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William whoisjc@Bornagain.com Dear Mr. Sina, While doing some research on Islam I came across your site
and read it with interest. I write to you as a Christian who has
traveled widely and worked professionally for governments and militaries in the
Middle East and the Arabian Gulf; and as one who has MANY Muslim friends.
I have written some of my comments and questions below, following passages taken from
your homepage and one of your articles. I also have responded to your
elicitation regarding choosing a name for your organization. Sincerely, William John >>Islam as it is taught in Quran (Koran) and lived by
Muhammad, as is reported in the Hadith (Biography and sayings of the Prophet) is a
religion of intolerance, inequality, violence, discrimination,
superstition, fanaticism, and blind faith. "As taught" this generalization may be true, but
AS PRACTICED my personal experience has found this to be quite the OPPOSITE.
Wherever I've lived in the Muslim world, I personally was treated with equality,
respect and tolerance for my faith. >>An unbiased study of Quran shows that far from
being a “miracle” that book is a hoax. Once Quran is scrutinized with rational thinking,
almost every sentence proves to be false. Quran is replete with scientific
heresies, historic blunders, mathematical mistakes, logical absurdities and
grammatical errors. Do you really think it is accurate to say almost
"every sentence" proves to be false? My study of the Quran has found certain
mistakes and errors (as you state), but MANY passages quote the BIBLE nearly word for
word (albeit copied from these earlier Scriptures). Rather than
"false" I've personally found these borrowings (from the Bible) to be life-changingly true. >>Let us pause for a moment and take a second look at
Islam. We may just have made a mistake. Islam must go not because it is
false but because it is destructive, because it is a danger; a threat to peace and
security of humankind. With the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction in Islamic countries, Islam has become a serious and a real threat to
the survival of our species. >>This site scrutinizes Islam with Rational Thinking.
It rejects time-honored beliefs that cannot stand the probing of reason. It asks
questions and encourages independent thinking. It promotes unity of
humankind, equality between men and women, abolition of prejudices and freedom
from dogmatism and blind faith... Religion has always been the biggest
source of misunderstanding. For religion, people are ready to die, kill and destroy
everything else. Is ISLAM in itself really as big a"threat" to
entire mankind's peace and security as you say? To the very survival of our
entire species!? Are Islamic countries the only ones proliferating WMD? Do you
think with our own limited "independent" reasoning and thinking (which
solely depends on empirical, material evidence) we can truly probe and discern unseen
SPIRITUAL realities? May I suggest that there is a greater (and much more
longer-existing) danger that WILL eventually destroy mankind: EVIL in the
form of human sin and very REAL spiritual forces that control the whole world as it is
today, whose ultimate objective is to destroy you, me and every human
being. To think otherwise makes you pitifully naive to the real world and
an utter fool (BTW, this comes from the Bible and not me). To realize and
embrace this, my friend, IS "rational thinking". >>I am not here to collect votes. But to call
humanity to unity and tell them the truth. If that truth hurts someone so be it! Only
"truth will set us free”. If you seek "to call humanity to unity", then
what is it we are to be unified under? If "Islam must go", then what are
you providing in its place? What is your alternative? What, to you, is the truth? When you quote from a source (i.e. Jesus Christ, the New
Testament book of John) please give credit to where credit is due. When Jesus
stated, "... the truth will set you free.", He was clearly refering to
Himself as the SOURCE of unity, liberating knowledge and salvation for all humanity.
Again, my personal experience of Christ in this way goes beyond mere belief,
and has been quite far from "dogmatism and blind faith". >>Which name do you like best? (Choosing a name
for our organization): Faith Freedom Foundation / Faith
Freedom International Freedom From Religious Oppression
Foundation Against Religious
Intolerance By the words "Faith Freedom" are you implying
that you seek freedom FROM all faith? This title is extremely confusing. "Freedom From Religious Oppression"? This
has been done. I suggest you check out the "Voice of the Martyrs" website which is
well-documented with testimonies from TRUE martyrs who have really suffered for their faith. "Against Religious Intolerance"? Do you
really want to alienate NON-Muslim faiths even before they read your front webpage by implying
that other religions are also intolerant? Since your entire site is
specifically against ISLAM, I think you had better be more specific in your name. A CHALLENGE: Mr. Sina: Do you really want your
readers to know "the truth"? Do you seek to provide answers and true hope to your readers
and the world? If so, then go to my site below and consider the word of the true
and living one who IS the truth. http://whoisjesuschrist.faithweb.com/ Dear William, Thank you for reading my site and your comments. I am sure in your trips to Middle East you have met many wonderful people. As a matter of fact one of the qualities we Middle Easterners pride ourselves of is hospitality. I am happy that you have found us hospitable, friendly and good friends. This however has nothing to do with Islam. You will find Middle Eastern Christians Zoroastrians, Jews and Baha’is also very hospitable and kind. Please understand that I am not criticizing my own people. I criticize the cult of Islam that has kept us in ignorance. Islam is the cause of bigotry, backwardness and poverty of my people. Islam is the reason Muslims can never truly be honest with the non-Muslims or befriend them without hypocrisy. Muslims are to follow the teachings of Quran and the teachings of Quran are very clear. It says” O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust. Q.5:51 