On June 12, 2016, a mass shooting
terrorist attack and hate crime occurred inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in
Orlando, Florida, United States. Fifty people died, including the gunman, who
was killed by Orlando police after a three-hour standoff.
The name of the murderer was Omar Mateen.
Many claim that Omar was not a Muslim. However, according to telegraph.co.uk, the
IMAM of the mosque he used to attend spoke out concerning him:
“The imam of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, where Omar
Mateen
prayed four days a week, said there were rumours that Mateen was
very aggressive, but that he was unusually quiet at the mosque and did not
appear to have a single close friend in the community.”
As we see, there is no denying the fact
that Omar was a practicing Muslim. The question, however, is whether his
actions walked in harmony with the ways of Allah and his prophet, which we will
see within this post, actually did.
This post was originally meant to display
unto the readers that if Muhammad was here today, he would stand in full
support of the actions performed by Mateen in Orlando. However, within the last couple of
days, the Muslim community has taken upon themselves the task of attempting to
rid themselves and their religion of the blame which arose from the murderer’s
hands. The problem is, they have done this by means of attempting to
demonstrate that Jesus also taught such things which would stand in support of
the Orlando shooting as well. Hence, I will quote to you both the teachings of Jesus
and Muhammad to see which one of these truly supports and discourages the tragedy
brought forth
on June 12,
2016.
The things we are going to look at within this post are the
following:
-How Muhammad ordered Muslims to treat
Homosexuals
-How Jesus ordered Christians to
treat Homosexuals
-How Muhammad ordered Muslims to treat
the unbelievers
-How Jesus ordered Christians treat the unbelievers
As we know, the Orlando shooting was
performed in a gay bar/nightclub which was filled with those who were part of the
homosexual community.
Within the following verses, we are going
to see what Muhammad told the Muslim community to do with those who are guilty
of sodomy (homosexuality):
Abu Dawud (4462) - The Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever you find doing
the action of the people of Loot, execute
the one who does it and the one to whom it is done.".
Note: The individual who is named Loot is actually Lot whose story we
are all familiar with. According to both the biblical and qur'anic narrative,
the people of loot committed sodomy ( homosexuality). These people were known
for this sin. This is what the Quran and Muhammad call “ the action of the people of loot”
Abu Dawud (4448) - "If a man who is not
married is seized committing sodomy, he
will be stoned to death.“
al-Tirmidhi,
Sunan
1:152 - [Muhammad said] "Whoever is found conducting himself in the manner
of the people of Lot, kill
the doer and the receiver."
If Muhammad was here today, would he stand
in full support of Omar’s actions? YES
Now, within the
following verses, we are going to see what Jesus told his followers to do and what he did with those who are guilty of sodomy (homosexuality):
Note: In actuality, Jesus never speaks
about homosexuality within the gospels. However, what we find within the
teachings of Christ is that ANY SIN can take us to hell, including anger,
insults and adultery. In other words, no sin is greater than another with the
exception of blasphemy against the holy spirit. So in order to prove that Jesus
stood against the killing of homosexuals or any being for the reason of him/her performing a sin, we are going to look at
verses where Jesus:
-Does not kill a sinner who is worthy of
death
-Commands us to love EVERYONE
-Does not prescribe a death penalty or
justified murder for any wrongdoing,
even for the unpardonable sin.
(John 8:2-7):And the scribes and Pharisees brought
unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,They
say
unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.Now Moses in the law commanded us, that
such should be stoned: but what sayest
thou?This they said, tempting him, that they
might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on
the ground, as though he heard them not.So when they continued asking him, he
lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on
the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out
one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left
alone, and the woman standing in the midst.When
Jesus
had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman,
where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?She
said,
No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do
I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
(Mark 12:30-31):And thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all
thy strength: this is the first commandment.And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these.
Note: Many come to the conclusion that
the word neighbor means someone who is in the same religion as you. However,
Jesus gave us the definition of who your neighbor actually is. The answer is ANYONE and EVERYONE. Jesus does not give a detailed description of a specific
type of person who fits within the category of a neighbor because a neighbor
is a general term referring to humanity as a whole. This parable which provides the definition of your neighbor is found within the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Luke verses 26-37.
