1: Barack Obama
2: Hu Jintao
3: Nicolas Sarkozy
4-5-6: Economic Triumvirate
7: Gordon Brown
8: Angela Merkel
9: Vladimir Putin
10: Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud
11: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
12: Kim Jong Il
13-14: The Clintons
15: Timothy Geithner
16: Gen. David Petraeus
17: Sonia Gandhi
18: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
19: Warren Buffett
20: Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
21: Nuri al-Maliki
22-23: The Philanthropists
24: Nancy Pelosi
25: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
26: Mike Duke
27: Rahm Emanuel
28: Eric Schmidt
29: Jamie Dimon
30-31: Friends of Barack
32: Dominique Strauss-Kahn
33: Rex Tillerson
34: Steve Jobs
35: John Lasseter
36: Michael Bloomberg
37: Pope Benedict XVI
38: Katsuaki Watanabe
39: Rupert Murdoch
40: Jeff Bezos
41: Shahrukh Khan
42: Osama bin Laden
43: Hassan Nasrallah
44: Dr. Margaret Chan
45: Carlos Slim Helú
46: The Dalai Lama
47: Oprah Winfrey
48: Amr Khaled
49: E. A. Adeboye
50: Jim Rogers
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Islam is the fastest growing and the second largest religion in the world.
Among every four humans in the world, one of them is Muslim. Muslims have increased by over 235 percent in the last fifty years up to nearly 1.6 billion. By comparison, Christians have increased by 47 percent, Hinduism by 117 percent, and Buddhism by 63 percent. Islam is the second largest religious group in France, Great Britain and USA.
Islam is the fastest growing and the second largest religion in the world.
Source: http://islamicweb.com/begin/results.htm
Islam is the fastest growing and the second largest religion in the world.
Source: http://islamicweb.com/begin/results.htm
Similarities between Jews and Muslims
Similarities between Jews and Muslims
1. We worship the same God
2. We are descendents of Abraham
3. Our Males are circumcised according to Abrahamic law
4. Both cultures are of Semitic origin
5. Jerusalem is our Holy City
6. We stress good works over faith.
7. We share many advances in medicine; philosophy; law; literature and poetry.
8. There are extremists and peacemakers on both sides.
Similarities over differences
Much has been written about the differences between Jews and Muslims: a lot less about the similarities between us.
Jews, Muslims and Christians have a lot more in common than we care to sometimes admit.
We share belief in the same one God.
The originator of our religions and cultures is
the same person: Abraham.
Jews, Muslims and Christians - are regarded as Abrahamic religions.
We share one same holy place: The Temple Mount (the Rock) is where Abraham brought his son to sacrifice him. Adam was buried there. Solomon built a great temple there. Jesus prayed there. Mohammad ascended there. (Source: Bruce Feiler Abraham)
There are many common aspects between Islam and Judaism. As Islam developed it gradually became the major religion closest to Judaism. As opposed to Christianity which originated from interaction between ancient Greek and Hebrew cultures, Judaism is similar to Islam in its fundamental religious outlook, structure, jurisprudence and practice. (Source: http://rabbidavidrosen.net/)
There are many traditions within Islam originating from traditions within the Hebrew Bible or from post-biblical Jewish traditions. These practices are known collectively as the Isra'iliyat. (Source: http://post.queensu.ca/~jjl/islam.html
Arabs in Israel
20% of today's Israeli population is Muslim. The inhabitants live together with their Jewish counterparts peacefully. The majority of Muslim citizens of Israel are descendants of the 150,000 Palestinian Arabs who remained within the State of Israel after the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Many Arab citizens of Israel have continued to identify themselves as Palestinian and hold ties to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as to residents of occupied East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in 1980. (Source: Question of Palestine: Jerusalem. United Nations. http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/qpal/index.html)
Steps forward - Jews In Iran
Iran contains the most number of Jews among Muslim countries and Uzbekistan and Turkey have the next ranks. Iran's Jewish community is officially recognized as a religious minority group by the government, and they are allocated one seat in the Iranian Parliament. Maurice Motamed has been the Jewish MP since 2000, and was re-elected again in 2004. In 2000, former Jewish MP Manuchehr Eliasi estimated that at that time there were still 30-35,000 Jews in Iran, other sources put the figure as low as 20-25,000. (Source: Bahá'í Association http://www.uga.edu/bahai/News/021600.html)
Muslim Israeli Cabinet Minister
On January 28th, 2007 the Israeli government has voted to appoint its first-ever Muslim cabinet minister. The Labour Party's Galeb Magadla becomes minister without portfolio in the coalition government of Ehud Olmert, the prime minister. Magadla told Israeli Army Radio following the vote that the move would help Israel's Arab citizens identify more strongly with the Jewish state. He said: "The first step has been taken and this has given Israeli Arabs a feeling of belonging." (Source: aljazeera.net)
Holy scripture
Islam and Judaism share the idea of a revealed Scripture. Even though they differ over the precise text and its interpretations, the Hebrew Torah and the Muslim Qur'an share a lot of narrative as well as injunctions. From this, they share many other fundamental religious concepts such as the belief in a day of Divine Judgment as well as believing in the afterlife, Heaven and Hell.
Muslims commonly refer to Jews (and Christians) as fellow "People of the Book": people who follow the same general teachings in relation to the worship of the one God worshipped by Abraham.
As Islam developed it became, by far, the major religion closest to Judaism.
Religious law
Judaism and Islam are unique in having systems of religious law based on oral tradition which can over-ride the written laws and which does not distinguish between holy and secular spheres. In Islam the laws are called Sharia, In Judaism they are known as Halakha. Both Judaism and Islam consider the study the study of religious law to be a form of worship and an end in itself. (Source: Encyclopedia Judaica)
The most obvious common practice is the statement of the absolute unity of God which Muslims observe in their five times daily prayers (Salah), and Jews state at least twice (Shema Yisrael). The two Faiths also share the central practices of fasting and charity, as well as dietary laws and other aspects of ritual purity.
Judaism and Islam have strict dietary laws, with lawful food being called Kosher in Judaism and Halal in Islam. Both religions prohibit the consumption of pork. Halal restrictions can be seen as a subset of the Kashrut dietary laws, so many kosher foods are considered halal; especially in the case of meat, which Islam prescribes must be slaughtered in the name of God.
Both Judaism and Islam have a generally negative stance on homosexuality and on human sexuality outside of marriage. Both prescribe circumcision for males as a symbol of dedication to the religion.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_Judaism#_note-10)
Jewish Origins
Judaism's origins-along with those of the ancestral Abrahamic religion-are obscure. The only source generally agreed by all to be canonical that bears on that question is the Genesis book of the Hebrew Bible, which according to Rabbinic tradition was written by G-d and received by Moses after the Exodus from Egypt, sometime in the 2nd millennium BCE. According to Genesis, the principles of Judaism were revealed gradually to a line of patriarchs from Adam to Jacob (also called Israel); however the Judaic religion was only established when Moses received the Commandments on Mount Sinai, and with the organization of its priesthood and institution of its temple services.
All the Abrahamic religions are related to or even derived from Judaism as practiced in ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah prior to the Babylonian Exile, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE.
Beginning in 7th century CE
Islam originated in the 7th century, in the Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina. Although not a dissident branch of either Judaism or Christianity, Muslims believe it to be a continuation and replacement for them.
The historical interaction of Islam and Judaism started in the 7th century CE with the origin and spread of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. Because Islam and Judaism share a common origin in the Middle East through Abraham, both are considered Abrahamic religions. There are many shared aspects between Judaism and Islam. Because of this, as well as through the influence of Muslim culture and philosophy on practitioners of Judaism within the Islamic world, there has been considerable and continued physical, theological, and political overlap between the two faiths in the subsequent 1,400 years.
Semites
Ancient Hebrew and Arab people are generally classified as Semitic peoples, a concept derived from Biblical accounts of the origins of the cultures known to the ancient Hebrews. Those closest to them in culture and language were generally deemed to be descended from their forefather Shem. Enemies were often said to be descendants of his cursed brother Ham. Due to the similarities between Hebrew and Arabic as Semitic languages, many Muslim and Jewish terms are similar including the words for peace: salam and shalom. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_Judaism#_note-6)
Muhammad
According to Islamic holy texts, Muhammad preached that the pagan Arabs should abandon polytheism and accept Abrahamic monotheism, the belief in the one God. The Qur'an states that Muhammad's teachings were the completion of revelations given to prophets throughout the ages. Islam has taken many traits from Judaism (as well as Christianity), such as common prophets who are revered in both faiths such as Moses and Abraham.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are known as "Abrahamic religions". The firstborn son of Abraham, Ishmael, Muslims consider Father of the Arabs. Abraham's second son Isaac is called Father of the Hebrews. In the Jewish tradition Abraham is called Avraham Avinu or "Abraham, our Father". For Muslims, he is a prophet of Islam and the ancestor of Muhammad through Ishmael.
Islam affirms that Moses (Musa) was given a revelation, the Torah, which Muslims call Tawrat in Arabic, and believed to be the word of God (Allah). However, they also believe that this original revelation was modified over time by certain scribes and preachers. According to Islamic belief, the present Jewish scriptures were no longer the original divine revelations given to Moses. Muslims believe the Qur'an is the final revelation from God and a completion of the previous revelations.
Middle Ages
Jews have often lived in predominantly Islamic nations. During the Middle Ages as the Islamic state expanded out of the Arabian Peninsula, large numbers of Jews came under Muslim rule. There was general improvement in the conditions of Jews as Islamic law commands that Jews should be judged by Jewish laws, and that synagogues are to be protected. In the Iberian Peninsula, under Muslim rule, Jews were able to make great advances in mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, chemistry and philology. (Source: Cowling (2005), p. 265)
Medieval Islamic civilization developed into its most productive period between the years 900 and 1200, and Jewish civilization in the Islamic world followed suit. During this period, some of the greatest works of Jewish philosophy, grammar, law, philology, and lexicography were written, in parallel with great advances in these fields in the Islamic world.
Jewish poetry in Hebrew found a renaissance during this period as well, and its meters, styles, and contents parallel those of its Muslim Arabic counterpart. Nowhere was this more pronounced than in Spain, where Jewish civilization flourished along with the flowering of the Islamic and secular sciences and culture throughout the region, known in Arabic as al-Andalus.
The relatively open society of al-Andalus was reversed and then ended by the coming of North African armies to help defend against the Spanish Christians, who were pushing the Muslims southward from their strongholds in the north. Jews were highly restricted under the Islamist Berber regimes and eventually began moving northward to newly conquered Christian areas where, for the time being, they were treated better. (Source: http://rabbidavidrosen.net/)
The Ottoman Empire had served as a refuge for Jews who had been expelled from Western Europe, especially after the fall of Muslim Spain in 1492. This was also the case for the Maghreb in North Africa, where a Jewish quarter (Mellah), was installed in most large Arabian cities. At the time Jews were driven out of Western Europe fleeing the Christian Inquisition, most notably the Alhambra decree. The Alhambra Decree was issued in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), following the final triumph over the Moors after the fall of Granada. The decree ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Spain and its territories and possessions by July 31, 1492 (Tisha B'Av).
Philosophy
The 12th century saw the apotheosis of pure philosophy. This supreme exaltation of philosophy was due, in great measure, to Ghazali (1058-1111) among the Arabs, and to Judah ha-Levi (1140) among the Jews. Like Ghazali, Judah ha-Levi took upon himself to free religion from the shackles of speculative philosophy, and to this end wrote the Kuzari, in which he sought to discredit all schools of philosophy alike.
