Since over half of Islamic doctrine is about Kafirs (non-Muslims), it follows that prayers would include Kafirs too, so every day, a Muslim prays for the punishment and suffering of all Kafirs. The prayers also follow the Koranic doctrine that Muslims are not to be a true friend of them. Muslims are to forsake and turn away from Kafirs.
Not only are all Kafirs to suffer punishment in hell, but Christians and Jews are singled out to be worthy of Allah’s anger and are condemned in their beliefs.
In the end, all references to Kafirs in Islamic prayer are negative, demeaning and hateful.
April 1, 2015
Comments
I appreciate the information at the link, especially the quotes. And, I like this from comments on the article:
'Muhammad said - "I am the prophet who laughs while killing my enemies."
'Jesus said - "Love your enemies..."'
And so, as we live our life, walking with the One who is the Way, Truth and Life, we love and respect the people, but cannot love and respect false teaching.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2015/dr-stephen-kirby/the-fraud-of-omahas-tri-faith-initiative
All the best to you
(A Letter from the People of the Cross)
"no i dont understand. that son story is also heresy, god rejects jesus is my son, jesus is no different than others, i mean you are really saying and doing things which god hates, you deserve hell ha? then wait n see, you will get your results after you die.you are really vilest,wicked animals in the eyes of god, i can see that very very clearly, to me you are lower than this, you pathetic worms crawling in the darkness of soil."]
Dear Manyuka, doesn't your own Quran recognize Isa/Jesus as a prophet? So, wouldn't that make him "different" from others, at least in that regard? Do you read the book of Genesis in the Bible that tells about God's creating all that we know about the universe? In it, God gave Adam and Eve a promise, about a coming Redeemer, to comfort them after they disobeyed and were driven out of the Garden of Eden. I know your religion considers the idea that God could have a physical son unacceptable. There is much we do not understand, except for the fact that God, Who can do anything, could put on human flesh to walk among us and rescue us from sin and death. That's what His name "Emmanuel" means: God with us.
Would you say that, in your experience, modern Shia/Sunni clerics agree with the "moderate Muslim" view, or is this a case where the clerics tend to veer toward the "early scholars"?
“Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O Lord, the fangs of the lions! Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted. Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun. The righteous will be glad when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.” Psalm 58.6-10.
“Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them. May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents. For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt. Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation. May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.” Psalm 69.24-28.
Of course, most Christians don't recite these prayers, just like most Muslims don't use those 3 prayers (because they already have difficulty keeping up with the 5 basic prayers). And they either don't know what Fatiha means or there's a high probability that they reject the medieval interpretation of verses 6 and 7.
The first 3 prayers are not mentioned during a normal unit of prayer. They are supererogatory. Most muslims don't know what the prayers mean, and if they do, a large majority of them restrict to willing disbelievers (i.e. not believers who reject Islam based on honest disagreement).
As for Al-Fatiha, verses 6 and 7 referring to Christians and Jews is only one opinion (specifically Tabari). Other scholars like Nisaburi and Ibn Arabi
Overall, I don't disagree that the Qur'an mentions disbelievers frequently, but there's an entire opinion regarding what it means to be a disbeliever. People who limit themselves to early scholars in the "Age of Faith" are more liberal while most moderate Muslims are more restrictive. I don't even use the word "kafir" in normal dialogue. I believe that the only one who can do takfir is God Almighty. I'd rather call 1,000 atheists as muslim than 1 muslim/honest seeker a disbeliever. This is actually a common Arab proverb.
shariahthethreat.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Shariah-The-Threat-to-America-Team-B-Report-Web-09292010.pdf
Many non-Muslims are inadequately informed about mainstream conservative sharia-adherent Islam, in some instances quite possibly by strategic disinformation: "As the noted scholar David Bukay wrote in a 2007 essay for the Middle East Quarterly, 'Statements that there is no compulsion in religion and that jihad is primarily about internal struggle and not about holy war may receive applause in university lecture halls and diplomatic board rooms, but they misunderstand the importance of abrogation in Islamic theology.'"
Ref: www.meforum.org/1754/peace-or-jihad-abrogation-in-islam
"Abrogation" here means that verses coming chronologically later in the Quran (which is not organised chronologically), may supersede, or abrogate, earlier ones. In effect, this results in the more moderate Meccan verses being abrogated by later violent Medinan ones: "Those familiar with Islamic concerns with regard to terrorism are familiar with the Quranic injunction: 'Let there be no compulsion in religion.' (Q 2:256) This passage is a particular favourite of those Muslim Brotherhood operatives and others seeking to obscure the true character of shariah.
"What most non-Muslims have not heard is Quran 3:85: 'Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam will never have it accepted of him, and he will be of those who have truly failed in the hereafter.' (Emphasis added.) Even more graphic is Sura 98:6 where it is asserted that non-Muslims are 'the most vile of created beings.'
"These verses are interpreted under shariah to mean that anyone who does not accept Islam is unacceptable in the eyes of Allah and that he will send them to Hell. When it is said that shariah is a supremacist program, this is one of the bases for it."
