"Fanaticism, violence, death and life"

Submitted by Lactantius Jr. (United Kingdom), Jul 3, 2008 at 13:16

To sTs

"Martyrdom" in Islam is mainly achieved in an economic bargain struck with Allah, and this is discussed in detail in the article "Islamic Martyrdom: What a Bargain! The Economy of Death in the Qur'an"

http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/death_economy.htm

Where does this evil doctrine of "martyrdom" come from? It comes from the Qur'an itself. Violence being foundational to Islam, and remaining deeply embedded in it.

Surahs 61:10-12, 4:74, and 9:111 guarantee Islamic shahids ("martyrs") al janna in an economic bargain. Indeed, these three references explicitly use words that connote buying and selling and signing a contract of sale, and the currency behind the deals is death by "martyrdom."

Here is how Egyptian born, al-Azhar educated, Hafiz Qur'an, Professor of Islamics at the University of London, M.A.S.Abdel-Haleem renders the above three ayat.

"You who believe, shall I show you a bargain (literally ‘a trade') that will save you from painful torment? Have faith in God and His Messenger and struggle for His cause with your possessions and your persons – that is better for you, if only you knew – and He will forgive your sins, admit you into Gardens graced with flowing streams, into pleasant dwellings in the Gardens of Eternity. That is the supreme triumph."

Surah 61:10-12

"Let those of you who are willing to trade the life of this world for the life to come, fight in God's way. To anyone who fights in God's way, whether killed or victorious, We shall give a great reward."

Surah 47:4

"God has purchased the persons and possessions of the believers in return for the Garden – they fight in God's way: they kill and are killed – this is a true promise given by Him in the Torah, the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who could be more faithful to his promise than God? So be happy with the bargain you have made: that is the supreme triumph."

Surah 9:111

Neither the Torah nor the Gospel say anything about being rewarded with "paradise" for killing and being killed in God's service, but the Qur'an clearly describes Allah's "reward" for killing and being killed in his "service," and here is how the following shahid's and would-be shahid's demonstrated their understanding of Allah's "bargain."

In 2001, Saajid Badat, the wannabe passenger jetliner bomber, until he got cold feet and ‘chickened-out,' wrote to his family that "I have a sincere desire to sell my soul to Allah in return for paradise."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/4305161.stm

In 2005, Ramzi Mohammed, one of the Islamic terrorists who bombed London's transport system on 7^th.July 2005, killing 56 people and injuring more than 700 , left a note saying, "First of all I beg Allah to accept this action from me, and he to Allah to whom belongs the power and majesty, makes it a sincere one, and that he admits me to the highest station in paradise for verily, he grants martyrdom to whom ever he wills. Secondly my family don't cry for but instead rejoice in happiness and love what I have done for the sake of Allah for he loves those who fight in his sake."

http://tinyurl.com/3t92e9

In 2006, a schoolboy who left his parents a farewell letter telling them that he was going to fight as a soldier of Islam and would meet them again in the "garden of paradise" was jailed yesterday for two years.

Mohammed Irfan Raja ran away from his home in Ilford, East London, hoping to join four Bradford University students, determined to train as terrorists in Pakistan, to fight British soldiers and die as "martyrs."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2147956.ece

In 2006, Mohammed Taheri-azar, after driving a 4-wheel jeep into a group of people at the University of North Carolina, wrote a letter to local WTVD-TV station saying Allah approves of such attacks. "Allah gives permission in the Quran for the followers of Allah to attack those who have waged war against them, with the expectation of eternal paradise in case of martyrdom (sic) and/or living one's life in obedience of all of Allah's commandments found throughout the Quran's 114 chapters,"

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49276

In 2006, Mazen Touma, one of nine men in Australia's largest trial for terrorism, told his mother he was about to enter "paradise." Touma had allegedly told a friend his mother disapproved of his plan to die in a jihad. He said jihad was an obligation for every Muslim and that he did not need her permission, saying his mother should be patient, because tomorrow her children would be in "paradise," speaking of Allah giving him "a paradise for martyrdom."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21333282-1702,00.html

In 2007, Abdul Samad killed himself along with two brothers, two sisters and his mother, also wounding his father, when his bomb exploded as his mother tried to get him to remove it.

