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IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR ISLAM?

spiritualit y religion christianity islam

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#61 addx

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 10:16 PM

Now you have given no evidence.  Your usual ad hominem but absolutely no evidence.  :laugh:  Let me ask you, what is evidence, you don't seem to know.  I know you have a heading of the Blue Mosque on your Facebook page but that is not evidence.  Also you are commiting a Red Herring to bring Christianity into this topic.  Is there evidence for Islam?   Do you know what evidence is?

 

 

 

Show me a quote from your first opening post that is supposed to be evidence for Islam.

 

I'm telling you your first post in this thread is actually off-topic, you made an off topic post as a starter post of a thread. Explain it. 



#62 shadowhawk

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Posted 23 July 2014 - 12:50 AM

"IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR ISLAM?

The same question has been asked of Atheism and Christianity.  What is the evidence to support ISLAM one way or the other?"

 

What part of this don't you understand?  The Blue Mosque picture the top of your personal Facebook page is evidence of Islams existence.  Do you have more?



#63 shadowhawk

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Posted 23 July 2014 - 09:52 PM

The only thing you have so far, beside calling me names is the Blue Mosque on your Facebook.  Again do you have anything else.  Perhaps you could answer one of the questions I asked.  I am open.


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#64 shadowhawk

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Posted 24 July 2014 - 06:22 PM

REMEMBER KHAYBAR?  You should addx.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



#65 shadowhawk

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Posted 25 July 2014 - 06:57 PM

NY Times.   http://www.nytimes.c...-rape.html?_r=0

IS THIS THE WAY THEY DO IT IN ISLAM? When your daughter is raped.
Struggling to Keep Afghan Girl Safe After a Mullah Is Accused of Rape
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — It was bad enough that the alleged rape took place in the sanctity of a mosque, and that the accused man was a mullah who invoked the familiar defense that it had been consensual sex.

But the victim was only 10 years old. And there was more: The authorities said her family members openly planned to carry out an “honor killing” in the case — against the young girl. The mullah offered to marry his victim instead.

This past week, the awful matter became even worse. On Tuesday, local policemen removed the girl from the shelter that had given her refuge and returned her to her family, despite complaints from women’s activists that she was likely to be killed.

The case has broader repercussions. The head of the Women for Afghan Women shelter here where the girl took refuge, Dr. Hassina Sarwari, was at one point driven into hiding by death threats from the girl’s family and other mullahs, who sought to play down the crime by arguing the girl was much older than 10. One militia commander sent Dr. Sarwari threatening texts and an ultimatum to return the girl to her family. The doctor said she now wanted to flee Afghanistan.

The head of the women’s affairs office in Kunduz, Nederah Geyah, who actively campaigned to have the young girl protected from her family and the mullah prosecuted, resigned on May 21 and moved to another part of the country.

The case itself would just be an aberrant atrocity, except that the resulting support for the mullah, and for the girl’s family and its honor killing plans, have become emblematic of a broader failure to help Afghan women who have been victims of violence.

The result challenges hopes that Western aid and encouragement can make lasting headway on behalf of Afghan women, particularly in remote parts of the country where traditional customs are still stronger than modern law. Here, Taliban insurgents and pro-government elements often make common cause in their hatred of progress in women’s rights, most of which has come about with international funding and pressure.

Most of the anger in Kunduz has been focused not on the mullah but on the women’s activists and the shelter, which is one of seven operated across Afghanistan by W omen for Afghan Women, an Afghan-run charity that is heavily dependent on American aid, from both government and private donors.

“People know this office as the Americans’ office,” Dr. Sarwari said. “They all think the shelter is an American shelter. There isn’t a single American here,” she said.

“W.A.W. is not American-run,” said Manizha Naderi, its executive director. “Every single staff member is an Afghan. They are from the communities we work in. Our only concern is to make sure women and girls are protected and that they get justice.”

As the Western withdrawal from Afghanistan has accelerated, rights advocates are seeing a sharp difference in their funding. “We already see the signs of losing the support of the international community,” said Ms. Geyah, in an interview before she resigned. “No one’s funding new civil society programs anymore. None of the foreigners show up anymore; they’re all in hiding. And I think what gains we have achieved the last 13 years, we’re slowly losing all of them.”
Continue reading the main story

The accused mullah, Mohammad Amin, was arrested and confessed to having sex with the girl after Quran recitation classes at the mosque on May 1, but claimed that he thought the girl was older and that she responded to his advances.

The girl’s own testimony, and medical evidence, supported a rape so violent that it caused a fistula, or a break in the wall between the vagina and rectum, according to the police and the official bill of indictment. She bled so profusely after the attack that she was at one point in danger of losing her life because of a delay in getting medical care.

After the two women’s officials began speaking out about the case, they started receiving threatening calls from mullahs — some of them Taliban, others on the government side — and from arbakai, or pro-government militiamen. One of their claims was that the girl was actually 17, and thus of marriageable age, not 10.

Photographs of the girl that Dr. Sarwari took in the hospital clearly show a pre-pubescent child, and the doctor said the girl weighed only 40 pounds. Few Afghans have birth records, and many do not know their precise ages. But the girl’s mother said she was 10, and a forensic examination in the hospital agreed, saying she had not yet started menstruating or developing secondary sexual characteristics.
Photo
Children at a Women for Afghan Women home. Some of the group’s activists have faced threats. Credit Bryan Denton for The New York Times

In the photographs, which Dr. Sarwari displayed on her laptop computer recently, the girl has beautiful alabaster features and inky black hair cut in a pageboy style. She lay in her hospital bed under a quilted blanket with cartoon characters on it.

Ms. Geyah said she showed photos of the girl to government officials and prosecutors to prove that she was much too young to have consented. Dr. Sarwari said, “We wanted to give her a face, to make her real to them.”

Ms. Geyah said: “I went to the hospital when they brought her there. I was sitting next to her bed when I overheard her mother and aunt saying that her father was under tremendous pressure by the villagers to kill the girl because she had brought shame to them.”

Such honor killings in rape cases are common in Afghanistan, and are often more important to the victim’s family than vengeance against the attacker. Human rights groups say about 150 honor killings a year come to light, and many more probably go unreported.

When Dr. Sarwari, who is a pediatrician, arrived to pick up the girl at the hospital, a crowd of village elders from Alti Gumbad, the girl’s home village on the outskirts of the city of Kunduz, were gathered outside the hospital; the girl’s brothers, father and uncle were among them. Inside, Dr. Sarwari encountered the girl’s aunt, who told her she had been ordered by her husband to sneak the girl out of the hospital and deliver her to the male relatives outside. “She said they wanted to take her and kill her, and dump her in the river,” Dr. Sarwari said.

Efforts to reach the girl’s relatives by telephone were unsuccessful, and insurgent activity around Alti Gumbad made the village too dangerous for journalists to visit. “The girl’s family gave us a guarantee that they would not harm her,” said Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, head of the Kunduz police criminal investigation division. “We would not hand her back unless we were sure.”
Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

In the hospital room, the doctor found the girl’s mother holding her child’s hand, and both were weeping. “My daughter, may dust and soil protect you now,” Dr. Sarwari quoted the mother as saying. “We will make you a bed of dust and soil. We will send you to the cemetery where you will be safe.”

Even mothers here often believe that there is no choice but to kill rape victims, who are seen as unmarriageable and therefore a lifelong burden to their families, as well as a constant reminder of dishonor. “Their men feel they have to wash their shame with blood,” Dr. Sarwari said.

The doctor took the girl away to the shelter. Afterward, Dr. Sarwari and several women’s affairs officials were threatened by the girl’s family, and by other mullahs. “They call me and curse me, and threaten to kill me and my family, and say they know where I live,” Dr. Sarwari said. “They say, once your American husbands leave Afghanistan, we will do what we want to you.” (Her husband is an Afghan doctor and war veteran.)

Dr. Sarwari has accused prosecutors and religious officials of siding with the accused rapist and ignoring the child’s plight.

“There are a lot of powerful people behind the mullah,” Dr. Sarwari said. The girl’s family knows they cannot do anything to Mr. Amin, she said, but “the girl is easy. They can get to her; she’s their daughter.” She said she feared the girl would either be killed, or forced to recant her accusations against the mullah.

Women for Afghan Women arranged for the girl to get medical treatment, and after she healed, she was returned to the shelter in Kunduz, about two weeks ago, until the police returned her to her family last Tuesday. Those caring for the girl said she had been terribly homesick and wanted to return to her family, but no one had the heart to tell her they had been conspiring to kill her.


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#66 serp777

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Posted 28 July 2014 - 12:07 AM

NY Times.   http://www.nytimes.c...-rape.html?_r=0

IS THIS THE WAY THEY DO IT IN ISLAM? When your daughter is raped.
Struggling to Keep Afghan Girl Safe After a Mullah Is Accused of Rape
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — It was bad enough that the alleged rape took place in the sanctity of a mosque, and that the accused man was a mullah who invoked the familiar defense that it had been consensual sex.

But the victim was only 10 years old. And there was more: The authorities said her family members openly planned to carry out an “honor killing” in the case — against the young girl. The mullah offered to marry his victim instead.

This past week, the awful matter became even worse. On Tuesday, local policemen removed the girl from the shelter that had given her refuge and returned her to her family, despite complaints from women’s activists that she was likely to be killed.

The case has broader repercussions. The head of the Women for Afghan Women shelter here where the girl took refuge, Dr. Hassina Sarwari, was at one point driven into hiding by death threats from the girl’s family and other mullahs, who sought to play down the crime by arguing the girl was much older than 10. One militia commander sent Dr. Sarwari threatening texts and an ultimatum to return the girl to her family. The doctor said she now wanted to flee Afghanistan.

The head of the women’s affairs office in Kunduz, Nederah Geyah, who actively campaigned to have the young girl protected from her family and the mullah prosecuted, resigned on May 21 and moved to another part of the country.

The case itself would just be an aberrant atrocity, except that the resulting support for the mullah, and for the girl’s family and its honor killing plans, have become emblematic of a broader failure to help Afghan women who have been victims of violence.

