11. Islam: Spencer, Mizrachi, Lewis, 4. Q thru U. 5. Summary
4. Q Qur'an
The Qur'an itself means 'recitation.' It is the holy book of Islam describing revelations received in Mohammed's life and 'told to scribes.' 114 Suras or chapters contain verses, which are called 'perfectly arranged' but in actuality are not sequential or categorically arranged. The contents appear haphazard. The Qur'an actually consists of fragments of writings gathered after Mohammed's death from papyrus leaves, animal bones, carvings and memories from companions. Redundancy and contradictions are numerous. Often the writing makes little sense and later editing was of little help. Writings are often 'garbled' and 'incomprehensible.' Often Old Testament writings and New Testament writings are randomly injected into the texts.
The Meccan contained less violence during a period when Mohammed had little power and uses Judeo-Christian sources. Later, when he did have power, within the “Medinan' the suras become violent when forcing conversion or expulsion or death. The Qur'an for the most part consists of discussing what to with non-believers and their punishments. The authors state “the Qur'an does not contain a single original moral value. Nothing as Christianity's 'Golden Rule' can be found Love and charity are not discussed. Instead it dwells on Muhammed and his station as a prophet. The writers feel this is the Qur'an's only original idea. Grammatical, theological and scientific errors persist throughout the text and are rationalized.'
The old hardly understood Quraish dialect was supposedly spoken by Allah and used to self-justify many outlandish verses. More recent translations are heavily manipulated by the editors. If 'beat or scourge' are used in verse 4:34 it is a good indication it is not a white washed version, but closer to the Arabic. If one wants to read it the authors recommend the non-Muslim translation from CSPI (or the abridged version) or the Noble Qur'an,
4. R. Qur'an not from Allah
The site offers ten reasons why the Qur'an is not from Allah. Some have already been mentioned in other contexts. I'll mention a few here quoting the authors.
“Verse 5:3 says that the Islamic religion was “perfected” and “completed” on “this day”, yet 249 more verses follow it, including two additional suras (9 and 110).”
The Quran confuses Mary the mother of Jesus with Mary the sister of Aaron (and Moses) in sura 19. “Despite tortured apologetic, the simplest and most obvious explanation is that Mohammed was mistaken. This would also explain why the Qur'an, which he narrated, erroneously states that Christians worship the Virgin Mary as a god. (5:75, 5:116) when they never have.”
“The Qur'an tells Muslim men that they may have sex with women captured as slaves. Even worse: the passage is repeated in four different places By contrast, there is not a single verse that tells Muslims that they are to pray five times a day.”
4. S. Islam not religion of peace
The site delves into Islam's violent characteristics and here lists ten reasons why it is not a religion of peace. I'll quote a few.
18,000 deadly terror attacks committed explicit in the name of Islam in just the last ten years. (Other religions combined for perhaps a dozen or so.).
Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, had people killed for insulting him or for criticizing his religion. This is including women. Muslims are told to emulate the example of Mohammed.
Islam is the only religion that has to retain its membership by formally threatening to kill anyone who leaves. This is according to the example set by Mohammed.
Islam teaches that non-Musllims are less than fully human. Mohammed said that Muslims can be put to death for murder, but that a Muslim could never be put to death for killing a non-Muslim.
The Qur'an never once speaks of Allah's love for non-Muslims, but there are hundreds of verses that speak of Allah's cruelty toward and hatred of non-Muslims.
“Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!”
(The last words from the cockpit of Flight 93.)
Okay, as continually stated I'm presenting the information. It's to be added to the readers own base of knowledge. I am not promoting or detracting here. If not sure what the truth is, I suggest just leaving it a question. Also keep in mind this last site's authors include a few Christian fundamentalist apologists which one has to take into account Doesn't detract or add to the data, but is worth noting. The same amount of scrutiny was not available to me about Christianity. Indeed I spend so much time on Islam because the information was easy to obtain and is relevant in this era.
Interesting the site covers current events. It lists what it calls a Jihad Report for different time periods.
From July 22, 2017-July 28, 2017 there have been 44 terrorist attacks, 389 have been killed, 218 injured, 7 suicide blasts, in 14 different countries. Since 9/11 31504 deadly terror attacks have occurred. For all of July there have been 179 attacks, 1275 were killed, 931 injured, 37 suicide blasts in 24 countries.
From the first book 'What do Muslims's believe' by Ziauddin Sardar which was enlightening and hopeful and good to this last site covering aggression the whole gamut is covered.
