On March 20, 2006, I bid goodbye to the sixty ecumenical Christian Internationals I had been traveling throughout the West Bank with to spend two nights on the Mount of Beatitudes in Israel. This awe inspiring site sits above the shimmering Sea of the Galilee where Christ preached the Sermon on the Mount. After the nine day Sabeel Reality Tour in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, I needed to be alone and silent. But, I ended up delivering my own Sermon on the Mount.
Four Franciscan Sisters, one each from Syria, Jordan, Malta and Italy care for the shrine and the pilgrim guests at the Hospice Center where I spent two nights and a day of silent reflection of all I had witnessed the previous nine days.
At dinner a Catholic Pentecostal from Scotland introduced himself and asked me why I was there and what church I was from. I responded I have Irish Roman Catholic, Polish Jew, Russian Orthodox and Episcopal roots but that my rock is The Beatitudes.
He looked even more perplexed when I told him I came to the Mount of Beatitudes to decompress and reflect after nine days in Occupied Territory. I asked him if he were aware of the work of Sabeel, a Palestinian founded organization that promotes a theology of liberation based on justice, peace, non-violence and reconciliation for all, regardless of faith path or nationality.
He sternly admonished me, “God gave this land to the Jews! The Bible never mentions Palestine, and that is that! God gave this land to the Jews and that is that!”
I responded just as fervently that the Palestinian Christians are the descendants of those who first followed Christ and they have been denied inalienable human rights by the Israeli government. I told him the Christians in the Holy Land have shrunk from 20% of the total population to less than 1.3% since 1948 and if things don’t change soon, there will be no Christian witness in the land where Christ promised it is the peacemakers who are the children of God.
He sputtered, “But the Jews have suffered! God gave this land to the Jews and that is that!”
I responded, “Yes, the Holocaust happened because good people did nothing for far too long, and now the oppressed have become the oppressors. In the 21st century good people are unaware, ignoring or are in total denial about the injustice in the Holy Land. And what about all the Hebrew prophets, such as Micah who reminded the Hebrews of what God requires: To be just, to be merciful and to walk humbly with your Lord.”
I could NOT shut up although I knew that Scotsman was trying to get away-he also looked a bit terrified! But, I was on a tear and barely took a breath as I tell him that instead of staying in Israel for his entire visit, he should go and witness life in the occupied territories; to go and see the effects of The Wall on his spirit and see what it has done to the Palestinian economy. I tell him he should go and tour some of the 57 year old refugee camps and see the ruins of all the uncompensated home demolitions. I bring it on home by telling him that I also doubt that God was ever in the real estate business!
His eyes had bugged out and his mouth had dropped open while the torrent of words flowed out of me. When I finally finish delivering my sermon, he stammered, “But there is suffering everywhere!”
I responded swiftly, “Yes there is suffering everywhere and Christ always stood up for the poor and the oppressed. And he told us what ever we do or do not do for the least and the outcast; we do it or do not do it unto God.”
He shook his head and turned and quickly walked away and never looked my way again. Nobody else spoke to me the rest of that evening or the next day. All I kept hearing within was Luke 23:34: “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
A new Zogby International poll found that 31% of those surveyed in the national poll strongly believe or somewhat believe in the ideas behind Christian Zionism, defined as “the belief that Jews must have all of the promised land, including all of Jerusalem, to facilitate the second coming of the messiah.”
A CNN/Time poll showed that 59% of the American public believes the prophecies contained in the Book of Revelations will come true.
The fastest growing cult in the USA-and perhaps also in Scotland-is the cult of Christian Zionism.
What is Christian Zionism?
Christian Zionism is an extremist Christian fundamentalist movement which supports the claims of those who believe that the State of Israel should take control of all of the land currently disputed between Palestinians and Israelis. It views the creation and expansion of the modern state of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy toward the second coming of Jesus.
Christian Zionism is a two hundred year old theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel. The Christian Zionist program provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ’s love and justice today.
What is the Christian Zionist connection with the Holy Land ?
Believing that God fights on the side of Israel, Christian Zionists call for unqualified support for the most extreme political positions related to the Holy Land. Christian Zionist spokes persons have attributed Hurricane Katrina to God’s wrath over our failure to stop Israel from pulling out of Gaza. They consistently oppose any moves towards a solution to the conflict which would validate the political aspirations of both Palestinians and Israelis.
Who Supports Christian Zionism?
Christian Zionism has significant support within American Protestant fundamentalists, who number between 10 and 20 million. Its reach is broad, by virtue of its favorite themes related to the “End Times” and an Israel-fixated Christian media.
Christian Zionism is both a “movement” and a way of interpreting current events. Its focus is on Israel and the Middle East, as much an ideology as a “movement.” Its promoters share many beliefs but are not organized through any one institution.
Throughout history Christians have at times twisted scripture to justify violence: for the Crusades, for Anti-Semitism, and for slavery. Too often the church has been slow to respond to these biblical distortions with disastrous results.
Although the Christian Zionists motives are couched in terms of compassion toward the Jewish people based on a literal reading of scripture the political agenda of territorial expansion advocated by Christian Zionists has given rise to injustice against Palestinians and added fuel to the fire of conflict in the Middle East.
The GOOD NEWS is that some mainstream churches have spoken out against this inherently anti-Semitic Theology. What follows are but a few words from some of those who have.
Presbyterian Church USA, in July 2004 during the National General Assembly meeting stated: “Christian Zionism promotes a theology that justifies grievous violations of basic rights of people who are also made in the image of God, and is contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
In June 2004, the Reformed Church in America at their Annual National Synod issued an Historical Analysis and Critique which stated, “Jesus, picking up seminal themes from the Hebrew scriptures, preached and lived a message of reconciliation.”
In July 2003, the United Church of Christ’s General Synod offered an Alternative Voice to Christian Zionism and affirmed, “We believe that the tenets of Christian Zionism neither reflect the intention of the teachings of Jesus and the prophets, nor promote peace in the Middle East, and respectfully recommend…an alternative voice to this theology.”
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America during its June 2005 Chicago Metropolitan Synod issued a Resolution to Encourage the Study of Christian Zionism
which states that “the movement of Christian Zionism based on these biblical interpretations seeks to influence U.S. policy toward Israel in a manner that would arguably facilitate mistreatment of Palestinians, continued occupation of the land, opposition to a two-state solution, and exclusive Israeli control of Jerusalem.”
The United Methodist Church in June 2005 held a Conference On Unwrapping the Rapture warned that
“every household should give Prayerful consideration as to how God will actually judge us for our silence about and complicity in the crushing of the Palestinian people.”
In 2004, the Diocese of Chicago’s Episcopal Church confronted Christian Zionism and reminded the flock that, “A partial response to Christian Zionism would be to say that we read Scripture in light of [Jesus'] two great commandments – to love God and our neighbor.”
All Christians would do well to remember, that in that war ravaged land we call Holy, Christ delivered his Sermon on The Mount which promised, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9
Eileen Fleming
http://www.articlesbase.com/Religion-articles/my-sermon-on-the-mount-71631.html
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More often than I care to admit, I bump into a problem that shakes the very core of my being and challenges the heart of my belief system. At such times, I feel the world closing in around me and a tendency toward desperation begins to raise its ugly head. My first impulse is to fight back, to attack the attacker, to react by either running from or toward the problem.
But I do not follow my first impulse any longer. I now stand back and look at the problem for a while. I observe it from different points of view, all the while realizing that I am not the problem but that the problem is just an indication of a small adjustment I have to make in my thinking.
No problem is bigger and more powerful than we are. We are all children of the Infinite. The Universe is biased on our side. We have within us untapped strength and wisdom to deal with all challenges that come our way.
All problems have within them the seeds of their solution. We must learn to listen to the Silence, to hear the instructions from within and to follow the “still small voice.” Life whispers to us all the time. It tells us to go this way or that, to take this road or the other. When we are frightened by what appears to be major problems, we block the “still, small voice” from our consciousness and only hear the howling winds and the thunder of the storm.
Find a quiet spot in the middle of the turbulence. Go to a quiet place within your soul and stay there for a short while. Do not rant and rave at the problem. Just go to this spot and let your fears be calmed, even for a moment. Don’t listen to the call of the problem but, rather, listen for a few seconds to the song of your soul.
I often say that it’s not what’s happening around you that causes anxiety, but what you think about what’s happening around you. Remove your thoughts from the problem for a short while. Don’t try NOT to think about the problem. That doesn’t work. Just remove your focus from the problem and think of something else. With a little practice, it becomes second nature.
Know that you’re bigger and stronger than anything that seems to annoy you. Look away, for a short while, from your problem and know that its solution is coming to you. Trust the force that created you and placed you in this part of the universe. Trust the process that has sustained you until now. Let go of the problem. Remember that it is not the problem that’s holding on to you, but that it’s you who are holding on to it.