The Jewish philosopher Maimonides endeavored to harmonize the philosophy of Aristotle with Judaism; and to this end he composed his immortal work, Dalalat al-airin (Guide for the Perplexed)-known better under its Hebrew title Moreh Nevuchim-which served for many centuries as the subject of discussion and comment by Jewish thinkers.
The Arab philosopher Ibn Roshd (Averroes), the contemporary and tutor of Maimonides, closes the philosophical era of the Arabs. The boldness of this great commentator of Aristotle aroused the full fury of the orthodox.
Driven from the Arabian schools, Arabic philosophy found a refuge with the Jews, to whom belongs the honor of having transmitted it to the Christian world. A series of eminent men-such as the Tibbons, Narboni, and Gersonides-joined in translating the Arabic philosophical works into Hebrew and commenting upon them. The works of Ibn Roshd especially became the subject of their study, due in great measure to Maimonides, who, in a letter addressed to his pupil Joseph ibn Aknin, spoke in the highest terms of Ibn Roshd's commentary.
Copyright © 2005-2009 LookIsrael.com
VOA News Excerpt - Who Speaks for Islam and for Christianity?
Who Speaks for Islam and for Christianity?
By Judith Latham
Washington
23 December 2008
For nearly 20 years after completing his Ph.D., John Esposito taught religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit college in Massachusetts
Christianity and Islam represent the world’s two largest religious faiths today – with an estimated 2 billion Christians and 1.3 billion Muslims. During this month when Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha and Christians celebrate Christmas, VOA News Now’s Press Conference USA explores the question: Who speaks for Islam and who speaks for Christianity?
John Esposito, founding director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, is the author of 35 books on Islam and a leading exponent of interfaith dialogue. He is also editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World. By birth John Esposito is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, the largest of the world’s Christian denominations. He is thus uniquely placed to address the question of “who speaks” for the members of each of these two world religions.
Appearing on VOA’s English radio program Press Conference USA with hosts Judith Latham and Navbahor Imamova, Esposito discussed new information from his book Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think. Co-authored with Dalia Mogahed of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, the book grew out of a Gallup Poll that he calls the largest and most comprehensive survey of the Muslim world. In that survey of some 90 countries, Esposito says ordinary Muslims – the “silent, mainstream majority” – speak about how they regard the West, how they feel about democracy, human rights, violence, and how they view the relationship of religion to their lives.
Esposito says while non-Muslims sometimes view Islam as a single, unified force described by events like the dramatic attacks of 9-11, the Muslim world is actually extraordinarily diverse in terms of languages, cultures, political structures, and attitudes toward peace, democracy, and women’s rights. However, many Muslims have genuine differences with the United States – especially on foreign policy, which Esposito says is one of the major causes of anti-Americanism in the Muslim world.
In Muslim belief, John Esposito points to a sura from the Qur’an, which recalls how God made humankind into “nations and tribes for you to get to know one another – not that you may despise one another.” What that means, he says, is that God has chosen to create a world of diversity. He suggests that these words from the Qur’an send a message that is contrary to narrow-mindedness and religious extremism – to the kind of position that implies, “I’m right. You’re wrong” – and they in fact preach a language of religious and political pluralism.
Some religions have adopted rationales on when it is legitimate to fight – the “just war” theory in Christianity, the idea in Hinduism that there are times when people are “obligated to fight,” and the concept of “jihad” in Islam. Esposito notes that jihad has two meanings – to strive to lead a virtuous Muslim life and to defend oneself and one’s community. However, some political leaders have embarked on military campaigns that they represented as defensive.
Regarding the question of who speaks – or who can speak – for Christianity, people often fail to appreciate that in Christendom, as in Islam, there is in fact no central authority who can speak for all Christians. And while the Pope is the central authority for Roman Catholicism, he does not speak for Orthodoxy and its various national churches (Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and so forth), for Anglicanism, or for Protestantism. These denominations have their own central authorities, and their religious leaders have greater or lesser amounts of authority, depending on the denomination. For example, since the Reformation of the 16th century, Protestants have preached the individual interpretation of scripture and the priesthood of every believer. So, in a sense, no other Protestant Christian can speak for any other member of his faith. Islam also recognizes the opportunity for ijtihad, the individual study and interpretation of the Qur’an.
Esposito says there is a “broadening of the base” of the notion of religious authority, especially in the more liberal forms of faith. Although that may make for a more diverse and chaotic situation, he argues, it can serve as a check on those religious authorities who would legitimate what he calls “illegitimate wars.” Esposito says that means recognizing that each person has his or her own conscience to live with and will make individual choices in the area of faith and morality.
John Esposito says that most Muslims expect that Barack Obama will be what he calls a “more internationalist president.” That’s partly because of his parents and his schooling – a child with a Kenyan father, who studied in Indonesia and in Hawaii and then went on to Harvard University to pursue a law degree. Esposito says Muslims generally see the U.S. President-elect as someone who emphasizes diplomacy more than military intervention. Nonetheless, the real test of the new administration, the professor says, will come on specific issues, such as Middle East peace, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
By Judith Latham
Washington
23 December 2008
For nearly 20 years after completing his Ph.D., John Esposito taught religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit college in Massachusetts
Christianity and Islam represent the world’s two largest religious faiths today – with an estimated 2 billion Christians and 1.3 billion Muslims. During this month when Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha and Christians celebrate Christmas, VOA News Now’s Press Conference USA explores the question: Who speaks for Islam and who speaks for Christianity?
John Esposito, founding director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, is the author of 35 books on Islam and a leading exponent of interfaith dialogue. He is also editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World. By birth John Esposito is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, the largest of the world’s Christian denominations. He is thus uniquely placed to address the question of “who speaks” for the members of each of these two world religions.
Appearing on VOA’s English radio program Press Conference USA with hosts Judith Latham and Navbahor Imamova, Esposito discussed new information from his book Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think. Co-authored with Dalia Mogahed of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, the book grew out of a Gallup Poll that he calls the largest and most comprehensive survey of the Muslim world. In that survey of some 90 countries, Esposito says ordinary Muslims – the “silent, mainstream majority” – speak about how they regard the West, how they feel about democracy, human rights, violence, and how they view the relationship of religion to their lives.
Esposito says while non-Muslims sometimes view Islam as a single, unified force described by events like the dramatic attacks of 9-11, the Muslim world is actually extraordinarily diverse in terms of languages, cultures, political structures, and attitudes toward peace, democracy, and women’s rights. However, many Muslims have genuine differences with the United States – especially on foreign policy, which Esposito says is one of the major causes of anti-Americanism in the Muslim world.
In Muslim belief, John Esposito points to a sura from the Qur’an, which recalls how God made humankind into “nations and tribes for you to get to know one another – not that you may despise one another.” What that means, he says, is that God has chosen to create a world of diversity. He suggests that these words from the Qur’an send a message that is contrary to narrow-mindedness and religious extremism – to the kind of position that implies, “I’m right. You’re wrong” – and they in fact preach a language of religious and political pluralism.
Some religions have adopted rationales on when it is legitimate to fight – the “just war” theory in Christianity, the idea in Hinduism that there are times when people are “obligated to fight,” and the concept of “jihad” in Islam. Esposito notes that jihad has two meanings – to strive to lead a virtuous Muslim life and to defend oneself and one’s community. However, some political leaders have embarked on military campaigns that they represented as defensive.
Regarding the question of who speaks – or who can speak – for Christianity, people often fail to appreciate that in Christendom, as in Islam, there is in fact no central authority who can speak for all Christians. And while the Pope is the central authority for Roman Catholicism, he does not speak for Orthodoxy and its various national churches (Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and so forth), for Anglicanism, or for Protestantism. These denominations have their own central authorities, and their religious leaders have greater or lesser amounts of authority, depending on the denomination. For example, since the Reformation of the 16th century, Protestants have preached the individual interpretation of scripture and the priesthood of every believer. So, in a sense, no other Protestant Christian can speak for any other member of his faith. Islam also recognizes the opportunity for ijtihad, the individual study and interpretation of the Qur’an.
Esposito says there is a “broadening of the base” of the notion of religious authority, especially in the more liberal forms of faith. Although that may make for a more diverse and chaotic situation, he argues, it can serve as a check on those religious authorities who would legitimate what he calls “illegitimate wars.” Esposito says that means recognizing that each person has his or her own conscience to live with and will make individual choices in the area of faith and morality.
John Esposito says that most Muslims expect that Barack Obama will be what he calls a “more internationalist president.” That’s partly because of his parents and his schooling – a child with a Kenyan father, who studied in Indonesia and in Hawaii and then went on to Harvard University to pursue a law degree. Esposito says Muslims generally see the U.S. President-elect as someone who emphasizes diplomacy more than military intervention. Nonetheless, the real test of the new administration, the professor says, will come on specific issues, such as Middle East peace, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
In Madoff Scandal, Jews Feel an Acute Betrayal - Excerpt from NY Times
Photo credit : money.cnn.com
In Madoff Scandal, Jews Feel an Acute Betrayal
By ROBIN POGREBIN
Published: December 23, 2008
There is a teaching in the Talmud that says an individual who comes before God after death will be asked a series of questions, the first one of which is, “Were you honest in your business dealings?” But it is the Ten Commandments that have weighed most heavily on the mind of Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles in light of the sins for which Bernard L. Madoff stands accused.
“When a Jew does this, Jews feel ashamed by proxy. I’d like to believe someone raised in our community, imbued with Jewish values, would be better than this.” RABBI DAVID WOLPE, Sinai Temple, Los Angeles
“You shouldn’t steal,” Rabbi Wolpe said. “And this is theft on a global scale.”
The full scope of the misdeeds to which Mr. Madoff has confessed in swindling individuals and charitable groups has yet to be calculated, and he is far from being convicted. But Jews all over the country are already sending up something of a communal cry over a cost they say goes beyond the financial to the theological and the personal.
Here is a Jew accused of cheating Jewish organizations trying to help other Jews, they say, and of betraying the trust of Jews and violating the basic tenets of Jewish law. A Jew, they say, who seemed to exemplify the worst anti-Semitic stereotypes of the thieving Jewish banker.
So in synagogues and community centers, on blogs and in countless conversations, many Jews are beating their chests — not out of contrition, as they do on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, but because they say Mr. Madoff has brought shame on their people in addition to financial ruin and shaken the bonds of trust that bind Jewish communities.
“Jews have these familial ties,” Rabbi Wolpe said. “It’s not solely a shared belief; it’s a sense of close communal bonds, and in the same way that your family can embarrass you as no one else can, when a Jew does this, Jews feel ashamed by proxy. I’d like to believe someone raised in our community, imbued with Jewish values, would be better than this.”
Among the apparent victims of Mr. Madoff were many Jewish educational institutions and charitable causes that lost fortunes in his investments; they include Yeshiva University, Hadassah, the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America and the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. The Chais Family Foundation, which worked on educational projects in Israel, was recently forced to shut down because of losses in Madoff investments. Many of Mr. Madoff’s individual investors were Jewish and supported Jewish causes, apparently drawn to him precisely because of his own communal involvement and because he radiated the comfortable sense of being one of them.
“The Jewish world is not going to be the same for a while,” said Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York.
