Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

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Islam and the Rights of Privacy Territory

Author(s):Abbass Khajeh Piri

www.alhassanain.org/english

Note:

Human rights have always been an interesting and challenging issue of every community.

In thisbook the author has done a wonderful job in dissecting the issues regarding privacy. Whether we talk about privacy on an individual level, social, territorial Oradea any other type of privacy you will find explanations and examples that will help you understandit's importance.

Miscellaneous information:

Islam and the Rights of Privacy TerritoryAbbass Khajeh Piri , Ph. D University Professor and Attorney at Law Reference: Book of Islamic Human Rights (3) Publisher:Bethat Islamic Research Centre (BIRC) Qom - Year of Publishing: 2012/First Edition ISBN: 9766009360925

All rights reserved. Reproduction of the book with written permission from the publisheris permitted .

Notice:

This versionis published on behalf of www.alhassanain.org/english

The composing errorsare not corrected .

Table of Contents

Author's Preface 8

Introduction 9

The Importance of Privacy Right 11

The Meaning of the ‘Privacy Territory’ Concept 13

A. Being private 14

B. Being secure 14

C. Having freedom 14

The Boundary between Privacy Territory and Public Area 15

A. Features of people’s private area 15

B. Characteristics of public area 15

The Necessity of Observing the Privacy 17

The Privacy Territory Domain 19

A. Society’s Customs and Culture 19

B. Society’s Economic Structure 19

C. Society’s Political Structure 20

D. Social Security and General Interests 20

E. Other Rights and Basic Freedoms 20

Instances of Privacy Territory 21

1. Bodily and Corporeal Privacy 21

2. Mental and Psychological Privacy 21

3. Physical Privacy 21

4. Communication Privacy 22

5. Information Privacy 22

6. Personality Privacy 22

7. Religious and Economic Privacy 23

8. Marriage and Family Privacy 23

9. Dignity and Prestige Privacy 24

10. Professional and economic privacy 24

The Importance of Privacy Territory in Islam 26

The Basis of Privacy Right in Islam 27

1) The Principle of human essential greatness 27

2) The Principle of no sovereignty of human beings over each other 28

3) The principle of having no permission of interference within others’ affairs 29

4) The principle of the reverence of Muslims’ blood, possessions and honor 29

5) The principle of being private of people’s personal affairs 30

6) The principle of human beings control over his affairs 30

7) Wisdom and conscience verdict 30

Note 31

The Realm of Privacy in Islam 32

1. Prohibition of investigation and inspection 32

2. Prohibition of illegal entrance to people’s privacy 34

3. Prohibition of revealing secrets and expansion of prostitution 36

4. Prohibition of fault-finding from others 37

5. Prohibition of suspicion to others 40

6. Prohibition of Gossiping about Others 42

7. Prohibition of Any Assault against People’s Reputation 44

8. Prohibition of Tale-bearing 46

9. Prohibition of Eavesdropping 47

10. Prohibition of eyes peeping 48

11. Prohibition of Cursing and Swearing 49

Notes 49

Family Privacy in Islam 51

Notes 53

Islamic Government Duty in Keeping People’s Privacy 54

Notes 55

Legal Violation of Privacy 56

A. Causing disturbance for the public rights and interests 56

B. Disturbing others’ rights 56

C. Promotion of good and prevention of evil 56

The Principle of “Promotion of Good and Prevention of Evil” and Privacy Right 59

The Difference between West and Islam’s Perspective about the Privacy Right 61

Privacy Challenges in Today World 63

References 65

Author's Preface

In the Name of God,The All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful

When invited by the esteemed IRI's cultural attaché in Moscow, in November of last year, I had the honor to travel to Russia, accompanied by the esteemed officials ofBesat Foundation, to closely examine the grounds of expansion of cultural strategies and activities in that territory, so that we could compile an executive plan based on the existing potentials and facilities. We met different top echelon religious and cultural individuals there.

During this visit, we attended a session where officials of religious and cultural affairs of Russia and Tatars tan countries were present, in which they expressed their great interest in Islamic books,texts and even textbooks in Islamic ethics and education.

There is a population of nearly 20 million Muslims in the Russian Federation and particularly in north Caucasia and lands on the Volga riverbank, as well as Muslim and non-Muslims in other countries as addressees in the former Soviet Union who speak Russian fluently. These people have a habit of reading and studying while traveling by the public transportation system.

Translation Movement Institute started its operation nearly a year ago, by translating and electronically publishing texts related to Islamic Education. Such facts caused this institute to address the Russian community and to focus the organization of its activities on them.

Having studied the human rights in Islam for a decade, I decided to write a simplified,fluent and eloquent short book.I made up my mind to translate it into Russian before publishing it. In this text,I intended to introduce and clarify the advanced principles of human rights in Islam.

As suggested by the esteemed managing director ofBesat Foundation, it was decided that the Persian text be published simultaneously with the Russian translated text.I am thankful to the Almighty and pray that I will have the pleasure to continue my endeavors in this regard.

Abbass Khajeh Piri , Ph. D

Introduction

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنْثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُواۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

O mankind, indeed we have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. (Quran, 49:13)

The issue of human rights, for being an inherent one, has a history as old as human age on the earth. The subject was bornwhen mankind came into existence on the Earth. The bigger the human society and the population grew, the vaster the human rights issuewas expanded . It has always been the source of freedom-seeking and freedom-fighting movements and it remained the eternal and perpetual ideal ofmankind.

The historians have unearthed documents in their studies and researches that are indicative of the factthat mankind stressed its natural rights and basic freedom and liberty 2000 years before B.C.

The emergence of Islam in 610 A.D. was not only the milestone, but was a golden and perpetual chapter in the human history. Because of the contents of its teachings, particularly in the human rights, itwas welcomed and accepted by the oppressed people in a vast part of the globe and found many followers .

According to a well-known researcher, thinker and scholar,Abul A'la Maududi , the people in the West have the habit of attributing every good thing to themselves and try to prove that it is because of them that the world enjoys this and that blessing, while claiming that “they originated in the West.”

They also have a habit of pretending that all the bestowments and privileges are rooted in the West, whereasthe very first historical document on the human rights, MagnaCarta of Britain, The Great Charter of the Liberties of Britain was issued by John (England's king at the time) in 1215. Though the MagnaCarta itself came into existence six hundred years after the advent of Islam, this and the subsequent documents, as valid and firm evidence, prove that the West is lagging behind Islam on the issue of the human rights. Its failure to pay attention to human dignity and its delay in its fight against oppression and tyrannywhich mankind has suffered during centuries is evident here.

When you study the concepts of the human rights in the Islamicteachings you realize that it is clearly indicative of the fact that the human rights system in the Islamic law and the teachings of the Prophet (S) are much more comprehensive and more perfect than what is claimed in the West. The reason is the fundamental difference between the two legal systems of West and Islam, inviewing mankind and his material and spiritual characteristics. In the Islamic law, criteria of humans’ erudition and wisdom, humanity and spirituality, has been paid specific attention. On the contrary, West's approachto mankind is not based on spiritual and ethical factors.

On the other hand, as ethics and religion can play the role of the strongest support backing the materialization of human rights, strengthening ethical and religious values in every society will cause expansion of support for the human rights. On the contrary, ethical downfall or ignoring religious values, because of having a negative impact, leads to violation of the human rights. Thus, if laws and regulations in forceare left unsupported by the great spiritual and ideological support of the individuals in a society, the ultimate attained consequences will not be favorable. In today's world, failure of the UN's human rights organizations and the international documents (declarations) to address religion and religious beliefs has caused it to fail to develop support of the human rights. The pathetic conditions stemming from violation of the Human Rights that we witness day-to-day around the globe is the result of the above fact.

In the series ofessays which follow, we intend to briefly introduce some of the teachings of pure, true and real Islam. We try to show the legitimacy of the Islamic laws, while comparing it with the West's flamboyant, showy and loud, but empty, baseless claims, so that everyone will know how much human being owes to Islamic teachings and to law of the holy prophet.

And of God to success.

The Importance of Privacy Right

While the issue of the privacy right stands after the right of life, this issue enjoys a significant and a special place among the principal freedoms and rights of people since it is rooted in each human's identity. Hence, itis regarded as the people's personal identities; violation of or absence of this right cause tension, violence, conflicts and mental and physical pains in the people's personal and family lives and their social relations as well.