Let it go. Don’t be like the man who was frantically rowing away from shore while his boat was firmly tied to the dock. If you want to get to the other side of the problem, you must cut the rope that’s holding you to the dock.
Soon you’ll begin to see signs that you’re on your way to success. Don’t stop what you’re doing and look around all day for such signs. You WILL see them. Ideas will come to you. You’ll have strange urges to take action by calling someone, writing a letter, sending an email. This is the “still, small voice” speaking to you.
Your problems are not more powerful than you are. You have the key to success. It is your birthright. No one can ever take it away from you. Be still and know who you are. Be calm and feel the countless tides of the centuries running through your mind. Know that you’re unique and that there is not another human being on this earth that has the combination of talents and abilities you have. You are as valid as the sun and the stars.
As Commander Spock would say…”Live long and prosper.”
John Harricharan
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/problem-or-prespective–Spirituality-information-135623.html
When you try to be, or do a thing, what you are saying to the universe is that “I am not there yet,” and it is this thought that keeps you from experiencing what you desire. By the law of attraction you can never be what you are trying to be.
It is the very same with the true nature of who you are. You are nothing experiencing “being” something. You already are what you think you are and your existence is a demonstration of the thought process which created you.
In the physical life you choose the different rolls or scripts you are playing. Trying to be spiritual is simply another script or play. You are spirit trying to find its way back to spirit. You are trying to define yourself by creating an illusional experience of one possibility of your existence.
From the second you awake into consciousness you recreate yourself in physical experience. While you were asleep you did not know yourself. When you awoke you started to put it all back together. I am awake, I am male, a spouse, father, employee that needs to stop thinking and get ready for work. Throughout the whole day you reaffirm your place in time and space and when you go to sleep again tonight you will have forgotten who you are. Everything you do, all day long, says this is me-this is who I am.
This is a false existence, an illusion and your ego requires this constant affirmation that it exists-it does not! The real you, the truth about who and what you are is what you were before you started thinking-before your mind gets involved.
To “be” you have to start from somewhere or nowhere. To be what you believe yourself to be right now-you started as nothing. So nothing is your true nature and everything else is made up. You cannot be nothing because nothing is not a state of being. However, from the knowledge of your true nature you can fully appreciate the illusion of what you now believe yourself to be.
From this understanding you will know nothing is all you will ever be and nothing is really all there is. You will also begin to understand that everything is nothing and nothing can not be created or destroyed. You will always exist in one form or the other.
The true magnificence and miracle of what you are is appreciated from this understanding. You will also understand that there is nothing you cannot be. You are everything. You are the creator and the created. You are the ego, tree, rock, sky, your friend, your enemy-you are all things which you experience. You are not one with the tree or sea, you are them. It is only within the illusion of your own consciousness you believe otherwise.
The reason you cannot find the creator, your god, the source, is because it is you. And you can never experience being these things while you are looking for them. You can never experience what you truly are, while you are “being” something.
This does not mean you should turn away from the illusion. “Being” is the whole purpose for being here. There simply is “nothing” you have to be, do, or say to know who you truly are. The physical life was created for purpose-your purpose. The knowledge or truth about who you really are gives greater meaning to your purpose and what you chose to experience before you started “being” it.
You come from nothing and you will go back to nothing, and in between you are nothing trying to experience being something. You are all there is and nothing. You are the expression of nothing. You do not go anywhere or be anything-you are all there is. “We” are not all one because there is no “we”-there is only the one.
When you know your true magnificence-you will experience being magnificent-you will know your awesome power and the true state of who you really are.
Roy E. Klienwachter
http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/Spirituality-moves-you-away-from-your-true-self-109909.html
Jerusalem-On June 26, 2006 this reporter attended a world wide satellite linked Interfaith Peace Conference at Jerusalem’s Notre Dame Cathedral. Dan Rather moderated from Washington DC and the Holy Land interfaith panel were all moderates attempting to reclaim the battlefield of ideas from extremists on both sides.
Rev. Theodore Hessburgh, President Emeritus University of Notre Dame began the evening with a pledge and a summons: “The Peace of the world begins in Jerusalem.”
Dr. Tsvia Walden, Board of Director of the Peres Center and Geneva Initiative stated, “There is a need for a third party in the negotiations that could enable both sides to trust each other. There are more people in this region interested in making concessions, they all want peace so desperately.”
The Coordinator of World Bank emergency services to the Palastinian Authority, Rania Kharma commented, “We all need to be the bridges to our leaders that justice, equality, and human rights will bring peace. Give people justice and they will reward you with peace.”
Sheik Imad Falouiji warned, “Religions must go back to their origins. God commands us to love each other and live together. This Holy Land was given to all people. This land is on fire. There is an occupation that musty be removed. The language of peace cannot succeed without justice for all.”
President Bush in his second inaugural address promised, “In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without liberty…. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand or liberty we will stand with you.”
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Riah Abu Assal affirmed, “Peace is an act. Blessed are the peacemakers not the peace talkers. Peace is possible in the Holy Land. The root cause for the lack of peace since 1967 is the occupation. For peace to make progress in the Middle East we need to deal with the root cause…Religion was not meant to bring death. All those involved in searching for peace should commit themselves to work for justice and truth.”
On November 1, 2006, Jeff Halper, American Israeli, Founder and Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions/ICAHD and a 2006 Noble Peace Prize nominee informed this reporter:
“It has been said that the Israeli’s do not love this land, they just want to possess it. There have been three stages to make this occupation permanent. The first was to establish the facts on the ground; the settlements. There are a quater of a million Israeli’s and four million Palestinians here. They have been forced into bantusan; trunkated mini states; prison states. It is apartheid and Bush and Hillary are both willing collaborators. In 1977, Sharon came in with a mandate, money and resources to make the Israeli presence in the West Bank irreversible. The second stage began in April 2004 when America approved the Apartheid/Convergence/Realignment Plan and eight settlement blocs. This is just like South Africa!
“The Bush Sharon letter exchange guaranteed that the USA considers the settlements non-negotiable. The Convergence Plan and The Wall create the borders and that is what defines bantusans. Congress ratified the Bush plan and only Senator Byrd of West Virginia voted no and nine House Representatives.”
With the turnover in Congress the words of Tom Paine come to mind, for in solidarity “we have it in our power to begin the world again.”
The gospel of Jesus Christ can become relevant in the 21st century if all who claim to be Christian’s follow his philosophy. Thomas Jefferson weeded out the miracle stories from the gospels and clarified the teachings of Christ in “The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” which clarify what Christ was really all about:
To be just and justice comes from virtue which comes from the heart. To treat people the way we want to be treated. To always work for PEACEFUL resolutions, even to the point of returning violence with COMPASSION. To not judge others and bear no grudges, and those who think they know the most are the most ignorant.
“Soon after I had published the pamphlet “Common Sense” [on Feb. 14, 1776] in America, I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of Religion. The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”-Tom Paine
Christ’s other name is “The Prince of Peace” and he walked and preached the good news that God is within all people. To truly follow Christ means one will rise up, [in Arabic the word is "intifada"] for the oppressed, the outcast, the widow, the orphan, the poor, the prisoner and refugees. Christ taught that we are to pursue justice, and justice is the only way to security and peace.
The Christian population of the Holy Land has decreased from 20% of the total population to less than 1.3% since 1948. 90% of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land never even meet any Palestinian Christians; thus they are known as The Forgotten Faithful.
Prior to 1948, 70% of West Jerusalem was Palestinian. From ‘48 to ‘67, Jerusalem was divided into Israeli West Jerusalem and Palestinian East under Jordan’s control. When Israel captured and occupied the West Bank in 1967, the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem were also redefined. Israel annexed the greater Jerusalem area but did not ‘adopt’ the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem as Israeli citizens.
Today, Palestinians living in Jerusalem are classified differently from those in the West Bank. They are called permanent residents, they can vote in local elections but not in Israeli national elections. Most do not bother to vote as a statement against the occupation.
Today, West Jerusalem in nearly 100% Jewish. The Palestinians in East Jerusalem pay the same taxes as those on the West side, but receive only 8% of the total municipal budget. Orthodox Jews pay no taxes. Palestinians make up 1/3 of the total Jerusalem population, but pay over 40% of the taxes. One is immediately aware when one walks from the East to the West that one is truly in two different worlds. On the West side of town there are many parks, the roads and streets are well maintained and sanitation pick up is predictable. Twenty-six of the thirty-one City Council members of Jerusalem are Orthodox Jews. The East side of Jerusalem resembles the lower east side of New York.
While the Israeli government considers Jerusalem the capitol of Israel no foreign country does. There are no international embassies in Jerusalem, except for a fundamentalist International Christian Zionist one.
