If you are Muslim and have read the Qur'an can you confirm if the two verses below which were used by Dr. Qureshi are in the Qur'an or if he made it up?
You can also read his oped piece here www.usatoday.com
Qur’an 9:29—Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
Qur’an 9:30—The Jews call Uzair a son of God, and the Christians call Christ the son of God. That is a saying from their mouth; (In this) they but imitate what the Unbelievers of old used to say. Allah’s curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!
I read the Qur'an in 1999 in Potiskum, a sleepy town in Northern Nigeria, but I must have missed these verses. I am a Christian and I believe in one God, who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I believe that the only way to this one God is through His Son Jesus, known in Islam as Nabi Isa.
My intention in seeking clarification is to understand Islam and Muslims better.
If anybody believes that Christians and Muslims can forget their differences, that person is either a liar or a naive person. The best way we can achieve peaceful coexistence is if we understand our differences.
For instance, Jesus, The Son of God, said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."-John 14:6.
That is an unequivocal statement. If I believe that statement, I cannot believe in any other way.
But when Jesus (real name Yeshu'a) was on earth He did not snob Pharisees, in fact He met with them secretly (John 3: 1-5) and openly. He met with Samaritans (John 4:7-12). He associated with Romans and in fact called out a Roman Centurion as having more faith than He had seen in Israel (Matthew 8:10). He even associated with a woman from modern day Syria (Mark 7:24-30).
So there is no doubt in my mind that if Jesus were alive today, He would associate with Muslims for the purpose of getting them to understand Christ followership and listening to Muslims.
My own father was a Christian from birth till he died, married to a pastor, yet he was an expert on sharia law and was well respected as a jurist in that field in and around Northwest Nigeria.
This is my background. I am a follower of Jesus, a friend of Islam and one who seeks to help Christianity understand and Islam and vice versa.
It is from this stand point that I ask if the verses quoted by Dr. Qureshi are genuine and accurate.
If they are, how would they affect the ability of the Body of Christ to have any genuine peaceful coexistence with the Muslim Ummah?
Many in both Christianity and Islam may be unaware that Christians played a very central role in the life of Prophet Mohammed (SAW).
Waraka, one of the earliest friends of Prophet Mohammed who was a cousin to his first wife, Khadija, was a Nestorian priest. For those who may not know what a Nestorian is, this was a branch of Christianity that believe in a division between the human and divine natures of Jesus. He was one of the first, if not the first persons to translate the New Testament into Arabic.
Also, when Prophet Mohammed and his followers were facing persecution from the Quraysh tribe in Mecca, the early Muslims were giving asylum in Abyssinia by the Christian King, Negus.
When the Quraysh sent emissaries to King Negus, seeking for the expulsion of the Muslim Ummah in Abyssinia, Negus called the Muslims and in the presence of the emissaries from the Quraysh, told them as follows "go, for you are safe in my country."
Giving this history of how Christians have showed love to Muslims and Islam over the millennia, I am thus nonplussed at these two verses cited by Dr. Qureshi and I therefore call on any friend of Christianity who happens to be a Muslim to shed more light on these verses so we can better understand each other.
Finally, On the recent Brussels Terror Attacks proper, I read the response of the Belgian Prime Minister and his words gave me pause. Perhaps even apprehension.
"We were fearing terrorist attacks, and that has now happened”. Those were the words of Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium a few hours ago.
I condemn the terror attacks but I want to warn that as Christians, we should never entertain fear. Not for terrorists or anything for that matter because what we fear will always happen.
Prime Minister Charles Michel is not the first man to use such words. They were first used by Job in The Bible. Job said "What I feared has come upon me". Sound familiar? What is the solution? "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good"-Romans 12:21.
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