Hikmah means Wisdom
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And the disbeliever's say, 'Why is not a sign sent to Muhammad?"
Hikmah (Wisdom) is a form of knowledge that we cannot attain on our own. We can not just read a book or ask someone, the best way I can describe it is- common sense. But it's more than that, because it has to come from a devotion to God (and ONLY God). Many Christians say that you cannot understand the Bible unless you accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God. I used to be a Christian, but I couldn't tell WHICH Bible to read, which interpretation, and I couldn't read them ALL. And Christianity is not the only religion to make such a claim.
The Qur'an makes no such claim. The purpose of any Holy Book should be to convince one of the proof of its message, is not most of the New Testament derived from the letters of Paul, attempting to convince people of his Gospel? A book should be easily understood by those who read it, the Qur'an is such a book.
Many Jew's & Christian's ask me if Muhammad ever produced any miracles. The answer is yes, he has, but Muhammad never wanted us to focus on them. As such, he went for a long duration without any public miracles. In the Qur'an, Allah reminds us that the pagans of the time used to question Muhammad as to why he never showed them a sign, like the Jew's did to Jesus. As Jesus did, Muhammad refused them a sign, as God does not send us prophets for our amusement, but that we might be guided. This is an excerpt from that story.

37 And they said: Why is not a sign sent down to him from his Lord? Say: Allah is certainly able to send down a sign, but most of them know not. 38 There is not a living creature on earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, that are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book, then onto your Lord shall you all be gathered. Sura Al-An'am 6:37-38

I would like the reader to re-read the above passages. At first, it seems as though the question is just passed by, ignored, but read it again.
Please direct your attention to number thirty-eight, Allah says that all creatures, even the birds in the sky who fly in a seemingly haphazard way, are all in communities. Look hard, even though we (as humans) may not be able to tame ALL of the beasts of the earth, they ALL follow a universal plan. Whether it is birds in a flock, lions in a pack, or fish in a school, EVERYTHING follows a code of conduct, even if we (as humans) don't understand it. This simple fact shows that there is a single, universal law that governs all things. As humans, we have the free will to break those laws (in a limited fashion) and be non-conformists to the law, which is why the word for a non-Muslim (Kafir) can also mean a criminal.
This law, of course, extends much farther than this. The laws of physics, for one. If there was no law of physics, then someone could drop a pen and have no idea where it would go. But there IS a law of physics, and it existed long before an apple fell on the head of any great thinker, we just didn't understand it before that. Now we know that in an environment like earth, the pen will fall, and in a vacuum, like space, it will be suspended.
Now if a universal law, such as this, exists then logic can only dictate that there is a writer of the law, a GOD if you will. So what God is saying, in the above revelation, is that the miracle He is showing us is the universal law that He created before our existence. The fact is that any miracle God DID send down was actually only making void, if temporarily, the original miracle.
The reader should know that Allah DID send Muhammad many miracles. I have been given the argument many times, by opponents of Islam, that those miracles were not related in the Qur'an, but in the traditions of our prophet Muhammad. In response to this, I must say that the Qur'an tells us that Allah sent us both the Qur'an AND the example of the prophet. This makes all those traditions valid and the opponents arguments void. If, however, this does not suffice my critics, then I refer them to the Qur'an, Sura Al-Qamar 54: the first few passages. This reminds us of how Allah gave Muhammad the power to split the moon into two pieces, right before the eye's of all of the disbeliever's. It should be noticed that, just as Allah said they would, they all continued to disbelieve. The same people who asked for a sign did not accept the sign they were finally given, as signs don't prove a thing. Just like Jesus said.

The Sin That Is Never Forgiven.
Speaking with a friend of mine on the phone, I mentioned to him that there is only one sin that will put the face of the denizen of Hell under the fire, and it is the one sin that Allah will never forgive; and that is shirk.
Shirk is the Arabic word that means, 'to associate others as partners with God." That is to say that God has an equal, or others who share dominance with God. According to the Qur'an, anyone who claims that God has one or more partners, or parents, siblings or children, then they claim that God is not everlasting, self-sufficient and supreme, this is shirk, and God will never forgive it if you die with this belief.
My friend reminded me, as I figured he would, that the Bible says:

"But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
Mark 3:28-30

If anyone has read the section, on this web site, entitled 'The Bible Prepared Us For Islam' then you will see, in the New Testament section, that Jesus spoke about Muhammad as being the expected advocate/ comforter. The way I see it is that Jesus called for everyone to accept the coming 'Spirit of Truth', Jesus knew that many of his immediate followers would not recognize him, so he said that it was a blaspheme to curse the comforter.
Christians are supposed to be non-violent, peace-loving people with the "love-thy-neighbor' attitude, they should not hate others enough to bad-mouth those who are important to others. Muhammad told us not to speak bad about Jesus, or Moses or any messenger in the Bible, he even forbade us from insulting Buddha, Zarathustra, Nannak or anyone who claims to be a messenger. We cannot even insult their Gods, even if they are idols made of clay. The Qur'an says that if we insult them, then they may insult us, or say something bad about Allah, and this would be bad for both of us.
It is my belief that Jesus said this as a sort of 'fail-safe'. 'Anyone who insults the 'Holy Spirit' is cursed forever.' Please refer to the New Testament section of 'The Bible Prepared Us For Islam' on this site, you will see that ALL Messengers of God are called spirits. This means that anyone who insults ANY of Gods messengers will not be forgiven if they die in that state.
You'll Never Guess What I've Found.
THE JEWS IN PALESTINE 1938
By Mahatma Gandhi
Several letters have been received by me asking me to declare my views about the Arab-Jew question in Palestine and the persecution of the Jews in Germany. It is not without hesitation that I venture to offer my views on this very difficult question.
My sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South Africa. Some of them became lifelong companions. Through these friends I came to learn much of their age long persecution. They have been the untouchables of Christianity. The parallel between their treatment by Christians and the treatment of untouchables by Hindus is very close. Religious sanction has been invoked in both cases for the justification of the inhuman treatment meted out to them. Apart from the friendships, therefore, there is the more common universal reason for my sympathy for the Jews.
But my sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice. The cry for the national home for the Jews does not make much appeal to me. The sanction for it is sought in the Bible and the tenacity with which theJews have hankered after return to Palestine. Why should they not, like other peoples of the earth, make that country their home where they are born and where they earn their livelihood? Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct. The mandates have no sanction but that of the last war. Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home.
The nobler course would be to insist on a just treatment of the Jews wherever they are born and bred. The Jews born in France are French in precisely the same sense that Christians born in France are French. If the Jews have no home but Palestine, will they relish the idea of being forced to leave the other parts of the world in which they are settled? Or do they want a double home where they can remain at will? This cry for the national home affords a colourable justification for the German expulsion of the Jews. But the German persecution of the Jews seems to have no parallel in history. The tyrants of old never went so mad as Hitler seems to have gone. And he is doing it with religious zeal. For, he is propounding a new religion of exclusive and militant nationalism in the name of which any inhumanity becomes an act of humanity to be rewarded here and hereafter. The crime of an obviously mad but intrepid youth is being visited upon his whole race with unbelievable ferocity. If there ever could be a justifiable war in the name of and for humanity, a war against Germany to prevent the wanton persecution of a whole race, would be completely justified. But I do not believe in any war. A discussion of the pros and cons of such a war is, therefore, outside my horizon or province.
But if there can be no war against Germany, even for such a crime as is being committed against the Jews, surely there can be no alliance with Germany. How can there be alliance between a nation which claims to stand for justice and democracy and one which is the declared enemy of both? Or is England drifting towards armed dictatorship and all it means?
Germany is showing to the world how efficiently violence can be worked when it is not hampered by any hypocrisy or weakness masquerading as humanitarianism. It is also showing how hideous, terrible and terrifying it looks in its nakedness.
Can the Jews resist this organized and shameless persecution? Is there a way to preserve their self-respect, and not to feel helpless, neglected and forlorn? I submit there is. No person who has faith in a living God need feel helpless or forlorn. Jehovah of the Jews is a God more personal than the God of the Christians, the Mussalmans or the Hindus, though as a matter of fact, in essence, He is common to all and one without a second and beyond description. But as the Jews attribute personality to God and believe that He rules every action of theirs, they ought not to feel helpless. If I were a Jew and were born in Germany and earned my livelihood there, I would claim Germany as my home even as the tallest gentile German might, and challenge him to shoot me or cast me in the dungeon; I would refuse to be expelled or to submit to discriminating treatment. And for doing this I should not wait for the fellow Jews to join me in civil resistance, but would have confidence that in the end the rest were bound to follow my example....
... And now a word to the Jews in Palestine. I have no doubt that they are going about it in the wrong way. The Palestine of the Biblical conception is not a geographical tract. It is in their hearts. But if they must look to the Palestine of geography as their national home, it is wrong to enter it under the shadow of the British gun. A religious act cannot be performed with the aid of the bayonet or the bomb. They can settle in Palestine only by the goodwill of the Arabs. They should seek to convert the Arab heart. The same God rules the Arab heart who rules the Jewish heart... They will find the world opinion in their favour in their religious aspiration. There are hundreds of ways of reasoning with the Arabs, if they will only discard the help of the British bayonet. As it is, they are co-sharers with the British in despoiling a people who have done no wrong to them.
I am not defending the Arab excesses. I wish they had chosen the way of non-violence in resisting what they rightly regarded as an unwarrantable encroachment upon their country. But according to the accepted canons of right and wrong, nothing can be said against the Arab resistance in the face of overwhelming odds.
Let the Jews who claim to be the chosen race prove their title by choosing the way of non-violence for vindicating their position on earth. Every country is their home, including Palestine, not by aggression but by loving service. A Jewish friend has sent me a book called The Jewish Contribution to Civilization by Cecil Roth. It gives a record of what the Jews have done to enrich the world's literature, art, music, drama, science, medicine, agriculture, etc. Given the will, the Jew can refuse to be treated as the outcast of the West, to be despised or patronized. He can command the attention and respect of the world by being the chosen creation of God, instead of sinking to the brute who is forsaken by God. They can add to their many contributions the surpassing contribution of non-violent action. Harijan, 26-11-1938.
[excerpted from M.K. Gandhi, My Non-Violence. Edited by Sailesh Kumar Bandopadhaya (Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, 1960) Reprinted by permission of the Navajivan Trust.]
THEY CAN'T GO HOME!
TIME International
January 15, 1996 Volume 147, No. 3

