ISLAM
Part 1
So, why should we care about Islam?
Why should we study about it?
Acts 17:11 These were more fair-minded than
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the
word with all readiness, and searched the
Scriptures daily to find out whether these things
were so.
• Allah- “The God”, this description encompasses
all of God’s Supreme Attributes.
• Islam- “Submission to Allah”, created as a
religion of peace and unity in the beginning.
• Muslim- “One who submits to Allah”
• Jihad - A holy war waged by Muslims against
infidels –WordWeb.
• Ka’bah- “cube” the central shrine of worship in
Mecca where Muslims must go on a pilgrimage
to at least once in their life.
At the age of 25, he married the widow, who was
40 at the time, and they had a good marriage
until she died some 26 years later.
“If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly
with the orphans, marry women of your choice,
two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall
not be able to deal justly (with them), then only
one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess,
that will be more suitable, to prevent you from
doing injustice” (Surah 4:3).
O Prophet! surely We have made lawful to you your
wives whom you have given their dowries, and those
whom your right hand possesses out of those whom
Allah has given to you as prisoners of war, and the
daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters
of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your
maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal
aunts who fled with you; and a believing woman if
she gave herself to the Prophet, if the Prophet
desired to marry her -- specially for you, not for the
(rest of) believers; We know what We have ordained
for them concerning their wives and those whom
their right hands possess in order that no blame may
attach to you; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Surah
33:50
The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six
(years). We went to Medina and stayed at the
home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill
and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew
(again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me
while I was playing in a swing with some of my
girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not
knowing what she wanted to do to me. She
caught me by the hand and made me stand at the
door of the house.
I was breathless then, and when my breathing
became all right, she took some water and
rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took
me into the house. There in the house I saw some
Ansari women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's
Blessing and a good luck." Then she entrusted me
to them and they prepared me (for the marriage).
Unexpectedly Allah's Apostle came to me in the
forenoon and my mother handed me over to him,
and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age.
(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number
234)
“Khadija died three years before the Prophet
departed to Medina. He stayed there for two
years or so and then he married 'Aisha when she
was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed
that marriage when she was nine years
old.”(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58,
Number 236)
"Surely in the Messenger of God you have a good
example." Surah 33:21
At the age of 40 in 610 A.D., he was in the cave
meditating when he supposedly had his first
revelation from the angel Gabriel, and these
revelations would continue over the next 23
years.
The Quran contains the words Muhammad was
given while he was in these trances, which
basically teaches that Jews & Christians
distorted the pure monotheistic religion of God.
Thus, Muhammad was sent to restore and
supplement the prophets and apostles' teachings.
The Hadith is a collection of words he spoke not
in these trances and reflect the everyday life of
this man.
The Quran was NOT written while Muhammad
was alive. After his death, people wrote down
what was given by word of mouth and passed
from person to person. The same with the Hadith.
The Quran is not in any kind of order. It is
arranged according to SIZE, not date.
Without the Hadith, there is no way to really
understand the Quran, but only the Quran is
considered inspired. The Hadith is highly
regarded above everything else except the Quran.
The Hadith gives the historical backgrounds to
the parts of the Quran.
The Quran cannot be translated, so they think.
They accept that there are translations, but the
Arabic is too complex, so when you talk with
them, they often have the upper hand because
they simply say, “You just can't understand the
original idea.”
There is also a unique feature to the Quran
known as abrogation. What this means is if there
are passages that contradict each other, the
newer one is the correct one and it cancels out
the older one.
Muhammad’s wife’s cousin, who was a
proclaimed Christian that still held on to some of
his Islamic views believed that Muhammad was
the prophet to come and get the Arabs to stop
practicing idolatry according to John 16:13.
At the end of these 3 years, he received another
revelation telling him to “arise and warn” (Surah
74:2).
Ka’ bah
Black Stone
Then in 619 a.d. Muhammad’s wife dies and
shortly thereafter his uncle dies.
Muhammad went to the Ka’bah at night and fell
asleep. Gabriel wakes him up and gives him a
white steed with wings, which transports him to
Jerusalem the temple platform where he meets a
number of prophets like Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus. After Muhammad prays and drinks some
milk, the steed takes him through the seven
heavens to heaven itself described as “the Lote
Tree of the Uttermost End” (Surah 53:14).
He is told that Muslims are to pray 50 times a
day. When he descends from heaven, Moses
asked him how many times Allah said the people
were to pray, he told him to go back and ask Allah
to reduce the number because the of the
weakness of the people. So, he did and it was
reduced to 40, but Moses told him to go again.
