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some of your "contradictions" are just not there
the one, for example, about creation, gets the numbers and content wrong in surah 41.

about alexander the great, he is never mentioned by name in the qur'an. "dhul karnain" is mentioned, who some people assume is alexander the great. if what you say is true, then it's probably not him.

about the inhericance numbers, you applied them wrong. there are many conditions stated in the qur'an which adjust inheritance. you adjusted them, or whoever gave you the idea adjusted them in an incorrect manner

about the angel of death thing, you're ignoring the rest of the qur'an. "nothing happens, unless allah wills it" so, it may be said that God is causing me to write, just as he caused you to write, while at the same time i wrote and you wrote. it's a matter of theology, and hardly a contradiction. God takes the soul at death by having the angel of death take it, if he so wishes. God may do things in whatever manner he sees fit.

basically, errors arise when people who don't know theology or the arabic language

well, at least i don't throw insults around, but rather rationally defend my beliefs or at least explain them as correctly as possible when i see people telling me i believe differently. i can insult you, but i don't think it will help.

hey,
what would jesus do?
as a muslim, i have to ask myself that.
also,
what would muhammad do?
you know,
i think that jesus or muhammad would be as kind as possible to anyone who insulted them. so i'll follow their practice.

just a clarification,
the qur'an states that different books were given to some prophets, like moses and david. and different pages were given to other prophets like adam.(or that might be hadith).
anyway, they were not the same as the qur'an.
the muslim belief is that they were divine messages nonetheless and they changed over time.

what is an "islamic"?
you can at least learn to use correct terminology if you want to talk about something and not sound inintelligent.
it's "muslim."

anyway, show me the source for the belief. it's a tricky matter. the qur'an says very little and the hadith say a lot. it's also the case that many muslims confuse them all with tradition.

it is said in the qur'an that it was made to appear that jesus(pbuh) died on the cross. if you have some details i don't know about then please show me the sources in the qur'an or the hadith.

whoever was responsible for jesus to appear to have died on the cross, whether it be jesus, or God, or whoever, the qur'an has already spoken the truth according to the muslims about the matter. it says "jesus did not die on the cross, nor was he crucified"

i'm radically muslim man,
and many leaders do condemn it.
i'm sorry if the media makes it hard to read about.

by the way, i've read most of the bible, in an english translation.

and,

one of my teachers has memorized the bible, in english, in full
along with the entire qur'an

i forgot to address this part,
i don't think the bible as we now have it is the word of God. i believe the qur'an is. i believe that jesus was a prophet of God and given revelations. so some of the material that jesus said may of may not be contained within the modern new testament. i think there is some, but clearly not the stuff that contradicts the qur'an, because i think the qur'an is unadulterated. why? because the new testament was written between 30 and 100 years after jesus(peace be upon him)'s death. the qur'an however was memorized in full by many people and compilied into a written version by a close companion of the prophet muhammad(pbuh)
most non muslim scholars of islam agree that qur'an could not have changed much if at all since muhammad spoke it. the difference in muslim belief, is that we believe the angel gabriel gave it to muhammad and that God himself gave it to the angel gabriel.

here's a reply to everyone,
i'll do my best to cover everything i can.

i'm not an expert on anything. i'm just a muslim who is doing his best to explain and defend his faith. i recognize that if have duties to both muslims and nonmuslims.
let me relate a couple of sayings of muhammad, doing my best to convey their meanings
1. if you see an injustice anywhere you should work to correct it with your hand. if that is not possible, then speak out against it. and if that is not possible, then at least recognize it in your heart, but know that that is for the weakest in faith.
2. no matter what the circumstance are, you should help your brother(that is, your muslim brother in faith). someone then said to the prophet, "i can understand helping my brother when he is being oppressed, but what about when he is the oppressor?" the prophet then replied, "stop him from oppressing."

you can tell me how to interpret this, or how i should, but i think, that as a muslim, i'm the one who decide for myself. It seems clear to me, that i have a duty to stop injustice wherever i see it, whether it be jews being unjust to jews, jews being unjust to palestinians, palestinians being unjust to jews, americans being unjust to americans, saudis being unjust to saudis, or whoever.
i obviously don't have the power to stop every injustice with my hand, but i can stop some.
i can't speak out against every injustice, but i do my best.
i'm not perfect, but atleast i can try to feel in my heart all the injustices done in the world.

