Monday 13 August 2012

Something literally came out of the AnsweringChristianity website

H/T my good friend Mari B. Kaima, who posted this via Facebook

"" At least there is one good thing that has come out of answeringchristianity dot com, and I mean literally came out of it :)


His name was Issa Ahmad Khalid, and he was a former contributor to the AnsweringChristianity website. He writes:

It is not my wish or intention to insult the feelings or the faith of Muslims, but I find it most prudent to share my experience in order to spread the truth of the Lord Jesus in the hopes that it will not only deter any confused Christian into making the mistake of embracing Islam as I had, but also to share with all Muslims why I returned the loving arms of my Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus. I pray that you read these words with an open mind and heart.

BORN A ROMAN CATHOLIC

If anything, I was submersed in the Christian Faith from a young age. My mother was, and continues to be, a devout Roman Catholic, and in spite of whether or not one agrees with Catholic theology, I admire her for her faith. It was this faith that rubbed off on me as I went to Catholic school as a child, along with serving as an Alter Boy at Sunday Mass. Eventually, as I became older, I also served as an Usher, Lector with aspirations of moving on to become a Roman Catholic Priest. I don?t want to get into any intricate details with respect to my life, but let?s just say that I wanted to serve the Lord in any capacity I could. It was during the years I spent in study that I began to have questions flood into my head with respect to what exactly it was that I was following as a Roman Catholic, seeing that many of the dogmas and traditions held no support from The Holy Bible. I began to learn that the Catholic Church felt that only they reserved the right to interpret the Bible in the way they saw fit, however, even in this case I was at a loss to understand how one can interpret the Bible into believing that reverence should be given to Mary, the virgin mother of our Lord Jesus, as this only served to compromise that it was Jesus who came to be the intermediary between God and man, and that the need to pray to Mary and other Saints was both unnecessary and in complete violation of the first and second commandments. However, it is not my wish to defame the Catholic Church, nor Catholics themselves as they too are Christians, but I felt it necessary to share this bit of information so as to give you and understanding and background into why I left the Church. Sadly, it wasn?t until many years later that I came to realize that my disillusions about Christianity was not in Christianity itself, but rather in the Catholic interpretation of such. This would be no more reflected than in the many articles I wrote for the propagation of Islam, as they were deeply indicative of my Catholic upbringing and indoctrinated beliefs, rather than the pure Biblical teachings of Christianity that would have become more apparent if I had just taken the time to study them. None the less, some years after leaving the Church, I embraced Islam and became a Muslim, changing my name to Issa Ahmad Khalid, and as I may reference to just prior, began a writing campaign against Christianity in my propagation of Islam. I was heavily influenced by the direct approach of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, going so far as to imitate his approach to the joy of the Muslims who were more than happy to accept a former "wanna be" clergyman into their fold with my somewhat "limited" knowledge of The Holy Bible.

ISSA AHMAD KHALID

As I mentioned already, I took this name and spent several years being a rather influential force in my local Muslim communities, giving lectures at many Mosques and even appearing on television twice with a local Muslim celebrity. As ashamed as I am of saying this, I took great joy in angering the feelings of Christians with my rhetoric, even behaving in a most confrontational manner as I did everything within my power to completely insult and deride the Christian Faith, all with the blessings of the Muslims. This was so obvious in my writings as I pulled no punches in lashing out against the Bible, going so far as to call it pornographic and immoral. I would spend hours upon hours going through its pages in an attempt to find anything I could to further insult it, even if it meant quoting passages out of context as any knowledgeable Christian would be able to deduce from my writings, but I imagine I was aiming my works to a demographic that was not knowledgeable. I will say this though; that if anything good came out of my bad intentions towards the Bible, it is that my deep study into it for the purpose of defaming it only proved itself to be the reason for my return to the Christian Faith.

DISILLUSIONS WITH ISLAM

There were many factors that eventually led to my disillusions with Islam, all of which stemmed not only from the behaviour of the Muslims themselves, but by their teachings and literature as well. In the forefront of it all was the character of Muhammad, who I came to accept as the greatest of all the Prophets of Almighty God (Allah), and the bearer of God?s final revelation to mankind which the Muslims believe is embodied in the pages of the Qur?an. I read so much in the way of Islamic literature that I not only propagated the belief that Islam was the most perfect of religions, but that Muhammad was the culmination of God?s perfection. So much of this Islamic literature was aimed at using The Holy Bible as a tool to prove the validity of both Muhammad and Islam with claims to Biblical references to Muhammad?s prophethood. On the one hand, Muslims (myself included) would continually rant about the corruption of The Holy Bible, and yet on the other hand we would use the same Bible we defamed as a tool to prove the advent of Muhammad. This was pure hypocrisy not only on my part, but on the part of all Muslims who continually follow this criteria, and the criteria I make mention of is taking certain passages of The Holy Bible and quote them completely out of context in order to spin them into our own ideology and interpretation. This is no different than the dishonest archer. Where a true archer would draw the target first and then shoot the arrow into the bull?s eye, the dishonest archer would shoot the arrow first and then proceed to draw the target around the arrow. Needless to say, no such proofs of Muhammad exist in The Holy Bible and any such examples used by Muslims, like those I myself used as a Muslim, is nothing more than the fancy work of spin doctors. I will now address some examples.

"The burden upon Arabia." Isaiah 21:13

In this passage, Muslims will try and convince all who will listen that this is in reference to both Muhammad and the Muslim world as the heralds of God?s everlasting Law simply because the word Arabia appears, but in no wise does this refer to any burden placed upon Arabia as such Muslim scholars as Sheikh Ahmed Deedat would have you believe in his "Bible Combat Kit", rather it is a warning (prophecy) against Arabia.

When read and studied in its proper, historical context, it deals with the Dedanites, who had availed themselves of the hospitality of the Arabs whenever they travelled through the desert, would now lodge in the forests because the Arabs would be driven from the land. So again, in this we have no reference to Muhammad.

"The Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir; He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints; from His right hand went a fiery new law." Deuteronomy 33:2

This passage chronicles the journey of the Children of Israel under the Prophet Moses; from their escape out of Egypt into the desert, to the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai, to finally coming forth into the Promised Land out of Paran with the Law. Muslims claim that Mount Paran and the fiery new law refers to Mecca and the Qur?an, and that when Muhammad had entered into Mecca he brought with him 10,000 of his followers. Again, the problem for the Muslims here lays in the fact that this passage has a historic significance in that Moses was educating the new generation of Israelites, as the old had died out, about the journeys of the Israelites into the Promised Land. As far as the term "Ten Thousands Of Saints" is concerned, the obvious fact is that thousands is in the plural, which denotes a great myriad in the hundreds of thousands being that the Hebrew script of the time had no zeros, which is why thousands is in the plural. Also, Mount Paran is not in Arabia, but rather in the Sinai Desert. This in no way makes any notion to the advent of Muhammad.

"The villages that Kedar doth inhabit." Isaiah 42:11

"Arabia and all the princes of Kedar." Ezekiel 27:21

Again, we have a failure on the part of the Muslims to understand the historic significance of these passages. While it is true that among the sons of Ishmael one was named Kedar, to use this passage to prove the advent of Muhammad is groundless as Kedar was another name for Arabia during the time of both Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel. Also, Ezekiel makes it clear that he was referring to local merchants when speaking of the "Princes Of Kedar".

"For to you every vision has become like the words of a sealed book. You give it to someone able to read and say, read that. He replies, I cannot because it is sealed. You then give the book to someone who cannot read and say, read that. He replies, I cannot read." Isaiah 29:11-12

Muslims use this passage in reference to Muhammad being given the revelation of the Qur?an, in spite of the fact he could not read. They also lay this claim on the fact that the first chapter (surah) of the Qur?an is titled "Al-Fatihah" (The Opening) forgetting that this particular chapter of the Qur?an was not the first one supposedly revealed to Muhammad. This passage, in fact, deals with the Prophet Isaiah reprimanding the Israelites for rejecting the Word of God and following false prophets.

"I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My Words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I command him." Deuteronomy 18:18

Here God is telling Moses and the Children of Israel that He will raise prophethood from among their brethren, and this is proven from the long line of prophets sent to the Israelites. The Muslim use of this passage to prove the advent of Muhammad stands on a shaky foundation as the Ishmaelites are not the brothers of the Israelites but rather the cousins, and that to use the term "brethren" in any other context is wrong as proven from the use of the word is the same chapter 18 of Deuteronomy, verse 7.

"The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalms 118:22-23

Muslims claim this refers to Muhammad, however, our Risen Lord Christ Jesus quoted this prophecy in Matthew 21:42-43, indicating that He was the fulfillment of this prophecy.

"The Coming Light" made reference to in Isaiah 42:1-2, 6-7 once again deals with the Lord Jesus, who walked the earth 600 years before Muhammad was even born.

"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever; the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him for He lives with you and will be in you." John 14:16-17

Muslims claim that Jesus was referring to Muhammad, but as Christians we know that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit. For example, the passage states that the Counselor will be with us forever. Muhammad did not abide with us forever, but rather he died. The passage also states that the world could neither see nor know the Counselor, but Muhammad was seen and known by many people. The passage also says that the Counselor would live and abide inside us; Muhammad could do no such thing as he was not a spirit. Jesus makes it quite clear that this passage speaks of the Counselor as the Holy Spirit in the following;

"But the Counselor; the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26

Once again we have the following;

"But I tell you the truth; it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you." John 16:7

In this passage also Muslims claim Jesus was referring to Muhammad, but had they known The Holy Bible more thoroughly, they would have realized what Jesus said later about this prophecy as He was being taken up to Heaven;

"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Acts 1:4-5

Jesus clearly said that this would happen in a few days and not 600 years later as Muslims would have us believe. In fact, this was fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4.

I can continue onwards with many more examples, but to do this would seem as if I am singling out Muhammad, which is something I have no wish of doing as it would be counter productive to establishing a relationship with Muslims. However, this new found knowledge, as well as the repetitive nature of the rituals of Islam, led me to realize that the truth of Almighty God lays in the Saving Grace of Christ Jesus. Salvation does not lay in submitting one's self to the whims of an Arabian who lived over 1400 years ago, to which the Muslims today follow fanatically. Many examples of this can be found on http://
www.answering-islam.org/ so in that I will spare dragging this testimony on longer than it has to. I will say this though, that Muslims live in fear; whether it is from God or fellow Muslims as the Hadiths leave a Muslim will little or no other option. As a Christian I now have no fear of hellfire as I have put myself in the Saving Grace of Jesus, but sadly Muslims have no such comfort as the Qur?an teaches that God saves who He Wills and condemns who He Wills, leaving the Muslim to wonder right to the very end of his/her life here if in fact they will achieve Paradise regardless of all their wonderful deeds. It is this type of mind set that has led so many Muslims to die in the Name of God and Islam, calling themselves Martyrs. But the nature of Martyrs differs drastically from Christianity to Islam, as Muslims believe any who die fighting for the cause of God is a Martyr, whereas a Christian believes that one is a Martyr who dies for the preservation of their faith, refusing to relinquish their belief in Christ Jesus.

I TESTIFY

Aside from this testimony, I made my intentions clear to the Muslims I once called brothers and sisters some time ago in returning to my Christian Faith. Sadly, I was met with scorn and ridicule, as well as threats of damnation for my apparent apostasy. I was somewhat shocked at how easily I was turned against in such a venomous manner, but none the less, I have only God to fear and not man, for Jesus taught us to fear Him that can destroy the soul and not him that can destroy the body. Ironically, among the Muslims I testified to was an individual who has his own Islamic web-site. You see, I had contributed many works for the propagation of Islam to his web-site, and even though I made my intentions clear about returning to Christianity, my works still appear on his web-site. I have requested that he remove them, but instead he merely removed my name and simply put my initials (A.T.), claiming these to be the works of a new convert to Islam. This is most hypocritical on his part, not realizing that by doing so, he is going against the tenants of his own religion. You see, in Muslim circles I am now an apostate, and as such any Muslim who continues to having any dealings with me is also an apostate; and the fact that my works are still on this web-site is leaving him to indirectly continue to having dealings with me, which again contradicts many of the Hadiths of Muhammad. These articles can be found on 
http://
www.answering-christianity.com/a_t/index.html

I am not proud of these works, and no doubt they will be a source of life long shame on my part, but please know that these were the works of one whose ignorance of The Holy Bible would eventually blossom into true knowledge and return to Christ Jesus; Hallelujah. I pray that this brief testimony will be a source of enlightenment to those who read it, a source of comfort to those who can relate, and a source of knowledge to those who are contemplating a choice to live in accordance to either Muhammad or Jesus Christ.

I now live in accordance to the Saving Grace of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, taking every step as if He will return at any moment. I now work for the Lord, having become an Ordained Minister, and sharing my experiences with all who wish to hear me. To all who claim that The Holy Bible contradicts itself, I claim that The Holy Bible does not contradict itself, but rather it contradicts the chosen lifestyle of those who make such foolish accusations. To all who try to correct The Holy Bible, I say rather than correct The Holy Bible, let The Holy Bible correct you. As I mentioned earlier, I can go on and on with respect to Islam, Muhammad and the Qur?an, but a wealth of information exists on this web-site answering-islam.org that I implore you all to take the time a read through all you can to gain a better understanding of the Christian Faith and the origins of the Islamic religion. Knowledge is strength, and when we have this strength, we can teach others. I like to think that I am proof of that. Thank you for taking the time to read my testimony and may Almighty God Bless you all abundantly through the Saving Grace of our Risen Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus. Amen.

Reverend Anthony Tarasca of the
ARMOUR OF GOD CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES
United In Christ Jesus ""

1 comment:

  1. It's only a matter of time before Reverand Anthony returns home, as all roads lead to Rome.

    Thanks for this Warren. I will be looking up his website soon.

    ReplyDelete