Hi friends,
We hear time and again that Islam is a religion of tolerance. Are we really 'that' tolerant? Do we display a tolerant attitude when we ban Bibles in the country depsite the fact that the Quran talks about the Bible several time? I will let the Saudi speaker, Mr. al-Ahmed, who is the director of the Saudi Institute in Washington, speak for us all! Check out his article; it's a hard-hitting, truth hurts kind of article.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006712
Mansur
13 comments:
speaking of hypocrisy, do you know what happens to bibles that customs at saudi airports that are confiscated? I am not defending the action by the us but i know that in saudi what we do is worse
Yeah, I agree that the main concern is that the Bible chaged and all, but that does not mean that we ban them and treat the Bible in a bad way! I can bet you there are worse ways that a Bible is treated than a Quran is. Don't we show respect to others? Don't we show respect to "People of the Book's" scriptures? Does this mean that everything that is not mandated by the Quran sould be treated disrespectfully? Do we treat a Christian disrespectfully just because he/ she believes in Jesus differently from Muslims?
Tolerance level is really very low, but I think it is lower here in Saudi Arabia than in Western countries. There, they allow for freedom of worship, and they tolerate all the building of mosques, Islamic education, Islamic propagation, use of media and all...and what do we have here in Saudi....absolutely no tolerance at all! What more can I say?! Do we go and enjoy the freedom given to us in other countries yet not allow any for others to have any in Saudi Arabia? I think not...!
M
Haitham, I know they do not respect the Bibles here at Saudi airport. I have heard stories from my friends about what happened to their copies of Bible. The Saudi customs guy makes fun of them, spits on the books, tears out the pages, throws them on floor, stomp on them with their feet and all....isnt that disrespectful of them? There are worse things they do!
M
As if the other things dont lead the people astray! Why blame the Bible? Why not everything else? I don't think people are that weak natured that they would let a mere Bible change them, unless it has the answers they are looking for in life! The Quran talks about how Muslims should believe in the previously revealed Scriptures, which are Injeel, Torah and Psalms. Do the Muslims believe in this? I often hear Muslims saying, yes we believe in the original versions, not the versions that exist today! Weren't the previous Scriptures released by Allah as well? How could Allah let His revelations be changed? If these are changed, what parts are corrupted, and where is the original version? Who changed it? When was it changed? Thats a mighty accusation you put on the Bible my friend!
Mansur has put up a link of what a Saudi guy is saying from the Saudi Institute in Washington, something that the Wall Street Journal has picked up! Why is a Saudi, Muslim even making such statement in the first place? i think he is stating the truth, and even though it may hurt some people....its the truth! Sorry...I also dont mean to sound like I am shouting, ranting or offending anyone...these are just random thoughts that came to mind right now! Peace my friend...no offence to anyone!
AD
Nope no bible in the land of Muhammad
yet we should not tear it or disrespect it
Right, lets get rid of all the Bibles! Let's go downtown Balad Jeddah and take out all the Bibles from there and burn them, like Hitler did!! Gosh! How intolerant! What more can I say? How would you feel if they would not allow for Qurans to be available in the US? Think about it....everyone thinks from their perspective and all, and dont give a damn about other's faith!
AD
well you know what, actually non muslims should not enter the arabian gulf because the prophet Peace be upon him made it harram
and it is the duty of the rulers to kick out non muslims they shoulf have not allowed any in the first place
so I assume thats why they dont allow bibles in the gulf coz the people who beleive in it were not supposed to come in in the first place
the Arabian gulf has sepcial concerns
any other muslim land its okay to have bibles or torahs or whatever
and people can live there under the protection of muslims
When you say Arabian Gulf, do you mean Saudi Arabia specifically? So essentially, all non-Muslims should not even be in the country! I wonder where this ruling went when all these foreigners came to build the country? Since I work in the construction field, I wonder what you think about the country letting in foreign, German, Christian contractors who went to Makkah to work on some renovation project at the mosque!? I know this happened, and I myself was surprised as to how the King let this happen. I wonder how we can stop the satellite and radio broadcasts from broadcasting Christian programs? I wonder how we can stop Asian television shows from showing their brands of Hinduism?
Could you please let me know where it says that the prophet (pbuh) made such a statement and how authentic the saying is. Thanks!
M
Hi AD,
while I appreciate your concern and all, I thnk you have to appreciate and respect that fact that saudi arabia has certain policies against the non-Muslims. As q8iblogger has said, there apparently is a ruling that says Non-Muslims should not even be i the country . I guess you have to deal with the reality. Thanks for raising up those issues, I honstly dont know how to answer that. In my mind, I also think it is intolerance at its peak. Come to an Islamic country like UAE, and you shall see a completely differnt side of an Islamic nation: churches, Bibles available, Christian conferences and all!
M
Inshallah Mansur i will get you this hadeeth,
and it doesnt reffer to saudi arabia, it reffers to the whole peninsula
ie kuwait saudi , qatar UAE oman yemen etc
Wow...so the entire arabian peninsula is off limits to Non-Muslims! Wow..I have never heard of this before! But what about the locals of the countries, like there are Iraqi Christians, Emirati Christians, Kuwaiti Christians and others...should they be kicked out as well? Is their homeland off limits to them as well?
Malik
Iraq is not part of it
but there was no such thing as kuwaiti christians by the way
they were imigrants and got the nationality,
i dont know the exact boarders of the arabian pensinsula that The prophet Peace be upon him referd to, but in the general sense yes no kuffar are to be allowed in in the first place
I think one would be surprised to know that there are actual local Kuwait Christians. As well as local Emirati Christians. I know because I know them personally. They tell me they have churches for them, where 100s of such people meet and worship. I was at a recent conference in Egypt, and there were even actual local Saudis who were there who are Christians. They may have been converts, but the thing is that they are local citizens of that country. You just don't hear about them because people would call them apostates and refuse to accept them as Christians, just like q8i said that there is no such thing as Kuwait Christian! To be in denial of such a thing is only but a natural reaction.
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