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There is, indeed a background in the deeds of Muhammad (p.b.u.h) who finally fought against the polytheists who had previously chased him away. Still, I don't agree to any act of violence unless it is evidently self defence. We should edify the "temple" in ourselves. Nobody who is doing that...

Abstracting from the fact that the Semitic people include not only Israelites but also various peoples including the Arabs, the scope of Antisemitism is often enlarged to anyone criticising the acts of the Israeli government's action. I'm among those people, and, adding to it, I'm a Muslim. But...

Of course you can make a story about it as well, based on what you know or on what you mean to say. Revelation is not a transfer of scientific knowledge, but guided thought. God did not create the world in six days. Anyway, days didn't exist before the earth formed, orbiting the sun. The Quran...

Good image. The two faces of the coin look different. Still it's the same coin. The way we search for the origin of all defines our perspective. This doesn't exclude that what you see from the other perspective is wrong. The thing is that the origin of all is less observable than a coin on the...

I have now read the entire discussion on this thread. The only certain truth is that we cannot know the truth. We are all, in fact, agnostic, both believers and disbelievers. A disbeliever cannot experience the benefit of belief. He may try to explain the effect of prayer as something going on...

We in Islam have the "99 Names of God". These are all descriptive attributes like "The Merciful" or "The Teacher". Islam is strictly monotheistic, though. We may translate "Allah" into any language. Still, God is One.

I know I am only a guest in this forum. I essentially agree with you; we should follow the laws we received from the prophets, all of them, at the limit even if we don't know their name, but then it is difficult, even impossible to know whether we follow the Word of the Most High or an idea of a...

.. depends on whether the "authority" is respectful as well. We have to respect rules that are founded on consent or at least an absolute majority of the people, and respect God. But I refuse to obey people who would force me to act against my values, and ulema who claim to be able to know the...

I see this tradition going back to Zostrian/Parsic//ancient Persian myth. The "Minor Spirit" (Shaitan) opposed the "Major Spirit" (God). The "Major Spirit" accepted the challenge for "1000"years. The Parsic traditions have been written down late in the Khorda Bundahishn, but I think that they...

We have a humanoid image of God, which helps us to pray, to understand the teachings that would lead us into a life in accordance with God's creation and the right action in our society. But God, the principal, the principle, the final One holding all, is not human at all. If we assume that God...

Haram, not Harem. Of course, religions partly disagree, but there's much more in common between Halacha and Sharia than what is different. Are you talking about worldly ruling? In whom could you trust if you don't trust God? According to what religion? I don't believe in astrology. No...

Yes. We have the Quran and the tradition (hadith).

Yes, we can, but most of us don't want to radically observe all that Jesus has preached to his disciples according to the accounts we have. However, there are three things to mention: - His teachings are given as an ideal and they can't be observed without failure, but they have to be seen...

I have also read a lot in the Talmud and it still makes a low percentage of the whole. There's a lot of wisdom in it, but also deductions that don't seem to be well-founded. I appreciate the variety of opinions in it. If I compare it to my religion, Islam, it seems to me rather like a scholar's...

You asked for an answer from Cristians. I give you an informed Muslim anwer, if you don'n mind. Wine played a role in Jewish ceremonies; e.g. on Seder, you take four sips of wine. You will probably not get drunk of it, and not become an alcoholic if you do that once a year. Indeed, alcohol does...

Can you post and example?

I have focused on the Gospel accounts rather than on Paul. Yet according to the canonical Gospel accounts, Jesus is quite radical in disrespecting luxury and worldly power, although he doesn't see ascetism as a merit, rather as a consequence to live with if it is due. The Gospel "of Thomas"...

I have also observed that early Christianity was a voluntary "communist" society. The difference to later Marxist communism being that they were united in God, and all was voluntary, as th eKingdom of God as preached by Jesus is not based on obediance but on faith and love for God. This...

Hello Thomas At first glance I thought it was you who transalted the New Testament, until I read the link. But as it is you who posted this link, what point of interest do you want to focus on? In what does Hart's understanding of the texts differ from the established main stream translatins...

We have no knowledge on all this. We don't know whether he can now regret what he said (of course, it's possible that he can, but in this case, I don't see a reason for that). We can only know what has been written about what he said, and speculate on the authenticity of the teaching (I opt for...