Pfander Films

While in Berlin, we decided to go to a large Muslim area, the Kotbusser Tol, situated close to two of the largest mosques in Berlin. We chose a Friday afternoon, their holy day, in order to try and see how Polemics would work there. This meeting turned out to be quite a contrast to the previous day at the Alexander Platz, where mostly Germans walked by mostly blank stares and with nothing good to say. Here, surrounded by Muslims, we were able to get many more responses by those who stood around and reacted to what we were saying. I can imagine that this was the first time that they had heard of the historical problems with their Qur'an and their prophet, and they didn't like what they were hearing. At one point Jay was pushed off the ladder, and a little later a Muslim man came and spat on him. But at no time did Jay or Grace feel threatened, and these encounters led to quite a few Muslims staying around and talking to the few Christians in the crowd who were there to engage face-to-face with them. What was interesting was the reaction that we received from the police on both occasions. We had to get permission from them to even do the 'open airs' with loud speakers, and to use Polemics in public. So, they had a police car stationed both times around 50 feet away in case of any problems. When we finished both days, they came to thank us, as they felt that no one was helping them with their "Muslim Problem" which they had to face on a daily basis. You will note that when Jay was pushed off the ladder a policeman immediately came and arrested the man. Jay had never had that kind of help or backing in all of his 25 years of doing the same thing in Speaker's Corner, in London. In fact, the Police in the UK always supported the Muslims and often blamed the Christians for being pushed off the ladder or being punched, at Speaker's Corner. Such a contrast to what we experienced in Germany. Jay purposely began his talks with the need for the 'Freedom of speech' especially in Europe, where it is quickly being taken away, and replaced with a "Two-Tier policing system", one for Muslims and another for anyone else. For the German Christian street preachers, these new examples of using Historical Polemics when engaging Muslims was a 'paradigm shift' for them, as they realized that in Germany, their country, they had all the right to confront Islam historically, just as was done in Germany so many centuries ago when it was created to do the same for Christianity. It's appropriate that what was first invented and then introduced in Germany for Christianity should now be likewise employed for Islam, a similar religion which makes similar historical claims. © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, April 14, 2026 (129,040)

We've now moved to our 3rd episode with Dr Rami Halaseh where we approach the 3rd canonization of the Qur'anic text. Dr Halaseh notes that in the 11th century Al Dani, who lived in Spain and died in 1052 AD (444 AH) decided to choose 2 students (Rawis) from each of the 7 eponymous readers (Qira'ats) who had been chosen by Ibn Mujahid in the 10th century, so a total of 14 Rawis were chosen. These 14 were solidified by al-Shatibi about 100 years later before he died in 1194 AD (590 AH). So, by the 12th century we now had 21 different readings of the Qur'an chosen by 2 men commissioned by the caliphs of their time to do so for mostly political reasons. Jay and Hatun asked what the criteria was for choosing this additional 14 students from the original 7? Dr Halaseh stated that at times it had to do with political reasons, at other times it had to do with geography, and at other times it had to do with popularity; in other words, those students who had the largest number of students under them were chosen. Thus, Assim ibn Abi al-Najud from Kufa had 91 students, of which 2 were chosen (Shu'bah and Hafs), and the other 89 were discarded because they weren't popular enough. What's more, according to Dr Halaseh we have no original manuscripts for any of these Qira'ats or Riwayats to know what exactly they wrote; we only have those books which are attributed to each of them. But even more puzzling, we are told that the Hafs an-Assim text, from Kufa, which is the most popular reading today has 6,236 verses in it. But the others from other cities don't have the same number of verses. The Medinan Qur'an has 6,217 (or possibly 6,214) verses, while the Meccan has 6,210 and the Basran has 6,204, and the Qur'an from Damascus has 6,227. So, even those readings from these various cities don't agree in the number of verses they have between them! You can buy Dr Rami Halaseh's book "The Topkapi Manuscript H.S. 32" here: https://www.amazon.com/Topkap%C4%B1-Qur%CA%BE%C4%81n-Manuscript-H-S-32/dp/3111455254/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CQL8OXJXVL33&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LdGt9166h1QgbrLcdStNtDehvtvC87_qbhsuTjm8lHiwlsoVJiOIITtzhslU1SLUxWBDRlmcRaNaglR03wAe_FBYK6zPBsRPuFXT_n-9OUY.Gu-i1rI2TFNI43fAI32X1lq84jaxQ_TtPraL3CbSBz8&dib_tag=se&keywords=rami+halaseh&qid=1775612765&sprefix=Rami+Hala%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-1 © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, April 7, 2026 (128,900)

