Welcome back to
the Liberty Insider.
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Before the break
with Imam Shamshad
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we had started by
talking Imam that jihad
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and I think you
gave a good explanation
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as to the spiritual
component of the word
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that scares a lot
of people since 9/11.
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If I can summarize it to that
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we have three
kinds of jihad. Yes.
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Number one that you
have first self-reformation,
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follow the teaching of Islam.
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The second is that
you have to propagate
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the religion of Islam
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as Quran explains the
teaching of the Quran.
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And the third is that if
any one attack upon on you,
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Islam allows you to
defend yourself. Yeah.
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And the Quran does have a
lot to say about something
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that is also in the
Old and the New Testaments
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for Christians and Jews.
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The idea that matter some one
that dies defending the faith
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and gives their life up.
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You know, this is admirable,
it's not unique to Islam.
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Yeah even Revelation it
says the souls of the martyrs
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and it is
figurative it's not literal
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because I
certainly don't believe
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you know the
dead or dead and gone
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to come back at the last day.
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But it says that the martyrs
cry out under the throne of God.
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So it's a great
thing to be so loyal to God
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that you give your life for Him.
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That is not unique to Islam.
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Many religion and their
found they were persecuted
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and they gave life
for God, that's true.
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Do you remember Pope Benedict?
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He got into lot of trouble
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when he gave a
speech at Regensburg.
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It was the first
speech of his pontificate
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and he quoted the
historic discussion
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between a
Persians Muslim attacker
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of Constantinople
one of the emperor
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and they were
discussing violence in religion.
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Do you remember that?
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Yeah, the thing is that
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what Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community presents that
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we are responsible to
answer any wrong thing raised
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or any question raised
against the teaching of Quran,
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life of Prophet
Muhammad is the example,
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and the forth successor.
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After that
whatever Muslim king's did
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they have done their own God,
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we are not responsible.
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Well, I'm taking it
in a different direction
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that you might realize.
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That was an interesting speech
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and I have given
talks on that a lot
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and I read his
speech very closely.
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And the Islamic world
were startled by what he said
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because they
took it is an attack.
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But his speech really
was directed at Christians
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and he said something
that I don't agree with.
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He said that
the early Christians
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were also violent accepting
that there was Islamic violence.
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But he said that what
took away the violence
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was Greek rationality and
I think that's just silly.
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The early
Christians when to the lines
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the Roman Empire was very cruel
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prosecuted them
and prosecuted others--
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In fact in Holy Quran has that
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that early Christian
were prosecuted-- Absolutely.
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For many, many centuries.
So, they didn't react violently.
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And Quran mentioned that one.
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They didn't react
violently. Yeah. Yeah.
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That what's I'm getting now.
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And so I think the pope
unfortunately had it wrong,
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that in the early days martyrs
were seen as faithful people
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that God will one day reward
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but they were
not violent martyrs.
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They took the
consequence of their faith.
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What I want to say-- In
fact, that was their jihad
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that they defend themselves
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and they
continue to hold the faith
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and matter of
faith very fast for that.
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So this is their jihad.
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So jihad is done by
all religious leaders
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and their people but
again I want to remove
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this misunderstanding
that the Islamic jihad
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doesn't mean that one should go
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and fight and
kill innocent people.
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Well, no the key
that you're right.
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Even the-- I have
read Hadith on jihad
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I mean on military jihad,
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but it never says to
be out and kill innocents,
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you're right and of
course that the sort of thing
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that religious phonetic they
make their own rationalization.
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They told not to kill innocents
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but as I think Al-Qaeda said
and it's theologically wrong.
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Well, these people by
being part of that system,
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they are
participating in the evil.
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But still the facts are
they hurt innocent people.
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My dear friend, Steed Lincoln,
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then in the western
society or American society,
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whenever where ever
the word jihad is mentioned
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immediately
their mind goes oh oh.
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For only one reason I know.
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It is meaning, go and
kill people, innocent people.
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This is Islamic jihad.
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This is the reason repeatedly
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I'm saying Islamic
jihad means self-reformation.
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Become godly person,
become closer to him,
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worship him,
become righteous person.
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You should have
attributes of god,
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attributes of
the prophet Muhammad
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and follow his path
of peace. Absolutely.
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You know in the
Christian New Testament
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Paul says something similar.
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He says even if I give
up my body to be burned
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and I haven't
faith, haven't charity
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other words don't have
the spiritual correctness,
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I have got nothing,
and at the end of the day
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that's what it has to be
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the spiritual
purity and dedication.
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Not whether you go
and do great deeds,
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violent or otherwise,
that doesn't praise godliness.
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And I think, I
think Jesus Christ
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may godly please with him.
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Also taught this
thing that worship God
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and be kind to the people
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and the Prophet
Muhammad peace be on him.
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When he brought the Holy Quran
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which I have shown you,
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as many hundreds of commandments
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in the Holy Quran,
not a single will say
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that go and act in a manner
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which was not the
act of Prophet Muhammad
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or teaching of Quran.
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No, I think it's a
convenient twisting
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of even the Quran to
agitate for violent jihad.
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I do know whether you have
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the translation
of the Holy Quran
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made by Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community or not.
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Not your translation.
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The one that I have read--
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my father got
it in Saudi Arabia.
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Okay, one I'll provide
you a copy of the Holy Quran
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with English translation
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and it will be very good
to know by the our viewers
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that Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community has done
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the translation
of the Holy Quran
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major 70 languages of the world.
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In African
languages, Indian languages,
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Pakistan and American
and West African country,
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East African
country, Indonesian.
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All these 70 major
languages of the world
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Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has
made available the translation.
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Oh, so realistic
those words are. Yeah.
