Trick Questions Against Islam?!

'Muslim But No Quran?'
'Why Does God Fool People?'
'Does Quran Say Follow Bible?'

Confused or Trick Questions?

Islam Newsroom - Today is not much different from the beginning - or is it?

Below are a number of emails with trick questions and our answers -- from 1998 (our start online) to date.

This started when websites first attacked Islam. One webste promised $10,000 Reward to anyone proving any mistake of their attack on Quran & Islam. Along with this offer, came the promise to completely remove their website from the Internet. [Of course, it was all lies]

Their bait is in place and we Muslims went after it, like sucker fish.

Whether we Muslims knew any proofs or even had a clue about the Arabic language, that did not matter at all.

We just saw a chance to 'DEFEND ISLAM' (and make  $10,000).

The website DID NOT post any rebuttals from real scholars or reply to proven evidence against their very poor and very old attacks against Islam -- mostly gathered from Arab Christian's insults built up over centuries for denying the validity of Islam.

Instead the website began to boast the ravings and mistakes of Muslims uneducated to even basics of the deen along with some very nasty (even filthy) remarks, poor grammar and bad English.

Knowing our Muslim population on the Internet at the time, it wasn't even necessary to fabricate responses to the evil website and its vulgar and twisted insults toward the world's fastest growing faith of Islam.

These websites became popular mostley due to the number of "hits" (visits) by the Muslims. Tens of thousands of "hits" and hundreds of comments and rages were posted on these types of websites over the next few months.

The results? Those websites (and not Muslim sites) still came up on top of the first page in web search engines (like Googel, Bing, Alta Vista and Yahoo!)

Until Muslims learn more about the way the Internet really works and the evil of such people (and more about their own religion) we must continue putting up with these problems.

Scholars even advised Muslims: DO NOT VISIT WEBSITES ATTACKING ISLAM - IT IS HARAM (for any reason).

The first is a series of emails came to me from someone called "Heath". First he said he wanted to be a Muslim - But, he needed more 'proof'.

See evidences offered to him, please visit our website: WhatsIslam.com

Every time we emailed him with proofs and answers - he wrote back with more and more questions - But he never acknowledged any proofs we sent him, even once.

Here's how it started . . .

'Ok mr. yusuf, i read about you and now i ask you, Can i go to paradise if i am good person, but don't quran or mohamed?' I am confused on this..

We answered "Mr. Heath"

Bismillah Rahman Raheem. Salam - Peace be to all who follow true guidance.  Thanks for your letter Heath. Let's see what we can do to help you out of confusion and into clear thinking - OK?

According to our prophet, peace be upon him:

"Every child is born on the fitrah (natural condition) of being Muslim (submission to God's Will), but it is their parents who raise them up to be a Jew, Christian or fire-worshipper (idolator)"

He also told us:

Any child who dies, will go to Heaven (regardless of the religion of the parents) and will be with Abraham, peace be upon him, asking Almighty God, "Let my parents be here with me".

From this we learn a human from the time of birth is already on the right track but their enviornment will begin to offer different ways, or avenues away from the natural inclination to worship One God, Alone without any partners (basis of Islam).

The ones who are in trouble are those who rejected or denied the proofs when they came to them and refused to believe in Allah and obey Him on His terms.

Our prophet, peace be upon him, said:

"No one will remain in Hell Fire forver, except those who refuse to leave." He was asked, "Who would refuse to leave Hell Fire?". He answered, "Anyone who hears about me and the message I have been sent with, and refuses to accept, they have refused to leave Hell Fire".

If someone lived at the time of Abraham, Moses or Jesus the Christ (peace be upon them) and believed in their God (Allah) and followed their prophet and his Shari'ah (Laws of God given to prophets), the person would be the same as a Muslim following Muhammad, peace be upon him, today.

Hope we helped you to find the truth about real Islam, Heath. Let me know if I can help you with anything else. OK?

Peace -
Yusuf Estes

Next Questions:
Is Your Religion of Islam Universal or not?
Can You Be Muslim Without Quran?

"Heath" wrote back with more questions (notice how he did not say anyting about the answers we gave him?) . . .

ok i read your letter mr yusuf...
Now here is my next question to you, as a convert to islam, do you believe islam is a universal or not?

cause all my life i always here you moslms saying "islam universal" like for all people, all places, all times, and like that and you could be moslem even without believing quran, or mohamed. what about good Jew, or good Christian go to the paradise?…. but then i see your websites and confused me..

and look here mr yusuf if you dont the answer just say you dont and i talk to peopel knwos more than yuo like scholars but you try to find some answer then go ahed.

either i m rite on islam or you're wrong on websites and youtube or esle you admit islam not universal at all like you moslems claiming so go ahed pleze - try now asnwer me my questions, if you think you can...

__

I wrote back, again: 

Salam alaykum to all who seek right guidance. Thank you for your questions and comments, Heath.

But before going on, I remind myself of two very important point in Islam:

• 1. We Muslims must not lie or deceive about anything, especially about our religion. This means, if I do not know the answer to something, I must say "I don't know".
     
  2. Islam provides clear evidences and proofs for everything it teaches with Quran and the sahih (authentic) hadeeth (sayings and teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon him).

These two things are really unique to Islam, not available in other ancient religions.

Sometimes, like in your questions to me, there are statements not really intended to be questions but rather to make a point in a questioning manner. Very often these points are mixed up and twisted, just as the question is not really a question in the first place.

For this reason we must qualify what is really being said and compare it closely with the facts. This overcomes the implications and insinuations being advanced in this way.

I noticed you said in your letter to me: "all my life i always here you moslms saying "islam universal"".
Does this mean you grew up around Muslims? Are you a Christian Arab yourself?

And I would also like to ask you a very straight forward question:

If you find that in our answers to you, there is solid proof for worshipping One God without any partners and that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is representing that One God, that the truth in our answers is better than any so-called proof of other religions, and you see that Islam is not what you have claimed, than are you prepared to change to what is true and better? Are you ready to start worshipping your God, and our God, your Lord and our Lord - without partners?

This is what it is really all about in the first place! There are TWO (2) things involved here:

1. To really believe in the One God
2. Then do what He wants you to do - in peace and sincerity

So, now the question is back to you, "Are you ready to accept the truth of Islam - if we prove what we say?"

I leave that up to you. Here now is the answer in more clear terms about the "universal truth of Islam"

Today Islam is universal in the sense, no new message will come and no new prophet will appear to give new or altered instructions. Islam is universal in that it is for all people, everywhere for all times from now on.

If anyone would like to worship the One God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, then they are welcome and Allah will Guide them to all truth. If they are sincere, there will be no doubt they will enter Paradise.

Hope we helped you to find the truth about real Islam, Heath. Let me know if I can help you with anything else. OK?

Peace -

Yusuf Estes

After "Heath" wrote back again with more questions, saying he was "confused" about Islam, it became even more clear he was playing around and just trying to make fitnah (difficulties and problems).

Sheik Yusuf wrote back again (may Allah Reward him) with another answer:

Bismillah Rahman Raheem
Answer #03-06-19 1:20 PM

Yes Heath, I do believe you are confused - no doubt about it.

It really seems to me, Heath, you are reading my replies only to try to find something to argue about as though you missed all of the thousands of other words in the text. What about the answers to the questions that you posed that proved to be untrue questions? Did that wake you up at all? Are you not thinking in terms of what you are really doing here?

Nonetheless, I will clarify for you what you said to me and what I said to you. I request that you do not misquote me again. This is my job as the National Chaplain for Muslims and I do take it very serious.

Look closely at your email (entire email is reproduced for you) below. You are asking me:

you included Jews as some of the people who dont belive jesus died on the cross......which this is not true, jews today believes jesus was killed by the romans,

But look at the context within which you asked the question. Consider how you presented the other questions with regard to "Jesus on the cross." You said:

You know I've been studying Islam for a few months and I'm quite sure its the right religion, but not as certain as one should be if they were going to say shahadah. So, if you could answer something's for me I would be ever so grateful...

