So Much to Mourn…
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday for Coptic Orthodox Christians. There will be mass in the morning to celebrate Jesus Christ’s return to Jerusalem. After the celebrations, the Holy Week officially starts, and the church is shrouded in black. We start a week of deep spiritual prayers, we attempt to share with Jesus as He prepared to sacrifice Himself for our sake, and we mourn Him and His pain.
This year however, there are more reasons to mourn. As we approach the Holy Week, others sought to inflict harm on the Body of Christ…His children...even as they pray.
Alexandria
ABC link
BBC link
For photos of the aftermath (caution: may be distressing)
Free Copts
A cowardly attack on a group of people gathered to pray. And perhaps the Egyptian police was listening to you Peter, for they claim that the attacker is mentally unstable. Or maybe you just know them too well! That is of course after they edited the events and said there is only one attacker…initial reports say there were 3. The number of those injured varies as well.
I guess we’ll never know!!
But we do know that one man died. A man in his sixties killed as he prays in church. According to Dubai news which was shown on SBS here in Australia today at 11:30am, the priest of one of the 3 churches attacked said the attacker shouted “Islamic slogans” as he walked into the church.
Mentally unstable. Seems like the new craze (pardon the pun) in the Arab and Islamic world these days. Well at least Western countries can take a bit of a break from being the “cause-for-everything-that-goes-wrong” in that part of the world. It’s more fashionable now to blame mental illness.
Abdul Rahman converts….He is obviously mentally ill
Zakaria Moussaoui is facing death penalty… he suddenly starts acting crazy
A man (or 3 men) attacks worshippers in a church….he (they) are mentally ill
Is there an epidemic of mental illness in the Mid East??
Pakistan
Our good friend Xavier brought this one to my attention
Link
A Christian Pakistani woman is spending Easter in jail. Her charge: she desecrated a Muslim sacred image of the Kaba. The real story: she protested to seeing the cross on a heap of rubbish. The irony: those drawing the cross on the rubbish were protesting the Mohammad cartoons!!!
“Naseem saw the protesters draw a cross on top of a rubbish help and so she went out to protest the desecrating gesture.” The woman told the demonstrators they were violating a sacred symbol of Christianity while protesting about exactly the same offence against their own faith.”
That’s OK Naseem; maybe they too are mentally incapacitated to see the hypocrisy. Perhaps they are too mentally ill to know that images are forbidden (haram) in Islam anyway, so that image of the Kaba they claim you desecrated was a desecration in itself!
So as our Western Christian brothers and sisters celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, and as we embark on a week of solemn prayers, we all raise our hearts to God in prayer:
For all those who are persecuted for their faith
For all those who have to spend these blessed days grieving for their loved ones
For all those who are living in fear
We take comfort in Your words Lord:
17And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
18But there shall not an hair of your head perish. (Luke 21:17-18)
And last but not least, we pray for all those who seek to harm the church; the children of God, that they may be forgiven and to know the love and light of Christ.
This year however, there are more reasons to mourn. As we approach the Holy Week, others sought to inflict harm on the Body of Christ…His children...even as they pray.
Alexandria
ABC link
BBC link
For photos of the aftermath (caution: may be distressing)
Free Copts
A cowardly attack on a group of people gathered to pray. And perhaps the Egyptian police was listening to you Peter, for they claim that the attacker is mentally unstable. Or maybe you just know them too well! That is of course after they edited the events and said there is only one attacker…initial reports say there were 3. The number of those injured varies as well.
I guess we’ll never know!!
But we do know that one man died. A man in his sixties killed as he prays in church. According to Dubai news which was shown on SBS here in Australia today at 11:30am, the priest of one of the 3 churches attacked said the attacker shouted “Islamic slogans” as he walked into the church.
Mentally unstable. Seems like the new craze (pardon the pun) in the Arab and Islamic world these days. Well at least Western countries can take a bit of a break from being the “cause-for-everything-that-goes-wrong” in that part of the world. It’s more fashionable now to blame mental illness.
Abdul Rahman converts….He is obviously mentally ill
Zakaria Moussaoui is facing death penalty… he suddenly starts acting crazy
A man (or 3 men) attacks worshippers in a church….he (they) are mentally ill
Is there an epidemic of mental illness in the Mid East??
