I am not defending Dr. Morey's book in this section since he is far more capable than I to do that! I find some of Mr. Meherally's responses to this book very interesting and would like to make some remarks concerning his critique of this book.
Mr. Meherally opens this section by taking offense to the phrase "99 names" of Allah:
In fact, it is fairly common to hear Muslims themselves make references to the "99 names" of Allah. There are several Islamic websites that do this! Since Allah is the name of God, it is logical to assume that the "99 names" are simply the "other" names (or attributes) of God.
Mr. Meherally takes offense to Dr. Morey's statement that Arab armies destroyed much of the culture of the lands they invaded. I have personally visited many archaeological sites in India and it is true that the Muslim armies laid waste to many Hindu and Buddhist temples and monasteries and destroyed much of the region's cultural heritage. How does he respond? Does he say that their actions were wrong? NO WAY!
Mr. Meherally cannot answer the charges against Islam, so he launches an attack against Christianity! He mentions the Crusades while he omits the Muslim "jihads" against Persia, India, and Europe. The Crusades were wrong and those involved DID NOT follow the words or example of Jesus Christ. The Muslim armies who conquered and plundered DID follow the words and example of Muhammad and the teachings of the Qur'an! The most pathetic, and desperate, statement made by Mr. Meherally is the reference to Hitler as a "Great Christian Military Mind." Hitler did not espouse Christianity, in fact he wanted to rid Germany of the Christian faith. Would Mr. Meherally call Idi Amin (Uganda's former dictator who actually murdered and ate some of his opponents) a great Muslim leader? Does Mr. Meherally consider Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini as "great Muslim military minds"? Do you realize that these two men probably killed more Muslims than all of the Crusades combined?
Mr. Meherally objects to the statement that most of the Muslim army's soldiers were originally Pagans. Actually, most of the followers of Muhammad were former Pagans - not Christians or Jews.
The statement that Islamic civilization reached an intellectual and cultural zenith at this period may be true, but it is completely irrelevant to the argument.
In this section, Mr. Meherally launches the common Muslim attack on the Trinity as well as discussing how Emperor Constantine conspired to create the concept of the Trinity. These issues have been addressed at great length elsewhere.
The great translator and Koran scholar Yusuf Ali said "... the whole of the [pagan] pilgrimage was spiritualized in Islam ..." (Yusuf Ali: fn. 223 pg. 80). Worst of all, Muhammad commanded his followers to participate in these pagan ceremonies while the pagans were still in control of Mecca (See Yusuf Ali, fn. 214, pg. 78) and told his followers to pray towards the Ka'aba, instead of towards Jerusalem, while the Ka'aba was full of 360 Pagan idols!
Unlike the Haj, in which Muslims are commanded by the Qur'an and Hadith to follow formerly Pagan traditions, the Bible DOES NOT command Christians to have Easter eggs.
Does the growth of Islam then make the claims of Islam true? Christianity is also growing rapidly, especially in Asia and the former communist world. In addition, more Muslims have converted to Christianity (in spite of the harsh persecution that they often face) recently than at any other time in history.
Allah is the Arabic word for God (masculine) and Allat is feminine. Like the English word "god", it can be, and was, used to refer to various deities, including the One True God. In this case, Mr. Meherally is confusing terms and ideas.
Responses to Akbarally Meherally
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