Jews are also grappling with the implications of Mr. Madoff’s deeds for their public image, what one rabbi referred to as the “shanda factor,” using the Yiddish term for an embarrassing shame or disgrace. As Bradley Burston, a columnist for haaretz.com, the English-language Web site of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, wrote on Dec. 17: “The anti-Semite’s new Santa is Bernard Madoff. The answer to every Jew-hater’s wish list. The Aryan Nation at its most delusional couldn’t have come up with anything to rival this.”
The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement that Mr. Madoff’s arrest had prompted an outpouring of anti-Semitic comments on Web sites around the world, most repeating familiar tropes about Jews and money. Abraham H. Foxman, the group’s national director, said that canard went back hundreds of years, but he noted that anti-Semites did not need facts to be anti-Semitic.
“We’re not immune from having thieves and people who engage in fraud,” Mr. Foxman said in an interview, disputing any notion that Mr. Madoff should be seen as emblematic. “Why, because he happens to be Jewish, he should have a conscience?”
He added that Mr. Madoff’s victims extended well beyond the Jewish community.
In addition to theft, the Torah discusses another kind of stealing, geneivat da’at, the Hebrew term for deception or stealing someone’s mind. “In the rabbinic mind-set, he’s guilty of two sins: one is theft, and the other is deception,” said Burton L. Visotzky, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
“The fact that he stole from Jewish charities puts him in a special circle of hell,” Rabbi Visotzky added. “He really undermined the fabric of the Jewish community, because it’s built on trust. There is a wonderful rabbinic saying — often misapplied — that all Jews are sureties for one another, which means, for instance, that if a Jew takes a loan out, in some ways the whole Jewish community guarantees it.”
Several rabbis said they were reminded of Esau, a figure of mistrust in the Bible. According to a rabbinic interpretation, Esau, upon embracing his brother Jacob after 20 years apart, was actually frisking him to see what he could steal. “The saying goes that, when Esau kisses you,” Rabbi Visotzky said, “check to make sure your teeth are still there.”
Rabbi Kalmanofsky said he was struck by reports that Mr. Madoff had tried to give bonus payments to his employees just before he was arrested, that he was moved to do something right even as he was about to be charged with doing so much wrong. “The small-scale thought for people who work for him amidst this large-scale fraud — what is the dissonance between that sense of responsibility and the gross sense of irresponsibility?” he said.
In a recent sermon, Rabbi Kalmanofsky described Mr. Madoff as the antithesis of true piety.
“I said, what it means to be a religious person is to be terrified of the possibility that you’re going to harm someone else,” he said.
Rabbi Kalmanofsky said Judaism had highly developed mechanisms for not letting people control money without ample checks and balances. When tzedakah, or charity, is collected, it must be done so in pairs. “These things are supposed to be done in the public eye,” Rabbi Kalmanofsky said, “so there is a high degree of confidence that people are behaving in honorable ways.”
While the Madoff affair has resonated powerfully among Jews, some say it actually stands for a broader dysfunction in the business world. “The Bernie Madoff story has become a Jewish story,” said Rabbi Jennifer Krause, the author of “The Answer: Making Sense of Life, One Question at a Time,” “but I do see it in the much greater context of a human drama that is playing out in sensationally terrible ways in America right now.”
“The Talmud teaches that a person who only looks out for himself and his own interests will eventually be brought to poverty,” Rabbi Krause added. “Unfortunately, this is the metadrama of what’s happening in our country right now. When you have too many people who are only looking out for themselves and they forget the other piece, which is to look out for others, we’re brought to poverty.”
According to Jewish tradition, the last question people are asked when they meet God after dying is, “Did you hope for redemption?”
Rabbi Wolpe said he did not believe Mr. Madoff could ever make amends.
“It is not possible for him to atone for all the damage he did,” the rabbi said, “and I don’t even think that there is a punishment that is commensurate with the crime, for the wreckage of lives that he’s left behind. The only thing he could do, for the rest of his life, is work for redemption that he would never achieve.
_______________________________________________________________________
Cheating and Deception
A featured article
Description: Islam absolutely forbids cheating and deception whether Muslims or non-Muslims are involved. The stern warnings of the Prophet of Mercy to those who cheat others.
By IslamReligion.com - Published on 15 May 2006 - Last modified on 01 Apr 2008
Cheating and deception are despicable characteristics that are beneath a decent person. Intentionally distorting the truth in order to mislead others contradicts the values of honesty, which requires an attitude of sincerity, straightforwardness, and fairness that leaves no room for cheating, lying, trickery, or deceit. There are many texts from the Quran and the Sunnah conveying the meaning that cheating, whether the target be Muslims or non-Muslims, is forbidden.
Accepting the guidance of Islam leads a person to truthfulness, which means a person completely avoids cheating, cheating, and back-stabbing. The Prophet of Islam said:
“Whoever bears arms against us is not one of us, and whoever cheats us is not one of us.” (Saheeh Muslim)
According to another report, the Prophet passed by a pile of food in the market. He put his hand inside it and felt dampness, although the surface was dry. He said:
“O owner of the food, what is this?’
The man said, ‘It was damaged by rain, O Messenger of God.’
He said, ‘Why did you not put the rain-damaged food on top so that people could see it! Whoever cheats us is not one of us.” (Saheeh Muslim)
Muslim society is based on purity of feeling, love, sincerity towards every Muslim, and fulfillment of promises to every member of society. Its members are endowed with piety, truthfulness, and faithfulness. Cheating and deception are alien characters in contrast to the noble character of a true Muslim. There is no room in it for swindlers, double crossers, tricksters, or traitors.
Islam views cheating and deception as heinous sins, a source of shame to the one guilty of committing them, both in this world and the next. The Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, did not merely denounce them by excluding them from the Muslim community in this world, he also announced that on the Day of Judgment every traitor would be raised carrying the flag of his betrayal. A caller will cry out from the vast arena of judgment, pointing to him, drawing attention to him:
“Every traitor will have a banner on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said: This is the betrayer of so-and-so.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
The shame of traitors – men and women - will be immense. Those who thought that their betrayal had been forgotten will find it right there, exposed for the whole world to see on banners raised high held by their own hands!
Their shame will increase even more when they meet with the Prophet of Mercy, the advocate of the sinners on that terrifying and horrible Day. Their crime is of such enormity that it will deprive them of divine mercy and the Prophet’s intercession. The Prophet of Islam said:
“God said: There are three whom I will oppose on the Day of Resurrection: a man who gave his word and then betrayed it; a man who sold a free man into slavery and kept the money; and a man who hired someone, benefited from his labor, then did not pay his wages.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
One should steer clear of all the various forms of deceit and deception present in today’s society. Cheating is common in examinations, business transactions, and even between spouses and loved ones. Placing a label on domestically-made products to make it seem that it is imported is a kind of fraud. Some people give wrong advice when their council is sought and thus deceive the person who believes he is getting good advice. An employee should do the job for what he is paid for without any deception or cheating. Rulers rig the ballot to win elections and cheat the whole nation. Cheating between spouses and having extra-marital affairs is widespread in modern society. A Muslim should value himself too highly to be among those who cheat or deceive perchance one might fall in the category of hypocrites about whom the Prophet said:
“There are four characteristics, whoever has all of them is a true hypocrite, and whoever has one of them has one of the qualities of a hypocrite until he gives it up: when he is trusted, he betrays; when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he disputes, he resorts to slander.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim)
Therefore, a Muslim who has true Islamic sensitivities avoids deceit, cheating, treachery, and lying no matter what benefits or profits such activities might bring him, because Islam considers those guilty of such deeds to be hypocrites.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
An American Muslim Convert Story
Diane Charles Breslin, Ex-Catholic, USA
A strict Catholic loses faith after reading the Bible, but her continued belief in God leads her to explore other religions
When I am asked how I became a Muslim I always reply that I always felt myself to be a believer in the ONE AND ONLY, yet I first realized what that meant when I heard about a religion called Islam, and a book called Quran.
But let me first start with a brief synopsis of my American overwhelmingly traditional Irish Catholic background.
Catholic I was Indeed.
My dad left the seminary after a three-year stint to train as a missionary. He was the oldest of thirteen children, all born and raised in the Boston area. Two of his sisters became nuns, as was his aunt on his mother’s side. My dad’s younger brother was also in the seminary and quit after 9 years, just before taking his final vows. My grandmother would wake at dawn to dress and climb the hill to the local church for early morning mass while the rest of the house was sleeping. I remember her as being a very stern, kind, fair, and strong woman, and rather deep - unusual for those days. I’m certain she never heard mention of Islam, and may God judge her as to the beliefs she held in her heart. Many who never heard of Islam pray to the One by instinct, although they have inherited labels of various denominations from their ancestors.
I was enrolled in a Catholic nursery school at the age of four and spent the next 12 years of my life surrounded by heavy doses of trinity indoctrination. Crosses were everywhere, all day long - on the nuns themselves, on the walls of the classroom, in church which we attended almost daily, and in almost every room of my house. Not to mention the statues and holy pictures - everywhere you looked there was baby Jesus and his mother Mary - sometimes happy, sometimes sad, yet always classically white and Anglo featured. Various and sundry angels and saints pictures would make their appearances, depending on the holyday approaching.
I have vivid memories picking lilacs and lilies of the valley from our yard to make bouquets which I placed in the vase at the base of the largest Mother Mary statue in the upstairs hallway next to my bedroom. There I would kneel and pray, enjoying the pleasant scent of the freshly picked flowers and serenely contemplating on how lovely was Mary’s long flowing chestnut hair. I can unequivocally state that I never once prayed TO HER or felt that she had any powers to help me. The same was true when I would hold my rosary beads at night in bed. I repeated the ritual supplications of the Our Father and the Hail Mary and the Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, all the while looking upward and saying with my true heart—I know its only You, one almighty You-I’m just saying this stuff because it’s all I ever learned.
On my twelfth birthday, my mom gave me a Bible. As Catholics we were not encouraged to read anything except our Baltimore Catechism, sanctioned by the Vatican. Any comparative introspection was denied and disparaged. Yet I fervently read, seeking to know what I hoped would be a story from and about my creator. I got even more confused. This book was obviously the work of men, convoluted and difficult to grasp. Yet, once again, that’s all that was available.
My prior faithful church attendance dropped off in my mid teens, as was the norm for my generation, and by the time I reached my twenties, I had basically no formal religion. I read a lot on Buddhism, Hinduism and even tried out the local Baptist church for a few months. They were not enough to hold my attention, the former too exotic and the latter too provincial. Yet all through the years of not formally practicing, a day never passed when I didn’t “talk to god” especially as I fell asleep I would always say thanks for all my blessings and seek help for any problems I was experiencing. It was always the same certain ONE AND ONLY whom I was addressing, sure He was listening and confident of His love and care. No one ever taught me anything about this; it was pure instinct.
Diane’s readings of Islam cause her to again love Jesus and Mary, but a true love in a new light.
The Others
It was in my preparation for my master’s degree that I first heard of the Quran. Up until then, as most Americans, I knew only of “the Arabs” as mysterious, dark predators out to plunder our civilization. Islam was never mentioned – only the surly, dirty Arabs, camels and tents in the desert. As a child in religion class, I often wondered who were the other people? Jesus walked in Caana and Galilee and Nazareth, but he had blue eyes — who were the other people? I had a sense that there was a missing link somewhere. In 1967 during the Arab-Israeli war, we all got our first glimpse of the other people, and they were clearly viewed by most as the enemy. But for me, I liked them, and for no apparent reason. I cannot to this day explain it, except to now realize that they were my Muslim brothers.
