This is the fourth and final installment on this topic. In this post you will be introduced to Islamic conversion, circumcision, Jizya and Halal food. 12. Conversion: Islam is a one way street. A person is "free" only to convert to Islam but not out of it. The punishment in many Islamic countries in accordance with the sharia law is death. Yes, Islam in its purest sense … [Read more...]
ISLAM – RELIGIOUS PRACTICES (PART 3)
6. Islamic Head Dress: Seen as a sign of female oppression by outsiders and a few insiders too, the headdress of Muslim women make them stand out. "The (really) rough rule of thumb for where these headdresses are popular is Hijab: Roughly used everywhere in some form. Many times a generic word for head covering. Al-Amira: A hijab found in Arabic countries and those … [Read more...]
The Penalty For Apostasy According to Islam
Tariq Ramadan, an Islamic scholar and writer, wants us to believe that Islam does not demand a death penalty for apostasy. Although he concedes that the ahadith reports Muhammad to have said "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him," (Sahih Al-Bukhari volume 9, book 84, no. 57) and other words to similar effect, Ramadan argues that such a penalty was to be applied … [Read more...]
Abdu Murray and Grand Central Questions, Part 1
We recently had the opportunity to talk with Abdu Murray about his new book Grand Central Question: Answering the Critical Concerns of the Major Worldviews (IVP, 2014). Murray is an attorney, a former Muslim, and an experienced apologist, and his book examines the critical questions of human existence in light of some of today’s major worldviews. This is part one of our … [Read more...]
ISLAM – Religious Practices (Part 2)
The Five Pillars of Islam (contd.) 4. Alms giving Zakat, the Islamic equivalent of tithes is one of the pillars of Islam. "One of the most important principles of Islam is that all things belong to God, and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust.The word Zakat means both 'purification' and 'growth'. Our possessions are purified by setting aside a proportion … [Read more...]
The Status of Women According to Islam
The status of women in Islam is a subject enshrouded in controversy. According to many Muslims, Muhammad was a champion of women’s rights, bestowing upon the women in his community privileges and rights that they did not have previously. The notion that women in pre-Islamic Arabia had no rights, however, is demonstrably untrue. Former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi lists some of the … [Read more...]
Answering An Islamic Objection: The Justice of Penal Substitution
Frequently, in dialogues with Muslim polemicists, one will encounter the charge against Christianity that the doctrine of penal substitution is unjust. How, after all, can the blame of all humanity be laid on an innocent? How can an innocent be made to carry the burdens of mankind? In this article, I want to offer a responses to this objection. … [Read more...]
The Qur'an, Muhammad and Modern Science: Scientific Miracles or Blunders?
Anyone who has had even a mild exposure to Islamic apologetics will have encountered the argument for the Qur'an's divine origin based on its purported scientific miracles -- that is, scientific assertions contained within the Qur'an which have only been validated by modern science. Out of all of the arguments for the Islamic religion, this is the one which, in my judgment, … [Read more...]
A Simple Reason Why The Qur'an Cannot Be The Word of God
The Islamic religion claims that the Qur'an, revealed allegedly by the angel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad beginning in 610 A.D., is the inspired and inerrant word of God. Such an assertion, however, is highly problematic, and many, many arguments could be given to convincingly refute it. In this article, I am going to offer one of those reasons, which I perceive to be the … [Read more...]
Islam – Religious Practices (Part I)
As a child, I grew up in the coastal town of Pondicherry, India. Though I still live there in Pondicherry, I don't live downtown, like I did in my childhood. The southern part of downtown Pondicherry is a predominantly Muslim. My first Muslim friend lived right below me in the ground floor. Then when we changed our house, we rented another house a few streets nearby owned by … [Read more...]