Focus On Jerusalem

Title

Islam and Christianity
(Michael - 9-28-2001)

(condensed version)





     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.

 












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