Islam's Secret Santa

Who is Islam's real hero? I'm perpetually amazed by the inability of Muslims to connect Muhammad's teachings and draw logical conclusions from them. In this video, I connect two simple claims of Muhammad, which together lead to a startling result.



We could do this all day.

Book Projects, Support Needed

December through March would be an excellent time for Sam and me to work on some books, but we can't do it without support.

Egypt's Tourism Industry Suffering Due to Unrest

Apart from oil (and the Hajj), tourism is about the only significant source of foreign money for Muslim countries in the Middle East. With revolutions running wild, however, tourists just aren't interested in the pyramids of Egypt.

EGYPT--When cocktail hour comes round in the Egyptian Mediterranean resort of al-Masr these days, there are no tourists to watch the soft darkness snuff out the iridescent turquoise of the sea.

Slinky music echoes a little eerily along deserted terraces; this is twilight in the twilight zone.

We were a party of three - the only guests in a 550-bedroom hotel.

The only arrivals from Europe this winter have been the migratory starlings which squeal and bustle deafeningly as they roost in the neatly-trimmed palm trees.

November on Egypt's northern coast is hardly peak season, of course, but the simple truth is that the television images of political violence in Cairo and Alexandria have put tourists off.

Holidaymakers like history - but they don't like finding themselves in the middle of it.

We work this year at about 40% capacity. Staff wages are half the usual level. Things are so, so bad this year”

Mohammad Hassin, one of the managers in the al-Masr hotel, supervised the 45-man team that made our breakfast.

Staff have been laid off and salaries cut. He admits that it's not a happy time in the Egyptian travel industry - but he hopes for better times to come when the political situation stabilises again.

"We work this year at about 40% capacity. We have the usual number of staff working here. Their wages are half the usual level. Things are so, so bad this year," Mr Hassin says.

He makes the point that the dramatic scenes of street unrest in February which made foreigners nervous didn't last - but the damage is done, nonetheless.

Tourism matters hugely to the Egyptian economy: this is a vital source of jobs and of hard currency.

And the country has been blessed by providence with beautiful coastlines to north and south and the extraordinary treasures of the ancient civilisation of the Pharaohs in between.

But none of that matters if tourists in Germany, Italy and the UK see pictures of rioting on TV and decide to go to Turkey instead.

And there's evidence that's what they did after the revolutionary upheaval in February.

Tourist numbers in March were down 60% on the same month in the previous year and tourist spending was down 66%.

They are catastrophic figures when the holiday industry accounts for more than 10% of Egypt's national income. (Read more.)

Female Journalists Sexually Assaulted in Egypt

And no one is surprised.

EGYPT--Two female foreign journalists on Thursday described harrowing sexual assaults carried out by crowds or police as they tried to cover demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy said she was sexually assaulted by police during hours under detention after taking part in protests on the sprawling square that has become a landmark of the Arab Spring.

"Besides beating me, the dogs of (central security forces) subjected me to the worst sexual assault ever," Eltahawy said on her Twitter account.

"5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers," she said.

"My left arm and right hand are broken (according) to xrays," she said, posting pictures of herself in casts.

Earlier Eltahawy, an award-winning journalist and public speaker on Arab and Muslim issues based in New York, tweeted that she had been released after having been beaten and arrested in the interior ministry building.

Later, a French journalist working for public television channel France 3, said she had been violently beaten and sexually assaulted while covering the protests.

Caroline Sinz told AFP that she and her cameraman, Salah Agrabi, had been confronted in a road leading from Tahrir to the interior ministry, the scene of days of deadly clashes between police and protesters demanding democratic change.

"We were filming in Mohammed Mahmud street when we were mobbed by young people who were about 14 or 15," said Sinz.

The journalist and her cameraman were then dragged by a group of men towards Tahrir Square where they became separated, she said.

"We were then assaulted by a crowd of men. I was beaten by a group of youngsters and adults who tore my clothes" and then molested her in a way that "would be considered rape," she said.

"Some people tried to help me but failed. I was lynched. It lasted three quarters of an hour before I was taken out. I thought I was going to die," she said. Her cameraman was also beaten.

Sinz was finally rescued by a group of Egyptians and returned to her hotel, where she was assisted by the French embassy before being seen by a doctor.

Media activists from Reporters Without Borders decried working conditions for journalists covering the fresh unrest and upcoming elections in Egypt.

"The chaos prevailing in Cairo and the resulting grave human rights violations are as bad as in the darkest hours of the revolution's earlier phase, in January and February," the media rights group said in a statement.

In February, CBS News reporter Lara Logan described in detail how she was victim of a sexual assault near Tahrir the same day President Hosni Mubarak fell from power.

Once back in the US, Logan said she was molested for more than 40 minutes by a group of 200 or 300 men.

The latest reports of sexual assault against journalists came as protesters in Tahrir Square continue to demand an end to military rule. At least 38 people have died and over 3,000 have been injured since Saturday when the clashes began. (Source)

Sharia Favors the Rich

Muslims assure us that Sharia would make our countries better. Yet, wherever we see Sharia in practice, we see nothing but problems.

NIGERIA--Boko Haram’s deadly insurgency is fuelled by their desire to see stricter Islamic law, or Sharia, in northern Nigeria. Civil rights activists have voiced their concerns that poor people would bear the brunt of a more severe form of Sharia.

Sharia has been practised to varying degrees for as long as Islam has been in Nigeria. But in 1999, the then-governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani, called for criminal cases to be tried in Sharia courts.

Civil rights activists in Nigeria complain that Sharia hands down harsh sentences to poor Muslims, while the rich use it to their advantage.

Ahmed Sani, the architect of Sharia in modern Nigeria, is a case in point. He married a child bride from Egypt last year and condoned his actions citing Sharia, which permits men to marry wives as young as 13.

Civil rights activist, Shehu Sani stood up to Ahmed Sani, who is no relation, “for those of us who were human rights activists and Muslims we had a duty to our conscience and to our people to stand up to Ahmed Sani. Because we were concerned that Sharia would be used against the poor and to hunt down political enemies.”

Several Sharia cases have brought condemnation from the international community. Most of them have involved poor women accused of adultery who face being stoned to death.

But some argue that it is Nigerian legal system that is at fault.

“Sharia has afforded women so many rights," says Remi Atunwa, a barrister and practising Muslim. "For example it stipulates that if a woman doesn’t want to cook, then her husband is obligated to get her a maid.”

But “people manipulate the system for political and religious reasons," she adds. "And the average person either doesn’t understand the system or doesn’t have the means [financial], required to navigate it.”

Nigeria’s 70 million Muslims already have the choice of having civil cases heard in a Sharia law court. Twelve northern states also allow the resort to Sharia in criminal cases. What Boko Haram is demanding is for Sharia to replace common and customary law in the 19 states that make up northern Nigeria.

The group also wants to see a stricter form of Sharia implemented, as in Saudi Arabia or Iran where stoning and amputations are not uncommon. The problem is that there are several million non-Muslims living in these states. And that wealthy Nigerians tend to be able to escape justice more than the rest of the population. (Source)

Pakistani Muslim Woman Zainab Bibi Arrested for Killing/Cooking Her Husband (Who Wanted to Marry Her Daughter)

Zainab Bibi was desperate to keep her husband from violating her daughter. Would she have reacted similarly if Muhammad had demanded her daughter? If so, she's a better parent than Abu Bakr.

Islamabad (CNN) -- A Pakistani woman is being held on suspicion of killing her husband, cutting him up and trying to cook the pieces, Karachi police said Friday.

Zainab Bibi, 32, was arrested in connection with the murder Tuesday of her husband Ahmad Abbas, police said.

Her 22-year-old nephew, Zaheer Ahmed, is accused of helping Bibi stab Abbas to death and carve his body into small pieces.

Police said she wanted to cook her husband's body parts so she could dispose of them without being caught.

Neighbors raised the alert when they detected a foul odor in the neighborhood, police said.

Pakistan's domestic satellite channel ARY News spoke to Bibi in the police station where she is being held in the southern city of Karachi.

In an interview broadcast late Thursday, she claimed to have killed her husband because he wanted a physical relationship with their daughter -- and said she did not regret her actions.

"I killed my husband before he dared to touch my daughter," she told ARY News. (Source)

Who is Muhammad?

A debate between Abdullah Kunde and Samuel Green. September 2011.

Muslims in Nigeria Kill Children of Christian Convert

Be thankful for your children today.

