Understanding Islam And Its Radicals

I was completely numb as I watched the videos of the attack on September 11. As the attack was investigated and we learned that the perpetrators were Islamic terrorists, I could not shake the thought that something in their religion made these attacks seem legitimate in their eyes.

So I started, very cautiously, to look into what Islam stands for and what it considers important. I did not want to jump to conclusions. I wanted to know the truth. As a Christian and a serious student of the Bible, I am familiar with the bloody passages of the Old Testament. For this reason I proceeded with caution in my research. My goal was to discover the truth about Islam. My research did include some limited reading of the Qur'an (known in the West as the Koran), but it mainly consisted of reading and listening to people who were very knowledgeable of the religion.

First of all, in order to understand Muslims we need to know what they think of Allah, and we need to look at their worldview. We need to understand moderate Muslims, but we also need an understanding of the radical point of view.

Dr. Samuel Schlorff, an expert on Islam with Arab World Ministries, has written an excellent paper on the religion. He makes a scholarly comparison between Christianity and Islam. Much of the information used in this article regarding the history of Islam was drawn from this paper.

1. Allah is Absolutely Transcendent
Allah is unlike anything that exists. This means that Allah is completely mysterious. Muslims believe that they can know the truth about him, but they can't have any knowledge of him as a person. He is a distant god who lets only his will be known.

2. Divine Guidance
Muslims believe the Qur'an offers guidance for living life and it is usually referred to as "a guidance and mercy for believers." (Sura 27:77) Their law (the Shari'ah) consists of the Qur'an as well as other materials.

3. Islam is from Heaven
The Qur'an describes its revelation as a "sending down" of material from a heavenly being. Because it came in the Arabic language, it is referred to as a heavenly language. From this idea stems the thought that an Islamic community is of heavenly origin. Dr. Nabil Jabur was interviewed recently on Moody radio. He is the author of the book The Rumbling Volcano, which deals with radical Islam. He states that the Qur'an is comprised of recitations given by Muhammad, which Muslims believe came from Allah for specific situations. Thus, when Muhammad was experiencing a tranquil period in his life, the tolerant recitations came forth. When he was having problems with three Jewish tribes, the militant recitations came forth. The Qur'an teaches both peace and war.
Some verses dealing with tolerance are:
Sura 2:5-6 - There is no compulsion in religion.
Sura 5:82 - The nearest in affection to the believer are those who say we are Christian.
Dr. Jabur stated. "When only one side of the Qur'an is presented alone, that is not the truth."

4. A Community in Submission
The Islamic view of the world is that man is inherently good. If man is depraved by society, then any government can create a perfect society by enforcing Islamic law. Muhammad was the head of state of Medina, which Muslims believe was a perfect society. This form of Islamic government is considered by Muslims to be an example of living in true submission to divine law. This degree of submission is greater than any that exists outside of Islam. For Muslims such a community represents the kingdom of Allah on earth. They believe the future of Islam is to dominate the whole House of War (which is how they refer to the entire non-Muslim world) until it is controlled by an Islamic state. The ultimate goal is that the entire world be under Islamic law.

What does the word Islam mean? We have been told, that Islam is related to the Arabic word meaning "peace." This is partially accurate, except that the word means a specific kind of peace. A more accurate translation is "surrender" or "submission." It describes the calm that exists when a vanquished soldier lays down his arms in submission. Dr. Schlorff states, "The truth is that there is another side to Islam, a side that embraces violence 'in the way of Allah.'"

Sura 2:216 - Fighting is prescribed for you.
Sura 2:190-192 - Fight in the cause of god, those who fight you enslave them. Fight them until there is no more persecution and oppression and there prevails justice and faith in god.
Sura 9:5 - Fight and enslave infidels.

During his interview Dr. Jabur was asked what the typical Muslim would think of Osama bin Laden. Would they approve or disapprove of what he is doing? He stated that it would be possible for religious Muslims to have either opinion. Some are embarrassed by what bin Laden is doing. Others think that grievances which have existed for years have come to a head in a justified violent retaliation.

