Saturday, April 25, 2009

Obama, Turkey and the "G" word

Up til today, the news headlines on Obama's visit to Turkey and the issue regarding the Armenian killings, have read like this:

Obama Avoids Calling Amenian Killings "genocide"

Obama Softens Tone On Armenian Deaths

POLITCAL LANDSCAPE:Obama Stops Short In Turkey

Obama Follows The ADL Line On The Armenian Genocide


But today, we have this:

Turkey Says Obama's Comments On 1915 Incidents "unacceptable"

ANKARA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Saturday defined U.S. President Barack Obama's comments on the incidents of 1915 related to Armenia as "unacceptable".

"We consider some expressions in that statement and the perception of history it contains concerning the events of 1915 as unacceptable," a statement issued by Turkey's Foreign Ministry said, referring to Obama's speech on the "Armenian remembrance day" on Friday.

The statement said that nobody should forget that several hundreds of thousands of Turks also lost their lives in those days.

Armenians claim that more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a systematic genocide in the hands of the Ottomans during World War I before modern Turkey was born in 1923.

But Turkey insists the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old empire collapsed in the years before 1923.

"History can be construed and evaluated only on the basis of undisputed evidence and documentation," the statement said.

It said that common history of the Turkish and Armenian nations had to be assessed solely through impartial and scientific data, and historians must base their evaluations only on such material.

"It is with such an understanding that we support the historical dimension of the Turkish-Armenian dialogue," it said.

During his visit to Turkey on April 6, U.S. President Barack Obama said he was encouraged by the dialogues between Turkey and Armenia aimed at improving ties, promising Washington will be as constructive as possible on the improvement of their ties.

He said as Turkey and Armenia are having serious negotiations that could bear fruit quickly, "I will be as encouraging as possible," adding the world should also encourage them.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan during its conflict with Armenia over the Upper Karabakh region.


So, what exactly did he say?

HURRIYET

-- HE DID NOT SAY "GENOCIDE", BUT INSTEAD HE SAID "BIG DISASTER"

U.S. President Barack Obama used the expression "Meds Yeghern", meaning "big disaster" in Armenian, instead of "genocide" in his speech on the Armenian claims regarding the incident of 1915.

The executives of the Turkish Embassy in
Washington D.C. said that Obama's speech was as it was expected but it contained some heavy expressions like "Meds Yeghern". They said that they would draw Washington's attention to those expressions. Retired ambassador Yalim Eralp said, "this definition is genocide." The Armenians are defining the incidents of 1915 as "big disaster." This expression was also used in the petition of some Turkish intellectuals who apologized to the Armenians.



Now, let's take a look at what happened back then:

When World War I broke out in 1914, leaders of the Young Turk regime sided with the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). The outbreak of war would provide the perfect opportunity to solve the "Armenian question" once and for all. The world's attention became fixed upon the battlegrounds of France and Belgium where the young men of Europe were soon falling dead by the hundreds of thousands. The Eastern Front eventually included the border between Turkey and Russia. With war at hand, unusual measures involving the civilian population would not seem too out of the ordinary.

As a prelude to the coming action, Turks disarmed the entire Armenian population under the pretext that the people were naturally sympathetic toward Christian Russia. Every last rifle and pistol was forcibly seized, with severe penalties for anyone who failed to turn in a weapon. Quite a few Armenian men actually purchased a weapon from local Turks or Kurds (nomadic Muslim tribesmen) at very high prices so they would have something to turn in.

At this time, about forty thousand Armenian men were serving in the Turkish Army. In the fall and winter of 1914, all of their weapons were confiscated and they were put into slave labor battalions building roads or were used as human pack animals. Under the brutal work conditions they suffered a very high death rate. Those who survived would soon be shot outright. For the time had come to move against the Armenians.

The decision to annihilate the entire population came directly from the ruling triumvirate of ultra-nationalist Young Turks.


The actual extermination orders were transmitted in coded telegrams to all provincial governors throughout Turkey.

