Which Group Does Harbor More Enmity Towards Prophet Muhammad: the Egyptian Coptic Christians or the Extremists among the Muhammadans?
Published in July 10, 2019
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Introduction:
1- We have received this important email message from an Egyptian male sender; we quote some lines of it followed by our reply.
2- (... I admire and respect your perseverance and your adherence to the stance against evil clergymen and enthroned tyrants...Yet, I have a remark which I hope you'll accept with an inclination to reflect and reconsider or at least to explain to me your point of view; I mean your having very good relations with extremists among some of the Egyptian Christian Copts who reside in the USA though they are among the most Islam-hating Christians worldwide...I tend to think that your keenness on having close relations with them gives the chance to the haters of Quranism, who hate your guts, to insult you and to level accusations against you in the media in order to undermine Quranism itself and repel others away from it ...).
3- Our reply in this article will clarify many points to our readers so as not to have to repeat the same answers ad infinitum ad nauseam in the future.
Firstly: the enemies of Muhammad during his lifetime:
1- The Omniscient Lord God knows best where to make His Celestial Message emerge: "...God knows best where to place His Message..." (6:124). The Lord God has chosen Muhammad, the best man in his era (i.e., the 7th century A.D.) in Arabia, to be the Last Prophet. Muhammad, the Seal of Prophets, was a merciful man who was keen on exerting efforts and doing his best in order to guide others around him to the extent that the Lord God has commanded him to stop grieving over disbelievers and to stop striving in vain with preaching them since they rejected the Quran: "We did not reveal the Quran to you to make you suffer." (20:2); "What of him whose evil deed was made attractive to him, and so he regards it as good?...do not waste yourself sorrowing over them. God knows exactly what they do." (35:8); " Perhaps you may destroy yourself with grief, chasing after them, if they do not believe in this Message." (18:6). This was the stance of Muhammad towards his contemporaries despite his being harmed by his enemies who were the haters of the Quran.
2- Hence, we infer that before the revelation/descent of the Quranic Message, Muhammad was a noble man who treated his contemporaries with respect, kindness, and justice; this is why he deserved earning their love and respect. Sadly, their love and respect towards Muhammad turned into deep-seated enmity once he began preaching the Quran within his ministry as a prophet; he, of course, urged his people to reject the deification/sanctification of mortals and things/tombs. Thus, the Lord God has reminded them of Muhammad their friend whom they knew very well and knew his good qualities, truthfulness, and honesty; it is regrettable that they, after the descent of the Quran, accused him of being insane and misguided: "Your friend has not gone astray, nor has he erred." (53:2); "Your friend is not possessed." (81:22). The Lord God has called them to think objectively about their honest, truthful friend Muhammad whom they accused of being mad: "Say, “I offer you a single advice: devote yourselves to God, in pairs, or individually; and reflect. There is no madness in your friend. He is just a warner to you, before the advent of a severe torment.”" (34:46).
3- This means that most of the contemporaries of Muhammad who hated him did NOT hate the man himself, Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, but they hated the Quran revealed to him; they hated Muhammad when he read/preached the Quran to them, because they hated the Quran itself very much; their eyes showed such enmity and hatred: "Those who disbelieve almost stab you with their glances when they hear the message, and say, “He is crazy!” But it is no less than a reminder to all the Worlds." (68:51-52). Their hatred and enmity extended to those who read/preached the Quran to them among the early believers; this is because they hated the Quranic message very much: "And when Our Clear Verses are read to them, you will recognize disgust on the faces of those who disbelieve. They nearly assault those who read to them Our Verses. Say, “Shall I inform you of something worse than that? The Hell-Fire! God has promised it to those who disbelieve. And what a wretched outcome!”" (22:72). It is no surprise at all that when we were in Cairo, Egypt, preaching Quranism as the Only True Islam, we found the same stance, mentioned in the verse 22:72, adopted by the extremists among the Muhammadans.
4- In fact, the disbelieving polytheists of Arabia have manipulated Muhammad's love for them, and his keenness on guiding them, in order to attempt to negatively influence him.