The result challenges hopes that Western aid and encouragement can make lasting headway on behalf of Afghan women, particularly in remote parts of the country where traditional customs are still stronger than modern law. Here, Taliban insurgents and pro-government elements often make common cause in their hatred of progress in women’s rights, most of which has come about with international funding and pressure.

Most of the anger in Kunduz has been focused not on the mullah but on the women’s activists and the shelter, which is one of seven operated across Afghanistan by W omen for Afghan Women, an Afghan-run charity that is heavily dependent on American aid, from both government and private donors.

“People know this office as the Americans’ office,” Dr. Sarwari said. “They all think the shelter is an American shelter. There isn’t a single American here,” she said.

“W.A.W. is not American-run,” said Manizha Naderi, its executive director. “Every single staff member is an Afghan. They are from the communities we work in. Our only concern is to make sure women and girls are protected and that they get justice.”

As the Western withdrawal from Afghanistan has accelerated, rights advocates are seeing a sharp difference in their funding. “We already see the signs of losing the support of the international community,” said Ms. Geyah, in an interview before she resigned. “No one’s funding new civil society programs anymore. None of the foreigners show up anymore; they’re all in hiding. And I think what gains we have achieved the last 13 years, we’re slowly losing all of them.”
Continue reading the main story

The accused mullah, Mohammad Amin, was arrested and confessed to having sex with the girl after Quran recitation classes at the mosque on May 1, but claimed that he thought the girl was older and that she responded to his advances.

The girl’s own testimony, and medical evidence, supported a rape so violent that it caused a fistula, or a break in the wall between the vagina and rectum, according to the police and the official bill of indictment. She bled so profusely after the attack that she was at one point in danger of losing her life because of a delay in getting medical care.

After the two women’s officials began speaking out about the case, they started receiving threatening calls from mullahs — some of them Taliban, others on the government side — and from arbakai, or pro-government militiamen. One of their claims was that the girl was actually 17, and thus of marriageable age, not 10.

Photographs of the girl that Dr. Sarwari took in the hospital clearly show a pre-pubescent child, and the doctor said the girl weighed only 40 pounds. Few Afghans have birth records, and many do not know their precise ages. But the girl’s mother said she was 10, and a forensic examination in the hospital agreed, saying she had not yet started menstruating or developing secondary sexual characteristics.
Photo
Children at a Women for Afghan Women home. Some of the group’s activists have faced threats. Credit Bryan Denton for The New York Times

In the photographs, which Dr. Sarwari displayed on her laptop computer recently, the girl has beautiful alabaster features and inky black hair cut in a pageboy style. She lay in her hospital bed under a quilted blanket with cartoon characters on it.

Ms. Geyah said she showed photos of the girl to government officials and prosecutors to prove that she was much too young to have consented. Dr. Sarwari said, “We wanted to give her a face, to make her real to them.”

Ms. Geyah said: “I went to the hospital when they brought her there. I was sitting next to her bed when I overheard her mother and aunt saying that her father was under tremendous pressure by the villagers to kill the girl because she had brought shame to them.”

Such honor killings in rape cases are common in Afghanistan, and are often more important to the victim’s family than vengeance against the attacker. Human rights groups say about 150 honor killings a year come to light, and many more probably go unreported.

When Dr. Sarwari, who is a pediatrician, arrived to pick up the girl at the hospital, a crowd of village elders from Alti Gumbad, the girl’s home village on the outskirts of the city of Kunduz, were gathered outside the hospital; the girl’s brothers, father and uncle were among them. Inside, Dr. Sarwari encountered the girl’s aunt, who told her she had been ordered by her husband to sneak the girl out of the hospital and deliver her to the male relatives outside. “She said they wanted to take her and kill her, and dump her in the river,” Dr. Sarwari said.

Efforts to reach the girl’s relatives by telephone were unsuccessful, and insurgent activity around Alti Gumbad made the village too dangerous for journalists to visit. “The girl’s family gave us a guarantee that they would not harm her,” said Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, head of the Kunduz police criminal investigation division. “We would not hand her back unless we were sure.”
Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

In the hospital room, the doctor found the girl’s mother holding her child’s hand, and both were weeping. “My daughter, may dust and soil protect you now,” Dr. Sarwari quoted the mother as saying. “We will make you a bed of dust and soil. We will send you to the cemetery where you will be safe.”

Even mothers here often believe that there is no choice but to kill rape victims, who are seen as unmarriageable and therefore a lifelong burden to their families, as well as a constant reminder of dishonor. “Their men feel they have to wash their shame with blood,” Dr. Sarwari said.

The doctor took the girl away to the shelter. Afterward, Dr. Sarwari and several women’s affairs officials were threatened by the girl’s family, and by other mullahs. “They call me and curse me, and threaten to kill me and my family, and say they know where I live,” Dr. Sarwari said. “They say, once your American husbands leave Afghanistan, we will do what we want to you.” (Her husband is an Afghan doctor and war veteran.)

Dr. Sarwari has accused prosecutors and religious officials of siding with the accused rapist and ignoring the child’s plight.

“There are a lot of powerful people behind the mullah,” Dr. Sarwari said. The girl’s family knows they cannot do anything to Mr. Amin, she said, but “the girl is easy. They can get to her; she’s their daughter.” She said she feared the girl would either be killed, or forced to recant her accusations against the mullah.

Women for Afghan Women arranged for the girl to get medical treatment, and after she healed, she was returned to the shelter in Kunduz, about two weeks ago, until the police returned her to her family last Tuesday. Those caring for the girl said she had been terribly homesick and wanted to return to her family, but no one had the heart to tell her they had been conspiring to kill her.

TL;DR


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#67 shifter

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Posted 28 July 2014 - 11:22 AM

This post assumes the religions are true.

I ask again where were the first century Muslims? Seems to me some old guy (Mohammed) borrowed Christianity and twisted it to his own favour. Jesus is supposed to be a holy prophet in Islam yet so much of his teachings are rejected and undone and his sacrifice was just a trick?? You can't both like Islam and Christianity at the same time. It is the utmost sin in Islam to believe Jesus died for you. In Christianity nothing else matters as much as this and is the key to paradise. Mohammed was a false prophet led by Satan

Christianities prophet was sinless and perfect. Never harmed anybody and believed in helping your enemies and in forgiveness. In contrast Islam's prophet was a thief and a cold blooded murderer. Rapist and in today's standards, a paedophile. There is no forgiveness, only violence and death for even trivial crimes. This misogynistic, violent nature has festered ever since and is an affront on everything Christianity stands for. Islam believes Jesus was a Muslim. Ok, what happend in the 500-600 years after he 'tricked' everyone into believing he died and starting a wrong religion? Why would God want a false religion started then?

I don't even care for 'evidence of Islam' , I just want somebody who follows Islam to come here and explain that in their own words (preferably without the threat of decapitation for insulting Satan's pet Mohammed).
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#68 shadowhawk

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Posted 28 July 2014 - 08:07 PM

According to the Tao there are many common things about the various religions.  However they are different in many ways.  Islam is very different than all other religions.  So they are all wrong or one of them is right.  Is it Islam?  If not why not.  If it is, then why?  No matter what your view, give evidence.



#69 shifter

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Posted 29 July 2014 - 05:01 AM

This highlights exactly my thinking (this is probably what I read ages ago where I got my current line of thinking from).

 


For nearly two thousand years, Christians have proclaimed Jesus’ death and resurrection. Islam rejects both of these doctrines and offers a different account of what happened at the cross and afterwards. However, the Muslim explanation comes at a tremendous price: Their version of the story portrays God as a horrible deceiver, and Jesus as the most stupendous failure in the history of the prophets. Hence, while Muslims claim that “Allah is Truth”[1] and that Jesus is to be revered as one of Allah’s mightiest prophets, these claims are hollow, for Islamic dogma comes with a great deal of heresy.


Allah Starts Christianity . . . By Accident

If we examine the teachings of Islam, we find that Allah not only started Christianity, but also made Christianity the world’s dominant religion. This fact should seem strange to everyone, for Muslims believe that Christianity is a false religion. Of course, Muslims will respond by arguing that Christianity is a false religion because it was corrupted by man, but that in its original state it was the message of Allah given to Jesus the son of Mary.

While there isn’t a shred of evidence that the followers of Jesus ever believed anything similar to Islam, this is beside the point. According to Islam, Christianity was corrupted by Allah himself. To understand why Islam demands such a view, let us review a few facts.

FACT #1: The Qur’an states that Jesus was a messenger of Allah and a prophet of Islam. Indeed, Surah 19 tells us that Jesus began preaching Islamic theology the moment he was born:

And the throes (of childbirth) compelled [Mary] to betake herself to the trunk of a palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! Then (the child [i.e. the infant Jesus]) called out to her from beneath her: Grieve not, surely your Lord has made a stream to flow beneath you; And shake towards you the trunk of the palmtree, it will drop on you fresh ripe dates: So eat and drink and refresh the eye. . . . Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet; And He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and poor-rate so long as I live; And dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed; And peace on me on the day I was born, and on the day I die, and on the day I am raised to life.[2]

Jesus continued to preach the message of God throughout his life, until he was taken to heaven. According to the Qur’an, the Gospel that Jesus brought was no different from the message of the prophets before him. Jesus, a servant and prophet of God, preached Islam:

The same religion has He Established for you as that Which He enjoined on Noah—That which We have sent By inspiration to thee—And that which We enjoined On Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should remain Steadfast in Religion, and make No divisions therein.[3]

[Jesus] was no more than A servant: We granted Our favour to him, And We made him An example to the Children of Israel. . . . When Jesus came With Clear Signs, he said: “Now have I come To you with Wisdom, And in order to make Clear to you some Of the (points) on which Ye dispute: therefore fear Allah And obey me. For Allah, He is my Lord And your Lord: so worship Ye Him: this is A Straight Way.”[4]

Thus, Jesus spent approximately 33 years, from his birth to his ascension, preaching Islam to the children of Israel. Prior to his apparent crucifixion, his preaching was moderately successful, as the conversion of some of his listeners indicates.

