A WITNESS TO ISLAM (D. JOHNSON)

 “A Witness to Islam” 

 The history, doctrines and ethics of Islam are explicitly linked to its founder, Mohammed, a Arab trader born in 570. In the year 610 Mohammed is said to have received a series of ecstatic visions beginning with what he believed to be the angel Gabriel who told Mohammed that 1) all the religions on earth were now corrupt, 2) he was to proclaim the worship of the one true God, named Allah and, 3) he was to receive and record the “true words of Allah” and bring people back to the straight path. (Quran 96:1-5). In the year 622 Mohammed left his home of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula traveling west to the city of Yathrib, (later renamed Medina) and the date of his arrival there became the basis of the Muslim calendar. 

Six key doctrines constitute the worldview of Islam.1 

1) God. Islam believes that there is one God called Allah, who is the creator, lawgiver and judge of the universe. Allah is a singular entity and although transcendent has no cohort which is militantly and repeatedly affirmed by Islam. 

2) Angels and demons. Islam believes in the reality of finite, immaterial beings which are under Allah’s control. Two angels keep track of man’s good and bad deeds which will be recounted on the Day of Judgment (Quran 50:17-18; 53:5-10; 81:20). There are also spiritual beings known as the jinn, both good and evil which supposedly can influence everyday outcomes. The chief evil spirit in the Islamic belief system is known as Shatan (Satan). 

3) Prophets. Allah inspires prophets to declare his messages to humanity. Prophets include the first man, Adam, Moses, David, John the Baptist as well as Jesus whom it calls Isa. The last prophet is considered to be Mohammed himself, “the seal of the prophets” (Quran 33:40). The Quran is considered to be Allah’s final revelation which Mohammed received over a 22-year period. Another set of writings known as the Hadith depicts events from the life of Mohammed and while not as important as the Quran itself are authoritative in matters of Islamic doctrine. 

4) The holy books. Muslims accept the Torah (Taurat), the Psalms (Zabur), and the Gospel (Injil) in addition to the Quran as divinely inspired holy books, but the Quran is the final authority. Where there are contradictions, the Quran is considered correct and the Bible in error. 

5) The final judgment. Almost every chapter of the Quran refers to the last judgment of Allah and speaks more often of hell than of paradise. If the angels have kept score of man’s deeds accurately and man’s good deeds outweigh his bad deeds then he may hope for paradise as a reward but due to the sovereignty of Allah there is no certainty in this outcome. Only if man dies in jihad (defined as a campaign in defense of the Islamic faith) is he guaranteed a place in the “Garden of Pleasure” (Quran 56:12-39). 

6) Divine decrees and predestination. The Muslim relationship to his Creator can be likened to that of a slave to his master. There is no personal relationship with the Creator in the sense of Judaism or Christianity and petitionary or intercessory prayer does not exist in the Islamic sense of the concept. Rather prayer in the Islamic sense involves reciting parts of the Quran and invoking Allah’s power, but does not include personal requests that affect his will.2 Frequently one will encounter the term muqtub (meaning it is written), which underscores the fatalistic view of Islam that all events in life are pre-scripted by Allah. 

Contrary to popularly held views, Islam does not mean “peace” in the Arabic language but rather in the conventional sense it means “surrender”. “To the Muslim it evidences his position in the religion – he is willingly surrendered to the rites, rituals and practices of the religion.”3 In the modern sense, the term Islam may be likened to being in compliance with a set of complex regulations. 

The Five Pillars of Islam upon which these doctrines rest consist of the following:4 

1) The creed (kalima) must be recited by the convert. “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his final prophet.” 

2) Prayers (salat) must be offered five times per day in a strictly prescribed fashion while facing Mecca. 

3) Alms (zakat) equivalent to one-fortieth of one’s income must be given to the cause of Islamic jihad – or advancement of the faith. 

4) Regular fasting must take place, especially during the month of Ramadan. 

5) A pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) must be made once during the life of a Muslim. 

The concept of surrender takes on a much different meaning when applied to the non-believer (kafir) who must be subjugated by all means under Islamic law – either voluntarily or by force. The Islamic system of beliefs, governed by Islamic law (sharia) dictate regulations for all aspects of daily life for both the believer and non-believer including dress, diet, work, home and politics, and as such Islam is completely theocratic. Democracy, as it has come to be understood in the west cannot coexist with Islam; they are mutually exclusive concepts. 

Islam in a Pluralistic World 

In most Muslim countries non-Muslims may not marry Muslim women but must allow their daughters to marry Muslim men. Non-Muslims are prohibited from sharing their religious beliefs or proselytizing to Muslims. Where Christian churches exist they are not allowed to build or expand their properties and are prohibited from ringing church bells. These stringent set of rules generally set forth in the Hadith and enforced to varying degrees throughout the Islamic world make it easy to understand why the Christian church in the Middle East has declined both in number and in influence and adopted a posture of basic survival. 

