Message to all Muslims

A message from her exile in Holland to all Muslims worldwide where freedom of conscience is respected

By Nahed Mahmood Metwalli

Amsterdam 2002 

Summary 

Brief presentation

Allow me to introduce myself briefly. My name is Nahed Mahmood Metwalli. I was a former principal of the secondary school for girls, of “Helmiet El-Zaytoun” in Cairo, Egypt. I was born into a Moslem family. All the members of my family occupied high-ranking positions in the government. As with most Moslems, I hated Christians and Christianity. I used to accuse them of disbelief and of altering the Holy Bible. I used to persecute them severely and treat them very harshly. 

I believed that it was my duty to treat Christians this way until the day I met my Lord Jesus Christ. He revealed Himself to me and because of His tenderness and love, I abandoned myself totally to Him. I left my country, my family and everything for His sake and for the witness to His name. All the members of my family are still living in Islam. 

I love Moslems very much because the law of the Lord Jesus is one of brotherly love. Out of love, I addressed three messages to them. 

In the first message, I present the Person of the Lord Jesus from the perspective of the Koran, the holy book of Islam. When we study in the Koran the Suras (chapters) written in the city of Mecca, we find that the Koran confirms the teachings of the Gospels. In Christianity, we don't say anything different. I quote directly the Koranic verses related to Jesus Christ. 

In the second message, I analyze the status of women in Islam. 

In the third message, I carefully examine a Koranic verse that states that Moslems and Christians worship the same God. Is that true? The answer is given in this message.

The Koran's view of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I would like to review with you my first message and to present the Koran's view of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Koran says that God has chosen Mary, purified her and preferred her above any other woman in the world. (Sura 

3:42). The Koran did not say anything like this about any other woman in history. The Koran also says that the angels addressed Mary with the salutation: “O Mary! God gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him: His name will be Christ Jesus, ‘Al-Massih Issa’ Son of Mary. ” (Sura 3:45). No mother or child in the whole world have benefited from such an annunciation by angels. 

The Koran also speaks about the amazing birth of Christ and of His fatherlessness. (Sura 3:47). There is no one in the world born without the intervention of a man, except the Lord Jesus. 

The Koran also mentions the miracles performed by Christ. 

He spoke from his crib, announcing Himself as God-sent. (Sura 3:46.49) 

He raised the dead, opened the eyes of the blind, purified the lepers and healed all diseases. 

Moreover, a tradition (Hadith) says “The hour (of judgment) will not arrive until Jesus Son of Mary comes down amongst you and gives His just judgment”, meaning that the return of the Lord Jesus must precede the Day of Judgment and that He will judge the whole world. 

The Koran says that Christ did not die but that God raised Him to heaven. (Sura 4:157.158). 

My dear brothers and sisters, let me ask you this question: Who else received such testimony from the Koran? To whom was it told that His Mother would be holy and elected from all the women in the world? 

The Koran also says that God chose Jesus, and Him alone, to be a sign for the whole world and mercy from God. (Sura 19:21). He will be illustrious in this world and the hereafter and of those closest to God (Sura 3:45)

Christ's divinity, recognized by the Meccan Koranic verses, is denied by the ones written in Medina

God gave His own attributes to Christ, and to Christ alone. He gave the power of creation “I make for you, out of clay, the figure of a bird and breathe into it and it becomes a bird by Allah’s Leave” (Sura 3:49). The power to raise the dead and to heal all diseases. God never gave these powers to any prophet. And if I am told that Christ performed all these miracles with God's permission, I would reply by saying: Of course! But why didn't God give these powers to anyone else except to Jesus Christ unless Christ is God's Spirit and His Word deposited in Mary (Sura 4:171)? 

We observe that the Meccan Koranic verses recognized the reality of Christ, but the ones written in Medina denied Christ's divinity. It is a well-known fact that Mohammed, the apostle of Islam, at the beginning of his career wanted to rally Christians to his cause, but in Medina, when his followers increased in number and he increased in strength and power, he denied all his Meccan affirmations about Christ and produced a totally different text. And that is totally intolerable.

