The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Issue 89 (final)

Final Issue 89 [@1:35:20]: Serge Trifkovic – “The peculiarity of Islam has to be faced and it has to be faced frankly and openly. Unlike others, and I am again saying this in the full knowledge that it will offend some Western ears. Unlike the Hindus, unlike the Confucians, unlike the enemies of sub-Saharan Africa, the Muslims have inherent tendencies to expand and to convert rest of the world, not only to their religion but to their outlook and to their legal and moral system. They will not state this openly while they are in minority in the countries to which they immigrate, but we have seen this time and over again throughout history, once they reach the numbers necessary to impose their will, they will do so.”

Rebuttal 89: Islam is not an organized religion like Christianity. There is no central authority for it be propagated. On the contrary, while incessantly fear mongering against Islam, Trifkovic forgot or is completely ignorant of simple facts about Christianity and its Evangelism. According to Christian missionary sources the world is divided into three categories i.e. A – Un-Evangelized World, B- Evangelized World and C – The Christian World [pdf download]. Various missionary statistics can be previewed on the website: Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, some of which are gleaned by another website: Frontier Harvest Ministries and are reproduced below.

A. THE UNEVANGELIZED WORLD

Present cost of Christian foreign missions: $250 million a year

26 restricted-access (closed) countries

10,200 foreign missionaries (2.4%)

No citywide evangelistic campaigns

20,500 full-time Christian workers

50,000 lay Christians residing abroad in closed countries

0.1% of all Christian literature

0.1% of all Christian radio/TV

B. THE EVANGELIZED NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD

Per capita income of non-Christians: $3,380 p.a.

Present cost of Christian foreign missions: $1,750 million a year

103,000 foreign missionaries (24.5%), 5,000 being in

31 restricted-access countries

300 cities per year have citywide evangelistic campaigns

1.31 million full-time Christian workers, 330,000 being in 31 restricted-access countries

8.9% of all Christian literature

3.9% of all Christian radio/TV

C. THE CHRISTIAN WORLD

Present cost of home Christianity: $163 billion a year

Foreign missions to other Christian lands: $13 billion a year

306,000 foreign missionaries to other Christian lands (73.1%), 4,000 being in 29 restricted-access countries

1,300 cities per year have citywide evangelistic campaigns

4.19 million full-time Christian workers (95%) work in

World C, including 480,000 in 29 restricted-access countries

500 million lay Christians live in 29 restricted-access heavily-Christian countries

91% of all Christian literature is consumed by World C

96% of all Christian radio/TV output is directed at World C

The above numbers speak for themselves of the colossal human and monetary investment that goes into propagating Christianity globally. Can the documentary counter any such figures for Islam? These statistics once for all remove any doubts that any one might harbor about the bigotry of Trifkovic and the documentary. We rest our case.

Using the same statistical resources [pdf download], by 2050 the growth rate of Muslims according to current trends will outstrip Christianity, not necessarily by formal conversion of Christians into Muslims, but more than likely it will be the Christians giving up their own religion for another or Atheism. To a certain extent, once any dogma is shed, that person by nature becomes a Muslim:

30:30. So pay your whole-hearted attention to (the cause of) faith as one devoted (to pure faith), turning away from all that is false. (And follow) the Faith of Allâh (-Islam) to suit the requirements of which He has made the nature of mankind. There can be no change in the nature (of creation) which Allâh has made. That is the right and most perfect Faith, yet most people do not know (it).

Trifkovic in his unique style is trying to appease certain religions and races only to make a case against Islam. Earlier his cohorts in the documentary tried to create a scare of the racial conversion of Europeans into non-European, if there is such a thing Eurabia to begin with. Now Trifkovic is trying to affright the West of its conversion into Islam. Since he is forcing a comparative discussion of faiths, suffice is to reproduce the following short article in the matter of how Islam is different and natural in the simple basics of unity, equality and dignity of mankind. This in turn makes a decisive burden on the faiths of documentary experts to prove that theirs are not pagan when compared to standards of Islam:

Unity of the Human Race:
by Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din [d. 1932]

