Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Mohammad and the First Commandment

Exodus 20:2-6

2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

WHO IS THE GOD OF THE BIBLE

Yahweh is the actual name of God. In Exodus 3:13 when Moses asked, "who should I tell the Israelites is sending me?" God answered him and said, "YHWH"" or "Yahweh," which means "I Am" in Hebrew. Yahweh's name is given nearly 7000 times in the Bible. "God" isn't a name; it's just a word, one derived from the German, "Gott." It can apply to any false or pagan "deity." By not using Yahweh's name and using, instead, the generic word "God," we are contributing to the deception that we all worship the same God and that Allah is just another word for God. In actuality, "ilah," is the Arabic word for God, and Allah is the name of Muhammad's god. Allah is never mentioned once in the Bible.

WHAT DOES THE FIRST COMMANDMENT MEAN:

Do not have any gods before Me. Do not represent (me [Yahweh]) by any carved statue or picture or anything in the heaven above or the earth below or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to or worship them."

WHO IS ALLAH:

Allah was the name of the principal though not the only deity in pre-Islamic pagan Mecca. He stood supreme over and above all the other gods just as the Ka'ba was pre eminent among the other sanctuaries - also called Ka'ba(s) - of Arabia. He was Lord of Mecca.

In reality, Allah is NOT the God of Israel, but the PERSONAL NAME of the 'divine spirit' that according to the beliefs of the pagan Arabs,RESIDED in the Black Stone meteorite - embedded in the wall of the Ka'ba - that was VENERATED by the pagan Arabians long before Muhammad and his Quran.

The Allah of pagan Arabia was only the NAME (not a TITLE) of the supreme god at the head of their Pantheon of gods and goddesses similar to Jove/ Jupiter or Zeus in the pantheons of the gods of the Romans and the Greeks.

Just as Zeus and Aphrodite were NOT the One and Only God of Israel, neither was Allah.

Here is a good video about who Allah is -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkrgObVwTSc&feature=channel_page


HOW MOHAMMAD BROKE THE FIRST COMMANDMENT:

Mohammad (PBUH) worshipped Allah, not Yahweh, the god of Moses and the Israelites. Furthermore, all of Islams rituals performed (today) by devoted Muslims in the name of Allah are connected to the pagan worship that existed before Islam. Pagans practices of the Pilgrimage of Kabah once a year–the Fast of Ramadan, running around the Kabah seven times, kissing the black stone, shaving the head, animal sacrifices, running up and down two hills, throwing stones at the devil, snorting water in and out the nose, praying several times a day toward Mecca, giving alms, Friday prayers, etc. are strictly followed by Muslims today. Nobody can deny the fact that, all the above rituals of Muslims hajj today existed well before the arrival of Islam.

This clearly contravenes the First COmmandment in Exodus.

So what else did Mohammad (PBUH) do to break the First Commandment? Ishaq explains:

Ishaq:530 "The Prophet stroked and kissed the Black Stone. Then he went out trotting around the Ka'aba as did his Companions. When the Temple concealed Muhammad from the Meccans and he had "istalama" (which means to embrace, stroke, and kiss) the southern corner of the Ka'aba, he walked to "istalama" the Black Stone a second time. Then he "harwala" (which means to trot or prance swinging the shoulders side to side in a gloating manner) similarly for three circumambulations. He walked the remainder of them. The Apostle only did this to show off in front of the Quraysh.

Mohammad's (PBUH)actions are also confirmed in the Hadith, where Muslims, following Mohammads (PBUH) perfect example, by praying to the Black Stone of the Kaba (which is an idol):

It is reported in Bukhari (1520), Sahih Muslim (1720) that Umar approached the Black Stone and kissed it. Then he said: “I know that you are a mere stone that can neither harm nor do any good. If I had not seen the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) kissing you, I would have never kissed you."

SO Mohammad (PBUH) did not pray to the Moses' God, performed all of these pagan rituals and misrepresented that it was from Moses' God, and thus ultimately, broke the First Commandment.

ISLAMIC REBUTTAL:

The Islamic rebuttal can best be summed up by the Quran where it states what would have happened to Mohammad (PBUH) if he supposedly misrepresented Yahweh:

Noble Qur'an 69:43
"This is a Message sent down from the Lord of men and jinn. And if the Messenger were to attribute any false words to Us, We would seize him and cut his aorta. None of you would be able to stop Us. So truly this is a Message for those who fear. Yet We know that there are those who deny and belie (this Qur'an). But truly this (Qur'an) revelation is a cause of sorrow and anguish; the nemesis of unbelievers. Verily, it (this Qur'an) is an absolute truth."

COUNTER REBUTTAL:

Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is the source of the Qur'an, and he can prove that his god is real. Proof of that, however, isn't his ability to do miracles, or say things that are intelligible. No. The proof is that his imaginary god hasn't sliced his aorta. Imagine that. Since the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus haven't slit my throat, do you suppose they're gods, too?

