Ansar Al-'Adl
Jewel of LI
- Messages
- 4,681
- Reaction score
- 922
- Gender
- Male
- Religion
- Islam
One Night At Farmer’s Market…
by Ali Ataie
In the Fall of 1998, while I was a student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, I was approached one night at a Farmers’ Market by an older gentleman who seemed as if he had an extremely pressing matter on his mind. After scanning his eyes quickly over some of the propagation tracts on our table, he started to chuckle upon noticing one tract in specific called Is Jesus Really God? Almost as if waiting for the Holy Spirit to “indwell” within him, he discreetly fixed his glare squarely upon me and began to engage himself in discussion.
First, he motioned with his finger for me to pick up the Arabic/English Yusuf ‘Ali Qur’an that was resting on the table in front of us. “Turn to the beginning of the third sura,” he said. I quickly thumbed through the pages until I got to Chapter 3 entitled Ali Imran, or the Family of Imran, the father of Moses and Aaron. “Read the third verse,” he then said grinning. I recited:
“It is He Who sent down to thee step by step, in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus before this, as a guide to mankind…”
While I read, he reached into his back-pocket and pulled out a mini Bible that he had tucked away for safe keeping and, before I could even finish the verse, he interrupted triumphantly while wagging his book in the air, “Your own scripture says that you must believe in this book, yet you say that the Law of Moses and Gospel of Jesus have been corrupted.”
At this point, other on-lookers had their interest peaked and they stopped to see how I would respond. “You didn’t let me finish the verse,” I complained. “By all means” he responded. I continued:
“…And He sent down the criterion of judgment between right and wrong.”
“Do you know what the criterion between right and wrong is?” I asked. The gentleman said nothing. “The Qur’an,” I responded. Seeming perplexed by my words, I added, “Allow me to demonstrate.” I then turned to sura 4 verse 171 and read aloud:
“Say not ‘Trinity,’ desist: it will be better for you: for your god is one God.”
These words seemed to anger him slightly. “Now turn to 1 John 5:7 in your Bible and read it to me,” I said. After a few seconds of flipping through the tiny pages of his Bible the gentleman cleared his throat and read: “The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled…,” – “No, first John 5:7, not John 5:7” I exclaimed. Slightly embarrassed, the gentleman again began flipping through the pages looking for “1 John” but did not seem to be able to find it. “It’s towards the back” I said. After what seemed to be an eternity, he recited:
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
“Good” I commented. Then very much like he did, I turned around and took out three versions of the Bible I had stashed in my backpack. I said, “You read from the KJV of the Bible. I have three translations here that are more up-to-date and accurate according to Christian scholars because they are based on much older Greek manuscripts. Please find that verse in these Bibles.”
First, he picked up the RSV (Revised Standard Version) of 1952 and read: “And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.” Noticing the drastic difference, the gentleman quickly glanced at the cover of the book thinking it to be a fake, as if I were playing a joke on him.
“Now read what this says,” I said while handing him an REB (Revised English Bible). As he found 1 John he began staring at the pages in horror. “What’s wrong” I asked. “There is no seventh verse” he admitted smiling.
Finally, I handed him a NLT (New Life Translation), 1996. He found verse seven and said: “So we have these three witnesses.” I asked him to read the footnote, and he said: “Some very late manuscripts add in heaven--the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And we have three witnesses on earth.” Wagging the Qur’an in his face, I said, “Now do you understand why the Qur’an is the criterion between right and wrong?”
by Ali Ataie
In the Fall of 1998, while I was a student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, I was approached one night at a Farmers’ Market by an older gentleman who seemed as if he had an extremely pressing matter on his mind. After scanning his eyes quickly over some of the propagation tracts on our table, he started to chuckle upon noticing one tract in specific called Is Jesus Really God? Almost as if waiting for the Holy Spirit to “indwell” within him, he discreetly fixed his glare squarely upon me and began to engage himself in discussion.
First, he motioned with his finger for me to pick up the Arabic/English Yusuf ‘Ali Qur’an that was resting on the table in front of us. “Turn to the beginning of the third sura,” he said. I quickly thumbed through the pages until I got to Chapter 3 entitled Ali Imran, or the Family of Imran, the father of Moses and Aaron. “Read the third verse,” he then said grinning. I recited:
“It is He Who sent down to thee step by step, in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus before this, as a guide to mankind…”
While I read, he reached into his back-pocket and pulled out a mini Bible that he had tucked away for safe keeping and, before I could even finish the verse, he interrupted triumphantly while wagging his book in the air, “Your own scripture says that you must believe in this book, yet you say that the Law of Moses and Gospel of Jesus have been corrupted.”
At this point, other on-lookers had their interest peaked and they stopped to see how I would respond. “You didn’t let me finish the verse,” I complained. “By all means” he responded. I continued:
“…And He sent down the criterion of judgment between right and wrong.”
“Do you know what the criterion between right and wrong is?” I asked. The gentleman said nothing. “The Qur’an,” I responded. Seeming perplexed by my words, I added, “Allow me to demonstrate.” I then turned to sura 4 verse 171 and read aloud:
“Say not ‘Trinity,’ desist: it will be better for you: for your god is one God.”
These words seemed to anger him slightly. “Now turn to 1 John 5:7 in your Bible and read it to me,” I said. After a few seconds of flipping through the tiny pages of his Bible the gentleman cleared his throat and read: “The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled…,” – “No, first John 5:7, not John 5:7” I exclaimed. Slightly embarrassed, the gentleman again began flipping through the pages looking for “1 John” but did not seem to be able to find it. “It’s towards the back” I said. After what seemed to be an eternity, he recited:
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
“Good” I commented. Then very much like he did, I turned around and took out three versions of the Bible I had stashed in my backpack. I said, “You read from the KJV of the Bible. I have three translations here that are more up-to-date and accurate according to Christian scholars because they are based on much older Greek manuscripts. Please find that verse in these Bibles.”
First, he picked up the RSV (Revised Standard Version) of 1952 and read: “And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.” Noticing the drastic difference, the gentleman quickly glanced at the cover of the book thinking it to be a fake, as if I were playing a joke on him.
“Now read what this says,” I said while handing him an REB (Revised English Bible). As he found 1 John he began staring at the pages in horror. “What’s wrong” I asked. “There is no seventh verse” he admitted smiling.
Finally, I handed him a NLT (New Life Translation), 1996. He found verse seven and said: “So we have these three witnesses.” I asked him to read the footnote, and he said: “Some very late manuscripts add in heaven--the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And we have three witnesses on earth.” Wagging the Qur’an in his face, I said, “Now do you understand why the Qur’an is the criterion between right and wrong?”
