Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!jarthur!nntp-server.caltech.edu!bes
From: soudan@iitmax.iit.edu (Bassel Soudan)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: Questions regarding Israel
Message-ID: <1990Nov6.041954.27132@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 6 Nov 90 04:19:54 GMT
Sender: bes@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
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Approved: bes@tybalt.caltech.edu


In article <1990Nov3.210105.11983@nntp-server.caltech.edu> gordon@cssun.tamu.edu (Dan Gordon) writes:
>                                                       Interestingly 
>enough, there is also a reference to this in the Koran - see below. So
>what I am really asking is whether Islamic scholars have ever considered
>this question, and if so, what is their attitude to it?
>

[ a lot of stuff deleted. ]

>This is very interesting. I have also found the following (from the 
>translation by N. J. Dawood, Penguin Books) Surah 17, verse 103:
>
>"He [Pharaoh - mentioned in the previous verse] sought to scare them out
>of the land: but We drowned him, together with all who were with him. 
>Then We said to the Israelites: 'Dwell in this land. When the promise of
>                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>the hereafter comes to be fulfilled, We shall assemble you all together.'"
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>This definitely reads as a promise by God to the Israelites that in the
                                                  ^^^^^^^^^^

>times shortly preceding the "hereafter", He will gather them all together.
>It is entirely in agreement with the other above-mentioned prophecies in
>the Bible.

	You my friend have misread and misinterpreted the text of the Quran.
I sincerely hope that this was due to a mistake and not intentional.

	In this verse God is addressing the children of Israel right after
bieng brought out of Egypt by Moses (may God's peace be upon him). He told
them to dwell in this land, but then he turns around and tells them and the
whole of humanity that when the time for the day of judgement comes He will
gather all the children of Adam (from Adam to the last one of the inhabitants
of earth when the day of judgement comes) on one land and raise them --just like
he did when he created them the first time -- for judgement and reward.

	The words "We shall assemble you all together" in the verse mentioned
above are not for the children of Israel by them selves but rather a reminder
for the whole of humanity that there is going to be a time when we all will 
stand together to meet God. The problem is that you are trying to understand
the verses of Quran without having a complete comprehension of the rest of it.
Parts of the Quran explain each other. You can not take a verse and build on it
without considering all the other verses relating to the subject.