Breaking News - - Syrian security shaken as suicide bomber strikes

The Syrian security establishment suffered a heavy blow on
Wednesdayafter a suicide bomber killed Defence Minister Dawoud Rajiha,
his deputy,and seriously injured several other top security officials
including the Interior Minister and the intelligence chief.
The lethal strike was carried out by the bomber who, apparently, was
part of a security team posted to guard President Bashar Al Assad's
inner circle.
The sketchy information available so far seems to suggest that the
bomber struck during a high-profile security meeting in the national
security bureau in Rawda district of Damascus.
The attack also delivered apersonal blow to Mr. Assad, whose
brother-in-law and Deputy DefenceMinister Assef Shawkat was among the
dead. Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar is recuperating in
hospital, as is intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar, who sustained
serious injuries.
Syrian authorities have appointed Fahad Jassim al-Freij, chief of the
staff ofthe armed forces, new Defence Minister.
The claims of responsibilityhave come thick and fast soon after the
attack. Liwa Al-Islam, a Syrian rebel Islamist group posted a
statement on Facebook claiming responsibility for the strike.
The Opposition Free SyrianArmy also said it carried out the attack,
according to its spokesman Qassim Saadedine.
'Hired hands'
On their part, the Syrian authorities pinned the blame for the
"terrorist bomb attack" on "hired hands," and vowed to wipe out
"criminal gangs," state television reported.
Wednesday's mega strike caps four days of hit-and-run violence in
Damascus, which started after the Opposition launched a new offensive
code-namedOperation Damascus Volcano, focusing on high visibility
targets.
Annan's peace plan
As Damascus immersed into a deep security crisis, the United Nations
Security Council is getting ready to debate a resolution on extension
of a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, whose deployment has been tied
to the fulfilment of a six-point peace plan authored by Kofi Annan,
U.N.-Arab League envoy onSyria. Russia and China are opposed to a
British draft which embeds the possibility of sanctions, if not more,
on the Assad regime in case it does not comply with Mr. Annan's plan.

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Muslims say that theQur'an is a Miracle. What is so miraculous about a book?

Previous prophets performed miracles to prove that their message was
not their own but God's message. In the caseof the Qur'an, the message
itself is the miracle.
The prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace, did not know how to read or
write. Yet the Qur'an which was being revealedto him was (and still
is) the highest pinnacle of literary beauty and excellence in the
Arabic Language. It was beyond the ability of the prophet to produce
this book. And God declares that it is beyond the ability of all
ofhumankind and spirit-kind to produce a book like the Qur'an.
The Qur'an was revealed piece by piece over a period of twenty-three
years. During this time, God challenged humankind four times to
produce a book like the Qur'an, and they couldn't do it. When the
prophet and his followers were being persecuted in Mecca, God showed
the persecutors a simple way by which they can wipe out the message of
the Qur'an. God stated that this book cannot be produced by men or
spiritcreatures. Obviously, if they pooled together their abilities
and composed a book like the Qur'an they would have proved the Qur'an
to be false in its claim. But they couldn't. And here is whatthe
Qur'an claims:
Say: If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to
produce the like of this Qur'an they could not produce the like
thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support
(Qur'an 17:88).
Although people ardently wished to block the message of the Qur'an and
they tried every thingthey could to stifle it, yet they did not try
this obvious strategy. Why? Because it cannot be done. So God reduced
the challenge for them: never mind the whole book; produce just ten
chapters if you can. This challenge is mentioned in Surah 11:13 in the
Qur'an. Againthey couldn't do it. And they were the literary giants of
their day. They held fairs to promote their own literary masterpieces.
They hung their prized compositions on the door of the house of
pilgrimage for all to see. But they could not match the stunning
versesof the Qur'an.
God reduced the challenge further still (see Qur'an 10:38). If they
cannot produce ten chapters then how about one chapter? Just one! And
they couldn't do it, sothey eventually pulled down their proud
exhibitsfrom where they were hung. The Qur'an had proved its point:
this is noman-made book.
Yet they tried everything to banish the Qur'an from the face of the
earth. Theyeven made an attempt onthe life of the prophet. He fled to
Madinah, another city. And there the Qur'an kept coming to him piece
by piece. The challenge was repeated yet again. This time God reduced
theemphasis as if to say, okay you couldn't produce a chapter like it;
now produce a chapter even remotely like
it. This challenge is mentioned in the Qur'an in chapter 2, verse 23.
They failed again. And theworld has failed since. Thechallenge is
still there in the Qur'an, and everyone who disbelieves the Qur'an can
still pool together their abilities and resources to try and produce
one like it. But they cannot. Isn't this an awesome miracle?

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Jesus said that he is the way and that noone can come to God except through him. What do Muslims say about that?

Muslims believe that Jesus, on whom be peace, was indeed the way. This
means that he showed the way by which people should approach God. He
expected that people should follow him and imitate him. His early
followers were called followers of the way because, obviously, they
followed Jesus, and Jesus was the way (see Acts 9:2;18:25; 19:9;
19:23; 22:4; 24:14; 24:22). They were also called Christians, which
means 'imitators ofChrist' (see Acts 11 :26). This shows that the
early followers of Jesus copied and imitated him.
Jesus had said that his true followers will hold on to his teachings,
then they will know the truth, and the truth will set them free (see
John 8:31-32). God did reveal His truth in these last times. And true
followers of Jesus will readily acceptthat truth, for they will find
it in agreement with the unadulterated teachings of Jesus. In these
last times God has sent a messenger and declared that anyone whoclaims
to love Him must follow His messenger, on whom be peace. God directs
His messenger as follows:
Say! If you love Allah thenfollow me. Allah will love you and forgive
your sins. Surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (Qur'an 3:31).
Now this messenger, Muhammad, on whom be peace, has brought God's
final message for all of humankind. If we love God we must follow him.
He brought the truth which Jesus said his true followers will
recognize. The truth sets people free from unreasonable doctrines and
dogmas.
Confusion arises in the minds of some who imagine that Jesus is the
only way for peoples of all times and all places. Clearly, the Old
Testamentprophets directed people to Yahweh, the only God. They showed
therefore the way to Yahweh. In fact, people were calling on the name
of Yahweh since the time of Adam (see Genesis 4:1).
Jesus was the way for his time; now Muhammad is the way. We believe in
both of them, and we worship the one God whom they both worshipped.
These men showed us the way to worship God. Jesus, for example, fell
on his knees and worshipped God (see Luke 22:4 1). He also fell on his
face and worshipped God (see Matthew 26:39). Muhammad too adopted
similar postures of humility in worshipping God. Likewise is the
practice of the true imitators of Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon
both of them.
Finally, we should recall that Jesus is the way, not the destination.
He spoke of one who is greater than himself (see John 14:28). And he
said that, that one alone is the only true God (see John 17:3).
God has sent numerous prophets and messengers.Each in his time was the
way to God. No one can approach God in a way contrary to the way of
God's messenger. This is why God said that He will call to account
anyone who does not listen to Hisprophet who will speak inHis name
(see Deuteronomy 18:19).

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