Is Islam Tolerant?
"It turns out now that the Arabs were the most successful imperalists
of all time, since to be conquered by them (and then to be like them) is
still, in the minds of the faithful, to be saved." (V. S. Naipaul, Among the Believers, p. 142).
May 29, 1453
"On the night of the twenty-eighth of May (1453), the Christian leaders attended services at St. Sophia's;
Constantine himself prayed in a chapel alone, sharing with his God the last hours of the last Byzantine emperor.
As his officers crowded around him, he asked forgiveness of any man he might have wronged. Then, his soul
at peace, he rode back to the Lycus Valley walls to abide the assault he knew was coming. The city,
about to die, was united.
"Then the garrison stood to their posts. Once the remnants of the outer wall were manned, the gates
to the inner wall were closed and locked behind them. There would be no falling back; the Christians
would stand or die.
"The storm broke just after midnight on the twenty-ninth of May. With a tremendous shout, with clashing
cymbals and bleating trumpets and thundering drums, masses of Turkish infantry ran in out of the night and
hurled themselves at the battered city wall. This time the attack came all along the wall; there could
be no movement of men from one threatened place to another. Women, including nuns, worked to shore up the
crumbling walls and stockade. Those who could not help at the walls crowded into the churches -- if
they could not fight or bolster the defenses, they could at least pray...
"The Christians met them with the fury of despair, fighting in a nightmare world of gloom, lit only by
muzzle-flashes, the flare of torches, and a sinister moon that veiled its light behind scudding clouds. Amid
a terrible din of roaring cannon and banging arquebuses, cheers, prayers, and screams of agony, the defenders
fought on in a cloud of powder-smoke and dust. [...]
"And the city died in that moment. Now there was no holding the Turkish attack, which foamed over
the outer wall, beat down the remaining defenders, and forced its way through the inner wall, into the heart
of Constantinople...The emperor himself rode among the remnants of his men along the Lycus wall. Even
he could not rally them; they were exhausted, most of them were wounded, and they would not stand...Constantine
decided. He would not survive the fall of his city to be a trophy for a heathen conqueror. The
city has been taken,' he shouted, 'and I am still alive!'
"And so, with the others at his back, the last Byzantine emperor threw away his imperial regalia and pressed
forward into the throngs of Janizaries, sword in hand. He was never seen again. [...]
"Within the city there was no safety. Blood ran down the gutters of the streets as the Turks killed
everything that moved. Turkish law allowed three days of pillage in a conquered city, and the rampaging
troops broke in everywhere to loot and destroy, rape and kill. Gradually, as the bloodlust subsided,
they began to take captives: The young and able-bodied, at least, had real value in the slave market. [...]
"Otherwise, Mehmet the Conqueror left a ruined, ghostly city; a shadow of the glory that had been, largely depopulated
and desolate. The Muslim call to prayer echoed through the empty, weeping streets of ancient Byzantium.
Where a thousand years of emperors had walked, there were now only shades of the past, ghosts who moved
without sound, and vanished with the coming of the day."
(Robert Barr Smith, To the Last Cartridge, The End of a Thousand Years, pp. 15-32).
The Word of God
The Koran admits that Jesus is the Word of God:
"The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and his Word which he conveyed into Mary, and
a Spirit proceeding from himself." (Sura 4:169).
As the Bible teaches, the Word is God: "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1).
A Koran Miscellany
Favorite Uncle
Mohammed bitterly resented ridicule and derision. In time he would silence
dissent by police state means, but early on, he could only curse. His imprecation
against Abu Lahab is preserved in the Koran for the edification of humankind. Abu Lahab was family:
"Let the hands of Abu Lahab perish, and let himself perish! His wealth
and his gains shall avail him not. Burned shall he be at the fiery flame,
and his wife laden with fire wood, -- on her neck a rope of palm fibre." (Sura 111).
God gave Mohammed this very special message about his unbelieving uncle.
Can the reader discern the hand of the same God who sketched out the grandeur
of the Rocky Mountains in the petty vindictiveness of this verse?
Profits of Banditry
At its highest, the ethics of Mohammed rises near to the level of Jesus' teaching: "When asked
to mention one of the most excellent parts of Faith, Mohammed said, 'To love him who loveth
God, and hate him who hateth God, and to keep your tongue employed in repeating the name of
God.' What else? He said, 'To do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you, and
to reject for others what you would reject for yourself.'" (The Sayings of Mohammed, 138, Allama
Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy); compare, "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you,
do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12).
At its worst, Mohammed's ethics call to mind seventh century Arabia: "And know ye, that when ye have taken
any booty, a fifth part belongeth to God and to the Apostle, and to the near of kin, and to orphans, and to
the poor, and to the wayfarer, if ye believe in God, and in that which we have sent down to our servant on the day of
the victory, the day of the meeting of the Hosts. Over all things is God potent." (Sura 8:42).
