SHARI'A MUSLIM LAW

Most westerners, with minds jaded by history of egalitarian liberties and separation of church and state, find Islamic society a difficult concept to grasp. During the peak of Islamic culture in the tenth century when the religion had spread to cultures foreign to that of Mecca, a period of research went on to collect all known acts and teachings of Mohammed (Hadith or Sunnah) in a process known as ijtihad, which means personal judgment or struggle (akin to the word jihad). The Hadith is made up of two major collections of material. One is that in which is God speaking "sacred" words through the prophet, the other is Mohammed’s own "noble" words. The Hadith consists of numerous volumes of commentary on an assortment of theological and social customs. The two most often referred to collections are the "Bukhari" and "Muslim" gathered within a couple hundred years after Mohammed’s death. Some of the Hadith literature has been considered dubious even by Muslims, yet most of it stands as authoritative. The ulama (law giving clerics) canonized a code of law and pronounced it divine, then, similar to the canonizing of the Christian scripture, the Sunnis claimed "The door of ijtihad was closed" to any further revelation. This Shari’a, or "way" of commandment (Sura 45:18) was an effort to fill the gaps in the Qur’an where issues are not addressed or are too vague or cryptic. Shari’a law is looked at much like the Jews look at the law of Moses, but with the additional Talmud commentary. It is a way of uniting the spiritual morals with a civil form of law. Instituting Muslim Shari’a in every country of the world is the ultimate political goal of the Muslim evangelist. It represents a utopian ideal heaven on earth fantasy.The Shari’a, like the Quran, represents a carrot and stick form of salvation of works. That is, reward man for being good and whack him if he is not. "Whoever builds a mosque for Allah, Allah Subhanahoo wataala will reward a palace for him in paradise." One Muslim wrote to me that he was more righteous than me because he had memorized the whole Qur’an. I guess that suggests that people with poor memories are looked upon as second-class believers. As Christians model their moral code around Christ who is more than human, Muslims attempt to model themselves after Mohammed who claimed to be merely a prophet, yet Muslims claim heaven and hell depend on Mohammed and his revelation. To suggest any imperfection in Mohammed is to blaspheme. Submission to Mohammed is essential to salvation. Simply believing in God is not enough. This might cause one to question the Sharia where Mohammed is cited as ordering his followers to drink the urine and blood of his camels for the sake of their health. 

By pronouncing the Shari’a divine it therefore becomes immutable, without criticism, frozen in time, unable to apply easily to changes in culture, time and technology. Any innovation or reason, no matter how logical, applied to the Shari’a might be considered heresy (bid’a) and seen as challenging God, thus opening one to the sword of jihad. The ulama see any learning beyond the Islam religion as suspect to undermining faith. As the Qur’an left gaps, so did the Shari’a and interpretation varies by degrees of emotion, life experience, knowledge and fanaticism, thus its weakness. The Shi’ites for various reasons hold that the ijtihad needs to remain open. The great divide between the orthodox Sunni tradition and the hardcore fundamentalist stems from how rigid to apply the Shari’a.

Mohammed's Dubious Sources

Gospel of Barnabas?It is not uncommon for Muslims to prop up fake documents such as the apocryphal Gospel of Barnabas, in which Jesus was not crucified, to support the Qur’an, never mind the unreliability of the document. Though there were vague references by early church fathers regarding material written by Barnabas none quoted from it thus its validity remained ambiguous until the 16th century when the "Gospel of Barnabas" surfaced written in Italian. Aside from the suspicious fact that it was not written in any early biblical languages such as Hebrew or Greek, it contains numerous historical and scientific problems with the document and contradicts both the Bible and the Qur’an. Muslims often point to a place in the Bible that records a disagreement that Paul had with Barnabas to support the idea that Paul went off on his own to dream up revelations contrary to that of the other Apostles. Peter however made a special point in his second epistle to support Paul’s words as being reliable, "Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction." The Qur’an and Hadith teaches that Jesus is the only prophet who never sinned. Barnabas however, puts these words in the mouth of Jesus, "May it please God that I receive punishment of God in this world, because I have not served Him faithfully as I was bound to do"(Chapter 198). "Jesus confessed and said the truth, ‘I am not the Messiah’" (Chapter 13). "I am sent to the house of Israel as a prophet of salvation, but after me shall come the Messiah, sent of God to all the world . . ." (Chapter 82). Apparently whoever wrote the Gospel of Barnabas had never seen a map of the Holy Land. Chapter 20 says, "Jesus went up to the Sea of Galilee, and having embarked in a ship, sailed to his city of Nazareth." Nazareth is in the hill country quite some distance from the shores of Galilee. The list of problems goes on.

There is one story in the Qur’an (Sura 5:110) of Jesus making a bird out of clay and breathing life into it, which was plucked from another dubious document, the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas. This presents a number of problems for Islam, one of which is; who can create life but God?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBwVZO8sYi8

Which Koran/Qur'an would Muhammad use?

