Let Us Reason

Today Al Fadi and Bro. Mel discuss who was  Salman Al Farsi from a Jewish point of view.  The Muslims say that he was a Persian who was Muhammad's right hand man who translated part of the Quran into Persian. Mel thinks that he was Shalmon;  the brother of Nehemiah bin Husiel whom the Jews thought he was Messiah bin David.  Then they discuss the word Uzair in chapter 9 of the Quran.  Who was that person or is the word missing a dot which changes the meaning in Arabic? They find an early Quranic manuscript with the word Uzair/عزير with an extra dot on the last letter of the word, عزيز which could give it a meaning of a messianic figure. Listen to gain more insight to the discussion.

In this episode Al Fadi and Bro. Mel discuss more titles that the Quran refers to that are Jewish; example 1. Jaloot /Galoot (Sura 2:251), which is a Jewish Exilarch; a Jewish leader of the diaspora.  2. Illiyun/ a reference to the Jerusalem Talmud. 3. Sijin (Sura 83:7) a reference to the Babylonian Talmud.  In the seventh century Mehmed was a Messianic title, and in the seventh century the Jews believed in two Messiahs ; Messiah bin Joseph( a suffering servant who dies for the Jews . the other is Messiah bin David who is a triumphant king who will destroy Israel's enemies. Also In the seventh century the Jews had a chain of Messiahs/ Mehmeds .  So could've the title Mehmed started as a historical name and with lots of distortions ended up being the Muhammad of Hijaz? Listen to hear the details.

In this new series Al Fadi and Bro. Mel are going to discuss who is this 7th century person called Muhammad according the Standard Islamic Narrative. Is he one person or a combination of different people.  They say that this person was a companion of a Jewish leader in Iraq. They  also mention a name referred to Uzair in the Quran; is it the word Ezra or is there a mistake of one missing dot that could be the word Azeez/ a word similar to Mehmed which is a Messiah title? They conclude that if the Quran is written by an Arabian prophet way down in Mecca , why is he referring to Jewish leaders that are in Syria and Iraq?  Other examples are Ginn, kafir, and Nasi. Listen to learn to more details.

 In this episode Al Fadi and Dr jay discuss the last of the twelve attractions to Islam.  Attraction #11 Is the Theology of Islam; converts to Islam say that nobody can take away someone else sin, Islam cover every aspect of life ,and that it is a religion of peace. Answer: Only sinless Jesus can take away sinners sin, and Islam is not a religion of peace; in fact the more religious you become the more violent you become.  Attraction #12 Is the spirituality of Islam; they claim that Islam puts God on high and doesn't bring him down to earth, and that it stands against corruptions.  Answer: Our God sent down his son to earth and identified with us, and corruption is found all over Muslim majority counties. These are temporal attraction once these converts dig deeper into Islam.

Reason #9 "The practices of Islam are relevant for today". Polygamy, prayer, and women clothing are the main practices. To answer that; polygamy only benefits the man, and creates a lot of problems, prayer is ritualistic and impersonal, and women 's identity is taken to pay for man's sin.

Reason #10 "The superiority of Islam" : Convert claim that Islam is superior because : It is the final revelation, its growing fast, It prepares you for here and after, it talks about every sphere of life, the advances in the west can be traced back to Islam, and the Quran is very scientific.  Listen as Al Fadi and Dr Jay answer all these claims.

In this episode Al Fadi and Dr Jay continue to discuss reasons #7 and 8 of why people convert to Islam. Reason #7 Is the testimony of other Muslims, that they are good people. This doesn't mean that their religion is true and that their prophet is a true prophet in fact he did not meet the criteria of what a true prophet from the Bible should be.  Reason #8 Is Islam's rationality; because the trinity, the incarnation, baptism and other doctrines of Christianity doesn't make sense to the Muslims they think that Islam is more rational, but there is a rational explanation to all these objections, and there is equally objections to some of the Muslim traditions as well. Listen to hear the details.

