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 response to the Joe Rogan Experience about 7 Myths that our friend Joe Rogan and a few of his guests who have unfortunately been misleading the people with regarding to Muslims and Islam
along with a nice message for Joe Rogan God willing he accepts. The Deen Show respond to Joe Rogan:
In the eighth century Charlemagne, holding power over both church and state, in his own person practiced polygamy. St. Augustine seems to have observed in it no intrinsic immorality or sinfulness, and declared that polygamy was not a crime where it was the legal institution of a country. He wrote in The Good of Marriage (chapter 15, paragraph 17), that polygamy …was lawful among the ancient fathers……..". He declined to judge the patriarchs, but did not deduce from their practice the on going acceptability of polygamy.
During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther said, “I confess for my part that if a man wishes to marry two or more wives, I cannot forbid him for it does not contradict the Scripture.” African churches have long recognized polygamy. Early in its history, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practiced polygamy in the United States. Splinter groups left the Church to continue the practice after the Church banned it. Polygamy among these groups persists today in Utah, neighbouring states, and the spin-off colonies, as well as among isolated individuals with no organized church affiliation.
No church council in the earliest Christian centuries opposed polygamy. St. Augustine clearl)'[sic] declared that he did not condemn it. Luther tolerated it and approved of the bigamous status of Philip of Hesse. In 1531 the Anabaptists preached polygamy and the Mormons of today believe in it (see Abd al Ati, The Family Structure in Islam, American Trust Publications, 1977, p 114 : Until this very day, the church in some African countries conducts the marriage of men to more than one wife. In Europe, the attempt to legally enforce monogamy and outlaw polygamy took place as late as the late sixth and early seventh centuries.
Excerpted with alterations from: Is it Islam alone that allows polygamy? By May Saleh and Magdy Abd AL-SHafy. See here for the entire article:
Did the Old Testament ALLOW Polygamy? Under the Old Testament Law Polygamy was never banned. It was simply regulated
If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. [Exodus 21:10]
15 If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, 16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. 17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him. [Deuteronomy 21:15-17]
So this clearly shows the Old Testament did not prohibit the practice of Polygamy, it simply regulated it by giving rules of equal treatment.
Thus further showing the one-man one-woman doctrine is something new while Polygamy is certainly present in the Bible.
According to the Bible, God gave David wives
Mark Henkel says Moses had two wives., Abraham had three wives and that the twelve tribes of Israel were born of Israel's four wives.
Mark Henkel says David had numerous wives and according to the Bible, God gave David those wives and if he wanted more God would have given more:
8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. [2 Samuel 12:8]
Matthew 25, as mentioned by Mark Henker, contains a parable of a polygamous bridegroom.
Mark Henkel: Clearly the Bible never taught the anti-polygamy doctrine.
Adultery and One Flesh?
The prohibition on adultery is not given in English, it was given in Hebrew. Mark Henkel teaches the Hebrew word for 'adultery' means WOMAN who breaks wed-lock. Thus through the Hebrew we see that polygamy of a man marrying more than one wife is not adultery.
And we must also keep in mind Mark Henkel's important reminder of Christian belief, Moses is believed to have written down the Law prohibiting adultery yet he had more than one wife thus showing to Christians and Jews that polygamy of a man marrying more than one wife is NOT adultery.
As for the two will be one flesh. Mark Henkel states this does not mean you cannot be one flesh with more than one woman as Moses was.
Mark Henkel points out that the Bible also teaches one can become 'one flesh' with a prostitute. Mark Henkel contends this means that the person can be 'one flesh' with his wife and 'one flesh' with a prostitute.
16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[b] 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. [1 Corinthians 6]
Mark Henkel believes the understanding of adultery and the one-flesh passage are not in contradiction with Polygamy.
Ruling for Kings in Deuteronomy 17?
The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. [Deuteronomy 17:16-17]
Some Christians may use Deuteronomy 17:16-17 to argue against polygamy but is this an intellectually honest argument?
Firstly, the passage is speaking about kings (not everyday people) and secondly the instructions are do not take a great number of horses and many wives. Of course, a king will have more than one horse so it does not seem to be a teaching of do not take more than one. Perhaps it's a teaching of do not be extravagant and have a great number of horses and wives. So it seems like the kings can have more than one wife and more than one horse.
The Husband of One Wife and 1 Timothy
1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Timothy 3:12 and Titus 1:6 are not general prohibitions of polygamy. Mark Henkel says these are instructions only for Bishops, Elders and Deacons. Mark Henkel offers a further interpretation referring to the Greek, he believes this is a prohibition against divorce.
