One nation under Allah.

[Clint45]

The word for God in Arabic is "Allah." According to Islam, as it was explained to me, Muslims regard "Allah" as the SAME God in the Bible and Torah, referring to Christians and Jews as "People of the Book" . . . although the Fundamentalists hate them, just like Baptists hate all other denominations, including that OTHER Baptist church across town, because they're "of the Devil" and "all going to Hell."

The purpose of religion is to bring communities together and teach Ethics through parable and actual demonstration of good works. It isn't supposed to be about proselytizing or divisiveness or persecution of those who are different. That is a corruption of the core message, reversing it, turning it from love to hate.

[Rooskibar03]

Yep. Separation of church and state was a BIG, BIG deal for the founding fathers.

Care to show me where those words appear in the founding documents?

[CroiDhubh]

Allah is NOT the same God as Judeo/Christian God. Years ago Mecca was a trading stop with over 1000 different gods worshipped to make everybody happy. The Royal Fucking Douche Bag Mohammad showed up and miraculously came up with Allah- an old moon god - and suddenly turned into a western God.

The word for God in Arabic is "Allah." According to Islam, as it was explained to me, Muslims regard "Allah" as the SAME God in the Bible and Torah, referring to Christians and Jews as "People of the Book" . . . although the Fundamentalists hate them, just like Baptists hate all other denominations, including that OTHER Baptist church across town, because they're "of the Devil" and "all going to Hell."

The purpose of religion is to bring communities together and teach Ethics through parable and actual demonstration of good works. It isn't supposed to be about proselytizing or divisiveness or persecution of those who are different. That is a corruption of the core message, reversing it, turning it from love to hate.

Some may regard him as such, but he is not. There are many differences between the two.

You are correct, friends. Matter of fact, Allah was the top list god and his symbol was a half moon with a star in it. This is why you see so many flags with this symbol in Muslim countries. Mohammad tried to get Christians and Jews to accept his new ideas, but was rejected for good reason, so he started to change his tune from "Be Friends" to "Punish them".

The origins of Mecca
In Old Testament times, Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, built Tayma, Arabia as a center of Moon-god worship. When the popularity of the Moon-god waned elsewhere, the Arabs remained true to their conviction that the Moon-god was the greatest of all gods. While they worshipped 360 gods at the Kabah in Mecca, the Moon-god was the chief deity. Mecca was in fact built as a shrine for the Moon-god. The pagan Arabs worshipped the Moon-god Hubal (or Allah) by praying toward Mecca several times a day; making a pilgrimage to Mecca; running around the temple of the Moon-god called the Kabah; kissing the black stone; killing an animal in sacrifice to the Moon-god; throwing stones at the devil; fasting for the month which begins and ends with the crescent moon; giving alms to the poor, etc.


Facts about pre-Islamic Arab pagans :
Pagan Arabs in pre-Islamic times worshiped over 300 gods.

The pagans Arabs worship the sun, moon and the stars.

Arabs built temples to the Moon-god.

Different Arab tribes gave the Moon-god different names/titles.

Some of the names/titles given to the Moon-god: Hubal, Ilumquh, Sin, Al-ilah, Allah.

The variable names (Sin, Hubal, llumquh, Al-ilah) of Moon-god were used by various tribes of pagan Arabs.

The title "al-ilah" (the god) was used as the Moon-god.

The word "Allah" is derived from "al-ilah".

The pagan "Allah" was the high god in a pantheon of deities.

He was worshipped at the Kabah.

Allah was only one of many Meccan gods.

Pagan Arabs placed a statue of Hubal (Ilumquh, Sin, Al-ilah, Allah) on top of the Kabah.

At that time Hubal (Ilumquh, Sin, Al-ilah, Allah) was called the Moon-god.

The Kabah was the "house of the Moon-god".

The name "Allah" eventually replaced that of Hubal as the name of the Moon god.

They called the Kabah the "house of Allah".

al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat were called "the daughters of Allah".


Facts about Islam
The Qur'an at one point told Muslims to worship al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat In Surah 53:19-20.

Those verses have been abrogated out of the present Qur'an.

Those verses are now called "The Satanic Verses".

"Islam" means "to surrender". "Muslim" means "those who submit".


Muhammad's Call

Fifteen years after his marriage, at age 40, Muhammad had a visitation from a spirit. Supposedly, this spirit told him that he was called of God to be a "prophet" and an "apostle." It is interesting to note that there was no tradition in Arabian religions of either prophets or apostles. These terms were obviously used by Muhammad to appeal to Jews and Christians.

Muhammad continued to have spiritual visitations. They would throw him into a trance, and his utterances during the trances were written down by scribes. These ethereal statements became the Qur'an, but they were not compiled until after Muhammad's death. When the compilation was made, the utterances were not organized either chronologically or by subject matter. The result was a jumble of disorganized and often incoherent sayings which are frequently contradictory.

For example, the Qur'an gives four conflicting accounts of Muhammad's call to be a prophet [the word, Sura, means chapter]:

1. Suras 53 and 81 — God, or Allah as he is called in Arabic, personally appeared to Muhammad.
2. Suras 16 and 26 — The call was from the Holy Spirit.
3. Sura 15 — Angels issued the call.
4. Sura 2 — Gabriel was the one who appeared to him.



