Bible
Matthew 10:24-25.....25. It is enough for the disciple to be like his master.
Luke 6:27-28*.....27. But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them who hate you, 28. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them who despitefully use you.
Luke 6:40.....The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
John 14:15 & 23-24*.....15. If ye love me, keep my commandments. 23. Jesus… If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him… 24. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings…
John 18:36*.....Jesus... my kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.
Romans 12:19-20*.....19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord… 20. if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink… 21. Do not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
James 4:2 & 8.....2. From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence from your lusts that war in your members? 8. Cleanse your hands ye sinners.
Qur'an
Al-i İmran 3:31*.....Say: If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive your sins.
Nisa 4:80*.....whoever obeys the Messenger obeys Allah…
Ahzab 33:21*.....Verily in the messenger of Allah you have a good example…
Saf 61:4*.....Allah loves those who fight for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure.
28.*
Militant Islam*
(Fundamentalist*, Fundamentalism*, Islamism*, Islamists*)
28.1
Three Types of Muslims
Secularist: holds that Muslims can only advance by emulating the West. The leading secular country is Turkey where Kemal Ataturk in the period 1923-38 imposed extraordianry changes on an overwhelmingly Muslim population. Çevil Bir, one of the key figures in dispaching the Turkey’s miliitant Islamic government in 1997, flatly states that in his country, “Muslim fundamentalism remains public enemy number one.”
Whether one looks at political stability, economic growth, or cultural achievement, Turkey has no Muslim match. Personal freedoms and human rights are greater than anywhere else. (However unhappy the fate of Kurds in Turkey may be, they flee from Iraq into Turkey, and not the other way around.)
Turkey worries the Islamists because it has the only population willing to stand up and be counted in the fight against exrtremeism. Egyptians mounted no public demonstration to protest
the killing of Farag Fodah; but the Turks responed to the murder of the prominent anti-islamist journalist Uğur Mumcu by turning out on the streets in tens of thousands, chanting: “Turkey will not become another Iran... Let those who want the Shari’a go to Iran... Death to Islamic terorism.”
Dr. Daniel Pipes,
Militant Islam Reaches America, p. 31 & 47.
Reformist: which offers a murky middle, is very popular. Whereas secularism forthrightly calls for learning from the West, reformism sneakily appropriates from it. In case after case, reformist appropriates Western ways under guise drawing on their own heritage. The reformist’ goal is to imitate the West without acknowledging as much. Though intellectually bankrupt, this is politically very useful and explains why reformism is very widespread. (p. 6)
Fundamentalist: The third response to the modern trauma is fundamentalism, also known as Islamism or militant Islam. It has three main features: a devotion to the sacred law, a rejection of Western influences, and a rurning of faith into ideology. The Shari’a somewhat somewhat resembles Jewish law, but nothing comparable exists in Christianity. Militant Islam not only calls for the application of these laws of old, but for their far more rigorous application than ever before was the case. Islamists strain to reject all aspects of Western influence. Militant Islam turns the traditional religion of Islam into a 20th century style ideology. (p. 7-8)
Dr. Daniel Pipes,
Militant Islam Reaches America, pp. 6-8 & 12.
28.2
Traditional Islam vs. Militant Islam
Traditional Islam seeks to teach human beings how to live in accord with God’s will; militant Islam aspires to create a new order.
The traditionalis will reject television, afraid of the devastating modernism that it will bring; the Islamist call for increasing the number of sets... once he has gained control of the broadcast.
Traditionalists fear the West, but Islamist are eager to challenge it.
Dr. Daniel Pipes,
Militant Islam Reaches America, pp. 10-11.
28.3
Objectives of Islamic Fundamentalism
-
the demand to retun to the shari’a, and to make Islamic law the basis for the country.
-
resistance to Western imperialism in all its forms – political, vultural, economic, religious and ideological.
-
the stron call for a more just society in which there is a fairer distribution of wealth.
Colin Chapman, Cross and Crescent, p. 155.