by Dale Brown

A problem that often occurs to English speaking people in reading the Qur'an is, which English version of the Qur’an to use. George Sale’s version (1734), the one that Thomas Jefferson owned, is taken from Maracci’s earlier Latin version. It was seen as an English standard for some time but it is not liked by Muslims for obvious reasons. It was dedicated to the Roman Emperor Leopold I, with an introduction entitled "Refutation of the Qur’an." Though most Muslim scholars will admit that J.M. Rodwell’s 1861 version is a fair translation, it is not well received because of his commentary which is critical of Islam. E. H. Palmer’s version (1876) is not liked because he felt it should be translated into colloquial language. A. Ross did a version but used the Du Ruer (1647) French version rather than the Arabic as the source text. The first Muslim to undertake an English translation was Dr. Muhammad ‘Abdul Hakim Khan, of Patiala, (1905). Marmaduke Pickthall (born William Pickthall in London, 1875) was an English convert to Islam whose popular 1930’s version is considered almost literal but lacks notes to elucidate the meaning of the text. He traveled and studied in India. Pickthall used the common disclaimer that "the Qur’an cannot not be translated." This is of course to dodge the criticism of those who consider it a grave sin to translate the Holy Arabic words of Allah. A version by Abdullah Yusuf Ali was published in 1934 in Lahore, Pakistan. Its endorsement by the Presidency of Islam Researches raises questions to some by their comment that "we had to take some ‘liberties’ with the style and diction of the language. In the first place, we changed the ‘Biblical’ style of the Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation. We made a modest attempt at ‘modernizing’ the language to bring it more into line with the 21st Century usage." Rather strange that they can remain so rigid with the Arabic version of the Qur’an yet suddenly feel it appropriate to modernize the English version to fit the times we live in. With all these different versions around it is clearly not a perfect world when it comes to presenting the Qur’an to the English speaking world.
A more recent one released through a publisher in Saudi Arabia is likely to be a bit of an embarrassment to Muslims because of its clearly militant commentary. This "Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an" by Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali, Ph.D. (Berlin) and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, both from the Islamic University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia, reads something like an Amplified Bible with additional notes and commentary which includes transliteration of Arabic terms. It is a handy tool for those just learning their way around the Qur’an for it leaves no doubt as to the accepted understanding of every major doctrine. As do most non-Trinitarian cults the commentary goes into great detail refuting orthodox Christian doctrine, quoting from Biblical passages that support their prejudice and avoiding those that do not. Someone unfamiliar with the Bible might easily be persuaded.
The Council of American-Islamic Relations has distributed a translation by Muhammad Asad (born Leopold Weiss) a Jewish convert to Islam. It is written in both English and Arabic with transliteration helps and a commentary which comes across at times a bit politically correct. Where most versions read that man was created from a clot (of blood) Asad’s version reads "created man out of a germ cell"(Surah 96:2). One might wonder what Mohammed (or his God) knew about germs or cells when in fact those terms were not even used. A clot of blood sounds more likely. It is a revealing piece of work with over 1,100 pages.

Jihad: the Religion of Peace

To give a better understanding of the mind of Islam, which is not so eager to turn the other cheek, consider a few passages from the Qur’an, inspired by Mohammed (A.D. 567-632).
"And think not that the infidels shall escape Us! They shall not weaken God (Allah).
Make ready then against them what force ye can, and strong squadrons(tanks, planes, missiles, artillery) whereby ye may strike terror into the enemy of God and your enemy, and into others beside them whom ye know not, but whom God knoweth. All that you shall expend for the cause of God shall be repaid you; and ye shall not be wronged." (Surah 8:60 - THE SPOILS)
"When ye encounter the infidels, strike off their heads till ye have made a great slaughter among them, and of the rest make fast the fetters." "And whoso fight for the cause of God, their works he will not suffer to miscarry...he will bring them into the Paradise, of which he hath told them." "But as for the infidels, let them perish: and their works shall God bring to nought." (Sura 47:4,5,6 - MOHAMMED)
"O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not the wrongdoing folk" (Surah 5:51, 4:144).
"We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve because they ascribe unto Allah partners, for which no warrant hath been revealed. Their habitation is the Fire, and hapless the abode of the wrong-doers" (Surah 3:151)
Whenever these verses and others that point out the militant and divisive nature of the Qur’an are referred to, the usual reaction for a Muslim is to quote Surah 2:256, "There is no compulsion in religion." What that means however is up for debate. The implication is that no one becomes a Muslim through coercion. Many will say this applies only to non-Muslims because it is clear that Muslims are "compelled" with much compulsion to remain Muslims. Yet, there are many verses directed toward unbelievers that are quite harsh and paint quite a different story. "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey’s-end." "Oh ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him)."
A version of the Qur’an endorsed by Sheikh ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid, Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia, was being distributed from the Islamic Center of San Diego, California in the months after 9/11. It is most militant in its style and commentary. In a section entitled "The Call to Jihad" we read, "As it is now obvious, at first ‘the fighting’ was forbidden, then it was permitted and after that it was made obligatory – (1) against them who start ‘the fighting’ against you (Muslims)... (2) and against all those who worship others along with Allah... as mentioned in Sura 2, 3, 9... and other Sura (Chapters of the Quran). Allah made the fighting (Jihad) obligatory for the Muslims and gave importance to the subject-matter of Jihad in all the Sura which were revealed (at Al-Madinah) as in Allah’s Statement: ‘March forth whether you are light (being healthy, young and wealthy) or heavy (being ill, old and poor), and strive hard with your wealth and your lives in the Cause of Allah. This is better for you if you knew.’ (Sura 9:41) And He (Allah) said: ‘Jihad (holy fighting in Allah’s Cause) is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know."(Sura 2:216)
Leaving out major issues of theology and historical politics Islam and the media often portrays the teaching of the Quran as being as peace loving as a Mormon TV commercial and "being closely linked with both Christianity and Judaism, promoting the same God." Few Muslims are willing to admit that the first four caliphs after Mohammed’s death were all assassinated by fellow Muslims. There are those who will admit that "militant Islam" is a threat but want to separate those "fundamentalist" Muslims from the others who follow the teaching of the same book. The implication is that a white lie and a black lie constitute two different forms of morality. It may be a gray issue if for the sake of hurt emotions one tells a child that the over-baked cookies she just made are very tasty, but when one is lying about the nature of God we have crossed over the line.
In order to neutralize public criticism about murders done to the innocent in the name of Allah, Muslims often claim the Qur’an forbids such violence. They then casually quote, "Whoever kills a person, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he had killed all men. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all men." If one were to read the Surah in its context however it is clear something else is meant. In reality the verse starts out referring to the Children of Israel, that is Jews, and the Surah that follows reads, "The only punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is that they should be murdered, or crucified, or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposites sides, or they should be imprisoned." It is clear that the point being made here is, woe to any Jew killing or making mischief against Islam or the prophet. Context seems to mean little to a Muslim who is trying to persuade a non-Muslim. If a non-Muslim however quotes anything out of the Qur’an that brings question to the religion or its prophet they are quickly criticized and accused of misrepresenting the text.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUKwXlZfDhY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBwVZO8sYi8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbT-1inFxZY

