There is no such thing as an Islamic Extremist? The truth about islamic jihad and beyond. Part Two

Here is part two of the post about islamic jihad.

Please note at the end of this there is a statement othose who believe in the message of Christ, and his love for all of us. As radical and tilted as I soundat times, there is not one day that goes by where I pray numerous times for the muslims of the world, enslaved by the chains of islam, to be freed from these bonds through Christ. Some of you may not agreewith this or take offense to this. I DO NOT mean to offend, but to educate, awaken as many as possible to the dangers inherenetly built into islam and sharia law. This as I mentioned in part one, was sent to me by a very good friend. The format translated out quite broken and mixed up. I have attempted to re-assemble this as well as I could. Thanks for your patience!

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The truth about islamic jihad and beyond. Part two

The Qur’an (Richard Bailey’s analysis)

o Four stages of Jihad found in the Qur’an

o Stage One, Muhammad in Mecca: No retaliation. Muhammad had few followers, little
military and political clout.

o Sura 73:10-11 – Be patient and bear with those who deny the truth

o Sura 52:45-48 – Leave them alone and wait for the Lord to punish them

o Sura 20:129-130 – be patient with evil things said by evil people

o Sura 23:96 – It is best not to retaliate evil for evil

o Sura 16:125-26 – Invite to the way of God only with gracious preaching and
arguments

o Stage Two  Late Mecca (pre-hijra): Defensive fighting permitted. Meccans retaliate
for Muhammad’s caravan raids. Muslims fight defensively.

o Sura 22:39-41 – Permission is given to go to war to defend themselves.

o Sura 22:58 – Rewards given for those who die in jihad.

o Stage Three Medina: Defensive fighting commanded and obligatory.

o Sura 2:190-194 (summarized) – Fight [imperative] defensively against an
attack from fellow Arab Meccan opponents until persecution is stopped and
Islam is established.

o Sura 8:12-18 (summarized) – Cut the necks and fingers of those who oppose
God and Muhammad and never turn your backs

o Sura 8:67-69 (summarized) – Keep killing and do not take prisoners until the
land is subdued. You should not fight to get material goods, but Allah
forgives your mistake this time.

o Sura 47:4-6, 15 – Cut their necks, subdue them, then be generous. Martyrs
will receive paradise where there are rivers of water, milk, wine, and honey,
plus abundant fruit.

o Stage Four Later Medina: Offensive Fighting commanded. Muhammad strong both
politically and militarily. All out offensive launched to invade and force convert others
to Islam.

o Sura 9:19-22 – Jihad is greater than any other service, and of the highest
rank in the sight of God

o Sura 9:29-31 – Fight against Christians and Jews until they are subdued,
because God’s curse in on them

o Sura 9:38, 39, 41 – Don’t avoid fighting, but fight with whatever you have.
Otherwise God will punish you with serious punishment.

o Sura 9:81-96 – Those who are able to fight but do not want to fight are
rejected of God. Those unable are forgiven.

o Sura 9:123 – Fight the unbelievers around you

o Sura 5:36-38 – Death or torture to those who oppose the Apostle.

Criticisms of Jihad

• Historically, Christianity has undergone considerable scrutiny and been the
subject of numerous critical analyses.

• Critical analysis of Islam is a recent development. Historically, little critical
thought has been devoted to the claims of the Qur’an, Hadith, Islamic law, and
other aspects of Islam.

• When examined critically, Jihad is incoherent: it just doesn’t make sense, and the
arguments put forth by those who try to defend jihad fail critical thought.
Comparison to Christian Crusades

o Muslim: “You Christians have no grounds on which to criticize the Jihad. After all,
you have your Crusades.”

o Paul Fregosi: “History has largely bypassed the Muslim attacks on and
invasions of Europe that lasted from the seventh to the twentieth
centuries, but has remained transfixed on the Christian Crusades to the
Holy Land that lasted only from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries.
We could say that the historical perspective here is gravely out of focus.”

o Muslim: “You Americans are nothing but land-grabbing Imperialists, intent on
“Westernizing” the world.”

o Fregosi: “When accusing the West of imperialism, Muslims are obsessed
with the Christian Crusades but have forgotten their own, much grander
Jihad. In fact, they often denounce the Crusades as the cause and
starting point of the antagonism between Christianity and Islam. They are
putting the cart before the horse.”

o Bat Ye’or: “Analysts deliberately mislead the public by using the Crusades
in order to create a sense of moral equivalency between Christianity and
Islam and to calm European concerns about jihad. They ignore, of course,
that jihad, as an ideology and a praxis, was unremittingly active in Asia,
Africa, and Europe four centuries before the Crusades.”

o Scope of Jihad vs. Crusades:

Crusades – limited response (~200 years) to recapture land taken by Muslims which was previously occupied by Christians. Jihad – ongoing offensive to occupy and take lands not previously the domain of Islam.

o Fregosi: “The Jihad has affected and engulfed far more countries than the
Palestine-bound Crusades. The Crusades, eight in number, were
concentrated in the Holy Land and all took place between the years 1096
and 1270, not quite two hundred years in all. The Crusaders wanted to
establish themselves in the Holy Land, formerly Christian. Islam’s motives,
through Jihad, were far grander.”

o Any attempt to compare Jihad and the Crusades must also include a legitimate
and honest look at the example set by the founders of each religion: Muhammad
and Jesus Christ. Does the behavior of each man reflect the teaching of each
religion?

o Jesus taught a message of love, tolerance for sinners, patience with the
impatient, sympathy for those who would scorn him and ridicule him.

o Jesus was never violent, never advocated the murder of anyone,
especially those who opposed him.

o In light of Jesus’ teaching and his example, the Crusades are an anomaly—
they do not fit within the framework of the Biblical teaching of how one is
to treat one’s adversary.

o Muhammad taught hate and contempt for one’s adversaries.
Example after example can be found in his biographies where he
ordered the murder of those who dared insult him through poetry,
or sing songs which derided him.  Anger, vengeance, and hatred for
one’s enemies were part and parcel of Muhammad’s words and his
example. We find the teaching and example of Muhammad to be
perfectly in line with jihad.