4/1: When he preached the Quran to them, they urged Muhammad to bring them another Quran which would agree with their polytheistic tenets and notions; the Lord God commanded Muhammad to refute them here: "And when Our Clear Verses are read to them, those who do not hope to meet Us say, “Bring a Quran other than this, or change it.” Say, “It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. I fear, if I disobeyed my Lord, the torment of a terrible Day.”Say, “Had God willed, I would not have recited it to you, and He would not have made it known to you. I have lived among you for a lifetime before it. Do you not understand?”" (10:15-16); we see here that the Lord God has reminded them of Muhammad, their truthful and honest friend, whom they knew before the descent of the Quranic Message.
4/2: When he preached the Quran to them, they urged Muhammad to fabricate/invent for them words which would please them; they were about to succeed in negatively influencing Muhammad if it had not been for God's protection of Muhammad regarding the accurate transmission of the Divine Revelation; i.e., the Quran itself: "They almost lured you away from what We have revealed to you, so that you would invent something else in Our name. In that case, they would have taken you for a friend. Had We not given you stability, you might have inclined towards them a little. Then We would have made you taste double in life, and double at death; then you would have found for yourself no helper against Us." (17:73-75).
4/3: The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "Indeed, I swear by what you see. And by what you do not see. It is the speech of a noble messenger. And it is not the speech of a poet - little do you believe. Nor is it the speech of a soothsayer - little do you take heed. It is a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds. Had he falsely attributed some statements to Us. We would have seized him by the right arm. Then slashed his lifeline. And none of you could have restrained Us from him. Surely, it is a message for the pious ones." (69:38-47). In later eras after the death of Muhammad, the imams of the Muhammadans invented and fabricated lies/falsehoods labeled as hadiths/narratives/sayings and they attributed them unjustly and forcibly to Muhammad though he never uttered any of such myths!
5- When the disbelieving polytheists of the Qorayish tribe failed to negatively influence Muhammad, they increased their harming/insulting and ridiculing him; they hated his person very much because they hated the Quranic Truth he preached as a prophet/messenger of the Lord God. We infer this from the following Quranic verses.
5/1: "When those who disbelieve see you, they treat you only with ridicule: “Is this the one who mentions your gods?” And they reject the mention of the Dominant Lord." (21:36).
5/2: "And when they see you, they take you for nothing but mockery: “Is this the one God sent as a messenger?” “He nearly led us away from our gods, had we not patiently adhered to them.” But they will know, when they witness the torment, who is further away from the way." (25:41-42).
6- This harm/insult and ridicule reflect how the polytheists harbored deep-seated enmity towards Muhammad and the Quran; at one time, they were about to beat/kill Muhammad when he refuted their worship of allies/saints and their 'holy' mausoleums inside their mosques (this is the same stance of today's Muhammadans against preachers of Quranism): "The places of worship are for God. So do not call, besides God, upon anyone else. And when the servant of God got up calling on Him, they almost fell on him in a mass. Say, “I pray only to my Lord, and I never associate anyone with Him.” Say, “It is not in my power to harm you, nor to bring you to right conduct.” Say, “No one can protect me from God, and I will not find any refuge except with Him. Except for a proclamation from God and His messages. He who defies God and His Messenger - for him is the Fire of Hell, in which they will dwell forever.”" (72:18-23).
7- Inside the Yathreb city-state led by Muhammad, among the companions of Muhammad were the hypocrites who were the new enemies of Muhammad and of the Quran (i.e., Islam). Some of them harmed/insulted Muhammad: "And among them are those who insult the Prophet, and say, "He is all ears." Say, "He listens for your own good. He believes in God, and trusts the believers, and is mercy for those of you who believe." Those who insult the Messenger of God will have a painful torment." (9:61). Some of them ridiculed the Lord God and His Book and mocked Muhammad: "The hypocrites worry lest a chapter may be revealed about them, informing them of what is in their hearts. Say, “Go on mocking; God will bring out what you fear.” If you ask them, they will say, “We were just joking and playing.” Say, “Were you making jokes about God, His revelations, and His Messenger?” Do not apologize. You have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others, because they are guilty." (9:64-66). Sadly, those Quran-hating hypocrites were joined by some believing companions whose hearts were sick with doubt and vacillation: "O you who believe! Do not enter the homes of the Prophet, unless you are given permission to come for a meal; and do not wait for its preparation. And when you are invited, go in. And when you have eaten, disperse, without lingering for conversation. This irritates the Prophet, and he shies away from you, but God does not shy away from the truth. And when you ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a screen; that is purer for your hearts and their hearts. You must never offend the Messenger of God, nor must you ever marry his wives after him, for that would be an enormity with God." (33:53); "Those who insult God and His Messenger, God has cursed them in this life and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them a demeaning torment." (33:57); "O you who believe! Do not be like those who abused Moses; but God cleared him of what they said. He was distinguished with God." (33:69). Of course, the hypocrites who were haters of Muhammad and the Quran extended their enmity and hatred to the early believers: "O you who believe! Do not befriend outsiders who never cease to wish you harm. They love to see you suffer. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, but what their hearts conceal is worse. We have made the messages clear for you, if you understand. There you are, you love them, but they do not love you, and you believe in the entire scripture. And when they meet you, they say, “We believe;” but when they are alone, they bite their fingers in rage at you. Say, “Die in your rage; God knows what is within the hearts.”" (3:118-119).
