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ISLAM
Let's study some hard cold facts about Islam, the Koran and Mohammed.
Facts About Islam and the Koran versus the Bible Don't miss this companion article: The GREEN HORSE in Prophecy By Ken Raggio Islam is NOT a water-tight religion. In fact, it is very flexible. There are so many contradictory things you can believe and still be a Muslim. Let's start with few elementary examples from the Koran. 1. CREATION: You can take your choice... You can believe that Allah made HEAVEN first, and then the EARTH later.
He raised the height thereof and ordered it; And He made dark the night thereof, and He brought forth the morn thereof. And after that He spread the earth.... " Surah 79:27-30. OR, You can believe Allah made the EARTH first, and SEVEN HEAVENS later.
2. ADAM: You can take your choice... You can believe that Allah made Adam out of water... "And He it is Who hath created man from water..." Surah 25:54 Or you can believe that Allah made Adam out of a clot of blood... "In the name of thy Lord Who createth ... man from a clot." Surah 96:1-2 Or out of black mud... "We created man... of black mud altered" Surah 15:26. Or out of potter's clay... "He created man of clay like the potter's." Surah 55:14. Or out of dust... "Allah created you from dust..." Surah 35:11. Or out of NOTHING!... "But does not man call to mind that WE created him before out of nothing." Surah 19:67. 3. LENGTH OF A DAY: You have a choice of how long Allah's day is... A day with Allah is 1000 years "A Day with Allah is as a thousand years of what ye reckon." Surah 22:47. A day with Allah is 50,000 years "Unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years." Surah 70:4. 4. FIRST BELIEVER: The first believer on record? Take your choice... Abraham was the first believer. "The same did Abraham enjoin upon his sons, and also Jacob, (saying): O my sons! Lo! Allah hath chosen for you the (true) religion;" Surah 2:132. Moses was the first believer. "And Moses fell down senseless. And when he woke he said: Glory unto Thee! I turn unto Thee repentant, and I am the first of (true) believers." Surah 7:143. Mohammed was the first believer. "And I [Muhammad] am commanded to be the first of those who are muslims (surrender unto Him)." Surah 39:12 5. PHARAOH'S WIZARDS BELIEVED MOSES: Yes or No? Either way! Yes. Pharaoh's wizards definitely believed Moses. "And the wizards fell down prostrate, Crying: We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, The Lord of Moses and Aaron." Surah 7:120-122 No. Pharaoh's wizards did NOT believe Moses. "But none trusted Moses, save some scions of his people, (and they were) in fear of Pharaoh and their chiefs, that he would persecute them." Surah 10:83. 6. DID PHARAOH DROWN in the Red Sea? YES? NO? BOTH?! YES! Absolutely! Pharaoh drowned! "I deem thee lost, O Pharaoh. And he wished to scare them from the land, but We drowned him and those with him, all together." Surah 17:102-3. NO! God definitely saved Pharaoh alive! "Pharaoh ... when the (fate of) drowning overtook him, he exclaimed: I believe that there is no God save Him in Whom the Children of Israel believe... But this day WE SAVE THEE thee in thy body that thou mayst be a portent for those after thee." Surah 10:90-92. 7. THE BIBLE, JEWS, AND CHRISTIANS... YES! God gave the Bible to Moses, and sent Jesus Christ full of His spirit. "And most certainly We gave Musa (Moses) the Book and We sent apostles after him one after another; and We gave Isa (Jesus), the son of Marium (Mary), clear arguments and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit." Surah 2:87. NO! The religion of the Jews and Christians is not the right course. "And they say: Be Jews or Christians, you will be on the right course. Say: Nay! (we follow) the religion of Ibrahim." Surah 2:135. 8. WAS JESUS BORN OF A VIRGIN? Yes? No? YES! Allah spoke. Mary became pregnant. She conceived by the word of Allah. "She said: My Lord! when shall there be a son (born) to I me, and man has not touched me? He said: Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and it is." Surah 3:47. NO! If you say Allah has begotten a son or a daughter, you are a liar. "Now surely it is of their own lie that they say: Allah has begotten; and most surely they are liars." Surah 37:151-2. 9. THE KORAN IS UNCHANGEABLE? Unless it needs to be changed. YES! This book can never be changed because it is the word of Allah. "And recite that which hath been revealed unto thee of the scripture of thy Lord. There is none who can change His words." Surah 18:27 NO! If I think of something better, I will replace it. And he did - MANY times. "Nothing of our revelation (even a single verse) do we abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof." Surah 2:106. Now that we can see the level of integrity of the Koran, let's take a look at the integrity of the prophet. I begin with a timeline for Mohammed. 570 CE - Born near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, August 20 (?) 