The Wall that was begun after the Second Intifada/Rise Up, has expanded the municipal boundaries established in 1967 and the Israeli settlements/colonies are growing unabated.
According to International Law all the settlements are illegal and the world is silent. In the 1930’s Ben Gurion said that the settlements will define the boundaries of Israel.
In 1973, Ariel Sharon told Winston Churchill III, “We’ll make a pastrami sandwich of them. We’ll insert a strip of Jewish settlement, in between the Palestinians, then another strip of Jewish settlement, right across the West Bank, so that in 25 years time, neither the United Nations, nor the United States, nobody, will be able to tear it apart.”
But all things are possible and miracles do occur.
God has always spoken through Jewish prophets and Jeff Halper is one. On November 1, 2006 he informed this reporter, “Israel has set up a matrix of control; a thick web of settlements guaranteed to make the occupation permanent by establishing facts on the ground. Israel denies there is an occupation, so everything is reduced to terrorism. It is our job to insist upon the human rights issue, for occupied people have International Law on their side.”
While International Law guarantees the rights of the occupied to rise up with violence against their occupiers. But, prophetic organizations such as ICAHD, Anarchist’s Against the Wall, International Solidarity Movement and Sabeel all promote Creative Nonviolence.
Jeff stated, “When Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan, the East side was 6 sq. km. Since 1967, Israel has added 64 km. The West side was 38 sq. km until ‘67 and is now 108 sq. km’s. Israel plans to develop 17 settlements. Israeli policy is to maintain a 72% Jewish and 28% Arab population. Palestinians cannot get building permits to build upon their legally owned land. The Arab land has been re-zoned as green space, and the green space will be re-zoned for the settlements.
“Every single Palestinian home in Jerusalem has a demolition order. The entire West Bank has been zoned as agricultural land by Israel, and that will also be re-zoned again for more settlements.
“It has been said that the Israeli’s do not love this land, they just want to possess it. There have been three stages to make this occupation permanent. The first was to establish the facts on the ground; the settlements. There are a quater of a million Israeli’s and four million Palestinians here. They have been forced into bantusans; trunkated mini states; prison states. It is apartheid and Bush and Hillary are both willing collaborators. In 1977, Sharon came in with a mandate, money and resources to make the Israeli presence in the West Bank irreversible. The second stage began in April 2004 when America approved the Apartheid/Convergence/Realignment Plan and eight settlement blocs. This is just like South Africa! The Bush Sharon letter exchange guaranteed that the USA considers the settlements non-negotiable. The Convergence Plan and The Wall create the borders and that is what defines bantusans.Congress ratified the Bush plan and only Senator Byrd of West Virginia voted no and nine House Representatives.”
Orwellian doublespeak has also been employed in the USA to turn the illegal colonies into “neighborhoods”. A new highway has already begun to link all the settlements. The Eastern Ring Road will have bridges for Israelis but is just another wall against the Palestinians. The settlements-and all settlements are considered illegal under international law- will ring around the Old City of Jerusalem.
Jeff concluded with, “I don’t just have a political problem with this Judiaization of the Old City, it is ecologically and environmentally offensive.”
I add it also is spiritually impoverished. The raping and pillaging of what is claimed holy ground refutes and denies the biblical meaning of dominion. The ancients understood dominion meant to nurture, love and protect and the destruction of Palestinian homes, the stealing of their legal property, their water is an abomination.
On May 14, 1948 The Declaration of the establishment of Israel stated:
“One the day of the termination of the British mandate and on the strength of the United Nations General Assembly declare The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel: it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion it will guarantee freedom of religion [and] conscience and will be faithful to the Charter of the United Nations.”
“What does God require? He has already told you o’man! Be just, be merciful and humble.”-Micah 6:8
“The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people.”-Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
The “fierce urgency of now”-Rev. MLK, Jr should compel we the people of the United States to rise up and demand Congress hold President Bush to the promise in his Second Inaugural Address:
“In the long run, there is no justice without FREEDOM. There can be no human rights without LIBERTY. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for liberty, we stand with you.”
The “war on terror” must be fought at the root and all roads lead to Jerusalem.
Eileen Fleming
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/we-can-begin-the-world-again-76476.html
Le samedi 24 mars 2007 Benoît XVI a fait un discours particulièrement critique et alarmant, sur la construction européenne, à l’occasion du cinquantième anniversaire des Traités de Rome. Un discours dans lequel il donne suite à son intransigeante volonté de voir mentionnée la référence aux racines chrétiennes de l’Europe dans la nouvelle Constitution.
Le pape commence par préciser que durant ces 50 ans, le continent européen a parcouru un long chemin qui a conduit à la réconciliation des deux poumons, l’Orient et l’Occident, “unis par une histoire commune mais arbitrairement séparés par un rideau d’injustice” !..
Accusant l’Europe d’oublier son identité forgée par le christianisme, de commettre une sorte “d’apostasie”, terme particulièrement dur de la part d’un pape, “apostasie de soi-même, plus encore que de Dieu”, il se lance dans une énumération de mises en garde révélatrices, signalant : le déclin démographique ; l’acheminement sur une voie qui pourra porter l’Europe à disparaître de l’histoire ; le processus même de l’unification, qui n’est plus partagé par tous ; les chapitres du projet européen écrits sans tenir compte de l’attente des citoyens ; la maison européenne qui ne peut être construite si l’on oublie l’identité propre du continent ; soulignant l’identité historique et morale avant d’être géographique, économique ou politique ; une identité constituée par un ensemble de valeurs universelles que le christianisme a contribué à forger, acquérant ainsi un rôle historique et fondateur dans les débats de l’Europe . Ces valeurs, constituant l’âme du continent, doivent rester dans l’Europe du troisième millénaire, précise-t-il , puis critique le pragmatisme qui finit par nier aux chrétiens le droit même d’intervenir comme tels dans le débats public ; insiste sur la sauvegarde, dans l’espace européen, du droit à l’objection de conscience, chaque fois que les droits humains fondamentaux seront violés et, pour terminer, met en garde de la mentalité “d’être assiégé, d’être une minorité” !
Autrement dit : en reniant sa chrétienté, l’Europe commettrait un péché mortel. D’un autre côté, encore plus de moyens pour cerner la présence de l’Islam et des musulmans en Europe…
A la suite du discours : un message pour Berlin, dans lequel les évêques demandent, précisément, une référence explicite à l’héritage chrétien du continent, car “l’Eglise catholique doit accompagner, sur un mode critique parfois, la construction européenne”. Un message de Mgr Dominique Mambarti, accuse le Parlement européen “d’attaques contre l’Eglise”. Même tonalité exprimée par Romano Prodi, qui a confié qu’il regrette lui-même l’absence de référence aux racines chrétiennes européennes, en précisant que : “Ce qui me préoccupe le plus dans la défense sereine et tranquille de nos propres valeurs est la mentalité d’être assiégé, d’être une minorité, que je vois également dans le monde chrétien”… De son coté, Angéla Merkel, protestante et fille de pasteur, promet de rouvrir le débat sur ce sujet afin qu’il soit fait mention des racines chrétiennes de l’Europe dans le projet de la nouvelle Constitution, – ce que la France et la Hollande avaient déjà refusé.
Nul besoin de faire une analyse de texte pour voir l’étendu d’une inébranlable volonté, concertée d’ailleurs, pour imposer la mention de l’identité chrétienne et éloigner l’apport de l’Islam. Nul besoin d’être exégète pour voir à quel point toutes ces données s’éloignent de la vérité historique, ou pour placer ce discours dans l’ensemble de cette lignée de textes et d’attitudes au cours desquels Benoît XVI, tout comme son prédécesseur, insiste à éradiquer l’Islam et la civilisation islamique de l’Europe ! Ce qui représente d’ailleurs une mise en pratique des décrets de Vatican II, qui imposa l’évangélisation du monde !
Avec tout le respect dû aux connaissances théologiques et culturelles du pape, ou au poste qu’il occupe, je me permets de dire, en tant que musulmane et professeur de civilisation française, qu’il se trompe historiquement, scientifiquement et spirituellement. Car l’Europe, ou plutôt tout l’Occident dans son ensemble, a été édifié non seulement sur l’apport indéniable de l’Islam, mais aussi sur la diversité d’autres cultures.
Il est manifestement reconnu, par tous ceux qui tiennent à la probité scientifique de la documentation historique, que la tradition musulmane a profondément contribué à l’émergence de l’Europe et de l’Occident. C’est grâce aux penseurs arabes que l’Europe a connu le rationalisme auquel le pape a consacré sa conférence de Ratisbonne. Conférence au cours de laquelle il a rappelé à ses auditeurs leur identité chrétienne, en passant carrément à la tradition rationaliste grecque, pour déclarer que l’identité européenne est chrétienne par la foi, grecque par la raison philosophique, sans oublier de souligner que l’Islam, qui ignore la raison, est étranger à l’identité européenne ! Est-il besoin de rappeler à sa sainteté que le premier mot de la Révélation du Qur’âne est l’impératif du verbe lire ?! L’Islam incite à la lecture, à l’étude, à la connaissance, à faire fonction de la raison et n’incite point à l’obscurantisme ?
