The following pages have been added newly or substantially revised during the year 2009 at the following dates:
December 23, 2009
The Great Christmas Crime explores the true meaning
of Christmas. Since Muslims occasionally attack Christianity with the charge that Christmas has
pagan origins, we reproduce an older article examining this question in greater detail:
Christmas: Pagan Festival or Christian Celebration? Jacob Thomas reviews
a new book: Journeys into the Heart and Heartland of Islam:
Victims Speak Out.
December 12, 2009
Submitted to a Medieval Forgery by Masud Masihiyyen
examines the reasons why many Muslims believe in and cling to the "Gospel of Barnabas" although it is proven
to be late and fake. The Prophet and the Prophets is
an appendix supplementing the series "Do Not Be Afraid Of Him"
in which Anthony Rogers provides a careful exegesis of Deuteronomy 18, the primary passage abused by Muslims
for finding Muhammad in the Bible. Dayton Hartman takes another look at aspects of Muslim misunderstandings
of the Trinity: Did Muhammad Deny the Trinity or Paganism?
Sam Shamoun contributes two christological papers: (1) Revisiting the Issue of Jesus Receiving
the Divine Name According to Philippians 2:9 (Part 1,
Part 2, Excursus),
and (2) Binitarianism in the Book of Isaiah,
and takes a closer look at the Islamic background of the Fort Hood shooting: Analyzing the Actions
of Major Nidal Malik Hasan (Part 1,
Part 2). Finally,
Fort Hood in light of the Quran by
Nakdimon is an open letter to CNN regarding one of their publications on the Fort Hood massacre.
November 14, 2009
Jacob Thomas comments on the Fort Hood massacre in The Consequences
of America’s Failure to Understand Islam. Sam Shamoun answers to Bassam Zawadi's recent series of articles:
The Deity of Christ in light of His Enthronement
[Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3] and
Muhammad on the Divine Throne.
November 9, 2009
Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (*).
Towers, walls and fortresses can be means of protection, but they can also used for oppression by unjustly
imprisoning people, robbing them of their freedom. On the German "9.11.", or "11-9" in American notation,
i.e. the mirror date of 9-11, millions of people who had been imprisoned all their lives because they were
born into this physical and ideological prison, gained freedom for the first time. The destruction of
the World Trade Towers on 9-11 caused the death of thousands of people. The destruction of the Berlin Wall,
the border towers, the removal of the deadly mine fields, etc. meant liberation; not only the freedom
to travel, but also genuine freedom to be critical of the ruling ideology, freedom of speech and freedom
of religion.
Today's update is about demolishing towers that imprison people and about gaining the freedom to think critically and independently. The edifice of hundreds of alleged "miracles of the Qur'an" is one such strong tower that intellectually imprisons Muslims in Islam. The scientific "Miracle of Iron" and the historical "Miracle of Haman" are two of the most prominent among those miracles that have been fabricated by Muslim apologists to dazzle and shackle Muslim minds. 11-9 is an appropriate date for publishing articles which may open eyes and thus help Muslims to gain the freedom to start thinking independently from what their leaders tell them to think.
(1) The Haman Hoax by Jochen Katz is a comprehensive rebuttal series to the three versions of this argument as created by Maurice Bucaille, Islamic Awareness and Harun Yahya including several appendices with detailed background information (Who was Haman according to the Qur'an?, The similarities between Haman in the Bible and Haman in the Qur'an, The full inscription of "Haman's" door post, etc.). Associated with it, Amazing Qur’an or Amazing Gullibility? exposes various contradictions between several of Harun Yahya's articles on quranic statements about Egypt. (2) A Fortress of Iron or a Castle of Sand? by Masud Masihiyyen carefully examines the "Miracle of Iron" as propagated by Harun Yahya. Not to be outdone, Osama Abdallah also wanted to make some contribution to this miracle: Pondering the concept of “the Middle of the Qur’an”. The entries IRON and TOWER were added to the Index to Islam. Before one can build a tower, one needs a good foundation. Bassam Khoury's article The Impossibility of the Revelation of the Qur'an looks at that foundation and finds it wanting. Two former Muslims tell their story of searching for the truth and freedom: Fatimah's Testimony and Finding the Last Adam by Khaled.
