SNIP
>>>Not quite correct. Judaism and Christianity have the same god whereas 'Allah' finds his origins in the worship of the pagan (multiple) dieties that Mohammad essentially refactored into a form of monotheism. Apparently he chose the moon god hence the crescent & star.

I also do not find anything in your links below that quote the Qu'ran itself as stating that Islamics worship anything but GOD or that god is taken from the worship of pagan dieties. I see nothing in the Qu'ran itself that references worshiping anything BUT god itself, in fact the opposite is stressed over and over again.

I think quoting from human interpretations of the Qu'ran is as dangerous as quoting human interpretations of the bible. All are susceptible to the human understanding and that understanding is oftentimes very different. You have to look at the text itself for a fair analysis, just as with the bible. I should not quote what 'someone else says the bible states' rather from the bible itself.

I also see no evidence that historically the Islamic religion is any more violent than that of Christianity. Traipsing down the path of history, churches of many denominations and different spiritual paths were both intolerant and violent towards non-believers.

Also, only a VERY small percentage of Muslims are actually Arabic. The majority are Indonesian I believe. Yet where does the majority of the violence occur in the name of Islam? Not in the countries that have the highest number of Islamics per capita. It is also the one (if not the) most popular religions in the world. If violence and intolerance were based on the Qu'ran and not the individuals interpretation of it (as I profess), then that same violence would be evident everywhere in the world on the same scale.

If you blame Islam for the few narrow minded perspectives we see in extreme cases, then you must in turn blame every religion for the actions of its members throughout history including the Catholic, Lutheran, Morman, and other churches.

Tracy

>Hi Tracy,
>
>*shrug*
>
>History and fact trump self-definitions.
>
>Check these links out for starters.
>
>http://www.bible.ca/eo/islam.htm
>http://www.pbs.org/visavis/BTVPages/Origins_of_Islam.html
>http://answering-islam.org
>
>
>
>>Not according to the Qur'an:
>>
>>And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate to Allah Who created them, if you (really) worship Him. (41:37)
>>
>>AND
>>
>>He reminded them that there was only one God, the Lord of all creation, who controlled Life, death and resurrection. He told his own father, Azar, to desist from worshipping idols. He said he had learned from his own experience that God alone was worthy of worship.
>>
>>When the night was dark, Abraham saw a star; he said to himself, 'This must be the Lord.' But soon the star set and his faith was shaken. Then he saw the moon rising in the sky. 'This is the Lord,' he said. However, when it waned, he lost faith in it. Likewise, when the sun rose, brighter than everything, he was convinced that it was the Lord. But the sun also set, and Abraham cried: 'I set my face against all these. I repudiate every other kind of worship except the worship of God, Creator of all that is in the heavens and on the earth.' [6:76-79]
>>
>>AND
>>
>>Tell the people, O Muhammad! that to be rightly guided one need not be a Jew or a Christian. The righteous belong to the community of Abraham, who was pure in his worship of God. So were Ishmael, Jacob and the tribes, and Moses, Jesus and the rest. They are all Our messengers; We make no distinction between them. [2:135-136]
>>
>>
>>Tracy
>>
>>>Jim,
>>>
>>>>Hilmar,
>>>>
>>>>As I understand it, ALL of the three religions - Christianity, Jewish and Moslem - have the SAME single God (as opposed to any old god) and that is the God of Abraham.
>>>
>>>Not quite correct. Judaism and Christianity have the same god whereas 'Allah' finds his origins in the worship of the pagan (multiple) dieties that Mohammad essentially refactored into a form of monotheism. Apparently he chose the moon god hence the crescent & star. Check out http://www.khouse.org/strategictrends/islam/ as a starting point. There's
>>>
>>>Now, historically all three have Abraham as the point of convergance. Jews and Muslims in that he is their physical progrnitor and Christians who may or may not have the physical link but all of whom must have the faith link.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>cheers
>>>>
>>>>SNIP
>>>>>
>>>>>Actually, it seems that some versions of the Qur'án translate "Allah" as "God", others keep it as "Allah". But it is still the same God - muslims believe in one single God.
>>>>>
>>>>>Hilmar.