ABUJA, NIGERIA--A militant group seeking to enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, throughout Nigeria, has shot and killed two children of an ex-terrorist and "murderer" because he converted to Christianity, well-informed missionaries told BosNewsLife Wednesday, November 23.

Boko Haram, meaning “Western education is a sin”, carried out the killings this month after discovering that a former fellow fighter refused to kill a Christian and instead accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, explained Rae Burnett, Africa Director of the U.S. based Christian Aid Mission (CAM) group.

Burnett told BosNewsLife that the father and Boko Haram militant "was poised to slit the throat of his Christian victim" during November attacks in northern Nigeria that killed at least over 130 Christians, including missionaries, when "he was suddenly struck with the weight of the evil he was about to commit."

Dropping his machete, the man ran to the nearest church, asking a pastor for help, Burnett said.

The pastor referred him to a CAM-supported indigenous ministry, where "native missionaries are reaching remote villages with the message of Christ," she added.

"When the call came, the ministry leader was grieving the loss of several close missionary friends who were murdered in the Yobe State slaughter. He immediately met with the confessed killer and joyfully led him to Christ. He is discipling him in a secret location because of the extreme danger."

Burnett declined to identify the former Muslim militant and missionaries, citing security concerns.

"After meeting the Lord, the converted terrorist [and] murderer called his former colleagues to testify what had happened to him without disclosing where he was," she said.

However, "Upon discovering the man's conversion to Christianity, Boko Haram members invaded his home, kidnapped his two children and informed him that they were going to execute them in retribution for his disloyalty to Islam. Clutching his phone, the man heard the sound of the guns that murdered his children," the CAM official added. (Read more.)

Male Nurse John Benitez Jr. Sues Dearborn after Being Fired for Treating Female Patients

This city just won't learn.

Muslim men in Dearborn made it clear that male doctors and nurses would not be allowed to treat female patients. The clinic complied with these demands, and even fired a male nurse who dared treat female patients. And now Dearborn is being sued . . . again.

Ironically, the clinic has already been closed due to budget cuts. Perhaps Dearborn wouldn't need to deal with such dramatic budget cuts if they'd stop violating people's rights.

Detroit—A male nurse filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against the city of Dearborn on Wednesday, claiming he was fired for treating conservative Muslim women wearing head scarves.

John Benitez Jr. is suing for unspecified damages and to reclaim his job, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

Benitez, 63, of Madison Heights, worked at the city's taxpayer-funded health clinic. He alleges he was ordered by a female supervisor not to treat conservative Muslim women, specifically those wearing head scarves, according to the lawsuit. He was told the clinic's male Muslim clientele did not want a male treating female patients.

He complied until November 2010, when a doctor ordered him to treat Muslim women as he would any other patient. Benitez followed the doctor's order and was fired less than one month later, according to the lawsuit.

"When you get to the point that taxpayer-funded entities are having to comply with personal religious beliefs rather than letting people do their job you're going down a road that does not end in a good place," the nurse's lawyer Deborah Gordon said in an interview Wednesday. "If people don't want to be treated, they can go find their own practitioner."

The city closed the clinic June 30 amid budget cuts. (Read more.)

For more on Dearborn, click here.

UK Muslim Teacher Sabir Hussain Jailed for Kicking and Beating Students

But isn't it bigoted, intolerant, and Islamophobic to expect a Muslim to conform to Western laws? What happened to multiculturalism?

United Kingdom--A religious teacher who was caught on a secret camera kicking and slapping children in a mosque has today been jailed for ten weeks.

Sabir Hussain, 60, admitted four charges of assaulting boys at the Markazi Jamia Mosque, in. Keighley, as they learned The Koran.

He was arrested after secret filming was screened on a Channel 4 documentary earlier this year.

The assaults Hussain admitted happened on December 7 and December 13 last year, and involved four different boys.

Hussain, of Spencer Street, Keighley, appeared at Bradford Magistrates Court in traditional clothing and was led out of court in handcuffs after the sentence was passed.

He immediately lodged an appeal against his sentence but an application for bail was rejected. (Source)

Josh McDowell vs. Ahmed Deedat: Was Christ Crucified?

Yuce Kabakci Explains Why He Turned from Islam to Christ

Yuce Kabakci Explains Why He Turned from Islam to Christ

Have you ever noticed that there are lots of testimonies of Muslims becoming Christians after doing years of research and carefully considering the evidence, but when people convert to Islam, it's usually because they didn't bother to investigate the claims of Muslim Dawaganists at all? Ask a convert to Islam why he or she chose Islam, and you'll hear things like: "Oh, my friend told me that the Qur'an contains scientific miracles"; "I talked to some Muslims, and they said that the Qur'an has been perfectly preserved"; "I got tired of men checking me out in my miniskirt, but some Muslim sisters explained that the hijab will fix all that, because Islam respects women." Five minutes of actual research would refute these claims, but people don't bother to check the facts.

"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).

Thirteen-Year-Old Jewish Girl Beaten by Five Muslim Girls . . . in Belgium

According to the Qur'an, Jews are "the worst of creatures" (98:6) and "the most vehement of men in enmity against the believers" (5:82). Muslims are not allowed to be friends with Jews (5:51), and are instead commanded to fight and subjugate them (9:29). Somehow, everyone is shocked when these teachings cause Muslims to hate and despise Jews.

Belgium--Five Muslim Moroccan girls in Belgium beat a 13-year-old classmate, called her a "dirty Jew” and told her to "return to your country.”

The girl, Oceane Sluijzer, has filed a complaint with police after the anti-Semitic attack at a sports training center. The attackers were identified and questioned by police.

Jewish legislator Viviane Teitelbaum of Brussels denounced the "silence" of political leaders and most of media after this attack.

Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organizations of Belgium (CCOJB), the umbrella group of Jewish organizations in Belgium, expressed "shock" at the attack and asked that the investigation be conducted without delay. The Jewish group added it is considering filing a civil suit and said the Jewish community is “exasperated” by repeated attacks on Jews, whose Jewish population in Belgium is 40,000. (Read more.)

Kuwaiti Shaykh Yasir al-Habib Defends Temporary Marriage (Muta)

I Am Denmark

But isn't it racist and Islamophobic not to submit to Islamic values, such as beating women into submission (Qur'an 4:34), violently subjugating non-Muslims (Qur'an 9:29), and religious enmity (Qur'an 5:51)?

Michael Coren and Steve Emerson: Jihad in America

Jay Smith's "Worlds Apart" Series

PART ONE: TESTIMONY & MINISTRY


PART TWO: WHAT IS ISLAM?


PART THREE: THE RISE OF ISLAM


PART FOUR: JESUS VS. MUHAMMAD


PART FIVE: QUR'AN VS. BIBLE (INTEGRITY)


PART SIX: QUR'AN VS. BIBLE (MANUSCRIPTS)


PART SEVEN: THE ROLE OF WOMEN


PART EIGHT: WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?


PART NINE: CAN GOD HAVE A SON?


PART TEN: COULD GOD BECOME A MAN?


PART ELEVEN: DID JESUS DIE ON THE CROSS?


PART TWELVE: WHY DID JESUS DIE?


PART THIRTEEN: TRUE PEACE


PART FOURTEEN: VIOLENCE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT


PART FIFTEEN: MUHAMMAD

FBI Statistics Belie Islamophobia Hysteria

No one plays the "victim" role like Muslims. But should we take their constant cries of "Racism!" and "Islamophobia!" seriously? The evidence suggests we shouldn't.

COMMENTARY--It has become an accepted trope of contemporary journalism that American Muslims are under siege and beset by hatred and prejudice. But the evidence for this conventional wisdom is lacking. The story line of Muslim persecution in the United States has always been a matter of anecdotes and perception, not facts. That truth was confirmed this week when the FBI released their annual crime statistics report which showed once again that hate crimes against Muslims remain rare and are far outnumbered by attacks on Jews.

The report is not perfect, since not all parts of the country do a good job compiling the data, but it provides an important snapshot of the state of the nation regarding bias crimes. But the numbers speak for themselves. In 2010, only 13.2 percent of religion-based attacks were directed at Muslims. By comparison, 65.4 percent of such crimes were directed at Jews. This shows a slight increase over the last two years (the raw numbers show 887 anti-Jewish attacks with only 160 anti-Muslim attacks), but is not a statistical fluke. In 2009, the FBI reported that 70.1 percent of religious-based hate crimes were anti-Jewish while only 9.3 percent were anti-Islamic. In 2008, the FBI said 66.1 percent were anti-Jewish while 7.5 percent were anti-Muslim. This has been true of every year in the past decade, even in 2001 when anti-Muslim crime spiked in the wake of 9/11. For all of the breast-beating about Islamophobia in this country, anti-Semitism remains a far greater problem.

