From the introduction to the Harun Yahya book Palestine:
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In our view, the most important condition for this ongoing conflict to end and for real peace to be established is for both sides to acquire and then implement a genuine and honest understanding of their respective beliefs. The conflict between these two peoples has assumed the form of a "religious war" between Jews and Muslims, though, in fact there is absolutely no reason for there to be such a war. Both Jews and Muslims believe in God, love and respect many of the same prophets, and possess the same moral principles. They are not enemies; rather, they are allies in a world in which atheism and the hatred of religion are widespread.
Based on this fundamental principle, we call on the Israelis (and all Jews) to realize the following facts:
1) Muslims and Jews believe in one God, the Creator of the universe and all things therein. We are all God's servants, and to Him shall we all return. So why hate each other? The holy books we believe in are superficially different but in essence the same, for they come from the same God. Therefore we all abide by them. So why should we fight one another?
2) Instead of living along with Muslims, would the observant Jews prefer to live along with atheists or pagans? The Torah is full of passages describing the terrible cruelties inflicted upon the Jews by pagans. The terrible genocide and cruelty inflicted upon them by atheists and unbelievers (e.g., the Nazis, anti-Semitic racists, or such communist regimes as Stalin's Russia) are clear for all to see. These atheist or pagan forces hated the Jews, and thus oppressed them, because they believed in God. Are not Jews and Muslims on the same side against these atheist, communist, or racist forces that hate them both?
3) Muslims and Jews love and respect many of the same prophets. The Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham), Ishaq (Isaac), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), or Dawud (David), peace be upon them all, are at least as important for Muslims as they are for Jews. The lands where these holy figures lived and served God are at least as holy for Muslims as they are for Jews. So why drown these lands in blood and tears?
4) The fundamental values of Jews are also sacred to us Muslims. The word "Israel" is the name of Prophet Ya'qub (Jacob), peace be upon him, who is praised in the Qur'an and remembered with great respect by Muslims. The Magen David (Star of David), a symbol associated with King David is a holy symbol for us too. According to Qur'an 22:40, Muslims must protect synagogues because they are places of worship. So why should members of the two religions not live together in peace?
5) The Torah commands Jews to establish peace and security, not to occupy the lands of others and spill blood. The people of Israel are described as "a light unto the nations" in the Torah. As the "Rabbis for Human Rights" declare:
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We are told: "Justice, justice, you shall pursue" (Deuteronomy 16:20). Why is the word justice said twice? Because, according to our tradition, one is to pursue a just cause by just means. In defending ourselves, we must always hold on to the prophetic vision of decency and humanity. The survival of the Jewish people will be determined not only by its physical acumen, but also, by its moral steadfastness.
Yes, the book is published by pro-Palestinian Muslims. No, at least in this preface there is no discussion of things the Palestinians need to do to bring peace. Rather than belaboring these trivial points, might we not discuss the content?!
When i saw this book, i was impressed, it calls for Peace between Jews and Muslims, really nice book.
Heres a part of the Book,
How Can the Palestinian Issue Be Resolved?
Jerusalem, a place holy to the three monotheistic religions, should be a city in which people can worship together in peace.
By using the principles of tolerance and moderation outlined above, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has caused so much bloodshed over the last 50 years, can be solved. In our view, establishing peace depends upon two conditions:
1) Israel must immediately withdraw from all the territories it occupied during the 1967 war and end the resulting occupation. That is an obligation under international law, various U.N. Security Council resolutions, and mere justice itself. All of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip must be recognized as belonging to an independent State of Palestine.
2) East Jerusalem, the site of significant places of worship belonging to three divinely revealed religions, must be administered by the Palestine authority. However, it must have a special status and be turned into a city of peace that all Jews, Christians, and Muslims can visit comfortably, in peace and well-being, and where they can worship in their own sanctuaries.
When these conditions are fulfilled, both Israelis and Palestines will have recognized each other's right to live, shared the land of Palestine, and solved the contentious question of Jerusalem's status in a way that satisfies the adherents of these three religions.
In the upcoming pages of the book, we will deal with and analyze the history of the Palestinian issue based upon our view outlined above. Our hope is that the constant hostility of the last 50 years or so, as well as the resulting prejudice, killing, and slaughter, will come to an end; that the Palestinian people can secure a homeland that can provide them with the peace, security, and well-being they deserve; and that Israel will abandon its policy of aggression and occupation, which wrongs its own people as well as the Palestinians, so that it will be able to live in peace with its neighbours within its legal pre-1967 borders.
Jews and Christians believe in one God, but Muslims believe in Allah, and Allah is not the same as God. Thats where a lot of Christian leaders have made serious errors in judgement in saying that all three religions should be at peace since they all follow the same God. They do not.
Jesus was born into this world as the son of Jewish parents. This is the link joining Christians with Jews. There is no link between Islam and Judaism. Just because the Koran mentions some of the same historical characters that appear in the Bible and Jewish scriptures (albeit chronologially incorrect in some cases) does not link the two religions.
Islam proclaims that there is no god but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet. The God of the Jews and the Christains says that "thou shalt have no other god before Me."
