MashAllah this is an excellent thread. A good question and answer session. Some of these questions I have never thought about myself. So, thank you Seraphim for enlightening us with your questions, and for helping us focus on the answers.
Sister Muslimah, I know this is going off-topic, but I'll just answer Seraphim's question regarding the Books of Allah....
Quote:Do Muslims then give full crediblity to the three books of Moses then? in their Moses reveals his own sins as well as the sins of his own people. Make it credible now?
As Muslims, we DO believe in the Torah (i.e. the Book revealed to Moses) and the Injil (aka Bible, revealed to Jesus, the Prophet of Allah), unlike the common misconception that we ONLY believe in the Qur'an. As Allah says in the Holy Qur'an at the beginning (literally on the second page!):
1. Alif-Lam-Meem. (These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'an and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings).
2. This is the Book (the Qur'an), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqoon (the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)).
3. Who believe in the Ghaib and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and spend out of what we have provided for them (i.e. give Zakat , spend on themselves, their parents, their children, their wives, etc., and also give charity to the poor and also in Allah's Cause - Jihad, etc.).
4. And who believe in (the Qur'an) which has been sent down (revealed) to you (Muhammad Peace be upon him ) and in (the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.) which were sent down before you and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter. (Resurrection, recompense of their good and bad deeds, Paradise and Hell, etc.).
5. They are on (true) guidance from their Lord, and they are the successful. [Qur'an 2:1-5]
In particular, see Verse 4. (I copied the five verses so we can see the context, as looking at the verse on its own could be misleading)
However, what we do not believe in are the MODIFICATIONS that were made to these books. When the Torah and the Bible were revealed, they were not immediately memorised nor written down anywhere, unlike the Qur'an, which was memorised by the Prophet Muhammad and all his companions, as well as written down. This means that some portions of the Torah, and the Bible were lost... and then scholars at different point in time have revised them, and produced different books, which don't resemble the originals in any way, and in MANY cases, actually contradict the original books.
Coming back towards the topic (before Sister Muslimah tells me off for going off-topic [img]style_emoticons/default/wink.gif[/img] ), to answer your question:
Quote:Well on to the next question...Why do people say Muhammad had a tutor when he was younger who taught him about the Christian religion and why do muslims say it is false?
... I don't think you can find a better answer than this: http://www.drzakirnaik.com/pages/qanda/39.php
And Allah knows Best
JazaakAllah Khair.