> Refuting Book: Inside Islam

[salman]

:

In this thread, I'll refute the book, "Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics 100 Questions and Answers" by Robert Spencer and Daniel Ali, two trinitarian believers.

The book is typical Christian missionaries writing and it has many errors which will be exposed, insha'Allah. Some people act as if they are scholars and at the end of the day, they dig their own graves with their own arguments. I'll, insha'Allah, post passages from the book and then refute them. Once it is completed, we'll compile it into a pdf file and user can share with others.

This book was shared with my brother by one of his Catholic friends and when I read the first few lines of it, I really had to laugh at the poor arguments and straw mans. Then, I decided that I'll refute this book in detail for the benefits of those who seek truth. The thread's update will be slow since I'm busy most of the times but I'll try to post regularly, insha'Allah.

I'm not too sure If I will be able to post table of contents but try to follow, insha'Allah. May Allah Ta'ala guide us all and forgive me for my lack of knowledge or short comings of arguments, Ameen!

[SilverLJ]

Look forward to what you have to say as it seems impossible to believe that the whole book is wrong everywhere. I have some familiarity with Spencer's work and he is meticulous in his references so I doubt they can be faulted. As to his opinions, we of course one can agree or disagree but let's here what you have to say.

[Umm Marwa Mustafa]

Silver : On what basis is it impossible? There are many books on witchcraft given your reasoning would you say it’s impossible for it to be wrong?

Brother Salman: May Allah reward you & Make this task easier.

[salman]

^Wa'alaykum As-Salam

I've been busy with other stuff that I completely forgot about this thread; ameen to the kind du'a and Barak Allahu feekee for reminding and kind du'a. sister, i believe he means that not everything in the book is incorrect and I agree with him.

@SilverLJ
well, just because he sites the sources, which he suppose to, doesn't mean they've not been tempered with i.e. out of context, misquote, mistranslation, not authentic etc

[Assad]

Thank you for your post SilverNJ and thank you for the laugh :)

[SilverLJ]

Well, just because he (Spenser) sites the sources, which he suppose to, doesn't mean they've not been tempered with i.e. out of context, misquote, mistranslation, not authentic etc

Two points: he cannot tamper the sources, they exist and a reader can check them on their level of authenticity etc. I agree what he does with what he finds is open to comment. But of course that will equally apply to anything you say, Muslim or indeed any author is not immune from bias or making mistake etc

[Assad]

There is no disagreement on that SilverLJ.

Just by citing sources and providing referencing doesnt mean you can what you want! I cant provide reference to Bible while talking about manufacturing of Pepsi cola! Yes It's really that absurd!

I think its really not about what Spense does but If believe in his stuff than bring it on for check and discussion.

[SilverLJ]

Originally Posted by Acid

There is no disagreement on that SilverLJ.

Just by citing sources and providing referencing doesnt mean you can what you want! I cant provide reference to Bible while talking about manufacturing of Pepsi cola! Yes It's really that absurd! I think its really not about what Spense does but If believe in his stuff than bring it on for check and discussion.

I am not sure what you are saying here. All one can do is find a suitable reference for what it is you want to say. For example, I might cite the Qu'ran to support my opinion that Pepsi cola manufacturing is socially unacceptable. Indeed if you look at Islamic web sites they cite the Qu'ran or Hadith for all sorts of things from cosmetic surgery to the way to pray or wash so I don't see you point. Its not the citation in that sense that is important it's what you do with it. So Spenser or any one can look at the sources and offer and opinions as to what they mean or imply just as you offer opinions on the Bible and many other things. It would be absurd to suggest that only Muslims can comment on Muslim source juts as it would be absurd to stop Muslim commenting on say the Bible

In Spencer's book "The truth about Mohammed" he discusses Khadija tested Mohammed's prophethood as he was at that stage unsure. She devised a way to do the test to see if he was being deceived by his visions and often Mohammed felt he had to wait too long for his visions so go look at Bukhari, vol 9, book 91, no 6982

[Assad]

To have a right to interpret doesnt mean that we can put Quran and Sunnah or any other book like bible for whatever we want!

[salman]

Originally Posted by SilverLJ

For example, I might cite the Qu'ran to support my opinion that Pepsi cola manufacturing is socially unacceptable. Indeed if you look at Islamic web sites they cite the Qu'ran or Hadith for all sorts of things from cosmetic surgery to the way to pray or wash so I don't see you point. Its not the citation in that sense that is important it's what you do with it. So Spenser or any one can look at the sources and offer and opinions as to what they mean or imply just as you offer opinions on the Bible and many other things. It would be absurd to suggest that only Muslims can comment on Muslim source juts as it would be absurd to stop Muslim commenting on say the Bible

the point is not what you cite but the point is that your opinion shouldn't be distorting what the citation is actually saying. anyone can cite anything and offer an opinion but we need to determine whether his opinion is worth anything.

Originally Posted by SilverLJ

In Spencer's book "The truth about Mohammed" he discusses Khadija tested Mohammed's prophethood as he was at that stage unsure. She devised a way to do the test to see if he was being deceived by his visions and often Mohammed felt he had to wait too long for his visions so go look at Bukhari, vol 9, book 91, no 6982

first of all, can you please quote the hadeeth for us because according to your (Spencer) citation I found the following hadeeth, which is no where near what Spencer is saying:

Saheeh Bukharee, Kitaab at-Tawheed (Tawhid), Hadeeth no 6982:

Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, "My Lord says, 'If My slave comes nearer to me for a span, I go nearer to him for a cubit; and if he comes nearer to Me for a cubit, I go nearer to him for the span of outstretched arms; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.' "

The English reference is Volume 9, Book 93, Number 627. I don't know which publication of Saheeh Bukkharee matches the reference to that hadeeth given by Specner, not any I'm aware of unless Spencer and his crew published it.

We can discuss his acadmic dishonesty later but meanwhile we can wait for you to post the hadeeth so that we can get a better picture of it.