The Bible has not been falsified

There is another important point I want to share with you. Some Moslems say that the Holy Bible was falsified. I will then ask them: “When was the Bible altered? Before the appearance of the Koran or afterwards?” If they say, “before”, I will then reply: “so why did the Koran refer to the authority of the Bible and describe it many times as ‘The Book of God’?” If they say “afterwards”, I will then ask: "Why hasn’t the Koran warn them that the Bible will be falsified in the future?” We find, on the contrary, that the Koran recommends Mohammed, the founder of Islam, when in doubt, to consult those who read the previously revealed Book: the Bible.

Put another way: If the Bible was altered before the Koran, then the Koran should not testify to it; and if it was altered after the Koran, it should have warned about it. One must never formulate, against the Bible, such unfounded accusation. Moreover, how can any human be able to corrupt the revelation given by God? Is God not able to preserve His word? This accusation of falsification is a very serious one, and must never be formulated. 

The Koran (Sura 2:285) affirms that the Bible – the Torah and the Gospels – are revealed by God. It says specifically: “The apostle (Mohammed) believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord as do the men of faith: each one of them believes in God and His angels, His books and in His messengers, we make no distinction between one and the other of His messengers.” It would be incredible if the Moslems affirm the contrary.

The position of women in Islam

In my second message, I tackled the delicate subject regarding women in Islam. Forgive me if what I will say may sound offensive, but it is rooted in the “Noble Koran” (al Kor’ân al karîm).

Polygamy

In the Sura entitled “Women” (4:3), God gave every Moslem male the right to marry two, three or four women at the same time. The verse adds “If you fear that you shall not deal justly (with them), then only one." Yet it is impossible to be just. I want to awaken the conscience of each man and each woman on the subject of polygamy. I want to ask the woman: “Can you accept that this great mystery of intimacy which exists between you and your husband be shared with a second, a third and a fourth woman?" And yet we know how immense is the pain which afflicts a woman from the least suspicion of her husband’s betrayal, even out of a simple glimpse for another woman! 

Can God be so cruel to the point of inducing such suffering for the woman by giving her husband the right to share her marital intimacy with one, two or three other women? I am convinced that this is not from God. Polygamy is shameful. Some Moslem countries like Tunisia forbid it altogether. Well- educated families reject it also. How can God authorize it? As for me, I leave this matter to your conscience.

Divorce

Another distressing subject for the woman in Islam: divorce. The husband has the right to divorce his wife by pronouncing a simple phrase: “you are divorced!” and the poor woman and her children find themselves out in the streets and her married life terminated by one phrase pronounced by her spouse in a moment of anger or after a quarrel. Should a woman live under this constant threat of divorce from her husband? And for any reason? 

Divorce is a serious matter. Married life is a relation bonding the man and the woman who leave their respective families in order to become one and to establish a new home. How can the simple words “you are divorced” be enough to destroy a family? Worse than that, if the phrase “you are divorced” is repeated three times, the husband cannot reconcile with his wife without the aid of an “absoluter” (“mouhallel”). (Sura 2:230). 

What can I say about this « absoluter » other than shame and disgrace! How can you accept that your wife with whom you were united in body and soul, be given to a stranger, in a temporary, yet complete marital relationship prior to her return to you? This is totally unholy and God is Holy. I cannot believe that this law emanated from a Holy God. On the contrary, in the Mosaic Law, if a man divorces his wife and another man marries her and then divorces her, it is absolutely forbidden for the first husband to marry her again: “that is abomination before the Lord.” (See Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

Marry four women and enjoy sexual relationship with many others

Lastly, the Koran, which authorizes a man to marry four women, also adds other women which « your right hand possesses » [ma malakat aymanoukoum]. (Sura 4:3). This expression is well known in Islam and it means that a man can marry four women and any other woman in the service of the family – a servant, governess or a slave. Any woman who receives a salary from the husband becomes his property and he has the right to have sexual relationship with her. Is this sane? And if a child is born from this relationship, what will the child's situation be in the family? What a demeaning situation! Our Holy God cannot tolerate such immorality.

