My friend Edward Oleander asked me to provide 10 Questions when years ago called Islam a "religion of evil" Ed has two Muslim friends who are willing to respond to my questions. Here is Ed's description of his challenge to me: "The 10 questions was a challenge I put to Tom after he called Islam a religion of evil back in 2008. It was also an expression of my frustration with Tom for accusing me of failing to explore Christianity deep enough, despite his complete lack of ever exploring any other religion himself.
I work with a few Muslims, including one man and one woman who agreed to each answer, in writing, a set of any 10 questions that Tom cared to pose. Both of them are, I believe, far closer to "real" Islam than the extremists we see on TV…"
The 10 Questions:
1). My understanding of Islam is that it believes the Christian Bible is something that has been corrupted (I believe this is called Tahrif). Please tell me when exactly the Bible was corrupted and by whom. I ask you to keep in mind the example of the Dead Sea Scrolls (currently being shown at the Science Museum in St. Paul), which were buried and untouched for 2,000 years with no significant changes when compared to the traditional text.
2). What is there in the Qur'an that leads you to believe that it is the prophetic, or truthful Word from Allah?
3). Would you mind sharing with us a portion (do you also call these verses?) of a sura or two that are your favorite in the Qur'an?
4). Do you agree that the primary way that Islam is spread after Muhammad's death in 632 AD is by the sword?
a). Are there missionaries of Islam? If so, what do they tell those who are unbelievers?
5). One writer states that polling data shows that 60% to 70% of Muslims worldwide are Salafi, meaning ancestor (what we Americans would call fundamentalist). The leaders in Islam that are Salafi include the Shia leaders in Iran, Pakistan and the Taliban. Is Salafi Islam the religion of Muhammad and the Qur'an?
a). A recent poll found that one-third (1/3) of Muslim Americans believed that it is proper to use terrorism on behalf of the Islam faith. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
b). As France is about to pass legislation preventing the Muslim head and face covering, do you believe that the covering of Muslim women's face and head dehumanizes these women? And isn't the promise of 70 (or 72) virgins for Muslim martyrs, and Paradise being filled with sexual pleasures really a human / male concept?
c). Why did Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (someone who does not believe the German holocaust actually took place and has shown his desire for the removal of Israel) receive 62% of the popular vote in the most recent election?
6). Philosophically speaking, which is greater, a God who demonstrates his love by himself coming to Earth as a sacrifice for the world's sins (see, John 3:16; Philippians chapter 2) or one who refrains from becoming involved with humanity?
7). My understanding of Islam is that at its foundation there are 5 Pillars: confession, daily prayer towards Mecca, almsgiving, and pilgrimage to Mecca; Is this correct?
a). Is there any concept of Grace (mercy given though you don't deserve it) in Islam? For example, suppose a Muslim was able to go to Mecca, but didn't. How is this failure to meet one of the 5 Pillars (or any failure or sin) met by Allah? Is it always punished or is there room mercy?
8). Is Allah holy? Is he perfect? If so, how can any of us who are not perfect ever be in Allah's presence in Paradise?
9). Are people born basically good or bad? My understanding of Islam is that they believe people are born basically good. If this is right, how come it is so difficult to go any length of time without sinning. Can you go a week without sinning? How about a day? Why do we so naturally drift toward selfishness, and need to make a conscious effort to be good (or the flip side is why is it NOT a struggle for us to be bad)?
a). If people are born basically good, then why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?
10). How do you define love? Where does love come from?
OK, I realize that if you count the sub-questions, I have gone over the 10 Question limit. I plead for your grace on this. J Thank you Ed for arranging this. And my thanks to those who are providing their responses. In Christ, /s/Tom Wolff
10 comments:
This is my opinion only
1)Some examples....
a.Scholars believe there was an original document called the "Q document" comprising of the sayings of Jesus Christ(pbuh).
b.the 4 gospels differ from each other
c.Christians misinterpret the story of (Prophet)Adam(pbuh) as that of "Original Sin" even though the Jews never did so.
2)The Quran gives 2 invitations to those who claim that the Quran is man-made---It asks a person/individual to come up with one Surah like that of the Quran. If anyone did so---it would prove beyond doubt that the Quran can be man-made. Another invitation is that a group of people can get together and come up with 10 Surahs like that of the Quran. No one has done so in 1400 years.
There are many other facts as well....but it will make the post too long
3 Surah 1 is generally the fav of all Muslims, others are the verse of the throne, Surah Rahman...etc
Here is part of Surah 93
In the name of God, the Compassionate and the Merciful
By the morning hours,
By the night when it is still
Your Lord has not abandoned you
and does not hate you
What is after will be better
then what came before
To you the Lord will be giving
you will be content.....
4) No
a) Not in the Christian sense
5) Incorrect---the Salafi are Saudi Sunni. The relgion of the Quran is Islam=Sumbission (to God) and the one who follows it is a Muslim=one who submits (to God)
a) first define terorrism---The Taliban and al-Qaeda were "freedom-fighters" to the Americans when they were fighting the Russians.---are the terms freedom-fighter and terrorist conveniently interchangeable according to the American definition?