As I wrote last year when I debunked the mythical backlash against Muslims in an article in the October 2010 issue of COMMENTARY, the notion of a rising wave of hatred against Muslims is unsupported by any statistical research. When you consider that Muslims claim to have about the same number of adherents in this country as Jews and that anti-Jewish crimes have always far outnumbered those committed against Muslims, the media hysteria about Islamophobia is exposed as a big lie. But even if there are fewer Muslims here than their groups claim, the conclusion is unchanged.

Because the far greater number of attacks on Jews is not viewed (even by those groups dedicated to monitoring anti-Semitism such as the Anti-Defamation League) as proof the country is boiling with hatred for Jews, how can anyone rationally argue that the far fewer number of assaults on Muslims can justify the conclusion that Islamophobia is rampant? (Read more.)

"Lone Wolf" Jihadist Jose Pimentel Arrested for New York Terrorism Plot

Just two days after Muslims rallied in Manhattan against police surveillance of the Muslim community in New York, police nab yet another Muslim terrorist. Of course, if you paid attention to the numerous conspiracy theories being propagated at Friday's rally, you'll know that Muslims will consider this arrest a set up. (But click here for Muhammad's clear commands to violently subjugate non-Muslims.)

NEW YORK--Terror suspect Jose Pimentel is charged with conspiring to build a bomb for terror purposes and possessing a weapon with the intent of waging a campaign of violence, District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. says.

On his website, Pimentel discussed the duty of every Muslim to wage war against the west, Vance says. . . .

Terror suspect Jose Pimentel is a native of the Dominican Republic and a convert to Islam who lived in upstate Schenectady, N.Y., for years before moving to New York City, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says.

He had long voiced hostilities against U.S. institutions and New York City officials have had their eye on him since 2009, Kelly tells reporters. . . .

Terror suspect Jose Pimentel, arrested by New York City police on Saturday, appeared to have been set off by the Sept. 30 death of al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen by a U.S. drone strike, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says.

Law enforcement had to act quickly to stop Pimentel because he was in the process of making a bomb device, Kelly says.

"He was drilling the holes and it would have been not appropriate to let him walk out the door with the bomb, so a decision was made to act quickly," Kelly says.

At one point, Pimentel considered changing his name to Osama Hussein after his heroes, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, Kelly says. (Read more.)

Occupy America: Leftists and Islamists United

On November 18th, 2011, Muslims held a rally in New York City. The point of the rally was supposedly to protest the NYPD's surveillance of the Muslim community. As the rally progressed, however, Muslim leaders acknowledged that they share the goals of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, especially seizing and redistributing wealth. Indeed, Muslims claimed that the redistribution of wealth is commanded by Allah.

Whitewashing Islam: 20 Errors on 20/20 (ABC News)

Muslim Slashes Sister's Throat to Restore Family Honor

More than 90 percent of "honor" killings around the world are committed by Muslims. That's called a "correlation."

AMMAN, NOVEMBER 16 - A man from the southern city of Tafilah killed his sister in public by slitting her throat for being involved in a romantic relation, police sources said on Wednesday.

The 18 year old man attacked his sister in the main bus station of the town, before being arrested, said the sources.

Eye witnesses said medics arrived when the girl was making her last breath as investigation continued to determine other culprits in the brutal attack.

The killer told police he wanted to kill his sister to cleanse the family honour after the victim admitted involvement with a man who wanted to marry her, said the police sources.

The death brings number of women killed in the name of honour to nearly 15 since the start of the year, say officials.

The government promised to adopt an iron fist policy with such cases following campaigns from human rights groups.

But activists say strict social habits make it difficult to eradicate such phenomena.

Killers are often handed a sentence between six months to one year for the murder, say activists. (Source)

Hezbollah Using Prostitution (Muta) for Recruitment

In the following video, the "Young Turks" seem convinced that Hezbollah invented "Muta" (temporary marriage). The broadcasters acknowledge the obvious, namely, that Muta is a form of prostitution. However, they don't believe that Islam would ever allow such a practice.



Now for a healthy dose of reality. Both Sunnis and Shias agree that Muhammad allowed his followers to practice Muta. Shias generally believe that the practice is still permissible, while Sunnis typically claim that Muhammad eventually abrogated the practice.

What Sunni scholars fail to mention, however, is that even their most reliable sources are thoroughly inconsistent. Some Sunni ahadith state that Muhammad outlawed Muta, while others declare that the practice was banned by the Caliph Umar, not by Muhammad.

Indeed, according to a Hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari (Sunni Islam's most trusted collection of ahadith), Muta is justified by the Qur'an itself! Consider the following verse from the Qur'an:

Qur'an 5:87—O ye who believe! Forbid not the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you, and transgress not, Lo! Allah loveth not transgressors.

Now let's see how this verse was used by Muhammad:

Sahih al-Bukhari 5079—We used to participate in the holy battles led by Allah's Messenger and we had nothing (no wives) with us. So we said, "Shall we get ourselves castrated?" He forbade us that and then allowed us to marry a woman temporarily by giving her even a garment and then he recited to us: "O you who believe! Make not unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful for you." (5.87)

Hence, Muhammad quoted the Qur'an to justify Muta!

So if Muhammad allowed his followers to engage in prostitution, why do Sunni Muslims today believe that Islam doesn't allow Muta? According to some of Muhammad's companions, it was Umar (not Muhammad) who outlawed the practice:

Sahih Muslim 3250—Abu Nadra reported: While I was in the company of Jabir b. Abdullah, a person came to him and said that Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Zubair differed on the two types of Muta, whereupon Jabir said: We used to do these two during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger. Umar then forbade us to do them, and so we did not revert to them.

Indeed, Muslims continued to practice Muta until Umar stopped them:

Sahih Muslim 3248—Ibn Uraij reported: 'Ati' reported that Jabir b. Abdullah came to perform 'Umra, and we came to his abode, and the people asked him about different things, and then they made a mention of temporary marriage, whereupon he said: Yes, we had been benefiting ourselves by this temporary marriage during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet and during the time of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.

But how can Umar abrogate Muhammad's commands, especially when the Qur'an allows Muta? Apparently, Umar's supporters weren't comfortable saying that Umar abrogated Muta. Thus, they began circulating false ahadith, according to which Muhammad himself banned the practice:

Sahih al-Bukhari 5115—Narrated Ali: I said to Ibn Abbas, "During the battle of Khaibar the Prophet forbade Muta and the eating of donkey's meat."

How does all of this cash out for Muslims today? Well, if a Sunni Muslim is offended at the thought of prostitution in Islam, he can quote ahadith saying that Muhammad put an end to Muta. If, however, a Sunni Muslim wants to have sex with a prostitute, he can quote other ahadith, which say that Muhammad and the Qur'an allow Muta. Islam's teachings, then, depend on a Muslim's preferences!

For Shias, on the other hand, there's no such difficulty. Muhammad allowed Muta, so they still practice Muta. Hezbollah is even using it as a recruiting tool. Much like their prophet, they lure people to Islamic terrorism through promises of sex.

For more on Muta, see the following article:

Sam Shamoun, "Revisiting Muhammad’s Permitting a Form of Prostitution known As Muta"

Seventy Percent of Arab Youth Want to Leave Arab World

Let me guess, they would rather live in the land of the Kufar. Don't these young Muslims realize that it's better to live under Sharia?

Manama: Around three quarters of Arab youth want to migrate to countries out of their region due to rising unemployment in Arab states, an Arab League official said.

"Due to their poor participation in society and politics and to rising joblessness, 70 per cent of the Arab youth want to migrate out of the region," Khalid Al Wahishi, director of Population Policy and Immigration at Arab League, said.

"We at Arab League have been warning member states at all our meetings to empower the youth. Unemployment, alarmingly high at 26 per cent, poor participation of youth and illiteracy are major hindrances to population policy development and implementation," Al Wahishi told delegates at a gathering of population experts from member-countries in Qatar. (Read more.)

Black Maid Beaten to Death by Arab Employer

Islam promotes tolerance, love, and equality. I know, because the media and our leaders keep saying it.

KUWAIT--A Kuwaiti citizen has been arrested for allegedly beating his Ethiopian housekeeper to death, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Citing legal sources, Al-Jarida daily said the man, who was not named, confessed that he "brutally beat up" the maid for seven days because she refused to work.

A preliminary forensic report showed that the maid died of "severe beatings that led to serious physical injuries and severe internal bleeding," and that she showed signs of dehydration.

