Mistakes in the Quran

Abu Dawud pointed me to this website of some Copts, called www.3lotus.com - I assume they live in the USA. This is an organization of conservative Orthodox Christians, united in St. Mark Evangelistic Association.

One section of the website combines a lot of information on the Quran. It lists the usage of incorrect grammar, wrong spelling, and loan words than were misunderstood by Muhammad. Have a look and see whether this is useful for you. It shows the mindset of eastern Christians and how they believe they can best address Muslims.

HIV-aids in Egypt

Yesterday a friend of mine visited from Egypt. He works for a well-known, large, international, very very very respected institute. He told me that in his organization they believe that the situation around HIV-aids in Egypt is desparate. He mentioned figures of 10-15 million people with HIV in Egypt.

I did not believe my ears - official figures speak of 20,000. So I asked again, and he confirmed that in his very respected organization, the estimation is 10-15 million. So I asked again, whether all senior staff agrees about this, and he confirmed.

So why do you not speak about this? 'We would have a massive problem with government, and we are not allowed to.'

He pointed to the army as the major hotspot, the place where HIV is contracted and transferred.

I can still hardly believe the figure. Is this credible? Easy to check, you would think, but no, Egypt does not allow research into this. My friend pointed to the high incidence of Hepatitus C and the many people dying from tuberculosis and similar ailments as confirmation.

But still, phew, is this credible? Problem is, I can assure you, the man is an expert in HIV-aids and he works, as I said, for an almighty credible institute...

Islam economy the answer to economic crisis

Shoib-bin-Mukhtar, an Islamic Scholar from Al-Azhar University spoke at a conference on the global financial debacle in the Kashmiri capital Srinagar. He said that some twenty percent of US population is trapped in deep debts, more than the assets they hold today. He informed that this debt amounted to some six trillion dollars. Mukhtar said that the “Islamic economic system has been a success for thousands of years and it is for sure going to benefit the present world as well”.

Thousands of years? If this gentleman has to teach us about economy, the Lord be with us. ”Solutions to all problems are embedded in Islam, he said adding “We should not narrow down the concept of Islamic economics to Islamic banking or finance but Islamic economics is a much broader concept and it surely has the potential to be an alternative to capitalistic economic system”.

When will Muslims wake up and ask their scholars the probing questions? Show us a Muslim country without oil, where poverty is not rampant? A society where economic development is steady and healthy? The Islamic world is lagging behind in economic, social and intellectual development. Maybe give some freedom of thought and speech to you citizens? Allow economic experiments, intellectual freedom? All those things that a healthy society needs?

More in the Kashmiri Observer.

Brothers, brothers....

Christian unity is beautiful and an important precondition for mission in the Arab World. People will see somethimg of God in our relationships if those are lived in love. That is why the ongoing fight by some denominations over rights in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is such an aberation. Brothers! Wake up! AP carries a story on the issue. The great Coptic-Orthoodox and the fantastic Ethiopian-Orthodox Churches fighting over where to have a fire exit installed and more.

Presecution in Algeria

Courthouses in Algeria are collecting more and more Christians. Operation Mobilization reports the sentencing of five missionaries and several local believers.

The Christians received two to three years in prison plus fines, but they are appealing. Although persecution is an opportunity to witness and grow, it's also emotionally draining.

So far, 20 churches have been told to stop their activities, but they're ignoring this order. In September, six members of a house fellowship were handcuffed after the meeting and held in custody overnight. Their gathering "disturbed the faith of Muslims," and the believers were ridiculed, pressured and accused of becoming Christians for the money and visas. "The only visa we have received is that to heaven," the believers replied.

Among the Christians that visited the court in Tiaret to learn about trial results were local newspapers and internationals. Some of the cases included six believers who were sentenced to two years in prison and two believers that were going through trial again. In the first case, believers were accused of "shaking the faith of Muslims" and "holding religious meetings without permission," On top of the two-year prison sentence, the Christians were fined $5,000 euros apiece. In a separate case, two believers have to face the judge in Tiaret for a second time. Previously held for three days after being found not guilty for carrying Christian literature, the believers are facing trial again.

What level of Delusion...

Paul-André Durocher, Roman Catholic Bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall writes HERE that the misuse of the Qu'ran by terrorists doesn't make Islam a religion of violence. Wow Rt Rev., that is deep. But the opposite is also not true. The fact that terrorists misuse the Qur'an does not mean that Islam is a religion of peace.

The bishop asks us who wrote: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Yeah... we get the gist. Do not use one verse and use that for warmongering. But bishop, it is not just a verse in the Qur'an, it is all over the Qur'an. And the hadith make very very clear that the violent verses in the Qur'an are exactly that. Violent verses that are normative for the behavior of Muslims.

It would be very bad to give the impression that all Muslims are prone to violence. But bishop, you are an ostrich. Islam is, in its sources, a religion that cannot do without violence. Without violence and the fear of it, Islam cannot maintain its hold over its followers. Read man. Read!

Mosque of Jesus Christ in Madaba (Jordan)

In Madaba our muslim brothers have called a mosque the 'Mosque of 'Isa al-Masih'. They say they have done this in order to create closer ties with the Christians of the city. Dutifully those Christians said that this was such a fine idea. But do we think they really care a bit? As if naming a mosque after the foundation of our faith, makes any difference. The imam will continue to preach that 'Isa was 'just a prophet' and that he did not die on the cross.

Just imagine that a Church in Amman decides to call itself the Church of Muhammad... Why not? I happen to know many Muhammad's who go to church, as they met Jesus as he really is. But would the authorities in Amman allow such name for a Church?

Names of Mosques or Churches do not mean much. What they preach, that is the issue.