Something that Mark Henkel did not mention that I will touch on. 1 Timothy 4:12 is said to be teaching pastors to be an example to the believers. The anti-polygamy Christians will use this verse. However, is this really a teaching of direct imitation? If it was, then wouldn't all Christian believers have to become pastors? So to hang one's hat on this verse does not seem to be the best of logics. On top of this, the acceptance of 1 Timothy being from Paul is in question - New testament scholars dispute whether Paul wrote this. Professor Bart Ehrman believes it to be a forgery. Here's a little piece online that you may be interested in reading: 1 Timothy is one of the three epistles known collectively as the pastorals (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus). They were not included in Marcion's canon of ten epistles assembled c. 140 CE. Against Wallace, there is no certain quotation of these epistles before Irenaeus c. 170 CE.
Norman Perrin summarises four reasons that have lead critical scholarship to regard the pastorals as inauthentic. Read more Christianity and Polygamy
Recently I saw an article about the Indonesian actress' (Asmirandah Zantman's) conversion to Christianity on social media. It was being used as Christian missionary propaganda.
The article reporting on her 'conversion' to Christianity is dated the 3rd of November 2015 yet Wikipaedia suggests she married and converted to Protstantism (a denomination of Christianity) in 2013 so it's an old conversion yet it's given the veneer of being more recent.
Asmirandah is pictured wearing a hijab to reflect her faith prior to her 'conversion' to Christianity. Of course the Christian missionaries want to make out that Asmirandah was devout and converted to Christianity for a faithful reason.
However, in Indonesia mixed-faith couples; in order to obtain a marriage certificate must be of the same faith - thus one partner converts. Some choose to convert and live with their new religion like the actress Asmirandah seemingly has done while others only involve themselves in a 'conversion' in order to get a marriage certificate but then continue with their original religion. It appears her boyfriend did not want to convert to Islam so she converted Christianity - she appears to have chosen her boyfriend over her religion.
Christian missionaries, who are attempting to use Asmirandah's 'conversion' for Christian missionary purposes are either ignorant of her situation and her past or they are being deliberately disingenuous in using her as a model 'convert'.
As for her being devout and a wearer of the hijab, she began her career without a hijab. She wore the hijab for a brief period. She confirmed a relationship with her boyfriend Jonas Rivanno (actor) in 2012 and got married in 2013 (see Wikipaedia).
So, it seems, to try and make out she was some devout Muslim lady who began to read the Bible and decided to convert because she thought Christianity was a true faith is misleading.
Oh and to the person who wrote she looks 'free' now (i.e. without the hijab), loosening one's modesty and wearing less clothing does not make one free. If that's your logic, then what of strippers..
In any case, how do you know Asmirandah is not a Muslim by heart or will not come back to Islam later on in her life or if she leaves her Christian husband?
My advice to Christians is stop using her for your Christian missionary propaganda. It's not clever. It's not sincere. And Christianity is the wrong path.
Don't make definitive statements without confirmation from Gigi/Bella. However, if you're a Muslim please do show Bella and her sister support and be good Muslim role models for them. Peace
OK, my friend messaged me about this Muslim drag queen program to be aired on Ch4. I already know about Asif Quraishi. I'm aware of his work. I've wrote about him previously.
As far as I know they don't do shows on Hindu drag queens, Sikh drag queens, Jewish drag queens or Christian drag queens? Why not? It's because Muslims are in the news nowadays. The media constantly beat us down. There's a demonization campaign against us as well as a campaign to try and get people to call for 'reforming' our religion and our religious outlook (in no way shape or form should we do this - this is our identity and the Western White Liberal world is not going to play a game of superiority over us and tell us what to believe or think!!)
Asif Quraishi (aka Asifa Lahore) is being used by Islamophobes and is also being used by people behind the scenes in TV to court controversy in order to grab a few extra views in an ever more competitive TV audience battle. Does Asif Quraishi know this? I don't know...but he should. Perhaps he should also know that the folk behind the TV show may also be using him as a 'look at this guy' type of thing, where they don't respect him but rather use him as something to look at and perhaps poke fun at such as some of the out-there individuals they used to choose for their Big Brother program. Let's face it, Channel 4 have a history of using people in this way. Some of whom may have had mental problems.
However, perhaps Asif Quraishi knows all this. Perhaps for him it's a bit of a trade-off. He gets used but he also uses the media too. For him he courts attention which means his popularity on the drag queen and gay scene increase which in turns means more revenue (CASH) for him.
But life is not about using people for cash and purposes of popularity. There's more to life than this. Asif Quraishi knows this. Deep down Asif Quraishi is also using this as a cry for help. A cry for Muslims to sit him down and talk to him. Befriend him and rescue him from his current plight of loneliness and life as a pawn for people who want to rinse him for their own ends - be they gay club owners, TV directors, Islamophobes, LGBT rights activists etc. People are using our Asif Quraishi.
