This is not meant to cause conflict. This is not meant to insult Islam. I am just curious. I checked the Qur'an out of the library yesterday and was reading through some of it. I came across this quote in "The Criterion" (name of book) btw, this is the qur'an translated to english "We gave Moses the Book, and made his brother Aaron his minister, Then we told them: "Go to the people who have rejected Our signs." Then we annihilated them completely." What is a muslim's interpretation of this? It seems to me that it means: go find people we disagree with, then kill them all.
No, it refers to God's wrath when Pharoah received the message of God and was still arrogant and didn't accept it, and in fact persecuted those who followed Moses, and he paid for it. God is both merciful and powerful, and rewards and punishes. It's not all "love and cuddling", and I am pretty positive the Koran is not the only book that relates those stories of tribes/nations that drew the wrath of God. Hope that was a bit helpful, but I am sure there are more knowledgeable people that can further comment on this.
Basically this verse is saying If you dont follow God and follow his religion, god will replace you with another people who are better than you. ~ so in this account of moses(pbuh's) life they are relating what previous group of ppl also disobeyed god and were in the end replaced by a people who did obey god.
I definitely am not Muslim, but awhile back came across this web page which contains a translation of the Qur'an and commentaries which explain the translation by a man named Muhammad Asad. Asad was apparently born a European Jew named Leopold Weiss and somewhat famously converted to Islam. A biography can be found here. Someone more knowledgeable than me can judge the quality of the work. Unfortunately Sura 25 is found in a poorly formatted section linked at the bottom of the page. Here's what it has for the verses you mention; [rquoter] ENEMIES AGAINST EVERY PROPHET (35) AND, INDEED, [long before Muhammad] We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses, and appointed his brother Aaron to help him to bear his burden; [For this rendering of the term wazir, see note on 20: 29. The mention, at this place, of Moses and Aaron - and of Noah, etc., in the following verses - is intended to remind us of the statement in verse 31 above that “against every prophet We have set up enemies from among those who are lost in sin”.] (36) and We said, “Go you both unto the people who have given the lie to Our messages!” - and thereupon We broke those [sinners] to smithereens. (37) And [think of] the people of Noah: when they gave the lie to [one of] the apostles, We caused them to drown, and made them a symbol for all mankind: for, grievous suffering have We readied for all who [knowingly] do wrong! (38) And [remember how We punished the tribes of] Ad and Thamud and the people of Ar-Rass, [Regarding the tribes of Ad and Thamud, see surah 7, notes on verse 65 and 73. As for Ar-Rass, a town of that name exists to this day in the Central-Arabian province of Al-Qasim; in the ancient times referred to, it seems to have been inhabited by descendants of the Nabataean tribe of Thamud (Tabari). There is however, no agreement among the commentators as to the real meaning of this name or designation; Razi cites several of the current, conflicting interpretations and rejects all of them as purely conjectural.] and many generations [of sinners] in-between: (39) and unto each of them did We proffer lessons [Sc., “which they failed to heed”. For my rendering of mathal, in this context, as “lesson”, see note on 7: 89.] and each of them did We destroy with utter destruction. (40) And they [who now deny Our messages] must surely have come across that town which was rained upon by a rain of evil: [A reference to Sodom and its destruction by a rain of “stone-hard blows of chastisement pre-ordained” (see 11: 82 and the corresponding note). The phrase “they have come across” may be understood in either of two ways: (a) in its literal sense of chancing upon” or “passing by”, in which case it applies to the Prophet’s contemporaries and opponents, the pagan Meccans, whose customary caravan route to Syria passed close by the Dead Sea and the probable site of Sodom and Gomorrah; or (b) in the tropical sense of “becoming aware [of something]” through reading or hearsay - in which case it may be taken to refer to people of all times, and to the fact that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is part and parcel of mankind’s moral heritage.] have they, then, never beheld it [with their minds eye]? But nay, they would not believe in resurrection! [Lit., “they were wont not to look forward to (i.e., to expect or believe in) resurrection”.] have they, then, never beheld it [with their minds eye]? But nay, they would not believe in resurrection! [Lit., “they were wont not to look forward to (i.e., to expect or believe in) resurrection”.] (41) Hence, whenever they consider thee, [O Muhammad,] they but make thee a target of their mockery, [saying:] “Is this the one whom God has sent as an apostle? (42) Indeed, he would well-nigh have led us astray from our deities, had we not been [so] steadfastly attached to them!” But in time, when they see the suffering [that awaits them], they will come to know who it was that went farthest astray from the path [of truth]! [/rquoter] In this sense (assuming the source is relatively accurate) it seems to exist fairly clearly in context as part of a recounting of what God has done to people who have ignored his prophets as sort of a history lesson for people who consider ignoring Muhammad. (hence the subhedding "Enimies Against The Prophets") The source of the destruction is God not man.
[rquoter] The Qur'an speaks in the first person, i.e., Allah's commandments to its creation. The Qur'an also uses the royal "We" for Allah's commandments. The main theme of the Qur'an and all previous revelations has been the absolute oneness of Allah, the creator and sustainer of the universe, who is without partner(s). Allah (Glory be to Him) did not beget nor was He begotten. The Qur'anic verses address people in a variety of ways depending on the context. It says "O mankind" and "O people" in a general sense addressing to all people, and in other instances "O believers" for those who have already accepted the message of Qur'an. [/rquoter] source
And this is the religion of peace that we hear so much about? At least Christians have a New Testament...
This post is going to get destroyed for its blatant superficiality by one of the muslim posters, which leads me to believe it was made in order to bait. the thought of its destruction, and the long, exahausting cavalcade of stubborn obtuse retorts sure to follow, makes me sleepy, however.
Wrong, girly-man! I'm genuinely confused about a religion that goes around with a belief that God will utterly destroy people who don't believe in him (textual) and, yet, describe themselves as a religion of peace. On top of that they pursue martyrdom by killng the "infidel." At least Christians have the notion of Free Will.
I often wonder about new and old testament. If God is an infallible and omnipotent being, why would he have to "change" his mind as it were (eye for an eye to turn the other cheek). Wouldn't he get it right the first time?
Because God did not write either testament or the Quran.....man did, and as we all know, man is most assuradly not perfect. DD
You're confused by a religion because you read a small snippet of a book out of context? Shocking! If I took a small quote out of the Old Testament, I could make Christianity look pretty evil too. In fact, you could find something pretty darn similar to the one in this thread. And yes, there's a New Testament, but similarly, there's a whole lot more in the Quran too.
The Old Testament is still part of Christianity. Are you saying God changed history and Noah and the flood, etc didn't happen anymore?
