“And their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.” (Qur’an 4:157)
Given that the Qur’an teaches that Jesus was not crucified but someone else was, who was made to resemble Jesus, it’s hard to find Islamic fault with what Abdul Somad said. If Jesus was not crucified, the cross is not a symbol of redemption, as it is for Christians, but of deception, and hence is “an element of the devil.”
“Faced with the clamour provoked by Somad’s statements, interfaith dialogue activists urged Christians not let their emotions prevail to the point of undermining the sense of national unity.”
The Christians are not the ones that Indonesia has to worry about letting their “emotions prevail to the point of undermining the sense of national unity.”
“Muslim preacher insults the cross, outraging even Muslims,” Asia News, August 20, 2019:
Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A notorious Muslim preacher, Abdul Somad (pictured), has come in for strong criticism, after a video went viral on social media, showing one of his sermons in which he describes the cross as “an element of the devil”.
Despite Somad’s claim that he had no intention of promoting religious intolerance, such remarks have sparked outrage among Indonesians, including Muslims.
In a statement, Muhammadiyah, one of the country’s oldest and most popular Islamic organisations, said such words could be seen as blasphemy. Others accuse the preacher of fostering anti-Christian sentiments.
The incriminating sermon was delivered last Saturday at a mosque in Simpang Kelayang, a village in Riau province (Sumatra Island).
The impact of Somad’s statement in social media prompted the 42-year-old preacher to release another video the following day.
“The Quran reciting session was held in a closed Mosque, not at a stadium, a football field, nor aired on television,” he says. “It was for Muslims internally. I was answering a question about statues and the position of the Prophet Isa (Jesus) relative to Muslims.”
Not many were satisfied with his explanation, especially Christians….
Faced with the clamour provoked by Somad’s statements, interfaith dialogue activists urged Christians not let their emotions prevail to the point of undermining the sense of national unity.
Increasingly, extremists are resorting to hoaxes, fake news and controversy to fuel divisions in Indonesian society, first of all by exploiting religious feelings.
CogitoErgoSum says
Yeah, seeing a cross hurts a Muslim’s feelings … but killing an Infidel makes him feel gooood because it is pleasing to Allah.
gravenimage says
Yep.
Gork says
…and if you really want to see a Muslim get butt-hurt, show them a star of David. So much for interfaith dialog.
gravenimage says
Although I am not Jewish, I always wear a Star of David on Saturdays. It was poster Dumbledore’s Army who first suggested that here.
mgoldberg says
And to think…. no jew will ever have an urge to homicide you for wearing it, or a cross. Now a muslim Jihadist, you might have disrupted his delicate psyche. Heck, you can borrow my baseball cap that says infidel in English and in arabic.
gravenimage says
I like your cap, mgoldberg!
Is this the cap–or something similar?
https://www.cafepress.com/+,480243449/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=pla-google&utm_campaign=2086201333-d-c&utm_content=76831522556-adid-375464305862&utm_term=pla-305388268035-pid-480243449&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwIPrBRCJARIsAFlVT8-_HUSXAJRH0coQywIflE2Rq8ps8bS7XFLk9j_wbkDJsrzEuXsozfgaApzfEALw_wcB
CRUSADER says
Suitable visor to wear at Infidel poker games
while using Bosch Mo-cards.
gravenimage says
I like that idea, CRUSADER. And–only slightly off-topic–I found out that a deck is on its way to Robert Spencer.
mortimer says
So, he believes infidels should stay calm while Muslims are threatening them with violence. Would he also encourage Muslims to remain calm when they are being threatened.
He has double standards meant to silence opposition from his intended victims. He is now trying to back out of the plain meaning of his threats.
Throughout the centuries Muslims have removed crosses from the exteriors of Christian buildings as a matter of course. The main targets of the Koran’s ‘rant’ against disbelievers are Jews and Christians.
CRUSADER says
One of the reasons I actually like the sight of utility poles in many communities.
gravenimage says
Indonesia: Muslim cleric says cross is of the devil, interfaith activists urge Christians, not Muslims, to keep calm
…………………………
Isn’t this always the way?
Greyhound Fancier says
They’ll find more success with asking the Christians to keep calm.
Moslems need Jesus (not the “Prophet Isa”).
gravenimage says
So true.
Gamzu says
This may be a bit off topic, but PA President Mahmud Abbas.recently said that the Palestinians are descended from the Canaanites (and are thus the original indigenous people of “Palestine.”) This is not a new claim. He and other Palestinians also frequently claim that Jesus was a Palestinian. Well, putting these two ideas together means Jesus was a Canaanite! Live and learn! Or should I say “Laugh out loud!”
Rhonda says
Talk about twisting the word of God….jeesh!
Paweł Jarmicki says
HERESY!
paul 316 says
Well, I though that muslims believed that allah was the greatest of deceivers, thus, Jesus out did allah in the department of deception therefor he must be claiming to be a greater deceiver than allah, do I have this right? and this is where they are claiming blasphemy. paul 316
FYI says
Jews praying in synagogue
To YHWH
The God of the Two Chief Commandments{Love God,Love others}
{Deut 6:4-9,Lev 19:18}
Christians praying in church
To God{christians believe YHWH to be the same God but in Trinitarian(not polytheistic!) form}
The God of the Two Chief Commandments(Love God,Love others}
Both Judaism and Christianity have the SAME Law structure.
The two chief laws plus the Exodus 20{ten}
In fact “The WHOLE law of Moses and all the prophets DEPEND on these two chief commandments”
Matthew 22 v 40
{Judaism and Christianity are genuine monotheistic,Abrahamic and Biblical religions for this reason}
VERSUS
muslims “praying” in mosque
To al LAH {“the BEST of deceivers” k3:54} a pagan ARAB god
The god who does NOT subscribe to the two chief commandments since
the koran’s immoral teachings do NOT CONFORM to God’s Exodus Laws{= the violation of the FIRST Chief commandment} and NOTA BENE teaches muslims NOT to “Love thy neighbor”{k5:51,al walaa wal baraa,jihadism etc}{= the violation of the SECOND chief commandment}
And yet islamic apologists and silly,naive “christian” academics who do not have God’s Holy Spirit of Wisdom will tell you that muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews!!
That is logically and theologically impossible.
islam is NOT an Abrahamic religion* and it is NOT a Biblical religion either as the Laws of the Bible are violated by the koran:it is a pagan Arab cult with a false god,a false prophet and a false scripture,allah’s “perfect” koran which has more holes in it than a Swiss cheese.
*If islam was an Abrahamic religion don’t you think it is idiotic for the koran to say “Abraham was not a Jew” k3:67,I mean allah cannot even get the religion of abraham or Moses right in his pathetic attempt to make it seem that the Arabs,not the Jews,were the chosen people{something CONFIRMED by Jesus in John 4<22}
Of course Abraham was Jewish:he is in the genealogy of Jesus{the Jew} Matthew 1
Angemon says
Man bites dog story: muslims right to be outraged for a change!
Anjuli Pandavar says
Ever since Crosby, Stills and Nash released their song “Cathedral” in 1977, I have wanted to visit the famous Winchester Cathedral. I got my opportunity today. As it happened, they had a Festal Evensong, sung by Cantores Vagantes, in the late afternoon, which I managed to attend. I’ve always loved Choral Evensong, but this was the first time, quite unexpectedly, that I experienced one live. It’s been years since I’ve last been inside a church or cathedral. The procession of robed high clergy solemnly bearing ornate crosses and the swinging of an incense burner fascinated me. The breath-taking stone screen above the High Alter struck me as at at least as impressive as the devatas of Angkor Wat.
But over those years, the full horror of Islam had sunk in. For the head severed from the Hydra in 1924, two were growing in its place: Sunni jihad and Shia jihad. Even the great beauty of Winchester Cathedral and its elevating Choral Evensong could not shake from my mind the awareness of what Muslims have in store for Christianity. The destruction of Europe’s Christian heritage is already underway and the great Winchester Cathedral, like all other cathedrals, are for the torch. They will be burnt to the ground to great cries of “Allahu Akbar!” The crosses and crucifixes will all be broken and the stone screen with its many saints either pulled down or blown up. Idol-worship is haram, never mind that nobody actually worships the sculptures. And Christians are meekly letting this all come to pass.
I want to say to Christians, these great cathedrals in which you worship are not your property. They are the commonwealth of all humanity, as are the paintings of Da Vinci, as is Noh theatre, as is Hyderabad breyani, as is Jazz, and space travel and Benin masks. You are the *custodians* of these great Christian works; humanity entrusts you with their safe-keeping. The Indonesian imam might be a freak, but there is a reason such freaks keep arising, expressing the same aims in exactly the same words. You know from your own historic experience that no amount of “interfaith dialogue” is going to protect you, let alone your crosses and your great cathedrals, from jihad. Let not the cathedrals go the way of the Bamiyan Buddhas. I don’t care what Jesus might have told you, it is *irresponsible* to capitulate to Islam as you are. “Interfaith dialogue”, as you well know, is nothing but interfaith monologue. Muslims say whatever they want; you hold your tongue. Yes, you have an ideology of suffering, but it is *our* cultural heritage that you’re handing over for destruction, and to that you have no right.
gravenimage says
^Fine* post, Anjuli, Thank you.
Lydia Church says
You have misunderstood a vital point.
There is a place for suffering. But it is not as a doormat.
When Christianity is attacked, we have every responsibility to defend it in every way. We are in fact called to do so by Jesus. We are not supposed to lay low and say nothing. That is hogwash! And I take that very seriously. Every single time I am aware of someone disparaging anything having to do with Christianity, I go after them like an attack dog. I find a way to contact them, and I refute them and tell them how wrong they are and how it is their beliefs that are at fault, etc. I do this vehemently every time. One example is when I saw a banner for a muslim holiday hanging in my neighborhood and I contacted the city officials and complained about it, saying that Christian holidays are not represented equally and that should not be there, etc. Now mind you, I am as polite as they are. Or aren’t. If I was aware of an impending attack on a church building, coming from any direction, I would go there myself to stand against it. If anyone were to issue threats against people wearing crosses, POP! I would whip out my biggest cross and don it with dignity, honor, and boldness publicly every chance I get! I might suffer as a result, but that is how these things are connected. We suffer for being His witnesses, and that is where suffering plays a meaningful role. Another example is all the recent mockery of all things Christian in various areas of society such as TV shows, etc. I even made a facebook comment under a fake name to Hillary telling her that, “NO, it is YOU who has to change YOUR religion, we must keep ours!” (For details, google her making that comment.) Now why do serious Christians do these things? We do it because we know God is real, and we LOVE Him! Would you folks put up with someone publicly maligning your child? Or your spouse? What would you do to defend them? Well God deserves at least as much passion from us as that, if you are a Christian you know that.
And on that note:
NO, IT IS THE CRESCENT THAT IS OF THE DEVIL! THE CROSS IS SACRED!
Now you guys out there in Indonesia tell yourselves to keep calm!
I certainly won’t!
CRUSADER says
Keep Calm
&
Conceal Carry
===========
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kSbTWjFn2Js
“Be strong, be of good courage,
God bless America, long live the republic. …”
— sootch00.
J D S says
Like Paul, at one time, who called himself a Pharisee of the Pharisees this so called Cleric is the liar of liars….Islam is Satan in the flesh…..and why churches, pastors, priests Christian laymen, and the government can not see this and confront it is just beyond me. Then one looks at what is happening today with sugared down Christianity and then one actually can understand it…oops I’m judging again…God’s gonna get me…that’s His job…and guess what???He’s doing his job.judging us g or our failures.
J D S says
Oops an error covered…should read…”He’s doing His job judging us for our failures”
gravenimage says
Good for you, Lydia! I agree–Christianity is not a suicide pact.
Rhonda says
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God remains forever. 1 John 2 :15
I am positive most Christians are deeply hurt by the destruction of great works done to honor Christ Jesus. BUT we as His followers KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT that all we see here in “this world” will be destroyed. Our future does not rest with this mortal world or this corrupt dimension but in the next. Clinging to buildings or monuments is not where our hope lies. We cling to the CORNERSTONE the ROCK the builders reject the ONE who gave his lifeblood to free us from the enslavement of this wretched corrupt body. THAT is why we stand and watch this world die. Our commission is to save God’s CHILDREN those who do not know or believe in Jesus . It certainly is NOT to save buildings.
gravenimage says
There *is* good in the world, and Anti-Jihadists don’t want to see that good destroyed by ravening Jihadists or any other evil. You don’t have to do anything, but some of us aim to defend that good.
CogitoErgoSum says
Jesus was willing to take action against those who would turn the Temple into a den of thieves. He used a whip to drive them out. He was not always mild and meek. Sometimes more aggressive methods of persuasion are justified when a transgressor goes too far.
Nathan Dunning says
When he returns he will be Fierce and have no mercy on the Islamist Hordes who must repent or be evicted from Earth. Muslims fear the King of Kings Jesus Christ
John says
islam is the World’s Satanic FILTH.
Nathan Dunning says
Yeshua Ha’Mashiach / Jesus Christ will rule the Earth as the King of Kings & Jews Christians & Muslims will either live in Peace under his rule or they’ll be removed from the World.
Antiislamicman says
The Koran is from the devil Muhammad is the devils right hand man. Islam is evil
Eric Jones says
Imam Somad should never be allowed in the USA. The didgital record of his teachings in whatever form should be barrred and censored in the USA. Even Muslims in Indonesia don’t want his disturbing of the peace.
Repent and and follow Jesus Christ.
Eric
Kerry Wade says
I wonder what this lunatic thinks of early Muslim conquers minting coins with the cross on them as pointed out in Robert Spencer’s book “Did Mohammed Exist?” I think the book is one of Dr Spencer’s best. Look forward to his next in the new year.
gravenimage says
Agreed, Kerry. “Tee History of Jihad” is very important, as well,
Kerry Wade says
Yes I’ve read The History of Jihad”, borrowing but so very necessary to tell.
gravenimage says
Thanks, Kerry. And I of course meant “The History of Jihad”.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
So there’s trouble brewing in ex-Prez Barack Hussein Obama’s second home nation. I wonder if he’ll issue a statement urging that the Christians living in that hellhole nation don’t need to answer the Call To Islam or face death.
Battle says
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Spoor says
Would you believe me if I said that this cleric was backed by certain parties to be vp candidate last election?