Scouted Apes
Mohammed expresses concerns about human beings being changed into animals:
"But when they proudly persisted in that which was forbidden, we said to them, 'Become scouted
apes;' and then thy Lord declared that until the day of the resurrection, he would surely send against them (the Jews)
those who should evil entreat and chastise them: for prompt is thy Lord to punish; and He is Forgiving, Merciful." (Sura 7:166);
"But after this ye turned back, and but for God's grace and mercy towards you, ye had surely been of
the lost! Ye know too those of you who transgressed on the Sabbath, and to whom we said, 'Be changed into scouted
apes...'" (Sura 2:61).
'Scout' is an archaic word meaning "To treat with disdain and contempt;
to reject with scorn." (Webster's International, 1965). Mohammed's
concerns resonate with readers of Homer who recall Circe's mischief:
"SAY: Can I announce to you any retribution worse than that which awaiteth them with God? They whom God
hath cursed and with whom He hath been angry -- some of them hath He changed into apes and swine..." (Sura 5:65).
Boiling Water
Mohammed's catalog of the torments of Hell includes on the menu:
"And thereupon shall ye drink boiling water,
And ye shall drink as the thirsty camel drinketh.
This shall be their repast in the day of reckoning!" (Koran Sura 56:54-56)
"And SAY: the truth is from your Lord: let him then who will, believe;
and let him who will, be an infidel. But for the offenders we have got
ready the fire whose smoke shall enwrap them: and if they implore help,
helped shall they be with water like molten brass which shall scald their
faces. Wretched the drink! and an unhappy couch!" (Sura 18:28).
"Is this like the lot of those who must dwell for ever in the fire: and shall have draughts of boiling
water forced on them which will rend their bowels asunder?" (Sura 47: 17)
As often as their skin is consumed by the fire, it will be replaced:
"Those who disbelieve our signs we will in the end cast into the fire: so oft as their skins shall be well
burnt, we will change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the torment. Verily God is Mighty, Wise!" (Sura 4:59).
Mohammed's lurid descriptions of hell so terrified his listeners that battle-scarred
Bedouins visibly trembled. What is less clear is how he hoped his listeners
would avoid this destination, because in Islam, no one bore our sins. No
one nailed the indictment against us to the cross at Calvary. In Islam,
no one was crucified at all, except in an unfortunate case of mistaken
identity. Since no one bore our iniquities, one must assume they remain
in our possession. Mohammed could warn, but he could not save.
Need a Koran? The Rev. J. M. Rodwell produced a poetic translation in the
nineteenth century, George Sale's earlier translation is more prosaic:
Save time, download the entire Koran in Zip format:
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Reflections on the Fourth of July
After a horrific crime, a lynch mob looks, not to guilt or innocence, but to ease of targeting:
- "Rumsfeld was saying we needed to bomb Iraq. ... We all
said, 'but no, no. Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan,' recounts Clarke, 'and Rumsfeld said, "There
aren't any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq."'"
(Reuters, 'Ex-Advisor Says Bush Eyed Bombing of Iraq on 9/11,' Fri Mar 19, 7:20 PM.)
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Even today, “... 85 percent [of the troops surveyed] believe a major reason
they were sent into war was 'to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the Sept.
11 attacks.'” (Leo Shane III, Stars
and Stripes, March 1, 2006). How did the Bush administration convince them that
Saddam played a "role in the Sept. 11 attacks"?:
"Truthfulness is fidelity, and lying is treason." (Abu Bakr's inaugural speech).
The Least of These
"Verily God will say on the Day of Judgment, 'O children of Adam! I was sick and ye did not visit Me.'
And the sons of Adam will say, 'O our defender, how could we visit Thee? For Thou art the Lord of the
Universe, and art free from sickness.' And God will say, 'O men! such a one was sick and you did not visit
him.' And God will say, 'O children of Adam, I asked you for food, and ye gave it Me not?' And the children of Adam will
say, 'O our patron, how could we give Thee food, seeing Thou art the cherisher of the Universe, and art free from hunger
and eating?' And God will say, 'Such a one asked you for bread and you did not give it him.'" (The Sayings of Mohammed,
Allama Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy, 197.)
Who is the Speaker?: "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came
to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You
drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and
come to You?" And the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of
these My brethren, you did it to Me." Then He will also say to those on the left hand, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into
the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and
you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and
you did not visit Me." Then they also will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?" Then He will answer them, saying, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch
as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me." And these will go away into everlasting punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life.'" (Matthew 25:34-44).
Who is this King of Glory? "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will
sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left."
(Matthew 25:31-33).
The Doctrine of the Trinity
"They surely are Infidels who say, 'God is the third of three:' for there is no God but one God: and if
they refrain not from what they say, a grievous chastisement shall light on such of them as are
Infidels." (Sura 5:77) Is this the doctrine of the Trinity: "God is the third of three"?:
Biblical Proof:
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