Islam
The Half Truths That Fuel Islam and the Way to Reform It
Take a moment and think about how a lie works.
Most lies are not brazen rejections of truth. If they were, they would be easily rejected by most people’s common sense.
No, the power of a lie is that it usually takes a half truth (which draws you in) and then mix it with error.
That’s what the serpent did when he lured Adam and Eve into the Fall. He said something that was true (“knowing good and evil”) and wrapped it with an untruth (“You certainly won’t die!”). They bought that lie and the world was changed (Genesis 3:1-6)
Islam is also based on a number of half truths. Therein lies its power and attraction.
How can it be reformed?
My new book–The River of God–which should be out this year, has some detailed chapters on both the history and principles of the religion of Islam. The research included reading the Koran all the way through for the second time in my life.
This made it clear to me why so many people–1.2 billion–have been drawn into the “tent” of this monotheistic faith. Islam is built on a number of half truths, which seen by themselves, can be quite convincing. This is especially true of the jihadist version which is gaining momentum and converts in various parts of the world.
We all know that radical Islam is exploding in the Middle East. The White House recently convened a summit of Muslim leaders to discuss that topic and what to do about it. Some believe that Islam can be reformed and that the attraction of it can be changed.
But how?
This can only be done through exposing the half truths upon which this religious/political force rests and calling people out into the light.
So what are the half truths upon which the House of Islam stands? I only have space to mention a few:
1. There is only one God and his name is Allah.
Yes, it is true that there is only one True God who made the heavens and the earth. It is also true that “Allah” is a generic term for the Supreme Deity just as in English we used the term “God” or in Spanish they have “Dios.”
So far so good. There is only one God and he should be worshipped.
But the “Allah” of the Koran is a warring God who condones the killing of innocents to advance his worship. He is arbitrary, cannot be known, a single entity and distant to mankind. All those traits are lies.
The real “Allah” is none of the above. His moral essence is love, his Being is Triune (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and he is knowable and personal to those who come into an intimate relationship with Him.
2. Mohammed is his prophet.
Mohammed of Arabia was a religious man and a very strong leader. He spoke against the gross idolatry of his time and called his followers to worship the only God. That part is true.
But he was not a true prophet of God as evidenced by the errors, mistakes and distortions in the Koran. Actually, he was a marauding thief who stole from others for a living and justified the use of violence for his own purposes. He was a grossly immoral man and possibly a pedophile. He is not worthy of following or emulating.
3. Submission to God is the way of life.
Islam means “submission” and the message of the jihadists is that people need to submit their lives to God. So far, so good. The Bible teaches a similar truth that salvation comes when we submit our wills in faith to the God who loves us and died for our sins.
Islam leaves out that last sentence. Submission in Islam is to a warring and vengeful Being and the means of submission can include coercion, tribute, and death to those who refuse.
That part is the lie. True submission to God is voluntary, prompted by God and motivated by love. It is never forced or true love is not involved.
4. Jesus is a major Prophet who will return one day.
Jesus the Messiah is mentioned prominently in the Koran. Many truths are stated about him including his virgin birth, his ability to do miracles, and his Second Coming. In fact, Isa (Jesus in Arabic) is one of the most frequent figures mentioned in the recitations of Mohammed.
However, the most crucial things about Jesus Christ are left out of the Islamic writings. Muslims are told that Jesus was not the Son of God, he did not die on the cross of the sins of the world, and that he is not the King of kings and Lord of Lords who will be revealed at his Second Advent.
These omissions make the Muslim concept of Jesus a lie. To them, he is not “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
He is. (I AM)
5. God’s Kingdom will be global and all people will worship Him.
One of the great draws of Islam is its global vision of conquering the world. Muslims have a view of a changed and worshipping planet that ushers in a new era that includes the return of Jesus.
In this sense, Muslims are true progressives. The world is progressing toward the universal rule of God.
However, the means to get there–violence and death to all non-believers–is a Satanic lie. Yes, God’s kingdom is growing in all the earth but it is doing so through loving persuasion and mercy, not cruel beheadings, burning people alive, and raping young girls.
This fruit of Islam reveals its origins–the pit of hell. But its drawing power lies in the vision of a worldwide caliphate and eventual Heavenly kingdom.
There are other half truths in Islam that could be mentioned. But these five give you are idea of the power of this false religion. When you call people to submit to God, mention Jesus, share vision for a world wide kingdom and promise heaven for martyrs, that’s powerful stuff. In fact, compared to the emptiness and bankruptcy of immoral Western culture, it actually looks quite attractive.