November 4, 2009
We continue our rebuttal series to Ibn Anwar with two articles by Nakdimon:
(1) A Trinity of abused texts
by a Tawheedist responding to Ibn Anwar's argument "God is not a man = Jesus is not God"
and (2) Eved Adonai –
The Servant of the Lord: The clear reference to Yeshua haMashiach in Isaiah 53.
Sam Shamoun contributes four articles providing further evidence for the Deity of Christ:
(1) The Significance of Jesus’ Name in Acts,
(2) The Inter-Testamental
Jewish Literature and the Deity of the Lord Jesus [Part 3],
(3) Jesus and the Criteria for Deity,
and (4) an Addendum: A Critique of
James D. G. Dunn’s Assessment of Paul’s Worship of Christ.
Jacob Thomas again translates from an article by a reformist Algerian author:
Islam & the Decline of the West.
In the section on The Text of the Qur'an
we added a file with a small List of differences
between the Warsh and Hafs readings of the Qur'an and an off-site link to
Studies
in Two Transmissions Of The Qur'an by Adrian A Brockett. Finally, an article showing
human influence on the Qur'an: A blind man
reminds Muhammad and corrects the Qur’an by Rafael and, in order to provide some
background information for this last article, an entry on Muhammad's blind companion
Ibn Umm Maktum was added to our
Index to Islam.
October 18, 2009
Critics of the Bible often refer to the two seemingly contradicting accounts of the death
of Judas in Matthew 27 and Acts 1. Masud Masihiyyen carefully analyses the two passages in
Judas Iscariot: One Man & Two Prophecies in Jeremiah.
Mutee’a Al-Fadi asks: Can a Muslim have Hope in Allah’s Salvation?
Jacob Thomas translates from and comments on an article by a reformist Muslim author:
The Absence of Freedom in the Lands Governed by Sharia.
Bart Ehrman has become a favorite of a number of Muslim polemicists because of his critical
writings about the Bible. Bart Ehrman:
A Hero for Islam? by Keith Thompson shows that Ehrman's writings are not quite as helpful
to the cause of Islam as some are wont to imagine. Dallas Roark responds to a question sent to him
by email: Is there Jihad in the Old Testament?
Then we have a number of rebuttals to various Muslim authors. Nakdimon discusses claims by
Osama Abdallah: Exchange
about alleged mistranslations of Isaiah 53 and the Quranic error about Ezra in Surah 9:30.
Anthony Rogers contributes two rebuttals to Sami Zaatari's website:
(1) Silencing A Muslim
Dawagandist is a refutation of Sami Zaatari’s “Jesus and Isaiah 53” and (2)
A Lie Upon God?
answers Ibn Anwar’s anti-Trinitarian “Examination of Mark 12:29-34”.
Did Jesus teach us to hate? is another
rebuttal to Ibn Anwar by Raphael Princ. Finally, Jochen Katz takes a look at some of Ibn Anwar's
language blunders in The Likeness
of a Donkey Carrying Books? In fact, Ibn Anwar may want to mark this day in his diary as
a significant step to future fame since today he was awarded his own section on Answering Islam
under the title Rebuttals to Ibn Anwar.
Finally, an entry on Muslim Population Figures
was added to the Index to Islam.
September 11, 2009
Today we remember the thousands of victims who died in the 9-11 terror attack on the World Trade
Center towers, without forgetting those further victims of the hundreds of additional Muslim
terror attacks throughout the world (Madrid, London, Beslan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria etc.)
that took place in recent years. We want to point to Jesus, the only hope for mankind in this life
and the life to come. Therefore, we present two articles on the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ:
Yahweh – Our Kinsman Redeemer Has Come!
and Examining the Deity of the Lord Jesus
in light of the theology of Psalms.
September 2, 2009
Masud Masihiyyen shows why the quranic account of the Crucifixion is an
Immature Resurrection of Gnosticism in Islam.
