Assalamu Alaikum,

Ok brother, please tell me your joking and dont really believe that America has been saving the middle east for 3 generations?

I just watched and its really good masha Allah.

You know I’ve actually had a non muslim pose that argument to me. That muslims should be gratefu , since America has done so much to help muslims.

(such as sacrificing their lives to save us from evil Saddam)

I posted these questions on Ruth’s blog on the Houston Chronicle but she recommended that I consider posting them here. I am a Christian who honestly wants to understand what the average Muslim believes. I am trying to distinguish between what the media tells me about you guys and what you really think. I have read the Qur’an myself but since I was not raised in your religion the only way I can truly understand is to interact with you all. That is my intent in posting these questions and it is not my intent to criticize, attack or try to stump anyone:

1. How do most Muslims feel about the present state of Israel? If you can’t answer for most, how do you feel about it?

2. I heard somewhere that a tenet of Islam (either in a Hadith or in the Qur’an) is that Israel would never again overtake Jerusalem. Is that true? If so, how does that the present occupation of Jesualem by Jews affect the reliability of that source?

3. When I went to the Dome of the Rock, some there disputed that there ever was a Jewish temple on that site (we weren’t allowed to bring anything that might look like instructional information on David’s temple). Do most Muslims believe that? If you can’t answer for most, do you?

4. Don’t most Muslims accept the inspiration of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) but consider it to be mistranslated? If so, how do they argue that the chosen race came from Ishmael instead of Isaac?

5. Do you ever think there will be peace in the Middle East? What do you think would be necessary to make that happen (aside from the sovereign intervention of God/Allah)?

Any assistance you can give me to any or all of these questions would be appreciated.

Joe P.

Thanks Hassan…Those are exceptional and helpful answers. I agree with you on the variety of responses to the Middle East issue among Christians as well. Personally, I think that outright support of Israel and all of it’s tactics in the name of Christ is unfortunate since He would not approve of many of the actions they have taken. However, some would obviously disagree with me. For me, I am trying to distinguish between what is essential to Islam and founded in the Qur’an and what is representative of a more extremist perspective. I could feel the tension in my time in Israel and I wasn’t sure if some of the perspectives expressed there were representative of most Muslims who uphold the authority of the Qur’an. I personally would not want my religion to be judged by the people who bomb abortion doctors offices or humiliate Muslims in the alleged name of Jesus. However, I also wouldn’t want my religion to be judged by so-called Christians who deny the inspiration of the Bible and believe that homosexuality is just as accepted by God as heterosexual marriage. In the same way, my desire is to learn more about Islam from people who truly believe in it but perhaps are not as extreme as some of the people I see on TV who do things in the name of Allah (as people who kill abortion doctors in the name of Jesus) but do not represent the true peace of Islam. Thanks for taking the time to educate me on this matter…Joe P