Never has there been an obstacle to human progress so great as the idea of the inequality of mankind – an idea glaringly opposed to all the best tendencies of general civilisation and culture. It was man for whom God created His numerous blessings. To all men, again, He gave the same capacities wherewith to utilise His gifts. But a large section of the human race is still deprived of those blessings on account of this very same inequality. If religion came from God, its first duty should have been to remove this inequality and establish a feeling of perfect unity among men. But the fact remains that it was the religions themselves – all those religions that came before Islam – that helped to create this trouble of inequality and disunion. The ancient religion of Persia – that is to say, the cult of the Parsis – was responsible for the caste system that obtains in India. It was after them (the Parsis) that the people of India were divided into four sections. It is religion that has deprived millions of human beings of their ordinary rights as men. Today there are more than 60,000,000 "untouchables" in India. The higher classes hate the very shadow of these despised beings, on purely religious grounds. Further than this, these unfortunate people have not the right to enter any house of God, nor are they allowed to hear His Words (i.e., the Vedas). For thousands of years they have been rotting in the same miserable avocations of life which they happened to enter upon at one time, – when forced thereto by the sheer necessity of earning a livelihood. We have seen in the West sons of cobblers rising to the Premiership, but the chamar (cobbler) in India is a chamar, through tens of thousands of years right up to the present day. Of course, it is open to this chamar to embrace the faith of Islam, and thus become a dealer in hides in the second generation, and a general merchant in the third. In social status also, he may rise higher and higher until, in course of time, he becomes a member of the aristocracy. But these possibilities are closed against him so long as he sticks to his ancestral religion. Similarly, from the point of view of Transmigration, persons who are in an abject condition in this life are in that condition on account of the vices and sins of their previous lives! It is no wonder, then, that the "untouchables" and such low-class people (as they are called) should be looked down upon with hatred by other Hindus. If these people were vicious and sinful in their previous lives (as is supposed), it is perhaps reasonable that we should keep aloof from them. Logically the conclusion is right. Thus this theory of Transmigration, which is one of the fundamental doctrines in Hinduism, has created a serious division in the human race; but the same crime has also been committed by Christianity, although in a different way. According to the Christian faith he alone who is baptised at the time of his birth is entitled to a life in Heaven; and all not so fortunate are doomed to a life in hell; so that even if a child born of Christian parents dies before it is baptised, it is not buried in consecrated ground; and in Russia, a few centuries back, such children were burnt instead of being buried at all. If, from the point of view of the Christians, the whole of the non-Christian world are destined for hell from their very birth and are incapable of realising the truth, it is no wonder that they should hate the thought of them. The conduct of the present-day Christians should not be adduced as belying this fact, seeing that this changed mentality is the result of modern culture and education and the broadness of mind resulting therefrom. What is essential in this connection is to get the right idea of the condition of the Christian mind some centuries back, and of the words that they utter even now in churches. If, again, we open the book of Common Prayer, the edition that was current before its present revised form (which is a thing of three or four years' growth and never likely to be generally accepted), it will be clearly seen, in what is known as the Athanasian Creed, that any man who fails to have faith in Jesus is doomed to everlasting hell-fire. Moreover, the curses that come from the lips of the worshippers in the churches are in part understood to be meant for the Turks, who, some two generations back, were regarded as synonymous with Muslims [These lines were written, it must be noted, in the early 1930s — Publishers.]. Now, what should be the attitude of a good Christian when he comes out of church after joining in these prayers and curses? What a blessing, then, has Islam proved to the human race in this respect! The Prophet of Islam made it quite clear that every human being is born free from any taint of sin, and accordingly a heavenly thing so far as his birth is concerned. The teachings of all other religions have the same trend as that which we find in Hinduism and Christianity. With each of the religions the rest of mankind counts for nothing, seeing that, according to them, no other creed is fit for receiving the Divine dispensation.