FACT #2: The Qur’an states that Jesus won a number of followers. Since Jesus spent his entire life preaching an early form of Islam, his message to his disciples must have centered around the basic tenets of Islamic theology. These disciples would have become something similar to Muslims, which is exactly what Islam teaches about Jesus’ followers:

When Jesus found Unbelief on their [i.e. the Jews’] Part He said: “Who will be My helpers to (the work Of) Allah?” Said the Disciples: “We are Allah’s helpers: We believe in Allah, And do thou bear witness That we are Muslims.”[5]

And behold! I inspired The Disciples [of Jesus] to have faith In Me and Mine Messenger; They said, “We have faith, And do thou bear witness That we bow to Allah As Muslims.”[6]

Then, in their wake, We followed them up With (others of) Our messengers: We sent after them Jesus the son of Mary, And bestowed on him The Gospel; and We ordained In the hearts of those Who followed him Compassion and Mercy.[7]

If the Qur’an is correct, then Jesus converted at least some of the children of Israel to Islam. Though there is absolutely no historical evidence for any such conversions, let us assume for the sake of argument that there were first century Jews who believed the message of Jesus and became Muslims. As we shall see, this assumption only presents problems for Muslim apologists.

FACT #3: If there were first-century Jews who converted to Islam at the preaching of Jesus, they didn’t last very long. The idea that Jesus’ earliest followers were Muslims raises an obvious question: Why have we never heard of any Muslims existing in the first century? We have a great deal of historical information about Jesus’ first-century followers, but we have no evidence at all of any Muslims. Defenders of Islam will most likely claim here that Christianity wiped out all the records of Jesus’ non-Christian followers, but such a view is absurd. We have both Christian and non-Christian sources that report early Christian beliefs, yet none of these sources mention the existence of any Muslim-Christians. At the very least, we can say with absolute certainty that Jesus’ death was well-known among ancient authorities, and that Jesus’ earliest followers—including Peter, James, and John—came to believe that Jesus had died on the cross for their sins and that he had risen from the dead. (We also know that the disciples held Jesus to be the divine Son of God, but this isn’t necessary for my argument.) All four New Testament Gospels confirm the early Christian belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection, as does the book of Acts. Paul’s letters also repeatedly proclaim Jesus’ death and resurrection. Further, an ancient creed recorded in 1 Corinthians 15 has been dated to within a few years of Jesus’ life and therefore provides extremely early testimony about Christian beliefs during the time of the apostles. It reads:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve.[8]

We also have early Christian writings from outside the New Testament that report the beliefs of Jesus’ followers. For instance, Clement of Rome, who was ordained as Bishop of Rome by the Apostle Peter, writes about the apostles’ belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.[9] Polycarp, who was ordained by the Apostle John, mentions Jesus’ resurrection numerous times.[10] There are even several ancient non-Christian sources that report crucial information about Jesus and the apostles. According to both the Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus, Jesus was crucified during the reign of Pontius Pilate.[11] Lucian of Samosata, a Greek satirist, states, “The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day—the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account.”[12] Even the Jewish Talmud reports the crucifixion of Jesus.[13]

Hence, the most reasonable interpretation of the data is that the Qur’an is wrong when it says (1) that Jesus never died and (2) that Jesus’ early followers were Muslims. Nevertheless, let us be generous and grant, in spite of the facts, that there were a number of first-century Muslims, but that all evidence of their existence was later destroyed by Christians. Even if we grant such an outlandish assumption, this still presents Muslims with an enormous problem: What happened to these first-century Muslims? Why was Islam replaced by belief in Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection from the dead? Why didn’t Jesus’ 33 years of preaching amount to anything that lasted?

Muslims will most likely respond to these questions by arguing, once again, that Christianity corrupted Jesus’ message and that the Christian church erased all memory of Jesus’ Islamic teachings. However, no true Muslim should accept this position, for it conceals the true Qur’anic account of what happened.

FACT #4: The Qur’an states that Allah deceived people into believing that Jesus had died on the cross. According to the Qur’an, Jesus was able to convert at least some Jews to Islam. But we know from history that Jesus’ early followers became convinced of his death and resurrection. Hence, the obvious reason that there were no Muslims after Jesus ascended into heaven is that all of Jesus’ followers came to believe that he died on the cross and rose from the dead. And where did they get this idea? According to Islam, the idea that Jesus died on the cross was started by Allah:

That they said (in boast), “We killed Christ Jesus The son of Mary, The Messenger of Allah”—But they killed him not, Nor crucified him, But so it was made To appear to them, And those who differ Therein are full of doubts, With no (certain) knowledge, But only conjecture to follow, For of a surety They killed him not—Nay, Allah raised him up Unto Himself; and Allah Is Exalted in Power, Wise.[14]

Even if we allow that Allah’s only goal was to deceive the people who wanted to kill Jesus, it is clear that the disciples also fell for Allah’s deception. So who is responsible for the Christian belief that Jesus died on the cross? If Islam is correct, God started this idea when he decided to trick Jesus’ enemies into thinking that they had killed Jesus. This leads to even more problems. If the deception of the disciples was unintentional, then we must conclude that God didn’t realize that he was about to start the largest false religion in the world. If it was intentional, then God is in the business of starting false religions. Therefore, the God of Islam is either dreadfully ignorant or maliciously deceptive.

Muhammad’s position also means that Jesus was the greatest failure in the history of the prophets. He spent 33 years preaching (again, he began preaching Islamic theology at birth), yet shortly after his death, the children of Israel were divided into two broad camps. Those who believed his message became Christians, all of whom were guilty of the worst sin imaginable (shirk[15]), while those who rejected his message were guilty of rejecting one of God’s greatest messengers. Thus, whether people believed in Jesus or rejected him, everyone would ultimately be condemned and cast into the hellfire. It’s strange, then, that Muslims consider Jesus to be one of the greatest prophets ever. It seems that he should have been able to win at least one lasting convert to Islam. But he didn’t. Further, a true prophet of Islam should have warned his followers not to turn away from Islam by falling for God’s deception. But Jesus never got that message across. Indeed, millions of people from around the world now refuse to accept Islam because they believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, a teaching that goes back to a deceptive God and an incompetent Messiah.


Allah Spreads the False Religion He Accidentally Started

If we follow the teachings of Islam through to their logical conclusion, we see that God either intentionally or unintentionally started Christianity. But the Qur’an doesn’t stop there. Instead of correcting the mess he made, Allah took Christianity to the next level.

FACT #5: The Qur’an states that Allah helped spread Christianity. Once God had caused belief in Jesus death and resurrection, he then worked diligently to aid the Christians in spreading their false message:

O you who believe! be helpers (in the cause) of Allah, as [Jesus] son of Marium said to (his) disciples: Who are my helpers in the cause of Allah? The disciples said: We are helpers (in the cause) of Allah. So a party of the children of Israel believed and another party disbelieved; then We aided those who believed against their enemy, and they became uppermost.[16]

This verse is extremely important, for it means that Allah helped the followers of Jesus against the Jews who rejected Jesus, and that these followers “became uppermost.” So who were these followers of Jesus who became stronger than the Jews? The only people in history who fit such a description are orthodox Christians, who believe in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and divinity. In other words, Muslims can’t claim here that Jesus’ message was corrupted and that the true Gospel was wiped out, because that clearly isn’t the group that the Qur’an refers to in this passage. Even if there was a group of first century Muslim-Christians, this group never gained an upper hand over anyone. Indeed, they must have been snuffed out immediately. The only group of Jesus’ followers that ever became strong enough to overshadow the Jews was composed of Christians, once Christianity had spread throughout the Roman Empire. These Christians believed in the foundational doctrines that Christians hold even today. Yet, according to the Qur’an, Allah helped these people rise to power!

How, then, did Christianity spread and become the dominant world religion? It spread by the power of Allah! And who started the Christian message about Jesus’ death on the cross? God invented this message! Even non-Christian historians are convinced that Jesus’ death is one of history’s best-established facts.[17] Where did historians get this idea? They got it from God, who tricked so many people into believing in Jesus’ death that we now have tons of historical evidence for this event. Since there are roughly two billion Christians on earth at the present moment, it seems that Jesus and God are responsible for starting the only religion in the world that overshadows Islam.


If Islam Is True . . .

Needless to say, I think the Islamic view is extremely problematic. It requires us to believe that God deceived billions of people. God even led Jesus’ followers astray by tricking so many people into believing that Jesus died. This could have been avoided if God hadn’t been so intent on deceiving people. But this leads to more questions: Why would God want people to believe that Jesus was dead when he really wasn’t? Muslims can’t argue that God did it to protect Jesus from the Jews or Romans, since God was taking Jesus away safely anyway. So, why would God want to give Jesus’ enemies the satisfaction of seeing Jesus killed? Why not raise Jesus up without deceiving everyone about it? There seems to be no reason at all for God to deceive these people, especially since such a deception would soon lead to the formation of Christianity.

This is a difficult pill to swallow, yet Islam forces us to view the origin of Christianity in this way. If Islam is true, God deceives people who believe the prophets he sends. If Islam is true, God spreads false teachings until they become dominant in the world. If Islam is true, Jesus, the Messiah, was completely incompetent and should never have been sent by God, since Jesus’ life ended up leading more people astray than any other life in history. Because the Muslim view is at odds with any traditional understanding of God’s nature (including the Islamic understanding), Islam is an incoherent religious system, which should be rejected by all rational people. Islam has a poor and contemptible explanation for the origin of Christianity. If Islam is true, the existence of Christianity makes no sense at all.


If Christianity Is True . . .

Christianity, on the other hand, easily accounts for the rise of Islam. Indeed, if Christianity is true, the rise of Islam makes perfect sense. If it isn’t immediately clear why Christianity entails the rise of religions such as Islam, consider the following line of thought.

If Christianity is true, then the following statements are also true:

(1) People can only come to God through Jesus Christ.
(2) Satan is a real spirit being who wants to keep people from God.
[18]

With these statements in mind, let’s see if we can figure out a little something about Satan. Now, if Satan wants to keep people from God, and if the way to God is through Jesus Christ, what would Satan’s highest priority be? His main goal wouldn’t be to get people to lead immoral lives (though he would prefer that we do, since this corrupts God’s created order); instead, his primary aim would be to incite people to reject Christ, for this rejection is what keeps them separated from God.

