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I'm not missing it. No one is forcing the kids to accept that Allah is the only God. They're in high school. They have the ability to think for themselves and they do. Just because something is written as fact in a historical type of context (like a religious one) doesn't mean the kids will adopt that belief and take that fact to heart. It's only a fact for people who believe it. Someone who isn't a Muslim, like myself, would not take that as fact and would understand that it's someone else's fact, another religion's fact, but not my own. I can separate the religious aspect from the fact and understand that that "fact" is not MY fact because it has a religious base.
High school kids will not be converted from this one simple sentence written in another language that they cannot even read. They have their own set of beliefs and opinions by now. This would not bother me one bit if I were back in high school. If the state of VA recognizes this assignment as okay, I think that it is. Had this been another religion, I don't think the outcry from anyone would be this bad. Like I've said, I think people are mostly angry because it's Islam.
Other religions can call God whatever they want. Allah is not in the Bible because Islam formed centuries after Christianity did. Judaism came first and Jews don't believe that Jesus is the savior, but Christians do, yet do you think this bothers Jews? I don't think it does. I don't personally view Allah as the same God as mine. Maybe he is, but not to me. So I don't care what anyone else calls God. I don't expect them to think how I do or think that MY God is superior in any way.
Actually Allah is in Arabic language bibles and was used by early Arab Christians.
One of the oldest known Bibles in existence is the Sinai Arabic Codex 151, was created in AD 867. It contains the name Allah. Prior to that we know that Jesus(a.s.) spoke Aramaic and in the Bible Matthew 27: 46 we have the Romanticized version of the Aramaic "Eli, Eli lama sabacthani" The actual spelling of Eli in Aramaic is Alif, Lam, Ha the same spelling as the Arabic Allah is actually pronounced Allah not Eli which is a Greek translation error..
For a better and non-Muslim explanation
Quote:
Last remark: The arabic word Allah, used also by Arabic Christians, is no more no less related to the Aramaic Alaha than to the Hebrew Elohim. The three share a common linguistic root, which is nothing exceptional, so no point being dragged on sterile arguments concerning this point.
Concerning the cry on the cross (quote from Psalm 22:1), the Pe****ta (the earliest christian Aramaic translation) translate it using the word alaha, with the first person possessive suffix -i : alahi (ܐܲܠܵܗܝ ܐܲܠܵܗܝ ܠܡܵܢܵܐ ܫܒܲܩ̣ܬܵܢܝ̱ ). The original Hebrew Psalm used "Eli". Since the scriptor of the Greek gospel may not have been fluent in Aramaic, or used to transliterate Aramaic with Greek characters, it may be expected that the transliterations are approximates, hence a possible : eloi/alohi confusion.
Actually Allah is in Arabic language bibles and was used by early Arab Christians.
One of the oldest known Bibles in existence is the Sinai Arabic Codex 151, was created in AD 867. It contains the name Allah. Prior to that we know that Jesus(a.s.) spoke Aramaic and in the Bible Matthew 27: 46 we have the Romanticized version of the Aramaic "Eli, Eli lama sabacthani" The actual spelling of Eli in Aramaic is Alif, Lam, Ha the same spelling as the Arabic Allah is actually pronounced Allah not Eli which is a Greek translation error..
That does make sense since it is the Arabic word, but I thought 3~Shepherds was asking more about Islam being mentioned in the Bible rather than the simple Arabic word for God (Allah). Perhaps I misunderstood.
Either way, that is interesting, thanks for sharing.
This statement is written as fact, not sure how you are missing this.
'There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah,'
If they had put Islam believes, but some how that got left out. They could have easily used, Mecca is a place of worship, for those who believe in allah.
What I find strange many people want to give God different names and saying it is a different language. God is very clear in the Bible about who He IS to be called, changing that is not the wisest move. Even Jews use the word G-d, why are you giving allah so much credit. Where in the Bible does God speak about this religion Islam? Don't tell me by Ishmael........
You and I rarely agree, but I think you make an excellent point here, especially the part I highlighted in green.
On the other hand, many of us do not share your belief that the Bible is the literal word of God.