The daily said the suspect took the maid to a recruitment office in Hawalli, 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of Kuwait City, where she collapsed and died.

Oil-rich Kuwait with a population of 3.5 million people, two-thirds of them foreigners, employ around 600,000 mostly Asian domestic helpers. (Source)

The Sacred Duty of Muslim Mothers

Muslim mother Umm Nidal states: "I am proud and honored to be a terrorist for the sake of Allah. 'Prepare for them whatever force and steeds of war you can in order to strike terror in the hearts of the enemy of Allah and of your own.' I am happy to implement this Koranic verse myself."



Note: This video was posted on YouTube by Muslims to show other Muslims what a real Muslim mother should be like. It wasn't posted to expose Islam's violent teachings. At the time I'm embedding it here, there are six comments, which read:

The best woman in the world!! Subhanallah!!! Jannat lil muslimat wa al mumminat!!
jisamhad

ALLAH U AKBAR! May Allah grant her the highest level of Jannah and may every mother see her as an example. I wish every Muslim was as devoted to the deen as she is.
Jazakallah oe khayran ya Umm Nidal!
Madhofd

Masha Allah! May we all have such a strong faith in Allah and are willing to sacrifice everything!
But she is not the mother of Nidal Hasan! Nidal Hasan shot american soldiers who killed our brothers and sisters in our lands, when they came back to the US (Texas) and he survived. But her son made an operation in Palestine and is shaheed, insha Allah.
Zaineb3

Allaahu akbar, amazing mother
ShariahOfMuhammad

Subhanallah,
She will go to jannah due to her sons intercedings on yawmul qiyamah, if her sons is accepted as shaheeds inshallah ta'ala
alnarweeg92

MAY ALLAH SUBHANAO TA'LA MAKES us shaheed in HIS WAY..
MASHALLAH may ALLAH MAKE all mothers like her.. Ameen
ilovemyallah1

Isn't it strange that the comments section isn't filled with the peaceful pleadings of moderate and liberal Muslims?

***UPDATE*** Two of our regular Muslim commentators here on Answering Muslims have weighed in. Check the comments section, where Kim says:

"I admire Um Nidal, being happy for her son who killed removed 10 Israeli Jewish scum from this planet. Now her son can get accepted as a martyr for God's cause."

Samatar Mohamed added:

"To be honest, I did not have a problem with almost anything she said."

These are the Muslims who come on the blog to defend Islam, and they can't comprehend why we're troubled by a woman joyously saying she will sacrifice all her children to kill Jews.

Jesus in Christianity & Islam

A debate between Mustafa al-Shakarji and Samuel Green. August 2011.

Time Magazine: Persecution of Religious Minorities in Indonesia "Relentless"

I'm totally confused. Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. I know it's a religion of peace, because our leaders and the media keep saying it over and over again. So now I'm stuck trying to figure out why Muslims are persecuting and killing non-Muslims in Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, and everywhere else Muslims have control over a large area. Don't these Muslims know that Islam is defined by the media, and not by Muhammad's commands?

INDONESIA--A year ago Barack Obama returned to Indonesia, where he lived as a boy, as President of the United States. In a speech at the University of Indonesia, he reminisced about catching dragonflies, flying kites and running through rice paddies in the Jakarta of his youth. "Indonesia is a part of me," he told the audience, while lauding the nation and its people for their new democracy, commitment to the rule of law and tolerance for religious diversity. Obama's affection for Indonesia is understandable. But as he prepares to go to Bali on Nov. 19 for the East Asia Summit, he needs to ditch the nostalgia and deliver a stern message to his onetime home for not living up to its purported ideals.

A key measure of the level of justice and compassion in any society is how it treats its minorities — often its most vulnerable citizens. On that score, Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, is failing. In the past year, public violence against religious minorities, who together make up about 12% of the 240 million population, has been relentless: there has been a slew of incidents, from burnings and bombings of churches to attacks by radical Muslims on moderates. The authorities appear unable or unwilling to firmly intervene.

That seemed to be the case when I was in a packed courtroom outside Jakarta a few months ago. On trial were 12 men charged in connection with a mass assault early this year on members of the peaceful Ahmadiyah sect. Ahmadis believe that their Indian founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) was also a prophet, after Muhammad — a claim orthodox Muslims find heretical. This plus other differences have made Ahmadis a target for hard-liners in Pakistan, Bangladesh and, of late, Indonesia too. The attack on the Ahmadis was brutal. A hundreds-strong crowd gathered at opposite ends of a remote rice-farming village on the western edge of Java and converged on an Ahmadi home. The people inside were surrounded and attacked with machetes, sharpened sticks and stones. Three men died; five were badly injured.

At the trial, before the judges entered the chamber, an Islamic cleric in a white robe stepped from the gallery and led the courtroom in prayer. Those inside — plus many more pressed against the outside gate — prayed for the mob, not those killed. People in the crowd told me the Ahmadis had it coming, that the mob was provoked and the violence spontaneous.

One of the accused, 17-year-old Dani bin Misra, was filmed smashing an Ahmadi man's skull with a rock. He and the other defendants were convicted of "participation in a violent attack that results in casualties." Dani was sentenced to three months' jail. The rest, including two clerics, received five to six months. (By contrast, an Ahmadi got six months for wounding an attacker when defending a family's property.) Said New York City — based Human Rights Watch: "The trial sends the chilling message that attacks on minorities will be treated lightly by the legal system." (Read more.)

Texas Muslim Barry Walter Bujol Convicted on Terrorism Charges

Doesn't this guy watch ABC News? Doesn't he watch TLC? I don't get it. We keep telling Muslims that their religion is peaceful and tolerant, but they just won't listen! It almost seems as if Muslims like Barry Bujol care more about Muhammad's teachings than they care about Western values.

TEXAS--A Texas man who had been in contact with the late US-born Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi was found guilty Monday of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, officials said.

A judge delivered the verdict against Barry Walter Bujol, a 30-year-old Hempstead, Texas, resident, according to a Justice Department statement.

Prosecutors said the charges stemmed from an investigation begun in 2009 by the FBI, which employed an undercover agents who purported to be a recruiter for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and offered to help Bujol pursue his goal of conducting "violent jihad."

Evidence at trial showed that Bujol had been in contact with Awlaqi, an AQAP leader who was killed September 30 in an air raid in Yemen hailed by President Barack Obama as a "major blow" to terrorists.

Awlaqi "replied to Bujol's e-mails by sending Bujol a document entitled '42 Ways of Supporting Jihad," according to prosecutors.

Bujol was arrested on May 30, 2010, after boarding a ship docked at the Port of Houston, which Bujol believed was bound for Algeria where he would stay at an Al Qaeda safe house before continuing on to Yemen.

In 2009, Bujol made three attempts to travel to the Middle East, but was thwarted by law enforcement, which arranged for undercover agents to meet him. Bujol told one agent he wanted to fight with the "mujahideen."

On a video shown at trial, he told his wife that he had left her suddenly to pursue "jihad" and would not see her until the afterlife. (Read more.)

Blast from the Past!

In case any of you weren't following the blog earlier this year, here's a classic.

Man Dies after Muslims Amputate Hand for Theft

The Qur'an is clear on the punishment for theft:

Qur'an 5:38--And (as for) the man who steals and the woman who steals, cut off their hands as a punishment for what they have earned, an exemplary punishment from Allah; and Allah is Mighty, Wise.

But some people die after having a hand chopped off.

SANA’A: According to reports coming from the southern Yemen province of Abyan, al-Qaeda militants have punished a group of five youth for consuming narcotics by lashing them.

The group, Ansar al Shariah, which has declared it wants to restore their own interpretation of the Sharia Law, or Islamic law, has been handing out public corporal punishment over the past few months.

A young man recently passed away after his hand was cut off as he had been accused of stealing electric cables by the Islamists.

According to al-Arabiya news channel, the punishment was carried out in a field just outside Jaar, a town under the Islamic group’s control in front of dozens of witnesses.

The militants appear to be mimicking the Taliban’s tactics, instilling fear of reprisals into the civilian population as they pervert Islam to serve their own selfish ambitions, analysts say.

After receiving 80 lashes each, the young men were released.

Residents, which have been living in fear ever since the al-Qaeda fighters occupied their town, are now living an absolute nightmare, living under the “tyrannical rule” of a group of “fanatics whose understanding of Islam is biased,” locals argue.

