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Islamic Terrorism: Silas' Answer to A. Meherally
Answer to A. Meherally's reaction to my paper on
Islamic Terrorism
by Silas
Previously I had no intention to responding to Meherally’s "response"
to my article on Islamic terrorism written about 3 years ago.
Meherally’s so called "response" is poor, and of its own
merit does not deserve a reply from me. However, a close fellow Christian has asked me to
write a short answer to Meherally’s work. And so I shall. I will not address every
question Meherally raises, I will not respond to all of his points. A reader of average
intelligence and analytical skills will be able to see the lack of actual "response
content" in Meherally’s work and understand that just because someone puts
something on paper is not reason in and of itself to warrant a reply.
I also point the reader to a more recent, and much more thorough, article I’ve
written on Islamic terrorism and violence, titled America, Islam, Jihad, and Terrorism
OVERVIEW
I’ve gone through Meherally’s article a couple of times. I have
not analyzed every paragraph in detail, but, I noticed that what Meherally calls a
"response" is anything but. It is more a polemic and personal attack towards me
than a response to the material in my article. Why did Meherally fail to actually address
the points I raise in my article? Why did Meherally fail to examine Muhammad’s
cruelties that I present?
Actually, you’ve got to feel some sympathy for Meherally. He has the
unenviable task of trying to defend an evil religion – Islam, and an evil false
prophet – Muhammad. This is not an easy task! Meherally knows that he cannot justify
Muhammad’s brutalities to a Western audience. To a Muslim mind, almost any amount
of cruelty can be justified if it is done in Allah’s name. But, people who have a sense of
decent morality, know that Muhammad’s actions were barbaric and cruel. Consequently
Meherally is unable to actually address the issues and chooses instead to attack me and
put words in my mouth. His only method of justifying Muhammad’s evil is pointing to
evil actions done by other people. But when it came down to addressing Muhammad’s
sins, Meherally chose not to enter the field of battle.
BASIC READING AND UNDERSTANDING
I begin by encouraging the reader to take the time to thoroughly read and
understand what he is reading. Meherally’s response exhibits what most Muslim
apologists / polemicists exhibit: a poor effort at understanding what they read. In their
haste to scribble out a "response" they fail to understand the writings they
address, and the author’s reasoning. So many Muslim’s pat themselves on the
back, thinking they have actually "refuted" something simply because they have
barked, called the author a few names, and made some partially relevant reply. Much time
could be saved if the "responder", in this case Meherally, would bother to take
a breath or two, slow down, and make a sincere effort to understand what he is reading,
prior to hacking away on their keyboard.
RESPONSE
Below are the points Meherally raises that I will address.
1) Meherally objects to my statement that about one half of all terrorist
groups in the world are Islamic in nature, he wrote:
After reading the above historical facts, I hope you would realize how
biased is your rendering and remove the following paragraph from your article:
"Not surprisingly, examination of the websites that deal
with terrorism show that about one half of all terrorist groups in the world are Islamic
in nature."
Meherally’s historical "facts", contain some errors, but
what do any of his historical "facts" have to with my point of:
"Not surprisingly, examination of the websites that deal with
terrorism show that about one half of all terrorist groups in the world are Islamic in
nature."
What Meherally exhibits is a lack of basic reading and comprehension
skills. Had he bothered to read and understand the article before he hastily replied
I probably wouldn’t have to spoon-feed him an answer:
In my original article, I provide the readers with a detailed list of law
enforcement and anti-terrorist websites that list terrorist organizations throughout the
world. These include many non-Muslim terrorist groups as well. Below in green is the quote
from my original article, (one that Meherally forgot to reference):
ISLAMIC TERRORISM IN THE WORLD TODAY
There are a fair amount of websites that document the actions and intentions of the many
Islamic terrorist groups operating throughout the world today. As true Muslims, these
people will use violence against anyone who hinders their aims or offends their religious
beliefs. Here is a partial listing of a number of websites I've seen on the internet.
http://www.emergency.com/cntrterr.htm
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http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1997report/
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http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Terror/97/mideast.html
overview of Middle East terrorism
------------------------------------------------------------------
yearly overview
http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Terror/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.terrorism.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://polisci.home.mindspring.com/ptd.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://polisci.home.mindspring.com/ptd_incidents_1998.html
62 documented incidents - 31 by Muslims
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://polisci.home.mindspring.com/ptd_middle_africa.html
listing of Mid-east Muslim terrorist groups
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.ict.org.il/
international terrorism group
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If these sites are still up (they are now at least 3 years old) please go
to these sites for yourself and review the names of the terrorist groups given.