 

Political laws come next to religion in creating fundamental cultural inequalities in the human race. The Greeks and the Romans (in a lesser degree) were not concerned with any revealed religion; but they too treated their subject nations very badly. They kept these conquered people as bond-slaves and tortured them whenever they thought fit. Even a lawgiver like Justinian divided the people of Rome into two sharply divided groups, one of which was in the position of master while the other was worse than a slave. To whichever nation we turn in the pre-Islamic days the same spectacle meets our eyes. Everywhere we find a large section of humanity deprived of any and every chance of progress and happiness. But this is ancient history. Even today, the nations of the West are, more or less, perpetrating the same wrongs. The original inhabitants of Africa are treated as slaves, and the conquered people are deprived of the rights that are the privilege of the ruling class. Before the Great War there were separate penal laws in Dar-es-Salaam (Africa), one for the rulers and another for the subjects. Even today, people only partially realised the essence of religion. As a matter of fact, the principal work of a religion should be to provide for the comforts of humanity, and to free it from the shackles forged by tradition and custom. What greater calamity can befall the human race than those which have been discussed above? Examine the civilisation of any nation before the advent of Islam, and you will find that not one was able to free mankind from these types of bondage, whereas if there was any special work for religion or revelation, it was only this – the work for freedom. As I have already remarked, the Holy Prophet Muhammad is surely entitled to be called the Greatest of the Prophets, if once we take into consideration the rules that the Quran has framed to ensure the freedom of man proceeding out of religious faith. I cannot emphasise this fact too strongly. If Moses, Jesus, Krishna, and Ramchandra (all being prophets) failed to deliver mankind from the distress that was caused by the absence of unity and equality in the race itself, then, from this point of view, the Prophet Muhammad has a far higher right to this prophetical post than any of his predecessors.

First of all, the Quran in its very opening describes God as Rabb-ul-‘Alamin – meaning that He has created and nurtured every member of the human race in the same way. Next, as if to remove the curse of distinction that has cropped up in the West, it speaks of God as the "Lord of the East as well as the West," which means that the people of the East and the West have equally come under His care of "Rabubiyyat." Again, the Quran gives the name of "Rahman" to God, which is the same as saying that in the distribution of His blessings He makes no distinction of nation, religion, race, or family. The door of His mercy is equally open to all. From the social stand-point it is declared again that all men are members of one and the same family, and that they have always been given the same religion, but that people disagreed about it. Again, to establish a universal brotherhood, it taught that those who accept good principles and practise them are brothers to each other. It was the racial, national, and religious distinctions that created dissension among mankind. To remove these the Holy Quran made virtue the standard of honour, which is a thing attainable alike by black and white, by high and low. The Book says, for example, that Mughal, Shaikh or Pathan, Brahmin or Kshatriya, British or French are so called only to be identified, but these appellations have nothing to do with the worth and honour of a man. Mankind, as a whole, has been declared by God to be both honourable and excellent [“And surely, We have dignified the children of Adam” (The Holy Quran, 17:70)]. But no one is entitled to this honour by virtue of birth or nationality; rather has it to be acquired by piety; and piety consists in good actions. To eradicate the distinctions of birth, the Book speaks of the Jews, saying that if they prided themselves on having descended from Abraham they should at the same time remember that even when the Lord Abraham had prayed to God that his descendants might be blessed, God replied by saying that no doubt his descendants would be blessed, but that the evil-doers from among them would not be benefited by that blessing [“He said; Surely I will make you a leader of men. (Abraham) said: And of my offspring? My covenant does not include the unjust, said He” (The Holy Quran, 2:124).]. Similar is the pronouncement upon the unwarrantable assertion of every religious community, not excepting some present-day Muslims, that as they belong to such-and-such a religion all others are useless; and it is only they that have any right to spiritual life. On this point, by way of illustration, the Holy Quran takes the cases of the Jews and the Christians, and declares that these absurd claims, are mere verbiage [“And they say: None shall enter the garden (of Paradise) except he who is a Jew or a Christian. These are their vain desires” (The Holy Quran, 2:111).]. The reality of religion consists in a person resolving to bring all his faculties under the Will of God, and then acting upon this determination. Those who succeed in doing this are, in the words of the Holy Book, the only persons who come under the Rabubiyyat [the attribute of God being the “Nourisher unto Perfection”] of God – that is to say, who attain a perfect condition of life.

