I noticed in The Muslim Challenge at the website the "Fatiha." I have studied part of the Koran back in high school in Lebanon and recently bought a copy of it from an Islamic store here in Minneapolis. It was hard to get the copy, though. The people who sold it to me gave me a hard time since I was not "clean" or "cleaned." I needed to shower and wash before touching it. Anyway, about the "Fatiha," which is in your article, what do you think when it says -- and I quote from this English translation, no.7 -- ''Christians and Jews are those who are in wrath and go astray," versus the ones who follow Islam and its religion. Could the Qur'an simply mean to distinguish sinners from non-sinners? -- Johnny
As I read the Qur'an, I get the feeling that some parts were written during times of amicable relations with Christians, others not at such harmonious times. In other words, I see two positions vis-à-vis the Christians: they are fellow believers; they are infidels.
I know that the process by which the Qur'an came together is a complex one. I am no expert, though I have taken a good deal of time to study the subject. It is not necessary to generalize the passage to refer to sinners and others; there is a clear historical referent to those who claimed to be Christians or Jews.
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