I am afraid you are confusing the Middle Eastern hospitality with Islam. To understand how Muslims really treat the non-Muslims you have to listen to the Coptic Christians to the Assyrian and Armenians of Iran, to the Jews in Middle Eastern countries, to the Baha’is and the Zoroastrians. Let us not forget that it was just last month that the Muslims in Pakistan attacked the Pakistani Christians and massacred them. Let us not forget the fate of the Christians of Philippines, of East Timor or of Sudan or of Nigeria. Have you forgotten already the treatment of the Hindus by the Taliban? Didn’t you read how the Iranian Islamic regime has dealt with the religious minorities in Iran? Let us not carried away my friend. You are an American. Your government is strong and you expend the almighty dollar. Nevertheless I believe you are cut off from the reality. The hatred of America among the Muslims is already expressed loudly in Sep 11 and if you think this was an exception limited to a bunch of terrorists isolated from the mainstream Muslims think again my friend. Read this article by a respected Muslim scholar to understand the real feeling of the Muslims. http://www.hussainkhan.com/americanism.htm You questioned my assertion that almost every sentence in Quran is wrong and affirmed that “MANY passages quote the BIBLE nearly word for word”. And claimed “Rather than "false" I've personally found these borrowings (from the Bible) to be life-changingly true.” Of course you will find those borrowed passages of the
Bible “life-changing”. You already told me that you are a Christian. If you
believe in the mumbo jumbo of Christianity you will find the same nonsense to
your liking when you find them in Quran or in any other book. But I do not view
things through the Christian spectacles. My measure of truth is Reason not
another religion. Both Quran and the Bible are full of errors. Perhaps it would
be useful to you if you glanced at this site and read few pages thereof.
http://members.aol.com/ckbloomfld/index.html You asked “Is ISLAM in
itself really as big a"threat" to entire mankind's peace and security
as you say? To the very survival of our entire species!?” Yes it is. Islam today is the
biggest threat to the peace of the world. As a matter of fact we are facing the
possibility of a world confrontation between Muslims and the civilized world.
And do not think that because of our military superiority in the West we are
safe. This war will not be fought by military forces. It will be fought by
terrorism and Muslims are way more superior terrorists than the civilized
nations who are bound by laws and the rights of human beings. The incident of
Sep 11 was only a wake up call. If you don’t believe me, read this article
that I quoted above to see what Muslims think. http://www.hussainkhan.com/americanism.htm You asked “Are Islamic countries the only ones proliferating WMD?” No Islamic countries are not the ONLY ones proliferating weapons of mass destruction. But they are the only ones that will most likely use it. Humanity was spared from a world confrontation throughout almost half a century of Cold War thanks to MAD (mutual assured destruction) Both the Soviets and the Yankees knew perfectly that a third World War will have no winner. Neither one of them wanted to die! But Muslims think differently. They have totally different values; values that are incomprehensible to Westerners. Muslims actually desire to be martyrs by waging war on unbelievers as in this they find their secured way to paradise. Did ye think that ye would enter
Heaven without Allah testing those of you who fought hard (In His Cause) and
remained steadfast? Q 3:142,
I have to clarify here that anywhere in the translation of Quran you find the word “strive” it is the translation of Jahedu, the literal translation of that is make jihad or make war against the infidels. For more injunctions for fighting against the unbelievers see also these verses. 5:54, 8:72, 8:74-75, 9:16, 9:19-20, 9:24, 9:44, 9:86, 9:88, 22:78, 29:6, 29:69, 49:15, 60:1, 61:11 You asked “Do you think with our own limited
"independent" reasoning and thinking (which solely depends on
empirical, material evidence) we can truly probe and
discern unseen SPIRITUAL realities?” I agree that our reasoning is
flawed. But this is the only thing we have that we can rely on. Abandoning
reasoning and believing in fantasies that are not supported by reason, science
or evidence is the biggest mistake we can do. This is where precisely the
humanity has failed so miserably and has surrendered its intelligence to a bunch
of charlatans who have misguided her with empty promises and false doctrines. No
Sir, we are not supposed to abandon reason at any time. Even if reason is not
perfect it is the ONLY safe thing to cling unto. Believing in things that are
not supported by reason will only lead us astray and cause division and
alienation among the children of man. You wrote “May I suggest that
there is a greater (and much more longer-existing) danger that WILL eventually
destroy mankind: EVIL in the form of human sin and very REAL spiritual
forces that control the whole world as it is today, whose ultimate objective is
to destroy you, me and every human being. What is sin? I think we have to
define this concept before we proceed. To a Muslim disbelief in Allah is the
biggest sin. As a matter of Fact Muslims believe: “Allah
forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything
else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin
Most heinous indeed.” 4:48 In other words Saddam Hussein who
killed tens of thousands of his own people by chemical weapons of mass
destruction will be forgiven because he believes in the unity of God but Gandhi
and Mother Tereza will never be forgiven because he believed in a multitude of
gods and she believed in trinity. To Muslims consuming pork is a
sin but killing the unbelievers and the polytheists is a meritorious act that
will be rewarded by God. Religionists have killed people in the name of truth
and religion. Religionists believe, sexual intercourse between a man and a woman
who are not married to each other is sin but hating and discriminating against
people who do not believe in their god is okay. Which one is the bigger sin?
