Islam is Religion of Peace

he police, government officials and the leaders from within the Moslem community, as always which was expected after these most recent failed horrific terrorist attacks are coming out onto our TV screens saying “Islam is a Religion of Peace”, that these terrorist attacks have nothing to do with Islam.

The central figure within Islam who all Moslems look towards as their example to follow is the false prophet Mohamed. Mohamed founded the Religion Islam upon War & Conquest of lands and commands his followers to do the same when living in non-Islamic societies.

Exactly what Osama Bin Laden is commanding in this modern age!

The Koran teaches that Islam is a Superior way of Life and that all other ways of life are inferior, meaningless and obsolete because Islam is god’s perfect way for mankind. The Koran also teaches that Moslems must subdue the whole Earth under the Islamic way of life – Sharia law. Moslems have to fulfil Islam’s aims and objectives by the Word, meaning the preaching of Islam to the non-Moslem world and by the Sword, meaning forcing Islam upon the non-Moslem world through War.

These are the two faces of Islam, the blood thirsty violent military side seeking to force the non-Moslem world under its dominance through war and the peaceful, so called moderate side seeking to convert the non-Moslem world through the preaching of the Word.

The two voices of the Islamic Kingdom both working together to fulfil Islam’s ultimate goal which is laid down in the Koran which is to convert and subdue the whole world under Islamic rule – Sharia law – through the Caliphate.

When terrorist attacks happen it gives both Islamic voices the platform to assert their dominance upon the world. The military side seeking to scare and intimidate us into Dhimmitude through fear showing us what horror they are capable of on their Koranic mission for Allah, and the moderate side showing the world that they are good peaceful human beings and Moslem.

An ideal way of placing Islam in the human mind!

If you believe that Islam is a Religion of Peace then all I say too you is look at the leadership and way of life in Saudi Arabia, look at the leadership of the Islamic Nation of Iran, look at what used to happen in Islamic Afghanistan under the Taliban, look at Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein and look at Pakistan. These are a few of the Islamic ruled Nations upon the Earth that we look towards as our examples, and in my opinion, based on the facts, they are far from peaceful non-violent countries. The conduct of these Nations leadership’s, and their Moslem citizens is barbaric and savage, so how on Earth can Moslems proclaim that Islam is a religion of Peace when this is the conduct of Moslems in Islamic ruled Nations?

Moslems in Great Britain at this moment in time are ‘peaceful’ because they are living in our Judeo/Christian society under our civilized progressive way of life, with our societal structures in place and are in the minority. Do you honestly think that once their numbers double or triple and they start trying to force their Islamic way of life upon our society more than they are already, that they are still going to be peaceful?

I will say again, all Moslems ultimately want to live under Sharia Law which is the Islamic way of life and we have a 3 million strong force of them in our country. Islam teaches that all other ways of life are inferior to Islamic life and that all Moslems ‘must’ as a religious obligation which is called ‘Jihad’, work towards enforcing Islam as the ultimate rule upon all mankind.

The Word and the Sword go hand in hand so please ignore the lies that “Islam is a Religion of Peace” each Moslem is playing their part to convert you and your way of life into Islamic rule, it is a divine obligation to them as much as it is for me as a Christian to share my faith with you, the only difference is that I will not kill you trying to enforce my faith upon you.

My God is Love not peace through fear and oppression.

Islam means submission to Allah; it is Islam’s agenda laid down in the Koran, to force all mankind into submission to Allah – You cannot escape this fact!!

There is upwards of 3 million Moslems in this country so our leaders have absolutely no choice but to buy into this lie of “Islam is a Religion of Peace”, if they did not, what would the consequence be?

Think about that one!

We are all being duped and made to sleep walk through lies into the hands of Islam because in 20 years the Islamic Kingdom within Great Britain will be the majority and the indigenous British population a minority. If we buy the lie now that Islam is a ‘Religion of Peace’ then in 20 years Islam within Great Britain will have achieved its aims of taking over our country and our way of life and enforcing an Islamic one upon the Nation peacefully through the Word.

The Islamic terrorist’s rock this boat and silent agenda though, because when they attack us in such a horrific manner it wakes the British people up and forces them to start questioning who their Islamic guests are that they have living along side of them in their country that they know absolutely nothing about!!

Then the liars come out on TV to tell the masses of gullible British sheep people who know absolutely nothing about Islam that Islam is a “Religion of Peace”.

They then tuck the gullible British sheep people back into their beds, talking sweet things into their ears which sends them back off to sleep into their false bubble of ‘peace and security’, until the next time the nightmarish murderous Islamic monster arises killing innocent British citizens. Then they wake up again from their sleep; take a little look around, ask a few questions and then the whole process of sending them back of to sleep again starts all over.

Manipulation of the masses of gullible British sheep people that our British non-Moslem children will have too face the full consequences of.

The blood thirsty Islamic Beast is well and truly here within our midst, with its ultimate agenda which is laid down in the Koran and the innocent people of Great Britain should be made aware of the future consequences before it is too late.

We are all walking towards the future and only have to look at the truth in our present reality to see what is heading our way.

Sleep well in your false bubble of ‘peace and security’.



Source : http://lionheartuk.blogspot.com/2007/07/shhhhsleep-sleep-sleepislam-is-religion.html

What's Going on in Indonesia

One months later is our Independence day ceremony , yups 17th August 2008 . its already 64th our country declared the freedom as a free country. 17th August 1945

So many news was give us as a bad country , terrorism , corrupt country number one in the world , poor country . But , as a one of young generation in this country , i just want to write to all the people in the world , we still same country , we still have a kindness person , we still have a good place to visit if you want to have a pleasure for traveling.

Sorry if i don`t have a good English Language here .

Event we are have number one population moslem in the world with bad view , i still can say , there is a peace between moslem and another religion .

There is a proud in my heart as an Indonesian citizen , became a part of this country , same like all the people in the world proud of their country .

Why , if we can shake our hand , stand beside , together life’s in harmony , peace and with green world , cause we are same , human , live in same planet , EARTH.

So i just want to tell you that in Indonesia there is still so many things in good happening , unfortunately not all was blow up to the world , only negative things.

So… if you want to know more about Indonesia , please visit this site , maybe some in Bahasa , cause i very proud with my mother tongue .

There is some pictures interesting in this country .

So… lets built up this world together , with peace and harmony ..

save our earth , save our children , save our future in to the better way

Source : http://realylife.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/whats-going-on-in-indonesia/

What's Going in Indonesia

One months later is our Independence day ceremony , yups 17th August 2008 . its already 64th our country declared the freedom as a free country. 17th August 1945

So many news was give us as a bad country , terrorism , corrupt country number one in the world , poor country . But , as a one of young generation in this country , i just want to write to all the people in the world , we still same country , we still have a kindness person , we still have a good place to visit if you want to have a pleasure for traveling.

Sorry if i don`t have a good English Language here .

Event we are have number one population moslem in the world with bad view , i still can say , there is a peace between moslem and another religion .

There is a proud in my heart as an Indonesian citizen , became a part of this country , same like all the people in the world proud of their country .