I was about 35 when I read my first page of Quran. I opened it with the intention of a casual browse to get acquainted with the religion of the inhabitants of the region I was majoring in for my Master’s Degree. God caused the book to fall open to Surat al-Mu’minun (The Believers) verses 52-54:
“Verily, this your nation is one nation and I am your Lord so keep your duty to Me. But they broke up their command into sects, each one rejoicing in its belief. So leave them in their error until a time.” (Quran 23:52-54)
From the first reading, I knew that this was certain truth- clear and forceful, revealing the essence of all humanity and verifying all I had studied as a History major. Humanity’s pathetic rejection of the truth, their unceasing vain competition to be special and their neglectfulness of the purpose for their very existence all set forward in a few words. Nation states, nationalities, cultures, languages – all feeling superior, when in fact, all these identities mask the only reality which we ought to rejoice in sharing- that is to serve one master, THE ONE Who created everything and Who owns everything.
I Still Love Jesus and Mary
As a child I used to say the phrase “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen,” found in the prayer “Hail Mary”. I now see how much Mary has been maligned by the misrepresentation of her as the mother of the godhead. It is quite enough to view her as chosen above all women to bear the great prophet Jesus by the Virgin Birth. My mom would often defend her constant pleas for Mary’s help by explaining that she too was a mother and understood a mother’s sorrows. It would be far more useful for my mom and all others to contemplate how the most pure Mary was slandered by the Jews of her time and accused of a most despicable sin, that of fornication. Mary bore all of this, knowing that she would be vindicated by the Almighty, and that she would be given the strength to bear all of their calumnies.
This recognition of Mary’s faith and trust in God’s mercy will allow one to recognize her most exalted position among women, and at the same time remove the slander of calling her the mother of God, which is an even worse accusation than that of the Jews of her time. As a Muslim you may love Mary and Jesus, but to love God more will gain you the Paradise, as He is the One whose rules you must obey. He will judge you on a day when no one else can help you. He created you, and Jesus, and his blessed mother Mary, as He created Muhammad. All died or will die – God never dies.
Jesus (`Isa in Arabic) never once claimed to be the godhead. Rather, he repeatedly referred to himself as being sent. As I look back on the confusion I experienced in my youth, its root lay in the church’s claim that Jesus was more than he himself admitted. The church fathers formulated a doctrine to invent the concept of Trinity. It is this confused rendering of the original Torah and Injil [Gospel] (scriptures given to Moses and Jesus) which is at the core of the issue of Trinity.
In honest fact, it is enough to simply state that Jesus was a prophet, yes, a messenger who came with the word of the One Who sent him. If we view Jesus, may the blessing and mercy of God be upon him, in this correct light, it’s easy to then accept Muhammad, may the blessing and mercy of God be upon him, as his younger brother who came with the very same mission – to call all to the worship of the Almighty ONE, Who created everything and to whom we shall all return. It is of no consequence whatsoever to debate their physical features. Arab, Jew, Caucausian, blue or brown eyes, long or short hair – all totally irrelevant as to their importance as bearers of the message. Whenever I think of Jesus now, after knowing about Islam, I feel that connectedness which one feels in a happy family – a family of believers. You see Jesus was a “Muslim”, one who submits to his Lord above.
The first of the “Ten Commandments” state:
1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have false gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy god in vain.
Anyone who knows the correct meaning of “la ilaha ill-Allah” (there is no god but God) will immediately recognize the similarity in this testimony. Then we can really start to bring together the real story of all the prophets and put an end to the distortions.
“And they said the Most Merciful has taken a son. Indeed you have brought forth a terrible evil thing. Whereby the heavens are almost torn, and the earth split asunder, and the mountains fall in ruins.” (Quran 19:88-90)
Diane discusses her acceptance of Islam, her new life, and a prayer for America.
My Journey to Islam
It took three full years of my searching and studying Quran before I was ready to proclaim that I wanted to be a Muslim. Of course I feared the changes in clothing and habits, such as dating and drinking to which I had become accustomed. Music and dancing were a big part of my life, and bikinis and mini skirts were my claim to fame. All the while I had no chance to encounter any Muslims, as there were none in my area except a few immigrants who could barely speak English an hour’s drive away at the only mosque in the state at that time. When I would go to Friday Prayer to try and check out what I was considering, I would receive furtive glances as I was perhaps suspected of being a spy as was the case, and still is, in most Islamic gatherings. There was not a single Muslim American available to help me and, as I said, all the immigrant population were rather chilly to say the least.
In the midst of this phase of my life, my dad died of cancer. I was at his bedside and literally witnessed the angel of death remove his soul. He was gripped by fear as tears rolled down his cheeks. A life of luxury, yachts, country clubs, expensive cars … for both him and mom, all a result of interest income, and now it’s all over.
I felt a sudden desire to enter Islam quickly, while there was still time, and to change my ways and not to continue blindly seeking what I had been raised to believe to be the good life. Shortly thereafter I came to Egypt, and involved a long slow journey through the miracle of the Arabic language and the discovery of the clear truth – God is One, the Everlasting Eternal; Who never was born or gave birth and there is nothing at all like Him.
It is also the resulting equality between humans that attracted me most to that religion. The Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him, said that people are like teeth of a comb – all equal, the best being the most pious. In the Quran, we are told that the best are the pious ones. Piety involves love of and fear of God alone. Yet before you can really be pious, you must learn who God is. And to know Him is to love Him. I started learning Arabic to read the word of Allah in Arabic as it was revealed.
Learning the Quran has changed every facet of my life. I no longer wish to have any earthly luxuries; neither cars nor clothes nor trips can lure me into that web of vain desires which I was so caught up in before. I do enjoy a fairly good life of a believer; but as they say… it is no longer embedded in the heart...only at hand. I don’t fear the loss of my former friends or relatives – if God chooses to bring them close, then so be it, but I know that God gives me exactly what I need, no more – no less. I don’t feel anxious or sad anymore, nor do I feel regret at what has passed me by, because I’m safe in the care of God - THE ONE AND ONLY whom I always knew but didn’t know His name.
A Prayer For America
I pray to Almighty God to allow each and every American the opportunity to receive the message of the Oneness of God in a simple, straightforward fashion… Americans are, for the most part, grossly uninformed in regards to correct Islamic theology. The stress is almost always on politics, which focuses on the deeds of men. It’s high time we concentrated on the deeds of the prophets who all came to lead us out of the darkness and into the light. There is no doubt that darkness is prevailing in the malaise affecting America now. The light of truth will serve us all, and whether or not one chooses to follow the Islamic path, there is no doubt that the blocking of it or the hindering of others from following it will surely lead to further misery. I care very much for the healthy future of my country, and I’m quite certain that learning more about Islam will enhance the chances of my hopes being fulfilled.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Michael Jackson a Muslim?
Posted: December 22, 2003
1:00 am Eastern
By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
I don't know if it's true, but last week I read, like many of you, that Michael Jackson had converted to "Nation of Islam." Some people even wrote to me asking if the Jewish community will now be upset, given that he was once very close to me.
Firstly, not only did I never try and make Michael Jewish, I strongly and incessantly encouraged him to go back to his Christian roots and find Jesus. To be sure, I did take Michael to synagogue. But that was in order to witness the beauty of Jewish prayer and the moving tunes of Jewish music, all in the wider context of inspiring him to bring spirituality back into his life.
But if Michael Jackson authentically and sincerely re-found Jesus right now, it might rescue him from the nightmare that has become his life. So why choose instead to join "Nation of Islam"? Because Jesus and Christianity would make major demands on Michael – demands of character – to which he clearly is even now not prepared to commit. It's of course a lot easier just to join a radical black Muslim group and claim to be victimized by a hostile white world.
How sad that Michael just keeps on digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself. Imagine the magnitude of the tragedy: Michael Jackson, a man who once thrilled us all with his dancing, having now become one of the most discredited men on earth. And what does he do in order to re-establish his credibility? Why, he teams up with Louis Farrakhan. He would probably have gotten more credibility had he become a Jedi Knight, chosen Obe Wan Kenobe as his master and paid homage to the Force.
Michael, to whom I have no malice and whom I genuinely and sincerely attempted to guide to a better and more purposeful life, is living proof that religion in the modern age is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. God is not something we can pull out as a Christmas gift. Faith is no longer something that can be reserved only for the bunker. Prayer is not something that we can resort to only while ensconced in the valley. God must accompany us – especially when we are on the mountain top.
While many people in history have overcome the challenges of adversity, very few have survived the corruption of success. That's why so many celebrities are so screwed up.
They think their life is oh-so-dandy. They're making so much money. They have people worshipping at their feet. Who needs God? Heck, I'll find God when my kid gets cancer. But for now, I am God. So move over Moses, jump away Jesus. Because heeeerrreee's Jooohhhnny!
Of course, after a few years of this stuff, the celebrity suddenly wakes up divorced, drugged, arrested or maybe doesn't wake up at all ... like Elvis.
When we speak of the need for God for human salvation, we don't only mean salvation from poverty, pain and affliction. We especially mean salvation from materialism, shallowness, depravity and the suffocating selfishness of egocentrism.
In a week where Time magazine finally got it right by celebrating our brave soldiers as the "Persons of the Year," let's state the tragic flip side. Our Hollywood celebrities have become a national embarrassment. They have become indistinguishable from what we normally refer to as "white trash." They're covered head to toe in tattoos, they're all boozed up, they go in and out of relationships as if Hollywood had become one giant wife-swapping party, and they even live in trailers (albeit ones that cost more than most homes).
What a tragic waste of talent. I have more than a few celebrity friends, and most started life as decent people whose only crime was to be so dark on the inside that they just couldn't live without the spotlight on the outside.
In general, there are only two kinds of people. Stars and planets, and the irony of Hollywood is that nearly all our celebrities are planets rather than stars. Lacking an inner light, they become dependent on the external spotlight. Soon they become its prisoner and, bereft of a connection with the Source of all Light, they suffer the corrosive effects of celebrity sunburn, which usually manifests itself in the form of moral degeneracy.
But here's an even bigger tragedy. We "ordinary" people are all too eager to follow our celebrities off the precipice. So enamored are we of them that we are even prepared to be destroyed along with them. We read all about them, dress like them, and dream of becoming them. (A woman describing her boyfriend to me last week said, "He looks just like Brad Pitt.") That's why it's become so essential that we rescue our celebrities, primarily by having them bring God back into their lives.
Michael Jackson is actually an outstanding candidate to come back to God because he was once a very pious and devoted religious son, who spent his weekdays in church and his Sundays proselytizing. Of course, that was all long before he himself became a god and started living by his own rules which, incidentally, don't seem to have done him a whole lot of good.
But if he has any chance of arresting the downward freefall that is his life, it will have to be by grabbing onto the life preserver called the church, rather than the publicity gimmick called "the race card."
___________________________________________________________________________________
From : perezhilton.com
Prince and the rest of the Jehovah's Witness team can no longer claim Michael Jackson as one of theirs.
According to the UK's Sun, the gloved one has converted to Islam.
Jacko was shown the way to the religion by producer (Phillip Bubal) and songwriter (David Wharnsby). These two guys have been helping M.J. with his current stuff.