Fear the Day of Judgment

When I was a Moslem, my heart was as hard as a rock and I shut my ears in order not to listen to God’s word, but I thank God for the day in which I stood in front of Him and begged Him to show me the truth. We will all die one day and appear before God. It will be the great Day of Judgment. We will be in His hands and He will ask us: “Why did you not listen to My words?” What shall we answer Him? That we preferred our families above Him? As for me, I begged God and said: “Lord, guide me and show me the truth. What is important for me is that after my death You receive me in Your Eternity. Let me walk on the right path.” I thank God Who enlightened me and revealed to me His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Revelation of the Son of God

You completely reject the expression “Son of God” because you imagine it to be the result of a carnal relationship. You imagine, God forgive me, that God married the Virgin Mary and got a son from her. What stupidity! The Sonship of Christ is a spiritual one because God is Spirit. God, because He is the source of fecundity, has given His creatures the capability of procreation. How, then, can He be deprived of fecundity in Himself? God revealed to us that, from all Eternity, while being One, He is Life, He is Love, He is Dialogue, He is inter- personal Relationships. The only God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Such is the mystery of the Holy Trinity, revealed by the Son in the Gospels.

Paradise in the Koran

There is another important topic I would like to discuss with you now: paradise. I ask forgiveness from God and from you because I shall now speak about shameful things, yet rooted in the Koran and its commentaries. Women in paradise are virgins and men have continuous sexual relationships with them (Sura 56:35-38; 38:52). And after each sexual relationship, these women become virgins again! In paradise, and in the presence of God, an infinite number of virgins are available for sexual relationships! A paradise consisting of sexual pleasures without end! 

The Koran also says that in paradise, there are young boys of perpetual freshness (Sura 76:19). I find it painful to elaborate on the description of paradise. Who are those young boys and what do they represent? I have read the commentaries written on this subject by Sheikh Mohammed Galal Keshk, in his book entitled “Thoughts of a Moslem on the Subject of Sex” edited by the Moslem Heritage Library of the Moslem Research Institute. I was greatly surprised at what I read and could not read more than 4 or 5 pages from this book that had created great confusion for its readers. A committee was formed by the Egyptian religious university of Al-Azhar to examine this book and to issue its recommendations. It took them a long time to issue their report. On July 22nd, 1984, this committee declared this book to be in-line with Moslem teachings. Yet, in this book, the author affirms that if a man resists the temptation of pedophilia on earth, as a reward for his self-control, he will find boys waiting for him in paradise! I am very much ashamed and unable to discuss this topic further. How can a Holy God tolerate this terrible sin in paradise? Whoever abstains from a sexual relation with a boy on earth, finds this boy waiting for him in Paradise! And this boy will be perpetually young! Reason and logic reject such beliefs. 

We all know that this type of sexual perversion exists in the Arabian peninsula. To satisfy the perverted needs of the Bedouins, Mohammed, the apostle of Islam, promised them these boys in paradise. My friends, how can you accept and listen to such teachings in your meetings? God will reward us in paradise in the last day after a good virtuous life only. How can paradise consist of sexual activities with women and boys, drinking and eating of birds, as well as all kinds of meat, surrounded by rivers of honey, wine and milk? (Sura 55:54- 56; 52:19-22). Think about it for a moment! I appeal to your judgment.

Paradise in Christianity

Now, compare it with paradise in Christianity, or more accurately, the Kingdom of God or Eternal life. Our Lord Jesus revealed to us that we would resemble angels (Matthew 22:30). Our glorified bodies will have no need for any carnal desires, food or drink. Like the angels, we shall not eat, nor drink nor marry. Such is the difference between paradise in Islam and in Christianity!

God in the Koran

In Islam, God has 99 attributes or Names. A tradition says that if anyone recites them, he will enter paradise. Among these attributes, one of them is the greatest. I knew that the 100th Name was unknown. God will reveal it in prayer, and when invoked, God will answer your prayer immediately. I used to recite these divine Names. But I discovered among them: the Proud, the Powerful, the Avenger, and I became afraid. God is the Almighty, the Distant, the Strong, the Powerful and the Avenger. And the Koranic affirmation that "we will all go to hell” (see Sura 21:98; 32:13) terrified me. 