Inside Islam: the Movie

Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think, shown at Columbia Basin College in Pasco Washington, April 27, 2010 is produced by Unity Productions Foundation a Muslim propaganda effort founded by Michael Wolfe and Alex Kronemer. Like Muhammad, Legacy of a Prophet and their other films it presents an hour long spin on Mohammed and Muslim history which is overwhelming to those who have never read the Quran. It paints a picture of Muslims, Christians and Jews worshipping the same God in perfect harmony in one breath, while admitting that Constantinople was taken by the sword in another. It fails to mention that Spain and Portugal were also invaded by Muslim armies. Thus the reason for Charles Martel’s retaliation. Nor do they mention that on the walls of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem verses of the Quran challenge cardinal doctrines of Christianity (so much for harmony). Credit is obviously due to the Arabs for Algebra etc., but this film suggests that if it were not for Muslim scholars all ancient manuscripts would have been lost. Never mind the Vatican library, Irish Latin scribes, or the manuscripts that were carried to Russia for safe keeping when Muslims sacked Constantinople. We could also point to the non-Muslim dragomans, hired by the Ottomans to translate western literature so they could keep up with the west. The film even uses a deceptive photo of the Qumran caves where ancient Jewish manuscripts were found, as though it was Muslims that hide them there. One could write a book on the obvious deception of UPF films. Daniel Pipes has documented some of this on his website.
Attorney Tom Roach’s endorsement of the movie in his letter to the Tri-City Forum appears he is rather naïve.
Let us not forget, in Islam there are only two worlds, Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam) and Dar al-Harb (House of War).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbT-1inFxZY

Jihad & the Rifle

We interviewed a young black man with a white embroidered scull-cap, or takiah ("piety"), at the final Ramadan service in San Diego, California in 2001, where there were 7,000 Muslims. He wore a denim jacket with the words "JIHAD AND THE RIFLE ALONE, NO Negotiations! NO Conferences! NO Dialogue!" embroidered in yellow on his back. It is a quote from the book Join the Caravan, a popular book written by the late Shiek Abdullah Azzam, a friend of Osama bin Ladin.  When we asked him if he could explain his understanding of Jihad to us he said, "Any Muslim who does not believe in jihad, is not a good Muslim." He went on to write down familiar Qur’an references regarding jihad on a piece of paper for us. He went on to tell us that Mohammed the prophet was noted to have said the only reason he would be willing to come back from the dead would be to fight in jihad. I found the reference in the Saudi authorized version of the Qur’an "Call to Jihad" commentary. "I would love to be martyred in Allah’s Cause and then come back to life and then be martyred and then come back to life again and then be martyred and then come back to life again and then be martyred." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 2797).
The same commentary from the Hadith reads, "Jihad is a great deed indeed and there is no deed whose reward or blessing is as that of it, and for this reason, it is the best thing that one can volunteer for." Jihad is seen as the ultimate form of Shahada, or testimony for God.
The man with the denim jacket was asked if he felt that flying commercial airliners into the twin towers in New York was a good expression of jihad. He said that he thought the targets should have been kept military. But, then he shrugged his shoulders and said, "But who am I?" This is the attitude of many in the Muslim world who are not really of the militant Islamist temperament themselves. Though they may not be partakers in the violence they are not too eager to condemn it either.
The Qur’an is not too vague in its statements about other religions. "Whoso desireth any other religion than Islam, that religion shall never be accepted from him, and in the next world he shall be among the lost" (SURA 3:85). One needs no knowledge of Arabic to get the translation. These unbelievers, or apostates, are referred to in derogatory terms as kafir (kuffar plural) or infidels.
It was this type of religious fervor for control that had driven Europe to seek an alternate route to India which ultimately lead to Columbus discovering the Americas. After the capture of Constantinople (now named Istanbul) in 1453 a blockade by the Muslim Turks cut off trade to the Far East making for hard times in the shipping industry of southern Europe. Maybe the American Indians should blame the Muslims for the Europeans coming to America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUKwXlZfDhY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBwVZO8sYi8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbT-1inFxZY

Is Mohammed the Comforter?

Citing Greek Bible text it is claimed by many Muslims that Mohammed was the fulfillment of a prophecy of Christ referring to the coming Holy Spirit (Comforter or Parakelitos Grk), which would glorify Christ and be with us forever (John 14:16,16:7,14). They however, use the word "Periklutos" (the praised one, or Ahmad) instead. It might be worthy to note that Mohammed is no longer with us and his followers want nothing to do with the Biblical Christ. This appeals to the half-hearted searcher of scripture but fails by not acknowledging that it is Jesus who is credited in the Bible as sending Him (the parakelitos) to you. Muslims are not eager to accept Mohammed being sent by any other than Allah. This is not to mention that the Holy Spirit’s role is to glorify Christ, not Allah.
http://youtu.be/L-VFK-CGLp8