The true religion in man is actually a distinguishing feature; but unfortunately, nowadays, the mere association with any religion is considered respectable, and, what is worse, others are looked down upon on the basis of this sense of false distinction. To eradicate such a pernicious notion the Holy Book announces that he alone is successful in the eyes of God who, besides believing in God and the Day of judgement, does good deeds, no matter whatever religion he belongs to [“Surely those who believe, and those who are, Jews and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve” (The Holy Quran, 2:62). The Holy Quran is thus the only Book in religious literature that has been able to deal an effective blow to all sorts of false distinctions and intolerances, and to give a charter of unity and liberty to all mankind. If, in the light of the verse just quoted, we make good actions the only criterion of honour and distinction, in a moment all these national, linguistic, colour, and territorial disturbances that have proved to be the veritable curses for humanity, will disappear. So radical does this verse appear in its attitude that it has caused misgivings in some minds with regard to its real sense. These have gone so far as to hold that according to it, even a belief in the prophethood does not seem indispensable.]. If we look in the matter a bit more closely we shall find that even the purpose of believing in God and the Day of Resurrection is to produce good actions, because these two beliefs are the sources from which good actions spring and the power that keeps a man from vice. In brief, if there is anything that can rightly form the basis of distinction it is good actions; so much so that, on one occasion the Holy Book chastises the Jews and Christians by the remark that it is strange that they should look down upon others simply because they descended from Abraham and Jacob, whereas Abraham and Jacob were themselves not free from the responsibility of their actions, and had to account for what they had done. Yet again, to remove this hollow sense of distinction, it declares that God is the One God for all; all are, therefore, equal in His eyes, the whole affair rests on good deeds; why do people, then, quarrel among themselves?

Thus to teach, on the one hand, that there is only One God for all and that His mercy and blessings as Rabb [“Nourisher unto Perfection”] are equally meant for all, and to announce, on the other, that all men are members of the same family, that there are no such divisions in humanity as exist between the West and the East; and further, to level all distinctions of nation, race, colour, and community by upholding rectitude of action as the only mark of real distinction; and lastly, to class all virtuous men as brothers to one another – are the four glorious achievements of Islam, the parallels of which are nowhere to be seen in the history of mankind. To recount the benefits of these teachings is only arguing an admitted fact. It is Islam alone that besides inculcating these teachings, has given them a practical shape. So, as I have said, it will be just and fair to call Muhammad a Prophet on the ground of these sublime teachings even without having regard to any other.

Issue 89b [@1:37:29] Serge Trifkovic – “Miracles do happen. I do not know if it is another, maybe even a deadlier terrorist attack that will act as a catalyst, or it will be a geopolitical confrontation in the Middle East itself with Israel perhaps [inaudible], that a jolt will bring back into the minds and hearts of Westerners the awareness of the need to stand up and be counted.”

Rebuttal 89b: These are the last gasps of the documentary in its arguments where it is essentially calling to arms for another Crusade. Compare the utterance of Trifkovic in 2006 with that of Pope Urban II who instigated crusades with his speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095. The similarities are all too obvious of fabricating the 'truth', distorting the facts, inventing European identity and religious fervor, insinuating hate and anger, while instilling false purpose for all rank and file that resulted in centuries of bloodshed. Little did Pope Urban II know the outcome of Crusades which permanently widened the divides in the Eastern and Western Christendom, the pogroms against Jews only became more frequent, while it firmly united Muslims in their ranks. Like Trifkovic now, Pope Urban II thus spoke before of which there are 5 versions of his speech, one of which is reproduced below:

[adapted from Thatcher] Here is the one by the chronicler Fulcher of Chartres. Note how the traditions of the peace and truce of God – aimed at bringing about peace in Christendom – ties in directly with the call for a Crusade. Does this amount to the export of violence?

