The Church and Islam
Evangelist Franklin Graham, son of the legendary Billy Graham, has characterized Islam as “a very evil and wicked religion. . .a religion of hatred, a religion of war.” In recent years, other prominent Protestant evangelists have made similar statements. It happens that quite a few popes have as well.
In the 14th century, Clement V bemoaned that in Christian lands one hears “the public invocation of the sacrilegious name of Mahomet”; in the 15th century, Callixtus III denounced Islam as a “diabolical sect.” Pius II warned against Muhammad as a “false prophet,” and Pope Eugene condemned “the abominable sect of Mahomet”; in the 16th century Pope Leo X portrayed the Muslims as replacing the light of salvation with “totally unyielding blindness”; and in the 18th century, Pope Benedict XIV castigated Christians who indirectly promote “the errors of Mohammed” when they take Muslim names in order to avoid taxation and other penalties by Muslim authorities.
And there was harsh criticism of Islam in past centuries by saints such as Thomas Aquinas, or John of Damascus, who called Islam “diabolical.”
“Evil”? “Diabolical”? Overly harsh allegations? Many of us know good individual Muslims. But can the religion they belong to be evil? Can we make a fair distinction between the goodness of the individual members and their religion?
Pope Benedict XVI touched on alleged “evil” in Islam very lightly in his famous 2006 lecture at Regensburg on the necessity of uniting reason and religion. He cited the example of a 14th century emperor’s view of Islam as irrationally violent and thus evil. This touched off a world-wide uproar and mayhem, concerning which then-Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, commented: “These statements will serve to destroy in twenty seconds the careful construction of a relationship with Islam that Pope John Paul II built over the last twenty years.” He added that such statements “don’t reflect my own opinions.”
But what does he make of past and current reports of Islamic atrocities? The 2015 World Watch List found 4,344 Christians killed for faith-related reasons and 1,062 churches attacked. The 2016 list documents 7,106 killed and 2,425 churches attacked. There are literally thousands of cases of violence against Christians and destruction of churches in Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, Africa, and elsewhere in the Muslim world.
Pope Francis is presumably well-informed about such events, but he comments in his Apostolic Address, The Joy of the Gospel, “Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalizations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.”
In taking this position, Francis, a faithful “son of the Church,” is echoing Vatican II. At the Council, Pope John XXIII, as part of his goal of “opening the windows of the Church,” wished the participants to reconsider the relationship of the Church to Judaism, avoiding theological and liturgical positions which had a history of contributing to anti-Semitism. There was no agenda at the outset for pronouncements about the relationship to Islam; but, as I mentioned in a previous column, some Fathers and theologians at the council, were anxious to include Islam in official documents related to “non-Christian religions.”
A significant factor behind this movement was the work of Louis Massignon (1883-1962), a Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. Massignon taught that we need a “Copernican revolution” in our approach to understanding Islam. We have to place ourselves in the center of the Islamic mindset, understanding Islamic spirituality, and conduct dialogues from that vantage point.
During the Council, one of Massignon’s disciples, the Egyptian Dominican theologian, Georges Anawati (1905-1994), actively “lobbied,” in conjunction with other council members, for positive statements about Islam in official documents. This group succeeded: Nostra aetate and Lumen gentium contain laudatory statements about Islam: “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Moslems,” an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, submitting “without reserve to the hidden decrees of God,” and sharing much with Christianity in basic beliefs and moral teachings.
But in view of the hateful attitude toward other religions shown throughout Islamic scriptures, as well as the massive numbers of murders and church-burnings and persecutions we’ve seen for decades now, was such praise simply wishful thinking? Condemnations of obvious features of Islam are almost non-existent in today’s Church.
Pope Pius XI published Mit brennender Sorge, an open critique of the German Reich and Divini redemptoris against Communism. Pope Pius XII chose to work persistently, but undercover, during his papacy, to defeat Nazism and save Jews. What if he, too, had published a bold condemnation of Nazism?
During Vatican II, the Soviet Union was a global scourge, and Our Lady of Fatima in extraordinary appearances at the outset of the Communist revolution had even warned the Church about Russia “spreading her errors throughout the world.” But incredibly there was not a whiff of criticism of Communism from the Council. What would have happened if Paul VI had strongly condemned the USSR, Leninism, and Marxism? Is diplomatic caution essential in papal pronouncements? Or should we follow the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I’s motto, Fiat justitia, pereat mundus, “let justice be done, even if the world perishes”?