You will see for yourself that about half of these groups are Muslim groups.
Therefore my response to Meherally’s request:
Meherally, let me say it loud and clear: the majority of terrorist groups
operating in the world today are Muslim groups. They are evil, they are inspired by
fleshly and Satanic motivations, and they are manned by dedicated Muslims.
This is what I said 3 years ago, and this is what I say today. You have
provided nothing to address the evidence that these evil Muslim groups are operating,
killing innocent people, and doing it in accordance with their Allah’s will. The
question Meherally should address to his readers is why are these groups run by devout
Muslims?
The second point I will address.
2) Meherally accuses me of deliberately skipping a portion of
Guillaume’s work. Below is Meherally’s statement.
SKIPPING OF A QUOTED TEXT:
If a reader was to open and start reading from page 112 of A.
Guillaume's translation of Muhammad ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, one would notice
that Silas has skipped an important portion of the quoted text. At the end of the Quoted
Text, Silas writes, which again is a partial Truth and not the Truth:
[Note: two passages from the Quran
are referenced: [a] Sura 22:39-41, which I did not quote, and [b] Sura 2:193]
Silas has omitted ibn Ishaq's recorded notes about the
order
that the Apostle had received from Allah to fight (which happens to be the subject of Silas article)
as well as the
Verses of the Qur'an which ibn Ishaq had quoted.
Below is the omitted text to be found on page 112 and 113. Words within { } are mine.
Response
My answer to Meherally accusation is similar to my answer to the first
point: Meherally, please practice your reading and comprehension skills. You’re quick
to write a "response" yet you exhibit such a lack of understanding. What I am
asking of you, and of other Muslim "responders" is not difficult. Why don’t
you bother to read the entire section, think about it, and grasp my points? Let me spoon-feed
this to you as well:
Meherally, read the section heading, this is what it says:
BEGINNING OF MUHAMMAD'S VIOLENCE
What did I then detail? I recorded the situation behind Muhammad’s
turning to violence, and I presented it in chronological reference – around his time
of flight to Yathrib. That was my point. Relevant to that, there was nothing omitted. Some
of my articles are long and when it is unnecessary to quote excessive material, I will not
quote it. I wanted to show the readership when Muhammad started to use violence. I do not
criticize Muhammad for self-defense. Had you bothered to grasp what I was saying, you
would not have had to make a big deal out of it. Further, in my quote, I show the reader
that there is more to the quote – notice the dots trailing the end of the sentence?
Or, don’t you understand that those dots signify that there is more to the quote?
Below is the quote from my article.
His apostle to fight and to protect himself against those who wronged them
and treated them badly......[a]
Further, if my aim were to deceive my readership, I would not have
provided them with a complete reference, including book name, author, publisher, page
number, of what I was quoting.
The same is to be said w/r to the two Quranic quotes. If I wanted to
deceive my readership, I would not provide the exact references for them to read. The
point is that in this case they add nothing. I was simply detailing Muhammad’s
chronological transition from not using violence (although he wanted to) to the time when
he began to be violent.
Finally, let me address an issue Meherally raises. With respect to Muhammad’s
allowance to fight, Meherally wrote:
Upon reading of this final passage one can visualize the ULTIMATE TRUTH.
Although Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him), had received "the
order to fight" the Prophet DID NOT
FIGHTand instead migrated to Medina.
Meherally does not even bother to learn his own religious history.
Meherally writes that Muhammad "DID
NOT FIGHT and instead migrated to Medina", implying
that Muhammad shunned violence. This is not true. Muhammad did not fight because he was
unable to fight. Take a look at the text.