You can read the parable here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A26-37
Within the Greek, the word for neighbor is πλησίον.
This word means
-near
-nearby
-a neighbor.
When we look at Merriam-Webster's dictionary, we see that the definition of a neighbor also includes FELLOW MAN:
-a person who lives next to or near
another person
-a person or thing that is next to or
near another
-Fellow man
Jesus viewed the word neighbor through
the lens of our common residence which is EARTH. We all live within this planet,
hence we
are all near. We are all neighbors to one another.
In view of all this, we can conclude that
the second commandment
is to
love EVERYONE despite their sin, race and color. This command also includes HOMOSEXUALS. We do not love homosexuals by KILLING THEM, but by being nice to
them and teaching them the gospel.
(Mark 3:28-29):Verily I
say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the
sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever
they shall blaspheme:But
he that shall blaspheme against the
Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
Note: The reason why I use this verse in
support for Christ standing against the killing of homosexuals is because there
does exist ONE sin which is greater than homosexuality and all other
wrongdoings. It is called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Logically, we would
assume that the death penalty or the justification of murder would depend on
the severity of the sin. But, what we see here is that the ONLY unpardonable
sin which exists in the world is NOT punishable by death, but of everlasting
fire. No death penalty was brought forth by Jesus for such a wrongdoing. Hence,
it is logical to conclude that if the greatest sin (blasphemy against the holy
spirit) is not worthy of a death penalty or of murder, then homosexuality
within the eyes of Christ
would
ALL THE MORE not be worthy of murder or the death penalty.
If Jesus was here today, would he stand in full support of Omar's actions? NO
The Orlando shooting was done in the United States. Within Islamic communities, the states is known as being a
nation of the disbelieving seeing as the majority of individuals are Christian.
Also, the probability of some of those in the night club in Orlando being Muslim are VERY LOW.
Within the following verses, we will see
how Muhammad treated the unbelievers and how he ordered his followers to treat
them as well:
Muslim (1:33) - the Messenger of
Allah said: I have been commanded to fight
against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad
is the messenger of Allah
Bukhari (8:387) - Allah's Apostle
said, "I have been ordered to fight the
people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah'. And if
they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be
sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally.“
Quran (9:5) -
Then
when the Sacred Months (the Ist, 7th, 11th, and 12th months of the
Islamic calendar) have passed, then
kill the Mushrikun (see V.2:105) wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege
them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. But if they repent and
perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and give Zakat, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Note: Notice that the only way which the
unbelievers can escape murder is by paying the Islamic community a sum of money...
In order to further prove that this whole idea of killing the blasphemer or unbeliever is found within the Islamic belief system, here is a discussion I had with a Muslim who threatened to have me killed for simply believing that Jesus is God.
If Muhammad was here today, would he
stand in full support of Omar’s actions? YES
Now, within the following verses, we are
going to see how Jesus treated the unbelievers and how he commanded his followers
to treat them as well.
(Matthew 5:46-48):For if ye love them which love you,
what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?And if ye salute your brethren only,
what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as
your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Note: Within this verse, we are called to
universal love. Also, notice how we are NOT ordered to ONLY salute and welcome
our brothers. Within the biblical narrative, the word brother refers to your
brother in Christ. In other words, it is someone who is in the same religion as
you, in this case, Christianity. Loving everyone and saluting the unbelievers is
the OPPOSITE of killing them.
(John 6:64-68): But
there are some of you that believe
not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and
who should betray him.And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me,
except it were given unto him of my Father.From that time many of his disciples
went back, and walked no more with him.Then
said
Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?Then
Simon
Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Note: Notice that in the midst of Christ,
there was people who did NOT believe in him. Furthermore, what we see is that many of
Christ’s disciples committed
APOSTASY
and STOPPED following him. Did Jesus command them to be killed? Did he command
them to be fought
until
they submit to Christ? the answer is NO.
(Matthew 5:43-44): Ye have heard that it hath been said,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Note: Jesus did not only command us to love those who
are not part of our religion, but he also went as far as to tell us to love those who
do WRONG to us, IE our enemies both within and without of the Christian
religion. These
do not sound like the words of one who is a supporter of slaughtering
unbelievers.
If Jesus was here today, would he stand
in full support of Omar’s actions? NO