This happened until it got down to 5 and he
would not go to heaven again, so 5 became the
number of times that Muslims are to pray each
day to Allah. This story sounds very similar to
when Abraham asked God if He would spare
Sodom if 50 righteous people were found and
then finally worked it down to 10 righteous
people.
In the year following his first wife’s death, he
claimed to have two dreams in which an angel
tells him to marry his best friend Abu Bakr’s
daughter who was only six years old.
The year 622 becomes an important date to Islam
because this is the year when Muhammed was
invited to go Medina and escape the persecution
he and the other Muslims were receiving at
Mecca. So, around 70 families move to Medina.
The Muslim era is calculated from the year in
which this event took place. The hijra
(migration) is a central part of the Muslim
reenactment.
In 630 Muhammad returned to Mecca. The
Ka’bah was purged of idols and Mecca became
the center of Muslim worship. Also during this
time Muhammad had the Arabs to stop praying
toward Jerusalem and had the start praying
toward Mecca, which would distinguish them
from the Jews.
In the year 632 Muhammad died. Before and
during the time of his death Muhammad made
one fatal mistake that has haunted Islam to this
very day. He forgot to appoint or dictate how the
new spiritual and political leader of Islam was to
be appointed. Because of this fatal error, Muslims
have been divided ever since.
The two main factions in Islam are the Sunnis
and the Shi’ites.
After Muhammad’s death, his steadfast friend
Abu Bakr was elected as the first caliph
(successor to the prophet). The only problem with
the elected caliph is there was another legitimate
option.
The courageous and trustworthy cousin of
Muhammad, Ali, who was married to the
Muhammad’s favorite daughter, Fatima, could
have been chosen. Tradition has it that
Muhammad transferred his “spiritual light” to
Fatima before his death. Yet, in the midst of
funeral arrangements, Fatima and Ali did not
participate in the election of the first caliph. Thus,
the Sunni’s claim the elected caliphs as their
leaders, while the Shi’ites claim the descendants
of Muhammad’s family as theirs.
Sunni Characteristics:
• They follow the elected caliphs and believe the
matter of successors is left to the ummah
(Muslim community).
• They consider themselves traditionalists and
emphasize the authority of the Qur’an, Hadith
& Sunnah (sayings and practices of the prophet
as collected under the Sunni caliphs).
Shi’ite Characteristics:
• Ardently devoted to the memory of
Muhammad’s family: Ali, Fatima, Hasan
&Husan.
• The Martyrdom of Husan, enacted yearly by
Shi’ite’s as Ashura, is what unified the Shi’ites.
• Rather than recognize the caliphs, Shi’ites pay
allegiance to a succession of Imams
(leaders/guides).
• Most Shi’ites believe there were twelve
Imam’s. These are known as twelver Shi’ites.
• The Shi’ites place their authority for this belief
upon a statement made by Muhammad:
“I leave two great and precious things among
you: the Book of Allah and my Household. If you
keep hold of both of them, you will never go
astray after me.”
Twelver Shi’ites believe the Twelfth Imam was
commanded by God to go into hiding and to
return publicly at the Day of Resurrection. They
believe this twelfth descendant of Muhammad is
miraculously still alive today. In fact, 1/5 of a
Shi’ite Muslims yearly profits are given to the
hidden Imam.
ISLAM
Part 2
An Imam is the leader of the mosque and
preaches lessons.
Jihad in Islam is defending the Islamic nation and
Islam against the attacks of the enemies. Islam is
a religion of peace and only will fight against one
who fights against one who fights it. These
infidels, heathens, perverts, Christians and Allah’s
grievers, the Jews, out of envy of peaceful Islam
and its prophet – they spread the myth that Islam
is promulgated by the sword and violence. These
infidels, the accusers of Islam, do not
acknowledge Allah’s words.
And do not kill anyone whose killing Allah had
forbidden, except for a just cause.
His first choice was to either continue to embrace
the Christianized version of Islam, which focused
on peace, love, forgiveness and compassion. This
would allow him to keep his job. Or, he could
embrace true Islam according to the Quran as
Muhammad taught.
In one place alcohol was forbidden and in another
place it was allowed (Compare Surah 5:90-91
with Surah 47:15).
In another place the Quran says that Christians
are very good people who love and worship one
God, so you may be friends with them (Surah
2:62; 3:113-114). Then you find other verses that
Christians must convert, pay tax or be killed by
the sword (Surah 9:29).
His thoughts were that Allah was making many
contradictions or could not make up his mind.
Surah 6:39 …Allah sends astray whom He wills
and He guides on the Straight Path whom He
wills.
1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in
the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men
to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth.
Surah 30:29 Then who will guide him whom Allah
has sent astray? And for such there will be no
helpers.
Islam is full of discrimination- against women,
against non-Muslims, against Christians and most
especially against Jews. Hatred is built into the
religion. The history of Islam… could only be
characterized as a river of blood.
They put a cigarette out on the back of his hand
and on his lip. They also took a hot poker from a
fire and poked it into his left arm.
They strapped him to a metal bed and wiped his
feet and made him run around, they made him
get into a tub of ice water and he passed out.
15 days later he was released and the official
report was that they could find any evidence that
he had left Islam.
I took the book home and opened it at random.
My eyes fell on:
Matthew 5:38 " You have heard that it was said,
'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 "But
I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever
slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to
him also.
My whole body began trembling. I had studied
the Quran my whole life – not once did I find
words as inspiring as this. I had come face to face
with the Lord Jesus. I lost all track of time. It felt
as if I were sitting on a cloud above a hill, and in
front of me was the greatest teacher in the
universe telling me about the secrets of heaven
and the heart of God.
I could easily compare the Bible to what I had
learned from my years of studying the Quran, and
there was no doubt in my mind that I was finally
encountering the true God (15,16).
If you leave Islam for any reason, you will face
great persecution and possibly death depending
on what part of the country you are in and if the
Muslims are truly following the Quran.
What happens to a person when he decides to
leave Christianity or question it?
Do they have secret police come take them by
gunpoint and interrogate them using torture?
Will your family be ready to kill you because you
left Christianity?
2 Thessalonians 3:14 And if anyone does not obey
our word in this epistle, note that person and do
not keep company with him, that he may be
ashamed. 15 Yet do not count him as an enemy,
but admonish him as a brother.
1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I have written to you
not to keep company with anyone named a
brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or
an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an
extortioner -- not even to eat with such a person.
There are six fundamental points of Islamic
belief:
1. There Is One God And His Name Is Allah. The
name Allah literally means "The God." Islam is
highly monotheistic. A Muslim writes, "We must
believe in the existence and oneness of
Allah...that He has no partner, that there is no
comparable being..." (Shaltout, p. 91). Therefore,
as we shall see in detail later, Muslims do not
believe in the Deity of Christ, and they label
Christians as "polytheists" or idolaters (El Dareer,
p. 10).
2. Allah has revealed himself through his prophet
Muhammad, who is the "seal of the prophets",
the last and greatest of them all. Islam claims to
accept Moses, Christ, and many other Biblical
prophets as true spokesmen for God. However,
Muhammad had the last word even though many
of his words contradict the words of the Bible.
3. "The holy book of the Quran is the completion of
this revelation." (Sabini, p. 8). The Quran is of slightly
shorter than the New Testament. It is divided into
114 chapters called "Surahs". Individual verses are
called "Ayahs". Muslims believe that the Quran is
Allah's perfect and complete revelation as it exists in
the Arabic language. They claim that it "cannot be
fully translated into any other language" and that "It
is impossible, therefore, to reproduce the meaning,
beauty, and fascination of the Qu'ran in any other
form" (Abdalati, p. 3). An English translation of the
Quran is therefore considered "a human
interpretation in a different language and falls far
short of the forcefulness of the original book."
(Abdalati, p. 4).
4. An oral tradition of the things Muhammad taught,
exemplified, and approved of is called the "Hadith."
Often the Hadith establishes new obligations and
prohibitions for which no clear reference can be
found in the Qu'ran." (Draz, p. 39). " Muslims will
keep the teaching of Haddith that do not contradict
the Quran ...because no genuine Tradition of
Muhammad can ever disagree with the Qu'ran or be
opposed to it." (Abdalati. p. 21). It should be noted
here that the two major factions within Islam
(Sunnites and Shi'ites) disagree sharply over which
traditions recorded in the Haddith are genuine and
authoritative (Sabini, p. 15). Basically the Sunnis
accept them all, but Shi’ites reject the traditions
written by the second wife of Muhammad.
5. Based on the Quran, Islam holds that there are
at least three classes of spirit beings other than
man; these are angels, jinns, and devils. The
angels are ruled by four Archangels, the most
visible of whom is Gabriel. Jinns are the desert
spirits created of fire, which Arabs believed in
long before Muhammad. The Quran's view of
Satan and devils is similar to that presented in
the Bible. (Sabini, p. 10).
6. In the afterlife, the soul remains in the grave
where it receives a foretaste of its fate until the
judgment on the last day, at which time Allah
will send whom he wills to heaven or to hell
according to their conduct on earth. (Sabini, p. 8).
The 5 Pillars of Islam.
1. Statement of belief.
A person must say that “There is no god but Allah,
and Muhammad is his prophet.” This simple
statement that all faithful Muslims say is known as
Shahadah. This statement means that a Muslim will
serve and obey God by keeping the teachings and
practicing of Muhammad. There are four more things
you must do as a Muslim, but saying the Shahadah
with sincerity will make you a Muslim. These words
are spoken by Muslims all the time. They say it in the
streets, in their mosques, at times of war, and at
funerals. The chanting of these words “gives
strength” to the Muslim.
This is certainly different than what the Bible teaches
about becoming a Christian.
2. Prayer.
Muslims must pray 5
times a day while facing
Mecca. Prayers are at
dawn, afternoon, later
afternoon, after sunset
and night. Special prayers
are on Friday. They must
wash in a prescribed
manner before prayer,
and they have ritual body
positions they follow as they pray. They gather at the
mosque at noon on Friday, and they recite prescribed
prayers. Each prayer begins with a recitation of the
opening chapter from the Qur’an.
In contrast, the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing but
we are not to use vain repetition (1 Thess. 5:17; Mt. 6:7).
3. Giving alms.
This is similar to a tax. It is paid at the end of the
year and given to those in need. They are to give
2.5%, but if they want to, they can give more.
Again, this is different than what the Bible
teaches about giving:
2 Corinthians 9:7 So let each one give as he
purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of
necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
4. Fasting.
Fasting takes place during the Islamic month of
Ramadan, which starts at the first visual sighting
of the ninth crescent moon according to the
Islamic Calendar. Muslims cannot eat or drink
during the daylight hours, but they can eat and
drink something light before daylight and have a
larger meal and a large amount of water in the
evening.
Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and
women who are menstruating, pregnant or
nursing, are permitted to break the fast and make
up an equal number of days later in the year if
they are healthy and able. Children begin to fast
(and to observe prayers) from puberty, although
many start earlier. While there is nothing wrong
with fasting and it even assumed that one will
fast in the N.T., it is not commanded to fast in the
N.T. especially not for a month during daylight
hours.
5 Pilgrimage.
Muslims are supposed to
make a pilgrimage at least
once in their lifetime to
Mecca and be part of a 5 day
ritual. Though only required
to go once, over two million
people go to Mecca each
year from every corner of
the globe providing a unique opportunity for those of
different nations to meet one another. The annual
pilgrimage begins in the 12th month of the Islamic year
(which is lunar, not solar, sometimes this event happens
in the summer or in the winter. Pilgrims wear special
clothes: simple garments that strip away distinctions of
class and culture, so that all stand equal before Allah.
John 4:21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me,
the hour is coming when you will neither on this
mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 "You worship what you do not know; we know
what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23
"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth; for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him.
James 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not
have works, is dead.
John 14:15 " If you love Me, keep My
commandments.
Surah 101: 6. Then as for him whose balance (of
good deeds) will be heavy,7. He will live a
pleasant life (in Paradise) .8. But as for him
whose balance (of good deeds) will be light, 9. He
will have his home in Hawiyah (pit, i.e. Hell).
There this is one way that a Muslim can be
guaranteed to go to Paradise and that is by dying
in jihad – which means you die while fighting the
enemies of Islam.
Legal definition of jihad by Islamic law:
Jihad is fighting anybody who stands in the way
of spreading Islam. Of fighting anyone who
refuses to enter into Islam (based on Surah
8:39).
Surah 4: 74. Let those (believers) who sell the life
of this world for the Hereafter fight in the Cause
of Allah, and whoso fights in the Cause of Allah,
and is killed or gets victory, We shall bestow on
him a great reward.
Surah 9: 89. For them Allah has got ready
Gardens (Paradise) under which rivers flow, to
dwell therein forever. That is the supreme
success.
While we may think they are just lunatics,
suicidal, or have no regard to human life, the
truth of the matter is that they are obeying what
they believe to be the words of Allah:
Surah 9:5 … fight and slay the Pagans wherever
ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and
lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war);
but if they repent, and establish regular prayers
and practice regular charity, then open the way
for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you
who believe in the name of the Son of God, that
you may know that you have eternal life, and that
you may continue to believe in the name of the
Son of God.
Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge
yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it
is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says
the Lord. 20 Therefore "If your enemy is hungry,
feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in
so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good.