Dr Rami Halaseh from Jordan continues his talk about the 5 canonizations of the Qur'an with Dr Smith and Hatun Tash. In this second episode he introduces the 2nd stage of canonization of the Qur'an. The first was that of Uthman in 652 AD, in Medina, Arabia. Dr Halaseh noted that Muslims claim that the Qur'an was canonized, or rather finalized in 652 AD, and that the Qur'an we have today is exactly the same. Many even state that not "One word or even one letter has changed since this time". Dr Halaseh disagrees, as the literary sources in Islam paint a very different picture, one which includes later developments, as well as different transmissions with differing acceptances and rejections so that a multiplicity of changes leading to what his colleague Dr. Shady Nasser states were 5 different stages of canonization. The first we already did a previous episode on, that of Uthman, who supposedly introduced the "Textus receptus" in Medina, which had 114 Suras, and a "fixed skeletal Rasm" (consonantal text). Yet, according to Dr Halaseh, within a few years other "Companion Codices" began to appear in other cities; including a codex in Damascus, written by Ubay Ibn Ka'b, which had 116 Suras, and another codex in Kufa (Iraq) which was written by Ibn Mas'ud; yet it had only 110 Suras, and contained different Sura titles as well as different verses and even different wordings. These Codices were suppressed about 50 years later by Al Hajjaj, the governor of Iraq under Abd al Malik. By the 10th century, Dr Halaseh suggested that there were many variant Qur'anic readings which were written using the newly created dots and vowels. These variants were such a problem that the scholar Ibn Mujahid (d.936) was commissioned to choose 7 "Eponymous" (self-titled) Readings before he died in 936 AD. But what did he use to choose the 7 among more than 50 which existed at that time? According to Dr Halaseh there were two criteria which he could have used. Either that of 1) "Mutawatir" (an agreement of many people who were separated from each other, so that they could have not influenced the decision of others), or 2) that of "Ijma" (the agreement of the leaders amongst the Umma, known as the 'Ulemma'). In the end he seemed to use geography for much of his choice, so that 3 were from the city of Kufa, while one each was chosen from Mecca, Medina, Basra, and Damascus. But these 7 were only chosen from the 50 or so 'Eponymous' Readers (Qira'ats). What about the few hundred 'Rawis', or transmitters who also had differing variant readings by the 10th century? And what of the two most popular readings which are used today, the Hafs and Warsh, neither of which were included in these 7 'Eponymous Readings' chosen by Ibn Mujahid? That will be answered in the next episode by Dr Halaseh...so, stay tuned... You can buy Dr Rami Halaseh's book "The Topkapi Manuscript H.S. 32" here: https://www.amazon.com/Topkap%C4%B1-Qur%CA%BE%C4%81n-Manuscript-H-S-32/dp/3111455254/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CQL8OXJXVL33&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LdGt9166h1QgbrLcdStNtDehvtvC87_qbhsuTjm8lHiwlsoVJiOIITtzhslU1SLUxWBDRlmcRaNaglR03wAe_FBYK6zPBsRPuFXT_n-9OUY.Gu-i1rI2TFNI43fAI32X1lq84jaxQ_TtPraL3CbSBz8&dib_tag=se&keywords=rami+halaseh&qid=1775612765&sprefix=Rami+Hala%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-1 © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, March 31, 2026 (128,840)

