A few years ago Khaleel Mohammed, a professor at San Diego State University and a popular “moderate Muslim,” said this about me: “He misquotes verses of the Qur’an, takes things out of context, and shamelessly lies.” Since I do not misquote verses of the Qur’an, take things out of context, or shamelessly lie, I contacted […]
Ramadan in Afghanistan: Taliban shoot 6 civilians for breaking fast
Piety enforced with a bullet inside the empire of fear. “Taliban shot 6 civilians for breaking Ramadan fast in Herat,” Khaama Press, June 19, 2016: The Taliban militants shot at least 6 civilians after accusing them of breaking Ramadan fast in western Herat province of Afghanistan. According to the local officials, the incident took place […]
Reading the Qur’an during Ramadan 21: Juz Utlu ma uhiya
Allah tells Muhammad not to get into arguments with the Jews and Christians, “except by better means,” unless it is with one of them who is a wrongdoer — and to tell them that Muslims, Jews and Christians all worship the same deity (29:46). The Tafsir al-Jalalayn says that this means Muslims should not argue […]
Reading the Qur’an during Ramadan 19: Juz Wa Qala Alladhina
Then in 25:11-34 Allah warns of the dreadful Day of Judgment, when the unbelievers will lament, “Oh! would that I had taken a (straight) path with the Messenger!” (v. 27) and will realize the terrible mistake they made in taking the Qur’an to be “foolish nonsense” (v. 30). Meanwhile, as the fearsome Day unfolds, the […]
Islamic State crucifying Ramadan violators “every day”
“The group has a conservative and brutal brand of Islamic law that it has imposed upon the populations under its control in northern Iraq and eastern Syria.” And where does this “conservative and brutal brand of Islamic law” come from? Why, from the Qur’an: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and […]
Reading the Qur’an during Ramadan 16: Juz Qala alum
Moses and Khidr then have the same exchange about the promise Moses made not to ask questions (18:75-76). Finally, Khidr rebuilds a wall that had fallen down in a town that had refused the two hospitality, and Moses scolds him yet again (18:77), for he could have gotten wages for his action, which the two […]
Reading the Qur’an during Ramadan 15: Juz Subhana Alladhi
Muhammad’s famous Night Journey (Isra and Miraj) is the basis of the Islamic claim to Jerusalem as an Islamic holy city. The only thing the Qur’an has to say about it is this the first verse of sura 17, which says that Allah took Muhammad from “the Sacred Mosque” in Mecca “to the farthest [al-aqsa] […]
Reading the Qur’an during Ramadan 12: Juz Wa ma min dabbah
Then follow the stories of various prophets, all revolving around their rejection by perverse and obstinate unbelievers. Allah tells the story of Noah and the ark, with a significant difference from the Biblical story (11:25-49). In Genesis 6-9, Noah has nothing to do with the unbelievers at all; God tells him, “I have determined to […]
Ramadan in Indonesia: 4 Muslims jailed for plot to blow up Buddhist temple
Islamic State spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani recently called on Muslims to “get prepared, be ready … to make it a month of calamity everywhere for nonbelievers.” “Four Indonesians jailed over IS-linked terror plot,” AFP, June 15, 2016 (thanks to Marc): JAKARTA: An Indonesian bomb maker inspired by an Islamic State extremist was sentenced Wednesday to […]
France: Muslim stabs teenage girl as “sacrifice” during Ramadan
“The man, 32, is said to have told police he had heard voices ordering him to ‘commit a sacrifice’ to coincide with Ramadan. He has been sent to a psychiatric hospital and the girl’s wounds are not life-threatening, according to a lawyer in Rennes, France.” Another outbreak of that peculiar mental illness. “BREAKING: Horror as […]