The Woman

A tract about polygamy in Islam distributed in many American mosques states that "Early Christians invented ideas that women were ‘full of sin’ and man was better off to ‘never marry’. Since this would be the end of mankind these same people compromised and said ‘marry only one.’" Yet, the Bible teaches no such thing. Many followers and supporters of Christ were godly women. The Muslim tract claims "that artificially created monogamy has become a factor in ruining the family structure, and the social, economic and political systems of the country." Mormonism is cited as an example of a "Christian" group that has supported polygamy, though they fail to point out that Mormonism is actually a heretical cult. One justification for polygamy is that during a woman’s monthly period and during months of pregnancy the man needs a means to fulfill his sexual desires outside of adultery, prostitution, etc.
Though the Old Testament contains many stories of men that had more than one wife it was clearly viewed as a practice not encouraged. In the law of Moses kings were instructed not to "multiply wives to themselves,"a guideline that Solomon disobeyed to his own demise. The New Testament guideline for elders is that they are to be "husbands of one wife." The fact that the apostle Paul was not married is explained in his own letters as simply a means to remain free from the burden of caring for a wife and family for the sake of his ministry. It had nothing to do with any negative attitude toward women. He made it clear that whether male or female "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
The Muslims should be embarrassed about their own treatment of their women who are kept hidden under black veils and abaayas. The Qur’an clearly teaches "Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret what Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them." The Qur’an allows for men to have four wives. Mohammed had many revelations regarding the taking of wives. One came about when his eyes took a liken to the wife of his adopted son, Zaid. Zaid was pressured to divorce her so that Mohammed could have her. "It is not for believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed into a plain error." After the following Surah, that spells out Mohammed taking Zaid’s wife, the Qur’an reads, "There is no blame on the Prophet in that which Allah has made legal for him." Surah 33:50 tells of other special privileges the prophet had over other believers regarding the taking of wives. According to the same chapter of the Qur’an Mohammed’s wives were not permitted to marry anyone else after his death.

Women are considered second-class citizens whose word amounts to little in a court of law. In some Muslim countries they are not allowed to even drive a car. Saudi men customarily divorce wives who are barren. For the sake of male supremacy (and I must say hypocrisy) woman nearly always suffers the blame of a divorce regardless the true cause. This painful reality is revealed in the book PRINCESS, A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, by Jean P. Sasson. When liberal female Kuwaiti refugees fled to Saudi Arabia to avoid the invasion of Iraqi soldiers, Saudi women saw for the first time women driving cars with faces exposed to the light of day. It was short-lived however when the religious authorities brought the law to bear on these rebels crushing any vision of freedom others might have had. The structure of the U.S. military includes having foreign female soldiers on Saudi soil, which is the ultimate slap in the face of the religious fundamentalist leaders. It flies in the face of not only the religious tradition but the male ego as well. In Islam it not only a man’s world where he may have up to four wives, it is also a man’s heaven, where there will be many virgins and young boys to serve wine to the faithful who will wear gold armlets and be clothed in holy green silk robes embroidered in gold (Sura 56:17&18, 18:31). It is discouraged in Islam to drink wine, in heaven however there are rivers of wine for the faithful (Sura 47:15, 83:25). It is a wonder why it is called wine however because the Qur’an claims that this heavenly wine will cause no intoxication or hangovers (Sura 56:19). This is about as ridiculous as Christians who claim that Biblical wine was not alcoholic. If that were the case then why did the religious crowd accuse Jesus of being a winebibber? In a world where we can go to the super-market and buy refrigerated grapejuice anytime of the year we are clearly out of touch with the reality of ancient food storage.
http://www.muhammadtube.com/videos/2923/the-death-of-allah

Arab examining a woman at the slave market.

According to the Quran Job got angry with his wife during his trials and swore to punish her with one hundred lashes.  The generous fellow that he was softened the beating by striking her with a bundle of one hundred blades of grass. (Surah 38:44)

The Trinity?

Why does Allah not understand the Trinity

Despite the fact there is ample manuscript evidence of the Bible’s reliability the Qur’an teaches that the Bible has been corrupted in translation and that the Trinity is a belief in three Gods. "Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian; but he was sound in the faith, and not of those who add gods to God"(Sura 3:67). The Qur’an understanding of the Trinity is three Gods; Father God, Mother God (Mary), Baby God (Jesus) therefore Christians are viewed as polytheists, thus guilty of the unpardonable sin (shirk) of adding gods to the Godhead. "Believe therefore in God and his apostles, and say not, ‘Three:’ (there is a Trinity) Forbear it will be better for you. God is only one God! Far be it from His glory that He should have a son!"(Sura 4:171) "Infidels now are they who say, ‘Verily God is the Messiah Ibn Maryam (son of Mary)!" (Sura 5:72)
The Muslim misconception is 1+1+1=3, whereas the Christian concept is 1x1x1=1.
The Muslim cannot grasp the concept of God being so loving that He would sacrifice His only begotten Son for the sins of man. Yet, that is exactly what John the Baptist was saying when he called Jesus the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

The Muslim challenge to Christian theology has been so public as to have anti-Trinitarian verses from the Qur’an printed on their first gold coins in 694 by Abd al-Malik. "There is no God but God (Allah) alone, he has no companion. Muhammed is the Prophet of God, who sent him with guidance and the religion of the truth to make it prevail over all religion." (9:33) "He is God, one, eternal; he does not beget nor is he begotten." (112:1-3) The same verses he had written on the walls of the Dome of the Rock Mosque he built in Jerusalem in 691. This was to rival the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre and make a strong polemic statement against Christian doctrine. Other anti-Trinitarian verses repeatedly decorate the walls. Islam is clearly antichrist in its history, its theology and its scripture the Qur’an. The placement of this mosque on the site of the old Jewish temple was a statement against the Jews.
The Qur’an clearly teaches, "And when the sacred months are passed, kill those who join other gods with God wherever ye shall find them; and seize them, besiege them, and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush: but if they shall convert, and observe prayer, and pay the obligatory alms, then let them go their way, for God is Gracious, Merciful" "Christians say, ‘The Messiah is a son of God.’ Such the sayings in their mouths! They resemble the saying of the Infidels of old! God do battle with them! How are they misguided." "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey’s-end" (Sura 9:5,30,73 "IMMUNITY"). Apparently it is not enough that the infidels are going to hell, some Muslims, with encouragement from the Qur’an, feel they should hurry up the process of getting them there. To avoid criticism Muslims often claim these verses were only for a particular event in history and do not apply today. Christians, at times, are guilty of the same ploy when they find something in their scripture that they do not like. Some are known to say certain things only apply to the "apostolic age" or to the Jewish culture, etc.
One way of doing battle with the "infidels," or tolerated minorities under Islam within its borders has been to levy poll-taxes (jizyah) "obligatory alms" against them. These taxes are then used to finance jihad and Islamic expansion. It is beneficial to protect some people with a covenant Dhimma if they are offering to society something that Islam has use for.
http://youtu.be/L-VFK-CGLp8

Which Truth?