On ne peut s’empêcher de voir dans tous ces textes, et surtout dans ce discours, un message alarmant et périlleux à la fois, un message qui porte atteinte à l’approche historique et à la définition de l’identité européenne. Le choix des termes est profondément révélateur d’une intention prête à tout, pour s’imposer, prête à tout, pour exclure l’Islam du patrimoine européen!
Du point de vue historique, il serait peut-être utile de citer l’Historien Dozy, qui écrit dans son Histoire des musulmans d’Espagne, en 1860, une description profonde des évènements :
“La conquête arabe fut un bien pour l’Espagne : elle produisit une importante révolution sociale, elle fit disparaître une grande partie des maux sous lesquels le pays gémissait depuis des siècles (…) Les Arabes gouvernaient selon la méthode suivante : les impôts étaient tout à fait réduits par rapport à ceux des gouvernements précédents. Les arabes enlevèrent aux riches la terre (qui, partagée en immenses domaines de la chevalerie, était cultivée par des fermiers serfs ou des esclaves mécontents), et la répartirent également entre ceux qui travaillaient le sol. Les nouveaux propriétaires en obtinrent de meilleures récoltes. Le commerce fut libéré des limitations et des lourdes taxes qui l’écrasaient, et se développa notablement. Le Coran autorisait les esclaves à se racheter moyennant un dédommagement équitable et cela mit en jeu de nouvelles énergies. Toutes ces mesures provoquaient un état de bien-être général qui fut la cause du bon accueil fait au début de la domination arabe.” (t. II, p. 43).
A quoi il serait intéressant d’ajouter une citation du grand écrivain espagnol, Blasco Ibanez (1867-1928), qui porte témoignage pour son propre pays :
“En Espagne, la régénération n’est pas venue du Nord, avec les hordes barbares : elle est venue du Midi avec les Arabes conquérants (…). C’était une expédition civilisatrice beaucoup plus qu’une conquête (…). Par là s’introduisait chez nous cette culture, jeune, robuste, alerte, aux progrès étonnamment rapides, qui, à peine née, triomphait ; cette civilisation qui, créée par l’enthousiasme du Prophète, s’était assimilé le meilleur du judaïsme et la science byzantine, et qui, au surplus, apportait avec elle la grande tradition hindoue, les reliques de la Perse, et beaucoup de choses empruntées à la Chine mystérieuse. C’était l’Orient pénétrant en Europe, non comme les Darius et les Xerxès, par la Grèce qui les repoussait afin de sauver sa liberté, mais par l’autre extrémité, par l’Espagne, qui, esclave de rois théologiens et d’évêques belliqueux, recevait à bras ouverts ses envahisseurs. En deux années, ceux-ci s’emparèrent de ce que l’on mit sept siècles à leur reprendre. Ce n’était pas une invasion qui s’imposait par les armes, c’était une société nouvelle qui poussait de tous côtés ses vigoureuses racines. Le principe de la liberté de conscience, pierre angulaire sur laquelle repose la vraie grandeur des nations, leur était cher. Dans les villes où ils étaient les maître, ils acceptaient l’église du chrétien et la synagogue du juif.”
Et d’ajouter un peu plus loin :
“Du VIIIe au XVe siècles, se construira et se développera la plus belle et la plus opulente civilisation qu’il y ait eu en Europe durant le Moyen Age. Tandis que les peuples du Nord se décimaient par des guerres religieuses et se comportaient en tribus barbares, la population de l’Espagne s’élevait à plus de trente millions d’habitants, et dans cette multitude d’hommes se confondaient et s’agitaient toutes les races et toutes les croyances, avec une variété infinie d’où résultaient les plus puissantes pulsations sociales (…). Dans ce fécond amalgame de peuples et de races coexistaient toutes les idées, toutes les coutumes, toutes les découvertes accomplies jusqu’alors sur terre, tous les arts, toutes les sciences, toutes les industries, toutes les inventions, toutes les disciplines anciennes; et du choc de ces éléments divers jaillissaient de nouvelles découvertes et de nouvelles énergies créatrices. La soie, le coton, le café, le citron, l’orange, la grenade arrivaient de l’Orient avec ces étrangers, comme aussi les tapis, les tissus, les métaux damasquinés et la poudre. Avec eux encore la numération décimale, l’algèbre, l’alchimie, la chimie, la médecine, la cosmologie et la poésie rimée. Les philosophes grecs, près de disparaître, trouvaient le salut en suivant l’Arabe dans ses conquêtes : Aristote régnait à la fameuse université de Cordoue… (Dans l’ombre de la cathédrale, pp. 201-204).
Citation un peu longue, mais combien révélatrice, de la part d’un des plus grands écrivains que l’Espagne ait connu à la fin du XIXe siècle. Citation qui répond à nombre de données amputées ou altérées, que ce soit dans le discours du pape ou ailleurs.
L’Islam, en fait, crée une civilisation nouvelle, ayant comme pivot, l’Unicité de Dieu. Une civilisation où la conception de l’unité, comme acte d’unification dans tous les domaines, permet de renouveler les cultures antérieures. Contrairement à la conception dualiste de la culture grecque, la vision islamique est foncièrement unitaire: le monde sensible n’est jamais séparé ni de l’intelligible ni de Dieu. C’est pourquoi la science prend un caractère expérimental, contrairement au caractère spéculatif chez les grecs. Ce qui permit la création d’une impressionnante quantité de découvertes, en faisant admirablement le lien entre la Science, la Sagesse et la Foi.
Ce qui fait dire à Roger Bacon (1220-1292), franciscain, pionnier de la méthode expérimentale dans les sciences en Europe et surnommé “le Docteur admirable” indique, dans son “Opus majus”, qu’il n’hésite pas à copier des pages entières d’Ibn Haytham (latinisé en Alhazen), ou de préciser : “La philosophie est tiré de l’Arabe et aucun Latin ne pourrait comprendre comme il convient les sagesses et les philosophies s’il ne connaissait pas les langues dont elles sont traduites”.
Est-il besoin de répéter ou de souligner une vérité historique, vécue et reconnue ? En fait, L’Europe n’a connu le patrimoine grec que grâce à l’effort gigantesque des musulmans, qui ont traduit et développé tous les domaines de l’héritage grec, et l’héritage grec a été traduit de l’arabe vers le latin. C’est la présence charnière du huit siècles, qu’une attitude peu voyante et nullement reconnaissante, essaye d’escamoter… Mais, “Quelle que soit la façon dont on juge l’influence musulmane, quelques violentes qu’aient été la réaction contre elle et la façon de s’en débarrasser, on ne peut le nier : “l’Europe ne serait pas exactement ce qu’elle est si elle n’avait pas connus l’Islam. Il appartient à son patrimoine”, écrit justement Jean-Paul Roux, dans la préface de L’Islam en Europe.
D’un autre côté, en un temps où l’église romaine imposait l’obscurantisme, empêchait ses adeptes de lire, brûlait les livres et incendiait les bibliothèques, ou plus précisément, à une époque où l’Europe ne savait pas lire, les bibliothèques se multipliaient dans tout le monde arabe. La bibliothèque d’Al-Aziz, le calife du Caire, comptait un million six cent mille volumes, dont six mille de mathématiques et dix-huit mille de philosophie. Celle du calife Al-Ma’moun, intitulée “La Maison de la Sagesse”, rassemblait un million d’ouvrages, outre une centaine de bibliothèques dans la ville. Pour ne rien dire de l’ancienne bibliothèque d’Alexandrie incendiée par les prêtres de l’église, bien avant l’arrivée de l’Islam. En Iraq, la bibliothèque de Nasser Eddin El-Toussi comprenait quatre cent mille ouvrages. Dans l’Espagne musulmane, la bibliothèque du calife Al-Hakem, à Cordoue, réunissait quatre cent mille volumes. L’Université musulmane de Cordoue, au Xe siècle, a rayonné une des plus belles floraisons de la culture sur trois continents, sous une forme totale, à travers la science, la sagesse et la foi.