Why , if we can shake our hand , stand beside , together life’s in harmony , peace and with green world , cause we are same , human , live in same planet , EARTH.

So i just want to tell you that in Indonesia there is still so many things in good happening , unfortunately not all was blow up to the world , only negative things.

So… if you want to know more about Indonesia , please visit this site , maybe some in Bahasa , cause i very proud with my mother tongue .

There is some pictures interesting in this country .

So… lets built up this world together , with peace and harmony ..

save our earth , save our children , save our future in to the better way

Source : http://realylife.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/whats-going-on-in-indonesia/

How Islamic History Expert: Moslem Peace with Israel? Never

Sharon, speaking at the annual conference of Herzliya’s Counter Terrorism Institute, said that Iran is dead serious about obtaining and using nuclear weapons in order to bring about its vision of an Islamic End of Days.

The veteran expert on Islam says that Western officials fail to grasp that the Arab and Islamic world truly see Israel’s establishment as a “reversal of history” and are therefore unable to ever accept peaceful relations with it. From Moslems’ perspective, “Islamic territory was taken away from Islam by Jews. You know by now that this can never be accepted, not even one meter. So everyone who thinks Tel Aviv is safe is making a grave mistake. Territory which at one time was dominated by Islamic rule, now has become non-Moslem. Non-Moslems are independent of Islamic rule and Jews have created their own independent state. It is anathema. Worse, Israel, a non-Moslem state, is ruling over Moslems. It is unthinkable that non-Moslems should rule over Moslems.”
Sharon dismissed various peace treaties signed by Moslem and Arab officials over the years as "pieces of paper, parts of tactics and strategies… with no meaning."

Sharon’s assessment focused on the danger posed by Iran. From studying Iranian culture, literature, newspapers, broadcasts and interviews with major players in the Islamic regime, Sharon concludes that a deep belief in a Shiite messiah is at the root of Iran’s nuclear project. “They truly believe that the Shiite messiah, the 12th Imam (also known as the Mahdi), is here, and that he will reveal himself… What moves the Iranian government and leadership today is first and foremost the wish to bring about the 12th Imam."

Addressing the theological doctrine of how exactly the this Messiah will be revealed, Sharon explained: "How will they bring him? Through an apocalypse. He (the Mahdi) needs a war. He cannot come into this world without an Armageddon. He wants an Armageddon. The earlier we understand this the better. Ahmadinejad wants nuclear weapons for this!"

Sharon has in the past insisted that the Western world was engaging in great folly by differentiating between radical and peaceful Islam. “All of a sudden we see that the greatest interpreters of Islam are politicians in the Western world,” he wrote sarcastically. “They know better than all the speakers in the mosques, all those who deliver terrible sermons against anything that is either Christian or Jewish. These Western politicians know that there is good Islam and bad Islam. They know even how to differentiate between the two - except that none of them know how to read a word of Arabic.”

“The difference between Judaism, Christianity and Islam is as follows: Judaism speaks about national salvation - namely, that at the end of the story, when the world becomes a better place, Israel will be in its own land, ruled by its own king and serving G-d. Christianity speaks about the idea that every single person in the world can be saved from his sins, while Islam speaks about ruling the world. I can quote here in Arabic, but there is no point in quoting Arabic, so let me quote a verse in English: ‘Allah sent Mohammed with the true religion so that it should rule over all the religions.’

“The idea, then, is not that the whole world would necessarily become Moslem at this time, but that the whole world would be subdued under the rule of Islam.”

That, Sharon insists, is the plan, in black-and-white, of the Iranian regime.

“This is why [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad seeks nuclear weapons,” he emphasized. “The faster we realize this, the better.”



Source : http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/112066

THE BEIRUT MOSLEMS CLOSE RANKS FOR PEACE BID TO CHRISTIANS

LEAD: Lebanon's main Moslem and Druse leaders, whose rival militias fought pitched battles on the streets of West Beirut only a week ago, announced today that they had closed ranks and had prepared a program that they would offer to the country's Christians in an effort to halt 12 years of civil war.

Lebanon's main Moslem and Druse leaders, whose rival militias fought pitched battles on the streets of West Beirut only a week ago, announced today that they had closed ranks and had prepared a program that they would offer to the country's Christians in an effort to halt 12 years of civil war.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Rashid Karami after he and four other officials held two days of intensive talks with high-ranking Syrian Government leaders in Damascus.

Also taking part on the Lebanese side were Hussein al-Husseini, the Speaker of Parliament; Education Minister Selim al-Hoss; Justice Minister Nabih Berri, and Public Works Minister Walid Jumblat.

Mr. Berri heads the mainline Shiite Moslem movement Amal, whose fighters were pitted against Mr. Jumblat's Druse forces in six days of major clashes in the Moslem part of the Lebanese capital. Gunmen Are Off the Streets

The Moslem and Druse leaders taking part in the new initiative were the same ones who had asked President Hafez al-Assad of Syria to rush thousands of Syrian troops to West Beirut to end the bloodshed.

The discussions in Damascus were designed to provide a solid political foundation for the security dragnet carried out by Syrian Army units, who have driven the gunmen off the streets of the Moslem part of the capital.

At 22 checkpoints that they and Lebanese policemen have set up in West Beirut, Syrian soldiers have been handing out leaflets, apparently in an effort to explain the objective of the Syrian intervention and to win popular support for it. At the same time, they have put up posters on walls along the streets, urging the public to help in tracking down ''hoodlums and looters.''

One leaflet said, ''We in Syria see the interest of Lebanese as the same as that of the Syrians.'' Another said, ''There will be no more snipers to destroy civilization and kill innocent people.'' #300 Reported Killed According to police statistics, more than 300 people were killed during February in street gun battles, other violent incidents and fighting around Palestinian districts here and in southern Lebanon. In the Palestinian quarters, the fighting has been between Shiite militiamen and guerrillas of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

A police spokesman said a car bomb with 300 pounds of explosives was seized today in the Barbir quarter west of the Green Line, which separates the Moslem sector from Christian East Beirut.

The bomb was dismantled before it could go off and the driver was arrested, the spokesman said. The man was identified as Rida Ahmed Zneit, a Moslem from eastern Lebanon.

The car had crossed from East Beirut and was to have been planted in a crowded area in West Beirut, the spokesman said.

The Moslem radio station Voice of the Homeland asserted that the driver had ''confessed'' that his instructions for planting the booby-trapped vehicle had come from oficials in the Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia. Christians Object to Deployment

Militia commanders and other Christian leaders have voiced strong objection to the deployment of Syrian military units in West Beirut.

In discussing the program prepared today in Damascus, Prime Minister Karami said, ''Agreement has been reached on a draft plan for political reforms.'' He said the program would be offered for consideration at negotiations with the Christian side.

A team of political and military experts appointed by President Amin Gemayel, a Christian, has been holding consultations with the Syrian Vice President, Abdel Halim Khaddam, on ways to bring about reconciliation among the Lebanese factions and re-establish unity in the Lebanese Government. The team is led by a former Foreign Minister, Elie Salem, who is now a political consultant to President Gemayel. For several years, Syria has been the main power broker in Lebanon, and sometimes the mediator between factions.