It has been said that the first casualty in war is truth. Many Christian leaders are not willing to be critical of cult religions because they are so unable to defend their own. They often take the Pietist stand, that God does not need someone to defend Him, therefore are not willing to take a stand for truth. They are being swept along in a sea of relativism that gives the Bible little more credibility than the Qur’an or the Book of Mormon. Laughing at the absurdity of Islam is no substitute for reasonable argument. While Christians have been lulled to sleep in their comfortable social settings the Muslims have been holding Dawa (Witnessing) Conferences discussing how they might win the West. Passivity is surely not the attitude of the Biblical writers. Six hundred years before Christ, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isa. 1:18). God is not opposed to men using logic to think things through. Jude wrote that we should "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3) Peter wrote that we should be "ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence" (1 Pet. 3:15)
Visiting Mosques in the San Diego area the December after 9/11 was quite revealing. The Muslims were celebrating Ramadan, their month of fasting (only during daylight hours). They were on their best behavior because we were told, they are taught that to lose their temper during the fast is to negate the effects of the fast before Allah. Next to one of our country’s largest Islamic Centers is a Lutheran church which shares part of its parking space with the mosque. The pastor was quite frank about the difficulty in dealing with his mainly Arab and foreign neighbors. The wealthy Kuwaitis he claimed are the most arrogant, often trying to buy him off with hundred dollar bills in order to gain more parking space.
On our tour of the Mosque we were given two English copies of the Quran. The one with the militant commentary, endorsed by Sheikh ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid, the Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia, has such entries as, "And make ready against them all you can of power, including steeds of war (tanks, planes, missiles, artillery) to threaten the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others besides whom, you may not know but whom Allah does know. And whatever you shall spend in the Cause of Allah shall be repaid unto you, and you shall not be treated unjustly"(Sura 8:60). A lengthy section is dedicated to explaining the need for Jihad (Holy War) to promote the message of the Prophet.
It should not come as a surprise to see such fervor from the Saudi Muslims. In 1744 Mohammed Al Sa’ud one of the early ancestors of the Saudi family joined with one of the strictest teachers of the Qur’an, Mohammed Al Wahhab. Sons of these two men, following after the pattern laid down by their fathers, unleashed rigid punishment upon people (1802-1806) capturing Mecca and Medina. They massacred the entire male population of Taif, extending the Al Sa’uds authority southward to Oman. In 1932, six years before oil is discovered, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia becomes the twelfth largest country in the world. More fighting happened among the Muslims when Saudi Arabia went to war against Yemen. Religious factions demonstrated in 1948 over the introducing of new technology, namely, radio. Later Prince Khalid ibn Musaid, King Faisal’s nephew is killed while leading a protest in 1965 over the opening of a new television station. King Faisal is later killed in 1975 by Prince Faisal ibn
Musaid, the brother of Prince Khalid ibn Musaid. Certainly this is not one big happy family.
One mosque, the Al-Madina Al-Munawara, east of San Diego, in El Cajon, we found to be locked up tight on Friday when it should have been bustling with worshippers. With a little inquiry among the neighbors and past newspaper articles we revealed some fascinating information. Since 9/11 the Kurdish Muslims had decided to abandon the building which had been purchased by a Saudi man, Al-Bayoumi, who arrived back in 1997 with a $545,000 gift. It was reported that his gift came with strings attached however. According to one report, the FBI claimed there was a terrorist connection and Bayoumi disappeared to England to go to school where he was arrested. While in California, however he frequented the larger Islamic Center in San Diego. Consequently, the normally low-key Kurdish congregation had taken to gathering somewhere else because of all the bad press and its Saudi connection.
Funny, how so many mosques in the U. S. are built near universities to accommodate the foreign students. If Islam has such a superior culture, why is it that they send their young people to America, Britain and other westernized countries to get educated, then have the gall to complain about western immorality and culture? It reminds me of those who buy a house near an airport then complain about the noise. How some Muslims, who admire the West, rationalize this apparent contradiction is by looking at the advances, such as algebra, that Islam once gave to the world. They reason that the foundation of modern science was stolen from Islam and it is only just that they are taking back their heritage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbT-1inFxZY

