My Response to Paa Nii
It is a fact of history that, right from Adam, father of mankind, all Prophets and Messengers(including Jesus) that Allah sent to ancient generations were Muslims, they came with Islam in different forms. Each one of them would give a gliding about the coming of the last Prophet and Messenger, who was not less a person than Muhammad, may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him! Allah says in Qur'an chapter 2 verse 136 that, "Say: We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and the revelation given to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) the prophets from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another of them, and to Him(Allah) we are submitters." As for Paa Nii, I do not need to waste time replying your blasphemy, while you keep on beating blow the belt. I and many Muslims will rather pray for you for Allah to open your heart to see the reality of this beautiful and enviable religion of Islam, which is a complete way of life. Many were those die-hard Christians, some were pastors, reverends and evangelicals whose heart were opened by Allah and have converted to Islam. Just go to youtube search engine and type; Christian pastors and preachers converting to Islam. Also; scientists and scholars converting to Islam, you will see the reality of what I am saying. Terrorism of the Catholic Christian Crusaders towards Jews & Muslims While the Prophet of Islam and his companions fought defensive wars, by divine command, and later placed an embargo on any physical engagement with non-Muslims without any justifiable reason, history recorded serious atrocities and attacks during the Crusades. According to a crusader's report of the occupation of Jerusalem in the first Crusade, on July 15, 1099, that Cohan Norman wrote in his book, "The Pursuit of the Millennium", a quote from, Bamber Gascoigne's book, "The Christians", page 113, that, "With drawn swords our people ran the city; nor did they spare anyone, not even those pleading for mercy. If you had been there, your feet would have been stained up to the ankles with blood. What more shall I tell? Not one of them was allowed to live. They did not spare the women or children. The horse waded in blood up to their knees, nay, up to the bridle. It was a just and wonderful judgment of God…In 1202, the fourth Crusade took off from Venice and, on the way, passed through Christian Constantinople, where they rampaged the city and inflicted such atrocities that the Pope himself rebuked his own crusaders in a message saying: "It was not against the Infidels but against Christians that you captured, but Constantinople. It was not heavenly riches upon which your minds were set but earthly ones. Nothing has been scared to you. You have violated married women, widows, even nuns. You have despoiled the very sanctuaries of God's Church, stolen the sacred objects of altars, pillaged innumerable images and relics of saints. It is hardly surprising that the Greek Church sees in you the works of the Devil." According to Hassan Hathout, in his book, "Reading the Muslim Mind", "In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain as a result of the victory of Ferdinand and Isabella over the Muslims. Contrary to previous promises, it was made illegal for Muslims or Jews to practice their religion; they were condemned to death or expulsion if they did not convert to Catholicism. Many Jews chose to go to Turkey, then the seat of the Islamic Caliphate, and were generously received, the Sultan mocking Ferdinand and Isabella's expulsion of the Jews by saying, "They impoverish their kingdom and enriched mine." In his book, "My People", (Also produced as a TV series), Mr. Abba Eban, Israeli scholar, historian and former foreign secretary, stated that, "The Jews had in two episodes during their history been treated justly, once in Muslim Spain and the second, currently, in the United States of America. Over the centuries, the Jewish citizens of Islamic countries have enjoyed security and prosperity. Until this day many Islamic countries house sizable Jewish communities who, in spite of the agonizing repercussions of the Palestinian problem, fare no worse than their Muslim and Christian compatriots." Uri Avnery, an Israeli journalist, who was originally a member of the right wing Revisionist Zionist movement, also had this to say on September 27, 2006, "Every honest Jew who knows the history of his people cannot but feel a deep sense of gratitude to Islam, which has protected the Jews for 50 generations, while the Christian world persecuted the Jews and tried many times 'by the sword' to get them to abandon their faith." If the above was what the Crusaders did to Christians Constantinople, one can imagine what they did to the "infidel" Muslims…In the year 1095, Pope Urban the second, was the first to advocate that, Crusaders should characterize Muslims as, "Godless people, idolaters, enemies of Christ, dogs, chaff destined for eternal fire, etc." E. Alexander Powell testified to the tolerance by the Muslims in his book, "The Struggle for Power in Muslim Asia", that , “In their wars of conquest, however, the Muslims exhibited a degree of toleration which puts many Christian nations to shame." Tolerance & Forgiveness of the Messenger of Allah Towards His Enemies I therefore want Paa Nii to compare these atrocities against Muslims, and members of other faith meted out by the Christian Crusaders with the rules of engagement established by our enviable Holy Prophet Muhammad[below] during his divinely inspired defensive wars. According to Dr. Aslam Abdullah, in an article dubbed, “Did Prophet Muhammad spread Islam with a Sword?” in the January-February 2013 edition of The Message International magazine, entitled, “Clearing the Air & Knowing Muhammad”, that, “The best and most direct evidence for the way Islam was propagated are the words of Prophet Muhammad to St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai, during a time in history when no one was talking about freedom of religion, cultural pluralism and tolerance, or protection of human life. Prophet Muhammad wrote to the monks the following: “This is a message from Muhammad