And with regard to Islam now, an outright papal condemnation of the religion, such as uttered by popes from past centuries, we can be sure, would result in massive disturbances throughout the world – perhaps World War III. And such a condemnation might unfairly tar the moderate Muslims along with the extremists. But short of condemnation, continuous eulogizing is out of place. And as to “the religion of peace,” it’s time to take into account the traditional Muslim interpretation of “peace.” The world is divided into two “houses” – the House of Peace (Dar Al-Salaam) and the House of War (Dar Al-Harb). Only Muslims are within that first “house.
14. And from those who call themselves Christians, We took their covenant, but they have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. So We planted amongst them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection (when they discarded Allah’s Book, disobeyed Allah’s Messengers and His Orders and transgressed beyond bounds in Allah’s disobedience), and Allah will inform them of what they used to do.
15. O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Now has come to you Our Messenger (Muhammad ) explaining to you much of that which you used to hide from the Scripture and passing over (i.e. leaving out without explaining) much. Indeed, there has come to you from Allah a light (Prophet Muhammad ) and a plain Book (this Qur’an).
16. Wherewith Allah guides all those who seek His Good Pleasure to ways of peace, and He brings them out of darkness by His Will unto light and guides them to a Straight Way (Islamic Monotheism).
17. Surely, in disbelief are they who say that Allah is the Messiah, son of Maryam (Mary) . Say (O Muhammad ): “Who then has the least power against Allah, if He were to destroy the Messiah, son of Maryam (Mary), his mother, and all those who are on the earth together?” And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them. He creates what He wills. And Allah is Able to do all things.
18. And (both) the Jews and the Christians say: “We are the children of Allah and His loved ones.” Say: “Why then does He punish you for your sins?” Nay, you are but human beings, of those He has created, He forgives whom He wills and He punishes whom He wills. And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and to Him is the return (of all).
Quran chp 5
109. On the Day when Allah will gather the Messengers together and say to them: “What was the response you received (from men to your teaching)? They will say: “We have no knowledge, verily, only You are the All-Knower of all that is hidden (or unseen, etc.).”
110. (Remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection). “O ‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)! Remember My Favour to you and to your mother when I supported you with Ruh-ul-Qudus [Jibrael (Gabriel)] so that you spoke to the people in the cradle and in maturity; and when I taught you writing, Al-Hikmah (the power of understanding), the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel); and when you made out of the clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My Permission, and you breathed into it, and it became a bird by My Permission, and you healed those born blind, and the lepers by My Permission, and when you brought forth the dead by My Permission; and when I restrained the Children of Israel from you (when they resolved to kill you) since you came unto them with clear proofs, and the disbelievers among them said: ‘This is nothing but evident magic.’ ”
111. And when I (Allah) put in the hearts of Al-Hawarieen (the disciples) [of ‘Iesa (Jesus)] to believe in Me and My Messenger, they said: “We believe. And bear witness that we are Muslims.”
112. (Remember) when Al-Hawariun (the disciples) said: “O ‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)! Can your Lord send down to us a table spread (with food) from heaven?” ‘Iesa (Jesus) said: “Fear Allah, if you are indeed believers.”
113. They said: “We wish to eat thereof and to be stronger in Faith, and to know that you have indeed told us the truth and that we ourselves be its witnesses.”
114. ‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), said: “O Allah, our Lord! Send us from heaven a table spread (with food) that there may be for us – for the first and the last of us – a festival and a sign from You; and provide us sustenance, for You are the Best of sustainers.”
115. Allah said: “I am going to send it down unto you, but if any of you after that disbelieves, then I will punish him with a torment such as I
Quran chp 5
@madifjan
also read
Is Black Magic Real? article by Ali Sina on this site.
Mad Fijian. You claimed you read the two Bibles of the Christians cover to cover ‘like a text book’ . Then you inferred that Christianity was the inspiration for Islam’s violence. You closed by making some remarks that convey the impression that you have no clue as to the structure and import of what you read ‘like a textbook’ .