No wonder thousands are joining the global jihad and even Western women are leaving their families to become “jidahi brides.” The power of Islamic vision is, in many ways, more potent than the decadent West.
But it is based on a lie (many half truths).
On the other hand, some Islamic ideas are full lies, not even half baked. Here are two examples.
The Koran completely leaves out the concept of blood sacrifice needed to atone for sin. Since the dawn of time, fallen human beings have been aware of their guilt (sin), and known that something else dying in our place is essential to repentance and forgiveness. The Koran is completely silent on this subject as if sin didn’t exist and sacrifice is not necessary.
The Bible teaches us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). The greatest loving act of all time and eternity is the Son of God dying on the cross for the sins of the world (John 3:16).
The truth contains Good News! Islam is silent on how salvation has been achieved.
Another completel lie of Islam is the place it gives to women. They are treated as property and second-class citizens, not allowed to be educated, and have no real hope of heaven. That is hideous and false. All women and men are made in God’s image and co-heirs of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7).
So how can Islam be reformed?
I believe it can be done through the following actions:
1. Freedom-loving nations must mobilize and defeat the jihadists just as they did the Nazis in WWII. We need to pray for modern Roosevelts and Churchills to replace the present-day Chamberlains that are too ignorant or timid to defeat evil.
2. We need to care for people entrapped in the Islamic lie, convince them of the truth about God, and see them converted into his kingdom of light and love.
3. We must convince individual Muslims and whole Islamic nations that Isa, not Mohammed, is the only one worth trusting and emulating.
4. We must bring the Muslim world to trust the Bible and reject the Koran and sharia law.
5. We must shout on the housetops that the True Allah is the Loving Triune God!
6. We need to demonstrate that men and women can only be saved through faith in Isa, and not by their good works.
7. We must liberate Muslim women through a message of equality and dignity that is found in Christ.
8. We must call all Muslims to humble submission to the God who loved them enough to die for their sins.
Reforming Islam is a tall order. The half truths must be shredded and the whole truth proclaimed.
But in the coming days and years it can be done through the grace and power of Isa the Messiah.
The Battle Over Free Speech
I thought longingly about free speech last week when I found myself in a remote area of California but couldn’t get a signal to send out a blog.
No Internet meant the inability to speak freely.
The Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris two weeks ago ignited a global discussion about free speech. Millions marching in the streets with pens raised in protest gave the impression that free speech will triumph over the murderous ways of the jihadists.
But what is free speech? Is it okay to bash the prophet and other religious leaders? Should it be legal to yell “FIRE” in a crowded movie theater? What about four letter profanities on the evening news?
There are three ways to look at freedom of speech, and only one of them produces true liberty.
A good resolution for most of us to make this year would be to learn to think more in terms of worldview.
I had never heard of this word until Francis Schaeffer introduced it to me via his writings in the mid seventies. Dr. Schaeffer taught that all human beings have certain presuppositions about life–things we assume or believe to be true, that is, a grid through which we view reality.
That’s our worldview. Every human being has one (whether we realize it or not).
My latest book which will be out in 2015 is a thorough discussion of the battling worldviews we face in the 21st century. The thesis is that there are only five concepts about reality–in other words, five views of God and their ramifications. And though there are five, I believe only three will battle for supremacy in the coming years.
Understanding these competing worldviews and their differences is crucial. Worldview affects everything you do, how you live and where you end up in eternity.
And worldviews have much to say about free speech. In fact, the three primary worldviews of the 21st century espouse very different views of freedom.
Let’s look at them one by one.
The Islamic View of Free Speech
Islam is unique to the three worldviews because it is both a comprehensive religious system containing concepts of God and how we get right with him, and a political structure that governs society.
As a religious ideology, Islam does not permit unkind words about its Deity or the Prophet Mohammed (this sin is called blasphemy). Politically, it forces submissive of all people and subjugation of women under the harsh dictates of sharia law.
Free speech in Islamic societies boils down to this: Submit, shut up, or die. You are not free to speak your own mind on many subjects and if you cross the line, the heavy hand of the law will come down upon your behavior and lop off your head or bring you forty lashes.
Freedom in Islam is forced submission of all words and behavior to the tenets of the Koran. You’re only free when you submit.
And the Koran is a book written during the Dark Ages, thirteen centuries ago, whose tenets were formed during a primitive and lawless time. Its teachings of sharia law have not been progressively updated or refined. Pre-medieval morality and austere views of human freedom still remain in place like moral dinosaurs.