Sam Shamoun answers a couple of Muslim attacks on Christian doctrine:
Jesus Forgiving Sins In Light of the Lord's Prayer
and The Lord Jesus Christ – The God-man
who saves perfectly and to the uttermost! with a second part that applies the reasoning to Islam:
Muhammad – The Curse of Muslims.
Dallas Roark reflects on a list of alleged Top Ten
Misconceptions about Islam and gives some sample correspondence with readers of his articles:
Correspondence with a Muslim and
Correspondence with a Muslimah.
August 22, 2009
Muslims try to undermine the necessity of Jesus' atoning death on the Cross
by questioning the necessity of sacrifices with reference to the Old Testament:
I Desire Mercy Not Sacrifice? –
What The OT Really Teaches Concerning Vicarious Sacrifices. Then, we provide more answers
to and reflections on various Muslim attacks on the Trinitarian understanding of God:
(1) The Plural of Majesty:
Allah is Neither Plural nor Majestic by Anthony Rogers.
(2) Yeshua (Jesus) – the Name above all names!,
(3) God's Uniplurality
and the Cohortative Mood, and (4) Reexamining the context of Mark 12:28-34 in light of
Trinitarian Beliefs [Part 1,
Part 2] by Sam Shamoun.
Jochen Katz provides careful discussions on three more topics from the "Qur'an and Science" department:
(1) Does the Qur'an Speak about Atoms?
is the foundational linguistic analysis,
(2) Subatomic Particles Revealed in the Qur'an?
responds to a specific "scientific miracle" claims by Harun Yahya, Zakir Naik and others, and finally,
(3) The "Water is needed for life to exist"
Miracle in the Qur'an examines another product from Osama Abdallah's "Miracle Faketory".
Sam Shamoun issues a new Challenge to the Muslims Concerning the Quran
[Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3,
Excursus],
and examines The Kabah - The Great Idol of Islam
[Part 1, Part 2].
Jacob Thomas translates from and comments upon an article that was published by the Arabic newspaper Awan:
“Anyone Who Claims that Jihad Does Not Originate from Religion
(Islam) Is Lying!” Finally, an Open Letter to Saudi Muslims
by Dallas Roark.
July 24, 2009
Searching for the True Religion?
by Dallas Roark is an examination of Dr. Adel Elsaie's eight criteria for evaluating a religion.
Do Not Be Afraid of Him – Part II and
The True Shahada: Defended [Part 3]
by Anthony Rogers. Sam Shamoun exposes further
Problems with the Islamic Shahadah
and discusses another theological oddity in Islam: Satan:
A Co-Occupier of Allah’s Throne or Allah in Disguise? He presents three papers on the deity and incarnation of Jesus:
The Testimony of the Hebrew Bible concerning God becoming a man,
The Deity of Christ in light of Jesus’ I AM Statements,
An I AM saying in the earliest Gospel. Finally,
a rebuttal to a Muslim polemic: The Lord
Jesus Christ the Bright Morning Star Versus Allah the Greatest Deceiver of them all.
In the "Quran and Science" department we have two more rebuttals to Harun Yahya:
Land Loss at the Extremities? and
Harun Yahya's "Science" Fiction
(Or: How many more points of sunrise are necessary for enlightenment?) Bassam Madany reports about a Muslim
reformist author: Toward a Tanweeri (Enlightened) Hermeneutics of the Qur’an
and An Example of the New “Enlightened” Hermeneutics of the Qur’an.
Roland Clarke substantially revised two of his articles: The Mystery
of Abraham's Sacrifice and Peace and Hospitality.
July 4, 2009
Surah 19, verses 2 to 35 contains annunciation and birth stories of John and Jesus,
quranic version. Masud Masihiyyen carefully examines this passage and identifies the sources
for various ideas and (often strange) details contained in those verses:
Surah Mariam: The Curse of the Apocrypha.
Dallas Roark raises the question, Is Islam Rational?