1. If everything happens by the will of God, why is Christianity the most wide spread religion in the world?

2. Why did God allow so many people to think Jesus died on the cross?
And I've read some Christians say the "deception" of the Quran is that it says, Jesus didn't die for them, if you could read isiaah 42, in the Old Testament, it clearly says things like "he endured pain for us, our sins are gone through him," Can u answer this please?

3. What will really happen to, say for instance, a Christian, who never heard about Islam, and they died.....like billions of people have; will they go to hell just because they didn't believe in Muhammad?

If 'Yes', how is that fair?

Now, let us look to how you took that out of context. I answered you, with regard to a question about the number of people who don't believe that Jesus for them.

Again, I would call your attention to #3, above. You are assuming that "so many people think Jesus died on the cross." But in reality of the six or seven billion people living on earth, a minority not a majority carry this belief. Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Taoists, Native Americans, aboriginals of Australia and millions more do not believe any of that.

Although you did not put that in the question #3, it was definitely the implication that anyone would have understood. So, if you feel good by being able to take out 15 million Jews from the total number of 4 1/2 billion people who don't believe in Jesus death on the cross, please feel free to make that mathematical adjustment and see what difference it makes in regard to the context of the question and the answer. And for the record, you should know that I have met Jews do not believe that Jesus did die on the cross, because they don't believe he ever existed in the first place.

hello,
in reply to the former email ......you included Jews as some of the people who dont belive jesus died on the cross......which this is not true, a jew today believes jesus was killed by the romans, dont they.....??

also.....about the, you dont need to beleive in muhhumed, and you can still go to paradise....well ive read these

The following is a hadeeth from our prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in the collection of the Sunan of Al-Darimi:

Muhammad ibn Al-Ala narrated from ibn Numayr who reported from Mujalid, on the authority of ibn 'Aamir, from Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, that 'Umar, may Allah have Mercy on him, brought a copy of the Jewish scripture (Torah) in front of the prophet, peace be upon him, saying, "Yaa rasoolullah (O messenger of Allah), this is a copy of Torah (Old Testament)". Prophet, peace be upon him, remained silent. Then 'Umar began reading from it, and the prophet's face began to change.

Then Abu Bakr, may Allah have Mercy on him, interrupted 'Umar, "Don't you see the face of prophet?"

'Umar looked up at prophet's face and said, "Allah save me from His anger, and the anger of His prophet! We accept Allah as our Lord, Islam as our deen (way of life or religion) and Muhammad (peace be upon him) as our prophet!"

Then Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him) said, "I swear by the One who owns my life (Allah), that if Moses was here now before you and you followed him, leaving me, you would go far astray from the right path, and if he were alive and reached my prophethood, he would have followed me."

Comments

Again, we can see how people who want to disbelieve will ignore clear proofs and signs coming right to their email - Why don't they want to open their minds and believe what is the truth?
Good question.
Let us know when you find out - LOL

OK - And here is another one - (without the emails of the people)

One More Time - Before we begin, let me remind you of your previous email to me:
Subj: Re: Questions/Problems
Date: 6/19/2003 7:44:05 AM Pacific Daylight Time

This is a clear statment regarding Moses (peace be upon him) scripture and religion, as being abrogated after the Quran was revealed.

The Muslim position concerning all previous scriptures, such as the Torah, Zabur (Psalms) and Injil (Gospel) is, these are abrogated by Allah's Revelation of Quran and can no longer be followed.

Christian missionaries who claim Quran points to Bible as being valid or still in authority are making false statements, otherwise why would Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, have to leave his former Shari'ah for the revelation of Allah's Quran?

We refer back to the Quran in the following verses:

• • "Verily, the Deen (way of life) with Allah is Islam" (chapter 3, Al Imran, verse 19)
  • "Whoever seeks after any religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted of them, and in the Hereafter they will be amongst the loosers" (chapter 3, Al Imran, verse 85)
  • "On this day, I (Allah) have perfected for you, your deen (way of life) and conferred upon you My Favor, and have chosen for you to to submit in Al-Islam (peaceful submission to God Almighty). (Chapter 5, Al Maidah, verse 3)

It is clear that Islam is the final religion and whoever does not accept Islam would be a loser on the last Day.

Regarding previously "revealed religions", such as Judaism and Christianity -- It is understood in Islam, these were valid at the time of revelation in the era in which these prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, Jonah, Solomon and Jesus Christ (peace be upon them all) - and this is confirmed in the Quran itself.

However, these were abrogated (replaced or updated) by the universal message of Islam. This is also confirmed in a number of verses in the Holy Quran.

The English speaking Muslims are themselves sometimes confused on these points, due to exposure to false theories offered by some translators and teachers affirming these faith groups today as if they were the same as when revealed, but they ignore or deny abrogation of them and do not mention it is kufr (disbelief) to consider these remnant cults that might still bear the name of these previously valid revealed relitions, such as "Christianity" and "Judaism". These are not acceptable to Allah, Almighty and Most High is He, after they have come to know about prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and the message with which he was sent to the entire world.
--- Note: All scholars of Islam agree upon this matter. There is no disagreement of Muslim scholars concering abrogation of previous religions such as Jewish and Christian, and more important for Muslims, believing in these today as being valid is one form of kufr.

Look at another question coming from the same email, but a very different style of writing I think:

..and im sure i read in a hadith, that muhhumed saw a christian monk and started crying and umar asked him whys he crying and muhhumed said beacuse the monk is going to hell......i dont know if this is a relaible hadith though.... ??
thankz agian, bye

Now let me share with you the exact things that you asked me and the exact reply that I gave you previously. Look at your 3rd question:

3. What will really happen to, e.g., a Christian, who never heard about Islam, and they died.....like billions of people have; will they go to hell just because they didn't believe in Muhammad? If Yes, how is that fair?

My answer to you was:

Allah tells us in the Quran that He never punishes a nation until after He has sent a messenger with the clear message of "Worship your Creator and Sustainer alone without partners."

The Quran does not tell us that everyone who didn't believe in Muhammad, peace be upon him, is going to Hell. The Quran tells us that Allah created us in a test, here on earth. The test is to see (for us to see) who is the best in worship of Allah. The translation more or less, says, "Allah has only created you to worship Him." [Quran 51:56]

He also tells us that, He does not forgive anyone to set up partners with Him in worship, but anything less than that He can forgive.

Notice too, in the Quran that Allah gives many examples of people who lived before Muhammad, peace be upon him, that did go to Paradise, because they believed in the current prophet that had been sent to them and obeyed God and their prophet. That is the meaning of "Islam." A person who never heard of any prophet, yet they believed in God as the Creator, Sustainer of them and the universe and tried to worship Him according to whatever Allah let them know, it would be up to Allah to know what is in their hearts and what is in their minds and He is their ultimate Judge, and this is one of His Attributes or beautiful names, "Al Hakeem" (The Judge).

He also says that He does not punish for what people do not know or what is beyond their control or ability. In other words, He is most Fair. And that also happens to be one of His beautiful Names and Characteristics, "Al-Adil" The Just.

I was clear in mentioning thatthe condition was "after" the messenger came to them. The sites that you are quoting from are not answering the same question. They are saying that after anyone from the Jews and Christians who hears about Muhammad, peace be upon him, and the message that he was sent with (Worship God, Alone without any partners) and they don't accept it before they die; they will be in the Fire of Hell.

The operative word here is "after" and I was telling you about those who did not hear about the message and that it is up to Allah to Forgive them or punish them and this is from the verse in the Quran wherein Jesus says essentially the same thing to Allah. Please read:

Jesus prophesied that people would worship him uselessly and believe in doctrines made by men (Matthew 15:9).

"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

This verse, Matthew 15:9, is further supported by these words of the Quran:

116. And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say unto men: "Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?" He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say).

Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner­self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the All­Knower of all that is hidden and unseen.