next matter,

about jesus(peace be upon him) dying on the cross. it says clearly in the qur'an that jesus(pbuh) did not die on the cross, nor was he crucified.
i don't know exactly what all of the hadith say. in the muslim world, over the centuries, people have come up with their own ideas about what happened. many of my muslim brothers have confused these traditions with what is in the qur'an and what muhammad(peace be upon him) said about the matter. the way i look at the matter is that since the qur'an states clearly that god has no son, and since jesus(pbuh) is described as a prophet only, and a man, i find it not so important what the details of his ascention in to heaven are.

about the palestinian/israeli conflict, i didn't want to bring it up, because this discussion could turn pages of political talk, when the issue at hand, judging by the content of this article, is faith based. here's my view anyway:

while some scholars disagree with me, i think that some things are clear. suicide bombing is not allowed in islam, because suicide is forbidden under any circumstances. that part is clear. that said, i don't condone any suicide bombings. i condemn them, so i don't wan anyone to say i don't. i tell my brothers this too. i speak out against it right? it's not like i can stop it with my hand, can i? and i feel it is wrong in my heart.

about suicide bombings targeted soley at civilians, this is doubly wrong. as far as i know, in a situation of war, a muslim soldier is not allowed to kill any civilian men and women, or children. destroying unneed property isn't allow either. also, i think that in usual circumstances you can't even kill a soldier if they are off duty. there were seemingly exceptions to this rule, mentioned in the qur'an, but that was limited to killing soldiers whether they had their weapons or not. that's how i understand it.

about suicide bombings against military targets? that's still wrong in my view because islam forbids suicide under any circumstances. so the kamakazee of the japanese and the suicide bombers of today can not be justified by islamic rulings.

about israel,
they use american weapons and kill both palestinian civlilans and militants. they drop on bombs where they know civilians are and justify their deaths as collateral damage.
the country is basically a rascist state similar to that of south africa under the apartheid. if you're ethnically jewish, you're free. if you're palestinian or muslim, you're a dog. a friend of mine went to visit israel with our local peace delegation. he was the only muslim in the group and was rejected because he was "a threat to security" they gave him no reason why.
another friend of mine was walking through jerusalem on a visit. he went to see the house where his mother grew up. it is now a israli owned coffee shop. his mother is not allowed into jerusalem and no one paid her for her old house.
so, basically, palestinians have good reason to be pissed off. they are imprisoned in their refugee camps while isralis keep building more and more settlements on their reduced plot of land. it's just like what we did to the american indians, only this is happening today. it's messed up stuff i tell you.

anyway, that's enough for now. i'm sorry if i didn't answer every question, but you can see that i've probably written more than you want to read. let me know what you think.

that's not true about his wife, she comforted him and encouraged him in his prophethood

the view in islam is that jesue(peace be upon him) was a prophet of God, and like all prophets, he made up the best of humanity. so, we believe that prophets don't lie.
since the qur'an speaks about jesus, and we believe that the qur'an is the word of god, the qu'ran is the authority on jesus. since the new testament may or may not have true statements in it, according to our belief, we rely on the qur'an

well,
there is the qur'an and the example of muhammad, and there are interpretations. the person who gave this khutba is, in my view, mistaken. I believe that the qur'an and muhammad set a clear example to work for peace whenever possible. to make the qur'an or prophet look bad, you have to take one or two verses or sayings, take them out of context, and try to fit them to your preconceived notions. it's no fault of my religion that some people give bad sermons

you are basically making stuff up as you see fit. if anyone wants to learn a little about this stuff from historians here are some books to read.

Muhammad, by Karen Armstrong
The Koran, a very short introduction, by Michael Cook
Islam, a brief history, by Karen Armstrong

These are books by non-muslims who are just excellent scholars.

so what you're saying is i'm lying, but you don't have the time to do a point by point takedown?
ok. how about just one point?

am i lying in this message too?

hi mike, nice to meet you. thanks for the offer, but i've got my hands full dealing with the strictly religious side of my faith. i don't have time to really get into talking about the israel/palestinian conflict.

i have to say though, i'm no apologist.

islam is my religion, and muhammad, among others like jesus, abraham, and moses are my prophets. the qur'an is my holy book. i don't apologize for anything done by the prophets, or anything said in the qur'an.