American security experts are warning against a repeat of the Afghani Taliban ruling system in Yemen if the group is not forced out of Abyan and Yemen. (Source)

Former Muslim C. L. Edwards: The Qur'an Says the Sun Orbits the Earth

C. L. Edwards was a devout Salafi, and he's quite familiar with the Muslim commentaries. Here's his analysis of one of Muhammad's major scientific blunders.



For more from C. L. Edwards, visit his website "Calling Muslims."

Amil Imani: Islam Was Not for Me

Iranian activist Amil Imani has written an article explaining why he rejects Islam.

My breach with Islam started as far back as I could discern things. More to the point, I never embraced Islam in the first place, although I was born and raised in a Muslim family.

For one thing, I had a very difficult time following a so-called religion whose founder and followers had butchered my ancestors, raped and sold our women, burned our libraries, and destroyed our magnificent culture. Islam was forced down the throats of Iranians with the sword of Allah. In my heart, I never considered myself a Muslim. However, I didn’t reveal this until later in life for fear of retribution by radical Muslims.

Sharia law stipulates that any Muslim who turns his back on Islam should be given a chance to revert to the faith. For an unrepentant male apostate, death is the proscribed punishment and life imprisonment for the female apostate.

“Kill whoever changes his religion.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 9:84:57)

Islam considers an apostate as a person who unilaterally breaks the covenant he has made with the faith. An apostate is condemned as guilty of turning his back on Allah’s immutable eternal religion.

I came to the realization that the root cause of my peoples’ degradation and suffering was Islam. It was a creed imposed on an enlightened, tolerant and free people at the point of the sword by savages hailing from the Arabian Peninsula during the seventh century with promises of booty and women in this world and glorious eternal sensual rewards in the promised paradise of Allah in the next. With each passing day, I rejoice more and more in my good fortune; in my ability to avoid the yoke of Islamic slavery and its blinders that imprisons a billion and half people by walls of superstition, hatred of others, and a celebration of death.

Things Islamic not only did not resonate with me, they often clashed head on with what I valued and loved. What appealed to me and even enchanted me were more often than not, taboo in Islam or anathema to the creed. I loved life, beauty in all its forms, poetry, ancient Iranian culture and traditions. I loved laughter, celebrations of joy such as birthdays; our yearly festivities of Nowruz, my favorite, lasts for thirteen days. Nowruz, this ancient festival, has been celebrated for thousands of years by my people; it ushers in the spring, welcomes renewal of life, and expresses optimism for the year ahead to bless us with good health, abundant food, family, and friends in the land of a civilized and free people.

I have always believed one cannot possibly be a Persian and hold to the lofty tenets of the ancient Iranian Zoroastrian triad of good thoughts, good words, good deeds, and remain a Muslim. In the same fashion, one cannot cherish American values, the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution and be a true Muslim. They are comprehensively incompatible with Sharia Law. . . .

There are still those who foolishly claim that Muhammad was a messenger from God and the Quran is a divinely revealed book. My suggestion is that they use their intellect and read the Quran fully for themselves without the assumption that the book is the literal word of God and that Muhammad was their messenger. Without this assumption as their starting point, they will find better than 90% of the book is about violence, threats of hell, exclusion of people, and the like. What kind of God would dictate things like what you find in the Quran? It took Muhammad 20 years to reveal this hodge-podge book that reads more like expressions of a delusional individual with multiple personality disorder.

I bemoan the plight of my native land and the people who have suffered and continue to suffer under Islam. Without Islam there wouldn’t be any Muslims to hoist the banner of hate and violence against non-Muslims. A few claim that Islam has done some good in the past. Well, that’s debatable. There are those who are equally convinced that Islam has inflicted a great deal of suffering on others from its inception to the present. What we all must agree on is that Islam and its sharia laws, at the very least, do not fit in today’s world.

Islam is a creed of an ignorant people in a primitive and barbaric age. It is fixated in time and place; it harbors the ambition of taking the 21st century world back 14 centuries and ruling it by its dogma of violence, intolerance, injustice and death. Yet, Islam is not only an obsolete vestige of a defunct era, but itself is an infinitely fractured belief that can hardly put its own home in order. The numerous Islamic sects are at each other’s throats; sub-sects and schools despise one another as much as they hate non-Muslims. Hatred, not love, drives Islam.

I am not against Muslims. I condemn Islam with all its derivatives and those who support and promote it. Muslims are patients and Islam is a disease. You want to help the patients to rid themselves of the affliction. You want to eradicate a horrifically communicable disease. Although many prefer to tackle the militant version of Islam, “Islamism,” for all intents and purposes, there is no sharp demarcation between, Islamists, Jihadists and Islamism. One and all are progeny of Islam itself. Any differences among the three are of degree and not kind. When one addresses Islamism and jihadism, their source is also addressed.

Regrettably, Islam cannot be reformed. Keep in mind that Islam claims it is the perfect eternal faith for mankind. Splits have occurred and will continue to occur in Islam. Yet, reformation has not happened in nearly 1400 years and is not going to happen. Islam is carved in granite, just the way it is. No change. Allah’s book is sealed.

In the monumental task of dealing with Islam and its variations, every individual, group and government must combine their resources and energies to prevail. We must urge all people to resist Islam’s encroachment and not be deceived by its sanitized version presented in non-Islamic lands. The destiny of civilized life hangs in the balance. Shirking of this responsibility would be an unpardonable act of every enlightened human being and organization that values human liberty and dignity. (Read more.)

The Beauty of Muslim Prayers

Who needs evidence for Islam when it produces such lovely prayers?

Late Muslim Reinterpretations of Surah 18:86

Kim is now defending Muhammad's massive blunder by quoting Bassam Zawadi, who in turn cites several Islamic interpreters from centuries after Muhammad's time in order to show that there's no error in the Qur'an.

How late are these scholars? Ar-Razi lived more than five centuries after Muhammad. Al-Baidawi and al-Qurtubi lived more than six centuries after Muhammad. Ibn Kathir lived more than seven centuries after Muhammad. Thus, they lived in a time when Muslims actually knew something about the comparative sizes of the sun and the earth.

So here's a rough outline of Kim's argument.

(1) Muhammad delivered a revelation to his followers. The Qur'an states (quite clearly) that Dhul-Qarnain reached the place where the sun sets, and that when he got there, he found the sun setting in a murky pool. The Qur'an claims to be perfectly clear, so any reinterpretation is cut off from the start. As if this weren't enough, we have a Sahih narration in Sunan Abu Dawud, according to which Muhammad told one of his companions that the sun does indeed set in a pool of water.

(2) Several centuries go by, and Muslims conquer lands all the way to Europe. As Muslims conquer these lands, they start learning about the universe from the works of actual scientists. By the time of ar-Razi, al-Baidawi, al-Qurtubi, and Ibn Kathir, Muslims (like everyone else on the planet) are well aware of the fact that the sun is quite massive compared to the earth. Thus, Muslim scholars were forced to reinterpret the Qur'an in light of actual scientific knowledge.

(3) Since these scholars interpret the Qur'an in a manner far more consistent with a scientific understanding of the world, we will ignore what the Qur'an actually says (along with its claims of perfect clarity), and we will ignore Muhammad's silly views of where the sun sets. That is, we'll throw out both the Qur'an and the Hadith. We will instead cling to the reinterpretations of late Muslim commentators who based their understanding of the universe on actual science rather than on the Qur'an.

(4) Hence, there's no scientific error in Surah 18:86.

Make sense? I didn't think so. Here are Kim's comments:

Imam Al-Baidawi notes,

He probably reached shore of the ocean and saw it like that because there was but water at the furthest of his sight that's why He says "he found it set" and does not say "it sets". (Al-Baidawi, Anwar-ut-Tanzil wa Asrar-ut-Taw'il, Volume 3, page 394. Published by Dar-ul-Ashraf, Cairo, Egypt)

Imam Al-Qurtubi states,

Al-Qaffal said: It is not meant by reaching the rising or setting of the sun that he reached its body and touched it because it runs in the sky around the earth without touching it and it is too great to enter any spring on earth. It is so much larger than earth. But it is meant that he reached the end of populated land east and west, so he found it - according to his vision - setting in a spring of a murky water like we watch it in smooth land as if it enters inside the land. That is why He said, "he found it rising on a people for whom we had provided no covering protection against the sun." (Holy Qur'ân 18:90) and did not mean that it touches or adheres to them; but they are the first to rise on.

