MMKGR65 WROTE: "Aslamo alaykom, this is the greeting when two brother Muslims meet, it means in English "Peace on you." Just imagine my friend what that means.

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE: It means that when two MUSLIMS meet they greet each other in peace but that says nothing of how a muslim greets a non-muslim, how he feels about him, or what the Koran teaches about him.

 

RKC: This what the Qur’an teaches about greetings and feelings about others who don’t share your faith….

 

Surah 004.086
When a (courteous) greeting is offered you, meet it with a greeting still more courteous, or (at least) of equal courtesy. Allah takes careful account of all things.

 

Surah 004.094
O ye who believe! When ye go abroad in the cause of Allah, investigate carefully, and say not to any one who offers you a salutation: "Thou art none of a believer!" Coveting the perishable goods of this life: with Allah are profits and spoils abundant. Even thus were ye yourselves before, till Allah conferred on you His favours: Therefore carefully investigate. For Allah is well aware of all that ye do.

 

Surah 025.063 And the servants of (Allah) Most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, "Peace!";

Surah 060.008-009
8. Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.
9. Allah only forbids you, with regard to those who fight you for (your) Faith, and drive you out of your homes, and support (others) in driving you out, from turning to them (for friendship and protection). It is such as turn to them (in these circumstances), that do wrong.

 

 

 

MMKGR65 WROTE: "When you deny the real issue that Islam is a religion of peace by taking some indivdual Muslims as reason for this, you give the right to us to say the same about Christianty since many examples of terrorism can be found."

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE: You're free to hold any opinion about Christianity that you wish but playing "tit-for-tat" seems to be a common tactic of debate employed by muslims; a tactic that seeks to divert attention away from Islam and onto Christianity; a tactic that seeks to put the Christian on the defensive.

 

RKC: This “tactic” is not meant to put the Christian on the defensive. It is meant to remind you that we are all human and members of every religion stray from what their religion says.

 

MMKGR65 WROTE: "...since many examples of (Christian) terrorism can be found. Don't you remember the Nazis..."

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE: Hitler and his Nazis were NOT Christians. Please refer to the following link for more information:
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mischedj/ca_hitler.html

RKC: Taken from http://www.gate.com/~zardoz/hitler.htm

 

“Although Hitler did not practice religion in a churchly sense, he certainly believed in the Bible's God. He got raised as a Catholic and went to a monastery school and, interestingly, walked everyday past a stone arch which was carved the monastery's coat of arms which included a swastika. As a young boy, Hitler's most ardent goal was to become a priest. Much of his philosophy came from the Bible, and more influentially, from the Christian Social movement. (The German Christian Social movement, remarkably, resembles the Christian Right movement in America today.) Many have questioned Hitler's stand on Christianity. Although he fought against certain Catholic priests who opposed him for political reasons, his belief in God and country never left him. Many Christians throughout history have opposed Christian priests for various reasons; this does not necessarily make one against Christianity. Nor did the Vatican's Pope &  bishops ever disown him; in fact they blessed him! As evidence to his claimed Christianity, he said:

 

My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice... And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.”

 

-Adolf Hitler, in a speech on 12 April 1922 (Norman H. Baynes, ed. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939, Vol. 1 of 2, pp. 19-20, Oxford University Press, 1942)

 

 

 

MMKGR65 WROTE: "...the wars in Europe in the Middle Ages...

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE: I assume you are referring to the Crusades. As muslims tend to deflect criticism of their faith as inherently violent…

 

RKC: The Qur’an doesn’t teach violence in the sense of an unjust war. It teaches that force is sometimes necessary to keep the peace. Please read Message #606. If you think the Qur’an teaches otherwise then cite a verse.

 

 

 

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE: …by bringing up the Crusades let's deal with that issue.

Firstly, "the idea of "Holy War" was not initially a Christian concept. It was the Muslim Creed that religious war brought glory to God and immediate entry to Paradise for the fallen."

 

RKC: It was first a Jewish concept. There is nothing wrong with a “just” war to end tumult, oppression, etc (Msg #606).

 

Numbers 10

9 And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies

MMKGR65 WROTE: "...Americans killing Indians..."

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE: The slaughter of Native Americans was not done in the name of Christianity. There may have been Christian pioneers who killed in self-defense or to protect home and family but I know of no historical examples of Christians who participated in the slaughter of Native Americans simply for the sake of slaughter.

 

RKC: It really disturbing that someone would think almost an entire race was obliterated in “self-defense or to protect home”. I agree they didn’t kill just to kill, but the slaughter of Native Americans was done by Christians who killed to obtain land (wealth). This problem was they saw the Indians as less than human (“evil, red savages”)….much like how black men were considered under American law as being 3/5 of a man. They killed in the name of this bigotry! As Christians, they should have been adhering to the below scriptures.