This also destroys their personal and social security, so that revealing of people's married life's secrets, as an instance of violations of people’s privacy can have irreparably destructive effects on the continuation and unification of their married lives and leads to the destruction of their married lives, causing serious and inappropriate consequences and problems for each individual family member (including wives, husbands and children) and even their relatives.

Doubtlessly, people’s rights and assets are not restricted to their materialistic possessions and assets (such as materialistic rights). They enjoy non-materialistic rights and intellectual and spiritual assets that are of more importance compared to their materialistic ones. The most important intellectual and spiritual assets of peopleare: having legal freedoms accompanying with responsibilities, the right of enjoying personal security and immunity from others’ illegal violence and transgression of their conversations, correspondences, freedoms of speech and thought, security of people’s lives, assets, reputation, dignity and personalities.

There is no doubt that observing the people’s privacyis taken as one of the most important instances of people’s intellectual and spiritual rights and supporting it is considered the guardian of human greatness and personal identity.

Today, the issue of the privacy right is centralized, in a particular way, in the subjects about human rights especially with the development of communicative technologies, expansion of communication and possibility of easier and more accessible to people’s privacy in a cyber form.This centralization of the right of having the privacy among other rights and freedoms is because of this reason that enjoying this right causes the protection of human dignity and greatness, providing individualistic independence, adjustment and expansion of friendly and constant relations among the people of all societies, creation of a constant psychological and mental security and controlling of people’s tensions and conflicts.

On the other hand, the violation of the people’s privacy (whether individual or from the government's side) causes the creation of psychological insecurity and instability in societies, and consequently inappropriate and irreparable results in the areas of individual and social lives.

Supporting of people’s privacy against the general power owners and others has a special role in flourishing of talents and guarding of other fundamental values and human rights. It brings about safeguarding of the human’s lofty position and protecting one’s greatness.

In fact, human beings experience the meaning of the right of life with all his being when he, in his personal shelter and privacy, feels secure and safeguarding about his life, possession, dignity, personality, chastity or his work or residency place. When the sacred castle of his privacy in transgressed by the illegal andobstinate entering of others or the governments, in fact his life is threatened and his belief about life and living under the sense of insecurity and instability will be lost. Therefore, some experts considered the lack of human’s privacy safety the same as taking his right of living and destruction of his humanistic foundation.

Itcan be concluded that: people’s identities are the roots and bases of their privacy and has a close relationship with their lives and their personality structures.Although privacy is a right belonging to each individual of a society member and no one can be denied of this right or be restricted about practicing their right, it should be borne in the mind that observing this right about those people having special and social position and reputation like remarkable scientific, religious, political or art figures will be of more importance and violation of their privacy causes more negative results for them and their societies.

The Meaning of the ‘Privacy Territory’ Concept

The word ‘privacy territory’ is composed of two parts of ‘territory’ and ‘private.’ The first part means restriction and ban, and the second part means personal and being independent. According to the mentioned meanings, the first and simple definition of ‘privacy territory’is: an area that due to its specialty, first, people have the right to decide about themselves independently and exclusively. Second, others do not have the permission to enter and attend there, and the owner of the territory has the right tobe secured against any kind of interference in his private life and affairs made through publicizing of his personal information or by means of physical instruments. Furthermore, he has the right to resist and stand against any unwanted presence and transgression of others in this exclusive area.

Even though there is a general and common interpretation of this term of ‘privacy territory,’ scholars during all ages till now could not present a monotonous and decisive definition for this term due to high dependency of this kind of right to the environmental culture and conditions.Instead of that, for making known the concept of this kind of right (which is one of the most tangible and applicable rights of humanity), they expressed some specifications of that (like individualistic characteristics, religious dependency, political and social opinions and ideas, individualistic and family relationships) or attempted to determine the area of ‘privacy territory’ by separating the private area from public one and based the definition of both these two areas on distinguishing aspects of them.

Based on these aspects, the personal and private area includes just those affairs related to the person’s own life and destiny and others have no detriment or benefit from them. Public area consists of the affairs of whose benefits and detriments not only the person himself, but also others have some shares.

The absence of a decisive and exact definition of ‘privacy territory’is regarded as one of the significant challenges of today's legal systems.The basic reason for disagreements on a single definition for this right is resulted from one side from different elements that have strong effects in determining the area of human privacy (like: cultural and customs, political and economic structure, faiths and society beliefs) and vary from terms and situations point of views in different societies and on the other side from different personal and social states and positions of human, originating from his characteristic complexity and putting them together in a single and simple definition is impossible.

The necessity and significance of presenting a decisive definition for the right of privacy territory is because this causes a suitable and correct recognition of this right and provides the possibility of its safeguarding and supporting against others’ illegal violation and transgression.

To define ‘privacy territory’ as a violation-proof area of each human personal life, considering paying attention to the elements and fundamentals of this right is necessary. These fundamentals are:

A. Being private

In fact, this element is the distinguishing characteristics of the private area from the public one. What is placed in the private area is solely related to the person’s destiny; however, affairs related to the public areas are common among individuals of society and do not have any specific aspect.

B. Being secure

Security and safeguarding of a person’s privacy area against others’ violation and transgressionare taken as the main fundamentals of this right. In the territory of this right, people expect that others cannot access or interfere with their zones of privacy or find command or surveillance over them except with privacy owners’ permission and satisfaction. Security in people’s privacy causes them to be able to keep their personal life's affairs safe from other’s access and violation and to prevent these personal and special data from revealing.

C. Having freedom

On the basis of this important element, people in their own private life can determine their ways of lives freely and independently within their guarded and secure privacy and away from any pressure and imposition and without any anxiety about the disclosing of their private life information decide to what extent and under what conditions others can be informed about his personal affairs or interfere with their privacy.

The result of people’s freedom in their own privacy territory is that they can independently think either at the level of ideas or practically and act accordingly.

The Boundary between Privacy Territory and Public Area

Certainly, distinguishing between the public area and privacy territory in precise form is not a simple and easy task, especially as for determining the boundary between these two areas, some elements like cultural and religious elements, especially the element of religion, has an important and effective role. In the systems based on faith and religious principles, distinguishing of these areascan be done just by paying attention to the scales originated from the religious beliefs of a society.

Special attitudes of divine and Divine religions, Islam’s religious law in particular, to people’s humanistic identity creates a particular necessity for determining people’s privacy territory. We will deal with this issue in the following chapters with full details.

Here, for determining briefly the limits of public and private areas, we describe the features of each of them:

A. Features of people’s private area

Firstly, in the private area, people have no desire that others have access to their personal affairs and desire these affairs to be hidden and away from any surveillance or presence of others.

Secondly, in thisarea people desire to decide about their own personal and private affairs independently and away from others’ guardianship and supervision except in some cases that they, themselves, are satisfied with others’ participation in their decision makings.

From the viewpoint of Islam, in the area of privacy, the person’s behavior and manner are determined by divine decrees of religious law and the Islamic government or ruler doesn’t have any special role in this area and as far as people’s behavior and manner have no external reflection of the society, government has no right to enter and interfere with in that area.

B. Characteristics of public area

Firstly, the affairs placed in this area are common among people and all individuals of a society and this area has no personal or private aspect. Even if these affairs are taking place in people’s privacy, they have the qualifications of general aspects due to their external reflections and social influences.

Secondly, in the domain of public area, some affairs will happen, because the generalizing aspects of this area have no hidden and inaccessible features, unlike people’s privacy that its feature was keeping people’s personal affairs and secrets hidden and concealed.

Thirdly, the affairs of this area are within the power scope of Islamic state and government and the government as a protector of public order, national authority and the people’s trustee can supervise theseaffairs and put them into practice and control that nothing against the public benefits will happen.

Fourthly, in this area, the principal of free stream of information is dominant and people of the society have the right tobe informed about what happens in the society. Therefore, in a public area unlike the people’s privacy, there is no restriction in informing others or prohibition of publication which is a must and necessity in people’s privacy for prevention of revealing of their personal secrets and the government responsibility is informing and utilizing of the principal of the public supervision for managing the society.

The Necessity of Observing the Privacy

In the opinion of the experts and scholars of social sciences, the need for privacy or personal privacy is rooted in the human’s disposition and nature and human by nature desires to build a privacy safe for himself by determining a specific area in order to be alone there without others presence. Thus, people in response to their dispositions’ call by determining an exclusive area and limit consider it as their own secure shelter and find peace and security in it.Some scholars are on this idea that the need of using of the right of privacy, in fact, is not exclusive to human and is a temperamental need common between human and other animals, but the degree of the need and the scope of this right in human is wider and more specialized as he enjoys of higher degrees of power of intelligence and thinking.

