الجمعة، 29 نوفمبر 2024

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Waan haraam ta namni laaffise - Qarxaasaa fii asmaa - afaan oromoo - Jamaaal Muhammad ahmad

Waan haraam ta namni laaffise - Qarxaasaa fii asmaa - afaan oromoo - Jamaaal Muhammad ahmad

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(11) Surah Mulk - Mufti Ismail Menk - YouTube

ඊමාන් හි අර්ථ විවරණය - සිංහල - මුහම්මද් ඉබ්නු සාලිහ් අල්-උසෙයිමිය්යීන්

ඊමාන් හි අර්ථ විවරණය - සිංහල - මුහම්මද් ඉබ්නු සාලිහ් අල්-උසෙයිමිය්යීන්

Stream Unlimited Inspiration | Listen to Presentation Skills For Managers playlist online for free on SoundCloud

Stream Unlimited Inspiration | Listen to Presentation Skills For Managers playlist online for free on SoundCloud

Das Bedürfnis der Menschen nach der Religion - Der Islam - Frage und Antwort

Das Bedürfnis der Menschen nach der Religion - Der Islam - Frage und Antwort

Like all the Christians, I was born in a family that believes in strict Christianity, I was bigotedly Christian

 Magdy Murgan, A law counselor.

Like all the Christians, I was born in a family that believes in strict Christianity, I was bigotedly Christian

 