117. "Never did I say to them aught except what You (Allâh) did command me to say: 'Worship Allâh, my Lord and your Lord.' And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when You took me up, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a Witness to all things. (This is a great admonition and warning to the Christians of the whole world).

118. "If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You are the All­Mighty, the All­Wise."
(Al-Ma’idah 5:116-117)

If the people did not worship Jesus, peace be upon him, and they followed his teachings, then it is up to Allah to forgive them. But if anyone follows a made up religion calling itself "Jesus Religion" or calling itself "Muhammad's Religion" that does not mean that it really is and therefore Allah would not accept it.

Read our pages on our website about this:

Read . . IslamTomorrow.com/word/  And IslamTomorrow.com/belief.htm

But then when I asked you about what you said being applied to Christianity, what was your answer to me?

What about your question, if reversed though? Suppose you asked a Christian the same thing about their religion, what would they say?

I have of course, spoken with many preachers and priests and they have all indicated that in Christianity if a person did not acknowledge "Jesus as their savior" they would go to Hell.

According to you, is that fair?

I asked you a question about Christianity. Is it fair what they are saying about those who did not believe in Jesus, even though they never even heard of him?

Did you answer?

This was my answer to your email . .

Question # 6/16/2003 12:12:26 AM Pacific Daylight Time - you wrote to me:

I've been studying Islam for a few months and I'm quite sure its the right religion, but not as certain as one should be if they were going to say the shahadah if you could answer something's for me I would be ever so grateful...

1. If everything happens by the will of God, why is Christianity the most wide spread religion in the world?

2. Why did God allow ever so many people to think Jesus died on the cross? And I've read some Christians say the "deception" of the Quran is that it says Jesus didn't die for them, if you could read isiaah 42, in the OT, it says things like "he endured pain for us, our sins are gone through him," Can u answer this please?

3. What will really happen to, e.g., a Christian, who never heard about Islam, and they died.....like billions of people have; will they go to hell just because they didn't believe in Muhammad? If Yes, how is that fair?

4. Why should we do what God says to do? We didn't ask to get created, why should we listen to God? And if its to be thankful that he DID create me.....why do I have to thank him SO SO SO MUCH, Ramadan, 5 daily prays...???

5. So God created this WHOLE UNIVERSE, just to see...who is good...and who is bad...and then destroy the universe...and rewarded each accordingly(?); it all seems a bit far fetched.

6. what will happen to all the people even today, and definitely throughout history who live in the jungles etc, and lived there life just doing what ever they wanted? why should I have to pray 5 times a day and all these other things living my life SO strictly when they didn't? How is that fair? Will they be judged according to the Quran and sunnah, if so...how were they to know eating pork is haram, having sex without marriage is haram, drinking alcohol is haram...???

7. How do you know its not all in your head that "Allah lead me to Islam," etc., because there's millions of people who say "Jesus lead me to Christianity" etc.;  and you would say, "But, no . . he's just a man. He can't do anything - Only God can! If that is so, then why does God Fool these people into Hell and disbelief?
Why???

__
Thank you for your question.

Before we begin to provide answers, here are some important points to keep in mind:

1. As Muslims we cannot lie about anything, especially about our religion
2. We have original recorded sources of our religion:
   • A) The Quran
   • B) Teachings of Muhammad.

This is a very unique part of Islam, not available in any other ancient religions.

3. Sometimes "questions" contain misinformation. We must qualify what it is that someone is saying against what they are implying.

4. If you find the answer to your question makes you say, "I didn't know that" or "This is good" are you ready to worship your God and your Lord without and partners?

This what Islam is really all about. The most important subject is the worship of Almighty God, without any partners or associates or "gods" besides Almighty God.

Bismillah Rahman Raheem
Answer #03-06-18 5:30 PM

You said you have been studying Islam for months. Yet there are a number of basic things that you seem to have missed. Please take the opportunity to visit our site on these subjects:
IslamTomorrow.com/word 

<> 1. If everything happens by the will of God, why is Christianity the most wide spread religion in the world?