I had not answered that as it does not seem related to the thread and you are asking about my personal belief.s not what I think the lesson was. I did notice in the article the teacher was a Social Studies teacher, not a geography teacher. Although the rest of the article states it was a Geography lesson.
But to answer your Question, I do not believe God has any offspring. Is is unique has no partners, no equals and no children. He is the creator of all things, not the father of all things.
By his word alone he created jesus in Mary with no need of a father. Mary is the Mother of Jesus(a.s.) but he has no Father.
There are also other miraculous births comparable in the Bible not the least of being Adam and Eve. Adam had neither Father nor Mother, Eve came from Adam who techically was a virgin and Eve would be the Daughter of a virgin male.
We believe the Virgin Birth of Jesus(a.s.) was a miraculous sign of His Prophethood. We do believe Jesus(a.s.) is a true Prophet and upon his return he will destroy the Dajall(the anti-Christ) and the followers of the Dajall. Then with the Mehdi He will lead all non-Muslims to Islam. At the resurrection he will be a witness against those who worshiped him as a god.
The ONLY reason I asked you........the question was posed as fact and not as another's religions belief. Which, as you pointed out is one's personal belief. The writing was not presented as opinion. Simple as that!
Thanks for your answer!
Last edited by wildflower82; 12-24-2015 at 07:35 AM..
I'm not missing it. No one is forcing the kids to accept that Allah is the only God. They're in high school. They have the ability to think for themselves and they do. Just because something is written as fact in a historical type of context (like a religious one) doesn't mean the kids will adopt that belief and take that fact to heart. It's only a fact for people who believe it. Someone who isn't a Muslim, like myself, would not take that as fact and would understand that it's someone else's fact, another religion's fact, but not my own. I can separate the religious aspect from the fact and understand that that "fact" is not MY fact because it has a religious base.
High school kids will not be converted from this one simple sentence written in another language that they cannot even read. They have their own set of beliefs and opinions by now. This would not bother me one bit if I were back in high school. If the state of VA recognizes this assignment as okay, I think that it is. Had this been another religion, I don't think the outcry from anyone would be this bad. Like I've said, I think people are mostly angry because it's Islam.
Other religions can call God whatever they want. Allah is not in the Bible because Islam formed centuries after Christianity did. Judaism came first and Jews don't believe that Jesus is the savior, but Christians do, yet do you think this bothers Jews? I don't think it does. I don't personally view Allah as the same God as mine. Maybe he is, but not to me. So I don't care what anyone else calls God. I don't expect them to think how I do or think that MY God is superior in any way.
All I can say is you must be comfortable with handing out assignments and not questioning what is being written. I got in a lot of trouble in school, I asked too many questions.......most likely this is what got me in trouble in church also!
I would not have agreed to a hidden message........covered with calligraphy saying, Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
You and I rarely agree, but I think you make an excellent point here, especially the part I highlighted in green.
On the other hand, many of us do not share your belief that the Bible is the literal word of God.
I actually never claimed this, I do have my reservations and questions......but many of us also don't believe God is Allah. This is what the writing was claiming.
Schools really have no right to claim who God is. Talking about religion is one thing, claiming who God IS, is another. Having a writing lesson without mentioning who God IS, is really not that hard.
All I can say is you must be comfortable with handing out assignments and not questioning what is being written. I got in a lot of trouble in school, I asked too many questions.......most likely this is what got me in trouble in church also!
I would not have agreed to a hidden message........covered with calligraphy saying, Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
I wouldn't question it because it doesn't matter. I'm smart enough to know that the school isn't trying to convert me, especially if I don't even have the ability to read it myself, and I'm not paranoid about other religions, cultures, and the motives of my own district.
This is not a big deal at all. It really isn't. It's just a self-professed devout Christian mother who made a big deal about it because she's afraid of Islam and thinks public school time is "the Lord's time." Sorry but I'm not taking any of her concerns seriously. I think she sounds like a total nut job Jesus freak and she needs to relax. So do any other parents complaining, but she screamed the loudest to the media from what I can tell.