"Although, O sons of God, you have promised more firmly than ever to keep the peace among yourselves and to preserve the rights of the church, there remains still an important work for you to do. Freshly quickened by the divine correction, you must apply the strength of your righteousness to another matter which concerns you as well as God. For your brethren who live in the east are in urgent need of your help, and you must hasten to give them the aid which has often been promised them. For, as the most of you have heard, the Turks and Arabs have attacked them and have conquered the territory of Romania [the Greek empire] as far west as the shore of the Mediterranean and the Hellespont, which is called the Arm of St. George. They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them in seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire. If you permit them to continue thus for a while with impurity, the faithful of God will be much more widely attacked by them. On this account I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it.

"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion! Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have been robbers, now become knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been serving as mercenaries for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who have been wearing themselves out in both body and soul now work for a double honor. Behold! on this side will be the sorrowful and poor, on that, the rich; on this side, the enemies of the Lord, on that, his friends. Let those who go not put off the journey, but rent their lands and collect money for their expenses; and as soon as winter is over and spring comes, let him eagerly set out on the way with God as their guide."

[Ref: version of a chronicler – 'Fulcher of Chartres', Medieval Sourcebook]

[@1:38:00] Title of the documentary displayed –

ISLAM: WHAT THE WEST NEEDS TO KNOW

Produced and Directed by
Gregory M. Davis and Bryan Daly

Footage Courtesy of

CNN
ITN
MEMRI

Produced and Distributed by

QUIXOTIC MEDIA, LLC

USA © 2006

[@1:38:30] [Insignia displayed] – QM-Quixotic Media

[@1:38:40] [End of documentary]

Closing comment – In sum total, the sorcery and deception of the documentary against Islam has parallels in the mission of Moses that Quran draws attention to in which machinations of mischief makers against Islam failed then and so will now:

10:80. Now when the sorcerers came, Moses said to them, `Present whatever you have to present.'

10:81. Then, when they had presented (what they would present), Moses said, `What you have brought is a mere deception. Allâh will soon render it void (because) Allâh does not at all allow the machination of the mischief-makers to thrive.

10:82. `And Allâh will establish the truth by dint of His decrees even though the guilty may find (it) hard.'

The documentary has tried to malign and slander Quran, Muhammad (PBUH), Hadith, Sunnah, history and Islam. The rebuttal for all its issues 1 – 89 are based upon the simple guidelines of the following verses which come out true, which when read in the context of the documentary, its experts, its producers and its cheering crowds:

68:1. The ink – stand and the pen and all that they (the owners of the pen – the scholars) write, bear witness (to the fact that),

68:2. By the grace of your Lord you are not a mad man at all [–refers to one of allegation against Prophet Muhammad by his opponents].

68:3. (And) most surely, there awaits you a reward never to be cut off.

68:4. And you possess outstandingly high standard of moral (excellence) [as testified by history even before his prophethood].

68:5. And you shall soon know and so will these (- the disbelievers),

68:6. As to which of you is afflicted with madness.

68:7. Surely, your Lord knows best those who go astray from His path and He (also) knows best those who follow the right guidance.

68:8. So do not listen to those who cry lies to (the Truth).

68:9. They wish you to be (dishonestly) pliant (and not condemn their evil deeds in strong language) so they (too) would (in return) adopt a conciliatory attitude.

68:10. Do not listen to any wretched swearer,

68:11. Who is backbiter, one who goes about with slander and evil talk,

68:12. Any hinderer of people from doing good, transgressor, a sinful (person).

68:13. (Nor listen to any) hard-hearted ruffian who is, above all this, utterly useless and known for mischief making,

68:14. Only because he owns wealth and (numerous) sons (and influence).

68:15. When Our Messages are recited to him he says, `(These are mere) stories of the ancients (so outdated rubbish).'

68:16. We will soon brand him on the snout (and stigmatize him with indelible disgrace).

References:

Center for Global Christianity – Resources – Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Unity of the Human Race – by Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din

Medieval Sourcebook, Urban II (1088-1099): Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095, Five versions of the Speech – Fordham University

Holy Quran – Nooruddin, note: [text enclosed in square brackets above is not part of the original quoted verses]