We are proud to introduce the 10th of our Ten MAPI courses for our 'Master's Degree in "Apologetics and Polemics to Islam" program (MAPI). This course is entitled IS510[26] "Methodology of Ministry to Muslims", which will be taught by Dr Daniel Janosik and Dr Jay Smith every Monday evening, from April 6 to May 25, 2026 This is our final course in the Master's Degree Program and looks at 10 different methods used around the world by Missionaries with Muslims. We look at each method and ascertain what are the advantages of using each and what are the disadvantages. All of them have been used and practiced by us, so we will be speaking from experience as well. Note: this course is for Christians alone. Why? Because it is being taught at the Veritas International University (VIU), which is an academic seminary belonging to the Calvary Chapel Denomination. If you would like to take this course, just e-mail "Eliott Davis" before April 6 at: edavis@ves.edu Beginning on Monday the 6th of April (starting at 8:00 p.m. - EST) Daniel and Jay will lecture for 8 weeks, with each lecture followed by a 'live' Q&A between students and Drs Janosik and Smith on the material introduced that week. Both teachers have promised that they will be "live" so that you as the students can have "live" and personal access to them. Often the Q&A time following the lectures can go for another hour or two. Since all of our teaching is by Zoom Webinar, those of you who have registered can watch the lectures from the comfort of your own home, anywhere in the world, or at any time, as every lecture will be recorded and the URL of the lecture, along with the accompanying PowerPoints, and the PDFs will be sent to you by Dr Smith the next day (usually Tuesdays) by a Mailchimp email. As we have in the past, we are offering this course for 3 categories of students: 1) FULL-TIME MASTER'S OR DOCTORAL DEGREE STUDENTS: The first category are those students who want to take this course for a Master's or a Doctorate academic credit. This is a 3-credit course, so the fee for each credit is $330, coupled with administration costs makes the total for the whole course around $1,350 (depending on whether you are a returning or a new student). For these full-time students, the full course itself continues for 15 weeks, stretching from April 6, 2026 until July 13, 2026 (though there are only 8 weeks of lecture). This will give you ample time to read and then write logs on the books required for the course, participate in the discussions, write your Research papers, and write your final 'open book' exam. 2) AUDIT STUDENTS: The second category are those students who want to simply audit the course. The fee for the entire 8-week course is $340. An Audit student will not have any assignments, but will have access to the Populi site where the discussions and assignments are found (like the Full-time academic students), and will be able to listen to the lectures and will be sent the Power-points and PDFs to download. 3) PERSONAL ENRICHMENT STUDENTS: The third category are those students who simply want to take this course for their 'Personal Enrichment'. Their fee for the 8-week course is only $240. Unlike the Full-time students or the Audit students, they will not have access to the Populi site, but they will still have "live access" to all of the lectures, and they will be sent the Power-points and PDFs to download and use in their own ministries. To underline the distinctions, while all of the students in all 3 categories will have access to all of the lectures, the Power-points and the PDFs for the entire 8-week course, the full-time Academic (as well as the Audit students) will also have admission to the Populi site to participate in the ongoing weekly discussions, and will have access to the reading lists and assignments, though the full-time students will be the only ones required to fulfill them. If you are interested in any of these 3 levels, simply e-mail the registrar 'Eliott Davis' at: edavis@ves.edu But hurry, as the first lecture begins on Monday, April 6, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US). LECTURE TOPICS: Part 1: What are the major methodologies employed by missions today? Part 2: The ‘Program’ & Proclamation Model Part 3: The ‘Tent-Making’ Model Part 4: The ‘Irenical’ & Contextual Approach Part 5: The ‘Insider Movement’ Part 6: The ‘Gospel in the Qur’an’ & MITs Model Part 7: The ‘Interfaith Dialogue’ Model Part 8: The ‘Confrontational’ Model © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, 2025 (128,800) Music: "Uplifting Blockbuster" by Rafael Krux, from filmmusic

Dr Jay Smith was asked to try to create a Speaker's Corner at the Berlin's famous "Alexanderplatz" in central Berlin on March 12. Along with his friend Grace he spent 2 hours unpacking the problems with the Qur'an to the many people passing by. This has never been done before, so perhaps this is the beginning of something new, which will catch on with many people talking about difficult subjects, including questions about Islam. Because it went so well we plan to replicate this in other European cities where the 'freedom of Speech' which allows people to critically analyze the sources and fundamentals of their faith is still permitted. © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, March 13, 2025 (128,550)

