The Arabic Language and Philosophy

A brilliant quote from here:

"In modern analytical philosophy, there is hardly anything in
Arabic or any other Islamic tongue. Philosophical discussion is best
conducted in English. Owing to the grammatical limitations of
Arabic, it is impossible to express most philosophical claims with an
acceptable degree of rigour and clarity. Moreover Arabic is a
devotional language lacking the vocabulary requisite for detached
discussion of controversial matters."

Muslim philosopher, Shabbir Akhtar who taught at the International
Islamic University in Malaysia

Interpretation and the Quran

The doctrine of the infallibility of the consensus, far
from allowing some liberty of reasoning as one might have expected,
worked in favour of a progressive narrowing and hardening of doctrine.
By the beginning of 900 C.E., Islamic Law became rigidly fixed because
Muslim scholars felt that all essential questions had been thoroughly
discussed and finally settled, and a consensus gradually established
itself to the effect that henceforth no one might be deemed to have
the necessary qualifications for independent reasoning in law, and
that all future activity would have to be confined to the explanation,
application, and, at most, interpretation of the doctrine as it had
been laid down once and for all. This closing of the gate of
independent reasoning, in effect, meant the unquestioning acceptance
of the doctrines of established schools and authorities. Islamic Law
became increasingly rigid and set in its final mould.

Ibn Warraq. From Islam-watch

Great article for those who think that the Quran and the ahadiith (plural of hadith) can be reinterpreted in a way that will be more amenable to life in the 21st Century. Islam cannot be reinterpret. There is no room for interpretation. Period. An attempt to reinterpret is to transgress the boundries of Islamic orthodoxy.

BTW, the Islamic word for interpretation of the Quran is ijtihaad. It is a gerund, and is actually derived from the same trilateral root as the word jihad.

Modern Muslima on Christian Missionaries

Modern Muslima is a a magazine for Modern Muslim women (Muslima is the Arabic word for a female Muslim). I enjoyed reading this article because it shows how Muslims, in particular here, how Muslim women, are taught to respond to Christian missionaries.

The article starts off with some interesting information about the acculturation chart. It is explained fairly well and the folks at Modern Muslima seem particularly alarmed about C5 missionaries, and perhaps C4 missionaries as well.

Last night I hung out with three friends of mine and we played Risk (I won, alhamdulillah, with a last minute sweep through Asia) and we discussed these questions. Not one of us thought that C5 was appropriate or healthy, or, as this article mentions, honest. So there we are in agreement.

I will take issue with one of the topics raised: Muslims are told that when engaged with questions about the Quran or Islam to send the person to a local imam. I am sorry but that just seems like intellectual and spiritual laziness to me. If Muslims really believe that the Quran is word-for-word from God, then they should be able to answer basic questions about the book and the religion. I believe that this approach is in fact one of the most negative aspects of Islam: Muslims are neither encouraged to scrutinize their religion nor to ask difficult questions.

Second note: in different sections of the article, it is stated that most Muslim states prohibit evangelism, and then that missionaries often refer to the "sorry" state of Muslim women throughout Islamdom. Is there any attempt to link the two concepts by Modern Muslima? Nope. In fact the two things are inextricably related: evangelism is prohibited because Islam teaches that religious freedom is blasphemous; Islam teaches that women must be treated as a form of property for men. Denying religious freedom (evangelism and conversion) and denying women freedom (education, civil liberties, work) flow from the same intolerant civilization.

One wonders if the Muslim women at Modern Muslima have ever considered what would happen to their publication if secular government built on a Judeo-Christian heritage were to cede to an Islamic government. A better solution than sending your kids to an Islamic school or not allowing them to go to sleep-overs might be to actually start asking some hard questions about Islam, rather than just assuming that the religious men (and all imams are men) will figure it out. Sloth is a capital sin. The one who overcomes slothfulness will ask hard questions; the one who asks hard questions is one who searches; one who searches will find.

Here is the link: Secret War

Hopes for Democracy Fade in Saudi

Democracy and Islam are mutually exclusive. While some have tried to justify the combination of the two ideologies I think it is, in the long term impossible.

Islam brings together all power and sovereignty and is unable to understand or implement the division of power that comes with democratic government. To divide power among groups or individuals (democracy), or to even attempt to separate in any genuine or significant way the religious from the civil is to divide power. And to divide power is to divide God.