8- Enemies of Muhammad; i.e., both hypocrites who pretended to believe (inside Yathreb) and disbelieving polytheists (outside Yathreb), cooperated in their striving against Islam to the extent that the hypocrites established a harmful mosque for the purpose of conspiring, plotting, and scheming: "Then there are those who establish a mosque to cause harm, and disbelief, and disunity among the believers, and as an outpost for those who fight God and His Messenger. They will swear: “Our intentions are nothing but good.” But God bears witness that they are liars. Do not stand in it, ever. A mosque founded upon piety from the first day is worthier of your standing in it. In it are men who love to be purified. God loves those who purify themselves. Is he who founds his structure upon piety and acceptance from God better, or he who founds his structure on the brink of a cliff that is about to tumble, so it tumbles with him into the Fire of Hell? God does not guide the unjust people. The structure which they built will remain questionable in their hearts, until their hearts are stopped. God is Knowing and Wise." (9:107-110). The hypocrites were too reluctant to participate in the military self-defense endeavors to protect Yathreb: "And that He may know the hypocrites. And it was said to them, “Come, fight in the cause of God, or contribute.” They said, “If we knew how to fight, we would have followed you.” On that day they were closer to infidelity than they were to faith. They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts; but God knows what they hide." (3:167). The Lord God has commanded Muhammad to prevent them from the honor of participation within this self-defense fighting if the hypocrites changed their mind: "If God brings you back to a party of them, and they ask your permission to go out, say, “You will not go out with me, ever, nor will you ever fight an enemy with me. You were content to sit back the first time, so sit back with those who stay behind.”" (9:83); we notice that the word (enemy) in the Quranic verse 9:83 refers to the frank, overt aggressors among disbelieving polytheists.
Secondly: the general types of the enemies of Muhammad:
1- The least dangerous enemies of Muhammad were those who harmed/insulted, persecuted, ridiculed, criticized/attacked, and undermined him during his lifetime; they were less dangerous because the Lord God has defended him and refuted them: "And among them are those who insult the Prophet, and say, "He is all ears." Say, "He listens for your own good. He believes in God, and trusts the believers, and is mercy for those of you who believe." Those who insult the Messenger of God will have a painful torment." (9:61).
2- The most dangerous enemies of Muhammad have emerged in later eras, after his death, and they have deified him and ascribed to him lies/falsehoods labeled as hadiths; their polytheistic notions include making Muhammad a 'grand intercessor' on the Last Day and making the Yathreb mausoleum attributed falsely to him a 'holy' sepulcher venerated and sanctified by the Muhammadans. Of course, on the Day of Judgment, Muhammad will disown such polytheists because he was never responsible for their falsehoods and myths; this is the same stance of Jesus against those who deified him: "And God will say, "O Jesus son of Mary, did you say to the people, `Take me and my mother as gods rather than God?'" He will say, "Glory be to You! It is not for me to say what I have no right to. Had I said it, You would have known it. You know what is in my soul, and I do not know what is in Your soul. You are the Knower of the hidden. I only told them what You commanded me: that you shall worship God, my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them while I was among them; but when You took me to Yourself, You became the Watcher over them-You are Witness over everything. If You punish them, they are Your servants; but if You forgive them, You are the Mighty and Wise."" (5:116-118).
3- Of course, there are other pious, monotheistic mortals who were deified by the polytheists; some of these mortals never knew about this; those who knew before their death about their deification by the misguided ones never agreed to that grave sin. Of course, on the Last Day, they will disown the polytheists who worshiped and deified them. This is a Quranic fact as per what we understand from the following verses.