BLACK ISLAM

The American Religion
Another version of Islam, the American Black Muslim variety, which can be traced back to Detroit in the early 1930’s, is presented through the leadership of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, son of Elijah Muhammad who died in 1975. In the beginning it was a stretch to call Elijah’s religion Islam, but it has evolved over time. Deen is the leader of the Muslim of American Society, a ministry largely to blacks. Many converts to this movement have come through outreach to blacks in prison, promoting a separate "black" culture. Of non-immigrant Muslims in America about 85 percent are black. In Deen’s newspaper Muslim Journal sent out to mosques and others on his mailing list, there was much talk of interfaith unity and pictures of him meeting with big names such as liberal Christian leader Dr. Schuller, and Louis Farrakhan who, in the past has praised Hitler, and remarked that Judaism is a "gutter religion." Much of this public show is part of Warith’s effort to move toward mainline Islam and tone down the past anti-white rhetoric about "blue-eyed devils." His paper is a polite mixed bag of peace messages in one breath and anti Christian and Jewish messages in another. Quoting verses from the Qur’an which have historically been pointed at Trinitarian Christians the Imam’s paper reads, "’Say, Oh people of the Book [Bible]! Come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but G-d, that we associate no partner with Him, that we erect not from among ourselves lords and patrons other than G-d. If then they turn back, say ye ‘bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to G-d’s Will).’ Civilized nations should want that their religions be also civilized. False worship is the worst form of oppression." The implication is, that to worship Christ, who they view as merely a man, is adding Gods to the Godhead, is uncivilized and the worst form of oppression. In the fashion of the Mormons and other cults, the newspaper quotes the Bible when it serves the Muslim prejudice and disregards Biblical authority when they are challenged by it. In other words, when in doubt, disregard.
Many in the black community are still having a hard time letting go of history. One black man we interviewed in one mosque had a difficult time talking about his religion of Islam without bringing up the history of slavery in America. He was rather shocked when I pointed out to him that Muslims in many countries have taken part in the slave trade. As a matter of fact Saudi Arabia, the home of Mecca, continued slavery as a common practice until it was abolished in 1962. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania in western Africa continued it as a legal tradition until 1980. Islam found that capturing young slaves from foreign countries (some such countries have come to be known as Slavic countries) provided them good young men that could be educated, trained, or brainwashed, for the sake of manning their army. These men, having no emotional ties to wives and family, in the interest of self preservation, would give their loyalty to their commanders thus to the Islamic cause of jihad. Slavery is not merely a sin of white Christian culture. Temptation to capitalize on the benefits of cheap labor is as broad as humanity itself. Even certain American Indian tribes were known to capture members of other clans. Human nature is not necessarily dictated by the color of our skin.
A version of the Qur’an translated by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall is commonly distributed in mosques around America. Judgment day is portrayed in the following verses. "On the day when (some faces will be whitened and (some) faces will be blackened; and as for those whose faces have been blackened, it will be said unto them: Disbelieve ye after your (profession of) belief? Then taste the punishment for that ye disbelieved. As for those whose faces have been whitened, lo! in the mercy of Allah they dwell for ever" (Surah 3:106 & 107). The Interpretation of the Noble Qur’an endorsed by the Saudi Chief Justice might be a difficult pill for American blacks to swallow if they read it objectively. Its describes judgment day in ethnic terms as well. "So on that Day no question will be asked of man or jinni as to his sin [because they have already been known from their faces either white (dwellers of Paradise — true believers of Islamic Monotheism) or black (dwellers of Hell — polytheists, disbelievers, criminals)]. The Mujrimun (polytheists, criminals, sinners) will be known by their marks (black faces), and they will be seized by their forelocks and their feet."

It was interesting to see how various ethnic Muslim communities came together after 9/11 to celebrate Ramadan and other festivals when they have never gotten along in the past. Traditional Islam is cautious of some of the western versions of Islam, and at the same time some poor western Muslim communities are leery of being manipulated by rich Arab money.
History has shown that the poor are often eager to accept any new leader if it softens their load. Liberal Christians and Jews have often found employment in the construction of mosques in the same way many Christians have found themselves working on the construction of modern Mormon churches and Temples, jobs attained through the union hall. Inviting the devil in is one way to keep the heating bill down. In the eighth century when Spain was invaded by the Moors those who caved in to the pressure and endorsed the Muslim faith were called "renegado," or renegades. Many stood their ground however such as the priest Perfectus who was sentenced to death and decapitated by the Muslims for publicly stating Mohammed was "the servant of Satan." From the scaffold he cursed the prophet as "an imposter, an adulterer, and a child of hell." His death inflamed a zeal among both faiths. Many Christian martyrs followed. The Zealots were led by the monk Eulogius who was martyred himself a few years later.
Much of what fueled the Spanish Inquisition of 1478-1492, was the suspicion of those who held views such as the "renegades" which would appear to side with which ever side was in control. Given the history of Muslim invaders (1480) who had slaughtered about 10,000 people of Otranto, sawing bishop Stefano Pendinelli in half while yet alive, and in front of their wives and families whacked off the heads of 800 who would not convert to Islam (on what is now called the "Hill of the Martyrs"), the Spanish government was not about to allow anyone, Christian or Jew, to live within its borders which may have sided with the enemy in the past. So, either convert to their Catholic version of Christianity or get out. Therefore Spain was purged of non-desirables which they felt a threat to the throne. Either you are with us, or you are against us. Italy’s cathedral of Otranto displays many of the skulls of these martyrs in huge glass cases as a constant reminder of the past. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 to Muslim invasion, and the ordeal at Otranto quickly brought about following crusades.
Many American converts to Islam hate their own country, which they feel for one reason or another, has failed them. Islam targets these disgruntled citizens much like any religious cult that targets those who have fallen through the cracks of traditional Christian denominations. By taking advantage of naive unguarded minds they make them feel accepted and feed their questions with answers that tickle both their ears and their egos with the idea they can be a part of creating an Islamic utopian paradise here on earth.
The late Malcolm X, an early convert to the Nation of Islam, had a falling out with Elijah Mohammad in 1963 and left the movement. He had started out in the same anti-white spirit of most Black Nationalist leaders but changed his tune after a trip to Mecca where he saw both whites and blacks rallying together around the sacred rock. Though he is dead, he lives on as a poster-boy for the glories of Islam since he changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and began preaching a more unifying message of Islam’s one God and the oneness of man. One tract published by the Islamic Circle of North America tells Malcolm’s conversion story and claims Islam is the solution to all racism. It includes a conversion stamp of approval from the oldest and most prestigious Islamic University, Al-zhar in Jeddah, and a commission for such believers to propagate the "True Religion in order that it may prevail over all other religions."