Note how this differs from the Trinitarian understanding of Christianity, and the example of Jesus who in fact confers great power upon his Apostles: "What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven..." Yet this power clearly does not extend to any form of explicit governance beyond the Kingdom of God.

Most significantly, to divide power is to violate the example of Muhammad who accumulated for himself in a radical way every possible spehere of influence and exercise of power without any qualification whatsoever. In the name of God, of course.

Here is the link at IHT.

Links on the Islamification of Europe

Will Sweden Establish a Muslim Region?

Critic of Islam in Norway Assaulted

I do want to note that the website linked above is not Christian, so the tone of the remarks is rather angry and not charitable. It also does not see the clash of Christendom and Islamdom through the eyes of faith. But I think the stories nevertheless contain some interesting info, they are both short.

More on the Martyrs in Turkey

From my Christian friend in Turkey. A little long, and some parts have been removed, and a few names too, but overall a very important story. Especially see the part at the bottom about the future of the Christian mission to Turkey (in bold):

Dear brothers and sisters,
We would like to give you an update about what
happened last Wednesday (18 April 2007) in Malatya,
Turkey.

   As you know last Wednesday five young people killed
our three brothers. They didn’t only slit their
throats but they tortured them almost two and a half
hours. Two killers first became friends with our
brothers. They said they became Christians and they
even went out to give out free New Testaments on the
streets with them. They also joined the Easter service
in Malatya. Last Wednesday morning they went to the
office and began to chat with our friends. Then three
other men came to the office and the tragedy began
after that. They had pistols and knives and threatened
them and then bound their hands and feet. They put
gags in their mouths. They first slit the German
brother’s throat in the other room. They began to
torture our Turkish brothers. One of the doctors who
conducted the autopsy told one of the national
newspapers that he has never seen something like this.
The killers cut Ugur’s penis, anus and different parts
of his body. They did the same thing to Necati too.
There was a very big hole at Ugur’s throat. They
knifed them more then 150 times. Maybe you can ask
yourselves why we are giving you these details.
Because this shows how much our brothers were in pain.


   Another brother who was not at the office at that
time went to the office and tried to open the door
with his key. He discovered that the door was locked
inside. He then called Necati and asked him if
everything was okay. Necati told him they were not at
the office and having a meeting in a hotel and he told
him not to come to the office. He understood something
was wrong as he also heard some one was crying in
pain. He immediately called the police and tried to
open the door. When the policemen came to the office
the people inside didn’t open the door. The police
said they cut the two Turkish brothers throats while
the police were trying to open the door. The leader of
the attackers tried to escape from the balcony. He
fell down from the third floor and is still in coma. 

   I was planing to go to Malatya last Wednesday. I
talked to some other Christian friends on the phone
and they told me many Christians were going there and
they told me to go to Izmir for Necati’s funeral. 

   U’s family got his body and did an Islamic
funeral for him in his village in Elazig. U was 32
years old. He became a Christian two years ago. He
even changed his religion officialy and his identity
card showed his religion was Christianity. Ugur’s
family is Muslim and they insisted on an Islamic
funeral for their son. U was engaged with Nurcan.
When we were in Diyarbakir our Christian friend who
had shared the Gospel with Ugur had come to visit us
there. Then he went to Elazig to visit U and asked
me if I also wanted to go with him. I didn’t go to
Elazig to see U with my friend. I wish I would
have.  Please pray for Nurcan and also for U’s
family. 

   Four of us went to Izmir for the funeral of Necati
last Saturday (21 April 2007). N was 35 years old
and was married to Semsa and they had one daughter
named Ester Bahar and one son named Elisa Aydin. There
were almost 400 people at the funeral. Christians went
to the funeral from different parts of Turkey. Of
course there were many journalists and television
cameras at the funeral. There were many policemen to
protect us at the funeral. I also wanted to talk to
N’s wife S and waited to talk to her. While I
was waiting there I saw N’s daughter E B
and my daughter came to my mind at that
time. The tears came from my eyes. We heard E
B asked her mother, “Mumy, where is my father? I
miss him much!”. Her mother replied to her, “He is in
Heaven now!”. Then E B said, “I miss him much.
Tell him to come now and then he can go back”. On the
way back home my wife N called me and told me our
daughter wanted to talk to me. She told me, “Daddy,
where are you? Why did you go? I miss
you daddy!”. [...]

   Both wives said they forgave the
killers. The people in Turkey were waiting for them to
say ‘We are in great sorrow and we want justice and
revenge!’. T’s wife S read Luke 23:34
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
are doing”. This was also in the newspapers and on the
television news too. We are sure they will miss their
husbands much. We know to take revenge is easy but to
forgive is the greatest.