The sense of human need to the right of enjoying the privacy territory has a record as old as human life. A short survey in the periods of the history of human life is eloquent of this that since the beginning of human social life, he has determined to find a secure and safe shelter for him and ban others’ presence from there.

This feeling and need are not limited to a particular society or period of human life and in all societies even primitive ones where there were no developed facilities or advanced culture, people attempted to limit others’ transgressions or presence in their privacy by considering systems and regulations.

Hippocrates, who lived about three centuries before Christ, stipulated that those educated in medicine take an oath for keeping their patients' secrets confidential.

Even today, the privacy is in the center of issues related to human rights and freedoms of the mass of the human societies. Considering the issue of privacy, particularly with the advent of modernity and its effects and influences is more in demand in humanistic societies than any other time. The rapid and wonderful developments in the communicative methods and instruments such as mass media and the inclination of such media for presenting some propagandas and publicizing people’s personal life's affairs (especially social and political celebrities) to compete each other with the aim of attracting more audiences are taken as a serious threat for people’s privacy.

Society’s access to developed equipment, technologies, modern communicative and electronic instruments, makes violation and transgression of peoples’ privacy as possible even without the people’s awareness and understanding of such violation and transgression.

Accordingly, not recognizing of one’s privacy by a person is regarded as annihilation of his individuality and within suchstate he will lose his conscience and efficiency.

Every person in his privacy finds this opportunity that away from the presence, impressions of desires, thoughts and impartment of other people of the society and just by relying on his self individuality to think and to face his own self, expose his deeds and acts to the judgment of his conscience and in this way, design the path of his future and without any ostentation and pretension, take the path of his self-correction and refinement and face against difficulties and tribulations. Otherwise a person who has no privacy because of constant and continuous presence among others is deprived of his individuality and never finds the opportunity of dealing with his own individual dimension.

The Privacy Territory Domain

As mentioned before, since the dawn of human life on the earth and the feeling of the possibility of others’ presence and interference in one’s own privacy, humans began to strive for separating and determining the boundaries ofhis own life privacy and public areas. One attempted for considering the separation of these areas as certain and non-vulnerable and determined his privacy based on definite and clear scales and regulations accompanied with determining some examples.

Determining the scope of privacy is of special importance from the point of view that from one side, the possibility of complete and fully-fledged defense of this certain and valuable right is provided; and from the other side, forbids people from transgression or violation of others’ or society individual right which is resulted from not determining a right domain for people’s privacy.

It is clear that if the determining of people’s privacy domainis based on the right and sensible criteria in addition to regarding of every person’s privacy, it guarantees the others’ rights and society benefits and its acceptance from society individuals and governments causes the stability and consolidation of people’s privacy. Otherwise, the grounds for breaking of this privacy because of the contrast between the person’s benefits and others’ or society interestsmay be formed and impedes the continuation and stabilization of practicing of this certain right.

Due to the importance and sensibility of the required criteria for determining the privacy, recognition and counting of the most important elements have direct and considerable influence on determining these criteria. Some of these elements are:

A. Society’s Customs and Culture

Generally, the element of culture in every society has a close relation and direct significant impression in determining the criteria of people’s privacy. The scope of culture includes beliefs, customs, traditions, manner of life and people’s relations with each other in a society and thesemust not be neglected .

The influence of culture is so extent that even the outward and surface structure of people’s lives in a society or the style of a building's architecture can be influential and effective in determining and distinguishing of the scope of people’s privacy.

Noticing the element of culture is in fact regarding the impediments thatare observed in a society and perhaps are not existed in other societies.

B. Society’s Economic Structure

The influence of economic structure in determining the criteria related to the privacy territory is the consequence of the economic influence on personal and social relations in a society.

There is no doubt that the kind of structure and economic situation of a society has a significant and an undeniable influence on regulating of a society people’s relations with each other from one side and with the government from another side.

It should not be expected that social relations in societies based on an open economy and capitalism be identical and the same as societies with the socialistic or common economy. Having an open or closed economic system in a society influences the regularizing of these social relations.

C. Society’s Political Structure

Among influential elements in selecting a proper criterion fordetermining the area of privacy is the structure of government and society political organizations.

The formation of political structure depends on several elements suchas: general culture of the society, historical and political backgrounds of every society and people's individual and social beliefs and tradition. Establishment of a political system in a society without considering these elements will not be durable and stable.

D. Social Security and General Interests

Doubtlessly, one of the important concerns in determining people’s privacy is the influence of this issue on the subjects of social security and general interests and benefits. Because any kind of excess and immoderation in the expansion and spread privacy area can cause the possibility of misusing of this right and violation of the public rights or endangering the social security. Thus, it is necessary to lay out the criteria for determining the scope of privacy in a way that guarantees the impossibility of misusing and any society detriments, especially social security. Where the right of a person’s privacy contrasts with the individuals of a society right of having social security, the prioritymust be taken for public interests.

E. Other Rights and Basic Freedoms

Recognized and considered individual and social rights for human beings are among the most influential elements for determining criteria for the privacy limits. For instance, limits and terms of freedom of speech in a society can have a direct and special role in determining the privacy area of the society individuals, and causes the expansion or limit the people’s privacy area.

The society individuals’ right of free using and access to information also can clearly influence the people’s privacy. It is clear that the expansion of the right of using and access to information as a constant and potential danger can be regarded people’s privacy restricting elements.

Chapter 12: Does Christ Suffer For Our Sins?

"And no bearer of burden can bear the burden of another..." (The Holy Qur'an 17:15) One thing that is becoming increasingly dear with the rapid progress of science is the need to observe divine precepts. Although man has greatly benefited from the thoughts of scientists and wise men in the past, he acknowledges that he cannot fully unveil the mysteries of creation with the help of his finite mind and offer and express comprehensive, useful and unchangeable considerations regarding the problems of life.

He realizes that many laws and theories that are postulated around the globe would, after a time, display their flaws, so that the legislators and theorists are forced to abandon them.

Fortunately, some scientists have confessed that divine laws originating from the Creator of the universe, i.e. the Omniscient God, form the only program that can lead humanity towards absolute prosperity and perfection. Therefore, prophets have tried to introduce people to this progressive program and have always seriously fought with the belief that another person will be punished or sacrificed instead of the guilty party, and have openly declared that everyone is responsible for his own deeds.

In the Book of Ezekiel one can still read: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him" (Ezek. 18:20).

Belief in suffering punishment and paying ransom instead of somebody else would have made a great number of people refuse abiding by divine precepts, for, in their opinion, another person would receive punishment in their stead. Thus apart from being prevented to develop themselves towards perfection, they would have also dealt an irreparable blow to the interest of the society.

Jesus Christ, as soon as he received his divine mission, followed the same rule and drove people towards religious obligations and stressed: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heavens and earth pass, one jot or one brittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

"Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these last commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:17-19)

But in the tide of the events, and harmful publicity launched by the Roman emperors in the early days of Christianity, the Christians, like Buddhists and Hindus, following the example of St. Paul, said: "The only Son of God, or the Lord Himself descended upon earth to expunge people from sin by dying on The Cross." They stated: "Jesus Christ was put on the Cross in order to shoulder the burden of our sins. He thus took the curse, so as to deliver us from the curse of the canon and the holy laws that we deserve."

In his epistle to Galatians, Paul writes: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of law, being made a curse for us; for it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:13).

Furthermore, in the same chapter he adds: "Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:23 - 26).

In brief, they had thus fulfilled their last wish and said: "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances" (Ephesians 2:15)

Obviously, they had nothing else in their minds than achieving their evil desires and irresponsibility!

Sometimes, in order to avoid any scandal, Christians base their arguments on parts of unreliable old books. For instance, they say: "When they put Christ on The Cross, he drank vinegar, just as David had foretold in Psalms, 69. So it is clear that the story of the putting Christ on The Cross in order to redeem us from our sins is based on reality."

Studying David's Psalms, Chapter 69, we notice that the verses therein do not deal with Jesus Christ at all, but with David himself. The verses are: "God save me... Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor. Mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness; and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink."

You will notice that the above passage has nothing to do with Christ's Crucifixion to save the Christians from the restraints imposed by the canon. But since there is a mention of vinegar, and since in their belief, Christ, too, had drunken vinegar in the last hours of his life, Christians have taken them as forecasting Crucifixion and atonement. Truly, are such inferences not ridiculous?