The decision to negotiate with Christian leaders is the first positive sign since Moslem and Druse officials and politicians began a boycott of Governments meeting led by Mr. Gemayel. The boycott was called after Mr. Gemayel rejected an earlier Syrian-sponsored pact for political restructuring.

The Moslem and Druse leaders are known to be pressing for an equal share in government with the Christians. They want the president's powers to be shifted to the Cabinet so Moslem and Christian ministers can exercise the executive authority collectively.

The conciliatory mood in Damascus today was not matched in southern Lebanon, where rival factions within the Amal movement fought each other today on the main highway linking the ports of Sidon and Tyre. The highway was closed to traffic for several hours.

A statement by the Amal leadership denied news reports that an uprising had occurred within Amal, Lebanon's largest Shiite militia.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. The confrontation was between supporters of Mr. Berri and supporters of a breakaway faction led by Hassan Hashem. Mr. Hashem, once the No. 3 figure in Amal, was relieved of all his posts during elections to the group's leadership a year ago.

In a statement, Mr. Hashem said his followers had beaten back gunmen who laid siege to his home village of Al Marwaniye near Tyre.

Source : http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD81631F931A35750C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2

America's Islam "Sensitivity" Trainer

When White House officials briefly used the word "crusade" to express American resolve in the war on terror, Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, professor of the history of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at Georgetown University scolded them. "It's what the terrorists use to recruit people -- saying that Christians are on a crusade against Islam. It's as bad to their ears as it is when we hear "jihad."

But when the media recently reported American Muslim football teams using such names as "Mujahideen," "Intifada" and "Soldiers of Allah," Haddad rushed to defend the team titles, saying, "Who cares? Why are people so sensitive? Intifada is something that Muslims and Palestinians all approve of. It means ‘just get off my back.' Is the only way we accept [Muslims] is if we devalue their faith?"[1]

In fact, although Haddad has made a name for herself advocating "sensitivity" in the dialogue between Orient and Occident, hers is a one way street, where it is only the West that possesses a deficit of cross civilizational understanding, contrition, and deference. Haddad's double standards are embodied in the very mission statement of Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, which she helps run, proclaiming, "Regrettably, it continues to be imperative to counter the misunderstanding and ignorance of Islam. The Center works to erase the stereotypes and fear that lead to predictions of Islam as the next global threat or a clash of civilizations between the Muslim world and the West." As Haddad would have it, between Occident and Orient, it is exclusively the West that is in desperate need of remedial education.

Haddad's preoccupation with Muslim sensitivity extends to other domains, especially concerning U.S. foreign policy. Since the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, she has used the language multiculturalism and Muslim sensitivity to critique a raft of policy decisions the administration has embarked on. For example, when the US intervened in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, Haddad reportedly explained, "many Muslims were offended by the U.S. destruction of the Taliban in Afghanistan because the Taliban stood for Islam." Haddad added that liberating Afghan women was counterproductive to U.S. interests, as Muslim women have formed their opinion of American women from watching T.V. reruns of shows like Dynasty and as a result assume American women to be 'whores'. In other words, regardless of national security interests (which never figure in Haddad's commentary on U.S. foreign policy) Afghanistan, in particular, Afghan women, would have been better left to Taliban rule, for fear of offending Muslim sensibilities.

Similarly, Haddad's quest for greater sensitivity towards Muslims prompted her to castigate virtually every domestic response to the Al Qaeda threat. In a speech last spring, Haddad condemned the Patriot Act, saying (falsely) "It basically lifted all legal protection of liberty for Muslims and Arabs in the United States. When the FBI closed down several Islamic charities after discovering they were assisting terrorist organizations, Yvonne protested, "In effect, the American government is perceived by Muslims to have assumed a veto power over zakat (tithe), one of the basic tenets of the Islamic faith." Her conclusion: "The security measures adopted by the Bush Administration are perceived both overseas and among many in the Muslim community in North America not as anti-terrorism but as anti-Muslim."

True to multiculturist form, Yvonne Haddad would have the West respond to its present security challenges, not with statecraft or decisive force, but with apologies. In a forum discussing Pope John Paul II's visit to the Holy Land in 2000, Haddad fixated on what she called an "apology deficit" from the West. "It is a fact that there are some Arab Christians and Muslims who are still waiting for the Jewish people to apologize for what they have done to the Palestinians." In addition, she remonstrated with the Pope for apologizing to Jews for the Holocaust but not apologizing to the Palestinians for what Israel is doing to them. In addition, Haddad called on "somebody like the chief rabbi of Israel" to apologize to Palestinians.

Haddad's case is important because it is symptomatic of what is wrong in much of the academy where matters Middle East and Islamic are concerned. Instead of analysis, apologetics; instead of balance, advocacy, even if this means decrying the removal of the Taliban for fear of upsetting Muslims sensitivities. The American public, students in particular, are entitled to something better; Georgetown should start providing it.

Jonathan Dowd-Gailey is a writer for Campus Watch, lives in Washington State.

Source : http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/1446

The Face of Islam in America

HARTFORD, Conn. — Ingrid Mattson knows the media drill well.

She has done the "We condemn … (fill in the terrorism incident)" speeches — as if, she says, that's all anyone needs to hear from the president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

She has done the profiles of her as first woman/first convert/first North American-born head of the continent's largest Muslim group.

She has done the talk shows retelling how 20 years ago, she left the Catholicism of her Canadian childhood and her college focus on philosophy and fine arts to find her spiritual home in Islam.

"It's time now to move the focus back off me and back on the issues," says Mattson, a professor at Hartford Seminary, where she directs the first U.S.-accredited Muslim chaplaincy program at the Macdonald Center.

Mattson begins the second half of her two-year term at the society's Labor Day weekend national conference outside Chicago. The annual event draws 40,000 Muslims of every sect, culture, age, race and ethnicity for scores of sessions on faith, family and society and a massive multicultural bazaar.

But two weeks before the conference, sitting with two women in her tiny, book-stuffed office, Mattson has a moment to kick off her shoes. She sheds the long brown jacket stifling her tailored blue blouse, leans back and talks about her vision of American Muslim life and her visiting friend, Heba.

Heba Abbasi, 31, a faithful young Muslim in her snug black headscarf, is a Chicago inner-city public school teacher, a fitness trainer, a Palestinian-American wife with an equally observant mosque-going Indian-American husband. Both are also triathletes training for an event.

"This is who I mean. They are who ISNA has to serve. They are why I'm concentrating on building a strong religious and civic institutional life for Muslims in America. I want to be sure I'm not the first and last young woman leader. Why be a flash in the pan?" says Mattson, who turns 44 on Friday.

A uniquely American Islam

She talks of nurturing a genuine American Islam, rooted in the classical faith, which dates back before the theological, political and legal schisms fractured the Ummah, the Muslim world, centuries ago.

