A spiritual Ishmaelite

Category: Interfaith dialogue

  • My message to Katherine Zoepf who was raised a Jehovah’s witness and who wrote a book about Muslim women ‘Excellent daughters’  

    Ishmael Abraham·Monday, January 25, 2016

    28 Reads

    Sister Katherine, before I introduce myself I want to thank you a lot for writing about Muslim women and allowing our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters to be better understood in the western world so that their perspectives are not based on xenophobic ignorance but at least on tolerant and informed dissent. I am an electrical engineer from Pakistan by profession and a practicing orthodox and orthoprax student of Quran and Hadith. I intellectually belong to the Islamic school of philosophy founded by Al-Ghazali a Persian mystic and Ibn Rushd or Averrores a European Muslim philosopher who inspired western philosophers. My mother is a Niqab-observant former zoologist who chose to be a housewife from Pakistan. She is an Awan descendant of fourth caliph of Islam Ali may God be pleased with him. A xenophobic atheist critic of Islam and my facebook friend was demonizing Islam on the basis of an article by a liberal Muslim woman Asra Nomani who quoted your book in her article. She falsely claims to be a descendant of an Indian Muslim biographer of Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him as known as Maulana Shibli. She cites your use of the Quranic concept of fitna which is not as simplistic as ‘the “chaos” that is often connected to “temptation of a sexual nature.” For example, once Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him was delivering a sermon, and his grandsons Hasan and Husain suddenly appeared inside the mosque so he stopped his sermon and rushed to pick them and he recited Quran 8:28 { And know that your wealth and your children are a fitna (test) for you } So, it symbolizes a constant emotional struggle in the life of a true believer to choose between the greatest love for God and other forms of love. But if those extra-divine forms of love do not make you break a commandment, then you have succeeded in the test. I liked that you chose to write about Qubaisi sisters in Syria. We consider them the spiritual descendants of Mary peace be upon her and Fatimah may God be pleased with her. I have a vision to become a sacred feminist within the Muslim world who is actively involved in an intellectual and spiritual dialogue with western civilization. I hope we can enrich each other through dialogue, so I would like to add you as a facebook friend. Islam is focused on salvation through first and greatest commandment to love One God the most which is called Tawhid. Jews and Christians are descendants of Isaac peace be upon him and Muslims are descendants of Ishmael peace be upon him whom bible writers have ignored due to their own racial biases. So, both of us are Abrahamic cousins. Islam seeks to revive Abrahamic brotherhood through universal worship of God the Creator in the world. I love Jehovah’s Witnesses because they reject trinity, symbol of cross, celebration of birthdays and Christmas which they have in common with orthodox Muslims. However we do not consider Jesus peace be upon him an angel but a human chosen by God. We also share belief in second advent of Jesus peace be upon him. We believe Islam exists to prepare for the kingdom of Jesus peace be upon him who will return as a Muslim because Islam has an anti-secular political philosophy. The word Muslim signifies the willingness of Abraham peace be upon him to sacrifice his son Ishmael peace be upon him, and Jesus peace be upon him shared the same willingness to obey God. He prayed by falling on his face like Muslims. He fasted like Muslims. He was bearded like Muslims. He did not eat pork like Muslims. He was circumcised like Muslims. His mother was covered like Muslims. You can learn more about the political philosophy of Islam in a book by a western scholar Edward Mortimer: The Politics of Islam. I would like to know your views on science and modernity for further dialogue. May God unite us with Mary peace be upon her and Jesus peace be upon him in Paradise through our shared recognition of ultimate truth.
    Honour killing is an anti-Quranic practise because under Islamic jurisprudence only a caliph is allowed to decide the case of a sinner after due process of law, and right now there is no caliph based on consensus in the Muslim world who has the divine authority to enforce commandments. Jesus peace be upon him and Ishmaelite king Imam Al-Mahdi which means the one is guided by God, will assume that role in bear future In Sha Allah God willing. And since it is very rare that someone commits a sin publicly in front of four witnesses. In case of rape, no one can punish the raped woman based on this proof text from Hadith: {When a woman went out in the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) for prayer, a man attacked her and overpowered (raped) her.
    She shouted and he went off, and when a man came by, she said: That (man) did such and such to me. And when a company of the Emigrants came by, she said: That man did such and such to me. They went and seized the man whom they thought had had intercourse with her and brought him to her.
    She said: Yes, this is he. Then they brought him to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
    When he (the Prophet) was about to pass sentence, the man who (actually) had assaulted her stood up and said: Messenger of Allah, I am the man who did it to her.
    He (the Prophet) said to her: Go away, for Allah has forgiven you. But he told the man some good words (AbuDawud said: meaning the man who was seized), and of the man who had had intercourse with her, he said: Stone him to death.
    He also said: He has repented to such an extent that if the people of Medina had repented similarly, it would have been accepted from them.} http://sunnah.com/abudawud/40/29
    According to bible scholars the story of Jesus peace be upon him forgiving an adulteress is a later addition to bible, because Jesus peace be upon him clearly said: I have not come to destroy the laws of Torah but to fulfill the. Fulfilling them does not mean destroying them but keeping them better than hypocritical Jews.