Armed roundups began on the evening of April 24, 1915, as 300 Armenian political leaders, educators, writers, clergy and dignitaries in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) were taken from their homes, briefly jailed and tortured, then hanged or shot.

Next, there were mass arrests of Armenian men throughout the country by Turkish soldiers, police agents and bands of Turkish volunteers. The men were tied together with ropes in small groups then taken to the outskirts of their town and shot dead or bayoneted by death squads. Local Turks and Kurds armed with knives and sticks often joined in on the killing.

Then it was the turn of Armenian women, children, and the elderly. On very short notice, they were ordered to pack a few belongings and be ready to leave home, under the pretext that they were being relocated to a non-military zone for their own safety. They were actually being taken on death marches heading south toward the Syrian desert.

Most of the homes and villages left behind by the rousted Armenians were quickly occupied by Muslim Turks who assumed instant ownership of everything. In many cases, young Armenian children were spared from deportation by local Turks who took them from their families. The children were coerced into denouncing Christianity and becoming Muslims, and were then given new Turkish names. For Armenian boys the forced conversion meant they each had to endure painful circumcision as required by Islamic custom.

Individual caravans consisting of thousands of deported Armenians were escorted by Turkish gendarmes. These guards allowed roving government units of hardened criminals known as the "Special Organization" to attack the defenseless people, killing anyone they pleased. They also encouraged Kurdish bandits to raid the caravans and steal anything they wanted. In addition, an extraordinary amount of sexual abuse and rape of girls and young women occurred at the hands of the Special Organization and Kurdish bandits. Most of the attractive young females were kidnapped for a life of involuntary servitude.

The death marches, involving over a million Armenians, covered hundreds of miles and lasted months. Indirect routes through mountains and wilderness areas were deliberately chosen in order to prolong the ordeal and to keep the caravans away from Turkish villages.

Food supplies being carried by the people quickly ran out and they were usually denied further food or water.


Stopping to rest or lagging behind the caravan was mercilessly beaten until they rejoined the march. If they couldn't continue they were shot. A common practice was to force all of the people in the caravan to remove every stitch of clothing and have them resume the march in the nude under the scorching sun until they dropped dead by the roadside from exhaustion and dehydration.

An estimated 75 percent of the Armenians on these marches perished, especially children and the elderly. Those who survived the ordeal were herded into the desert without a drop of water. Others were killed by being thrown off cliffs, burned alive, or drowned in rivers.


The Turkish countryside became littered with decomposing corpses. At one point, Mehmed Talaat responded to the problem by sending a coded message to all provincial leaders: "I have been advised that in certain areas unburied corpses are still to be seen. I ask you to issue the strictest instructions so that the corpses and their debris in your vilayet are buried."

But his instructions were generally ignored. Those involved in the mass murder showed little interest in stopping to dig graves. The roadside corpses and emaciated deportees were a shocking sight to foreigners working in Turkey.


Eyewitnesses included German government liaisons, American missionaries, and U.S. diplomats stationed in the country.

The Christian missionaries were often threatened with death themselves and were unable to help the people. Diplomats from the still neutral United States communicated their blunt assessments of the ongoing government actions. U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau, reported to Washington: "When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race..."

The Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, Russia) responded to news of the massacres by issuing a warning to Turkey:

"...the Allied governments announce publicly...that they will hold all the members of the Ottoman Government, as well as such of their agents as are implicated, personally responsible for such matters."

The warning had no effect. Newspapers in the West including the New York Times published reports of the continuing deportations with the headlines:

Armenians Are Sent to Perish in the Desert - Turks Accused of Plan to Exterminate
Whole Population (August 18, 1915) - Million Armenians Killed or in Exile - American Committee on Relief Says Victims of Turks Are Steadily Increasing - Policy of Extermination (December 15, 1915).


Temporary relief for some Armenians came as Russian troops attacked along the Eastern Front and made their way into central Turkey. But the troops withdrew in 1917 upon the Russian Revolution. Armenian survivors withdrew along with them and settled in among fellow Armenians already living in provinces of the former Russian Empire. There were in total about 500,000 Armenians gathered in this region.

