Since the recent tragedy at the
World Trade Center in NY, and all the news coverage that has followed, there
has been much interest among Americans in the religion of Islam, the fastest
growing and second largest religion on earth.
In the
last few weeks, I have watched as many Muslim scholars and clerics have come
forth in America, on TV, radio, and public meetings, to assure the American
people that Islam itself does not teach its adherents to act in violence.
Another consensus among the Muslim
scholars and clerics that have been addressing the American people, and indeed
the world, is that the religion of Islam also worships the very same God as the
Christian or Jew.
Some
of the statements that have been made recently by these Muslim scholars and
clerics are as follows:
·
Islam
accepts the writings of the Hebrew Torah (Pentateuch, first five books of
Moses), the Hebrew ‘Psalms to David,’ and the Christian Gospels of Jesus (the
four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
·
Allah
is the same God that is seen in the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures. Allah is the same as the Hebrew/Christian
God Yahweh/Jehovah.
·
The
Quran does not teach the principle of violence.
·
When
a Muslim uses the term ‘infidel,’ he is not talking about a Christian or a
Jew. The term ‘infidel,’ according to
the Quran, refers to an atheist; someone who does not believe in God at all.
·
The
principle of ‘Holy War Jihad’ cannot be found in the teachings of Muhammad and
the Quran.
Many
Christian ministers, Jewish rabbis, and news reporters are also echoing the above
statements. The overall consensus among
the religious world then, seems to center on two premises:
(1) that the religion of
Islam and the teachings of the Quran, and the prophet that started Islam,
Muhammad, do not teach the things that the terrorists are doing and …
(2) that Allah is the same
as the Hebrew/Christian God Yahweh/Jehovah.
In light of recent events concerning terrorism upon Americans,
and the discourse that has opened up in the religious world because of this
tragedy, I would like to offer a careful rebuttal to the many Muslim
scholars/clerics and Christian/Jewish teachers that are coming forth with the
claims that we see in the above mentioned quotes. There is some truth in the above quotes, but not the whole truth.
I write
the following from a Christian perspective and say so now… so that you may
understand my bias for Jesus Christ, and proceed with your investigation
carefully. I exhort all people who read
this, and especially Christian ministers and pastors, to carefully and
prayerfully consider a fundamental premise of the Quran and the teachings of
Muhammad which are essential to all Muslims.
This
author has been studying Islam for many years and I feel that we are not being
told the whole truth in the news coverage and many talk shows that have
recently given a forum for the Islamic leaders to speak out. In this work, I will present a side of Islam
that is not being shown in much of the journalistic coverage and talk shows
that we have been seeing. We have been
hearing a lot about how Muslims accept the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures, and
that Islam shares the same prophets in Adam, Abraham, Jesus, etc., and how
these same prophets are found in the Quran and are given honor, and how
violence/martyrdom is not in the Quran.
It is
true that the Quran mentions Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, but let me
be clear about this: Honor is given to these men in the Quran, but only as the
Quran alone defines and describes their activities. In other words, the Abraham that we see in the Hebrew/Christian
Scriptures is a totally different Abraham than we see in the Quran. The Jesus that we see in the
Hebrew/Christian Scriptures is a totally different Jesus than we see in the
Quran. So, Muslims accept only what the
Quran says about these men and discounts what the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures
say. In reality then, Islam, Muhammad,
the Quran, and Muslims do not honor these men in the same way as the Bible
does. The accounts in the Quran
concerning Adam, Abraham, Jesus, etc. are so contradictory to the accounts in
the Bible that they could not possibly have been written by the same God.
The
truth is that the Muslim leaders do not “accept” the Hebrew/Christian writings
as many Muslims are claiming. The fact
is that they tell us they accept these writings, but in reality, no Muslim
would follow either the Torah or the Gospel of Jesus. Then why do they say that they accept these writings? Let me be clear about this.
Muhammad
taught that Allah gave previous revelation to the Jews and to the Christians in
the form of the Torah/Psalms/Gospels.
According to Muhammad and the Quran, and the Islamic scholars of today,
Jews and Christians have “perverted and
interpolated” the original revelations that were given to them by
Allah. And Muhammad was given the
revelation in the form of the Quran that “corrects”
the Jew and Christian.
In other
words, Muslim leaders do not “accept” the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures at all,
but in reality, Muslims are taught that the Hebrew/Christian writings have been
perverted by the “People of the Book”
(Jews/Christians). According to Islam
and the Quran, the Jews and Christians were supposed to “protect and guard” the revelation of Allah, but they did not…
they supposedly failed. Hence, Gabriel
the angel then allegedly came to Muhammad to give him the revelation of the
Quran. This revelation given to
Muhammad then “supercedes and corrects”
the perversions that the Jews and Christians supposedly allowed. But we are not hearing this from the Muslim
scholars and clerics in public forum.
We are being told a “spin” to promote “tolerance” among faiths. And I am not against the tolerance, but
against the “spin.” I would just like
to hear the truth from these leaders.
The above
is an important point to those of the Christian faith, and especially for those
Christian leaders that have been led to believe that Christianity and Islam are
somehow related because of our so-called “common prophets.” I will offer enough documentation so that
anyone who desires to investigate this further will have a good place to
start. This documentation will come
from the Quran, Islamic Hadith (traditions of Muhammad), various Islamic
scholars, and historic sources. I pray
that Christian ministers and pastors will heed this information and deal with
their flocks accordingly.
Muhammad
Zafrulla Khan, in his translation, ‘The Quran’ – Arabic Text-English
Translation – Olive Branch Press, writes in his introduction:
The Quran affirms the truth
of previous revelations. {The Quran
says} “Surely, We (Allah) sent down the Torah full of guidance and light”
(Surah 5.45). “We (Allah) caused Jesus
son of Mary to follow in their footsteps, fulfilling that which was revealed
before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Gospel which contained guidance
and light, fulfilling that which was revealed before it in the Torah, and a
guidance and an admonition for the righteous” (Surah 5.47). But it (the Quran) points out that previous
revelations have suffered from interpolations and perversions at the hands of
those (Christians and Jews) whose duty it was to safeguard them (Surah 2.80,
3.79).
The Quran fulfills that
which was revealed before it and also acts as a guardian over it; pointing out,
where necessary, the perversion of its text or meaning by those who professed
to follow it. “We (Allah) have revealed
unto thee this Book comprising the truth and fulfilling that which was revealed
before it of the Book, and as a guardian over it” (Surah 5.49). “People of the Book (Christians and Jews),
there has come to you Our Messenger (Muhammad) who unfolds to you much of that
which you used to hide of the Book and he overlooks many of your defaults.”
(Surah 5.16). {Introduction – page xiv}
In the above text we have a Muslim
scholar telling us, and giving us the Quran verses to prove that the People of
the Book (Jews and Christians) were given the revelation, perverted the
revelation, hid the revelation, interpolated the revelation, and that Allah’s
messenger, Muhammad, unfolds the truth and corrects the previous perversions.
George W. Braswell, Jr., who taught at the Faculty of Islamic
Theology of the University of Teheran from 1968-74, writes:
The Muslim view is that the
teachings of the prophets before Muhammad have been lost or corrupted. Although the message of each previous
prophet was the same as that of Muhammad, it was necessary for Muhammad to
correct and finalize the message which now is found in the Qur’an. He (Muhammad) is the last prophet.
…Four books are well known to the Muslims. The Torah was revealed to Moses, the Psalms to David, and the
Gospel to Jesus. The most sacred book
is the Qur’an.
According to Muslims, the
Torah and the Gospel were genuine revelations of the “Mother of the Book,” but
they have been changed and corrupted.
Traditional Islam views the Qur’an as identical with the “Mother of the
Book” in heaven; the Qur’an contains the very words of God. Therefore, the Qur’an corrects the errors in
the corrupted books and finalizes the truth from God as transmitted from the
Archangel Gabriel, recited by the Prophet Muhammad, and written down in the
Arabic language. {‘Islam’ Its Prophet,
Peoples, Politics and Power – Broadman & Holman Publishers, pg. 50}.
According to Islam and the Quran then, Muslims do not accept the
Hebrew/Christian Scriptures. Yes,
Muslims do agree, and the Quran does teach, that Jews and Christians “were given” revelation. But according to Islam, the revelation that
we have now in our Hebrew/Christian Scriptures is “perverted.” If these Scriptures are perverted, then how
can any Muslim “accept” them?
Obviously, there is a contradiction here in what Muslim leaders are
saying and what Muhammad and the Quran actually teach.
And when
some Muslims make the point that the Quran considers Adam, Moses, Abraham and
Jesus to be prophets, they do so to try to show a “commonality” among Muslims
and Christians. But no such commonality
exists once one gets past the surface.
I make this point to show that the two holy books, the Bible and the
Quran, are contradictory to each other and no Muslim could follow, much less
accept the Bible. In the same way the
Christian can find some good things in the Quran, such as how to live cleanly
and keep pure thoughts, etc., the Muslim can also find what he considers to be
good things in the Bible. But on the
main issues, such as God’s Name, Creation, His attributes, His forgiveness, His
Love, His Son, the Deity of Jesus, the Atonement, etc., these two books do not
agree at all – not in the least! It is
for reasons such as these that the Apostle Paul writes…
But
I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds
may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches
a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different
spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you
accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (2 Corinthians 11:3-4) (NIV)
I am amazed that you are so
quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different
gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing
you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we, or an angel from heaven,
should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you,
let him be accursed. As we have said
before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary
to that which you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I
striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a
bond-servant of Christ. For I would
have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not
according to man. For I neither
received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a
revelation of Jesus Christ.