Initially Islam was a distinctively Arab phenomenon and while it was not a strategic objective of the conquerors that indigenous populations accept and adhere to Islam, it was expected that Islamic law be followed and that political power be held by Muslims. While Islam recognized the established religions of Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity and allowed freedom of worship, Islamic governance insisted on payment of a special tax called a jizya in order to exercise that freedom. This pragmatic and liberal attitude stemmed from the fact that in the wake of its rapid spread, vast regions falling under Islamic dominion were inhabited by a large number of Christians and others who could not be controlled by a relatively small number of Muslims. “One reason for the Muslim success was the fact that the Byzantine Empire, which ruled over Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt, regarded some of its Christian subjects as heretics and tried to convert them, often by force, to its own orthodoxy. Under Muslim rule, the various Christian confessions in the East could develop free of any religio-political influence.”5 This explains the willingness of many Christian leaders to submit to Islamic rule and break with the Byzantines. 

The Sects of Islam 

The rapid Islamic expansion resulted in an internal conflict that led to the formation of two sects, the Sunni and the Shia beginning soon after Mohammed’s death in 632. Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, claimed the right to succession based on kinship. When Abu Bakr, the father-in-law of Mohammed became the caliph, or successor to the prophet, Ali reluctantly accepted the choice, but a group of his followers known as shi’at Ali (or the party of Ali), remained loyal to him and subsequently fought a number of opposing groups, primarily in what is modern day southern Iraq. In 661 Ali was killed and the Muslim governor of Damascus, Mu’awiya seized power and founded the first Islamic dynasty known as the Umayyads. With Islamic unity gradually unravelling in Mesopotamia the Umayyads appointed a series of harsh and ruthless governors to the province which, in turn spawned a continuous cycle of revolt culminating in an uprising in the city of Kufa in 680. The leaders of the revolt sought to enlist the help of Mohammed’s grandson, Hussein with his prestigious genealogy to lend legitimacy and leadership to the revolt. Before Hussein’s caravan arrived, however, it was attacked by a superior force of Umayyads on the plain of Kerbela in modern day southern Iraq. Hussein and his party were slaughtered but the incident had far-reaching religious and political consequences. Hussein’s followers maintained then, as they still do, that he made the journey knowing that he would be martyred – a martyrdom for the sins of all mankind. Furthermore this martyrdom solidified the beliefs of Hussein’s followers, now known as the Shia, that all political power outside the bloodline of Mohammed is illegitimate, a belief embraced today by a majority of Shiite believers. 

Another important dogma of Shiite Muslims is that every true Muslim needs the guidance of Mohammed through his descendants, the imams, in order to achieve eternal salvation. Most Shiites believe that there were twelve imams and that the last of these was living in secret and would return someday as the Mahdi (messiah), and when he appears he will usher in a 1,000-year period of peace and justice. 

Jihad: the Muslim Ethic of War 

From the beginning Islam was more than a religion but primarily a means and philosophy of government. Commerce, justice, diplomacy and war were built into the bedrock of religion.6   Islam is a scrupulously monotheistic faith and a radical response to the paganism that dominated the Arab culture of its time. Unlike Christian leaders who tried to reconcile wealth, prestige and power with Christ’s life of poverty, the Muslims had a religious leader who was a wealthy merchant and this wealth helped to raise and finance an army with which war could be waged first on towns throughout Arabia and later on those throughout the Near East. These wars became known as jihad. 

To understand jihad one must understand the bipolar Muslim worldview. The Muslim sees the world divided into two spheres; the Dar al harb (world of war) and Dar al salaam (world of peace or Islam). Dar al harb comprises those parts of the world that have yet to be conquered by Islam and Dar al salaam are those regions of the earth populated by infidels. One of the goals of Islam is to continually wage war against the Dar al Harb to bring it into submission to Islam. 

“Fight those who believe not in God…such men as practice not the religion of truth…until they pay tribute out of hand and have been humbled”(Quran 9:29). 

As one of the principles of Islam jihad is the perpetual obligation on all believers, both individually (al jihad al-akbar, the greater jihad) to struggle against unbelief, and collectively (al jihad al-asghar, the lesser jihad) against unbelievers. Soldiers who died in jihad were considered martyrs of the faith and their death on the battlefield constitutes an automatic admission into a sensual paradise. Some Muslims will wish to take part in these aggressive campaigns against non-Muslim neighbors; all Muslims are required to support them with money and approbation.7  Contrary to some who assert that jihad is a defensive war only, “most authorities held that the obligation of jihad did not lapse until all the world was brought under the sway of Islam. 

The Christian Ethic of Just War 

When Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, Greco Roman tradition confronted the Judaic tradition of warfare waged for faith and divinely ordained freedom. This mix of tradition brought forth a set of principles of warfare by which Christians could fight and be regarded as holy. The identification of the Christian church with the Roman state made the ideas of pax Christi and pax Romana synonymous.8  Eusebius as both apologist and historian reconciled Christian pacifism and duty to the state with the distinction between clergy who were exempt from military duty and laypersons who were encouraged to wage just wars for the Christian empire. Thus the interests of the state and the church became united in the same way as the ancient Israelites. The collapse and dissolution of Roman institutions in the fifth century could have undermined this argument if not for the work of Augustine of Hippo who combined some classical and biblical doctrines to arrive at similar principles outside of the Roman context. Augustine’s argument hinged upon the concept of sin, which not only caused war but could be combatted by just war. To Augustine a just war depended on a just cause and the Christian concept of righteous intent. He agreed with Aristotle that the ends or purpose of war was to achieve peace. With Cicero he argued, “It is the injustice of the opposing side that lays on the wise man the duty of waging war.”9