however, like i said in my last message, i'm in no way responsible for stupid, unjust, and inhuman acts done by people like those on 9/11. i don't have to defend them, and i don't. i condemn their actions. they may claim to be muslim, but it's obvious to any educated muslim that they aren't doing what the qur'an and muhammad commanded

hey man,
i don't hate jews and christians. you can make stuff up about me, just because i'm a muslim, but that wouldn't be right would it? is that how you show your american spirit?

i am in no way responsible for what happened on 9/11. do i condem the attacks? yes.

what about jim jones? did he clam to be a christian of some kind? and kill a bunch of people?

what about david koresh? didn't he claim to be a christian of some kind?

just because some sick people did some sick things, and claimed to be christian, doesn't mean that christianty a religion is responsible. also, if you're a christian, i don't blame you for every horrible act done by christians

tell me this.
imagine this:
you are an american soldier. you're fighting in iraq.
two local tribes agree to fight with you. so, you're
hanging out at the base, and suddenly a large enemy force
shows up and starts to attack your camp, with the intent
to kill every american inside.
.....at this point, the two local tribes begin to cause
trouble within your camp and betray you to the enemy.
...it's ok though, because the american group is eventually able to defeat the enemy force anyway.

tell me, at this point what would you do to the two tribes who betrayed you? what would you expect someone to do if this same type of situation happened to them sometime around 620 ad?

that's basically what happened to muhammad and the muslims of the time. they were being persecuted and tortured in mekka, for saying there was one god instead of many. so, they fled to medina, where they were invited to come by the local leaders. everyone there signed an agreement that they would protect eachother, regardless of eachother's religion. when the mekkans came, with the intent to kill all the muslims, two of the tribes in their alliance betrayed them. these two tribes were jewish tribes. the fact that they betrayed the muslims when all of their lives were at stake was the problem, not that they were jewish, and no educated muslim will tell you otherwise.
as a matter of fact, there were other jews at the time who did not break their alliance made with the muslims. they weren't harmed for being jewish. antisemetism is basically a western invention. you can see how far it was developed in the west by hitler.

as far as the moon god claim goes, i already answered it

"Allah" means God
Christians and Jews who speak arabic call God, "Allah." It basically the same as the Christian and Jewish concept; the Powerful, Merciful, Loving being.

as for the six year old consummation, that's just not true. things were different in ancient arabia. marriages were often arranged. Aisha, one of the wives of Muhammad, was the daughter of a close friend of his. they were "married" when she was 6, but the marriage wasn't consummated until after she reached puberty, something that was acceptatle for his society.

as for his other wives, some were widows who needed support and protection. most of his wives proposed to him. anyway, the limit for everyone else is 4, the Qur'an even says that "one is better for you"

you bet, i didn't think i'd be locked in hour long discussions

Thankyou for at least giving reasons for holding your viewpoint. You misqouted at least two verses. 5:33-34 in yusuf ali's translation should read

33. The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;

34. Except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case, know that Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

I won't address every passage you quoted, but i can at least examine a few.

About these two verses, it says to fight those who fight the messenger, because they "strive with might and main for mischief through the land." You could use this verse to wage war against any group of people who "strive with might and main for mischief through the land." Why do you think we justify our war with al-qaida? I would say it's because they "strive with might and main for mischief through the land."

About the verse that says "Not to make friendship with Jews and Christians" (Koran 5:51). It needs to be understood what "friendship" means in this context. You claimed that Yusuf Ali's translation is "the most widely trusted," but it still must be understood that no translation is universally agreed upon. It also applies to a historical context. It may mean, "don't take jews and christians as protectors." This was revealed at a time when muslims were being attacked and persecuted simply for being muslims.

today, in america, we are free to chose our religion. in muhammad's time, things were different. some(not all christians) and some(not all) jews and some(not all) pagans were trying to kill all of the muslims. muslims were fighting for their lives, the lives of their families, and their property. they were fighting and killing to spread hate.

you quoted 2:191
"Kill the disbelievers wherever we find them" (Koran 2:191)
but, you left out the all too critical next verses

192. But if they cease, Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

193. And fight them on until there is no more Tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah. but if they cease, Let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression.

once people stop trying to kill you because you are a muslim and people stop oppressing you, you have to stop fighting

says who?