The site likes punchy lists and statements. Here it lists 50 reasons why Muhammed was not a prophet.
I'll quote a number of them on within new subject matter.
Mohammed's spiritual problems\
“Mohammed was so traumatized by his encounter with “Gabriel” that he repeatedly tried to commit suicide by hurling himself off a cliff.”
“Islam deifies Mohammed by requiring unconditional obedience to him and by requiring Muslims to talk to him during their daily prayers.
Mohammed's trouble with violence
“Mohammed ordered his followers to torture a man named Kinana to find out where some money was hidden. Mohammed then had Kinana killed, and took his wife for himself.”
“After leaving Mecca, Mohammed supported his religion by robbing people.”
Mohammed's scientific problems
“The Qur'an claims that stars are missiles that Allah uses to shoot demons.”
“Mohammed's teachings about personal hygiene would lead to death if Muslims took them seriously.
“In the Qur'an, Allah promises to kill Muhammed by severing his aorta if Mohammed invents a false revelation. When Mohammed died, he said he could feel his aorta being severed.”
Mohammed's evidential problems
“The Qur'an contains a prophecy that wasn't fulfilled.”
“Muslims believe that the Qur'an is Allah's eternal word. Yet Allah repeatedly changes his eternal mind about his eternal word via abrogation.”
“The Qur'an allows Muslim men to beat their wives into submission.”
“After Mohammed got caught having sex with is slave girl in the bed of one of his wives, he swore that he would stop having sex with his slave-girl. Allah ordered him to break that oath.”
“When Mohammed's wives asked why he was giving special privileges to Aisha, he justified his actions by saying that he received revelations while wearing Aisha's dress!” (I wonder if this was symbolic meaning where he put himself so to speak in her shoes?)
Mohammed's theological problems
“According to Mohammed, Allah wants people to sin, and he threatens us with annihilation if we refuse to sin.”
“Since Allah would destroy us for not sinning, the true savior of humanity, according to Islam is Satan, who tempts human beings to sin.”
“Islam teaches that Allah will punish Jews and Christians in hell for the sins of Muslims.”
Mohammed's problems with Christianity
“Islam claims to respect and honor Jesus, yet it portrays him as a complete failure.”
“Muslims believe that the Gospel has been corrupted. But according to Islam, part of the Gospel was corrupted by Allah himself.”
4. T. Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi
Rabbi Mizrachi in his video “Torah and Science” makes a few noteworthy comments on Islam. Mizrachi I've used before as a source. An Haredi Jew, sometimes rigid, he still does interesting research and has for manpower a multitude of young students to help.
In this video he has four observations about errors in the Qur'an. First, Mohammed supposedly heard from the angel Gabriel. There were no witnesses. The Qur'an says Pharaoh met with Haman, but the latter came 1000 years after the Pharaoh. Just to note, the Muslims accept the existence of Moses, the Torah received at Mt. Sinai, and holds the prophets to be divine. They just think the Jews were punished and a new prophet, Mohammed, was added to the list.
Another mistake found is that the Qur'an states the wife of pharaoh raised Moses, but it was his daughter.
Thirdly, Miriam, the sister of Moses, 3300 years ago, was claimed as Jesus Christ's mother.
Finally the land of Israel belongs only to the Jews. Palestinians named themselves after the Philistines, but they aren't. They are just Arabs. The land belongs to the Jews because of the Biblical promise.
Mizrachi's point is that the Muslims claim the infallibility of the Qur'an. He points out mistakes within it to deny this.
4. U. Bernard Lewis's Observations
Bernard Lewis is an elder writer and teacher of Oriental studies with controversial views on Islam. Some say, including Robert Spencer, his views have reversed and now negatively affect western interests. Still his decades of study can contribute to our knowledge. I'll highlight some various historical observations I've noted from Mr. Lewis from his book 'The Jews of Islam.'
He writes that Islam has no problem with monotheistic religions accepting more recent ones such as the Behair in Iran and the Ahmadiyya of India/ The latter claims Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India in 1835 was a prophet of Islam and the Messiah. The former was founded by Mirza Hoseyn Ali Nuri who was called 'the glory of God.' Both seem to threaten the exclusivity of Mohammed as the last prophet.
