CUT AND PASTED 'TRUTH'

The Mueller hearings reminded me of the time I and some fellow believers went to a debate between Josh McDowell and Ahmad Deedat at Westridge stadium in Durban. We all prepared ourselves by promising each other not to be biased or subjective but to acknowledge that if the other 'side' presented a logical and reasonable argument that challenged our view we would accept the most rational perspective regardless of how we might feel personally.

We needn't have worried.

Deedat was so pathetic and his arguments so irrational that McDowell ceased to argue and switched to presenting a more anecdotal perspective based on personal testimony, hoping to 'convict' rather than reason with Deedat, because the man was plainly unable to do so. It was an embarrassment...satisfying for us but cringe-worthy for the hapless opponent.

By the Monday morning however, the Islamic propagation centre in Durban had copied and distributed hundreds (if not thousands) of cassette tapes of the 'debate' edited in such a way as to provide the Islamic 'scholar' Deedat with a significant win.

I knew this because my wife worked with a company whose many factory workers were 'crowing' about the 'decisive victory' achieved by Deedat.

We were astonished. For one that the propagation centre had worked so diligently to achieve what must have been a mountain of work and displaying a technological sleight-of-hand that was impressive to say the least. The other and more important expression of amazement lay in the fact that an organisation set up to propagate religious truth would stoop so low as to promote such obvious lies.

I am no longer amazed because I have learned over the intervening years that Islam's operational manual makes allowances for the propagation of  lies:

Quran (16:106) - Establishes that there are circumstances that can "compel" a Muslim to tell a lie. 

Quran (3:54) - "And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers." The Arabic word used here for scheme (or plot) is makara, which means 'cunning,' 'guile' and 'deceit'. If Allah is supremely deceitful toward unbelievers, then there is little basis for denying that Muslims are allowed to do the same. (See also 8:30 and 10:21)

Taken collectively these verses are interpreted to mean that there are circumstances when a Muslim may be "compelled" to deceive others for a greater purpose.