But how would Satan convince people to reject Christ? We should note here that there are plenty of people in the world who simply don’t care about God. Satan doesn’t have to worry about them, because they aren’t interested in salvation anyway. Since his goal is to keep as many people from God as possible, we would expect Satan to be more focused on people who are to some extent concerned with religious matters. There are two ways to keep such people from God. Satan would either have to convince them that all “religious talk” is nonsense (i.e. by spreading secularism, which we see around the world) or he would have to offer them a substitute for the truth (i.e. a religion that rejects what is necessary for salvation).

Thus, if Christianity is true, we would expect Satan to inspire religions that reject Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection, even though these religions may be similar to Christianity in other (non-essential) respects. Now that we have a clear picture of what we would predict if Christianity were true, let us see how Islam matches up with our prediction.

The message of Islam is something like this: “Believe in God. Do good deeds. If you do enough of them, you’ll get to heaven. Respect Jesus, for he was a mighty prophet, who delivered God’s message to the children of Israel. Also believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, that he performed many miracles, and that he was the Messiah. But whatever you do, don’t believe that he died on the cross for your sins. And don’t believe that he rose from the dead. In fact, the worst possible sin you can commit is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” Notice that Islam rejects Christianity’s essential requirements for salvation while accepting certain other doctrines. For instance, Muslims are commanded to believe in God, but even Satan and his demons believe in God. Muslims are commanded to do good deeds, but all religions teach this. Muslims are allowed to believe certain things about Jesus (such as his prophet status and virgin birth), but these beliefs do not save a person. Yet when we come to beliefs that are essential for salvation—the deity of Christ, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead—we find that Islam is violently opposed to these crucial doctrines.[19] Islam, then, looks exactly like the religion we predicted that Satan would form, for it denies what is necessary for people to come to God.

There is, of course, an easier way for us to see that Christianity predicts the rise of Islam. We can look at some of the prophecies in the Bible. For example, Jesus said that “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.”[20] Paul added that some people would follow “deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”[21] (The phrase “deceitful spirit” is reminiscent of the Qur’anic claim that Allah deceived people about the death of Jesus.) The Bible warns over and over again that false teachers and false prophets would come in order to distort the Gospel. Apparently, few people in Muhammad’s time heeded this warning.


Final Thoughts

Throughout history, many people have claimed to be prophets. Indeed, there are many self-proclaimed prophets even today, and there will be more tomorrow. Suppose a prophet arises at some point in the future, one who claims to have a new revelation from God.[22] Both Muslims and Christians would reject him. But suppose this prophet says to Muslims, “Brothers, you have believed in the teachings of Muhammad, but I’m here to tell you that Islam was started by God to deceive people. The pagans in Arabia were doing awful things, such as killing their daughters and marrying hundreds of women. God decided to punish them by leading them astray and making all of you believe something that isn’t true. But I’m here to tell you the truth! I am God’s greatest prophet, sent to rescue you from evil!” Would Muslims believe him? Most certainly wouldn’t. But why would Muslims reject this new prophet? They would reject him because they would refuse to believe that God knowingly deceived millions of people. Yet this is exactly what Muslims believe when it comes to the death of Jesus. So if Muslims believe in a God who deceives people, even those who follow his prophets, how can Muslims be confident that they have been given the truth?

Muslims boast about their reverence for God and their respect for the prophets. Yet, upon closer examination, we see that Islam accuses God of one of the greatest religious deceptions ever. This should cause us to pause and think for a moment. Why would a religion that prides itself on its view of God proclaim that God starts false religions? Why would people who claim to respect Jesus suggest that he was a tremendous failure? It appears that Islam is so incredibly desperate to destroy Christianity, that it doesn’t mind destroying itself. In other words, Islam can only explain away Jesus’ death and resurrection by making God out to be a deceiver, which destroys the Islamic conception of God. This desperation only makes sense if Christianity is true, and if Islam was designed by Satan to keep people from being saved.

Muslims can object to this all they want. They can continue to proclaim their devotion to God and their respect for his prophets. But there’s something strange about the way they explain Christianity. There’s something very odd about a God who leads the world astray. If Islam is true, God and Jesus are failures. But if Christianity is true, God and Jesus were victorious at the cross, for the door to salvation was opened to all, in spite of those who tried to keep the door shut.

Jesus warned his followers that false prophets would come. He also commanded us not to believe them. One of the ways we can spot false prophets is by carefully discerning when their teachings lead to unacceptable beliefs about God. God is Truth, and he is Love. Islam, when carefully examined, would have us believe otherwise.

 

 

http://www.answering...ceptive_god.htm

 

 

If you dispute this line of thinking, please share/enlighten us. To me this convincingly shows the falsehood of Islam and why it is so. I do like a good argument/debate however and would love to hear a counter argument to the above.

 


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#70 addx

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Posted 01 August 2014 - 09:29 AM

This post assumes the religions are true.

I ask again where were the first century Muslims? Seems to me some old guy (Mohammed) borrowed Christianity and twisted it to his own favour. Jesus is supposed to be a holy prophet in Islam yet so much of his teachings are rejected and undone and his sacrifice was just a trick?? You can't both like Islam and Christianity at the same time. It is the utmost sin in Islam to believe Jesus died for you. In Christianity nothing else matters as much as this and is the key to paradise. Mohammed was a false prophet led by Satan

Christianities prophet was sinless and perfect. Never harmed anybody and believed in helping your enemies and in forgiveness. In contrast Islam's prophet was a thief and a cold blooded murderer. Rapist and in today's standards, a paedophile. There is no forgiveness, only violence and death for even trivial crimes. This misogynistic, violent nature has festered ever since and is an affront on everything Christianity stands for. Islam believes Jesus was a Muslim. Ok, what happend in the 500-600 years after he 'tricked' everyone into believing he died and starting a wrong religion? Why would God want a false religion started then?

I don't even care for 'evidence of Islam' , I just want somebody who follows Islam to come here and explain that in their own words (preferably without the threat of decapitation for insulting Satan's pet Mohammed).

 

 

As already said somewhere. Nietzsche. http://en.wikipedia....–slave_morality

 

Old testament (as such also a part of christianity) features master morality, just the same as Islam. The powerful, punishing, threatening, ruling god and also providing for people on earth(priests, sultans, whatnot) being holders/agencies of this power on earth and work on "his" behalf.

 

Jesus was the only religious character to manage to gain enough followers of slave morality, thanks to the overabundant number of slaves in the roman world. 

 

Jesus attempted to overthrow the religious master morality of old testament jews to his new slave morality. his teaching display nietzsche slave morality to the letter - including the intention to make everyone slaves of god  and even the god himself a slave of his own boundless love.

 

Mohammed simply attempted to overthrow back slave morality for master morality again.

 

They all worked the same crowd with their own insanity issues. Today, they would have all been commited, some to jail, some to antipsyhcotics.

 

Jesus BPD, Mohammed and old testament crew mainly NPD or ASPD.


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#71 shadowhawk

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Posted 01 August 2014 - 09:12 PM

When the topic is Islam this is evidence?



#72 addx

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Posted 03 August 2014 - 01:04 PM

When the topic is Islam this is evidence?

 

It's evidence for all 3 abrahamic religions being nothing more but personality disorders manifested in front of impressionable people at the right moment.


Edited by addx, 03 August 2014 - 01:04 PM.

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#73 shadowhawk

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Posted 04 August 2014 - 11:48 PM

Are you Including Christians and Jews?  This is evidence of calling names, as usual.  Can't stay on topic.  So to stay  on topic are you saying Islam is full of people wit h personality disorders manifested in front of impressionable people ?  Do those around you know you feel that way about them?



#74 addx

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Posted 05 August 2014 - 08:22 PM

Are you Including Christians and Jews?  This is evidence of calling names, as usual.  Can't stay on topic.  So to stay  on topic are you saying Islam is full of people wit h personality disorders manifested in front of impressionable people ?  Do those around you know you feel that way about them?

 

I'm saying they were founded in that way. Their continuity still depends on people being impressionable, but also tradition and also, some of them have real utility. Islam wiping ass with left hand and shaking hands with right is simply hygienic for example. So, people have their reasons for following religions, but the cults were initially started by personality disordered people and the most extreme religious fanatics are psychiatric cases and nothing more.

 

So my attitude towards people is the topic of this thread now? How amusing. After so much crying about being off topic and about ad hominem, you actually think you've made a clever come back but have in fact removed yourself of even more credibility to call out 'off topic' and 'ad hominem' towards you. 

 

I wonder how long it will take you to crucify yourself virtually on this forum in some way, take all our "ad hominem sins" against you on yourself as the good christian you are and return to your father... crying.... why have thou forsaken me?!?!? 

 

 


Edited by addx, 05 August 2014 - 08:31 PM.

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#75 shadowhawk

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Posted 06 August 2014 - 02:14 AM

Typical personnel attacks but it is indeed off topic.  :)



#76 Babychris

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Posted 13 August 2014 - 05:15 PM

The Topic is about a deep study of islam or about a superficial view of current muslim attitudes ?



#77 shadowhawk

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Posted 13 August 2014 - 07:05 PM

The Topic is about a deep study of islam or about a superficial view of current muslim attitudes ?

 

Is this evidence for Islam?  Give us some deep evidence and raise the quality of the discussion. 
 



#78 shadowhawk

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Posted 26 August 2014 - 01:03 AM



#79 shadowhawk

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Posted 28 August 2014 - 08:51 PM

WHO ARE THEY?  

 

 

IS-Tabqa-photos-1.jpg



#80 shadowhawk

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Posted 29 August 2014 - 06:07 PM

WHERE ARE THEY GOING??

 

 

isis6.jpg



#81 shadowhawk

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Posted 13 September 2014 - 07:13 PM

Why?

 



#82 shadowhawk

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Posted 12 November 2014 - 02:23 AM

https://www.youtube....tdMUddGe-U#t=17



#83 serp777

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Posted 12 November 2014 - 10:09 PM

Typical personnel attacks but it is indeed off topic.  :)

 

More parroting. Indeed you shouldn't have even bothered to post this. You seem to receive the most "personal attacks" on this forum out of any person. I doubt that's a coincidence. it's probably because your debate tactics frustrate most people and because you have brushed off numerous valid points by saying something like "nonsense", or "more ad hominem"

 

Keep on parroting, parrot.


