Response to a message of 2002-01-06

Some valid questions by e-mail that I answered to the best of my humble ability.

Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2002 03:56:35 -0500
To: "twisterman" <twisterman@gateway.net;gt
From: "Dennette A. Harrod, Jr" <Dennette@WiZ-WORX.com>
Subject: Re: please answer these

At 02:26 2002-01-06, you wrote:
> Here are a few questions:
>
> Question #1: We both agree that Moses was a man of God.  Do muslims
> honor the 10 Commandments?  If so, is the commandment about not bowing
> to idols left out?  Roman Catholicism cut this commandment out, and
> split another in half so they would still have 10...did Islam do the
> same?

The Qur'an does not contain the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus 20:2-17,
so they are not taught to Muslims.

> Question #2: Who is the Saviour in your religion?

We have no Saviour because we do not believe in Original Sin ... the
Qur'an has a different message in the story of Adam and Eve.

> What will make you good enough to be in the presence of God when you
> die?

That is for Him to decide.

> If your answer is good works, you have to agree that your religion
> practices the same way to God as all other religions..including Roman
> Cathocism, and Jehovah's Witnesses...just to name a couple.

You say that as if it were a Bad Thing. :-)

> What makes "Allah's" way better?

It's not a "better" way; it's the *only* way.  We do what we think He wants
us to do, but He is the Final Judge of our worthiness.

> Question #3: I could not help to notice that you have a link to S.E.T.I.
> on your site.  What do you hope that E.T.'s will provide that "Allah"
> has not?

Absolutely nothing.

Neither the Torah, the Bible (New Testament), nor the Qur'an mention the
civilizations of the Maya, the Eskimos, or the Japanese ... does this mean
that they did not exist?

> You also have links to astronomy and moon calendars.  Again, what are
> you looking for?

"Among His Signs are the Night and the Day and the Sun and Moon.
Prostrate (adore) not to the Sun and the Moon but prostrate to Allah,
Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve." Holy Qur'an 41:37

The Islamic calendar is strictly lunar ... it depends on sighting of the
crescent moon at sundown after the New Moon. See my paper "Porting
Astronomical Software" (http://wiz-worx.com/resume/porting.htm),
delivered at the 1987 Lunar Calendar Conference held at the
International Institute of Islamic Thought, Herndon, VA (ISBN
0-912463-22-8). Here's a quote:

"Early Islamic astronomers were keen mathematicians who were able to
take the observations of the ancient Greeks and develop algorithms that
permitted accurate prediction of astronomical events, such as eclipses.
These algorithms have been refined over the centuries, and with the
invention of digital computers, the calculations that took many hours by
hand can be performed in seconds."

> There is nothing wrong with having interest in the creation, but Islam
> seems to have an obsession with stars, the Sun, and the Moon.  Why?

"He has made subject to you the Night and the Day; the Sun and the Moon;
and the Stars are in subjection by His Command: verily in this are Signs
for men who are wise." Holy Qur'an 16:12

> Question #4: What has God done in your life lately?  Any miracles?

I had a stroke in 1994 (http://waterholes.com/~dennette/1994/stroke.htm)
... spent 10 days in the hospital, and it was 7 months before I could
snap my fingers on my left hand again ... today, you couldn't tell from
looking at me. I used to tell people that one of the reasons I get down
on my hands and knees five times a day was to thank Him for the strength
to get back up again, and then for over half a year I couldn't do it
without using a cane. I call my recovery "miraculous".

> Question #5 Why do you think a Christian-based country has prospered,
> and most Islamic countries have not?

That depends on what you mean by "prospered". High divorce rates, unwed
teenage pregnancies, and AIDS are not problems in Islamic countries.
Quakers and Mennonites have "prospered" in Pennsylvania without
electricity or internal combustion engines since the 18th Century.

> Notice that the most developed Islamic countries depend on a
> Christian-based country for financial income from oil.  If the Islamic
> culture is so much better, why are muslims so interested in American
> education, and moving here?

I think that if you check with INS you'll find that most of them return
to their countries after they get the advanced degrees (medicine,
engineering, etc.) that are not available at home ... there are more
electron microscopes and linear accelerators on college campuses in the
US than in the rest of the world combined ... some countries (including
non-Islamic) have neither of these devices.

> A country based on the true God should prosper, right?

Again, it depends on your definition. In 1800, it was against the law in
most American states to teach blacks to read and write. I was born and
raised in Washington, DC, but they did not serve blacks at the lunch
counter in my neighborhood, so coming home from school, my classmates
and I would sit there doing our homework while white patrons shouted
racial epithets and spit on us until the police can and chased us out
... that was in 1960. My professional career has been more highly
regarded and respected in Japan than here in America. Personally, I have
not "prospered" in America, where a white friend of mine, five years
younger, who never graduated from college, gets paid twice as much for
doing the same thing I do with my degree in Systems Software Science.

> Question #6 Why does Islam shame women?  Why are women controlled?

When people ask, "Why do they make women pray in the back of the
Mosque?" I answer, "Have you seen how Muslims pray? Would *YOU* want
somebody looking up the skirt of you mother, sister, wife, or daughter?"
Women in Islamic countries were allowed to vote centuries before women
in Western countries. Unfortunately, many aspects of a national culture
get confused with Islamic culture ... in Iran (and until recently,
Afghanistan), women were forced to wear black bags that covered them
from head to toe except for eye-slits, and forbidden to hold jobs of
leave their homes without a male relative.

Go to an American mosque on one of the Eids, and you'll see women from
Indonesia (the most populous Muslim country in the world) wearing layers
of rainbow colored silk. A nun's habit is tradition Islamic garb for
women ... "hair covered, so loose that the figure is not revealed, only
the face and hands exposed" (Muslim men are also prohibited from wearing
close-fitting garments ... or wearing gold or silk.)

You say "controlled", I say "protected" ... is it really a Bad Thing not
to allow a woman to be in a confined space like an elevator or an
automobile with a man who is not her father, brother, husband, or son?

> Question #7 How does "Allah" give you encouragement, discernment, and
> power?

The same way that he gives them to you.

> Please answer all questions to the best of your ability...thanks.

And I'll leave you with a final thought ... Adolph Hitler was a
vegetarian; should we judge all vegetarians by his actions?

BTW, your questions and my answers are
http://waterholes.com/~dennette/1995/islam/2002-01-06.htm.

Keep the faith.  -=DAH=-

* Mr. Dennette (Abu Hurairah) Harrod, Jr.
* www.WiZ-WORX.com - www.IGES5x.org - www.366th.org
* "Never confuse wisdom with luck." -- 44th Rule of Acquisition