tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195077991229481958.post2321756752829515532..comments2024-03-27T09:54:14.832-06:00Comments on Practical Eschatology: Our Mormon Heritage Does Not Require Us To Oppose Restrictions On Muslim ImmigrationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195077991229481958.post-29636062211004584422017-02-20T17:57:48.240-07:002017-02-20T17:57:48.240-07:00There is a 1972 article in the Ensign, an official...There is a 1972 article in the Ensign, an official LDS publication, titled "Islam and Mormonism—A Comparison" by Hugh Nibley. In the article, Nibley provides a rather dispassionate comparison of the two religions. His article was written long before the term "politcal Islam" was coined and before the modern resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism.<br />https://www.lds.org/ensign/1972/03/islam-and-mormonism-a-comparison?lang=engAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195077991229481958.post-89466946871533844472017-02-20T15:03:14.357-07:002017-02-20T15:03:14.357-07:00I have also seen some LDS apologists for Islam att...I have also seen some LDS apologists for Islam attempt to equate Joseph Smith's first vision to Muhammad's encounter with what Muslims believe to be the angel Gabriel (although Muhammad described the being as a jinni after his first encounter with it). Something that is easily refuted by comparing the two experiences.<br /><br />From Answering Islam is a brief description of Muhammad's encounter:<br /><br />"Karen Armstrong, a popular and highly sympathetic writer about Islam and Muhammad gives this account of the manner of Muhammad’s initial encounter with what Muslims believe was Gabriel (jibril) the 'angel' in the cave of Hira:<br /><br />'Muhammad was torn from his sleep in his mountain cave and felt himself overwhelmed by a devastating divine presence. Later he explained this ineffable experience by saying that an angel had enveloped him in a terrifying embrace so that it felt as though the breath was being forced from his body. The angel gave him the curt command: ‘iqra!’ ‘Recite!’ Muhammad protested that he could not recite; he was not a kahin, one of the ecstatic prophets of Arabia. But, he said, the angel simply embraced him again until, just as he thought he had reached the end of his endurance, he found the divinely inspired words of a new scripture pouring forth from his mouth. 2<br /><br />"Armstrong mistakenly however, does not mention that it was not actually until the third time that the 'angel' had strangled Muhammad, demanding that he recite, that he finally did so. 3 This encounter stands in stark contrast to the general nature of angelic and divine encounters found throughout the Bible, where the angels (or the Lord Himself) almost always are found beginning their conversation with the comforting phrase, 'Do not be afraid.' (Genesis 15:1, 26:24, 46:3, Daniel 8:15-19, 10:12,19, Matthew 28:5,10, Luke 1:13, Luke 1:26-31, 2:10, Revelation 1:17)."<br /><br />Conversely, Joseph Smith, following his reading of James 1:5, went to a nearby grove of trees to pray, upon which, he recorded:<br /><br />"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction."<br /> <br />This could be viewed as being similar to Muhammad's encounter, but that was not the end of Smith's experience:<br /><br />"But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. <br /><br />It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. ..."<br /><br />In other words, Smith was delivered from an overwhelming presence to converse with the Divine, while Muhammad was repeatedly choked until he capitulated. So, even if we believe Muhammad's account, it appears that his meeting was with Satan or some other fallen being. Docenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13573255956484552163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195077991229481958.post-83846853261568946872017-02-17T16:52:52.904-07:002017-02-17T16:52:52.904-07:00From a theological perspective, it is worth noting...From a theological perspective, it is worth noting that Islam expressly denies the divinity of Christ and his mission here on earth. First, they deny that he is the son of God. Instead, their Koran says that Christ is just another in a long line of prophets (with Mohammed being the last prophet). Second, they deny that Christ was crucified to pay for our sins. Third, they deny that Christ was resurrected.<br /><br />Qur'an 5:17 "Verily they are disbelievers and infidels who say, 'The Messiah, son of Mary, is God.'"<br /><br />Qur'an 5:73 "They are surely disbelievers who blaspheme and say: ‘God is one of three in the Trinity for there is no Ilah (God) except One, Allah. If they desist not from saying this (blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall them—the disbelievers will suffer a painful doom."<br /><br />Qur'an 5:75 "The Messiah, Christ, the son of Mary, was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had to eat their food. See how Allah does make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded!"<br /><br />Qur'an 4:157 "‘We [Jews] killed the Messiah, Jesus,' but they killed him not, nor crucified him. It appeared so to them (as the resemblance of Jesus was put over another man and they killed that man). Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself. Those who differ with this version are full of doubts. They have no knowledge and follow nothing but conjecture. For surely they killed him not." [Note: explicit denial of Christ's crucifixion. Verse 158 says Allah took Christ away. Verse 159 says that on the day of judgment, Christ will witness against those People of the Book who believed in his death.]<br /><br />Qur'an 4:171-173 "O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion; nor speak lies of Allah. The Messiah, Christ Jesus, the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not 'Trinity.' Cease and Desist: (it is) better for you: for Allah is one Ilah (God). (Far it is removed from him of) having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. The Messiah is proud to be a slave of Allah, as are the angels, those nearest. Those who disdain His worship and are arrogant. He will gather them all together unto Himself to (answer).... He will punish with a painful doom; Nor will they find, besides Allah, any to protect or save them."<br /><br />Mormons are not people of the Book - Islamic law describes Mormonism as a cult:<br /><br />From Reliance of the Traveller [sic] (the Shafi'i manual of Islamic law that was certified in 1991 by the clerics at Al-Azhar University, one of the leading authorities in the Islamic world, as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy), page 607:<br /><br />o.11.0 NON-MUSLIM SUBJECTS OF THE ISLAMIC STATE (AHL AL-DHIMMA)<br /><br />o11.1 A formal agreement of protection is made with citizens who are:<br /> (1) Jews;<br /> (2) Christians;<br /> (3) Zoroastrians;<br /> (4) Samarians and Sabians, if their religions do not respectively contradict the fundamental bases of Judaism and Christianity;<br /> (5) and those who adhere to the religion of Abraham or one of the other prophets (upon whom be blessings and peace).<br /><br />o11.2 Such a greement may not be effected with those who are idol worshipers (dis: o9.9(n:)), or those who do not have a Sacred Book or something that could have been a Book.<br />(A: Something that could have been a Book refers to those like Zoroastrians, who have remnants resembling an ancient Book. As for the psuedoscriptures of cults that have appeared since Islam (n: such as the Sikhs, Baha'is, Mormons, Qadianis, etc.), they neither are nor could be a Book, since the Koran is the final revelation (dis: w4).)<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com