This is the faith she chose at age 23, drawn in, she says, by Islam's beauty, its ethos of service and its synthesis of life and faith in which every act relates to God.

The key is not to confuse the eternal religion — submission to God, respect for the Prophet, prayer, charity and the goal of pilgrimage to Mecca — with Islam's myriad cultural expressions that shift with times and society, Mattson says. Her essays and speeches are threaded with references to the Quran, the Hadith (the sayings of the Prophet) and the Sunna (the record of his practices).

American Muslim men and women alike should be empowered to speak to public policy in all areas — medicine, ethics, law, education, justice, marriage and family life — by drawing from the common wellspring of Islam, she says.

Ask others about Mattson and she sounds like Goldilocks in a headscarf: too liberal for some, too conservative for others, and just right to many young activists.

"I'm proud to have her elected as my president," says Eboo Patel, 31, founder of Chicago's Interfaith Youth Core, which creates social-service opportunities for Muslims, Christians and Jews. He sees Mattson's message come to life in ISNA.

"The bulk of the American Muslim community is very young and overwhelmingly under 40. Increasingly our leadership needs to be people we can relate to," Patel says. "She conducts herself within the ethos of service that unites American and Islam. That's what religious communities can offer at their best, the inspiration to reach out to the world from the basis of your own heritage."

But Pamela Taylor, a co-founder of Muslims for Progressive Values, wants Mattson to push for women to lead congregational prayers.

"I'm worried that she buys into the same logic that can be, and is, used to restrict women from everything: education, political office, even driving," Taylor says.

Roles for women

Mattson shakes off that critique. Yes, she does conclude, based on the Prophet's words, that an imam who leads men and women together in prayer must be male.

However, other religious roles — reciting the Quran, preaching, teaching, scholarship, counseling and issuing legal rulings — are open to all. She's excited about an upcoming book from a noted scholar who has traced female Islamic scholars back 27 generations to the wife of the Prophet. She lists the "man-made obstacles to women's spirituality" that worry her more: misogynistic sermons, misguided and demeaning counseling, limited access to education and scholarship, and prayer spaces for women that are too small, uncomfortable or inaccessible.

As for whether men are in the front of the mosque and women in the rear? "When you are bowed in prayer," says Mattson, "you are not in front or behind any person. You are in front of God. That's the whole point of prayer."

Jamillah Karim, an assistant professor of religion at Spelman College in Atlanta, says Mattson is wise not to focus on women as imams.

"Most women are not overly concerned with this. This is an American religious community still in formation. Women are more interested in issues of family life, traditional concerns such as marriage and divorce," says Karim.

University of Delaware political scientist M.A. Muqtedar Khan gives Mattson mixed reviews. He calls her "an angel" and "the queen of American Muslims." But he adds, "She'll never rock the boat.

"She's not radical on anything. She's allowed ISNA to take strong positions against terrorism, but she'll never be at odds with the government. You won't see any criticism of U.S. policies. You'll see her continue the talk about the diversity within Islam. She'll make her mark as an activist with things like her chaplaincy program but not as a scholar with influential ideas or someone who modernizes thinking within Islam," says Khan.

Won't rock the boat?

Mattson rolls her brown eyes. Headline-making, provocative individual action holds no attraction for her.

"That's the 'great man' theory of history. Look where that's gotten us. I want to build something. I'm interested in long-term institutional strength," she says.

Mercy and caring

Topics at this year's conference include sessions on faith and social justice and community service, and one called "U.S. Sponsored Torture: A Concern for Muslims and All People of Faith."

"If religion is not about expanding the borders of your empathy, you might as well write it off," she says. "Religion is all about extending mercy and caring. If not, it's just tribalism: Muhammad himself said religion should be the opposite."

Mattson says she takes on the controversies, too, confronting in her own way the atheists, ideologues and "Islama-phobes" who say religion is outmoded or Islam is anti-Zionist or, simply, irrationally, fear any Muslims among them.

"These days, if you say anything nice to or about Muslims, it's seen as being soft on terrorism, as if all Muslims were terrorists.

"Anti-Muslim sentiments are used as a way to score points" in politics, she says.

"People see us, they see Heba and her husband, who wears a beard and a kufi (cap), and they have no idea the life they lead."

Or the life that Mattson leads.

If people saw her, covered from her colorful scarf to her long skirt, walking 3 miles home on a steamy summer evening, they would not know:

•She's a mother of two teens.

•She relaxes by mowing the lawn; juvenile rheumatoid arthritis forced her to give up running.

•She kept her name when she married her husband, a Baghdad-born Egyptian engineer whom she met while working with Afghan refugees in Pakistan in the '80s.

Photos of Afghan friends join family snapshots tacked to Mattson's office wall, along with a newspaper photo of an old man swarmed by pigeons he is feeding. It inspires her, she says, because "this is a man who has found exactly what he wants to do."

"What do you want to do?" may be Mattson's favorite question.

When someone asks her guidance, she'll reply: "Be the kind of Muslim you want to be. Do not let other people define your faith for you."

Mattson's Islam? "To glorify God through service to God's creation."

Note: Articles listed under "Middle East studies in the News" provide information on current developments concerning Middle East studies on North American campuses. These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of Campus Watch and do not necessarily correspond to Campus Watch's critique.

Source : http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/3983

Culture Islam in America

Nonfiction. American Islam. The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion. By Paul M. Barrett. 304 pages. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $25.

Late last year a conference of accomplished Muslim women gathered at the Westin Hotel near Times Square in New York City to debate how women might exert greater influence on the interpretation of Islamic Scriptures. During a panel discussion, an Iranian- born anthropologist from Britain said she seconded the position taken by the Labor politician Jack Straw that the full facial veils worn by some Muslims have no place in Western society because they erase a woman's humanity.

The conference room seemed to sunder in two. Half the roughly 200 women present erupted in energetic applause, while many of the rest made catcalls, heckling the speaker.

In the post-9/11 world Muslims have frequently been stereotyped as monolithically murderous, all 1.3 billion worldwide lumped together as extremists bent on destroying the West. The heated debates among Muslims themselves about violence committed under the banner of Islam are often drowned out in the fray.

Paul M. Barrett's timely and engaging new book, "American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion," brings some of those voices in the United States to life.

The book, a series of seven profiles, draws partly from Barrett's reporting for The Wall Street Journal about Islam in America after the 2001 attacks. (He now works for Business Week.) He sketches a varied cast — with a pronounced skew toward outspoken moderates — to try to illustrate the diversity among American Muslims.

Khaled Abou El Fadl, an Egyptian- born law professor and Islamic scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, tries to live the moderation he teaches: adopting stray dogs, for example, although many Muslims believe that Scripture condemns dogs as unclean.

There is Osama Siblani, a secular Lebanese Shiite in his early 50s who publishes a weekly newspaper in Dearborn, Michigan. "Since 9/11 I have felt choked," he tells Barrett, a common sentiment among Muslims, who often find themselves in the contradictory position of loving the freedom offered by the United States while abhorring the way the government treats Muslims in the country and abroad.