Pakistan
Our good friend Xavier brought this one to my attention
Link
A Christian Pakistani woman is spending Easter in jail. Her charge: she desecrated a Muslim sacred image of the Kaba. The real story: she protested to seeing the cross on a heap of rubbish. The irony: those drawing the cross on the rubbish were protesting the Mohammad cartoons!!!
“Naseem saw the protesters draw a cross on top of a rubbish help and so she went out to protest the desecrating gesture.” The woman told the demonstrators they were violating a sacred symbol of Christianity while protesting about exactly the same offence against their own faith.”
That’s OK Naseem; maybe they too are mentally incapacitated to see the hypocrisy. Perhaps they are too mentally ill to know that images are forbidden (haram) in Islam anyway, so that image of the Kaba they claim you desecrated was a desecration in itself!
So as our Western Christian brothers and sisters celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, and as we embark on a week of solemn prayers, we all raise our hearts to God in prayer:
For all those who are persecuted for their faith
For all those who have to spend these blessed days grieving for their loved ones
For all those who are living in fear
We take comfort in Your words Lord:
17And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
18But there shall not an hair of your head perish. (Luke 21:17-18)
And last but not least, we pray for all those who seek to harm the church; the children of God, that they may be forgiven and to know the love and light of Christ.
posted by Bent El Neel at ٦:٠٨ م
25 Comments:
Bent:
I refuse to ascribe to insanity when evil suffice. The absolutely toxic cultural scene in Egypt where every mullah and crank with a pretense to an Islamic theology degree rants 24/7 against the nazernes, cross worshippers and every name of the pig under the sun will posion people's mind. The government doesn't give a shit.
The solution is for the Copt both at home an in the disasporia to help put up the new Hadrain,s wall. When Egyptians can travel, trade or study abroad because mudering Copts in church is abominal behaviour, then the country will lurch towards tolerance
xavier
May our prayers be with all who suffer for the love of Christ
Only a fool will pay any attention to Egyptian (media and officialdom) explainations of any event. The best they concoct is usually a mishmash of lies and illusions laced with "religious" crap, and their conclusions are not much better anyway. So that being said, Copts everywhere must now seriously support some form of passive resistance to what has become an ongoing intolerable "ethnic cleansing" process that started centuries ago and is now assuming a much bloodier dimension that warrants active resistance that TEN Million humanbeings can excert, no matter how many adversaries they surrounded by. I would like someone like you Neferteeti to set aside part of your blog to atempt to rally the Coptic brains (we got plenty of that) and will power to help the just cause and support our brothers and sisters in Egypt
Thanx everyone for your comments.
In my opinion, the solution is Egypt has to be for all Egyptians: a secular country.
How to achieve this? It can't be violence but we can make the world aware. Force the world to hear it, force our Muslim compatriots to see it, force our governments to acknowledge it...and when I say force I don't mean through violence at all. We need awareness
Bent el neel your statement would have been more valid up to yesterday- now I believe things are spinning out of control and immediate action is ESSENTIAL- we can't leave the patient bleeding while we do the paperwork. My hope is that we Copts summon lots of determination, carriage, intelligence, and above all faith, to tackle the cancer attacking us. And I volunteer to do whatever I am asked to do as of NOW
A funny news on Al-Jazeera Channel says:"الداخلية المصرية تقبض على 150 مختلا عقليا" :D :D
It's so bad to solve problems with this way in our beloved Egypt.
Islam absolutly refuse treating non-Muslims(specially people of the book)badly,but in contrary it orders us to treat them as said in this verse:"Allah forbids you not,with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes,from dealing kindly and justly with them:for Allah loveth those who are just."60:8
And you Cristians have a special position in Qur'an:"..and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say, "We are Christians".."5:82
So when one Muslim do a wrong thing it musn't be related to Islam or Muslims or even been claimed falsely that it's the general position.
Sorry for hearing about killing an innocent man,and Egytians are sad for that.
Mohamed:
Nice sentiments but it's untrue. Islam badly treats non-Moslems. If Islam really treated non-Moslems as equals, Moslems, they would allow them to establish their places of worship in Suadi Arabia and worship in public without the muttawa.