. My long-held opinion, like the others, was that Islam is an alien religion, I always looked forward to the day when all what is Islamic go away.  My family wished me to be a priest, a priest who wears the black attire (like the Egyptian priests), priests in Egypt wears black uniforms as a sign of their dissatisfaction and a sign of mourning for Islamizing Egypt. I joined a Christian  school in one of the cathedrals and was prepared to be among the Christian proponents that spread and defend  its Trinity. My special upbringing helped me to study, search and delve into many ancient religions and the theologian knowledge. I strained myself so much to get the unfathomable facts. My natural tendency helped me so much in my journey. After some time I began to feel  troubled as regard some Christian beliefs.  In fact, I have never been satisfied with Christianity; I always wavered between accepting it and rejecting it.  The true faith should not be a property handed down from fathers to sons without meditation and examining it, if a religion should be accepted because it is so handed down from fathers to sons, then we should have all the kinds of ancient idolatry existent till now and the world should be in the mire of illusion and delusion. So much of my time was spent in reading and searching for the truth and in arguing with myself, with my colleagues in Christianity, I argued with them to the extent they accepted  this truth when I was aligning myself with them and when I sloughed myself from it. Having failed to find the truth in Christianity and the once holy Book, I decided to delve deep in the far history, the outset point of my journey was in the ancient Egyptian civilization--- it is one of the oldest civilizations. Was there any kind of trinity in this civilization?I started with the modern Stone Age(6000- 5000BC), among the important codices is that which is known by the name" The pyramids Codices".Antwan Zakry, modern historian and heriglphier, says he read texts that called for pure monotheism, among these:" No one can know the Greatest fine name of God because it is behind the human perception." In the third dynasty(2780-2680BC), there is no references to any kind of trinity, an example of the texts that called for pure monotheism was a text written by the wise" Kagmny", he says" Stick to the straightway otherwise you will be inflicted with the wrath of God"The fifth Dynasty( 2560BC-2420)In this era, the minister Batah Hotub appeared, he wrote some admonitions to his son among which says:" In the Hands of God lies the life of every immortal, only the ignorant argues about this… God will accept your righteous deeds if you are modest… and follow the wise… let there be a portion for people from that you own( alms)… this is the duty of every faithful of God.   The sixth Dynasty ( 2420-2280BC)In this era lived the wise Alpantein, among his words:"I hope that I can attain perfection in the presence of God." The age of the eighth Dynasty ( 2280BC-2240)In this era, the wise " Aa'ny in the palace of the king, among his words:"Be devoted to God, work for your God dutifully, bring yourself closer to Him and always prove to the truthfulness of your being a servant to Him, so that you can get His mercy and succor." Notice that he uses singular words when he referring to God- this means that he believed in monotheism.   The tenth Dynasty ( 2133BC-2052)In this era lived the wise" Akhnooy, he left us many percepts, among which these profound words to his son" Mry Karh:God knows the wicked, He will revenge from him by the heaviest. God says I am the avenger, everyone will be given the due punishment, do whatever you like but forget not the last day." Moreover there are many texts that talk about the pure monotheism.  The age of Amounhoteb, the third (1360BC-1397)Among his writings:"O' the Great Creator, You are it is who hasn't be created (The One)… none is like unto Thee in your qualities, You are the Cherisher, the Mighty; You are the Creator of the uncountable creatures." The Eighteenth Dynasty (1570BC-1304)In this era Aknatoun appeared, historians agree that he was among the great monotheists, you can easily understand the qualities of God through his prayer, among which " Thou are the Living( immortal), Thou are the  First cause, Who initiated life, Thou are the King, who has no partners, Thou are the Creator of the embryo and the seamen, from which the embryo has sprung up, Thou are the One Who breathed life in each living, Thy perfection is beyond perception, thy greatness is so easy to be easily understood through thy creatures. All creatures on the earth and all birds praise His name." Isn't this pure monotheism?! Is there any Trinity in these words?! Are there any icons?!The Twentieth Dynasty(1200-1090BC)In this era appeared the wise Amin Mouby, he precede Lukman, a well known wise.This pious wise wrote some touching percepts, among which:  All perfections are of God, imperfection is of humans, praise God, and disobey the devil, show what you harbor in your heart." These wisdoms are recorded in his book" SPITE", a word which could mean" wisdoms" This book was translated at the age of Solomon to Hebrew. Later these book was incorporated in  the Holy Book and was attributed to Solemn.When the papyrus that contain these writings was first found, it caused much controversy.  Dynasty number 21In this era, Lukman, well-known in the Arabic heritage by " Lukman Alhakeem, appeared; his words and percepts are an indication of  monotheism, his fame reached the Greek civilization and he was well-known to the Greek by the same very name. His name is mentioned in the Holy Quran but there is no reference to him in both the old and the New Testament. The Thirtieth Dynasty( the last of the pharonic dynasties) In this era appeared the wise Betozerus, one of the great monotheist , his works dates back to(350BC), he says in one of his wrings:O' dears:    If you could grasp what I say, you will gain much goodness  from it, whoever devotes himself to God will find so much goodness and guidance… I will tell you about my experience and you will understand the wisdom. I will lead you to taste the beauty of the spirituality that concur getting close to God; I have reached the city of immortality because I did good deeds, my heart has been much inclined to God  since my early childhood, My God's help   concurred me all the time. I have submitted myself to all His orders. I always followed the way of justice and rejected oppression, I never followed the way of those who were led astray, I did all of these because I  was sure I will come back to God when I die, and because I believed that there would be a certain day when everyone will stand responsible for all that he did. I will tell you about what pleases God and what displeases Him, I will lead you to the true way of life, it is the good way of those who pleases God. It is clear that this wise person believed in strict monotheism, and monotheism was the hallmark of his teachings. How great his end will be that he followed this way, whoever lays his trust in God, his life will be so quiet. In the words of this wise, the concept of monotheism is clear, God is always One, he is not three persons in one person. Monotheism is the basic hallmark of the ancient Egyptian history in which prophet Moses, Joseph and others appeared. The Greek civilization Many philosophers had written about a certain Creator and they rejected the existence of any partners with Him (Trinity). Socrates, Plato and Aristotle also emphasized the same concept; Aristotle says:" you should learn that God is one." Also, Plato says that you should learn that God has no other partners. Meloseus, another philosopher, says that the Infinite should be One, nothing should be out the Infinite,  these are not the only philosophers who emphasized this concept, the concept of monotheism has never been doubted by any philosophers. Even our modern age scientists emphasize the same concept of monotheism. Monotheism in the OT

In the Old Testament, Moses says:

So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.( Deuteronomy 4:39)

And also he say:

And he said, ‘Tomorrow.’ Moses said, ‘As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God

And also he says:

you shall have no other gods before

*

me.(Exodus:20:3)

David says:

You who have done great things,   O God, who is like you? (Psalm 71:19)

And he elaborates more saying:

Before the mountains were brought forth,   or ever you had formed the earth and the world,  from everlasting to

everlasting you are God.(Psalm90:2)

Then he addresses God saying:

For you are great and do wondrous things;   you alone are God.(Psalm:86:10)

Then he addresses his people saying:

Let them praise the name of the Lord,   for his name alone is exalted;  his glory is above earth and heaven.(Pslam:148:13)

 

Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made

heaven

, the

heaven

of heavens, with all their

host

, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the

host

of

heaven

worshiped thee.(9:6)

Prophet

Malachi

says also

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?(

Malachi

2:10)

 

God tells us about Himself in the Torah saying:

I , even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no

saviour

. (Isaiah 43:11)

And God says:

Thus saith the LORD the

King

of

Israel

, and his

redeemer

the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. (Isaiah 4:6)

And God says:

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.(

Deuteronomy

32:39)

And God says:

 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of

Jacob

are not consumed (

Malachi

3:6).

Isaiah rebukes those who compare His creatures to Him saying:

To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him

?

To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?( Isaiah 46:5)

How dare you Christians liken Allah to a weak creature?How dare you equate him with one of his weak creatures?!In the Torah, the Holy Book on which Christianity is based and on which both the Jews and the Christians believe in, is complete devoid of any reference trinity by any prophet. No partner or equal person is mentioned by a prophet.I directed my journey ship to the New Testament, I delved into the texts which we always used to build the deity of Jesus on. The first verse I encounter is: 

Behold, a

virgin

shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name

Emmanuel

, which being interpreted is, God with us.( Mathew 1:23)

It is taken from the prophecy of Isaiah:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a

virgin

shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name

Immanuel

.( Isaiah 7:14)

I used to repeat this verse when I need to prove the deity of Jesus, later, after deep research, I found that this verse was revealed in the time  of king A'az, it was a glade tiding to his triumph over his enemy and it was fulfilled in his time. Moreover, the word" Immanuel', which Mathew interpreted as   " God is with us" is not mentioned in the text of Isaiah. Also, these are not the words of Jesus.Also,  Jesus was never called by the name" Immanuel", even if Jesus was" Immanuel", this doesn't mean that he is God because the word Ismail means" God hears", this doesn't necessarily means that Ismail is a god. Also,  Jesus was visible, seen, all the people contemporary to him saw him, but God, as stressed by many prophets in the Holy Book wasn't seen by any one; John says:"No man hath seen God at any time." (John.1:18) Also Paul says:"Whom no man hath seen, nor can see"(

Timothy.1-6:16)

The Pillar of Trinity undermined

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost..( Mathew:28-19)

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.( John1:5:7)

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

I used to use these three verses when I preached and talked about" Trinity"

Reading these three verses, you will notice that these three verses state three important facts.

God is one person in three persons, these persons are equal.

Using the word" in the name" in the singular form is evidence to monotheism.

Also, the text of baptizing is only mentioned in Mathew; it is not mentioned in any other bibles.

Moreover, reading Luke, Mark and john will give more evidences; in these Bibles, bapititization  is only in the name of the Holy Ghost, no mention of the father or the son.

Even in Mathew there are some words which contradict this verse. Just read and you will find that yourself:  these twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

There is no evidence to Jesus preaching after rising from among the dead, Most western scholars are doubtful about the historicity of this verse . The trinity was never said by Jesus, nor was it mentioned in the age of apostles.

Trinity was invented in 381AD

 Trinity was first approved in 381 AD in conatatena synod, it was in this synod that trinity that had never been there was first interpolated, this means that trinity had never been in practice, and it was not known to the disciples.As to the text"

are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one

" is no longer translated in modern translations because it wasn't found in the earliest Greek versions, it was only seen in a recent Latin translations.  This verse is the cornerstone that  Trinity is based on. This verse, despite its significance in the Christianity, began to disappear in most recent translations because it hadn't been in the most reliable ancient Greek versions. It was found in a later version and then translated into many other languages; it was interpolated by unknown writer. Bruth, a well-known professor in Oxford University says:"This text hadn't been there in all the  texts  before 800 years ago."  I have found that most of the Holy Book scholar agree that this verse had been interpolated.I wondered how swelling the number of those Christians who were led astray and died just like the unbelievers.