bin Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily, the servants, the helpers, my followers, and I defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them... No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they [the Christians] are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants…always remember that Islam is the religion of peace and love…Respect the priests and monks who live in temples and those who have given themselves to God; do not hurt them. Do not kill civilians, do not act in untoward (unpleasant) manner toward women, and so not injure the feelings of the defeated…No one of the Ummah [Muslim nation] is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day [end of the world]”.Abu Bakar Siddiq, the first khalif (successor)of the Prophet also carried quite similar rules when he told his military commander: “Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for guidance on the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies; do not kill a woman, a child, or an aged man; do not cut down fruitful trees; do not destroy inhabited areas; do not slaughter any of the enemies’ sheep, cow or camel except for food; do not burn date palms, nor inundate them; do not embezzle (e.g. no misappropriation of booty or spoils of war) nor be guilty of cowardliness…You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone." Before departing for the conquest of the Levant, He(Abu Bakar) told his warriors: "When you meet your enemies in the fight, behave yourself as befits good Muslims…If Allah gives you victory, do not abuse your advantages and beware not to stain your swords with the blood of one who yields, neither you touch the children, the women, nor the infirm, also men, whom you may find among your enemies.” Abu Bakar Siddiq, the first khalif (successor)of the Prophet also carried quite similar rules when he told his military commander: “Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for guidance on the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies; do not kill a woman, a child, or an aged man; do not cut down fruitful trees; do not destroy inhabited areas; do not slaughter any of the enemies’ sheep, cow or camel except for food; do not burn date palms, nor inundate them; do not embezzle (e.g. no misappropriation of booty or spoils of war) nor be guilty of cowardliness…You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone." Before departing for the conquest of the Levant, He(Abu Bakar) told his warriors: "When you meet your enemies in the fight, behave yourself as befits good Muslims…If Allah gives you victory, do not abuse your advantages and beware not to stain your swords with the blood of one who yields, neither you touch the children, the women, nor the infirm, also men, whom you may find among your enemies.” The Prophet went to Taif, a suburb of Mecca to preach about Islam, and he was chased by their youth with stones-rendering his feet with profuse blood. He was saddened by that, and sat under a tree crying and praying to Allah, then Allah sent Angel Gabriel instantly[who takes about a second to convey any message from the throne of Allah to the Prophet, while navigated millions of galaxies in the Universe, through the speed of light] to ask him if he wants Allah to revenge for him by letting the Angel who wield control and command over the mountains to crush and crumble those people who stoned him, but surprisingly enough, he declined and rather ask Allah to forgive them, saying that, he wish to see their progeny become the touch-bearers or flag-bearers of Islam in the future, and lo and behold, he was later been vindicated, when these youth converted and raised the banner of Islam. This reminds me about what Karen Armstrong a British Roman Catholic Nun wrote in her, Muhammad-A Biography of the Prophet that, he was; “…A passionate man who sometimes did things that it is difficult for us to accept…” in her, Muhammad- A Biography of the Prophet. When Mecca was finally conquered towards the end of the Prophet’s life, but only after twenty-three years of trials and tribulations. His enemies, who had shown themselves obdurate and unrelenting then stood before him in a state of utter helplessness. That was the moment to crush them completely. However, this was not the way of Prophet Muhammad. What other, lesser men would do in such a situation is common knowledge, but the Prophet did not avenge himself upon them for their past offences. He quite simply asked them. “O people of the Quraysh, how do you think I shall deal with you? They replied, “You are our noble brother and son of our noble brother.” The prophet then said, “Go, you are all free.”[This amazing incident of mercy and magnanimity of the Prophet fascinated an Orientalist], Stanley Lane-Poole, who, in his introduction to E.W. Lane’s Selection from the Qur’an elaborates upon the Prophet’s remarkable self-discipline: “Now was the time for the Prophet to show his blood –thirsty nature. His old persecutors are at his feet. Will he not trample on them, torture them, revenge himself after his own cruel manner? Now the man will come forward in his own true colors: We may prepare our horror, and cry shame beforehand. “But what is this? Is there no blood in the streets? Where are the bodies of the thousands that have been butchered? Facts are hard things, and it is a fact that the day of Muhammad’s greatest triumph over his enemies was also the day of his grandest victory over himself. He freely forgave the Quraysh all the years of sorrow and cruel scorn they had inflicted on him: he gave an amnesty to the whole population of Mecca. Four criminals, whom justice condemned, made up Mohammad’s proscription list when he entered as a conqueror the city of his bitterest enemies. The army followed the example, and entered quietly and peaceably and no house was robbed, no woman insulted.” Had such an example of superior conduct survived from pre-historic times, perhaps in the form of a myth, it would have been regarded as fiction, being too astonishing to be a fact. History, indeed, has no match for the magnanimity of the Prophet. Sir William Muir, speaking of the treatment meted out to the prisoners of Badr by the Muslims, gives another such shining example saying: In his book, Islam and Modern Challenges, Maulana Wahidun Deen Khan wrote that, "In pursuance of Muhammad’s commands, the citizens of Medina and such of the refugees as possessed houses, received the prisoners and treated them with much consideration. ‘Blessings are on the men of Medina!’ said these prisoners in later days. ‘They made us ride, while they themselves walked; they gave us wheat and bread to eat, when there was little of it, contenting themselves with dates!" So now regarding the current news about lady in Sudan who was about to be killed because she converted from Islam to Christianity, In Islam, there is no compulsion in religion, because Allah mentioned in so many verses that, Muslims should not compel any one to believe. This is one of such numerous verse, “If it had been your Lord’s Will, they would all have believed – all who are on earth! Will you then compel mankind, against their will to believe?” --- Qur’an [10:99]. And if any Muslim society is killing people because of their choice of Christianity or Judaism, this is not what the Prophet of Islam advocated for, based on the above and many other verses. Islam Remains the Fastest Growing Faith "I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today." --- Napoleon Bonaparte in his, "The Genuine Islam", (1935-1936) In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte appears to have been vindicated by this powerful statement over eight decades ago, in the sense, currently(not only in Europe), Islam is the fastest growing religion in the all the continent and the world at large. It has been estimated that, 68000 people are becoming Muslims every 24 hours, making the religion fast soaring and surging with a whopping(over) 1.5 billion of the world population currently. It has been discovered that, Muslims are found in 204 out 238 countries in the world. And 1 out of every 5 people on earth is a Muslim. According to a Chicago University study, around to 300 to 400 people convert to Islam every day, in the US. Over the last few years, Muslim population had increase 235% in Europe. How come so many people convert to Islam when it is perceived as an 'extremist' ideology…And out of the people who convert to Islam in the US, 70% are women, and mostly single women. Why do 'independent' women belonging to most 'democratic' and 'free' society where women are the most liberated in the World, convert to a religion that is perceived to be suppressing women and not offering then any rights. In the United Kingdom and France, about 100, 000 people converted in the last decade in each country Germany (usually 4000 a year) and many other places around the world. And interestingly the name Muhammad is the most popular name in London…According to the Guinness Books of the World Records, Islam is the world's fastest-growing religion by number of conversion each year: "Although the religion began in Arabia, by 2002, 80% of all believers in Islam lived outside the Arab world. In the period 1990-2000, approximately 12.5 million more people converted to Islam than to Christianity…According to the New York Times, 25% of Americans are coverts to Islam. And another report indicates that there are 1209 mosques and Islamic centers throughout the United States. In Britain, around 10,000-2000 people convert to Islam per year…Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, reported that, "For the first time in history, we(Catholics) are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us."…The church of England was reported to have said that, Christianity is declining 50% faster than it is previously thought. In Russia, Islam is the second largest faith and fastest growing, it has more than ten million followers. In China, Muslims are estimated to be around 100 to 200 million and growing fast. What Paa Nii is doing is not new, many were those who did that and later when Allah open their heart to see and discover Islam, they converted and now propagating Islam, So I will not condemn you but will pray for you to be among the Christians, Jews Atheist and many other people are discovering Islam and embracing it. These converts see wisdom in these verse that clearly indicates that Jesus is a Prophet not God, nor son of God: "The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: 'Be': and he was" Qur'an(3:59). And according the Qur'an Jesus never claimed divinity for himself or for his mother. And Allah will ask him this direct question, even though He knows that Jesus did not arrogate divinity to himself, but just to stress a point to people like Paa Nii that, he can ever be God nor His son! He said in Quran chapter 5 verses 116 to 118, asking Jesus that: "O Jesus son of Mary: did you say unto the people 'Take me and my mother for two gods besides (me)Allah?' He will say 'Glory to You. Never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing you would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart though I don’t know what is in Yours, for You know in full all what is hidden. Never said I to them aught except what You did commanded me to say: "Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them; when You did take me up You were the Watcher over them, and You are a witness to all things. If You punish them, they are Yours servants; if You forgive them, You are indeed the Exalted(in power), the Wise." And this coincides with a Bible verse in Mark chapter 10 verse 10 that says: "Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, that is God(Allah)!"
Having gotten the factual evidence, I hope, Paa Nii will rest his case now and do a sober reflection about why Islam is fast soaring and surging, in spite of his continuous effort to tarnish and taint the faith, and I only hope that, he will ultimately see the light and embrace it as thousands of people have seen and are embracing it, I wish him good luck in his contemplation.
Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz, is the Research & Outreach Coordinator, Center for Media & Peace Initiatives, New York, Author of, Islam Promotes Tolerance & Prohibits Terrorism, Tutor in Arabic & Islamic Studies in New York. Babalwaiz71@gmail.com
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