(Galatians 1:6-12) (NAS)
Now this
is interesting! Here we have the
Apostle Paul claiming that he has received his revelation from God, that there
are people out there trying to “distort” the Gospel of Christ, and that we
should listen only to Paul’s version of Jesus Christ. This is exactly what Islam teaches…. only the characters have
changed, and it is Muhammad that has received the revelation, and it is the
Jews and Christians who are distorting the Word of God. One must make a choice. Paul says in the above Scripture… “…if any man is preaching to you a gospel
contrary to that which you received (from Paul), let him be accursed.” Paul also says… “If anyone does not love
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians
16:22) (NKJ) And Jesus said…
“If you love Me, you will
keep My commandments” (not Muhammad’s) (John 14:15)
To be sure, these seem to be harsh words
from Paul, and I was very hesitant to quote Paul on this issue. But these words are not my words; these are
Paul’s words inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. And for the Christian, Paul would definitely override the words
of Muhammad and the Quran! Ministers of
Christ, take heed of Paul’s words.
There is no question whatsoever that Muhammad, Islam, and the Quran are
guilty of “distorting the Gospel of
Christ” and preaching “another Jesus”
as I will document shortly. And this is
true of all Muslim leaders and clerics even if they are not “extreme
terrorists.”
Because of this recent terrorist attack, we are seeing a
“unity” between members of many faiths.
This is being promoted, especially right now, by many leaders of different
faiths and by many political leaders of many countries as well. This looks so good on the surface, and there
is some good to the idea of people working together to accomplish a common
good… yet we must be careful when contemplating this unity.
In the public forum, we
are being told to “unite with people of all faiths against a common
enemy.” And this “common enemy” is
being portrayed as a small percentage of extreme radical fundamentalist Muslims
that have a deep rooted hatred for “infidels” and so promote terror and kill
innocent people for the sake of Allah and his messenger, Muhammad.
But the “common enemy” of the Christian has many faces. Let us be careful that while we have our
attention directed on today’s “common enemy,” that we do not let the same enemy
slip in the side door with a more subtle means of deception… a deception that
can destroy one’s spirit every bit as
thoroughly as blatant physical terrorism can destroy the flesh. Be sober in spirit and solid in Biblical
doctrine.
Here is
the Quran’s account of the creation of man:
We created man from an extract of clay; then We placed him as a drop of
sperm in a safe depository; then We fashioned the sperm into a clot; then We
fashioned the clot into a shapeless lump; then out of this shapeless lump We
fashioned bones; then We clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed it
into a new creation. So Allah be the
Best of Creators. (Surah 23:13-15).
My point
is that the Quran and the Bible do not agree.
And when the Muslim leaders attempt to draw parallels with the
Hebrew/Christian Scriptures by using the names of Adam, Moses, Abraham and
Jesus, the Quran must be speaking of another Jesus and another Abraham than
those that are shown in the pages of the Bible; for both accounts are so
contradictory.
The
Muslim leaders are drawing these parallels between the Bible and the Quran to
try to espouse that the Muslims honor the Hebrew/Christian prophets and holy
men. But any Muslim leader/cleric has
to deeply study the Quran to even be called a cleric or scholar and they know
full well that Islam, as put forth by their own prophet Muhammad, denies the
truth of the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures as they exist today. But of course, no Muslim has ever been able
to produce an un-corrupted Hebrew/Christian document or manuscript to support
their claims that the ones we have now are corrupted. For the Muslim, the Quran serves this purpose and needs no
documentation; the Quran is accepted by Muslims as the word of God regardless
of any proof to the contrary.
What
purpose then, does it serve Islamic leaders to try to convince Christians that
we have a “common bond” together
because we have the same historical holy men?
Meditate carefully on this issue… wolves in sheep’s clothing do exist
inside the church and outside the church… during times of peace and during
times of distress.
For some
Christians, these may sound like minor or unimportant differences, but I exhort
you to please bear through this and consider how Islam, through the teaching of
Muhammad and the Quran, denies Jesus Christ and His deity.
In
Islam, there is the doctrine of tawhid,
and it means, “singularity.” This means
that the Muslim believes that God is one; not plural and not triune. This is basically the same thing that the
Orthodox Jews believe. In Islam, the
opposite of tawhid would be shirk.
Shirk means to associate partners or companions with Allah. The Quran accuses Christians of shirk because Christians associate Jesus
Christ with God in a way that gives Jesus deity. The Quran denies all deity to anyone other than Allah. The Quran denies the Atonement and even
denies that Jesus actually died on the Cross or is the Son of God; thus
completely denying Jesus Himself and His atoning work on the Cross.
…Allah has sealed them up
because of their disbelief… … and their saying: “We did kill the Messiah, Jesus
son of Mary”… … whereas they slew him not, nor did they compass his death upon
the cross, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified to death.
(Surah 4:157-162).
In the
above Surah, people are accused of “disbelief” because they believe that Jesus
was crucified and raised from the dead.
Now see the punishment for “disbelief” that is promised to those who
believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection and teach others the “True Gospel” of
Jesus:
Those who disbelieve and
hinder others from the way of Allah, have certainly strayed far away. Those who have disbelieved and have acted
unjustly, Allah will by no means forgive them, nor will He show them any way,
except the way of hell, wherein they shall abide for a prolonged period, and
that is easy for Allah. (Surah
4:168-170).
People
today wonder why the Muslims in most parts of the world seem to dislike Americans,
or more specifically, Jews and Christians.
Well, if Allah has promised that the Christian will go to hell for
preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that He is the Son of
God, indeed, God manifest in the flesh, then is it any wonder why the religion
of Islam generally shuns Christianity?
The
Quran states that Jesus Himself thought that it was blasphemous that He should
be raised to the level of deity (Quran – Surah 5:116-121 – the Quran alleges
that these are the words of Jesus).
Christians are warned in the Quran not to exceed their limits where it
concerns Jesus Christ:
People of the Book! Exceed not the limits in the matter of your
religion, and say not of Allah anything but the truth. Indeed, the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was
but a Messenger of Allah… …so believe in Allah and His Messengers and say not:
There are three gods. Desist, it will
be better for you. Indeed, Allah is the
only One God. His Holiness brooks not
that He should have a son. (Surah 4:172).
The
above teachings are common and fundamental to all Muslims, not just to
terrorists and extremists. The above
Surah is one of several that say that Allah does not have a son. Well, Allah is not Jehovah then, is he?
The Quran teaches the following about Jesus:
·
that
Jesus was given revelation and was sent with clear signs from Allah (Surah
2:254; 5:111).
·
that
the Jews planned to kill Jesus but Allah had promised to save him from death
(Surah 3:55-56)
·
that
Jesus was put upon a cross (Surah 4:158)
·
that
Jesus did not die on the cross, but he fainted and was taken down from the
cross while he was in fainted condition (Surah 2:73; 4:158)
·
that
Jesus went to Kashmir after escaping death on the cross (Surah 23:51)
·
that
Jesus died a natural death (Surah 3:55)
·
that
Jesus was merely a messenger of Allah (Surah 5:76)
·
that
God created Jesus out of clay (Surah 3:60)
·
that
those who believe Jesus is God are infidels or dis-believers (Surah 5:18, 73,
74)
And
again, we see the punishment promised to Christians for believing in Jesus’
death on the Cross and we see the Quran’s denial of His death on the Cross:
Allah reassured Jesus: I shall cause thee to die a natural death, and
shall exalt thee to Myself, and shall clear thee from the calumnies of those who
disbelieve… …As for those who disbelieve, I will punish them with a severe
punishment in this world and in the next, and they shall have no helpers. (Surah 3:55-59) (see also 3:177-179)
The more
one studies the Quran, the more one begins to understand why the extreme
Muslims feel that the Christians and Jews should be chastised or punished. They are fulfilling Allah’s will to punish “those who disbelieve.. with a severe
punishment in this world.” Those
who disbelieve what? – that Jesus died a natural death. Anyone who believes otherwise, like
Christians, are disbelievers (infidels).
And anyone who rejects Allah and Muhammad are infidels.
Perhaps
now you will begin to understand my rebuttal to what we are being told by
Muslim leaders. They are saying that
the Quran does not teach punishment upon non-believers, but in fact, the Quran
does teach punishment upon Christians.
According to the Quran, Christians are hiding the truth “deliberately”
to lead people astray:
A section of the People of
the Book would fain lead you astray, but they only lead themselves astray, only
they perceive it not. People of the
Book, why do you reject the signs of Allah, having been witness thereof? People of the Book, why do you confound
truth with falsehood and hide the truth deliberately? … …They utter a lie
against Allah and they know it. (Surah
3:73-79)
Concerning Islam’s “intolerance” for other faiths:
Whoso seeks a religion other
than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the life to come he shall
be among the losers. (Surah 3:86)
And
again, contrary to what we are being told, “infidels” in the Quran are Jews who
“disbelieve” in Allah and his
messenger; and also Christians who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and
that He died on the Cross and was resurrected from the dead and is the
Atonement for the sins of the world.
The Quran states once again, that if a Christian continues to “disbelieve”
in Islam and Muhammad, he will find himself unaccepted by Allah:
How shall Allah guide a
people (Christians and Jews) who have disbelieved after having believed and who
had borne witness that the Messenger is true and to whom clear proofs had
come? Allah guides not the wrongdoers. Of such the punishment is that on them shall
be the curse of Allah and of the angels and of men, all together; thereunder
shall they abide. Their punishment
shall not be lightened nor shall they be granted respite; except in the case of
those who repent thereafter and amend (turn to Islam). Surely, Allah is Most Forgiving, Ever
Merciful. Those who disbelieve after
having believed, and then continue to advance in disbelief, their repentance
shall not be accepted. Those are they
who have gone utterly astray. (Surah
3:87-91)
The
Muslim leaders have been saying that there is no precedent in the Quran for the
suicide martyrs:
Do not slacken, therefore,
nor grieve; you will have the upper hand, if you continue firm in the faith (of
Islam). If you should receive an
injury, they will have received a like injury; and We cause these days, with
their ups and downs, to alternate between the people that they may be
admonished, and that Allah may cause to be known those who believe and may make
some of you martyrs, and that Allah may purify those who believe and may
utterly destroy the disbelievers. Allah
loves not the unjust. Do you reckon
that you will enter Paradise while Allah has not yet caused to be known those
of you that strive hard in the cause of Allah and has not yet caused to be
known the steadfast? You used to wish
for this type of death before you met it; now that you have encountered it in
all its aspects, there is no cause for any of you to hold back. (Surah 3:140-144)
Read the
above Quran verse carefully several times.