28.4
“Islamophobia” and Today’s Ideological Jihad
-
The UN has condemed “Islamophobia” while while turning a blind eye to atrocities commited by jihadists. p. 195.
-
The charge of “Islamophobia” is used to intimidate and silence critics of violent jihad in Islam. p. 195.
-
Some groups are even trying to brand those who tell the truth about Islam and jihad as purveyors of “hate speech”. p. 195.
Militant Islam is a utopian ideology, initiated in the 20th
century, that attracts only a portion of Muslims (perhaps 10 to 15 percent), seeks to capture control of governments, and is nakedly aggressive toward all those who stand in its way, no matter what their faith. (p. 3)
It is necessary once again to distinguish between Islam and militant Islam. Islam is an ancient faith and capacious civilization; militant Islam is a narrow, aggressive 20th century idological movement.
Islam itself – the centuries-old faith – is not the issue but one extremist variant of it is. Militant Islam derives from Islam but is a misanthopic, misogynist, triumphalist, millenarian, anti-modern, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, terroristic, jihadistic, and suicidal version of it.
Dr. Daniel Pipes,
Minatures, p. 46-47.
28.5
Ideological Islam
Islamists compare Islam not to other religions but to other ideologies. “We are not socialists, we are not capitalist, we are Islamic, said the Malaysian militant Islamic leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Dr. Daniel Pipes,
Militant Islam Reaches America, p. 80.
28.6
Not a Product of Poverty
-
Wealth does not inoculate against militant Islam:
-
A flourishing economy does not inoculate against radical Islam.
-
Poverty does not generate militant Islam.
-
A declining economy does not generate militant Islam.
Dr. Daniel Pipes, Militant Islam Reaches America, pp. 57-58.
28.7
A New Development
According to Iran’s spiritual leader, ’Ali Hoseyni Khameme’i, “The Islamic system that the imam (Khomeini) created... has not existed in the course of history, except at the beginning (of Islam), and does not exist elsewhere in the world today.”
Dr. Daniel Pipes,
Militant Islam Reaches America, pp. 74-75.
28.8
When Fundamentalism Takes Over
When Islamist do take power, as in Iran, Sudan, and Afghanistan, the result is invariably a disaster, both for the subjects of those regimes and for the outside world. Economic decline begins immediately; Iran is the best example, where for two decades and more the standard of living has almost relentlessly gone down. Personal rights are disregarded, as spectacularly shown by the reestablishment of slavery in Sudan. Repression of women is an absolute requirement; this was seen most dramatically uner the Taliban in Afghanistan, where women were excluded from schools and jobs.
A militant Islamic state is almost by definition a rogue state, not playing by the rules except those of expediency and power, a ruthless institution that causes misery at home and abroad. Islamist in charge means conflicts proliferate, society is militarized, arsenls grow, and terrorism becomes an instrument of state. It is no accident that Iran was engaged in the longest conventional war of the 20th century (eight years long, 1980-88, against Iraq) and that both Sudan and Afghanistan have been in the throes of decades-long civil wars. Islamists repress moderate Muslims and treat non-Muslims as inferior specimens.
Dr. Daniel Pipes,
Militant Islam Reaches America, p. 13.
28.9
What to Do to Counter Militant Islam
-
Do not engage in offical or public dialogue. President Husni Mubarek of Egypt conseeled Washington along these lines: “To engage in dialogue with radical fundamentalists is a waste of time.” Actually, it is worse that that because engaging in such dialogue works both to legitimize Islamists and to confirm their belief in Western weakness.
-
Do not appease: As a former CIA specialist on Iran noted, “Fundamentalism is a war fought primarily in Muslim imaginations. Private and collective dreams are not amenable to negotiations.” Again Mubarak has it right: “I can assure you,” he says, militant Islamic groups will “never be on good terms with the United States.” A change in foreign policy will not suffice because Islamists despise the West not for what it does but for who it is. Short of adopting their brand of Islam, there is no hope of satisfying them.