From what has been said so far, it becomes evident that observance of divine commandments is among the most important and necessary issues; belief in shouldering someone else's sins is the greatest superstition and it is never correct to accept it just because it has been mentioned m the New Testament. Rather, one must say that the New Testament is not compatible with the Old Testament and the conduct of the prophets and Jesus Christ. This incompatibility is yet another proof of its erroneousness.

As a German author, named Ernest Die Bunsen writes:

"The Crucifixion and atonement for sins are but mere fabrications made by St. Paul and his disciples who had never seen Jesus Christ with their own eyes. Therefore one cannot maintain them as the fundaments of true Christianity." Furthermore, Barnabas flatly denies The Crucifixion of Jesus in his Gospel and states: "Judas of Iscariot, mistakenly taken for Christ, was crucified." * * * Now if you ask: "How could one discover the comprehensive divine laws that could guide human beings to happiness and prosperity?" our answer is: "by studying The Holy Qur'an, along with the words of the Holy Prophet of Islam and the impeccable leaders who succeeded him. These words and maxims are available in authoritative Shi'ite books.

The Qur'an is the only book that has addressed the basic issues and problems of life, so that it never grows out-dated and obsolete and fulfills the needs of its followers thereof. In this respect, The Qur'an is unlike the present Old and New Testaments which, apart from being distorted and containing many mistakes and superstitious passages, are short of providing precepts and would never be able to fulfill all the needs of human beings and be considered the sources of guidance and rule for life.

Briefly, what has been mentioned so far makes it clear that the subject of Christ's atonement and suffering for our sins would prevent man from his individual and social development. Inasmuch as man moves forward, he would become aware of the superstitious nature of this belief.

Chapter 13: Christmas!

Every year when the Christian New Year begins, Christians hold a celebration which is called Christmas. On Christmas, they go to nightclubs and spend a night of debauchery.

The motive behind this celebration is plausibly to mark the anniversary of the birth of Christ and to glorify that great divine man, but in reality the Christians hold the celebration in order to quench their sensual thirsts. Thus they take to actions which Christ himself detests very much.

On the Christmas evening, the Christians spare no pleasure and avoid no obscene actions including dancing, singing, drinking, sex etc. Obviously these actions have nothing to do with the glorification of the memory of Christ, the divine man. Now we can see what is Christmas Day and how it is celebrated.

After the death of Christ, his divine system became subject to alterations by profit-making Church officials who hid the real face of Jesus Christ behind the veil of obscurantism myths and superstition such as the concept of "The Father and The Son" and Christ's "Divinity". Certain traditions were established by the Holy Fathers, which resulted in nothing but shame for the Christians. Christmas, too, is one of these artificial traditions carried out in such a way.

All prophets of God, including Jesus Christ himself have banned drunkenness, debaucheries and orgies. Even in the altered Bibles there are phrases which ban such obscene actions.

The book of Isaiah, 5:11-12, says: "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tablet, and pipe, and wine are in their feasts."

But, unfortunately, with such an explicit ban, the Christians bring wine and music into their religious services, consecrating Christ in such a way. Although we have faced some facts in above lines and realized a truth, we do not intend to prevent the Christians from evil acts and disillusion them.

The intellectual Christians themselves have long abandoned the superstitious aspect of their religion and discarded it. Their leaders, however, have not stopped their desperate efforts...

Now it should be asked what name we are going to give to these acts. Is such a vain feast held in order to gain a national honor? Is it a step made towards social progress? The answers to these questions will undoubtedly be negative.

These extravaganzas at the end of the Christian year are a submission to frivolities and wantonness and a confession to a kind of defeat by unjust sensual desires. These are reactionary and incorrect imitations, the repetition of which is painful and shameful in the eyes of the far-sighted Muslims. In other words, these actions are the most vulgar "Western-orientedness" with grave consequences, exposing all our religious authorities and tradition to utter destruction and permanent extermination.

It is worthwhile explaining about the nature of Western-mindedness or Western-intoxication. It is something like being afflicted with a malady, which rots the Organism from within. You can imagine a butterfly whose shell and wings have remained intact but whose interior body is worn away.

Yes, Western-mindedness or Western-orientation is a dangerous disease the grave consequence of which is deadlier than cholera. One must attempt to avoid it because it has unfortunately spread among many people. Under the banner of Westernization, we are succumbed to estrangement from our traditional clothes, houses,

foods, and literature, press and, more dangerously of all, from our culture. We bring up Western-minded people, think Western-mindedly and look for a solution for our problems in a Westernized manner.

So every far-sighted Muslim, who has preserved his Islamic personality and mind, knows well that his participation in such feasts only results in disaster for the Muslim community.

Do our Islamic conscience and sentiment and our brotherly love allow us to cooperate with a Christianity which for centuries has been the great enemy of the Muslims, killed millions of our brothers and still continues to do so? Should we still take part in their luxurious feasts?

Finally we ask our Muslim brothers and sisters to avoid holding Christmas celebrations and any actions which are dominated by Western-mindedness and superstition and preserve their Islamic personality and purify themselves from the shameful Western- intoxication.

Imam Ali, peace is upon him, said: "He, who prevails over his sensual desires, will have preserved his real personality."

Chapter 14: Wine-making, The First Miracle of Christ

Scientific discoveries explicitly show the countless harm of alcoholic drinks. Before these discoveries, however, the divine religions, inspired with the eternal source of knowledge, that is, God the Omnipotent and the Omniscient, warned their followers against alcoholic drinks and enumerated their evils and harms.

Unfortunately, during long period of time, the Christian Holy Fathers, for various unspecified reasons (!), not only have actually prescribed the use of alcoholic drinks, but have also, by altering some passages of the Bible, fabricated verses concerning the drinking of the old prophets, which makes ashamed every wise and faithful person.

Regretfully, winemaking and wine drinking are already not only allowed and practiced among the Christians, but also have entered their rituals and religious services.

As described in Chapter 11, The Eucharist (Holy Communion), being a religious and sacred service to the church authorities, is celebrated with the taking of bread and wine and the world Christians drink in their greatest religious service millions of liters of wine for the love of Jesus, the innocent prophet of God.

The Wine and the Miracle

Worst of all, the Christians' Holy Bible considers winemaking the first miracle of Christ. The Gospel according to John, chapter 2, verses 1-11, says: "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.

His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were sent there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them; fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear into the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants, which drew the water, knew ;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed in him."

We read in the Old Testament, Genesis, and the following lines about Noah: "And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine and was drunk; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him."

Again the Old Testament says about Lot whom his two daughters made drink wine. When he was drunk, he lay down with his daughters and conceived them who bore him two sons.

Contradictory Sentences

This is the way the Bible of the Christians introduce the divine prophets who, in reality, were the guiding lights of humanity and thus had to be pure of any corruption and evil.

Of course we do not expect more than this from these fabricated books, but what is surprising is that in these very books we come across phrases which forbid the drinking of wine. In Leviticus, Chapter 10, verses 8 and 9, we read:

"And the Lord spoke into Aaron, saying: Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, or the sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest thee die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations." The book of Isaiah, chapter 5, verse 11, says:

"Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue till night, till wine inflames them!" In the same book, chapter 28, verses 7 and 8, we also read: "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. Tables become full of vomit and filthiness; so that no place will be left clean."

With these explicit sentences being written in the Old Testament, forbidding alcoholic drinks, it is not clear why the Gospels represent the Prophets of God as wine-makers and wine drinkers.

As for Islam

Now the world prostrates itself before the Holy Qur'an, for this Divine Book has forbidden the alcoholic drinks and devoted a special campaign against them: "O ye who believe! Strong drink and games of chance and idols and diving arrows are only an infamy of Satan's handiwork. Leave it aside in order that ye may succeed. Satan seeketh only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance, and to turn you from remembrance of Allah and from His worship. Will ye then have done?43"

Now it is worthwhile giving a summary of the medical theories of the twentieth century on the dangers of alcoholic drinks and then examining world religions to see which of them guarantees the happiness of mankind. Is it a religion which prohibits alcoholic drinks or a religion the precepts of which have undergone many alterations and in which winemaking is considered one of its miracles and even a religious ritual;

According to the reports made by medical and health centers and the experiences of the researchers especially the physiological and biological experts, when the alcohol enters the body, only a small portion of it dissolves and disappears and the bulk of it enters the blood circulation which sends it to all organs.