4 comments:

Abu Ibrahim said...

Even if your accounts of the beliefs of the pagan arabs is true, it is irrelevant.

You state, but have not shown proof that the pagan arabs did believe Allah's spirit resided in the black stone.

But even if they did, so what?

If you do have the evidence, it is irrelevant as Muslims do not believe the same thing.

You state that "ilah" is the Arabic word for God, with a capital "G". Very misleading.

Actually, "ilah" means god, with a lower case "g". A more suitable word would be deity.

Yes, Muslims accept the word "Allah" as the name of the creator of all that exists, or God, with a capital "G".

But Allah has a simple literal translation: "The Deity."

And though the exact spelling of the word "Allah" may not appear in the Bible, a very close sounding "Elaha" (Aramaic for "The Deity") does appear in the New Testament.

Did the pagan Arabs also believe in Allah, "The Deity"? Yes, they did, and they worshiped Him along with several other idols and deities.

But this only proves that the pagan Arabs corrupted the Tawheed (monotheism) of Prophet Abraham and added several false deities thus creating a pantheon.

The Islamic "rituals" you have mentioned have little to do with pagan Arabia.

The pagans did not pray five times a day.

They did not pray in the same manner

They did not recite Quran during prayers.

The pagans did not fast during Ramadhan.

The Quran states we were ordered to fast because it was ordered on those before us, i.e. Christians and Jews.

The circling of the Kaaba originates from Ibrahim's time. The practice was corrupted by the pagan Arabs and purified by Islam.

Kissing the black stone has little significance in Islam and most Muslims are unable to do it. As you mentioned, Umar bin Khattab mentioned how he knew the stone was just a stone.

You mentioned blowing water out the nose. That is part of the Muslim ablution. Both Christianity and Judaism have variations of ritual washing.

Many faiths (including Judaism) practice animal sacrifices. You want to say it came from pagans. I, and most other Muslims, say our animal sacrifice came from the Hebrew prophets before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them all). And the Quran agrees with me.

Stoning the devil was a practice started by Muhammad. Where's your proof it came from pagans?

Giving alms?

Now you're just grasping at straws. Giving charity is in no way exclusive to Islam, paganism, Christianity or religion at all.

You are right that all the rituals existed before the message of Muhammad.

Because most of them originated with Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him).

How does any of this conflict with the First Commandment? (Your assertion; not mine).

Accepting your definition of the First Commandment (Muslims do not have to accept it since the Islamic concept of Tawheed is far superior to anything the Bible has to offer) there is no violation.

Neither the black stone nor the Kaaba are representations of Allah. In fact, to believe such would violate the fundamentals of Tawheed.

Your so-called Islamic rebuttal is foolish and convoluted. I have presented a much clearer rebuttal to all of your arguments.

Here's a tip: Don't use sarcasm and dry-wit when stating a counter-rebuttal to a false rebuttal. Once your opponent figures out what the hell you're trying to say, it is very easy to pick your statement apart.

In these verses, Allah is holding Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to a higher standard than regular men. As a prophet of Allah, he could not misrepresent the message of Allah or he would face the wrath of Allah.

It is not a blanket threat against anyone who lies against Allah, since there are many people (yourself included) who make up lies about Allah who have not been punished as yet.

Though your time may yet come, if Allah wills.

zack said...

Very logical reply Abu Ibrahim, well written.

Anonymous said...

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If you are born to a woman, come visit here(specifically this thread) to get all your questions answered. Would you?

http://free-islam.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=753

hhashmo said...

Dear Abu Ibrahim

I will respond to your points in turn

1) But this only proves that the pagan Arabs corrupted the Tawheed (monotheism) of Prophet Abraham and added several false deities thus creating a pantheon.

--> Or this means that Mohammad (PBUH) stoke the names of the idols. Mohammad's first God was named Ar Rahman, the god of the Hanifs in Yemen.

2) The Islamic "rituals" you have mentioned have little to do with pagan Arabia.

Mohammad (PBUH) would practice the pagan rituals before he became a Muslim.

As for praying 5 times a day - please see: http://muslimhadith.blogspot.com/2008/05/moses-and-allah-making-fun-of-mohammad.html

3) The Blackstone -

It is not my assertion but Umar's. Are you saying that Umar is wrong?

It is reported in Bukhari (1520), Sahih Muslim (1720) that Umar approached the Black Stone and kissed it. Then he said: “I know that you are a mere stone that can neither harm nor do any good. If I had not seen the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) kissing you, I would have never kissed you."


4) Tawheed

How is it better than anything Christianity or Judaism provide? Don't make empty assertions

5) Asking for Allah to punish me -

I guess this is a form of Tawheed that is better than Christianity where Jesus asks you to love your enemies.