In part, Bob Evans wrote, "Please, respect our intellects, we aren’t
some fools."
Well Bob, even the wisest of us is fooled from time to time.
If Mankind survives His need to invent All Powerful Beings to guide us
with absolute wisdom, then we will arrive in a time where these Holy
Books are read as Folk Lore, for the purpose of gleaning some idea of
how our ancestors thought and behaved.
But as long as we strain our minds attempting to prove that there
truly is some Omnipotent Being who created the universe and Man as the
dominant life upon this all important speck of rock, then we'll never
get down to understanding this vast Space, and what is truly a Wonder
to Behold.
This is not to say that there is not great value in what many call our
Holy Books.
But there is as much to be learned by reading Great Books from around
the world. Literature teaches us much, even though the stories are
fictional. We see into the hearts and minds of people in different
cultures and in different times.
I gave ten years of my life being locked into the belief that this
universe is ruled by a Supreme Being, and that there is absolute
Truth, and that Evil is a real Spirit. While I continue to explore
the belief that there is much going on in this Universe that is beyond
our present ability to understand, and that there might be some
Absolutes that are, as of yet, unknown, I cannot find a shred of
evidence that Man was a special creation of an All Wise Being. That,
my friend, is our own Demon...our Pride and Conceit.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/6/17, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Okay, I just did some sincere pondering. My conclusion is that I am not
going to sacrifice anything for some fairy tale character.
On 8/6/2017 2:01 AM, Bob Evans wrote:
What is the sacrifice chronicle? It is basically the story when
Abraham saw in a vision that he sacrifices his son. This chronicle is
related in both Islam and Christianity. The only difference between
the two accounts, that the Muslim narrative recognises the one offered
in sacrifice to be prophet Ishmael whilst in the Biblical tradition,
it says prophet Isaac, was the one offered in sacrifice. Apologists
for both religions tend to make this a grave subject of dispute for
centuries. To be perfectly fair, the Koran doesn’t mention explicitly
that the one offered in sacrifice was Ishmael. So why Muslims insist
that he was? There are at least two reasons for that. First, the
chronological mention of Isaac’s birth, the sacrifice account was
mentioned before Isaac was born. Another reason, that Abraham married
Hagar because his wife, Sarah, didn’t bear him children until then.
She later bore him Isaac with the grace of his Lord. So if Ishmael was
born before Isaac according to the Koran and the Bible, then it would
be rational to say that he was the one offered in sacrifice.
Furthermore, the Bible says that Abraham had to offer his only son in
sacrifice. It also concurs with the Koran that Ishmael came first. So
why does it claim Isaac the one offered in sacrifice? It essentially
is associated with the fact of the Old Testament being substantially
manipulated by Jewish influence. Jews rejected prophet Muhammad
because he didn’t descend from Isaac, he descent from Ishmael. If
Ishmael was the one offered in sacrifice, it would have been bestowing
honour to him and consequently, to his lineage which includes prophet
Muhammad whom both Jews and Christians decline. For certain, Jews will
deny that and Christians are likely to be influenced by them. So, the
only reference for Christians about the sacrifice account is found in
Jewish text. This says a lot about the alinement between Jews and
Christians, and that’s when it comes to disagreeing with Muslims.
Therefore in English, they use the term Judeo Christian tradition.
This is a prominent phenomenon. There are major factors to confirm
what I always thought. Jews and Christians align when it comes to
sabotaging Muslim heritage. What is called cultural exchange is
constantly controversial to me. What is said contradicts with what is
done. Despite the fact of Christians suspend complying to Jewish
statute, they believe what is said there about this particular
subject, just because, it differs with Muslims. Well in the west,
neither Jews or Christians follow religion. It only has to do with
making Muslims doubt their religion. Christians deride abrogation in
the Koran whilst if there weren’t abrogation in the Bible,
Christianity would have not been existed. I base my criticism on
clarity and theological scholarship. I don’t seek pleasing my desire
nor I tolerate altering what a sacred text says for private interest.