Mental evidences to the collapse of Trinity

None of the prophets who preceded Jesus called for the Trinity, they all, including prophet Muhammad called for the worship of God the one, Jesus never mentioned the Trinity, it is the invention of the priests. The Old Testament in which we believe has never mentioned Trinity, God is one in the Torah,  the God of Moses is the same God of Jesus, how can be the God of Moses is One while the God of Jesus is three. The Trinity in itself is not easy to be understood, how it can be understood that God is three persons?The Christian Trinity is wavering between monotheism and polytheism; they say God is one (but three) or he is three (but one)Jesus was begotten, created by God, so can a creature who worshipped God to be a part of a trinity. It is known that Jesus was begotten, if so, how can be the trinity like before his birth, were they two? And how was the trinity before creating the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost was created by God, before creating it, it hadn't been there, so how can it be said that the trinity had been there before the creation of Jesus and the Holy Ghost? Jesus was on the earth, God in the heavens, the Holy Ghost like a pigeon  And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved,* with whom I am well pleased.( Mathew3:16-17)They were three independent persons.How can the three be just one person though they are different in nature… how can they be just one person?According to the Bible, Jesus died after his crucifixion, so what happened to the three persons in Trinity? Had God become two persons? Had God controlled the universe with just two thirds? ‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,* but only the Father.( Mathew 24:36)If Jesus and the Holy Ghost are less omniscient than God, they must not be equal to God. They are not qualified to be incorporated in one trinity because they are separated persons, they are not one person in three nor  they are three persons in one. If Jesus is begotten to God, so he is subservient to Him, not equal to Him, this undermines the credibility of Trinity.If the Holy Ghost, like Jesus, was created by God, both can't be equal to God, nor can they be gods.Jesus used to worshipped God, praise Him and seek His help: this is evidence that he was a creature, thus he can't be a partner nor can he be equal to Him. Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.’ Long before Jesus, the Holy Ghost had been there carrying God's word to the Prophets in the Old Testament, notwithstanding, the Old testament never refers to the Holy Ghost as a god…why?It is so strange that the Holy Ghost has become all of a sudden a god after the birth of Jesus. The Holy Ghost is just an angel but the church has raised him to the rank of God. Suppose that the three were one, what would have happened if the three differed in opinion?It is known that Jesus was keen not to be crucified… did they vote? Did they all vote on the same thing? What would have happened if any of them insisted on his opinion?All of these queries are proofs that Jesus never knew the Trinity, nor did any of the previous prophets. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The text which the Christian always use, though historically questionable, is: KAI HO LOGOS EN PROS TONTHEON KAI THEOS EN HO LOGOS.In this text the two words(TONTHEON and THEOS) are used to refer to God. The word" THEOS" means God or a god, this word is also used to refer to the devil in Corinthians 4:4),( Exodus1:7) and( Exodus 16:4).Does (Exodus 16:4) means that Moses was a god?!Moreover Jesus never said these introductory word in John's Bible, the profusion of the historians' opinions is that  Philon, a historical renown philosopher is the one who said this sentence, this philosopher preceded John, his writings had been kept in Alexandria Library( 20BC-50BC) before John. These writings preceded the bible of John(98AD) 

There is ` mistranslation to the Greek text; if we say " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." There will some difference between the word and God, they will be two different entities, this means that they both were two gods.

One more important thing is that John never spoke the Greek language, when this phrase was translated it was badly translated and the evidence to that is that there are many other translations.

In the beginning the word was found and the word was with God and the word was Holy.

In brief, Jesus never said these words nor did he say " I am God and worship me, nor did he say I am one of three persons of trinity.

In John, The fifth chapter, Jesus rebukes the Jews for  their stubbornness saying:

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that

cometh from God only? ( John5:44)( Mark tells us that while Jesus was sitting with his disciples someone came to him  and asked which commandment is greatest and Jesus answered him saying:

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:[30] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment

The same incident is repeated in Mathew and Mark, in which he lay much importance on monotheism as the cornerstone and tenure of religion. He, too, attaches much importance and devotion to the love of God, so, upon hearing this listener believed that he was truly a prophet sent from God.