In May 1918, Turkish armies attacked the area to achieve the goal of expanding Turkey eastward into the Caucasus and also to resume the annihilation of the Armenians. As many as 100,000 Armenians may have fallen victim to the advancing Turkish troops.

However, the Armenians managed to acquire weapons and they fought back, finally repelling the Turkish invasion at the battle of Sadarabad, thus saving the remaining population from total extermination with no help from the outside world.

Following that victory, Armenian leaders declared the establishment of the independent Republic of Armenia.

World War I ended in November 1918 with a defeat for Germany and the Central Powers including Turkey. Shortly before the war had ended, the Young Turk triumvirate; Talaat, Enver and Djemal, abruptly resigned their government posts and fled to Germany where they had been offered asylum.

In the months that followed, repeated requests were made by Turkey's new moderate government and the Allies asking Germany to send the Young Turks back home to stand trial. However all such requests were turned down. As a result, Armenian activists took matters into their own hands, located the Young Turks and assassinated them along with two other instigators of the mass murder.

Meanwhile, representatives from the fledgling Republic of Armenia attended the Paris Peace Conference in the hope that the victorious Allies would give them back their historic lands seized by Turkey. The European Allies responded to their request by asked the United States to assume guardianship of the new Republic. However, President Woodrow Wilson's attempt to make Armenia an official U.S. protectorate was rejected by the U.S. Congress in May 1920.

But Wilson did not give up on Armenia. As a result of his efforts, the Treaty of Sevres was signed on August 10, 1920, by the Allied Powers, the Republic of Armenia and the new moderate leaders of Turkey. The treaty recognized an independent Armenian state in an area comprising much of the former historic homeland.

However, Turkish nationalism once again reared its head. The moderate Turkish leaders who signed the treaty were ousted in favor of a new nationalist leader, Mustafa Kemal, who simply refused to accept the treaty and even re-occupied the very lands in question then expelled any surviving Armenians, including thousands of orphans.

No Allied power came to the aid of the Armenian Republic and it collapsed. Only a tiny portion of the easternmost area of historic Armenia survived by being becoming part of the Soviet Union.

After the successful obliteration of the people of historic Armenia, the Turks demolished any remnants of Armenian cultural heritage including priceless masterpieces of ancient architecture, old libraries and archives. The Turks even leveled entire cities such as the once thriving Kharpert, Van and the ancient capital at Ani, to remove all traces of the three thousand year old civilization.

The half-hearted reaction of the world's great powers to the plight of the Armenians was duly noted by the young German politician Adolf Hitler. After achieving total power in Germany, Hitler decided to conquer Poland in 1939 and told his generals: "Thus for the time being I have sent to the East only my 'Death's Head Units' with the orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish race or language. Only in such a way will we win the vital space that we need. Who still talks nowadays about the Armenians?

Is this not genocide?

gen-o-cide

–noun
the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.


And lest we not forget what the Young Turks were. Julia Duin at the Washington Times asks,

Is Islam able to apologize?

What would contrition for the genocide look like from a secular state based on a religious tradition - Islam - that does not practice corporate repentance?

Muslim scholars tell me the holy month of Ramadan takes care of the sins of the individual, but not those of a nation.
There's no concept of national sin, which may be why the Shi'ite Iranians have never apologized for their sacking of the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

The concept of national repentance started with Jewish prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures. Christians then ran with the idea, with modern examples including President Lincoln's 1863 call to a day of national repentance and fasting. His idea lives on in the National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday of each May.
Plus, Christians ranging from the late Pope John Paul II to bands of evangelical Protestant missionaries have apologized for the excesses of the Crusades. But what Islamic entity has apologized for the 300 years of conquest that provoked the Crusades?

"The idea of being sorry for what's happened in the past is a Western way of expressing things," Mr. Haddad says.


"Nations elsewhere in the world do not do this."


However, he added that his wife, Georgetown University professor Yvonne Haddad, lost two Armenian Orthodox ancestors during the genocide.