2) Moslems wouldn't demand jizya nor attack them in their churches
3) Moslems wouldn't freak out whenever someone converts from Islam to another religion or to disblief. Nor would they be tempted to kidnap non-Moslem women and girls to force conversions
4) Moslem would obey the international treaties on child abduction and comply with court ruling on child custody
5) Moslem wouldn't abuse the blasphemy laws to get even whenever a non-Moslem defends his rights or to protect himself
6) Moslems wouldn't tolerate the toxic hate that some mullahs, TV and other media preach against non-Moslems
You can mouth all the pieties from the Koran you want but your correlgionaries' actions highlight the truth. Moslem despise those who follow another religion and make their lives as miserable as possible just to prove that Islam is superior.
xavier
Mohammed
Thank you my friend for your kind sentiments. Your words show that you are a good person yet again. I want you to understand that in no way do I think all Muslims are bad...no way.
I think there needs more awareness though Mohammed. I know that the Quran says to treat the Christians well. It also says to fight those who "kaffaro billah" or the infidels.
Many Muslims believe that Christians are indeed infidels. Imams, scholars and writers such as Zaghloul Naggar and Mohammed 3imara say so. They say the Bible has been corrupted, and we are all infidels because we believe in the Trinity.
On this blog alone, all Muslim guests: Sara, Muslim and even you Mohammed say so as well.
It's a recipe for disaster. A formula to justify what's going on.
Allah doesn't accept infidels
Muslims can fight infidels
Christians have become infidels
It follows that it's accepted in the minds of millions Muslims to fight Christians.
Do you see what I mean Mohammed? I am really saddened by all this and I know that there are many good kind hearted Muslims who can't accept this violence. But what are we to do? What are we to do when we can't even pray in peace?
By the way; I am not ignoring your comment from before. I regret that I decided to address Sara's comment before yours, because it seems she isn't actually interested in having a dialogue after all. Sorry mate, I'll reply to you in the next couple of days.
Peace be with you Mohammed, and with Egypt too. God knows that's what Egypt needs more than anything now.
Red;
Welcome friend. I completely understand your feelings and I don't blame you. But what can we do Red? The only thing I can think of is to rally support to raise awareness.
I saw pictures of the Coptic youths demonstrating in Alexandria and it broke my heart. Because you could feel the frustration and the indignation...it's like it brings back the ugly taste of it all. We have been patient and timid and quiet for too long, and it was mistaken for weakness.
But i still say the solution can't be violent. I can't justify violence at all to my conscience let alone reconcile it with my Christian faith.
xavier,
You are repeating the word 'Moslems' but you should say:a very few precentage of Muslims who don't understand Islamic teachings rightly as been ordered by Allah and His Prophet.
And if you want to speak about actions,you can read about actions in Prophet's life who is Muslims example.
And if there was a real Islamic state nowadays,non-Muslims would be as equal as Muslims and free to build Churches(and absolutly pray in them)..as a sharing people with Muslims in the same country.
As for Jizzyah,I repeated my reply about it so much but I'll repeat again..
Jizzyah is paid because non-muslim don't share Muslims in defending the country,but if they share so they don't pay it.
And Muslims themselves pay Zakat however non-Muslims don't pay it.
My previous words don't say that non-Muslims position is bad,but there is just single accidents.
As for apostasy,it needs alot of speech so here you're a link from a trusted website:
http://islamonline.net/English/contemporary/2006/04/article01.shtml
--------------------------------
Neferteeti,
And what you consider Muslims?!!!
There is a difference between (a non-believer in Allah)and a (a non-believer in Prophet Mohammad).
You can say that there is two cases with non-Muslims,first is that non-muslims don't fight us so as a result we don't fight them but treat them by verses I mentioned,but when they fight us so we defend ourselves"..but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors."2:190
No it's not many Muslims who are good but all Muslims,what worth 100(as a posibilty)besides more than a Milliard.
And let me give the formula which is accepted in the minds of millions Muslims:
-Allah give people freedom of religion.
-As a result,Muslims can't force non-Muslims to convert Islam.
-Muslims have the right to defend themselves when any body fight them.
-People of the book(Christians and Jewish)have a special place in Islam.