To describe the African-American Muslim perspective, Barrett spent time with Siraj Wahhaj, a prayer leader who made the rather typical transition from the radicalized Nation of Islam toward more mainstream Sunni Islam. Wahhaj espouses polygamy and refuses to blame Osama bin Laden for the 2001 attacks; African-American Islam, Barrett writes, "lacks fully developed leaders."

"American Islam" mentions in passing, but does not analyze, the pronounced rift between immigrant Muslims and African-Americans, who make up as much as 40 percent of the estimated six million Muslims in the United States. Many African-Americans maintain that Arab and Asian immigrants disdain them as insufficiently orthodox, failing to appreciate the inroads they made for Islam.

"American Islam" lacks figures to represent the conservative or the extremist viewpoint — one difficulty in relying on a series of profiles to illustrate the faith — and the format doesn't allow for an in-depth assessment of Islamic radicalism in the United States.

Barrett refers to a hot debate over the degree to which the creed of the Wahhabis, the puritanical Saudi Arabian sect hostile to non-Muslims, exists here. But aside from a few swipes by Wahhaj at democracy, we hear only from critics of extremism.

It might have been a problem of access: American Muslims are extremely wary of reporters. They feel they were vilified after 9/11, being considered somehow less than loyal Americans.

"American Islam" is perhaps reassuring in noting that Muslims in the United States are more prosperous, better educated and more politically active than immigrants elsewhere in the West. And Barrett's cast implies that there are vigilant Muslims determined to uproot extremists should they try to plant themselves in the United States.

Source : http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/04/features/bookfri.php

The American Muslim - TAM - The Originals

(Note: The American Muslim is not and never has been in any way affiliated with the Muslim American Society or their publication also called by the same name (since 2001) as our original The American Muslim which has been published in print or online since 1989.)

RAMADAN MUBARAK! BLESSED RAMADAN!

EDITORS COLUMN
Sheila Musaji - articles by Sheila Musaji

9-24-2008 SEE: Resources for Responding to “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War With the West” DVD Mass Distribution to 28 million Americans. Who is behind Relentless, Obsession and The Third Jihad? for a background on those responsible for the production, mass distribution, and promotion of the film. In-Depth Summary & Analysis of “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War on the West” for a point by point discussion of the film.

MUSLIMS DENOUNCE TERRORISM - If you would like to place this icon on your website, please contact us and we will send you the artwork file. We have had a quantity of these made up in “Euro-style” 4 X 6” oval bumper stickers. We would like to have these seen on cars everywhere, and so are making them available at the best price possible. Contact us to purchase these at $1 each.

Appeal to the Muslim Community in the West - There are many items listed in our ACTION section that allow individuals to take a stand on important issues. Some of these issues of importance to the Muslim community have very surprisingly received little attention. We update this with new action alerts regularly. Some of the most important are: Sign statement to affirm Freedom of Faith in Islam - “Freedom of faith and religion is meaningless without the freedom to change one’s faith.” Add your name to those who endorse the Amman statement of 2005. Sign statement against domestic violence. When people of faith join with other community leaders to address domestic violence, we will see ancient roadblocks turn into resources that save lives and bring healing. Please join other people of faith in signing the Declaration. Any Muslim can endorse “A Common Word Between Us and You” by going to the site and clicking on endorse here. Sign and donate to A PAX ON BOTH OUR HOUSES interfaith peace effort. This effort was spearheaded by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center, and has been endorsed by more than 60 nationally and internationally recognized Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders.

Articles from print issues of TAM going online. You may have noticed that we have been able to get volunteers to help get all of the old articles from the print issues of TAM scanned, retyped, and edited, and are working hard to get these online a few at a time. Wherever you see an * after an article that is one of the old issues from 1989 to 1995. What is fascinating is how many are still relevant.

AMERICAN MUSLIM RESOURCES (collections of articles and references which are updated regularly)

MUSLIMS DENOUNCE TERRORISM
- Qur’an & Hadith against extremism (see also power point presentations)
- Part I Fatwas
- Part II Statements by Organizations
- Part III Statements and Articles by Individuals (see also power point presentations)
- Part IV A Few Quotes A-K, and A Few Quotes L-Z
- Part V The Muslim Majority Who Don’t Get Publicity (see also power point presentation)
- Muslims and Arabs in the U.S. Military
- Selective Hearing of Muslim Voices Against Extremism
- Sunni Shia Unity Resource - collection of articles
- Muslim Voices Promoting Islamic Non Violent Solutions NEW 4/08

ISLAMOPHOBIA - RESPONSES (The responses section was divided into into five sections on 12/16/07)
- Responses to Claims Made ABOUT Islam and Muslims in General
- Responses to Claims Made ABOUT Qur’an Verses, Arabic Terms, Prophet Muhammad
- Responses to False Claims ABOUT Muslim Individuals & Organizations & Incidents Involving Muslims
- Responses to Actual Extremist Statements & Incidents of Extremism or violence BY Muslims
- Responses to Claims Made BY Specific Individuals and Organizations About Muslims

ISLAMOPHOBIA
- Polls, statistics, and surveys relating to Islam and Muslims
- Claim That All Terrorists are Muslims Ignores History (sections on Christian extremism and terrorism and Jewish extremism and terrorism were divided 4/08)
- Alarming Statements 1 - 2000 and before
- Alarming Statements 2 - 2001-2005
- Alarming Statements 3 - 2006
- Islamophobia - Alarming statements - Part 4 - 2007 and 2008
- Prejudice, Racist, or Violent Incidents at MOSQUES
- Incidents, hate crimes
- MEDIA, Propoganda & Perception
- Islamophobia: Real or imagined NEW 4/18/08
- A Long History of Injustice Ignored
(see also power point presentations)

GENERAL RESOURCES
- American Muslim Community - Authority, Leadership, Community building
- Apostasy and Freedom of Faith in Islam - NEW 3/08
- America’s Image (How Others See Us)
- Answers to Some Questions non-Muslims Ask
- Art, Architecture, Muslic, Calligraphy, Poetry
- Civil Rights and the Patriot Act
- Clash/Dialogue of Civilizations - Orientalism
- Democracy and Political Order
- Debates
- Domestic Violence and abuse in the Muslim community - New 3/08
- Double Standards, Corruption, and Secrecy
- Educating About Islam
- Environment and Ecology in Islam
- Evangelizing Muslims and Jews, the New Crusade
- Freedom of Thought, IJTIHAD, Interpretation, IJMA, Islamization of Knowledge
- Globalization
- Gender Issues
- Greater Middle East Initiative
- Hirabah - Jihad - Terrorism - Violence - Just War - Crusades
- Humor and Satire
- In Memorium
- Iraq War
- Islam in America
- Interfaith Dialogue Issues
- Israeli Lobby
- Justice (Social & Economic) and Human Rights
- LABELS -Moderate-Liberal-Secular-Progressive-Fundamentalist-Militant-Reconstructionist-Wahabi-Salafi
- Minorities, Multiculturalism, Pluralism, Diversity, MUSLIM MINORITY COMMUNITIES
- Neo-Cons, Right Wing
- Oil and Politics
- Palestine and Israel (see also power point presentations)
- Qur’an and Hadith
- Refugees
- Religion Building
- Religious Extremism, Religious Right
- Religious Heroism, the Real Jihad
- Resources for New Muslims
- Rumors, Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, Hoaxes
- Separation of Church and State
- Secularism - Modernity - Nationalism
- Shariah, Fiqh, Islamic Law
- Spirituality - Spiritual Worldview - Philosophy - Sufism
- War on Terror

We are working to complete additional categories and will get them online as part of this series as soon as possible. We will update these regularly, and would appreciate information about any items that are missing. The next time someone says “where are the Muslim voices?”, or “why don’t the Muslims speak up?” refer them to this resource.