It is true that many Muslims would not use the above verse as a
precedent for suicide martyrdom, but it is not true that these verses do not
exist in the Quran as we are being told.
O ye who believe, if you obey those who have disbelieved (Jews and
Christians), they will cause you to revert to disbelief and you will become
losers. Indeed, Allah is your Protector
and He is the Best of helpers. We shall
strike terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved because they
associate partners with Allah, for which He has sent down no authority. Their abode is the Fire, and evil is the
habitation of the wrongdoers. (Surah
3:150-152)
Again,
in the above, we see how the teachings of Muhammad and the Quran strongly condemn
Christians for associating Jesus with God (associating
partners with Allah). The
Christian’s abode is “Fire,” they are “evil” and are “wrongdoers.” Clearly, the above calls Christians,
“disbelievers.” And the Quran states
that terror will be struck in the hearts of Christian disbelievers. There are many more Quran verses of
punishment and/or killing of disbelievers:
Warn the disbelievers of a painful chastisement, excepting those of
them with whom you have a pact and have not faulted in any respect, nor
supported anyone against you. Carry out
the obligations you have assumed towards them till the end of their terms. Surely, Allah loves those who are mindful of
their obligations. When a period of
four months during which hostilities are suspended expires, without the
idolaters having settled the terms of peace with you, resume fighting with them
and kill them wherever you find them and make them prisoners and beleaguer
them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. (Surah 9:3-6)
“Kill
them wherever you find them?!” “…make them prisoners and beleaguer them, and
lie in wait for them at every place of ambush?!” Isn’t this exactly what Osama bin Laden and the other terrorist
factions do? Yes, it is in the Quran
and there is much more like it. And
when we also consider the Sunnah, which are the sayings and doings of Muhammad
that all Muslims hold sacred, we will find much more violence and conquering
and “jihad of the sword.”
When
you meet in battle those who have disbelieved, smite their necks; and after the
slaughter fasten tight the bonds, until the war lays aside its burdens. Then either release them as a favour, or in
return for ransom. That is the ordinance. Had Allah so pleased He could have punished
them Himself; but He has willed that He may try some of you by means of
others. Allah will never render vain
the works of those who are slain in His cause.
He will guide them and improve their condition, and admit them to the
garden which He has made known to them.
O ye who believe, if you will help the cause of Allah, He will help you
and make your steps firm; while ruin will seize those who disbelieve, and He
will render their works vain…… …That is because Allah is the Helper of those
who believe, and the disbelievers have no helper. (Surah 47: 5-12)
And we have to remember that the “disbelievers” are all those
who refuse to accept Allah and his prophet, Muhammad, and those who associate
partners with Allah (Christians). Ponder
this quote from the above Surah one more time: “Had Allah so pleased He could have punished them Himself; but He has
willed that He may try some of you by means of others. Allah will never render vain the works of
those who are slain in His cause. He
will guide them and improve their condition, and admit them to the garden which
He has made known to them.” Here,
among many other Quran verses, is a precedent for punishing disbelievers; and
Allah does this through “means of others”
and promises Paradise for those slain for his cause.
Fight
those from among the People of the Book who believe not in Allah, nor in the
last day, nor hold as unlawful that which Allah and His messenger have declared
to be unlawful nor follow the true religion, and have not yet made peace with
you, until they pay the tax willingly and make their submission. (Surah 9:29).
Many Muslim leaders have been telling the Americans that
"infidels" are only those who are atheists. But the above verse from the Quran (one of many) shows that their
fight is directed towards "People of the Book" who are believers in
God (Jews and Christians) and not atheists, and also against those who do not
follow the "true religion" of Islam.
Clearly, this is against
anyone who rejects Allah and his messenger, Muhammad. And the ordinance is: fight the People of the Book…until they
make their submission.
The
Jews say: Uzair is Allah's son; and the Christians say: the Messiah is Allah's
son; these are but their verbal assertions, whereby they imitate the sayings of
those who disbelieved before them.
Allah ruin them, how they are turned away from the truth. (Surah 9:30-35).
In reading the Quran, there are very many references to
Christians and Jews (People of the Book) and the calling is to fight against
them and "Allah, ruin them" if they will not "surrender" to
Allah and his messenger. The Muslim
leaders are sidestepping this fundamental teaching of
the Quran when addressing the American People.
O
ye who believe, what ails you that, when it is said to you: Go forth, all
together, to fight in the cause of Allah; you are held down by your worldly
interests?…….. …Allah is mighty, Wise.
Go forth, light armed or heavy armed, and strive in the cause of Allah
with
your belongings and your persons. (Surah 9:38-42)
The
appropriate penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and
run about in the land creating disorder is that they be slain or crucified or
their hands and their feet be cut off on alternate sides. ….. …except in the
case of those who repent before you obtain power over them. (Surah 5:34-35).
Notice that the calling is to “obtain power over them.”
But if they repent (surrender to Islam) before a Muslim obtains power
over them, they can be spared this death or mutilation. How deep does this disdain for Jews and
Christians go? – all the way back to Muhammad, Islam’s revered prophet whose
sayings make up the verses of the Quran:
You
will surely be tried in respect of your possessions and your persons and you
shall hear many hurtful things from those who were given the Book before you
(Jews) and from those who set up partners with Allah (Christians), but if you
show fortitude and restrain yourselves (from disbelief), that indeed is a matter
of strong determination. (Surah 3:187)
Call
to mind when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Book: You
shall make it known to the people and shall not conceal it; yet they threw it
away behind their backs, and bartered it for a paltry price. Evil is that which they have taken in
exchange for it. …They shall suffer a
grievous chastisement. (Surah
3:188-190)
Surely
the true religion in the estimation of Allah is Islam, that is, complete
submission to Him, and those who were given the Book (Jews/Christians)
disagreed only, out of mutual envy, after knowledge had come to them. Whoso rejects the Signs of Allah should
remember that Allah is Swift at reckoning.
(Surah 3:20)
A former Muslim and Islamic
scholar has said:
We must never imagine that such Muslims are being
necessarily wicked. They are simply
being faithful to their religion. The
fact is never hidden as to the attitude a good Muslim should have towards
Christians and Jews. In fact, much of
the incitement to violence and war in the whole of the Quran is directed
against the Jews and Christians who rejected what they felt to be the strange
god Mohammed was trying to preach.
{G.J.O. Moshay, 'Who Is This Allah?' (Dorchester House
Publications, 1994), p. 24}
So, the fact is that there is sufficient premise in the Quran
to lead one to a radical extremism; and the interpretation is not hard to see
in the Quran. Obviously, all Muslims do
not believe in terror and there can be extremists in any religion. But among all the holy books in the world,
the Bible, Hindu Vedas, Buddhist writings, etc., the Quran is the only holy
book that has dozens of verses directed against a particular people: Christians
and Jews! And if Allah is the same as
Jehovah, then why does Allah deny Jesus Christ? …but Jehovah wrote a Testament
about Him? Allah and Jehovah are not
the same. I will offer some
documentation for this position shortly.
Some of those whom are called “extreme Muslims” are in reality
following in the footsteps of their prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was a devout, warring, religious conqueror convinced
that he had been chosen by Allah as a prophet.
Muhammad was the first “extreme” Muslim and history shows his many
conquests in Allah’s name and his long-held hostility for the Jews.
The prophet’s (Muhammad) experience in Medina began a new
period of Muslim history. After
settling into this new home, Muhammad organized raids, or razzias, on caravans traveling to Mecca. The first razzias were unsuccessful, but he did eventually
succeed. With growing support, Muhammad
now presented a significant threat to the city of Mecca. Jews living in Medina raised a cry of
opposition against Muhammad, especially because the prophet had made the
audacious claim to be Allah’s true prophet.
Disappointed by the rejection of the Jews, Muhammad instructed his
followers to face Mecca when praying, rather than Jerusalem, which had been the
traditional practice. To this day,
Muslims face Mecca in prayer, the act itself remaining a long-standing symbol
of the hostility between Jews and Arabs.
….Finally in January 630, Muhammad, accompanied by ten thousand men,
marched into Mecca …His further razzias
eventually led to his becoming the most powerful religiopolitical figure in
Arabia. He was successful in uniting a
confederation of Arab tribes that would eventually conquer the Byzantine and
Persian empires, extending itself throughout northern Africa amd Byzantium. {Dictionary of Sects, Religions and the
Occult – George A. Mather and Larry A. Nichols – Zondervan Publishing – pg.
140}.
Historian Will Durant writes:
During his ten years in Medina, Muhammad planned sixty-five
campaigns and raids, and personally led twenty-seven… …As the triumphant Arab
armies swelled with hungry or ambitious recruits, the problem arose of giving
them new lands to conquer, if only to provide them with food and pay. The advance created its own momentum; each
victory required another, until the Arab conquests – more rapid than the Roman,
more lasting than the Mongol – summed up to the most amazing feat in military
history…
In 635 Damascus was taken, in 636 Antioch, in 638
Jerusalem; by 640 all Syria was in Moslem hands; by 641 Persia and Egypt were
conquered. {Will Durant, op. cit., Vol. IV, pg. 170, 188}.
Far from being a religion of peace and understanding, Islam’s
“foundation” is that of a religion of conquering and hostility for a particular
people, the Jews.
“…The
last hour will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill
them.”… …“He who dies without having fought, or having felt it to be his duty,
will die guilty of a kind of hypocrisy.”… …“…There is no emigration after the
Conquest, but only jihad… so when you are summoned to fight, go forth.”
{Mishkat al Masabih Sh. M. Ashsraf (1990), pp. 147, 721, 810-11, 1130 etc.}
The above are the words of Muhammad. The Muslims who truly follow Muhammad are listening to his
teachings and following his example.
Even the Muslims who do not promote terrorism cannot escape the fact
that Muhammad himself said that the last day would not come until the Muslims
have killed the Jews in a fight! The
above are Muhammad’s words; whom the Muslims honor above all other men and they
believe that he spoke words from God.