1 Mohammed's father was Abdullah, of the Hashim family (Namesake of the modern Hashemite kingdom - Jordan and Iraq) Mecca was a pagan religious center because of the idol-temple, Kaaba. Kaaba was a pagan shrine of hundreds of idols, and the "black stone" meteorite. The region was embroiled in vicious tribal wars. Mohammed's tribe was guardian of the pagan Kaaba. He was orphaned by age 6, raised by an uncle, Abu-Talib (namesake of Taliban) Raised as a shepherd and attended caravans. REMEMBER: Mohammed was illiterate. Since he could not read or write, NO documents exist from his lifetime. EVERYTHING in the Qur'an (Koran), or the subsequent biographies of Mohammed, or other Muslim writings and commentaries are derived ENTIRELY from oral tradition and hearsay, and are extremely inconsistent, heavily contradictory of each other and alas, historically unreliable. Ancient copies of the Qur'an (Koran) found in the Great Mosque of Sana'a Yemen in 1972 were some of the oldest known copies 2, but they were so different from the Koran now in existence that the "divine authenticity" of today's Koran has been called into serious question by scholars. Dr. Gerd R Puin, a renowned Islamist at Saarland University in Germany, was given the charge of analyzing those manuscripts and determined they were the oldest known copies of the Koran in existence. The contrast between the old and new led him to conclude that the modern version of the Koran is NOT the one believed to have been revealed to the prophet.3 Hajjaj bin Yusuf, governor of Iraq from 694-714 AD, boasted that he "was proud of inserting more than 1,000 alifs [first letter of the Arabic alphabet] in the Koranic text".4 That is only one example of the "abrogations" (revisions, updating) that has happened over the last 1,400 years. Without those diacritical markings, very many of the words were subject to multiple meanings, and therefore contributed to uncertain and ultimately unverifiable translations - a disastrous fact to have to assimilate into a manuscript claimed to be divinely inspired. Die-hard Muslims rabidly oppose any such claims, and scream "blasphemy" and violent threatenings. Such was the case for Salman Rushdie, British author of "Satanic Verses." He spent ten years in exile because of death-threats against him for daring to challenge the integrity of the Koran. This fact cannot be denied: The earliest extant documents about Mohammed were written 135 years after his death, by men who never met him, never knew him. The sum of the biographies contain many serious contradictions. Earliest known biographies - 768 - Ibn Ishaq - 135 years after his death 822 - Wakidi - 189 years after his death 828 - Ibn Hisham - 195 years after 845 - Ibn S'ad - 213 years after 892 - Tirmidhi - 260 years after 929 - Tabari - 296 years after Writings based on oral traditions (hadiths) are undeniably inconsistent with each other, and as such, not truly reliable. 855 CE - "Musnad" - a collection of traditions of Ahmad ibn Hanbal 870 CE - Collections of Bokhari 1114 CE - Lives of the Companions of Mohammed written by Zamakhshari 1292 CE - Commentary on the Koran by Baidawi "Isbah," Dictionary of Persons who knew Mohammed, Ibn Hajar Mohammed's biography runs something like this: 596 CE - Age 25 Wife #1 - Khadeejah, a wealthy widow, 40 (15 years his senior) Six children born, only one daughter survived - Fatima Merchant to Syria and Palestine - Experienced the Jewish and Catholic cultures of that period 612 CE - Age 40 Polygamist - Married to 23 women, documented by Muslim scholar Ali Dashti Had relations with many women slaves, concubines, and spoils of war. Seemingly sex-crazed. Pedophile - at least one wife was 6 years old, his favorite. Had epileptic seizures. Claimed visit by angel Gabriel with 600 wings. Became the "Prophet of Allah, Apostle of Arabia" About 40 converts, including first wife, daughter Fatima, slave Zayd, and father-in-law, Abu Bakr, who succeeded him at death. His preaching was rejected at Mecca. 623 CE - Age 53 Fled persecution to Medina,"year of the flight" - Hejira Called a prophet of God at Medina Conducted tribal warfare, brutally conquered many Arabs, Jews, and Christians Beginning of Mohammedan era Called "Master of Arabia" United the Arab tribes into one nation, religion and emblem. 632 CE - Age 62 Made triumphant trip to Mecca with 40,000 followers Purged Kaaba of idols Heavily revised the Biblical story of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael to fit Kaaba. Declared Kaaba/Mecca the House of God, replacing Jerusalem. Ordered annual Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca for Muslims. Ordered qiblah - five daily prayers toward Kaaba/Mecca 633 CE - Age 63 - Died of high fever