Muhammad's Revelations

At the time Muhammad received his initial visitation, there were over 300 gods being worshiped in Mecca by pilgrims who came there each year to pray at the Ka'aba, a small cubic building that housed a black meteorite and effigies of the various gods. One of those gods was Hubal -- or Allah, the Moon-god.

Muhammad proclaimed that there was only one god — and he selected Allah as that god. That's the reason the crescent moon became the symbol of Islam. Muhammad also proclaimed that he was the prophet of Allah.

Initially, Muhammad expected both Jews and Christians to receive his new revelation. Thus, early passages in the Qur'an speak admiringly of "the people of the Book." These are the passages that Muslims in the West quote in their effort to prove that Islam is a tolerant religion. An example is Sura 5:82 which says, "You will find that those who are nearest in love to the believers [Muslims] are those who say, 'We are Christians.'"




Muhammad's Rejection
But when Jews and Christians rejected Muhammad, he turned fiercely against them, and later passages in the Qur'an speak of them disparagingly:


* Sura 5:51 commands Muslims not to take Jews and Christians as friends.

* Sura 9:29 commands Muslims to fight against Jews and Christians until they either submit to Allah or else agree to pay a special tax.

* Sura 2:65-66 and Sura 5:60 contain references to Jews as "apes and swine to be despised and rejected."

Jews and Christians were not the only ones who rejected Muhammad's new revelations. The people of his own tribe, the Quraysh, also rejected him. In response, Muhammad succumbed to the temptation to appease his tribe by announcing that it would be okay for them to worship the three daughters of Allah — named Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Ma­nat.

This declaration led to the infamous "Satanic verses" of the Qur'an which were later deleted when Muhammad reverted back to monotheism. Muslims have tried ever since to cover-up this diversion from the faith. In 1989 an Indian writer by the name of Salman Rushdie brought up this taboo topic when he wrote a novel entitled, "The Satanic Verses". The Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran condemned him and called for his assassination. A three million dollar bounty was placed on his head, and he has been in hiding ever since.



Muhammad's Trek
The opposition to Muhammad in his home town of Mecca continued to grow until he was forced to flee 250 miles to Medina where his message was received. The Islamic calendar dates from this year when Muhammad fled to Medina and found a receptive audience, resulting in the formal establishment of Islam as a religion. It was the year 622 A.D., and that date represents year one of the Muslim calendar, which is a lunar calendar. The year 2001 is the year 1422 in the Muslim dating system.

After the death of his wife, Muhammad married at least eleven other women (some sources place the total as high as sixteen). He also took several concubines. He married one girl who was only six years old and had sexual relations with her when she was nine. According to the Qur'an, only the prophet could have unlimited wives. All other Muslim men are limited to four (Sura 4:3).

Muhammad died on June 8, 632 A.D. in Medina at age 63. He left no successor, and Islam soon broke into warring sects such as the Shiites and the Sunnis.







Some examples of the cultural nature of Islam:

Political Structure — The tribalism of 7th Century Arabia is the political structure sanctioned by the Qur'an. The chief has absolute authority. There is no concept of civil rights. This principle is reflected today in the reality that all Islamic countries are ruled by dictators, and civil liberties, like freedom of speech and religion, do not exist.

Prayer — A Muslim is required to pray five times a day toward Mecca. This is a symbol of the underlying cultural imperialism that lies at the heart of Islam. Think of it — what if all Russian Orthodox throughout the world were required to pray toward Moscow? Or, if all Roman Catholics were required to face Rome when they prayed? What if Evangelical Christians were required to pray toward Jerusalem? Such requirements would imply a cultural attachment to the focal point of prayer.

Pilgrimage — A Muslim is required, despite the hardship and cost, to make a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia once in his lifetime. Again, what if all Christians were required to go to Rome once in their lifetimes?

Dietary Laws — The only foods allowable are those that were acceptable in 7th Century Arabia.

Women — What an illiterate, nomadic tribeswoman wore in the desert in 7th Century Arabia is what is mandated for Muslim women today. The plight of women in Islamic countries today is despicable. They can be kept prisoners in their homes. They cannot appear in public without a covering. They are usually denied the right to vote. They are often denied anything more than a rudimentary education. In strict Islamic countries, women are generally treated as sub-human. Sura 4:34 says, "Men are the managers of the affairs of women ... Those women who are rebellious — admonish them, banish them to their couches, and beat them."

Punishment — Cruel and unusual punishment is practiced throughout the Islamic world. Incarceration without due process is common. Punishments often include torture, the cutting off of body parts (hands, ears and tongues), the gouging out of eyes, beheading, and public flogging — all representative of 7th Century Arabian culture. The Qur'an specifically commands that those who disobey Allah are to be tortured, as commanded in Sura 8:12-14:
"I will strike terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved. Smite them above the necks, and strike even every finger. This is what they have justly incurred by resisting Allah and his messenger. For those who resist Allah and his messenger, Allah's retribution is severe. This is to punish the disbelievers; they have incurred the retribution of hell."