Keith Thompson ponders Would Jesus Approve of Muhammad?
and exposes Sami Zaatari's
Crucial Mistake On John 1:14. Sam Shamoun examines John 1:1
In Light of Jehovah Witness Doctrine, and presents a number of rebuttals:
Jesus as the Way, and the Truth,
and the Life replies to Zakir Naik’s "Explanation" of John 14:6,
Revisiting the issue of Jesus’ Lordship
in the Quran answers Bassam Zawadi, and Examining Jerald F. Dirks’ Presuppositions
and Theological Beliefs In Light of the Teachings of Islam
(Part 1,
Part 2). And
More Examples of Muhammad’s Blatant Violation of Tauhid.
Lessons from the past: The Intolerable Life of Dhimmis
In 19th Century Damascus by Jacob Thomas. Could the past also become the future? On US Independence
Day it is certainly relevant to ponder what happened at the Arab Festival in Dearborn about two weeks ago:
Sharia
Comes to Dearborn, Michigan (Answering Muslims blog) and
Dearborn Silences Arab Christians
(FrontPage Magazin). Finally, Wildcat discusses
Miscellaneous Issues in NT Textual Criticism.
June 18, 2009
The Swedish language section of Answering Islam starts
with a bang: More than 160 articles expounding on the Christian faith and on Islam. A new team has
taken over the development of the Turkish language section and,
after having been stagnant for several years, this section started afresh last week with plenty of
new material.
June 10, 2009
Masud Masihiyyen starts a series of rebuttals to claims by Harun Yahya. The first installment
deals with two alleged scientific miracles in the Qur'an:
The Qur'an as the Miraculous Source
of the Erroneous Islamic Science on the sequence of the development of the organs in the human embryo
and Sub-Atomic Particles Mentioned in the Qur'an?
Roland Clarke's Joseph: From Prison
to Prominence looks at some of the amazing similarities between the life of Joseph and Jesus the Messiah.
Sam Shamoun presents two more articles on the deity of Jesus according to the Bible:
(1) The Son of Man as the Son of David,
(2) The Christology of Luke-Acts:
Additional Evidence for the absolute Deity of Christ, two rebuttals to Jerald F. Dirks:
(1) Jesus Christ – God’s Eternal Son or Adopted Son of God?,
(2) The Quranic understanding
of historic Christian theology, an Addendum
to the second part of his rebuttal to Sami Zaatari
on the issue of Tauhid, and in his final article, Islam
and the prayers of Allah, he examines another strange issue in Islamic theology. Rev. Bassam Madany
brings to our attention Jacques Ellul’s View of Islam
& Dhimmitude. A day after the Cairo Speech, a short index entry was added on
Barack Obama and Islam, listing various articles
analyzing the Ankara Speech and the Cairo Speech of the new President of the USA.
May 20, 2009
A Hoax and its Paradoxes:
The Cruci-fiction of the Qur’an by Masud Masihiyyen.
Tears between Muhammad and Jesus
by M. Rafiqul-Haqq and P. Newton.
The Law of Apostasy in Islam Must Change
by Bassam Madany. Khadija Butt shares her testimony
of conversion. Sam Shamoun examines the question,
Is Allah truly eternal and absolutely self-sufficient?
(on the problem of Islamic monotheism and the issue of inheritance),
contributes a rebuttal to Dr. Jerald F. Dirks:
More than a prophet
(on the nature and status of Jesus), and a two part rebuttal to Sami Zaatari:
Revisiting the Problem of Islamic Monotheism
[Part 1,
Part 2].
May 7, 2009
Anthony Rogers answers to a Muslim reply to his article: The True Shahada: Defended
[Part 1,
Part 2]. Keith Thompson
looks at Heaven vs Jannah: Assessing the Dilemma.
Sam Shamoun contributes Examining the Trinitarian Implications of Isaiah 48:16
[Part 1,
Part 2]
and An Analysis of a Dialogue between Bassam Zawadi versus Thabiti Anyabwile
[Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3].
Jochen Katz added a second appendix to Who are
those messengers that were rejected by Noah's people? examining Osama Abdallah's
hotfix reaction to this article.
