ivdavid said:Hi Maryam, thanks for replying.
I'd like to stretch your explanations a little to help me understand better.
If the Jews weren't following their own teachings and Islam claims that their teachings were wrong, then why should God send them a prophet to again follow those 'wrong' teachings? And Jesus Christ upheld every part of the Scripture - He didn't select some to be right and others to be wrong. So how is it that you claim that the Jewish Scriptures are wrong/corrupted? If they are really corrupted, isn't it questioning God's ability to preserve His revealed word?
And what is the Gospel that Jesus Christ preached according to you?
I don’t know a lot about this topic, but of course I know that the Torah was corrupted. Was it before or after Prophet Jesus, I don’t know.
The Quran states clearly that Jews did corrupt their book.
4: 46. Of the Jews there are those who displace words from their (right) places, and say: "We hear and we disobey"; and "Hear what is not Heard"; and "Ra'ina"; with a twist of their tongues and a slander to Faith. If only they had said: "What hear and we obey"; and "Do hear"; and "Do look at us"; it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah hath cursed them for their Unbelief; and but few of them will believe.
Is the OT the same Torah that Jews have?
Do you believe that the Jews book is uncorrupted? If it is not corrupted, that means they had to believe in Prophet Jesus and Christianity, why didn’t they do that?
As I said, I don’t know a lot about Judaism, and that is why I am asking.
ivdavid said:What does Islam say that you are supposed to do to be saved or to enter heaven? I'm guessing that it says you are to keep all the laws of God. Now my question is - have you kept all the laws faithfully and perfectly without committing any sin? Has anybody kept all the Law?
If everyone has sinned, then how does God deal with these sinners? Does He condemn them into eternal lakes of fire or does He forgive? If He forgives, I agree that shows His abundant love and mercy. But wouldn't God then be unjust in overlooking sin? How does God remain loving and just at the same time? Shouldn't you pay for the sins you committed to uphold God's justice? And if you are to be forgiven, then shouldn't someone else pay for your sins as a sacrifice?
God is Just and Loving. Since we all commit sins, God gives us the chance to repent, and God forgives the sins of those who repent sincerely. Even if the same person commits the same sin again and again, which happens a lot, God forgives as long as the person repent sincerely. Of course God knows the heart of people, and knows who is sincere and who is not.
39: 53. Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah. for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Those who commit sins and do good deeds at the same time, should never lose hope for God is Oft-Forging, Most Merciful as He says in Quran.
9: 102. Others (there are who) have acknowledged their wrong-doings: they have mixed an act that was good with another that was evil. Perhaps Allah will turn unto them (in Mercy): for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Those who do so many evil deeds, and then repent sincerely and do not go back to that evil path, God changes all their evil into rewards.
25: 70. Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful,
Those who did a lot of evil things, with very few good deeds, God knows best how to judge them. Sometimes the few good deeds do win over the many evil deeds if they were sincere to God.
Muslims also may deserve hell-fire if they spent their life doing evil deeds. But if they were worshipping God alone without associating partners with Him, they will not be in hell-fire eternally, but some day they will go to Paradise because at least they believed in the one true God.
4: 48. Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed.
We don’t believe that someone has to sacrifice so that we don’t be punished for our evil deeds, I can’t say God is Just if this happens.
ivdavid said:Another query - what does the Quran say you should do if you catch a woman in the act of adultery? Should you preach repentance and remission of sins through faith in God or should you judge her and condemn her?
If the woman is caught in the act of adultery (and same applies to a man), there should be four witnesses saying that they saw her doing that. If there were less than four, their saying will not be taken. If they were four, then she had to admit that she did it. If she doesn’t admit, she can go home. But of course if she was lying, she will deserve a punishment from God.
If she admits it, she has to be stoned to death if she was a married woman, and if she was unmarried, she has to be beaten 100 times. If that happens, God forgives her sin of adultery.
This is different if a man says his wife commits adultery, because she is his wife, he can be the only witness, and again if she denied, she will not be punished by the law. (The same applied for a women reporting her husband for committing adultery).
There was a case in Prophet Muhammad’s life, when a pregnant women went to him and told him that she committed adultery and wanted to be cleaned from it. Since she was a married woman, her punishment was to be stoned to death. Prophet Muhammad asked her to go and deliver her baby first. She did, and came to him after that. He asked her to go back until her baby becomes two years old. She did, and returned back to with her baby holding a piece of bread to show that now he is no more dependent in her milk. The Prophet then ordered to stone her to death because she insisted in that. She could have not come to him after that, but she decided to come.
When she was berried, some of the companions of Prophet Muhammad disgraced her. Prophet Muhammad told them that this women repented so much as if her repentance is divided into 70 of the Muslims, it would be enough for them all, and it was enough that she sacrificed herself to God.
Here what the Quran says about it:
Quran 24
1. A sura which We have sent down and which We have ordained in it have We sent down Clear Signs, in order that ye may receive admonition.
2. The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment.
3. Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry and but a woman similarly guilty, or an Unbeliever: nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman: to the Believers such a thing is forbidden.
4. And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors;-
5. Unless they repent thereafter and mend (their conduct); for Allah is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.
6. And for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support) no evidence but their own,- their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by Allah that they are solemnly telling the truth;
7. And the fifth (oath) (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of Allah on themselves if they tell a lie.
8. But it would avert the punishment from the wife, if she bears witness four times (with an oath) By Allah, that (her husband) is telling a lie;
9. And the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath of Allah on herself if (her accuser) is telling the truth.
10. If it were not for Allah.s grace and mercy on you, and that Allah is Oft- Returning, full of Wisdom,- (Ye would be ruined indeed).
You might think that is a lot of punishment, but actually to leave the people who commit adultery without punishment means that you are not discouraging it in the society, and so, adultery will be very common among people. To punish one person for committing adultery, that means you educate the whole society not to do this evil act. And you see, God asks for four witnesses. So this man or woman who agreed to commit adultery in front of four people or more do deserve this punishment if she/he admits it and repent.