Il n’est pas lieu, dans cet article, de mentionner tous les auteurs arabes qui fondèrent cette incomparable civilisation, mais citons à titres d’exemples : Abou Bakr ebn Tofayl (occidentalisé en Abubacer) mort en 1185, médecin et philosophe. Aboul Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) mort en 1010, médecin et grand chirurgien. Al-Battani (Albatenius) mort en 929, grand astronome. Abou Ma’shar (Albumasar) mort en 886, considéré comme le plus grand astrologue. Al-Kindi (Alchindus), mort en 873, considéré comme le père de la philosophie. Al-Khawarizmi (Alchoarism) mort en 847, fut le premier musulman à s’occuper d’algèbre. Al-Farghani (Alfraganus), mort en 861, grand astronome. Al-Ghazali (Algazel) mort en 1111, philosophe et théologien. Al-Razi (Rhazès), mort en 865, grand médecin, surnommé “le Galien arabe”. Al-Bytrugi (Alpetragius), mort en 1204, philosophe et astronome. Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), mort en 950, philosophe et musicien, écrivit plusieurs traités sur la théorie mathématique de la musique et des instruments musicaux. Ibn Bagah (Avempace), mort en 1138, médecin et philosophe. Al-Zarqali (Azarkiel) grand astronome d’Espagne, connu pour ses tables astronomiques dites : Tabulae Toletanae. Pour ne rien dire d’Ibn Rushd (Avéroès), mort en 1198, et Ibn Sina (Avicenne), mort en 1037, tout deux grands médecins et philosophes.
Est-il besoin d’ajouter que les œuvres de tous ces philosophes, ces savants et ces hommes de sciences ont été traduits en latins, étaient étudiés en Europe jusqu’au XVIIIe et XIXe siècle, furent à l’origine de la plupart des découvertes et exercèrent une grande influence sur les sciences latines et byzantines ?!
Avant de passer au domaine du spirituel, on ne peut s’empêcher d’attirer l’attention sur cette attitude peu probe de latiniser tous les noms propres musulmans, afin d’éradiquer toute relation de l’Europe avec l’Islam ou de biffer tout ce que l’Europe doit à l’Islam et aux musulmans. N’est-il pas temps de les transcrire phonétiquement comme on les prononce ? N’est-il pas temps de rendre à tous ces savants, qui formèrent une des plus brillante civilisation de l’histoire, fondatrice de l’Europe, leur identité islamique dérobée le long des siècles, à commencer par le nom de Mohammad, distordu en “Mahomet” ? “L’injustice, écrit Ibn Khaldoun dans sa fameuse Moukaddima, détruit la civilisation”.
Il serait peut-être utile de rappeler qu’avant l’arrivée de l’islam, l’Espagne était un pays occupé par les Wisigoths depuis plus de deux siècles. Ils étaient des occupants, qui exploitaient le pays en s’emparant des deux tiers de la terre, et exerçaient une incessante persécution. Le code Justinien définissant la propriété comme “un droit d’user et d’abuser” (jus utendi et abutendi).
Dans le domaine spirituel, signalons qu’en Andalousie, l’opposition entre le monothéisme et le polythéisme était fort antérieure, non seulement à la pénétration de l’Islam, mais aux controverses entre chrétiens trinitaires, divinisant Jésus, et adeptes d’Arius, refusant cette “consubstantialité”. Le Concile de Nicée, en 325, avait divisé les chrétiens, en condamnant Arius, qui refusait la déification de Jésus, comme le sera Nestorius, un siècle plus tard, qui refusait le dogme de la Passion et refusait que la Vierge portât le nom de “Mère de Dieu”. Ces condamnations n’empêchèrent point l’expansion des deux courants, et surtout celle de l’Arianisme, qui se propagea en Europe et continue d’ailleurs jusqu’à nos jours quoiqu’en sourdine; alors que le nestorianisme se propagea en Perse. Il ne serait peut-être pas hors sujet de rappeler que l’arianisme, tenant essentiellement à l’Unicité de Dieu, était la raison pour laquelle Cathares, Bogomiles, Templiers et autres ont été éradiquées de sur la terre !
Il n’est pas question de signaler, ici, le nombre de sectes ou “d’hérésies” qu’a connu le Christianisme primitif durant les premiers siècles. Il suffit de rappeler que Jean Damascène, dans la première moitié du huitième siècle, dans son ouvrage intitulé “De haeresibus”, parle de cent hérésies, et traite l’Islam, qu’il place le dernier en nombre, comme une hérésie chrétienne proche d’Arius !
Un siècle plus tard, la “Chronographie de Théophane” apporta à l’Occident des informations au sujet de l’Islam et du prophète Mohammad en particulier : “Par ce texte, écrit Philippe Sénac, l’on apprit qu’en l’année 622 était mort un faux prophète issu de la famille d’Ismaël” (L’Image de l’autre, p. 30)… Monseigneur Duchêne, dans ses études sur la situation des églises au VIIe siècle, cite Michel le Syrien qui apprécie en ces termes la pénétration des musulmans : “… le Dieu des vengeance… voyant la méchanceté des Romains qui, partout où ils dominaient, pillaient cruellement nos églises et nos monastères et nous condamnaient sans pitié, amena du Sud les fils d’Ismaël pour nous délivrer par eux.” (R. Garaudy, L’Islam vivant, p. 15). C’est dans un contexte agité entre sectes et églises, chrétiennes, que l’anglais John Wycliffe (1324-1384) clamait tout haut, ce que beaucoup de chrétiens pensaient tout bas. Classé comme hérétique par l’église, car il refusait les dîmes, les bénéfices ecclésiastiques et les offrandes imposées, soulignait l’inutilité du pape, des évêques et du clergé en général, et trouvait que l’église tout entière était dans l’erreur. “Pour accréditer cette opinion, écrit Philippe Sénac, il élargit le débat en faisant références à d’autres sectes, à l’Islam en particuliers. Nous sommes les Mahomets de l’Occident, affirmait-il, car pour lui rien ne différenciait vraiment l’Islam de l’Eglise européenne.” (L’Image de l’autre, p. 141). Ressemblance qu’il trouvait surtout dans une église qui refuse la déification de Jésus…
Citations que nous relevons pour montrer que durant le Moyen Age, il était partout connu encore, que les musulmans sont les descendants d’Ismaël, le fils aîné d’Abraham… Un nom que l’Eglise a intentionnellement éliminé, non seulement de ses textes, mais surtout dans cette fameuse déclaration intitulée “Nostra Aetate”, formulée à Vatican II, que l’ont affiche, tel un mot de passe, chaque fois qu’il est question des relations de l’église avec l’Islam. Lire les travaux de rédaction de ce texte, écrit par le père R. Caspar (pp. 201-236), dans le livre intitulé “L’Eglise et les relations non chrétiennes”, révèle à quel point le manque de probité historique était prioritaire pour éloigner toute parenté avec Abraham ou Ismaël, son fils aîné, et tout lien des musulmans avec le monothéisme !
En Espagne, où l’arianisme était en expansion, jusqu’à un siècle et demi après l’arrivée de l’Islam, toutes les polémiques des théologiens chrétiens n’avaient affaire qu’avec l’arianisme. Aucun théologien ne discute de l’Islam qui, à leur avis, ne fait qu’un avec l’arianisme. C’est pourquoi, du point de vue spirituel, face à deux empires en décadence sociale et spirituelle, l’Islam n’apparaît pas comme une religion nouvelle se substituant à une foi antérieure. Il est accueilli avec enthousiasme par des peuples en qui la foi ancienne, le christianisme, et les massacres inouïs commis par ses institutions, cessent de donner une âme à leur vie. L’Islam constitue, pour ces peuples, un réveil religieux qui donne une vie nouvelle à leur religiosité. C’est ce qui explique et justifie, en même temps, pourquoi tous ces différents peuples, de l’Indus jusqu’en Espagne, en passant par tout le Midi de l’Europe, accueillaient les musulmans en libérateurs, en hommes de foi, qui respectent celle des autres et la raniment à la lumière de l’Islam.
Il ne serait donc point superflu de préciser que si le Christianisme a contribué à constituer l’identité européenne, c’est incontestablement grâce à l’apport de l’Islam et des musulmans que cela a pu être réalisé.
En terminant ce bref commentaire au discours de Benoît XVI, je ne peux que lui dire, avec tout le respect qui lui est dû :
Vénérable Père, quand on occupe un poste aussi altissime et absolu que le vôtre, équité exige une probité sans faille : Extirper huit siècles de la présence fondatrice de l’Islam en Europe, veut non seulement dire amputer une tranche essentielle du patrimoine européen, mais contredit la marche de l’Histoire humaine, et contredit même les textes bibliques. Textes qui prouvent encore, en dépit des remaniements tant de fois opérés, la place magistrale d’Ismaël, fils aîné d’Abraham, et son fils Kedar, l’ancêtre du prophète Mohammad. Extirper huit siècles du patrimoine européen veut dire carrément commettre une contrefaçon historique et spirituelle.