April 30, 2009
The Only True God by Rafique, as well as a short
examination of the so-called Gospel of Barnabas by
the same author. Roland Clarke ponders the role of song and music in the worship of God:
Singing the Praises of God. Sam Shamoun
provides More Evidence that
Paul thought of Jesus as God; Jesus Christ –
The God who gathers his people is Part 2 in his series on The Inter-Testamental Jewish
Literature and the Deity of the Lord Jesus. Then some rebuttals to various Muslim authors:
(1) Bassam Zawadi: Ibn
Qayyim al-Jawziyyah and the Text of the Torah Revisited, (2) Jalal Abualrub:
The Quran confirms – The Two Testaments of the Holy Bible Are the Torah and Injil!
(Part 1,
Part 2), and
Reexamining
Muhammad’s Cross-Dressing, (3) Sami Zaatari:
Revisiting the Issue of
Jesus' Subjection to the Father, (4) Who are
those messengers that were rejected by Noah's people? responds to Osama Abdallah's latest attempt
to explain away a certain quranic error. Was the Torah
given for guiding the Egyptians? makes some observations on an incoherent passage in the Qur'an.
“Why the Multiplicity of Mosques?” and
Reflections on the Flawed Historiography
of President Barack Obama by Jacob Thomas. Finally, an entry on Islamic Banking or Shariah
compliant FINANCE institutions was added to the Index
to Islam as well as a short list of Arabic-English
Dictionaries.
April 9, 2009
Missing Cross: Muslim Loss ponders the Crucifixion
of Jesus. A link to Resources
For Easter (a comprehensive list of articles answering to various objections) was added to
the Index, entry "EASTER".
Adoption by Adaption by Masud Masihiyyen
analyzes the interrelationship between the stories of Moses and Joseph in their quranic version.
One of the major errors in the story of Moses and Pharaoh is the teaching that Egypt is
the promised land of the Children of Israel (see our earlier article,
Israel, the Quran and the Promised Land).
A possible explanation for this error is provided in a new section of the article,
I AM all the prophets.
Then there is a new article in the section on Qur'an contradictions:
Sexy Fruits? examines a statement in the Qur'an
which is claimed to be a scientific miracle but turns out to be utterly wrong on scientific
grounds. Sixty Years of Lost Opportunities:
A Critique of the Arabs’ Refusal to Normalize Relations with Israel by Jacob Thomas.
April 1, 2009
Masud shares his testimony of conversion and his
first article, Noah’s Ark Or Noah’s Steamboat?,
is appropriately published on April Fools' Day. Since Ahmed Deedat has also fooled too many
people for too long, Samuel Green greatly expanded his article examining Ahmed Deedat's publications:
Another Choice: The Teaching of Ahmed Deedat. Dallas Roark asks
the question, Is there honor in honor killings?
Jacob Thomas informs about New Light on Slavery in the Islamic World.
Roland Clarke presents a meditation on the central issue of Loving God.
Sam Shamoun continues to explore the Old Testament and other Jewish writings as background for understanding
Jesus' claim to deity: Divine Encounters of the OT –
The book of Daniel’s witness to God’s Uniplurality, Early Jewish Monotheism and Divine Plurality
(Part 1,
Part 2).
In the series, The Messiah in the Jewish Traditions, he adds Part 3:
The Witness of the Old Greek Version of the Hebrew Bible (LXX)
and an Appendix: The Witness of Christian Apologist Justin Martyr.
Finally, two new Qur'an contradictions: What were jinn created from?,
Allah's forgotten creatures, and an update
to an old contradiction article, Everything in Pairs?
March 11, 2009
We start with two papers examining the trustworthiness of the text of the Bible and the Qur'an:
New Testament Textual Criticism and
the True Significance of the Variants by Wildcat and Sam Shamoun gives an overview on
The Compilation of the Qur'an. An addition
to the classical library: The Setting of the Crescent
and the Rising of the Cross is a detailed account on the life story of Kamil Abdul Messiah,
a Muslim convert at the end of the 19th century. [For those who prefer to skip the Foreword, Preface,
and Introduction, the story itself begins here.]
