Dialogue with Nur-el-Masih Ben Haq

This is the continuation of a discussion with Nur-el-Masih Ben Haq, taken from here.

 

Why I Threw The Shoe

Taken from Guardian:

I am free. But my country is still a prisoner of war. There has been a lot of talk about the action and about the person who took it, and about the hero and the heroic act, and the symbol and the symbolic act. But, simply, I answer: what compelled me to act is the injustice that befell my people, and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by putting it under its boot.

 

One in four is Muslim, study says

Taken from BBC World News:

A report from an American think-tank has estimated 1.57 billion Muslims populate the world – with 60% in Asia.

The report, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, took three years to compile, with census data from 232 countries and territories.

It showed that 20% of Muslims lived in the Middle East and North Africa.

The data also showed that there were more Muslims in Germany than in Lebanon, and more in Russia than in Jordan and Libya together.

 

The Real Story behind Al-Azhar and the Niqab Ban

When I first read this on BBC World News, I was disappointed and assumed that Al-Azhar has lost all its crediblity. However IslamOnline has clarified the story, below. Shame on BBC for leaving out key details of the story.

 

Is English law related to Muslim law?

Taken from BBC World News:

In London’s historic “Inns of Court”, barristers practise law in the shadow of the distinctive medieval Temple Church. But does English law really owe a debt to Muslim law?

For some scholars, a historical connection to Islam is a “missing link” that explains why English common law is so different from classical Roman legal systems that hold sway across much of the rest of Europe.

 

Children, a Prophet, and Bears oh my!

I just thought this story of Elisha the prophet of God was interesting and thought I would share this for people who are confronted by Haters who try to say Muhammed “killed innocent people who did not want to follow Islam or mocked him” we have all heard the lies over and over so I shan’t regurgitate them here. Here the Prophet Elisha has 42 children torn apart for calling him bald and mocking him

So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

2 Kings 2:22-25 KJVR

So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

2 Kings 2:22-25 KJVR

 

YHWH The Arm God?

I was reading through Islamic and non-islamic sites doing research as usual when I happened upon a youtube video. As I turned on the video I was met by the most insufferable of voices, This voice (if it be proper to call the vile shrieks a voice) attempted, without avail, to tell me that my God was a leg. He cited the following ayah from the Quran to prove this:

The Day that the shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able, Quran 68:42

 

Who are the Seven Gentile Prophets mentioned in the Talmud?

There has been much intrigue after my article on the idea of non-Jewish prophets in the Bible. The Jews were quite open to the idea of prophets being sent to even non-Jewish nations as I have already demonstrated. But let us look and critically examine what we do know of these seven Gentile prophets that are explicitely mentioned by name in the Talmud (Baba Bathra 15b).

 

Do Jews and Christians Really Know Their Prophets Part II

Do Jews and Christians know their Prophets Part II

It is from God that we receive prophets and from those prophets we are given God’s revelations. It seems that much quarreling has come about from the arguing over what constitutes scripture. Perhaps the biggest motive for rejecting divinely sanctioned writings is that it goes against a theological bias. Scripture should define our beliefs; it should not be our preconceived beliefs that define what is scripture. One would find one hard pressed to think of a prophet who did not come with a message that did not insult people, because God does not send messengers to tell people to continue in their ways but rather to give correction to a fallen people who have left the path that was laid down afore time. The Jews could perhaps be proven to be the most guilty of such an offense. While signs and wonders were before them, they fashioned a calf in which to worship. When they did not like a prophet that convicted them of their abominations they simply killed him. And as I will shortly prove if they did not like what established scripture said threw the entire book out of the corpus of religious writings.

In the Talmud there are several times that the book of Ben Sirah is shown to be considered authoritative In one particular tractate of the Talmud a man is told not to speculate about things he does not understand and is quoted the following:

Thus far you have permission to speak, thenceforward you have not permission to speak, for so it is written in the Book of Ben Sirah: Seek not things that are too hard for thee, and search not things that are hidden from thee. The things that have been permitted  thee, think thereupon; thou hast no business with6 the things that are secret.

This is a direct quote from Wisdom of Sirah  3:21-22. Wisdom of Sirah is not just quoted in Hagigah but also referenced in tractate Nidah of the Talmud where the quote is intoduced with the formula only reserved for scripture! But the most striking reference in the Talmud is where wisdom of Sirah is quoted as being part of the Old Testament Hagiographa! According to the jews there are 3 divisions of the Old Testament the first being the Torah [Instruction] (The first five books of the law said to have been revealed to prophet Moses), the Nevi’im [Prophets] (The division of books attributed to the prophets of Israel) and the Ketuvim [Writings] ( This is a collection of God inspired writings that include the book of Daniel and the writings of Prophet David amongst others)

In tractate Baba Kama 92b it states the following:

Raba [again] said to Rabbah b. Mari: Whence can be derived the popular saying, ‘A bad palm will usually make its way to a grove of barren trees’? — He replied: This matter was written in the Pentateuch [Torah], repeated in the Prophets[Nevi'im] , mentioned a third time in the Hagiographa [Ketuvim], and also learnt in a Mishnah and taught in a Baraitha: It is stated in the Pentateuch as written, So Esau went unto Ishmael; repeated in the prophets, as written, And there gathered themselves to Jephthah idle men and they went out with him; mentioned a third time in the Hagiographa [Ketuvim], as written: Every fowl dwells near its kind and man near his equal;

The portioned that is designated as part of the Ketuvim is a direct quote from Wisdom of Sirah 13:15. It is undeniable that at one time the Jews held this book to be sacred scripture but chose to abandon it. But what could have possibly changed? Is it just coincidence that this book was used by early Christians to prove that Jesus was the messiah? This seems to be a strong enough motive, if they would willing to kill God’s prophets is it then unreasonable that they would throw out a book pointing to his authority? The question still remains, was Sirah a prophet or does the answer depend on whether the Jews find it convenient that day to recognize him?

It is from God that we receive prophets and from those prophets we are given God’s revelations. It seems that much quarreling has come about from the arguing over what constitutes scripture. Perhaps the biggest motive for rejecting divinely sanctioned writings is that it goes against a theological bias. Scripture should define our beliefs; it should not be our preconceived beliefs that define what is scripture.

 

Do Jews and Christians really know their Prophets?

I find it truly amazing at times how people do not know their own religions beliefs yet feel fit to

criticize the religious beliefs of others. Many times a person will attack a religion such as Islam

for a trivial matter yet do not know that their religion may teach the same thing! The Bible is

quite clear to Jews and Christians that a equal standard should be applied to all things, and

that if one says that a certain practise make a religion false that same standard should be

applied to their religion as well. Let us start off by looking at what the Bible says about the

standards we use in the following verse:

A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.

Proverbs 11:1 KJV

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

Leviticus 19:35 KJV

A double standard of weights and measures- both are disgusting to the LORD.

Proverbs 20:10 GWT

Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?

Micah 6:11 KJVA

Jesus in the New Testament emphasized this message many times to demonstrate that a double

standard is not from God and even illuminated us to the fact that the standard that we use for

others will be the standard that God will use for us when he judges us.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with

what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that

is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Matthew 7:1-3 KJVA

Paul in the his epistles to the Corinthians specifically tells the Christian congregation to worry

about themselves and perfect themselves before they look for the imperfection in non-christians.

In my previous letter I said, “Don’t mix with the immoral.” I didn’t mean, of course, that you

were to have no contact at all with the immoral of this world, nor with any cheats or thieves or

idolaters – for that would mean going out of the world altogether! But in this letter I tell you not

to associate with any professing Christian who is known to be an impure man or a swindler,

an idolater, a man with a foul tongue, a drunkard or a thief. My instruction is: “Don’t even eat

with such a man.” Those outside the church it is not my business to judge. but surely it is your

business to judge those who are inside the church – God alone can judge those who are

outside. It is your plain duty to ‘put away from yourselves that wicked person’.

1 Corinthians 5:9 Phillips NT

So now let anyone who claims to be a Christian do as the scriptures say and judge ourselves

and use the standard we have applied to others. I shall address a few of the common

accusations about prophethood made against Muslims.

(Accusation 1) Islam has to be false because Muhammed claimed to be a prophet and was a

Gentile and not a Jew.

(Reply) According to the Old Testament there were many Gentile prophets but only seven are

mentioned by name in the Talmud (Baba Bathra 15b), However the story of baalim and Job

are two of many stories in the Bible about Gentile prophets.

(Accusation 2) Islam says there was 124,000 prophets sent to all the peoples of the world is

this not a ridiculous number; and how can it be said that all the gentiles were sent prophets?

Certainly this proves it is false.

(Reply) First of all the Jews believe there were many many prophets– In fact, the Talmud

(Megilah 14a) says that there were twice as many prophets as there were Israelites who left

Egypt during the exodus which would place the number at at least 1.2 million prophets. The

Bible also records prophets being sent to the gentiles such as when Jonah was sent to the

people of Nineveh. The Jewish Sages also believed that the torah had been given to all the

people in the world but only Israel accepted it when God forced them to by holding a

mountain over their heads (Talmud Sabbat 88a)

Let us therefore use a justice standard in all things whether we are Muslim Christian or Jew.

“O you who believe, you shall be absolutely equitable, and observe Allah, when you serve as

witnesses, even against yourselves, or your parents, or your relatives. Whether the accused

is rich or poor, Allah takes care of both. Therefore, do not be biased by your personal wishes.

If you deviate or disregard (this commandment), then Allah is fully Cognizant of everything

you do.” Quran 4:135

Another article from my dear friend ‘Abdullah’:

I find it truly amazing at times how people do not know their own religions beliefs yet feel fit to criticize the religious beliefs of others. Many times a person will attack a religion such as Islam for a trivial matter yet do not know that their religion may teach the same thing! The Bible is quite clear to Jews and Christians that a equal standard should be applied to all things, and that if one says that a certain practise make a religion false that same standard should be applied to their religion as well. Let us start off by looking at what the Bible says about the standards we use in the following verse: