8 The Truth, Thursday, July 5TH, 2007. Vol.

2 Issue 25
Poetry I Am a Muslim

Vol. 2 Issue 25
The Truth
A Weekly Bulletin Thu. Jul 5th 2007
I AM A MUSLIM
AND GOD I PRAISE Holy Quran Why God’s book cannot contain errors
FOR ALL HIS BLESSINGS
MY VOICE I RAISE God Revealed it
IN ONE GOD I BELIEVE “Those who disbelieve in the Reminder when it comes unto them (are
NO EQUAL HAS HE guilty), for indeed it is an unassailable Scripture. Falsehood cannot come
LORD OF THE UNIVERSE at it from before it or behind it. (It is) a revelation from the Wise, the
COMPASSIONATE TO ME Owner of Praise” (Qur’an 41:41-42).
MUHAMMED THE PROPHET “Praise be to Allah* Who has revealed the Scripture unto His slave,
TAUGHT ME THE WAY Cont’d on Page 2
TO BE HONEST AND TRUTHFUL
THROUGHOUT EVERY DAY Ethics Bestowing Love and Peace
THE HOLY QU’RAN Prophet Muhammed (P.) said:
TO LIFE IS MY GUIDE “I swear to Allah in Whose hand my life is, that you cannot attain
IT’S TEACHINGS I FOLLOW heaven and eternal happiness unless you have faith, and you cannot
BY IT I ABIDE have faith unless you love each other. Should I not guide you towards
ISLAM MY RELIGION some task, as a result of which, love and friendship will be created
PREACHES GOOD DEEDS among you?” They answered: “Yes, O Prophet of Allah” He added: “So,
MERCY AND KINDNESS salute each other (with peace) openly and clearly.”
TO THE RIGHT PATH IT LEADS  Tabrasi, Mishkat al-Anwar, p. 123
UPON ALL HUMANITY Cont’d on Page 3
GOD SHOWERS HIS GRACE Ethics Is Jesus the Son of God?
REGARDLESS OF COLOR A central aspect of Christian theology is the be-
NATIONALITY OR RACE lief in Jesus (A.S.) as The Son of God. In Christian theology, at least ac-
THROUGH WORKING TOGETHER cording to the Trinitarian majority, Jesus (A.S.), as the Son of God, forms
OUR HOPES INCREASE part of the Holy Trinity, which includes the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
TO LIVE IN A WORLD According to this picture, these three elements are equal in power, in
FULL OF LOVE AND PEACE eternity, and in wisdom, unified as one being in their essence. That is,
I AM A MUSLIM Son of God is literally taken to be a part of God. However, this concept
AND GOD I PRAISE is very problematic, and has always been difficult to explain. In Catholic
FOR ALL HIS BLESSINGS tradition, the Trinity is held to be sacred mystery beyond human un-
MY VOICE I RAISE derstanding. While it is granted that God, as an infinite, transcendent
being cannot be truly and completely understood by the limited human
mind, the sheer incomprehensibility of the Trinitarian picture continues
If you want to receive yourWeekly Digital Copy (PDF Format) Please subscribe to The Truth’s to cause great unease among those who have not taken it as an article
Mailing List @ http://groups.google.com/group/thetruth110 of faith.
If you want any material to be published please send us an e-mail. First of all, the language used by Christians for Jesus, “son of God”
Please note that we have the right to Accept, Edit or Refuse any content.
is used also for other people than Jesus (A.S.), namely David (A.S.) and
Editor in Chief: Hassan Tabatabai Editor: Ahmad Al Najjar
Designed by: Ahmad Haidar Adam. As well, the Book of Genesis records accounts of the “Sons of
Please send us your feedbacks, comments, and suggestions to God” walking in the earth in early days. If being Son of God has been
Contact-Us
the following e-mail: thetruth110@gmail.com Cont’d on Page 4
2 The Truth, Thursday, July 5TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 25 The Truth, Thursday, July 5th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 25 7
Cont’d from First Page Avoid them, so that you may prosper. Satan desires to stir up
and has not placed therein any crookedness (but has made it) straight” enmity and hatred among you by means of intoxicants and gam-
(Qur’an 18:1-2). bling, and to keep you from the remembrance of Allah and from
“Allah has (now) revealed the fairest of statements, a Scripture con- your prayers. Will you not abstain from them?” (Chapter 5, Verses
sistent” (Qur’an 39:23). 90, 91)
“A Qur’an in Arabic, containing no crookedness” (Q 39:28). The above verses from the Qur’an warn us of the effects of drinking.
God Preserves it The first Imam, Ali (A.S.), said, “Suppose a drop of liquor is put in
God has promised to always preserve His book. He says: a well and from its water a land is irrigated. Grass grows on the
“Surely We, even We, revealed the Reminder [the Qur’an], and We land and a sheep grazes there. That sheep then gets mixed in a
verily are it’s Guardian.” (Qur’an 15:9) flock of other sheep who have grazed elsewhere. If all the sheep
The Qur’an contains no additions. It remains today letter for letter are slaughtered making it difficult to identify the meat of the
as it was revealed over 1400 years ago. Nothing added, nothing taken sheep who had grazed on a land which was irrigated from the
away. water of the well, then I shall not eat any of that meat.”
Thus Imam Ali (A.S.) has emphasized the evil of alcohol.
For the sake of our own physical, mental and spiritual welfare, we
should always keep away from drinks.
Sayings Bohlool and the Amir of Kufa

Ishaq bin Muhammed bin Sabah was the commander of Kufa. His
wife bore him a daughter. For this reason the Amir was very sad and
depressed. He stopped eating and drinking. When Bohlool heard about
this he went to the Amir and said, “O Amir, why this sorrow and grief?”
“I hoped for a son, but regretfully, my wife had a daughter.”
“How would you like it if God gave you, instead of these beautiful
hands and feet, and a healthy and perfect girl, a crazy boy like me?”
The Amir of Kufa laughed uncontrollably at Bohlool’s speech, thanked
God, ate his meal and drank water, and permitted people to come and
congratulate him.
Two of the original manuscripts of the Qur’an prepared 1400 years
ago still exist today. One is in the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul,
Turkey, and the other in Tashkent, Russia. Both of these are identical in
content with the Qur’an available all over the world today.
You Can Examine it!
God says: “Will they not then consider the Qur’an with care? If it had
been from other than Allah they would have found therein much discrep-
ancy.” (Qur’an 4:82)
Here God challenges people to find an error in the Qur’an. If it con-
tains errors then it cannot be from God. If, on the other hand, it had
been the production of a human being it would definitely contain errors.
A human writer 1400 years ago would have written on the basis of the
level of knowledge of his or her day. And many of those ideas would turn
out to be false later as humankind learns more, especially in the field of
science.
By: Shabir Ally
6 The Truth, Thursday, July 5TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 25 The Truth, Thursday, July 5th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 25 3
Anecdote She Had True Faith Cont’d from First Page
Abu Baseer was once in the company of Imam Our religion is Islam. It is the religion of fraternity and brotherhood
Ja’far al-Sadiq (A.S.) when a woman came and said to the Imam, “I have among people. Prophet Muhammed (P.) called people towards friendship
come to ask a question. I am ill. Physicians in Iraq have told me to take and caring because they are the foundation of co-operation and happi-
liquor. Now I want to know what to do in such circumstances?” ness in this life. One feels happy and at peace when living with one’s
The Imam asked her, “Why don’t you drink what the doctors have own family or with loving friends. That feeling and love and respect goes
prescribed for you?” both ways and one cannot forget family and friends because of one’s
She replied, “As I am your follower, I shall obey what you say. If you loves for them.
permit me, I shall drink it; if not, I shall keep away from it; so that if I It is when there is no love that enmity among people is created which
am asked by the Almighty God on the Day of Judgment why I did so, I often leads to aggression breaking out. If there was real love, fighting
shall reply that I followed the instructions of the Imam of the day.” among people would not erupt nor would one steal another’s property
Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (A.S.) turned to Abu Baseer and said: “O Abu nor would there be such a gap between rich and poor.
Baseer. Did you listen to what this woman has to say? Are you not Allah will not be pleased with us and we not will live in happiness un-
moved by her faith? Inspite of her illness, she is refraining from taking less we love each other.
liquor without the Imam’s permission.” Our Prophet (P.) guides us towards the right path by instructing us to
The Imam then turned to the woman and said, “By God, I do greet each with the salutation of peace (salam) as the first sign of show-
not permit you to drink. If you do so, you shall be sorry when ing affection for each other. He says: “Salute each other (with peace)
your soul reaches your throat (that is at the time of death)”. openly and clearly.”
So saying the Imam pointed at her throat; and asked her three times He guides us in this way because such a salutation and greeting make
if she understood what he had said. The woman nodded her head. both love and happiness enter our souls.
One of the things which Islam has strongly forbidden is the taking of Love among Muslims is a sign for their true and sincere belief, and all
any intoxicating drink, like beer, wine. They are harmful to the body and Muslims are brothers and they love each other.
mind. Under their influence one loses one’s senses and is apt to commit So, whoever dislikes his Muslim brothers and hurts them is not a true
criminal acts. We read of fatal accidents and crimes committed because believer. This is endorsed by the Messenger of God (P.) who says: No
of drinks. believers will be true in their belief unless they love each other.
Even trading in liquor and sitting in bars where people are drinking These holy traditions (Hadith) guide us to the knowledge that Allah
are also forbidden in Islam so that there is no temptation in the way of will be displeased with us and will not let us enter Paradise unless we
people to taking them. believe and act upon the guidance of His Prophet. His Messenger has
The Holy Qur’an says, “O Believers, Intoxicants and games spelt out: It is obligatory for Muslims to love each other in order to be
of chance, idols and divining arrows, are abomina- believers and thus enter Paradise.
tions devised by Satan. To Summarize
1. No one will enter Paradise except
the person who truly believes in God.
2. A Muslim cannot be a true be-
liever unless he loves his other broth-
ers and sisters in faith.
3. Initially saluting each other
with peace causes love and frater-
nity among people and reaches their
hearts.
4. Those who salute and greet
others deserve and gain the double
reward of happiness in the life of this
world and in the Hereafter.
4 The Truth, Thursday, July 5TH, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 25 The Truth, Thursday, July 5th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 25 5
Cont’d from First Page mercy, and morality that are reflections of the light of Justice, Compas-
equated by Trinitarians with Divinity, then the sarcastic question could sion, Mercy, and Morality of God. Prophets are “sons of God” in that they
then be posed: Are they part of the “Godhead too? It must be getting come from God as His creations, and in that their relative perfection in
crowded up there.” human terms in these attributes makes them the humans with the truest
The simplest explanation and the one seemingly most concordant resemblance to God, within the limits of the material, human condition,
with the existing Christian scriptures, including the recorded words of of the glory of God, much as a son is the one who most closely resembles
Jesus (A.S.) himself is that the term son of God is a metaphor, playing his father. This is an alternative understanding of the meaning of “son of
off the Hebrew metaphor of God as a Father of His creatures, with His God,” and is entirely figurative, analogous in nature.
creatures being His “children.” This metaphor is used extensively in the How this point became confused in the early Christian church, and
Jewish scriptures, with the Israelites, viewed as His special “children” became taken literally in doctrine is hard to tell, as there is no direct sup-
growing under His watchful and caring eye. Isaiah 53 is a particularly port for the idea within the words of Jesus (A.S.) himself. The doctrine of
poignant example of this, in which the prophet Isaiah (A.S.) recounts Jesus (A.S.) as part of God is really only fleshed out in the letters of Paul.
the history and hardship of is people, consoling them with the fact that Whether he reached this doctrine by error or by design in the well-inten-
God has been watching tem grow and struggle as a Father watches is tioned interest of reaching the pagan Hellenic world, who were used to
children, sees their hardships and troubles. It is a powerful metaphor, Human-like gods with literal father gods and son and daughter gods is a
simple yet deep. matter of debate. What is unmistakeable ,however, is that the notion of a
Even for Christians, this idea of “Son of God” is understood in some literal son of God as Christians understand it is a concept that upon read-
sense as a metaphor; for example they of course don’t believe that God ing of the Jewish scriptures is totally alien to the Semitic culture to which
had sex with Maryam (A.S.). So this terminology must be somehow Jesus (A.S.), and from which the earliest followers of Jesus (A.S.) came.
figurative. The question then is how is there an analogy? For example, By Cyril Anderson
is the Father the creator of the son, Jesus (A.S.), like a human father
participates in creating his son? Did the Father exist before the son, as
a human father predates his son? Is the Father more powerful than
the son, Jesus (A.S.)? Is the Father wiser than the son? Christians say
no, however, on all accounts, calling the son equal in power, wisdom, and
equally pre-existent as part of God. The question then is how the son
is related to the Father in the same way as a human father to a human
son. There must be some analogy, otherwise there would be no reason
why God would use such suggestive language.
Jews, and Muslims familiar with the Bible can understand, and to a
certain extent, accept the term “son of God” in a figurative sense, as an
analogy to explain the position of high servants of God. All humans after
all are created by God, and as such, are in a figurative sense, “children
of God.” High prophets are called “sons of God” to emphasize their sta-
tus as special, honoured creations of God. As prophets, they help God,
their “Father” in his work, much as a human son helps his father. They
resemble their “Father” in that their high qualities and high spiritual rank
remind the people of the perfection of God, much as a human son re-
minds people of his father.
Genesis says that humans created in “God’s image.” This means that
humans are created with a capability to reason and reflect not given
to other animals that reflects the Reason of God, free will and creativ-
ity to exert creative power upon the universe that reflects the Creative
Power of God, and with the innate inner sense of justice, compassion,