Posted on 11/18/2002 3:13:25 PM PST by blam
Nice try, but you still haven't answered the question. :o) As you mentioned before, we seem to hold to different interpretations. So, I'm still waiting for an unequivocal answer!
You need a new Buddhist filter. Any Buddhist with half a brain would prefer to live in a Christian society than a Mohammedan society.
It would be interesting to do a study on what happens to countries with a greater than 25% Muslim population.
In nearly every case, I would bet, any country with a signficant minority Muslim population has been forced into sharia.
The Kabah is the most sacred place in all of Islam. The Muslim believes the Kabah was first built by Abraham, and then became a place of extensive idolatry. During that time, Allah supposedly was forgotten, and Muhammed had to reveal him to a people ignorant of his name. If Allah's name was unknown to pagan Arabs until Muhammad revealed it, then we must explain why the name of Muhammad's father was "Abd-Allah". Then there was Muhammad's uncle. His name was "Obied-Allah". The truth is, Allah was one of the many religions pursued at the Kabah. "Amidst the profusion of idols in the West Arabian pantheon, one stands out as the chief god of the Meccans. The cult of the deity termed simply, the god (Allah < al-ilah) was known throughout southern Syria and northern Arabia, and was obviously of central importance in Mecca, where the building called the Ka'ba was indisputably his house." (F.E. Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, (State Univ. of N.Y. Press, 1994), p107).
The cult of Allah was a well developed religion in Muhammad's day. The Arabs believe that Allah had three daughters (goddesses). In pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was the Moon god, and was married to the Sun goddess. Together, they had three daughters, Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat. In proof that there was knowledge of Allah and his daughters before Muhammad came along is this passage:
"Now ask them their opinion: Is it that thy Lord has (only) daughters, and they have sons? - Or that We created the angels female, and they are witnesses (thereto)?" Sura 37:149f
Muhammad argued that the Meccans were not to worship the three daughters of Allah, that they were only angels. But why would he argue such a thing if the Meccans did not know about Allah or his daughters?
These three daughters proved to be a source of salvation for Muhammad in a time of trouble. Great has been the dispute over the satanic verses of Sura 53. Muslim scholars have had to admit their presence from the evidence of Hadith, and then explain them away. The tradition tells us that on an occasion when Muhammad was under threat from his own tribe, be produced Sura 53. In that Sura, the three daughters of Allah are mentioned. Originally, it is claimed that Muhammad said, "These are high-flying cranes; verily their intercession is to be hoped for." Later, verses 21-23 were substituted. Muslim scholars tell us that Satan induced Muhammad to utter these verses. Whether it was Satan, or not; the modern Islamic scholar must admit that Allah was the "high god" of Mecca before Muhammad came along, and that Allah had three daughters being worshipped in that city! The modern Islamic scholar must also concede that Muhammad could be decieved by Satan, and then tell us how we know that the remainder of the Quran was not the work of demons.
I'm still looking forward to your answer...
Still, God is merciful, and He may do things that astonish or confound mere human beings.
It may be observed that Catholics (all kinds) and Hindus are of the belief that "saints" may be taken up into Heaven before the Day of Judgment. It remains for Protestants and Moslems to wait for that time. The questions regarding the applicability of the Final Judgment to the question of salvation may be a greater divide in the world's religious beliefs than any other. Fortunately, at the moment, none of us are killing any of us over that one.
Be interesting to see what happens when the people have a right to be free to challenge the state.
The objective is to eliminate the world of desire - not to satisfy desires.
You knew that, right?!
Good grief, you folks are going to make me go back to sleep under that vine leaf and see if satori in real time is actually possible, or if it's just an eternity on the mandala, and I am trapped in an illusion.
Didn't even take 25%!
Now, let's consider the story of Jonah...... There are, of course, others.
Given the history of the way the written Koran was assembled long after Mohammad's death, we have only the word of the folks who put it together that the elements in it are correctly attributed.
One can imagine a "In Search of the True Koran" type of documentary, but, alas, such a topic would get you killed by the Islamists running around these days.
Personally, I think they're as interested in their personal security as much as the next guy. That's why I suspect that they'd prefer to live in a "Christian" country than in a Mohammedan country.
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