"Individual Muslims can express regret or repentance, but I don't know what the appropriate institution would be to express Islamic regret," Georgetown University Islamic history professor John Voll told me. Christianity has corporate bodies representing its various divisions, he added, but "in Islam, there is no corporate structure that represents the umma [world Muslim community].

"
Corporate repentance requires an acceptance of corporate guilt, an idea that dates back to original sin.

"Islamic theological tradition does not involve a concept of original sin," he said.

"Muslims think Adam and Eve disobeyed
God and were expelled from the garden, but God did not curse them."

If the majority religion of Turkey does not have a concept of common guilt, can Turks apologize for their past?

5 comments:

Always On Watch said...

HE DID NOT SAY "GENOCIDE", BUT INSTEAD HE SAID "BIG DISASTER"Then "manmade disaster" as a euphemism for jihadist attacks is also out. Will probably have to be changed to "manmade blessing" to satisfy Moslems.

Always On Watch said...

The concept of national repentance started with Jewish prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures. Christians then ran with the idea, with modern examples including President Lincoln's 1863 call to a day of national repentance and fasting. His idea lives on in the National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday of each May.See this article in today's WaPo, about the upcoming National Day of Prayer.

Christine said...

Does Obama think that changing the terminology, will change the truth?

The fact is, he refuses to acknowledge the "Islam" problem.

Anonymous said...

ISLAM SUCKS!

musa said...

---kuran---

Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth.
Createth man from a clot.
And will provide for him from (a quarter) whence he hath no expectation. And whosoever putteth his trust in Allah, He will suffice him. Lo! Allah bringeth His command to pass. Allah hath set a measure for all things.

That is the commandment of Allah which He revealeth unto you. And whoso keepeth his duty to Allah, He will remit from him his evil deeds and magnify reward for him.

Teacheth man that which he knew not.
Nay, but verily man is rebelliouss
Allah will vouchsafe, after hardship, ease.
That he thinketh himself independent!
Lo! unto thy Lord is the return.

A messenger reciting unto you the revelations of Allah made plain, that He may bring forth those who believe and do good works from darkness unto light.

Allah it is Who hath created seven heavens, and of the earth the like thereof. The commandment cometh down among them slowly, that ye may know that Allah is Able to do all things, and that Allah surroundeth all things in knowledge.

Is he then unaware that Allah seeth?
Then let him call upon his henchmen!
And thou wilt see and they will seee
Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright.
That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old.
Lo! for those who keep from evil are gardens of bliss with their Lord.
Leave Me (to deal) with those who give the lie to this pronouncement. We shall lead them on by steps from whence they know not.
Yet I bear with them, for lo! My scheme is firm.
And lo! those who disbelieve would fain disconcert thee with their eyes when they hear the Reminder, and they say: Lo! he is indeed mad;
When it is naught else than a Reminder to creation.
Lo! the vigil of the night is (a time) when impression is more keen and speech more certain.
Lo! thou hast by day a chain of business.
Lord of the East and the West; there is no God save Him; so choose thou Him alone for thy defenderr.
Lo! We have sent unto you a messenger as witness against you, even as We sent unto Pharaoh a messenger.
But Pharaoh rebelled against the messenger, whereupon We seized him with no gentle grip.
Lo! This is a Reminder. Let him who will, then, choose a way unto his Lord.

Thy raiment purify,
Pollution shun!
And show not favour, seeking worldly gain!
For the sake of thy Lord, be patient!
For when the trumpet shall sound,
Surely that day will be a day of anguish,
Not of ease, for disbelievers.
Leave Me (to deal) with him whom I created lonely,
And then bestowed upon him ample means,
Yet he desireth that I should give more.
Nay! For lo! he hath been stubborn to Our revelations.
On him I shall impose a fearful doom.
For lo! he did consider; then he plannedd
(Self-) destroyed is he, how he planned!
Again (self-) destroyed is he, how he planned!
Then looked he,
Then frowned he and showed displeasure.
Then turned he away in pridee
And said: This is naught else than magic from of old;
This is naught else than speech of mortal man.
Him shall I fling unto the burning.
Ah, what will convey unto thee what that burning is!
It leaveth naught; it spareth naughtt
Above it are nineteen.
Lo! this is one of the greatest (portents)