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#84 shadowhawk

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Posted 14 November 2014 - 08:44 PM

 

Typical personnel attacks but it is indeed off topic.  :)

 

More parroting. Indeed you shouldn't have even bothered to post this. You seem to receive the most "personal attacks" on this forum out of any person. I doubt that's a coincidence. it's probably because your debate tactics frustrate most people and because you have brushed off numerous valid points by saying something like "nonsense", or "more ad hominem"

 

Keep on parroting, parrot.

 

This is personal and pointless.  Do you have anything to say about Islam or do you think this about your attitude toward me?  Have a nice day.  :)



#85 serp777

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Posted 22 November 2014 - 09:20 AM

 

 

Typical personnel attacks but it is indeed off topic.  :)

 

More parroting. Indeed you shouldn't have even bothered to post this. You seem to receive the most "personal attacks" on this forum out of any person. I doubt that's a coincidence. it's probably because your debate tactics frustrate most people and because you have brushed off numerous valid points by saying something like "nonsense", or "more ad hominem"

 

Keep on parroting, parrot.

 

This is personal and pointless.  Do you have anything to say about Islam or do you think this about your attitude toward me?  Have a nice day.  :)

 

 

Yeah it's personal. You've killed any reasonable debate. All of these redundant threads are dumb and I really couldn't care less about your ironic interpretation of pointless, considering you spend hundreds of hours making gigantic posts than everyone says are TL;DR. Everyone thinks you're full of it; hence your reputation is now just barely higher than your IQ.


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#86 Babychris

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Posted 22 November 2014 - 04:24 PM

Don't be too hard with him please



#87 shadowhawk

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Posted 22 November 2014 - 08:35 PM

 

 

 

Typical personnel attacks but it is indeed off topic.  :)

 

More parroting. Indeed you shouldn't have even bothered to post this. You seem to receive the most "personal attacks" on this forum out of any person. I doubt that's a coincidence. it's probably because your debate tactics frustrate most people and because you have brushed off numerous valid points by saying something like "nonsense", or "more ad hominem"

 

Keep on parroting, parrot.

 

This is personal and pointless.  Do you have anything to say about Islam or do you think this about your attitude toward me?  Have a nice day.  :)

 

 

Yeah it's personal. You've killed any reasonable debate. All of these redundant threads are dumb and I really couldn't care less about your ironic interpretation of pointless, considering you spend hundreds of hours making gigantic posts than everyone says are TL;DR. Everyone thinks you're full of it; hence your reputation is now just barely higher than your IQ.

 

Yes it is personal but any honest person could see that.  By the way, "everyone.' is quite an overstatement.  True I am only one of a few theists here and we are not welcome by some   Have a nice day.  :)


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#88 serp777

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Posted 22 November 2014 - 09:49 PM

 

 

 

 

Typical personnel attacks but it is indeed off topic.  :)

 

More parroting. Indeed you shouldn't have even bothered to post this. You seem to receive the most "personal attacks" on this forum out of any person. I doubt that's a coincidence. it's probably because your debate tactics frustrate most people and because you have brushed off numerous valid points by saying something like "nonsense", or "more ad hominem"

 

Keep on parroting, parrot.

 

This is personal and pointless.  Do you have anything to say about Islam or do you think this about your attitude toward me?  Have a nice day.  :)

 

 

Yeah it's personal. You've killed any reasonable debate. All of these redundant threads are dumb and I really couldn't care less about your ironic interpretation of pointless, considering you spend hundreds of hours making gigantic posts than everyone says are TL;DR. Everyone thinks you're full of it; hence your reputation is now just barely higher than your IQ.

 

Yes it is personal but any honest person could see that.  By the way, "everyone.' is quite an overstatement.  True I am only one of a few theists here and we are not welcome by some   Have a nice day.  :)

 

 

Please, i'd like you to show me one person; just one person who has been convinced by any of your arguments who wasn't already a theist--maybe someone who wasn't sure or on the fence, for instance.

 

Again the fact that your rep has gone from 200 to -20 reflects that most people, maybe not everyone, disagrees with your arguments. That means a lot of your huge posts have been pointless, especially since no one is going to sift through the hundreds of thread pages. If 99.9% of people don't agree with you/get frustrated with you and give up, you're probably doing something wrong. But then again maybe you're just the one sane person out of a bunch of crazies.


Edited by serp777, 22 November 2014 - 09:51 PM.

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#89 shadowhawk

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Posted 22 November 2014 - 09:55 PM

I am sorry but this is entirely off topic.  Do you have something to say about Islam?



#90 shadowhawk

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Posted 18 February 2015 - 02:14 AM

WHAT LED UP TO THE CRUSADES.  WHO CAUSED IT?

The Jihad That Led to the Crusades
by Bill Warner | posted in: Newsletter | 6

"Obama’s remarks about the evil of the Crusades, needs to be factually examined in detail. Here is such a list:

0355 After removing a Roman temple from the site (possibly the Temple of Aphrodite built by Hadrian), Constantine I has the Church of the Holy Sepulcher constructed in Jerusalem. Built around the excavated hill of the Crucifixion, legend has it that Constantine’s mother Helena discovered the True Cross here.

0613 – Persians capture Damascus and Antioch.

0614 – Persians sack Jerusalem. damaging the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the process.

0633 – Muslims conquer Syria and Iraq.

0634 – 0644 – Umar (c. 0591 – 0644) reigns as the second caliph.

0635 – Muslims begin the conquest of Persia and Syria.

0635 – Arab Muslims capture the city of Damascus from the Byzantines.

August 20, 0636 – Battle of Yarmuk (also: Yarmuq, Hieromyax): Following the Muslim capture of Damascus and Edessa, Byzantine Emperor Heraclius organizes a large army which manages to take back control of those cities. However, Byzantine commander, Baänes is soundly defeated by Muslim forces under Khalid ibn Walid in a battle in the valley of the Yarmuk River outside Damascus. This leaves all of Syria open to Arab domination.

0637 – The Arabs occupy the Persian capital of Ctesiphon. By  0651, the entire Persian realm would come under the rule of Islam and continued its westward expansion.

0637 – Syria is conquered by Muslim forces.

0637 – Jerusalem falls to invading Muslim forces.

0638 – Caliph Umar I enters Jerusalem.

0639 – Muslims conquer Egypt and Persia.

0641 – Islam spreads into Egypt. The Catholic Archbishop invites Muslims to help free Egypt from Roman oppressors.

0641 – Under the leadership of Abd-al-Rahman, Muslims conquer southern areas of Azerbaijan, Daghestan, Georgia, and
Armenia.

0641 – Under the leadership of Amr ibn al-As, Muslims conquer the Byzantine city of Alexandria in Egypt. Amr forbids the looting of the city and proclaims freedom of worship for all. According to some accounts, he also has what was left of the Great Library burned the following year. Al-As creates the first Muslim city in Egypt, al-Fustat, and builds there the first mosque in Egypt.

0644 – Muslim leader Umar dies and is succeeded by Caliph Uthman, a member of the Umayyad family that had rejected Muhammad’s prophesies. Rallies arise to support Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, as caliph. Uthman launches invasions to the west into North Africa.

0649 – Muawiya I, a member of the Umayyad family, leads a raid against Cyprus, sacking the capital Salamis-Constantia after a short siege and pillaging the rest of the island.

0652 – Sicily is attacked by Muslims coming out of Tunisia (named Ifriqiya by the Muslims, a name later given to the entire continent of Africa).

0653 – Muawiya I leads a raid against Rhodes, taking the remaining pieces of the Colossus of Rhodes (one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world) and shipping it back to Syria to be sold as scrap metal.

0654 – Muawiya I conquers Cyprus and stations a large garrison there. The island would remain in Muslim hands until 0966.

0655 – Battle of the Masts: In one of the only Muslim naval victories in the entire history of Islam, Muslim forces under the command of Uthman bin Affan defeat Byzantine forces under Emperor Constant II. The battle takes place off the coast of Lycia and is an important stage in the decline of Byzantine power.

0661 – 0680 – Mu’awiya, founder of the Umayyad dynasty, becomes the caliph and moves the capital from Mecca to Damascus.

0662 – Egypt fell to the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates until 868 CE. A year prior, the Fertile Crescent and Persia yielded to the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, whose rule lasted until 1258 CE and 820 CE, respectively.

0667 – Sicily is attacked by Muslims coming out of Tunisia.

0668 – First Siege of Constantinople: This attack lasts off and on for seven years, with the Muslim forces generally spending the winters on the island of Cyzicus, a few miles south of Constantinople, and only sailing against the city during the spring and summer months. The Greeks are able to fend off repeated attacks with a weapon desperately feared by the Arabs: Greek Fire. It burned through ships, shields, and flesh and it could not be put out once it started. Muawiyah has to send emissaries to Byzantine Emperor Constans to beg him to let the survivors return home unimpeded, a request that is granted in exchange for a yearly tribute of 3,000 pieces of gold, fifty slaves, and fifty Arab horses.

0669 – The Muslim conquest reaches to Morocco in North Africa. The region would be open to the rule of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates until 800 CE.

0672 – Muslims under Mauwiya I capture the island of Rhodes.

0674 – Arab conquest reaches the Indus River.

August 23, 0676 – Birth of Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) in Herstal, Wallonia, Belgium, as the illegitimate son of Pippin II. Serving as Mayor of the Palace of the kingdom of the Franks, Charles would lead a force of Christians that turn back a Muslim raiding party near Poitiers (or Tours) which, according to many historians, would effectively halt the advance of Islam against Christianity in the West.

0677 – Muslims send a large fleet against Constantinople in an effort to finally break the city, but they are defeated so badly through the Byzantine use of Greek Fire that they are forced to pay an indemnity to the Emperor.

0680 – Birth of Leo III the Isaurian, Byzantine Emperor, along the Turkish-Syrian border in the Syrian province of Commagene. Leo’s tactical skills would be responsible for turning back the second Arab Muslim siege of Constantinople in 0717, shortly after he is elected emperor.

0688 – Emperor Justinian II and Caliph al-Malik sign a peace treaty making Cyprus neutral territory. For the next 300 years, Cyprus is ruled jointly by both the Byzantines and the Arabs despite the continuing warfare between them elsewhere.

