Islam is a peaceful religion

[Booklover]

thats a misconception propagated to mock and make fun of the belief in the Mahdi. To answer your question, he lives like any of us, he sees us but its also possible we see him and even interact with him but not recognize him.

In Surah 12 of the Quran we read the story of Joseph (a) who was thrown in the Well by his jealous brothers, found by a caravan and sold into slavery to a wealthy governor in Egypt, many years later he became a man of authority in Egypt and saw the same brothers who threw him down the well in his youth, he recognized them and knew who they were but they did not know who he is until he revealed himself. Likewise the Mahdi may be known to some people but his true identity will come out when he reveals himself.

Ahmadinejad has stated that the Mahdi will offer the religion of Islam to the Jews and the Christians if they accept it they will be spared, otherwise they will be killed!

So much for “no compulsion of religion”! And this is the man that will bring peace to the world according to Islam! Yes, there can only be Islamic “peace” if all non-Muslims are either forced into Islam or eradicated from the face of the earth!

Vickie

 

[JohnPaulTwoToo]

O Allah, send blessings on the Custodian of thy commandments, the vigilant Guardian, the reliable Patron, the awaited Justice, surrounded by Thy favorite angels, assisted by the Holy Spirit…

O Allah, through him, set in order our disorder; gather and unite our flock; stitch together our sundered separation; turn our want and poverty into sufficiency; lift us up from our degradation; free us from our misery; pull us out from our debts; help us to get out from the ditch of cares and sorrows; fill the gap created by confusion among us; let our difficulties be easy to deal with; refine our substance and style; untie our ropes and straps; let our efforts succeed well and secure success; make us fulfill our promises; give answers to our prayers; listen to our requests; cause us to obtain the good of this world and the hereafter; give us much and more than our expectations, O the best of givers and bestowers; and cleanse our hearts, unburden our emotions from hate and anger, and, in the event of dispute in the matter of truth, show us the right path…

O Allah, we feel uneasy about and are disturbed by the departure of our Prophet, Thy blessings be on him and on his family, the absence of our guardian-friend, the abundance of our enemies, our numerical scarcity, the widespread disorder, and the changing of times upon us.

So send blessings on Muhammad and on his family, and help us to overcome this state of affairs at once.

Disperse the ominous clouds hanging over our heads; lend a helping hand to achieve success; bring in the rule of justice and fair play; make us bright, free from grief; and take care of us.

According to Muslim theology, who is the Holy Spirit?

As for the rest of this, I can’t help but see the similarity to the prosperity evangelism of Christian fundamentalists – God as butler in the sky. For a Catholic, the ultimate worship consists in the Eurcharist, literally meaning – thanksgiving. We pray for the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and for the gifts of the Holy Spirit – knowledge, understanding, wisdom, perseverance, counsel, fortitude, and piety. We pray for the fruits of the Holy Spirit – charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. faithfulness, humility, and self-control. Our greatest possessions are virtues. Poverty and suffering are, to us, a pathway to heaven marked out by Christ’s journey to Calvary. We leave our material concerns in the hands of Our Lord and trust in His wisdom.

 

[famdigy]

Ahmadinejad has stated that the Mahdi will offer the religion of Islam to the Jews and the Christians if they accept it they will be spared, otherwise they will be killed!
Vickie

care to provide a reference?

 

[famdigy]

According to Muslim theology, who is the Holy Spirit?

the holy spirit is either a great Angel or Gabriel, i’m not sure beyond that. It’s great that you pray for all those things JPTT as we all should, its an important part of faith. If reading the holy book is how God communicates with us then prayer is how we communicate with God. In fact, one of the most famous Muslim personalities Imam Ali son of Hussain (a) was imprisoned and prevented from communicating with the people, during his time in prison he composed a series of eloquent prayers known as the psalms of Islam which continue to be used as a source of guidance until today.

enjoy
al-islam.org/sahifa/kamila.html

 

[JohnPaulTwoToo]

the holy spirit is either a great Angel or Gabriel, i’m not sure beyond that.

The prayer says: “surrounded by Thy favorite angels, assisted by the Holy Spirit…”

The Holy Spirit is clearly not an angel. I pointed this out because it illustrates the very weak theology of Islam. Muslims have borrowed many concepts from Christianity for which they can’t provide any explanation or demonstrate any understanding.

 

[Booklover]

care to provide a reference?

See here.

al-Mahdi will receive a pledge of allegiance as a caliph for Muslims. He will lead Muslims in many battles of jihad. His reign will be a caliphate that follows the guidance of the Prophet. Many battles will ensue between Muslims and the disbelievers during the Mahdi’s reign… .

See this for a comparison between your Mahdi and the Anti-Christ!