Please note the above statements, particularly #3. Your question contains a false statement in it. Christianity is divided into a number of major groups: Catholics, who do not accept that other sects are also going to Paradise; Orthodox (Greek Russian), also do not accept that other groups are going to Paradise; Protestants (divided into hundreds of groups), all do not accept that each other are correct. Muslims comprise approximately one in four or one in five people on the earth. Christians are very close to this number, in spite of the exaggerated numbers being offered by western census takers.

But regardless of the statistics today, we know that throughout history Judaism and Christianity have not been the largest religions on earth. It was not until in the last ten centuries that the Catholics and Orthodox were able to propagate their various forms of Christianity by force at the point of a sword (remember the Crusades, Inquisition, American, Mexican and South American conversions?) or a gun (Turkey, Bosnia, Kosovo, India, Russia). So, let us remember that Christianity has not always been amongst the top number in terms of population.

We can begin with Abraham, peace be upon him. We would all have to agree that the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him, was not popular during his life, as he and his wife were the only ones following it and they had to leave his home land due to persecution for their beliefs. At the time of Moses, peace be upon him, the religion of God for those people (the Jews) was not the most popular, was it? Pharaoh told everyone that he was God to them.

Now let us look to the time of David and Solomon, peace be upon them. Did you notice that the pagans were outnumbering them when David was a boy and threw the stone at Goliath? And even though Solomon, peace be upon him, had big armies, there is no way that all of the Jews together could have equaled the number of Chinese Buddhists living to the east of them. True?

Then let us come to Jesus, peace be upon him. Did he have the largest number of followers during his lifetime? Not at all. They were so outnumbered at the garden of Gethsemene that he ordered his companions to put down their swords after they had cut the ear off one of the servants of a priest. True? Why? Because they were severely outnumbered. When they were trying to put Jesus, peace be upon him, on the cross were his followers outnumbered and unable to stop them or not?

Hinduism happens to be one of the largest in the world today, immediately after Islam. So, what would that indicate according to the way you are asking your question? If the Muslims of India (200 million) and the Muslims of Indonesia (400 million +/-) converted to Hindu (I hope they don't), then Hinduism would be the largest religion. On the other hand, if the Hindus of India (one billion) became Muslims, then Islam would be greater than Christianity by over 50%.

What would all of that mean to you or I? Since when do we consider something being right or wrong just because a lot of people do it?

What we should be concerned over is not how many people are attracted to a belief, but rather whether or not the Almighty Creator Himself, would accept it.

<>  2. Why did God allow ever so many people to think Jesus died on the cross? And I've read some Christians say the "deception" of the Quran is that it says Jesus didn't die for them, if you could read Isaiah 42, in the OT, it says things like "he endured pain for us, our sins are gone through him," Can u answer this please?

Again, I would call your attention to the above answer. You assum, "so many people think Jesus died on the cross." But in reality of the six or seven billion people living on earth, a minority - not a majority, carry this belief.
The Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Taoists, Native Americans, aboriginals of Australia and millions more do not believe any of that.

Then you refer to the Quran with the term "deception." Based on what? Let us examine two things and compare for ourselves here and now.

First, the Quran means the "exact recital of words" from the angel Jibril (Gabriel in English) to Muhammad, peace be upon him.
Does it still exist today?
Do all Muslims all over the earth agree there is only one Quran and  it must be in Arabic in order to be the real Quran?
Have over 20,000,000 (twenty million) Muslims memorized it exactly, word for word, line for line, letter for letter and jot for jot?
Do all Muslims know how to pronounce at least a few of the words and phrases from the original Arabic language?
Do Muslims know how the words were pronounced and what they meant at the time that the words were revealed to prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him?

In other words, can the Muslims produce their Book in some form that is agreeable to the majority of people on earth as being the "Book of the Muslims?"