In fact, the Holy Book is replete with many phrases and situations that call for monotheism . In a significant situation that Satan came to allure Jesus to ascribe partners with God and that he would be given all the kingdoms on the face of the earth but Jesus refused saying:

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.( Mathew 4:10)

In John(17/2), John mentions a confidential talk  between Jesus and his Lord, in this confidential talk shown the way of the eternal way, the way to paradise.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (17:3)

In the above-mentioned verse Jesus lays much emphasis on monotheism as a method to block the way to hell and to open the way to paradise.

Moreover, the concept of Trinity, when explained, arouses many questions, it is obscure, how can the three be one and how can the one be three? All the explanation of this concept left the mind in utter confusion.

Jesus was nothing more than a human being sent by God, he never talked to people as a god, he used to eat, walk among people, he sometimes wept, sometimes complained, was sometimes weak, sometimes strong. ( Mathew18:21), he used to sleep and have arrest( Mark 4:35-40), Luke (22:7-24), Mathew( 23:8-27)  God can't be like this any way. 

 

So many confusions, arguments, controversies have been about Jesus, was he a god, half a god and half a human, was he the self of God or God himself? Was he an angel or less or more?

Confusion and ambiguity will always  arise when talking about Trinity.

صورة

Who Is Allah ?

 

لا يتوفر وصف للصورة.
Who Is Allah ?
Some of the biggest misconceptions that many non-Muslims have about Islam have to do with the word"Allah". For various reasons, many people have come to believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews. This is totally false, since "Allah"is simply the Arabic word for "God" - and there is only One God.
Let there be no doubt - Muslims worship the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus - peace be upon them all. However, it is certainly true that Jews, Christians and Muslims all have different concepts of Almighty God. For example, Muslims - like Jews - reject the Christian beliefs of the Trinity and the Divine Incarnation. This, however, doesn't mean that each of these three religions worships a different God - because, as we have already said, there is only One True God. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim to be "Abrahamic Faiths", and all of them are also classified as "monotheistic". However, Islam teaches that other religions have, in one way or another, distorted and nullified a pure and proper belief in Almighty God by neglecting His true teachings and mixing them with man-made ideas.
First of all, it is important to note that "Allah" is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God. If you pick up an Arabic Bible, you will see the word "Allah" being used where "God"is used in English. (Click here to see some examples of the word "Allah" in the Arabic Bible.) This is because "Allah" is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to the English word "God" with a capital "G".
Additionally, the word "Allah" cannot be made plural or given gender (i.e. masculine or feminine), which goes hand-in-hand with the Islamic concept of God. Because of this, and also because the Qur'an, which is the holy scripture of Muslims, was revealed in the Arabic language, some Muslims use the word "Allah" for "God", even when they are speaking other languages. This is not unique to the word "Allah", since many Muslims tend to use Arabic words when discussing Islamic issues, regardless of the language which they speak. This is because the universal teachings of Islam - even though they have been translated in every major language - have been preserved in the Arabic language.
It is interesting to note that the Aramaic word "El", which is the word for God in the language that Jesus spoke, is certainly more similar in sound to the word "Allah" than the English word "God". This also holds true for the various Hebrew words for God, which are "El" and "Elah", and the plural form"Elohim". The reason for these similarities is that Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic are all Semitic languages with common origins. It should also be noted that in translating the Bible into English, the Hebrew word "El" is translated variously as "God", "god" and "angel"! This imprecise language allows different translators, based on their preconceived notions, to translate the word to fit their own views. The Arabic word "Allah" presents no such difficulty or ambiguity, since it is only used for Almighty God alone. Additionally, in English, the only difference between "god", meaning a false god, and "God", meaning the One True God, is the capital "G". In the Arabic alphabet, since it does not have capital letters, the word for God (i.e. Allah) is formed by adding the equivalent to the English word "the" (Al-) to the Arabic word for "god/God" (ilah). So the Arabic word "Allah" literally it means "The God" - the"Al-" in Arabic basically serving the same function as the capital "G" in English. Due to the above mentioned facts, a more accurate translation of the word "Allah" into English might be "The One -and-Only God" or "The One True God".
