[Coach]

>Coach,
>thanks for enlightening me hapo. now, am wondering where
>'fatwah' falls.. doesnt it go against Jesus (in this case, the
>prophet Issa) who forbade Peter to call down fire on the
>villages that had rejected the message?

blowfish,
Fatwa means 'opinion' or 'legal pronouncement' issued by a scholar. What has a word like this have to do with "fire on the village"? If you understood it to mean 'force someone to accept Islam' then you are wrong. The Qur'an clealry says...

" There is NO compulsion in religion, for the right way is clearly from the wrong way. Whoever therefore rejects the forces of evil and believes in God, he has taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way, for God is All Hearing and Knowing." (Qur'an 2:256)


>>..BUT, the family members of the victim (the person
>>killed) can choose to forgive the murderer and he/she will
>>walk free.
>
>and is forgiving really a matter of choice. Jesus taught in
>the parable of the man indebted to the king that what we were
>forgiven far outweighs any forgiving we could ever do. i dont
>see any space for choice here. i dont know very much about
>Islam myself, but i know that am yet to meet or hear of a
>muslim who obeys all these blessed prophets, esp Jesus to whom
>the rest pointed to as the 'Coming One'.

Forgiving is a choice; in order for a society to function, there must be laws and regulations and a body that ensures that people abide by them. This is a central issue that makes a difference between a society functionning or falling to chaos. If all criminals were forgiven every time they commit a crime then there wouldn't be any deterrent. Forgiveness is indeed a virtue, but it cannot be the norm in every sphere of society. Society simply wouldn't function.

PS: Muslims believe in the second coming of Jesus too.



>if Jesus and the prophets were Muslims, an ignorant passerby
>would easily conclude that there are no more Muslims left.

Well that would be an ignorant conclusion.