Muslim, who is your spokesperson?

  • Thread starter Thread starter iaskquestions
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I

iaskquestions

Guest
I was surprised that Muslims disagree among themselves whether prophets are without sin are not. Some people on this forum said, “We believe that all prophets of Allah are sinless”, whereas another Muslim provided me with a link showing that some Muslim scholars disagree and do admit that prophets are not without sin.

Here’s the link:
islamqa.com/en/ref/1684/did%20adam%20sin

That makes me ask a question: “Muslim, who is your spokesperson? Do you have one?” If two Muslims give me different opinions, whom should I believe. How do I know who is giving me the authentic Muslim teaching?

As for us Catholics, we have the Magisterium.
 
iaskquestions said:
I was surprised that Muslims disagree among themselves whether prophets are without sin are not. Some people on this forum said, “We believe that all prophets of Allah are sinless”, whereas another Muslim provided me with a link showing that some Muslim scholars disagree and do admit that prophets are not without sin.

Here’s the link:
islamqa.com/en/ref/1684/did%20adam%20sin

That makes me ask a question: “Muslim, who is your spokesperson? Do you have one?” If two Muslims give me different opinions, whom should I believe. How do I know who is giving me the authentic Muslim teaching?

As for us Catholics, we have the Magisterium.
Click to expand...
They’ve been killing each other over this one since the prophet’s time.
 
It used to be the Caliph, but that position has been empty for quite some time…
 
It’s because of this that they are able to escape the blame. When they are accused of terrorism, they say, “Islam is a religion of peace. Those terrorists are not true Islamic followers.” But if you ask those terrorists, like Bin Laden, they would say they are the true followers of Islam. No wonder there was joy in many Muslim countries at the time of the 9/11 bombings.

islam-watch.org/Others/Islamic-Hatred-Bigotry-Violence.htm

catholic.com/library/endless_jihad.asp
 
iaskquestions said:
I was surprised that Muslims disagree among themselves whether prophets are without sin are not. Some people on this forum said, “We believe that all prophets of Allah are sinless”, whereas another Muslim provided me with a link showing that some Muslim scholars disagree and do admit that prophets are not without sin.
Click to expand...
As a disinterested observer (I am Buddhist) the first thing that struck me was that you can easily rephrase this:I was surprised that Christians disagree among themselves whether salvation is by faith alone or not. Some people on this forum said, “We believe that people are saved by faith alone”, whereas another Christian provided me with a link showing that some Christian scholars disagree and do admit that we are not saved by faith alone.
Muslims disagree among themselves; Christians disagree among themselves; Buddhists disagree among themselves. You are not making a very strong argument here.
That makes me ask a question: “Muslim, who is your spokesperson? Do you have one?” If two Muslims give me different opinions, whom should I believe. How do I know who is giving me the authentic Muslim teaching?
Click to expand...
Does the Pope speak for all Christians? The Archbishop of Canterbury? The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society? The Patriarch of Moscow?Christianity as a whole does not have a single spokesman.
As for us Catholics, we have the Magisterium.
Click to expand...
A single specific Muslim group may well have a single spokesperson, just as a single specific Christian group. No major religion has a single spokesperson since all major religions are divided into different groups.

rossum
 
According to some sheika here, there is no sect in Islam. If that is the case, there should not be any disagreement especially on theological aspects.

If you really want to see how Muslims disagree with each others, just read the news.
 
MugenOne said:
According to some sheika here, there is no sect in Islam. If that is the case, there should not be any disagreement especially on theological aspects.
Click to expand...
According to some Christians there are no sects in TruChristianity[sup]TM[/sup], since their sect is are only true Christians and all the others are heretics and hence not TruChristians[sup]TM[/sup]. It is often instructive to see how well you argument works when it is pointed in the other direction.
If you really want to see how Muslims disagree with each others, just read the news.
Click to expand...
Is Northern Ireland Moslem or Christian?

rossum
 
rossum said:
… No major religion has a single spokesperson since all major religions are divided into different groups.

rossum
Click to expand...
That’s not fair; Catholicism is a major religion and we do have a single spokesperson.

I though the OP asked a very valid question.
 
rossum said:
According to some Christians there are no sects in TruChristianity[sup]TM[/sup], since their sect is are only true Christians and all the others are heretics and hence not TruChristians[sup]TM[/sup]. It is often instructive to see how well you argument works when it is pointed in the other direction.
Click to expand...
By “TruChristianity”…you aren’t talking about these guys, are you? This is what a google search turned up… I would say that these people are just a “shade around the bend”… or a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic…

truechristianity.com/christian/salvationbbrief.htm

This was linked to their site…lends them even more credence…,not.

trueconspiracies.com/
Is Northern Ireland Moslem or Christian?
Click to expand...
Well, Ireland prior to the invasion by Britain was Catholic, so it was Christian. But…as to whether or not Northern Ireland is Christian now…is debatable. The Catholics there are, however its a stretch to include those who support the Northern Ireland Government.

