Sifa of Qadi Iyad, Madinah Press, 2004]

[5] He spat in a well that was in Anas’ house and there was no water in Madina sweeter than it – Al Bayhaqi [from page 183 in Ash Sifa of Qadi Iyad, Madinah Press, 2004]

[6] This narration is unclear as to whether the blessings were within the saliva of the Prophet (p) or not but it is of benefit to mention:
In the hadith of Hanash ibn Uqayl we find, “The Messenger of Allah would give me a drink of sawiq (a kind of mash). He would drink first and I would drink last. I always found that it filled me up when I was hungry and quenched me when I was thirsty and was cool when I was parched”
[from page 184 in Ash Shifa of Qadi Iyad, Madinah Press, 2004]