3/1: "On the Day when He gathers them, and what they worshiped besides God, He will say, "Was it you who misled these servants of Mine, or was it they who lost the way?" They will say, "Glory be to You. It was not for us to take any lords besides You. But you gave them enjoyments, and their ancestors, until they forgot the Message, and became ruined people." They have denied you because of what you say; so you can neither avert, nor help. Whoever among you commits injustice, We will make him taste a grievous torment." (25:17-19).
3/2: "On the Day when He gathers them all together, then say to the angels, "Was it you these used to worship?" They will say, "Be You glorified; You are our Master, not them. In fact, they used to worship the jinn, and most of them had faith in them."" (34:40-41).
Thirdly: the imams of the Muhammadans are the worst sworn enemies of Muhammad in our modern era:
1- The Lord God says the following in the Quran.
1/1: "Likewise, We have assigned for every prophet an enemy - human and jinn devils - inspiring one another with fancy words in order to deceive. But had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. So leave them to their fabrications." (6:112); this Quranic fact applies to all eras even after the death of the Lord God's prophets; the devilish revelations go on until now – or rather until the end of days. Of course, Muhammad never fabricated lies/hadiths about the Lord God. Once Muhammad did, the human and jinn devils invented hadiths/narratives and they attributed them to Muhammad in order to distort Islam by such devilish additions. Sadly, those human and jinn devils (authors and imams of the Muhammadans) are now deified within the religions of Satan adhered to by the polytheistic Muhammadans. Anyone who criticizes such deified authors/imams of the Muhammadans is sentenced to being put to death as an 'infidel' or an 'apostate', as per the devilish laws of the Muhammadans. This is our main problem with the Muhammadans.
1/2: "And the messenger will say, "My Lord, my people have abandoned this Quran."" (25:30); this verse shows clearly that Muhammad will disown his contemporaries who rejected the Quran; he will disown their imams/leaders who became caliphs and committed the heinous crime known as the Arab conquests which tarnished the reputation of Islam and distorted it. True Islam; i.e., the Quran, is the religion of justice, peace, mercy, freedom, human dignity, and human rights. This is shown clearly in Quranism which is the Only True Islam. Those sinful caliphs are deified by the Muhammadans. Anyone who criticizes such deified caliphs of the Muhammadans is sentenced to being put to death as an 'infidel' or an 'apostate', as per the devilish laws of the Muhammadans. This is our main problem with the Muhammadans.
1/3: "Likewise, to every prophet We assign enemies from among the criminals. But your Lord suffices as a Guide and Supporter." (25:31); this is the Lord God's description of the Qorayish disbelieving polytheists; the worst type among them are those who were adamant in hypocrisy and became the four pre-Umayyad caliphs; they are not 'wise' caliphs; they are sinful caliphs and criminals as per the Quranic verse 25:31.
1/4: In the Quranic verses 6:112 and 25:31, the Lord God describes the enemies of Muhammad as human and jinn devils and as criminals. Would anyone in the Arab world dare to describe, in public, the sinful four pre-Umayyad caliphs as criminals?
2- They are the sword enemies of Muhammad as their hadiths undermine and cast doubt on him and on Islam (i.e., the Quran) itself. In our book, in English, titled "The Quran: Sufficient as a Source of Islamic Legislation" (found on this link: http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=92), we tackle how Al-Bokhary undermines and insults Muhammad in his fake portrayal of him. Their hadiths portray Muhammad as a foul-mouthed, conspiring, scheming, murderous womanizer and a supreme deity who controls/owns the Last Day; their hadiths urge the naïve, gullible ones to sanctify and deify the Yathreb mausoleum ascribed to their imaginary god named as Muhammad. Anyone who criticizes such mythology is sentenced to being put to death as an 'infidel' or an 'apostate', as per the devilish laws of the Muhammadans. This is our main problem with the Muhammadans
Fourthly: The Egyptian Christian Copts, and Arab, Middle-Eastern Christians in general, harbor less enmity towards Muhammad:
1- The Egyptian Christian Copts, and Arab, Middle-Eastern Christians in general, never know anything about Islam except within the perspective of their plight and suffering during the Arab conquests and the crimes of Arab conquerors: massacring, killing, robbing, confiscating, invading, enslaving, raping, oppressing, and other grave injustices. The sinful caliphs were criminals who ascribed their atrocities, committed during the Arab conquests, to the name of Islam and presented Islam to the conquered nations in such a distorted image. This distorted image remains with the victims and their descendants for 14 centuries until now; this distorted image has been asserted and revived recently when Sunnite Wahabism of Satan dominated in the Arab world and secret/covert and overt Wahabi organizations spread. Have our readers forgot the ISIS terrorists?!