And as we have already seen, this hostility is extended to
Christians as well for “associating
partners with Allah” and calling Jesus Lord and Savior. Maybe many American Muslims do not feel this
hostility, but it is taught by their prophet and in their Quran; and the
leaders of Islam definitely know these things – even the American Muslim
leaders. They honor the same book, the
Quran, and the same prophet, Muhammad.
Martin Luther wrote about the Quran, he said…
He (Mohammed) greatly praises Christ and Mary as being the
only ones without sin, and yet he believes nothing more of Christ than that He
is a holy prophet, like Jeremiah or Jonah, and denies that He is God’s Son and
true God… …On the other hand, Mohammed highly exalts and praises himself and boasts
that he has talked to God and the angels… …From this anyone can easily see that
Mohammed is a destroyer of our Lord Christ and His kingdom… …(the) Father, Son,
Holy Ghost, baptism, the sacrament, gospel, faith, and all Christian doctrine
are gone, and instead of Christ only Mohammed and his doctrine of works and
especially of the sword is left.
{Martin
Luther, On War Against the Turks, C.
M. Jacobs and R. C. Schultz in Luther’s
Works, ed. By H. T. Lehmann (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967), ppg. 170-77}.
It is clear that Muhammad, and all of Islam, denies that Jesus
is “the Christ.” And the Quran, unlike
other established religious writings, has many specific passages that deny
Jesus Christ in every way as to His deity, Atonement and Throne. Islam also has deep-rooted hostility towards
the Jews and Christians. And all of
this comes from the “foundation” of Muhammad and the Quran. Christians must consider these things. Apostle John puts it in pretty simple
language…
Who
is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies
the Father and the Son. (I John
2:22) (NAS)
It is here that we need to stop for a moment to make some
distinctions. Clearly, according to all
the Apostles of Christ in the Bible, Islam would be “antichrist” for preaching
another Jesus and another gospel; which is no gospel at all. Jesus talks about “wolves in sheep’s
clothing.” Clearly, there are people in
Islam (and elsewhere) that have an agenda of trying to deny Jesus Christ and
destroy His works. But then, there are
many Muslims who are just deceived, having believed that they have found the
religion of God in Islam, and they do not have a particular agenda other than
trying to follow the religion that they believe in or were “born into.” For these who are deceived, but have no
“conscious agenda” to destroy Christ’s works, we must pray for and witness to
them if they will hear.
The real problem for us is that we cannot tell what is in
anyone’s heart, and therefore we cannot tell whether someone has an agenda or
not. Only God knows this. So, we must then consider “Islam, the
religion” to be antichrist and try to keep our hearts open to the Muslim
“people” that might recognize Christ if they had the right information. It is a hard task to view the religion of
Islam as evil, as it should be viewed for the Christian, and then try to view
the Islamic people as those whom might be found in God’s favor. But, with God, all things are possible. In my mind, I have the “works” of the
religion of Islam separated from the people, even though I speak harshly of
Islam. I write this to remind others to
try to make the same separation while still being able to recognize and expose
the seduction and lies of Islam. This
work was written to heighten Christian discernment and to expose Islam,
Muhammad and the Quran as antichrist; not to slander one billion Muslims. (and
I said Islam is “antichrist” – not “THE antichrist!”).
When one
considers that Islam is the second largest and fastest growing religion on the
face of the earth, it is not too far-fetched to consider the dragon in
Revelation who also goes against a particular people: Jews and Christians. It is interesting that Islam is the only
religion on the face of the earth that blames Jews and Christians for
corrupting and perverting God’s Word.
The other established religions do not agree with Christianity either on
the matter of deity in Christ, and must also be considered antichrist for this
reason, but those other religions do not have a specific agenda directed at
Jews and Christians; but Islam does.
So, as Christians, let’s be careful and be informed of the “teachings”
of Islam, but let’s try to remember not to group all Muslim “people” into the
“agenda driven” category.
Now we will delve a little bit into
fundamental Muslim thought, which, contrary to what we are being told by many,
did originate with Muhammad, his sayings, and alleged revelations. A Muslim scholar, Muhammad Hamidullah,
writes:
A struggle cannot be anything except a holy act. All war is forbidden in Islam, if it is not
waged for a just cause, ordained by Divine law. The life of the Prophet (Muhammad) provides reference to only
three kinds of wars: defensive, punitive, and preventive.… …To establish liberty of conscience in the
world was the aim and object of the struggle of the Prophet Muhammad and who
may have a greater authority in Islam than he?
This is the ‘holy war’ of the Muslims, the one which is undertaken not
for the purpose of exploitation, but in a spirit of sacrifice, its sole
objective being to make the Word of God prevail. All else is illegal.
There is absolutely no question of waging war for compelling people to
embrace Islam; that would be unholy war. {Muhammad Hamidullah, Introduction to Islam (Paris: Centre
Culturel Islamique, publication no. 1, 1969), pg. 156}.
In other words, after all the double talk is removed, any war
is a holy war if your main objective is to spread the word of Allah “to establish liberty and conscience in the
world.” So, the Muslim scholars say
that war is forbidden in the Quran, except, of course, if your objective is to
make the word of Allah prevail; which is a “just cause” to the Muslim. Then, war can be justified. According to Islam, the sole objective of
Muhammad, and all the conquering that he accomplished, was to make the Word of
Allah prevail. So, if Muhammad were
justified in his many conquests, then any Muslim who purports to have as his “sole objective” the spreading of the
word of Allah, could also be justified in his conquests. And if the Jews and Christians have
perverted God’s Word, as the Quran and Islam state, then warring against Jews
and Christians could be “just cause” to “cause
Allah’s word to prevail.” Scary
thought, huh? This is no secret in the
Quran and the Islamic fundamentalists are just being “fundamental.” Any true Muslim who sincerely honors
Muhammad and the Quran would also find this fundamental premise in the teachings
of Muhammad and the Quran – the scholars certainly do. Terrorist Osama bin Laden just released a
statement to the world (9~25~01) specifically against all Christians and
Jews. Where do we think he gets these
ideas from? – the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. There are many more teachings supposedly by
Muhammad in the Sunnah, which are the sayings and doings of Muhammad. These “Hadith” (traditions) are also
available to all Muslims.
Two quotes sum up the fundamental objective of Islam:
1).
The characteristics of Islamic fundamentalism are several and make for a
general profile. Truth in a literal
sense has been given by Allah. The
guide to every condition of life is found in three sources. They are in descending priority, the Qur’an,
the Sunnah (the sayings and doings of Prophet Muhammad), and the Shari’a
(Islamic law – the codification of the rules and principles in the Quran and
the Sunnah). {The Economist, 4 April 1992, 47}.
2). Islamic fundamentalism returns to a classic
Islamic worldview in which the world is partitioned into two parts. There is the world or territory ruled and
administered by Islam, and there is the world or territory which is un-Islamic
and disobedient and not under the rule of the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the Shari’a. Islam must bring the disobedient world under
its domain. {Bernard Lewis, “The Roots of Muslim Rage,” in The Atlantic Monthly (September 1990), 49}.
Ahmad Khomeini, son of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, says…
Iran’s Islamic revolution has awakened all the Islamic
countries… …Islam recognizes no borders.
We cannot put off establishing Islamic governments and administering the
divine laws. The objective of the Islamic
Republic and its officials is none other than to establish a global Islamic
rule… … Political means and methods may differ, but no revolutionary Muslim
ever forgets the objective. {Ahmad Khomeini, in Kayham, Teheran, 11 January
1992}.
And some more Islamic fundamentalist thought:
Imagine some group that says to the
Muslims who are delivering the call of Islam to a nation: “You have no right to
say what you are saying. We do not
allow it.” In these circumstances it is
not permissible to fight with that nation, with those people who are blameless
and unaware. But is it permissible for
us to fight against that corrupt regime which props itself up with a putrid
ideology that it uses like a chain around the necks of people to imprison them
in {a} blind alley isolated from the call of truth; a regime which acts as a
barrier against that call? Is it
permissible for us to fight that regime so as to remove that obstacle? Or, in real terms, is it permissible for us
to fight against that prison of repression or is it not? In view of Islam this is permissible, for
this itself would be a form of uprising against zulm, against injustice and oppression. It may be that the mazlum, the
wronged, the oppressed, are not aware of the nature of the injustice and have
not requested our help, but in fact there is no need for them to request it. {Morteza Mutahhari – Bruce B. Lawrence, Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt
Against the Modern Age (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989),
189}.
In plain English, Muslims are to “deliver the call of Islam”
to the nations as they are told to do in the Quran. They (Muslim leaders) decide which nations are “oppressing people by withholding the
truth.” What truth is being
withheld from the people? Well, of
course, the truth of Islam. Wherever
there are people that do not have the truth of Islam, they are oppressed and in
prison (in a blind alley). The nations
or regimes that do not teach Islam are “acting
as a barrier against the call” of Islam.
It “is” permissible for Islam to “remove
the obstacle” and “fight against that
prison of repression.” If the
“people” who are being oppressed (not the nation’s leaders or regime who leads
the people) say, “You have no right to
say what you are saying. We do not
allow it,” then Islam cannot fight them because they are “blameless and unaware.”