From Augustine’s arguments one can identify four essential characteristics of a just war. A just war requires cause; its aim must be defensive of for the recovery of rightful possession; legitimate authority must sanction it; those who fight must be motivated by right intent. Even though the act of war is sinful, it could be a means to promote righteousness and help victims of injustice. With this simple argument, Tyerman notes that Augustine had moved the justification for violence from the law books to the liturgies, from the secular to the religious. This fusion of the secular and religious concepts of war became in the context of the times, holy war, and an expression of Christian vocation similar to monasticism. With the sanctioning of clergy the waging of war could bring spiritual reward. 

Conclusion 

Americans in particular struggle to accurately understand and assess the truth claims of Islam within the marketplace of ideas, given moral and religious relativism and the decay of objective truth in culture. There is tremendous pressure in American culture to be non-judgmental and affirming when it comes to religious particularities. Rather than attempting a rational evaluation of religion one should cultivate a benign indifference to religious diversity. This is especially the case with Islam where tensions are already so high.10 

The difficulty for the Christian attempting to begin a conversation with Islam is the Muslim’s view of the Bible. Muslims believe the original teachings of Jesus have been corrupted by the subsequent teachings of the apostle Paul, therefore to mention the Pauline epistles to Muslims is futile. Muslims believe the apostle John was infected with Greek philosophy, so John’s Gospel to the Muslim adherant is largely suspect. Staying within the purview of the synoptic gospels at least enables the Christian a starting point to engage in a gospel message to Muslims. 

Given the erroneous claims of Islam regarding Christ and the historical reliability of the Bible, there is no reason to deem the Quran as divinely inspired. “But the case against Islam includes not only the historical reliability of the biblical documents but also an understanding of Christianity as a conceptual system that better explains the salient aspects of reality”11  A few contrasts, in particular are worth noting. First, the human condition is not one of mere weakness and ignorance of the law, but of radical depravity and corruption. (Rom. 1:18-32). If humans are born innocent, as Islam teaches, why then is the world so full of evil and corruption – particularly the world of Islam, or Dar al harb? The Christian faith affirms that man, created in God’s likeness has been horribly defaced by sin and needs the rescue and salvation of God himself through Jesus Christ. Unlike Islam, which teaches salvation through works, the Christian Gospel teaches that good works emerge from faith in Christ (James 2:14-26). Unlike Islam, Christians are not considered the mere slaves of God but rather His beloved friends (John 15:16). While it is true that Christians must submit to God in all things (James 4:7-8) this submission is based on the glory of God and His compassion towards his children expressed through the grace and love of Jesus. 

The Quran cannot bear the burden of proof regarding its counter-claims and distortions about God, Christ and salvation. Christians would do well to bear this is mind and remain confident and comforted in their faith. As they see the worldview of Islam expressed on their television screens in brutal and savage conquest, they should turn to the profound exegesis of 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV. 

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 

Darren Johnson 

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary 

9 November 8, 2014 

djohnson654@liberty.edu 

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NOTES:

1 Groothuis, Christian Apologetics, 601-603. 

2 Ergun Caner and Ed Hindson, The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, (Eugene: Harvest House, 2008) 279. 

3 Caner and Hindson, The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 279. 

4 Ibid. 

5 Hans Jorg Nissen, From Mesopotamia to Iraq : A Concise History, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009). 

6 Thomas F. Madden, The Concise History of the Crusades, (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), 3. 

7 Robert Irwin, "Islam and the Crusades, 1096-1699," In The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades, by Jonathan Riley-Smith, 217-259, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 227. 

8 Christopher Tyerman, God's War : A New History of the Crusades, (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006), 33. 

9 Ibid., 34. 

10 Douglas Groothuis,. Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case For Biblical Faith. (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011). 

11 Ibid. 

Bibliography and Further Reading 

Caner, Ed Hindson and Ergun. The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Eugene: Harvest House, 2008. 

Groothuis, Douglas. Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case For Biblical Faith. Downers Grove: IVP, 2011. 

Hitti, Philip K. The Arabs: A Short History. Chicago: Gateway Editions, 1970. 

Irwin, Robert. "Islam and the Crusades, 1096-1699." In The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades, by Jonathan Riley-Smith, 217-259. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. 

Nissen, Hans Jorg. From Mesopotamia to Iraq : A Concise History . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009. 

Open Doors International. Open Doors. March 30, 2014. http://www.opendoorsusa.org/about-us/our-mission (accessed March 30, 2014). 

Quran Explorer. June 28, 2014. http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/ (accessed June 28, 2014). 

Stark, Rodney. God's Battalions : The Case for the Crusades . New York: Harper One, 2009. 

The Central Intelligence Agency. The World Fact Book. March 11, 2014. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/le.html (accessed March 15, 2014). 

Tyerman, Christopher. God's War : A New History of the Crusades . Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.