The Jews and Christians could carry on trade with the Muslims. Some dress codes and manners had to be observed along with proper subservience. During the Ottoman period starting in 1299 there was a Dhimma contract between Islam and other Abrahamic religions. These other religions were to be protected from mob violence and could count on support from judges and administration. When these authorities lacked power these groups were vulnerable.
Between the 10th and 13th centuries Sunni Islam had various problems with invasions from Mongols and Christians. When in a defensive mode, conformity dominated and the Jews felt pressure. At first the Muslims preferred the Christians but this changed as conflict with them increased.
Bernard Lewis makes claims that vicious antisemitism from the Arab world gained strength from the likes of Henry Ford and Karl Marx. They would read the 'Protocols of Zion,' a extremely self revealing work putting Jews in a negative light which many consider not authentic. Some concurred the holocaust as a myth and regret Nazi defeat. A professor of Hebrew in Cairo writes of Jewish people using gentile blood for ritual sacrifice and Arab writers agree. In Lebanon and Jordan hate has become more radical. To the Saudi monarchy the Jews have become the embodiment of evil. As stated the views of Bernard Lewis are controversial and recently under scrutiny. I haven't looked into it deeply enough to have any real opinions. It's just more information and data. One can google his name for more depth.
5. Summary on the religions
In essence I've presented both sides of the coin regarding these religions. I cannot read all its scriptures and research all the sources to reach my own authentic opinion. As such, I present different views and perspectives that my instincts led me too. I can say I think the best approach is to let it all in and let it sit. Time itself might ferret out what seems true. In either event, it is good to keep in mind we are not required to have a simple answer or to reach a definite conclusion. We can leave things as they are and not force it. That seems like the best approach.
11.
4. Q Qur'an\
The Qur'an itself means 'recitation.' It is the holy book of Islam describing revelations received in Mohammed's life and 'told to scribes.' 114 Suras or chapters contain verses, which are called 'perfectly arranged' but in actuality are not sequential or categorically arranged. The contents appear haphazard. The Qur'an actually consists of fragments of writings gathered after Mohammed's death from papyrus leaves, animal bones, carvings and memories from companions. Redundancy and contradictions are numerous. Often the writing makes little sense and later editing was of little help. Writings are often 'garbled' and 'incomprehensible.' Often Old Testament writings and New Testament writings are randomly injected into the texts.
The Meccan contained less violence during a period when Mohammed had little power and uses Judeo-Christian sources. Later, when he did have power, within the “Medinan' the suras become violent when forcing conversion or expulsion or death. The Qur'an for the most part consists of discussing what to with non-believers and their punishments. The authors state “the Qur'an does not contain a single original moral value. Nothing as Christianity's 'Golden Rule' can be found Love and charity are not discussed. Instead it dwells on Muhammed and his station as a prophet. The writers feel this is the Qur'an's only original idea. Grammatical, theological and scientific errors persist throughout the text and are rationalized.'
The old hardly understood Quraish dialect was supposedly spoken by Allah and used to self-justify many outlandish verses. More recent translations are heavily manipulated by the editors. If 'beat or scourge' are used in verse 4:34 it is a good indication it is not a white washed version, but closer to the Arabic. If one wants to read it the authors recommend the non-Muslim translation from CSPI (or the abridged version) or the Noble Qur'an,
4. R. Qur'an not from Allah
The site offers ten reasons why the Qur'an is not from Allah. Some have already been mentioned in other contexts. I'll mention a few here quoting the authors.
“Verse 5:3 says that the Islamic religion was “perfected” and “completed” on “this day”, yet 249 more verses follow it, including two additional suras (9 and 110).”
The Quran confuses Mary the mother of Jesus with Mary the sister of Aaron (and Moses) in sura 19. “Despite tortured apologetic, the simplest and most obvious explanation is that Mohammed was mistaken. This would also explain why the Qur'an, which he narrated, erroneously states that Christians worship the Virgin Mary as a god. (5:75, 5:116) when they never have.”
“The Qur'an tells Muslim men that they may have sex with women captured as slaves. Even worse: the passage is repeated in four different places By contrast, there is not a single verse that tells Muslims that they are to pray five times a day.”
4. S. Islam not religion of peace
The site delves into Islam's violent characteristics and here lists ten reasons why it is not a religion of peace. I'll quote a few.
18,000 deadly terror attacks committed explicit in the name of Islam in just the last ten years. (Other religions combined for perhaps a dozen or so.).
Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, had people killed for insulting him or for criticizing his religion. This is including women. Muslims are told to emulate the example of Mohammed.