--

KEY WORD SEARCH - Many current issues are discussed in articles or referred to in news items - we have attempted to use a key word to make it easy to find all the references to a particular topic by simply typing the key word (a few are listed below in all caps) in the TAM search field.

Over the last few years there have been a number of articles in the news that are basically PROPOGANDA. There have been hundreds of incidents and STATEMENTs made that are seen by many Muslims as ISLAMOPHOBIA. MOSQUEs have been vandalized and attacked. Our CIVIL RIGHTS have been limited, and there have even been calls for INTERNMENT. A movement to reform Islam called RELIGION BUILDING has been initiated which would deform, not reform Islam. False accusation have been made, for example that non-Muslims in IRAN would be forced to wear a special BADGE, and some strange translations of AHMADINEJAD’s speeches that made it appear that he said something he did not, and many of those accused of various crimes have been CLEARED. The Afghan APOSTASY case and the CARTOON controversy were blown out of proportion.

In many Muslim countries - IRAN, LEBANON, PALESTINe, SUDAN, BOSNIA, etc. we have seen crisis after crisis. We have seen sectarian violence between SHIA and Sunni and thankfully many calls for unity. We have also seen a lot of discussion about the Greater Middle East (GME) and what that really means. There has been a lot of discussion about the Israeli LOBBY and the extent of its influence on U.S. Foreign Policy. And, of course the influence of OIL on all of these political issues.

JUSTICE seems to be the only thing that EXTREMISTs of all persuasions are unable to feel strongly about in their push for a CLASH of Civilizations and their avoidance of DIALOGUE. Muslims in general have been accused of not speaking out against terrorism and extremism although they have spoken loudly and clearly (MAE). There has been a rise in the numbers of religious EXTREMISTs including those who are wishing for ARMAGEDDON and DIALOGUE is becoming difficult.



Source : http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/

American Islam

One of the striking things about mainstream journalism in post-9/11 America has been the scant attention paid to the nation's Muslim community. There were, of course, plenty of stories on the many immigrants taken into detention after the terrorist attacks and on the questioning of large numbers of Muslims by law enforcement officials. But compared with the enormous amount of copy that newspapers devoted to the pederast priest scandals, the coverage of American Muslims has been seriously inadequate. Given the size and importance of the community—it's no understatement to say that it is the first line of defense against jihadist attack—the lack of reporting has been a dramatic failing of the American media.

There were a few exceptions, and one was a series of Page One stories that Paul M. Barrett wrote for the Wall Street Journal in 2003. Those articles provided the basis for American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion, a book that fills a real need and does so remarkably well. (Full disclosure: Paul Barrett is an old friend and former colleague.) American Islam does not give us the entire picture of what is going on among believers of the nation's fastest-growing religion. Nothing could. But through a group of seven profiles, it delivers a set of powerful insights about Muslim life in the United States and the tensions that are shaping the community—or, more accurately, communities, since there is a fractious diversity of Muslims in the United States.

As you might imagine, American Islam is a study of people caught in the crosscurrents. Some are trying to navigate between the roles of dexterous insider and outraged outsider. Others are trying to push their fellow Muslims to adopt changes that are at odds with hundreds of years of tradition. Others still are re-litigating ancient struggles—such as between mysticism and orthodoxy—in a New World setting. Several are trying to champion a tolerant, ecumenical version of Islam against one that seems increasingly insular and xenophobic.

In that sense, the book poses the question that really is the central one not only for Muslims but all Americans: Is radicalism going to gain a real foothold here?

Barrett's carefully crafted approach is a smart one because of the paucity of sociological data on Islam in the United States. We don't even know how many Muslims there are in the country; the Census Bureau doesn't ask about religious affiliation. Estimates by Muslim groups put the number at 6 million or higher, but these are truly rough guesses; as Barrett notes, the best guess is between 3 and 6 million. The number of mosques is also a matter of dispute, as is the degree of religious observance within communities. Trying to get a sense of the relative strength of different strains of thought among American Muslims is maddeningly difficult.

So, instead of giving us unsubstantiated generalizations, Barrett looks closely at the micro-environments of his seven subjects. Among them are a colorful newspaper publisher of Lebanese Shiite origins who is a power broker in Michigan's large and politically influential Muslim community, and noted Kuwaiti-born scholar Khaled Abou el Fadl, who challenged fellow Muslims to speak out against the attacks of 9/11, becoming something of a pariah. A chapter on Siraj Wahhaj, a radical-leaning imam in Brooklyn, traces the complicated story of African-American Islam, whose adherents compose a fifth of the country's Muslim population but who have tense relations with Muslims of foreign ancestry, as well as attachments to figures such as Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan that are shared by no other Muslims.

In telling these stories, Barrett exercises great restraint, avoiding the temptation to generalize on the basis of individual experiences. The book—which I thought was a great read—does not overinterpret, letting the reader instead, for example, hear the unadorned story of Abdul Kabir Krambo, an American-born hippie-turned-Sufi whose faith gave him an anchor in life but not quite enough equanimity to deal with the foreign-born Muslims (he was " 'the token white guy' " on the board of his mosque) who don't always approve of his native ways. Krambo's mosque was destroyed by arson in 1994. The mystery of whether the attack was carried out by non-Muslim Americans or anti-Sufi Muslims provides a perfect example of the complex tensions that plague Barrett's characters.

Among scholars of terrorism these days, the accepted wisdom is that a major reason no second catastrophic attack on the United States has occurred is that the foot soldiers of jihad are not here—at least not in great numbers. Many Muslims in this country may be angry about U.S. foreign policy, but they are not alienated from American society or values. They are also more educated than the national norm, earn more than the norm, and are not ghettoized, as the Muslims of Europe are. ("American Muslims have bought into the American dream," my friend Marc Sageman, the author of Understanding Terror Networks, likes to say. "What is the European dream?")