(reference: IslamTomorrow.com/everything/quran.htm

Second, does the Bible exist today in a similar form to the Quran? Is there an original in text? Is there a consensus amongst the majority of all Christians that the Bible came in English? Do all Christians use the same Bible? Can you hear it recited exactly the same in England as you hear it in Russia, or Spain, or South America, or Germany? Is the Catholic Bible (73 books) exactly like the Protestant Bible (66 books)? Are there different versions of the Bible in different languages? Are any two exactly alike? Have millions of people memorized the Bible? Thousands? Hundreds? Even one? In the original language that was spoken by the prophet, that it was revealed to? Can you rely one hundred per cent on each and every single word and you know how it was pronounced by the one it was revealed to?

(reference: BibleIslam.com )

As regards your _expression "endured pain for us" it so happens that our prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him, told us that all of the prophets that came with this message of worship to only One God, without any partners, did suffer and that he did suffer the most. So, what would be your point in this line of questioning? We agree that Jesus, Moses, Abraham and all the prophets, peace be upon them all, did in fact, suffer very much in order for us to know the "Plan of Salvation by Submission to Allah in Obedience to Him, in Peace" (Islam).

3. What will really happen to, e.g., a Christian, who never heard about Islam, and they died, like billions of people have; will they go to hell just because they didn't believe in Muhammad? If Yes, how is that fair?

Allah tells us in the Quran that He never punishes a nation until after He has sent a messenger with the clear message of "Worship your Creator and Sustainer alone without partners."

The Quran does not tell us that everyone who didn't believe in Muhammad, peace be upon him, is going to Hell. The Quran tells us that Allah created us in a test, here on earth. The test is to see (for us to see) who is the best in worship of Allah. The translation more or less, says, "Allah has only created you to worship Him." [Quran 51:56]

He also tells us that, He does not forgive anyone to set up partners with Him in worship, but anything less than that He can forgive.

Notice too, in the Quran, Allah gives many examples of people who lived before Muhammad, peace be upon him, they did go to Paradise, because they believed in the current prophet sent to them and they obeyed God and their prophet.

That is the meaning of "Islam."

A person who never heard of any prophet, yet they believed in God as the Creator, Sustainer of them and the universe and tried to worship Him according to whatever Allah let them know, it would be up to Allah to know what is in their hearts and what is in their minds and He is their ultimate Judge, and this is one of His Attributes or beautiful names, "Al Hakeem" (The Judge).

He also says He does not punish for what people do not know or what is beyond their control or ability. In other words, He is most Fair. And also happens to be one of His beautiful Names and Characteristics, "Al-Adil" The Just.

What about your question, if reversed though? 

Suppose you asked a Christian the same thing about their religion, what would they say?
I have of course, spoken with many preachers and priests and they have all indicated that in Christianity if a person did not acknowledge "Jesus as their savior" they would go to Hell.

Is that fair?

4. Why should we do what God says to do? We didn't ask to get created, why should we listen to God? And if its to be thankful that he DID create me.....why do I have to thank him SO SO MUCH, Ramadan, 5 daily prays...?

You don't have to. There is nothing anywhere in the universe that says you have to do what God wants you to do. There is absolutely no compulsion in religion with Allah. That should make some people feel great. And it is true.
Allah does not force anyone to thank Him, worship Him, obey Him or even acknowledge Him at all. It is up to the individual.

However, there is something called "Divine Justice" and everyone will see, one day, everything that they have done while on this earth. There will be a Day of Judgment or a Day of Reckoning. That is promised in the Bible and the Quran. Without doubt, everyone will see an atom's weight of good they have done on that Day and every single atom's weight of evil that they have done, will be seen on that Day.

None will escape the Judgment of Allah. All of us will be rewarded (or punished) according to our intentions and our actions. This is a promise from your Lord.

Please take some time to read the Old Testament and the Quran. See for yourself, that the biggest sin was in false worship of created Gods. And then think for yourself and pray to Almighty God, the God of Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus, and Muhammad, peace be upon them all, and ask Him to guide you to the truth about this subject.

5. So God created this WHOLE UNIVERSE, just to see...who is good...and who is bad...and then destroy the universe...and rewarded each accordingly (??) seems a bit far fetched.?