Let me begin by stating Christians have only one Bible not two. There are two parts to this book – The Old Testament and The New Testament.
The Old Testament you would have noticed, if you ‘read it like a textbook’ is essentially a collection of stories, legends and fables – some historical, some allegorical – of the Jews. Being such it has to contain all manner of human foibles including love, hate, sex, violence. However, there are no injunction for present day Christians to emulate the doings or examples of the characters in the OT. In fact the words Christian or Christianity does not even appear there. Christians are of course free to draw from the good and abjure the bad just as you would from any story you read . The OT is Purely Descriptive account of Jewish folklore for the Jews. Not sure if even the Jews take it seriously.
This is why you rarely find Christians engaging in violent Jihad, conversions by force or hell bent on imposing biblical laws on non-Christians. But did Mohammad draw inspiration from this when compiling his Koran- of course!
It is also the setting from which the New Testament can be understood – akin to knowing darkness to appreciate the light.
Now the reason why a section of the world community call themselves Christians is because they are followers of the teachings of Christ. You need to get this point straight : THE ARE CALLED CHRISTIANS BECAUSE THEY ARE FOLLOWERS OF THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST. And these teachings are found in the NEW TESTAMENT. These teachings are Prescriptive for Christians. Meaning they are required to order their lives according to the teachings found therein.
Would you care to point out from the New Testament, which you ‘read like a text book’ where it orders its followers to take up arms against non believers, kill for apostasy, force conversions, stone adulterers, diminish womankind or treat unbelievers as most vile of creatures or other unsavory things which you accuse Christianity of being the inspiration from which Mohammad drew.
The unbiased nature of your ‘read like a text book’ scholarship becomes evident when you foist everything from the Old Testament on Christians and dismiss the central figure of Christianity – Jesus, his examples and teachings, as mere fables and myth.
@madifjan
Read this book “The struggle for the soul of the west” and read the words of the author below.
The nexus is because they both are anti-Christian. I am surprised how you equivocate Christ with ISIS.
Kilpatrick: I use the word “atheism” in the title as shorthand for both atheists and militant secularists, most of whom tend to be on the left. Many Christians have awakened to the fact that they are in a cultural struggle with secular leftists, but far fewer have come to the realization that they are also in a civilizational struggle with Islam. Fewer, still, are aware that, as you point out in United in Hate, the left has formed a tacit alliance with radical Islam against the West.
Of course, Christians aren’t the only ones who are threatened by Islamic expansion. All non-Muslims are. But in the West, Christianity has traditionally been the focal point of resistance to Islamization. Unfortunately, Christianity in the West has been weakened both by secular attacks and by self-inflicted wounds. As a result, Christians in the West are failing to stand up for their cultural heritage. In fact, many fail to realize that their culture is under attack.
But without Christianity you are left mainly with philosophies of relativism, skepticism and materialism—philosophies that have proved themselves incapable of resisting Islamization and, in fact, serve to enable its spread. You can see this most clearly in Europe where the decline of Christianity has been accompanied not only by the rise of secularism but also by the rise of Islam. With the loss of faith has come a loss of meaning and the loss of a sense among Europeans that they have anything worth defending. The loss of faith is also one of the main factors accounting for Europe’s population loss. In other words, the decline of Christian faith in Europe created a spiritual vacuum and a population vacuum, both of which Islam was quick to fill.
While Muslim leaders and radical secularists are fully engaged in the struggle for the soul of the West, many Christians seem unaware that they are under attack from two sides. They need to wake up before it’s too late.
Ron again you talk gibberish not a dime of logic in your arguments. It’s like talking to a brick wall. Stay brainwashed dude.
Peace Bro!
The triune God as depicted by Jesus is not the god of the Koran or Muslims. The god of Koran and Muslims is the god (satan) which will make you hate Christ, disbelieve in salvation through Christ and keep you away from truth.
So even if one becomes an atheist or non-Christian you will hate Christ and by extension his followers and you will find common ground with Anti-Christians. That is why majority of secularists, atheists all vote or support Islam and hate Judeo-Christianity and vote or support non-Christian issues.
Jesus preached love, peace and salvation and He is the way, the truth and life.