We are kidding ourselves if we believe the two are the one and the same! Modern Israel is the thorn in Islam's side, but that land belongs to God, and the Jews are His chosen tenants. This is very much a religious matter!
Shagrir you are not correct in your assessment. Indeed they are the same God.
Islam and Judiasm have the same root, Abraham. Abraham fathered a child with his handmaidens. That child's name was Ishmael. This is where the seed of Arabs come from. Abraham had another son Isaac. His son was named Jacob. Jacobs had 12 sons. This is where Israel came from. Christians of course come from the followers of Jesus Christ.
Allah is the Arabic name for God. This is the one God Muhammad spoke of. Jehovah/Yahweh is the Jewish name for God. They also believe in one God. Where they differ is in faith/belief. Abraham is mentioned by both Jews and Muslims as the father of their faiths and they're absolutely right because it is so.
Over the many years these two faiths went their seperate ways. This is why they believe differently.
HIstory is rich here, I could go on for pages showing you the connection between the two people. Indeed they are cousins. And yes this is as much to do with religion as it is to do with that land.
The Koran states that it it blasphemy that Allah should beget a son, yet the Christians insist that Jesus is the Son of God. Please explain that to me if you insist I am in correct. I really could go in for pages also, there is plenty in both the Islamic, Judaic and Christian writings to choose from to clearly separate Allah from God.
Allah started life as the pagan moon god, hence the modern symbol of Islam being the crescent moon. The initial versions of the Koran told of Allah's three daughters, created between Allah and the female god of the sun. Of course in later versions of the Koran Mohammad changed this and denied that Allah has any daughters OR sons.
From day one the Jews refused to follow Mohammad's Allah, and kept to their One True God. Mohammad even tried to upease the Jews by making his followers bow to Jerusalem, but later turned to Mecca in frustration.
Dont ever question the Quran before reading it, all of your statements are false, we all have the same God.
Allah is the arabic word for God, God brought down the Quran for us, as a last try to have a clean and right Religion that will never ever be changed.
Your trying to separate us from the Jews and the Christains, dont do it, this is what is causing most of the problems in the world, we all have to unite and be friends.
Its not just mohammad's alllah, its our Allah, accept it, if you dont consider him your God, then your an atheist, even Jesus said Allah in the movie, The Passion of The Christ, we just have 3 different religions and 1 God.
shagrir said this in post #3 : We are kidding ourselves if we believe the two are the one and the same! Modern Israel is the thorn in Islam's side, but that land belongs to God, and the Jews are His chosen tenants. This is very much a religious matter!
In your mind, perhaps. Theological writings are open to some degree of interpretation, which I think may explain religious debates rarely getting anywhere. OneofPeace points out the historical connection between these religions, which is much less subjective than biblical text. The fact that different religions use different names for God is irrelevant. Assertions of "one God" are at odds with, say, the ancient Greeks, not with other Monotheistic religions.
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TWBR said this in post #6 : Its not just mohammad's alllah, its our Allah, accept it, if you dont consider him your God, then your an atheist, even Jesus said Allah in the movie, The Passion of The Christ, we just have 3 different religions and 1 God.
Absolutely. And one thing I think we can all agree on is that God is watching what's going on all over the region in dismay.
Shagrir, you are talking a lot of nonsense. Judaism has a bigger link to Islam than Christianity!
Both religions believe in the one god. We believe in elohim, they believe in Allah (it is worth noting that allah is the root of elohim). This god is the god of abraham. He had two sons, both mentioned in the Torah and Quran. Our customs are the same. We have the same Sabbath. Similar dietary laws. Similar customs. And whilst Muslims believe in Jesus, no way do they believe him to be the "son of god."
1) Because I had already said that they had similar dietary laws.
2) How pathetically irrelevant. Ye, because they both don't eat pork they are similar religions. I'm sorry, but that was a very feeble justification for a link between religion. It's like saying that because the really religious ones of both religions have beards, they must be very similar religion.
Religions are similar if they have the same fundemental values. And not eating pork is not an essential part of Judaism, I don't know about Islam.
You assume a lot there! I have a copy of the Koran sitting on my desk and I definitely have read through it. That is why I make the above statements and that is why I stand by them.
You make the most absurd claims to back up your theories yet you assume that I have no knowledge of what I'm talking about? Being new to this forum does not mean I'm new to the topic.
Yes, historically the Arabic and Jewish people share similar roots, but I still maintain that after having read the Koran I am convinced that Allah is not God. I couldn't care less what a Hollywood movie depicts, what kind of proof is that!?! C'mon guys!
shagrir said this in post #3 : Jews and Christians believe in one God, but Muslims believe in Allah, and Allah is not the same as God. Thats where a lot of Christian leaders have made serious errors in judgement in saying that all three religions should be at peace since they all follow the same God. They do not.
Jesus was born into this world as the son of Jewish parents. This is the link joining Christians with Jews. There is no link between Islam and Judaism. Just because the Koran mentions some of the same historical characters that appear in the Bible and Jewish scriptures (albeit chronologially incorrect in some cases) does not link the two religions.
Islam proclaims that there is no god but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet. The God of the Jews and the Christains says that "thou shalt have no other god before Me."