He should be incorporated into the Muslim community fully. Away from the cameras and the prying eyes. He should be rescued. He needs Muslim heroes at this time. He needs Muslim friends. Let's befriend him and let's take him to the mosque regularly and get him attending Islamic circles, classes and lectures. Let's help him. This is our duty. Either we try to help him or just leave him to the wolves who are devouring him right now by misusing him for their own selfish purposes.
If there are any Muslim drag queens, transgender people, lesbians or gays who are looking for a Muslim to speak to please do email me, I will try my best to offer advice and direct you to avenues which can assist you. Muslims are here for you!
There are a lot of people talking about Josh Duggar right now. In his moment of need Muslims should be there for him. If there are any Muslims in his life, please do offer your support for Josh during these times. Be there for him, he may need to talk to you for emotional support. He may just need a friend and somebody to confide in. Invite him to Islam if he's not already a Muslim.
I do wonder whether any Muslim has, in person, invited Kanye West and/or Kim Kardashian to Islam. I'd like them to convert to Islam (if they are not Muslims already). If they are not Muslims, I invite them and any Non-Muslim fans of theirs to become Muslims. The same applies to Bruce Jenner.
Islam is a simple religion that teaches us to worship God alone and to believe in all the Prophets of God including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all the Prophets). Interestingly enough for Catholics and Protestants, Islam is the religion that Jesus (p) will follow upon his second coming.
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.
As far as I can tell Gigi Hadid has not confirmed nor denied being a Muslim, which follows this snippet from Glam Monitor:
Her heritage as well as her religion is her personal life, after all. She has been asked quite a few times whether she is Muslim or Christian..........As Hadid herself says “You don’t want to share every single aspect of your life with the world… You want to keep a sense of privacy”.
Thus as of now most of us on the internet do not know.
Muslims on the net should be courteous to her and not be derogatory. She's a human with feelings so offer her encouragement in good. Try to set a good mature example for others to follow so people are impressed with Muslim behaviour on internet platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.
As for any of Gigi Hadid's Non-Muslim colleagues, friends and fans I'd like to invite them to Islam.
Islam is a simple religion that teaches us to worship God alone and to believe in all the Prophets of God including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all the Prophets). Interestingly enough for Catholics and Protestants, Islam is the religion that Jesus (p) will follow upon his second coming.
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.
Muslims would love to see Lindsay Lohan convert to Islam (if she's not a Muslim already). If she is not a Muslim, we invite her and her Non-Muslim fans to become Muslims.
Islam is a simple religion that teaches us to worship God alone and to believe in all the Prophets of God including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all the Prophets). Interestingly enough for Christians, Islam is the religion that Jesus (p) will follow upon his second coming.
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.
Brother Ali mentions the names Bilal and Abu Bakr are important in West Africa. The name Abu Bakr, became Booker amongst African Americans who were enslaved. Was Booker T Washington's family background Muslim? Brother Ali mentions Frederick Douglass' family background may have also been Muslim too.
The Christian right are styling these pictures of Rick Warren with Elton John as 'holding hands'. From my understanding, they were at the US Congress lobbying for more money for AIDS research (any in my view 'holding hands' would have either been either due to greeting each other, showing unity in their cause and/or celebrating some victory rather than some sort of homosexual gesture) .
It's sad that these pics of them are over-shadowing the fact that we must do more to battle AIDS and help those suffering from it.
I do wonder whether any Muslim has, in person, invited Elton John and Rick Warren to Islam. I'd love them to convert to Islam (if they are not Muslims already). If they are not Muslims, I invite them and any Non-Muslim fans of theirs to become Muslims.
Islam is a simple religion that teaches us to worship God alone and to believe in all the Prophets of God including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all the Prophets). Interestingly enough for Catholics and Protestants, Islam is the religion that Jesus (p) will follow upon his second coming.
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.
Now is a time for Muslims to be there for Zayn Malik, a pop star who left a band called 1 Direction. Zayn Malik needs positive messages from Muslims to help him through this trying time and to encourage him.
A few videos for Zayn Malik to encourage, remind and help Zayn as well as his fans
Muslims Pray For Zayn Malik #RightDirection || Naseeha Session
Against #cutforzayn
I'd like Zayn Malik and others who are feeling stress and anxiety to listen to the following video:
How To Cure Stress and Anxiety - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf- Zayn Malik Pease watch!
More than 220 calls were made to employment law experts by workers asking for compassionate leave following the news that Zayn Malik had quit One Direction. The Independent
If you viewed the ganging up and the premeditated attacks on two Muslim guests on Nicky Campbell's The Big Questions and you feel like you want to do something please do complain. It will only continue to happen if you stay silent, make your voice heard to the BBC and help make it easier for Muslims on such shows in the future.
