Please forgive my incendiary headline, but you've got to grab the reader's attention!

I recently received an email that passed on this Urban Legend:

Please consider passing this on...

THE MUSLIM BELIEF

This is a true story and the author, Rick Mathes, is a well-known leader in prison ministry.

The man who walks with God always gets to his destination.
If you have a pulse you have a purpose.

The Muslim religion is the fastest growing religion per capita in the United States, especially in the minority races!!!

Last month I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session there was a presentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths, who explained each of their beliefs.

I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say. The Imam gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam, complete with a video.
After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers.

When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Imam and asked:
'Please, correct me if I'm wrong,but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the world and, that by killing an infidel, (which is a command to all Muslims) they are assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case, can you give me the definition of an infidel?' There was no disagreement with my statements and,without hesitation, he replied, 'Non-believers!'

I responded, 'So, let me make sure I have this straight.

All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can have a place in heaven. Is that correct?' The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.' He sheepishly replied, 'Yes.'

I then stated, 'Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine Pope John Paul commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith or Dr. Stanley ordering all Protestants to do the same in order to guarantee them a place in heaven!'

The Imam was speechless!

I continued, 'I also have problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me! Let me ask you a question: Would you rather have your Allah, who tells you to kill me in order for you to go to heaven, or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to heaven and He wants you to be there with me?' You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his head in shame.

Needless to say, the organizers and/or promoters of the Diversification' training seminar were not happy with Rick's way of dealing with the Islamic Imam , and exposing the truth about the Muslims' beliefs.

In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S. to elect the President!

I think everyone in the U.S. and Canada should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us send it on!

So I went and did some fact checking. I know snopes.com is not always right, but they often get the jump on the urban legends.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/allah.asp

This is what I found:

Allah or Jesus?

Claim: Prison imam is questioned about Islamic attitude toward infidels.

Status: False.

Example: [Mathes, 2003]
[example of similar letter quoted above]....

Origins: The piece quoted above ("Allah or Jesus?") is an editorial penned by Rick Mathes, Executive Director of the Mission Gate Prison Ministry.

We asked Mr. Mathes if he could provide some information about the origins of the piece, and he responded:
This article is an exact recording of a real event that I participated in. My only commentary was, "the truth will prevail." I think this meeting was in May 2003 and I will not give out more details for fear of retribution. The purpose of the class was to increase "religious sensitivity", that is, tolerance for each others beliefs and I really blew that. The director was purple with rage however the Imam and I exchanged signs and said "Salaam" which means "peace" in Arabic (I hope). I questioned him (Imam) really to get a clear refutation of what is commonly thought of this Jihad nonsense. But apparently he wasn't educated enough to rebut my remarks or by his silence on this matter (I think) concurred with my implied conclusions. In either case I was surprised. And when I said I found it hard to be his friend, everyone laughed out loud. So the mood was an amazing mix of those who were interested like me and others that were just amused by the whole thing. I left the matter open on purpose (the truth will prevail) so that either side could speak up and claim the truth as their own.
Reporter Greg Kearney, writing for the Lee News Service, traced the story to a correctional facility in Fulton, Missouri, and came away with a decidedly different version of events from Missouri state officials.

According to Tim Kniest, Public Information Officer for the Missouri Department of Corrections, the event described was a training program for prison volunteers, for which ministers from several faiths were invited to give presentations in order to acquaint prison volunteers with the varied religious beliefs of the inmate population. The man who gave the presentation about Islam was not a Muslim minister; he was an inmate pressed into service to present a short film on Islam and answer some questions when the prison's Volunteer Coordinator was "unable to find an Imam to speak."

Moreover, reported Mr. Kniest, the prison's Volunteer Coordinator said that "The inmate did a good job," adding, "He was asked a few questions that were beyond his ability to answer. But he was not asked anything like that question [in the editorial]":
. . . the Volunteer Coordinator at the prison said that no such exchange as the editorial reported ever took place. "He certainly did not 'Hang his head in shame'," according to Kniest. In fact, the inmate was thanked by the assembly before being escorted back to his quarters. Furthermore, the coordinator does not recall any questions dealing with jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the world as reported in the editorial.

In the editorial the inmate is presented as an Imam, or Islamic minister, which he clearly was not.
Regardless of whatever may have transpired at the prison training session referred to above, the larger point the writer is attempting to make in this piece is a grossly inaccurate one. Islam is not a monolithic religion in which unanimity of belief and action is coordinated from a central authority; it has well over a billion adherents in countries all over the world who belong to any one of a number of different sects with varying beliefs, traditions, and interpretations of scripture. (As well, some religious groups identify themselves as Islamic but are not recognized as such by the vast majority of Muslims.) No one Muslim (especially one who wasn't even a cleric) could speak to what all of Islam believes, any more than a single member of a Methodist congregation could speak for every denomination and follower of Christianity.

As National Geographic reporter Frank Viviano found during extensive travels through the region, even in Saudi Arabia, the heart of Islam, Muslims were far from holding the idea that "All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not" Muslim — even the notion that other religions should be barred from the home of Islam was disputed:
At one majlis, I asked a noted Muslim scholar, an imam, how Islam's venerable assertion of religious tolerance could be reconciled with Saudi Arabia's ban on Christian churches in the kingdom.

"It was the command of God, conveyed to us through the Prophet Muhammad, that no other religion be permitted in the land where Islam was born," the imam replied.

To my surprise, another guest picked a point-for-point argument with him. "I've heard that allusion a hundred times, and nobody has ever convinced me that this is what the Prophet's words really meant," he said.

I sent the above snopes reference to the sender of the email, and encouraged them to pass it on to the person who had originally sent it.

Aside from the reminder of how we are constantly bombarded with messages to fear Muslims (because they love to cut off your head, and then blow themselves up in a shopping mall going li-li-li-li-li), I think this is an example of how we must be careful with the Truth. Rumors, like people you met the night before in bar, can get ugly really fast.

We should try to double source everything, and make sure that we are not passing on mere rumor or speculation.

I feel as though I'm speaking to the choir (Sopranos, let me hear you sing "li-li-li") when I caution in this manner, because I feel that most of this site's readers have a respect for the truth. But I suppose we all get lazy at some time, (For example, it's almost 1pm and I am in my pajamas) and perhaps we might let our guard down.

But if we find that we did pass on misinformation, let's all be sure to make corrections. Nobody's perfect. Not even Rick Mathes, Executive Director of the Mission Gate Prison Ministry.

Submitted by Christopher Marlowe on Sat, 2008-12-20 20:59

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