Al-Qutabiy said: Probably this spring is a part of the sea and the sun sets behind, with or at it, so the proposition takes the place of an adjective and Allah knows best. (Al-Qurtubi, Al-Game' le Ahkam-el-Qur'an, Volume 16, page 47. Published by Dar-ul-Hadith, Cairo, Egypt. ISBN 977-5227-44-5)

Imam Fakhr-ud-Deen Ar-Razi states,

When Zul-Qarnain reached the furthest west and no populated land was left, he found the sun as if it sets in a dark spring, but it is not in reality. The same when sea traveler sees the sun as if it sets in the sea if he cannot see the shore while in reality it sets behind the sea. (Ar-Razi, At-Tafsir-ul-Kabir, Volume 21, page 166)

Imam Ibn Kathir states,

"Until, when he reached the setting of the sun" means he followed a certain way till he reached the furthest land he could go from the west. As for reaching the setting of the sun in the sky, it is impossible. What narrators and story tellers say about that he walked for a period of time in earth while the sun was setting behind him is unreal, and most of it is from myths of People of the Book and inventions of their liars.

"he found it set in a spring of murky water" means he saw the sun according to his vision setting in the ocean and this is the same with everyone ending to the shore seeing as if the sun sets inside it (i.e. the ocean).
(Ibn Kathir, Tafsir-ul-Qur'ân Al-'Azim, Volume 5, page 120. Published by Maktabat-ul-Iman, Mansoura, Egypt)

I believe this is adequate to refute the missionaries' imposed interpretation. And to Allah is the Judgement in all affairs.

From www.call-to-monotheism.com

Taking 1 hadith out of context aint gonna cut it. Neither is making youtube videos with your own interpretation.

So there you have it. Muslims from half a millennium after Muhammad reinterpret the passage because they know that, taken at face value, Surah 18:86 is obviously false. Science forced them to abandon the perfect clarity of the Qur'an. Science forced them to throw out a Sahih narration from the Hadith. Science forced them to commit innovation. Therefore, there's no error in the Qur'an.

Are you starting to understand how desperate and illogical Muslims are? Do you see how they will do absolutely anything to avoid the obvious problems in their book?

Notice how Kim throws her prophet under the bus. She writes:

Taking 1 hadith out of context aint gonna cut it. Neither is making youtube videos with your own interpretation.

Did anyone here take a hadith out of context? Let's look at the entire hadith:

Sunan Abu Dawud 3991—Abu Dharr said: I was sitting behind the Apostle of Allah who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water.

That's it. That's the entire hadith. So how did we rip the hadith out of context, Kim? I'll be generous. I'll let you invent a context, and I won't even demand evidence for it. Give me some context, any context, in which this hadith would make sense. If you can't come up with one, then you've just mocked your own prophet and thrown out a Sahih narration. If you're throwing out Sahih narrations, you don't know what the Shahada is. You don't know what the five pillars are. You don't even know how many times per day you should pray.

On a related note, we should ask ourselves what happens when we turn to a much earlier commentary. Kim has quoted Muslim scholars who come centuries after the time of Muhammad. Let's read the commentary of Muhammad's companion Ibn Abbas:

(They) the people of Mecca (will ask thee) O Muhammad (of Dhu'l-Qarnayn) about the event of Dhu'l-Qarnayn. (Say) to them, O Muhammad: (I shall recite unto you a remembrance of him) I shall recite to you an explanation of his event.

(Lo! We made him strong in the land and gave unto every thing a road) the knowledge of the roads and constellation.

(And he followed a road) he set out on a road,

(Till, when he reached the setting place of the sun) where the sun sets, (he found it setting in a muddy spring) a blackened, muddy and stinking spring; it is also said that this means: a hot spring, (and found a people thereabout) these people were disbelievers: (We said: O Dhu'l-Qarnayn!) We inspired him (Either punish) either kill them until they accept to believe that there is no deity except Allah (or show them kindness) or you pardon them and let them be.

Ever notice that, the closer we get to Muhammad, the less reinterpretation we find? Is this a coincidence? Not at all. Muhammad and his companions believed that the sun sets in a pool. Much later, Muslims realized that this is false, so they were forced to reinterpret the Qur'an's clear teachings. Now Muslims tell us that we must follow these radical reinterpretations of the text, and then they turn around and tell us that the Qur'an must be the word of God because of it's amazing scientific accuracy!

Welcome to Islam.

More Than 3000 Women/Girls Facing Forced Marriage Every Year . . . in Germany

If you even suggest that Islamic culture is incompatible with Western civilization, you're immediately branded a "racist," a "bigot," and an "Islamophobe." I wonder how much more research we need before reality kicks in.

GERMANY--More than 3,000 women and girls in Germany, most from Muslim families and many of them minors, faced forced marriage in the course of a year, official research released this week indicates.

The first federal study of its kind found 3,443 recorded cases in 2008 - the most recent year with sufficient data - in which people living in Germany were forced to wed or threatened with a forced marriage.

Most were between the ages of 18 and 21, although nearly a third of them were under the age of 17.

Almost all were female and the children of staunchly religious immigrant families, most frequently from countries including Turkey, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Those who force their own children to marry someone they don't love, or a perfect stranger, against their will are committing a brutal act of violence against them," Family Minister Kristina Schroeder said, presenting the study funded by her ministry.

More than half were beaten or otherwise physically abused to convince them to marry, while more than one in four were threatened with weapons or told they would be killed if they did not go through with the marriage. (Read more.)

Kim's "Research" Reaches a New Low

Oh boy. I had decided not to do any more posts in response to Kim, but I couldn't resist this one. Of course, I don't expect Kim to learn anything from this reply. But it will serve as a lovely illustration of how Muslims deal with arguments against Islam.

In a recent post, I quoted both the Qur'an and the Hadith on the setting of the sun:

Qur’an 18:83-86—And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnain. Say: “I shall recite to you something of his story.” Verily, We established him in the earth, and We gave him the means of everything. So he followed a way. Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water. And he found near it a people.

Sunan Abu Dawud 3991—Abu Dharr said: I was sitting behind the Apostle of Allah who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water.

I also put together a video on the subject:



Finally, I linked to a number of articles that give a far more thorough analysis, with many additional arguments and sources.

As I note in the video, the narration from Sunan Abu Dawud is classified as "Sahih" (meaning that it comes with a chain of reliable narrators going back to a companion of Muhammad). Since most of Islam's teachings come from Sahih ahadith, Muslims aren't supposed to reject a Sahih narration unless it contradicts the Qur'an.

How does the great investigator Kim answer my argument? She responds by giving a link to a brief article by Yahya Snow!

Seriously, Kim? Yahya Snow? YAHYA SNOW? When Kim was citing Bassam Zawadi and "Islam: Q&A," she was at least citing some apologists who know their material. Now she's gone directly to the bottom of the barrel by appealing to Yahya Snow. I actually have far, far more respect for even Nadir Ahmed and Osama Abdullah than I have for Yahya Snow. Nadir and Osama at least try to give evidence for their claims. Yahya makes things up and provides no evidence whatsoever, and then acts as if the problem has been solved! Let's have a look at Yahya's claims (and his awesomely deceptive video!). Here's the article:

Sun Sets in a Pool of Slime – Hadith?

It appears as though Christian missionaries are confusing folk concerning the sun setting in a pool of slimy water via a dubious narration. IslamOnline clears the confusion as the narration is not thought to have come from the Prophet Muhammad (p):

The author claims that Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) also explained it in a literal sense. He quoted a hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported as saying, “Do you know, Abu Dharr, where this sun sets?”

He answered, “God and His Messenger know better.”

Muhammad said, “It sets in a spring of slimy water.”

According to most authorities, this statement is not from Prophet Muhammad but it is attributed to Ka`b Al-Ahbar, a Jewish rabbi who converted to Islam and who reported this from the Torah, not from Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).”



IslamOnline’s clarification of the reference to Zul Qarnain in Quran 18:86 can be viewed here:

http://infad.usim.edu.my/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=8851

Well, that's it. That's Yahya's entire case. I quoted the Qur'an and a Sahih Hadith. He responds by claiming, in effect, "Most scholars tell us that the Jews said it, not Muhammad," and voila! Problem solved! He doesn't give us a single scholar who says that the source of the quotation is a Jew and not Muhammad. He doesn't show us where this teaching is found in the Torah (since he declares that it comes from the Torah). He doesn't give us the arguments or reasoning of his mysterious "scholars." He doesn't show us how actual scholars such as Abu Dawud, Zamakshari, and Ibn Hanbal were fooled into including such a dubious Hadith in their collections. He doesn't explain why Darussalam's scholars, to this day, classify the Hadith as "Sahih." He simply says, "The Jews did it," and that's enough for him and for Muslims like Kim.