New story popped up today... mother in TX mad that on a multicultural day at school, her 7 year old got henna tattoos the week before Christmas. Her husband admitted to reading the email explaining this would happen, and I guess HE thought it was no biggie, didn't tell her, and now she's outraged at the school, going to the media, and forced them to apologize, all while wearing a huge cross on her neck in interviews. It's the cool thing to do now for religious parents to freak about other cultures and religions in schools, because their little snowflakes are too fragile to be exposed to anything else that may taint their perfect little Christian conservative minds. We're raising a generation of a bunch of brats who will cry about anything they don't like or understand because they are being coddled and are witnessing their parents' behavior, and it's not okay.
It's the cool thing to do now for religious parents to freak about other cultures and religions in schools, because their little snowflakes are too fragile to be exposed to anything else that may taint their perfect little Christian conservative minds. We're raising a generation of a bunch of brats who will cry about anything they don't like or understand because they are being coddled and are witnessing their parents' behavior, and it's not okay.
You're describing the mother who kvetched about a Kindergarten class going to see Santa. But of course, she's not a Christian, so all is fine with her and her little snowflake.
I wouldn't question it because it doesn't matter. I'm smart enough to know that the school isn't trying to convert me, especially if I don't even have the ability to read it myself, and I'm not paranoid about other religions, cultures, and the motives of my own district.
This is not a big deal at all. It really isn't. It's just a self-professed devout Christian mother who made a big deal about it because she's afraid of Islam and thinks public school time is "the Lord's time." Sorry but I'm not taking any of her concerns seriously. I think she sounds like a total nut job Jesus freak and she needs to relax. So do any other parents complaining, but she screamed the loudest to the media from what I can tell.
New story popped up today... mother in TX mad that on a multicultural day at school, her 7 year old got henna tattoos the week before Christmas. Her husband admitted to reading the email explaining this would happen, and I guess HE thought it was no biggie, didn't tell her, and now she's outraged at the school, going to the media, and forced them to apologize, all while wearing a huge cross on her neck in interviews. It's the cool thing to do now for religious parents to freak about other cultures and religions in schools, because their little snowflakes are too fragile to be exposed to anything else that may taint their perfect little Christian conservative minds. We're raising a generation of a bunch of brats who will cry about anything they don't like or understand because they are being coddled and are witnessing their parents' behavior, and it's not okay.
So you have no problem the students writing something they had no idea what it said........ What kind of thinking is this? This has nothing to do with Christians being mad, you are way off base here. Stop making it about upset Christians and talk about hidden messages in calligraphy lesson.
The problem is for some reason they were told to write something, yet had no idea what it said.......I must be closed-minded, to think I have the right to know what I am writing down on paper.
It all boils down to being their god........Handwriting is jewelry fashioned by the hand from the pure gold of intellect. - Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi
Calligraphy is believed to be the visual embodiment of the sacred word. Islamic tradition states that Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad, was the first calligrapher. The origins of Islamic calligraphy are traced all the way back to god, who is believed to have written the celestial archetype of the Quran. According to Qadi Ahmed, a sixteenth century author on the art of calligraphy and painting, 'creation itself is the divine calligraphy with which god covered the pages of changing time with the black and white design of night becoming days and days becoming night.'
As for the henna writing........the mom was upset this was done before family pictures were being taken. How do you think Jews or Muslims would feel if their child came home with a nativity scene the child made and wanted to have it included in the family picture?
I've pretty much ignored this thread until now so forgive me that in my boredom I interject myself into it at this late date because perhaps I am missing something...
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds
So you have no problem the students writing something they had no idea what it said........ What kind of thinking is this? This has nothing to do with Christians being mad, you are way off base here. Stop making it about upset Christians and talk about hidden messages in calligraphy lesson.
The problem is for some reason they were told to write something, yet had no idea what it said.......I must be closed-minded, to think I have the right to know what I am writing down on paper.
The assignment sheet for the exercise clearly states that what they were copying was the Shahada, "the Islamic statement of faith, so to claim that the students "had no idea what it said" seems to be way off the mark.
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I think she sounds like a total nut job Jesus freak and she needs to relax. So do any other parents complaining, but she screamed the loudest to the media from what I can tell. 
What kind of thinking is this? This has nothing to do with Christians being mad, you are way off base here. Stop making it about upset Christians and talk about hidden messages in calligraphy lesson.