You can buy Dr Rami Hussein Halaseh's book, "The Topkapı Qurʾān Manuscript H.S. 32: History, Text, and Variants" here: https://www.amazon.com/Topkap%C4%B1-Qur%CA%BE%C4%81n-Manuscript-H-S-32/dp/3111455254/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PFX6BXGRLKDD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Ue8grS_n8olFqwRepx6-pw.Hm82Zppvn4xcdCRfQCay7czrXBwlK_WSMZR6Ind6QKc&dib_tag=se&keywords=Rami+halaseh&qid=1772328115&sprefix=rami+halaseh%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-1 Hatun Tash and Dr Smith carried out their first Zoom interview with Dr Rami Hussein Halaseh, the author of the new critical book entitled: "The Topkapı Qurʾān Manuscript", which is his PhD dissertation on the same subject. Because of his expertise on early Qur'anic manuscripts, Jay and Hatun had a few questions to pose to him concerning the Islamic Traditional narrative of how the Qu'ran was initially compiled in the 7th century. He began by answering a question by Hatun on whether the blood stains on the Topkapi were authentic, saying that they indeed were not real, but was a later tradition imposed on the manuscript many centuries later to give authority to the notion that this was one of the manuscripts Uthman was reading when he was assassinated in 654 AD. When asked about the date of the Topkapi, he said many scholars were reticent to state any specific date. Nonetheless, he placed it between 767-816 AD. He noted that in order to bring the text upto 99% of what our current Qur'an contained, around five folios with a later styled script were added to the Topkapi codex at a much later date, so that the total genuine text from the 8th-9th centuries was around 97.8% of the total Qur'an. Even if we were to grant that at some point this manuscript contained nearly 100% of today’s Quran, there were significant differences between the official 1924 Hafs an Asim text, which has become our standard today, and the 8th-9th century Topkapi manuscript. What was more damaging was that Halaseh counted 2,483 orthographic variants and 309 variant readings between the Hafs and the Topkapi, of which 63 of these variants affected the consonantal skeletal text. What was significant was that many of these differences changed the meaning of the text and cannot be located in any of the existing Qira’at versions or secondary literature, meaning they fall completely outside of the canonical traditions. Yet, this is likely the best manuscript that Muslim scholars can produce from the first three Islamic centuries. Moving back to the 7th century, Rami supported Jay's notion that the disagreements between the first Qur'anic recension of Abu Bakr's in 634 AD, and the second recension of Uthman's in 652 AD had to be consonantal (Rasm) in nature, due to the fact that the dots (i'jams) and the vowels (Harakats) had not been created or introduced that early, or at least had not been standardized in any uniform way in the Arabic script. So, when Uthman took all the codices which disagreed with his canonical and final codex, and burned them, he was burning manuscripts which contained entire words and phrases whose differences were made up of consonantal letters. This meant that the differences within the codices which were burned had nothing to do with any Dialectical differences at all, because dialects require vowels, which didn't exist this early. This does a lot more damage to the idea which Muslims hold that the Qur'an has always been preserved, every letter and every word, even every dot since the time of Uthman until today! Rami also asked the question concerning why Uthman needed to rewrite a new Qur'an in 652 if they already had Hafsah's copy at their disposal? He then noted that in the 11th century Al-Dani (d.1053 AD) said that there were 44 differences between the companion codices and that of Uthman. Earlier, in the 10th century Ibn Mujahid (d. 936 AD) said that one of the criteria he used for choosing his 7 readings was that they had to agree with Uthman's text, and not any of the others which disagreed. Conclusion: It's obvious from this 30 minute interview that the earliest Uthmanic codices (if indeed they ever existed) had many problems, especially the fact that in the first 20 years after Muhammad's death two different renditions of the Qur'an had to be written, and then re-written, using a different dialect, though no one could do that in the 7th century, because the vowels which are used to delineate dialectical differences hadn't yet been invented. The fact that even after this 2nd recension many other Qur'ans were found which differed with it, so much so that they all had to be burned to retain an official standardized text! So much for a completely preserved Qur'an from the century Muhammad lived. What next will Rami offer us in the next episode? Stay tuned! You can buy Dr Rami Halaseh's book "The Topkapi Manuscript H.S. 32" on Amazon.com © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, February 28, 2026 (128,320)

In Jay's fifth and final recording with Chris from Speaker's Corner, they unpack the problem with the Qur'an's preservation. Muslims claim that the Qur'an is eternal, that it was never created, because the Qur'an makes this claim when it refers to the Qur'an in Surah 85:21-22 as the "Al-Lauh al-Mahfuz" which means 'the eternal preserved tablets' that have always existed in heaven, and from which the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel piecemeal over a period of 22 years. The Qur'an also claims in Surah 10:15 and 18:27 that no one can therefore change any of it, not even "one word or one letter" (according to Dr Yassir Qadhi). And the reason, because Allah will guard it, according to Surah 15:9. Chris, however, suggests that this is not what history tells us, as the historical record paints quite a different picture. Even the Islamic Traditions suggest that there were 4 different Qur'ans written by four different companions of the prophet; including: Ubay ibn Ka'bs Qur'an in Damascus, which had 116 Surahs, which is 2 more than in the Qur'an today. Ibn Masud's Qur'an in Baghdad, which had 111 or 110 Surahs, which is 3-4 less than in the Qur'an today. Ibn Musa's Qur'an in Basra, which had 114 Surahs, which is the same as the Qur'an today, but with 100s of variants from our present Qur'an. And finally the canonical Qur'an compiled by Zaid ibn Thabit, from Medina, with 114 Surahs. This shows that even within the 7th century there were at least 4 different Qur'ans which had different Surah orders, and up to 15,000 differences between them (according to Dr Arthur Jeffreys). Chris then turned to the different subsequent Codices of the Qur'an, including the Mashhad codex, which though it is the same size as today's Qur'an the Surah orders did not follow the Hafs an Assam text, but followed that of Ibn Mas'ud's from Baghdad. He also pointed to the San'a codex, which was partly made up of a Palimpsest (lower and upper layers of script). Yet, this manuscript which can be dated from the 7th and 8th centuries does not follow today's present Hafs an Assim text. Chris then turned to the research of Marijn Van Putten who refers to the "Tawatur" as his proof of Qur'anic preservation; yet he could only come to such a conclusion by claiming that the large number of agreement by scholars (i.e. Tawatur) concerning which chains of names (Isnads) were authoritative gave credibility to the Qur'an's authenticity. Chris ended with the statements by Dr Yassir Qadhi, who for years has stipulated that not one letter of even one dot has been changed in the last 1400 years, but now due to the discovery of the 30 different Qira'at and Riwayats, his claims have been completely debunked, and so has any notion of the Qur'an's "Perfect Preservation". © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, February 20, 2025 (128,210)