   T’s wife S said they will not leave
Malatya and will continue to stay there. She said they
love Turkey and they believe God will give a greater
beginning for Malatya and Turkey. Amen! S wanted
her husband buried in Malatya. So the funeral for
T was in Malatya. T’s family still lives in
Malatya and their children are going to Turkish
school. 

   We know our brothers are with Jesus Christ in
Heaven. We want to do our best for their families. We
will invite N’s and T’s family to XXXXXXX,
also U’s fiancé N. We wish to encourage them.
We are also praying for their needs. We heard Semsa
will go with her two children to live with her sister.
We are planing to collect offerings for their needs.
Please pray the Lord may provide all their needs. 

These three brothers are the first martyries in modern
Turkey. This is a new beginning for the Turkish
Christians and for the Turkish churches. We believe
God is going to do greater things in Turkey. 

   Many Muslims are also sorry for what happened to
these Christians but anyway a small group of people
are happy about their deaths and they openly explain
their joy on some websites. I was at the barber shop
and two men were talking about this tragedy. One of
them said this was a carnage. The other man replied to
him “If they sell Bibles this can happen! Because they
were missionaries this happened to them!”. 

   A newspaper said Christians will leave Turkey. What
will we do? Are we going to leave our country? Are we
going to escape? No!  We will not go anywhere. We will
continue to live in our country and share the Gospel
with these lost people. Satan wants us to have fear
but we will not. These people showed us the most they
can do. Our brothers were faithful until death and we
will follow their examples. 

   Last Sunday one young man came to the church after
the church service and he said he wants to join to the
church services. A Christian sister’s Muslim friend
asked her if she could bring a New Testament for her
as she decided to read it. We are sure many people
will also want to learn about our belief in Jesus
Christ after this tragedy. 

Please contiue to pray for the Christians and the
churches in Turkey as many of us are getting threats.

Sorry this letter is so long.

Thank you very much for praying for us and for Turkey.

God bless and protect you.

Love in Jesus Christ,
XXXXXX  XXXXXX

Islamdom Rising in Indonesia

"But there is also fear that the global rise of militant fundamentalism has begun to change Indonesia. With democracy’s arrival, radical Islamists were allowed to return from exile, where the former military government had sent them. That was followed by the terrorist bombing of a nightclub on the predominantly Hindu island of Bali in 2002, in which 200 people died, then by other bombings in Jakarta and Bali, again. The government says it has seriously weakened Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorism network blamed for those attacks. But the Islamic Defenders Front, less lethal but more numerous, still vandalizes bars and discos in Jakarta and beats up their patrons, trying to force the businesses to close.

"Meanwhile, Islamic observance has turned more conservative. Many more women wear the veil. And Islamic political parties have gained strength by arguing that they can do something about Indonesia’s endemic corruption and violence."

From the NYT

An Islamic View of Muhammad

He is entirely different from the people among whom he is born and with whom he spends his youth and early manhood. He never tells a lie. The whole nation is unanimous in testifying to his truthfulness. . . . He is the very embodiment of modesty in the midst of a society which is immodest to the core. . . . He helps the orphans and the widows. He is hospitable to travelers. He harms no one . . . [He] is such a lover of peace that his heart melts for the people when they take up arms and cut each other’s throats. . . . In brief, the towering and radiant personality of this man, in the midst of such a corrupted and dark environment, may be likened to a beacon-light brightening a pitch-dark night or to a diamond in a heap of dead stones. . . . [After he begins to deliver the message of Islam the] ignorant nation turns against him. Abuses and stones are showered at his august person. Every conceivable torture and cruelty is perpetrated upon him. . . . Can anyone ever imagine a higher example of self-sacrifice, brotherliness and kind-heartedness towards his fellow beings than that a man would ruin his happiness for the good of others, while those very people for whose betterment he is striving should stone him, abuse him, banish him, and give him no quarter even in his exile, and that, in spite of this all, he should refuse to stop working for their well being? . . . When he began preaching his Message, all of Arabia stood in awe and wonder and was bewitched by his wonderful eloquence and oratory. It was so impressive and captivating that his worst enemies were afraid of hearing it, lest it should penetrate deep into the recesses of their hearts and carry them off their feet making them forsake their old religion and culture. It was so matchless that the whole legion of Arab poets, preachers, and speakers of the highest caliber failed to bring forth its equivalent. . . . This reserved and quiet man who, for a full forty years, never gave any indication of political interest or activity, suddenly appeared on the stage of the world as such a great political reformer and statesman that without the aid of radio, telephone and press, he brought together the scattered inhabitants of a desert extending across twelve hundred thousand square miles. He joined together a people who were warlike, ignorant, unruly, uncultured, and plunged in self-destructive trivial warfare—under one banner, one law, one religion, one culture, one civilization, and one form of government. . . . He accomplished this feat not through any lure, oppression or cruelty, but by his captivating manner, his winsome personality, and the conviction of his teaching. With his noble and gentle behavior, he befriended even his enemies. He captured the hearts of the people with his boundless sympathy and human kindness. . . . He did not oppress even his deadly enemies, men who had sworn to kill him . . . He forgave them all when he triumphed over them. He never took revenge on anyone for his personal grievances. He never retaliated against anyone for the wrongs perpetrated on him. . . . It was he who turned the course of human thought away from superstition, the unnatural and the unexplainable, towards a logical approach illustrating a love for truth and a balanced worldly life. . . . In the cavalcade of world history, the sublime figure of this wonderful person towers so high above all the great men of all times that they appear to be dwarfs when contrasted to him. . . . Can anyone cite another example of a maker of history of such distinction, another revolutionary of such brilliance and splendor?