In this episode Al Fadi and Dr Jay discuss reasons #5 and #6. Reason #5 is The beauty of the Quran and its applicability. Converts admire the Quran and how beautiful it is to recite it ,and that it was never changed, but the experts disagree; the Quran has changed and there is more than 30 different versions of it, besides that it is incoherent .  Reason #6 is The simplicity of Islam's teachings. To answer that claim they say the simpler the religion the more man made it is, God is more that we can comprehend. There are so many rules in Islam that is not found in the Quran, but in the tradition which came centuries later; 

In this episode Al Fadi and Dr Jay continue the discussion of slavery and how Christianity delt with it. They mention the abolition movement from 1673 with Richard Baxter in the USA, William Wilberforce 1789 who headed the abolition movement in the U K. To contrast that with Muslim countries who abolished slavery between 1952-1981, Qatar 1952, Saudi Arabia in 1961 just two examples and they did it because of pressure from western countries. Islam had never had an abolition movement.  Next they discuss reason #4 Islam's morality.  Converts to Islam from Afro American background  say that Afro American Christian churches have more problems with sexual immorality.  That is true but that is not what the Bible teaches especially when we read Matthew 5. The more the western culture pulls away from the bible the more we pull away from morality. 

In this episode Al Fadi and Dr jay discuss reason #3, The brotherhood of Islam(Al Umma). In the U.S. the emphasis  is on the oppressors are white people and the oppressed are black people; and that Christianity started slavery pointing to North Atlantic slavery in the 14-18 century.  Going back in the history of Arabs and Muslims being slave traders in the time of Muhammad and he never forbade it. Quoting very famous Muslim scholars Al Fadi and Dr Jay point out the names Muslims call the African people, Abeed; which means slaves as one example.  This history is hidden from the converts to Islam in the U.S. who mostly come from African American background. 

In this episode Al Fadi and Dr Jay  discuss the doctrine of the trinity in the Bible and the Tawheed in the Quran. They say that neither term appear in the Bible or the Quran but understood to explain a theological term. Dr Jay mentions that Dr Paul Blakham went through the Bible identifying the trinity in each book.  Two examples are given Genesis1:1 in the beginning God(Elohim; a plural word for God) , yet  Deuteronomy 6:4 emphasizes that God is one. In the new testament in Matthew 28:19-20 ....In the name(singular) of the father, and of the Son and of the Holy spirit . 

In this episode Al Fadi and Dr jay continue with explaining the first reason of why people convert to Islam and that is the social laws. They discuss statistics from the Kidron Atlas and how Muslim majority countries fall behind of major social issues like literacy, the quality of life, and mortality rate as some examples. Most converts to Islam never been to a Muslim majority country.  They also discuss the second reason for converting to Islam and that is not understanding the trinity of God.  

Al Fadi and Dr Jay list twelve reasons of why people convert to Islam in the West, mainly the study was done on the Eastern cost of North America. The majority are from African American background that converted to Islam in prison. Reason # 1 They say is the social laws. They claim that Islam has a comprehensive guide to life; it tells you how to walk and talk.  Al Fadi and Dr Jay challenge that reason by giving some examples; the penalty for stealing in Islam is cutting off the hand . Women headcover is to protect women from Muslim men and so forth.

Today Al Fadi and Dr Jay discuss the last four claims: #13 The Constitution of Al Madina; a document between three major groups supposedly created by Muhammad.  #14. The Doctrina La Cobi; a Greek Christian tract from Carthage, which refers to a prophet with a sword. #15. Is Muhammad in the Quran?  #16. Is Muhammad's name on the Dome of the Rock? Listen as Al Fadi and Dr Jay debunk these claims in details. 

In this episode Al Fadi and Dr Jay recap the first eleven claims; in conclusion : every reference to Mohammad in these claims place him in the wrong place and probably refer to other  Muhammads = " the praised ones ".  Then they discuss claim #12 The Ashtiname Letter, which was supposed to be written by Mohammad or Ali to the monks of St Catherine's Monastery, promising protection and other privileges. This turned out to be a fraud written by the monks of the monastery to protect themselves from the Marauding  Muslims all around them.