and I’ll strongly consider doing so if I’m voted off the island in the comments field here.

I vote for you to continue, Robert. These examinations of the Qur’an have been very educational.

It takes me a while to get around to reading these posts sometimes….I need it to be quiet. You make me use my brain too hard.
:)

Thank You for what you do here.

These threads are educational and the lack of comments in the form of questions implies that the lesson was presented in a clear, concise manner.

I offer my continued gratitude and support for this vital endeavor, and I am far from alone in that regard, I assure you.

I opened the question in the first place after I read his message because I’ve seen week by week how few commenters there are on these threads as opposed to other HA threads, and I don’t want to be blind to the possibility that the thing that I’m trying to do here is just boring and useless.

Mr. Spencer, one last comment from me:)

I don’t always comment because just taking it in. And I expect for some of us who have some background or study of Islam, this serve as reinforcement of our own views.

But to my point, comparing these threads to comment counts are other threads I don’t think is a good comparison. Other threads are filled with long running inside jokes or new stupid ones, simply friend banter, and even the occasional recipe. Not exactly heavy-weight stuff in other words. Like conversation around the water cooler, quantity doesn’t yield quality necessarily.

Robert Spencer on August 17, 2008 at 9:34 PM

Point taken. Regardless, this is tremendous work. And as regards those who blow in the wind, what the people think and what the leaders say are not always in tune. I have faith in American ideals deep in American people, even though leadership is disappointing (repetitively).

Have you ever wished your inner voice would shut up? I have.

Robert Spencer on August 17, 2008 at 9:56 PM

I just talk back to it :)

You are such a gentleman, Mr. Spencer. I knew you’d answer every single commenter’s question, concern, statement. It’s in your nature. Glad you do us all a huge service.

On Russia, knowing that you were sarcastic, we’ll fight both wars, the cold one, with hot flairs, and the war on terror in between. In fact, the two could itnertwine. In the last two weeks everything has changed. Putin either miscalculated, or didn’t want Obama to win. His timing is either impeccable, or a huge mistake.

I have a question. Concerning intercession as mentioned in 39:3 39:43 and 39:44, this sounds to me like it is not asking someone to pray for the person, but praying to someone other than Allah. Is this the Islamic perception of these verses?

Yes.

I know Allah has told his followers to pray (he has commanded 5 times a day), however can they pray for other people or is this useless intercession?

No, it’s very common for Muslims to ask living people to pray for them. In Islam you certainly can and should pray for other people. But one should not ask the dead — i.e., the saints — for prayers.

I have a question. Concerning intercession as mentioned in 39:3 39:43 and 39:44, this sounds to me like it is not asking someone to pray for the person, but praying to someone other than Allah. Is this the Islamic perception of these verses? I know Allah has told his followers to pray (he has commanded 5 times a day), however can they pray for other people or is this useless intercession?

I have a friend who took one about 10 years ago and she’s convinced that Islam is a peaceful religion and that it’s a fact that Christianity has killed many more “millions” of people than any other religion.

Hey, she learned it in college! It must true.

I asked her if she read the news on a regular basis and she said it was too depressing and she had better things to do.

How old is the newest Hadith?

Oh, about 1200-1300 years old.

Generally? Are they still be written today?

No. Hadith are traditions of the words and deeds of Muhammad. Many were forged, and there is a whole science in Islam to distinguish the false from the true, but they certainly aren’t being written today.

But you could sense the relief in the past week when a real old fashioned enemy seemed to be in need of correction. It was as though murky Islam could be dismissed for more tangible fish.

Absolutely. And Diana West absolutely nails the difference here.

If you could find such a course, it would probably be stating that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance.

Oh yeah. And that anyone who says anything to the contrary is “Islamophobic.”