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

Some of the material published by Muslims for the sake of evangelizing and tearing down the Christian faith clearly shows how little most of them know about the Bible.
Among the popular tracts distributed to mosques from the Institute of Islamic Information & Education in Chicago there was one entitled Who invented the Trinity, in which apostle Paul is credited as being the true founder of Christianity. The "Great Commission" of Matthew 28:19, a common verse cited in favor of the Trinity, is claimed to be an addition to the original text. It is suggested that the Unitarian rejection of the Trinity is a more proper view of God, yet fails to mention that the Unitarians also believe in reincarnation which the Muslims abhor. Rejecting this text is also a clear indication of the doctrine of baptism which Islam rejects.
Another entitled Is Jesus Really God? quotes many Bible versions showing the humanity of Christ while rejecting the ones that portray His Deity. Like with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is claimed to be merely a created being. The crucifixion is rejected with a verse from the Qur’an, "And for their unbelief, and their uttering against Mary a mighty calumny, and for their saying, ‘We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God’...yet they did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a likeness of that was shown to them. Those who are at variance concerning him surely are in doubt regarding him, they have no knowledge of him, except the following of surmise; and they did not slay him of certainty...no indeed; God raised him up to Him; God is Almighty, All-Wise. There is not one of the people of the Book but will assuredly believe in him before his death, and on the Resurrection Day he will be a witness against them (Qur’an 4:156-159).
The tract entitled Mary and her son Jesus is quite revealing. Many good things are said of Mary (Al-Imran and Marium in Arabic), her virginity is acknowledged, but when Jesus is born we see a rather strange happening in Sura 19:29-33. Jesus, a mere infant, carries on a conversation with the people as though he is simply another adult. There is no mention of Joseph, the husband of Mary in the Qur’an.
A Muslim ministry based out of Annandale, Virginia which distributes a glossy publication by Transcom International called Discover Islam claims, "Rights and responsibilities of both sexes are equitable and balanced in their totality." It claims that anything to the contrary is due to cultural practices in countries that are not authentic to Islamic teaching. The same publication states that the Qur’an does not blame women for violating the "forbidden tree," an obvious shot at the Garden of Eden story in the Bible. One must remember that Adam partook of the tree as well and both were equally driven from the garden. Though apostle Paul does refer to the woman as the weaker vessel, both are in need of redemption.

One popular book published and distributed free by the Al-Haramain Foundation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam. It is a glossy full color book with a cover showing an open Qur’an flying in orbit around the earth and landing like a meteor at Mecca. It takes vague references from the Quran, and some out of context verses from the Bible, and builds a "scientific" case for the Qur’an’s reliability. It reminds me of the method the Christian Science cult uses to bolster their religion, or the way the Mormons twist both history and archaeology to "prove" their book. This book from the Al-Haramain Foundation, unlike most other Muslim promo pieces, even boasts of miracles performed by Mohammed, yet with no references from the Qur’an. It makes a spin on history and downplays their violent past. It makes claims that no one can prove or disprove, and others that are bold face lies. One such claim is that Jesus used the word Allah for God. Any good concordance of the Bible will show that the Hebrew/Aramaic language at the time of Christ used several words for God, none of which were Allah. Elohim is the most common, next is Yaweh (Jehovah). El is another, which can be seen tacked on the end of many Jewish words such as Israel, Gabriel, Michael, etc. We obtained a copy in Washington D.C. at an event in October of 2002 called the first annual Muslim American Heritage Day. It was held at Freedom Plaza near the White House on the same Sunday that firefighters from all over the nation had gathered a block away on Pennsylvania Avenue to mourn and raise funds for their fallen comrades. Amidst this tense scene the Muslims had set up a stage and numerous booths, book tables and ethnic displays. Numerous Arabs were wearing their tradition red and white checkered head covering (shumagh) held on with a double black cord (agal) that rests on top. It was warm so many wore the traditional thobe, a white ankle-length garment with long sleeves. Others from Morocco wore the traditional red Fez cap which became a replacement to the turban in Turkey in 1826 by Ottoman leader Mahmad II. The Fez was was originally a symbol of an Islamic school in the city of Fez. A hat with a brim has been often considered anti-Muslim because of it being an obstacle to prostration in prayer. The Fez was banned in Turkey by Ataturk in 1925. American Nobles of the Masonic Mystic Shrine wear fezzes in parades and special events showing the link to Islam in their religious beliefs. These Masons are known at times to place a Qur’an on their altar as well as a Bible, not willing to acknowledge the contradiction.
Muslims are not only learning to use public transportation such as airplanes to target non-Muslim interests but they are also learning to use the American media and government funds as part of their propaganda machine. Printed material has its limitations. The problem with printed literature is that those who are literate might also have the intellectual ability to see through the smoke screen in order to sort through the deception. Where it would take a reader many hours of deep concentration to wade through a critical history of Islam and its theology, the television screen can seduce the masses in a few short hours while they sit in their livingroom in the comfort of their easy chair. With visual media one can portray history is such beautiful glowing scenes that the critical thinking of the naive non-Muslim viewer is neutralized. A few months after the Muslim American Heritage event the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) ran a two-hour documentary on prime time TV entitled "Muhammed: Legacy of a Prophet." Produced by the Unity Productions Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) company whose "mission is balanced, fair and accurate journalistic material" in the spirit of tolerance. It consisted of a positive spin on Mohammed’s life partially funded by the Sabadia Family Foundation, El-Hibri Foundation, The Qureishi Family Trust, Arabian Bulk Trading, Ltd., and more than 4,000 individual donors. A little surfing on the Internet revealed some very interesting facts. The program was connected to The Islam Project, an interfaith multicultural organization made up of many Muslim ministries and other ecumenically pluralistic groups. Michael Wolfe, co-producer, is a well-known Muslim. He and Alexander Kronemer founded the Unity Productions Foundation.
Daniel Pipes, university lecturer and writer for the New York Post, came under intense criticism by the Muslims when he pointed out the deceptive evangelistic nature of the program which was also partially funded by the American taxpayers.
In the program emotional ploys were used such as an interview with a Muslim firefighter from New York who claimed that true Muslims would never do something such as those who flew the commercial airliners into the Twin Towers. Others praised the prophet, next to Moses, as the perfect example of humanity. There were few critical words spoken against the prophet or the history of the religion. It was not so much what the documentary did show, as what it did not show, that was the problem. Getting the opinion of American Muslims on what Islam teaches is like asking a Unitarian about what their fellow Christians believe. You get nothing but a politically correct relativistic spin.