In the second series on the subject, Chris introduces another facet of early Islam, the introduction of Exclusivity within Islam within the first 100 - 200 years. Much of what he proposes comes from Dr. Fred Donner's book, "Muhammad and the Believers, at the Origins of Islam". Donner proposes that in its very early stages, in the 7th century, Islam was very ecumenical, so that the prophet Muhammad wanted to unify the monotheists (i.e. the Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians) into one community. To support this notion Chris turned to the Qur'an itself, where you can find a number of verses that suggest this ecumenical view. Surah 2:62 says that Jews, Christians, and Sabeans all agreed in the doctrines of the Last Days and righteousness, so that they would all be together in Paradise. Surah 5:69 says that whoever amongst the Jews and Christians believed in Allah and the Last days and does good, they would have no fear, nor be grieved. Surah 3:113-114 says that some amongst the 'People of the Book' (Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians) who are upright and do pray, and believe in Allah and the Last days, so they will be righteous. Surah 5:111 says that those amongst the disciples of Isa who believe in Allah and his messenger will be called Muslims. This suggests that there will be some Christians and Jews who were close to Islam in this early period. But there are other verses which suggest that not all Christians and Jews were with the Muslims. Surah 9:29 backs this notion by stipulated that those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day among the people of the Book must be fought. The architecture of that time seems to suggest a likewise Ecumenical fervor within Islam. The Maronite Chronicle of 660 AD, written during the rule of Muawiya, the Umayyad caliph says that he prayed at Golgotha and permitted the Christians to build churches, suggesting an ecumenical attitude. The Cathedral of John the Baptist in Damascus had both Christians and Muslims worship within its walls upto 706 AD. The Inscription of Muawiya written in Ta'if in 663 by Muawiya has a cross on its upper left corner, suggesting an ecumenical support. While these examples could support an ecumenical viewpoint within early Islam, at least in the 7th century, Jay believes that these artifacts, coupled with coins suggest something else; namely, that they are representative of a very Christian environment, with Trinitarians and anti-Trinitarians (Arians) vying for power and control from the time of Muawiya, and especially during the time of Abd al-Malik. You decide what you think is going on in this time period and at that place. © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, February 13, 2025 (128,160)

Chris and Jay are back; this time to talk about the changing doctrines within Islam which are becoming problematic for them. Now that Muslims are being scrutinized more publicly, especially on the Internet, they are coming under a lot of attacks concerning their prophet, and the other prophets listed in the Qur'an, suggesting that Muhammad isn't as great or as sinless as the other prophets, and especially when compared to Jesus Christ. In order for their prophet Muhammad to be equal, or at least similar to the person of Jesus Christ (even in the Qur'an), Muslims have had to publicly elevate their prophet to bring him alongside Jesus. The most obvious area which they are looking at is Muhammad's supposed 'SINLESS-NESS', his PURITY, which in Arabic is "ISMA". But, does the Qur'an agree? Watch this video by Chris and find out... © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, February 5, 2026 (128,070)

