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Salam Maybe the video below may help to increase our understanding.   Wallahualam 

Believe me, the last place you should be getting scientific information from is western media. If that's what you've been relying on instead of actual academic research, I can't blame you so much for being at this stage. No one asked you to fall for them. You should try and verify these things for yourself, it's part of the knowledge you should be seeking as a mu'min before you come to a forum and throw an unverified claim of humans being 20,000 years old. The argument you presented is basically like an undocumented orphan standing over the graves of his parents asking them if they were actually his parents. Are they ever going to speak to him? No. But can he still find ways to conclude that they were his parents? Yes, definitely. 

It would hardly matter in the bigger picture of American politics, would it? Even if the candidate is gay, they would still need to be the same old, typical cut-out-to-be-a-politician who can engage in deceive talk with the masses and appease to the lobbies and corporations. 

Hi there - I'm sticking my neck out here!!! I am interested in reading people's responses to my posts.  Many are very willing to point out what they see as errors, or to try and disprove Christian faith and tradition. I have rarely seen a response that presents an alternative by explaining the wonders of Islam, how it is life changing and what it does to give hope and transformation in the midst of dispare and doubt.  There isn't often someone who explains the joy and excitment of living each day with Islam as your guide.  I've not read many posts where people share the treasures and meaning they have found in life and the deliverence they have found from fear and worry because of their engagement with God.  Not much has been presented about the release and freedom that comes from the God who forgives. Maybe Shia chat is Muslim to Muslim and so you don't feel you need to tell each other those wonderful things.  Well I'm not a Muslim - here is your opportunity to share them!  I'm likely to respond, but am looking forward to reading your testimonies. Thank you

Yes you are right this is a very challenging teaching.  I would not have used it if Jesus the Messiah hadn't made the claim himself. Jesus the Messiah opens the way for all people to find God and enter into a relationship with him.  Yes it does make other religions pointless.  Not becasue it nulifies their good moral teaching or the example they give to live in harmoney with others and the world.  These things are valid and important.  But it says they are not enough.  An upright life, loving others, caring for the environment, even doing religious acts is not enough to provide a relationship with God. It is only when God comes to us through the door opened by Jesus the Messiah - who called himself the Gate (John 10:9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.) that we enter that life giving, hope and joy filled relationship with Alimighty God that we are seeking. In fact the teaching about Jesus the Messiah doesn't contradict past prophets' teaching, he was their fulfilment.  It was in Jesus the Messiah that the things they looked for and spoke about come to reality.

I find the Shia teaching that there are certain people who are infallible hard to understand.  In my understanding of God and his creation, only God is infallible.  Every created being is fallible, there is no one who hasn't fallen short of the honour of God in some respect.  Making people infallible is raising them to a level of equality with God.  Even the verse you quote Q 33:33 indicates that even Al-Bayt at one time were not pure because they needed purification. Yes you are right that if the prophet sins, it is possible people will ask "how can I keep from sinning?".  I see this as a weak argument for saying prophets need to be sinless, in fact it shows a missunderstanding of the role of a prophet.  The prophet is there as an example of a human who God uses.  If we allow him, God takes people like you and me, with all our failings and impurities, and in his grace and mercy uses us to bring him glory.  We look at the prophets and are encouraged,  We can say "If God used them, wow he can use me too.  I am not a hopeless case." We can see too that when prophets fail, God forgives them and lifts them up.  But so often they had to live through the consiquenses of their actions.  They then become a warning for us to avoid those acts. If we see people as becoming or being made infallible, then when we look to them for an example we are dejected and say "God has made them different from me, I don't have any hope."  An infallible person ceases to be a helpful example because they do not have the ability to sin. A person, on the other hand, who faces temptaions and struggles just like we have, but finds through God's powerful Holy Spirit the ability to resist and overcome, gives us hope and a true example not as someone 'out there' because they are infallible, but someone touchable and like us but who was victorious.

Your total argument is rejected by one Quranic Surah which says:  "We gave some excellence over others".  This proves that some people excel over other humans and hence our Prophet excel over us.

This quote from Qur'an (68) sūrat l-qalam verse 4 says that your prophet was a good person.  The Tasfir of Ibn-Kathir says on this verse Allah gave him the exalted character, which included the qualities of modesty, kindness, bravery, pardoning, gentleness and every other good characteristic. I know many people who are like this.  It does not set Muhammed out as unique.  God has made us all with the ability to be virtuous. We need to be very careful what we are doing when we exalt people to a high level.  As you say no one is equal to God, every created being is less than God and therefore undeserving of our exultation. If, on the other hand, the uncreated God himself comes and lives among us showing us his charactar and atributes, then we can stand in awe of that person and call him "Lord"

They did have Pete Buttigeg.  If they do bring in a "diverse" candidate, their ideology will still be the same mainstream neoliberal or neoconservative garbage. Only candidates approved by the corporate oligarchy are ever allowed to run. That's why it's not a real democracy. In a democracy we would be able to choose candidates, not select from among bad choices set up by those in power.  

My Friend thank you for explaining your perspective.  I agree that some of the letters of Paul which have been included in the New Testament were written before the accounts of the life of Jesus.  But Paul is very clear, even in the early letters, that the information about Jesus death and resurrection were passed on to him.  ! Corinthians 15 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. Many scholars would suggest that the book of James in the New Testament was writen before Paul's letters.  The letter was writen with in 20 years of Jesus life on earth.  James is considered to be Jesus half brother (born of Mary and Joseph).  He was also the leader of the church in Jerusalem durimng the early years of the church.  He begins his letter James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. This greeting is linking God and Jesus as worthy of service and giving Jesus the title Lord and Messiah (Christ).  Showing an early acknowledgment of the hebrew / Jewish roots - Messiah and a elivation to Lordship - divinity.  James goes on to say (Chapter 2:1) My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. How can you interpret this oher than worship and service to Jesus the Messiah on the level with God? Mark's account of the life of Jesus the Messiah recognised by scholars to writen very early has full accounts of Jesus death and resurrection.  It is suggested that the book contains remenciences of Jesus from Peter one of his closest friends.  It is also thought that it draws from a pre-existing document which confirms the very early emergence of the stories and teaching of Jesus as one to follow, serve and even worship. Can I suggest you read Mark's account and consider what it says about Jesus and what kind of picture it draws of him.  Do these accounts seem invented or do they ring of truth and authenticity?  Who is the person who lived and taught and, from very early and reliable accounts, died and rose again?