When Quraysh became insolent towards God and
rejected His gracious purpose, accused His prophet of lying, and ill treated and exiled
those who served Him and proclaimed His unity, believed in His prophet and held fast to
His religion, He gave permission to His apostle to fight and to protect himself against
those who wronged them and treated them badly.
The first verse which was sent down on this subject from what I have heard
from Urwa b. Al-Zubayr and other learned persons was: "Permission is given to those
who fight because they have been wronged. God is well able to help them, --- those who
have been driven out of their houses without right only because they said God is our Lord.
Had not God used some men to keep back others, cloister and churches and oratories and
mosques wherein the name of God is constantly mentioned would have been destroyed.
Assuredly God will help those who help Him. God is Almighty. Those who if we make them
strong in the land will establish prayer, pay the poor-tax, enjoin kindness, and forbid
iniquity. To God belongs the end of matters [a]. The meaning is "I have allowed them
to fight only because they have been unjustly treated while their sole offense against men
has been that they worship God. When they are in the ascendant they will establish prayer,
pay the poor-tax, enjoin kindness, and forbid iniquity, i.e., the prophet and his
companions all of them." Then God sent down to him: "Fight them so that there be
no more seduction," [b]
i.e. until no believer is seduced from his religion. "And the religion is
God's,", i.e. Until God alone is worshipped."
When God had given permission to fight and this clan of the Ansar had
pledged their support to him in Islam and to help him and his followers, and the Muslims
who had taken refuge with them, the apostle commanded his companions, the emigrants of his
people and those Muslims who were with him in Mecca, to emigrate to Medina and to link up
with their brethren the Ansar. "God will make for you brethren and houses in which
you may be safe." So they went out in companies, and the apostle stayed in Mecca
waiting for his Lord’s permission to leave Mecca and migrate to Medina."
Muhammad wisely chose not to fight because he knew he and his followers
were weak and would be annihilated. Instead, Muhammad wisely chose to run. He now had a
place of refuge north of Mecca, and off he and his followers ran. It was from that base
that Muhammad began his violence.
The next point I will respond to is Meherally’s claim that I tried to
deceive my readership by using a typo:
3) Here is Meherally’s statement:
A Deception !
After a summary of the revealed verse, author Guillaume writes on page 113:
"Then God
sent down to him: 'Fight them so that there is no more seduction," 2 {foot note number 2, reads (Sura 2. 198)}
Author Silas replaces the opening word of the above paragraph and
quotes:
"The God sent
down to him: "Fight them so that there be no more
seduction," [b] {footnote [b] reads [Sura 2. 193]}.
Under the normal circumstances I would consider this to be a
"typo" error. But, from my past experiences with other presentations on this web
site, I have reasons to believe that the change of "Then " to "
The " is a "deception". Silas wants
the earlier quoted text of Sura 22: 39-41 to be "disassociated" with the
revealed text to follow. Silas writes in his notes that he has not quoted the text of Sura
2: 193. I have reproduced below the text of the "non quoted verse":
Note: Ibn Ishaq mentions the verse number to be 2. 198 since he may be referring
to an Arabic musaf. In Yusuf Ali's translation the number is 2. 193.
Response
It was a typo, pure and simple.
Let me point out Meherally’s desperation: he is unable to actually
address the points I raise, so he grasps at straws in order to scribble his
"response". Let me say it plainly: Muhammad was an evil man, and there is no
shortage of material to use to prove this. I do not need to use typos to make him seem any
more evil than he really was. Muhammad was a cold blooded murderer, he allowed lying, he
allowed stealing, he allowed female slaves to be raped, he allowed torture, murder in the
night, he committed mass murder, he ordered the murder of female slaves, he was a enslaver
of people, and so on. I do not need to use a typo to cast this man in the light he
deserves.
4) The next point I will address concerns Muhammad’s order to his
followers to murder any Jew that they are able to murder. Meherally actually chose to
partially address this in my original article. Below is his work:
My response to the above...
