BUSTING MYTHS ABOUT QURAN VERSES
Sunday, Dec 6, 2020 – 12:00 to 1:30 PM – EST
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87307444956?pwd=NzBxdWhWdFhKcFFESE1QYWxmTWxIZz09
Meeting ID 873 0744 4956 | Passcode 187411
Speakers: Dr. Safi Kaskas & Dr. Mike Ghouse
Difficult verses and speaker Bio’s are appended below
I had problems with several verses of the Quran, but it did not matter to me as I lived my life as a pluralist Atheist from 1969-1999. During the ’90s, I entered public life and witnessed severe attacks on the Quran on TV and Radio shows, and I had no problems with the attacks because I saw the problems were the same as they did. The change came when I heard the items that were outright false.
I tried to get on the Tv and Radio shows to correct them, they would not take my calls. David Gold was one of the big talk show hosts then, and he was my tenant; without going into details, he said to me during the lease renewal at his home, “Mike, if I take your call, you will bust my ratings with your facts, and that will affect my income, get this, no tv or radio host will take your call.” That was the turning point for me.
The Bhagavad Gita paved the way for me, it said, finding the truth was my own responsibility. As a seeker of the truth, I emptied everything that was dished out to me about Islam, the Quran, Hadith, and the Prophet. Let me jump the story to a conclusion – I found out that Christian Kings deliberately mistranslated about 30 verses in 1143AD. In 1924, Muslims misinterpreted some verses, both for bloody political reasons to gain support and power. That’s what politicians do, place a wedge between people and pit one against the other.
The truth: Quran is not for Muslims, as the Bhagavad Gita, Bible, or other holy books. Most certainly, the Quran is a book of guidance to build cohesive societies; it is the generic universal book to create just and peaceful societies.
Now coming to the verses, there are over a dozen justice verses that sound bad, if you pluck one verse without reading the three verses before and after. How many times have you found it disgusting that someone took a few words out of your mouth and twisted it?
This show will go straight into the verses, a dozen of them, we will do it as a workshop; I need ten volunteers who have problems OR questions with the Quran and are ready to read the Quran directly with me on the show. I prefer 2 Muslims and eight non-Muslims, including an Atheist or Agnostic.
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Dr. Safi Kaskas
Email: Safi@kaskas.com
Phone: +966 505345874
Website: www.kaskas.com
Safi Kaskas is an administrator in the managerial sciences with over 40 years of broad-based experience in strategic planning, leadership, and business ethics with an emphasis on strategic management in the corporate and academic worlds.
He is a co-founder of East West University, Chicago, IL; and was elected as President of its Board of Directors from 1979 – 2005. He continues to serve on its board as an ex officio.
He is the Founder and President of Strategic Edge Management Consultants, Mr. Kaskas helped many mid-level and large corporations successfully develop their business portfolios. His consultant firm focused on strategic development within the health care industry and founded the American Strategic Healthcare Management Company (ASHM) which is active in the healthcare field in Jeddah, Saudi Arabic.
In addition to his focus on strategic management science, Mr. Kaskas has studied Abrahamic religions and lectured throughout the US and the Middle East on subjects related to Islam, interfaith and reconciliation between Evangelicals and American Muslims.
He is Senior Researcher in Islam and Multifaith Reconciliation with George Mason University, Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution.
Mr. Kaskas translated and published the Qur’an into simple easy to understand English in January 2015 and published The Qur’an with references to the Bible in January2016. This book has 3000 references to the Old and the New Testaments.
The Italian translation to The Qur’an with references to the Bible was completed in April 2016 and was presented to his holiness Pope Francis 1 during the same month.
He just completed compiling the first Hadith book/collection of Prophet Muhammad’s sayings on “The Kindest of Manners”. The book will be published during this year.
Working on the translation of Jules La Beaume (1806-1876) Le Koran Analysé” translated to Arabic by Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī (1882-1968) (Edition : Le Caire , 1955) تفصيل آيات القرآن الحكيم
Mr. Kaskas is a member of the board of the Vatican Foundation International Center Family of Nazareth.
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Dr. Mike Ghouse
Mike is a speaker, thinker, author, community consultant, pluralist, activist, newsmaker, and an interfaith wedding officiant. Mike is deeply committed to Free speech, Human Rights, and Pluralism in Religion, Politics, Societies, and the workplace.
He is the founder and president of the Center for Pluralism and a fellow at the World Muslim Congress, a Think Tank and author of the book American Muslim Agenda, building a cohesive America. He has dedicated his life to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions to the media and the policymakers on issues of the day.
Mike has conducted workshops on the Quran verses at the Parliament of Worlds Religions in Melbourne, Australia, Dallas, Texas, and other places. He has written extensively on the verses that are propagated as troublesome. Everything about him is at www.TheGhousediary.com.
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RESPONSES TO SOME OF THE MANY MALIGNED VERSES
Wife Beating – https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/world/americas/25iht-koran.4.5017346.html
13 Doctrines of Radical Islam – http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2015/03/13-doctrines-of-radical-islam-isis.html
Geert Wilders refuted – 14 mistranslated verses – http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/01/muslim-response-to-wilders.html
Apology to Jews – http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/01/unlike-jews-or-christians-17.html
Quran on Apostasy – http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2009/08/quraan-on-apostasy.html
Civil Dialogue http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html
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Justice Verses that require clarifications.
we will take the questions and respond as well.
- Give tidings (O Muhammad) of a painful doom to those who disbelieve. 9:3
- Slay the idolaters wherever you find them. 9:5
- Don’t let idolaters tend the sanctuaries. Their works are in vain and they will be burned in the Fire. 9:17
- Give tiding of a painful doom to Christians and Jews. 9:34
- If you refuse to fight, Allah will afflict you with a painful doom. 9:39
- Disbelievers go to hell. 9:49
- Those who vex the Prophet, for them there is a painful doom. 9:60
- Those who oppose Allah and His messenger will burn in the fire of hell. 9:63
- Allah promises hypocrites and disbelievers the fire of hell. Allah curses them. They will have a lasting torment. 9:68
- Fight the disbelievers and hypocrites. Be harsh with them. 9:73
- Allah will afflict disbelievers with a painful doom in this world and the Hereafter 9:74
- For disbelievers, there will be a painful doom. 9:90
- Don’t pray for idolaters (not even for your family) after it is clear they are people of hell-fire. 9:113
- Fight disbelievers who are near you, and let them see the harshness in you. 9:123
- Qur’an 2:65 mentions that Jews who broke the Sabbath were turned into Apes.
- 3:151 We will put terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads; strike off their tongue
- Believers take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. (5:51)
- The unbelievers are your inveterate enemy. (4:101)
- Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve. (8.55)
- The unbelievers among the people of the book and the pagans shall burn forever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures. (98.6)”
- Beat your wife if she does not listen to you 4:34
- If anyone leaves Islam, kill him (4:89)