Islam is the only religion that has to retain its membership by formally threatening to kill anyone who leaves. This is according to the example set by Mohammed.
Islam teaches that non-Musllims are less than fully human. Mohammed said that Muslims can be put to death for murder, but that a Muslim could never be put to death for killing a non-Muslim.
The Qur'an never once speaks of Allah's love for non-Muslims, but there are hundreds of verses that speak of Allah's cruelty toward and hatred of non-Muslims.
“Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!”
(The last words from the cockpit of Flight 93.)
Okay, as continually stated I'm presenting the information. It's to be added to the readers own base of knowledge. I am not promoting or detracting here. If not sure what the truth is, I suggest just leaving it a question. Also keep in mind this last site's authors include a few Christian fundamentalist apologists which one has to take into account Doesn't detract or add to the data, but is worth noting. The same amount of scrutiny was not available to me about Christianity. Indeed I spend so much time on Islam because the information was easy to obtain and is relevant in this era.
Interesting the site covers current events. It lists what it calls a Jihad Report for different time periods.
From July 22, 2017-July 28, 2017 there have been 44 terrorist attacks, 389 have been killed, 218 injured, 7 suicide blasts, in 14 different countries. Since 9/11 31504 deadly terror attacks have occurred. For all of July there have been 179 attacks, 1275 were killed, 931 injured, 37 suicide blasts in 24 countries.
From the first book 'What do Muslims's believe' by Ziauddin Sardar which was enlightening and hopeful and good to this last site covering aggression the whole gamut is covered.
The site likes punchy lists and statements. Here it lists 50 reasons why Muhammed was not a prophet.
I'll quote a number of them on within new subject matter.
Mohammed's spiritual problems\
“Mohammed was so traumatized by his encounter with “Gabriel” that he repeatedly tried to commit suicide by hurling himself off a cliff.”
“Islam deifies Mohammed by requiring unconditional obedience to him and by requiring Muslims to talk to him during their daily prayers.
Mohammed's trouble with violence
“Mohammed ordered his followers to torture a man named Kinana to find out where some money was hidden. Mohammed then had Kinana killed, and took his wife for himself.”
“After leaving Mecca, Mohammed supported his religion by robbing people.”
Mohammed's scientific problems
“The Qur'an claims that stars are missiles that Allah uses to shoot demons.”
“Mohammed's teachings about personal hygiene would lead to death if Muslims took them seriously.
“In the Qur'an, Allah promises to kill Muhammed by severing his aorta if Mohammed invents a false revelation. When Mohammed died, he said he could feel his aorta being severed.”
Mohammed's evidential problems
“The Qur'an contains a prophecy that wasn't fulfilled.”
“Muslims believe that the Qur'an is Allah's eternal word. Yet Allah repeatedly changes his eternal mind about his eternal word via abrogation.”
“The Qur'an allows Muslim men to beat their wives into submission.”
“After Mohammed got caught having sex with is slave girl in the bed of one of his wives, he swore that he would stop having sex with his slave-girl. Allah ordered him to break that oath.”
“When Mohammed's wives asked why he was giving special privileges to Aisha, he justified his actions by saying that he received revelations while wearing Aisha's dress!” (I wonder if this was symbolic meaning where he put himself so to speak in her shoes?)
Mohammed's theological problems
“According to Mohammed, Allah wants people to sin, and he threatens us with annihilation if we refuse to sin.”
“Since Allah would destroy us for not sinning, the true savior of humanity, according to Islam is Satan, who tempts human beings to sin.”
“Islam teaches that Allah will punish Jews and Christians in hell for the sins of Muslims.”
Mohammed's problems with Christianity
“Islam claims to respect and honor Jesus, yet it portrays him as a complete failure.”
“Muslims believe that the Gospel has been corrupted. But according to Islam, part of the Gospel was corrupted by Allah himself.”
4. T. Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi
Rabbi Mizrachi in his video “Torah and Science” makes a few noteworthy comments on Islam. Mizrachi I've used before as a source. An Haredi Jew, sometimes rigid, he still does interesting research and has for manpower a multitude of young students to help.
In this video he has four observations about errors in the Qur'an. First, Mohammed supposedly heard from the angel Gabriel. There were no witnesses. The Qur'an says Pharaoh met with Haman, but the latter came 1000 years after the Pharaoh. Just to note, the Muslims accept the existence of Moses, the Torah received at Mt. Sinai, and holds the prophets to be divine. They just think the Jews were punished and a new prophet, Mohammed, was added to the list.
