In the name of Allah (God),
I have decided to dedicate sincere and honest endeavour in helping to establish the Truth by helping to defend the good name of the last Prophet (pbuh) of Allah as well as refuting many other lies and misconceptions that are being disseminated by the insincere, wicked, deceptive, intellectually and morally bankrupted individuals as well as the ignorant individuals who all share a faulty characteristic; a blatant disregard for the Truth.
I ask Allah to purify my intentions and save me from doing any good action for self-aggrandizement, as all actions are judged by intentions. May Allah Love me, and bless this work. My message to any non-Muslim reading this is thus:
Please give Islam a chance, research it for yourself and allow Muslims and Muslim sources to be your primary resources you refer to when studying Islam rather than basing your views on agenda-motivated Islamophobic sources.
O Allah, You are Al-Wadud (The Loving)...please O Allah love me and bless all those Muslims and non-Muslims who read this.
Ameen
A Christian street preacher, who I was in conversation with over the phone, was under the impression Ravi Zacharias is Nabeel Qureshi's father-in-law.
This is not true. Nabeel is married to a lady called Michelle Qureshi. Whilst Ravi has two daughters: Naomi and Sarah.
Even as RZIM has seen phenomenal growth around the world, it remains a family ministry as Nathan’s sister Sarah Zacharias Davis serves as executive director of RZIM, his sister Naomi as a Vice President and Director of Wellspring International (a RZIM outreach), and his wife Sarah Parker Zacharias as a Marketing and Development Associate at Wellspring. [From an interview with Nathan Zacharias on Patheos]
Ravi Zacharias relayed a strange story about Sheikh Ahmed Deedat in an interview in which he was addressing the atheist, Richard Dawkins. Ravi Zacharias claimed Sheikh Ahmed Deedat slapped a Christian on stage and asked the Christian to give him his trousers and the Christian took them off on stage.
Strange story. There's no video evidence of this incident.
In fact Sheikh Deedat's son, who was asked about this, has denounced this as untrue. See the screenshot (click to enlarge):
A South African pastor (Bobby Freddy) who knew Sheikh Deedat wrote:
"The story about the late Deedat from Zacharias is highy Questionable. I don't think Zacharias verifed his source/information.I knew the Late Ahmed Deedat personally and engaged with him often since early 70s. I personally don't think he would have done such a thing."
A Malaysian who is a former student at the university Ravi Zacharias refers to denounces Ravi's story as a fib (click to enlarge):
One of Sheikh Deedat's students who spent a lot of time with him suspects it's a made up story:
"I spent a lot of time with Deedat and know cameras were even in his office to record encounters with missionaries. If it were the case it would be on film as he recorded everything" [Yusuf Bux]
I have skimmed through 3 different Sheikh Deedat lectures held in Malaysia which are online (see links below) and I did not see this alleged incident! Here are the three I skimmed through:
Lastly, the story does not even seem plausible. Why would a grown man take their trousers off on stage at a university. Much less a lecturer? And evenIF this part of the story was true how can one use such a story to malign Ahmed Deedat? Shouldn't one be looking at this 'lecturer' who chose to strip on stage?
Conclusion
This story seems like a lie. Whether Ravi was a victim or perpetrator of this suspected lie is in question. A public comment from Ravi Zacharias' organisation as per the scandal concerning his credentials would be most welcome.
If Ravi is unwilling to commit to this story a public apology to Sheikh Ahmed Deedat's students, friends and family would be highly encouraged too. This of course must be upsetting and emotional for them. May Allah give Sheikh Ahmed Deedat paradise and may Allah bless Sheikh Deedat's family and friends with further good. Ameen.
So Ravi Zacharias appears to have no doctorates and people have been misappropriating the tile 'Dr' onto Ravi Zacharias. Apparently he only received honorary doctorates. How many Christian followers of Ravi Zacharias have been misdirected by this. Not only this, it appears as though folk have been claiming Ravi Zacharias was a visiting scholar at Cambridge university. This again was a false claim.
One of the biggest problems in Christian apologetics and evangelism today is a lack of honesty. Christians are regularly being caught misdirecting, misleading, fabricating and outright lying about themselves, in their apologetics arguments or just plain lying in polemics against Non Christian faiths/peoples.
Christians are being taken for a ride by con men in their churches. People like Ergun Caner are not one offs. There's a lot of dishonesty in Christian evangelism. Christians wake up. Don't allow dishonest Christian apologists and evangelists to take you for an expensive ride.
This is a video compilation, of the man who investigated Ravi Zacharias, which I put together to capture the two main points against Ravi Zacharias in this scandal.
Ravi Zacharias Scandal: Honorary Degrees and Visiting Scholar at Cambridge Claim
This is a horrific story of kidnap and rape. Most people will be repulsed to their very core by it. Yet we have a hate-preaching Christian apologist misusing the misery of the raped girls to bash Muslims. Pathetic!
The Christian apologist named David Wood, who is effectively a hate-preacher against Muslims, simply shows to us that his desire for attention (cash?) and his hatred for Islam and Muslims is greater than any humanity and decency he may have in his being.
The internet is full of weird and malicious people. In fact, this particular hate-preacher has been doing this type of activity for a while now. You'd think somebody would have had a word with this hate-preacher.
Oh and for those who may be wondering as to this hideous man's vile propaganda - it's already been addressed. He's simply propagating hate lies. We know Islam does not allow rape - no religion allows rape. Sadly this vile man tramples on the misery of raped girls for hate-propaganda.
I truly wish somebody with sense and some compassion will have a word with this misguided man who is riding on the wave of anti-Muslim feeling for his own agenda (cash, popularity and evangelism of the Trinity).
Here's the news story of the raped Boko Haram abductees which the American Christian hate preacher is misusing:
Daily Mail—Their faces scratched and bleeding, the pitiful remains of their once-smart school uniforms ripped and filthy, the two teenage girls were tethered to trees, wrists bound with rope and left in a clearing in the Nigerian bush to die by Islamist terror group Boko Haram. Despite having been raped and dragged through the bush, they were alive – but only just – in the sweltering tropical heat and humidity. This grim scene was discovered by 15-year-old Baba Goni. ‘They were seated on the ground at the base of the trees, their legs stretched out in front of them – they were hardly conscious,’ says Baba, who acted as a guide for one of the many vigilante teams searching for the Nigerian schoolgirls abducted from their school last month by Boko Haram – and now at the centre of a concerted international campaign for their freedom. The horrific scene he and his comrades encountered, a week after the kidnap early on April 15, was in thorny scrubland near the village of Ba’ale, an hour’s drive from Chibok, where 276 girls aged 16 to 18 were taken from their boarding school dormitories – with 223 still missing. It was still two weeks before social media campaigns and protests would prick the Western world’s conscience over the abduction. In the days following their disappearance, rag-tag groups such as Baba’s, scouring the forests in a convoy of Toyota pick-up trucks, were the girls’ only hope. But hope had already run out for some of the hostages, according to Baba, when his group spoke to the terrified inhabitants of the village where Boko Haram had pitched camp with their captives for three days following the kidnap. The chilling account he received from the villagers, though unconfirmed by official sources, represents the very worst fears of the families of those 223 girls still missing. Four were dead, they told him, shot by their captors for being ‘stubborn and unco-operative’. They had been hastily buried before the brutish kidnappers moved on. ‘Everyone we spoke to was full of fear,’ said Baba. ‘They didn’t want to come out of their homes. They didn’t want to show us the graves. They just pointed up a track.’ The tiny rural village, halfway between Chibok and Damboa in the besieged state of Borno in Nigeria’s north-east, had been helpless to stop the Boko Haram gang as it swept through on trucks loaded with schoolgirls they had taken at gunpoint before torching their school. Venturing further up the track, Baba and his fellow vigilantes found the two girls. Baba, the youngest of the group, stayed back as his friends took charge.‘They used my knife to cut through the ropes,’ he said. ‘I heard the girls crying and telling the others that they had been raped, then just left there. They had been with the other girls from Chibok, all taken from the school in the middle of the night by armed men in soldiers’ uniforms. ‘We couldn’t do much for them. They didn’t want to talk to any men. All we could do was to get them into a vehicle and drive them to the security police at Damboa. They didn’t talk, they just held on to each other and cried.