Dr. Jabur tried to illuminate the meaning of a phrase which is used by Muslims and which has not been explained to us. Jihad does not mean holy war. Jihad means "striving for god." It comes in three degrees: 1) Striving against sin in one's own life; 2) The act of motivating others to do good; and 3) Using violent means to stop a wrong act is justifiable if necessary. This third degree is the one with which we are most familiar.

After Muhammad died in Medina he was succeeded by four caliphs who ruled in his place. (A caliph is "one who comes after.") The leadership of Muhammad's Islamic society was divided. Sunnis accept that all four were legitimate. Shi'ites believe that only one, Ali, was the rightful successor. The result has been a division within the Muslim world pertaining to Islamic law and spiritual authority. That is why we do not have a single Muslim leader to whom the world can appeal to stand up and lead the Muslims of the world away from bin Laden.

Shortly after the Attack, Chuck Colson brought up some very interesting points on his radio show, Breakpoint. He stated that due to the lack of widely recognized Islamic leadership, bin Laden is attempting to unify the radical Muslims living in moderate Muslim states. He would like nothing more than to have them overthrow those states so that he can unify them and install himself as the leader of one large radical Islamic nation, and wage war against the West. As evidence of this, he pointed out that bin Laden has not shown much interest in the Palestinians in the past. Now he is speaking out in their behalf in order to gain their support.

Of course most Muslims do not support such violence as terrorism. However watching a Muslim country being bombed day after day might change the minds of even the most moderate and cause them to support bin Laden. Perhaps that is the plan: Goad Muslims into hating the West so much that anything goes. The Qur'an supports both violence and peace. They may think that they can use violence now and then have peace on their own terms later

The Islamic view of the world is that man is inherently good. If man is depraved by society, then any government can create a perfect society by enforcing Islamic law.

This explains why the Left is enamored of Islam: Islam's view of Man--that he is perfectible--and the function of Law--to force everyone to be perfect and conform to The Vision of the Anointed--is perfectly consistent with Communism, the Shining Path, Maoism, etc. The Christian view, that Man is damaged by Original Sin, and must be led toward virtue, but not restrained by force of law except when he becomes a vicious criminal, and that society will NEVER be perfect, and that most sins are outside the purview of the State, is anathema to Islam and all other Totalitarians. David Horowitz's main theme in his speeches is that you must understand that the Left has no hope of happiness in heaven. ALL their hope is pinned on creating the perfect society by force, in THIS WORLD. If you do not understand that ALL their hope is placed in this vision, you will never understand the rage and hatred they feel when Christians and orthodox Jews (neither of whom believe in human perfectibility) seem to stand in the way of the pursuit of this future state of perfection.

In Islam the emphasis is supposed to be on submission to the will of God, in Iraq the emphasis has been on submission to the will of Saddam. Rational Moslems know perfectly well that Saddam was acting in his own interests and not on the behalf of God. Saddam did far more harm to his fellow Moslems than anyone else.
This notion keeps resurfacing, that in taking on Saddam, we are attacking Islam. It's a false premise. Saddam was a despot, an evil man who put himself before God's will.
That ugly wolf wearing the ill-fitting sheep costume is still a wolf!

"Having said that, let's see what your evidence is for your statement that theocracies are more likely (than what) to abuse the people."

Well, for one thing, by their very nature, they view those who adhere to the State's religion as being "better" citizens than those who do not, and creates a situation where the State ennact laws, and enforces societal behavior based on the religious beliefs of the majority of the people, over the wishes or beliefs of the individual.

With the passing of time, it eventually becomes just the will of those who guide the Church, and those who guide the Church are not elected by the people.

"This notion keeps resurfacing, that in taking on Saddam, we are attacking Islam. It's a false premise. Saddam was a despot, an evil man who put himself before God's will."

That notion keeps resurfacing because someone is promoting it.

The Arab Nationalism propaganda machine, spearheaded by Wahabbi's, Al Yazeera, and even perhaps the French and German governments, are promoting the idea that the US is committing a criminal act by removing a criminal from power.

Are they the enemy as well?

"The Islamic view of the world is that man is inherently good. If man is depraved by society, then any government can create a perfect society by enforcing Islamic law."