Nay, but everyone of them desireth that he should be given open pages (from Allah).
Nay, verily. They fear not the Hereafter.
Nay, verily. Lo! this is an Admonishment.
So whosoever will may heed.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful! The Beneficent, the Merciful. Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help. Show us the straight path,
The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
***
When the sun is overthrown,,
And when the hills are moved,
And when the wild beasts are herded together,
And when the seas rise,
And when souls are reunited,
And when the sky is torn away,
(Then) every soul will know what it hath made ready.
That this is in truth the word of an honoured messenger,
Mighty, established in the presence of the Lord of the Throne,
(One) to be obeyed, and trustworthy;
Surely he beheld him on the clear horizon.
Nor is this the utterance of a devil worthy to be stonedd
Whither then go ye?
This is naught else than a reminder unto creation,
Unto whomsoever of you willeth to walk straight.
Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth
Who createth, then disposeth;
Let him who hath abundance spend of his abundance, and he whose provision is measured, let him spend of that which Allah hath given him. Allah asketh naught of any soul save that which He hath given it. Allah will vouchsafe, after hardship, ease.
And how many a community revolted against the ordinance of its Lord and His messengers, and We called it to a stern account and punished it with dire punishment,

Lo! your effort is dispersed (toward divers ends).
As for him who giveth and is dutiful (toward Allah)
And believeth in goodness;
Surely We will ease his way unto the state of ease.
But as for him who hoardeth and deemeth himself independent,
And disbelieveth in goodness;
Surely We will ease his way unto adversity.
His riches will not save him when he perisheth.
Lo! Ours it is (to give) the guidancee
And lo! unto Us belong the latter portion and the former.
Therefore have I warned you of the flaming Firee
Which only the most wretched must endure,

And love wealth with abounding love.
Nay, but when the earth is ground to atoms, grinding, grinding,
And thy Lord shall come with angels, rank on rank,
And hell is brought near that day; on that day man will remember, but how will the remembrance (then avail him)?
He will say: Ah, would that I had sent before me (some provision) for my life!
Enter thou among My bondmen!
Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee nor doth He hate thee,
Lo! We are ever sendingg
And verily thy Lord will give unto thee so that thou wilt be content.

Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, if ye would be sure.
Did He not find thee wandering and direct (thee)?
Did He not find thee destitute and enrich (thee)?
There is no God save Him. He quickeneth and giveth death; your Lord and Lord of your forefathers.
Nay, but they play in doubt.
Therefore the orphan oppress not,
Therefore the beggar drive not away,
But watch thou (O Muhammad) for the Day when the sky will produce visible smokee
Therefore of the bounty of thy Lord be thy discourse.
And saying: Be not proud against Allah. Lo! I bring you a clear warrant.
And We have made (this Scripture) easy in thy language only that they may heed.

But lo! with hardship goeth ease,
Lo! with hardship goeth ease;
So when thou art relieved, still toill
And strive to please thy Lord.

Lo! man is in a state of loss,
Save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance.

***

And when it is said unto them: Make not mischief in the earth, they say: We are peacemakers only.
Are not they indeed the mischief-makers? But they perceive not.
And when it is said unto them: Believe as the people believe, they say: Shall we believe as the foolish believe? Are not they indeed the foolish? But they know not.
And when they fall in with those who believe, they say: We believe; but when they go apart to their devils they declare: Lo! we are with you; verily we did but mock.
Allah (Himself) doth mock them, leaving them to wander blindly on in their contumacy.
These are they who purchase error at the price of guidance, so their commerce doth not prosper, neither are they guided.
Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindleth fire, and when it sheddeth its light around him Allah taketh away their light and leaveth them in darkness, where they cannot see,
Deaf, dumb and blind; and they return not
Or like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is darkness, thunder and the flash of lightning. They thrust their fingers in their ears by reason of the thunder-claps, for fear of death. Allah encompasseth the disbelievers (in His guidance).
The lightning almost snatcheth away their sight from them. As often as it flasheth forth for them they walk therein, and when it darkeneth against them they stand still. If Allah willed, He could destroy their hearing and their sight. Lo! Allah is Able to do all things.
O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who hath created you and those before you, so that ye may ward off (evil).