Since alcohol is a poisonous substance and, unlike nutritious elements, is extraneous to the body, it harms every body organ and attacks them in various harmful ways. Because of its evil effects especially because it coagulates albuminoid substances, it reduces perceptibly the sensitivity and activities of the cells and tissues of the body organs, corrupting as a whole the kidneys, the stomach, the liver the mouth, the gullet and the intestines.

The digestive canal and its mucous membrane are most damaged. Alcohol deprives the user's offspring from good health. It has also bad effects on respiratory organs and blood circulation, especially on the heart and the veins.

It indiscriminately results in arterio-sclerosis (which is the main cause of heart attacks and brain damages) and hardens and spoils the liver tissues. The stomach pain and intestinal pain occur in alcoholics (even those who drink beer much more than in non-alcoholic people. The nerve center, being most sensitive to alcohol, is worst damaged.

In brief, alcohol and all kinds of liquor are effective narcotic drugs, which cause nervous insensibility, destroy health, and kill the sense of honor and galantry. As a result, a person addicted to alcohol gives in to every state of humiliation and is ready to do every evil act and ends in wretchedness and misery.

It is quite right to say that the alcoholic drink is one of the major causes which have annihilated the independence, freedom, natural wealth and resources of the nations, because it diminishes the mental power and the sense of understanding of the addicted people who are led to sell their precious resources and their national and spiritual wealth and honor to a cup of wine.

There is abundant evidence to this fact, which cannot be mentioned in this book because of limited space. It was this deadly poison, which brought to an end the glory of the Spanish Muslim community.

Chapter 15: Contradictory Statements in the Gospels

Since man is liable to forgetfulness and error, his statements are not free of contradictions and thus now and then he says and writes something which contradicts his previous statements.

There are many subjects which he discusses with plausible precision, but after a time he makes suggestions opposing his previous ones.

This failure is limited to mankind as a creature who cannot avoid forgetfulness and it is utterly impossible to attribute such a failure to the creator of the universe, the Almighty God, who is omniscient and omnipotent.

A Book sent by God to guide humanity is, therefore, bound to be entirely free from contradictions and errors. A perfect example of such books is the Holy Qur'an, throughout which a single contradiction and reasoning is not found.

Therefore, we can consider this fact a sign of the heavenliness of this great Book, for, logically speaking, it is impossible for an ordinary man who has not been educated to read and write, but has been busy leading a sweeping movement and facing countless difficulties, to compose such a book without being in association with God.

Unfortunately, Christian religious Scripture, unlike the Qur'an, includes numerous contradictions and we wonder how the Holy Fathers ascribe the so- called Holy Bible to God.

What Are Contradictory Statements?

As we all know, contradictory statements are two propositions on a singe point which disagree with each other and those who speak in the language in which these statements are made cannot justify both of them. If, for example, we say: "Man has traveled to the moon" and then we say:

"Man has not traveled to the moon"; these are two contradictory statements. Wherever you come across such opposing sentences, you should realize that you are faced with contradictions. Now, let us make a brief study of the Four Gospels to see whether or not they contain contradictory statements.

1-The Abuses Made by the Thieve

The Gospel according to Matthew describes the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ as follows: "Then were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself.

If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.... The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." (Matt. 27:38- 44).

As you see, according to the Gospel of Matthew, the two thieves, being crucified, abused Jesus Christ. The Gospel according to Luke, on the other hand, writes: "And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Doth not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss." (Luke, 23:39-41).

It is true that Matthew and Luke both want to mention the crucifixion of two thieves with Jesus, but the formers statement, "Both of the thieves abused" is contrary to the latter's statement: "One of the wrong doers abused Jesus, the other rebuked him". So these two statements are considered contradictory.

2-The Staff

Recounting Christ's advice to his disciples, Mark writes: "And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats."

(Mark, 6:7-9). Take note that Mark quotes the advice concerning taking a staff and wearing shoes and does not disapprove of taking them. But the Gospel of Matthew frankly forbids this, saying: "And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, (saying to them :). Provide neither gold, nor silver,

nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat." (Matt, 10:1-10). It is obvious that the two above statements do not correspond each other.

3-Peter being investigated

Having narrated the story of Peter's escape, the Gospel of Matthew says: When Peter went among the enemies of Christ, he was suspected by them, who asked him three times whether or not he had been with Christ. He persistently denied this.

The Gospel of Matthew states that the first and the second times he was questioned by two maids. But the Gospel of Mark, contrary to Matthew's statement, says that only one maid (not two maids) asked him such a question for the first two times.

Mark writes that "as Peter was beneath in the palace, there came one of the maids of the high priest. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, and thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied saying I know not, neither understands I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch, and the cock crew. And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, this is one of them, and he denied it again…"

Moreover, the contradictions between these two Gospels and the Gospel of Luke is even more remarkable, because if these two Gospels are in disagreement with each other on the subject of the investigation made by one or two maids, they correspond in the fact that the investigators have been women not men. But the Gospel of Luke suggests that the second time a man, not a man, has questioned Peter.

(Luke, 22:55-59). It should be born in mind that Peter, as prophesied by Jesus, did not deny Jesus more than three times. So this contradiction cannot be justified by saying that different people posed this question to Peter,

who denied Jesus once in each answer to each person and that at the second time a number of people questioned him and he made a single denial in the presence of all of them, because judging from the statement, after the second question has been made,

that "the maid began to say to them that stood by", we understand no one besides the maid knew the matter, but other people became aware of the fact only after the question was made for the second time. It is true that the three Gospels intend to point out that Peter denied Christ before the cock crew, but they contradict each other in the details.

4-The Time of Mary's Arrival

The Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John specify the rime when Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to his grave as follows: "They arrived at dawn, when it was still dark." But unlike these Gospels, the Gospel of Mark says: "Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother and Jacob came to the burial place of Jesus Christ at sunrise". It goes without saying that the dawn when it is still dark is perceptibly different from the sunrise when it is already bright and therefore they cannot be the same.

5-How long did Christ remain in the grave.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Christ said that like Jonas, who remained three days and three nights in the Whale's belly, he, too, would remain three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (St Matthew; 12, 40).

Whereas, Mark states that Jesus stayed in the grave for two nights and one day, adding that he was buried on Friday evening, the day before the sabbath, and when Mary Magdalene came to his sepulchre at the rising of the sun on Sunday, she saw that Christ had already risen from the grave. (Mark; 15:42 and 16:1-5).

At this stance, besides the contradiction between the narratives of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, we are confronted with the attribution of a lie to Jesus Christ, who said that he would stay three days and three nights in the grave!

At any rate, these contradictions and mistakes in the Gospels are enough to convince us that the Christian's present religious literature cannot have drawn its inspirations from divine revelations; otherwise, these differences and contradictions would never have occurred.

Accordingly, the authors of these writings cannot be considered divinely inspired, since they would have been expected to be in agreement in their statements and such misrepresentations would have never occurred, had they been in contact with the Omniscient God. For this valid reason, we affirm that the Christians' existing Bible is (edited) interpolated without any shadow of doubt. It is a fake and far from proving a heavenly book.

Chapter 16: What is The Religion of the Sword?

The calumny

A malicious charge made against Islam by Christian preachers is that; "Islam has spread by the sword". They also claim that "it was the Muslims' sword which converted African and Asian peoples one by one into Islam."

It is impossible for us in this short treatise to demonstrate the actual reality as clear as possible by referring to historical events and by making a complete study of the sacred verses of the Holy Qur'an and the Bible. But we may briefly point out that the Christian preachers, without having studied the Quranic verses, he made this accusation and have not noticed that in what context Islam orders the Jihad (holy war) and what it means by making it.

In principle, war in Islam is not waged for the purpose of expansionism, conquests and blood shed. It is, however, designed to save oppressed and helpless people who have been denied their legitimate rights and are being burned in the fire of oppression, corruption, paganism, dictatorship and civil deprivations.

God says in the Qur'an: "And how should you not fight for the cause of Allah, and for the helpless old men, women and the children who say: 'Deliver us, Lord, from this city of wrongdoers; send forth to us a guardian from Your presence; send to Us one that will help us'?" (Sura "Women" verses 75).

War in Islam is also waged in order to remove wickedness and establish social justice and general peace. How gloriously are the words of God saying: "And fight against them [the unbelievers] as long as no wickedness will- remain and the religion will be for God . ." (Sura "Spoils of War", verse 39). It is evident that the Holy Qur'an prescribes a war effort for the sake of God and for the salvation of deprived masses and abolition of malignity's.

Islam is not a forced religion. The Jews and Christians can adhere to their own religions, but they have to observe conditions necessary for mutual peace and coexistence.