But will it stay that way? One of the most moving chapters hints that it will. "The Activist" describes the trajectory of Mustafa Saied, an Indian-born Muslim who gravitates to the Muslim Brotherhood while in college and spends his time at rallies where the chant was "Idhbaahal Yahood" ("Slaughter the Jews"). He later renounces his extremism after intense conversation with other Muslims, one of whom persuades him that " 'the basic foundations of American values are very Islamic—freedom of religion, freedom of speech, toleration.' "

However, that there are some extremists afoot is clear from a chapter on Sami Omar al-Hussayen, the Saudi graduate student at the University of Idaho who was unsuccessfully prosecuted under the Patriot Act for giving material support to terrorists through his role as a Web master for a legal student group. The members of al-Hussayen's Islamic Assembly of North America are, at the very least, addicted to some deeply anti-American rhetoric, such as the writings of the "Awakening Sheikhs" of Saudi Arabia, Safar al-Hawali and Salman bin Fahd al-Awda.

I'm persuaded that America's culture of immigration has made a huge difference in shaping the attitudes of Muslims here. But other elements in the culture—rising Islamophobia, especially from the Christian right, and ham-handed law enforcement efforts, of the kind Barrett explores in his chapter on al-Hussayen—appear to be eroding some Muslims' sense of belonging. And, of course, there is our presence in Iraq, which appalls most American Muslims, including the Iraqi expats who once supported the invasion. Which way do you think the wind is blowing?

I'd also like your thoughts on one of the central themes of the book—that Islam, or at least one stream of it, is being remade by its encounter with America. This notion appears in several of Barrett's chapters, including the one on Asra Nomani, the former Journal reporter, single mother, and author of Standing Alone in Mecca, who confronted her hometown mosque in West Virginia with a determined campaign for equal treatment for women. In your superb book No god but God, you discuss the "Islamic Reformation" and mention, for example, European thinker Tariq Ramadan's contention that the synthesis of Islam and Western democratic ideals is driving the faith in that direction. Does Barrett's reportage suggest something similar is happening in the United States?

In any case, the changes that Barrett describes are encouraging. But as I think he would agree, it is impossible to say whether the stories he relates are indicative or isolated. What's your take?

Source : http://www.slate.com/id/2158114/entry/2158134/

Allah, the moon god of the Kaba

There are a number of scholars who believe that Allah, was originally the name of the moon god of Northern Arabia. It is important to remember that the word "Allah" simply means "the god" and corresponds to "ho theos" in the Greek New Testament as "the God" which refers to the Father in John 1:1 and the Son in John 20:28 and Heb 1:8. What is interesting is that Hubal was the top pagan moon god of the Kabah. So Allah is the generic and Hubal, may have been the actual name, in the same way that "the God" is generic and "Jehovah" is the name. The Arabs may have referred to "Hubal" as "Allah", just like Jews would refer to "Jehovah" as "The God".

1. "Allah, the Supreme Being of the Mussulmans: Before Islam. That the Arabs, before the time of Muhammed, accepted and worshipped, after a fashion, a supreme god called Allah,--"the Ilah, or the god, if the form is of genuine Arabic source; if of Aramaic, from Alaha, "the god"—seems absolutely certain. Whether he was an abstraction or a development from some individual god, such as Hubal, need not here be considered...But they also recognized and tended to worship more fervently and directly other strictly subordinate gods...It is certain that they regarded particular deities (mentioned in 1iii. 19-20 are al-‘Uzza, Manat or Manah, al-Lat’; some have interpreted vii, 179 as a reference to a perversion of Allah to Allat as daughters of Allah (vi. 100; xvi, 59; xxxvii, 149; 1iii, 21); they also asserted that he had sons (vi. 100)..."There was no god save Allah". This meant, for Muhammed and the Meccans, that of all the gods whom they worshipped, Allah was the only real deity. It took no account of the nature of God in the abstract, only of the personal position of Allah. ...ilah, the common noun from which Allah is probably derived..." (First Encyclopedia of Islam, E.J. Brill, 1987, Islam, p. 302)
2. Allah. Islamic name for God. Is derived from Semitic El, and [Allah] originally applied to the Moon; he [Allah] seems to have been preceded by Ilmaqah, the Moon-god. Allat is the female counterpart of Allah. (Everyman’s Dictionary of Non-Classical Mythology, Egerton Sykes, Godspeed, Allah)
3. The Bedouin's astral beliefs centred upon the moon, in whose light he grazed his flocks. Moon-worship implies a pastoral society, whereas sun-worship represents a later agricultural stage. In our own day the Moslem Ruwalah Bedouins imagine that their life is regulated by the moon, which condenses the water vapours, distils the beneficent dew on the pasture and makes possible the growth of plants. On the other hand the sun, as they believe, would like to destroy the Bedouins as well as all animal and plant life. (History Of The Arabs, Philip K. Hitti, 1937, p 96-101)
4. There are stories in the Sira of pagan Meccan praying to
5. Allah while standing beside the image of Hubal. (Muhammad's Mecca, W. Montgomery Watt, Chapter 3: Religion In Pre-Islamic Arabia, p26-45) "The relation of this name, which in Babylonia and Assyrian became a generic term simply meaning ‘god’, to the Arabian Ilah familiar to us in the form Allah, which is compounded of al, the definite article, and Ilah by eliding the vowel ‘i’, is not clear. Some scholars trace the name to the South Arabian Ilah, a title of the Moon god, but this is a matter of antiquarian interest" (Islam, Alfred Guillaume, 1956, p 6-7)
6. "The first pre-Islamic inscription discovered in Dhofar Province, Oman, this bronze plaque, deciphered by Dr. Albert Jamme, dates from about the second century A.D. and gives the name of the Hadramaut moon good Sin and the name Sumhuram, a long-lost city....The moon was the chief deity of all the early South Arabian kingdoms—particularly fitting in that region where the soft light of the moon brought the rest and cool winds of night as a relief from the blinding sun and scorching heat of day. In contrast to most of the old religions with which we are familiar, the moon god is male, while the sun god is his consort, a female. The third god of importance is their child, the male morning star, which we know as the planet Venus...The spice route riches brought them a standard of luxurious living inconceivable to the poverty-stricken South Arabian Bedouins of today. Like nearly all Semitic peoples they worshipped the moon, the sun, and the morning star. The chief god, the moon, was a male deity symbolized by the bull, and we found many carved bulls’ heads, with drains for the blood of sacrificed animals." (Qataban and Sheba, Wendell Phillips, 1955, p. 227)
7. "...a people of Arabia, of the race of the Joktanites...the Alilai living near the Red Sea in a district where gold is found; their name, children of the moon, so called from the worship of the moon, or Alilat." (Gesenius Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, 1979, p. 367)
8. Allat, according to recent study of the complicated inspirational evidence, is believed to have been introduced into Arabia from Syria, and to have been the moon goddess of North Arabia. If this is the correct interpretation of her character, she corresponded to the moon deity of South Arabia, Almaqah, `Vadd, `Amm or Sin as he was called, the difference being only the oppositeness of gender. Mount Sinai (the name being an Arabic feminine form of Sin) would then have been one of the centers of the worship of this northern moon goddess. Similarly, al-`Uzza is supposed to have come from Sinai, and to have been the goddess of the planet Venus. As the moon and the evening star are associated in the heavens, so too were Allat and al-`Uzza together in religious belief, and so too are the crescent and star conjoined on the flags of Arab countries today. (The Archeology Of World Religions, Jack Finegan, 1952, p482-485, 492)




Source : http://www.bible.ca/islam/islam-moon-god-allah.htm

Why do many Arab Christians refers to God as “Allah”?