No my friend, neither the sexual intercourse of two unmarried persons nor
the disbelief in God is a sin that would destroy the world. What would destroy
the world, kill people and cause wars, genocides and devastations is hate.
Religious hate is the most powerful and the most dangerous form of hate. What
you as a religionist believe to be a mortal sin is irrelevant to the survival of
the world. Those are of private matter. You and I are not the moral police to
anyone. The greatest sin in my sight is to hate other human beings for their
religion, race, nationality class or gender. The biggest sin is hate and
religions are the main fomenters of hate among humankind. When you talk about the “very
REAL spiritual forces that control the whole world”
I get lost. What are these REAL spiritual forces? Where are they? Can they be
found anywhere outside your imagination? It
seems that you think if you emphasize their existence with adjective such as
“very REAL” they become real. The realities of things are determined by
their evidences, not by the intensity of the faith of those who choose to
believe in them. We do not have any evidence of such “REAL” spiritual forces
that control the whole world. These are talks of schizophrenics who believe in
mysterious forces controlling their minds and the whole world. Is it possible
that religious people are all schizophrenics? Or perhaps those who founded the
religions and made claims of being messengers of God, his sons and his
mouthpieces were schizophrenics. Imagine a whole world following a bunch of
mentally insane men for so many centuries. You believe in the existence of
some mysterious forces that are stalking you to destroy you and all humanity.
Do you have any proof for that? What baffles me is that you claim that
your god is a loving father. If he was a loving father would he let loose these
“Evil spirits” to destroy his children? What kind of god is he? He should be
jailed for not taking care of his children, for creating malevolent forces and
allowing them to destroy his own children. If that is the case this god is
mentally sick. Then you continue, “To
think otherwise makes you pitifully naive to the real world and an utter fool
(BTW, this comes from the Bible and not me). To realize and embrace this,
my friend, IS "rational thinking". This is nothing but paranoia. You
sound like a child who would call “pitifully naïve” the person who would
not believe in his imaginary friends, who does not believe in Santa Clause, in
elves and goblins. There is as much evidence to the existence of your “evil
spirits” that there is for these fantastic personages of children’s
fairytales. And you call that “rational thinking”. Obviously you are
confused about the meaning of rationality. You wrote, “
If you seek "to call humanity to unity", then what is it we are to be
unified under? If "Islam must go", then what are you providing
in its place? What is your alternative? What, to you, is the
truth?” We need nothing to be unified under except being humans. All ideologies, religious or political unite a faction of people against another. The Nazis used their race to unite against other races. Muslims use Islam to unite against other religions. All religions do the same. The communists called for unity of the proletariat and the working class. But all these unities are sectarian and exclusivists. The unity that they call for holds as long as there is an adversary against which they want to be united. Such unities are divisive and they are responsible for most wars, genocides and bloodsheds amongst the human race. We need no excuse to be united. We need an excuse to be disunited and religions provide such excuse. As to your question, what do we replace with the void created after the elimination of religion? Know that this void is only temporary. Once humanity reaches its age of maturity it will put aside religions and other ideologies just, as a child would leave aside her comforter or his teddy bear when s/he comes to the age and does not need anymore to cling to something for comfort. Those who need social bindings can form their own laic churches like the Unitarian Universalist Church or join volunteer groups such as Doctors Without Frontiers, Red Cross, Habitat For Humanity, Salvation Army, Big Brothers, or other charity organizations. As one who comes from a deeply religious background I can say that getting rid of religion seems much more harder than it actually is. Once you get courage and make the jump. You’ll see that it was not that frightening, as it seemed to be. As a matter of fact it is liberating and enlightening. You objected why I did not give credit to Jesus when I quoted (in quotation marks) the words attributed to Jesus “Truth will set you free”. I believe this phrase is widely known and every one has heard it and knows its source. So repetition of a common knowledge is superfluous. However though we see this phrase quoted in NT. It is no proof that Jesus did not hear it from someone else or it is actually attributed to him without him ever saying such thing. You claim, “Again, my personal experience of Christ in this way goes beyond mere belief, and has been quite far from "dogmatism and blind faith". This is precisely how all the believers think. You are not an exception. But even you do not accept many of them as having found the right path. So what you feel or “experience” is subjective and is no proof of the validity or the truth of your belief. All those who are dogmatic and have blind faith are as much convinced about the truth of their bogus beliefs as you are about yours.
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