But notice how Islam can get around this. The oppressed people (the mazlum) are obviously “not aware of the nature of the injustice” being
done against them by the nation’s leaders (regime). So, in this case, it is permissible for Islam to fight against
the regime. Even if the oppressed
people did not ask for the help of Islam, the Muslim feels that it is his duty
to bring the truth of Allah and his messenger, Muhammad, to all the nations. Since the oppressed are not really aware
that they are living under a lying regime that withholds the truth from them,
then Islam can free them for their own good even if they have not requested the
help. And here again, we have “just
cause” for “jihad” (holy struggle) because the stated “sole purpose” is to
cause the word of Allah to prevail; and in this case, war is “just” according
to Islam, the Sunnah (the examples set by Muhammad), and Shari’a (Islamic
Law). The Quran states:
Fighting
is ordained for you, while it is repugnant to you. It may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and it
may also be that you prefer a thing and it may be the worse for you. Allah knows all and you know not. They enquire from thee about fighting in the
Sacred Month. Say to them: Fighting is
a great evil; but to hinder people from the way of Allah and to deny Him and to
profane the sanctity of the Sacred Mosque, and to turn out its people therefrom
is a much greater evil in the sight of Allah; and disorder is a worse evil than
killing. They will not stop fighting
you until they turn you from your Faith, if they can. The works of those from among you who turn back from their Faith
and die in a state of disbelief shall be vain in this world and the next. These are the inmates of the Fire, therein
shall they abide. Those who have
believed and have emigrated, and have striven hard in the cause of Allah, are
those who hope for Allah’s mercy. Allah
is Most Forgiving, Ever Merciful.
(Surah 2:217-219).
Fight
in the cause of Allah against those who fight you. But do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not
transgressors. And slay them wherever
ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out: for
tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter… …Such is the reward of those who
suppress faith. But if they cease,
Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there
prevail Justice and faith in Allah; But if they cease, let there be no
hostility except to those who practice oppression. (Surah 2: 191-194).
Once again, if a Muslim leader decides that there are those
who “practice oppression” and “faith in Allah is not prevailing,” then hostility can be permitted because the
Quran says, “tumult and oppression
are worse than slaughter!” …so then slaughter can be justified because the
Quran teaches it is better than tumult and oppression; and tumult and
oppression are interpreted in Islam as anything not under the submission of
Islam, or those who do not recognize Islam as sovereign.
The Jews already know these things all too well. It is time that Christians were made more
aware of the fundamentals of Islam; which is also on a global mission that denies
Jesus Christ and places Muhammad and Islam in His place.
Another Islamic
perspective on the holy struggle, or jihad:
Muslim jurists hold to four types of “holy war,” the war
waged by the heart, the tongue, the hand, and the sword. The war of the heart is the internal
spiritual and moral struggle. It is the
most important and meritorious war. It
leads to victory over the ego. The war
of the tongue is for speaking the truth of Islam and the war of the hand is for
setting good moral example for the community and for non-Muslims. Finally, the ‘jihad of the sword’
corresponds exactly to armed conflict with the enemies of the Islamic community
and foreign leaders who either persecute the believers or restrict the freedom
of conscience of their subjects. It
results from the rejection of oppression and from the dynamic conception of
justice and mercy. {Marcel A. Boisard, Jihad: A Commitment to Universal Peace
(Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1988), 23}.
There seems to be a common train of thought among Islamic
scholars that Muslim leaders can decide whether certain nations or other
foreign leaders are “restricting the
freedom of conscience” of their subjects and therefore causing “oppression” upon its people. So, technically speaking, in “rejecting oppression,” Islam can
declare “jihad of the sword” upon
foreign nations for the sake of “justice
and mercy” so as to cause the word of Allah and Islam to prevail and
release the people from oppression.
In classical Sunni Islamic
scholarship, the territory of Islam is viewed as the territory of justice and
peace. In contrast, the territory of
ignorance (the territories that do not recognize the authority of Islam) is
full of disorder and strife and is a continual threat to Islam. Boisard points out that (to Muslims) the
enemies of God are those who threaten the existence of the Islamic community,
those who persecute Muslims and, finally, polytheists. “Islam and polytheism, which stands as the
enemy of Muslims, cannot coexist.
Pagans have to choose between faith or the sword.” {‘Islam’ Its Prophet, Peoples, Politics and Power –
Broadman & Holman Publishers, pg. 143}.
“Polytheism” is the acceptance or worship of more than one God; or
“shirk” as we saw earlier: associating
partners or companions with Allah.
To the Muslim, the Christian is guilty of worshipping three gods because
of the Trinity doctrine (Surah 4:172) (but in reality, the Christian considers
God as One). Notice the choice
presented by Islam in the above: faith in Islam or the sword (Muhammad’s way).
And
again, we see the Muslim worldview of only two territories: one territory under
submission to Allah; the other territory under strife and disorder. And
the Quran states: “…disorder is a worse
evil than killing” (Surah 2:217-219) and,“…tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter.. …Such is the reward
of those who suppress faith.” (Surah 2:191-194). The
fundamentalists easily get their theology in the Quran and Muhammad’s
teachings.
So, the “territory of ignorance” is “full of disorder and
strife,” and then slaughter and killing can be better options and can be “just
cause” for ‘jihad of the sword’ to bring about “justice and peace.”
For this teaching, I hold the scholars, leaders and clerics of
Islam responsible and not the Muslims who have not gotten into the dark depths
of Muhammad and Islamic theology.
Islam offers two choices to humanity. The way of heedlessness or ignorance (al-jahiliyya) leads to religious and
moral error and chaos. The way of
submission (al-islam) is to follow
the admonitions of Allah in the Qur’an.
The way of heedlessness and the way of submission are seen as
institutionalized in the existence of Islamic and non-Islamic political
entities. The former may be described
as the territory of Islam (dar al-islam); the latter is the territory of war
(dar al-harb). {‘Islam’ Its Prophet,
Peoples, Politics and Power – Broadman & Holman Publishers, pg. 143}.
…for the Muslim the peace of the world cannot be fully
secure until people come under the protection of Islam. …in classical Sunni Islam there is a program
of action, namely jihad, to help bring about the territory of Islam. For force to be used in extending the
territory of Islam and thus to achieve peace, Sunni theorists set down certain
rules:
1.
There must be a just cause
(the refusal of a non-Islamic political entity to acknowledge the sovereignty
of Islam).
2.
There must be a declaration
of Muslim intentions (the Muslim ruler must invite the adversary to accept Islam
or pay tribute and acknowledge the Muslim authority).
3.
There must be right authority
(the proper Muslim head of state or ruler)
4.
The war must be conducted
based on Islamic values (right intent for the cause and in the path of God)
The last point in the above
keeps showing up in the thoughts of many Islamic scholars. If your sole intent is, “in the path of Allah,” then ‘jihad of the sword’ can be “just
cause” - (but how is this intent determined, because one says, “this is for
Allah?!”). And look at point number one
in the above. “Just cause” can be “the refusal of a non-Islamic political
entity to acknowledge the sovereignty of Islam.” Well, that means all the parts of the known world that do not
accept the sovereignty of Islam, doesn’t it?
That means every nation that does not accept Islam. That means “just cause” for ‘jihad of the
sword’ to any nation that refuses to accept Islam as sovereign. There again, is the Muslim worldview of the
territory of ignorance, or the territory of Islam. One is a territory of peace (Islam); the other is a territory of
war (dar al-harb).
This is a continual struggle for the Muslim and the Quran
speaks over and over again to the Muslim to maintain diligence in the struggle
(jihad); persist until the world becomes the territory of peace through
submission to Islam (dar al-islam).
All throughout the Quran, there is punishment promised upon
those who will not hear and submit to Allah and his ways:
Some
people spend their time and substance in acquiring idle diversions to lead
people astray from the path of Allah, without knowledge, and to make fun of
it. For them there will be a
humiliating punishment. When Our Signs
are recited to such a one, he turns away arrogantly, as though he heard them
not, as if they were a heaviness in his ears.
So announce to him a painful punishment. (Surah 31:3-12)
The struggle of “Jihad:”
The basic meaning of jihad is to strive or struggle to
achieve one’s basic responsibilities to God.
The Islamic worldview divides the world into two areas: the world of
Islam or obedience and the world of disobedience. Jihad means to work to enable the world of Islam to overcome the
world of disobedience. Muslims
interpret jihad in a personal way and in a corporate way. Both the individual and the community are to
be involved in struggle to establish the world of Islam over untruth, falsity,
ignorance, and disobedience.
Both the Qur’an and the Sunnah establish criteria for jihad
and who may declare it on behalf of the community. The individual employs jihad in firmly stating the beliefs of
Islam and regularly practicing the pillars of Islam. A Muslim community expresses jihad in an apologetic of the
Islamic faith against attacks on the integrity of the Muslim community by
outsiders. Jihad may take the form of
war against declared enemies in which Muslim armies are sent against the foe.
A high Muslim authority and leader, relying on the Qur’an
and Islamic jurisprudence, may issue a fatwa or ruling that jihad is necessary
and appropriate against an enemy, whether the enemy be an individual, a group,
a nation, or nations. Islamic
communities and nations have made jihad against non-Muslim people, but they
have also declared jihad against another Muslim people. This means that an Islamic nation may be
considered by another Islamic nation to be un-Islamic and worthy of
warfare. Iran declared jihad against
Iraq; both are Islamic nations. Often
it is argued that the political leadership of a nation is corrupt and
un-Islamic and deserves to be overthrown.
{‘Islam’ Its Prophet, Peoples,
Politics and Power– Broadman & Holman Publishers, pg. 304}.
In the last sentence, we see once again that if a high Muslim
leader “decides” that a nation or group is “corrupt
and un-Islamic,” then the jihad of the sword to overthrow that corrupt
entity can be “just cause.” And notice
that the Muslim authority relies on “the
Quran and Islamic jurisprudence.”
The Quran states:
Worse
than the beasts, in the sight of Allah, are those who have rejected the Signs
of Allah and do not believe; those with whom thou makes a covenant, then they
break their covenant every time and are not mindful of their obligation to
Allah. When thou gainest mastery over
them in war, then deal with them in such manner that those making hostile
preparations beyond them should abandon their designs and be admonished. (Surah 8:56-58).
Those that reject the “Signs of Allah” and his messenger,
Muhammad, are thought of as beasts. The
Quran instructs its followers to deal with these unbelievers in a way that will
put fear into any other group who also has hostile intentions towards Islam.
Make
ready for them whatever you can of armed strength and of mounted pickets at the
frontier, whereby you may daunt the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others
beyond them whom you know not, but whom Allah knows. Whatever you spend in the way of Allah, it shall be repaid to you
in full and you shall not be wronged.
(Surah 8:61-64)
O Prophet,
sufficient for thee are Allah and those who believe who follow thee. O Prophet, exhort the believers to
fight. If there be of you twenty
steadfast ones, they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be a hundred of
you, they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a
people who lack understanding. (Surah
8:65-66)
In the above Surah, Allah says, “O Prophet, exhort the
believers to fight.” The “Prophet” that
Allah is talking to is Muhammad, and Muhammad is then told to exhort all those
who follow him to fight. Most Muslims
today claim to follow Muhammad. The
fundamentalists are truly following Muhammad.
Muhammad left an astounding legacy and he is considered as the
greatest authority in Islam. Muhammad’s
warriors were known as “fierce” and they truly did overcome many territories by
following Muhammad and his strict code of “submission to Allah and his
messenger, Muhammad.” Today, the
fundamentalists continue to follow the prophet Muhammad.
George W. Braswell, Jr. writes:
During the last ten years of his life, Muhammad served the
Muslim community as prophet, as political and economic leader, and as
commander-in-chief of his warriors. He
established the umma (community of Islam) with such strength that shortly after
his death Islam moved quickly beyond the peninsula to claim vast territories
and peoples under its banner. A Muslim
was taught to walk the straight path of Allah and thereby attain heaven and
avoid hell.
The crescent moon became the symbol on the minarets of
mosques and on flags. The mission of
Islam had been set. The world was
divided into two domains: that world which was to exist under Allah, the
teachings of the Qur’an, and the traditions of Muhammad; and that world which
was still in ignorance and disobedience and which needed to be brought to
submission under Islam. The destiny of
Islam, which Muhammad had set, was to extend from Mecca to the moon. {‘Islam’ Its
Prophet, Peoples, Politics and Power– Broadman & Holman Publishers, pg.
19}.
The Hadith is the traditions of Muhammad. It is a collection of the reports of the
words, actions, and attitudes of the Prophet Muhammad, constituting a body of
literature second only to the Quran in authority to Muslims. The Hadith states:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (Muhammad) said,
“Paradise has one hundred grades which Allah has reserved for the Mujahidun
(men who fight in His Cause), and the distance between each of the grades is
like the distance between the Heaven and the Earth.” (Hadith 4:40; 52.4.48.)
Narrated Anas Bin Malik: The Prophet (Muhammad) said,
“Nobody who dies and finds good from Allah (in the Here-after) would wish to
come back to this world even if he were given the whole world and whatever is
in it, except the martyr who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would
like to come back to the world and get killed again.” (Hadith 4:42; 52.6.53.)
These traditions are held in high honor among Muslims because
they are supposedly the words and doings of Muhammad. The above, and many more writings in the Hadith and the Quran,
can clearly set a goal for the one who dies fighting for the cause of Allah and
his messenger, Muhammad.
In the Quran, Surah 9:3-6, Muslims are directed to give asylum
and protection to those who have shown an interest in the word of Allah; to
give them some time to surrender to Islam.
The Surah ends with…
If
anyone of the idolaters seeks asylum so that he may hear the Word of Allah;
then convey him to a place of security for him, for they are a people who lack
knowledge.
The next verse (9:7-11) ends with…
If
they repent and observe Prayer and pay the Zakat (the Muslim tax), then they
are your brethren in faith.
Then the following verse (9:12-16) states:
But
if they break faith after pledging it and ridicule your religion, then fight
these leaders of disbelief that they may desist, for they have no regard for
their pledged word. Will you not fight
a people who have violated their oaths, who plotted to turn out the Messenger
from his home, and who were the first to start hostilities against you? Do you fear them? It is Allah that is most worthy that you should fear Him, if you
are believers. Fight them: Allah will
punish them at your hands, and will humiliate them, and will help you to
overcome them…
The Hadith states:
Narrated Ikrima: The statement of Allah’s Apostle
(Muhammad), “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.” (Hadith 9:45; 84.2.57.)
More traditions of Muhammad in the Hadith:
Narrated Abdullah: I asked the Prophet, “which deed is the
dearest to Allah?” He replied, “To
offer prayers at their fixed times.” I
asked, “What is the next (in goodness)?”
He replied, “To be good and dutiful to your parents.” I again asked: “What is the next (in
goodness)?” He replied, “To participate
in jihad (religious fighting) in Allah’s Cause.” (Hadith 1:300; 10.5.505.)
Narrated Abu Musa: A man came to the Prophet and asked, “A
man fights for war booty; another fights for fame and a third fights for
showing off; which of them fights in Allah’s Cause?” The Prophet said, “He who fights so that Allah’s Word (Islam)
should be superior, fights in Allah’s Cause.”
(Hadith 4:50; 52.15.65.)
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle (Muhammad) said, “I
have been ordered (by Allah) to fight the people till they say: ‘None has the
right to be worshipped but Allah,’ and whoever said it then he will save his
life and property.’” (Hadith 2:274;
24.1.483.)
Narrated Jubair bin Haiya: Umar sent the Muslims to the
great countries to fight the pagans… (The people under siege asked the Muslims
who they are.) al-Mughira replied, “We
are some people from the Arabs;… …While we were in this state, the Lord of the
Heavens and the Earths… …sent to us from among ourselves a Prophet (Muhammad),
…the Messenger of our Lord, {he} has ordered us to fight you until you worship
Allah Alone or give Jizya (i.e. tribute).”
(Hadith 4:254-55; 53.21.386.)
Narrated Abu Qatada: Allah’s Apostle (Muhammad) said,
“Whoever had killed an infidel and has a proof of witness for it, then the salb
(arms and belongings of that deceased) will be for him.” (Hadith 9:213; 89.21.282.)
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, “To the person
who carries out jihad for His (Allah’s) Cause and nothing compelled him to go
out but the jihad in His Cause, and belief in His Words, Allah guarantees that
He will either admit him into Paradise or return him with the reward or the
booty he has earned to his residence from where he went out.” (Hadith 9:413; 93.28.549.)
I believe, at this point, I have listed enough information
about this topic of ‘jihad’ so that any who desire can continue to study the
Quran and the writings of Islamic scholars and the history of Muhammad and his
teachings. The fundamental premise for
what is going on in the world today, and the killing in the name of Allah, can
easily be found in the Quran, Hadith, and Islamic Law, contrary to what many
Muslim leaders are saying publicly. This
is not to say that all Muslims adhere to the killing or terrorism or interpret
the Quran verses as such. But the
problem is that this mindset is easily found in the Quran by its own scholars
and leading holy men; and not just a few here and there, but a large section of
Islamic leaders. Muhammad himself, the
most revered man in Islam, started this foundation and all Muslims claim to
revere and follow Muhammad. We then
have to wonder what it is that is being taught in all the mosques around the
world.
Many have said that there are many different sects of Islam
and they don’t all believe the same things.
This is then compared to the many different sects of Christianity or
other religions to show that it is only a small group of Muslims that hold to
the extremist beliefs. This is not entirely
true. If one considers all the “major”
Muslim leaders around the world that do espouse these extremist beliefs, and
the people that live and have been brought up in these Islamic regimes, the
percentage starts to seem much larger than what we are being told. Islam has been a very careful and extremely
strict religion since its inception.
The devoted adherents to Islam, over the years, have done very well at
preserving the basic tenets that were initiated by Muhammad. These basic tenets are imposed upon all
Muslims worldwide. We have to remember
that Islam is not a religion that somebody can convert to and then leave
(Muhammad himself said to kill those who change their faith to another). Maybe here in America this is possible (to
leave Islam) because of our laws, but in countries ruled by Islam, it is
“treason” to leave the faith of Islam for another faith or for atheism. Many Muslim countries impose the death
penalty if a Muslim converts to another faith other than Islam. It is simply not tolerated. So, one is “born” a Muslim and is expected
to die a Muslim, or he dishonors his whole family.
George W. Braswell, Jr., writes:
The basic and essential beliefs and practices of Islam are
uniform among Muslims around the world.
Muslims in America and Muslims in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and
Europe are required to believe and practice the basic tenets of the Qur’an.
Muhammad made certain that his followers knew that there was
a definite law to be followed regardless of geographical location or social
position in life. The Muslim holy book,
the Qur’an, contains the very words which Allah revealed to Muhammad through
the angel Gabriel. The Qur’an is the
road map for a Muslim community or nation to follow, and it mandates the
complete life in the community.
Therefore, the individual religious lifestyle blends into a unified
community lifestyle with Allah as the only God, Muhammad his prophet, and the
Qur’an as the infallible record of law and order.
Islam informs all people that it appreciates its roots in
the Hebrew-Christian tradition.
However, it quickly states that the Qur’an clarifies, refines, and gives
the final and correct revelation through its prophet to the Jews and
Christians. Islam teaches that the
Bible has been corrupted through its interpretations and translations.
Muslim lifestyle is based on certain key beliefs. Allah is the one and only God and does not
share his divineness with any other creature, including Jesus.
…most Muslims would agree that there are six major
practices in Islam which characterize the religious lifestyle and are
mandatory:
1. Confession – The confession that there is only Allah and
Muhammad is his prophet is prayed and chanted by Muslims daily.
2. Prayer – Prayer is a stated ritual five times a day. There are ceremonies of washing and
purification before prayer. There are
specific words and regular genuflections (bending the knees) as one dramatizes
the relationship to Allah.
3. Fasting – A Muslim must fast once a year for one
month. No food or drink is consumed
from sunrise to sunset. The monetary
value which would have been consumed is given to the poor.
4. Alms – Muslims are required to be fastidious in giving
certain percentages of their monies and properties to the cause of Islam. Their giving supports the maintenance and
operation of the mosques and provides the livelihood of the clergy.
5. Pilgrimage – Each Muslim is required to make the pilgrimage
to Mecca once in a lifetime if funds are available and if there is good health.
6. Jihad – A Muslim is
obligated to be a missionary for the faith, that is, to be on holy conquest
(jihad) for Allah. Islam has expanded
around the globe because of its missionary impulse.
The Muslim lifestyle takes shape most visibly and
dramatically in the religious life and activities associated with the
mosque. The mosque symbolizes unity and
universality in Islam. The leader of
the mosque (imam) serves as the model for the Muslim lifestyle. The people imitate the imam in his words and
actions in the prayer rituals. The imam
interprets the law of Islam through sermons and classes. The people give their offerings to him to
provide for mosque activities. He often
leads the pilgrimage journey. {‘Islam’ Its Prophet, Peoples, Politics and Power –
Broadman & Holman Publishers, ppg. 244-245}.
Muslims all over the world hold to the basic tenets of
Islam. Muhammad was very clear and
deliberate to install this in the Quran.
If the imams are the leaders that the individual congregations follow,
and hang on to their every word, then one wonders what it is that the well
taught imams are teaching… … and so many of Islam’s own scholars and holy men
seem to find “a just cause for jihad by the sword” in the Quran.
The last point will be:
“Allah verses Jehovah” – are they the same?
Until I began studying Islam several years ago, I was under the
impression that Allah and Jehovah was the same God, just called by a different
name. It seems that much of the world
is under the same impression. Even the
Roman Catholic Church says that Muslims worship the same God:
The
plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first
place amongst whom are the Moslems: these profess to hold the faith of Abraham,
and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the
last day. {Austin Flannery, O.P., general editor, Vatican Council II, The Concillar and Post Concillar Documents (Costello
Publishing Company, 1988 Revised Edition), Vol. 1. Pp. 66, 68.}.
As Christians, we must consider what Allah says about Jesus in
the Quran and compare that to what Yahweh/Jehovah says about Jesus in the
Bible. The comparison is a simple
one. Allah says:
Proclaim:
He is Allah, the Single; Allah, the Self-Existing and Besought of all. He begets not, nor is He begotten;
and there is none equal to Him in His attributes. (Surah 112:2-5)
But Jehovah says:
For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
(NAS)
And
the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of
the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) (NAS)
See, Jehovah “begets,” but Allah “begets not!” In the previous Quran verse, Allah says that
there is none equal to him in his attributes.
But Jehovah’s Word in the Bible says about Jesus:
But
of the Son He (God) says, "Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of
His kingdom.” (Hebrews 1:8) (NAS)
Jesus
said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to
know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say,
'Show us the Father'? (John 14:9) (NAS)
And
he who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me. (John 12:45) (NAS)
And
He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all
creation. For by Him all things were
created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by
Him and for Him. And He is before all
things, and in Him all things hold together.
(Colossians 1:15-17) (NAS)
I
and my Father are one. (John 10:30) (KJV)
For in Him (Jesus) all the fulness of Deity dwells in
bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head
over all rule and authority;..
(Colossians 2:9-10) (NAS)
Jehovah says that all the fulness of Deity dwells in Jesus. But Allah says, “no!” Jehovah says that Jesus is the head over all
rule and authority. But Allah and Islam
say, “Muhammad is the last prophet and
his words revealed by Allah are the final authority.”
In the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses was told by God, “I AM”
(Exodus 3:14). Jesus said…
Most
assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM. (John 8:58) (NKJ)
For
not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in
order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor
the Father who sent Him. (John 5:22-23)
(NAS)
Is it possible that Allah and Jehovah is the same God? From what we can plainly read in the
Scriptures, clearly one writer wrote the Quran and another Writer wrote the
Hebrew/Christian Scriptures, and the two authors are most certainly not the
same and neither are their messengers!
Again, Allah says:
They
(Christians) allege: The Gracious One has taken unto Himself a son. Assuredly, you have uttered a monstrous
thing! The heavens might well burst
thereat, and the earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in pieces,
because they ascribe a son to the Gracious One; whereas it becomes not the
Gracious One to take unto Himself a son.
There is no one in the heavens and the earth but he shall come to the
Gracious One as a bondman…. … So We have made the Quran easy in thy tongue that
thou mayest convey glad tidings to the righteous, and warn thereby a
contentious people. How many a
generation have We destroyed before them!
Canst thou perceive a single one of them, or hear even a whisper of
them? (Surah 19:88-99)
We already know what Jehovah says! (John 3:16 and a dozen
other passages). But according to
Allah, it is a monstrous thing to say that God has a son (some Quran
translations say “blasphemous”
instead of “monstrous”). According to Allah, who spoke to Muhammad,
Christians are “a contentious people”
and will be cast into the Fire for their evil of saying that God has a
Son.
Allah says heaven is “forbidden” to those who associate
partners with Allah:
Those
certainly are disbelievers who say: Allah is none but the Messiah son of Mary:
whereas he Messiah himself taught: Children of Israel, worship Allah Who is my
Lord and your Lord. Surely, Allah has
forbidden heaven to him who associates partners with Allah, and the Fire will
be his resort. The wrongdoers shall
have no helpers. Those certainly are
disbelievers who say: Allah is the third of three. There is no one worthy of worship but the One God. If they desist not from that which they say,
a grievous chastisement shall surely afflict those of them that disbelieve…
…The Messiah son of Mary was only a Messenger; many Messengers have passed away
before him… …People of the Book, exceed not the limits of your religion
unjustly, nor follow the vain desires of a people who themselves went astray
before and caused many others to go astray, and who strayed away from the right
path. (Surah 5:73-78)
But Jehovah says of Jesus:
Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men
by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
(NIV)
All
things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son,
except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone
to whom the Son wills to reveal {Him.}
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you
rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn
from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your
souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load
is light. (Matthew 11:27-30) (NAS)
Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me. (John 14:6) (KJV)
Allah says:
The
case of Jesus in the sight of Allah is like unto the case of Adam. He created him out of dust. He said concerning him: Be; and he began to
be. This is the truth from thy Lord, so
be thou not of those who doubt. (Surah
3:60-62)
But Jehovah’s Word through Apostle John says:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind
me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last,…” …and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like
the Son of Man (Jesus), clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded
about the chest with a golden band. … And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as
dead. But He laid His right hand on me,
saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.” (Revelation 1:10-17) (NKJ)
The Bible refers to Jesus as the Alpha and Omega, the First
and the Last; a title which clearly refers to God:
And
He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things
new." And He said, "Write, for
these words are faithful and true."
And He said to me, "It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the
spring of the water of life without cost.
He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and
he will be My son’” (Revelation 21:5-7)
(NAS)
Allah says:
People
of the Book, why do you dispute Abraham, whereas the Torah and Gospel were
surely not sent down till after him?
Will you not then understand?
Hearken, you are those who have disputed about that whereof you had some
knowledge; why do you now dispute about that whereof you have no knowledge at
all? Allah knows and you know not. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian;
he was ever inclined to Allah and obedient to Him, and he was not of those who
associate partners with Allah. (Surah
3:66-69)
Apostle Paul, who received his revelation directly from Jesus
Christ, argues against Muhammad and any other person that would make claims
against the Gospel. Allah, in his
Quran, says that Abraham knew not of the Gospel. But the Holy Spirit through Paul says…
And
the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached
the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying "All the nations shall be
blessed in you.” (Galatians. 3:8) (NAS)
One could literally go on for hours upon hours showing the
Scriptures of Jehovah that contradict the sayings of Allah through
Muhammad. Allah is not Jehovah, in any
way, shape or form, and Muhammad is not a messenger for Jehovah, but Muhammad
was a false prophet who taught millions of people to deny Jesus Christ. Allah is not the Creator,
Yahweh/Jehovah/Jesus Christ is.
And
He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all
creation. For by Him all things were
created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by
Him and for Him. And He is before all
things, and in Him all things hold together.
(Colossians 1:15-17) (NAS)
Christian pastors and ministers need to recognize this very
clear fact of the Word of God. Allah is
‘another god’ who preaches another Jesus, another spirit and another gospel,
and Muhammad is his messenger. Apostle
Paul warned us about those who would preach another Jesus and another
gospel. Allah and his messenger,
Muhammad, and the Quran, unequivocally “deny” that Jesus is “The Christ” as
“The Christ” is defined in the Bible.
The Quran talks a lot about Allah bringing “light” to
people. The Apostle Paul says… “And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as
the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15) (KJV)
Allah and Yahweh/Jehovah cannot be the same God, and Allah’s
messenger, Muhammad, through his teachings in the Quran, continues to lead
people away from the God of the Bible.
George W. Braswell, Jr. says of the prophet Muhammad: “Muslims for some
fourteen hundred years have looked to Prophet Muhammad for direction in the
personal and community life.”
Ram Swarup writes of the importance of the Hadith (tradition)
and the life of Muhammad to Muslims worldwide…
The Prophet is caught as it were (in the traditions of the
Hadith) in the ordinary acts of his life—sleeping, eating, mating, praying,
hating, dispensing justice, planning expeditions and revenge against his
enemies. The picture that emerges is
hardly flattering, and one is left wondering why in the first instance it was
reported at all and whether it was done by his admirers or enemies. One is also left to wonder how the
believers, generation after generation, could have found this story so
inspiring.
The answer is that the believers are conditioned to look at
the whole thing through the eyes of faith.
An infidel in his fundamental misguidance may find the Prophet rather
sensual and cruel—and certainly many of the things he did do not conform to
ordinary ideas of morality—but the believers look at the whole thing
differently. To them, morality derives
from the Prophet’s actions; the moral is whatever he did. Morality does not determine the Prophet’s
actions, but his actions determine and define morality. Muhammad’s acts were not ordinary acts; they
were Allah’s own acts.
It was in this way and by this logic that Muhammad’s
opinions became the dogmas of Islam and his personal habits and idiosyncrasies
became moral imperatives: Allah’s commands for all believers in all ages and
climes to follow. {Ram Swarup, Understanding Islam Through Hadis (Delhi:
Voice of India, 1983), xv-xvi, as quoted in Parshall, Inside the Community}.
The
Hadith also gives the story of Muhammad’s alleged revelation from the angel
Gabriel. Here again, when we compare
the accounts in the Bible of how Gabriel came to men, such as Daniel, and how
other angels appeared to men, one can easily see that the two accounts of
Gabriel and how God sends angels to men with messages are contradictory. Here is the Hadith account of Muhammad’s
revelation:
Narrated Aisha: Truth
descended upon him (Muhammad) in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him in it and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, “I do not know how to
read.” (The Prophet added), “The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so
hard that I could not bear it anymore.