Christian ministry has major discrepancies when it comes to relating
the sacrifice account. Despite their numerous attempts to deceive us,
truth is unclimbable. I attempted to be more friendly but I just can’t
skip these obvious lies about religion. I never sought embarrassing
someone but, it is impossible to dismiss these unambiguous lies. This
revealed fact incriminates what Christians claim of preaching with
questionable honesty. Please, be truthful and decease being influenced
by fibbers. Truth is a supreme objective. Your reliance on biblical
text is broadly floated. Please, respect our intellects, we aren’t
some fools. For us as Muslims, it isn’t a matter of dispute as to whom
has been sacrificed. Both Ishmael and Isaac are equally honoured in
Islam. In English dictionaries, the term Ishmael is synonymised with
the term pariah, which means a person who is rejected from society or
home. In the Old Testament, Ishmael is the son of Abraham who was cast
out after the birth of Isaac, considered the forebear of 12 Arabian
tribes. So if he was cast out after the birth of Isaac, that confirms
the Koranic narrative, which affirms that Ishmael was born first.
Anyway, it isn’t a matter of dispute as I just stated. What lessons
are learnt from the sacrifice chronicle? How about if you saw in a
vision, that you sacrifice your son, what are you going to do? It
would seem quite awkward for someone to sacrifice his son. This
chronicle teaches us multiple lessons. First, it incisively
exemplifies the total submission to divine injunctions despite any
unbearable consequences. This is the core of Islam, it is to willingly
give up your desire for the sake of your Creator. If Allah prohibits
something, who am I to argue about that? The sacrifice account
comprehensively summerises the essence of Islam. Islam is to basically
make the Will of Allah on earth as it is in heaven. Islam doesn’t mean
more than just that. Each and everyone knows how fervently we prise
and honour prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, yet we
despise to be called Muhammadans. We aren’t Muhammadans, we are
Muslims like him. Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him
demonstrated his finest earnestness in submitting to his Lord. He
folloed the footsteps of his father Abraham, peace and blessings be
upon him who didn’t held anything back. He earnestly sought to attain
Allah’s Contentment. The sacrifice chronicle wasn’t meant for
religious felicity. It rather was meant to fundamentally exemplify the
significance of submitting to Allah. Abraham’s practical ministry was
kept forward until this world decease, so we all could learn and
benefit from his blessed sincerity. How would we react if we were told
to donate our entire wealth for Allah? That wouldn’t be easy for most
of us eh? This life is so dear and near to our hearts. That’s why,
martyrdom is so gracious in Islam. The sacrifice chronicle resembles
clarity in total submission to Allah glory be to Him. It isn’t about
mere admiration but rather, imitation as much as possible. Could
someone in today’s secularised world give up inebriation, sensualism
and all worldly consumption for Allah? It is indeed, a challenging
position. Allah made us leaning toward our desire by nature. At the
same time, he gave us the ability to toughly scold our wrongdoing.
Abraham showed in plain instance, that we as humans are able to
elevate ourselves above terrestrial dominance until we gradually,
reach up to the celestial realm. That is the key lesson taught in
this story. How could that be prosperously achieved? First, you need
to daily pray to Allah. You won’t be guided if you break off
communication with the Divine. That is a major factor to attain your
objective. Second, be constantly grateful to people. If you won’t be
grateful to the creation, you won’t be as a result, grateful to the
Creator, as the prophet peace and blessings be upon him taught us. As
for the worship of Jesus, I am still looking for that statement
explicitly uttered on his lips. Each and every passage which most
Christians quote to prove Jesus’s divinity is implicitly construed.
Thus far, it couldn’t be genuinely relied on for primarily theological
purposes. Christian denominations themselves do not wholly concur on
the actual state of Jesus. Each and every group has its own
apprehension of whom he was. Some say, he was fully man and fully God
simultaneously. Well, others say, he is a man whom God incarnated
himself into. So as you can see, Christian positions of whom Jesus was
aren’t sufficiently decisive. The Koran says factions differ on
noticing him. Christians won’t ever tackle this unless they variously
beat around the bush. I do not destine to prompt a useless debate. I
am just asking you to think out of the box. If Jesus really wanted
people to worship him specifically, wouldn’t he has been so clear
about that? I do love many Christians. They really have good hearts. I
wouldn’t be ashamed to admit that they are better than many Muslims
today. But, that is not enough reason for me to be christened. I only
have one purpose from sending this out to people. I want them to
sincerely ponder. What does God want me to do? If Muslims followed
their faith as it has been revealed, they would have been indeed the
best nation on earth today. I again, am not interested to just
provoke someone’s offence. I urge people to seek for correct
information. I practice Dawah, which is missionary to Islam or,
invitation to Islam. If faith really matters to someone, he won’t
sleep unless he finds the truth. He will accept it even if it is a bit
bitter at the beginning. I wish I am sounding adequately deferential
to what people believe. I eventually would like to thank each and
everyone who patiently made it through to the end of this post. Bob