In Islamic warfare, poisoning, killing of women, children and old men are forbidden and even cutting down of trees and destroying of buildings are disapproved under Islamic law.

The question is whether or not it is a good deed to fight in order to end wickedness, liberate deprived masses and establish social justice. Is it, then, correct to say that in Islam the sword has been used to impose a certain belief on other people?

The answer to these questions are negative and the Christian preachers who make accusations against Islam should know that the spread of Islam is due to its simplicity, practicability sand comprehensiveness and because of these characteristics it continues to advance without possessing propaganda means and possibilities.

God sent His Messenger, the Prophet of Islam, as an act of benevolence, to the whole people of the world. As He vividly says in the Holy Qur'an: "We sent you only to be a favor to the worlds." Invitation to Islam was not made from the beginning by force and the sword, as claim the holy fathers. On the contrary, it was made by the aid of reasoning, argument, philosophy and preaching.

As God says: "Invite to the path of thy Lord God through philosophy and benevolent preaching." (Sura "The Bee" verse 125). If the Christian preachers had studied the Torah and the whole Bible, they would not have made such irrelevant assertions. In Dueteronomy we read: "Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain" (Deuteronomy, 2:32-34).

Is the murder of women and children a justifiable action? Has this war been waged in favor of humanity and justice? Is such a war policy comparable with the war policy of Islam? Is such cruelty not based on the religion of the sword? There is no doubt that the murder of women and children is inconsistent with the principles of co-existence and humanitarianism.

Such a brief comparison makes it clear that by Jihad for God, Islam does not aim to make bloodbath, revenge and imposition of faith, but, unlike Crusaders who waged wars solely to make conquests and colonize other lands, the Muslims have sought peace, stability and welfare for the deprived people all over the world.

People embraced Islam and continue to do so because Islam fulfills their innermost needs and inherent inclinations. However, with all these freedoms offered to non-Muslim people in different countries and despite the fact that there are currently no propagating organization in Islam, the religion of Islam advances continuously in Asia and Africa, especially at a time when there have been increasing perceptible signs of decline in religious faith in recent years.

Today, it is impossible to claim that the conquerors' swords are paving the way for the spread of Islam. As a matter of fact, in the regions, which were once ruled by Islam and are now governed by non-Islamic rulers, powerful non- Islamic propagating institutions have been operating for long years among Muslim inhabitants. Nevertheless, these institutions shave not been able to detach Islam from the social and individual life of those people.

What miraculous force does underlie this religion? What inherent force of persuasion has been mingled with this religion so that thoughtful and freethinking people embrace it with great enthusiasm?

Those who say: "Islam has advanced by the sword" have no intention except malice and vindictiveness and historical facts and current events disprove such a wicked assertion.

Chapter 12: Does Christ Suffer For Our Sins?

"And no bearer of burden can bear the burden of another..." (The Holy Qur'an 17:15) One thing that is becoming increasingly dear with the rapid progress of science is the need to observe divine precepts. Although man has greatly benefited from the thoughts of scientists and wise men in the past, he acknowledges that he cannot fully unveil the mysteries of creation with the help of his finite mind and offer and express comprehensive, useful and unchangeable considerations regarding the problems of life.

He realizes that many laws and theories that are postulated around the globe would, after a time, display their flaws, so that the legislators and theorists are forced to abandon them.

Fortunately, some scientists have confessed that divine laws originating from the Creator of the universe, i.e. the Omniscient God, form the only program that can lead humanity towards absolute prosperity and perfection. Therefore, prophets have tried to introduce people to this progressive program and have always seriously fought with the belief that another person will be punished or sacrificed instead of the guilty party, and have openly declared that everyone is responsible for his own deeds.

In the Book of Ezekiel one can still read: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him" (Ezek. 18:20).

Belief in suffering punishment and paying ransom instead of somebody else would have made a great number of people refuse abiding by divine precepts, for, in their opinion, another person would receive punishment in their stead. Thus apart from being prevented to develop themselves towards perfection, they would have also dealt an irreparable blow to the interest of the society.

Jesus Christ, as soon as he received his divine mission, followed the same rule and drove people towards religious obligations and stressed: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heavens and earth pass, one jot or one brittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

"Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these last commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:17-19)

But in the tide of the events, and harmful publicity launched by the Roman emperors in the early days of Christianity, the Christians, like Buddhists and Hindus, following the example of St. Paul, said: "The only Son of God, or the Lord Himself descended upon earth to expunge people from sin by dying on The Cross." They stated: "Jesus Christ was put on the Cross in order to shoulder the burden of our sins. He thus took the curse, so as to deliver us from the curse of the canon and the holy laws that we deserve."

In his epistle to Galatians, Paul writes: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of law, being made a curse for us; for it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:13).

Furthermore, in the same chapter he adds: "Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:23 - 26).

In brief, they had thus fulfilled their last wish and said: "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances" (Ephesians 2:15)

Obviously, they had nothing else in their minds than achieving their evil desires and irresponsibility!

Sometimes, in order to avoid any scandal, Christians base their arguments on parts of unreliable old books. For instance, they say: "When they put Christ on The Cross, he drank vinegar, just as David had foretold in Psalms, 69. So it is clear that the story of the putting Christ on The Cross in order to redeem us from our sins is based on reality."

Studying David's Psalms, Chapter 69, we notice that the verses therein do not deal with Jesus Christ at all, but with David himself. The verses are: "God save me... Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor. Mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness; and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink."

You will notice that the above passage has nothing to do with Christ's Crucifixion to save the Christians from the restraints imposed by the canon. But since there is a mention of vinegar, and since in their belief, Christ, too, had drunken vinegar in the last hours of his life, Christians have taken them as forecasting Crucifixion and atonement. Truly, are such inferences not ridiculous?

From what has been said so far, it becomes evident that observance of divine commandments is among the most important and necessary issues; belief in shouldering someone else's sins is the greatest superstition and it is never correct to accept it just because it has been mentioned m the New Testament. Rather, one must say that the New Testament is not compatible with the Old Testament and the conduct of the prophets and Jesus Christ. This incompatibility is yet another proof of its erroneousness.

As a German author, named Ernest Die Bunsen writes:

"The Crucifixion and atonement for sins are but mere fabrications made by St. Paul and his disciples who had never seen Jesus Christ with their own eyes. Therefore one cannot maintain them as the fundaments of true Christianity." Furthermore, Barnabas flatly denies The Crucifixion of Jesus in his Gospel and states: "Judas of Iscariot, mistakenly taken for Christ, was crucified." * * * Now if you ask: "How could one discover the comprehensive divine laws that could guide human beings to happiness and prosperity?" our answer is: "by studying The Holy Qur'an, along with the words of the Holy Prophet of Islam and the impeccable leaders who succeeded him. These words and maxims are available in authoritative Shi'ite books.

The Qur'an is the only book that has addressed the basic issues and problems of life, so that it never grows out-dated and obsolete and fulfills the needs of its followers thereof. In this respect, The Qur'an is unlike the present Old and New Testaments which, apart from being distorted and containing many mistakes and superstitious passages, are short of providing precepts and would never be able to fulfill all the needs of human beings and be considered the sources of guidance and rule for life.

Briefly, what has been mentioned so far makes it clear that the subject of Christ's atonement and suffering for our sins would prevent man from his individual and social development. Inasmuch as man moves forward, he would become aware of the superstitious nature of this belief.

Chapter 13: Christmas!

Every year when the Christian New Year begins, Christians hold a celebration which is called Christmas. On Christmas, they go to nightclubs and spend a night of debauchery.

The motive behind this celebration is plausibly to mark the anniversary of the birth of Christ and to glorify that great divine man, but in reality the Christians hold the celebration in order to quench their sensual thirsts. Thus they take to actions which Christ himself detests very much.

On the Christmas evening, the Christians spare no pleasure and avoid no obscene actions including dancing, singing, drinking, sex etc. Obviously these actions have nothing to do with the glorification of the memory of Christ, the divine man. Now we can see what is Christmas Day and how it is celebrated.

After the death of Christ, his divine system became subject to alterations by profit-making Church officials who hid the real face of Jesus Christ behind the veil of obscurantism myths and superstition such as the concept of "The Father and The Son" and Christ's "Divinity". Certain traditions were established by the Holy Fathers, which resulted in nothing but shame for the Christians. Christmas, too, is one of these artificial traditions carried out in such a way.

All prophets of God, including Jesus Christ himself have banned drunkenness, debaucheries and orgies. Even in the altered Bibles there are phrases which ban such obscene actions.

