Google Video

Thanks, Ummziba! Assalamu'alaikum!

A couple of parallels from the Old Testament come to mind from what you wrote.

First the idea that being �strange� is �good for you.� There are three places that Yahweh, through the prophet Moses, refers to His people as a �peculiar people�.

Exodus 19:5 - Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.

Deuteronomy 14:2 - For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Deuteronomy 26:18 - And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;

LORD in these verses, of course, is how the King James translators indicated �Yahweh�, �I am that I am�, the self existent one. I�ve studied the names of God in the Bible and in the Qur�an. I�m sure all the visitors to this forum will enjoy visiting http://www.ahadees.com/names_of_allah/.

It turns out that �peculiar� in these verses means �belonging to� and not �strange�, and perhaps that�s the correct interpretation of �strange� in what you wrote. Those who �belong to� Allah at the end of time will be well. I did a little research in the Qur'an, but was disappointed.

Neither �strange� nor �peculiar� is used in this way in the Al-Hilali and Khan English translation of the Qur�an. I also have the Mohammed Asad, T. B. Irving, Rashad Khalifa, Maulvi Sher Ali, E. H. Palmer, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, M. H. Shakir and Abdullah Yusuf Ali English translations and a Spanish translation, but I think the Al-Hilali is the best. Of course there is no comparison between these and the Arabic original.

Similarly, I was unable to locate anything in the Qur�an about the �end of time�, �end of the world�, �end time� or �end of the earth�. Maybe this idea comes from one of the Hadeeth, Tafseer or Fiqh. We really are at a disadvantage when we don�t speak and read Arabic.

I searched the English translation of the Sahih Bukhari hadith located at http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/searchhadith.html for �strange� and �peculiar� and didn�t find anything applicable. Bummer.

The second thing that struck me in what you wrote about �deceiving years when honesty is disbelief and dishonesty is belief.� This verse comes from the Old Testament.

Isaiah 5:20 - Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Sound similar to what you wrote? You betcha! We certainly live in a time when there are many distorted and twisted values. George Orwell coined the term �newspeak� in his book 1984. Abortion, for example, is thought of by many people as a woman�s �right�, and not as the murderous evil it really is. For a husband and wife to be completely faithful to one another is viewed by many people as naive or impossible. We are twenty-two years beyond the prophetic date of 1984, and the lies and distortions that come to us through our newspapers and movies and music and television sets are some of the things that most dismay and anger faithful Moslems, Christians and Jews alike. And I suppose Buddhists and maybe even Hindus too.

Ummziba, thanks again for the time you�ve taken to enlighten all of us about that video. I wonder why there aren�t any reference links at Google Video to the source? Or maybe I missed them.

Now, end of topic, on to something else.

Ma as-salaamah,

Grant

Assalamu alaikum,

Who decided this child should do this?  His dad or uncle or grandfather.  ISA, I pray for this child to continue to study hard, but to also have some play time running around and playing soccer and hide and seek and watching cartoons.

So very right, Sister.  While he was so cute to watch, I couldn't help wondering what kind of life the little guy has, one of balance or one of constant forced study.  That was a very long speech for such a young child to memorize.

Peace, ummziba.