Subtitle:
1- An Islamic preacher says on the Internet: Christians deceive Muslims by building churches in the form of mosques
2- A Christian Internet site called “Wild Christianity” specializes in attacking Islam
3- Internet sites for the books and essays of: El Karadawy, Said Kotb, Ibn Taimya, Abu El Ala’a El Mawdoudy, Ibn Baz and Mohammed Ibn Abd El Wahab
4- El Barzakh, an establishment on the Internet presents the treatment for AIDS patients by using Sufism
5- Christian research: Islam would not have spread without bloodshed
6- Jewish essay: The Torah is not corrupted
Islamic essay: There is evidence of corruption in the Torah
Do you know the Internet? Maybe....or certainly you do, because it is a familiar and well known term to the public. But do you know about the religious war on the Internet?
Certainly you do not, because using the Internet in Egypt is still restricted to a limited group of the elite. Millions and millions of humans are using the Internet. How? We will tell you how.
Last week, Dr. Hamdy Zakzouk the minister of endowments, started a campaign to prevent the defamation of Islam on the Internet. The ministry listed about 30 attacks on Islam being broadcast now on the net. The ministry has set aside large amounts of money to prepare religious answers to the fallacies being propagated. Within a month, they will be translated and broadcast on the Internet. The minister states that poisoned thoughts are being broadcast by many different groups in Europe and America. The ministry uncovered some of these groups, including the Bahai’youn (Islamic propagandists group), but the rest are still unknown, according to the statements of the minister.
Of course we are not against any effort of the ministry, the Azhar or any religious association to spread the thoughts, teachings and principles of Islam all over the world.
The matter is more than just speaking about facing the defamation of Islam. There is a lot of confusion and disorder which needs to be put in order, in a very peaceful and quiet manner.
Sometimes, defaming Islam on the Internet or elsewhere, may be done by Muslims themselves, particularly given the sites founded by some extremist groups who have given up their rejection of modern technology to fulfill their aims and to spread their thoughts.
So, now there is a real problem because we can, for example, find a Christian extremist in New York, sitting before a computer and establishing a site for himself on the Internet, from which he sends hundreds of emails abusing Islam and its thoughts. At the same time, we may have an extremist Muslim, in Peshwar, Jeddah or Cairo sitting before a computer to establish a site for himself, attacking Christianity and its followers. Then the problem is that there is no control over this.
It is wise to find a solution to this problem from a view point that is different from the tone of religious war. We do not want religions to exchange attacks against one another. We want to every religion to spread its beliefs, thoughts and principles all over the world without atheism, war, fighting, abuse or insults. This is the right way, which everyone must follow.
The problem is more serious than the resistance of the Ministry of Endowments to a defamatory campaign from known or unknown groups. While you are reading the next lines, you will find out that human beings are capable of turning any scientific achievement to a new tool of war and fighting.
One of the more distinctive types of religious war is an Islamic essay written by someone calling himself "a zealous Muslim". In this essay he discusses Christians’ opinions about the nature of their faith. He also compares Christian beliefs to Islamic beliefs. He concentrates on the belief of Christians that Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross to carry all the human sins. Therefore, every believer in Christ, is free of sins forever. Such a belief does not exist in Islam or any other religion. No human mind can accept that the believer in Christ is free of sins, though he may do the most terrible crimes. This means that mankind will never have a moment of peace, as every believer in this belief thinks that he will not be judged for his deeds because Christ sacrificed Himself for him. On the contrary Islam asks every Muslim to surround himself with the principles which protect him and his society. He must be responsible for himself and his deeds before God and society.
On the other side, one of the most distinctive Internet sites is named "Christian answers to Islam", where you find a fanatical Christian opening fire on Islam. Justin Katz, the owner of this site, begins with two verses. The first one is from the Qur’ān, "They said no one will enter Paradise except Jews and Christians. These are their wishes. Tell them to prove it if is it true.” The second verse is from the Bible, "Be ready to answer anyone who asks you about the reason for the hope you have."
One of the subjects on this site is a violent argument between a Catholic Christian who converted to Islam and a Muslim who converted to Christianity. The later named himself Abd El Salieb, the slave of the Cross. He says that he used to live the Middle East and was a devoted Muslim until he got to know some Christians. At first, he did not know their religion, but eventually he decided that Christianity was the religion he should embrace. Then, he fled from his country, as they kill those who leave Islam. We do not know what if this person is real or the invention of the site owner’s imagination. Whatever he is, he attacks Islam, while the other one attacks Christianity.