I read something once that I swear was a Hadith, but I can’t remember where I read it. It specifically mentioned the “Arctic Circle”. It was about Ramadan. It was all about what a Muslim who lived in the Arctic Circle, or any other place in the world that has perpetual dawn and dusk, should do during Ramadan. I remember being surprised that a Hadith would mention the Arctic Circle since America wasn’t discovered until 1492 and I assumed Hadiths were all from around the 7th century.

I might be confusing it with a Q&A answer.

The bottom line, by the way, was “don’t look out the window”.

Muhammad said: “A good dream that comes true is from Allah, and a bad dream is from Satan, so if anyone of you sees a bad dream, he should seek refuge with Allah from Satan and should spit on the left, for the bad dream will not harm him.”

Any given unbeliever is unsure what to make of anything Islamic. Whether it is good, bad or indifferent. It is never a mistake to condemn anything Islamic as a simple prophylactic against it’s evil. There is no comfort zone when ardent Muslims are living among an uninformed host.

But you could sense the relief in the past week when a real old fashioned enemy seemed to be in need of correction. It was as though murky Islam could be dismissed for more tangible fish.

I think the storm is just beginning. As soon as it seems apparent that some “radical religion hijackers” have access to some Nuke(s), I wonder what their first demands will be, who and what must be delivered up to them?

Boston not being glazed is surely worth giving up free speech over is it not?

dentalque:

If this was college, you would be getting paid and we would get 4 credits.

Why it isn’t college, and why you can’t even find a simple introductory class on the Qur’anic text as it is explained by the Hadith and classical tafasir on college campuses today, is a story in itself, and not a short one.

If you could find such a course, it would probably be stating that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance.

Oh, and in the immortal words of the Bard:

“Sleep is like a temporary death…” — Bob Dylan, “Workingman’s Blues #2″

Robert Spencer on August 17, 2008 at 10:17 PM

Deja vu…I was playing Dylan today during my weekly clean-up of the ol’ house.

One more question if I may tho, as I thought…how would Islam explain dreams then. We have good, and bad, dreams when we sleep. Does the Koran explain this?

Please continue. I look forward to our your weekly lessons.

I admit I don’t understand the context of everything here because I missed the early parts, but I’ll catch up eventually.

Thanks for the education.

If this was college, you would be getting paid and we would get 4 credits.

Why it isn’t college, and why you can’t even find a simple introductory class on the Qur’anic text as it is explained by the Hadith and classical tafasir on college campuses today, is a story in itself, and not a short one.

Oh, and in the immortal words of the Bard:

“Sleep is like a temporary death…” — Bob Dylan, “Workingman’s Blues #2″

I’ve seen week by week how few commenters there are on these threads as opposed to other HA threads, and I don’t want to be blind to the possibility that the thing that I’m trying to do here is just boring and useless. But of course, most of those who think that it is will not comment here at all.
Robert Spencer on August 17, 2008 at 9:56 PM

Mr. S,
If I may be so bold, I think you have missed the point. Reading the Qur’an is work, there should be fewer posts. It is not as mindless as watching a related youtube link and just reading (and writing) a bunch of dopey posts. This is a post that is more like a class.
Yes there are fewer posts but I have been impressed with the level of knowledge by some of the regular posters. If this was college, you would be getting paid and we would get 4 credits.
Keep up the good work.
Fight the good fight.

Oh…on another note, I saw something earlier today that said Muslims believe that if one falls asleep while praying, that Satan…how do I put this…will pee in his ear. Don’t know if that’s true or not.

Here you go.

Narrated ‘Abdullah:

It was mentioned before the Prophet that there was a man who slept the night till morning (after sunrise). The Prophet said, “He is a man in whose ears (or ear) Satan had urinated.”

That’s a hadith, Bukhari 4.54.492.

I don’t know how I missed that.

Well, it is possible that it is one of those things that are so obvious and axiomatic to me that I never realized I should take the time to stop and explain it. But one main verse listing the People of the Book is 2:62, which promises them all — Jews, Christians, Sabeans — Paradise. However, that promise is not quite as expansively ecumenical as some Islamic apologists try to make it appear today, as I explained here.