A source told the paper, “They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to the idea. An Imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief.”
M.J. has not only converted to Islam, Wacko has also adopted the 'Muslim name', Mikaeel.
If changing religions helps you find more peace with yourself, then congrats, Mikaeel.
A strict Catholic loses faith after reading the Bible, but her continued belief in God leads her to explore other religions
When I am asked how I became a Muslim I always reply that I always felt myself to be a believer in the ONE AND ONLY, yet I first realized what that meant when I heard about a religion called Islam, and a book called Quran.
But let me first start with a brief synopsis of my American overwhelmingly traditional Irish Catholic background.
Catholic I was Indeed.
My dad left the seminary after a three-year stint to train as a missionary. He was the oldest of thirteen children, all born and raised in the Boston area. Two of his sisters became nuns, as was his aunt on his mother’s side. My dad’s younger brother was also in the seminary and quit after 9 years, just before taking his final vows. My grandmother would wake at dawn to dress and climb the hill to the local church for early morning mass while the rest of the house was sleeping. I remember her as being a very stern, kind, fair, and strong woman, and rather deep - unusual for those days. I’m certain she never heard mention of Islam, and may God judge her as to the beliefs she held in her heart. Many who never heard of Islam pray to the One by instinct, although they have inherited labels of various denominations from their ancestors.
I was enrolled in a Catholic nursery school at the age of four and spent the next 12 years of my life surrounded by heavy doses of trinity indoctrination. Crosses were everywhere, all day long - on the nuns themselves, on the walls of the classroom, in church which we attended almost daily, and in almost every room of my house. Not to mention the statues and holy pictures - everywhere you looked there was baby Jesus and his mother Mary - sometimes happy, sometimes sad, yet always classically white and Anglo featured. Various and sundry angels and saints pictures would make their appearances, depending on the holyday approaching.
I have vivid memories picking lilacs and lilies of the valley from our yard to make bouquets which I placed in the vase at the base of the largest Mother Mary statue in the upstairs hallway next to my bedroom. There I would kneel and pray, enjoying the pleasant scent of the freshly picked flowers and serenely contemplating on how lovely was Mary’s long flowing chestnut hair. I can unequivocally state that I never once prayed TO HER or felt that she had any powers to help me. The same was true when I would hold my rosary beads at night in bed. I repeated the ritual supplications of the Our Father and the Hail Mary and the Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, all the while looking upward and saying with my true heart—I know its only You, one almighty You-I’m just saying this stuff because it’s all I ever learned.
On my twelfth birthday, my mom gave me a Bible. As Catholics we were not encouraged to read anything except our Baltimore Catechism, sanctioned by the Vatican. Any comparative introspection was denied and disparaged. Yet I fervently read, seeking to know what I hoped would be a story from and about my creator. I got even more confused. This book was obviously the work of men, convoluted and difficult to grasp. Yet, once again, that’s all that was available.
My prior faithful church attendance dropped off in my mid teens, as was the norm for my generation, and by the time I reached my twenties, I had basically no formal religion. I read a lot on Buddhism, Hinduism and even tried out the local Baptist church for a few months. They were not enough to hold my attention, the former too exotic and the latter too provincial. Yet all through the years of not formally practicing, a day never passed when I didn’t “talk to god” especially as I fell asleep I would always say thanks for all my blessings and seek help for any problems I was experiencing. It was always the same certain ONE AND ONLY whom I was addressing, sure He was listening and confident of His love and care. No one ever taught me anything about this; it was pure instinct.
Diane’s readings of Islam cause her to again love Jesus and Mary, but a true love in a new light.
The Others
It was in my preparation for my master’s degree that I first heard of the Quran. Up until then, as most Americans, I knew only of “the Arabs” as mysterious, dark predators out to plunder our civilization. Islam was never mentioned – only the surly, dirty Arabs, camels and tents in the desert. As a child in religion class, I often wondered who were the other people? Jesus walked in Caana and Galilee and Nazareth, but he had blue eyes — who were the other people? I had a sense that there was a missing link somewhere. In 1967 during the Arab-Israeli war, we all got our first glimpse of the other people, and they were clearly viewed by most as the enemy. But for me, I liked them, and for no apparent reason. I cannot to this day explain it, except to now realize that they were my Muslim brothers.
I was about 35 when I read my first page of Quran. I opened it with the intention of a casual browse to get acquainted with the religion of the inhabitants of the region I was majoring in for my Master’s Degree. God caused the book to fall open to Surat al-Mu’minun (The Believers) verses 52-54:
“Verily, this your nation is one nation and I am your Lord so keep your duty to Me. But they broke up their command into sects, each one rejoicing in its belief. So leave them in their error until a time.” (Quran 23:52-54)
From the first reading, I knew that this was certain truth- clear and forceful, revealing the essence of all humanity and verifying all I had studied as a History major. Humanity’s pathetic rejection of the truth, their unceasing vain competition to be special and their neglectfulness of the purpose for their very existence all set forward in a few words. Nation states, nationalities, cultures, languages – all feeling superior, when in fact, all these identities mask the only reality which we ought to rejoice in sharing- that is to serve one master, THE ONE Who created everything and Who owns everything.
I Still Love Jesus and Mary
As a child I used to say the phrase “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen,” found in the prayer “Hail Mary”. I now see how much Mary has been maligned by the misrepresentation of her as the mother of the godhead. It is quite enough to view her as chosen above all women to bear the great prophet Jesus by the Virgin Birth. My mom would often defend her constant pleas for Mary’s help by explaining that she too was a mother and understood a mother’s sorrows. It would be far more useful for my mom and all others to contemplate how the most pure Mary was slandered by the Jews of her time and accused of a most despicable sin, that of fornication. Mary bore all of this, knowing that she would be vindicated by the Almighty, and that she would be given the strength to bear all of their calumnies.
This recognition of Mary’s faith and trust in God’s mercy will allow one to recognize her most exalted position among women, and at the same time remove the slander of calling her the mother of God, which is an even worse accusation than that of the Jews of her time. As a Muslim you may love Mary and Jesus, but to love God more will gain you the Paradise, as He is the One whose rules you must obey. He will judge you on a day when no one else can help you. He created you, and Jesus, and his blessed mother Mary, as He created Muhammad. All died or will die – God never dies.
Jesus (`Isa in Arabic) never once claimed to be the godhead. Rather, he repeatedly referred to himself as being sent. As I look back on the confusion I experienced in my youth, its root lay in the church’s claim that Jesus was more than he himself admitted. The church fathers formulated a doctrine to invent the concept of Trinity. It is this confused rendering of the original Torah and Injil [Gospel] (scriptures given to Moses and Jesus) which is at the core of the issue of Trinity.
In honest fact, it is enough to simply state that Jesus was a prophet, yes, a messenger who came with the word of the One Who sent him. If we view Jesus, may the blessing and mercy of God be upon him, in this correct light, it’s easy to then accept Muhammad, may the blessing and mercy of God be upon him, as his younger brother who came with the very same mission – to call all to the worship of the Almighty ONE, Who created everything and to whom we shall all return. It is of no consequence whatsoever to debate their physical features. Arab, Jew, Caucausian, blue or brown eyes, long or short hair – all totally irrelevant as to their importance as bearers of the message. Whenever I think of Jesus now, after knowing about Islam, I feel that connectedness which one feels in a happy family – a family of believers. You see Jesus was a “Muslim”, one who submits to his Lord above.
The first of the “Ten Commandments” state:
1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have false gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy god in vain.
Anyone who knows the correct meaning of “la ilaha ill-Allah” (there is no god but God) will immediately recognize the similarity in this testimony. Then we can really start to bring together the real story of all the prophets and put an end to the distortions.
“And they said the Most Merciful has taken a son. Indeed you have brought forth a terrible evil thing. Whereby the heavens are almost torn, and the earth split asunder, and the mountains fall in ruins.” (Quran 19:88-90)
Diane discusses her acceptance of Islam, her new life, and a prayer for America.
My Journey to Islam
It took three full years of my searching and studying Quran before I was ready to proclaim that I wanted to be a Muslim. Of course I feared the changes in clothing and habits, such as dating and drinking to which I had become accustomed. Music and dancing were a big part of my life, and bikinis and mini skirts were my claim to fame. All the while I had no chance to encounter any Muslims, as there were none in my area except a few immigrants who could barely speak English an hour’s drive away at the only mosque in the state at that time. When I would go to Friday Prayer to try and check out what I was considering, I would receive furtive glances as I was perhaps suspected of being a spy as was the case, and still is, in most Islamic gatherings. There was not a single Muslim American available to help me and, as I said, all the immigrant population were rather chilly to say the least.
In the midst of this phase of my life, my dad died of cancer. I was at his bedside and literally witnessed the angel of death remove his soul. He was gripped by fear as tears rolled down his cheeks. A life of luxury, yachts, country clubs, expensive cars … for both him and mom, all a result of interest income, and now it’s all over.
I felt a sudden desire to enter Islam quickly, while there was still time, and to change my ways and not to continue blindly seeking what I had been raised to believe to be the good life. Shortly thereafter I came to Egypt, and involved a long slow journey through the miracle of the Arabic language and the discovery of the clear truth – God is One, the Everlasting Eternal; Who never was born or gave birth and there is nothing at all like Him.
It is also the resulting equality between humans that attracted me most to that religion. The Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him, said that people are like teeth of a comb – all equal, the best being the most pious. In the Quran, we are told that the best are the pious ones. Piety involves love of and fear of God alone. Yet before you can really be pious, you must learn who God is. And to know Him is to love Him. I started learning Arabic to read the word of Allah in Arabic as it was revealed.
Learning the Quran has changed every facet of my life. I no longer wish to have any earthly luxuries; neither cars nor clothes nor trips can lure me into that web of vain desires which I was so caught up in before. I do enjoy a fairly good life of a believer; but as they say… it is no longer embedded in the heart...only at hand. I don’t fear the loss of my former friends or relatives – if God chooses to bring them close, then so be it, but I know that God gives me exactly what I need, no more – no less. I don’t feel anxious or sad anymore, nor do I feel regret at what has passed me by, because I’m safe in the care of God - THE ONE AND ONLY whom I always knew but didn’t know His name.
A Prayer For America
I pray to Almighty God to allow each and every American the opportunity to receive the message of the Oneness of God in a simple, straightforward fashion… Americans are, for the most part, grossly uninformed in regards to correct Islamic theology. The stress is almost always on politics, which focuses on the deeds of men. It’s high time we concentrated on the deeds of the prophets who all came to lead us out of the darkness and into the light. There is no doubt that darkness is prevailing in the malaise affecting America now. The light of truth will serve us all, and whether or not one chooses to follow the Islamic path, there is no doubt that the blocking of it or the hindering of others from following it will surely lead to further misery. I care very much for the healthy future of my country, and I’m quite certain that learning more about Islam will enhance the chances of my hopes being fulfilled.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Michael Jackson a Muslim?
Posted: December 22, 2003
1:00 am Eastern
By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
I don't know if it's true, but last week I read, like many of you, that Michael Jackson had converted to "Nation of Islam." Some people even wrote to me asking if the Jewish community will now be upset, given that he was once very close to me.
Firstly, not only did I never try and make Michael Jewish, I strongly and incessantly encouraged him to go back to his Christian roots and find Jesus. To be sure, I did take Michael to synagogue. But that was in order to witness the beauty of Jewish prayer and the moving tunes of Jewish music, all in the wider context of inspiring him to bring spirituality back into his life.