We are kidding ourselves if we believe the two are the one and the same! Modern Israel is the thorn in Islam's side, but that land belongs to God, and the Jews are His chosen tenants. This is very much a religious matter!
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shagrir said this in post #5 : The Koran states that it it blasphemy that Allah should beget a son, yet the Christians insist that Jesus is the Son of God. Please explain that to me if you insist I am in correct. I really could go in for pages also, there is plenty in both the Islamic, Judaic and Christian writings to choose from to clearly separate Allah from God.
Allah started life as the pagan moon god, hence the modern symbol of Islam being the crescent moon. The initial versions of the Koran told of Allah's three daughters, created between Allah and the female god of the sun. Of course in later versions of the Koran Mohammad changed this and denied that Allah has any daughters OR sons.
From day one the Jews refused to follow Mohammad's Allah, and kept to their One True God. Mohammad even tried to upease the Jews by making his followers bow to Jerusalem, but later turned to Mecca in frustration.
History surely is rich! Mind your step
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shagrir said this in post #14 : You assume a lot there! I have a copy of the Koran sitting on my desk and I definitely have read through it. That is why I make the above statements and that is why I stand by them.
You make the most absurd claims to back up your theories yet you assume that I have no knowledge of what I'm talking about? Being new to this forum does not mean I'm new to the topic.
Yes, historically the Arabic and Jewish people share similar roots, but I still maintain that after having read the Koran I am convinced that Allah is not God. I couldn't care less what a Hollywood movie depicts, what kind of proof is that!?! C'mon guys!
First of all the three goddesses were part of of the pagan pre islamic religion of Arabs and not ( and never were) part of Islamn itself they were specifically rejected by the prophet in his belief in one God.
Next your convoluted attempt to try to seperate the obivous connections between the similar beliefs of Christians Jews and Muslims appears to be a an attempt to establish in your own mind the superiority of the belief of Jews and Chritians to that of Muslims. and therfore the superior claim of Jews to the Holy Land, not only over the religious rights of Muslims, but also over the human rights of Arabs too.
But why go to all this trouble? If you plan, to argue that Islam, is an inferior religion and that its adherants have less human rights, why stop at half measures why not go the whole way? Why not simply argue that Muslims are sub humans and don't have the rights to be treated the same as full humans. You and people like you, are effectively argueing this. So why not go the full distance? Why not take your realisation that Arabs Muslims or Palestinians are less human all the way. Don't you have the courage of your own convictions?
If a belief in Islam gives a person less human rights its inevitable that they are less human than those who have different beliefs. Thats where your logic takes you. You appear not to have the courage to go the final step.
I think where Shagrir is missing the point is in this. Allah simply means God in Arabic. Many other nations had gods they worshiped and they called them just that, god, whatever the beliefs of their god was. If they spoke english, then they would be calling this pagen god just that god, but english wasn't their language.
For some reason I get the impression that because Arabs call God Allah in their own language he/she fails to make the connection. I did not read however all of what Dragon has read into these statements. If indeed this is true, this is offensive and I don't believe you should post such Shangrir, but if it's not I think it's the passions of those that believe heavily in their faith Islam.
Last but not least, I think it's needed to point out that because of so much violence in the Middle East with Arab terrorist orgs who proclaim Islam as their religion and Allah as the one who is calling on them to commit such atrocious acts of inhumanity, it's easy for those that are not Muslim to misunderstand and believe that Islam advocates violence when in fact it doesn't. Islam teached tolerence and not such hatred as those whom has given it such bad report among the world.
Where I believe Arabs/Muslims make mistakes here is although they know this, they do little to nothing to make the statement that this is wrong and intolerable. They also do little in my opinion to act in such a way as to resist such behavior in their land and some of them even harbor and help those committing such atrocities as terrorism.
If there is something to be done about the image portrayed by these extremist group and Islam, then the Muslim communities need to make a better effort of comdemning and combating such elements that exist in their cities and land.
Well put, Oneofpeace! Shangrir, you may want to take a Chill Pill. And AZ, why are you jumping on TW, he was just trying to back up what you were saying!
Why don't you just tell me what YOU think instead of trying to figure out what I think. Thats a better way of bringing your points across. I hate when people try to figure out what I'm trying to say or what I'm thinking when I've written it for all to see already. Don't try to second guess me.
If it was my plan to argue that Islam is inferior, trust me I would come out and say it. What does it mean then, that I have not said so? You are being provokative. Don't drag me into your hateful ideas, thats not what I'm here for and thats not why I am arguing my ideas with others.
You used the line "You and people like you". That strikes me very much as stereotyping.
If I need someone to remind me what my "convoluted attempt" is, or what I'm trying to establish in my "own mind," I'll be sure to seek your insight on all of that. Not that I'll take any of your remarks seriously.
Sorry TWBR, it's just that I was in a bad mood and had already mentioned that the religions both had similar dietary laws.
Anway, shagrir sorry I really can't see your logic how is Judaism and Islam not similar? They're both monotheistic religions, both believe in nearly all the same prophets, except Islam believes in two more. Surely it is the same God, just one religion goes down the Isaac root and the other one Ishmael?