Chris at Speaker's Corner returns again with Jay Smith to talk about another area which is terrifying Muslims presently, especially in the West and on the Internet, and it's known as the "ISLAMIC DILEMMA". The arguments for the Islamic Dilemma aren't new, as they were used by John of Damascus back in the 8th century, and were repeated by Dr Carl Pfander in the 1800s. What's more, many of us who have been engaging with Muslims publicly have been using the arguments within the "Islamic Dilemma" for quite a few years in our interactions with Muslims. But recently, David Wood has resurrected the "Dilemma" and made it front-and-center in his work on the Internet, where many of his followers have picked up his ideas and "run with them" in their own ministries, particularly on the Internet and on YouTube. Chris is one of David Wood's ardent followers, and so has taken upon himself the task of collating the ideas behind the Islamic Dilemma and is at present putting them into book form, with the hope that the book will be published within the next few months. So, what exactly is the 'Islamic Dilemma'? Chris unpacks it brilliantly within this video. © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, January 29, 2025 (127,900)

You can see "Chris at Speaker's Corner" YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisatspeakerscorner/videos A few weeks ago Chris, who is from Speaker's Corner, and has a YouTube channel by that name (see above) joined Jay on Pfanderfilms to talk about a new study he put together, using research from a number of European studies on the status of Islam in Europe, and in the UK in particular (where Chris himself lives). He had given a similar talk earlier at the NAPC conference in London, in June, so this was a follow-up with newer statistics and material to show how dire the health of Islam is in the West, and especially in the UK. He pointed to 11 areas where Islam is collapsing, including: 1) Statistical Fallacy: These statistics on growth are not really true. Though Muslims claim that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, Chris pointed out that most of that growth was due to biological growth, that Muslim women have more children than all other religions, and once you are born a Muslim, you remain a Muslim, on pain of death (due to the apostasy law). Another reason for the growth in the West is due to the immense Muslim immigration to the West, since Muslims are the largest group of refugees to Europe, due to the many wars taking place in their own countries. 2) 'Avalanche of Apostasy': Chris then noted, that despite the law of apostasy Islam is currently the fastest "Abandoned" religion in the world. According to research carried out by Imam Luqman Ahmad 7 of out every 10 converts to Islam revert or leave Islam within 3 years. According to further research by Omar Shahid of the 100,000 converts to Islam which were tabulated between 2001 - 2011 in the UK, 70,000 have now left Islam for a variety of reasons, but mostly due to a disillusionment with the Muslims they found there, and the irrelevancy of the Islamic practices themselves. Sharif referred to this trend as an "Avalanche of Apostasy". 3) Convert Hierarchy: Dr William Barylo of the University of Warwick, while interviewing Saleh Whelbourne, noted that there was a strong pecking order within the Muslim convert community, with white converts treated better than African background converts, or others of color. In his book "The Big Step" Mahdi Lock, a convert himself stated that due to the difficulty of so many new converts Muslims should spend their time with "Strong, white and able 'celebrity' converts", suggesting that they simply list the names of the others, proving the real problem of racism within Islam. 4) Population Decline: Chris pointed to a number of graphs which showed a sharp decline in the fertility rate of Muslim women in Muslim countries in the last 30 years. While most Muslim women averaged 6-7 children 30 years ago, they now averaged only 2-3, equaling their Western counterparts. 5) Liberal Influences: Muslims who come from conservative Muslim countries to the West are faced with mixed sexes within Western schools. Their Halal Meat is first stunned and then blessed using recorded voices, and these are all considered anathema in Islam. 6) Embarrassing Converts: Many celebrity converts have proven embarrassing, due to their immoral public behaviors, such as the boxer Mike Tyson, or Andrew Tate, and even Zeeko's naked women. 7) Polemics against Islam: There is a plethora of new Polemical attacks confronting Islam on 3 fronts (called I.C.E. = Internally, Culturally and Externally) using very public platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, which are forcing Islamic apologists onto the defense. 8) Intellectual Fatigue: Due to these many attacks, the Da'wah pundits are finding it increasingly difficult to defend their religion publicly, so they are running away from debating Christian Polemicists at Speaker's Corner, or at Book Stalls, and even on the Internet. 9) Da'wah Shift: Because the Da'ists cannot deal with the theological and historical polemics, they are changing their narrative to that of politics, using the recent Palestinian issues as a rallying cry to create sympathy for Islam. 10) Death to Apostates: Due to the 'avalanche of Apostasy' in the UK especially, pundits like Ali Dawah have publicly claimed that apostates must be killed for their apostasy, which hasn't gone down well with the general public. 11) Geographical influence: Most Muslims in Europe are sequestered in tight communities within large cities, and are not found in the much larger geographical suburban and rural areas, resulting in few Western Europeans even meeting them. Nor are they influenced by them, so that they don't have much of a concern for them. Thus, while urban politicians and journalists must deal with the Muslim's many public demands, which fill our media outlets, the larger European population are not affected by them at all. In fact, they find them more of a distraction and a nuisance, than what the national media tries to portray. © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, 2025 (127,530)