Personally---I condemn voilence.
b)Hijab/Niqab is a freedom of choice of Muslim women. There are NO 70/72 virgins
c) No idea---I am not from Iran
6) How does being sacrificed show love?
7)confession?---I think you refer to Tawheed---Unity, Oneness of God
8)Because God is Compassionate and Merciful
9)Judeo-Islam---Human Beings are created inherently good. We have a"self" (Nafs/Islam, Nefesh/Judaism) the egoic self is one that is captivated by desires. By strengthening our spirituality we can overcome the temptations of the ego.
a) Our life between birth and death is a test. This test consists of both trials and blessings---for example, if we are blessed with wealth---this is a test of our compassion towards other human beings---do we share our wealth with those in need or do we horde it?
10)Love=the desire to please another....?
Tom this is great... I will print it out and take it into work. I 'll send it to you, and ask them if it okay to post their responses (anonymously)...
I have a book called "Sword of the Prophet" which seems to give as historically accurate as possible look at the life of the Prophet. I'll get that to you, as it details the spread of Islam (both with and without violence) during his lifetime.
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To the person who posted answers already: Thank you!!! Your response was an unexpected pleasure.
Pax,
Edward Oleander
Hi Anonymous,
Thank you for your response, and for taking the time to help me better understand the religion of Islam. I wanted to provide a response to your Answer to Question #6:
Anonymous said: How does (Jesus') being sacrificed show (God's) love?
Tom's reply: Here is the claim made in John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
And so, in this verse God reveals the number 1 problem with mankind: sin. Sin creates a division between us and God. And because God is just, he requires full punishment be paid for our sins.
God's solution to mankind's sin problem? He paid the full price that is owed for our sins - the death penalty. What is the worst jail sentence that can be imposed for a person's crimes? A death sentence. And in Romans 6:23 we are taught that when we sin, justice requires a punishment of death.
But here is the Good News: Jesus, the Son of God paid this debt for us. Jesus was righteous, and never committed any sin. Yet Pontius Pilate punished Jesus with a death sentence by death on the Cross. Crucifixion. This was God's way to "save" mankind from our sinful lives. Jesus' death on the Cross was made to pay for all of our sins. Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross, "saved" us from the punishment we deserve.
Therefore, God showed love for us by sacrificing his Son, taking on his back the punishment we deserve. We deserve death, but Jesus bore our punishment by dying on the Cross. And through Jesus' sacrifice anyone is able to come to God through repentance and believing that Jesus' sacrifice was made for you.
StarGazer's response part #1:
Hello to all,
My name is John and I am a long time friend of both Tom and Ed. I have also been a student of various philosophies and religions of the world and I have been invited by Tom to present whatever comments or responses I might have. I must point out, however, that I began this response before Tom’s most recent posting of April 18, 2010 10:14 AM so this posting will not reflect that.
First, I would like to offer my respect and admiration to the two of you for agreeing to participate in this discussion. I believe that this conversation has great potential for a meaningful exchange of ideas and for serving as a catalyst in exposing certain misconceptions that many of us may have about the two differing faiths of Christianity and Islam. Although each of you have opposing points of view on the topic of religion, I believe that there are many similarities between each of your perspectives that may come to light if you take enough time to sincerely explore them.
Second, it is my understanding that there are two Muslims, one man and one woman, who had each agreed to answer the 10 questions. To date, we have not heard from the other individual and I am hoping that this person is still willing to share with us. I am also curious to know what the gender is of the person who did respond.
StarGazer Comment #2:
Having said that, I would like to address a few issues I have with Tom’s questions and with the response that was given to the questions:
QUESTION # 1:
To Tom:
You said that the Dead Sea Scrolls have no significant changes when compared to the traditional text. What changes do they have and how do you define “significant?”
To Anonymous:
a). What evidence is there of the existence of this “Q document?”
b). Are the differences in the 4 gospels significant enough to render them invalid as a whole? If so, how?
c). How do Muslims and Jews interpret the story of Adam if not as that of “Original Sin?” Do the texts in Genesis differ for each religion?
QUESTION # 2:
To Anonymous:
With Respect to the 2 invitations of the Quran: What standards are used to define the criteria of “like that of the Quran?”
QUESTION # 4:
To Anonymous:
How did Islam spread after Muhammad’s death in 632 AD if not by the sword?
a). Could you please elaborate on your response that there are no missionaries of Islam “in the Christian sense?” Also, could you please address the question of what is told to those who are unbelievers?”
To Tom:
Didn’t the sword play an integral part in the spread of Christianity throughout much of history? How is that different from the same charge against Islam?
QUESTION # 5:
To Tom:
Please tell us who the “writer” is who “states that polling data shows that 60% to 70% of Muslims worldwide are Salafi, meaning ancestor (what we Americans would call fundamentalist)” and please provide a credible source for this polling data.
a). Please provide a credible source for the polling data that “found that one-third (1/3) of Muslim Americans believed that it is proper to use terrorism on behalf of the Islam faith.”
To BOTH:
Please agree on a common definition for terrorism...