Une brève récapitulation de l’histoire biblique démontre que Saraï (Gen.16 : 3) donna sa servante “pour épouse à son mari”. Epouse, et non concubine : un prophète ne commet point d’adultère. L’Alliance, c’est-à-dire la circoncision, eut lieu entre Dieu et Abraham (Gen. 17: 1-27), alors qu’Ismaël avait 13 ans, et fut circoncis, un an avant la naissance d’Isaac. Le droit d’aînesse (Deut. 21: 15-17) accorde au fils aîné une double part de tout ce que le père possède : “Si un homme a deux femmes, l’une qu’il aime et l’autre qu’il n’aime pas, et que la femme aimée et l’autre lui donnent des fils, s’il arrive que l’aîné soit de la femme qu’il n’aime pas, cet homme ne pourra pas, le jour où il attribuera ses biens à ses fils, traiter en aîné le fils de la femme qu’il aime, au détriment du fils de la femme qu’il n’aime pas, l’aîné véritable. Mais il reconnaîtra l’aîné dans le fils de celle-ci, en lui donnant double part de tout ce qu’il possède : car ce fils, prémices de sa vigueur, détient le droit d’aînesse”. La descendance d’Ismaël se trouve en détails (Gen. 25 :12-16), et à la mort d’Abraham (Gen. 25: 9), ” Isaac et Ismaël, ses fils, l’enterrèrent dans la grotte de Makpéla” … L’altération des textes n’est pas la faute des musulmans, à commencer par cette toute dernière citation, où le nom d’Isaac a précédé celui d’Ismaël pour le doter injustement du droit d’aînesse !
Là je me permets d’ajouter : au lieu de continuer à maintenir ce rôle d’annihilation, qui se mène depuis des siècles à l’égard de l’Islam et des musulmans, n’est-il pas plus humain, voire beaucoup plus correcte, du point de vue historique et spirituel, de faire le même geste comme vous, en tant qu’Eglise, avez déjà fait en réhabilitant les juifs du meurtre déicide ? Vous avez déjà pu courageusement surmonter deux mille ans d’animosités, même au détriment des textes sacrés et leurs centaines d’accusations claires et nettes. N’est-il pas temps de faire le même geste conciliateur avec les musulmans, qui ne cessent d’être traqués, rien que parce qu’ils tiennent au vrai monothéisme, tel qu’il a été révélé, et à la transcendante Unicité de Dieu ?!
Si nous faisons table rase de tous les détails, pour voir à vol d’oiseau l’histoire du monothéisme, qu’en ressortira-il ? Il fut d’abord révélé à Moïse, en tant que prophète, puis, quand les juifs dévièrent du droit chemin, tuèrent les prophètes sans juste raison, Jésus, en tant que prophète, a été envoyé aux brebis égarées d’Israël pour les ramener vers le chemin de la droiture, et non pour évangéliser le monde ! Quand les chrétiens dévièrent du droit chemin, en déifiant Jésus, trois siècles après son départ et en formulant des dogmes qu’il n’a point prononcés, Mohammad, en tant que prophète, a été envoyé avec la Révélation du Qur’âne. Un texte qui n’a point subi de modifications, mais qui dénonce toutes sortes de manipulations effectuées dans les deux précédents messages du Monothéisme. Et là réside, hélas, la vraie cause pour laquelle Islam et musulmans ont été mis à l’index.
N’est-il pas temps d’écarter “ce rideau d’injustice arbitrairement imposé”, comme vous l’avez fait avec les deux poumons du christianisme, afin de réunir la famille d’Abraham, au lieu de continuer à écarter les enfants d’Ismaël ?! Oui, Vénérable père, nous sommes tous cousins ! Et il vous incombe de les réconcilier sans animosité et sans contrainte… La religion étant pour Dieu, la terre est pour tout le monde, quelle que soit la croyance de ses habitants. Nulle contrainte en la religion, croira qui voudra et mécroira qui voudra, précise le Qur’âne.
Au lieu de cette volonté de fer pour évangéliser le monde, au lieu de présenter l’aide d’une main, à tous ces déshérités du tiers-monde, et imposer baptême et conversion de l’autre, n’est-il pas temps de pratiquer une vraie tolérance ?!
Ce n’est pas en faisant des projections de tous les revers qu’a connus le Christianisme, sur l’Islam et les musulmans, en reformulant faussement l’histoire et la Religion, en exterminant les musulmans ou en évangélisant toute la terre que le monde va s’améliorer, mais en pratiquant la Tolérance, l’Equité et le Chemin de la Rectitude. C’est ce qui vous incombe à faire avec un humanisme digne du poste que vous présidez…
Dr. Zeinab Abdel Aziz
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/huit-sicles-dapports-musulmans-en-europe-134225.html
November 30th, 2008 — Today was our last day in Medina, the city of the Prophet, before we head to Mecca, the center of the Islamic world. My mother has adjusted well and is beginning to overcome her phobia of crowds. We have had the good fortune of meeting friendly Muslim women who have taken my mom under their wing and eased her into the hectic experience of the holy city. They have taken her to the mosque with them every day, as I can only accompany her part of the way, to the entrance of the women’s section.
The fact that men and women pray separately in Islam often troubles non-Muslims, so I will try to explain its purpose. First, Islam is not unique in this regard. In Orthodox Judaism, men and women also pray separately, as can be seen every day at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. This is very much an ancient Semitic practice that comes right out of the Bible, and is not foreign to the Jewish or Christian experience. But how does one respond to modern complaints by Westerners that this practice is inherently sexist?
The Muslim response is simple — prayer is a time for inner reflection and contemplation, a period when the natural sexual energy between men and women should not serve as a distraction. This is particularly a concern due to the intimate nature of worship in Islam, where formal Prayer consists of ritual bowing and prostration. Muslim women like my mother tell me that they appreciate the separation of the sexes at these times, as they would feel self-conscious and vulnerable bowing with men’s faces peering at their rear ends from behind. And any man who is being honest and not “politically correct” would admit that the sight of a woman kneeling in such a position would arouse him sexually.
Islam is a Religion that accepts human nature as it is, rather than pretending that it is something else based on idealism or wishful thinking. In Islam, the sexual urge is recognized as a natural part of human experience, a blessing from God when channeled properly, but one that can debase human dignity if left to the whims of human lust. While many Westerners would disagree based on modern political indoctrination, I would counter that human experience speaks for itself. Whatever ideal the West wishes to impose on the male-female dynamic, the truth of sexual attraction remains stark and undeniable in day-to-day human experience. And Islam’s purpose is to take human beings as they actually are and inspire them to be better, rather than preach empty words that no one actually follows in real life. In that way, Islam establishes a practical way of living, rather than exhorting ideals to be honored with lip service and ignored in daily life.
In any event, my mother has found the company of other believing women as a boon during this journey, and their support has given her the strength and courage to face the daily rush and unimaginable crowding at the Prophet’s mosque. And for that I am thankful.
During our last day in Medina, we did a tour of the city and visited some of its remarkable historical sites. Our first trip was to the Quba Mosque at the southern borders of the city. Quba was the first mosque built by Prophet Muhammad when he left Mecca and journeyed to Medina to establish a safe haven for his persecuted followers. Before entering the city proper, the Prophet stopped at Quba where he built the mosque with his own hands, carrying stones on his back and climbing into the dirt to lay its foundations. To me, that story has always served to remind me of his visionary leadership. Revered by his followers as God’s messenger, he could have simply given orders and sat back watching people do the dirty work on his behalf. But the Prophet understood that a true leader gets into the trenches with his community and does the hard lifting. It was small acts like this that endeared him to his followers and showed his natural talent as a statesman.
One of the most surprising things about the Quba Mosque is the presence of a Jewish graveyard next door. It is an ancient site that has stood undisturbed since the early days of Islam. Despite the current tensions in the Middle East due to the Arab-Israeli conflict, history shows that Jews and Muslims got along reasonably well over the centuries. Jews were better treated in Muslim lands than they were under Christian rulers. And in Spain in particular, Muslim and Jews enjoyed a rich and friendly relationship. When the golden age of al-Andalus was brought to an end by the Inquisition, the Jews of Spain fled Christian persecution and turned to Muslim countries for protection. Many Jews settled in the Ottoman Empire, where they thrived alongside their Muslim neighbors, and Jews even rose to the position of top government ministers under the sultans of Turkey.
As I looked out at the ancient Jewish graves, many better preserved than those of Muslims in the devastated ruins of Jannat al-Baqi, I felt both a moment of sadness and hope. Sadness that their remains so much mistrust and fear between Jews and Muslims today. And sadness that some of our Jewish brethren in Israel do not afford Muslim graves the same respect. There is currently a huge controversy in Israel about plans to destroy an ancient Muslim graveyard so that the ironically named “Museum of Tolerance” can be built on its site. Many good-hearted Jews and have joined their Muslim countrymen to protest the planned desecration of the graveyard as a violation of Jewish tenets respecting the dead. And it is the fact that Muslims and Jews are standing together to protest this injustice that gives me hope. History shows that our communities are brothers, sons of Abraham through Ishmael and Isaac. And I hope that we can overcome the poison of the past century to inaugurate a new golden age where our communities can be even better friends than they were in the not-too-distant path.