Lo! Allah disdaineth not to coin the similitude even of a gnat. Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord; but those who disbelieve say: What doth Allah wish (to teach) by such a similitude? He misleadeth many thereby, and He guideth many thereby; and He misleadeth thereby only miscreants;
Those who break the covenant of Allah after ratifying it, and sever that which Allah ordered to be joined, and (who) make mischief in the earth: Those are they who are the loserss

And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever.
And We said: O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye freely (of the fruits) thereof where ye will; but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers.
But Satan caused them to deflect therefrom and expelled them from the (happy) state in which they were; and We said: Fall down, one of you a foe unto the other! There shall be for you on earth a habitation and provision for a time.
Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the Relenting, the Merciful.
We said: Go down, all of you, from hence; but verily there cometh unto you from Me a guidance; and whoso followeth My guidance, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.
But they who disbelieve, and deny Our revelations, such are rightful owners of the Fire. They will abide therein.
O Children of Israel! Remember My favour wherewith I favoured you, and fulfil your (part of the) covenant, I shall fulfil My (part of the) covenant, and fear Me.
Confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth.
Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practise it)? And ye are readers of the Scripture! Have ye then no sense?
And guard yourselves against a day when no soul will in aught avail another, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be received from it, nor will they he helped.
And those who believe and do good works: such are rightful owners of the Garden. They will abide therein.
Say (O Muhammad, to mankind): Who is an enemy to Gabriel! For he it is who hath revealed (this Scripture) to thy heart by Allah's leave, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, and a guidance and glad tidings to believers;
Who is an enemy to Allah, and His angels and His messengers, and Gabriel and Michael! Then, lo! Allah (Himself) is an enemy to the disbelievers."
Verily We have revealed unto thee clear tokens, and only miscreants will disbelieve in them.
Such of Our revelations as We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah is Able to do all things?
Knowest thou not that it is Allah unto Whom belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; and ye have not, beside Allah, any friend or helper?
And they say: None entereth Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian. These are their own desires. Say: Bring your proof (of what ye state) if ye are truthful.

Nay, but whosoever surrendereth his purpose to Allah while doing good, his reward is with his Lord; and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

And those who have no knowledge say: Why doth not Allah speak unto us, or some sign come unto us? Even thus, as they now speak, spake those (who were) before them. Their hearts are all alike. We have made clear the revelations for people who are sure.

Those unto whom We have given the Scripture, who read it with the right reading, those believe in it. And whoso disbelieveth in it, those are they who are the losers.


Even as We have sent unto you a messenger from among you, who reciteth unto you Our revelations and causeth you to grow, and teacheth you the Scripture and wisdom, and teacheth you that which ye knew not'
Therefore remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me, and reject not Me.

Those who hide the proofs and the guidance which We revealed, after We had made it clear in the Scripture: such are accursed of Allah and accursed of those who have the power to curse.
Except such of them as repent and amend and make manifest (the truth). These it is toward whom I relent. I am the Relenting, the Merciful.
Lo! those who disbelieve, and die while they are disbelievers; on them is the curse of Allah and of angels and of men combined.

Your God is One God; there is no God save Him, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Lo! he is an open enemy for you.

And when it is said unto them: Follow that which Allah hath revealed, they say: We follow that wherein we found our fathers. What! Even though their fathers were wholly unintelligent and had no guidance?
The likeness of those who disbelieve (in relation to the messenger) is as the likeness of one who calleth unto that which heareth naught except a shout and cry. Deaf, dumb, blind, therefore they have no sense.
O ye who believe! Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you, and render thanks to Allah if it is (indeed) He Whom ye worship.
He hath forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and swineflesh, and that which hath been immolated to (the name of) any other than Allah. But he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the Prophets; and giveth his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor-due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the God-fearing.

Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah, and be not cast by your own hands to ruin; and do good. Lo! Allah loveth the beneficentt

And of mankind there is he whose conversation on the life of this world pleaseth thee (Muhammad), and he calleth Allah to witness as to that which is in his heart; yet he is the most rigid of opponents.
And when he turneth away (from thee) his effort in the land is to make mischief therein and to destroy the crops and the cattle; and Allah loveth not mischief.
And when it is said unto him: Be careful of thy duty to Allah, pride taketh him to sin. Hell will settle his account, an evil resting-place.
And of mankind is he who would sell himself, seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah hath compassion on (His) bondmen.
O ye who believe! Come, all of you, into submission (unto Him); and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Lo! he is an open enemy for you.

Mankind were one community, and Allah sent (unto them) Prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners, and revealed therewith the Scripture with the truth that it might judge between mankind concerning that wherein they differed. And only those unto whom (the Scripture) was given differed concerning it, after clear proofs had come unto them, through hatred one of another. And Allah by His will guided those who believe unto the truth of that concerning which they differed. Allah guideth whom He will unto a straight pathh
Or think ye that ye will enter Paradise while yet there hath not come unto you the like of (that which came to) those who passed away before you? Affliction and adversity befell them, they were shaken as with earthquake, till the messenger (of Allah) and those who believed along with him said: When cometh Allah's help? Now surely Allah's help is nigh.

And the likeness of those who spend their wealth in search of Allah's pleasure, and for the strengthening of their souls, is as the likeness of a garden on a height. The rainstorm smiteth it and it bringeth forth its fruit twofold. And if the rainstorm smite it not, then the shower. Allah is Seer of what ye do.
Would any of you like to have a garden of palm-trees and vines, with rivers flowing underneath it, with all kinds of fruit for him therein; and old age hath stricken him and be hath feeble offspring; and a fiery whirlwind striketh it and it is (all) consumed by fire. Thus Allah maketh plain His revelations unto you, in order that ye may give thought.
O ye who believe! Spend of the good things which ye have earned, and of that which We bring forth from the earth for you, and seek not the bad (with intent) to spend thereof (in charity) when ye would not take it for yourselves save with disdain; and know that Allah is Absolute, Owner of Praise.
The devil promiseth you destitution and enjoineth on you lewdness. But Allah promiseth you forgiveness from Himself with bounty. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.
He giveth wisdom unto whom He will, and he unto whom wisdom is given, he truly hath received abundant good. But none remember except men of understanding.
Whatever alms ye spend or vow ye vow, lo! Allah knoweth it. Wrong-doers have no helpers.
***

(This is) a Scripture which We have revealed unto thee (Muhammad) that thereby thou mayst bring forth mankind from darkness unto light, by the permission of their Lord, unto the path of the Mighty, the Owner of Praise.


This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that He is only One God, and that men of understanding may take heed.


And those who disbelieve, perdition is for them, and He will make their actions vain.
That is because they are averse to that which Allah hath revealed, therefore maketh He their actions fruitless.
Have they not travelled in the land to see the nature of the consequence for those who were before them? Allah wiped them out. And for the disbelievers there will be the like thereof.
That is because Allah is patron of those who believe, and because the disbelievers have no patron.

Will they then not meditate on the Qur'an, or are there locks on the hearts?

Or do those in whose hearts is a disease deem that Allah will not bring to light their (secret) hates?

And verily We shall try you till We know those of you who strive hard (for the cause of Allah) and the steadfast, and till We test your record.


Lo! ye are those who are called to spend in the way of Allah, yet among you there are some who hoard. And as for him who hoardeth, he hoardeth only from his soul. And Allah is the Rich, and ye are the poor. And if ye turn away He will exchange you for some other folk, and they will not be the likes of you.

(And) Lo! those who believe and do good works are the best of created beings.


Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind,,
The God of mankind, From the evil of the sneaking whisperer, Who whispereth in the hearts of mankind, Of the jinn and of mankind. From the evil of that which He created; And from the evil of the envier when he envieth. Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of Daybreakk.



http://www.quranic.org/
http://www.kuranikerim.com/english/m_indexe.htm