Another essay on the same site is called "the linguistic mistakes in the Qur’ ān". Islamic scholars have argued too much about this subject, but they consider it just a scientific matter. That has no relation to the fact that the Qur’ān is from God, the preserved book revealed by God. The owner of the site, mentions quotations which prove the existence of the linguistic mistakes in the Qur’ān. He does not mention that these quotations have been mentioned in the books of Islamic scholars. He concludes that the holy book of Muslims is not holy. For example he tried to prove a linguistic mistake in the word "Elsabi’een" as it came in the chapter 2, Sura El Bakara, and El Hij while it came in the sura of El Mayda on the form of "Elsabi’oun". Of course the English reader will notice no difference between the translation of the two words while, the author did not mention that the two words have this difference, according to the rules of the Arabic grammar.
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In a third essay, the owner of this site, gets into a serious area, the issue of "collecting the Qur’ān in one book". He says that Muslims, since their childhood, have been taught that the Qur’ān has been saved from the time of Mohammed until now and that they have received it without any changes. The author tells us about the conflict in collecting the Qur’ān during the ages of the first four caliphs. Then, Ottoman, the caliph, decided to collect the Qur’ān into one book and to burn the others. Then according to Islamic history, there were different copies of the Qur’ān in the hands of people.
This means that the contemporary Qur’ān is one of the suspected incomplete copies. The owner of the site ignores the original story that writing was not common in the age of the Prophet Mohammed, as the majority of people were illiterate. Therefore they depended on some of the companions the prophet who had excellent memories to teach the people the Qur’ān by heart. This continued until the age of caliphs, when some of these companions died and literacy began to increase. They started to write down the Qur’ān. When Ottoman Ibn Affan ruled, he decided to form a council of those who had learnt Qur’ān by heart and collect it into one book. Then he burnt the other copies of the Qur’ān.
Finally, and after many essays attacking Islam, the owner of the site, says that he wishes that he could help people to understand the Christian religion in a better way. Then, he asks readers of the site, "Do you think reading these subjects has supported your faith? You must confess. If you find any mistakes, tell me, and I will happily correct them.” Then he asks all Christians if they can help in anyway.
Once more, we return to the Islamic sites, where we find a sight of El Sheik Soliman Ibn Fahd El Aouda, one of the famous extremist Islamic preachers in Saudi Arabia. The tapes of his lectures are spread among extremists all over Egypt. This site presents these lectures translated into English showing an extremist view of Islam and its relationship to other religions. For example, in the lecture no. 66, the preacher speaks about Christian missionary activity in Islamic countries and the ways which Christian missionaries follow now after their previous methods failed.
He says "... using tricks and cheating through spreading the Islamic word with many destructive books, such as "The evidence of the Qur’ ān" which is spread widely even in Saudi. It is originally taken from the book of Zakaria Botrous entitled, "The same God". The book discusses the similarity between Christianity and Islam. It is full of lies, such as the claim that Christ is the spirit of God. But the Qur’ān tells us that God created Adam and gave him from His spirit, while he gave His word to Moses, David, Ibraham, Issa (Christ) and Mohammed, not only Christ. Another sneaky way of Christian missionaries is to build churches in the form of mosques to attract Muslims. Also, they read the Torah and Gospel in rhyme and rhythm, the same way as Muslims read the Qur’ān. Of course, this speech is nonsense, for which Muslim will leave his religion just because Christians build a church in the form of a mosque. Also, who is the Christian who will think that Muslims are so foolish that they can be so easily deceived in such a comic way.
Sheik El Aouda continues his view of Christians’ deception of Muslims, saying "...more than that, they depend on the explanation of two Muslim scholars of the Qur’ān. The Gallaliein wrote that Christ knows the exact timing of the Last Day, yet every Muslim knows that one of the marks of the Day of Judgment is the return of Christ to earth again. In such a way they try to deceive illiterate Muslims. In another book, entitled "The Cross: Between Gospel and Quran" they claim that sheik Fakhr El Din El Razy declared that the crucifixion of Christ was real, but if we read the great explanation of the Sheikh, we will find out that this is a big lie.