THEY CAN'T GO HOME
PEACE ACCORDS HAVE NOT ENDED THE WOE OF LEBANON'S FORGOTTEN PALESTINIANS
LARA MARLOWE/SHATILA CAMP
LEBANON DOESN'T WANT THEM. ISRAEL won't take them back. The limbo of the past
half-century stretches despairingly into the future. Because the assimilation of
some 350,000 Muslim Palestinian refugees would upset the fragile numerical
balance of Christians and Muslims in Lebanon, Beirut politicians insist that the
castaways must never be allowed to settle. Spread across the country in more
than a dozen camps with scandalous living conditions, barred from all but menial
jobs, forbidden to buy property or travel freely, the refugees amount to nearly
10% of Lebanon's population. Their fate is one of the country's most explosive
political issues, symbolized by the camp whose name has become synonymous with
the memory of a massacre.
Shatila, situated in the heart of Beirut where Shi'ite, Sunni and Christian
sectors converge, is the site of the 1982 killings of perhaps a thousand men,
women and children by Christian Phalangist militiamen. To the Lebanese, Shatila
is a potent reminder of the Palestinians' unwanted presence and their potential
for disruption. The government refuses to comment on rumors that Shatila's
10,000 refugees may be forced out for development projects. But as a
million sports stadium rises next to the camp--to play host to the June
inter-Arab games--refugees recall the late President-elect Bashir Gemayel's
threat to raze Shatila and turn it into tennis courts and public gardens for the
Lebanese.
Without drinking water, electricity or adequate plumbing, Shatila is a square
kilometer of misery. To give the Palestinians basic facilities, the Lebanese
government argues, might encourage them to stay. Sunlight barely reaches the
narrow alleys. The slum reeks; when it rains, sewage floods the concrete-block,
tin-roofed shacks. Many of Shatila's residents are refugees several times over,
having fled camps in the south, in the eastern Bekaa Valley and in Christian
areas of Beirut. "All our life has been a story of loss, a history of wars,"
says Mahmoud Ismail, 59, who fled his village in the Acre district of northern
Israel at the age of 12 and has made his home in Shatila for the past 35 years.
At 23, Mahmoud Younes has known only camp life, yet some things set him apart
from the other young men in Shatila: his long silences, the intense look in his
dark eyes, the white streak of hair that has stayed with him since the murder 13
years ago of his father and three elder brothers. In her tiny house, Younes'
mother Deebeh Saleh Hossein, 55, is surrounded by photographs of the family's
"martyrs." "We shut the doors and windows and waited," she says, recalling the
night in September 1982 when the Christian Phalangist militiamen came. According
to an Israeli official at the time, the militiamen were "allowed" into Shatila
by Israeli troops to "seek out and destroy terrorists." "After two days,"
Hossein remembers, "the militiamen doing the slaughter announced over
loudspeakers that they were going to bulldoze our houses. I took Mahmoud by the
hand and walked out, waving a white handkerchief to surrender. They ran into my
house firing machine guns.
"Mahmoud had long curls, and I told the Phalangists he was a girl, so they let
him go with me. As we were running away, the boy tripped over a body. A neighbor
shouted to him, and the militiaman realized I'd lied. 'You told us he was a
girl,' he said. 'Now we're going to kill him.' He pushed Mahmoud against a wall
and held a Kalashnikov [rifle] to his head. I pleaded: 'You've taken my house;
it was full of men. Please let me keep him.' I gave the gunman the 12,000
Lebanese pounds I'd hidden in my clothes, and he let us go ... When I went back,
I found only one of my sons' bodies. You don't know what it's like for a mother
to bury her child with her own hands."
Hossein's terrible story helps explain why the very name Shatila evokes death,
exile and mourning in the minds of Palestinians. Neighboring Sabra, which saw
less killing than Shatila, gradually became part of Beirut as Lebanese displaced
by the war moved into it. But Shatila retains its character as a refugee camp.
Photographs of sons, husbands and fathers killed in the massacre, or in fighting
against Israelis, hang on the walls of most households, a large percentage of
