Sorry for the long absence. Was too busy with many different things, not least of all my MBA thesis is due in October and I still haven't chosen a topic... I don't know what I want to write about, I'm not particularly passionate about business in itself I guess. Sure I find the whole crashing of the financial markets interesting, mainly because I'm all "Allah told you so!". but that's preaching, it's not an academic question.
But anyhow I came across this Aya in surat al-Ma'eda:
لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَقَالَ الْمَسِيحُ يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ مَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ
لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلاثَةٍ وَمَا مِنْ إِلَهٍ إِلَّا إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَنتَهُوا عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَيَمَسَّنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلاثَةٍ وَمَا مِنْ إِلَهٍ إِلَّا إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَنتَهُوا عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَيَمَسَّنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
"They do blaspheme who say: "Allah is Christ the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help." (72) "They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them." (73)
Now, the above clearly and unequivocally declares those who say Jesus is God, or say Jesus is the Son of God, both to be kufaar. It doesn't matter if they were kindhearted people. Because Allah declares Shirk (Idolatry) to be the greatest of all sins
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَى إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا
Which translates that God does not forgive Idolatry, and all other sins are lesser and are forgivable.
Why am I writing this?
Well, some find the above pretty obvious, and in no need of explanation, but I found people who question even these basics. Some of my relatives were even angry with me when I said that Christians go to hell no matter how nice they are.
But also, the real reason is that I have Christian friends who are close to me. I like them and think they are swell guys. I also do not lie to them that they are perfectly alright with their beliefs. What kind of a friend I'd be if I did that? to know from the Qur'an that my friend is going to hell and stay silent and not attempt to talk to him about it would be one of two things:
1- I don't believe in the Qur'an's every word. or..
2- I betray my friend for the sake of staying in his good graces so I can enjoy jokes and laughs with him during Dinya.
I don't personally like either of these two. So I find it compulsory to warn those nice Christians I meet all over.
Ofcourse here I don't exclude Jews either :P so I suppose I should at some stage talk to my buddy Israel about it, but that would be a trickier discussion. Because as far as I know, modern day Jews ARE monotheist. But they reject Mohammad's prophethood pbuh, and hence reject the word of Allah the Qur'an.
Anyhow, in the end, I'm saying that this isn't a message of Intolerance, it's a message of Love. because it's very "inconvenient" to tell it in the first place, and there can't be multiple rights. there's only one right. As Allah says just after the above ayat in il-Ma'eda:
أَفَلَا يَتُوبُونَ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَهُ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
Will they not then turn to Allah and ask His forgiveness? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