Jay and Hatun unpack why it is that the UK is protecting the grooming gang perpetrators, and not the young victims. #GroomingGangs #JaySmith #HatunTash #quran #muhammad #history #bible #jesus #christ #christianity #muslim #islam

Jay and Hatun sit down to talk about a recent publication by Christian Concern, featuring Dr. Mark Durie's analysis of "UK GROOMING GANGS AND ISLAM." #UKGroomingGangs #quran #muhammad #history #bible #jesus #christ #christianity #muslim #islam

We are proud to introduce the 9th of our Ten MAPI courses for our 'Master's Degree in "Apologetics and Polemics to Islam" program (MAPI). This course is entitled IS509[26] "Responding to Islamic Bibliology & the Qur'an", which will be taught by Dr Daniel Janosik and Dr Jay Smith every Monday evening, from January 25 to March 16, 2026 This is an important course as it compares the Bible with the Qur'an, asking and responding to all of the questions which Muslims and Christians pose against the other's holy book. It will be in a 'debate format' with Daniel supporting the Bible, and Jay supporting the Qur'an. Let's hope Daniel wins! Note: this course is for Christians alone. Why? Because it is being taught at the Veritas International University (VIU), which is an academic seminary belonging to the Calvary Chapel Denomination. If you would like to take this course, just e-mail "Eliott Davis" before January 26 at: edavis@ves.edu NOTE: Beginning on Monday the 26th of January (starting at 8:00 p.m. - EST) Daniel and Jay will lecture for 8 weeks, with each lecture followed by a 'live' Q&A between students and Drs Janosik and Smith on the material introduced that week. Both teachers have promised that they will be "live" so that you as the students can have "live" and personal access to them. Often the Q&A time following the lectures can go for another hour or two. Since all of our teaching is by Zoom Webinar, those of you who have registered can watch the lectures from the comfort of your own home, anywhere in the world, or at any time, as every lecture will be recorded and the URL along with the accompanying PowerPoints, and the PDFs will be sent to you by Dr Smith the next day (usually Tuesdays) by a Mailchimp email. As we have in the past, we are offering this course for 3 categories of students: 1) FULL-TIME MASTER'S OR DOCTORAL DEGREE STUDENTS: The first category are those students who want to take this course for a Master's or a Doctorate academic credit. This is a 3-credit course, so the fee for each credit is $330, coupled with administration costs makes the total for the whole course around $1,350-1,500 (depending on whether you are a returning or a new student). For these full-time students, the full course itself continues for 15 weeks, stretching from January 26, 2026 until May 17, 2026 (though there are only 8 weeks of lecture). This will give you ample time to read and then write logs on the books required for the course, participate in the discussions, write your Research papers, and write your final 'open book' exam. 2) AUDIT STUDENTS: The second category are those students who want to simply audit the course. The fee for the entire 8-week course is $340. An Audit student will not have any assignments, but will have access to the Populi site where the discussions and assignments are found (like the Full-time academic students), and will be able to listen to the lectures and will be sent the Power-points and PDFs to download. 3) PERSONAL ENRICHMENT STUDENTS: The third category are those students who simply want to take this course for their 'Personal Enrichment'. Their fee for the 8-week course is only $240. Unlike the Full-time students or the Audit students, they will not have access to the Populi site, but they will still have "live access" to all of the lectures, and they will be sent the Power-points and PDFs to download and use in their own ministries. To underline the distinctions, while all of the students in all 3 categories will have access to all of the lectures, the Power-points and the PDFs for the entire 8-week course, the full-time Academic (as well as the Audit students) will also have admission to the Populi site to participate in the ongoing weekly discussions, and will have access to the reading lists and assignments, though the full-time students will be the only ones required to fulfill them. If you are interested in any of these 3 levels, simply e-mail the registrar 'Eliott Davis' at: edavis@ves.edu But hurry, as the first lecture begins on Monday, January 26, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US). LECTURE TOPICS: Week #1: Introduction and reviewing 'Which is the Word of God', the Bible or the Qur'an? Week #2: Which has been corrupted, the Bible or the Qur'an? Week #3: Which is more relevant, the Bible or the Qur'an? Week #4: Which is more canonical, the Bible or the Qur'an? Week #5: Which has better Manuscripts, the Bible or the Qur'an?s Week #6: Which is more internally reliable, the Bible or the Qur'an? Week #7: Which is more Historically accurate, the Bible or the Qur'an? Week #8: Conclusions: Which Scripture really is "The Word of God?" © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, 2025 (127,454)