The more I read the Koran and delved into its spirit, the more I became terrified. I read the Koran tens of times and memorized more than half of it. I read and recited God's Names (attributes) many times: There is no God but Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful, the King, the Holy, the Dominator, the 

Helper… Then the following names … the Powerful, the Avenger and the Almighty… and I would become afraid again.

God revealed by Christ

But when I saw Christ, understood Christianity and read the Bible, I discovered a totally different God. A God Who is Gentle, Good, Merciful and Lover of mankind. He gave us His only Son in order to take away my sins and to justify me before Him.

The meaning of Christ’s death on the Cross

And if you ask yourself: “Why is the forgiveness of our sins effected by Christ's death?" I will respond by saying to you that it is because God is both Just and Merciful at the same time. His Justice does not suppress His Mercy nor does His Mercy suppress His Justice. Adam sinned when he disobeyed God’s commands. The Koran says that because of the seduction of Satan, Adam ate from the tree of eternity (see Sura 20:120). Adam sinned and we have inherited his sin. Adam’s sin needed a Redeemer. My Moslem brothers and sisters, in sacrifice you kill an innocent lamb and offer it for redemption, and you call this sacrifice “Kabsh Al-Fida”, the sheep of redemption. We can now understand why Christ’s Incarnation was necessary, and why our Redemption was accomplished by the ultimate sacrifice of Himself on the cross, He Who, according to the Koran, was sinless…

Violence in the Koran

I want to deal now with another very important matter. Astonishingly, countless number of verses in the Koran call the Moslem believers to kill and go to war. If we examine how Islam spread to the whole world, we find that it was by the sword, and Moslems admit this fact. How can God incite to murder? 

The Koran in its entirety encourages Moslems to conquer the world by force by ordering them to kill, kill, and kill… even though it also declares: “You have your religion and I have mine!” (Sura 109:6). It also affirms "whoever practices a religion other than Islam, is not acceptable" (Sura 3:85). Why is this contradiction? If God wanted Islam to be the religion of the whole world, is He not able to impose it? Why resort to violence? God created us free and He will ask us to account for ourselves on the great Day of Judgment or the Resurrection. 

It also says: a deserter of Islam has to be killed. How can God give the right to anyone to kill another person because he does not adhere to Islam? Put in another way, how can God give the right to anyone to kill another person who leaves Islam and adheres to another religion? God respects our freedom. How can we tolerate the idea that a man can kill another because he leaves Islam?

Christ condemned violence

When exposed to violence, what was Christ’s attitude, the gentle, the sinless, the life-giver, the healer of all diseases, Who exercised the power of creation? When the apostle Peter pulled his sword to defend Jesus on the night of His crucifixion, Jesus told him: “Put your sword in its place. Do you think that I cannot ask My Father to provide Angels to defend Me? I have come for this hour.” (See Matthew 26:52- 54). 

Let us compare Christianity with Islam again. 

Jesus said: "When someone slaps you on your right cheek, offer him the other one too.” (Matthew 5:39). Then comes Islam’s call for war and murder and mutilation of the dissident of Islam. 

Christ asks us to seek the kingdom of God and not to ask for anything from this world. “Seek the kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you." (Matthew 6:33). While in Islam killing, deceit and cheating are prevailing. 

The Koran denies the historical fact of Christ’s death on the Cross

Our Lord Jesus sacrificed His life on the cross and took away the sins of the world in order to purify the past, present and future generations until the end of time. 

The Koran also says: “They killed Him (Jesus) not, nor crucified Him, but so it was to appear to them.” (Sura 4:157). What does « appear to them » mean? The Koran’s commentators say that God gave the appearance of Jesus – Son of Mary – to another person who was arrested and crucified in Jesus’ place. Is this reasonable? God forgives me when I ask: “How can God be so unjust to let someone else die in Jesus’ place?” 

The Koran admits that God raised Jesus to heaven. (Sura 4:158). Yes, Jesus was exalted, but only after offering His blood as a sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of the world. 

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the number of followers of a certain religion is not important, what is important is our salvation. Because of my joy, peace and happiness in this beautiful life I live with Jesus Christ, it is my desire that you too can enjoy the beauty of this life.

Back to the unhappy matrimonial condition of the Moslem woman

I want to remind my Moslem sisters about another important matter. I mentioned earlier that your husband has the right to marry two, three or four wives, experimenting with them this great mystery of intimacy between both of you. If, in a moment of anger, he divorced you by repeating the words “You are divorced” three times, he cannot remarry you unless you live a complete married life with a stranger. Imagine how soiled is the body of a woman who is sexually abused from one man after the other. Yet, the husband can divorce his wife by pronouncing a single word and she will find herself – and her children – in the street. The woman has no right to divorce 

her husband, only her husband has the right to divorce. Marriage and divorce are the privileges of the man only. When things go sour between you, marriage can be a prison from which you cannot escape. When the situation becomes unbearable, and if you want to obtain a divorce, you have to rely on the legal system to obtain justice, while knowing in advance all the complications awaiting you on this difficult road.

The right to inheritance I want to discuss another important element in Islam: inheritance. The Koran grants a man double the share of the woman. How can God permit this? Conceivably, in the older times, when the man was the sole provider and responsible for the family, but things have changed significantly now. Through employment, the woman works hand in hand with her husband. She is educated and career-minded. She is respected and has attained the highest levels of careers in society. Why should she be treated as half the man's worth? And how should the woman feel when a 16 or 17 year-old male inherits twice the inheritance share of a woman well advanced in age?

The testimony in the court of justice

Another important point: the testimony in the court of justice. The Koran says that the testimony of a man is equivalent to the testimony of two women; in case the first woman forgets something, the second woman is there to remind the first one! Who said that the memory of a man is more evolved and powerful than a woman’s and that in this matter, a man is worth two women? We live now in a modern world characterized by the advancement of sciences. There is no proof that a woman’s memory is inferior to a man’s, nor does anything justify the pretension that the testimony of a man equals that of two women. Nothing justifies the rejection of a woman’s testimony. 

Personally, I would like to know why the woman holds this position of inferiority. Didn’t God know that the woman would 

be educated and occupy positions at work in the world? In our society, women occupy all positions. She is a physician, a research scientist, a cabinet minister, a prime minister, even a queen and a head of state. How can the woman in Islam be considered ‘half’ of the man, in all the domains? Could God ignore the social evolution of the woman? Of course not and this negative situation is unacceptable and illogical. 

I remember when my father died; we had to go to court for the inheritance hearing. At that time, I was the principal of the secondary school for girls of Helmiet El-Zeitoun in Cairo. I received a bachelor degree in education in 1963, the highest qualification in this field. I was accompanied by my 16 year- old nephew, in his second year at the secondary school. My testimony as a mature and educated woman was refused, as I needed the presence of another woman to augment my testimony, but the testimony of my 16 year-old nephew was accepted. Is this kind of logic suitable to-day? 

In my opinion, Islam was suitable during Mohammed’s tribal time when people lived in the desert under tents and not for our time.

The question of the Islamic veil

There is another question I want to ask my Moslem sister. Are you convinced of the necessity of wearing a veil? What does the veil represent? What is wrong with your hair that you want to cover it? Does it matter if you cover your hair or not? If I am told that covering a woman’s hair prevents men from temptation, I will respond: “Where is men's self-control?” My dear Moslem sister, do you know what Christ says in this matter? He says: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28). Sin is the responsibility of both; not of the woman's alone. Why does Islam oblige you to cover yourself from head to toe so that men are not seduced? Can't men control themselves? Is this reasonable? Why can't man and woman observe a proper measure in their attitudes, the woman in her clothing style, and the man in control of his impulses in desiring women? Why are you obliged to cover yourself from head to toe to prevent a man from looking and desiring you? There is no logic in that. 