which are run by women. Scarred by bullets and shell fire, the buildings of
Shatila mimic its inhabitants' condition. At the entrance to the camp is a dusty
vacant lot where the Red Cross buried hundreds of the 1982 victims in a mass
grave.
The Palestinians in Lebanon are refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, or
their descendants. Their families come not from the West Bank and Gaza Strip but
from what is now Israel. And they feel the 1993 Oslo agreement was made at their
expense, on behalf of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories. Their
"Right of Return" to homes in northern Israel--endorsed by United Nations
General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 1948--was, they claim, abandoned by
the p.l.o. The resolution, reaffirmed annually by the U.N., declares that
"refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their
neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date."
But Israel fears its Jewish population may eventually be outnumbered by Arabs,
and it rejects the Palestinians' Right of Return. The Knesset resolved in 1961
that "it is not possible for Arab refugees to return to the territory of Israel,
and the only solution to the problem is to resettle them in the Arab countries."
It is unlikely that Israel's position will change substantially in final status
talks scheduled to address the question of refugees.
Only briefly did the 1982 massacre focus attention on the Palestinians' plight.
Although the Israeli Kahan Commission Report concluded that Israel's
responsibility was "indirect," the slaughter at Shatila remains a blot on the
record of the Jewish state. Elie Hobeika, the Phalangist leader the Israelis
held responsible for the massacre, subsequently shifted allegiance from Israel
to Syria, and is today Lebanese Minister for Electricity and Water Resources.
Nabih Berri, whose Syrian-backed Shi'ite Muslim Amal militia later killed
hundreds more Palestinians in the 1985-87 Camps War, is now Speaker of the
Lebanese Parliament.
Israel sometimes allows aging refugees to visit Arab relatives who stayed in
Israel and obtained Israeli citizenship. Deebeh Saleh Hossein has twice returned
to her original village near Haifa in Israel. "I saw our house. There are Yemeni
Jews living in it. The iron front gate was open. When I went in, I saw the olive
trees my father planted in the garden. I picked an olive and put it in my mouth.
A young girl went and got an old lady who spoke a little Arabic. She asked me,
'Is this your house? Are you living in Lebanon?' I said yes. She invited me into
the house, and we drank coffee. When I went in, I started crying. She said, 'God
willing, you will return to this house, and I will return to my house in
Yemen.'"
But after nearly five decades of bitter wandering in Lebanon, the Palestinians
here appear no closer to finding a home. Lebanese President Elias Hrawi, whose
wife is half Palestinian, says he would rather cut off his right hand than give
them Lebanese nationality. Attempts to secure permanent residence status and a
modicum of civil rights for the refugees have encountered fierce opposition.
"The Lebanese government can't even look after its own people," says Shatila
schoolteacher Ahmad Abu Niaj, who fled his home in Saffuriya, near Nazareth, at
the age of eight. "It's not fair to put the burden on Lebanon. The United
Nations, the U.S., Britain, France, Israel and [p.l.o. Chairman] Yasser Arafat
made this mess. They should be responsible for us."
In their predicament, the young and old of Shatila cherish separate dreams.
Newly inspired by Islam, young men like Mahmoud Younes say Israel will not
survive. "The Koran says we will go home," he insists. "Jihad [holy war] is the
duty of every Muslim."
The old cling to land deeds and front-door keys to long-lost homes, in the hope
that Israel may one day let them return for more than a visit. "Armed struggle
didn't work," says Abu Niaj. "We want to co-exist on our land with the Jewish
people in peace. The name of the country doesn't matter."
Meanwhile, frustration and despair grow in the refugee camps of Lebanon.
Ceremonies on the White House lawn have led much of the West to believe the
Palestinian question is settled. Cruelly, a visit to Shatila proves otherwise.


Peace?