Love thy Neighbor is a Christian Value, Hate and Stereotyping aren’t

Dear family and friends,

Wishing you a very happy, peaceful, healthy and prosperous NEW YEAR! 

Raziya

The Muslim Times | Alislam |  Subscribe Love thy Neighbor is a Christian Value, Hate and Stereotyping aren't Epigraph: "And thou shalt assuredly find those who say, 'We are Christians,' to be the nearest of them in love to the believers. That is because amongst them are savants and monks and because they are not proud." (Al Quran 5:83) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read the article in Islam for the West Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD As the year of 2012 draws to an end we reflect back, a video plays in the eye of our mind,  we can see wars, terrorism, bombing in Mosques by the Muslims, shooting in Sikh temple by a Christian gunman, school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, USA by a gunman, whose religion we are not told, a young woman gang raped to her death in a bus in Delhi, India and pushing of a Hindu in front of a moving train, by a hateful Christian woman in New York, for 9/11, in a strange feat of guilt by association and stereotyping. In the 21st century we can do better than this.  Let each of us on the last day of the year go back to our respective scriptures and read the message of love, compassion and universal brotherhood and sisterhood, and how we can give up tribal frame of mind.  It is in every scripture if only we try a little harder to find it.  I promise! I get to read the Holy Quran every day in one form or the other.  Today my special focus is the Holy Bible: One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these." "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.  (Mark 12:28-34) In presence of these clear teachings by Jesus Christ, no believing Christian can condone hate speech, hate crimes or aerial bombings against his or her neighbors.  Even those who are agnostic and atheist, in the West, often consider Jesus to be a good teacher of moral values, so, in a way this biblical message,  in the Gospel of Mark, has a universal appeal.   Hillel, a Jewish scholar, was a teacher and a founder of a school (Beit Hillel) in the first century B.C.E.  Hillel was born in Babylonia. At age forty, he went to live in Jerusalem. There he became the spiritual leader (Nasi) of the Jews from about 30 B.C.E to 10 C.E.  When asked by a non-Jew to relate all the Torah had to say while standing on one foot, Hillel replied, "Do not unto your neighbor what you would not have him do until you; this is the whole Law; the rest is commentary."   No one likes hate speech against him or her, especially if it begins to take hold and creates possibility of discrimination, hatred, mayhem and murder.  No wonder there are laws against hate speech, against antisemitism and even against holocaust denial.  Most Muslims, living in the West are peace loving and have moderate views towards their fellow citizens and are worried about the recent anti-Islam film and negative ads in New York subways and hate speech against them, which is finding some roots in the Western countries, in one form or the other. How could the Christians hate the Muslims and be brotherly towards the Buddhists, the Hindus, the Jews and atheists, while the Muslims honor Jesus to be an honorable prophet, consider belief in him as part of their essential beliefs, take his mother the chaste Mary as a role model, as described in the Holy Quran and notice all the time that a chapter is named after Mother Mary in the Quran and realize that his name appears more often in the Holy Quran than the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad himself, and all the other religions regard Jesus as a liar, a non-entity or have no opinion about him?  Does it make sense?  It is self evident that those who hate monger against the Muslims are not well wishers of Islam or the 1.5 billion Muslims, but, are they well wishers of the Christians, leading them into a world of contradictions and chaos? Your friends and family can contact you through email within a few seconds from the remotest corners of our global village.  If a disaster strikes any part of Africa, Australia or Galapagos, we hear about it instantaneously.  So, in the context of our global village each and every homo-sapiens is a neighbor!  I believe, that is exactly what Jesus would say if he were to come back! Read further in Islam for the West: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Muslim Times' Editorial team: If you like what you see, please forward it to friends and family.  To know more about us: click here. 1-800-WHY-ISLAM (English, Spanish and Bengali)

The Lost Gospels – BBC Documentary

The Muslim Times | Alislam |  Subscribe                             The Lost Gospels – BBC Documentary Epigraph: "And remember when Jesus, son of Mary, said, 'O children of Israel, surely I am Allah's Messenger unto you, fulfilling that which is before me of the Torah, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger who will come after me. His name will be Ahmad.' And when he came to them with clear proofs, they said, 'This is clear enchantment.'" (Al Quran 61:7) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dead Sea Scrolls - Click here to watch documentary The New Testament consists of 27 books, 13 of which are letters by St. Paul. The Holy Quran, recognizes in principle, the revelations given to Jesus, may peace be on him, but, makes no mention of St. Paul or his letters. The Letters of St. Paul according to the Holy Quran, do not belong in Scriptures, as these are not endorsed at all by revelations to the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, may peace be on him. The modern university based scholarship about the New Testament is confirming the Quranic paradigm, in some respect.  I am going to borrow some details from Wikipedia. The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul, as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle. Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents. They provide an insight into the beliefs and controversies of early Christianity and, as part of the canon of the New Testament, they have also been, and continue to be, foundational to Christian theology and Christian ethics. The Epistle to the Hebrews was also anciently attributed to Paul, but does not bear his name. Several of the letters are thought by most modern scholars to be pseudepigraphic, that is, not actually written by Paul of Tarsus even if attributed to him within the letters themselves, or, arguably, even forgeries intended to justify certain later beliefs. Details of the arguments regarding this issue are addressed more specifically in the articles about each epistle. These are the 7 letters (with consensus dates)[3] considered genuine by most scholars (see main article Authorship of the Pauline epistles: section The undisputed epistles): First Thessalonians (ca. 51 AD) Philippians (ca. 52-54 AD) Philemon (ca. 52-54 AD) First Corinthians (ca. 53-54 AD) Galatians (ca. 55 AD) Second Corinthians (ca. 55-56 AD) Romans (ca. 55-58 AD) The letters thought to be pseudepigraphic by the majority of modern scholars include:[4] Pastoral epistles First Timothy Second Timothy Titus The letters on which modern scholars are about evenly divided are:[4] Ephesians Colossians Second Thessalonians An anonymous text that nearly all modern scholars agree was probably not written by Paulis: Hebrews Additional readings New Testament Scholars Establishing Quranic Vision of the Bible The Gospel of Thomas Where is the Injil: is it the Q document or 'Q?'  Watch the documentary in the Muslim Times: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Muslim Times' Editorial team: If you like what you see, please forward it to friends and family.  To know more about us: click here. 1-800-WHY-ISLAM (English, Spanish and Bengali)