  • On teaching people about what they are ignorant or hateful about

    Ishmael Abraham·Tuesday, January 26, 2016

    2 Reads

    A Shia sister asks: Why do you mention the external commandments Jesus peace be upon him kept to Christians: Because Paul taught them to hate the external commandments. Quran says leave both external(zahiri) and internal(batini) sins. Sufyan Thawri may God shower his mercy on him said: When you go to Syria mention the virtues of Ali may God be pleased with him and when you go to Kufah mention the virtues of Abubakr and Umar may God be pleased with them. So, I try to educate what people are ignorant and hateful about.

  • Jesus peace be upon him will return as a Lion of God

    Ishmael Abraham·Tuesday, January 26, 2016

    4 Reads

    To Christians arguing whether Jesus peace be upon him was a lamb or lion of God: As an orthodox Muslim student of Tafsir and Hadith, I find this discussion interesting in the context of Islamic eschatology of second advent of Jesus peace be upon him as a Muslim. Quran 48:29 perfectly explains this dichotomy between a lion and lamb. It says that the Holy Companions may God be pleased with them treat the enemies of truth with firmness but treat believers with compassion.

  • A unitarian Christian ignorant about the fountains of holiness

    Ishmael Abraham·Thursday, January 28, 2016

    5 Reads

    The differences of this ummah are mercy according to a Hadith which inspire intellectual progress. The people participating in this discussion are the most educated about the nuances of holiness than any westerner critical of them. All of these people are part of Ark of Salvation because they love Quran, Sunnah and Ahlulbayt(ra) which are the largest fountains of holiness which is successfully resisting unholy western modernity.
    Ishmael Abraham
    A Shia sister says Sunnah=Ahlulbayt(ra): No they distinguished it. In Shia narrations Imam Jafar As-Sadiq(ra) said: Who opposes Quran or Sunnah commits kufr. Sunnis jump into the city of knowledge of Hadith without the gate, and Shias keep standing at the gate.
    Zayn Abiya The Sunnah is Prophet Mohomad , his words were carried on and revived by his Progeny. That means they are the Sunnah.
    Ishmael Abraham The words of Ahlulbayt(ra) are similar to Hadith, but they are not exactly Hadith to be accurate. Hadith is still superior to their words.
    Zayn Abiya They are the transmitters of hadith. Just admit im right . Why do you have to be so stubborn and egotistical
    Ishmael Abraham When they quote a Hadith, they say so, but most Shia narrations are their own quotes not Hadith.
    Zayn Abiya Most Shia narrations trace them via reliable sources back to the source ie Prophet.
    Ishmael Abraham Look at Al-Kafi, most of it are not Hadith.
    Zayn Abiya How do you know ? Were you there ?
    Zayn Abiya The kafi has hadith narrated by sunni scholars they just change transmitters
    Ishmael Abraham I have read Al-Kafi and most of it’s narrations are not Hadith. Even it has small number of quotes of the People of Cloak.
    Rizwan If you say Aal Muhammad* said everything as Hadeeth then why your scholars has not recorded it as Imam Jafar from Imam Baqir from Imam Ali from Imam Husayn from Imam Ali from Rasoolullah (Alayhis salaatu wassalaam) why they stopped it to Imam Abu Jafar or Imam Sadiq there’s only a single conclusion neither the Imams reported everything as Hadeeth nor did the Shia Muhadditheen recorded it as Hadeeth of Rasoolullah*
    Ejaz Ahmed There are 92 narration from Holy Prophet ﷺ out of 16000 narration recorded in Al Kafi and according to some Shi’a scholars 2/3 of Al Kafi is weak.
    Rizwan All the scholars are inheritors of Anbiya* it doesnt mean they get100% share.
    Zayn Abiya Nor do they have equals.
    Greg Logan Actually I would not trust anyone in this mess… I have not one meaningful basis for doing so… just lots of word-games – BUT no holiness of God – no power of God – no kindness of God. This is obviously not of God.
    Ishmael Abraham The differences of this ummah are mercy according to a Hadith which inspire intellectual progress. The people participating in this discussion are the most educated about the nuances of holiness than any westerner critical of them. All of these people are part of Ark of Salvation because they love Quran, Sunnah and Ahlulbayt(ra) which are the largest fountains of holiness which is successfully resisting unholy western modernity.
    Abd Al-Rahman Al-Umawi The Ahlulbayt transmit Sunnahs but beyond ‘Ali ibn Musa they were not exceptionally knowledgable and didn’t carry any Sunnahs
    Abd Al-Rahman Al-Umawi Likewise the Sahabah and their students transmitted Sunnahs

  • Refuting the modernist Christian heresy that sun is the lake of fire

    Ishmael Abraham·Thursday, January 28, 2016

    12 Reads

    Romito Olaguer Now 2 of you are deceived by your flesh possessed by Satan. Good luck in Lake of Fire, the Sun. Guys think again? You still have time to change your mind. Think Christ.
    Ishmael Abraham Sun is not the lake of fire brother Romito that is a modernist heresy. Quran says sun will annihilate.

  • To a Christian who denies the prospect of global unity of faith in One God

    Christian Wright Look Ishmael Abraham , I don’t think the Qu’ran is just all bad nonsense. If there was nothing good in it, then i don’t think anyone would find it persuasive. Islamic culture also has many beautiful aspects as well.
    But I think there are also many awful and ugly aspects in the Qu’ran and Muslim history. I detest these and see their consequences in the present day. You can disagree with me about that, which is fine. But I am not convinced that the Qu’ran is from God, the arguments you may try to send me won’t persuade me to become a Muslim. There isn’t any scenario where the Qu’ran will unite you and me (let alone the whole world!).
    I also think Dawkins is a snob and his remarks about porn are stupid. There are people who (for non religious reasons!) see pornography as addictive and exploitative. But you know what? Dawkins has said TONS of things equally rude about Christianity and the Bible. No one banned him from speaking at a university then. The difference is that Leftists (who by the way are the most hypocritically anti-Islamic people in the world in terms of VALUES) give Muslim feelings unequal protection. Christians have been subject to “abusive speech” (some of it good argument, some bad argument, some just vulgar jokes) for decades. But if your belief is true, it withstand all of that. If everyone believed Islam (or Christianity, I won’t exempt my own background) we would NEED a Dawkins to tell us we were wrong. How else would we know if our beliefs were true or false, if we never heard anything else to compare it to?
    You say the Qu’ran preached “freedom of religion”? I won’t get into the question of interpretation. But if your idea of freedom of religion is “You can think what you want privately and skip prayers, just don’t say anything that offends Muhammad’s honor or breaks his God-given rules”…that’s not freedom! Instead of a cage, it’s a prison yard that you can walk around in. Liberty of thought means *nothing* is off the table. This one thing America gets right (despite the 1,000s of things it’s gotten wrong in the Middle East). You can burn an American flag, offend America’s honor, and the courts say that’s free speech. I think that’s right, because NO ONE is above criticism. Neither is any religion. Jimmi Ununger Ishmael sounds like hitchens started the iraq war Jimmi Ununger What does ishmael define as traditional islamic culture? Jules B Dubs Ishmael Abraham you had my attention UNTIL I read the word Zionist. Jules B Dubs Ishmael Abraham why are you even on here if you think ex Muslims are xenophobic? Look, I’m a Christian (you might call me a Zionist. Idk. That seems to be the latest buzzword of hate for anyone who is judeo-christian) and I happen to agree with some of Dawkins views. Other views I don’t. I know why I follow Jesus. Because he was a pacifist who taught about love and forgiveness. Others have twisted his message. Can we say the same for Mohammed? I don’t think so. Jules B Dubs Christian Wright nailed it.
    Ishmael Abraham Christian Wright I think the best argument for you is Quran 5:82 which says true Christians are best friends of Muslims. There are contemporary Christian theologians who are open-minded to see how Islam resonates with early biblical Christianity more than modern heterodox Christianity. The examples are Thomas Mcelwain, Ian Mevorach and Kirby Hopper. Sufis saints understood that dialectic alone no matter how polite it may be is not sufficient for people to overcome egoism and hard-heartedness rather it requires prayers like tahajjud and divine grace. Islam in the Bible : Professor Thomas McElwain : Free Download &…
    https://archive.org/details/IslamIn… Ishmael Abraham I think blasphemy laws predate the final manifestation of Islam. For example, Jews tried to stone Jesus peace be upon him for blasphemy, so blasphemy laws have been misused but they exist to encourage serious and respectful discussion. For example, I disagree with trinity but a Muslim will never blaspheme the three holy persons of the Creator, the Holy Spirit and the Messiah. We have sufficient emotional intelligence to disagree without verbal abuse unlike both Zionist Christians and militant atheists. The scholars of sacred law in Islam in stated that if a Christian says I do not accept the Ishmaelite Messenger of God(p) it does not constitute blasphemy because it is part of his identity. Ishmael Abraham Jules, There are ultra-orthodox Jews like Neturei Karta like are anti-Zionist and can see that Israel is a secular state that legalizes unholy gay prides and other secular greco-roman ideas. Jews even led a Maccabees revolt against Greek culture and Jewish martyrs sacrificed their lives against pagan secularism. Ishmael Abraham Jesus peace be upon him followed Torah which teaches hating evil so unconditional love is the reason evil is triumphing in the world. We can hate the evil and be tolerant towards evil-doers at the same time. Psalm 97:10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil. Proverbs 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; Ishmael Abraham Jimmi, there are two types of traditions. Polytheistic tradition which contradicts Scripture and monotheistic tradition which resonates with Scripture. We see trinity as a polytheistic tradition which contradicts Scripture. In Islam, Sunnah/Prophetic praxis and Ahlulbayt/Prophetic family represents the holy tradition. If something from tradition violates Quranic Scripture it is null and void.

