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Rashad Khalifa, PhD.
Although The Submitters are an international branch of Islam, signs of their existence in Northern California has Muslims in a fury. Background information on the new religious sect reveals the cause of conflict between fundamentalist Muslims and The Submitters.
One of the most important concepts of Islam is Muhammad’s role as the last prophet to appear on earth, and The Submitters’ treatment of Rashad Khalifa, PhD. is known to contradict this role since he is regarded as the prophet predicted in The Old and New Testaments (Malachi 3:1-21, Luke 17:22-36, Mathew 24:27). However, he argued that there is a difference between a prophet and a messenger, and that difference is scripture; a prophet develops scripture while a messenger provides guidance.
The fundamental concept that distinguishes The Submitters from mainstream Islam is their denial of Hadith, oral teachings that were handed down until written about a century after Muhammad. Sunnah, the Muslim way of life, consists of two components: The Quran, and Hadith. Khalifa dismissed Hadith based on the absence of credibility, hence rejecting Sunnah.
Khalifa, an Egyptian biochemist, experimented with The Quran and after plugging the scripture into a computer, he was faced with the phenomenon of the number 19. He discovered that the text was mathematically based on 19; the number of times “Allah” was used and the number of verses in which the word “Allah” appears were both divisible by 19. Some chapters of The Quran commence with letters that have remained conspicuous and their meaning unknown for centuries. Khalifa discovered that these letters were repeated in that chapter a certain number of times. For example, the first verse of chapter 2 is “A.L.M.” and these letters are repeated 9899 times=19x521 in tat chapter. The calculations are extremely complex and abundant, most of which can be found in detailed explanation here.
The Submitters’ rejection of Hadith results in their denial of some pillars of Islam: Salaat (obligatory prayer), Zakat (obligatory tax), Sawm of Ramadan (obligatory fasting), and Hajj (obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca) since they have been based on the Hadith and are not mandated in the Quran. This prompts Muslims to argue that their beliefs are not Islamic and that they are in fact Kafirs (non-believers).
Rashad Khalifa founded the Unified Submitters International in his mosque in Tucson, which was branded a cult by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Although it was impossible to deny Dr. Khalifa’s discoveries of the mathematical “miracle” of the Quran, his submission to God alone, his new translation of the Quran, his deduction of two false verses, and his rejection of any human worship continues to be considered anti-Islamic.
Comments
will be more than happy to be interviwed about my experience with them.
I'm a submitter from belgium this is a forum:
islamission.forumactif.net/forum.htm
Actually it's very possible to deny his "discoveries of the mathematical “miracle” of the Quran." After his first count, he realized that he was off in some aspect with the number 19. So, in order to make his number theory work, he took out two verses from the Qur'an (sura 9, verses 128-129), thus somehow making the Qur'an seem as if it fit with his discovery of the divine nature of the number 19.
In my concluding sentence, I mention "his deduction of two false verses".
I worked together with Rashad in Masjid Tucson and he was a brave and intelligent man, an iconoclast, a rational monotheist, a reformer. Unfortunately, after his assassination by Sunni terrorists some of his followers turned back to idol worship and ignorance and started worshiping him by considering him infallible, etc.
I invite you to study Manifesto for Islamic Reform and Quran: a Reformist Translation at the following sites:
www.islamiceform.org
www.brainbowpress.com
www.19.org
www.quranix.com
www.quranmiracles.com
Peace,
Edip Yuksel
Muslims initially reacted very positively to the prophetic discovery of 19 which is mentioned in chapter 74 (Muddathir = The Hidden One) in 1974, the most common calendar, exactly 19 x 74 lunar years after the revelation of the Quran. Rashad's book was translated to many languages and became best seller in many countries.
Peace,
Edip Yuksel
However, when Rashad discovered that the Sunni or Shiite sects and the volumes of hearsay hadiths have nothing to do with the Quran, they started rejecting the incredible numerical structure of the Quran, together his arguments in landmark book, Quran, Hadith and Islam. The myriad problems that have inflicted the so-called billion plus Muslims in the world is their betrayal of reason (See verse: 10:100) and the Quran (25:30).
Also followers of the Quran alone are the oldest of all Muslims, even if the sect of Rashad looks new. Hadiths were introduced 250 years later by other people, following Muhammed's death which is why we [Submitters] regard them as a satanic innovation.
Shalom , Rashad before finishing his misison he asked his followers for worshiping God alone but unfortunatly after his departure they lost scripture , Quran alone , meant to follow the word nothing else than the word.