Let's take a look at Kaaba: 1. Muslims call Kaaba, Baitullah - the House of God, even though the Temple in Jerusalem was called His house in the Old Testament, and true Christians are called His Temple in the New Testament. (Although nobody ever knew it for 4,000 years. Mohammed thought of it first.) 3. They say Kaaba was patterned after Allah's House in Heaven - Baitul Ma'amoor. (Many Bible writers had glimpses into Heaven. This is NOT what they saw.) 4. They say the "Prophet" Adam was the first to build this house, and Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt the shrine on the original foundation. (Moses' tabernacle in the wilderness was the first in the Bible.) 5. They say Allah ordained Abraham to build a shrine when He allegedly ordered him to take Hagar and Ishmael. (Abraham did not TAKE her. He SENT her away.) "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba," Genesis 21:14. 6. God sent Abraham to Mecca (Makka). (Hagar and Ishmael did not live in Mecca. They dwelt in the wilderness of Paran.) "And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt." Genesis 21:21 Note: Paran is the same wilderness Moses and the children of Israel wandered in, near Mount Sinai in the Sinai Peninsula. Some Islamists have attempted to redefine Paran to force an ancient association with Mecca, but this cannot be. Paran is hundreds of miles Northwest of Mecca. 7. Ishmael and his descendants have always been the custodians of that shrine. (Not true, for the same reason given above. They did not live there.) 8. Abde Manaf (Mohammed's grandfather) and Hashim (Mohammed's father) promoted annual pilgrimages to Kaaba in Mecca, and provided hospitality for the pilgrims. (The Kaaba was known far and wide for pagan idolatry in those days.) 9. Kaaba at that time was the worship center of over 300 pagan idols, in keeping with hundreds of years of tradition. (Adam and Abraham NEVER had anything to do with the Kaaba in Mecca.) 10. Muslims believe Kaaba was 4,000 years old when Mohammed conquered it. (Yeah, right. It has been rebuilt dozens of times in the past 1,300 years.) 11. Mohammed Ibn Abdullah ("the prophet") returned to Mecca from almost nine years of conducting brutal tribal wars around the region, killing Arabs, Christians and Jews. 12. Mohammed entered Mecca in January 630 and captured the Kaaba, removed the idols and declared it the House of Allah. (Did the people REVERENCE him or were they TERRIFIED by him??) 13. Muslims claim that Hagar and Ishmael are buried within the walls of the Kaaba. (There is no reason whatsoever to believe that. It is a myth at best, and diabolical revisionism at worst. There is no evidence of any kind anywhere in the world that Hagar and Ishmael are buried there. Besides, the building has been torn down and rebuilt countless times.) These are JUST A VERY FEW of the major conflicts between the Koran and the Bible.
Miscellaneous oddities: One Islamic Hadith (oral tradition) reported by Abu Ishaq-Ash-Shaibani says that Mohammed revealed that Gabriel has 600 wings. The prophet Daniel, Zechariah the priest, and the virgin Mary all SAW Gabriel and never mentioned this very unusual, even bizarre attribute. SIX HUNDRED WINGS?! Another preposterous report from Mohammed is this: When Mohammed was transported to Heaven in his famous NIGHT JOURNEY on his human-faced horse, (first to "the farthest mosque" [alleged to be Jerusalem], then to Heaven) at least one Hadith reports that he said: "I saw there an angel, the most gigantic of all created beings. It had 70,000 heads, each had 70,000 faces, each face had 70,000 mouths, each mouth had 70,000 tongues, and each tongue spoke 70,000 languages; all were employed in singing God's praises." (Source: Brewers Dictionary) If true, then put these numbers into a CALCULATOR! This angel would have about 5 BILLION FACES and 343 trillion mouths, 24 quintillion tongues, and 1.6 hexillion languages! Mohammed was an illiterate man. Observation: The entire religion of Mohammed appears to be one that was created with the most evil of intentions to discredit, replace and eliminate both Judaism and Christianity. While attempting to build it entirely on a foundation of the Old and New Testaments, and its principal characters, it effectively discredits the entire Bible, making complete mockery of it - consequently entirely discrediting itself. The Koran does not comment on the Apostle Paul and many other great New Testament characters. The Koran's perspectives on Christianity reflect Mohammed's bad impressions with Catholicism, but not true Biblical Christianity. It could easily be shown that Catholicism did actually foster polytheistic teachings, to which he objected. The TRUE New Testament Church, however, believes that God is only ONE Spirit incarnate in the body of Jesus Christ.
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(Don't miss this companion article: The Green Horse!) Sources: 1. Most unnotated dates in this article are resourced from the Catholic Encyclopedia - www.newadvent.org 2. "What is the Koran?", Toby Lester, The Atlantic Monthly, Jan. 1999 3. "Querying the Koran," Abul Taher, Guardian Unlimited, Aug. 8, 2000 4. ibid 5. www.al-islam.org Quotes are from the "Holy Qur'an" University of Virginia Library, electronic edition. E-mail this article to a Friend
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