But if Michael Jackson authentically and sincerely re-found Jesus right now, it might rescue him from the nightmare that has become his life. So why choose instead to join "Nation of Islam"? Because Jesus and Christianity would make major demands on Michael – demands of character – to which he clearly is even now not prepared to commit. It's of course a lot easier just to join a radical black Muslim group and claim to be victimized by a hostile white world.
How sad that Michael just keeps on digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself. Imagine the magnitude of the tragedy: Michael Jackson, a man who once thrilled us all with his dancing, having now become one of the most discredited men on earth. And what does he do in order to re-establish his credibility? Why, he teams up with Louis Farrakhan. He would probably have gotten more credibility had he become a Jedi Knight, chosen Obe Wan Kenobe as his master and paid homage to the Force.
Michael, to whom I have no malice and whom I genuinely and sincerely attempted to guide to a better and more purposeful life, is living proof that religion in the modern age is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. God is not something we can pull out as a Christmas gift. Faith is no longer something that can be reserved only for the bunker. Prayer is not something that we can resort to only while ensconced in the valley. God must accompany us – especially when we are on the mountain top.
While many people in history have overcome the challenges of adversity, very few have survived the corruption of success. That's why so many celebrities are so screwed up.
They think their life is oh-so-dandy. They're making so much money. They have people worshipping at their feet. Who needs God? Heck, I'll find God when my kid gets cancer. But for now, I am God. So move over Moses, jump away Jesus. Because heeeerrreee's Jooohhhnny!
Of course, after a few years of this stuff, the celebrity suddenly wakes up divorced, drugged, arrested or maybe doesn't wake up at all ... like Elvis.
When we speak of the need for God for human salvation, we don't only mean salvation from poverty, pain and affliction. We especially mean salvation from materialism, shallowness, depravity and the suffocating selfishness of egocentrism.
In a week where Time magazine finally got it right by celebrating our brave soldiers as the "Persons of the Year," let's state the tragic flip side. Our Hollywood celebrities have become a national embarrassment. They have become indistinguishable from what we normally refer to as "white trash." They're covered head to toe in tattoos, they're all boozed up, they go in and out of relationships as if Hollywood had become one giant wife-swapping party, and they even live in trailers (albeit ones that cost more than most homes).
What a tragic waste of talent. I have more than a few celebrity friends, and most started life as decent people whose only crime was to be so dark on the inside that they just couldn't live without the spotlight on the outside.
In general, there are only two kinds of people. Stars and planets, and the irony of Hollywood is that nearly all our celebrities are planets rather than stars. Lacking an inner light, they become dependent on the external spotlight. Soon they become its prisoner and, bereft of a connection with the Source of all Light, they suffer the corrosive effects of celebrity sunburn, which usually manifests itself in the form of moral degeneracy.
But here's an even bigger tragedy. We "ordinary" people are all too eager to follow our celebrities off the precipice. So enamored are we of them that we are even prepared to be destroyed along with them. We read all about them, dress like them, and dream of becoming them. (A woman describing her boyfriend to me last week said, "He looks just like Brad Pitt.") That's why it's become so essential that we rescue our celebrities, primarily by having them bring God back into their lives.
Michael Jackson is actually an outstanding candidate to come back to God because he was once a very pious and devoted religious son, who spent his weekdays in church and his Sundays proselytizing. Of course, that was all long before he himself became a god and started living by his own rules which, incidentally, don't seem to have done him a whole lot of good.
But if he has any chance of arresting the downward freefall that is his life, it will have to be by grabbing onto the life preserver called the church, rather than the publicity gimmick called "the race card."
___________________________________________________________________________________
From : perezhilton.com
Prince and the rest of the Jehovah's Witness team can no longer claim Michael Jackson as one of theirs.
According to the UK's Sun, the gloved one has converted to Islam.
Jacko was shown the way to the religion by producer (Phillip Bubal) and songwriter (David Wharnsby). These two guys have been helping M.J. with his current stuff.
A source told the paper, “They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to the idea. An Imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief.”
M.J. has not only converted to Islam, Wacko has also adopted the 'Muslim name', Mikaeel.
If changing religions helps you find more peace with yourself, then congrats, Mikaeel.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Jesus, Mary and Islam - By GARY SOULSMAN • The News Journal • December 21, 2008
An Excerpt - Jesus, Mary and Islam
The central figure of Christianity and his mother are important to Muslims
By GARY SOULSMAN • The News Journal • December 21, 2008
If Humza and Maryam Javed Ismail had their way, they would ride by the big display of Christmas lights every day on Yeatmans Station Road that's near their Landenberg, Pa., home.
Advertisement
The lights remind the children, who are 11 and 9, about the importance of Jesus and Mary in Islam.
"We believe in the goodness and purity of Mary," says their mother, Dr. Sheerin Javed. "And sometimes we talk about this -- that Jesus is a special prophet for Muslims so it makes us feel good to see him honored this time of year."
Mary -- or Maryam as she is known in the Quran -- is held in such high esteem that Javed and her husband, Dr. Hummayun Ismail, named their daughter for the mother of Jesus.
At a time when the birth of Jesus is on the minds of Christians, he is also revered by Muslims. And while they do not celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, there are many similarities between what the Bible and the Quran say concerning the birth of Jesus.
These are so striking that a former Michigan congressman believes that a better understanding of the Muslim and Christian scriptures would be a healing force in the world.
"The similarities are mind-blowing," says former U.S. Rep. Mark Siljander, an evangelical Christian now living in Great Falls, Va.
"But years ago when someone told me Jesus was in the Quran I wouldn't believe it until I read it. I was shocked to learn that Jesus is in the Quran as the Messiah.
"He's talked about as the word of truth. It's said that he can heal the sick and has authority to raise the dead. By my count Jesus is mentioned 110 times."
Scholars also lament that so much emphasis has been given to the differences between the faiths when there are so many similarities to unite them. This is especially true when it comes to Jesus and Mary, they say.
"Mary is highly regarded in the Islamic tradition, and the story of her birth, her dedication to the temple and the miraculous birth of her son, who is also regarded highly, are told in the Quran," says Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu, assistant professor of theology at St. Joseph's University, in Philadelphia.
Yet most Americans don't know how much there is in the Quran about the goodness of Mary and Jesus, says Vivienne Angeles, a religion professor at La Salle University, in Philadelphia. She often teaches Islam to Christian students who are surprised to find central figures of their faith mentioned in the Islamic scriptures.
Mary is one of the most mentioned figures in the Quran. She is revered for her purity, her devout faith and her virgin conception of Jesus -- brought into being by the power and mystery of God, says Asma Barlas, director of the center for the study of culture, race, and ethnicity at Ithaca (N.Y.) College.
Mary is important because she shows how much spiritual individuality can be achieved by Muslim women, she says. "She shows an equality to men that attracts women to her story," Barlas says.
In the Muslim scriptures, chapter 19 is called "Maryam" and tells her story -- how an angel appeared to her as a man to announce that God was giving her a pure and faultless son.
Mary asked how this could happen to a virgin. The angel said: It is easy for God, who has chosen to make the baby's birth a sign to the world.
But while aspects of this are familiar to Christians, there are differences with the Christmas story. Some of the nativity cast are missing -- such as Joseph, the wise men and King Herod.
In the Quran, Mary does not marry Joseph. Instead, she travels alone to a remote place where she feels such painful childbirth she wishes for death.
But God shows mercy and she rests under a palm tree. There, she is miraculously fed by water and dates.
After the baby's birth, she comes back to her people who marvel at the baby, not knowing Mary was pregnant.
Rather than speak, Mary points to her baby. "I am a servant of God," says Jesus. "He's given me a revelation and made me a prophet."
It's the first of his miracles. Jesus later raises the dead and is also resurrected at his death.
"Jesus brings teachings about how to live well and devote oneself to a holy life," says Faheem Akil, a member of the Masjid on Philadelphia Pike.
"His message is to worship almighty God and abstain from evil."
Muslims also believe that Jesus will return one day to set everything right, says Farhanna Muhammad, of Wilmington.
However, Jesus is not talked about as the son of God. In Islam, God is spoken of as a unity, rather than a trinity of father, son and holy ghost, says Dawud Muhammad, of the Masjid.
And for many Christians, that is a stumbling block to embracing the teachings of Islam, says the Rev. Bo Matthews, senior pastor of Brandywine Valley Baptist Church. For most Christians, a core belief is that Jesus was born as God's son to die for mankind's sins. "In our traditions, it's important that we don't blur the differences, but we shouldn't let it drive us apart as people," Matthews says.
The Rev. Tom Flowers, of St. Polycarp Catholic Church in Smyrna, says he's impressed by how much regard Islam has for Jesus and Mary. He wishes more people appreciated the similarities. He believes it would lead to greater respect.
Siljander agrees, saying he once felt there were irreconcilable differences between Muslims and Christians. He now thinks otherwise. And he writes in a new book -- "A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide" -- that 1,400 years of scriptural translations are at the heart of differences in speaking of Jesus.
Muslims object to describing Jesus as the son of God, he says. Yet, scriptures written in Aramaic suggest that it's proper to refer to Jesus as "the spirit of God."
When that phrase is used, Muslims agree: Jesus is the spirit of God, given that Jesus was supernaturally conceived by God. Jesus is also the son of Mary, the word of God and the word of truth, Siljander says.
"I pray with both groups in this language and it's perfectly fine," he says. "It shakes people up to realize how much we actually agree."
And, in the name of peace, he travels the world showing the hidden agreement between Christianity and Islam.
Contact Gary Soulsman at 324-2893 or gsoulsman@delawareonline.com.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Mary in the Quran
When naming the best woman who ever lived, Mohammed named Mary (Maryam in Arabic), the mother of Jesus, as the best woman to ever live.
Her Birth.
"When the wife of Imran said:
'O my Lord! I have vowed to You what is in my womb [my child] to be dedicated to Your services, so accept this [my vow] from me. Verily, All-Hearer, the All-Knowing.' Then we she delivered her she said:
'O my Lord! I have delivered a female child' - and Allah knew better what she delivered - 'And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Maryam and I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from Satan, the outcast.' " (Quran 3:35-36)
The wife of Imran, and mother of Mary, out of her devotion to God vowed to dedicate the child in her womb to the sacred service of God and asked God to accept her vow. Her hopes were in a male child who will be brought up to service the places of worship and be dedicated to serve God. Delivering a female child, she realized that things did not go according to her plan, but decided to fulfill her vow, and Maryam was the name of the child. And she made a prayer for her newly born asking God to protect her and her offspring from Satan. The verses following described the response of God to the vow and to the prayer of the mother:
"So her Lord accepted her [Maryam] with good acceptance." (Quran 3:37).
Her Upbringing.
Quran verses 3:37 continue ..
"So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance. He made her grow in a good manner and put her under the care of Zachariya. Every time he entered Al-Mihrab (the praying place) to visit her, he found her supplied with sustenance [food]. He said:
'O Maryam! From where have you got this?' She said:
'This is from Allah. Verily, Allah provides sustenance who He wills, without limit.' "
So Mary was accepted by God, and was brought up in a good manner after she was put under the care of Zachary. Through her devotion and righteous upbringing and the prayer from her mother, Mary became the best woman to ever live as depicted in the Quran in the verses 3:42:
"And (remember) when the angels said: 'O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allah (God) has chosen you, purified you (from polytheism and disbelief), and chosen you above the women of the world (of her lifetime).' "
Mary Receives a Visit.