 

Mark 12

31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

 

Deuteronomy 5

21 "'Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.'

 

Matthew 6

24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

 

MMKGR65 WROTE:
"The real problem is that you do not think of Islam as a religion and people may differ in following its teachings."

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE:
I'm not sure what you're saying. Islam is obviously a religion and it is also obvious by the different "types" of Islam that people have different ideas of what Islam is and teaches (e.g., Sunni, Shiite, Sufi).

 

RKC: http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=417

 

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE: The religion and its so-called peaceful or violent nature is judged by three things: [1] its holy text, [2] its founder's example, [3] how it is practiced by its adherents around the world.

In considering these three things it is my conclusion that Islam is, by nature, a religion of violence and coersion. I am NOT saying that there are not kind, gentle, sincere, peaceful people who practice Islam. I AM saying that those people seem to do so in spite of what Islam seems to teach, how its founder appears to have lived, and how it is practiced by its adherents around the world.

RKC: Interesting. I came to the exact opposite conclusion when examining Islam. You will have to cite a verse in the Qur’an which you think advocates violence. Every verse I’ve read has conditions attached to it about when it is acceptable to fight. Maybe you feel fighting and war are never appropriate….

 

[1] I found in the Qur’an, what I heard from missionaries about war and conditions of fighting to be grossly incorrect. I found a “holy text’ which does not degrade any of the prophets. I have yet to find a contradiction. I found a “holy text which contains miraculous information about embryology, science, etc which is consistent with what science knows today. No man, who could not read or write, would have known these things in the 6^th century.

 

[2] I found that for Muhammad(p) to preach Islam so successfully and for Islam to spread so far so fast, he must have followed the Qur’an perfectly.

 

http://wings.buffalo.edu/sa/muslim/library/jesus-say/ch9.html

http://wings.buffalo.edu/sa/muslim/library/jesus-say/ch10.html

 

[3] Every Muslim I know is law abiding. Your focus on “terrorists” is an extremely small percentage of Muslims worldwide.

 

As for Christianity, I found…

 

[1] a holy text that doesn’t support their greatest dogmas, numerous errors, and contradictions which are not indicative of a Perfect God. The trinity is never mentioned. The verse best supporting the trinity (1 John 5:7) was found to be an “add in”, which was a direct violation of Deuteronomy 4:2. The Sabbath was moved from Saturday…..etc.

 

[2] Jesus(p) shouldn’t even be considered the founder of Christianity (Paul should) because his words in the gospels don’t support Christianity’s greatest dogmas.

 

[3] Most don’t know the “scripture” they claim.

 

These are just my beliefs and observations….

 

LRWILLIAMS2 WROTE: Furthermore, based on Galatians 1:8 of the New Testament..."But though we (Paul and the Apostles), or AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN, preach ANY OTHER GOSPEL unto you than that which we have preached
(reagarding Jesus Christ) unto you, let him be accursed."...it is my belief that Islam is a religion born of Satan appearing
as an "angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).

You don't have to agree with me. I'm just stating my beliefs.

 

RKC: In Galatians 1:8, Paul is warning them of his present day opponents….the disciples who Jesus chose and taught, personally…James, Peter, and Barnabas…the same man who vouched for Paul (Acts 9:26-27), when all the other disciples were afraid of him because of his murderous ways (Act 7:58-59, Acts 9:1, & Acts 9:21). BTW, The KJV, NKJV, NASB, etc all don’t believe the word “insincerity” should be used…they translate the Greek as hypocrisy.

 

Galatians 2

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

¹² For before certain men came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.

¹³ And with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity (hypocrisy).

¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" 

 

Its interesting Christians always point to Gabriel appearing to Muhammad(p), when good ole’ Paul describes his conversion as seeing a “great light”!

 

Acts 9

3 Now as he (Paul) journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.

 

Acts 22

6 "As I (Paul) made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me.

 

In addition, you may not be aware of few things…

 

A. Angels don’t have free will. So, for a Muslim its not conceivable for an Angel to do anything except the Will of God.

 

Surah 079.001-005
1. By the (angels) who tear out (the souls of the wicked) with violence;

2. By those who gently draw out (the souls of the blessed);
3. And by those who glide along (on errands of mercy),
4. Then press forward as in a race,
5. Then arrange to do (the Commands of their Lord),

 

 

B. Gabriel appeared to Muhammad as a man. The Qur’an relates that Angels have always been sent this way.

 

Surah 006.009
If We had made it an angel, We should have sent him as a man, and We should certainly have caused them confusion in a matter which they have already covered with confusion.

 

 

C. Jesus was ministered to just like Muhammad. Maybe you can explain why an Angel would have to minister to God…

 

Matthew 4

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.