Vickie

 

[famdigy]

“al-Mahdi will receive a pledge of allegiance as a caliph for Muslims. He will lead Muslims in many battles of jihad. His reign will be a caliphate that follows the guidance of the Prophet. Many battles will ensue between Muslims and the disbelievers during the Mahdi’s reign…”

This is a vague and general statement, according to the traditions I’ve read, his war-path so to speak is only limited to the land of Hijaz (modern day saudi arabia and yemen), Iraq, the land of Shaam (modern day Syria, Lebanon, Israel) and I think Afghanistan and parts of Uzbekistan. The disbelievers he will battle against (jihad) are the ones who interpret the Quran against him; i.e. the hypocrites within the Muslim.

There are contradictory reports about the destiny of the Jews, Christians and non-believers in the era of the Mahdi. Some traditions say they will live peacefully under his rule and others say they will be killed and. The Quran however supports the former suggesting that the Jews and Christians will be around until the day of judgment, past the era of the Mahdi
See Quran (3:55, 5:64)

Here’s a quote from the book “Al-Imam al-Mahdi, The Just Leader of Humanity” under the subject of destiny of Jews and Christians

“Hence, there are two kinds of hadith: one in favor and the other objecting. However, it must be pointed out that those traditions that agree with the Qur’an have preponderance over those that do not, and therefore the latter must be of necessity rejected as unreliable. Accordingly, the Jews and the Christians will remain under the government of the twelfth Imam, but they will have abandoned their belief in the trinity and all forms of disbelief connected with associating partners to God, and become worshippers of One God. They will continue to live under the protection of the Islamic government. At the same time, the corrupt and tyrannical governments will come to an end, and power will be exercised by the well qualified Muslims. Islam will be the world’s religion, gaining precedence over all other religions and the call of the Unity of God (tawhid) will be heard all across the world.”

Source: al-islam.org/mahdi/nontl/Chap-14.htm

As for the comparison with the anti-christ, Christians can’t seem to make up their mind about who the anti-christ is. Even accusing each other of being anti-christ.

Source: query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DC1630F935A25753C1A96E948260

Mr Fuller, author of the book “Naming the Antichrist: The History of an American Obsession.” contends that Americans have tended to see their country “as uniquely blessed by God” and so “have been especially prone to demonize their enemies.” Throughout the country’s history, he says, those suspected of opposing “the American way” have been accused of being in league with the Antichrist. Groups, individuals and phenomena accused of being the Antichrist or his instrument have included labor unions, Jews, Roman Catholics, blacks, socialists, college professors, the women’s movement, rock music, computer systems and the supermarket bar code.
Source: query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CEFD8153CF936A25755C0A963958260

 

[Medfordknight]

An excellent representation of Christianity is Mother Teresa. She lived her life true to the teachings of her faith.

An excellent representation of Islam is Osama Bin Laden. He lives his life true to the teachings of HIS faith.

Spin Islam any way you want to; When you cut right to the heart of it, it is nothing more than a cult founded by a bloodthirsty warlord.

 

[famdigy]

An excellent representation of Christianity is Mother Teresa. She lived her life true to the teachings of her faith.

An excellent representation of Islam is Osama Bin Laden. He lives his life true to the teachings of HIS faith.

Spin Islam any way you want to; When you cut right to the heart of it, it is nothing more than a cult founded by a bloodthirsty warlord.

Your vision of Islam unfortunately is shared by many, even worse it is shared by Osama Bin Laden and his followers which proves my point that when the Mahdi appears, people will think he has come with a new religion and a new message.

 

[De_Maria]

Your vision of Islam unfortunately is shared by many, even worse it is shared by Osama Bin Laden and his followers which proves my point that when the Mahdi appears, people will think he has come with a new religion and a new message.

Are you saying that Islam as Osama Bin Laden and apparently most Muslims of the world follow it, is wrong? Because I wonder why so few so called peace loving Muslims have come out against them?

 

[De_Maria]

y
According to traditions,

Do you mean that none of that is in the Quran? If not, where is it?

 

[JohnPaulTwoToo]

Apparently, the most violent ones became Christian:

They were often faulted for having worked, sometimes closely, with the Crusaders. There was even a period when the Assassins almost converted wholesale to Christianity.

Fortress of the Assassins

Way cool!

 

[famdigy]

Are you saying that Islam as Osama Bin Laden and apparently most Muslims of the world follow it, is wrong? Because I wonder why so few so called peace loving Muslims have come out against them?

Most Muslims are against Osama bin laden and they do speak out against him but its not what makes prime time news on CNN or FOX network.

Most of Bin Laden’s supporters ascribe to a sunni movement called Salafism, this is a very very small but vocal minority. Out of the four sunni schools of thought, salafis derive their religious laws from the hanbali school. Hanbalis make up about 4% of the entire Muslim population. Within the salafi movement there are two groups, the moderate salaf and the jihadi salaf.

Saudi arabia in public at least condemn to jihadi salaf for being terrorists. The Jihadis on the other hand condemn the saudis for selling out and co-oporating with the enemy. This should give you an idea of how small this group is.