In the19th chapter of the Quran (which is called Maryam) Mary receives a visitor from God:
"And mention in the Book, Maryam [i.e. mention, O Mohammed, in the Quran the story of Mary], when she withdrew from her family to a place facing east. She placed a screen from them; then We sent to her our angel (Jibrael, or Gabriel), and he appeared before her in the form of a man in full human form. She said:
'I seek refuge with The Most Beneficent [God] from you, if you do fear Him.' (The angel) said:
'I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.' She said:
'How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?' He (the angel) said:
'So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me: And to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (from God)', and it is a matter (already) decreed (by God).' " (Quran 19:16-21)
In these verses, it is described how the pious virgin Mary is visited by angel Gabriel, who appears before her in a form of a man. Not knowing who he is, she fears for herself, but he asserts to her that he is an angel, a Messenger from her Lord, and announces to her news of her miraculous conception of a son. In shock, she questions, affirming her chastity. The angel answers that such a conception, though miraculous, is easy for The Lord, all He needs to say is "Be." and it is. And that these are matters decreed by Him, for greater purposes and to the benefit of mankind.
The Miracle.
And then, miraculously, Mary becomes pregnant. The emotional story of her pregnancy follows:
"So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place . And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She said:
'Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!' Then a call unto her from below, said:
'Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you; And shake the trunk of the date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you. So eat and drink and be glad, and if you see any human being, say:
'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Beneficent so I shall not speak to any human being this day.' " (Quran 19:22-26)
From these versus one mentally pictures Mary, driven out of town, out of sight to Bethlehem valley 4-6 miles from Jerusalem, in the pain of labor, and in fear of what is going to happen to her. It is her first child, she has no husband. What will her people, the Jews, say? What will they do? How will she react? With all that, she wishes that she was dead, but the God who gave her the miracle, the God to Whom she worshipped, to Whom she devoted her life, did not forsake her. A voice came from beneath her, soothing and comforting her, and guiding her. And when she gave birth, the voice instructed her not to speak or explain, but make a vow of silence and everything will workout.
"Then she brought him (the baby) to her people, carrying him. They said:
'O Maryam! Indeed you have brought a thing which is greatly evil! O sister of Haron (i.e. O you who we consider the like of Haron, who was a pious man at the time of Mary)! Your father was not a bad man (adulterous), nor was your mother an unchaste woman.' Then she pointed to him (to the baby). They said:
'How can we talk to one who is a child, in the cradle?' " (Quran 19:27-29)
Mary gives birth to the child, and takes him back to her village. And there Mary meets the Jews. Upon seeing her with her baby, they are struck. In their eyes, she has done a heinous crime. Their argument was: 'How could you do something so evil! We always considered you a model person of piety, and you come from a pious family -- known and respected!'. But Mary obeys the commands of her Lord. She is quiet and points to the baby.
Jesus: Son of Mary
The Quran refers to Jesus as "Jesus son of Maryam" many times. All Muslims believe that Jesus was miraculously born without a father by Mary, the virgin. In previous sections, we read how Mary has an exalted status over the rest of women of the world, and how she became pregnant with Jesus.
Here we will discuss:
1. Jesus: His first miracle (from Quran and from Bible).
2. Jesus: Miracles and His Preaching.
3. The Table Spread.
4. The Evil Plot.
Jesus: His First Miracle.
After the questioning and accusations of the Jews (read the earlier section), Mary in obedience to her Lord, spoke nothing and pointed to the baby. The crowd was outraged. They proclaimed: 'What kind of an answer is this! You turn to your child in your defense?!' And they were right. Under normal circumstances and in usual situations this is not a proper behavior of a sane person. But the circumstances were not normal, and the situation was far from usual. It is then that the miracle happened.
"They said:
'How can we talk to one who is a child, in the cradle?' He (The baby) said:
'I am a slave of Allah [i.e. created by God and belong to Him], He has given me the Scriptures and made me a Prophet; And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and enjoined on me Salat (prayer), and Zakat (giving alms to the poor) as long as I live. And dutiful to my mother (i.e. made me kind and good to my mother) and made me not arrogant, unblest. And peace be upon me the day I was born, and the day I shall be raised alive (i.e. on The Day of Judgment and Resurrection)!' "(Quran 19:29-33)
And this was the first miracle of Jesus son of Mary. Only a baby, he talked to the Jews, asserting his subjugation to his Lord, and describing that this miracle - his talking - is a sign from their Lord - a sign of his prophet hood. He told them of the Scriptures to be given to him from God, and told them that he was ordered to pray and be kind to the poor as long as he lived. He told them that he was blessed by God, and was kind and respectful to his great mother, not arrogant. And that peace is upon him the day his was born, and peace will be upon him the day he will be resurrected on The Day of Judgment and Resurrection, when every person is going to be resurrected and Judged by God according to his/her deeds.
The First Miracle in The Bible
In contrast, the Bible presents the first miracle performed by Jesus in John:20. He was over 30 years of age when he turned water into wine:
"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her,
'Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.'
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." (John 2:110)
Jesus: Life Full of Miracles and Preaching.
The life of Jesus son of Mary was full of miracles. To this the Quran states:
"He will speak to the people in the cradle and in manhood, and he will be one of the righteous ... And He (God) will teach him (Jesus) the Book and the wisdom (of the prophets) and the Torah and the Injeel (name of Scriptures). And will make him a Messenger to the Children of Israel (saying):
'I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I design for you of clay, as it were, a figure of a bird and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's Leave (with God's Permission); and that I heal him who is born blind, and the leper, and I bring to life, the dead by Allah's Leave (with God's Permission). And I inform you of what you eat, and what you store in your houses. Surely, this is a sign for you, if you believe." (Quran 3:46,48-49)
Like all the Prophets, Jesus was given miracles as signs and support from God to his divine inspiration. With that inspiration he preached:
"And I have come confirming that which was before me of the Torah, and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you, and I have come with proof from your Lord. So fear Allah (God) and obey me. Truly! Allah (God) is my Lord and yours, so worship Him (Alone). This is the Straight Path.' " (Quran 3:50-51).
The Disciples and The Table Spread.
Despite all the signs from God and preaching, Jesus found resistance among the Jews. But some became dedicated disciples:
"And when I (God) put in the hearts of the disciples to believe in Me and My Messenger (Jesus), they said:
'We believe. And bear witness that we are Muslims (Muslims means submitters to God in peace and obedience, see meaning of Islam). When the disciples said:
'O I'esa (Jesus) son of Maryam! Can your Lord send down to us a table spread (with foods) from the heavens?' He (Jesus) said:
'Fear Allah (God) if you are indeed believers (i.e. dot ask for more miracles if you truly believe).' They said:
'We wish to eat thereof and to be stronger in Faith, and to know that you have indeed told us the truth and that we ourselves be its witnesses.' I'esa (Jesus) son of Maryam said:
'O Allah, our Lord! Send us from heaven a table spread that will be an Eid (a festival and celebration) to the first and last of us and a sign from You; and provide us sustenance, for You are the Best of sustainers.' " (Quran 3:111-114).
And God answered his request and sent down the table spread of food, another sign from Him.
The Plot: Evil Conspiracy.
Unhappy with his preaching, the disbelievers from among the Jews conspired an evil plot: to suppress the voice of truth, to assassinate the great teacher, to murder the wise preacher.
"And they (the disbelievers) plotted [to kill Jesus] and Allah planned too. And Allah is the Best of planners. When Allah said:
'O I'esa (Jesus)! I will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you of those who disbelieve, and I will make those who follow you (your teachings) superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me shall be your return, and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute.'" (Quran 3:54-55).
God saved him and raised him to the heavens so that the conspirators did not succeed.
Excerpt from : The Muslim Students Association at the University of Alabama
The central figure of Christianity and his mother are important to Muslims
By GARY SOULSMAN • The News Journal • December 21, 2008
If Humza and Maryam Javed Ismail had their way, they would ride by the big display of Christmas lights every day on Yeatmans Station Road that's near their Landenberg, Pa., home.
Advertisement
The lights remind the children, who are 11 and 9, about the importance of Jesus and Mary in Islam.
"We believe in the goodness and purity of Mary," says their mother, Dr. Sheerin Javed. "And sometimes we talk about this -- that Jesus is a special prophet for Muslims so it makes us feel good to see him honored this time of year."
Mary -- or Maryam as she is known in the Quran -- is held in such high esteem that Javed and her husband, Dr. Hummayun Ismail, named their daughter for the mother of Jesus.
At a time when the birth of Jesus is on the minds of Christians, he is also revered by Muslims. And while they do not celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, there are many similarities between what the Bible and the Quran say concerning the birth of Jesus.
These are so striking that a former Michigan congressman believes that a better understanding of the Muslim and Christian scriptures would be a healing force in the world.
"The similarities are mind-blowing," says former U.S. Rep. Mark Siljander, an evangelical Christian now living in Great Falls, Va.
"But years ago when someone told me Jesus was in the Quran I wouldn't believe it until I read it. I was shocked to learn that Jesus is in the Quran as the Messiah.
"He's talked about as the word of truth. It's said that he can heal the sick and has authority to raise the dead. By my count Jesus is mentioned 110 times."
Scholars also lament that so much emphasis has been given to the differences between the faiths when there are so many similarities to unite them. This is especially true when it comes to Jesus and Mary, they say.
"Mary is highly regarded in the Islamic tradition, and the story of her birth, her dedication to the temple and the miraculous birth of her son, who is also regarded highly, are told in the Quran," says Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu, assistant professor of theology at St. Joseph's University, in Philadelphia.
Yet most Americans don't know how much there is in the Quran about the goodness of Mary and Jesus, says Vivienne Angeles, a religion professor at La Salle University, in Philadelphia. She often teaches Islam to Christian students who are surprised to find central figures of their faith mentioned in the Islamic scriptures.
Mary is one of the most mentioned figures in the Quran. She is revered for her purity, her devout faith and her virgin conception of Jesus -- brought into being by the power and mystery of God, says Asma Barlas, director of the center for the study of culture, race, and ethnicity at Ithaca (N.Y.) College.
Mary is important because she shows how much spiritual individuality can be achieved by Muslim women, she says. "She shows an equality to men that attracts women to her story," Barlas says.
In the Muslim scriptures, chapter 19 is called "Maryam" and tells her story -- how an angel appeared to her as a man to announce that God was giving her a pure and faultless son.
Mary asked how this could happen to a virgin. The angel said: It is easy for God, who has chosen to make the baby's birth a sign to the world.
But while aspects of this are familiar to Christians, there are differences with the Christmas story. Some of the nativity cast are missing -- such as Joseph, the wise men and King Herod.
In the Quran, Mary does not marry Joseph. Instead, she travels alone to a remote place where she feels such painful childbirth she wishes for death.
But God shows mercy and she rests under a palm tree. There, she is miraculously fed by water and dates.
After the baby's birth, she comes back to her people who marvel at the baby, not knowing Mary was pregnant.
Rather than speak, Mary points to her baby. "I am a servant of God," says Jesus. "He's given me a revelation and made me a prophet."
It's the first of his miracles. Jesus later raises the dead and is also resurrected at his death.