0691 – Birth of Hisham, 10th caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty. It is under Hisham that Muslim forces would make their deepest incursions into Western Europe before being stopped by Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 0732.

0698 – Muslims capture Carthage in North Africa.

0700 – Muslims from Pamntelleria raid the island of Sicily.

0711 – With the further conquest of Egypt, Spain and North Africa, Islam included all of the Persian empire and most of the old Roman world under Islamic rule. Muslims began the conquest of Sindh in Afghanistan.

April 0711 – Tariq ibn Malik, a Berber officer, crosses the strait separating Africa and Europe with a group of Muslims and enters Spain (al-Andalus, as the Muslims called it, a word is etymologically linked to “Vandals”). The first stop in the Muslim conquest of Spain is at the foot of a mountain that comes to be called Jabel Tarik, the Mountain of Tarik. Today it is known as Gibraltar. At one time the Berbers had been Christians but they recently converted in large numbers to Islam after the Arab conquest of North Africa.

July 19, 0711 – Battle of Guadalete: Tariq ibn Ziyad kills King Rodrigo (or Roderic), Visigoth ruler of Spain, at the Guadalete River in the south of the Iberian peninsula. Tariq ibn Ziyad had landed at Gibraltar with 7,000 Muslims at the invitation of heirs of the late Visigoth King Witica (Witiza) who wanted to get rid of Rodrigo (this group includes Oppas, the bishop of Toledo and primate of all Spain, who happens to be the brother of the late king Witica). Ziyad, however, refuses to turn control of the region back over to the heirs of Witica. Almost the entire Iberian peninsula would come under Islamic control by 0718 CE.

0712 – Muslim governor of Northern Africa Musa ibn Nusayr follows Tariq ibn Ziyad with an army of 18,000 as reinforcements for the conquest of Andalusia. Musa’s father had been a Catholic Yemenite studying to be a priest in Iraq when he was captured in Iraq by Khalid, the “Sword of Islam,” and forced to choose between conversion or death. This invasion of Iraq had been one of the last military orders given by Muhammed before his death.

0714 – Birth of Pippin III (Pippin the Short) in Jupille (Belgium). Son of Charles Martel and father of Charlemagne, in 0759 Pippin would capture Narbonne, the last Muslim stronghold in France, and thereby drive Islam out of France.

0715 – By this year just about all of Spain is in Muslim hands. The Muslim conquest of Spain only took around three years but the Christian reconquest would require around 460 years (it might have gone faster had the various Christian kingdoms not been at each other’ throats much of the time). Musa’s son, Abd el-Aziz, is left in charge and makes his capital the city of Seville, where he married Egilona, widow of king Rodrigo. Caliph Suleiman, a paranoid ruler, would have el-Aziz assassinated and sends Musa into exile in his native Yemen village to live out his days as a beggar.

0716 – Lisbon is captured by Muslims.

0717 – Cordova (Qurtuba) becomes the capital of Muslim holdings in Andalusia (Spain).

0717 – Leo the Isaurian, born along the Turkish-Syrian border in the Syrian province of Commagene, revolts against the usurper Theodosius III and assumes the throne of the Byzantine Empire.

August 15, 0717 – Second Siege of Constantinople: Taking advantage of the civil unrest in the Byzantine Empire, Caliph Sulieman sends 120,000 Muslims under the command of his brother, Moslemah, to launch the second siege of Constantinople. Another force of around 100,000 Muslims with 1,800 galleys soon arrives from Syria and Egypt to assist. Most of these reinforcements are quickly destroyed with Greek Fire. Eventually the Muslims outside Constantinople begin to starve and, in the winter, they also begin to freeze to death. Even the Bulgarians, usually hostile to the Byzantines, send a force to destroy Muslim reinforcements marching from Adrianopolis.

August 15, 0718 – Muslims abandon their second siege of Constantinople. Their failure here leads to the weakening of the Umayyad government, in part because of the heavy losses. It is estimated that of the 200,000 soldiers who besieged Constantinople, only around 30,000 made it home. Although the Byzantine Empire also sustains heavily casualties and loses most its territory south of the Taurus Mountains, by holding the line here they prevent a disorganized and militarily inferior Europe from having to confront a Muslim invasion along the shortest possible route. Instead, the Arabic invasion of Europe must proceed along the longer path across northern Africa and into Spain, a route which prevents quick reinforcement and ultimately proves ineffective.

0719 – Muslims attack Septimania in southern France (so named because it was the base of operations for Rome’s Seventh Legion) and become established in the region known as Languedoc, made famous several hundred years later as the center of the Cathar heresy.

July 09,0721 – A Muslim army under the command of Al-Semah and that had crossed the Pyrenees is defeated by the Franks near Toulouse. Al-Semah is killed and his remaining forces, which had previously conquered Narbonne, are forced back across the Pyrenees into Spain.
0722 – Battle of Covadonga: Pelayo, (0690-0737) Visigoth noble who had been elected the first King of Asturias (0718- 0737), defeats a Muslim army at Alcama near Covadonga. This is generally regarded as the first real Christian victory over the Muslims in the Reconquista.

0724 – Hisham becomes the 10th caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty. It is under Hisham that Muslim forces make their deepest incursions into Western Europe before being stopped by Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 0732.

0724 – Under the command of Ambissa, Emir of Andalusia, Muslim forces raid southern France and capture the cities of Carcassone and Nimes. Primary targets in these and other raids are churches and monasteries where the Muslims take away holy objects and enslave or kill all the clerics.

0725 – Muslim forces occupied Nimes, France.

0730 – Muslim forces occupy the French cities of Narbonne and
Avignon.

October 10, 0732 – Battle of Tours: With perhaps 1,500 soldiers, Charles Martel halts a Muslim force of around 40,000 to 60,000 cavalry under Abd el-Rahman Al Ghafiqi from moving farther into Europe. Many regard this battle as being decisive in that it saved Europe from Muslim control. Gibbon wrote: “A victorious line of march had been prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of Gibraltar to the banks of the Loire; the repetition of an equal space would have carried the Saracens to the confines of Poland and the Highlands of Scotland; the Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Muhammed.” Others, though, argue that the battle’s importance has been exaggerated. The names of Tours, Poitiers, and Charles Martel do not appear in the Arab histories. They list the battle under the name Balat al- Shuhada, the Highway of Martyrs, and is treated as a minor engagement.

0735 – Muslim invaders capture the city of Arles.

0737 – Charles Martel sends his brother, Childebrand, to lay siege to Avignon and drive out the Muslim occupiers. Childebrand is successful and, according to records, has all the Muslims in the city killed.
0739 – Already having retaken Narbonne, Beziers, Montpellier, and Nimes during the previous couple of years, Childebrand captures Marseille, one of the largest French cities still in Muslim hands.

June 08, 0741 – Death of Leo III the Isaurian, Byzantine Emperor. Leo’s tactical skills were responsible for turning back the second Arab Muslim siege of Constantinople in 0717, shortly after he was elected emperor.

October 22, 0741.- Death of Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) in at Quierzy (today the Aisne county in the Picardy region of France). As Mayor of the Palace of the kingdom of the Franks, Charles had led a force of Christians that turned back a Muslim raiding party near Poitiers (or Tours) which, according to many historians, effectively halted the advance of Islam against Christianity in the West.

April 04, 0742 -Birth of Charlemagne, founder of the Frankish Empire.

0743 -Death of Hisham, 10th caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty. It was under Hisham that Muslim forces made their deepest incursions into Western Europe before being stopped by Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 0732.

0750- The Arabian Nights, a compilation of stories written under the reign of the Abbasids, became representative of the lifestyle and administration of this Persian influenced government.

0750 – 0850 -The Four Orthodox Schools of Islamic Law were established.

0750 -The Abbasids assume control of the Islamic world (except Spain, which falls under the control of a descendant of the Umayyad family) and moved the capital to Baghdad in Iraq. The Abbasid Caliphate would last until 1258.

September 0755 -Abd al-Rahman of the Umayyad dynasty flees to Spain to escape the Abbasids and would be responsible for creating the “Golden Caliphate” in Spain.

0756 -The Emirate of Cordova is established by Umayyad refugee Abd al-Rahman I in order to revive the defeated Umayyad caliphate which had been destroyed in 0750 by the Abbasids. Cordova would become independent of the Abbasid Empire and represents the first major political division within Islam. The political and geographic isolation of the Cordova Caliphate would make it easier for Christians to decisively conquer it despite their failures elsewhere, although this would not be completed until 1492.

0759 -Arabs lose the city of Narbonne, France, their furthest and last conquest into Frankish territory. In capturing this city Pippin III (Pippin the Short) ends the Muslim incursions in France.

0768 -Pepin’s son, Carolus Magnus (Charlemagne), succeeded his father and became one of the most important European rulers of medieval history.

September 24, 0768 -Death of Pippin III (Pippin the Short) at Saint Denis. Son of Charles Martel and father of Charlemagne, in 0759 Pippin captured Narbonne, the last Muslim stronghold in France, and thereby drove Islam out of France.

0778 -Charlemagne, King of the Franks and soon-to-be Holy Roman Emperor, is invited by a group of Arab leaders in northeastern Spain to attack Abd al-Rahman I, ruler of the Emirate of Cordova. Charlemagne obliges them, but is forced to retreat after only getting as far as Saragossa. It is during his march back through the Pyrenees that his forces are set upon by Basques. Among the many who die is the war leader Roland from Breton, killed in Roncevalles, whose memory has been preserved in the “Chanson de Roland,” an important epic poem during the Middle Ages.

0785 -The Great Mosque in Cordoba, in Muslim controlled Spain, was built.

0787 – Danes invade England for the first time.

0788 -Death of Abd al-Rahman I, founder of the Umayyad Emirate of Cordova. His successor is Hisham I.

0792- Hisham I, emir of Cordova, calls for a Jihad against the infidels in Andalusia and France. Tens of thousands from as far away as Syria heed his call and cross the Pyrennes to subjugate France. Cities like Narbonne are destroyed, but the invasion is ultimately halted at Carcassone.

0796 -Death of Hisham I, emir of Cordova. His successor is his son, al-Hakam, who would keep up the jihad against the Christians but would also be forced to contend with rebellion at home.