“Allah” is the Arabic word for “God” and has been so long before the existence of Islam. The names “Allah” and “God” are generally interchangeable within the Muslim religion and in Middle Eastern cultures. Some English translations of the Qu’ran (Koran) use the name “God,” others use“ Allah.” This sometimes comes as a surprise to Christians who were raised in Western cultures. Among former Muslims, many converts to Christianity commonly refer to God as “Allah.” (This is despite the fact that they recognize clear differences in the character of God as described by the Bible compared to Islamic writings. For example, although both Christians, Muslims and Jews firmly believe there is only one God, Christians have the additional doctrine of the Trinity.)

Of course, the word “God” does not actually appear in the original Hebrew or Greek manuscripts of the Bible, accepted as Holy by both Christians and Muslims. “God” is an old English word which developed from an Indo-European word, meaning “that which is invoked,” which is also the ancestor of the German word Gott (meaning: God).

The Navigators, a well-known evangelical Christian organization, published the following:

“…It’s interesting to observe that, in rejecting the Athenian’s erroneous concept of God, Paul did not reject the word they used for God, Theos, which was the common Greek word for God.

Some Christians unthinkingly say 'Allah is not God.' This is the ultimate blasphemy to Muslims, and furthermore, it is difficult to understand. Allah is the primary Arabic word for God. It means 'The God.' There are some minor exceptions. For example, the Bible in some Muslim lands uses a word for God other than Allah (Farsi and Urdu are examples). But for more than five hundred years before Muhammad, the vast majority of Jews and Christians in Arabia called God by the name Allah. How, then, can we say that Allah is an invalid name for God? If it is, to whom have these Jews and Christians been praying?

And what about the 10 to 12 million Arab Christians today? They have been calling God ‘Allah’ in their Bibles, hymns, poems, writings, and worship for over nineteen centuries. What an insult to them when we tell them not to use this word ‘Allah’! Instead of bridging the distance between Muslims and Christians, we widen the gulf of separation between them and us when we promote such a doctrine. Those who still insist that it is blasphemy to refer to God as Allah should also consider that Muhammad’s father was named Abd Allah, ‘God’s servant,’ many years before his son was born or Islam was founded!”

The publishing arm of the Moody Bible Institute published the following:

“Whenever it is postulated that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, there are some—both Christians and Muslims -- who say this is simply untrue. Those who raise objections generally agree that Christians and Muslims worship one God, but will not accept the statement that they worship the same God. Admittedly, this problem is probably more of a Christian problem than it is a Muslim problem. Once a Muslim is ready to acknowledge that God can be known by a name other than Allah (i.e., God. Onyame, etc.), he will generally agree that Christians and Muslims worship ‘the same God.’ At the same time, he will insist, however, that Christians err in ‘associating’ (shirk) others with God. This conclusion grows out of the common misunderstanding among Muslims, based partially on the Quran (5:119), that Christians worship a Trinity of Father, Mother, and Son.

The problem as it confronts Christians is another kind of a problem altogether. It is a question of whether you can say you are worshipping the same God when you have such different understandings of the nature of God. Those who are troubled by this concern say that although Christians and Muslims use the same name for God and many of the same words to describe Him, they are not talking about the same God because Christians are talking about the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit…”

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/allah.html

Is Allah God?

Asked if Muslims worship the same Almighty as Jews and Christians, President Bush replied some months ago, "I believe we worship the same God." The Islamic deity, known as Allah, in other words, is the same Supreme Being to whom Jews and Christians pray.

The president's statement provoked widespread dismay among Evangelicals; one poll found 79% of their leadership disagreeing with this view. Pat Robertson pungently explained why, observing "the entire world is being convulsed by a religious struggle. … whether Hubal, the Moon God of Mecca, known as Allah, is supreme, or whether the Judeo-Christian Jehovah, God of the Bible, is Supreme."

Muslims at times agree that God and Allah are different. Irshad Manji has recounted how her teachers at a madrassah in Canada taught her this. And a Jewish scholar, Jon D. Levenson, finds the claim that Christians and Muslims worship the same God "if not false, then certainly simplistic and one-sided."

This debate plays out at many levels. In the American scouting movement, Muslims promise "I will do my best to do my duty to God"; their British counterparts instead do their "duty to Allah."

This might seem like a minor semantic quibble, but the definition of Allah has profound importance. Consider two alternate ways of translating the opening line of Islam's basic declaration of faith (Arabic: la ilaha illa-la). One reads "I testify that there is no God but Allah," and the other "I testify that there is no deity but God."

The first states that Islam has a distinct Lord, one known as Allah, and implies that Jews and Christians worship a false god. The second states that Allah is the Arabic word for the common monotheistic God and implies a commonality with Jews and Christians.

The first translation is 40 times more common in a Google search than the second. Yet, the latter is accurate. Mr. Bush was right. There are several reasons to use the translation that equates Allah with God:

Scriptural: The Koran itself in several places insists that its God is the same as the God of Judaism and Christianity. The most direct statement is one in which Muslims are admonished to tell Jews and Christians "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our God and your God is One, and to Him we do submit" (E.H. Palmer translation of Sura 29:46) Of course, the verse can also be rendered "our Allah and your Allah is One" (as it is in the notorious Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation)

Historical: Chronologically, Islam followed after Judaism and Christianity, but the Koran claims Islam actually preceded the other monotheisms. In Islamic doctrine (Sura 3:67), Abraham was the first Muslim. Moses and Jesus introduced mistakes into the Word of God; Muhammad brought it down perfectly. Islam views Judaism and Christianity as flawed versions of itself, correct on essentials but wrong in important details. This outlook implies that all three faiths share the God of Abraham.

Linguistic: Just as Dieu and Gott are the French and German words for God, so is Allah the Arabic equivalent, a word older than Islam. In part, this identity of meaning can be seen from cognates: In Hebrew, the word for God is Elohim, a cognate of Allah. In Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, God is Allaha. In the Maltese language, which is unique because it is Arabic-based but spoken by a predominantly Catholic people, God is Alla.

Further, most Jews and Christians who speak Arabic routinely use the word Allah to refer to God. (Copts, the Christians of Egypt, do not.) The Old and New Testaments in Arabic use this word. In the Arabic-language Bible, for instance, Jesus is referred to as the son of Allah. Even translations carried out by Christian missionaries, such as the famous one done in 1865 by Cornelius Van Dyke, refer to Allah, as do missionary discussions.

The God=Allah equation means that, however hostile political relations may be, a common "children of Abraham" bond does exist and its exploration can one day provide a basis for interfaith comity. Jewish-Christian dialogue has made great strides and Jewish-Christian-Muslim trialogue could as well.

Before that can happen, however, Muslims must first recognize the validity of alternate approaches to the one God. That means leaving behind the supremacism, extremism, and violence of the current Islamist phase.

Source : http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2714