Rev. Bassam Madany reflects on lessons from this book in
The Missiology of Kamil Abdul Messiah,
A Syrian Convert from Islam to Christianity. Roland Clarke's article,
Homeward Bound, speaks
about our desire to "return home" into an intimate fellowship with God. And he offers thoughts on
Peace, Abraham
and Hospitality. In a new addition to the series of answers to common questions, Sam Shamoun
clarifies the relationship between Jesus' Rule
and the Father's Authority. Then he examines statements in the Qur'an and ahadith that conflict
with the Islamic doctrine of Tauhid: Does the Quran
really enjoin fearing Allah alone? and Is Allah
the only sovereign or isn’t he?, ponders Jesus Christ
– An Essential Pillar of Islamic Monotheism, and presents a two part rebuttal to Jalal Abualrub on
The Human Origin of Muhammad’s Legislation [Part 1],
[Part 2]. Further rebuttals:
Of Kings and Paupers
answers to Bassam Zawadi's attempt of rescuing the Qur'an from a historical error in S. 5:20,
and Say Not Three Gods
exposes Sami Zaatari's poor polemic against the Trinity. Then we offer two detailed articles in
the section on the history of relationships between Muslims and Christians:
The Process of Islamization in Egypt and
A Survey of Byzantine Responses to Islam.
Finally, one week ago, we launched a new language section on Answering Islam:
Amharic, the main language of Ethiopia, a country
in which nearly half of the population are Muslims.
February 14, 2009
Hear, O Muslims! by Anthony Rogers is a comparison
and contrast of the Shema and the Shahada. Sam Shamoun revisits the matter of Pauline Christology
by providing a thorough exegesis of Romans 9:5 in
Jesus Christ – He who is over all, God blessed forever! [Part 1]
and Jesus Christ – He who is over all, God blessed forever! [Part 2]
and his exegesis of Psalm 45, The God who reigns forever,
presents more prophetic hints to the Deity of the Messiah. Allah
– the creator of all things? ponders problems raised by the uncreatedness of Allah's throne.
Jesus and Tauhid: An examination of NT Christology
in relation to Islamic monotheism, and he gives
A Brief
Analysis and Reply to the James White versus Sami Zaatari Debate.
Two brothers share their testimony of conversion:
How Did I Come to Know Jesus Christ?
by Ibrahim from Kosovo and Called to a higher purpose
by Azad, a Kurdish Iraqi. Rev. Bassam Madany reflects on reports that many
Algerians Alienated from Islam
Are Turning to Christ. Dallas Roark asks, Does
the Qur’an have a revelation from God? Cornelius takes another look at the question
Was Muhammad the Prophet like unto Moses?
Another pivotal claim of Islam, Did Abraham Build the Kaaba?,
is examined by Jesse Toler, and his article
Who Are the People of God?
answers a polemic by Osama Abdallah. The Onerous Rules
and Regulations Imposed on the People of the Book by Jacob Thomas, and finally,
From Poison Save Us
is an answer to a Muslim objection to Roland Clarke's earlier article
A Dialog about the One True God.
January 21, 2009
Since our last update announcement, we published Oskar's
New Year’s Reflections: Good Enough for Paradise? and
Gaza: No Justice - No peace! Know Justice – Know Peace!
Roland Clarke has one new article, Timeless Truth
Encrypted in Ancient Wisdom, and updated Nearing the End?,
The Mystery of Abraham's Sacrifice and
The Cornerstone: Muhammad or Jesus? Sam Shamoun
contributed a whole series of in-depth studies on the Deity of Jesus:
The Lord Jesus Christ – The Divine Recipient of Worship,
What did the Apostle Peter really believe about Jesus?,
Carmen Christi: Worshiping Christ as God,
Yahweh is one, Yahweh alone:
Examining the Deity of Christ in light of the Divine Name,
The Gods of Israel have come down to save!, and
The Glory of Yahweh and the Exaltation of the Suffering Servant
presents more proof for the Deity of Christ from the prophetic book of Isaiah.
Several authors take a look at a number of historical and social issues:
What was and what might have been – The "Golden Age" of Harun Al-Rashid
by Paul Stenhouse, Islam and the suffering of women by Dallas Roark,
and Concerning a New Definition of Non-Muslims
by Jacob Thomas. Already a day before Christmas Eve, we published
The Desperate Plight
of Iraqi Christians by Rev. Bassam Madany.
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