Another mistake found is that the Qur'an states the wife of pharaoh raised Moses, but it was his daughter.
Thirdly, Miriam, the sister of Moses, 3300 years ago, was claimed as Jesus Christ's mother.
Finally the land of Israel belongs only to the Jews. Palestinians named themselves after the Philistines, but they aren't. They are just Arabs. The land belongs to the Jews because of the Biblical promise.
Mizrachi's point is that the Muslims claim the infallibility of the Qur'an. He points out mistakes within it to deny this.
4. U. Bernard Lewis's Observations
Bernard Lewis is an elder writer and teacher of Oriental studies with controversial views on Islam. Some say, including Robert Spencer, his views have reversed and now negatively affect western interests. Still his decades of study can contribute to our knowledge. I'll highlight some various historical observations I've noted from Mr. Lewis from his book 'The Jews of Islam.'
He writes that Islam has no problem with monotheistic religions accepting more recent ones such as the Behair in Iran and the Ahmadiyya of India/ The latter claims Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India in 1835 was a prophet of Islam and the Messiah. The former was founded by Mirza Hoseyn Ali Nuri who was called 'the glory of God.' Both seem to threaten the exclusivity of Mohammed as the last prophet.
The Jews and Christians could carry on trade with the Muslims. Some dress codes and manners had to be observed along with proper subservience. During the Ottoman period starting in 1299 there was a Dhimma contract between Islam and other Abrahamic religions. These other religions were to be protected from mob violence and could count on support from judges and administration. When these authorities lacked power these groups were vulnerable.
Between the 10th and 13th centuries Sunni Islam had various problems with invasions from Mongols and Christians. When in a defensive mode, conformity dominated and the Jews felt pressure. At first the Muslims preferred the Christians but this changed as conflict with them increased.
Bernard Lewis makes claims that vicious antisemitism from the Arab world gained strength from the likes of Henry Ford and Karl Marx. They would read the 'Protocols of Zion,' a extremely self revealing work putting Jews in a negative light which many consider not authentic. Some concurred the holocaust as a myth and regret Nazi defeat. A professor of Hebrew in Cairo writes of Jewish people using gentile blood for ritual sacrifice and Arab writers agree. In Lebanon and Jordan hate has become more radical. To the Saudi monarchy the Jews have become the embodiment of evil. As stated the views of Bernard Lewis are controversial and recently under scrutiny. I haven't looked into it deeply enough to have any real opinions. It's just more information and data. One can google his name for more depth.
5. Summary on the religions
In essence I've presented both sides of the coin regarding these religions. I cannot read all its scriptures and research all the sources to reach my own authentic opinion. As such, I present different views and perspectives that my instincts led me too. I can say I think the best approach is to let it all in and let it sit. Time itself might ferret out what seems true. In either event, it is good to keep in mind we are not required to have a simple answer or to reach a definite conclusion. We can leave things as they are and not force it. That seems like the best approach.
4. Q Qur'an\
The Qur'an itself means 'recitation.' It is the holy book of Islam describing revelations received in Mohammed's life and 'told to scribes.' 114 Suras or chapters contain verses, which are called 'perfectly arranged' but in actuality are not sequential or categorically arranged. The contents appear haphazard. The Qur'an actually consists of fragments of writings gathered after Mohammed's death from papyrus leaves, animal bones, carvings and memories from companions. Redundancy and contradictions are numerous. Often the writing makes little sense and later editing was of little help. Writings are often 'garbled' and 'incomprehensible.' Often Old Testament writings and New Testament writings are randomly injected into the texts.
The Meccan contained less violence during a period when Mohammed had little power and uses Judeo-Christian sources. Later, when he did have power, within the “Medinan' the suras become violent when forcing conversion or expulsion or death. The Qur'an for the most part consists of discussing what to with non-believers and their punishments. The authors state “the Qur'an does not contain a single original moral value. Nothing as Christianity's 'Golden Rule' can be found Love and charity are not discussed. Instead it dwells on Muhammed and his station as a prophet. The writers feel this is the Qur'an's only original idea. Grammatical, theological and scientific errors persist throughout the text and are rationalized.'