In Christianity, Jesus gives us life, peace and harmony. The woman covers her head inside the church only in order to avoid vanity, and this has nothing to do with tempting men.

Happiness of the Christian spouse

Jesus perfected the conjugal relationship by forbidding divorce, commanding both the husband and wife to leave their respective families, to be united and to become one body and soul. Christ forbade bigamy, and as such, the Christian spouse's life is stable and peaceful. The Christian spouse knows that it is not possible for her husband to bring home another woman to live with her. Also it is not possible for your husband, in a moment of anger, to repudiate you with a single phrase: “You are divorced”. He cannot have children from two wives at the same time and you all know the enmity which exists among children from different mothers.

Happiness in following Christ

I give praise to God Who manifested Himself to me and for converting me from Islam to Christianity. I give thanks to Him for this great grace. I implore every human being who has a conscience to respond to it… 

My Moslem brothers and sisters do not be afraid. The Lord protects us and defends us. Do not be afraid of the sword suspended over your head if you desert Islam. Think of our Lord whom you will meet at the end of time. What are you going to tell Him? That you were afraid? Do you think that the Lord is not able to protect you as He protected me in Cairo when I was the well-known principal of a school attended by 4000 students? Every year, around 1500 students graduate from this school and are replaced by new ones. Can you imagine the number of people who knew me? They also knew the whereabouts of my residence. But the Lord protected me and guarded me.

To reap profit from the conditions of life in the free world

I now wish to address all the Moslems who live in Europe, Australia, the United States and Canada. I want to tell you: “You live in free countries and you are guaranteed freedom of conscience. Why don't you follow the road of reason? Why do you ignore reason and live with old-fashioned ideas? Why adhere blindly and without any judgment to the old ideas of your ancestors? What is the purpose of reason and logic? Our mind is the faculty that differentiates us from all other creatures. Why remain a prisoner of old traditions and prejudices? What is the purpose of education and culture? You now live overseas, take advantage of this fact.”

It is essential to read the Bible

The Bible is trustworthy. Read it. Read the Gospel. Read it even for cultural reasons. Get acquainted with the words of Christ. Study the contents of the Bible and compare for yourselves… I implore all Moslems to open the Gospels and to get to know about Christ's life. How can you judge someone you do not know? Lift up your heart to God and address Him in your prayers. Life is too short, 70, 80 or a 100 years and then comes the great Day of Judgment when all of us will stand in front of the Creator to give account of our refusal. What excuse shall we give? I plead to you in the name of God to Whom we all adore, that you open the Bible, read it, and compare for yourselves. On one side, we are commanded to go to war and to kill, and on the other we are invited to love and peace and to share the beautiful life with Christ. The Lord is capable of guiding us to His true light.

God respects human freedom

I read in the Koran that God orders non-Moslems either to embrace Islam or to pay taxes. I ask then my Moslem brothers and sisters everywhere: did anyone impose on you 

Christianity or force you to pay a price for adhering to Islam? Did anyone interfere in your life of faith to tell you about which religion you are to embrace? God created us free creatures and gave us freedom of conscience. God does not destroy those who worship the sacred cow. He does not harm those who have no religion or deny His existence. How can He authorize the Moslems to force those who follow another religion to embrace Islam or to pay taxes?

About fasting

Ramadan is the fasting month for the Moslems. I have noticed how most people in Europe and America respect the feelings of Moslems in this religious month. They accommodate their fasting rituals by giving them flexible working hours in their work. No one protested against the Ramadan fast. 

Another point I want to mention to my Moslem brothers and sisters. I want to ask you: “Is it logical for God to ask the people to fast a whole month, from sunrise to sunset, and then to share in a banquet after breaking the fast every day?” Is this how you share with the poor who can hardly eat anything? If you tell a poor man to fast for 7, 8 or 10 hours and then ask him to share at a banquet, will he not be delighted to accept? As for me, when I was in Islam, I used to prepare myself for Ramadan two months before it started, I used to fill the freezer with all sorts of meats and to collect all sorts of ingredients for delicious desserts and the like. 

