seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 4:149. If you let a good deed be shown, or conceal it, or pardon an offense—God is Pardoning and Capable.
150. Those who disbelieve in God and His messengers, and want to separate between God and His messengers, and say, “We believe in some, and reject some,” and wish to take a path in between.
151. These are the unbelievers, truly. We have prepared for the unbelievers a shameful punishment.
152. As for those who believe in God and His messengers, and make no distinction between any of them—He will give them their rewards. God is Forgiver and Merciful.
153. The People of the Scripture challenge you to bring down to them a book from the sky. They had asked Moses for something even greater. They said, “Show us God plainly.” The thunderbolt struck them for their wickedness. Then they took the calf for worship, even after the clear proofs had come to them. Yet We pardoned that, and We gave Moses a clear authority.
154. And We raised the Mount above them in accordance with their covenant, and We said to them, “Enter the gate humbly”, and We said to them, “Do not violate the Sabbath”, and We received from them a solemn pledge.
155. But for their violation of their covenant, and their denial of God’s revelations, and their killing of the prophets unjustly, and their saying, “Our minds are closed.” In fact, God has sealed them for their disbelief, so they do not believe, except for a few.
This is from the commentary.
To make distinction between Allåh and His messengers means to believe in one and not in the other. Islåm requires the acceptance of all prophets who were raised for the regeneration of men, and hence a denial of any one of the prophets named in the Holy Qur’ån takes a man out of the category of believers and places him among the disbelievers.
I thought this section of verses was much longer. I actually had to erase a few verses this morning because the topic takes a real shift to Jesus. Yep... they are talking about what the Muslims believe about Jesus tomorrow. But first we have to "pick a side".
As you are aware... I love to talk about my family history. The Athey family came over from Ireland before the Civil War. They settled a path from St. Mary's where they came into the US indentured to Sir William Dent.... through Virginia and up into the Shenandoah Valley, Front Royal, and Ohio. During the Civil War, there were brothers on each side of the fight. I actually learned this in a library near an Old Jail in St. Mary's County.
I have often imagined what it must have been like at the dinner table. As I recall it, family life in Front Royal as a child would revolve around the dinner table and the porch swing. When those two boys went home to visit mom.... did the argument break out over Mom's fried chicken and apple pie? There are some powerful good cooks in Front Royal. Those two Athey boys had home cooking that would make your mouth water.
In the seventh grade, I learned about the Civil War. My dad was Navy and we had been transferred from New London to Norfolk. Daddy bought a house in Virginia Beach. I learned "brother fought against brother". Then many decades later... I learned that my own family was torn by it. Today there are still a lot of North v South discussions.
My point is.... they picked a side... they made a stand. They believed one argument over the other.
AND.... my great grandmother was the daughter of a slave owner.... who had a slave who helped her dress every day. She left home, rejecting the dowry, and married my great grandfather, a carpenter and farmer in Front Royal. As a matter of fact, it was their smoke house that my granddad [also a carpenter] rolled down over the hill on a log sled to start my grandmom's house up on the hill. They started with one room and made a two story house where they raised seven children. They weren't rich.... but they didn't do without. The picked a side.... love.... oh and this is the same granddaughter who raised the money to build the church. It was her mom who chose my great granddad over inheriting the plantation.
They all picked sides.
Now here in these verses.... the Quran.... says "Pick a Side".
Do you believe in God? "Pick a Side".
