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The Real Heresy of Pope Francis --An Islamic Perspective from an Ex-Catholic—

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The Real Heresy of Pope Francis --An Islamic Perspective from an Ex-Catholic— Pope Francis (Courtesy raycathoic.com) The Real Heresy of Pope Francis --An Islamic Perspective from an ex-Catholic— by Abubakr Ben Ishmael Salahuddin 1 Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ................................................................................................ 7 The Purposes of Religion ........................................................................... 16 The purpose of revealed scriptures ........................................................... 25 All religions, in the beginning, taught that God is One .............................. 32 Can humanity have one guiding book and one guiding teacher? ............... 38 Was there a need for a new Revelation? ................................................... 57 Muhammad in World Scriptures ................................................................ 68 The 7 heresy charges and the Islamic view............................................... 79 The Real Heresy of Pope Francis ............................................................. 108 Jesus Survived the Crucifixion ................................................................ 128 Invitation to study and accept Islam ...................................................... 142 2 Preface Cardinal Raymond Burke at The Fourth Annual Rome Life Forum (Screenshot, Courtesy YouTube) “If we don’t stand for something, we may fall for anything” (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, aka, Malcolm X) Today, The Church is beset by confusion and error about even some of her most fundamental and constant teachings. As a secular agenda continues to advance in the world, promoting the attack upon innocent and defenseless human life, upon the integrity of marriage and its incomparable fruit, the family, and upon the very freedom of man to worship God in spirit and in truth, the Church herself seems confused, and even at times indulgent towards a mundanity which rebels against God and His Law. (Cardinal Raymond Burke, at The Fourth Annual Rome Life Forum). 3 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. (Bible, 1 Corinthians 15:12-18) 4 f you happen to have been following the current controversy in the Catholic Church regarding the accusations made, during Easter Week of I 2019, by 19 original signatories (Now up to 87 signatories as of May 14th, 2019) of a 20-page document called Open letter to the bishops of the Catholic Church, you know that Pope Francis has been charged with heresy by those signatories. It is not the first time that his status as a possible heretic has been questioned. But, due to the high stature of the signatories, which include highly-respected Catholic clerics, theologians, and scholars of the Catholic world, this current crisis is being described by some, such as Michael Matt, the chief editor of the Catholic Traditionalist magazine, The Remnant, as the worst crisis in the history of the Catholic Church/religion. You will have also noticed that they support their charge of heresy against Pope Francis by referencing the internal doctrines, laws, documents, and traditions of the Catholic Church, as it relates to what they perceive as Pope Francis’s deviation from them. They also reference the teachings of Jesus, as well as the teachings of the New Testament, as the foundational source of the charge that Pope Francis has gravely deviated from the teachings of Catholicism. But, from my perspective, this crisis in the Catholic religion is one that has much deeper roots than its internal doctrines, laws, documents and traditions can solve as it relates to the heresy charges against Pope Francis, some of those charges of which even non-Catholics would support. Indeed, those roots can be found far before the figure of Jesus, whose advent and teachings Catholics embrace as marking the beginning of their religion, was even born. In this book, as you can see from the Table of Contents, I offer seven chapters, including the Introduction, of what I consider to be needed background before tackling the issue of the charges of heresy being made against Pope Francis. I then examine the seven heresy charges made against him. Then, in the next chapter after that, I reveal the Real heresy of Pope Francis. After that, I present two chapters that serve as what I feel are solutions to the problem of the heresy of Pope Francis. The sub-title of this book should be kept in mind: An Islamic perspective from an ex-Catholic. Though the book includes very strong support and endorsement for the particular Islamic movement that I associate myself with, I am not speaking in an official capacity for that movement. I am sharing my independent thoughts, but thoughts that, I believe, are strongly rooted in the beliefs of the religion of Islam; thoughts that are also rooted in my experience and knowledge as a former believing and practicing Catholic; and thoughts that 5 developed due to my having made myself familiar with the current crisis in the Catholic religion concerning the charge of heresy against Pope Francis. Throughout this book, the following conventions are to be understood. Any mention of Prophet Muhammad should be understood to be followed by the words, sallalaho alaihe wa salaam, which mean, “Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.” Any mention of a Prophet of God, such as Moses, should be understood to be followed by the words, alaihe salaam, which means, “Peace be upon him.” Any mention of a very holy woman, such as Mother Mary, the Mother of Jesus, should be understood to be followed by the words, razi allaho anha, which means, “May Allah be pleased with her.” Any mention of any of the wives of Prophet Muhammad should be understood to be followed by the words, “razi allaho anha.” Any mention of a male companion of Prophet Muhammad’s should be understood to be followed by the words, razi allaho anho, which means “May Allah be pleased with him.” Any mention of a Khalifa (Successor) of Prophet Muhammad’s, such as Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, should be understood to be followed by the words, razi allaho anho. The same is so for any of the Khalifas of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, except for the current one. Any mention of the current Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community should be understood to be followed by the words, Ayyadahullahu Ta'ala binasrihil 'Aziz, which mean, “May Allah the Almighty help him with His powerful support.” 6 Introduction Pope John Paul II (Courtesy cuttingedge.org) “No man can serve two masters” (Jesus Christ) 7 ﴾بِ ۡس ِمِ ّٰللاِ ال َّر ۡح ٰم ِنِ ال َّر ِحۡی ِم﴿۱ In the Name of Allah, The Gracious, The Merciful Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and debate with them in a way that is best. Surely, thy Lord knows best who has strayed from His way; and He knows those who are rightly guided. (Al-Qur’an Al-Karim, Suratul Nahl, Iyyat 126) There should be no compulsion in religion. Surely, right has become distinct from wrong; so, whosoever refuses to be led by those who transgress, and believes in Allah, has surely grasped a strong handle which knows no breaking. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Al-Qur’an Al-Karim, Suratul Baqarah, Iyyat 257) Say, ‘O People of the Book! come to a word equal between us and you — that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partner with Him, and that some of us take not others for Lords beside Allah.’ But if they turn away, then say, ‘Bear witness that we have submitted to God.’ (Al-Qur’an Al-Karim, Suratul Imran, Iyyat 65) 8 he verses above represent the Islamic teaching on dialogue. If the believer wants to be in the favor of Allah, not only in the act of T engaging in dialogue, but also in his desire to help to establish and support balance, harmony, and peace, he or she must follow the guidelines on dialogue as taught by Allah. For all Muslims, all of the verses of the Islamic scripture, The Qur’an, are believed to have been, and are accepted as having been, revealed to Prophet Muhammad by Almighty Allah (Almighty God), through the Angel Jabriel (Gabriel), 1400 years ago, and are binding on Muslims to follow. It is important to know that Islam must not be understood to be a religion only in the sense of the practice of rituals such as prayer, fasting, attendance at the Islamic place of worship (called the Masjid, or Mosque) for congregational prayers, the celebration of Islamic holidays, etc. The word Din (Deen), in the Arabic language—the word that is often translated solely as “religion”—is much wider than the meaning generally attached to the word religion. The word Din has three meanings: judgement, custom, and religion. In short, Islam is a way of life—a Tao—that is to be lived in accordance with the teaching of the Qur’an, especially with respect to how the teaching of Islam was lived by Prophet Muhammad, his manner of living the teaching of Islam having been handed down orally, as well as textually in compilations called hadith. In the Din (way, practice) of Islam there are guidelines, or laws, regarding many aspects of life: how one should carry oneself; there are inheritance laws; there are laws about governing (for those governing and for those governed); there are dietary laws; there are laws concerning marriage; there are guidelines, or “laws” regarding the treatment of neighbors; and many other guidelines and/or laws.
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