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Understanding Islam · قناة الدعوة الإسلامية Islamic Teachings Gh

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  Jones and his Burn the Quran campaign, I think he would say
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  this has got to stop. Followers of Islam believe that
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  the Quran is a collection of revelations received by the
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  Prophet Muhammad from God about 1400 years ago.
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  They believe that Muhammad was the last of a series of prophets
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  and teachers and messengers that included Adam, Moses, Jesus,
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  Abraham, all names revered by us as well.
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  The word Islam means peaceful surrender to the will of God.
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  The Quran was written at a time when the Muslim people were
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  being driven from their homes, persecuted, and killed.
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  The Old Testament was written at a time when Jewish people were
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  being driven from their homes, persecuted and killed.
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  And religious scholars will tell you that most holy scriptures
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  have stories of war and violence in them.
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  Throughout history, most faiths have used these texts to justify
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  violence. And if there's anyone in this
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  room at this moment who's thinking that I've got it wrong,
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  after church today, pull out your Bible and look up Psalm
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  137, and you'll see that our own text has passages that can make
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  us uncomfortable. But also like the Bible, the
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  predominant message of the Quran is of peace and care and loving
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  God, justice, care for the neighbor, care for the stranger.
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  In the Bible we have Thou shalt not kill.
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  In the Quran we have Whoever kills another, surely he is
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  killing all of humanity. And whoever saves the life of
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  another, surely he saves the lives of all humanity.
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  These are words of peace, words of faith, words that could save
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  the world if we would take them to heart.
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  The second thing you could do? The next time someone sends you
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  one of those emails demonizing Islam, delete it.
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  Don't forward it. Don't participate in the
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  stereotyping. Don't give in to your fear.
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  It's OK to be a little afraid. We all have those emotions.
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  Just don't give into it. Don't sign on for it.
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  Don't focus on this tiny group of extremists who commit acts of
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  violence. Focus on the hundreds of
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  millions of Muslim people in the world who are people of faith,
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  whose priorities and concerns and families are not so
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  different from your own. And 3rd, when you think of
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  Muslim people, think of individuals.
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  Think of the professor at Ohio State.
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  Think of the engineer at Honda. Think of the teacher at the
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  elementary school down the street.
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  When you think of Muslim people, remember those who died on 9/11,
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  not the hijackers. There was only a handful of
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  them. Remember Mohammed Sunhami
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  Hamandi. He was born in Pakistan.
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  He came to the United States as a small child with his parents.
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  He played high school football. He went to college.
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  He became a part time ambulance driver.
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  He died, this Muslim young man on 9/11 trying to rescue people
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  and save lives. When you think of Muslim people,
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  remember Muhammad Salahuddin Cloudhuri.
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  He was a waiter at Windows on the World, which was at the top
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  of the World Trade Center. He died that day.
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  His wife had their baby two days later.
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  When you think of Muslim people, remember Rama Sally.
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  She was a woman, 28 years old. Her neighbors described her as
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  fun and outgoing and generous, and she died on American
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  Airlines flight 11, seven months pregnant with her first child.
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  Remember the founder of the Islamic Circle of North America
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  who worked in the World Trade Center and also died on
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  September 11th? That same group now is giving
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  away 10s of thousands of copies of the Quran in response to the
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  campaign about burning the Quran in the language of their own
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  tradition. They are spreading words of
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  faith and peace and hope. One of the ladies at the 830
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  service this morning said to me after maybe we should declare
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  September 11th, buy a Quran and read some of it.
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  It is for us to share our message of love and hope and
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  peace. But let us do it with grace and
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  respect and above all, humility. God grant us as individuals, as
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  a nation, as Christians, the humility for this war.