“Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.” Proverbs 26:26
Some time last year, I wrote a note on Islam. In retrospect, I made a mistake in writing that note, because I was ill-prepared to approach the subject. Now, after listening intently to the knowledge and commentary of many masterful dignitaries of our faith(many of whom are alive today) and studying the Islamic scriptures myself for about a month, I feel more prepared than ever to offer to you all this article.
With the Mosque on Ground Zero debate heating up, it appears that Mayor Bloomberg has made his mind: “if we say that a mosque and community center should not be built near the perimeter of the World Trade Center site, we would compromise our commitment to fighting terror with freedom.” What freedom is the Mayor talking about? The freedom to religion, and he says if we forbid this center from being built, we are giving up on our commitment of tolerance to other religions, and letting the intolerant extremists win! So, the question is, if we keep Muslims from building a mosque, shouldn’t we keep Christians from building theirs? Haven’t there been Christians who killed in the name of their God? What’s so different about Islam and Christianity, anyway? Herein lies the problem. When we blur the lines between Islam and Christianity, then we allow Islam all the “freedom” that Christianity has, until Muslims are no longer a minority.
So why is that a problem? Because Islam is not the same as Christianity, and it’s not just a matter of creeds and doctrines; Islam is wholly opposed to all of the ideals of the Christian faith, and of democracy as well. I don’t want to make many generalizations until I have shown you personally what Islam teaches, specifically in the area of unbelief. So I will begin by walking you through these various passages from the Quran.
(Warning: there are many terms which I felt were best served in the original language, so pay attention to the definitions I provide as we go along) First, take a look at this passage, Surah 2:190-193:
“Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors. And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers. And if they cease, then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Fight them until there is no [more] fitnah and [until] worship is [acknowledged to be] for Allah . But if they cease, then there is to be no aggression except against the oppressors.”
In times of persecution, Muslims are commanded to fight and kill the kuffar(nonbelievers), and when an individual opposes the will of Allah(fitnah), his punishment is great in the hands of Allah. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”(Luke 6:28) This is but the first in many stark contrasts. Continue with me to Surah 8, an entire chapter devoted to discussing the spoils of war against the kuffar. 8:12-13:
“[Remember] when your Lord inspired to the angels, "I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip. That is because they opposed Allah and His Messenger. And whoever opposes Allah and His Messenger - indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.”
8:38-39
“Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them. But if they return [to hostility] - then the precedent of the former [rebellious] peoples has already taken place. And fight them until there is no fitnah and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah . And if they cease - then indeed, Allah is Seeing
of what they do.”
It appears that the command to wage jihad against the kuffar becomes more universal as the Quran progresses, and it slowly evolves from “fight those who fight you” to “fight those who disbelieve.” When Muhammad first received the vision from Gabriel in 610 AD, and began to share it with his hometown, he gained only a few followers and was persecuted heavily by the majority. Therefore, the first part of the Quran seemed to emanate a more peaceful attitude, with intermittent passages of justice against persecutors (such as Surah 2). However, when Muhammad traveled to Medina, he built a community for Muslims, and by 630 AD that community had grown into a formidable military power. It makes sense that the later passages of the Quran transition into more aggressive and militaristic ideals.
The more extensive part of my research has been in Book 52 of the Sahih al-Bukhari, which is one of six volumes that contain the hadith, which are narrations of the teachings and doings of Muhammad. These are also considered as holy scripture in the Islamic faith. Book 52 is labeled “Jihad,” and, as you may have already guessed, it describes the holy war that Muslims are obliged to fight against self(al-nafs), against Satan (al-Shaytaan), and against the nonbelievers and hypocrites (al-kaafir and al-munaafiqeen). Out of the 283 ahadith, which can range from one sentence to one page each, I picked a select few. The first one I selected is in the 63rd hadith, a story about a man with an iron mask(helmet):
“A man whose face was covered with an iron mask (i.e. clad in armor) came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall I fight or embrace Islam first? "The Prophet said, "Embrace Islam first and then fight." So he embraced Islam, and was martyred. Allah's Apostle said, A Little work, but a great reward. "(He did very little (after embracing Islam), but he will be rewarded in abundance).”
I won’t make any unnecessary assumptions, but Allah’s Apostle stressed the importance of jihad to the point of exalting this warrior, who, though immature in his faith, was greater than his comrades for his bravery in battle. Elsewhere it is mentioned that there are other ways to be martyred, such as dying by the plague, stomach diseases, defending a falling wall, etc.(hadith 52:82) However, the mention made of the man being armored is a strong suggestion towards one particular martyrdom. You do the math.
The 73rd hadith follows, “Allah's Apostle said, ‘Know that Paradise is under the shades of swords.” The nation of Islam has grown primarily by the sword, and the sword is what secures Paradise for Muslims.
Allah’s Apostle says in the 80th (chapter i): “"Allah welcomes two men with a smile; one of whom kills the other and both of them enter Paradise. One fights in Allah's Cause and gets killed. Later on Allah forgives the killer who also gets martyred (In Allah's Cause)."
Even redemption for murderers can be found, if one fights the kuffar.
This particular hadith, the 176th and 177th concerns the Jews. “Allah's Apostle said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him." Muhammad spared no expense in warning the Muslim’s that the final day of judgment, when Muslims enter Qiyamah, the resurrection, will not be established until they have cornered the Jew, and the very rocks betray him. In conclusion, the 196th hadith tells us:
“Allah 's Apostle said, " I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' and whoever says, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' his life and property will be saved by me except for Islamic law, and his accounts will be with Allah, (either to punish him or to forgive him.)"
Islam is a religion that thrives from attacking the kuffar until they believe. This is how Islam operates in countries dominated by Muslims. The site, thereligionofpeace.com, contains a feed of the daily attacks and murders committed by Muslims who, we find, are not merely radicals taking their religion too seriously. These are people who obey the Quran and Hadiths as they are taught.
What make Christianity any different? Aren’t there Christian terrorists? I wouldn’t dare to call them Christians, because the Bible is very clear about our conflict with the world:
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”(Ephesians 6:12)
Our war is not with men. It is with the hearts of men. We are not fighting against flesh, but against the carnal nature which overwhelms the flesh! We are not fighting against those who dwell in darkness, but we fight against the darkness that dwells in those men! “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence” indeed, and “violent men take it by force.” (Matt. 11:12) But this violence is not to strike fear in your hearts, but to strike love in your hearts, love for God, and a hatred for sin. Jesus himself is the first one to love:
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:6-8)
For the evil men, the backbiters, the slanderers, the homosexuals, the Muslims, the conservatives, the liberals, the independents, ALL MEN are lost in sin and Christ laid His life down to liberate them from that sin which shackles them to death and Hell.
So when people come to you who oppose the mosque-building and accuse you of hatred and judgment against Muslims, remind them that it is not because you hate Muslims, it is because you love Muslims and desire for them to be set free from that violent ideology before it consumes them as it has consumed so many in the Middle East. In closing, I hope you will all remember this passage, which at one time we all knew by heart:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
The Truth In Love,
Levi Gray
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