This is not the teaching of Islam. We do not accept that Allah is trying to see how things are going to happen. He already Knew everything before He created anything. He put us all here in a test to show us, for us to see, not Him, what we really are and what our attitude really is. On the Day of Judgment, who do you think will be our Judge? Allah the Almighty One God. But who will be our prosecuting attorney? Ourselves. That is right. We will all be caused to bear witness against ourselves by disclosing what we did while we were here on this earth. And did we offer any appreciation or thanks to Him? Or did we follow our own vain desires and cause mischief in the earth. Did we take advantage of others? Did we cheat, lie, steal, hurt, corrupt, murder, polute while we were here? Or did we try to make things better and did we do our best? Only He Knows and we will suddenly all remember on the Day of Judgment, but what will it avail us then? It will be too late.

6. what will happen to all the people even today, and definitely throughout history who live in the jungles etc., and lived there life just doing what ever they wanted? why should I have to pray 5 times a day and all these other things living my life SO strictly when they didn't? How is that fair? Will they be judged according to the Quran and sunnah, if so...how were they to know eating pork is haram, having sex without marriage is haram, drinking alcohol is haram...???

Again, as I have already mentioned above, these things would not be a factor for eternity in Hell. This is only for those who understood the message. And even then, if a person did do these things but then turned to Allah in sincerity and honesty with the commitment to never again do these things, he would be forgiven.

7. How do you know its not all in your head, "Allah lead me to Islam," etc.; because there's millions of people who say "Jesus lead me to Christianity" etc...and you would say , but no...he's just a man, he cant do anything ONLY GOD CAN...if so, then why does God FOOL these people into hell or disbelief -- why??

Prove this one for yourself. Open your heart and mind and be ready for whatever comes. And then pray directly to the God that Jesus prayed to; His Lord and your Lord, His God and your God. And that is what every single person who came to Islam, and there are thousands, has said happened to them.

Allah guide them (and me).

Good luck in your studies and may Allah guide you, ameen.

The same person wrote back again, saying very harsh things and not something to publish on the Internet. The way the questions came with so much foul language and bad attitude, we could not really publish them here. However, this was the reply back to him:

Bismillah - salam alaykum (peace to all who seek guidance):

I would like for you to recall your earlier emails to me. You started out by mentioning that you were interested in Islam and that you had been studying Islam.

My question to you and I don't need to hear the answer - the question is for you - "Were you really telling all of the truth?"

Or are you holding back something here?

In my years of being Muslim, the only time I have ever seen anyone ask such questions in the way that you are doing, is that the person was only playing and not the least bit interested in learning anything about Islam, except to try to put it down and to make problems.

So, ask yourself that question before you read anything else.

You see, the only person that you can really hurt is yourself. Allah will not hold anyone accountable for what others do, unless they participate along with them in some way.

OK?

Now, back to the websites that you listed. Why did you do that? What was your motive? Where did you think that you were going with this?

Did you see any contradiction between what they said and what I said?

Or did you just go looking for something to throw back as though you were some hotshot in religion?

Heath, or whatever your name is, you said that you were serious about Islam. What did you mean by that statement?

You are not showing any signs of spiritual investigation at all. If you had been a Muslim student in one my classes and committed such an act, you would have found yourself staying after class to do some very heavy accountabilty for your actions.

This is something very serious in Islam. When truth and proof are being presented and all you can do is think about how you can make some kind of objection or try to put it down as no value, then you have a problem, a very serious problem.

This is not a joke.

If you really want to learn, fine. Ask questions. Read the answers. If you understand them, good. If not, you can ask for the sources that I took it from. If you still don't understand it or you don't like it, then go to someone else.

Fair enough? Peace!

For more answers to questions & live talks with real scholars, visit www.ChatIslam.com

Any good is from Allah the mistakes were from myself.
May Allah guide all of us to His Truth, ameen.
Salam alaykum - Yusuf Estes
National Muslim Chaplain (now retired)

Answers from Sheik Yusuf Estes, National Muslim chaplain (retired), American born, former Christian, a student of many excellent scholars in aqeedah (belief), fiqh (understanding) and Arabic language.
He offers help using authentic information in easy English for questions on Islam and Muslims.

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