And here you're the text of an
e-mail which reached me soon(and sorry for non-Arabians):
إذا كان الإسلام لا ينهى عن البر والإقساط إلى مخالفيه من أي دين ولو كانوا وثنيين مشركين فإن الإسلام ينظر نظرة خاصة لأهل الكتاب من اليهود والنصارى. سواء أكانوا في دار الإسلام أم خارجها.
فالقرآن لا يناديهم إلا بـ (يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ) و(يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ) يشير بهذا إلى أنهم في الأصل أهل دين سماوي، فبينهم وبين المسلمين رحم وقربى، تتمثل في أصول الدين الواحد الذي بعث الله به أنبياءه جميعا: (شَرَعَ لَكُم مِّنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّى بِهِ نُوحاً وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ) سورة الشورى:13.
والمسلمون مطالبون بالإيمان بكتب الله قاطبة، ورسل الله جميعا، لا يتحقق إيمانهم إلا بهذا: (قُولُواْ آمَنَّا بِاللّهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالأسْبَاطِ وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى وَعِيسَى وَمَا أُوتِيَ النَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ لاَ نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ) سورة البقرة:136.
وأهل الكتاب إذا قرؤوا القرآن يجدون الثناء على كتبهم ورسلهم وأنبيائهم.
وإذا جادل المسلمون أهل الكتاب فليتجنبوا المراء الذي يوغر الصدور، ويثير العداوات: (وَلَا تُجَادِلُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ وَقُولُوا آمَنَّا بِالَّذِي أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَأُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَإِلَهُنَا وَإِلَهُكُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ) سورة العنكبوت:46.
وقد رأينا كيف أباح الإسلام مؤاكلة أهل الكتاب وتناول ذبائحهم. كما أباح مصاهرتهم والتزوج من نسائهم مع ما في الزواج من سكن ومودة ورحمة. وفي هذا قال تعالى: (وَطَعَامُ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ حِلٌّ لَّكُمْ وَطَعَامُكُمْ حِلُّ لَّهُمْ وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ) سورة المائدة:5.
هذا في أهل الكتاب عامة. أما النصارى منهم خاصة، فقد وضعهم القرآن موضعا قريبا من قلوب المسلمين فقال: (وَلَتَجِدَنَّ أَقْرَبَهُمْ مَّوَدَّةً لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ الَّذِينَ قَالُوَاْ إِنَّا نَصَارَى ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ مِنْهُمْ قِسِّيسِينَ وَرُهْبَاناً وَأَنَّهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ) سورة المائدة:82.
أهل الذمة
وهذه الوصايا المذكورة تشمل جميع أهل الكتاب حيث كانوا، غير أن المقيمين في ظل دولة الإسلام منهم لهم وضع خاص، وهم الذين يسمون في اصطلاح المسلمين باسم (أهل الذمة) والذمة معناها: العهد. وهي كلمة توحي بأن لهم عهد الله وعهد رسوله وعهد جماعة المسلمين أن يعيشوا في ظل الإسلام آمنين مطمئنين.
وهؤلاء بالتعبير الحديث (مواطنون) في الدولة الإسلامية، أجمع المسلمون منذ العصر الأول إلى اليوم أن لهم ما للمسلمين وعليهم ما عليهم، إلا ما هو من شؤون الدين والعقيدة، فإن الإسلام يتركهم وما يدينون.
وقد شدد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم الوصية بأهل الذمة وتوعد كل مخالف لهذه الوصايا بسخط الله وعذابه، فجاء في أحاديثه الكريمة: "من آذى ذميا فقد آذاني ومن آذاني فقد آذى الله"."من آذى ذميا فأنا خصمه ومن كنت خصمه، خصمته يوم القيامة"."من ظلم معاهدا، أو انتقصه حقا، أو كلفه فوق طاقته، أو أخذ منه شيئا بغير طيب نفس منه، فأنا حجيجه يوم القيامة".
وقد جرى خلفاء الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم على رعاية هذه الحقوق والحرمات لهؤلاء المواطنين من غير المسلمين. وأكد فقهاء الإسلام على اختلاف مذاهبهم هذه الحقوق والحرمات.
