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"Islam brings hope and comfort to more than a billion people worldwide."
"Its teachings are good and peaceful." "We see in Islam a religion that traces its origins back to God's call on Abraham." "Islam is a vibrant faith.... We respect the faith. We honor its traditions." "This year,Eid (feast at end of Ramadan) is celebrated at the same time as Hanukkah and Advent. So it's a good time for people of these great faiths, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, to remember how much we have in common." "According to Muslim teachings, God first revealed His word in the Holy Qur'an to the prophet, Muhammad, during the month of Ramadan. That word has guided billions of believers across the centuries." "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace." Were these words spoken by some advocate for Islam, some misguided apologist who is attempting to delude susceptible people with deceptive arguments? Or were they spoken by the President of the United States of America? Sadly, it is the latter, a man who claims to know and worship the God of the Bible, a God who is emphatically not Allah. No, Mr. President, we who believe in the true God do not respect or honor false gods, nor the traditions associated with them. We do not agree that the Qur'an is God's word, or that it provides any guidance whatsoever. We do not see any validity in Muslims tracing their origins back to God's call on Abraham. We do not say that its teachings are good and peaceful, and we abhor the suggestion that Islam provides hope and comfort. And you, Mr. President, are acting as a false witness about God by saying these things. ""You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me." (Isaiah 43:10 NIV) "A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness speaks deceitfully." (Proverbs 12:17) "A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is treacherous." (Proverbs 14:25) Jesus warned us, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."(Matthew 12:36-37 NIV) As Christians, it is not acceptable to use untruthful words for the sake of political gain, especially when those words promote devotion to a false god who destroys lives. Islam does not provide hope. What Islam does provide is a cruel counterfeit of any genuine relationship with God. What it does provide is a false hope that beguiles many to devote their lives to a fraudulent god of desperate fatalism and dark hatred. President Bush has joined that chorus of the theologically correct who have asserted that Islam is a peaceful religion, that only those terrorists on the fringes distort Islam to be a religion of violence. In response to that, who is better to cite than the leaders of Islam themselves, the shaykhs who speak as the authoritative spokespersons of the religion? Here are some quotations from those leaders of Islam, as cited by the Independent Media Review Analysis, from sermons that came from a variety of mosques on a single day, Friday January 24, 2003. Judge for yourself how "good and peaceful" are the teachings coming from this broad cross-section of the leaders of Islam.
Shaykh Usamah Khayyat from the "holy" mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia: "O Allah, strengthen Islam and Muslims; protect Islam; destroy the enemies of Islam, the tyrants, and the corrupt; close the ranks of Muslims, and give wisdom to their leaders. O Allah, help the mujahidin (warriors) promote your religion and your word everywhere. O Allah, give them victory in Palestine. O Allah, destroy the Zionist Jews and their Zionist supporters."
Shaykh Ali al-Hudhayfi from the "holy" mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia:
Shaykh Abd-al-Razzaq al-Ruqayhi from the Grand Mosque in Sanaa, Yemen:
Shaykh Ibrahim al-Mudayris from the Khalil al-Wazir mosque in Gaza:
Shaykh Ikrimah Sabri from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Israel:
Shaykh Ziyad-al-Din al-Ayyubi from the Anas Bin-Malik mosque in Damascus, Syria:
Saykh Abd-al-Latif Humaym from the Umm al-Ma'arik [Mother of Battles] mosque in Baghdad, Iraq:
A shaykh from the Umar Bin-al-Khattab mosque in Doha, Qatar:
These are the voices of the religion of peace that provides guidance to millions. We can hear what kind of guidance they are providing. It has nothing to do with God, and everything to do with hatred. The Jews in Israel and throughout the world, and anyone who supports them, are singled out for the most vehement expressions of hatred. Yet the true God who did indeed choose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not deaf to these threats. Neither is He unable to defend Israel. This is the God whom you claim to follow, Mr. President. Stop dishonoring Him by telling those who worship the false god Allah what they want to hear for reasons of political expediency.
Quotes cited originated from these websites:
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