Fregosi: “Muslims who kill are following the commands of Muhammad, but
Christians who kill—and there are many—are ignoring the words of Christ.
Therein perhaps lies one of the basic philosophical differences between
Islam and Christianity.”

Bat Ye’or: Numerous “conquests took place within the framework of the
common ideology of jihad and the administrative and juridical apparatus
of the shari’a.” In other words, jihad is woven into and made a component
part of Islamic law; in contrast, the Crusades of Christianity were outside
the norms of Christian teaching.

Abrogation of Qur’an

o Sura 2:106 – “Such of Our revelations as We abrogate or cause to be forgotten,
we bring one better or the like thereof.” Earlier revelation can be overruled, or
abrogated, by later revelation.

o This is important to understand, because moderate Muslims contend Islam is
“religion of peace” based on Sura 2:256: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.”

o This verse was revealed when Muhammad signed a peace treaty with the Jews of
Medina, shortly after migrating there. It was a mutual non-aggression and
assistance treaty. Remember, Muhammad had little political and military clout.

o In 9 A.H., after gaining nearly complete political control and an aggressive military
force, Muhammad received a “new” revelation outlawing polytheism and
abrogating the prior revelation, permitting him to break the prior treaty.

o Sura 9 coincides with this new, abrogated revelation. Thus, Sura 2:256 (Let there
be no compulsion in religion) is abrogated by:

o Sura 9:5 – “Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them”

o Sura 9:14 – “Fight them and Allah will punish them by your hands.”

o Sura 9:29 – “Fight those who believe not in Allah.”

o Sura 9:75 – “O Prophet! Strive hard against the Unbelievers and the
Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell.”

o Sura 9:123 – “O ye who believe! Fight the unbelievers who gird you
about, and let them find firmness in you.”

Conclusion:

Although the concept of no compulsion in religion was true in
Islam at one point, it has since been abrogated and is no longer
applicable. Since Sura 9 was the last Sura to be revealed to Muhammad,
and it abrogates all other earlier revelations, it is the last and current
revelation for how Muslims are to treat those who do not believe in Allah.

Concluding remarks

• The Challenge Statement reviewed: Remember, I made the radical statement,
which goes against common wisdom, that there is no such thing as an Islamic
extremist.

- There is no concept of "Fundamentalism" in Islam. The western media has
coined this term to brand those Muslims who wish to return to the basic
fundamental principles of Islam and mould their lives accordingly… a
practicing God fearing Muslim can neither be a fanatic nor an extremist.
(source: www.islamicinvitationcentre.com)

• I believe the case has been made, and the evidence is convincing.

- The Qur’an and Hadith teach jihad almost exclusively as warfare against
unbelievers.

- The idea of jihad as a spiritual struggle has no support in Islamic canonical
literature, and is only spoken of in the context of a Western audience.

- Muhammad provided the example of jihad to his followers by personally
participating in numerous battles to “convert” unbelievers to Islam.

Although Islam at one time allowed other religions to coexist, as in Sura
2:256, this has been abrogated. It is no longer acceptable for religions
other than Islam to exist, and the goal of Islam is to make Islam the
dominant religion worldwide.  The so-called extremists, then, are not
extremists at all. They are simply following the final revelation of Muhammad
and fulfilling the goal of the spread of Islam around the world, in Allah’s holy war.

• Paul Fregosi: “Muhammad, unlike Christ, was a man of violence; he bore arms, was
wounded in battle and preached holy war—Jihad—against those who defied the
will of God as revealed to him. This description of the Prophet may be
psychologically unacceptable to many devout Muslims but it is in line with
historical reality. Killing became part of the routine of the life of Muhammad the
warrior after he moved from Mecca to Medina in 622 and became a fighter in the
cause of Allah.

These things I have spoken to you, that
you should not be made to stumble. They
will put you out of the synagogues; yes,
the time is coming that whoever kills you
will think that he offers God service. And
these things they will do to you because
they have not known the Father nor Me.
- John 16:1-3

The Fear Factor

• Many Christians are intimidated the first time they try to speak with a Muslim,
particularly due to the violence seen committed against Christians by devout
Muslims who follow the example of Muhammad.

• No fear: 2 Tim. 1:7 For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love
and a sound mind (lit: self-control). We have no need to fear. This must be the
first hurdle to clear.

• If God does not give us a spirit of fear, then where in the 'hell' does it come
from?

Four considerations:

• Our God is infinitely more powerful than their God. I have no need to fear

• Jesus promised to be with me always, and His promises are sure. I have no need
to fear.

• I know for certain that my God will not take me home to be with Him until my
work for Him on this earth is completed. I have no need to fear.

• When my work here is done and it’s time for me to go home, why would I want to
stay around here any longer! I have no need to fear.

We have the answer to jihad. It is only through the love of Jesus that this so-called “waron terror” can be won; it is a spiritual battle requiring a spiritual response. Quite possiblyfor the sake of our world’s future, Muslims need to hear of Jesus and come to know himas their personal savior. It’s not our battle; the battle belongs to the Lord, but he asksus to participate as foot soldiers to bring the gospel of true peace to the world. Won’t you join me?