Is everyone starting to catch on? The evidence simply doesn't matter to Yahya or Kim. No matter how much evidence we produce, they'll simply respond, "Jews." We've seen this over and over again from Osama and others. They constantly place the errors and blunders of their prophet on the backs of Jews and Christians (and I thought Muslims reject substitutionary atonement!).

Wow! When honesty and integrity go out the window, so much is possible for Muslim apologists!

Michigan Court Rules: Dearborn Judge Mark Somers Violated Constitutional Rights of Pastor Terry Jones

Whether you agree with Terry Jones or not, all Americans should support his Constitutional rights. You may not agree with burning books (I certainly don't), but you should agree with a person's right to burn them. Dearborn Judge Mark Somers (the same judge who tried to get us convicted of "breach of peace" after Nabeel dared speak to young Muslims at the 2010 Arab Festival) threw Jones in jail for attempting to hold a peaceful protest across the street from a Dearborn mosque. Whatever his intentions were, the reality is that Judge Somers enforced Sharia in the United States. Fortunately, a higher court has overturned his deplorable decision.

Michigan--On Thursday, Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski ruled that Jones' constitutional rights were violated when the Wayne County Prosecutor and Dearborn District Judge Mark W. Somers required Jones and his associate pastor, Wayne Sapp, to take out a "peace bond" in order to hold a demonstration against "radical elements of Islam and Sharia" outside the Islamic Center of America.

Ziolkowski overturned Somers' ruling in April on First Amendment grounds, said Jones' attorneys.

The Wayne County Circuit Court judge also reversed the District Court judge's order of a three-year injunction that ordered Jones to stay away from the vicinity of the Islamic Center of America, where he planned his rally against "radical Islam and Sharia."
Jones applauded the ruling.

"We are very pleased that the decision of Judge Somers to ban us from exercising our free speech rights was overturned yesterday," Jones said in a release today. "Justice has been done, and the most important part of the American system has been protected, our First Amendment." (Read more.)

James White: Can We Trust the New Testament Documents?

Obama Administration Aiding Saudi Crackdown on Western Values

What's the problem? A little Sharia and Jihad never hurt anyone.

SAUDI ARABIA--The ascent of the latest dictator-in-waiting spells the death of reform for the Saudi Kingdom. Bloggers, dissidents, reformists are all feeling the pressure—and Obama is tacitly abetting the crackdown.

When King Abdullah appointed Prince Naif heir to the Saudi throne, congratulations poured in from leaders around the world. President Obama was no exception. “I congratulate King Abdullah and the Saudi people on the selection of Prince Naif as crown prince. We in the United States know and respect him for his strong commitment to combating terrorism and supporting regional peace and security” he said. “The United States looks forward to continuing our close partnership with Crown Prince Naif in his new capacity as we strengthen the deep and longstanding friendship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.”

Who is Crown Prince Naif? For the past three and a half decades, he has run the Interior Ministry and waged war on Saudi liberals, dissidents and human rights activists. Naif oversees a system of extreme repression. Bloggers have been arrested, hundreds of thousands of websites censored and cinemas banned. Just weeks ago, three Saudi filmmakers were imprisoned for making a movie about poverty in the Kingdom. Men like Abdul Hamid Al Fakki are beheaded for the crime of “sorcery” and Hadi Al Mutif imprisoned for two decades for making a joke about religion.

President Obama’s boilerplate diplomatic platitude may seem harmless, but it is demoralizing Saudi dissidents and liberals who have faced Naif’s wrath for over three decades. “We’re headed toward the medieval ages” a leading Saudi blogger told me on condition of anonymity. “Jihad is coming! The infidels are going to burn!” he exclaimed mocking Naif. “I’m really worried that a decade of our dreams as liberal dissidents is going to be demolished in a single second. What takes years to build can break down in a second.”

In November 1990, forty-seven women drove in the Kingdom and were summarily arrested. Twenty thousand fundamentalists gathered in Riyadh calling the women “whores” and one week later, it was Naif who officially announced that women are forbidden from driving.

In 2002, fifteen Saudi girls were killed when the religious police blocked them from fleeing their burning school because they were not properly covered. Saudi newspapers demanded an investigation, but it was Naif who ordered an end to all editorials on the subject. Two years later, Naif said of Saudi elections “[W]omen’s participation is out of the question.”

In 2009, The Economist asked of Naif “Could a tough interior minister be a reforming king?” This is the oldest game in Washington. No matter how draconian or repressive a particular Saudi King or prince, gullible Western journalists speculate if they are quietly working for “reform.” Not Naif: He personally threatened to “cut off the tongues” of any Saudi reformist.

Should the leader of the free world congratulate an unelected theocratic dictator for appointing his half-brother dictator-in-waiting? Hardly. Rather, he should have used the opportunity to apply greater pressure on the Saudi regime to dismantle the guardianship system that turns women into virtual slaves forbidding them from traveling or working without a man’s permission. Saudi Arabia’s DC embassy openly states on its website “Ladies cannot apply for a transit visa if not accompanied by a male relative.” Imagine the outrage if a South African embassy had stipulated, “Blacks cannot apply for a transit visa if not accompanied by a white owner.”

The President also should have withheld his congratulations until Crown Prince Naif apologizes for his outrageous and offensive remark that Zionists were behind the attacks of September 11, 2001. (Read more.)

The Rapist Mullah Cult

Unbelievable, but current statistics reveal that 700 Catholic Christian girls, in Pakistan, each year, are forced into Islam via rape and kidnapping. Some are even sold abroad.

Read the article here:

http://www.humanrights.asia/news/forwarded-news/AHRC-FST-037-2011

In Pakistani Sindh, the estimated number of 40.000 Hindu girls have been exposed to such attrocities, in which they forcibly turned to Islam.

The situation is currently so devastating, that some now refer to 'The Rapist Mullah Cult':

http://alufaq.com/rapist-mullah-cult-abstract-analysis

Victims/Families of Fort Hood Massacre Sue U.S. Government for Willful Negligence

And they should win. Major Nidal Malik Hasan was an obvious threat to his fellow military personnel. But officials refused to step in due to political correctness. Thirteen soldiers died because their leaders were sniveling cowards.

Associated Press--More than 80 victims and family members in the worst-ever mass shooting at a U.S. military installation are seeking $750 million in compensation from the Army, alleging that willful negligence enabled psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan to carry out a terrorist attack at Fort Hood, Texas.

The administrative claims filed last week say the government had clear warnings that Hasan, who is scheduled to go on trial in March, posed a grave danger to the lives of soldiers and civilians.

The victims and family members allege that the government bowed to political correctness and not only ignored the threat Hasan presented but actually promoted him to the rank of major five months before the massacre two years ago that left 13 dead and more than two dozen wounded. (Source)

Here's a discussion of Hasan's PowerPoint presentation, where he explained Jihad with perfect clarity, long before he started shooting.

New Answering Islam Articles

Answering Islam (the Mother of All Counter-Islam websites) has posted a collection of new material. Some of the new articles are:

Oskar, "The End of the Quran as Muslims Know It: Today’s Quran in the Light of Its Early Manuscripts"

Sam Shamoun, "Does the Quran Really Deny That a Person Can Bear the Sins of Another?"

Sam Shamoun, "More Deceptive Tactics from a Leading Muslim Taqiyyist: Who Can Forgive Sins but God Alone?"

Sam Shamoun, "The Identity of the pre-Islamic Allah at Mecca"

Sam Shamoun, "The Rise and Fall of Islam’s Greenhorn – A Muslim Dawagandist Undermines the Perspicuity and Sufficiency of the Quran"

Masud Masihiyyen, "Joseph the Carpenter in Islam: A Comparative Analysis between Christianity and Islam"

Click here for the full update.

Dispatches: Pakistani Rape-Gangs Targeting Young White Girls in the UK

The only positive news in this episode of "Dispatches" is that some members of the Pakistani community want to combat the problem. I have my doubts, of course, that preaching Islam will help anyone deal with the trend. The Qur'an degrades non-Muslims (Qur'an 98:6) and allows men to rape their female captives (23:6, 70:30), teachings which undoubtedly fuel the attitudes seen in this video.

Is Jesus God?

A debate between Diaa Mohamed from mypeace.com.au and Samuel Green. 25th October 2011 at the University of Techonology Sydney.

Qur'an Error: Does the Sun Set in a Muddy Spring? (Surah 18:86)

According to the Qur'an (18:86), a man named Dhul-Qarnain reached the place where the sun sets. When he got there, he found the sun going down into a muddy pool. Muslim apologists commonly reinterpret the passage, but only because they're ignoring Muhammad's commentary.