Sadly, I suspect there will be other such hate-preachers against Muslims and Islam misusing the rape of these girls to make some cash, get a few views, hate-preach and further any other personal agenda they may have so here's a comprehensive post about Islam's view on raping of slave girls:
Post 9-11 propaganda against Islam attempts to portray Muslims as hordes waiting to invade the West to butcher, enslave and rape. One such propaganda piece is that 'Muslims are allowed to rape female slaves/captives'. This is simply propaganda which is designed to further the fear-mongering and hatred of Muslims.
Is rape of slave girls allowed?
Rape of a slave girl is an extremely violent act. Yet, Prophet Muhammad(P) condemned even slapping a slave:
Zadhan Abl Umar reported: I came to Ibn 'Umar as he had granted freedom to a slave. He (the narrator further) said: He took hold of a wood or something like it from the earth and said: It (freedom of a slave) has not the reward evert equal to it, but the fact that I heard Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) say: He who slaps his slave or beats him, the expiation for it is that he should set him free. Source: Sahih Muslim, Book 015, Number 4078
"He who slaps his slave" means both male and female:
Hilal b. Yasaf reported that a person got angry and slapped his slave-girl. Thereupon Suwaid b. Muqarrin said to him: You could find no other part (to slap) but the prominent part of her face. See I was one of the seven sons of Muqarrin, and we had but only one slave-girl. The youngest of us slapped her, and Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) commanded us to set her free. Source: Sahih Muslim, Book 015, Number 4082
The second you strike a slave, she is no longer your property and she is free. You now have no rights upon her. Therefore it is impossible to commit this act if you can not even slap nor beat a slave.
If you can not beat then how can you rape! Is there any instance of rape in the Islamic sources?
Many may not know this, but the Islamic historical references are so vast and tremendous, a western audience has never seen anything the size it:
9 volumes of Sahih Bukhari 9 volumes of Sahih Muslim 11 volumes of Musnad Ahmed the collection of Ibn Abi Dawood Malik Al Muwata 800 pages of the Biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq 23 volumes Al Qortobi Tafsir Ibn Kathir the History of At-Tabari Al-Jalalain The list goes on...
Yet those anti-Islamic critics will have us to believe that tens of thousands of women are being brutally raped! Yet you can not find 1 single instance of this happening in this vast amount of historical data! http://www.examinethetruth.com/compared/rape.html#islamrape
Conclusion
So here we see even slapping a slave girl is not allowed. Therefore we realise, it's obvious rape is not allowed as rape entails violence and hurt towards the slave girls (something which is forbidden in Islam).
We also see there is no source (despite the vastness of the Islamic source texts) in Islamic texts which show an instance of rape. Thus it's unfair and disingenuous to present claims of rape.
Forced Sex with Slaves in Islam?
Here the well respected and learned Sheikh Atabek Shukrov Nasafi confirms raping slave girls is not allowed in Islam. I have produced some bullet points to summarise his presentation below the video.
~ The sheikh could not find anything in Hanafi fiqh which taught forced sex of slaves is allowed.