"Muslim children, and those studying to become converts to Islam, are typically taught first about the gentle 'your religion for you, mine for me' verses of the Quran.
"Instruction to Westerners, as it turns out, is strictly limited to understanding Islam in its early peaceful phases. In fact, it is a top priority of the Islamic Movement to discourage U.S. leaders from studying Islamic doctrine and law."
...On the matter of verse-abrogation and Islamist deception, the following links may also be useful...
wikiislam.net/wiki/Chronological_Order_of_the_Qur'an
wikiislam.net/wiki/Abrogation_(Naskh)
wikiislam.net/wiki/List_of_Abrogations_in_the_Qur'an
www.meforum.org/2095/islams-doctrines-of-deception
shariahthethreat.org/a-short-course-1-what-is-shariah/a-short-course-5-taqiyya
www.islam-watch.org/home/139-louis-palme/1095-knowing-four-arabic-words-may-save-our-civilization-from-islamic-takeover.html
some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the
tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him
and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat
and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.
He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. “Then the owner of the
vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will
respect him.’
“But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said.
‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard
and killed him. “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfmb=Luk&c=20&v=16&t=NIV#s=993009
Do you understand this parable, Manyuka? Here's a clue:
"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in
various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed
heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance
of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his
powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty in heaven."
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Heb&c=1&t=NIV#s=1134001
But, we do read in the creation account in Genesis that when the Lord formed Adam from the dust of the ground, that He created man in His own image! How do we ever comprehend what that means, when we are so small and God is so unimaginably greater than all His creation?
Here's an example: "No man has seen God at any time," we read. So, you might see my face (perhaps in a photo), but you cannot see into my mind and what thoughts lie there. No, my mind is only revealed when I speak or write. Does that mean I am three separate individuals? It is my face, my mind, my words, three distinct "things" although altogether they make "me" what I am.
That is how I understand the Godhead. We cannot see Him, but He can and did reveal Himself (see above scripture quotes) in person (Emmanuel) and via His Word.
Now, if we people are already dead (in sin), does anyone think a dead person can lift a single finger to help himself?
Think about that, in light of what I've written in above posts. I do very much appreciate you for this discussion, Manyuka. Thank you very much.
Please define "shirk," as I don't know what it means to you. Thank you.
You are right that the entire world is dead in trespasses and sin. (The daily news certainly bears witness to that!) Apart from the Almighty and the Remedy He has Himself provided, this terror-filled life would end for every person and that would be final. But, because the Lord's remedy is sufficient for the disease of sin, we live in assurance of the promised resurrection. So, the grave is not the end because He is the Door to new life no longer under the curse. Hallelujah!
Do you recognize that the Almighty Creator of the universe is unlimited in what He can do for all of us, the beloved that He created? According to the Psalms, which your religion does recognize as prophetic writing, the Almighty is everywhere present (Psalm 139. He's just too "big" for us to comprehend). Besides his omnipresence, He is also omnipotent-all powerful. So, He could certainly put on human flesh as Emmanuel (God with us) to demonstrate His love for us, face to face, if He so chose to do so.
We worship the Creator, not His creation ("God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.") So you are mistaken to think that we equate the Almighty to any idols, imaginary or physical. That just isn't so.
I am so sorry that church people have not treated you with the grace that should be evident in the life of a Christian. (I suspect they are reacting out of fear rather than love.) Please do not judge us all by the actions of some. In my congregation we would welcome you as we have welcomed your brothers and sisters, both for dialog as well as to listen and to help (refugees in need of support). My heart breaks whenever I hear of anyone being mistreated as you have been.
You are in my prayers.
We are not animals, we are all the children of Adam and Eve. This world is the judgment, the consequences for the curse of sin and death. Read the book of Genesis (the first book of the Bible, where you can read what the Lord told Adam and Eve their disobedience would cost them. All of it has to do with this world, and "the soul that sins, dies.") Unless you believe in reincarnation, I see no explanation for punishment after the death sentence is carried out. Because of Jesus, the "firstborn from the dead," we believe in resurrection, "the dead will be raised incorruptible." As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. Death is swallowed up in victory. The gates of hell (which is simply the grave) will not prevail. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (because He is Emmanuel, God with us) to the glory of God.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=1Jo&c=4&t=RSV&p=0#s=1163010
"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death He might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage."
If you haven't ever read the entire Bible, Manyuka, I highly recommend you do. Since I trust the Lord and believe His Word, I have no fear of death or judgment, because I know Jesus paid the penalty for the sin of the world, the power of sin is broken, and one day the very presence of sin will be gone. Thanks be to God! His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. I pray for you, that you will see Emmanuel, too, and be set free from bondage to fear of judgment.
Thank you for taking the time to research these things and share them with us. I have searched online for the complete text in English to these prayers and, lo and behold, no Islamic site seems to have them translated (no surprises there) and I can find no others that do as well. Is there any chance you could share those with me? Thanks.
Most disturbing is the idea that a devout Mohammedan is praying five times a day to not really be friends with me, which suggests that any time that one of my neighbors has been more than casually social with me it was for purposes of taqiya.