Zia Bhai,
Thanks for sharing the enlightening piece by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthal. Not only the crown verse, but the verses “None enters Paradise he be a Jew or a Christian.” (2:111), and, “Nay, but whatsoever sunrendereth his purpose to God, while doing good to men, surely his reward is with his Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them, neither shall they suffer grief.” (2:112) is the essence of Islam.
The evangelical Christians claim that only through Jesus one would go to God is no different than the claim of evangelical like Muslims, who believe they have the secrets to Jannah and others don’t.
Neither Jesus, nor Muhammad wanted humanity to follow them in their external manifestations, they wanted us to become forgiving, loving and a Rahmat to fellow beings… when you do that blessings pour on you, you will be free from malice, ill-will, hate, prejudice and that is pure bliss. Indeed, that is the bottom line of Islam, Christianity and all other religions. Ritual are critical and are the guiding posts, but that is not what makes one a Christian or a Muslim, they are merely supplements and the verse 2:112 stands on it.
Thanks for sharing and I hope, as Muslims we live the example of Prophet Muhammad and all other prophets… to respect others, to pray for the well being rather than ill-will…Lets pray to be good Muslims, non-judgmental Muslims submit to Allah, rather than compete with him. Ameen!
Mike Ghouse
Dear Mike
Asslam o Alaikum wa Rehmatullah
I appreciate your sentiments of religious tolerance very much. The first British Muslim, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthal, expressed something very similar and he linked his ideas to the Crown verse and the subsequent verse of the Holy Quran beautifully. I have colored the translation of these verses in his article into red. Here I link his article with the said commentary of the Crown verse; it is towards the end of the article:
Best Regards!
Zia H Shah MD
Chief Editor: Alislam-eGazette
Chair of Religion and Science for the Muslim Sunrise
Chief Editor: The Muslim Times (An International News Blog)
http://www.themuslimtimes.org/
http://www.alislam.org/egazette/
On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 1:52 PM, <MikeGhouse@aol.com> wrote:
AANasrullah Bhai,I guess you missed reading my note from earlier… Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) listened to a variety of faiths, his faith did not change. As a follower, I am engaged with Atheists to Zoroastrians and every one in between, my faith in Islam has gotten stronger and stronger… not by denigrating or devaluing others faiths, but by appreciating them, that they also, like me, praise the God.Ahamdiyya Muslim’s pledge is the same La Ilaha Illalah Muhamaddur Rasool Allah as yours and mine. Irfan and I have shared more details… within each strand of Islam, we differ, Shia, Sunni, Alhle— different things, Wahhabi, Ismaili and Bohra, we have to allow the difference of Ahamdiyya, we are all in this together with variation. Aren’t we?Shame on those Muslims who push God from his chair and take over judgment from him. I am answerable to God for my Aamals, just as you. No one is going to bear others burden. Is it wrong?
Declaring other Muslims Kafir is shirk, you are not God. You are committing a major shirk by declaring them wrong, and they are wrong as well to call other Muslims as non-Muslims. Who the hell are you or me to declare other Muslims not Muslims? No ulema, no scholar, no Imam has that right but Allah, do you agree with it?When you can kiss ass with Jews, Christians and others, at least be nice to Ahamdiyya, it is the human thing and the right thing to do. Let them believe whatever they want to believe, what is it to you or I? What do you lose? Are you responsible for their belief? Your idea of Ahmadies going to hell is as legitimate as the idea of Christians believing (by the way they are a larger majority) that you and I go to hell if we don’t follow Jesus? Does that make them right? Does it make you right?I hope you understand the essence of Islam and Quraan, it is not a political entity, it is a deen that bring peace to mankind, it is universal, aalameen, all inclusive, all embracing religion.Discussion is different than being judgmental, please become a discussant sans judgement…Jazak Allah KhairMike Ghouse(the previous notes is pasted below)
Dear Mike,
Please add one more line and ask people to stop lying about finality of Prophet Mohmmad ( PBUH). You are the moderator and every thing discuss on this forum is your responsibility and you will be answerable at the day of judgment that you did not stop people who are lying about the finality of prophet ( PBUH). This is a very serious issue. if you are not clear about finality of Prophet Mohammad ( PBUH) then let us know.