One of their new ways is their use of Islamic names. For example, in one of their radio programs, the presenter called himself Shaykh Abd Allah. He named his program "Allah Akbar". Also there are other programs have the names of “The voice of the truth” "Sout El Hak" and “Light on light” "Nour A’la Nour" to attract the Muslim listener and to get him away from his religion. Besides, they intend to make their masses on Friday instead of Sunday or Saturday."
On another site is Abd El Aziz Ibn Baz, who believes in the theory that the earth is not round and that anyone who believes that is an atheist. On these sites, you will find attacks on Christianity and its supporters and an essay about the corruption of Torah and Gospel after the loss of the original copy of the Bible.
On the Christian side, there is a site named "Wild Christianity". The owner states from the first line that, this site is specialized in attacking Islam and to defending the claims of Muslims about Christianity. This site concentrates on a very favorite subject for Orientalists, which is "The place of women in Islam". He starts his essay with words of the Islamic scholar Aly, the cousin of the prophet which are "Do not ignore the truth, even if it is against you." Then, the owner says that his aim is to explain the place of women in Islamic traditional principles, which are based on the Qur’ān and Hadith [Sayings of the Prophet Mohammed]. He says, while God assures that man and woman are equal before God, religious Islamic principles differentiate between man and woman. He quotes the opinions of great preachers showing that women have lost their rights in Islam.
On another Christian site, we find some research entitled "The religion of the sword" and "Bloody Islam". The two sites say that Islam would not have been spread without bloodshed. There is another Christian site named "Are there numerical miracles the Qur’ān?" In his research, the owner of the site claims that there are no miracles of any sort in the Qur’ān. Another research named "The corruption of Torah is an Islamic myth" says that the existent Torah is the word of God. The differences between translations and copies do not support the Islamic myth about the pure origin of the Bible being lost.
On the contrary, on an Islamic site, you can find research named "The corruption of Torah". The researcher says that he wrote this paper after receiving an essay from a Muslim brother, in which some Jews try to prove the corruption of the Qur’ān. This Jewish essay claimed that the Qur’ān ordered Muslims to kill every non-Muslim or to force them to convert to Islam.
Ibrahim, the researcher, says that he will repel the mistakes patiently. He will not care for cheap shots. His simple aim is to assure and to prove that the contemporary Torah is corrupted and is therefore not a holy book. He quotes the verse which means "Argue with them in peace".
He starts his research, asking "Did mankind corrupt the Old Testament?" Then he says that Jews claim that the Torah is the word of Moses. Many different authors wrote it in different ages after the death of Moses. It can not be a heavenly book from God. It is a corrupted book, and it is best for its followers to throw it away, and to search for the real religion. Ibrahim concludes his essay with a call to all Muslims to spread this essay everywhere on the net so that it can be useful for everyone.
In another Islamic site, owned by the Pakistani writer Mohammed Zahede the owner presents his own view about the general Islamic view of Christianity and Christ. He starts his site by congratulating all Christians on Christmas, and wishing them a happy new year. Then he invites them to give him a few minutes of their time to find out what the Qur’ ān says about Christ. He assures that God gives us the freedom to choose the religion which we respect. Before starting his essay, he send a message to Muslims in the West telling them to make use of the Christian holiday to get back to the Qur’ān and Sunna of the Prophet Mohammed.
After this tolerant opening, Zahed starts to explode the religion of Christians. He presents his view saying that the historical facts confirm that Christ did not use the word Christianity. His followers prayed in the temples of Jews. Christ’s call for people was to get back to the deserted religion of Ibraham and Moses. After the disappearance of Christ, Paul states that the religion of Christ describes Him as the Savior. The title "Christians" was used to mean the followers of Jesus just to humiliate Paul and Bernaba when they started preaching. The followers thought that the name derived from Christ was not a shame. At first, Paul himself was an enemy of Christ, and remained so for many years after His rising. Then, Paul embraced Christianity and started to preach the religious teaching which we can summarize in the conception
1- "Christ as the Son of God".
2- The idea that Christ agreed to be crucified to expiate the sins of human, and to refuse the laws of the Torah.