A video entitled Islam: A Closer Look is now found in many public libraries in America thanks to the slick evangelistic efforts of Taibah International. It is distributed by a Muslim media outreach based out of Falls Church, Virginia. It is a usual Muslim spin on world history, science and religion geared for a naïve unread person who believes anything that shows up on a television screen.
Saudi Arabia finds itself in a precarious situation in its new interest to bring in tourist dollars. In year 2001 the Saudi Aramco World magazine published a number of articles dealing with the dilemma. The only tourism that feeds the economy of the "forbidden cities" of Mecca and Medina are Muslims. In effort to reap some fruit from the pockets of non-Muslim world travelers the Saudi’s formed an organization from scratch in year 2000 called the Supreme Commission for Tourism. In the past the French have been the largest market because of the large number of Muslims there. To attract non-Muslims they have promoted specialized markets for mountain-bikers and those who dive among the coral reefs in the Red Sea. It will be interesting to see how the rigid religious crowd take to having non-believers trampling the country-side.
The Jesus of the Qur’an is quite obviously a different character than the Jesus of the Bible. Of the many Muslims that I have interviewed and corresponded with through e-mail there is one common scenario. When they find that I am a Christian they are nearly always quick to tell me they believe in Jesus and want to talk about everything we have in common. As long as I do not cite the Bible or define our terms things go rather smoothly. As soon as one quotes from the Bible or makes reference to the deity of Christ, the Son of God, our relationship quickly spirals into the abyss. "We believe Jesus is a prophet, nothing more," they usually respond. If one believes in Jesus as only a prophet should he not be willing to follow His teaching. The answer is categorically no. Those who are defenders of Islam are not willing to follow the teaching of Jesus the prophet, nor Jesus the Son of God. The main reason is that they would have to look into the biblical record of His life and existence which immediately flies in the face of Mohammed and his Qur’an.
The Bible warns us that false Christs, false prophets and false gospels were coming. We have an abundance to choose from, from the Arabian Desert to the American West. If there were no other reason to believe in the Bible, the mere fact that all other religions go to such extremes to discredit it without coming to the same conclusions should say something. One would think that if all the criticism is correct, the critics should be able to rally around the standard of their criticism. They should all end up with one common religion. That of course is not the case. The spirit of Islam can be summed up in the words of Jesus when he was describing the nature of the religious crowd of his day, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbT-1inFxZY

UPON THIS ROCK

I WILL BUILD MY. . .
The root of the great conflict in Israel, or more specifically, Jerusalem, is it ethnic or religious? Jews (sons of Isaac) verses Arabs (sons of Ishmael)? Judaism/Christianity verses Islam? Is it merely a greed for land?
One place to start in understanding the conflict is in some prophetic verses out of the Old Testament’s book of Zechariah written around 520 B.C. "Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it." These verses have been an ongoing fulfillment of reality for centuries in the world of politics. Kings and governors the world over have tossed this hot potato back and forth, yet it never seems to cool off. Israel has historically been judged by foreign nations every time they lowered the divine standard of their religion. It is recorded in their scriptures yet many rabbis refuse to acknowledge it. Knowing both the scripture and this history Jesus wept over Jerusalem and foretold of judgments yet to come, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
To many, Judaism has become nothing more than an ethnic political movement they call Zionism. To those who study scripture, Israel is a picture of God’s prophetic time clock. Jesus said that the Jews would fall by the edge of the sword, and would be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem would be trampled under foot by Gentiles (non-Jews) until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. After the Roman invasion in 70 A.D., further fulfillment of this prophecy has been carried out through the Muslims who built their third most holy mosque, the Dome of the Rock, over the foundation of the ancient Jewish temple site, making that small piece of real estate in Jerusalem the most explosive powder keg in the world. Some in the West naively think that the debate is all about oil. Oil was not even discovered in Saudi Arabia until 1938 at Dammam. While oil plays a part in our modern economy since the development of the internal combustion engine, this issue dates back to the time when the tar pits of the middle east were nothing more than a blight on the desert landscape which fed the fires of Zoroastrian and other pagan religious festivals.
While Muslims throw rocks down on the Jews praying at the western wall of the temple mount, the Jews secretly plan the rebuilding of the ancient temple. Meanwhile, Muslims talk of construction of a larger mosque on the same site. Can any sane person not believe that without Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, there will continue to be wars and rumors of wars as He predicted?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A brief list of our sources

A Short History of Africa, by Roland Oliver and J.D. Fage, Pelican Books 6th edition 1988
A Survey of Arab History, Bernard G. Weiss & Arnold H. Green, The American University of Cairo Press, 3rd printing 1990
Countries and their Cultures (4 volumes) Melvin and Carol R. Ember, Editors, Macmillan Reference USA 2001
Encarta(R) 97 Encyclopedia
From Babel to Dragomans, Interpreting the Middle East, by Bernard Lewis, Oxford University Press 2004
In the Shadow of the Prophet, by Milton Viorst, Anchor Books 1998
Islam: A Primer, by John Sabini, Middle East Editorial Associates Washington D.C., 1990
Leaving Islam, Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books 2003
Medieval Iberia, Edited by Olivia Remie Constable, University of Pennsylvania 2012
Militant Islam Reaches America, by Daniel Pipes, W. W. Norton & Company, 2002
PRINCESS: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, by Jean P. Sasson, Avon Books 1992
Reliance of the Traveller (A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law) translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Amana Publications 1994
Sharing Your Faith With a Muslim, by Abdiyah Akbar Abdul-Hagg, Bethany House Publishers 1980
The Arabic Alphabet, by Nicholas Awde & Putros Samano, Carol Publishing Group, 1990
The Age of Faith (Vol. IV of The Story of Civilization), by Will Durant, Simon and Schuster 1950
THE HOLY LAND: Yesterday and Today , Lithographs by David Roberts, VMB Publishers 2004
The Islamic Threat, Myth or Reality, by John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press 1999
The Middle East, by Bernard Lewis, Touchstone 1995
The New Encyclopedia of Islam, by Cyril Glasse, AltaMira Press revised edition 2001
The Sikhs, by Patwant Singh, Doubleday 1999
The World’s Writing Systems, by Peter T. Daniels & William Bright, Oxford University Press 1996
The Coming Last Days Temple, by Randall Price, Harvest House 1999
Warriors of the Prophet, by Mark Huband, Westview Press 1999