Thanks Ron. It is a good read
Ron as i said you will find reasons to ignore all the hatred and violence in the Bible. That is the hall mark of Christian’s and Muslims. I am not full of hate nor do i hate you or any person of organized faith.In fact i pity you. You are so brainwashed that you simply cant see beyond the bull that your Ministers and Priests teach you. I am merely pointing out logic to you.You have not debunked my suggestion that Islam is just another of shoot of Christianity. You have not debunked all the hatred and violence that i can point to in the Bible and believe me their are a lot of hate filled violence in the bible.Stoning adulterers, killing apostates,cutting of hands subjugating women, condoning slavery, the list goes on and on. These are all part of the bible and all Mohammad did was copy them and mold the rest to fit his ideology. “Walla” Islam is born. I ask you once again prove me wrong. I can show you verse by verse that your holy book is as violent if not more than the Quran. The quran has about 330 violent versus the Bible has 800 plus. Look i have looked at the evidence thoroughly and their may have been a person a sage or holy men called yoshua who preached good things about love etc. Most of the things he taught was borrowed from Buddhism 500 bc before.
His story may have inspired the Jesus character in the Bible but the legend of a virgin birth, son of God and all that is clearly borrowed from Egyptian and Greek mythology. Research it. My argument with Christians who hate Islam is simply this. Muslims are more Christians then you. In fact ISIS is more Christian then you because they are following most of the teachings of the Bible which also appear in the Quran. If you think i am wrong than prove me wrong. Show me for instance that women in Jesus eyes had equal statues as men. Just prove me wrong on this one point. I beg you.
Peace Bro!
My comment was @madifjan
Peace to all
Your comment reeks of hate. When you do not have Christ in you its easy to develop hatred.
You will hate Christians who are followers of Christ more than even Muslims or anybody else of another faith and you will justify it with all reasoning.
Voltaire said the Bible will not last 20 years or so but it is still the largest selling book (bestseller) every year since printing presses started centuries ago.
Christ never preached hate or violence but only love and He died and rose again. He did pay for all our sins, yours mine and everyone’s. If we accept him as your Saviour you will change and instead of words of hate you will speak words of love, peace and hope and salvation.
Bible is not written by God or dictated by God but by men inspired by God and records history both good, bad and evil done by men over the ages since creation.
I was business oriented and felt that Christians were foolish and naive. I accepted Christ after meeting and vetting out many people whom I met during my travels and saw how some of them changed their lives drastically after accepting Christ. Some of them underwent persecution but did not leave Christ.
Read this story below:
How a born blind Muslim guy masters reading, writing Arabic, Dari, Russian, German, English, Urdu, Pushtu and accepts Christ.
God bless and peace to you.
The Story of Zia Nodrat
In Kabul, Afghanistan, during 1964, a fourteen year old boy, Zia Nodrat, enrolled in the NOOR Institute for the Blind. He already knew the whole Qur’an by heart. In Western terms that would be like an English speaker memorizing the complete New Testament in Greek, since Arabic was not Zia’s mother tongue. He completed the six primary grades of the Institute in three years.
While attending his classes in Braille in the Institute for the Blind, Zia also mastered English. He did this by listening and repeating what he heard on a transistor radio. With the help of a small ear plug, he heard programs coming into Afghanistan from other countries. He eventually started asking questions about what he had heard, such as, “What do you mean by the substitutionary atonement?” He had heard such theological concepts during Christian radio broadcasts like the Voice of the Gospel coming from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Africa.
Finally, he shared with a few persons that he had received Jesus the Messiah as his personal Saviour. They asked him if he realized that he could be killed for this, since the Islamic Law of Apostasy for anyone leaving Islam is death. He answered, “I have counted the cost and am willing to die for the Messiah, since He has already died on the cross for me.”
Zia then became the spiritual leader of the few Afghan Christians. In the Institute for the Blind in Kabul, the students elected him as the president of their association. But the next year after it was known that he had become a Christian, he lost the election for this position. One of his Christian teachers told him how sorry she was that he lost. He replied, quoting the prophet John the Baptist who said of Jesus, “He must become greater, I must become less” (John 3:30). His goal in life was not to seek prominence for himself, but to be a humble servant of his Lord. Zia’s father said that before he had entered the Institute for the Blind, he had been like a cold and unlit piece of charcoal. After his experience there, he had become like a red hot, brightly burning coal.
