...Let us all burn the Qur'an.....

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

When the heaven is cleft asunder,
When the planets are dispersed,
When the seas are poured forth,
And the sepulchres are overturned,
A soul will know what it hath sent before (it) and what left behind.
O man! What hath made thee careless concerning thy Lord, the Bountiful,
Who created thee, then fashioned, then proportioned thee?
Into whatsoever form He will, He casteth thee.
Nay, but ye deny the Judgment.
Lo! there are above you guardians,
Generous and recording,
Who know (all) that ye do.
Lo! the righteous verily will be in delight.
And lo! the wicked verily will be in hell;
They will burn therein on the Day of Judgment,
And will not be absent thence.
Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Day of Judgment is!
Again, what will convey unto thee what the Day of Judgment is!
A day on which no soul hath power at all for any (other) soul.
The (absolute) command on that day is Allah's.

Surah Al Infitar [ cleft asunder ], Chapter 82, The Noble Qur'an

......and the ignorant pastor and his flock in Gainsville, USA, wants to burn the Qur'an on 11th September. Go ahead. Better still, make it as toilet papers!
The last time they did that in Denmark, Europe was in sooth and dust for months.
Perhaps USA and NATO would find themselves been moved out of Afghanistan and Iraq and all the Muslim hinterlands much earlier than planned!
Go ahead, BURN THE QURAN!

On a more serious note, the Muslim world became subservient to the plundering and 'barbaric' West in the 17th and 18th century when the Quran was codified, booked and made easily available every where and ubiquitous.Only left with gifted individuals who can regurgitate the content parrot-wise, full of melody and with dictum.More fewer still who can comprehend and dare preach and lived by it. The order of the present time is worse still: The wise and the knowledgeable in the Quran[ often times called ulama' ] were just looking for crumbs and bit and pieces falling down from The High Tables of their political 'Masters and Sultans' .Those who dare aspire to mix politics and religion are summarily considered as 'heretics'. A great ploy by the West, swallowed whole by the East. We even have ulama' and ulama' now who thought the same!

7th and 8th century Muslims conquered and gave light to almost three quarter of the then known world when the Quran's lessons, philosophy and wisdom were wholly 'internalised'....and no books, nor lengthy and esoteric tafseer and discourse.They subsequently spurred on the European renaissance... Just on the spirit of the Quran only....very little of the books around gathering dust in the 'istanas' of Istanbul, Cordova, Serville and Bagdhad.

Now we have Qur'ans and Qur'ans abound.But the soul and spirit have been displaced! When the Qur'an is read,hearts remained unmoved and eyes remained dry.

1.5 billion Muslims have the Quran on dusty shelves in high places, libraries and codified to minute details in the i-phones and cyberspaces but very little in our souls. That is why clowns like Bush, Blair and Netalnyahu et al can offer us 'sweets' and lies and have us move in circles,and we still think they are plausible and respectable..Just watching Obama today on BBC give me the impression of some semblance of sanity going on in the Western world but I wonder how much he can move the prevailing 'mountain' of distrust and ignorance.

Let us all Muslims burn that 'proverbial'dusty old Quran on the shelves and high places! Let us just began to internalised its meaning and wisdom and live by it as true Muslims all the world over. Let us Muslims not be angered by ignorant and lost souls from across the globe. Let us just be Muslims.

Let us just be true Muslims.

It is back to iLm , iLm, ilm, and iLm.
Let us move that mountain of karat2 jahiliyah.
Let our hearts and eyes remained no longer dry and unmoved by the spirit of the Quran.Let us all burn the Quran in our hearts and souls.

Dr Nik Howk
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/

.........................

Addendum: Letter from a Syrian Catholic pastor to Pastor Terry Jones, USA


Respected Pastor Terry Jones,

I have read your worldwide call for the burning of the Quran on this coming 11th of September. Your message stated that you are a pastor of one of the churches in Florida in the United States of America.

As an Arab Catholic priest from Damascus (Syria), I wondered what would be your objective, as an American pastor, for such a call?

I wondered, and I ask you: What are your responsibilities as a pastor?
Are you really a Christian pastor serving God in a church in America?
Or are you merely a layperson from America who is pretending to be in the service of Christ?

Did you give in to your nationalism (Americanism) rather than giving in to your Christianity?

What is your aim with that call?

(Do you wish) to further fuel hatred among people? Is that consistent with (the teachings of) Jesus, whom you represent in your eyes and the eyes of many others?
Tell me, is there in the character of Jesus, in his words or in his actions anything that would remotely justify even a hint of promoting disdain and hatred among people?

Have you forgotten that Jesus was completely for love, forgiveness and peace? Have you forgotten what he taught us when he told his disciples and the people after them to tell God the heavenly Father of all to “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who wrong us”? You overlooked or forgot that when Jesus was hanging on the cross and being subjected to insults and vile words, he raised his voice, saying, “O Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Who, then, do you represent or who are you trying to guide with this call of yours?

Isn’t it enough what has been happening since September 11, 2001: the killing, destruction, displacement and starvation of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world, from Palestine – the land of Jesus – by your leaders in particular, headed by George Bush, who was claiming direct communication with God?