If I picked the wrong “TruChristian ™” please let me know. I really wasn’t aware that anyone could place their “trademark” on Christianity… :eek: Words, yes…otherwise, not likely.🙂
 
rossum said:
Does the Pope speak for all Christians? The Archbishop of Canterbury? The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society? The Patriarch of Moscow?Christianity as a whole does not have a single spokesman.
Click to expand...
OK, I’ll buy that.
A single specific Muslim group may well have a single spokesperson, just as a single specific Christian group. No major religion has a single spokesperson since all major religions are divided into different groups.
Click to expand...
Where I differ with you is that “Roman Catholicism” is a “major religion”. And the Pope is the “Spokesman” for Roman Catholics which number well over 1 Billion…

Yes, there are some who may claim to speak for this or that, but the ultimate question is this: By who’s authority do they speak?

rossum
 
Charlie_Zeaiter said:
That’s not fair; Catholicism is a major religion and we do have a single spokesperson.
Click to expand...
As a Buddhist, I see Catholicism as one of the major divisions of Christianity: Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant, not a separate religion. This is on a par with the Sunni and Shi’a split in Islam or the Mahayana and Theravada split in Buddhism.

What about entities like SSPX or the Old Catholic Church? Both of which I would put into the division “Catholicism”.
I though the OP asked a very valid question.
Click to expand...
As valid as an Ismaili asking “Christians, who is your spokesperson”. Both Islam and Christianity are major religions with internal divisions that make it alsmost impossible to have a single spokesperson. Only smaller divisions within each religion can have a single spokesperson, JWs for example.

rossum
 
So Islam also has denominations huh? I wonder what denomination the terrorists belong to.
 
iaskquestions said:
So Islam also has denominations huh? I wonder what denomination the terrorists belong to.
Click to expand...
Northern Ireland or Srebrenica might help you to find an answer. There are violent people in all religions, Buddhism included.

rossum
 
rossum said:
As a Buddhist, I see Catholicism as one of the major divisions of Christianity: Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant, not a separate religion. This is on a par with the Sunni and Shi’a split in Islam or the Mahayana and Theravada split in Buddhism.

What about entities like SSPX or the Old Catholic Church? Both of which I would put into the division “Catholicism”.

As valid as an Ismaili asking “Christians, who is your spokesperson”. Both Islam and Christianity are major religions with internal divisions that make it alsmost impossible to have a single spokesperson. Only smaller divisions within each religion can have a single spokesperson, JWs for example.

rossum
Click to expand...
Dear Rossum,

Catholics do have a spokesperson.

As for SSPX… well, you are muddying the waters. There is a reason why they are under the title of SSPX and you are not respecting that.

You are lumping every Christian under the title of Catholicism, and it is wrong for you to do so.

If muslims don’t have a spokesperson, so be it. Just say so. But don’t say Catholics don’t have a spokesperson just because some people are incorrectly calling themselves Catholic.
 
Charlie_Zeaiter said:
Catholics do have a spokesperson.
Click to expand...
For some definitions of “Catholic”, yes; for other definitions, no. The Anglican Communion also calls itself “catholic” for example.
As for SSPX… well, you are muddying the waters. There is a reason why they are under the title of SSPX and you are not respecting that.
Click to expand...
SSPX are “Catholic” under one of the possible definitions of “Catholic”, such as the one which also includes the OCC.
You are lumping every Christian under the title of Catholicism, and it is wrong for you to do so.
Click to expand...
I did not do so, I said that there were three major divisions within Christianity: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant.
If muslims don’t have a spokesperson, so be it. Just say so.
Click to expand...
Relative to Islam the term “Muslim” is equivalent to the term “Christian” within Christianity. There is no single spokesperson for all Muslims. There is no single spokesperson for all Christians.

If we divide Christians up into smaller groups then some of these groups have a single spokesperson. The same is true of Muslims. There is no single agreed form of Islam - the treatment of the Fourth Caliph, Ali, differs between Sunni and Shi’a. There is no single agreed form of Christianity - the filioque clause and sola scriptura are not agreed between all Christians.

rossum
 
rossum said:
For some definitions of “Catholic”, yes; for other definitions, no. The Anglican Communion also calls itself “catholic” for example.

SSPX are “Catholic” under one of the possible definitions of “Catholic”, such as the one which also includes the OCC.
Click to expand...
You seem to know who the “Anglican Communion” are.
You seem to know who the “SSPX” are.
You seem to know who the “OCC” are.

But I don’t think you know who the “Catholic” are. You seem to be ignoring us.
rossum said:
I did not do so, I said that there were three major divisions within Christianity: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant.
Click to expand...
Actually, you said “No major religion has a single spokesperson since all major religions are divided into different groups.”

I think “Catholic” is a major religion. And “Catholic” do have a single spokesperson.

If you want to deny “Catholic” as a major religion, so be it. Our differences can end here.
 
Why is it that every question asked about Islam gets turned into an attack on Christianity?

The topic is “Who is the spokesman for Islam?” not who speaks for all of Christianity.

The Shia had the Ayatollah Khomeini who they acknowledged as their supreme authority but no one since has had the charisma to fill his vacancy although the Ayatollah Khameini is trying to. He would speak, at least, for the Iranian Shi’ites. There is also the Theological School in Qom, which is the leading Shia Islam university.

For the Sunni’s, it is possibly the Grand Mufti of Mecca, Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh. In addition, the instructors at the Al-Azhar Mosque and University in Egypt hold a great deal of authority since many receive their theological training there and it is currently considered the premier Sunni Islamic theological school.

These, imo, would be the closest Muslim equivalents to the Pope and the Magisterium although none of them have the same binding authority on their followers that the Pope and Magisterium has on Catholics.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top