قال الفقيه المالكي شهاب الدين القرافي: "إن عقد الذمة يوجب حقوقا علينا؛ لأنهم في جوارنا وفي خفارتنا وذمتنا وذمة الله تعالى، وذمة رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم ودين الإسلام فمن اعتدى عليهم ولو بكلمة سوء، أو غيبة في عرض أحدهم، أو أي نوع من أنواع الأذية أو أعان على ذلك، فقد ضيع ذمة الله وذمة رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم وذمة دين الإسلام".
وقال ابن حزم الفقيه الظاهري: "إن من كان في الذمة وجاء أهل الحرب إلى بلادنا يقصدونه، وجب علينا أن نخرج لقتالهم بالكراع والسلاح ونموت دون ذلك صونا لمن هو في ذمة الله تعالى وذمة رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم فإن تسليمه دون ذلك إهمال لعقد الذمة".أ.هـ
At the last I want to say:Happy feast.
Mohammed:
Thanks for the comment. I've read enough of the Koran to conclude that Mohammed wasn't a prophet. His conduct throught his life was reprochable and you have the annoying problem of sura 9 and the doctrine of revocation. All the islamic scholars and the 4 major schoolsof Islamic though are consistent that the People of the book are to be humilated and disqualified from public life.
Further, most Moslems accurately follow the obligations that the Koran, the sunnas and the haidaiths impose and that's the problem. There's simply too much consistency in Moslem behaviour throughout the world to dismiss it due to poorly catechized believers. It's the contrary.
We too have the right to defend ourselvees if attacked. So defense is a 2 way street
In any case, We'll never agree since I regard shar'ia as contrary to natural law
xavier
Bent El Neel,
This blog has become a new favorite of mine. I look forward to checking out Xaiver as well.
I too was saddened by the news I woke up to Friday morning (for me in the Eastern US). May God's grace and comfort be with those that are being persecuted and may God convict the persecutors.
Have a blessed Holy Week as you reflect and celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior.
Mohammed,
I too appreciate your heart. It's difficult for me to agree with you on this in light of 1300 years of history.
What is your explanation for Abdul Rahman? Those calling for his execution were not extremists, they were everyone (!) from governemnt officials, to clerics, to citizens.
From my vantage point, it is the peaceful Muslim (like you say you are) that is among the minority.
But again thank you for condolenscenes.
xavier,
You have the right to believe that my Prophet is a Prophet or not,as Islam tells you that "Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error.."2:256
I always hear non-Muslims repeating Surah 9..Surah 9..what is the problem with it?!!
It's talking about fighting who fight us,not every non-Muslim.And it's so clear for us whether public Muslims or all the islamic scholars and the 4 major schoolsof.And Allah don't have to tell us in every verse that it's about who fight us,but He gave us a big rule,it's:"Allah forbids you not,with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes,from dealing kindly and justly with them:for Allah loveth those who are just."60:8
And Qur'an isn't taken as parts but as a whole.
And how shar'ia as contrary to natural law?!!!!!!!!!
We accept all Allah's Prophets,Islam refuse compulsion,Islam order worshipping the Only God(Allah is the Arabic word for the word God),Islam order Mercay,tolerance,kind-heart,equity,Islam don't divide people...etc.
With all my respect towards you..You don't know any thing about Islam.
Jack,
Islamic history has been always lighting with non-Muslims specially Christians,and you can read as you like..
And here you're two good links:
http://www.islamonline.net/english/introducingislam/tolerance/article04.shtml
http://www.islamway.com/mohammad
As for Abd Al Rahmman,you can go to:
http://islamonline.net/English/contemporary/2006/04/article01.shtml
Peace be upon you all,
Mohammed:
Right. If Moslems really didn't care about non-Moslem opinionsMohammed as a prophet, they wouldn't have boycotted Arla foods and demand apologies from the Danish government over the cartoons. Nor compel a Catholic magazine,s main sponsor to apologize for the publication of a cartoon citing Canto XVII of Dante's Divine comedy.
Ok who do you fight TODAY? WHY are you fighting? What has Canada, Denmark, Spain done to Moslem that justifies killing its citizens. The reality is that for centuries, Moselms justify attacking non-Moslems for their refusal to embrace Islam or adopt shar'ia in their land.
I'll be very harsh and if it shocks that's the point: non-Moslem disbelieve Moslems and their words when their actions demonstrate the opposite.
Ask yourself why non-Moslems are becoming very hostile toward your correlgionaries?
xavier
welcome Jack, it's good to see you here too mate.