Once he borrowed the English Braille copy of the Gospel of John. He opened it and read with his fingers. He then returned it and said that his question had been answered. When asked what his question was, he replied that in John 13:34 Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you that you love one another.” He wondered why the Lord Jesus called it “new,” since the commandment “love your neighbour as yourself” had already been given to Moses, as recorded in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus 19:18. But now he understood. He explained that until the incarnation of the Messiah the world had never before seen love personified. He went on to state that the Bible reveals that God is love, and that Jesus as God in human flesh is love incarnate. This was what made the mandate new. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you that you love one another as I have loved you.” In his perfect life Jesus has now given us a new model to follow.
Zia was the first blind student to attend regular sighted schools in Afghanistan. There he had a small recorder with which he taped everything his teachers said, so that he could go over it and learn it thoroughly. He thus became the number one student out of hundreds at his grade level. Those who failed in their classes were given a second chance to take examinations after the three month vacation. He studied the next year during this break and passed the tests. In this way he completed high school, finishing two grades each year.
Zia wanted to study Islamic Law so that he could defend Christians who might be persecuted for their faith. He therefore entered in the University of Kabul, from which he graduated with his law degree. He also studied Calvin’s Institutes on the side since he wanted to grasp the concepts of this Reformation leader.
The Christoffel Blind Mission in Germany gave the Institute for the Blind in Afghanistan an extensive library of Braille books in German. Since Zia wanted to read these, along with his other classes he went to the Goethe Institute in Kabul and learned German. As the top student there too, he won a scholarship to go to Germany to study advanced German. When the Germans found out that he was blind, they withdrew the fellowship since they did not have the arrangements or accommodations for a blind person. He asked them what he would have to do. They replied that he would have to travel alone and take care of himself. When he agreed to do that, they finally accepted him. While studying there with top students from Goethe Institutes around the world, he was number one in this advanced course as well.
Zia also translated the New Testament from Iranian Persian into his own Afghan Dari dialect. This was published by the Pakistan Bible Society in Lahore. Its third edition was published by the Cambridge University Press in England in 1989. He also travelled to Saudi Arabia where he won a memory contest on the Qur’an. The Muslim judges were so amazed and chagrined that a non-Arabic speaker had taken first space, that they also awarded another prize for the best Arab in the competition. Because different blind students like Zia had become Christians, in March of 1973 the Muslim government in Afghanistan sent a written order closing the two Institutes for the Blind, one of which was in Kabul and the other seven hundred miles to the west in Herat. All the expatriate teachers of the blind along with their families were ordered to leave Afghanistan within one week. As these dedicated teachers left, God gave them a promise from Isaiah 42:16, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”
The Muslim Government then destroyed the Christian Church building in Kabul, after previously having given permission to build it. President Eisenhower had requested permission for construction of this building from King Zahir Shah on his visit to Afghanistan in 1959, since a Mosque had been built in Washington, DC for the Muslim diplomats there, and Christian diplomats and other Christians needed a place to worship on a reciprocal basis in Kabul. Christians from nations all around the world contributed toward its construction. At its dedication, the cornerstone carved in beautiful Afghan alabaster marble read: “To the glory of God ‘Who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood’ this building is dedicated as ‘a house of prayer for all nations’ in the reign of H.M. Zahir Shah, May 17, 1970 A.D., ‘Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone’.”
When troops arrived and started knocking down the wall between the street and the Church property preparatory to destroying it, a German Christian businessman went to the mayor of Kabul, who had given the order, and said, “If your Government touches that House of God, God will overthrow your Government.” This proved to be a prophecy. The mayor then sent a letter to the congregation ordering them to give the Church for destruction, since that would mean that the Government would not have to pay compensation. They replied that they could not give it to anyone since it did not belong to them. It had been dedicated to God. They also added that if the Government took it and destroyed it, they would be answerable to God.
Police, workmen and bulldozers were sent to destroy the Church. The congregation, instead of opposing, offered them tea and cookies. Christians all around the world prayed and many of them wrote letters to Afghan embassies in various nations. Billy Graham and other world Christian leaders signed a statement of concern and sent it to the King.
