The World Blog by humble servant.

How would the prophet Muhammad fare in our society today?? I hate to describe the prophet Muhammad with any of our contemporary descriptions but if I have to, that is how he would be described today, a liberal. He would be severely criticized by most of today’s Muslim scholars. The Mullahs, Imams and religious leaders would attack him and they may even have a fatwah (decree) that calls for his head. He would be arrested in any of the so-called Islamic countries, jailed and probably tortured to death. The Mullahs, scholars and religious leaders would be disturbed by him following the Quran alone and refusing all the innovations that filled the Hadith and Sunnah books and added to today’s Islam 200 years after his death. He would denounce the Hadith and Sunnah books, those who wrote them and those who follow them. The prophet Muhammad would have found himself a stranger among the Muslims today. He would probably feel so much disappointment, he might tell God what he will be telling Him o...

Sura 40: Forgiver (Ghãfer) [40:0] In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful  [40:1] H. M.*  *40:1 The initials "Hã Mîm" occur in Suras 40-46. The total frequency of occurrence of the letters "Hã" and "Mîm" in the seven suras is 2147, or 19x113 (Appendix 1). [40:2] This revelation of the scripture is from GOD, the Almighty, the Omniscient.  [40:3] Forgiver of sins, acceptor of repentance, strict in enforcing retribution, and possessor of all power. There is no other god beside Him. To Him is the ultimate destiny.  [40:4] None argues against GOD's revelations except those who disbelieve. Do not be impressed by their apparent success.  [40:5] Disbelieving before them were the people of Noah, and many other opponents after them. Every community persecuted their messenger to neutralize him. And they argued with falsehood, to defeat the truth. Consequently, I punished them; how terrible was My retribution!  [40:6] Thus, the judgment of your Lord is al...

Sometimes in our Quran studies we argue over a certain word, whether this or that is the best way to translate it. Occasionally the discussions get heated. But through it all, the one thing we all agree on is how fortunate we are to have a translation that’s easy for us to read and comprehend. No one argues the fact that we have the best translation easily accessible. Well, I think we need to be even more appreciative of that fact and thank God for the blessing. I recently read an article in a periodical called Old News. It was about a man named William Tyndale who lived in England in the 1500’s. His lifelong ambition was to translate the New and Old Testaments of the Bible from Latin into English. It seems like a reasonable thing to us, but at that time in that place, just to have the idea was punishable by death! Yes, death. There were lots of reasons given why it was heretical to translate the Bible, but the bottom line was that the religious leaders were terrified of losing their c...

Without faith it is impossible to please God. You can obey God. You can do the right thing and still not be pleasing God because you’re not doing it in faith. How can I build my faith? I can pray and ask God to increase my faith. But how does God build my faith? Here’s one secret. And it’s not really something you’re real excited about when you first hear it. But the truth is God builds your faith and my faith by testing it. He builds our faith by putting it to the test, by trying it. Faith is like a muscle and when it’s stretched and it’s pulled, then it develops. When you test your muscles against weights then your muscles develop. And your faith develops as it is tested. Did you realize that God is testing you every moment of your life? Every day you have faith-building opportunities. The problem is most of us don’t recognize them when they’re there. We flunk the test because we don’t even realize it is a test and that God is trying to help us grow. These are the four most common wa...