StarGazer Comment #3:
(on Question #5) - To Anonymous:
b). If “Hijab/Niqab is a freedom of choice” for Muslim women then why is it enforced in some Islamic countries? (A female perspective might be helpful here)
To Tom:
I have yet to find the original source of this notion of 70/72 virgins (personally, I thought the number was much lower). Anonymous is clearly denying the veracity of this notion so please tell us where you are getting this information from.
c). With respect to your observation that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received 62% of the popular vote in the last election: Are you, in effect, saying that this means that 62% of Iranians believe that the Holocaust never happened and that 62% of Iranians are in favor of wiping Israel off the map? That is a very big stretch of logic. I would also like to remind you that said election was steeped in controversy in that it was most likely stolen. If that is the case then the figure of 62% is completely meaningless.
QUESTION # 6:
To Tom:
Your question is a little vague where you refer to a God who “refrains from becoming involved with humanity.” What do you mean by “becoming involved with?” In interpersonal relationships, there are many degrees of involvement.
To Anonymous:
It is my understanding of Islam that God does become involved with humanity to a certain extent. Am I correct in this assumption?
Also, with respect to your question “How does being sacrificed show love?” If you simply define love as “the desire to please another” as you did in your answer to Question # 10 then I can understand where the question of self sacrifice might not logically follow. If, on the other hand, you can accept the definition of love to include the desire on the part of the lover to place the needs of the beloved before his/her own, then It would naturally follow that being sacrificed is the ultimate expression of love in that the lover is willing to give up everything in order to benefit or even save the beloved. Can you accept this definition of love?
QUESTION # 7:
To Tom:
As I mentioned in a separate email to you, you are correct in that there are 5 pillars of Islam but you only mentioned 4 of them. You forgot Sawm (fasting).
To Anonymous:
a). Do you have a response to the question of “Grace” (undeserved mercy) or do you feel that this question is sufficiently answered in your response to Question # 8 when you said “because God is Compassionate and Merciful?”
MY QUESTION TO ANONYMOUS:
I have heard that when Arabic speaking Christians practice their faith they use the word ‘Allah’ when referring to God. It is my understanding that the word ‘Allah’ is the Arabic word for ‘God’ and not the actual name of God. Is this correct?
MY QUESTION TO BOTH:
As the accusation of evil was the motivation for this entire discussion, please share with us your individual concepts of how you define EVIL. How do you define GOOD?
I thank you both for the opportunity to take part in this discussion and I look forward to each of your responses as well as to any potential response from anyone else.
Sincerely,
-John
StarGazer, thank you for your list of questions. Let me break them down 1 by 1, starting with question 1:
Tom’s Response: The Masoretic Text has no significant changes when compared to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Let me use the example of Isaiah 53. If anyone would make changes in the text, the Messianic prophecy about the Christ in Isaiah 53 would be a prime source. There are approximately 400 words in Isaiah 53. The DSS and the Masoretic text are identical in all but 17 words. If any OT text was going to be changed by Christian copyists it would be this prophecy about the Messiah. But instead there are only 17 differences between the DSS and the Masoretic text. Here is a breakdown of the 17 changes:
a. 10 of the 17 differences is alternate spellings (similar to in America ‘Judgment’ is spelled without the ‘e’, while in Great Britain it is spelled ‘judgement’ with the ‘e’ in the middle.) These differences have no effect on any meaning;
b. 4 of the 17 differences are the addition of a conjunction. Again, no change in the meaning;
c. 3 of the 17 changes are contained in Isaiah 53:11, where it says ‘he shall see”, and the DSS adds “light” (he shall see light). Again no significant change in the meaning.
John,
My response to your Question #4 - was Christianity spread by the sword? I am sure that you can come up with some examples where Chistianity was forced down an area's throat.
But Jesus' Great Commission was for Christians to simply tell others. This is the predominant way that Christianity is spread. Christianity's great use of missionaries is a prime example of this.
John, on your comment on Question #5, dealing with my claim that Islam promises 70/72 virgins for those that take the life of infidels, let me say that this promise is from a Hadith, and not the Qur'an. Though the Qur'an does make the promise that Paradise is a place of sexual and other fleshly desires. Here are the relevant quotes:
From a Web-based version of the Qur'an(www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/index.htm): "Verily, for the Muttaqun [righteous], there will be a success (paradise); gardens and grapeyards; and young full-breasted (mature) maidens of equal age; and a full cup (of wine)" (An-Naba 78:31-34).
Nothing in the Qur'an specifically states that the faithful are allotted 72 virgins apiece. For this elaboration we turn to the hadith, traditional sayings traced with varying degrees of credibility to Muhammad. Hadith number 2,562 in the collection known as the Sunan al-Tirmidhi says, "The least [reward] for the people of Heaven is 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome of pearls, aquamarine and ruby."
I hope this helps you in finding where the promise comes from.
Hi guys,
My apologies for still not having my people's answers up here. Since I haven't been working much (diagnosed with pneumonia this past week), and those hours have been mainly weekend nights, I just am not seeing either of them. The fellow is on the building maintenance staff, which makes it even harder to find him. I'll keep trying...
~Ed~
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