Nasrullah khan
To: worldmuslimcongress@yahoogroups.com; DallasPaksitanis@yahoogroups.com; PaksitaniAmericans@yahoogroups.com
From: MIKEGHOUSE@aol.com
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:37:35 -0500
Subject: Dallas Pakistanis :: Re- Muslims together – Ahamdiyya Muslims
RASHID, AURANGZEB AND MOHAMMADWhat you do with your notes, and who you email is your business, but as a moderator of World Muslim Congress and Dallas Pakistanis, I have the responsibility to keep the discussion intact and not let it degenerate into a gossip, or accusatory exchanges. I have an obligation to keep this forum worth being members of.Rashid Jahangiri – Please note that your comments will not be posted on the groups, as they are not discussions. If you write in civil terms, it will be posted. Please consider reciting ÇåÏöäóÜÜÜÜÇ ÇáÕøöÑóÇØó ÇáãõÓÊóÞöíãó (1:6) before you write.Aurangzeb Khan – most of your postings get posted as long as you remain in the realm of discussion, when you resort to an un-civil language, your item will not be posted. Please consider reciting ÇåÏöäóÜÜÜÜÇ ÇáÕøöÑóÇØó ÇáãõÓÊóÞöíãó (1:6) before you writeMohammad Mahmood – I pray for you to have a strong emaan. Do you know, following the example of the prophet I have had discussions with every religious scholar, and every time, my faith deepens knowing that every one is seeking the truth; and that is to find peace within and peace with others. I hope you have a strong enough faith to hear all points of view… if you are afraid to know about Ahmadiyya, you should not be a part of it. Please consider reciting ÇåÏöäóÜÜÜÜÇ ÇáÕøöÑóÇØó ÇáãõÓÊóÞöíãó (1:6) before you write.As a Muslim, I have an obligation to speak up against injustice towards fellow beings, including Ahmadiyya, Shia, Sunni, Bohra, Ismaili and others. Justice is the core value of Islam, where there is justice, there is peace aka Islam. I hope you stand up for every one as well.Some one wrote earlier, what you believe, most of it is by default. There are 2 Billion Christians and a billion Hindus – they are so because they were born in their faith and you are a Muslim because your born in your family. A good percentage convert as well, and most of it is their choice. If you were born in an Ahmadiyya family, you would have been one… denigrating them is not what Islam teaches. May God help you remove the bias, ill-will and prejudice you have against other human beings.Jazak Allah KhairThank you.– – – – –Thanks for the note. As a Muslim, I’m involved in interfaith dialogue with people of all religions; wasn’t that a tradition of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)?
Prophet had conversations with Christians, Jews and his own Pagan family members, in his own Mosque despite the fact that they had rejected everything prophet believed. Did he run off? Was he worried about other people’s judgment? He even let them pray in his Mosque, their own prayers that he did not agree with, didn’t he?
Didn’t prophet teach us to speak with others in respectable ways? If he did not, I am okay with your approach towards Ahamdiyya.
I continue to speak and write in all places of worship and humbly share, that Alhamdu Lillah, today there are more Atheists, Baha’i, Buddhist, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Sikhs, Wicca, Native Americans and Zoroastrians who are less biased towards Muslims as they learn with me.
In the tradition of Prophet Muhammad, the peace maker, I am pleased to follow in his footstep in mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill. If I am dealing with every religious group, it would be wrong for me not to engage with Ahmadiyya Muslims. As a Muslim, I am conditioned to believe that Imam Mahdi will come someday, where as the Ahmadiyya are conditioned to believe that that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed is the promised Messiah. I am sure you are conditioned a certain way as well. We don’t have to be agreeing to be good to fellow Muslims. Other than this difference, I do not see much to fight over.
Many a Muslims kiss ass with Jews and Christians, but have a deep hatred for fellow Muslims; the Ahmadiyya Muslims.
If I were to kiss ass of conservative Muslims, I would have had a larger following, however, I am content with the majority, indeed an overwhelming majority of Muslims who are moderate and are sane people. They want to get along with everyone, don’t want to be judgmental about others, and don’t reduce Allah and Muhammad, from Rabbul and Rahmatul Aalameen to Muslimeen. You are welcome to do it, I have no problems with it. I believe in free will (Q2:256).
God is not yours or my property, and we do not own Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or Islam either – they are for the Aalameen, just like the air and water, they belong to all of us, every one of us. Neither you nor I can posses them and reduce them to ours.
I have an open mind to hear different points of view and there are many like me. If you are not secure enough in your faith, please don’t read, just hit the delete button.
On Sunday, I am speaking at the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Allen at Noon about Prophet Muhammad, the ultimate peace maker. Any one is welcome to hear. If you organize a group, I will be happy to speak at your place. A part of it is at: http://www.indianmuslimobserver.com/2012/02/prophet-muhammad-pbuh-peace-maker.htmlJazak Allah Khair
Mike Ghouse
Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. A writer, thinker and a speaker and is available to speak on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace, cohesive societies and a variety of topics. Check out 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed atwww.MikeGhouse.net. Current articles atwww.TheGhousediary.com