He then released me and again asked me to read, and I replied, “I do not
know how to read,” whereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time
till I could not bear it anymore. He
then released me and asked me again to read, but again I replied, “I do not
know how to read (or, what shall I read?).”
Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me and then he
released me and said, “Read: In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all
that exists). He has created man from a
clot. Read and Your Lord is most
Generous that which he knew not” (Qur’an 96:1-5). Then Allah’s Apostle (Muhammad) returned with the Inspiration,
his neck muscles twitching with terror till he entered upon Khadija (Muhammad’s
first wife) and said, “Cover me!” They
covered him until his fear was over and then he said, “Khadija, what is wrong
with me?” Khadija said, “Never! But
have glad tidings, for by Allah, Allah will never disgrace you.” (Khan, Sahih
al-Bukhari, Hadith 9:91-92; 87.1.111.)
The
Quran, through Muhammad, states that a Muslim man can marry four wives
simultaneously if he can take care of them equally. But interestingly enough, Muhammad allegedly received a
revelation from Allah entitling him to marry as many wives as he wanted!
O Prophet (Muhammad), We
have made lawful for thee thy wives whose dower thou hast paid, and those under
thy control from among prisoners of war, and daughters of thy paternal and
maternal uncles and aunts who have emigrated with thee, and any other believing
woman who dedicates herself to the Prophet provided the Prophet desires to
marry her, so that there may be no hindrance for thee in the discharge of thy
responsibilities. This ordinance is
only for thee and not for the other believers…. …It is permitted to thee to put
away any of thy wives that thou pleasest or to retain any of them thou
pleasest; and if thou shouldst desire to take back any of those thou hast put
away, it shall be no blame on thee.
(Surah 33:51-53)
Muhammad
was thought to have had up to twelve wives.
Muhammad was betrothed to the daughter of his first caliph Abu Bakr when
she was just six years old. Muhammad
consummated the marriage with her when she was nine years old. The Hadith states:
Narrated Aisha: That the
Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage
when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years
(until his death). (Hadith 7:50;
62.39.64.)
Muhammad’s revelations seem to have served his desires well. He also received one-fifth of all
treasure/booty taken in war and all booty won in negotiations.
For Christians, one must consider the background of Muhammad
and Arabia at the time of Muhammad.
There were many gods and goddesses recognized by the Arabs. George W. Braswell, Jr. writes in, ‘Islam’ Its Prophet, Peoples, Politics and Power –
Broadman & Holman Publishers, ppg. 44-45:
There were astral
deities. Arab Bedouins focused on the
moon because it provided light during the night for their grazing flocks. Contemporary Islam also focuses on the moon,
as indicated by a crescent moon atop the mosque, a lunar calendar, and with
festivals like Ramadan regulated by the rising of the moon.
Pre-Islamic Arabia also had its stone deities. They were stone statues of shapeless
volcanic rock or meteoric stones found in the deserts and believed to have been
sent by astral deities. The most
prominent deities were Hubal, the male god of the Ka’ba, and the three sister
goddesses al-Lat, al-Manat, and al-Uzza; Muhammad’s tribe, Quraysh,
thought these three goddesses to be the
daughters of Allah. Hubal was the chief
god of the Ka’ba among 360 other deities.
He was a man-like statue whose body was made of red precious stone and
whose arms were of solid gold.
Allat (with the t added to
Allah) is the feminine form of Allah.
She was represented by a square stone, and her major sanctuary was in
the city of Taif. Some thought of her
as the female counterpart of Allah.
al-Manat was the goddess of fate whose major sanctuary consisted of a
black stone in the town of Qudayd between Mecca and Medina.
al-Uzza was the goddess of
east Mecca and was the most venerated of the Quraysh tribe. It is said that human sacrifices were made
to her. Islamic tradition reports that
Muhammad’s grandfather almost sacrificed his son, the father of Muhammad, to
al-Uzza in fulfillment of a vow. However,
he was counseled by a fortune teller to ransom his son with one hundred
camels. Muslims interpret this as the
will of Allah to bring Muhammad into existence.
Other deities in the Arabian
peninsula included al-Rahman and Hajar-al-Aswad. al-Rahman was the name of an ancient deity in southern
Arabia. Muhammad used the name of this
deity, which means “merciful,” 169 times in the Qur’an. With the exception of Allah, it appears in
the Qur’an more than any other descriptive term for Allah. al-Hajar al-Aswad is symbolized by the black
stone in the southeast corner of the Ka’ba.
The stone was purportedly received by Ishmael from the angel
Gabriel. Muhammad included it in the pilgrimage
rituals in Mecca, and Muslims in the pilgrimages (still) kiss the black stone
in veneration.
There were nature deities, and there were intangible
deities. The concept of a supreme god,
al-llah (the god) was known among the
tribes. The poets called him
Allah. Muhammad thus came out of a
context of various beliefs and practices associated with animism and
polytheism.
…Muhammad first said that al-Lat, al-Uzza, and al-Manat
were deities. Later, he changed his
teachings and indicated that his thinking had been corrupted by Satan.
Upon entering Mecca, Muhammad then destroyed all the other
deities in the Ka’ba and set up Allah as the one and only supreme deity, though
still retaining the black stone and various other remnants of the moon-god and
the Arabian deities.
No folks, Allah is not the same as Yahweh/Jehovah of the
Hebrew/Christian Scriptures and Allah’s messenger sought to lead people away
from the True God of Creation; away from the Savior Jesus Christ. And in Jesus’ place, Islam inserts Allah and
Muhammad. The hostility towards
Christians and Jews is clearly seen in the Quran and in the Hadith of
Muhammad. Once again, the Quran states:
The
Jews say: Uzair is Allah’s son; and the Christians say: The Messiah is Allah’s
son… …Allah ruin them, how they are turned away from the truth. They have taken their divines and their
monks for lords besides Allah, and also the Messiah son of Mary. They had only been commanded to worship the
One God. There is no god but He. Holy is He above that which they associate
with Him. They desire to extinguish the
light of Allah by blowing through their mouths, but Allah utterly rejects
everything except that He will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers
may dislike it. He it is who sent His
Messenger of Truth, that He may make it (Islam) prevail over every other
religion, even though those who associate partners with Allah may dislike
it. (Surah 9:30-34)
The
Quran says of Muhammad and Allah:
We cite the Pleidas as
evidence, when it will draw close, that your companion, Muhammad, has neither
erred, nor has he gone astray. He does
not speak out of his own desire; the Quran is pure revelation sent to him;
taught him by the Lord of mighty powers, Whose powers are manifested repeatedly
and Who has established Himself firmly on the Throne. (Surah 53:2)
In
retrospect, I quote from the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures concerning he who
would establish himself upon God’s Throne:
How you have fallen from
heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the
earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, 'I will
ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit
on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. 'I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' Nevertheless you will be thrust down to
Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.
Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you, {saying,}
'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,… (Isaiah 14:12-16) (NAS)
There
are other references in Scripture that relate to those who would exalt
themselves and/or their gods to be above the God of the Bible and sit on His
Throne. Clearly, according to Jehovah’s
Word, Muhammad and Allah seem to fit the bill.
Christians, use discernment.
Is Islam, and its messenger, Muhammad, the true religion of
God the Creator? Islam denies Jesus
Christ. Islam denies God’s sacrifice. Islam denies God’s Atonement. Islam denies God’s forgiveness. Islam denies God’s Love. Islam is an enemy of the Cross. Islam exalts Muhammad over Jesus. Islam clearly says so in its own pages from
Allah and his messenger, Muhammad.
The Quran clearly says that Christians are going to hell for
believing in Jesus and His Deity… in total contradiction to what the Word of
God says about this matter. Christian
ministers, ask yourselves who could possibly write such a thing? Could it be the “angel of light” that
Apostle Paul speaks of? Clearly, Satan
is the only one who would condemn Christians to hell and fire for holding on to
the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are getting scared of “offending” people nowadays. Well, Paul called the Gospel of Christ, “the
offense of the Cross.” We are told in
Scripture that the Gospel of Christ will offend people. We didn’t make it that way, God did. Shall we not wish to offend those whom God
Himself intended to offend with the Gospel of His Son?
At the prayer service that was televised across the United
States a couple of days after the WTC/Pentagon tragedy, we saw many ministers,
Muslim and Christian and Jewish, stand up in the same church and offer
prayers. President Bush gave the final
prayer. Perhaps you will remember that
Mr. Bush ended his beautiful prayer with the Scripture…
“For
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,…”
(Romans 8:38-39) (NAS)
However, President Bush left off the final words, “…which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The Love of God which is in our Lord Jesus
Christ. President Bush meant not to
offend. I do understand this, I really
do. I just cannot reconcile it with
God’s Word. It changes things to leave
Jesus’ Name off at the end of this Scripture.
It gives one the impression that “God” can be a generic term that can
fit into anybody’s religion. Like the
generic god of Alcoholics Anonymous, “Your Higher Power, whomever/whatever that
means to you,” or “God” can mean, Allah, the god of Muhammad. But the Scriptures clearly give us a picture
of God the Creator in Jesus Christ. If
we have seen Him, we have seen the Father.
But in Islam, it is blasphemy to even call Allah, “father.” He who does
not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him (John 5:22-23). Therefore, Allah is not the Creator, nor is
he the same as the Father in Scripture.
Well, there we have some of the things we are not being told in public
forum. Ministers of Christ, what say
you? I will leave you with a quote from
another author who wrote many chapters about Islam…
“Perhaps, at this point, we
have said enough about this litany of evil.”
I would urge Christians to pray for those who have submitted
themselves to another god (Allah). And
please remember that this “religion of Islam” is the evil that I speak of and
many Muslim people do not have this evil in their hearts; but were brought up
into Islam from birth through no choice of their own. God knows who they are.
Praise His Name. Praise Jesus
Christ.