More importantly, it should also be noted that the Arabic word "Allah" contains a deep religious message due to its root meaning and origin. This is because it stems from the Arabic verb ta'allaha (oralaha), which means "to be worshipped". Thus in Arabic, the word "Allah" means "The One who deserves all worship". This, in a nutshell, is the Pure Monotheistic message of Islam. You see, according to Islam, "monotheism" is much more than simply believing in the existence of "only One God" - as seemingly opposed to two, three or more. If one understands the root meaning of the word"Allah", this point should become clear. One should understand that Islam's criticism of the other religions that claim to be "monotheistic" is not because they are "polytheistic" in the classic sense, but because they direct various forms of worship to other than Almighty God. We will discuss the meaning of worship in Islam below, however, before moving on it should be noted that many non-Muslims are unaware of the distinction between simply believing in the existence of only One God and reserving all worship for Him alone. Many Christians are painfully unaware of this point, and thus you often find them asking how Muslims can accuse the followers of Jesus, peace be upon him, of being "polytheists"when they were all "monotheistic Jews". First of all, it should be clarified that the word "polytheist"doesn't really sound right in this context, since to many it implies simply believing in the existence of more than one God. So in an Islamic context, "associators", "man-worshippers" or "creature worshippers" might be more accurate and appropriate terms - especially since Christians believe Jesus to be both "100% God and 100% man", while still paying lip-service to God's "Oneness". However, as we're previously touched upon, what is really at the root of this problem is the fact that Christians - as well as the members of other religions - don't really know what "monotheism" means - especially in the Islamic sense. All of the books, articles and papers that I've read which were written by Christians invariably limit "monotheism" to believing in the existence of "One Sovereign and Creator God". Islam, however, teaches much more than this.
Suffice it to say that just because someone claims to be a "monotheistic" Jew, Christian or Muslim, that doesn't keep them from falling into corrupt beliefs and idolatrous practices. Many people, including some Muslims, claim belief in "One God" even though they've fallen into acts of idolatry. Certainly, many Protestants accuse Roman Catholics of idolatrous practices in regards to the saints and the Virgin Mary. Likewise, the Greek Orthodox Church is considered "idolatrous" by many other Christians because in much of their worship they use icons. However, if you ask a Roman Catholic or a Greek Orthodox person if God is "One", they will invariably answer: "Yes!". This lip-service, however, does not stop them from being "creature worshipping" idolaters. The same goes for Hindus, who just consider their gods to be "manifestations" or "incarnations" of the One Supreme God.
Everyone should be aware of the fact that throughout the long history of the "Abrahamic Faiths", there have people who, while believing in "One God", have adopted beliefs and practices that completely nullify their claim to "monotheism". This is the Muslim view of Christians. We're well aware of the fact that they claim belief in "One God" with their lips, but this doesn't mean that they don't nullify their claim in other ways. This is because many people simply haven't been taught everything that Pure Monotheism entails. From an Islamic point of view, "monotheism" can be nullified in many ways. For example, simply believing that it is permissible to rule by Western "liberal" and "democratic" laws in lieu of the Divinely Revealed Law of Almighty God makes one a "polytheist". Certainly, a person who does such a thing, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, doesn't ever believe that there is another Almighty Creator and Sovereign Lord. However, for all practical purposes, such a person has take another "god", whether they choose to admit it or not. In this way they are associating partners with Almighty God (Arabic: shirk), and thus become a "polytheist" in a practical sense, regardless of their lip-service to "monotheism". This holds true even if the person doesn't believe what they are doing is"worship". For example, Roman Catholics who pray to the Virgin Mary will staunchly deny that they are"worshipping" her. They instead call it "adoration" or some other watered-down term. However, from an Islamic point of view, what is worship if not this? Islam teaches that prayer and supplication are the marrow of worship, so if one directs their prayers to an intermediary (even if the pray is "ultimately"meant for God), then what is left of worship? Additionally, how can someone who believes in Almighty God follow man-made laws instead of God's Law, without admitting that they've begun worshipping other than God? Do they know better than God?
Additionally, the Old Testament makes it perfectly clear that making a "graven image" of any created thing (not to mention ones which are supposed to "represent" Almighty God) is prohibited. Please see Exodus 20:4-6, Leviticus 26:1 and Deuteronomy 4:16, 23, 25, 5:8 and Nehemiah 9:6 for some statements in regards to this point. Without addressing the issue that Christians commonly violate the unambiguous commandment not to even "make" representations of anything that is in the "heavens above or on the earth beneath", these verses not only teach that worshipping idols is prohibited, but also that Almighty God is eternally distinct from His creation and thus nothing in His creation can represent Him. To believe otherwise is to be a de facto idol worshipper - even if one claims belief in one, and only one, "True God". In Exodus 20:4-6 and Deuteronomy 4:16, Almighty God - who is a"Jealous God" - makes it perfectly clear that He is distinct from His creation.