-
Do not help Islamists: Don’t align with a lesser evil to arm it against a greater evil as America did in arming the Afghan mujahidin against the Soviet forces in the 1980’s. The CIA acted disproprotionately to supply the Islamists.
-
Press militant Islamic states to reduce aggressiveness:
-
Support those confronting militant Islam.
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Urge gradual democratization.
Dr. Daniel Pipes, Militant Islam Reaches America, pp. 49-50.
29.*
Muhammad*
29:1
Muhammad’s Birth
April 20, 570 A.D. (Shi’ites say April 26th)
29.2
Muhammad’s Genealogy
(addapted from 1 Chronicles 1:17-30)
Shem
Arphaxad
Shelah
Eber
Peleg
Reu
Serug
Hahor
Terah
Abraham
Ishmael
Kedar
...
Muhammad
Dr. Abraham Sarker, Understand My Muslim People, p. 38.
29.3
Muhammad’s Family
Father:
Abdullah, who died before Muhammad’s birth.
Mother:
Amina, who took Muhammad on a journey to Al-Medina and
she died on the return journey when Muhammad was six
and was buried at al-Abwa. Amina b. Wahb gave birth to
Muhammad in 570 at Mecca.
Foster Mother:
Halima, admitted that she thought Muhammad was
“possessed by the devil”.
Grandfather: ‘
Abd al-Muttalib b. Hashem, took care of Muhammad for two
years. He died with Muhammad was eight.
Uncle:
Abu Talib, who became Muhammad’s custodian. He did not
accept Muhammad’s prophethood but protected him
nevertheless.
Aunt: Safiya
Wife: Khadija, 15 years Muhammad’s senior.
Children:
2 sons died in infancy.
Kasem ibn Muhammad
Taher ibn Muhammad
4 daughters, two of whom married future caliphs.
Ruqayyah bint Muhammad
Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad
Zainab bint Muhammad
Fatimah: given in marriage to Muhammad’s cousin
Ali bin Abu Taleb when she was 12 years old.
Children of Maria:
İbrahim ibn Muhammad
29.4
Muhammad’s Appearance
Muhammad was sturdy and thickset, of medium height, with heavy shoulders and a thick black curling beard. He was beetle-browed, and long black silken lashes, which he painted with kohl, fell over eyes which were very large, dark and piercing, and often bloodshot. His skin was rosy, “soft as a woman’s” and he had a Roman nose, thin and aristocratic, with flairing nostrils. He had dazzling white teeth, but was gap-toothed towards the end of his life. When he laughed, which was often, he opened his mouth wide, so that the gums were visible, and when he spoke, he turned his whole body, not only the head. It was a good head, with a high forehead and a little too large for the body, and his thick hair glistened and fell in waves to his shoulders. What people remembered most was the sweetness of his expression, and sudden opening of the enormous eyes... Of his voice they say it was very low and deep, but when he shouted, it was like a blare of trumpets, frightening everyone in sight... and with that strange quick walk of his he resembled more than ever a bull about to charge. His hair never turned grey, but was thick and lustrous at the end as in his youth.
Dr. Abraham Sarker, Understand My Muslim People, p. 41.
29.5
Muhammad’s Revelation
-
Muhammad had seizures, during which he sweat vigorously
during revelations, according to his wife Aishah. Bells
rang in his ears. He became upset, and his face changed.
‘Umar ibnu’l Khattab tells that Muhammad shivered, his
mouth foamed, and he rared like a camel.
-
Revelation came in dreams.
-
Inspiration came in visions.
-
Sometimes he saw an angel in the form of a young, tall man.
-
At other times he saw actual angels (42:51)
-
During one evening (known as the Mi’raj) he received his revelation as he crossed the “seven heavens” to receive the revelation.
-
Allah spoke to him from behind a veil (42:51).