Silas has quoted several incidents from Guillaume's book 'The Life Of
Muhammad' to illustrate that Muhammad was indeed a terrorist. Above is the first incident that he has presented before
his readers with the deceitful commentaries, insinuations and innuendoes. If one can prove
from the above narrated first incident, without shadow of any doubt, that Silas has in
reality stooped down to the lowest level in his criticism and has now opted for visible DECEPTION AND DECEIT that would qualify him
as THE LIAR, then the rest of
his presentation has lost its credibility and not worth depending upon.
Before I prove to you that Silas has LIED
AND WHY, let me quote the text that Silas has chopped off from
the paragraph quoted above, from page 369.
Here is the text quoted by Silas:
"The apostle said, "Kill
any Jew that falls into your power." Thereupon Muhayyisa b. Masud leapt upon
Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish merchant with whom they had social and business relations, and
killed him. Huwayyisa was not a Muslim at the time though he was the elder
brother. When Muhayyisa killed him Huwayyisa began to beat him, saying, 'You enemy
of God, did you kill him when much of the fat on your belly comes from his wealth?'
Muhayyisa answered, 'Had the one who ordered me to kill him ordered me to kill you I would
have cut your head off.'"
After quoting half of the
paragraph Silas writes "END OF QUOTE". Below is the non quoted portion of this paragraph, written
by Guillaume on page 369.
"He said that this was the
beginning of Huwayyisa's acceptance of Islam. The other replied, 'By God, if Muhammad had
ordered you to kill me would you have killed me?' He said, 'Yes, by God, had he ordered me
to cut off your head I would have done so.' He exclaimed, 'By God, a religion which can
bring you to this marvelous!' and he became a Muslim."
If one was to believe that the above mentioned killing did happen because
of the order of Prophet Muhammad and that command was completely unjust and absolutely
unwarranted for (as Silas wants us to believe), then could the person who had questioned
the killer would have accepted Muhammad as the "Messenger of God" and become a
Muslim? Please continue reading further and soon THE
TRUTH will manifest before you and THE LIE will vanish.
Response
Meherally states that I deceived my readership because I did not include
the conversion of Huwayyisa to Islam. Somehow he believes that this conversion to Islam
justifies the cold blooded murder that just occurred. People convert to religions for
various reasons. Some make sense to others, some do not. People have converted to Islam or
Christianity based upon dreams, feelings, emotions, deaths, births, desperate positions,
and so on. The Hijazi Arabs were not known for their high standards of morality or fealty
– after all, Muslims today charge those "pagan" Arabs with burying their
own daughters, excessive drinking and sexual immorality, etc. Yet now, to justify a
Muslim’s cold blooded murder and Muhammad’s guilt, Meherally hypocritically uses
the morality of a Hijazi Arab as a virtuous measuring stick! And notice instead of
actually addressing the cause of the murder, (Muhammad’s ordering of the murder of
Jews), Meherally dances away from the hard facts. As I stated above, trying to address and
examine Muhammad’s evil actions is quite difficult. Here, again, Meherally chooses
not to face the facts, but ignore them.
Further, let me cast this conversion in a different light. Millions of
people followed Adolph Hitler. They approved the persecution of the Jews. Did the fact that
Hitler had millions of followers make his actions right? Just like Hitler, Muhammad
ordered the persecution of Jews, and in this instance an unsuspecting Jewish shopkeeper,
on good terms with the Muslims, was murdered. Huwayyisa thought his brother’s
commitment to Muhammad’s orders proves that Islam is a true religion. People followed
Hitler thinking his way was right, even to the point of murdering Jewish civilians. Was it
right? You decide.
The Muslims that flew those planes into the NY towers, were committed just
like Huwayyisa. They were willing to murder men, women, and children for Islam’s
sake. And so they did. And they received the approval of millions of Muslims in America
and throughout the world. Does that level of commitment make what they did right?
I say Muhammad ordered a cold blooded murder, and Islamic historians
themselves document it. So, let me ask the Muslims: why are you following and trusting
such an evil man? Why should anyone trust you if you give your allegiance to Muhammad? Do
you really think God is going to forgive you, if you put your faith in Muhammad?
The last point I will address is
5)
A TEXT THAT SILAS WOULD NOT LIKE
US TO READ...
