By Imam Shamshad A. Nasir

Mr. Mark Noreen of Rancho Cucamonga writes in his May 15th letter that I should stop my “continual challenge” of Christianity, take heed of the words of Jesus in Mat.7:3 regarding specks and logs in people’s eyes, and spend my time correcting the “shortcomings” of my own religion of Islam.
Any “challenges” I have issued in the form of questioning Christian beliefs have been in defense of the pure Oneness of God — the foundation of Judaism and, by extension, Christianity.

As for “shortcomings,” they do not exist in the religion of Islam but in the Muslims who do not follow or understand Islam’s true teachings. The main purpose of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is to get Muslims to understand and follow the real teachings of Islam. We stand for peace, justice, interfaith harmony and “Love for All – Hatred for None.” I humbly invite Mr. Noreen and all other like-minded people to stand with me.
Mr. Noreen concludes by stating that Islam is the basis of “many ills including but not limited to: never-ending wars, the killing of thousands of innocent people annually, including 3,000 Americans on 9/11; persecution of gays, suppression of women’s rights; and lack of tolerance.”
The never-ending wars he’s talking about would have to be between Muslim nations that started wars against non-Muslim or Christian nations. Please identify a Muslim nation that started any of these “never-ending” wars. It is true that extremist so-called “Muslims” kill thousands annually (with most being other Muslims), but to blame Islam would be the same as blaming Christianity for the actions of so-called Christians like Hitler, Jim Jones, Timothy McVeigh or the Ku Klux Klan.

As for persecution of homosexuals, I would ask Mr. Noreen to read Lev.20:13, which mandates death for all gays. Islam does not condone homosexuality, but it also does not demand any life-ending punishment for it, either. Punishments in Islam are always equitable — meant to deter or reform – and, with the exception of death as an equitable punishment for murder, the guilty cannot be deterred from or reformed after committing a crime if they are dead.

Even Jesus is not as forgiving and merciful as the Islamic statutes. In Mat.15:4 for example, Jesus upholds Lev.20:9 and Ex.21:17, which lets parents put to death any children who curse them. And because Jesus said he did not come to destroy the Mosaic Law (Mat.5:17), here are some other commandments still in force:

Parents can have their gluttonous, drunkard or rebellious sons stoned to death (Deut.21:18-24); death is the penalty for nearly every act of fornication outside of marriage (Lev.20:10-16); you can sell your daughter into slavery (Ex.21:7); you can own slaves as long as they are purchased from non-Hebrew nations (Lev.25:44); and if you are a Christian slave with a Christian master, don’t read 1 Tim.6:1-2 – no emancipation for you.
On the subject of oppression of women, Islam forbids it, stating that women have the right to be educated equally with men and not be kidnapped into servitude or sexual slavery (4:21). Wives have the right to own property, get divorced and inherit from their husbands and relatives.
The point is, what passes for Islam these days in many parts of the Muslim world is about as representative of real Islam as the Inquisition and the Dark Ages are of the real teachings of Jesus. All those Muslims committing atrocities in the name of Islam will, ultimately, answer before God for all the evils they commit.

People who take the time to study the Quran and the life of Muhammad with an open mind and heart can easily realize there is a huge difference between what Islam teaches and what some Muslims choose to believe that Islam teaches.

About the author:

Imam Shamshad A. Nasir

Baitul Hameed Mosque – 11941 Ramona Ave., Chino, CA 91710                       Ph. 909-627-2252 – Email: shamshadanasir@gmail.com