From the Quba Mosque and the Jewish cemetery, we went by bus to Mount Uhud, the site of one of the most pivotal battles of early Islam — a battle that I detail extensively in my novel.
On March 23, 625 AD, the Meccan idolaters launched an invasion of Medina after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the puny Muslim army a year before at the wells of Badr. At Uhud, the Muslim forces were outnumbered 700 to 3,000, but they had faced similar odds a year before at Badr and had utterly defeated the Meccans. And like their miraculous victory at Badr, the Muslims initially trounced the Meccan forces and forced them into retreat. But a group of Muslim archers, positioned by the Prophet on the mountainside to protect its rear passes, became anxious that they would lose out on the war booty left behind by the retreating Meccans. So the archers violated the Prophet’s orders and abandoned their posts. At that moment, the brilliant Meccan general Khalid ibn al-Waleed broke through the undefended pass and attacked the Muslims from behind. The Muslims went from impending victory to shocking defeat, and many of the Prophet’s followers were killed, including his beloved uncle Hamza.
The Meccan victory at Uhud was due primarily to the leadership of Khalid, one of the most remarkable military commanders of all time. The irony of Uhud is that Khalid would later turn against his Meccan masters and embrace Islam. When he later took charge of the Muslim armies, Khalid swept the forces of Islam to stunning victories against the Persian and Byzantine Empires. His military genius led to the conquest of Persia, Iraq, Syria and Jerusalem, within only a few years after the Prophet’s death. Khalid’s victories transformed Islam from a small and irrelevant desert religion into a global civilization. The irony of Uhud is that Khalid, the man who led the forces that killed the Prophet’s uncle, would one day become one of the Prophet’s greatest followers and earn the title “The Sword of God.”
Standing on the barren plain under the shadow of Uhud, I was struck by how influential that small skirmish was to the history of mankind. The mountain was overflowing with crowds who had come to commemorate those who gave their lives on this field 1,383 years ago so that the community that produced my mother and I could survive. The crowds were too great to go out into the section of the battlefield where the martyrs of Uhud were buried. I was disappointed that I could not come close to the grave of Hamza as I had the tombs of the Prophet and his followers in Medina. But I said a prayer for Hamza and the martyrs of Uhud from the distance, knowing that the angels would carry my blessings on the wind.
As looked out at the bleak landscape that had seen so much bloodshed, I remembered the story I recounted in my novel about the barbarism of the Meccan forces. When the Muslims were forced to retreat from Uhud, a Meccan woman named Hind came out among the dead. She was the wife of the Meccan leader Abu Sufyan and is a major character in my novel. Hind was looking for the body of Hamza, the man who had killed her father at the battle of Badr a year before. She had hired an assassin, an Abyssinian slave named Wahsi, to seek out Hamza and kill him at Uhud. Wahsi was an expert with a javelin, and his aim had proved deadly true. When Hind found Hamza’s corpse, she desecrated the body, cutting off his nose and ears and tearing out his liver. In a scene vividly described in my novel, Hind descended into the ultimate barbarism — cannibalism. She proudly ate Hamza’s liver in front of the horrified Muslims.
When Mecca fell to Muslim forces a few years later, one of the most remarkable examples of the Prophet’s compassion was that he pardoned Hind for her horrible crime against his uncle Hamza, who had been like a brother to him all his life. By then, Prophet Muhammad had become the absolute ruler of all of Arabia. He could exact any revenge he wished without fear of consequence. But, when he had the chance to punish her crimes, the Prophet instead chose to forgive Hind.
That, to me, is the sign of true power.
As these thoughts went through my mind, our guide called us back into the bus. It was time to go and make preparations for our journey to Mecca. I looked out at the battlefield, which had seen the best and worst of mankind locked in an epic clash, and I smiled thinking that the men who died here did not do so in vain. They had given their lives hoping that a future generation could one day visit Mecca, the holy city from which they had been expelled.
It was because of their sacrifice that my mother and I finally could.
Copyright © 2008 Kamran Pasha
Kamran Pasha
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/a-jewish-graveyard-and-a-battlefield-676919.html
The term ‘Rosary’ denotes a set of beads which are also termed as the ‘chaplet’. Numerous prayers delivered need counting and the beads in the Rosary help the devout to keep track of the counts to complete the stipulated number of repetitions.
General structure of a Rosary
The General structure of a Rosary which Celtic rosary too follows comprises of a Crucifix, a single bead, a sequence of three beads followed by a single bead in configuration which is prescribed. This formation is then appended to a connector that is attached to five sets of ten beads each, with each set divided through a single bead.
Materials employed to make up a Rosary
Rosaries including Celtic rosary employ a variety of materials for their construction. Natural berries, common wood, glass beads, etc. are some of the popular materials. Precious or semi precious stones are also employed to make rosaries in the more expensive class. The Celtic rosary has offerings in a variety of materials, and you can conveniently select one which suits your needs best.
Modern day Rosaries
The Celtic rosary has a wide range to choose from. The ancient rosaries used a straight thread for stringing the beads together and a loop or a circle was used to hold the bead in place. In the present times, the standard method is chained beads in comparison to the corded format of yesteryears. A bigger bead is also employed now to divide the sets with ten beds from one another. This helps in counting as well as marking divisions during a prayer. A metal cross or a medallion replaces the larger beads in some formats. The Celtic rosary range offers not just different formats but also different prices for every individual to choose the best rosary answering his/her needs.
Number of beads in a Rosary
The number of beads on a Rosary will be determined by the number of recitals prescribed for various types of prayers. A full rosary, often worn by religious leaders consist of fifty “Hail Mary’s” fifteen “Our Fathers” 3 or 4 beads corresponding to introductory holy verses and “Glory be to the Father” prayer. Some other type of rosaries has a 100 or 150 beads which correspond to the number of spasms, or two thirds or a third of them as may be needed. The Rosaries are normally blessed through holy water and Prayer. This is a practice followed by several believers. Customarily, during the process of repeating the prayers, the rosary beads are used to count the number of times the recital is done. Some people choose to do the counting on their fingers and simply hold the rosary in their hand. Celtic rosary has different formats and you can choose the one that is ideal for your purpose.
Rosaries as gifts for your beloved ones
Every form of prayers offer succor to troubled minds and helps mankind lead a life of virtues and piety. Celtic Rosary has a wide range of these wonderful gift propositions.
Scott Wilhelmy
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/know-your-celtic-rosary-678402.html
This is a new series (1-19) of Verse No. in the Bible versus the Quran.
Verse No. 19 in the Old Testament says: And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Verse No. 19 in the New Testament says Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
Verse No. 19 in the Noble Quran says: are not they indeed the mischief-makers? but they perceive not.
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The verse No.19 in the Old Testament is Genesis 1:19
The verse continues talking about the creation of the heavens and the earth, it says: And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Now, in the process of the creation of the heavens and the earth, We are in the fourth day after God has created the sun and the moon in that fourth day.
Hence, we have three days passed with three evenings and three mornings. These first three days with their three evenings and three mornings happened before the creation of the sun and the moon (See articles 9-18 of this series).
How would or could that happened?
—————-
The verse No.19 in the New Testament is Matthew 1:19
The verse continues talking about the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, and Matthew lists Jesus’ ancestors, the verse says: Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly or it says: And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly
Here again, the Bible deals with Saint Mary as if she was an ordinary woman. She was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant and because he was a righteous and a jut man and unwilling to put her to shame, he did not want to expose her to public disgrace. So, he decided to divorce Saint Mary!
On the other hand, the Muslims’ faith about Saint Mary, peace be upon her; is that
She lived and died as a “Pure, Untouched, and an Outstanding Virgin Woman”. although the Bible insists that she was pledged to be married to Joseph, then she married him and then she had babies from him and then those babies are the brothers of God!
—————-
Verse No.19 in the Noble Quran is Chapter 2:12,
Surah AL-BAQARA (THE COW), 2:12
The verse says:
Verses 2:8-20 are talking about the hypocrites
Verse 2:8 (See article 15) states that the hypocrites say: ‘we believe in Allah and the last day, ‘ yet they are not believers.
Verse 2:9 (See article 16) says: They think to beguile Allah and those who believe, and they beguile none save themselves; but they perceive not.
Verse 2:10 (See article 17) says: “There is a sickness in their (the hypocrites) hearts which Allah has increased; for them there is a painful punishment because they lie.”
Verse 2:11 (See article 18) says: when it is said to them: Do not corrupt in the land; they (the hypocrites) say: we are only reformers.
The verse 2:12 continues talking about the hypocrites; it says: are not they indeed the mischief-makers? but they perceive not.