From Bukhari
Bukhari.....(The Prophet added), “The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and again asked me to read,
and I replied, ‘I do no know how to read.’ Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and asked me again to read, but again I replied, I do not know how to read (or, what shall I read?). Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me and then released me and said, “Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot. Read! And Your Lord is Most Generous... (unto)... that which he knew not.’(V. 96:5)” (Vol. 9, Book 91 no. 6982.)
Khadija told Muhammad what Waraqa had said, lessening Muhammad’s anxiety. Then Waraqa gave the new prophet a warning:
“I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out.” Allah’s Messenger asked, “Will they drive me out?” Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, “Anyone (man) who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should remain alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly.” (Bukhari, Vol. 1, Book 1, no.3)
From Ibn Ishaq
Muhammad returned to
Khadija in tremendous distress. According to
Aisha: “Then Allah’s Messenger returned with that (the Revelation), and his heart severely beating; (and the) muscles between his neck and shoulders were trembling till he came upon Khadija (his wife) and said, ‘Cover me!’ The covered him, till his fear was over, and after that he said, ‘O Khadija! What is wrong with me? I was afraid something bad might happen to me’ Then he told her all that had happened. And he repeated to her his initial fears: “Woe is me poet or possessed.” He meant “poet” in the sense of one who received ecstatic, and possibly demonic, visions.
Khadija appeared to have more confidence in Muhammad than he did in himself. She then went to see
Waraqa and told him what Muhammad had told her he had experienced in the cave of Hira. Waraqa exclaimed: “Holy! Holy! Verily by Him in whose hand is Waraqa’s soul, if thou has spoken to me the truth, O Khadija, there hath come unto him the greatest Namus (that is,
Gabriel) who came to Moses aforetime, and lo, he is the Prophet of this people. Bid him be go good heart.”
Robert Spencer,
The Truth About Muhammad, pp. 42-43. From Ibn Ishaq, p. 106.
Then Waraqa kissed the new prophet on the forehead and bid him farewell. (Ibn Ishaq, 107)
As a final test of his prophethood, Khadija asked Muhammad, “O
son of my uncle, are you able to tell me about your visitant, when he comes to you?” When Muhammad told her that he could, she devised a sure-fire way to tell if the spirit was good or evil:
So when Gabriel came to him, as he was wont, the apostle said to Khadija, “This is Gabriel who has just come to me.” Get up, O son of my uncle,” she said and sit by my left thigh.” The apostle did so, and she said, “Can you see him? “Yes” he said. She said, “ Then turn round and sit on my right thigh.” He did so and she said, “Can you see him?” When he said that he could she asked him to move and sit in her lap. When he had done this she again asked if he could see him, and when she said yes, she disclosed her form and cast aside her veil while the apostle was sitting in her lap. Then she said, “Can you see him?” And he replied, “No.” She said, “O son of my uncle, rejoice and be of good heart, by God he is an angel and not a satan.”
Robert Spencer,
The Truth About Islam, p. 44, from Ibn Ishaq, p. 107.
29.6
Are there any prophetic verses in the Bible which “predict” or “foretell” the coming of Muhammad?
Deuteronomy 18:15-18.....The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken... I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth...
Mark 1:6-9.....John said, “There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and loose... he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
John 1:21-30.....John said, “I baptize with water; but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not. He it is who,
coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to loose.
John 5:31.....If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
John 14:16-17.....And I pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive... he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:26.....But the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said unto you.
Acts 3:19-23.....And he shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you, Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the age began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord, your God, raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall you hear...
2 Corinthians 13:1.....In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
--------------------------------------------------------------
A’raf 7:157.....Those who follow the messenger, the prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they find described in the Torah and Gospel which are with them... He will relieve them of their burden and the fetters that they used to wear.
Saf 61:6.....Jesus, son of Mary, who said: ‘O Children of Israel; I am the messenger of Allah to you, confirming that which was revealed before me in the Torah (Books of Moses) and bringing good tidings of a messenger who will come after me, whose name is Ahmed.
29.7
The Verses in Which Muslims Think that They Find
Prophecies Concerning Muhammad