Samad had been trained in a Pakistani madrassa, and was tasked to carry out an attack on security forces in Afghanistan. He gave his family 250,000 afghani (5,000 dollars), telling them, "This is money for my funeral after my ‘martyrdom.'" (sic) "He said, 'I am going to carry out jihad against the foreigners and go to paradise,'"

http://tinyurl.com/6566ya

http://tinyurl.com/4c5hry

In 2007, Kafeel Ahmed the Glasgow airport bomber, emailed his relatives, saying he wanted to be a "martyr," telling his brother Sabeel, "I am sorry for putting you in this situation but it's about time that we give up our lives and our families for the sake of Islam to please Allah. My sincere request is that you pray to Allah for acceptance of my deeds."

http://tinyurl.com/4nb2qw

And although others of a similar nature could be documented, I close the "martyrdom" accounts produced by believing Qur'anic teaching of Allah's "bargain," by referring to Ghazi Al-Qusaibi, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Great Britain, who in 2002 said, "I do not fear death--on the contrary, I long to die as a martyr, although I am at an age that does not allow me to carry out a martyrdom operation. My weight does not permit this. But I still hope to die as a martyr..."

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2002/06/

I conclude by commenting on your denial of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the reason for His coming into the world, and the reason for His death.

When announcing Mary's pregnancy to Joseph, the Bible says that "While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.' "

Matthew 1:21-23

and when John the Baptiser saw the Lord Jesus Christ walking by the River Jordan, this is how the Bible says he responded,

"John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! '"

John 1:29

and to ink-it-in, the Bible says, "This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'—and I am the worst of them all."

1 Timothy 1:15

That's why the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world sTs, to give us right-standing with God, because sin is deadly serious, and separates us from the infinitely Holy God, and in diagnosing our sinfulness, and the Lord Jesus Christ's cure for it, the Bible says,

"If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

1 John1:8-9

You're right sTs, I am a sinner, because of what I am, and because of what I do, but I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ's remedy for my sin, and am confident that at the last, I can confidently stand before Him, a forgiven sinner, and inherit the eternal life that only He can give me, by taking Him and the Bible at their words,

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 6:23

The choice is yours sTs, choose your address, what are you going to choose, life or death? Are you going to be like Muhammad the spotted sinner, who didn't know what Allah would do with him, or are you going to enter into life in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless, sinless One, Who "came into the world to save sinners."

In denying the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, you accept the Qur'an, which denies that He was even crucified, accepting Allah's alleged substitution of Him by a "lookalike." Were this true, it would of course automatically deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the thing on which Christianity absolutely stakes it's claim to validity, the Bible recording the Apostle Paul saying,

"And if Christ wasn't raised from the dead, my preaching's useless, and so is your trust in God."

1 Corinthians 15:14

Were it true that Allah did indeed put a "lookalike" on the Cross, that would make Allah a deceiver supreme, with deception lying at the heart of Islam.

The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ is very well-attested, by both Christian and non-Christian sources, Jesus Christ was crucified. All of the known evidence supports and corroborates His crucifixion. There is no legitimate reason for doubting Christ's crucifixion, and in denying the Lord Jesus Christ's crucifixion and death, the Qur'an goes against known, recorded history, and I commend the following review to you, which carefully examines the record of Roman, Greek and Jewish historians.

Christ's Crucifixion

http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/crucified.htm

The Bible in many places describes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself, true prophet that He was, prophesied His upcoming crucifixion on 18 different occasions, and on 8 of those occasions described how He would be resurrected following His death, truly, this is the man who has "done death to death by dying and rising from the dead," and Who offers eternal life to all who trust and follow Him, Jesus Himself saying,

"I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in Me, though they die will live again, and whoever lives and believes will never really die at all."

John 11:25-26

It's your call sTs, you're going to live forever, choose your address, please choose life in Jesus' Name.

With kind regards and best wishes

Lactantius Jr.

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