Study – Grow – Know

Are You Islamophobic?

January 24, 2011 at 6:33 PM 1 comment

Are you Islamaphobic?
Have you been accused of hating Muslims?
Do you believe that Islam is a religion of peace?
Can the ideologies of Islam and conservatism exist side-by-side?

1. The Sunni
2. The Shi’ite

We might refer to these two groups as moderate or gentle for the Sunni, and radical or violent-prone, for the Shi’ite.  I will use the term moderate for the gentler Sunni group and the term radical for the more violent Shi’ite group.

To have splits within religions or ideologies is not unusual.  The Reformation brought about numerous splits from Roman Catholicism, which resulted in bloodshed and martyrdom.  However, it can honestly be stated that the split that occurred within Islam between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims is one that has probably caused the most bloodshed. 

When Islam first began through Muhammad, he was very open to living peacefully with Jews and Christians.  In fact, during the very early years, Muslims would pray toward Jerusalem daily.  There are numerous passages in the Qur’an – Islam’s holy book – that actually teach peaceful coexistence with Christians.

“And argue not with the people of Scriptures, unless it be in a way that is better.  Say: We believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our God and your God is one, and unto Him we surrender,” (Sura 29:46).

This type of belief was one of the motivating factors within Islam in the beginning.  However, after a time, Muhammad began to gain more power where he was living (Medina), and because of this power, he realized he did not have to continue to try to be friendly toward the Jew and Christian because both of these groups refused to accept him as a legitimate prophet.

Other passages in the Qur’an began to reflect his growing hatred for those outside of Islam.  Sura 9:5 directs Muslims to “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them and take them captive and besiege them and prepare for them each ambush.”  Verse 29 in the same Sura says, “Fight against such as those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day.”

So just as we see that Islam underwent a major change since its inception, so also has a major split occurred within the ranks of Islam, creating two main groups of Muslims.

This split was created because of individuals who could not agree on who the next Islamic ruler – or Caliph – should be.  After Muhammad’s death, a third Caliph was chosen, but he was soon murdered.

Muhammad’s own son-in-law by the name of Ali became the next Caliph under major opposition including opposition by one of Muhammad’s own wives.  Ali was murdered five years after assuming power as Caliph.

The next individual to assume power as Caliph was Muawiya, who began the dynasty referred to as Umayyad Caliphate.  At this point in time, the Shi’ite Muslims came to believe that the only person who should serve as Caliph was someone who was directly descended from Muhammad.  The Sunni Muslims did not really care about that part of it.

Regarding these groups – the Sunni and the Shi’ite – both have a number of common beliefs:

1. Both believe that God is ONE – there is only one God
2. Both believe that Muhammad was the last prophet
3. One day Allah will resurrect all human beings and question them – not judge them – regarding what they believed and how they lived their life
4. Both groups agree that the well-known sins like murder, adultery, stealing, etc., are true sins
5. Both groups also agree on the Five Pillars of Islam
   1. The first, Shahada, is a saying professing monotheism and accepting Muhammad as God’s messenger
   2. The second, Salat, is the five daily Islamic prayers
   3. The third pillar is Sawm, which means fasting and within Islam, three types of fastings are recognized
   4. The fourth is Zakāt, and is the practice of charitable giving
   5. The fifth pillar of Islam is called Hajj, which is the required pilgrimage to Mecca that must occur once in the life of every Muslim during their holy month of Dhu al-Hijjah
   6. There is also a sixth pillar, which has become well-known throughout the world.  It is called Jihad.  Jihad – or holy war – is practiced by a growing percentage of Muslims throughout the world.  Depending upon the individual Muslim, jihad can also refer to the great inner struggle against sin.

It is impossible to know what every individual Muslim means by the use of the term Jihad and it is also clear that some Muslims do not recognize Jihad as a legitimate pillar. 

However, the fact that some Muslims not only recognize Jihad as a legitimate pillar of Islam, but view it as something that must result in the deaths of non-Muslims is of great and growing concern.  The difficult aspect of this is attempting to discern who is and who is not a radical Muslim.

For instance, Imam Rauf, who has been in the forefront in the attempts to build the mosque near Ground Zero, only a stone’s throw from the destroyed World Trade Towers, claims to be a moderate.  He would like the world to believe he is a Sunni Muslim, one of the gentle Muslims that truly do wish to live in peace with all other human beings.

However, the fact that we know the kinds of things he says when he is not in the United States, as well as his unwillingness to even consider moving the Ground Zero mosque to another area much further away from the demolished World Trade Center, speaks volumes.  Since he is unwilling to recognize that over 70% of Americans would be thoroughly offended by the presence of this mosque in the shadow of the World Trade Center, it becomes clear that he has virtually no concern at all for those who were killed when radical Muslims slammed hijacked planes into the towers, but also has no concern or feeling for the people who lost loved ones in that brutally senseless act of murder.

So in spite of Imam Rauf’s rhetoric about being a moderate Muslim, we can see from his demeanor and his words that he is not a moderate, but is in fact, a radical Muslim, simply fronting as a moderate.

Is it wrong to base a judgment about someone based on what they do and/or say?  Absolutely not.  People do that with professing Christians all the time, don’t they?  They see a person who is noted as being a leader within the Christian community and they expect him to act a certain way.  When they read about this same man being arrested on charges of embezzlement, rape, or child molestation, they normally conclude that something is desperately wrong.  Too many people though, wrongly conclude that this is simply another hypocrite Christian, when in point of fact, simply for a person to say he or she is a Christian, yet not living a life that mirrors that of Jesus may well mean that they are something else than what they profess to be.

History is filled with examples of people who used Christianity or their religious beliefs to take advantage of people and make themselves rich.  This does not mean that they are or were actual Christians.  It means that they used something to their advantage so that they could get away with crimes since they believed that their facade of Christianity or being religious would help them to continue to appear to be something they are not.

This is true of people from every walk of life.  We tend to judge people’s testimony or character based on their actions and words.  Do their words and actions mirror their beliefs?

In the case of Imam Rauf, it quickly becomes clear that unless he is using a completely different definition of what it means to be a moderate Muslim, he is a radical Muslim in disguise.

But what do Radical Muslims Hope to Achieve?
Unlike moderate Muslims, who wish to live peaceably with their neighbors and everyone who does not share their religious beliefs, radical Muslims have no such desire. Radical Muslims look to the history of Islam and desperately want to regain what they had centuries ago when they ruled much of Europe from Spain.

The reason that radical Muslims do what they do has everything to do with the fact that they believe Muhammad when he said that all Muslims should fight against any who not only do not view Islam favorably, but who are not Islamic themselves.

All people who stand outside Islam are considered to be infidels and the only options given to infidels are to convert to Islam, or die.  This stems from Muhammad’s later teachings after both Christians and Jews rejected him as any type of authentic prophet.

I was watching a documentary the other day on al-Qaeda, Bin Laden, and the Taliban.  One thing that Bin Laden said that he believes is the main difference between those of Islam and the people of the United States is that we love life, but Bin Laden and those who believe as he does love death.

To understand the mindset of these people, it is important to understand that they do not view life and death as most people do.  Most people place a high value on life.  Even as a Christian, I highly value the life I have with the God I worship, my wife, and my family.

I know that one day, I will die.  I am prepared for it, but I do not necessarily wish that it was here now.  I believe that when I die, I will live with Jesus and all who have followed Him in this life.  If you disagree with me, that is your right.  I have no intention of killing people who disagree with my own religious beliefs.  I doubt that you harbor that kind of resentment toward those who do not agree with you either.

This is the problem – the main problem with radical Islam.  They not only see it as their obligation to kill infidels – those outside of Islam – but they fully believe they will be rewarded by Allah for the murder of innocent individuals.

A few days ago, an airport in Russia experienced a suicide bomber, who killed at least 35 people and injured nearly 200.  Though no one has taken credit for the bombing, many Islamic Web sites were posted with praise to Allah for the attack.  Russian authorities believe the attack occurred because of the Muslims of Chechnya want their own Islamic country.  This connects back to 1999 when Putin attacked that area to keep it from seceding from Russia.

Radical Muslims do not want to work within the law to accomplish their goals.  However, many in the United States are doing just that in order to push their beliefs to the forefront.  We have already noted the seemingly peaceful face of Islam in places like Binghamton, NY where activists gather with those from other religions in a pretentious effort to prove that they are peaceful.

The problem though is who these groups are affiliated with and why.  On the surface, these groups appear to want peace at all costs.  They certainly seem to be doing things that are construed as peaceful.  At conferences like the one held in Binghamton, NY, they are saying things that make people believe they want peace.

Again, the problem is who they are affiliated with, because that is what tells the story.

If a person said he was a Christian, went to church, carried a Bible, had memorized Bible verses and looked the part of a conservative, polite individual, it would be easy to see that person as a Christian.  However, if it was discovered later that the individual was part of the KKK, the person’s Christianity immediately comes into question.

The KKK is known for its racist policies and horrific acts they have perpetrated on African-Americans in this country.  No one with any semblance of intelligence would believe for a moment that a person who was intimately involved in the KKK would also be seen as a true Christian. 

Years ago, David Duke – who at one point was a Grand Wizard of the Knights of KKK went into politics.  While he was successful in gaining a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives, he was completely without success in his two bids to become president of the United States.  Why?  Because in spite of what he insisted about himself – that he was simply a racial realist – most believed that he was every bit a racist at that point, as he was when he was the Grand Wizard of the Knights of KKK.

Something is unfolding here in America that requires people to wake up.  In spite of the fact that moderate Muslims exist and simply want to live peaceably with their neighbor, there are too many radical Muslims who only say that this is their goal.  Inwardly, they want to dominate.  Behind the scenes, they are doing everything they can to promote Islam as a religion of peace, but the sad fact is, that they are willing to kill to achieve that peace.

That is not a religion of peace!

But we must ask ourselves this very important question:  why do proponents of Islam want so badly to achieve this dominance of all other cultures?  What is so important about that?

The answer is extremely simple.  In fact, it is something that most will simply shake their heads or snicker at in disbelief.

Radical Islamists believe that once they have gained control of enough of the world, their efforts will allow the Final Mahdi to come to the earth.  This Mahdi is believed to descend directly from Muhammad and when he reveals himself to the world, the following things will happen:

• He will fill the earth with justice after it had been filled with oppression
• He will rule for 7 or 9 years.
• This will take place sometime during the Last Days
• His name will be Muhammad
• His kunya (patronymic) will be Abul-Qasim

To sum this up, this Final Mahdi will lead Muslims to a great victory against the Christian Romans (i.e. All the white Europeans including the Americans). This great war is called Armageddon.

It will end up with a great victory to Muslims against Romans after six years. Muslims will take over their capital Rome (this can be any city).

In the seventh year, the Antichrist will appear and a greater war will start between Jews and Muslims for 40 days (longer that usual days) and will end when Jesus will come and Muslims will kill all Jews.

 All people will convert into Islam.

Peace will pervade the whole world.

This is what Muslims believe and this is what they work toward.  They fully believe that the coming Final Mahdi will bring war against all those who are not Muslims.  Under the leadership of this Mahdi, Islam will win and then all people who remain alive will convert to Islam.  Following this, peace will exist on the entire world.

So when we hear radical Muslims talking about Islam being a religion of peace, this is what they are referring to.

Islam is a religion of peace only AFTER it overcomes all Christians, Jews, and anyone else who is not Islamic.  That is how peace will be achieved.  That is their goal.

While many of us are asleep at the wheel, simply going through each of our days the same way we have always gone through them, radical Muslims are training in compounds within the borders of the United States.  They are training for the coming war that they believe the Final Mahdi will lead them into in order that they will dispossess all who stand in the way of Islam.

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