The meaning of verse 2:12
They are indeed the mischief mongers by being a hindrance.
Truly they are the agents of corruption, but they perceive, this, not.
but they do not perceive; They herein refers to both the hypocrites and their followers. The hypocrites do not sense that they are the agents of corruption. their followers do not know that their leaders mislead them.
==========
Verse No. 19 in the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Noble Quran in Four different Translation
Verse No. 19 in the Old Testament
Genesis 1:19
New International Version:
19] And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
New American Standard Version:
19] There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
English Standard Version:
19] And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
King James Version:
19] And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
—————-
Verse No. 19 in the New Testament
Matthew 1:19
New International Version:
19] Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
New American Standard Version:
19] And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
English Standard Version:
19] And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
King James Version:
19] 19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
—————-
Verse No. 19 in the Noble Quran
Chapter 2: 12
Surah AL-BAQARA (THE COW)
QARIB: but it is they who are the evildoers, though they do not sense it.
SHAKIR: now surely they themselves are the mischief makers, but they do not perceive
PICKTHAL: are not they indeed the mischief-makers? but they perceive not.
YUSUFALI: of a surety, they are the ones who make mischief, but they realise (it) not.
==========
It is very premature to ask this question:
Is the Quran quoted from the Bible?
Wait and you will see.
Prof.dr. Ibrahim Khalil
http://www.articlesbase.com/science-articles/in-the-bible-three-days-and-nights-before-the-creation-of-the-sun-669638.html
The Clouds are mentioned in the Bible 153 times and in the Quran nine times, i.e., the Bible cites the Clouds 17 times more than the Quran does.
Furthermore, the total words of the Bible are 788,280 while the total words of the Quran are 77,473. It follows that, the Bible has the likely of more than 10 times than the Quran word-wise to talk about the Clouds. In addition, the Bible has the prospective of more than 17 times than the Quran topic-wise to utter about the Clouds.
The Clouds Bible
The rainbow in the clouds is the sign of the covenant between the Lord and the earth.
Genesis 9:13
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
Genesis 9:14
Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
Genesis 9:16
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
Ezekiel 1:28
Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
The Lord came down in the cloud is in a pillar of clouds, and appearing in the cloud,
Exodus 13:21
By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them
Exodus 16:10
… there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.
Exodus 24:16
and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.
Exodus 34:5
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.
Leviticus 16:2
The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.
Numbers 11:25
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him,
Numbers 12:5
Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward,
Deuteronomy 31:15
Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent.
Isaiah 19:1
[A Prophecy About Egypt] An oracle concerning Egypt: See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
The Lord veil and cover are made of clouds
However, Tahpanhes is also covered with clouds!
Job 22:14
Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
Lamentations 3:44
You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no Prayer can get through.
Ezekiel 30:18
Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes when I break the yoke of Egypt; there her proud strength will come to an end. She will be covered with clouds, and her villages will go into captivity.
The Lord chariot is made of clouds
Psalm 104:3
and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.
How to be like the Lord? If you ascend above the tops of the clouds.
What about the passengers on a flight?
Isaiah 14:14
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
The clouds are the dust of Lord’s feet.
Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
When the Lord snuff you out the sun will be covered with a cloud.
Ezekiel 32:7
When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
There is fire in the cloud of the Lord by night.
Exodus 40:38
So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night,
Numbers 9:15
[The Cloud Above the Tabernacle] On the day the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire.
Numbers 9:16
That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire.
Deuteronomy 5:22
These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
Psalm 105:39
He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.
Isaiah 30:27
See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire.
Isaiah 30:30
The LORD will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
the cloud filled the temple of the LORD.
1 Kings 8:10
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 5:13
Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud,
Ezekiel 10:3
Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.
Ezekiel 10:4
Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the LORD.
The clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
Jeremiah 51:16
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
The following prophecy is about the second coming of the Lord Jesus.
This prophecy never happened.
Mark 14:62
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Luke 9:34
While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
Luke 12:54
[Interpreting the Times] He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does.
Revelation 14:14
[The Harvest of the Earth] I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man” with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
The Clouds in Quran
Many Scientific tips in one verse:
Surah 2:164
Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the Night and the Day; in the sailing of the ships through the Ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts (creatures )of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth, (here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise.
In this verse, many Scientific tips are mentioned as signs for the wise people e.g.:
Allah created the heavens and the earth
Allah made alternation of the Night and the Day
Allah causes the sailing of the ships through the Ocean
Allah sends the rain down from the sky.
Allah gives the life to the dead earth.
Allah generates the creatures and scatters them through the earth
Allah makes changes of the winds
The clouds between sky and the earth are obey Allah’s will.
There is no verse in the entire Bible that gives all of these meanings at a time.
There are scientific and theological correlation between clouds, rain, and the dead land and the revival of dead people.
Surah 7:57
It is He Who sendeth the Winds like heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy: when they have carried the heavy-laden clouds, We drive them to a land that is dead, make rain to descend thereon, and produce every kind of harvest therewith ; Similarly We Shall raise up the dead perchance ye may remember.
Herein we have the sequences of events that are cloud, rain, dead land, and life of the dead land. The One who is capable to do this is in turn capable to raise up the dead man for the Day of Judgment.
The Quran is almost always reminding us with the afterlife.
This deep and important theological issue is not mentioned in the Bible.
The Wind fertilize the clouds.
Surah 30:48
It is Allah Who sends the Winds, and they raise the Clouds: then does He spread them in the sky as He wills, and break them into fragments, until thou seest rain-drops issue from the midst thereof: then when He has made them reach such of His servants as He wills, behold, they do rejoice!
Surah 13:12
It is He Who doth show you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope: it is He Who doth raise up the clouds, heavy with (fertilizing) rain!
Surah 15:22
And We send the winds fertilizing, then send down water from the cloud therewith providing you with water (in abundance) to drink, though ye are not the guardians of its stores.
These verses (30:48, 13:12 and 15:22) talk about the fertilized clouds. It was after the revelation of the Quran by 1300 years that Meteorologists discovered that clouds are negatively and positively charged. It is the role of the wind (as the Quran stated) to fertilize the clouds and leading then to rain.
The Unbelievers thinking is like many layers of darkness over each other.
Surah 24:40
Or (the Unbelievers’ state) is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by (dark) clouds: depths of darkness, one above another: if a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it! For any to whom Allah giveth not light, there is no light!
The Scientific relation between clouds, hail and lightning.
Surah 24:43
Seest thou not that Allah makes the clouds move gently, and then joins them together, then makes them into a heap (stack)? then wilt thou see rain issue forth from their midst. And He sends down from the sky mountain masses (of clouds) wherein hail is: He strikes therewith whom He pleases and He Turns it away from whom He pleases. The vivid flash of His lightning well-nigh blinds the sight (nearly blinds the sight).
Meteorologists explore the details of cloud formation, structure, and function by using sophisticated equipments like planes, satellites, computers, balloons, etc. in order to study wind and its direction, to measure humidity and its variations, and to determine the levels and variations of atmospheric pressure.
The preceding verse, after mentioning clouds and rain, speaks about hail and lightning. Meteorologists have found that these cumulonimbus clouds, that shower hail, reach a height of 25,000 to 30,000 ft (4.7 to 5.7 miles) like mountains, as the Quran said, “…And He sends down hail from mountains (clouds) in the sky…”
This verse says “its lightning” in a reference to the hail? This means that hail is the major factor in producing lightning. Meteorologists today say that a cloud becomes electrified as hail falls through a region in the cloud of super cooled droplets and ice crystals. As liquid droplets collide with a hailstone, they freeze on contact and release latent heat. This keeps the surface of the hailstone warmer than that of the surrounding ice crystals. When the hailstone comes in contact with an ice crystal, an important phenomenon occurs: electrons flow from the colder object toward the warmer object. Thus, the hailstone becomes negatively charged. The same effect occurs when super cooled droplets come in contact with a hailstone and tiny splinters of positively charged ice break off. These lighter positively charged particles are then carried to the upper part of the cloud by updrafts. The hail, left with a negative charge, falls towards the bottom of the cloud, thus the lower part of the cloud becomes negatively charged. These negative charges are then discharged as lightning. It may be concluding from this that hail is the major factor in producing lightning. This information about lightning given by the Quran was only discovered after the revelation of the Quran by 1300 years.
Back to the main issue of my series of articles; this is my question to you smart readers: “Is the Quran quoted from the Bible and which book preceded the sciences”?
Prof.dr. Ibrahim Khalil
http://www.articlesbase.com/nature-articles/what-do-the-bible-and-quran-say-about-the-clouds-123647.html
The NATIVITY OF CHRIST VITA ICON. This Vita (Life) icon explains or teaches the Theology of Christs Nativity. In the icon is a stone from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Along with the icon will come an explanation of the icon. Size: 15 7/8″ x 13 1/8