  • How an authentic unitarian paradigm can break ground in Cult Studies to offer tools of religious de-radicalization

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·THURSDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2016

    6 reads

    Ishmael Abraham
    To Natacha Tormey a victim of western sex cult: Sociologists classify David Berg as having charismatic authority, but western Scripture apparently lacks intellectual tools to challenge such authority due to history of saint-worship and deification of Christ peace be upon him . For example, a old woman challenged the charismatic authority of the second caliph of Islam on the issue of austerity in dowry, and he acknowledged that she knew Quran more than him. Even in the most revered personality of the divine Ishmaelite Messenger(p), Scripture emphasizes that he is not divine and can sometimes forget or in fact Scripture mentions that the Messenger(p) should have given more attention to truth seeking under-privileged than truth-indifferent elites.
    Ishmael Abraham
    Sister Natacha is accurate when she says that one is more at risk when one feels one is safe which echoes Quran that fitna or temptation which attracts you into doing something unethical is more harmful than physical harm. Cults or heresies are called fitna in Islamic heresiology

  • A food of thought to Times of Israel for progress in the mission of first Ishmaelite Nobel prize winner 

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·MONDAY, 29 AUGUST 2016

    9 reads

    He talked about rights of Palestinians while receiving Wolf prize. He also talked about how Islamic civilization brought humanity out of dark ages. Reformation preceded Enlightenment and since he was no atheist so a monotheistic reformation is required to produce his vision of monotheistic enlightenment. He also thought positively about Arab Spring which is a movement of freedom and freedom includes anticolonialism. Sola Scriptura orthodox Jews should become more vocal in terms of science and politics in order to make modern Zionism more receptive to sacred texts of Tafsir, Hadith and Ahlulbayt which we consider the universal Ark of Salvation in the global flood and firestorm of promiscuity, materialism and bloodshed.