Thanks everyone for all your comments.
Mohamed;
Muslims have the right to defend themselves when any body fight them.
And what did the people who were in their church praying do to offend or harm anyone?
People of the book(Christians and Jewish)have a special place in Islam.
I know Mohammed, but how do you reconcile this with the fact you think we have corrupted thye Book of God???
I don't think you see my point at all.
I have read over the past few days so many comments on other blogs and on articles in elaph, from many Muslim saying that the instructions to be good to people of the book don't apply to today's Christians and Jews because they have lost their way and corrupted the Bible and believe in 3 Gods!!!
All this is the result of the ideologies sweeping our country that has been imported from God knows where (but i'll bet Saudi Arabian Whabis) that has put it in the mnds of millions of Muslims that Copts are nothing but moshrikeen and as such you don't have to be good to them.
I'll try to ask you again:
How do you reconcile the fact that you believe our faith and Bible is corrupt, with the fact you are saying Muslims couldn't harm us because God told you to be good to us???
Mr Mozza
Thank you for responding to my question. I tend to agree with a lot of what you say. I read jarelkamar's account of the events and was shocked at the security forces reaction (or lack thereof)
Bent El Neel:
Thank you for dropping in on my blog, and Amen! Amen! to your closing prayer in this post. With the morning comes rejoicing; may Easter's joy be with you and with your people in Egypt.
I just want to apologize to Mr Mozz for misspelling his name...sorry mate, unintentional error
First the saterday people (800,000) were forced out of the muslim pardise offen with nothing but the shirts on there backs. Many after seeing there brothers hanging from the lamp posts of Bagdad.
And now the sunday people are being forced out.
Remember this message is to moderate muslims who may read this no one leaves the place of his birth if they are allowed to live in freedom & peace. When the mass of a people leave as 99% of the safardic jews have done it is because they were forced to do it.
No one wants to live as a DHIMMI.
Mohammed,
Thanks for the reply.
I wasn't able to look at your last link - it was cut off.
In any case, as a flawed individual forgiven by Christ, pursuing God's grace, I can appreciate that at everyone's ideals at some point are betrayed. Meaning we cannot not judge each other's philosophies of life by their worst moments.
Consequently, we cannot judge them by their best moments or best ideals either. We must look at the whole picture. For example, where the ideals meet reality, where the desire meets practice.
The violence of Islam is not only being carried out by a few extremists like some would have us believe but quite the opposite. Again it is quit the opposite - the peace is only carried by small percentage! One only has to look at the Danish cartoons, Abdul Rahman situation for recent examples. How does anyone justify killing and rioting due to any offense?
So much more to say but this blog (and Xaviers) have covered this subject extensively.
Bent El Neel,
I didn't know how to reach you, but I did reply to your last comment on my blog (3 days later though, sorry for the delay).
I just wanted you to read it because you made very good points.
Email me if you can, so that in the future I can reach you in a more dignified way ! :-P
Please Delete this post if you want. I just wanted to deliver the message ! lol
Mohamed:
Allah is not the Arabic word for god.
The Arabic word for god is "rabb". Allah is the name of the god that you believe in. The word "god" is not a name, and thus you can't translate "Allah" (a name) to "god" (a non-name).
"Allah" in English is "Allah" in Arabic.
"God" in English is "rabb" in Arabic.
All those who believe in Allah believe in a god, but not all those who believe in a god believe in Allah.
Jack
I really like what you said in your comment. Very well said :)
Yochanan: welcome and thanks for participating. It is my hope however that we will never leave Egypt...we couldn't survive away from Egypt Yochanan!!! It's home!!
Oh I know I've been living in Australia for a long time now...but I still have ties in Egypt, and I can and do go over quite alot...but to be completely severed?? We should never let that happen.
As for being a Dhimmi: I detest that word and refuse to be considered one. We are Egyptians as much as the next person.
Oh that's right!! I forgot!! I can't ever talk to or associate with any Jews.
They have an amazing power over us and they can make us do whatever they want...apparently they want the Egyptians to fight each other at the moment and I am but a poor helpless brainless witless woman against the powers of Yochanan who I never met in my life and who apparently invented the word Dhimmi just to inflame my emotions.
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