The old hardly understood Quraish dialect was supposedly spoken by Allah and used to self-justify many outlandish verses. More recent translations are heavily manipulated by the editors. If 'beat or scourge' are used in verse 4:34 it is a good indication it is not a white washed version, but closer to the Arabic. If one wants to read it the authors recommend the non-Muslim translation from CSPI (or the abridged version) or the Noble Qur'an,
4. R. Qur'an not from Allah
The site offers ten reasons why the Qur'an is not from Allah. Some have already been mentioned in other contexts. I'll mention a few here quoting the authors.
“Verse 5:3 says that the Islamic religion was “perfected” and “completed” on “this day”, yet 249 more verses follow it, including two additional suras (9 and 110).”
The Quran confuses Mary the mother of Jesus with Mary the sister of Aaron (and Moses) in sura 19. “Despite tortured apologetic, the simplest and most obvious explanation is that Mohammed was mistaken. This would also explain why the Qur'an, which he narrated, erroneously states that Christians worship the Virgin Mary as a god. (5:75, 5:116) when they never have.”
“The Qur'an tells Muslim men that they may have sex with women captured as slaves. Even worse: the passage is repeated in four different places By contrast, there is not a single verse that tells Muslims that they are to pray five times a day.”
4. S. Islam not religion of peace
The site delves into Islam's violent characteristics and here lists ten reasons why it is not a religion of peace. I'll quote a few.
18,000 deadly terror attacks committed explicit in the name of Islam in just the last ten years. (Other religions combined for perhaps a dozen or so.).
Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, had people killed for insulting him or for criticizing his religion. This is including women. Muslims are told to emulate the example of Mohammed.
Islam is the only religion that has to retain its membership by formally threatening to kill anyone who leaves. This is according to the example set by Mohammed.
Islam teaches that non-Musllims are less than fully human. Mohammed said that Muslims can be put to death for murder, but that a Muslim could never be put to death for killing a non-Muslim.
The Qur'an never once speaks of Allah's love for non-Muslims, but there are hundreds of verses that speak of Allah's cruelty toward and hatred of non-Muslims.
“Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!”
(The last words from the cockpit of Flight 93.)
Okay, as continually stated I'm presenting the information. It's to be added to the readers own base of knowledge. I am not promoting or detracting here. If not sure what the truth is, I suggest just leaving it a question. Also keep in mind this last site's authors include a few Christian fundamentalist apologists which one has to take into account Doesn't detract or add to the data, but is worth noting. The same amount of scrutiny was not available to me about Christianity. Indeed I spend so much time on Islam because the information was easy to obtain and is relevant in this era.
Interesting the site covers current events. It lists what it calls a Jihad Report for different time periods.
From July 22, 2017-July 28, 2017 there have been 44 terrorist attacks, 389 have been killed, 218 injured, 7 suicide blasts, in 14 different countries. Since 9/11 31504 deadly terror attacks have occurred. For all of July there have been 179 attacks, 1275 were killed, 931 injured, 37 suicide blasts in 24 countries.
From the first book 'What do Muslims's believe' by Ziauddin Sardar which was enlightening and hopeful and good to this last site covering aggression the whole gamut is covered.
The site likes punchy lists and statements. Here it lists 50 reasons why Muhammed was not a prophet.
I'll quote a number of them on within new subject matter.
Mohammed's spiritual problems
“Mohammed was so traumatized by his encounter with “Gabriel” that he repeatedly tried to commit suicide by hurling himself off a cliff.”
“Islam deifies Mohammed by requiring unconditional obedience to him and by requiring Muslims to talk to him during their daily prayers.
Mohammed's trouble with violence
“Mohammed ordered his followers to torture a man named Kinana to find out where some money was hidden. Mohammed then had Kinana killed, and took his wife for himself.”
“After leaving Mecca, Mohammed supported his religion by robbing people.”
Mohammed's scientific problems
“The Qur'an claims that stars are missiles that Allah uses to shoot demons.”
“Mohammed's teachings about personal hygiene would lead to death if Muslims took them seriously.
“In the Qur'an, Allah promises to kill Muhammed by severing his aorta if Mohammed invents a false revelation. When Mohammed died, he said he could feel his aorta being severed.”
Mohammed's evidential problems
“The Qur'an contains a prophecy that wasn't fulfilled.”
“Muslims believe that the Qur'an is Allah's eternal word. Yet Allah repeatedly changes his eternal mind about his eternal word via abrogation.”
“The Qur'an allows Muslim men to beat their wives into submission.”
“After Mohammed got caught having sex with is slave girl in the bed of one of his wives, he swore that he would stop having sex with his slave-girl. Allah ordered him to break that oath.”
