All the words of the qur'an are the wordsgiven by Muhammad and you believe them because he himself claimed they werefrom God.

I don't believe God is going to send me tohell for eating pork.

Also curious since it is not enough for a person to say theybelieve in the one God, they must also say that they believe in Muhammad.

Is it possible to claim God withoutclaiming Muhammad?

"Any who believes Jesus is God hasassociated partners."

Only according to your belief... according to the one you believe in...Muhammad.
Why was there the need for the virgin birth?

You see even what is said in your qu'ran is inaccurate, and incorrect...

The qu'ran is very conflicting with it'sown self.

"Associatingpartners is a sin"

We must be careful to discern what this means...associating partners with God. Did Muhammad have a divine birth? and yet youcan not speak the name of allah without speaking also the name of Muhammad. Sobe careful in your discerning.

so it says;
""Whosoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right"
but it also says that those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God do notbelieve in allah...
there may be real truth in that...
allah is not our God may be the truth.

It doesn't take alot of reading the qu'ranto see the problems with it.
and only the qu'ran is claimed to be the word of God, anything else is the wordof man, trying to make things right with the qu'ran... trying to make clearwhat isn't.

mho

I will let you know if my opinion changes about the 'whole message' in thequ'ran.

I think islam has taught many good things but that it is also just as farastray.

If Muhammad was a prophet of God, then hetoo follows the teaching of Jesus, and thus is able to lead his people to God.But you must know Jesus.

I only see whenever I study any religionthat there is an underlying thread of mythology that seems to connect them all.
Also, references to Mahamada and muselmans(I only recently discovered that thisword, 'muselman' is the word Ghandi used when referring to muslims)...
and that Mahamada is referred to as a ghost...
and in muslim belief they think Muhammad is the Holy Spirit referred to in theBible.
and,
"Mahamada(Muhammad) appeared at night in front of king Bhojaraja"
... reminiscent of the midnight ride of Muhammad?
Now I know muslims do not 'eat everything' and they do not do so withoutritual.

Maybe Abraham was the first to figure outthat having one God would put an end to fighting in the family. The divisionscaused by loyalties to differing gods... 'my god is better... more powerful...stronger... (fill in the blank) than your god...'

Maybe Muhammad saw this too, that having only one god would help to put an endto striving among his own people.
al-lah

If you look back into, and study, historyyou will find that in the days of polytheism, everyone had their own god whichthey thought defended and fought for them. When they won in battles it wasbecause their 'god' was stronger, better. Having many gods only made it easierfor everyone to fight with one another, always believing that their god wasgoing to make them the victor. Having one God would help to diminish fighting.

and once you take the Shahada, if you havedoubts and find you have made a mistake, too bad... no way out.

It has been seen in Islam to practice humancondemnation for having 'wrong' beliefs. This is simply a fact and somethingthat everyone should consider before making such an important decision. I donot think one can really learn about Islam though without first joining theranks. I see this as a problem. Once you're in, no way out. You are bound tothe religion and its requirements.

Right... fear that thereligion can not stand on its own... much like what TG has stated in his views.

and thus the other concern, the "desire to“improve” the image of Islam among non-Muslims." That there are thosebeing misled into joining Islam by glossing over, instead of presenting theunvarnished truth, and once joined not free to leave.
If you join something under false pretenses should you then be held to it? andyet you are. When you discover this truth which you did not know beforehand, itis too late for you.

Again, this is not a statement againstmuslims, just the religion. I believe there are many wonderful muslim peoplewho truly wish to be honoring to God.

Of course he could if he had heard thePsalms, and I am quite sure that he must have been exposed to them in all histravels.
and poetry was the arabic way. Anyone will tell you about the poetic cadencesof the arabian language that make it so lovely to listen to.

I think Muhammad misunderstood thescriptures;

"There are two ways to approach astudy of Muhammad. One is with reverence and the other is with skepticism.Thinking persons choose the latter. They are not influenced by the number ofMuslim believers in the world today or by their force of belief because theseare meaningless for determining truth. They care only about fact."

"Whether thou warn them or thou warnthem not it is all one for them; they believe not. (6) Allah hath sealed theirhearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is a covering." (surah2)
The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, andprevents the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, the image of God, fromshining on them... (Biblical scripture)
Who is the god of this world?
Who is it that blinds and deceives?

Regarding Muhammad being an influentialleader. I agree and I think of all the other great leaders for their time whocame through history...
Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr, come to my mind...
They all did great things for their people, were great leaders for their time.
I think Muhammad fits in with them. They were all ahead of their time.
There have been many people who have changed the course of the world... AbrahamLincoln, Steve Jobs...
Let's face it after Muhammad died so did his leadership.

Salaam,
Caringheart