In fact, the real followers of Jesus refused these teachings. They continuously tried to destroy Paul’s thoughts for 200 years. Finally though, these thoughts won, forming the Christian religion which most people now embrace. The real Christianity, to which people must return, refuses the divine nature of Christ. He is a man, the son of the Virgin Mary and a prophet of God. He did not die on the cross, but God raised Him. He did not sacrifice His blood for Man’s sins, but He will judge everyone according to his deeds. The most important point, that His real heavenly Gospel has been lost, while the writings of his followers exist in the form of the contemporary Gospel.
In a long essay named "Let the Torah talk", the researcher, Abd El Rahman Demishkiya speaks about the corruption of the books in which Christians and Jews believe. He starts his essay saying, in the past, under the protection of the crusaders flag, attacks on Islam were strong enough to get of it. Many Christian popes encouraged the writing of books attacking Islam and trying to defame it. Then, the church relinquished this activity and though these attacks decreased, they did not stop. They only have a new style in attacking Islam, under the protection of a new flag, the flag of the freedom of expression and publishing. Protected by this term, the apostate Salman Roshdy wrote his book abusing Islam. He describes the verses of the Qur’ān as Satanic verses which Satan himself inspired. Under these claims of freedom, Britain gave this man support and protection, even though he abused sacred things, which are very precious to every Muslim. "My essay will not be against a man who was to be used by Satan. It will be against who supported him, protected him and used his book, including Satan himself! Can freedom of thought reach the extent of abusing the feelings of one billion Muslims all over the world?" Demishkiya asks
He also says, "....for these reasons, and these claims I will present my book too. I want to test their freedom, and to know if they will protect me. Will they let me publish and distribute it? Or will they confiscate it? Of course I will not use the ways of Salman Roshdy, nor his styles. But the Torah will be my first source, and the subject of the book will be taken from it."
After this heated opening, Demishkiya starts his essay to demolish the religion of Christians and Jews. He concludes that they are false religions. Their final fate, is to vanish completely.
One more thing, the star of this way of argument and attacks on the other religion, is the famous Islamic preacher Ahmed Didat. He is a preacher from South Africa specialized in the science of Torah. He uses the method of argument to prove the corruption of the other religions. He has been well-known in Egypt for a few years, since the Ministry of Interior tried to confiscate a tape which carries a famous argument between Didat and Pastor Jimmy Swagret, which was about to ignite sectarian violence. There are many lectures and essays by this man on the net. These essays and lectures specialize in arguing with Christianity, and therefore Didat is famous.
Besides, there are a lot of works of Said Kotb such as "In the shadows of the Quran" and works by Abu El A’laa El Mawdoudy, Ibn Taymya and the preacher Abd El Aziz Ibn Baz, the muftī of Saudi Arabia. Also, there is a large section for the works of Mohammed Ibn Abd El Wahab, the founder of the Wahaby doctrine in Saudi Arabia.
In contrast to these sites, you will find Christian sites, which broadcast such papers as an essay named "Slave trade is an Islamic invention". The writer of this essay claims that Muslims were the first to buy slaves and transport them from Africa to the different countries of the world. Another site broadcasts one of the most cruel books attacking Islam, entitled "Qur’ ān and Torah in the light of history and science" of Dr. William Kimball. He claimed in his book that the Qur’ān is full of historical and scientific mistakes and attacked the Prophet Mohammed. The clash with Islam reaches its climax, when he claims that Muslims worship an old god of the moon which was worshipped in the Arabian Peninsula and therefore he charges Muslims with paganism.
To be honest, the picture is not absolutely dark. It is important to point out that there is a good section on the Internet where one can find information for religions concerning their teachings and principles. Nobody will have any difficulty obtaining information about any heavenly religion.
About Islam, for example, Muslims from many countries have establish sites. On 14 sites, you can find the details about the official Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (Hijj). Also, you can find the details about Ramadan, the month of fasting in Islam, the ways of fasting and its morals. Concerning the Qur’ān, there are many translations of it into different languages, such as English, French, German and others. You can reach these sites easily. The most important site, is the one which offers easy ways to search for a word, a verse, a sura (a chapter in Qur’ān) etc. To any researcher on the Qur’ān, this site offers a scientific and an easy way to find information in a few seconds.
In similarity to the sites of Qur’ān, there are similar sites for the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed [Hadith]. In addition to this you will find many sites discussing the different Islamic doctrines, some of them established by the Shiites, others by Sunnis etc.