2- When Quranists have emerged in Egypt and they have preached the higher Quranic values of Islam (i.e., justice, peace, mercy, freedom, human dignity, and human rights), the imams/leaders of the Muhammadans declared them as 'infidels' and 'apostates' who forsook 'Islam', while asserting that 'Islam' is the deeds of the sinful caliphs from the 1st caliph Abou Bakr to the ISIS caliph Abou Bakr Al-Baghdadi and from the 2nd caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab to the terrorist Wahabi Salafist leader/sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman. Who deserves to be blamed then?! In one of our discussions with a cultured Egyptian Coptic man in the USA about Quranism as the much-needed religious reform and the tool to intellectually and peacefully dismantle and defeat Wahabi terrorism, he told our person that what we propose is rejected by imams of 'Islam' who declare Quranists as 'infidels' and 'apostates' who deserve to be put to death!
3- This means that the enmity harbored by the Egyptian Orthodox Copts, or Egyptian/Arab Christians in general of all denominations, towards Muhammad is actually towards the false portrayal of him spread by the sinful caliphs/criminals of the Arab conquests and which is found in books authored by the imams of the Muhammadans; this false portrayal is applied by extremists and terrorists among the Muhammadans in our modern era. Thus, they hate the false portrayal/image of Muhammad who is the imaginary deity of the Muhammadans; this deity has nothing to do with the real mortal prophet who is mentioned in the Quranic text. We, Quranists, are like Copts in hating this false portrayal/image of Muhammad; we, Quranists, disbelieve in this imaginary deity of destruction and terrorism.
4- The Egyptian Orthodox Copts, or Egyptian/Arab Christians in general of all denominations, hate the Islamic monotheism of (There is no God but Allah) because it contradicts their notion of trinity. They never know that the Muhammadans deify/sanctify their imaginary deity, named as Muhammad, more than the deification/sanctification offered by Christians to the imaginary deity named as Jesus. Thus, Quranists and Copts/Christians never share the same religious notions in our hearts; the faiths inside hearts/souls will be judged only by the Lord God on the Last Day: "Say, "Our God, Initiator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of all secrets and declarations. You will judge between your servants regarding what they had differed about."" (39:46).
5- Of course, the main quality of the Egyptian Orthodox Copts, or Egyptian/Arab Christians in general of all denominations, in the Middle East is their being peaceful ones who patiently endure persecution and discrimination inflicted on them by the extremists among the Muhammadans. Quranists, including our person: Dr. A. S. Mansour, are also peaceful people who suffer persecution inflicted by the extremists among the Muhammadans. This means that Copts/Christians and Quranists share the tendency to adhere to peace and non-violent behavior: this is Islam in terms of peaceful demeanor.
6- Within or life on Earth, the Lord God commands us to deal peacefully, kindly, and justly with peaceful non-Muslims: "As for those who have not fought against you for your religion, nor expelled you from your homes, God does not prohibit you from dealing with them kindly and equitably. God loves the equitable." (60:8); the very next verse is about polytheists/disbelievers in terms of both tenets in the heart and aggressive, violent behavior: "But God prohibits you from allying yourselves with those who fought against you over your religion, and expelled you from your homes, and aided in your expulsion. Whoever takes them for allies - these are the unjust ones." (60:9). The extremists among the Muhammadans in Egypt drive Copts out of their homes and sometimes enslave/kidnap Coptic young women. The Sunnite Wahabi ISIS terrorists have committed the same heinous crimes in Iraq and the Levant. Have our readers forgot the ISIS terrorists?!
7- It is an incumbent Islamic duty that we, Dr. A. S. Mansour, should defend all wronged parties who have suffered grave injustices regardless of their faiths, beliefs, and denominations. Thus, within our writings, we defend persecuted Copts in Egypt; we defend persecuted Shiites in Egypt and the Gulf monarchies; we defend persecuted Sunnites in Iran, we defend persecuted Muslims in China and Myanmar. We always defend and side with the weak, oppressed ones on earth and we never expect rewards from them or from anyone else; we wait for the reward from our Lord God only.