"Jesus brings teachings about how to live well and devote oneself to a holy life," says Faheem Akil, a member of the Masjid on Philadelphia Pike.
"His message is to worship almighty God and abstain from evil."
Muslims also believe that Jesus will return one day to set everything right, says Farhanna Muhammad, of Wilmington.
However, Jesus is not talked about as the son of God. In Islam, God is spoken of as a unity, rather than a trinity of father, son and holy ghost, says Dawud Muhammad, of the Masjid.
And for many Christians, that is a stumbling block to embracing the teachings of Islam, says the Rev. Bo Matthews, senior pastor of Brandywine Valley Baptist Church. For most Christians, a core belief is that Jesus was born as God's son to die for mankind's sins. "In our traditions, it's important that we don't blur the differences, but we shouldn't let it drive us apart as people," Matthews says.
The Rev. Tom Flowers, of St. Polycarp Catholic Church in Smyrna, says he's impressed by how much regard Islam has for Jesus and Mary. He wishes more people appreciated the similarities. He believes it would lead to greater respect.
Siljander agrees, saying he once felt there were irreconcilable differences between Muslims and Christians. He now thinks otherwise. And he writes in a new book -- "A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide" -- that 1,400 years of scriptural translations are at the heart of differences in speaking of Jesus.
Muslims object to describing Jesus as the son of God, he says. Yet, scriptures written in Aramaic suggest that it's proper to refer to Jesus as "the spirit of God."
When that phrase is used, Muslims agree: Jesus is the spirit of God, given that Jesus was supernaturally conceived by God. Jesus is also the son of Mary, the word of God and the word of truth, Siljander says.
"I pray with both groups in this language and it's perfectly fine," he says. "It shakes people up to realize how much we actually agree."
And, in the name of peace, he travels the world showing the hidden agreement between Christianity and Islam.
Contact Gary Soulsman at 324-2893 or gsoulsman@delawareonline.com.
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Mary in the Quran
When naming the best woman who ever lived, Mohammed named Mary (Maryam in Arabic), the mother of Jesus, as the best woman to ever live.
Her Birth.
"When the wife of Imran said:
'O my Lord! I have vowed to You what is in my womb [my child] to be dedicated to Your services, so accept this [my vow] from me. Verily, All-Hearer, the All-Knowing.' Then we she delivered her she said:
'O my Lord! I have delivered a female child' - and Allah knew better what she delivered - 'And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Maryam and I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from Satan, the outcast.' " (Quran 3:35-36)
The wife of Imran, and mother of Mary, out of her devotion to God vowed to dedicate the child in her womb to the sacred service of God and asked God to accept her vow. Her hopes were in a male child who will be brought up to service the places of worship and be dedicated to serve God. Delivering a female child, she realized that things did not go according to her plan, but decided to fulfill her vow, and Maryam was the name of the child. And she made a prayer for her newly born asking God to protect her and her offspring from Satan. The verses following described the response of God to the vow and to the prayer of the mother:
"So her Lord accepted her [Maryam] with good acceptance." (Quran 3:37).
Her Upbringing.
Quran verses 3:37 continue ..
"So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance. He made her grow in a good manner and put her under the care of Zachariya. Every time he entered Al-Mihrab (the praying place) to visit her, he found her supplied with sustenance [food]. He said:
'O Maryam! From where have you got this?' She said:
'This is from Allah. Verily, Allah provides sustenance who He wills, without limit.' "
So Mary was accepted by God, and was brought up in a good manner after she was put under the care of Zachary. Through her devotion and righteous upbringing and the prayer from her mother, Mary became the best woman to ever live as depicted in the Quran in the verses 3:42:
"And (remember) when the angels said: 'O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allah (God) has chosen you, purified you (from polytheism and disbelief), and chosen you above the women of the world (of her lifetime).' "
Mary Receives a Visit.
In the19th chapter of the Quran (which is called Maryam) Mary receives a visitor from God:
"And mention in the Book, Maryam [i.e. mention, O Mohammed, in the Quran the story of Mary], when she withdrew from her family to a place facing east. She placed a screen from them; then We sent to her our angel (Jibrael, or Gabriel), and he appeared before her in the form of a man in full human form. She said:
'I seek refuge with The Most Beneficent [God] from you, if you do fear Him.' (The angel) said:
'I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.' She said:
'How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?' He (the angel) said:
'So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me: And to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (from God)', and it is a matter (already) decreed (by God).' " (Quran 19:16-21)
In these verses, it is described how the pious virgin Mary is visited by angel Gabriel, who appears before her in a form of a man. Not knowing who he is, she fears for herself, but he asserts to her that he is an angel, a Messenger from her Lord, and announces to her news of her miraculous conception of a son. In shock, she questions, affirming her chastity. The angel answers that such a conception, though miraculous, is easy for The Lord, all He needs to say is "Be." and it is. And that these are matters decreed by Him, for greater purposes and to the benefit of mankind.
The Miracle.
And then, miraculously, Mary becomes pregnant. The emotional story of her pregnancy follows:
"So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place . And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She said:
'Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!' Then a call unto her from below, said:
'Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you; And shake the trunk of the date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you. So eat and drink and be glad, and if you see any human being, say:
'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Beneficent so I shall not speak to any human being this day.' " (Quran 19:22-26)
From these versus one mentally pictures Mary, driven out of town, out of sight to Bethlehem valley 4-6 miles from Jerusalem, in the pain of labor, and in fear of what is going to happen to her. It is her first child, she has no husband. What will her people, the Jews, say? What will they do? How will she react? With all that, she wishes that she was dead, but the God who gave her the miracle, the God to Whom she worshipped, to Whom she devoted her life, did not forsake her. A voice came from beneath her, soothing and comforting her, and guiding her. And when she gave birth, the voice instructed her not to speak or explain, but make a vow of silence and everything will workout.
"Then she brought him (the baby) to her people, carrying him. They said:
'O Maryam! Indeed you have brought a thing which is greatly evil! O sister of Haron (i.e. O you who we consider the like of Haron, who was a pious man at the time of Mary)! Your father was not a bad man (adulterous), nor was your mother an unchaste woman.' Then she pointed to him (to the baby). They said:
'How can we talk to one who is a child, in the cradle?' " (Quran 19:27-29)
Mary gives birth to the child, and takes him back to her village. And there Mary meets the Jews. Upon seeing her with her baby, they are struck. In their eyes, she has done a heinous crime. Their argument was: 'How could you do something so evil! We always considered you a model person of piety, and you come from a pious family -- known and respected!'. But Mary obeys the commands of her Lord. She is quiet and points to the baby.
Jesus: Son of Mary
The Quran refers to Jesus as "Jesus son of Maryam" many times. All Muslims believe that Jesus was miraculously born without a father by Mary, the virgin. In previous sections, we read how Mary has an exalted status over the rest of women of the world, and how she became pregnant with Jesus.
Here we will discuss:
1. Jesus: His first miracle (from Quran and from Bible).
2. Jesus: Miracles and His Preaching.
3. The Table Spread.
4. The Evil Plot.
Jesus: His First Miracle.
After the questioning and accusations of the Jews (read the earlier section), Mary in obedience to her Lord, spoke nothing and pointed to the baby. The crowd was outraged. They proclaimed: 'What kind of an answer is this! You turn to your child in your defense?!' And they were right. Under normal circumstances and in usual situations this is not a proper behavior of a sane person. But the circumstances were not normal, and the situation was far from usual. It is then that the miracle happened.
"They said:
'How can we talk to one who is a child, in the cradle?' He (The baby) said:
'I am a slave of Allah [i.e. created by God and belong to Him], He has given me the Scriptures and made me a Prophet; And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and enjoined on me Salat (prayer), and Zakat (giving alms to the poor) as long as I live. And dutiful to my mother (i.e. made me kind and good to my mother) and made me not arrogant, unblest. And peace be upon me the day I was born, and the day I shall be raised alive (i.e. on The Day of Judgment and Resurrection)!' "(Quran 19:29-33)
And this was the first miracle of Jesus son of Mary. Only a baby, he talked to the Jews, asserting his subjugation to his Lord, and describing that this miracle - his talking - is a sign from their Lord - a sign of his prophet hood. He told them of the Scriptures to be given to him from God, and told them that he was ordered to pray and be kind to the poor as long as he lived. He told them that he was blessed by God, and was kind and respectful to his great mother, not arrogant. And that peace is upon him the day his was born, and peace will be upon him the day he will be resurrected on The Day of Judgment and Resurrection, when every person is going to be resurrected and Judged by God according to his/her deeds.
The First Miracle in The Bible
In contrast, the Bible presents the first miracle performed by Jesus in John:20. He was over 30 years of age when he turned water into wine:
"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her,
'Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.'
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." (John 2:110)
Jesus: Life Full of Miracles and Preaching.
The life of Jesus son of Mary was full of miracles. To this the Quran states:
"He will speak to the people in the cradle and in manhood, and he will be one of the righteous ... And He (God) will teach him (Jesus) the Book and the wisdom (of the prophets) and the Torah and the Injeel (name of Scriptures). And will make him a Messenger to the Children of Israel (saying):
'I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I design for you of clay, as it were, a figure of a bird and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's Leave (with God's Permission); and that I heal him who is born blind, and the leper, and I bring to life, the dead by Allah's Leave (with God's Permission). And I inform you of what you eat, and what you store in your houses. Surely, this is a sign for you, if you believe." (Quran 3:46,48-49)
Like all the Prophets, Jesus was given miracles as signs and support from God to his divine inspiration. With that inspiration he preached:
"And I have come confirming that which was before me of the Torah, and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you, and I have come with proof from your Lord. So fear Allah (God) and obey me. Truly! Allah (God) is my Lord and yours, so worship Him (Alone). This is the Straight Path.' " (Quran 3:50-51).
The Disciples and The Table Spread.
Despite all the signs from God and preaching, Jesus found resistance among the Jews. But some became dedicated disciples:
"And when I (God) put in the hearts of the disciples to believe in Me and My Messenger (Jesus), they said:
'We believe. And bear witness that we are Muslims (Muslims means submitters to God in peace and obedience, see meaning of Islam). When the disciples said:
'O I'esa (Jesus) son of Maryam! Can your Lord send down to us a table spread (with foods) from the heavens?' He (Jesus) said:
'Fear Allah (God) if you are indeed believers (i.e. dot ask for more miracles if you truly believe).' They said:
'We wish to eat thereof and to be stronger in Faith, and to know that you have indeed told us the truth and that we ourselves be its witnesses.' I'esa (Jesus) son of Maryam said:
'O Allah, our Lord! Send us from heaven a table spread that will be an Eid (a festival and celebration) to the first and last of us and a sign from You; and provide us sustenance, for You are the Best of sustainers.' " (Quran 3:111-114).
And God answered his request and sent down the table spread of food, another sign from Him.
The Plot: Evil Conspiracy.
Unhappy with his preaching, the disbelievers from among the Jews conspired an evil plot: to suppress the voice of truth, to assassinate the great teacher, to murder the wise preacher.
"And they (the disbelievers) plotted [to kill Jesus] and Allah planned too. And Allah is the Best of planners. When Allah said:
'O I'esa (Jesus)! I will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you of those who disbelieve, and I will make those who follow you (your teachings) superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me shall be your return, and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute.'" (Quran 3:54-55).
God saved him and raised him to the heavens so that the conspirators did not succeed.
Excerpt from : The Muslim Students Association at the University of Alabama
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