Silas has repeatedly quoted passages after passages from Guillaume's Book 'THE
LIFE OF MUHAMMAD' . Below is one of the several passages from the same book that
Silas would not like his readers to read. Please read it and see for yourself how it
concurs with the Quranic revelation, quoted above.
Response
Let me say to all my readers, please read all of Guillaume’s
"The Life of Muhammad". Please do. If you want an accurate picture of just how
evil and deceived Muhammad was, read this book. You will find Muhammad to be no more than
a mere man, with both good and bad thoughts, intentions, and actions. And you will see how
as time went on, Muhammad became more and more brutal and bloodthirsty.
On the following pages, read how
|
675 | Muhammad had a 120 year old man – Abu Afak
murdered |
|
675, 676 | Muhammad has a mother of 5 children brutally murdered - Asma
bint Marwan |
|
441, 442-445 | Muhammad has Kab Ashraf murdered |
|
550-551 | the 10 people Muhammad orders to be murdered after he
conquers Mecca |
|
461-on | Muhammad has mass murder carried out on a tribe of Jews and
then enslaves their women and children – and sold some of them to others as slaves to
get money for weapons |
|
496 | see how Muhammad allowed Ali to violently beat a slave girl
while Muhammad watched |
|
511 | Muhammad passes out women as slaves |
|
499 | Muhammad gives a slave woman as a gift |
|
493 | 100 families enslaved by Muhammad |
|
511 | Intercourse with slave women allowed |
|
547 | see how Muhammad allowed Abu Sufyan to be forced into
converting to Islam, under threat of death |
|
616 | Compulsion - People forced to follow Islam |
|
645 | Compulsion - Islam forced upon polytheists, they would not have
become Muslim unless forced |
|
669 | Abu Bakr says people forced to accept Islam "until men accept
it voluntarily or by force" |
|
507, 509 | Muhammad lies after Hudaybiyya and breaks the treaty |
|
617, 618 | Muhammad’s "Revelation" allowing him to lie
and break his word and treaty with polytheists |
|
665 | Muhammad’s men rip an old woman in half by using camels to
tear her apart |
|
270 | Muhammad’s superstition - spit three times to the left to
ward off evil affects |
|
305 | dead - Muhammad taunting the dead |
|
677, 678 | Muhammad tortures men to punish them |
|
562, 564 | Muhammad’s faith - War commanded upon those that
reject Islam |
|
618 | Muhammad’s faith – War Muhammad says God tells him to
kill polytheists unless they convert |
|
625 | Muhammad’s faith - War - Tabuk was attacked for booty |
|
629 | Muhammad’s faith - War - Islam is to fight until they
submit to Islam |
|
629 | Muhammad’s faith - War - Killing is of no consequence |
|
642 | Muhammad’s faith - War - Muhammad orders Muslims to make war
on Polytheists |
|
645 | Muhammad’s faith - War- Muhammad says come to Islam in 3 days or
I'll attack non-Muslims |
|
555 | Muhammad’s faith – Murder - Says Allah’s anger
allowed him to kill people in Mecca |
|
651 | Muhammad’s moral failure - instructs wife beating |
|
519 | Muhammad’s moral failure - lying allowed |
|
106 | Satanic influence – Muhammad’s suicide attempts over
the next years |
|
240 | Satanic influence - Muhammad betwitched by a Jew |
|
165, 167 | Satanic influence – Satan uses Muhammad’s
tongue to speak his word |
|
243 | Muhammad says Satan looks like a black man |
|
254 | Muhammad’s hatred and bigotry - Allah tells Muhammad that
all Jews are evil |
|
276 | Muhammad’s hatred and bigotry – Allah curses Jews to
die |
|
192 | Muhammad’s lack of faith - begs for physical help from Taif |
|
195 | Muhammad’s lack of faith - begs for physical
protection again |
Near the end of his life Muhammad engaged in conquering and subjecting
areas near Medina, in order to spread Islam’s dominion. Muhammad believed he was
doing God’s will. I say Muhammad was used by Satan do spread falsehood. Jesus warned
that false prophets would come and deceive many, Muhammad was one such false prophet.
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