Since Muslims in the West claim that science confirms the Qur'an, we should work diligently to explain to them what the Qur'an says, and how Muhammad obviously interpreted it. The following two quotations, when used together, are devastating and unanswerable:

Qur’an 18:83-86—And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnain. Say: “I shall recite to you something of his story.” Verily, We established him in the earth, and We gave him the means of everything. So he followed a way. Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water. And he found near it a people.

Sunan Abu Dawud 3991—Abu Dharr said: I was sitting behind the Apostle of Allah who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water.

For more on Muhammad, the Qur'an, and the setting of the sun, here are some articles:

INTRODUCTIONS:
Sam Shamoun, "Muhammad and the Sun's Setting Place"
Cornelius, "The Sun in the Muddy Pool and the Prophethood of Muhammad"

LONGER WORKS:
Sam Shamoun and Jochen Katz, "Islam and the Setting of the Sun"
Martin Taverille, "Dhu’l Qarnayn and the Sun Controversy in the Qur’an: New Evidence"

In case you missed the first entry in this series:

Muhammad in Christianity & Islam

A debate between Mustafa Al Shakarji and Samuel Green.

Pat Condell: Useful Idiots for Palestine

Taliban Cowards Pressure Little Girls to Carry Out Their Suicide Bombings

Will Muslims around the world march through the streets condemning such treatment of young girls? Don't hold your breath. But if Terry Jones burns another Qur'an, watch out. Talk about moral depravity.

Islam's Impact on World Affairs

Zakir Naik Refuted

I'll be posting a refutation of Zakir Naik in the next day or two. In the meantime, here's a video to pique everyone's interest in Zakir's arguments.

Islam and Slavery

Islam thrives in an atmosphere of ignorance, for ignorance of Islam's teachings allows Muslims to deceive unbelievers. For instance, in the West, Muslim apologists often claim that Christianity promotes slavery and racism, while Islam advocates liberation and equality. Such nonsense often goes unquestioned, for people don't know enough to challenge the absurd claims.

The Danish Muhammad Cartoons: A History

A few days ago, the Paris headquarters of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was firebombed.

Though the magazine regularly mocks the beliefs of both Catholics and Protestants, its offices were only destroyed after publishing a recent cartoon of Muhammad, and claiming that Islam's prophet is the latest editor-and-chief.

The violent response to this cartoon is connected to the publication of the Danish Muhammad cartoons in 2005. After Muslim outrage erupted around the world, Charlie Hebdo republished the cartoons in 2006 and was later sued by Muslims.

The Telegraph has put together a brief history of the Muhammad cartoons:

2005

September 30

A series of cartoons, some depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist with a bomb, are published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

October 17

Egyptian newspaper al-Fagr reprints some of the cartoons, slamming them as a "continuing insult" and a "racist bomb".

October 20

Ambassadors from 10 Islamic countries complain to the Danish prime minister about the cartoons.

2006

January 10

A Norwegian newspaper reprints the cartoons.

January 26

Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador to Denmark. Libya closes its embassy in Copenhagen.

January 30

Gunmen raid the EU's offices in Gaza, demanding an apology over the cartoons.

January 31

The Danish paper apologises. The Danish prime minister welcomes the apology but says the freedom of the press must be upheld.

February 1

Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint the caricatures, defying Muslim outrage.

February 2

The editor of the French newspaper France Soir is fired for printing the cartoons.

February 4

Syrians attack Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus.

February 5

Lebanese demonstrators torch the Danish embassy in Beirut, sparking Interior Minister Hassan Sabeh's resignation.

February 7

Hundreds of Iranians attack the Danish embassy in Tehran as Iran cuts trade ties with Denmark.

February 8

French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo publishes the cartoons along with its own front page of Mohammed, lamenting fundamentalist violence, saying: "It's hard to be loved by imbeciles." French President Jacques Chirac condemns decisions to reprint the cartoons as "overt provocation".

February 9

Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims in Lebanon protest during a religious ceremony.

February 10

Thousands protest over the cartoons outside a conference in Kuala Lumpur, in which Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi claims a huge chasm has opened between the West and Islam.

February 12

Denmark's foreign ministry urges all Danes to leave Indonesia over security fears.

February 13

A leading Iranian newspaper, the Hamshahri Daily, launches a cartoon contest about the Holocaust, to "test" the boundaries of free speech for Westerners.

February 14

Pakistani security guards shoot dead two protesters in Lahore.

British and German embassies in Iran and Basra city council in southern Iraq come under attack, amid calls for Danish troops to leave the country.

February 15

Three people die in the Pakistan cities of Peshawar and Lahore.

Italian government minister Roberto Calderoli says he is distributing T-shirts displaying the controversial cartoons.

February 17

At least 10 people are killed and several injured in Benghazi, Libya during a protest outside the Italian consulate.

Denmark temporarily closes its embassy in Pakistan over security fears and briefly recalls its ambassador. Pakistan makes 100 arrests.

February 18

Sixteen people are killed in attacks against Christians in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri.

Italian reform minister Calderoni resigns, sparking suspension of Libyan Interior Minister Nasr al-Mabrouk over the Benghazi rioting.

Police reportedly open fire at demonstrators in the eastern Pakistan town of Chaniot, injuring four.

February 19

Protest in Islamabad, Pakistan, in defiance of ban.

Tens of thousands of protesters march against Denmark, Israel and the United States, at a rally in Istanbul, Turkey.

2007

February 6

Several Muslim groups take French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to court for publicly "insulting" Islam by publishing controversial Danish cartoons, Charlie Hebdo's director and editor-in-chief, Philippe Val, described the trial as a "witch hunt." Francois Hollande, then Socialist party secretary, and centrist presidential candidate Francois Bayrou also testified in favour of freedom of expression.

February 7

Letter read out in court from Nicolas Sarkozy, then interior minister, who said he preferred "too many caricatures to an absence of caricature".

The French newspaper Libération reprints the Mohammed cartoons anew.

March 22

The head of Charlie Hebdo, cleared of "racial insults" for publishing controversial Danish cartoons.

Court rules that Philippe Val is free to publish such cartoons, which it says targeted Islamic fundamentalists but not Muslims in general.

March 26

United Nations Human Rights Council adopts non-binding text proposed by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic states which "prohibits the defamation of religion", despite wide concerns that it could be used to justify curbs on free speech in Muslim countries.

July 13

Danish Muslim organisation loses a libel court case against the Danish People's Party for publicising the cartoon. The group, the Islamic Faith Community, threatens a fatwa against Jyllands-Posten unless the paper apologises.

July 18

Mizanur Rahman, 24, Umran Javed, 27, and Abdul Muhid, 24, are each jailed for six years for soliciting to murder after telling a crowd to bomb the UK.

Abdul Saleem, 32, is jailed for four years for stirring up racial hatred at the protest in 2006. The men are from London and Birmingham.

2008

February 12

Danish police arrested several people suspected of planning to assassinate the cartoonist who drew the turban cartoon.

February 13

Several Danish newspapers, including Jyllands-Posten, reprint one of the cartoons.

March 19

A video allegedly from Osama bin Laden threatens the EU over the reprinting of the cartoon, which he claims is part of a "new Crusade" against Islam, in which he said the Pope has played a "large and lengthy role."

2010

January 1

Mohamed Geele, a 28-year-old Somali Muslim intruder armed with an axe and knife enters Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard's house, screaming "You must die!" and "You are going to Hell!". He is shot and wounded by police.

Danish intelligence say he has links to Somalia's Islamist movement Al-Shabab.

September 8

German Chancellor Angela Merkel honours cartoonist Kurt Westergaard with M100 media prize for his "courage" to defend democratic values despite threats of violence and death.

December 29

Danish and Swedish intelligence services arrest five men for allegedly planning to "to kill as many of the people present as possible" in the Jyllands-Posten Copenhagen newsdesk.

2011

February 3

Mohamed Geele, the Somali who broke into the home of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is convicted of attempted murder and terrorism, and jailed for nine years.

February 17

"Day of Rage" in Libya and by the Conference for the Libyan Opposition, which turns into anti-Gaddafi rally but was initially to commemorate the 10 deaths in anti-cartoon demonstrations in Benghazi on 17 February 2006.

November 2

French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices are burned in an apparent arson attack on the day after it publishes an issue with the Prophet Muhammed as its "editor-in-chief". He is depicted on the front page saying: "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter".

All of this outrage and violence is the Muslim response to cartoons. And yet the media and our politicians continue to assure us that there is no conflict between Islam and Western values.