On July 17, 1973 the destruction of the Church building was completed. That very night the Afghan Government responsible for the destruction was overthrown in a coup. Afghans who are quick to see omens in events say that Jesus the Messiah came down from heaven and overthrew the Government because the Government had overthrown His Church. It had been a Monarchy for 227 years. That night it became a Republic, under President Daoud. In 1978 this Government was toppled by a Communist coup, followed by the Russian invasion just after Christmas in 1979. Millions of Afghans had to flee their country as refugees. One of them was heard to say, “Ever since our Government destroyed that Christian Church, God has been judging our country.”
Under the Communists, the Institute for the Blind in Kabul was reopened and Zia was put in charge. He did a fine job of reorganizing it. Then pressure was brought on him to join the Communist party. He refused. One official told him that if he did not join, he might be killed. He replied that he was not afraid to be killed and asked the Communist if he were ready to die.
Finally Zia was arrested on false charges and put in the Puli Charkhi political prison outside of Kabul, where thousands were executed. There was no heat in the jail to protect the prisoners from the cold winter weather. He had to sleep on the freezing mud floor in his overcoat. A prisoner next to him was trembling with cold since he did not even have a jacket. Zia knew John the Baptist had said, “The man who has two coats should share with him who has none” (Luke 3:11). He took off his only coat and gave it to the neighbour. From then on, the Lord miraculously kept him warm every night. He slept as if he had a comforter over him.
In prison the Communists gave Zia shock treatments to try to brainwash him. The electric burns lefts scars on his head. But he did not give in. When he was offered the opportunity to study Russian in prison, he mastered this language also. The Communists finally freed him in December, 1985.
Following his release from prison Zia read Genesis 12: 1-3, in his Braille Bible, “The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I … will bless you; … and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ ” Zia felt God was calling him to leave Afghanistan to go as a missionary to Pakistan. He therefore got in touch with a friend, a blind beggar. He then dressed himself in rags. On their way out of the country, he let his friend do all the talking, thereby concealing his identity or detection from the soldiers. They thus were able to get through the Soviet check points along the main highway from Kabul. It took them twelve days to travel the 150 miles to the Khyber Pass and then on into Pakistan.
After Zia arrived in Pakistan, he was offered an opportunity to travel to the United States to study Hebrew since he was also working on a translation of the Old Testament into his Dari language. He declined, saying he had so much to do among the Afghan refugees that he could not leave. He started an Institute for the Blind for them. He learned the main language of Pakistan, Urdu, preaching in this language in Christian churches. He furthermore completed a book of New Testament stories in Dari for children.
On March 23, 1988, Zia was kidnapped by a fanatical Muslim group, Hisbe Islami, (“the Party of Islam”) and was accused of being a CIA agent because he knew English, a KGB or Khad spy because he knew Russian and an apostate from Islam because he was a Christian. He was beaten for hours with rods. A sighted person can brace and flinch when the blow comes. But a blind person cannot see the club coming and thus gets the full force, even like the torture the Lord Jesus Christ experienced when he was blindfolded and then struck (Luke 22:64). His wife and three daughters had been able to get out of Afghanistan and were with him in Pakistan at the time he was kidnapped. Soon after his wife gave birth to a beautiful boy who looks much like his father. No one knows whether Zia ever heard that he had a son.
The latest word, though not absolutely definite, is that Hisbe Islami murdered Zia. Before he was kidnapped, he had told a friend that if this party ever captured him they would kill him. This same party caught two Pakistani Christians taking relief items to needy Afghans and tortured them. Before releasing them, one of the captors stated, “We are not going to kill you the way we killed Zia Nodrat.” In addition, an Afghan news reporter on the Northwest Frontier of Pakistan claims to have evidence that Hisbe Islami murdered Zia in a cruel way.
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Hurnan Rights in article 13 states, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief.” The story of Zia is a story of infringement of human rights. Zia has been denied his freedom and has probably been martyred for his faith. Before his capture, he asked a Christian friend that if anything happened to him, his friend would take care of his family. The friend answered in the affirmative, not realizing that a short time later Zia would be kidnapped. He was able to arrange for Zia’s wife and two of his children to be brought to North America.