0799 -The Basques rise in revolt and kill the local Muslim governor of Pamplona.

0800 -North Africa falls under the rule of the Aghlabi dynasty of Tunis, which would last until 0909 CE.

0800 – 1200 -Jews experience a “golden age” of creativity and toleration in Spain under Moorish (Muslim) rule.

0800 -Ambassadors of Caliph Harunu r-Rashid give keys to the Holy Sepulcher to the Frankish king, thus acknowledging some Frankish control over the interests of Christians in Jerusalem.

0801 -Vikings begin selling slaves to Muslims.

0806 -Hien Tsung becomes the Emperor of China. During his reign a shortage of copper leads to the introduction of paper money.

0813 -Muslims attack the Civi Vecchia near Rome.

April 04,0814 -Death of Charlemagne, founder of the Frankish Empire.

0816 -With the support of Moors, the Basques revolt against the Franks in Glascony.

0822 -Death of Al-Hakam, emir of Cordova. He is succeeded by Abd al-Rahman II.

June 0827 -Sicily is invaded by Muslims who, this time, are looking to take control of the island rather than simply taking away booty. They are initially aided by Euphemius, a Byzantine naval commander who is rebelling against the Emperor. Conquest of the island would require 75 years of hard fighting.

0831 -Muslim invaders capture the Sicilian city of Palermo and make it their capital.

0835 -Birth of Ahmad Ibn Tultun, founder of the Tulunid Dynasty in Egypt. Originally sent there as a deputy by the Abbasid Caliphate, Tultun will establish himself as an independent power in the region, extending his control as far north as Syria. It is under Tultun that the Great Mosque of Cairo is built.

0838 -Muslim raiders sack Marseille.

0841 -Muslim forces capture Bari, principle Byzantine base in southeastern Italy.

0846 -Muslim raiders sail a fleet of ships from Africa up the Tiber river and attack outlying areas around Ostia and Rome. Some manage to enter Rome and damage the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul. Not until Pope Leo IV promises a yearly tribute of 25,000 silver coins do the raiders leave. The Leonine Wall is built in order to fend off further attacks such as this.

0849 -Battle of Ostia: Aghlabid monarch Muhammad sends a fleet of ships from Sardinia to attack Rome. As the fleet prepares to land troops, the combination of a large storm and an alliance of Christian forces were able to destroy the Muslims ships.

0850 -The Acropolis of Zimbabwe was built in Rhodesia.

0850 -Perfectus, a Christian priest in Muslim Cordova, is executed after he refuses to retract numerous insults he made about the Prophet Muhammed. Numerous other priests, monks, and laity would follow as Christians became caught up in a zest for martyrdom.

0851- Abd al-Rahman II has eleven young Christians executed in the city of Cordova after they deliberately seek out martyrdom by insulting the Prophet Muhammed.

0852 -Death of Abd al-Rahman II, emir of Cordova.

0858- Muslim raiders attack Constantinople.

0859 -Muslim invaders capture the Sicilian city of Castrogiovanni (Enna), slaughtering several thousand inhabitants.

0863 -Under Cyril (0826 – 0869) and Methodius (c. 0815 – 0885) the conversion of Moravia begins. The two brothers were sent by the patriarch of Constantinople to Moravia, where the ruler, Rostilav, decreed in 863 that any preaching done had to be in the language of the people. As a result, Cyril and Methodius developed the first usable alphabet for the Slavic tongue – thus, the Cyrillic alphabet.

0866 Emperor Louis II travels from Germany to southern Italy to battle the Muslim raiders causing trouble there.

0868 -The Sattarid dynasty, whose rule would continue until 0930  CE, extended Muslim control throughout most of Persia. In Egypt, the Abbasid and Umayyad caliphates ended and the Egyptian-based Tulunid dynasty took over (lasting until 904 CE).

0869 -Arabs capture the island of Malta.

0870- After a month-long siege, the Sicilian city of Syracuse is captured by Muslim invaders.

0871 -King Alfred the Great of England created a system of government and education which allowed for the unification of smaller Anglo-Saxon states in the ninth and tenth centuries.

0874 -Iceland is colonized by Vikings from Norway.

0876 -Muslims pillage Campagna in Italy.

0879 -The Seljuk Empire unites Mesopotamia and a large portion of Persia.

0880 – Under Emperor Basil, the Byzantines recapture lands occupied by Arabs in Italy.

0884- Death of Ahmad Ibn Tultun, founder of the Tulunid Dynasty in Egypt. Originally sent there as a deputy by the Abbasid Caliphate, Tultun established himself as an independent power in the region, extending his control as far north as Syria. It is under Tultun that the Great Mosque of Cairo is built.

0884 -Muslims invading Italy burn the monastery of Monte Cassino to the ground.

0898 -Birth of Abd al-Rahman III, generally regarded as the greatest of the Umayyad caliphs in Andalusia. Under his rule, Cordova would become one of the most powerful centers of Islamic learning and power.

0900 -The Fatimids of Egypt conquered north Africa and included the territory as an extension of Egypt until 0972 CE.

0900 -Mayans emigrate to the Yucatan Peninsula.

0902 -The Muslim conquest of Sicily is completed when the last Christian stronghold, the city of Taorminia, is captured. Muslim rule of Sicily would last for 264 years.

0905-The Tulunid Dynasty in Egypt is destroyed by an Abbasid army sent to reestablish control over the region of Egypt and Syria.

0909 -Sicily came under the control of the Fatimids’ rule of North Africa and Egypt until 1071 CE. From 0878 until 0909 CE, their rule of Sicily was uncertain.

0909 -The Fatimid Dynasty assumes control of Egypt. Claiming descent from Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammed, and Ali bin Abi Talib, the Fatimids would rule Egypt until being overthrown by the Auyybids and Saladin in 1171.

0911 -Muslims control all the passes in the Alps between France and Italy, cutting off passage between the two countries.

0912- Abd al-Rahman III becomes the Umayyad Caliph in Andalusia.

0916 -A combined force of Greek and German emperors and Italian city-states defeat Muslim invaders at Garigliano, putting Muslim raids in Italy to an end.

0920 -Muslim forces cross the Pyrenees, enter Gascony, and reach as far as the gates of Toulouse.

0929 -Abd al-Rahman III transforms the Emirate of Cordova into and independent caliphate no longer under even theoretical control from Baghdad.

0935 – 0969 -The rule of Egypt was under the Ikhidid dynasty.

0936 -The Althing, the oldest body of representative government in Europe, is established in Iceland by the Vikings.

0939 -Madrid is recaptured from Muslim forces.

0940 -Hugh, count of Provence, gives his protection to Moors in St. Tropez if they agree to keep the Alpine passes closed to his rival, Berenger.

c. 0950 Catholicism becomes prevalent and dominant religion throughout Europe.

0950 According to traditional historiography, Europe enters Dark Ages.

0953- Emperor Otto I sends representatives to Cordova to ask Caliph Abd al-Rahman III to call off some Muslim raiders who had set themselves up in Alpine passes and are attacking merchant caravans going in and out of Italy.

0961 -Death of Abd al-Rahman III, generally regarded as the greatest of the Umayyad caliphs in Andalusia. Under his rule, Cordova became one of the most powerful centers of Islamic learning and power. He is succeeded by Abdullah, a caliph who would kill many of his rivals (even family members) and had captured Christians decapitated if they refuse to convert to Islam.

0961- Under the command of general Nicephorus Phokas, the Byzantines recapture Crete from Muslim rebels who had earlier fled Cordova.

0965 -Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phokas reconquers Cyprus from the Muslims.

0965 -Grenoble is recaptured from the Muslims.

0969 -The Fatimid dynasty (Shi’ite) takes Egypt from the Ikshidids and assumes the title of caliphate in Egypt until 1171 CE.

0969 -Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas reconquers Antioch (modern Antakya, capital of the province Hatay) from the Arabs.

0972 -The Fatimids of Egypt conquer north Africa.

0972 -The Muslims in the Sisteron district of France surrender to Christian forces and their leader asks to be baptized.

0981- Eric the Red is exiled from Iceland and settles in a new land he called Greenland in order to attract settlers.

0981 -Ramiro III, king of Leon, is defeated by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir (Almanzor) at Rueda and is forced to begin paying tribute to the Caliph of Cordova.

0985 -Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir sacks Barcelona

0994 -The monastery of Monte Cassino is destroyed a second time by Arabs.

0995 -Japanese literary and artistic golden age begins under Emperor Fujiwara Michinaga (ruled 0995 – 1028).

July 03,0997 -Under the leadership of Almanzor, Muslim forces march out of the city of Cordova and head north to capture Christian lands.

August 11, 0997 -Muslim forces under Almanzor arrive at the city of Compostela. The city had been evacuated and Almanzor burns it to the ground.

0998 -Venice conquers the Adriatic port of Zara. The Venetians would eventually lose the city to the Hungarians and, in  1202, they offer a deal to soldiers of the Fourth Crusade: capture the city again for them in exchange for passage to Egypt.

c. 1000-Chinese perfect the production and use of gunpowder.

1000 -The Seljuk (Saljuq) Turkish Empire is founded by an Oghuz Turkish bey (chieftain) named Seljuk. Originally from the steppe country around the Caspian Sea, the Seljuks are the ancestors of the Western Turks, present- day inhabitants of Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

August 08, 1002 -Death of Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir, ruler of Al-Andalus, on the way back from raiding the Rioja region.

1004 -Arab raiders sack the Italian city of Pisa.

1007 -Birth of Isaac I Comnenus, Byzantine emperor. Founder of the dynasty of the Comneni, Isaac’s government reforms may have helped the Byzantine Empire last longer.

1009 -The Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is destroyed by Muslim armies.

1009 -Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, founder of the Druze sect and sixth Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, orders the Holy Sepulcher and all Christian buildings in Jerusalem be destroyed. In Europe a rumor develops that a “Prince of Babylon” had ordered the destruction of the Holy Sepulcher at the instigation of the Jews. Attacks on Jewish communities in cities like Rouen, Orelans, and Mainz ensue and this rumor helps lay the basis for massacres of Jewish communities by Crusaders marching to the Holy Land.