By giving such clear and merciful guidance to human beings, God is establishing a universal and eternal Truth for the benefit of mankind. This eternal Truth is the bedrock of religious guidance, since once people begin to believe that Almighty God mixes with or can be represented by His creation, they can be duped into believing almost anything. Once someone accepts that God has become "incarnate" in His creation, or that someone or something is a "manifestation" - and thus representation - of Him, the floodgates are open and "Truth" becomes a matter of subjective guesswork. Once the first and most basic concept is violated - regardless of how complicated and sophisticated the rationale for it might be - it is very easy to fall further and further away from the Eternal Truth of Pure Monotheism. In the final analysis, it is not a question of whether God is capable of becoming a man, but rather a question of whether one bases their beliefs about God on clear, unambiguous and authentic guidance. Once it is left up to the human mind to decide what Almighty God can and cannot do, the stage is set for misguidance to take root. Human speculation about God only ends up leading to misguidance and despair, since no clear conclusions can ever be reached. For example, is God capable of creating an object so heavy that He is incapable of moving it? If not, does that mean that He is incapable? It is because of misguided questions like this that Islam clearly teaches that mankind should only say about God what He has said about Himself. This means all of our ideas about God must be based on Revelation - not human speculation. In short, the final prophet of Islam - Muhammad - was sent by Almighty God to preach the same Pure Monotheism that was practiced by Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus - peace be upon them all. This Pure Monotheism means not only believing that there is only One God in existence, but realizing that He is transcedent above His creation and that all worship is due to Him alone.
Before concluding, we should probably address the practice of those Muslims who insist on using the Arabic word "Allah" even when speaking English. Even though this practice certainly is not to be condemned when it is done around those who understand the meaning of the Arabic word "Allah", it is my experience - both during my years as a non-Muslim and my years as a Muslim - that such a practice can (and usually does) breed misunderstanding. It seems that often times, many of the Muslims who use the word "Allah" in lieu of the word "God", even when trying to attract people to Islam, are unaware of the severe misunderstandings that many non-Muslims have about Islam (and the distorted way which Islam has been portrayed in the West). Insisting on using the word "Allah" only fuels the flames of misunderstanding - so there's no good reason to do it. I've often wondered what value some Muslims think that using the word "Allah" adds to the Pure Message that they are trying to convey. ( . . . and I'm still waiting for an answer!) Unfortunately, those Muslims who insist on using the word"Allah" even when addressing non-Muslims who are unfamiliar with Islam and the Arabic language, do both a disservice to themselves and their religion. Unfortunately, this practice is usually based on the false assumption - by a non-native speaker of English - that the word "God" in English is incapable of expressing a pure and proper belief in Almighty God. This is certainly false. If someone says that the English word "God" cannot be used to express the Pure Islamic Belief in Tawhid, they are wrong not because they don't understand Tawhid, but simply because they don't understand the English language. Many people who insist on using the Arabic word "Allah" usually don't realize this, because in reality, they are not so much affirming the word "Allah" as they are rejecting the word "God" as unsuitable - based on incorrect assumptions. For someone to assume that the word "God" presupposes a certain theological point-of-view (such as the Trinity) is simply Wrong - and that's Wrong with a capital "W". To say the word "God" should be rejected because it can be changed into "god", "gods" or "goddess" is illogical because each of these words has a distinctive meaning and a distinctive spelling - at least to someone who knows how to speak English correctly. Using the same logic, I can demonstrate that the root letters "ktb" can be used to form the Arabic words "kitab" (book), "maktabah" (library),"maktab" (office) and "kaatib" (writer), but does that mean that these words have the same meaning? Do Arabic-speaking people go through life confusing libraries with writers and offices with books (both in conversation and in reality)? I think not! This is not to mention the fact that if the Arabic "Al-" was put in front of these words in order to make them definite, confusion would be even less likely! So the logic in both cases is the same, and this is because even though the same letters are used in "God" and"god", these two words have two different meanings in the English language. The capital "G" implies something different than the small "g" - and anyone who denies this simply doesn't know how to speak the English language.
