when you get right down to it, faith in islam is an authority issue, and about winning & prevailing on earth, and in the hereafter.
the text of the koran is chock full of references to "believers" in islam "winning," and about disbelievers loosing. and, the koran is remarkably frank about who the final arbiter on theological issues as between jews, christians and muslims should be.
you probably will not be so very surprised to learn that mohammed is the final authority on on matters religious and theological, if you've been reading these posts, but jews and christians alike might be surprised to know that mohammed is the final authority, according to the koran, on issues within the jewish and christian faiths if they have not considered such matters. this --
sura 5. the feast, verses 41 through 49.
41. messenger, do not be grieved by those who rush into disbelief--those who say with their mouths, "we believe," but have no faith in their hearts, and the jews who listen eagerly to lies and to those who have not even met you, who distort the meanings of [revealed] words and say [to each other,] "if you are given this ruling, accept it, but if you are not, then beware!"-- if god intends some people to be so misguided, you will be powerless against god on their behalf. these are the ones whose hearts god does not intend to cleanse--a disgrace for them in this world, and then a heavy punishment in the hereafter-- 42. they listen to lies and consume what is unlawful. if they come to you [prophet] for judgment, you can either judge between them, or decline--if you decline, they will not harm you in any way; but if you do judge between them, judge justly: god love the just-- 43. but why do they come to you for judgement when they have the torah with god's judgement, and even then still turn away? these are not believers. 44. we revealed the torah with guidance and light, and the prophets, who had submitted to god,judged according to it for the jews. so did the rabbis and the scholars in accordance wtih that part of god's scripture which they were entrusted to preserve, and to which they were witnesses. so [rabbis and scholars] do not fear people, fear me; do not barter away my message for a small price; those who do not judge according to what god ha sent down are rejecting [god's teachings.] 45. in the torah we prescribed for them a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, and ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, an equal wound for a wound: if anyone forgive this out of charity, it will serve a atonement for his bad deeds. those who do not judge accorind got what god has revealed are doing grave wrong.
46. we sent jesus, son of mary, in their footsteps, to confirm the torah that had been sent before him: we gave him the gospel with guidance, light, and confirmation of the torah already revealed--a guide and lesson for those who take head of god. 47. so let the followers of the gospel judge according to what god has sent down in it. those who do not judge according to what god has revealed are lawbreakers.
48. we sent to you [muhammad] the scripture with the truth, confirming the scriptures that came before it, and with final authority over them: so judge between them according to what god has sent down. do not follow their whims, which deviate from the truth that has come to you. we have assigned a law and a path to each of you. if god had so willed, he would have made you one community, but he wanted to test you through that which he has given you, so race to do good: you will all return to god and he will make clear to you the matters you differed about. 49. so [prophet] judge between them according to what god has sent down. do not follow their whims, and take good care that they do not tempt you away from any of what god has sent down to you.
sura 5, verses 41-49, the qur'an, a translation by muhammad a.s. abdel haleem, oxford university press, 2004, u.s.a.
well, there you have it. according to the koran, mohammed is given final authority over the interpretation of the torah and of the gospel, and final authority as judge in disputes as to the meaning of what god has sent down through his prophets and his scripture.
what could be needier and tidier than that?
mohammed has the revelations, and the revelations cast him as the final arbiter of religious truth as between judaism, christianity and islam. islam is, of course, all that has come before, and islam, via mohammed, considers that mohammed says what it is, all that has come before.
islam is not revelation, it is not insight, it is not theological, is it not even about religiousity. is is about authority and rule.
over religion. politics. and, individuals.
simple as that. hey, what's all the commotion? well, yes, we will probably run into some interesting things about free will and conscious, as we go forward, ... , but, islam says it will straighten it out for us. eh?
john jay @ 07.30.2011
What you write of is the revelation of islam that free men must come to, or become slaves. It has been so for 1400 years and still plays out everyday around us.
The leftists, globalists, statists, media, and other assorted totalitarians controlling our nation know that what you write here is truth John Jay. It is why they embrace islam.
Islam is authoritarian rule, prescribed by sharia and hidden by a false veil of religion. It is a veil that even compels the muslim to openly deny that faith and their god in taqiyya - a means to justify its ends.
The veil is the key to islam's power, and it's downfall if only free men have the knowledge and courage to pull it down.
Posted by: sDee | July 31, 2011 at 06:59 AM
sDee:
the koran is superbly authoritarian, and so far as i can see rests on several "revelations" made to mo that he is to speak with final authority on all matters related to scripture from the torah and the gospels.
pretty simple, really.
he simply claims final authority, which, in fact, is a claim of absolute authority.
in all things.
john jay
Posted by: john jay | July 31, 2011 at 08:07 AM