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'One learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshipers': Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

Some lessons in English !!!

Very enjoyable.... and hope you all have a fantastic NEW YEAR and may all your troubles for the coming year be as short-lived as your New Year Resolutions

Raziya

Who comes up with this - stressed and desserts seriously ?  Some good lessons in English !!! .

Return of Jesus Christ From Celestial Abode - Jesus Versus Finality (Photos) - Calgary Ahmadiyya Muslim | Examiner.com

Return of Jesus Christ From Celestial Abode - Jesus Versus Finality (Photos) - Calgary Ahmadiyya Muslim | Examiner.com:

'via Blog this'

An excellent article regarding this belief of the mainstream Muslims. 

Though it's quite long, it's highly readable and quite amusing.

Concentrating Solar Power With Thermal Energy Storage Is Economically Useful For Utility Company Profits, Study Finds | The Muslim Times

http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2012/12/science-and-technology/alternative-energy/concentrating-solar-power-with-thermal-energy-storage-is-economically-useful-for-utility-company-profits-study-finds

The link above should be read and applied by our KP(LC), asap. I cannot understand WHY they are still using environment unfriendly sources of power when we have enough sun and wind as renewable sources.

Because, of the use of fossil fuels, our power bills are almost double of what we actually use. Check your bills and you'll see what I mean. It's a really pathetic state of affairs especially these days of hard times.

Also, if we're going to achieve our goals of 'vision 2030', our power company is what is going to let us down...

How to be Free from Addiction and Sin?

The Muslim Times | Alislam |  Subscribe How to be Free from Addiction and Sin? Epigraph: "Recite that which has been revealed to thee (Oh Muhammad) of the Book, and observe Prayer. Surely, Prayer restrains one from indecency and manifest evil, and remembrance of Allah indeed is the greatest virtue (and protection against sin). And Allah knows what you do." (Al Quran 29:46)  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Destroyed City: Ruins of the ancient Roman city Bet Shean, Israel Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD Prologue There are only 100 Senators in the US Senate , two from each state and they are the elite of the society. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for senators: 1) they must be at least 30 years old, 2) they must have been citizens of the United States for at least the past nine years, and 3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election. The age and citizenship qualifications for senators are more stringent than those for representatives. In Federalist No. 62, James Madison justified this arrangement by arguing that the "senatorial trust" called for a "greater extent of information and stability of character." U.S. Sen. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, was arrested early Sunday morning in Alexandria, Virginia, and charged with driving under the influence, according to the town's police department. Jody Donaldson, an Alexandria police spokesman, said Crapo was arrested by an officer December 24th, after the officer noticed Crapo's vehicle running a red light, CNN reported. "Sen. Crapo was identified as the driver and arrested after failing several field sobriety tests," Donaldson said in a statement. "He was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Alexandria Adult Detention Center where he was released on a $1,000 unsecured bond." Crapo released a statement through his office Sunday, saying: "I am deeply sorry for the actions that resulted in this circumstance. I made a mistake for which I apologize to my family, my Idaho constituents and any others who have put their trust in me. CNN reported that the Senator's blood alcohol level was significantly above the legal limit at the time of his arrest. This incident brings to focus, once again the inability of Western philosophy and Christianity to help people against alcohol addiction.  A recent poll suggested that in almost 17 million drivers drive under the influence of alcohol in USA, annually.  To read more about alcoholism: Alcohol: moderate use a gateway to alcoholism. The recipe to overcome addiction and sin is not some supernatural phenomenon, which cannot be be observed or demonstrated. The panacea is genuine repentance with honest intention not to repeat the mistake or the sin. Firstly, I will introduce two small booklets by the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. Secondly, I will show the effectiveness of the recipe by borrowing a metaphor from Alcohol Anonymous. In this article and the booklets attached, the reader will find an adequate presentation of the Islamic view of how to be free from sin and refutation of the Christian dogma about atonement. The Messiah writes that man is by his very nature averse to things he believes to be harmful, and if he commits sin it is only because he does not truly believe in the existence of God and in the Day of Reckoning. Had he possessed the same certainty about the accountability of sin, as he does, for instance, about the harmfulness of a poison or a snake, he would never even think of transgressing Divine commandments. The Messiah also argues that a true religion must be judged by its ability to lead its followers to certainty about the existence of God. The holy author makes a detailed comparison between Islam and other major religions, and concludes that Islam alone can lead man to perfect awareness and, consequently, to freedom from sin. Read further in the Muslim Times: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Muslim Times' Editorial team: If you like what you see, please forward it to friends and family.  To know more about us: click here. 1-800-WHY-ISLAM (English, Spanish and Bengali)