~ The sheikh cites the Quran (4:36) to show that one should be good to the slaves (obviously rape is not treating slaves well thus rape does not seem to be allowed in Islam)
Worship Allah and join none with Him in worship, and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, Al-Masakin (the poor), the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and those (slaves) whom your right hands possess. Verily, Allah does not like such as are proud and boastful [Translation of the meanings of Quran 4:36 by Muhsin Khan] http://quran.com/4/36
~ The sheikh also cites Quran 24:33 to show that slave women cannot be forced into prostitution
And let those who find not the financial means for marriage keep themselves chaste, until Allah enriches them of His Bounty. And such of your slaves as seek a writing (of emancipation), give them such writing, if you know that they are good and trustworthy. And give them something yourselves out of the wealth of Allah which He has bestowed upon you. And force not your maids to prostitution, if they desire chastity, in order that you may make a gain in the (perishable) goods of this worldly life. But if anyone compels them (to prostitution), then after such compulsion, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (to those women, i.e. He will forgive them because they have been forced to do this evil action unwillingly). [Translation of the meanings of Quran 24:33 by Muhsin Khan] http://quran.com/24/33
Thus we see slave women cannot be forced into sex with others (prostitution).
~ The sheikh refers to a narration where Prophet Muhammad (p) repeated (many times) the order to take care of your slaves.
[Obviously, rape would be against such a teaching. Thus one would not imagine rape to be allowed in Islam]
~ The sheikh cites a hadith where we learn the Prophet taught that the slaves should be fed the same food as the slave master, the same clothes should be given to the slave as those worn by the slave-master and the slave-master should not make the slaves do something which is difficult for them - if they are made to do the difficult task the slave-master must help the slave.
[Of course forced sex is much worse than not feeding or clothing the slave to one's own standard - thus one would not imagine rape of slaves to be allowed. Think about it]
~ The sheikh also makes mention of a narration which teaches us not to punish or oppress slaves.
[Of course based on this and the nature of rape one would not consider rape to be allowed]
~ The sheikh cites a hadith where we see burning the slave and/or cutting their noses/ears is not accepted - the slave must be freed if this was to occur.
~ The sheikh cites a hadith in which we see the slaves' emotional feelings are considered as a slave master cannot even call them by the term 'my slave' and a more sensitive term should be used.
[Think about it, if the slave's emotional feelings are considered how can one say rape is allowed when rape not only involves physical pain but also emotional pain - both of which are not allowed in Islam]
~ The sheikh cites a hadith which shows beating or slapping a slave is not allowed
[Rape involves elements of violence - thus how can one say rape of slaves is allowed when violence towards slaves is not allowed?]
~ The sheikh cites a narration where we see killing the slave is not allowed and nor is castrating (chopping off the private parts)
The sheikh also teaches sexual intercourse with slave girls is similar to the manner one has intercourse with their wife (i.e. not like an animal, trying to satisfy the wife during sex, preparing before intercourse).
[Thus one can see that saying rape of slave girls is allowed is unfair]
Conclusion
The basic theme is here, one cannot physically hurt his slave thus rape is not allowed as rape entails traumatic pain. We see that slaves' feelings are not allowed to even be hurt thus further indicating rape is not something which is allowed by Islam. Also note that the sheikh taught that the intercourse with the slave girl is similar to that of with the wife (where the wife's sexual satisfaction is considered too).
We also see there was nothing found in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence which supports the claim of rape being allowed.
Does Islam permit Muslim men to rape their slave girls?
Bassam Zawadi in this article shows rape to be something which is not allowed in Islam. Aside from the theme above Bassam introduces new themes for thought - one of which being the view of some scholars where the slave girl has to convert to Islam before any intercourse can be had with a slave girl who happened to be an idol-worshipper.
His concluding remarks:
Islam forbids one to harm those under his authority. Since rape is considered a form of harm that would mean that rape is forbidden. We have also seen that history shows that slave girls in the past did consent to having sex with their captors; hence we must keep our subjective emotions aside and agree with this objective fact. In light of this fact, there is nothing absurd in believing that the Muslims did not rape their slave girls especially since they were forbidden from doing so. And even if some of the Muslims back then did rape their slave girls, this would only show that they committed a sinful act and not that the Prophet (peace be upon him) approved of such behavior. In conclusion, Islam does not permit the Muslim man to rape his slave girl. Overall Conclusion
It's clear that the basic theme in Islam of looking after and not hurting the slaves would prohibit rape.