Fasting in Christianity is totally different from that in Islam. The Lord Jesus did not instruct us on how, when, how long, or what to fast from. He only said: “When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, who present a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting… But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father Who is in secret; and your Father Who sees you in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18). 

Moral progress of humanity has reached the summit with the Gospel, while the Koran represents regression

I would like now to raise another very important point. Life on earth began by the creation of Adam and Eve. They sinned and were expelled from paradise. They were then subjected to the laws of the jungle and the survival of the fittest, which did not respect any right. Then God, through His prophets, gave us His Laws. 

Hence the Law of Moses who spoke to God face-to-face replaced the laws of the jungle. The Koran itself testifies to this. The Koran is close to Moses' Law of retaliation: “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. (Exodus 21:24). Then, there are the laws of polygamy and divorce. 

When Christ came, He raised humanity to the laws of monogamy and non-violence; “Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other too.” (Matthew 5:39). Laws of love and peace, void of murders, wars or taxes. Christ raised human morality to its summit. He commanded everyone to love and to forgive one another. When the apostle Peter asked Jesus: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus replied: “I do not say up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:21-22). One should forgive his brother countless times. Jesus also said: “If you bring your gift to the altar and then remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24). Jesus also recommended resolving conflicts quickly and amicably rather than resorting to tribunals. (5:25). 

Our Lord Jesus raised our level of humanity to a very high degree of perfection, both morally and spiritually. What do you expect the outcome to be? Jesus Christ, the Word and Spirit of God, Who has raised the dead, opened the eyes of the blind, created from clay a kind of bird, Who was born without a father from the most pure woman in the whole world, the Blessed Virgin Mary, how, then, 650 years after Him, comes a religion, which denies what He taught? 

Ask yourselves this question my Moslem brothers and sisters. And once that God has raised our morals to such a high degree, how can He reduce us back to the Islamic laws, which resemble those of Moses? 

Open your heart and mind my brothers and my sisters in Islam and read the Bible in order to appreciate Christ's grace. I am sure that the Lord will guide you. Rest assured, I am not condemning nor defaming Islam because Jesus does not inspire such attitudes, but it is a matter of Truth: Look towards Our Lord and discover how good He is. 

I implore you to lift up your hearts and to read the Bible. The Bible is trustworthy and has never been altered. Question the false accusations!

We must choose between Christ and Mohammed

Finally, I want you to examine the following two very different personalities that you are faced with. Which one will you adhere to? Consider the following facts:

First: 

Jesus Christ was born from the Blessed Virgin Mary without the intervention of a man. 

Mohammed, the apostle of Islam, was born from pagan parents.

Second: 

Jesus Christ never married. He dedicated Himself to His mission. He died on the cross, was resurrected and rose to Heaven. His life on earth lasted 33 years. 

Mohammed married numerous women after the death of his first wife Khadija who was the cousin of a Christian priest, Waraka Ben Nofal, a very well known personality in the Moslem tradition. Waraka blessed Khadija's marriage with Mohammed, who could be considered a Christian spouse. Mohammed's initial teachings and behavior resembled that of Christians. His marriage to Khadija who was 15 years older than he, was monogamous. He did not dare marry another woman while Khadija was alive, but after her death, he married several women. One of these was Aisha, a 7 year-old child when he engaged her and 9 years of age when he consummated the marriage with her when he was around 53 or 54 years old. 

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, if you have a 9-year old daughter, would you give her in marriage to a man in his fifties? Where is the mercy in this marriage? I asked some Moslems about this marriage and their reply was that Mohammed's motive was to teach her the Koran and the religious traditions. Aisha herself recorded many “Hadith”. I replied: “Is this the ideal way to transmit Tradition? Wouldn’t it have been preferable to gather a number of children and to teach them these traditions without engaging them in a sexual relationship?" 