In concluding this point, it should be mentioned that Arabic-speaking Muslims who believe in PureTawhid, Arabic-speaking Christians, the idol worshippers of Mecca and (so-called) Muslims who believe in "Wahdat al-Wujud" all use the word "Allah". However, does this guarantee all of them proper belief in "Allah"? Certainly not, because if they have a corrupt concept of "Allah" it doesn't matter what word they use!
This brings us to a more important point: It should be clearly understood that what Islam is primarily concerned with is correcting mankind's concept of Almighty God. What we are ultimately going to be held accountable at the end of our life is not whether we prefer the word "Allah" over the word "God", but what our concept of God is. Language is only a side issue. A person can have an incorrect concept of God while using the word "Allah", and likewise a person can have a correct concept of God while using the word "God". This is because both of these words are equally capable of being misused and being improperly defined. As we've already mentioned, using the word "Allah" no more insinuates belief in the Unity of God than the use of the word "God" insinuates belief in the Trinity - or any other theological opinion. Naturally, when God sends a revelation to mankind through a prophet, He is going to send it in a language that the people who receive it can understand and relate to. Almighty God makes this clear in the Qur'an, when He states:
"Never did We send a Messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people in order to make (things) clear to them;" (Qur'an 14:4)
As Muslims, we think that it is unfortunate that we have to go into details on such seemingly minor issues, but so many falsehoods have been heaped upon our religion, that we feel that it is our duty to try to break down the barriers of falsehood. This isn't always easy, since there is a lot of anti-Islamic literature in existence which tries to make Islam look like something strange and foreign to Westerners. There are some people out there, who are obviously not on the side of truth, that want to get people to believe that "Allah" is just some Arabian "god", and that Islam is completely "other" - meaning that it has no common roots with the other Abrahamic religions (i.e. Christianity and Judaism). To say that Muslims worship a different "God" because they say "Allah" is just as illogical as saying that French people worship another God because they use the word "Dieu", that Spanish-speaking people worship a different God because they say "Dios" or that the Hebrews worshipped a different God because they sometimes call Him "Yahweh". Certainly, reasoning like this is quite ridiculous! It should also be mentioned, that claiming that any one language uses the only the correct word for God is tantamount to denying the universality of God's message to mankind, which was to all nations, tribes and people through various prophets who spoke different languages.
Before closing, we would like everyone to be aware of the fact that some Christian missionary organizations print English literature intended to teach Christians about Islam which say such things as:"Allah is the god of the Muslims" and that "Muhammad came to get people to believe in the god Allah" - implying that "Allah" is some sort of false "god". However, when these same organizations print literature in the Arabic language, hoping to lead Arabic-speaking Muslims "to Christ", they use the word "Allah" for God. It seems that if they were on the side of truth, they would not have to resort to such inconsistencies. And on an even more ridiculous note . . . there are also missionary organizations that exceed this in ignorance (or deceit) by writing books that call on Muslims to give up their belief in"Allah", and instead worship the "Lord" Jesus, "the Son of God". Besides making it abundantly clear that they are outside the community of Pure Monotheism, the people who write such material don't even realize that if they wrote such a pamphlet in Arabic, it would be self-contradictory. This is because in an Arabic Bible Jesus is the "Son of Allah"! If an Arabic-speaking person gave up the worship of"Allah", they would have no God to worship, since "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for God!
Before we conclude, however, we would like to ask our readers to ask themselves what they think the reasons are behind all of these lies? If Islam was just some false religion that didn't make any sense, would so many people, from Western scholars to Christian missionaries, have to tell so many lies about it? The reason is that the Ultimate Truth of Islam stands on solid ground and its unshakable belief in the Unity of God is above reproach. Due to this, Christians can't criticize its doctrines directly, but instead make up things about Islam that aren't true so that people lose the desire to learn more. If Muslims were able to present Islam in the proper way to people in the West, it surely might make many people reconsider and re-evaluate their own beliefs. It is quite likely that Christians, when they find out that there is a universal religion in the world that teaches people to worship and love God, while also practicing Pure Monotheism, would at least feel that they should re-examine the basis for their own beliefs and doctrines.
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