Why do we,humans,spend so much time arguing about who is right and who is wrong? God,Allah,Adonay...whatever name you choose to use to call upon HIM,it has always been a personal walk,not a collective walk. Qur'an teaches us that Allah raises us by degrees. This means,in part, that as we mature in our service of and devotion to The Creator our understanding will evolve and change.Thus our actions must change as well.But the understanding I have today is not the same as it was a year ago or 10 years ago. Similarly,a year from now my understanding will have further evolved, GOD willing.We can only act according to our individual understanding.Nowhere in the Holy text does it state that one must believe in the 19-based code,so believe it or don't believe it. More importantly, who...or what is your GOD (or god) because that's what you'll be questioned about. Are you serving GOD, or are you simply looking for ways to prove that others aren't serving GOD?
Dr. Rashad did believe in the 5 pillars of Islam, he simply said that today's muslims are not following them according to the Quran. This article makes it seem like he didn't believe in the pillars....and in Islam which is Submission to one and only GOD.
I state that this movement branched from Islam and that it is indeed a Muslim group, but Rashad's rejection of Hadith does in turn discredit certain components of the pillars and downgrades them from doctrine to tradition. I apologize if the wording was confusing. I blame limited space for the absence of this clarification. Thank you for pointing it out.
This article is mis-informative.
elaborate.
Your article is Completely innacurate and misinformative
You end your article by stating "continues to be considered anti-Islamic."
How is submitting and worshiping God ALONE anti-islamic? do you recite sura 1 in your prayers, verse 5 "You Alone we worship"?
How is "rejection of any human worship" anti-islamic?
Clearly we are told by God himself to submit to him--we are ordered. Abraham submitted(Quran 2:131), Jacob warned his descendants to submit To God before they die (Quran 2:133). Also God spells it out Clearly That if you worship any human untill the day you die, you are going to Hell (Quran 4:36)
Third, you stated that Submitters’ "rejection of Hadith results in their denial pf some pillars of islam"
You just exposed your ignorance of any scripture, have your ever heard that salat was done since the time of abraham (daniel 6;10 & Psalms 55:17) have you ever heard of the jewish Tzadaka? the equvilant of the arabic 'Zakat' . Have you read the previous scriptures? or even the Quran? and Fasting? did you not read God decreed Fasting unto the people BEFORE us just like he has decreed unto us ? (Quran 2:183)
i want to ask you, What basis or foundation do you have to be deeming something "islamic and anti-islamic". First of all what is islamic? Following oppressive scholars of saudia arabia elite? are you the one deciding what is islamic and anti-islamic? (Quran 4:36) are you following your ego? (Quran 45:23)
I want to ask you, was the Prophet a Sunni? a shia? which sect are you? Sects are condemned (Quran 6:159 and 30:32) did the prophet follow the thousands of compiled hadiths to which 99% of them are deemed week, or in other words baseless hadiths (Quran 31:6) Will you not take heed?
Show me your proof, You have absolutely no support for you accusations, you are just following your own way without any of the enlightening scriptures to support you.(Quran 31:20)
God prophesized and Exposed you already along with those who deserted the Quran!
On the day of judgment The prophet himself will say ""My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran." (Quran 25:30)
God promises "... He will most certainly expose the hypocrites" (Quran 29:11)
Do not speak about something with which you have knowledge about, you certainly expose your ignorance of any of the scriptures, including your own.
Youssef,
This is why the ACADEMIC study of religion is now, quite fortunately, separated in its entirety from theological perspectives. I would urge you to set aside your religiosity and reread the article. Whether I am a Muslim or not is completely besides the point since this is a piece of academic scholarship, so your accusations of my ignorance of MY scripture is trivial here. You have to understand that this group being "anti-Islamic" does not mean that they are against Islam; it means that mainstream Islam has condemned them and accused them of rejecting the pillars of Islam because of their peripheral considerations for Hadith.
If you don't mind, I will use your comments to further elaborate the importance of keep religion out of religious studies in the academia, for it is the perfect example of the backward, prejudice filled ideological filter that damages academic scholarship on religion. This piece is an unbiased, informative one about an Islamic reform movement, not a comment on personal faith; in the academic study of religion, no religion has any truth value.
Am now a true muslim who submits to the will of God as Abraham did .i was a muhammadan as i here they are called but now i have seen light am never again going to be guided by the so called hadith and sunna,they are so confusing and makes this great religion of God so complicated.I hope that people will find the truth and submit to the Lord of mankind.
I don't want to blabber about a dead dude...but whatever message he left is absolutely deceptive. This cult is its own religion, not Islam. I don't want to be judgemental, but submitters international should do what ever they please. However, as a Muslim, their message is truly guided by saytan. May all deciever and false prophets burn in etarnal hell fire. Ameen.
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