Regarding Zaynab, daughter of Gahsh who was the wife of his adopted son Zaid Ibn Haritha, God revealed a special verse in the Koran blaming Mohammed for hiding in his heart his desire to marry her. The Koran says (Sura 33:37): “But you did hide in your heart that which God was about to make manifest: you did fear the people. Then when Zaid had dissolved (his marriage) with her, we (Allah) join her in marriage to you: in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in marriage with the wives of their adopted sons. And God’s command must be fulfilled.” Mohammed then married this woman, and abolished the custom of adoption so that he would not be accused of marrying the wife of his son! 

Mohammed married numerous widowed women. The most flabbergasting is the verse (Sura 33:50) which says that God himself gave the exclusive right to Mohammed to entertain sexual relationship with any faithful woman who offers herself to him! Is this possible? If 10, 20 or 50 women offered themselves to him, they became his own! No. No. This is not possible! 

Third: 

Jesus Christ never went to war and never carried a sword. At the moment of Jesus’ arrest, one of His disciples tried to defend Him with a sword and Jesus told him: “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52). Christ called us for peace and love while Mohammed preached murder, wars, military conquests and the like…

Fourth: 

During His life on earth, Jesus Christ never desired a woman or anything in this world, whereas Mohammed, according to a tradition, "should his shadow or sight fall upon any woman, that woman must become his wife, in order for him not to desire her in vain!" Is this logical?

Fifth: 

Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross to take away our sins, and then rose to Heaven, whereas Mohammed died poisoned. I would like to comment on this fact. Christianity teaches that for the true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, poison or any deadly material cannot affect them. But Mohammed, the apostle of Islam, was challenged by a Jewish woman who put poison in a small cooked lamb and served him, convinced that if he is really an apostle of God, the poison will not harm him. Mohammed died at the age of 62 as a result of that poison. Previously, another Jewish woman thought that if Mohammed were really an apostle of God, then magic would not affect him. She induced a spell on his comb and when Mohammed used it, he lost his hair and memory. Tradition reports that he would forget which wife he would have slept with last, because he had fifteen of them to satisfy! 

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam: You now have two very different personalities in front of you. 

The first one is the Lord Jesus, Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He performed numerous miracles, preached peace, 

forgiveness and love. He never married nor carried a sword. He died on the cross for our Redemption, was resurrected and rose to heaven. 

The second is Mohammed, born of pagan parents. He claimed to have a mission from the Archangel Gabriel. He enjoyed all of life's sexual pleasures and desires, was a war-monger and died poisoned. 

Whose message will you accept? It is up to you to decide. 

The number of people who adopt Christianity does not matter to us. We will all have to account for our deeds to God on the Day of Judgment. That is the essential point. 

I worry about my Moslem brothers and sisters I loved and with whom I lived as a Moslem for 45 years. Many members of my family and friends still live in Islam and I appeal to their hearts. I want them to discover Jesus' attracting Light, and the grace of being a Christian. He is capable to attract you and to enlighten you so that you can discern the truth. All what I desire is that you taste the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ and be saved, because the end is near and life is too short. The day will come when you will have to account to God for your life. 

May God enlighten you and reveal the truth to you so that you can recognize Jesus Christ, the Savior, Son of the living God. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Light of the world; and there is no way to reach God except through Him. 

Amen.

Prayer

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God Amen. 

We give thanks to You our God for Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We thank You, O Christ, for attracting us to Your amazing light. 

We thank You for the cross, by which You saved us from our sins, 

for Your Precious Blood by which You washed us and purified us. 

We thank You for Your Holy name, for Your peace and love and for Your promises to us. 

Lord Jesus, You are faithful to Your promises. 

You assured us that whatever we ask from the Father in Your Name would be granted to us. 

I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Blessed, the Almighty. 

I implore Your Light upon all people. 

Father, let them know that You are the true God and come to You. 

Allow them to recognize their only Savior: Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

There is no other Name under heaven given to men by whom we are saved. 

I pray to You, O Lord, for my brothers and sisters in Islam, and for all the people I know and all the people Your hands have created. 

Let them know You and follow Your way and reach You. 

I give You thanks for Your abundant salvation and Your admirable light. 

To You, be all glory and honor forever and ever. 

Amen.

---