God does not force a belief system upon people. He has given them liberty to choose. Therefore what right does an earthly regime or group have to impose a certain belief system? Our prayer is that the new Government of Afghanistan will respect the freedom of religion which is basic to all other liberties. In the Afghan language, Dari, there is a popular Afghan proverb which substantiates this truth as it states the following in Dari, the main language of Kabul, “Isa’i badin khud, Musa’i badin khud.” (“Let the followers of Jesus practise their religion, and the followers of Moses theirs.”)
Jesus prophesied, “A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God” (John 16:2). After His resurrection, He commanded His followers, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). If Zia has been killed for the Messiah, he has gone on to his eternal reward. And all of like precious faith will one day see him again; as the Bible promises, “and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:17b). Then we will be able to learn the full story of Zia’s dedicated life.
Ron,
Even if i show you page by page verse by verse as to how dumb you Bible is you find a way to still argue so i wont. Any sane free minded person with an ounce of humanity in him or her will not follow the Bible as his or her moral compass. If you follow the Bible you are encouraged to be as violent and as barbaric as ISIS. i CAN SHOW YOU HUNDREDS OF VERSES FROM THE BIBLE WHICH ARE BARBARIC AND OBVIOUSLY WRITTEN BY MASOCHISTIC HEATHENS. IF INDEED THESE WERE THE WORDS OF YOUR GOD JESUS AND HE TURNS OUT TO BE TRULY THE SON OF GOD OR GOD THAN I AM TRULY SCREWED BECAUSE I FAILED TO WORSHIP A DEMON WHO WILL ROAST ME IN HELL SIMPLY FOR NOT BELIEVING IN HIM.
Do you know why Muslims become Christians more than anything else. Its because 80% of the crap you believe in is also in their belief system. They stole your religion and adopted it to suit them. Its familiar territory. The story is the same with new Muslim converts. The majority are former Christians. Its like swimming in the sea and in a river. You still swimming in water except the sea is salty. Its kinder hard to imagine a Muslim or a Christian praying to one of the Hindu statues. It almost never happens because its is just to different.
When i left Islam the first faith i explored was Christianity as i already new it to be quite similar to Islam and hence it was easy for me to understand. Imagine my horror when i found the origins of my former dumb faith impeded in Christianity.
You really need to read your Bible Ron. If you have read it and understood it and are still not appalled by it than men no one can help you.
All forces whether military, secularism, atheism, agnosticism, Buddhism, Hinduism, animism, Shintoism etc will find it difficult to defeat Islam because basically its an ideology with widespread subscribers who are unaware or not knowledgeable about its existential threat to its adherents more than to its non-adherents.
The only force which can defeat Islam is Christianity and that is by converting them with the love of Jesus. Christianity as taught by Jesus felled the Roman Empire and defeated the Thor and Zeus worshipping Vikings and Greeks and also the Barbarians and Gauls etc.
Imperialist Christian countries could wrest Indian Subcontinent, Islamic Far-East (Malaysia and Indonesia) and major parts of Asia and Africa from Islamic control wherein they(Muslims) had ruled and converted many of the HIndus, Buddhists, pagans, animists and idol-worshippers to Islam.
Ninety percent of Muslims who leave Islam actually convert to Christianity. The remaining mostly become atheist, and only a few adopt Buddhism, Hinduism etc.
So we know what has worked before and what will work again and what will work always. Christ is the answer and winning them with the love of Jesus and true Christianity is the only solution.
I think in our passion for criticism of Islam, we forget about something called tact and diplomacy. The pope is not in a position to be like Donald Trumpcos it could mean more terrorist attacks and Christian genocide in Muslim countries.
To be honest, as a former Muslim raised in the most Islamic country in the world, I actually pity Muslims and I get annoyed that non-Muslims immediately dub them as backward fools. They are not.
-Most Muslims are non-Arabs and don’t understand Arabic. Alot of the Quran and Hadith get lost in translation. So it sounds different in their respective language.
-Most Muslims have been indoctrinated from a young age. Even intelligent people can be indoctrinated into believing rubbish.
-Alot of Muhammad’s and his companions actions were never taught. Like the genocide of a Jewish tribe was something I never knew until I left my former country.