1009 -Sulaimann, grandson of Abd al-Rahman III, returns over 200 captured fortresses to the Castilians in return for massive shipments of food for his army.

1012 -Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, founder of the Druze sect and sixth Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, orders the destruction of all Christian and Jewish houses of worship in his lands.

1012 -Berber forces capture Cordova and order that half the population be executed.

1013 -Jews are expelled from the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordova, then ruled by Sulaimann.

1015 -Arab Muslim forces conquer Sardinia.

1016 -The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is partially destroyed by earthquakes.

1020 -Merchants from Amalfi and Salerno are granted permission by the Egyptian Caliph to build a hospice in Jerusalem. Out of this would eventually grow The Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (also known as: Knights of Malta, Knights of Rhodes, and most commonly as Knights Hospitaller).

1021 -Caliph al-Hakim proclaimed himself to be divine and founded the Druze sect.

1022 -Several Cathar heretics are discovered in Toulouse and put to death.

1023 -Muslims expel the Berber rulers from Cordova and install Abd er-Rahman V as caliph.

1025 -The power of the Byzantine Empire begins to decline.

1026 -Richard II of Normandy leads a group of several hundred armed men on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the belief that the Day of Judgment had arrived. Turkish control of the region hampers their goals, however.

1027 -The Frankish protectorate over Christian interests in Jerusalem is replaced by a Byzantine protectorate. Byzantine leaders begin the reconstruction of the Holy Sepulcher.

1029- Alp Arslan, “The Lion Hero,” is born. Arslan is the son of Togrul Beg, conqueror of Baghdad who made himself ruler of the Caliphate, and great-grandson of Seljuk, founder of the Seljuk Turkish empire.

1031 -The Moorish Caliphate of Córdoba falls.

1031 -The emir of Aleppo has the Krak des Chevaliers contructed.

1033 -Castile is retaken from the Arabs.

1035 -The Byzantines make a landing in Sicily, but don’t try to recapture the island from the Muslims.

1038 -The Seljuk Turks become established in Persia.

1042- The rise of the Seljuk Turks begins.

1045 – 1099 -1099 Life of Ruy Diaz de Vivar, known as El Cid (Arabic for “lord”), national hero of Spain. El Cid would become famous for his efforts to drive the Moors out of Spain. May 18, 1048 – Persian poet Umar Khayyam is born. His poem The Rubaiyat became popular in the West because of its use by Victorian Edward Fitzgerald.

1050 – 1200 -The first agricultural revolution of Medieval Europe begins in 1050 CE with a shift to the northern lands for cultivation, a period of improved climate from 700 CE to 1200 CE in western Europe, and the widespread use and perfection of new farming devices. Technological innovations include the use of the heavy plow, the three-field system of crop rotation, the use of mills for processing cloth, brewing beer, crushing pulp for paper manufacture, and the widespread use of iron and horses. With an increase in agricultural advancements, Western towns and trade grow exponentially and Western Europe returns to a money economy.

1050 -Duke Bohemond I (Bohemond Of Taranto, French Bohémond De Tarente), prince of Otranto (1089–1111) is born. One of the leaders of the First Crusade, Bohemond would be largely responsible for the capture of Antioch and he secures the title Prince of Antioch (1098 – 1101, 1103 – 04).

1050 -Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos restores the complex of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

1054 -A famine in Egypt forces al Mustansir, 8th Fatimid caliph, to seek food and other commercial assistance from Italy and the Byzantine Empire.

July 16,-1054 Great Schism: The Western Christian Church, in an effort to further enhance its power, had tried to impose Latin rites on Greek churches in southern Italy in 1052; as a consequence, Latin churches in Constantinople were closed. In the end, this leads to the excommunication of Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople (who in turn excommunicates Pope Leo IX). Although generally regarded as a minor event at the time, today it is treated as the final event that sealed the Great Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity.

1055 -Seljuk Turks capture Baghdad.

1056 -The Almoravid (al-Murabitun) Dynasty begins its rise to power. Taking the name “those who line up in defense of the faith,” this is a group of fanatical Berber Muslims who would rule North Africa and Spain until 1147.

1061 -Roger Guiscard lands at Sicily with a large Norman force and captures the city of Masara. The Norman reconquest of Sicily would require another 30 years.

1063 -Alp Arslan succeeds his father, Togrul Beg, as ruler of the Baghdad Caliphate and the Seljuk Turks.

1064 -The Seljuk Turks conquer Christian Armenia.

September 29, 1066 -William the Conqueror invades England and claims the English throne at the Battle of Hastings. Because William is both the King of England and the Duke of Normandy, The Norman Conquest fuses French and English cultures. The language of England evolves into Middle English with an English syntax and grammar and a heavily French vocabulary.

1067 -Romanus IV Diogenes becomes the Byzantine Emperor.

1068 -Alp Arslan invades the Byzantine Empire and is repulsed by Romanus IV Diogenes over the course of three campaigns. Not until 1070, though, would the Turks be driven back across the Euphrates river.

1070 -Seljuk Turks capture Jerusalem from the Fatimids. Seljuk rule is not quite as tolerant as that of the Fatimids and Christian pilgrims begin returning to Europe with tales of persecution and oppression.

1070 -Brother Gerard, a leader of the Benedictine monks and nuns who run the hospices in Jerusalem. beings to organize The Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (also known as: Knights of Malta, Knights of Rhodes, and most commonly as Knights Hospitaller) as a more military force for the active protection of Christian pilgrims.

1071 -Normans conquer the last Byzantine holdings in Italy.

1071 – 1085 -Seljuk Turks conquer most of Syria and Palestine.

August 19, 1071 –
Battle of Manzikert: Alp Arslan leads an army of Seljuk Turks against the Byzantine Empire near Lake Van. Numbering perhaps as many as 100,000 men, the Turks take the fortresses of Akhlat and Manzikert before Byzantine Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes can respond. Although Diogenes is able to recapture Akhlat, the siege of Manzikert fails when a Turkish relief force arrives and Andronicus Ducas, an enemy of Romanus Diogenes, refuses to obey orders to fight. Diogenes himself is captured and released, but he would be murdered after his return to Constantinople. Partly because of the defeat at Manzikert and partly due to the civil wars following the murder of Digoenes, Asia Minor would be left open to Turkish invasion. One third of Christian Lands and 51% of Christian Churches fall to Islam.

1072 -Tancred of Hauteville is born. A grandson of Robert Guiscard and nephew of Bohemund of Taranto, Tancred would become a leader of the First Crusade and eventually regent of the Principality of Antioch.

December 15, 1072 -Malik Shah I, son of Alp Arslan, succeeds his father as Seljuk Sultan.

1073 -Seljuk Turks conquer Ankara.

July 1074 -El Cid marries Jimena, niece of Alfonso IV of Castile and daughter of the Count of Oviedo.

1076 -First recorded execution in England by the ax: the Earl of Huntingdon.

1078 -Seljuk Turks capture Nicaea. It would change hands three more times, finally coming under control of the Turks again in 1086.

1079 -Battle of Cabra: El Cid led his troops to a rout of Emir Abd Allah of Granada.

1080 -Order of the Hospital of St. John is founded in Italy. This special order of knights was dedicated to guarding a pilgrim hospital, or hostel, in Jerusalem.

1080 -An Armenian state is founded in Cilicia, a district on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor (Turkey), north of Cyprus, by refugees feeling the Seljuk invasion of their Armenian homeland. A Christian kingdom located in the midst of hostile Muslim states and lacking good relations with the Byzantine Empire, “Armenia Minor” would provide important assistance to Crusaders from Europe.

1081 – 1118 -Alexius I Comnenus is Byzantine emperor.

1081 -El Cid, now a mercenary because he had been exiled by Alfonso IV of Castile, enters the service of the Moorish king of the northeast Spanish city of Zaragosa, al-Mu’tamin, and would remain there for his successor, al- Mu’tamin II.

1082 -Ibn Tumart, founder of the Amohad Dynasty, is born in the Atlas mountains.

1084 -Seljuk Turks conquer Antioch, a strategically important city.

October 25, 1085 -The Moors are expelled from Toledo, Spain, by Alfonso VI.

October 23, 1086 -Battle of Zallaca (Sagrajas): Spanish forces under Alfonso VI of Castile are defeated by the Moors and their allies, the Almorivids (Berbers from Morocco and Algeria, led by Yusef I ibn Tashufin), thus preserving Muslim rule in al-Andalus. The slaughter of Spaniards was great and Yusef refused to abide by his agreement to leave Andalusia in the hands of the Moors. His intention was actually to make Andalusia an African colony ruled by the Almorivids in Morocco.

1087 -After his crushing defeat at Zallaqa, Alfonso VI swallows his pride and recalls El Cid from exile.

September 13, 1087- Birth of John II Comnenus, Byzantine emperor.

1088 -Patzinak Turks begin forming settlements between the Danube and the Balkans.

March 12, 1088 -Urban II is elected pope. An active supporter of the Gregorian reforms, Urban would become responsible for launching the First Crusade.

1089 -Byzantine forces conquer the island of Crete.

1090 -Yusuf Ibn Tashfin, King of the Almoravids, captures Granada.

1091 -The Normans recapture Sicily from the Muslims.

1091 – Cordova (Qurtuba) is captured by the Almoravids.

1092 -After the death of Seljuk Sultan (al-sultan , “the power”) Malik Shah I, the capital of the Seljuks is moved from Iconjium to Smyrna and the empire itself dissolves into several smaller states.

May 1094-El Cid captures Valencia from the Moors, carving out his own kingdom along the Mediterranean that is only nominally subservient to Alfonso VI of Castile. Valencia would be both Christian and Muslim, with adherents of both religions serving in his army.

August 1094 -The Almoravids from Morocco land near Cuarte and lay siege to Valencia with 50,000 men. El Cid, however, breaks the siege and forces the Amoravids to flee – the first Christian victory against the hard-fighting Africans.

November 18, 1095 -Pope Urban II opens the Council of Clermont where ambassadors from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, asking help against the Muslims, were warmly received.
Political foundations laid for the first “organized” Christian response to Jihad: the First Crusade.

These facts are taken from multiple open sources. If there is an error, let me know."

 







Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: spiritualit y, religion, christianity, islam

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