The book of Isaiah, 5:11-12, says: "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tablet, and pipe, and wine are in their feasts."

But, unfortunately, with such an explicit ban, the Christians bring wine and music into their religious services, consecrating Christ in such a way. Although we have faced some facts in above lines and realized a truth, we do not intend to prevent the Christians from evil acts and disillusion them.

The intellectual Christians themselves have long abandoned the superstitious aspect of their religion and discarded it. Their leaders, however, have not stopped their desperate efforts...

Now it should be asked what name we are going to give to these acts. Is such a vain feast held in order to gain a national honor? Is it a step made towards social progress? The answers to these questions will undoubtedly be negative.

These extravaganzas at the end of the Christian year are a submission to frivolities and wantonness and a confession to a kind of defeat by unjust sensual desires. These are reactionary and incorrect imitations, the repetition of which is painful and shameful in the eyes of the far-sighted Muslims. In other words, these actions are the most vulgar "Western-orientedness" with grave consequences, exposing all our religious authorities and tradition to utter destruction and permanent extermination.

It is worthwhile explaining about the nature of Western-mindedness or Western-intoxication. It is something like being afflicted with a malady, which rots the Organism from within. You can imagine a butterfly whose shell and wings have remained intact but whose interior body is worn away.

Yes, Western-mindedness or Western-orientation is a dangerous disease the grave consequence of which is deadlier than cholera. One must attempt to avoid it because it has unfortunately spread among many people. Under the banner of Westernization, we are succumbed to estrangement from our traditional clothes, houses,

foods, and literature, press and, more dangerously of all, from our culture. We bring up Western-minded people, think Western-mindedly and look for a solution for our problems in a Westernized manner.

So every far-sighted Muslim, who has preserved his Islamic personality and mind, knows well that his participation in such feasts only results in disaster for the Muslim community.

Do our Islamic conscience and sentiment and our brotherly love allow us to cooperate with a Christianity which for centuries has been the great enemy of the Muslims, killed millions of our brothers and still continues to do so? Should we still take part in their luxurious feasts?

Finally we ask our Muslim brothers and sisters to avoid holding Christmas celebrations and any actions which are dominated by Western-mindedness and superstition and preserve their Islamic personality and purify themselves from the shameful Western- intoxication.

Imam Ali, peace is upon him, said: "He, who prevails over his sensual desires, will have preserved his real personality."

Chapter 14: Wine-making, The First Miracle of Christ

Scientific discoveries explicitly show the countless harm of alcoholic drinks. Before these discoveries, however, the divine religions, inspired with the eternal source of knowledge, that is, God the Omnipotent and the Omniscient, warned their followers against alcoholic drinks and enumerated their evils and harms.

Unfortunately, during long period of time, the Christian Holy Fathers, for various unspecified reasons (!), not only have actually prescribed the use of alcoholic drinks, but have also, by altering some passages of the Bible, fabricated verses concerning the drinking of the old prophets, which makes ashamed every wise and faithful person.

Regretfully, winemaking and wine drinking are already not only allowed and practiced among the Christians, but also have entered their rituals and religious services.

As described in Chapter 11, The Eucharist (Holy Communion), being a religious and sacred service to the church authorities, is celebrated with the taking of bread and wine and the world Christians drink in their greatest religious service millions of liters of wine for the love of Jesus, the innocent prophet of God.

The Wine and the Miracle

Worst of all, the Christians' Holy Bible considers winemaking the first miracle of Christ. The Gospel according to John, chapter 2, verses 1-11, says: "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.

His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were sent there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them; fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear into the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants, which drew the water, knew ;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed in him."

We read in the Old Testament, Genesis, and the following lines about Noah: "And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine and was drunk; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him."

Again the Old Testament says about Lot whom his two daughters made drink wine. When he was drunk, he lay down with his daughters and conceived them who bore him two sons.

Contradictory Sentences

This is the way the Bible of the Christians introduce the divine prophets who, in reality, were the guiding lights of humanity and thus had to be pure of any corruption and evil.

Of course we do not expect more than this from these fabricated books, but what is surprising is that in these very books we come across phrases which forbid the drinking of wine. In Leviticus, Chapter 10, verses 8 and 9, we read:

"And the Lord spoke into Aaron, saying: Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, or the sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest thee die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations." The book of Isaiah, chapter 5, verse 11, says:

"Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue till night, till wine inflames them!" In the same book, chapter 28, verses 7 and 8, we also read: "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. Tables become full of vomit and filthiness; so that no place will be left clean."

With these explicit sentences being written in the Old Testament, forbidding alcoholic drinks, it is not clear why the Gospels represent the Prophets of God as wine-makers and wine drinkers.

As for Islam

Now the world prostrates itself before the Holy Qur'an, for this Divine Book has forbidden the alcoholic drinks and devoted a special campaign against them: "O ye who believe! Strong drink and games of chance and idols and diving arrows are only an infamy of Satan's handiwork. Leave it aside in order that ye may succeed. Satan seeketh only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance, and to turn you from remembrance of Allah and from His worship. Will ye then have done?43"

Now it is worthwhile giving a summary of the medical theories of the twentieth century on the dangers of alcoholic drinks and then examining world religions to see which of them guarantees the happiness of mankind. Is it a religion which prohibits alcoholic drinks or a religion the precepts of which have undergone many alterations and in which winemaking is considered one of its miracles and even a religious ritual;

According to the reports made by medical and health centers and the experiences of the researchers especially the physiological and biological experts, when the alcohol enters the body, only a small portion of it dissolves and disappears and the bulk of it enters the blood circulation which sends it to all organs.

Since alcohol is a poisonous substance and, unlike nutritious elements, is extraneous to the body, it harms every body organ and attacks them in various harmful ways. Because of its evil effects especially because it coagulates albuminoid substances, it reduces perceptibly the sensitivity and activities of the cells and tissues of the body organs, corrupting as a whole the kidneys, the stomach, the liver the mouth, the gullet and the intestines.

The digestive canal and its mucous membrane are most damaged. Alcohol deprives the user's offspring from good health. It has also bad effects on respiratory organs and blood circulation, especially on the heart and the veins.

It indiscriminately results in arterio-sclerosis (which is the main cause of heart attacks and brain damages) and hardens and spoils the liver tissues. The stomach pain and intestinal pain occur in alcoholics (even those who drink beer much more than in non-alcoholic people. The nerve center, being most sensitive to alcohol, is worst damaged.

In brief, alcohol and all kinds of liquor are effective narcotic drugs, which cause nervous insensibility, destroy health, and kill the sense of honor and galantry. As a result, a person addicted to alcohol gives in to every state of humiliation and is ready to do every evil act and ends in wretchedness and misery.

It is quite right to say that the alcoholic drink is one of the major causes which have annihilated the independence, freedom, natural wealth and resources of the nations, because it diminishes the mental power and the sense of understanding of the addicted people who are led to sell their precious resources and their national and spiritual wealth and honor to a cup of wine.

There is abundant evidence to this fact, which cannot be mentioned in this book because of limited space. It was this deadly poison, which brought to an end the glory of the Spanish Muslim community.

Chapter 15: Contradictory Statements in the Gospels

Since man is liable to forgetfulness and error, his statements are not free of contradictions and thus now and then he says and writes something which contradicts his previous statements.

There are many subjects which he discusses with plausible precision, but after a time he makes suggestions opposing his previous ones.

This failure is limited to mankind as a creature who cannot avoid forgetfulness and it is utterly impossible to attribute such a failure to the creator of the universe, the Almighty God, who is omniscient and omnipotent.

A Book sent by God to guide humanity is, therefore, bound to be entirely free from contradictions and errors. A perfect example of such books is the Holy Qur'an, throughout which a single contradiction and reasoning is not found.

Therefore, we can consider this fact a sign of the heavenliness of this great Book, for, logically speaking, it is impossible for an ordinary man who has not been educated to read and write, but has been busy leading a sweeping movement and facing countless difficulties, to compose such a book without being in association with God.

Unfortunately, Christian religious Scripture, unlike the Qur'an, includes numerous contradictions and we wonder how the Holy Fathers ascribe the so- called Holy Bible to God.

What Are Contradictory Statements?

As we all know, contradictory statements are two propositions on a singe point which disagree with each other and those who speak in the language in which these statements are made cannot justify both of them. If, for example, we say: "Man has traveled to the moon" and then we say:

"Man has not traveled to the moon"; these are two contradictory statements. Wherever you come across such opposing sentences, you should realize that you are faced with contradictions. Now, let us make a brief study of the Four Gospels to see whether or not they contain contradictory statements.