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You said something earlier
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that is the holding
of your believe system
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that there will be a revelation
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at the end of time
of a holy leader, right?
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Yeah, coming of the--
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Mark the Great
leader, great teacher.
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Now that is not unique in
a way to as we said to Islam.
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Obviously Christianity believes
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in the appearing of God
Jesus at the end of time.
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And I have read in
number of belief systems,
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I think even in Hinduism
they have a similar idea,
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that sort of an end of days
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where the divine
person will just come.
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In the New
Testament Book of Revelation
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there is some reference
there I know Paul talks about
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a false appearing
at the end of time,
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that--what's the word in
the Quran for Satan, evil?
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Shaitan, Iblis. Iblis.
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Oh, Iblis. Yeah.
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That Iblis will
come at the end of time
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as an angle from heaven.
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How would you test
if you saw a person
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who appeared at a
moment of crisis in the world,
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somebody from
the sky's appeared,
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how would you as
an Ahmadiyya Imam
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how would you judge that
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this was the one
you were expecting?
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No, no listen if somebody
is coming from the heaven
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and people are watching
how they are going to deny him?
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They are not going to deny him.
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That's exactly, what
Seventh-day Adventist believes
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there will be something
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that will be
deceptive at the end of time.
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Yeah, but nobody can
come from heaven like that.
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This is the reason
we say nobody will come.
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And if somebody is coming
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believe me
nobody will deny that.
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Who has the power
to deny, number one.
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Number two it
happened in all the times,
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not only this time that
there is some science to know
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which is right which is wrong.
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Time of Jesus, time of
Moses, time of Abraham,
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they were all
science, they mentioned.
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The same thing are
mentioned by this time too.
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In The Bible
also, in the Quran also,
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Prophet Muhammad also.
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If a person,
let's forget the sky,
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if on television
you see that the day
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a divine being
appeared in New York
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and was shining and
spaceship perhaps even,
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and he starts speaking of God,
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Allah in heaven, and said
that he was Jesus or whatever.
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You wouldn't just
automatically believe in him.
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Yeah, of course.
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You would judge what
he says whether it is--
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Of course not what he says.
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And that's the point
I'm trying it, right.
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Not only what he says
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but support of
God gave him to him.
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Let me come to
my point, my point
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because the thing is that
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Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani
claimed against everybody.
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Because people are waiting
someone to come from the heaven
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but he is not from the--
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heaven mean doesn't
physically came from the heaven
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but he is a heavenly person.
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So what is it-- how
you are going to judge.
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Now I can give you
couple of things to understand
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and to judge on that.
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That India and then Qadian
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from where he was raised
is a very tiny area, village.
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Even means of
communication were not there.
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Even rail was not
there at that time,
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no telegram system was there,
no post office system was there.
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So there he says
the Gods' told me that
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I'm the Messiah of
the age, number one.
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Number two, God told him
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I'll give you
large party of Islam.
00:11:03.72\00:11:06.61
Today we are tens of millions,
00:11:06.64\00:11:08.15
two hundred two
countries of the world.
00:11:08.18\00:11:10.69
Well certainly.
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And then see the
support of God to him,
00:11:11.78\00:11:15.69
heavily prosecution
community in Pakistan,
00:11:15.72\00:11:20.57
in Bangladesh, in
India and in Indonesia.
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Well, I'm sure
that these would be
00:11:22.55\00:11:24.03
encouragements to the system
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but the proof is
not in the numbers
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as you very
well know with Islam.
00:11:28.59\00:11:30.13
Most of Islam is wrong
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because they don't
agree with you. Of course.
00:11:32.96\00:11:34.64
But we do need to be true
to our inner spiritual calling.
00:11:34.67\00:11:39.13
Yeah, so how would you
summarize that just briefly?
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You see that the matter of fact
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that the trust is
that God raised the founder
00:11:46.21\00:11:49.47
of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
00:11:49.50\00:11:50.84
this time to bring
all people together
00:11:50.87\00:11:53.76
with peace, justice, harmony
00:11:53.79\00:11:56.17
and understanding to each other
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and that is the
reason we say that
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Messiah has come in this age.
00:12:00.25\00:12:05.41
Few words today are as
loaded as is the word jihad
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of course it's connotations
of 9/11 and religious violence.
00:12:09.47\00:12:14.85
When I think of
religious violence,
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you know, I can get
back to the Old Testament
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and think of a
similar sounding name Jehu,
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one of the judges
when he received the word
00:12:21.69\00:12:24.31
that the Lord was with him
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and that he was
the Lord's agent.
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He took of at break neck
speed with his sword in hand
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and murder and mayhem followed.
00:12:30.24\00:12:32.29
I don't think you can say that
00:12:32.32\00:12:33.60
what he did then
was the will of God
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even though God
had a work to do.
00:12:35.96\00:12:38.84
Similarly, I
think its self evident
00:12:38.87\00:12:41.32
that in the Islamic
world and Islamic theology
00:12:41.35\00:12:45.02
the modern
violent political jihad
00:12:45.05\00:12:47.48
has a very little to
do with what should be
00:12:47.51\00:12:50.62
the true
expression of religious faith
00:12:50.65\00:12:52.26
in Islam and as Christians
00:12:52.29\00:12:54.62
we should look and
realize that all of us should be
00:12:54.65\00:12:57.69
struggling
mightily and internally
00:12:57.72\00:13:00.61
to resolve our besetting
sins and clarify our behavior
00:13:00.64\00:13:05.09
and our minds to be more
like God to be more God like,
00:13:05.12\00:13:08.46
Christ like and more religious.
00:13:08.49\00:13:12.53
For, Liberty Insider,
this is Lincoln Steed.
00:13:12.56\00:13:16.02