Thus we understand why the Islamic terrorists in Paris savagely killed many people and did it in the name of Allah and Islam. Their worldview or religion tolerates little freedom of expression.
Over fifty nations on earth subscribe to the primitive and brutal nature of Islamic freedom.
The Secular View of Free Speech
The second worldview we saw in response to the Paris massacre was that of atheism or secularism. President Hollande of France who is a socialist, and most that marched with him, declared to the world that free speech is a glorious right and there are no exceptions to its rule.
The Charlie Hebdo people who lost their lives at the hands of the jihadists represent this side of the debate. I don’t know of their personal faith or worldview, but their cartoons and commentary mocking all things religious or political appears to state loudly that they believe in absolute freedom of expression.
The secular view of free speech is that anything goes.
In secularism, because there is no God, men become self-deities and this elevated status gives them the freedom to do whatever they desire. They can say what they want, do anything sexually that they want, and generally live hedonistic or narcissistic lives as long as they “do no harm.”
Of course, they are the ones that define “harm,” and the secularists have twisted that freedom to include aborting inside the womb at least one billion babies in the past century. Secular tyrants such at Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong killed hundreds of millions more outside the womb.
Secularism’s view of freedom is constantly evolving to include persecuting people of religious faith such as a Christian florist refusing to do flowers for a homosexual wedding. Admittedly, run-of-the-mill secularists don’t butcher people like Muslim terrorists do, but they like to restrict the freedoms of religious people.
But in sex and other areas there are no restrictions because there is no God (they think) to whom we are accountable.
Secular freedom declares that anything goes. Remember the waving pens in Paris.
The Biblical View of Free Speech
The two worldviews we’ve already mentioned, the Islamic and secular worldviews, are essentially opposites on the spectrum. On the one side, Islam believes in domination and control. Don’t mock the prophet or we will cut off your head. On the other extreme, the secularist worldview believes in unrestrained license. Do or say whatever you want.
The biblical worldview takes the wise middle ground–the balance between truth and grace. The Bible teaches us that freedom or liberty comes from doing what’s right through the power of God’s Spirit in the individual (Romans 8). Liberty is the fruit of righteousness. And when nations conform to God’s wise principles of behavior and justice, liberty is experienced in society as a whole.
But that liberty, or in this case, free speech, is not without limits.
Last week a Catholic leader appearing on a major news program said rightly that Bible-based free speech has many limits or allowances. They include:
- Protecting people’s lives–We are not “free” to yell FIRE in a crowded movie theater.
- Protecting the innocence of children–media outlets are not “free” to use four letter words or erotic sexual scenes in certain time frames or settings where they can hurt or influence children.
- Freedom to discuss or mock any idea or religion (concepts are fair game).
- Even a freedom to blaspheme God (use his Name in vain) because He is big enough to take care of His own reputation.
In ancient or primitive times, blasphemy was not permitted in Jewish culture because at the time God was concretely teaching His people basic concepts of right and wrong in the midst of dark and profuse idolatry. This was done through commandments that were necessary for the Old Testament era.
But we live in the period of the New Testament where old forms of learning have been replaced by the abstract motives of love and grace. There is greater freedom now because of increased understanding.
Thus the development of biblical virtue is the true religion of progress. The Old Covenant of law has been replaced with the truth, grace, and supernatural power of the New Covenant. Both Islam and secularism are not progressive in the true sense of the word.
Biblical faith is. The biblical worldview of free speech is this:
Liberty with loving self-restraint.
So don’t get carried away with either of the excesses of Muslim or secular concepts of free speech. One is ruthlessly controlling and the other is wildly unrestrained.
Build your life and nation on the time-tested revelation of freedom of speech that tolerates all opinions, lets God be the Judge, but wisely restrains itself because it loves Him and people.
Liberty is a beautifully balanced thing.
Two Gods Condone This Terror – Part 1
On September 24, 2014, President Barack Obama said these words before the United Nations 67th General Assembly:
“[ISIL] has terrorized all who they come across in Iraq and Syria. Mothers, sisters and daughters have been subjected to rape as a weapon of war. Innocent children have been gunned down. Bodies have been dumped in mass graves. Religious minorities have been starved to death. In the most horrific crimes imaginable, innocent human beings have been beheaded, with videos of the atrocity distributed to shock the conscience of the world.”
“No God condones this terror. No grievance justifies these actions.”
Really?
Yes, two gods do–and always have. What are they?
It’s stunning to me how some of today’s leaders are either completely ignorant of history or believe they can get away with stating bald-faced lies.