Historically the salafi movement gained ground after the union of Muhammad bin Abdul wahhab a local saudi cleric with the Al-saud family in saudi arabia before they had control of the region. The agreement was the abdul wahab stays out of politics and leaves matters of the state to al-saud and in return he will get full financial support to propagate and spread his school.

It wasn’t until Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia that the ministry of islamic affairs had the funds to bankroll all sorts of national and international projects including publishing and distribution of books world wide, establishing salafi schools and madrasas in underdeveloped countries, and exporting saudi trained sheiks and imams. Up until a few years ago a person living anywhere in the world could travel to saudi arabia and enroll in one of the islamic universities having all his expenses paid for, upon completion of the program he would go back to his home country and get a free house, car and a $60K a year salary to work as an imam.

there’s two TV programs that disscuss this in detail, one by PBS in 2005 and another by Dispatches in the UK. I reccomend watching them if you havn’t seen it already

pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/view/
youtube.com/watch?v=peFQWuk4nuo

 

[Valke2]

Hi

PromisedMessiahImamMahdi 1835-1908 was endowed with a Prophetic Eye by GodAllahYHWH. He wrote a book titled “Jesus in India” in which he noted violence that would spread in the whole world; worried as he was he wrote about its sources and how to rout it out from the hearts.

I would give excerpts from the preface of his above referred book, where he had discussed it.

"I have written this book, so that, by adducing proofs from established facts, from conclusive historical evidence of proved value and from ancient documents of non-Muslims, I might remove the serious misconceptions which are current among Muslims and among most Christian sects regarding the earlier and the later life of Jesus (on whom be peace) - misconceptions, the dangerous implications of which have not only injured and destroyed the conception of Divine Unity, but the unwholesome and poisonous influence of which has for long been noticed in the morals of the Muslims of this country.

Spiritual maladies, i.e., want of good morals, evil thoughts, callousness, want of sympathy, are spreading among most Islamic sects, being the result of beliefs in unfounded stories and anecdotes of this kind. Human sympathy, pity and love of justice, humility and humble-mindedness - all good qualities - are disappearing day by day, as if they will soon bid a last farewell to this community. This callousness and this immorality make many a Muslim appear no better than the beasts of the jungle. A Jain or a Buddhist is afraid of and avoids killing even a mosquito or a flea, but, alas! there are many among us Muslims who, while they kill an innocent man or commit wanton murder, are not afraid of the powerful God, who rates human life higher than that of all the animals.

What is this callousness and cruelty and want of sympathy due to? It is due to this - that from their very childhood, stories and anecdotes and wrong views of the doctrine of Jihad are dinned into their ears and inculcated into their hearts, the result being that gradually they become morally dead and cease to feel the heinousness of their hateful actions; nay, rather, the man who murders another man unawares and thus brings ruin to the murdered man’s family thinks that he has done a meritorious deed; or rather, that he has made the most of an opportunity to win favour with his community.

As no lectures or sermons are delivered in our country to stop such evils - and if there are any such lectures they have an element of hypocrisy in them - the common people think approvingly of such misdeeds. Accordingly, taking pity upon my own people, I have compiled several books in Urdu, Persian and Arabic, in which I have stated that the popular view of Jihad prevalent among Muslims, that is, the expectation of a bloody Imam, full of spite and hostility for other people, is a texture of false beliefs inculcated by shortsighted Ulema; otherwise, Islam does not allow the use of the sword for the Faith; except in the case of defensive wars, or in the case of wars waged to punish a tyrant or to uphold freedom.

The need of a defensive war arises when the aggression of an adversary threatens one’s own life. These are the three kinds of Jihad permitted by the Shariat, and, apart from these three kinds, there is no other kind of war which is permitted by Islam for the propagation of the Faith. I have, in short, spent a large sum of money on such books, and have published them in this country and in Arabia and Syria and Khurasan, etc. But, by the grace of God, I have now discovered powerful arguments which are meant to eradicate these unfounded beliefs from the hearts of the people.

I have clear proofs, circumstantial evidence of a conclusive character, and historical evidence the light of whose truth holds out the promise that soon after their publication there will be brought about against such beliefs a wonderful change in the hearts of the Muslims. And I hope - I am sure - that after these truths have been comprehended, there will flow out of the hearts of the righteous sons of Islam the sweet and beautiful springs of lowliness, humility and mercy, and that there will come about a spiritual change which will have a wholesome and a blessed influence on the country.

I am also sure that Christian investigators and all other people who hanker after the truth and thirst for it, will benefit from my books. And the fact just now stated by me, that the real object of this book is to correct the wrong beliefs which have become part and parcel of the creeds of Muslims and Christians, requires a little explanation which I set out below."

Unquote

Thanks

The Author admits here that more and more muslims are becoming so callous and bereft of morals that they behave no better than animals. And that this behavior is spreading. As this was written more than 150 years ago, the only thing I would disagree with was his belief that once he published his book, such behavior would change.