If anyone is concerned with matters of Islamic heritage, which are considered the most complicated matters of the jurisprudence in Islam (Fiqh), he can find a site named "Al Farid", specialized in inheritance according to Islamic law. You simply have to write the names of the heirs, the money, the lands and the personal property the deceased left and then the program will account accurately the share of every heir.
For anyone who is concerned about the Last Day, there is a site named "Islam and the signs of the Last Day". It has a detailed description of the signs and prophecies, according to the Qur’ān and the prophet’s sayings, which all confirm that the Last Day is very near. Another site specializes in changing Christian dates into Islamic dates and vice versa.
The most wonderful thing is that all the Islamic traditions, principles and references are broadcast on the Internet. On a site named "Islamic books", established by the Group of the Way of the Prophet Mohammed [Ahl El sunna & El gamma’a], you can find the complete texts of old books and original sources, such as fiqh, Qur’ān, Prophet hadiths and Sufism, along with detailed explanations. Also, there is a site specializing in broadcasting Islamic books for children in a simple way. Another site is about Islamic history, named "Islamic events" where you can find important events in the Islamic history, with explanations and dates in both the Christian and Islamic calendars.
The sites which broadcast true and trusted subjects about Islam are not confined to Islamic individuals or countries. "The Islamic Studies Centre", is a site specialized in studying Islam, and has been established by School of African and Oriental Studies, London University. Another site named "Islam", belongs to Standford University, USA. This site is rich with documents, information and thoughts about Islam. There is also "The Islamic news" which was established by Michigan University, USA.
The different Islamic groups find a wide area to spread their thoughts and beliefs through the net. Therefore, we can find a site for the group which calls for Islamic reform movement in Egypt, founded by Mohammed Abduh (El Salafiya). Also, a site of the embassy of Saudi in America is named "The Ministry of Islamic Affairs". Also, many sites belong to the followers of the Islamic Shia doctrine. There is also a site for the Muslims of American Union, and one for the Universal Council for the Affairs of the Islamic Scholarship.
The information about Islam is not confined to this extent. Some contemporary famous Islamic preachers occupy a place in this international framework. For example, the famous Islamic preacher Sheikh Youssef El Karadawy, has a site by his name. This site includes the completed works of his books, essays, sermons and others documents in Arabic and English too. In a site named "Peace be with you "Al-Salam Alaykum", you will find the completed works of the famous Iranian thinker Aly Sharia’ ty.
As we have mentioned before, we will find the works of extremist preachers. We can find many groups which combine Islam and social services. One of the most funny of them, is a site specialized in helping Muslims all over the world, especially the Arabic world, to find a wife. There is also an association called "El Barzakh", and its job is to present the treatment for AIDS patients all over the world, by using Sufism in medicine. Also, the Islamic Chamber for Trade and Industry, cares for Muslim businessmen, and encourages others to get in the field of business. The Islamic Medical Organization in South Africa cares for medical affairs according to an Islamic view.
This information is being broadcast in many forms, such as texts in different languages, of course. Also, you can listen to some sermons by famous Islamic preachers, or watch some scenes through the computer. One of the most important and funniest sites on the net, a site named "The companions of the prophet" which is written in two languages, English and Indonesian. It includes most of the available information derived from different sources about the companions of the prophet and their lives. In this site, there is information about 80 of these companions, such as: Abd Allah Ibn Massoud, Abou Zar El Ghafary, Abou El Darda’, Mousa’ab Ibn Omeir, Soheib El Romy, Souheil Ibn Amr, Talha Ibn Obaid Allah, Thbet Ibn Qais, Ataba Ibn Ghazwan, Khadiega Bint Khowailed, Fatma El Zahraa the daughter of the prophet Mohammed and others.. This site represents an important and rich resource for those researching the life of the companions of the prophet.
From all this it is not easy to summarize everything as saying that Islam is being tarnished on the Internet, as the matter is very complicated and has positive and negative aspects. Yet the darkest side is this awful religious war that is blazing on the Internet, and in which we do not want the Ministry of Endowments or the Azhar to participate. We want them to know how to present the facts and principles of religion without extremism or ignorance and if they do so, they will be more useful than those who are involved in a religious war which has disadvantages that are more dangerous than any advantages.