1-The Abuses Made by the Thieve

The Gospel according to Matthew describes the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ as follows: "Then were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself.

If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.... The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." (Matt. 27:38- 44).

As you see, according to the Gospel of Matthew, the two thieves, being crucified, abused Jesus Christ. The Gospel according to Luke, on the other hand, writes: "And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Doth not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss." (Luke, 23:39-41).

It is true that Matthew and Luke both want to mention the crucifixion of two thieves with Jesus, but the formers statement, "Both of the thieves abused" is contrary to the latter's statement: "One of the wrong doers abused Jesus, the other rebuked him". So these two statements are considered contradictory.

2-The Staff

Recounting Christ's advice to his disciples, Mark writes: "And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats."

(Mark, 6:7-9). Take note that Mark quotes the advice concerning taking a staff and wearing shoes and does not disapprove of taking them. But the Gospel of Matthew frankly forbids this, saying: "And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, (saying to them :). Provide neither gold, nor silver,

nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat." (Matt, 10:1-10). It is obvious that the two above statements do not correspond each other.

3-Peter being investigated

Having narrated the story of Peter's escape, the Gospel of Matthew says: When Peter went among the enemies of Christ, he was suspected by them, who asked him three times whether or not he had been with Christ. He persistently denied this.

The Gospel of Matthew states that the first and the second times he was questioned by two maids. But the Gospel of Mark, contrary to Matthew's statement, says that only one maid (not two maids) asked him such a question for the first two times.

Mark writes that "as Peter was beneath in the palace, there came one of the maids of the high priest. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, and thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied saying I know not, neither understands I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch, and the cock crew. And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, this is one of them, and he denied it again…"

Moreover, the contradictions between these two Gospels and the Gospel of Luke is even more remarkable, because if these two Gospels are in disagreement with each other on the subject of the investigation made by one or two maids, they correspond in the fact that the investigators have been women not men. But the Gospel of Luke suggests that the second time a man, not a man, has questioned Peter.

(Luke, 22:55-59). It should be born in mind that Peter, as prophesied by Jesus, did not deny Jesus more than three times. So this contradiction cannot be justified by saying that different people posed this question to Peter,

who denied Jesus once in each answer to each person and that at the second time a number of people questioned him and he made a single denial in the presence of all of them, because judging from the statement, after the second question has been made,

that "the maid began to say to them that stood by", we understand no one besides the maid knew the matter, but other people became aware of the fact only after the question was made for the second time. It is true that the three Gospels intend to point out that Peter denied Christ before the cock crew, but they contradict each other in the details.

4-The Time of Mary's Arrival

The Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John specify the rime when Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to his grave as follows: "They arrived at dawn, when it was still dark." But unlike these Gospels, the Gospel of Mark says: "Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother and Jacob came to the burial place of Jesus Christ at sunrise". It goes without saying that the dawn when it is still dark is perceptibly different from the sunrise when it is already bright and therefore they cannot be the same.

5-How long did Christ remain in the grave.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Christ said that like Jonas, who remained three days and three nights in the Whale's belly, he, too, would remain three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (St Matthew; 12, 40).

Whereas, Mark states that Jesus stayed in the grave for two nights and one day, adding that he was buried on Friday evening, the day before the sabbath, and when Mary Magdalene came to his sepulchre at the rising of the sun on Sunday, she saw that Christ had already risen from the grave. (Mark; 15:42 and 16:1-5).

At this stance, besides the contradiction between the narratives of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, we are confronted with the attribution of a lie to Jesus Christ, who said that he would stay three days and three nights in the grave!

At any rate, these contradictions and mistakes in the Gospels are enough to convince us that the Christian's present religious literature cannot have drawn its inspirations from divine revelations; otherwise, these differences and contradictions would never have occurred.

Accordingly, the authors of these writings cannot be considered divinely inspired, since they would have been expected to be in agreement in their statements and such misrepresentations would have never occurred, had they been in contact with the Omniscient God. For this valid reason, we affirm that the Christians' existing Bible is (edited) interpolated without any shadow of doubt. It is a fake and far from proving a heavenly book.

Chapter 16: What is The Religion of the Sword?

The calumny

A malicious charge made against Islam by Christian preachers is that; "Islam has spread by the sword". They also claim that "it was the Muslims' sword which converted African and Asian peoples one by one into Islam."

It is impossible for us in this short treatise to demonstrate the actual reality as clear as possible by referring to historical events and by making a complete study of the sacred verses of the Holy Qur'an and the Bible. But we may briefly point out that the Christian preachers, without having studied the Quranic verses, he made this accusation and have not noticed that in what context Islam orders the Jihad (holy war) and what it means by making it.

In principle, war in Islam is not waged for the purpose of expansionism, conquests and blood shed. It is, however, designed to save oppressed and helpless people who have been denied their legitimate rights and are being burned in the fire of oppression, corruption, paganism, dictatorship and civil deprivations.

God says in the Qur'an: "And how should you not fight for the cause of Allah, and for the helpless old men, women and the children who say: 'Deliver us, Lord, from this city of wrongdoers; send forth to us a guardian from Your presence; send to Us one that will help us'?" (Sura "Women" verses 75).

War in Islam is also waged in order to remove wickedness and establish social justice and general peace. How gloriously are the words of God saying: "And fight against them [the unbelievers] as long as no wickedness will- remain and the religion will be for God . ." (Sura "Spoils of War", verse 39). It is evident that the Holy Qur'an prescribes a war effort for the sake of God and for the salvation of deprived masses and abolition of malignity's.

Islam is not a forced religion. The Jews and Christians can adhere to their own religions, but they have to observe conditions necessary for mutual peace and coexistence.

In Islamic warfare, poisoning, killing of women, children and old men are forbidden and even cutting down of trees and destroying of buildings are disapproved under Islamic law.

The question is whether or not it is a good deed to fight in order to end wickedness, liberate deprived masses and establish social justice. Is it, then, correct to say that in Islam the sword has been used to impose a certain belief on other people?

The answer to these questions are negative and the Christian preachers who make accusations against Islam should know that the spread of Islam is due to its simplicity, practicability sand comprehensiveness and because of these characteristics it continues to advance without possessing propaganda means and possibilities.

God sent His Messenger, the Prophet of Islam, as an act of benevolence, to the whole people of the world. As He vividly says in the Holy Qur'an: "We sent you only to be a favor to the worlds." Invitation to Islam was not made from the beginning by force and the sword, as claim the holy fathers. On the contrary, it was made by the aid of reasoning, argument, philosophy and preaching.

As God says: "Invite to the path of thy Lord God through philosophy and benevolent preaching." (Sura "The Bee" verse 125). If the Christian preachers had studied the Torah and the whole Bible, they would not have made such irrelevant assertions. In Dueteronomy we read: "Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain" (Deuteronomy, 2:32-34).

Is the murder of women and children a justifiable action? Has this war been waged in favor of humanity and justice? Is such a war policy comparable with the war policy of Islam? Is such cruelty not based on the religion of the sword? There is no doubt that the murder of women and children is inconsistent with the principles of co-existence and humanitarianism.

Such a brief comparison makes it clear that by Jihad for God, Islam does not aim to make bloodbath, revenge and imposition of faith, but, unlike Crusaders who waged wars solely to make conquests and colonize other lands, the Muslims have sought peace, stability and welfare for the deprived people all over the world.

People embraced Islam and continue to do so because Islam fulfills their innermost needs and inherent inclinations. However, with all these freedoms offered to non-Muslim people in different countries and despite the fact that there are currently no propagating organization in Islam, the religion of Islam advances continuously in Asia and Africa, especially at a time when there have been increasing perceptible signs of decline in religious faith in recent years.

Today, it is impossible to claim that the conquerors' swords are paving the way for the spread of Islam. As a matter of fact, in the regions, which were once ruled by Islam and are now governed by non-Islamic rulers, powerful non- Islamic propagating institutions have been operating for long years among Muslim inhabitants. Nevertheless, these institutions shave not been able to detach Islam from the social and individual life of those people.

What miraculous force does underlie this religion? What inherent force of persuasion has been mingled with this religion so that thoughtful and freethinking people embrace it with great enthusiasm?

Those who say: "Islam has advanced by the sword" have no intention except malice and vindictiveness and historical facts and current events disprove such a wicked assertion.