You can complain using the BBC complaint page. If you wish to use my email complaint you will have to truncate it in order for it to meet the character limit on the BBC's complaint form.
Dear Sir/Madam
I would like to lodge my concerns related to a segment on The Big Questions (Episode 10, Series 8) which I believe aired on Sunday March the 15th.
The segment was entitled 'Do British Muslims have a problem with apostates?'.
Mr Nicky Campbell drifted away from the topic in what seems to be a deliberate and premeditated attempt to corner two of the Muslim guests (Mr Mohammed Shafiq and Mr Abdullah Al Andalusi).
Mr Campbell departed from neutrality and went on the offensive in order to corner Mr Andalusi about something totally unrelated to the topic. Nicky drew a really tentative link between Mr Al-Andalusi and a London imam and thus demanded rather forcefully that he condemns this imam for alleged comments which were totally off-topic. The link between Mr Al-Andalusi and his imam was merely them having shared the same platform in the past. Mr Al-Andalusi has shared platforms with people like the former EDL leader, Tommy Robinson. So Mr Campbell was being rather selective here. For Mr Campbell to draw such a tentative link and then veer away from the topic in hand while aggressively asking the guest to condemn this imam was an abandonment of neutrality, a basic level of integrity and respect.
A similar approach was adopted by Mr Campbell with regards to Mr Shafiq in which Mr Campbell again veered away from the subject in a premeditated attempt to corner Mr Shafiq for unrelated past comments on social media. Mr Shafiq expressed his concern while on the show stating it appears to be a 'witch-hunt' against certain guests - two Muslims guests (himself and Mr Andalusi).
Aside from this, even the title of the topic and the general approach seemed to be stacked against Muslims. Surely, a fairer approach would have been, not to simply focus on former Muslims but to open up the discuss for people of a variety of faiths to discuss their experiences with their families upon them leaving their respective faiths. Framing the discussion solely on Muslims can easily turn into a witch-hunt against Muslim.
I do believe this segment of the show did the BBC a disservice.
Regards
A few further considerations
Amal Farah seems to have an unhealthy intent on attacking her former faith. Moreover, she uses the standard Islamophobic arguments and exhibits clear signs of ignorance. Her claim that Taqiya is about 'tricking Western audiences' not only highlights her ignorance of the concept of Taqiya but also draws attention to her odd distinction between Muslims and the West; she would do well to remember there are millions of Muslims in the West...she should know as she used to be one.
Abdullah Al Andalusi has wrote a review in which he makes a few good points but in my opinion he should have been more direct in answering the question about apostasy as he ultimately invited the focus on himself. I assume the topic would have been announced before his appearance on the show thus he would have had time to prepare for such questioning. Muslim speakers need to prepare answers for such panel shows which are direct, succinct and in accordance with mainstream Islam.
A reminder so people don't repeat the '0 exMuslims have been killed for apostasy in the UK' line, an incident in 1989:
Moslem who cut his daughter's throat because she decided to become a Jehovah's Witness was convicted of murder Tuesday and sentenced to life in prison. APNews
There's a good little clip of Dr Yasir Qadhi discussing apostasy and whether they should be killed in Non-Muslim countries:
I do wonder whether any Muslim has, in person, invited Jamie Foxx to Islam. I'd love him to convert to Islam (if he's not a Muslim already). If he is not a Muslim, I invite him and any Non-Muslim fans of his to become Muslim.
Islam is a simple religion that teaches us to worship God alone and to believe in all the Prophets of God including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all the Prophets). Interestingly enough for Catholics and Protestants, Islam is the religion that Jesus (p) will follow upon his second coming.
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.
Jamie Foxx is to star as Mike Tyson in a Martin Scorsese-directed biopic of the boxer.
The 47-year-old entertainer, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of music icon Ray Charles in the 2004 film 'Ray', has confirmed he's set to assume the role of the controversial fighter, whose life and career has seen some dramatic highs and lows. MSN
I do wonder whether any Muslim has, in person, invited Harrison Ford to Islam. I'd love him to convert to Islam (if he's not a Muslim already). If he is not a Muslim, I invite him and any Non-Muslim fans of his to become Muslim.
Islam is a simple religion that teaches us to worship God alone and to believe in all the Prophets of God including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all the Prophets). Interestingly enough for Catholics and Protestants, Islam is the religion that Jesus (p) will follow upon his second coming.
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.
Edward Bunker was Mr Blue in the Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs. I'm currently reading his biography and came across this quote in which Edward Bunker speaks well of Muslims and claims John Calvin would have approved of the Muslim moral code.
A tall Muslim goes past with a permanently stern countenance. His partner waits for him at the end of the tier. Like all black Muslims, he is quiet and reserved, dresses neatly and follows a moral code John Calvin would approve. Edward Bunker, Memoirs of a Renegade, p346
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.