Wouldn’t you agree with me that with your call (to burn the Quran), you have demonstrated that you are really unfamiliar with Jesus and that you desperately need to re-discover him again to be a true Christian pastor who calls, like Jesus, for the comprehensive love and full respect for every human being and a commitment to the full and wonderful teachings that call upon all believers, without exception, to always stand beside the poor, the oppressed and the disadvantaged?

My brother Pastor Terry Jones. Can you tell me, honestly, if Jesus came today, whose side would he take?

Is it the side of the powerful and arrogant oppressors who dominate the world and endlessly plunder its resources, violate its laws and international treaties, and kill people in their countries and destroy houses on top of their owners and turn them into refugees across the earth? Or is it the side of those who are oppressed, the disadvantaged, hungry, and homeless?

Did you forget what Jesus himself would say on the Day of Judgment to each person in front of him: “All that you did to one of my brothers, you actually did to me”?

I wonder if you have overlooked or forgotten that Jesus did not point in that speech on the Day of Judgment to the religion of any of those mistreated persons. He only referred to everyone as belonging to the human race and to his standing with the deprived, the weak, and the oppressed in this world.

So how could you as an American Christian pastor stand with the oppressors from your country whose injustice has spread around the world?

Aren’t you afraid of when you appear before Jesus on Judgment Day and you are burdened with a heavy conscience, like your leaders who are blinded by the gods of power, money, control and greed?

My brother Pastor Terry. Do you think I am being unfair if I conclude that your hatred toward Islam is what drove you to such a reprehensible call for the burning of Islam's holy book, the Quran?

But let me ask you, as a Syrian Roman Catholic priest: What do you know about Islam? It appears to me from your call to burn the Quran that you are ignorant of Christ and Christianity, and that makes me believe that you are also ignorant of Islam and Muslims.

Believe me, it is not my intention to indict you and it is not my intention to engage with you in a religious debate about Christianity or Islam. However, after I prayed for a long time, let me suggest for both of us to make a joint effort on this coming September 11.

You might ask me what effort can we do jointly when you are in Florida and I'm in Damascus?

Here is my suggestion.

I invite you to visit Syria, where you will be my guest and the guest of many of my Muslim and Christian friends. Syria is a country populated mostly by Muslims and in which Christians are indigenous to the land and have lived side-by-side with Muslims for centuries and centuries.

Come and don’t worry about anything.

Come and you will find out about Islam and Muslims what will comfort you, please you, surprise you, and even lead you, from where you are today in Florida, to invite all people to live in respect, love and cooperation among all people.

This is what people need rather than the un-Christian call to fuel the sentiment of hatred and division.

Come to Syria and you will be amazed by the good nature of people and their faith, their relations, friendly cooperation and openness toward all strangers.

Come to Damascus to witness and live an experience that is not in your mind nor the mind or expectation of all the churches of the West or their bishops, pastors, and clergymen.

Come to see and hear two choruses, Christian and Muslim, singing together during Christian and Islamic holidays to praise Allah, the One God, who created us all, and to whom we all return.

My brother Pastor Terry.

I call you my brother and I am serious about calling you brother and about my invitation to you. I await a word (of reply) from you. Trust me that you will find a brother in Damascus, actually many brothers.

Please contact me and don’t delay. I am waiting for you in Damascus.

I ask God to make our anticipated meeting the beginning of a long and interesting path that we undertake together with other brothers in Damascus and around the world.

How desperate is the need of our world for bright roads.

Come, the road to Damascus is waiting for you.

Father Elias Zahlawi

....................

An American rebuttal: Diane Trefethen


......Let us all burn the Qur'an...‏

9: 32 AM
Reply ▼
Diane Trefethen
To Nik Isahak Abdullah
Dear Nik,

Dr Nik Howk's post underscores two truly important points. First, when the
followers of Islam leave their Holy Book on a shelf to gather dust, their souls
and spirits "have been displaced! Hearts and eyes remained dry and unmoved".
His call for Muslims to set aside the "lengthy and esoteric tafseer and
discourse" and instead internalise the Quran's "meaning and wisdom and live by
it as true Muslims all the world over" is a prayer that should touch us all.

Secondly, as for "the ignorant pastor and his flock in Gainesville, USA, [who]
wants to burn the Qur'an on 11th September", he rightfully places their fate
where it belongs... in the hands of God. He quotes of the Day of Judgment that
it will be,
"A day on which no soul hath power at all for any (other) soul.
The (absolute) command on that day is Allah's."

I wish there were more Nik Howks and fewer of those who would replace "the
spirit of the Quran" and make it "codified to minute details". Perhaps then
more Muslims would see Terry Jones and his ilk for what they are, just small,
"lost souls from across the world".

And they are lost. Regarding this brou-ha-ha, a Christian has only to ask
him/herself, "What would Jesus do if He were here?" The answer is that He would
welcome the Imam as a new neighbor and also ask him to examine his own heart in
this matter.

But burn a Holy Book? Never.

With kindest regards,
Diane

PS: I would be happy if you shared my note with the others. I replied to you
alone because I wasn't sure if you would find this American's response
embarrassing at this delicate time. Either way, please convey my respect and
admiration to Dr Nik Howk.

[ Diane, Nik Howk and Dr Nik is one and the same person...the endurance crazy chap ]