Islam as a religion does not allow rape of slave girls. Those who are propagating anti-Muslim propaganda on such matters should really desist and check their sincerity.
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 of Jesus? If yes, become a Muslim. Now is the time.
Have you come across Christian missionaries throwing out their old and tired argument that the Quran asks Muslims to follow the 4 Gospels of the New Testament?
It’s a very popular Christian missionary device. It’s a very deceptive and disingenuous device.
Here we see one of Ravi Zacharias’ team members, Dr Nabeel Qureshi (prior to joining RZIM), use such an argument and in the process look quite foolish and/or intellectually dishonest.
Shadid Lewis Rebukes Nabeel Qureshi of RZIM for intellectual dishonesty and/or ignorance
So
Nabeel Qureshi of RZIM appealed to Surah 5:68 in order to convince Muslims to
accept the 4 Gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
Say (O Muhammad SAW) "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! You have nothing (as regards guidance) till you act according to the Taurât (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), and what has (now) been sent down to you from your Lord (the Qur'ân)." Verily, that which has been sent down to you (Muhammad SAW) from your Lord increases in most of them (their) obstinate rebellion and disbelief. So be not sorrowful over the people who disbelieve. (5:68 Dr Mohsin translation)
As
Shadid Lewis (Muslim Debate Initiative) points out, the Verse (5:68) speaks
about the Gospel (singular – modern Christians have 4 different books which
they call Gospels) and that the Verse instructs the people to act in accordance
with the Gospel, Torah AND the Quran (the Quran teaches that God has no son and
Jesus did not die).
Shadid
also highlights some CONTEXT by referring to a Verse earlier on in the chapter (5:46)
And in their footsteps, We sent 'Īsā (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)[], confirming the Taurât (Torah) that had come before him, and We gave him the Injeel (Gospel), in which was guidance and light and confirmation of the Taurât (Torah) that had come before it, a guidance and an admonition for Al-Muttaqûn (the pious - see V.2:2). (5:46, Dr Mohsin translation)
This
Verse teaches us that God gave Jesus the Injeel (Gospel). We all know Jesus
never even saw the books (Gospels) of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These books
NEVER existed at the time of Jesus; they were written DECADES AFTER Jesus’
departure from the world. So clearly the Quran is not speaking about the 4 ‘Gospels’
in the New Testament. Simple logic!
It
would be intellectual dishonesty on the part of the Christian to present this
argument. We appeal to Dr Ravi Zacharias, Dr Nabeel Qureshi and the rest of the
team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries to ensure their staff members
do not present such intellectually dishonest argumentation. I would also like
to ask Nabeel to retract and denounce such argumentation.
Invitation
to Christians and Jews to become Muslims
What
is the common theme shared by the original Gospel, original Torah and the
Quran? Pure monotheism – belief in One God!
At
the end of the day, it’s incumbent on us that we worship God alone. Jesus was a
Prophet of God. He was not God. Jews
have not believed in Prophets Jesus and Prophet Muhammad. I urge Jews to come
to Islam in order to accept the Truth.
Please
see the following links to learn more about Islam:
Ravi Zacharias' International Ministry speaker Nabeel Qureshi is seen to be presenting tired, old apologetics whilst the Muslim speaker offers logic and Biblical scripture to refute the claims Christian evangelists are making.
Some of the logic Shabir Ally uses: The Christians claim God died for the sins of mankind. However, when you ask the Christians is God still alive? They say yes - they believe a 'human part' of God died. So why do they say God died for sins?!
The Biblical scripture that Shabir Ally refers to:
The One Who Sins Will Die
18 The word of the Lord came to me:2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:
“‘The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.