-Then you have that quack doctor, Dr. Zakir Naik, who are very good at making convincing arguments about the greatness of Islam.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries play a major in spreading terrorism. The Western countries are pandering to these countries. The way to defeat Islam is to cripple their economies. Verbal criticism will do nothing. Despite his anti-Muslim sentiment, Donald Trump has alot of business in the Middle East. How about his supporters demand that he close those businesses? How about boycotting businesses from the Gulf region? How about demanding that universities release where they getting their finances from and also force them to reject students from Saudi Arabia? How about boycotting people who do business in Saudi Arabia? How about switching to renewable energy and boycott fossil fuels? Or demand to know where the fuel came from and boycott any that comes from that region. That could bankrupt the Saudis.
We have a Muslim President, Barack Hussein Obama, and we have a Muslim Pope, Pope Francis I. Islam has won and Christianity has lost the battle! Case closed! Pope Francis has been enjoying the lavish and glamorous status of the celebrities at the expense of millions of Christians who are being murdered for telling the truth about the eternal message of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Francis and Barack Hussein Obama do not want the sufferings of Christians to be told and reported officially in order to appease the Muslims.
Barack Hussein Obama and Pope Francis are the modern-day messengers of the Devil, friends of the Muslim world, and ruthless enemies of the Christian nations.
Franklin Graham is right is what he said the Islam is “a wicked and evil religion.” One of the reasons that he is ,in part because of the violent and n murderous history of Islam which it’ violence and killing was in inspired by the Koran. As seen in this”holy book” of Islam, the Koran, in, for example 4:89.5:33. 9:5,111,123. 47:4. After all, Jesus taught ,”By their fruit ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:20. [K.J.V.] Another reason that Islam is “a wicked and evil religion.” is because it’s a deceitful religion that leads many people astray ,as in away from the Bible truth, by making unproven , unfounded and untrue and false claims.Such as the false claim that Christian and Muslims worship the same God. Furthermore,many times there have been and are a number of imams and other Muslim apologists for Islam, in America, who have made the claim that both the Christians and the Muslims worship the same God. Likewise, there have been quite a number of “Christian” pastors who have made this same claim. Nevertheless, there remains the question it that claim true and valid or is it a false and invalid claim? The reality is that the god of Islam, which is the god of the Muslims, is a single being. In contrast the God of Christianity is much more complex. In that the God Who the Christian worship is the Triune God. Who is one and only God is in composed of, by His Own Nature, the Trinity. The Trinity may be defined as “Within the essence of the one God there are Three distinct Persons. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Otherwise known as the Tri-Personal Nature of God. Matthew 3:13-17. Second Corinthians 13:14. Moreover, in the book entitled MAJOR BIBLE THEMES by Lewis Sperry Chafter in page39 in informs the reader that “Many believe the the doctrine of the Trinity in implicit in the use of the word Elohim ,as a name for God which is in a plural form and seems to refer to the Triune God.” Likewise, in the Christian magazine PERHAPS TODAY, November-December 2013.on page 8 about Genesis 11 it reads “In the beginning God [this is the plural noun Elohim, meaning ‘more than one’] created the heavens and the earth.” Furthermore, to give only a few examples of this Triune God of the Bible is that in Genesis 1:26 it teaches “”God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after our likeness…” The very next verse, 27, is further reads “So God made man in His own image is changes from the plural “Us” and “Our” to the singular “His.” If not at least a hint of the Trinity then there is an agreement error. In addition in the New Testament in Matthew 28:19 Jesus declared “Go ye therefore ,and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father ,and the Son and the Holy Ghost” [K.J.V.] That is in the “name” not “names” Furthermore the interworking of the Trinity together may be seen in that the Father sanctifies, First Thessalonians 5:23. The Son sanctifies Ephesians 5:26. Hebrews 2:11; 9:12,14; 13;12. The Holy Spirit sanctifies, Romans 15:16. Second Thessalonians 2:13. Likewise, this may be further seen in that the Father raised Jesus from the dead, Romans 10:9,10. The Son raised Himself from the dead, John 2:19-21. The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, Romans 8:11. In conclusion, claim that the Christian and Muslim believe in and worship the same god is totally false. For by the Bible as well as logic and reason the god of Islam is not the God of Christianity. Likewise, the God of the Bible is not the god of the Koran.