“When Mohammed's wives asked why he was giving special privileges to Aisha, he justified his actions by saying that he received revelations while wearing Aisha's dress!” (I wonder if this was symbolic meaning where he put himself so to speak in her shoes?)
Mohammed's theological problems
“According to Mohammed, Allah wants people to sin, and he threatens us with annihilation if we refuse to sin.”
“Since Allah would destroy us for not sinning, the true savior of humanity, according to Islam is Satan, who tempts human beings to sin.”
“Islam teaches that Allah will punish Jews and Christians in hell for the sins of Muslims.”
Mohammed's problems with Christianity
“Islam claims to respect and honor Jesus, yet it portrays him as a complete failure.”
“Muslims believe that the Gospel has been corrupted. But according to Islam, part of the Gospel was corrupted by Allah himself.”
4. T. Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi
Rabbi Mizrachi in his video “Torah and Science” makes a few noteworthy comments on Islam. Mizrachi I've used before as a source. An Haredi Jew, sometimes rigid, he still does interesting research and has for manpower a multitude of young students to help.
In this video he has four observations about errors in the Qur'an. First, Mohammed supposedly heard from the angel Gabriel. There were no witnesses. The Qur'an says Pharaoh met with Haman, but the latter came 1000 years after the Pharaoh. Just to note, the Muslims accept the existence of Moses, the Torah received at Mt. Sinai, and holds the prophets to be divine. They just think the Jews were punished and a new prophet, Mohammed, was added to the list.
Another mistake found is that the Qur'an states the wife of pharaoh raised Moses, but it was his daughter.
Thirdly, Miriam, the sister of Moses, 3300 years ago, was claimed as Jesus Christ's mother.
Finally the land of Israel belongs only to the Jews. Palestinians named themselves after the Philistines, but they aren't. They are just Arabs. The land belongs to the Jews because of the Biblical promise.
Mizrachi's point is that the Muslims claim the infallibility of the Qur'an. He points out mistakes within it to deny this.
4. U. Bernard Lewis's Observations
Bernard Lewis is an elder writer and teacher of Oriental studies with controversial views on Islam. Some say, including Robert Spencer, his views have reversed and now negatively affect western interests. Still his decades of study can contribute to our knowledge. I'll highlight some various historical observations I've noted from Mr. Lewis from his book 'The Jews of Islam.'
He writes that Islam has no problem with monotheistic religions accepting more recent ones such as the Behair in Iran and the Ahmadiyya of India/ The latter claims Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India in 1835 was a prophet of Islam and the Messiah. The former was founded by Mirza Hoseyn Ali Nuri who was called 'the glory of God.' Both seem to threaten the exclusivity of Mohammed as the last prophet.
The Jews and Christians could carry on trade with the Muslims. Some dress codes and manners had to be observed along with proper subservience. During the Ottoman period starting in 1299 there was a Dhimma contract between Islam and other Abrahamic religions. These other religions were to be protected from mob violence and could count on support from judges and administration. When these authorities lacked power these groups were vulnerable.
Between the 10th and 13th centuries Sunni Islam had various problems with invasions from Mongols and Christians. When in a defensive mode, conformity dominated and the Jews felt pressure. At first the Muslims preferred the Christians but this changed as conflict with them increased.
Bernard Lewis makes claims that vicious antisemitism from the Arab world gained strength from the likes of Henry Ford and Karl Marx. They would read the 'Protocols of Zion,' a extremely self revealing work putting Jews in a negative light which many consider not authentic. Some concurred the holocaust as a myth and regret Nazi defeat. A professor of Hebrew in Cairo writes of Jewish people using gentile blood for ritual sacrifice and Arab writers agree. In Lebanon and Jordan hate has become more radical. To the Saudi monarchy the Jews have become the embodiment of evil. As stated the views of Bernard Lewis are controversial and recently under scrutiny. I haven't looked into it deeply enough to have any real opinions. It's just more information and data. One can google his name for more depth.
5. Summary on the religions
In essence I've presented both sides of the coin regarding these religions. I cannot read all its scriptures and research all the sources to reach my own authentic opinion. As such, I present different views and perspectives that my instincts led me too. I can say I think the best approach is to let it all in and let it sit. Time itself might ferret out what seems true. In either event, it is good to keep in mind we are not required to have a simple answer or to reach a definite conclusion. We can leave things as they are and not force it. That seems like the best approach.