A new article entitled: “UK GROOMING GANGS AND ISLAM”, written in October of 2025, by Dr. Mark Durie (Melbourne School of Theology, Christian Concern) was published by "Christian Concern". Dr Jay Smith and Hatun Tash came together just before Christmas to take a look at Dr Durie's article on the UK Grooming Gangs and unpack its significance; Jay introducing the material in the article, and Hatun responding to what she was hearing. This video is their collaboration on that article. What exactly did the article say? According to Dr Durie's research, he found that: -There were 50 Towns and Cities, and 85 authorities, in the UK where Grooming Gangs have been active. -Though the exact number of girls is not known, he did find out that 19,000 girls were sexually exploited in just ONE YEAR, yet the grooming gangs have been active for Decades, so the number could be in the tens of thousands. -There were 800 cases which were brought for prosecution which were then closed with no further action, though no one seemed to know why. -Police, Social workers, and MPs who were approached by the girls being raped for help avoided the topic due to appearing racist, or out of a fear of creating tensions within the Muslim Asian communities. -Dr Durie found that most of the girls being groomed were between 14-15 years old, and most lived “in care”, and came from broken homes. -Groomers used “Psychological control over time to facilitate repeated rape by many men over an extended amount of time”. -Police in London said that there were 1,125 assaults a year just in London by taxi drivers, mostly by Muslim drivers. -90% of forced marriages in the UK were by Muslims. But it wasn't just in the UK... -In the Netherlands: 5,000 Dutch girls (aged 13-14) were lured into prostitution by Moroccan “lover boys”. -In Minneapolis: 29 Somalis were charged with trafficking young girls for sex in 3 states. -In Australia: 9 Lebanese Muslim men gang-raped 60 young females, but only 7 cases were looked at by the courts. -In Pakistan: 1,000 non-Muslim girls each year are kidnapped & forced to convert & then marry their abductors, with little to no recourse for the girl's Christian families. -In Egypt: There were 50 abductions in just one parish (both married & unmarried-), where they were quickly converted & then married to Muslims, with no recourse for the girls families. After noting the problem, Dr Durie considered the Challenge that “Religion shapes Culture”. -He noted that Western nations are so secular that they don’t understand religious influences in immigrants, so that “A Population that has fundamentally turned its back on its faith cannot understand the religious motivations of others…” (Rafael L. Bardaji) -Islam believes in "Al wala' wa-l-Bara", which means “Loyalty and Disavowal” or “love Islam and hate all others for the sake of Allah”. -He noted that the police reports only list ethnicity, origin, and the race of the perpetrators, but none said anything about religion, or the fact that the vast majority of them were Muslims. -Even in interviews, the Interviewers never mentioned the religion of the perpetrators, even when victims pointed to Islam as the reason for their rapes (2020 Triggernometry Interview of Dr Ella Hill by Foster & Kisin). -Baroness Casey’s report noted 222 times that the Ethnicity were listed as Asian men, and 111 times that they were Pakistani, but only once did it mention the religion Islam, though 87% of the convicted rapists since 1997 had Muslim names, and they were almost entirely from Pakistan! It was obvious that the religion for Baroness Casey had little to nothing to do with the problem. -Dr Durie noted that no Asian Chinese, Christian, Sikh, or Hindu grooming gangs exist, only Muslim grooming gangs (Quote, pg.12). Dr Durie then went into the problem which he termed “Islamicate”, meaning that there were Societal Characteristics influenced by Islam, yet not found in Islamic law (i.e. Zina = Illicit sex). He noted 8 influences, or Cultural Patterns which he found in these gangs, including: 1) Muslim Superiority (found in Surahs 3:110; 8:55, 48:28) 2) Loyalty & Disavowal (al-wala’ wa-l-bara = love of Allah & hate of others); found in Surahs 3:28, 5:51-56, 60:4. 3) Male superiority over all women (Surahs 4:34, 2:223, 228). 4) Female Seclusion (S.33:33, 59). 5) Forced Marriage (Nikah = marriage & intercourse, so that silence when raped is consent). 6) Female sexuality is dangerous (women desire sex so that men are vulnerable, thus the reason for rampant 'Female Genital Mutilation' (FGM). 7) Slavery for women (Men have complete control of their wives and those 'Which their right hand possesses', thus sex with captives is permitted (Surahs 4:24; 23:6; 70:30) 8) Dhimmitude (Conquered non-Muslim communities are protected, yet abused, and not permitted any positions of power within the community) © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, January 10, 2025 (127,380)