Stephen0:
By the way how many verses in the Holy Koran deal with the rewards and punishments of heaven and hell? I imagine that there is more emphasis placed in your holy book on hell than in our Bible.
I do not have a specific number–I am sure the figure is literally in the
hundreds. I have heard the Qur’an described this way: as a rope, with three threads. The three threads are the major topics of the Qur’an–and there are, in fact, only three main topics.
The first main topic is Allah–God. The Qur’an, which might surprise some Christians, is about God.
The second main topic is the Messengers of God, the stories of the Prophets, and 25 are mentioned, with stories about them, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and so on.
The third main topic is the Hereafter. There is substantial emphasis on this in the Qur’an–much more than in the Bible. I brought up these main topics to specifically point out that yes, there is much discussion of Paradise, Hellfire, and the Day of Judgment in the Qur’an. But seldom (if ever) do you find a passage dealing only with one or the other. Usually ,if punishment is mentioned, then so is reward, and vice versa.
And on slavery–as far as I know, Islam is the only religion that has procedures for freeing slaves. It is in fact a very meritorious thing to do, freeing a slave. But slavery to God, this is encouraged–because what else can we be, before God, the King, the Creator, the Disposer, except servants?