4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die. [Ezekiel 18:1-4 NIV]
Invitation to Islam
Jesus taught people to do the Will of God (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.
Here we have RZIM's Dr Nabeel Qureshi making outrageous claims about Islam in the past, he claims the Quran allows rape of captives of war - this is an obvious falsehood (as seen in the video below). Ravi Zacharias is asked to rebuke Nabeel Qureshi for his part in spreading a hateful lie about Islam.
Ravi Zacharias International Should be Disappointed in Unscholarly and Reckless Nabeel Qureshi
Message to Dr Ravi Zacharias
Dr Ravi Zacharias, please do ask Dr Nabeel Qureshi to retract this falsehood and issue an apology. These things strain relations between Muslims and Christians further. The Christian evangelical community has been reeling of late due to the actions of Dr Ergun Caner. If you and your co-evangelists learn anything from such scandals it should be the importance of honesty. Can you honestly say Nabeel Qureshi is being honest, scholarly and fair with such a claim? No, you cannot.
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 of Jesus? If yes, become a Muslim. Now is the time.
Have you come across Christian missionaries throwing out their old and tired argument that the Quran asks Muslims to follow the 4 Gospels of the New Testament?
It’s a very popular Christian missionary device. It’s a very deceptive and disingenuous device.
Here we see one of Ravi Zacharias’ team members, Dr Nabeel Qureshi (prior to joining RZIM), use such an argument and in the process look quite foolish and/or intellectually dishonest.
Shadid Lewis Rebukes Nabeel Qureshi of RZIM for intellectual dishonesty and/or ignorance
So
Nabeel Qureshi of RZIM appealed to Surah 5:68 in order to convince Muslims to
accept the 4 Gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
Say (O Muhammad SAW) "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! You have nothing (as regards guidance) till you act according to the Taurât (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), and what has (now) been sent down to you from your Lord (the Qur'ân)." Verily, that which has been sent down to you (Muhammad SAW) from your Lord increases in most of them (their) obstinate rebellion and disbelief. So be not sorrowful over the people who disbelieve. (5:68 Dr Mohsin translation)
As
Shadid Lewis (Muslim Debate Initiative) points out, the Verse (5:68) speaks
about the Gospel (singular – modern Christians have 4 different books which
they call Gospels) and that the Verse instructs the people to act in accordance
with the Gospel, Torah AND the Quran (the Quran teaches that God has no son and
Jesus did not die).
Shadid
also highlights some CONTEXT by referring to a Verse earlier on in the chapter (5:46)
And in their footsteps, We sent 'Īsā (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)[], confirming the Taurât (Torah) that had come before him, and We gave him the Injeel (Gospel), in which was guidance and light and confirmation of the Taurât (Torah) that had come before it, a guidance and an admonition for Al-Muttaqûn (the pious - see V.2:2). (5:46, Dr Mohsin translation)
This
Verse teaches us that God gave Jesus the Injeel (Gospel). We all know Jesus
never even saw the books (Gospels) of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These books
NEVER existed at the time of Jesus; they were written DECADES AFTER Jesus’
departure from the world. So clearly the Quran is not speaking about the 4 ‘Gospels’
in the New Testament. Simple logic!
It
would be intellectual dishonesty on the part of the Christian to present this
argument. We appeal to Dr Ravi Zacharias, Dr Nabeel Qureshi and the rest of the
team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries to ensure their staff members
do not present such intellectually dishonest argumentation. I would also like
to ask Nabeel to retract and denounce such argumentation.
Invitation
to Christians and Jews to become Muslims
What
is the common theme shared by the original Gospel, original Torah and the
Quran? Pure monotheism – belief in One God!
At
the end of the day, it’s incumbent on us that we worship God alone. Jesus was a
Prophet of God. He was not God. Jews
have not believed in Prophets Jesus and Prophet Muhammad. I urge Jews to come
to Islam in order to accept the Truth.
Please
see the following links to learn more about Islam:
