We’ve been looking at the fruit of the ‘Religion of Peace.’ We noted terror attack after terror attack. What is our response? And just what is driving these attacks? What is the character of the religion that produces such blind hatred?
PART II – NOW….AS IN THE BEGINNING
A week or so out from the New York City attack we see a response to terror that has become typical in the West. It is already the hallmark of European politicians. And now we in the US are beginning to adapt the same tactic. Preemptive surrender! New York City’s Deputy Police Commissioner John Miller set the stage with these remarks. “This is not about Islam.” OK, let’s stop right there. It is absolutely about Islam. Not all Muslims are violent. But hidden – and not very well hidden I might add – within the text of their scriptures are calls for violent actions against the unbelievers. If you’re a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist or an atheist – that includes you. So let’s go back to the Deputy Commissioner. “This is not about Islam, this is not about the mosque he attends, there are hundreds of thousands of law abiding Muslims in New York City, who are adversely affected by things like this. It is probably a good time to say that we have seen in the aftermath of incidents like these, bias incidents, hate crimes, assaults… and anybody behind those will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” So there you have it. The second highest ranking policeman in New York thought it would be best to warn the targets of the attacks against crimes that are rarely committed. Judith Bergman, writing for the Gatestone Institute reminds us: “The deputy police commissioner, by the way, is the same official, who, in 2014, helped shut down the New York Police Department Demographics Unit — a team that monitored mosques and neighborhoods to guard against threats to public safety — after Muslim activists lobbied the police and demanded that it be closed down. The unit was discontinued, even though a federal judge ruled that the surveillance could be justified: ‘The police, he said, ‘could not have monitored New Jersey for Muslim terrorist activities without monitoring the Muslim community itself.’”[i] This societal groveling is just what Islam demands of its conquests. And the West is fast surrendering to the demands of the ‘Religion of Peace.’ It is in the very character of Islam to demand submission. Just as the true essence of the Christian Faith reflects the heart of its’ genesis, so too Islam has taken on the characteristics of both its early history and its founding prophet.
The faith that is called Islam emerged out of the religious chaos that characterized the Arabian desert of the 7th century AD. Zoroasterism dominated Persia, (today’s Iran). The Byzantine Empire practiced the Eastern brand of Christianity, Jewish tribes could be found, scattered about the Arabian Peninsula, maintaining as best they could, the traditions of the faith. Still much of the area was dominated by the multi-god paganism that had its origin in ancient times. Once a year, this pagan world would all come together in the city of Mecca. Now in that city, there was a shrine, the Kaba, that housed 360 idols. During peace and war, the various tribes would come together, encamped about the shrine for this five-day religious festival. This was the world into which the Prophet Mohammed was born.[ii] [iii]
Over the course of his early life, Mohammed had contact with all of the religious traditions that entered his region. Islamic writings tell us that he was meditating in a cave outside of Mecca when, in 610, he had a vision of an angel who ordered him to “recite” the word of God. When Mohammed resisted, this spirit seized him by the throat to compel him to accept the command. Shaken and filled with doubt, the future prophet at first believed himself in the throes of demonic possession. Over time he was reassured by his wife and renewed visits by the spirit being, eventually assuming the office of prophet and religious reformer. His uncle, Waraca, a convert to the Christian faith, declared him a prophet, yet never himself became a Muslim. So Mohammed began his ministry.[iv]
He preached that there was one true God, Allah. He railed against the pagan idol worship of Mecca. It is true that he was much influenced by the monotheism of Christians and Jews. But the Allah he worshipped was in no way the same as the God of the Bible. In fact the very name Allah was but an adaptation of Alilah, the supreme pagan idol found in the Kaba shrine. This same god Alilah can be traced back to an ancient Hindu diety whose name means mother or goddess. [v]
Mohammed spread the faith by preaching, military might and deceit. The Arabs of Medina flocked to him believing that he was the Messiah to come. Unable to support themselves, his Muslim followers in Medina began to attack and rob the desert caravans, justified by a new doctrine called Jihad. War and violence followed this emerging ‘man of god’. After the successful battle of Bedr, he expelled from Mecca, one Jewish tribe that did not fully support him. Later he seized the property of another and still later slaughtered the men of a third Jewish tribe that had already surrendered, selling the women and children into slavery. In 628 he signed the peace treaty of Hudaybiah and 2 years later violated it when it served his interests. This led to the establishment of the principle of hudna. According to this principle, Muslims are allowed and even encouraged to make treaties with their enemies, when it serves their own interests and they have no intention of keeping them. The time gained is to be used to strengthen their positions after which they may be broken to advance the cause of Islam. All in all, Mohammed led over 80 military expeditions. By Islam’s own Hadith, it is admitted that his actions as commander and prophet were characterized by duplicity and cruelty to those thrown on his mercy.[vi] After his death, his successors followed in his footsteps, conquering formerly Christian lands in the name of Allah. Their battle cry: Convert or die! It is not much different today. The Islam of the 21st century is committed to the establishment of a worldwide empire. It rests strongly on the historical / religious traditions of its birth.
[i] Judith Bergman, New York City Submits to Islam, The Gatestone Institute, November 7, 2017
[ii] Silas, Pagan Sources of Islam
[iii] Kaaba, Wikipedia
[iv] Sam Shamoun, A Christian Perspective of the Fatrah of Muhammad, Answering Islam
[v] Alan Peters, Allah – The Origins, News Views, April 12, 2007
[vi] What Is Islam, Truth Net.Org
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