From Abul A’la Mawdudi, Towards Understanding Islam (Islamic Circle of North America, 1986), pp. 52-67.

Arabs for Christ

This is a great website. It has information on the various countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and it has a message board, so you can post questions on there or contribute to an ongoing discussion.

Arabs for Christ

And the message board:

Forum (Message Board)

The person who runs this site was in my country several months ago and with some other folks we did a prayer walk around the largest mosque in the city. It was a blessing.

The Quran-Only Movement

There is a movement in Islam and to be honest I find it highly encouraging. It is the 'Quran Only' movement, and it seeks to shed the influence of the hadiith about Muhammad's life. This is a very good thing. The Quran contains so many different kinds of statements that it can be--with difficulty mind you--interpreted in such a way that it respects human rights to a much greater degree than Islam does in general today.

But just as Christians interpret the Bible through the lens of the Nicene Creed, or the Reformation debates about justification, or what have you, Muslims have (almost) always interpreted the Quran through the lens of the hadiith about Muhammad's life. And that life, unfortunately, was quite bloody and characterized by aggression.

But here is a link to a website of a man who espouses the Quran-only version of Islam. It is a small movement but I hope to grows. Here he is talking about Islam and terrorism, specifically 9/11.

A final note: One of the main things about Quran-only Islam is that it need not insist that the texts of the Bible is corrupted. That is not a teaching in the Quran at all. It is firmly ensconced in the hadiith though.

When Murder is Legal in Iran

"Iran's Islamic penal code, a parallel system to its civic code, says murder charges can be dropped if the accused can prove the killing was done because the victim was morally corrupt.

"This is true even if the killer mistakenly identified the victim as corrupt. In that case, the law requires "blood money" to be paid to the family. Every year in Iran, a senior cleric determines the amount of blood money required in such cases. This year it is $40,000 if the victim is a Muslim man, and half that for a Muslim woman or a non-Muslim."

From IHT

When I say 'Catholic' I mean...

'Catholic' is a Latin word and it simply means 'universal.' When we confess that we believe in 'one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church,' what we mean is what Sharon is describing in her blog:

And what did the three of us get up to sitting at that kitchen table? Well, we just prayed together; one in Arabic, one in Chinese and one in English, and to be honest, my skin prickled at the realization that we three, so different in our appearance, cultures and tongues, are One in Christ. We all have different stories of faith, different ways in which we came to belong to Him, but the same joy of salvation and love of one another in our hearts.

From Running the Race

The Prophet: Married Aisha at Age Six; Sex at Nine

Here is a good link. Let me tell you all how impressed I am by the work of answering-islam.org. It is, in my opinion, the single best website for Muslim apologetics on the entire web. There are other great sites (especially islamiyat in Arabic), but there is nothing quite like answering-islam.org.

Here are a number of references to the fact that Muhammad married Aisha when she was six, and had sex with her when she was nine year old. For example:

Narrated Aisha:
The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became all right, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's Blessing and a good luck." Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah's Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234)

Narrated 'Aisha:
that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64; see also Numbers 65 and 88)

From Answering-Islam.org