Time magazine recently presented a chilling summary of the cultural nature of Islam as it is evidenced in the "moderate" Islamic nation of Saudi Arabia:

Despite the modernization that took place after the discovery of oil reserves in 1938, Saudi Arabia remains a land where rigid religious and traditional values are strictly enforced. Cinemas and discos are outlawed; men and women are separated in banks, schools, and fast-food restaurants; women must wear veils and are forbidden to drive. Public decency police known as "Muttawa" comb shopping malls searching for women whose loose scarves reveal a curl of hair and forcing store owners to shut down during prayer times. Unforgiving Saudi justice is on view after the main prayer every Friday, when a swordsman beheads blindfolded murderers, sorcerers, drug smugglers, and other criminals in Riyadh's "Chop-chop Square."




The Spiritual Nature of Islam

Islam is a typical works salvation religion centered around a false god. Its fundamental tenets deny the heart of the Christian Gospel, revealing its demonic origin.

The Qur'an — As previously pointed out, the holy book of Islam is riddled with contradictions. Consider, for example, what it says about creation. In one place it asserts that Allah created everything in "the twinkling of an eye" as stated in Sura 54:49-50:
"Everything we created is precisely measured. Our commands are done within the blink of an eye."

Elsewhere it says that the time period of the creation was two days as stated in Sura 41:9 and Sura 41:12:
"41:9 Say (O Muhammad, unto the idolaters): Disbelieve ye verily in Him Who created the earth in two Days, and ascribe ye unto Him rivals ? He (and none else) is the Lord of the Worlds."

"41:12 Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Knower."

In four days:
"41:10 He placed therein firm hills rising above it, and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four Days..."

In six days:
Sura 7:54 - "Your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then mounted He the Throne"

Sura 10:3 - "Your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days"

Sura 32:4 - "Allah is the One who created the heavens and the earth, and everything between them in six days"

In "a day equaling 1,000 years":
Sura 32:5 - "To Him, the day is equivalent to one thousand of your years."

And also in "50,000 years":
Sura 70:4 - "Whereby the angels and the Spirit ascend unto him in a day whereof the span is fifty thousand years."

That's a total of six different time periods.

The Qur'an contains many scientific errors. A crude example is found in Sura 18:8-86 where it says that Alexander the Great followed the setting of the sun and discovered that it went down into the waters of a muddy spring.

The Qur'an is also full of historical errors. It presents Mary the mother of Jesus as the sister of Moses and Aaron (obiously confusing her with their sister, Miriam). The Noahic flood is placed in the time of Moses, and the claim is made that one of Noah's sons refused to enter the Ark and was drowned.

The Qur'an also pictures Abraham as offering Ishmael as a sacrifice in Mecca, whereas the Biblical account has Abraham offering Isaac on Mt. Moriah in the area that would later become the heart of Jerusalem.

God — The Qur'an asserts that the god of Islam is the God of Christians and Jews as claimed in Sura 29:46:
"Do not argue with the people of the scripture (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) except in the nicest possible manner - unless they transgress - and say, 'We believe in what was revealed to us and in what was revealed to you, and our god and your god is one and the same; to him we are submitters.'"

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The god of Islam - Allah - is most definitely not the God of the Bible. Allah is presented in the Qur'an as an autocratic ruler who is aloof and arbitrary as stated in Sura 5:40:
"Do you not know that Allah possesses the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth? He punishes whomever He wills, and forgives whomever He wills. Allah is Omnipotent."

Allah is unknowable whereas the God of the Bible is knowable as stated in 2 Timothy 1:12:
"For I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day."

Allah is impersonal, unlike the personal God the Scriptures reveal in 1 Peter 5:6-7:
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Here is what the Qur'an says about the God of the Bible in Sura 4:171:
"Believe in Allah and say not 'Trinity.' Cease! It is better for you! Allah is only one god. Far is it removed from his transcendent majesty that he should have a son."

Allah is capricious as stated in Sura 2:284:
"To Allah belongs everything in the heavens and the earth. Whether you declare your innermost thoughts, or keep them hidden, Allah holds you responsible for them. He forgives whomever he wills, and punishes whomever he wills. Allah is omnipotent."

Whereas the God of the Bible is trustworthy. Nowhere is Allah presented as a god of love — which is the essence of the nature of the God of the Bible as stated in 1 John 4:7-16:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is Love. This is how God showed His love among us:
He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is Love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.

We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

Jesus — The Qur'an denies point blank that Jesus was the Son of God in Sura 112:2-3:
"The Absolute god. Never did he beget. Nor was he begotten."

It also denies His atoning sacrifice by claiming that he never died in Sura 4:157:
"And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of God. In fact, they never killed Him, they never crucified Him - they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed Him."

[CO Hugh]

CroiDhubh

Excellent post on Islam

[CroiDhubh]

Thank you. It is part of one of my college papers

[Dingo]

It's generally a good rule to never trust anybody who wipes one's ass with one's bare hand.