There are five major religions or views of “God:” polytheism, pantheism, atheism, Islam, and biblical faith (Judeo-Christian). While most of the adherents of these worldviews are peaceful people–because most people don’t have the propensity for violence–that doesn’t mean that the gods of these religions don’t encourage or condone it.
In fact, for hundreds of years, two “gods” in particular have revealed themselves to be blood-thirsty. Over the next two weeks I want to talk about them to set the record straight.
I will let former Muslim Raymond Ibrahim tell the truth about Islam far better than I can in his recent article.
Islam and the Islamic State
By Raymond Ibrahim
What relationship does the Islamic State have to Islam?
“Absolutely nothing” is the answer almost every Western politician gives. For example, U.S. President Obama adamantly stated in a televised speech that the Islamic State “is not Islamic.”
This begs the question: How does one determine what is—and is not—Islamic? The traditional answer, the Islamic answer, has been as follows:
What do the core texts and scriptures of Islam say about the thing in question, call it “X”? Does the Koran, believed by Muslims to contain the literal commands of Allah, call for or justify X? Do the hadith and sira texts—which purport to record the sayings and deeds of Allah’s prophet, whom the Koran (e.g., 33:21) exhorts Muslims to emulate in all ways—call for or justify X?
If any ambiguity still remains concerning X, the next question becomes: what is the consensus (ijma‘) of the Islamic world’s leading authorities concerning X? Here one must often turn to the tafsirs, or exegeses of Islam’s most learned men—the ulema—and consider their conclusions. Muhammad himself reportedly said that “My umma [Islamic nation] will never be in agreement over an error.”
For example, the Koran commands believers to uphold prayers; accordingly, all are agreed that Muslims need to pray. Yet the Koran does not specify how many times. In the hadith and sira, however, Muhammad makes clear believers should pray five times. And the ulema, having considered all these texts, are agreed that Muslims are to pray five times a day.
Thus, it is most certainly Islamic for Muslims to pray five times a day.
But while both Western politicians and Islamic apologists readily accept such methodology to determining what is Islamic—prayer is in the Koran–Muhammad clarified its implementation in the hadith, and the ulema are agreed to it—whenever the thing in question deals with anything that makes Islam ‘look bad,’ then the aforementioned standard approach to ascertaining what is Islamic is wholly ignored.
Let us consider some of the most extreme acts committed by the Islamic State—beheadings, crucifixions, enslavements, sexual predations, massacres, and the persecution of religious minorities—and put them to the test, see if they fill the same criteria, see if they are Islamic or not, especially in the context of jihad, which has its own set of rules.
Beheadings
The Islamic State beheads “infidels,” including women and children. Is it Islamic?
The Koran calls for the beheading of Islam’s enemies, especially in the context of war, or jihad: “When you encounter infidels on the battlefield, strike off their heads until you have crushed them completely” (47:4). Another verse states: “I will cast terror into the hearts of infidels—so strike off their heads and strike off all of their fingertips [i.e., mutilate them]’ (8:12).”
As for the other criteria—the example or Sunna of the prophet and the consensus of the umma—Timothy Furnish, author of the 2005 essay,”‘Beheading in the Name of Islam,” writes:
“The practice of beheading non-Muslim captives extends back to the Prophet himself. Ibn Ishaq (d. 768 C.E.), the earliest biographer of Muhammad, is recorded as saying that the Prophet ordered the execution by decapitation of 700 men of the Jewish Banu Qurayza tribe in Medina for allegedly plotting against him.”
“Islamic leaders from Muhammad’s time until today have followed his model. Examples of decapitation, of both the living and the dead, in Islamic history are myriad…. For centuries, leading Islamic scholars have interpreted this verse [decapitation verse, 47:4] literally…. Many recent interpretations remain consistent with those of a millennium ago.”
Crucifixions
As for crucifying people, which the Islamic State has been doing regularly, Koran 5:33 asserts that “the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land.’
Accordingly, crucifixions are common throughout Islamic history. After Islam’s prophet died in 632, many Arabs were accused of apostasy. The first caliph, Abu Bakr, launched a jihad campaign on them, and many “apostates” were crucified as an example to the rest. In the book Witnesses For Christ: Orthodox Christian Neomartyrs of the Ottoman Period 1437-1860, crucifixion is listed as one of the many forms thousands of Christians were executed by the Muslim Turks.
More dramatically, in her memoir, Ravished Armenia, Aurora Mardiganian described how in the early twentieth century she saw 16 girls crucified, vultures eating their corpses: “Each girl had been nailed alive upon her cross, spikes through her feet and hands,” wrote the Armenian survivor. “Only their hair blown by the wind covered their bodies.”
More recently, people (including children) have been crucified by self-proclaimed jihadis in the name of Islam in countries as diverse as the Ivory Coast and Yemen.
Slavery and Rape
What of slavery—especially the enslavement of non-Muslim women for sexual purposes—which the Islamic State has been engaged in?
Again, from the highest scriptural authority in Islam—the Koran—to the greatest role model for Muslims—Muhammad; from Islamic history to current events, the sexual enslavement of ‘infidel’ women is a canonical aspect of Islamic civilization.
Koran 4:3 permits men to have sex with “what your right hands possess,” a term categorically defined by the ulema as “infidel” women captured during the jihad. The prophet of Islam himself kept and copulated with concubines conquered during the jihad. One captured Jewish woman, Safiya bint Huyay, was “married” to Muhammad right after the prophet had tortured her husband to death to reveal hidden treasure.”
And before this, Muhammad’s jihadis had slaughtered Safiya’s father and brothers.
Unsurprisingly, she later confessed that “f all men, I hated the prophet the most—for he killed my husband, my brother, and my father,” right before marrying (or, less euphemistically, raping) her.
Khalid bin Walid—the “Sword of Allah” and hero for aspiring jihadis around the world—raped another woman renowned for her beauty, Layla, on the battlefield—right after he severed her “apostate” husband’s head, lit it on fire, and cooked his dinner on it.
Massacres
What of wide-scale massacres? In some recent videos, the Islamic State appears herding, humiliating, and marching off hundreds of male hostages (the number often given is 1,400) to their trenches, where Islamic State members proceed to shoot them in the head—all while the black flag of Islam waves.
In fact, the prophet himself ordered merciless massacres of “infidels.” After the battle of Badr, where Muhammad and the first Muslims prevailed over their enemies, Muhammad ordered the execution of a number of hostages. When one of the hostages, ‘Uqba, implored the prophet to spare him, saying, “But who would do such a thing,” Mohammed ordered him killed.
More famously, Muhammad ordered the execution of approximately 700 Jewish men from the Banu Qurayza tribe. According to the sira account, after the Jewish tribe surrendered to his siege, Muhammad had all the men marched off to where ditches were dug and promptly executed by beheading—just like the Islamic State marched off and executed its victims near trenches in various videos.
Dhimmitude
The Islamic State is even responsible for resurrecting a distinctly Islamic institution that was banned in the 19th century thanks to the intervention of colonial powers: “dhimmitude,” that is, exacting tribute (jizya) from conquered Christians and Jews and subjecting them to live as third-class citizens who must embrace a host of debilitating and humiliating measures, including not to build or repair churches, not to ring church bells or worship loudly, not to display crosses, not to bury their dead near Muslims, etc.
These measures are also derived from the core texts of Islam. Koran 9:29 calls on Muslims to fight the “People of the Book” (interpreted as Christians and Jews) “until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” And the Conditions of Omar—named after one of the “righteous caliphs”—explains how they are to “feel themselves subdued,” that is, the exact way the Islamic State decreed.
Past and present ulema are confirmed that Koran 9:29 and the Conditions of Omar mean what they plainly say. Thus, according to Saudi Sheikh Marzouk Salem al-Ghamdi speaking during a Friday mosque sermon:
‘If the infidels live among the Muslims, in accordance with the conditions set out by the Prophet—there is nothing wrong with it provided they pay Jizya to the Islamic treasury. Other conditions [reference to Conditions of Omar] are … that they do not renovate a church or a monastery, do not rebuild ones that were destroyed … that they rise when a Muslim wishes to sit… do not show the cross, do not ring church bells, do not raise their voices during prayer …. If they violate these conditions, they have no protection.'”
Based on the above exposition, it is false to say, as President Obama does, that the Islamic State “is not Islamic.'” Indeed, even in the most savage of details—including triumphing over the mutilated corpses of ‘infidels’ and laughing while posing with their decapitated heads—the Islamic State finds support in the Koran and stories of the prophet.
It is dishonest to accept the methodology of Islamic jurisprudence—is X part of the Koran, hadith, sira, and does it have consensus among the ulema?—but then to reject this same methodology whenever X is something that makes Islam look “bad.”
In the context of jihad, all that the Islamic State is doing—beheadings, crucifixions, massacres, sexual enslavements, and the subjugation of religious minorities—is Islamic.
Sadly true.
Allah is one of the gods who condones terror.
Next week we will look at the second terrorist god.