  • Islamic epistemology, Hindu pro-traditionalism/pantheism and western philosophy

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·FRIDAY, 26 AUGUST 2016

    1 read

    Ron William

    · “WHAT IS TRUTH?” Truth, like knowledge, is surprisingly difficult to define. We seem to rely on it almost every moment of every day and it’s very “close” to us. Yet it’s difficult to define because as soon as you think you have it pinned down, some case or counterexample immediately shows deficiencies. Ironically, every definition of truth that philosophers have developed falls prey to the question, “Is it true?”Simply, we can define truth as: a statement about the way the world actually is. We’ll look at various theories below that philosophers have considered but that’s an adequate rough-and-ready definition to get us started. Coming up with a definition of truth falls under the discipline of epistemology or the study of knowledge though some philosophers categorize it as a study in metaphysics–the study of what is real.
     Siva Chetty
    Ron,,you are digging deep into Hinduism…..The truth is Maya…..
    Saroj Hkg
    maya is the “ever changing nature of universe and the physical world and its sutiations”..thus,”illusion”…he fact that physical/materialistic world is maya is a truth.
     Ishmael Abraham
    The word used in Holy Hadith for maya is batil(falsehood). The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The truest poetic verse ever said by a poet, is: Indeed! Everything except Allah, is batil (perishable) “
    http://sunnah.com/bukhari/81/78
    So whatever is not both pre-eternal and does not have eternal future without death and annihilation is the real Truth or Al-Haqq. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: The truest word uttered by a poet is this verse of Labid: “Behold! apart from Allah everything is vain,” and Umayya b. Abu Salt was almost a Muslim.
    http://sunnah.com/muslim/41/4
    Rene Guenon a Sufi convert to Islam has shown how pro-traditionalism of Islam and Hinduism can work together against Godless modernity.
    Ishmael Abraham
    Ibn Arabi has explored this in such depth that orthodox scholars accuse him of degenerating into idolatrous hindu pantheism which leads to Hell fire according to 4:116 48:13 3:85 25:1. This shows that every human being has a moral/spiritual obligation to seek and acknowledge truths and the Truth.
    Leon Garcia
    The Sankhya Philosophy system is designed to afford understanding of the real Truth. What is that real truth? The real truth is knowledge of how to get out of the material body, which is the source of all trouble. Lord Kapila’s incarnation, or descent, is especially meant for this purpose. HARE KRSNA, HARE KRSNA, KRSNA KRSNA, HARE HARE, HARE RAMA, HARE RAMA, RAMA RAMA, HARE HARE,
    Ishmael Abraham
    Material body can become trouble free if its rights are fulfilled in halal ways. And, halal and haram is determined by revelation. Buddhist and Hindu negation of material body leads to practical hypocrisy because being an absolute monk is called schizophrenia according to modern standards. So, Islamic paradigm is the ideal balance between body and spirit.

  • Do I desperately seek attention and approval of colonizing whites due to a colonized mind?

    

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·MONDAY, 22 AUGUST 2016

    6 reads

    Do I desperately seek attention and approval of whites?
    Hussain Murtaza He comes from Pakistan, my home country. So I can very well relate to this psychology of craving for the white man’s attention. The white men colonized us for a hundred years and we still haven’t been to move past that psychology. You can’t even imagine how the white man is considered to be the benchmark of all excellence, in our part of the world. This has nothing to do with racism, you would have understood this if you had this context in mind
    Jerry Sexton Well I will say this about him. I respect him even if I don’t believe in a deity. His command of the English language is most impressive. He loves debate, as do I. He tolerates insults very well, stays friends with Christians and atheists even when they tell him in not so friendly ways that his views are wrong. If there were anything that I would change about him, it would be his view about secular government. 🙂
    Ishmael Abraham Islam offered humanity what Antichrist secularism offers today without its seductively destructive potential for mass apostasy.
    Ishmael Abraham The word for evangelism in Islam is dawah or calling humanity towards Allah their Creator. So, it is about making humanity attentive to their Origin. I seek attention of everyone who disagrees with Quran and Sunnah. So, I befriend even takfiri, cursing and abusive Shia extremists who can be Arabs, Persians or Indians so that does not depend upon race.
    Jerry, your evangelism was not Scripturally intelligent because Jesus peace be upon him clearly said: I am sent ONLY to the lost sheep of house of Israel, while Ishmaelite Prophet Muhammad blessings and peace be upon him was sent for all mankind (Quran 7:158 48:13 3:85 25:1)