I agree with your identification of the "Fatal Flaw" in that it agrees with God's Word regarding our inherent nature:

Sin entered God's perfect world when Adam and Eve gave in to the temptation offered by the Serpant, Satan. Since then, all mankind is born in sin - (Psa 51:5 NKJV) "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."

All men, since the Fall into sin, are spiritually dead in sins - (Eph 2:1-3 NKJV) "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, {2} in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, {3} among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

In our fallen state, we are inclined ONLY to evil - (Gen 6:5 NKJV) "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

(Gen 8:21 NKJV) "And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done."

(Rom 8:7 NKJV) "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be."

In addition, there is a fatal flaw of logic in the statement (highlighted by bold text). If man is inherently good, how can he be depraved by society that is made up of "inherently good" people?

Man is not inherently good.

I agree, but one has to be careful in definitions here. Evil in the Judeo/Christian tradition is defined as nothing but a perversion of good, or flawed good. This was first widely elucidated by St. Augustine. In other dualistic traditions--where they see evil and good in eternal struggle--evil has substance in itself.

The reason its important to define evil as perverted good, is that it reflects reality--every person has SOME partial good in them....and that doesn't contradict the idea that "Man is not inherently good" for we've already defined evil as "partially" good in that evil is perverted or twisted good.

I'm not sure, but a Moslem may agree with our definition of evil--the difference is (both with Jews & Moslems) they will say, by one's own unaided efforts you can become good, or at least better. Christianity though, has always said, that short of the empowerment of the grace of God (through Jesus & His work on the Cross) no one can ultimately do good--we are stuck in our "perverted or partial good" (or evil) ways.

The danger of Islam, if I read this article right, is that (like the secular ideologies of Marxism and Fascism) it is utopian--namely that through external means--a shari'a theocracy, people can be MADE good.

This is foolishness and more... Far more people have died to usher in "utopian" societies than the worst of less noble motivations.

Did you not read the article?

That's exactly what it says, but it points to radicals, specifically bin Laden, and explains WHY they do it. Not just some vast, faceless, nameless "they".

The article said:

Perhaps that is the plan: Goad Muslims into hating the West so much that anything goes.

I read that as saying WE are mounting this war to goad the Muslims into hating the west. My point is that there are large numbers of them that hate us anyway. My second point is that if we were mounting a war for the purpose of manipulating Muslim public opinion, the more logical approach would be to make them FEAR us. They seem to be of the opinion they can do anything to us and get away with it. They need to understand that's not the case.

In what I have read of the Qur’an, it seems to me that the actions of fighting, killing, etc. are called for as a reaction to aggression, and it further instructs Muslims to quit fighting once the aggressors have ceased fighting them, and yes Christianity is more of a passive religion, in a way advocating submission as does Islam. Christianity also instructs Christians to bring others to Jesus Christ so they may be saved.

Thanks for your response.

I am tired of trying to 'understand' radical Islamists. I have just come to accept "radical Islamist" as a self defining term and leave it at that.

I do not believe that Islam is inherently threatening to us. I know this from my observation of some Muslims I know -(the only two I actually know well, to be honest). They are kind people who practice their religion faithfully. They appreciate America and honor George Bush, who they say will "do the right thing even if he is criticized for it." Frankly, I wish more Americans who were born here had these immigrants' understanding of what America is (or should be) all about. It's but a small example, but it is sufficient to prove the truism --Muslims can be sane and rational.

Now with respect to the hordes of America haters throughout the Muslim world, I think they are brainwashed and indoctrinated by zealots and opportunists. It is probably a waste of time to try and reason with them. We will deal with their rulers on the basis of commerce, oil, and money. The rulers will hold them in check and the people will eventually come to see America for what it is-- a bastion of freedom and democracy that will blow the living hell out of them if they want to start some sh*t.

Of course you can not create a perfect society with Shar'ia, nor a "new soviet man" by breaking down the interests of the individual, etc. etc. Man is not inherently good. Government that checks its own power and reconizes the inalienable rights of individual men maximizes good.

In current society there is a mix of good and bad people. The problem is that the good people are mainly interested in living their lives and raising their kids. The evil people, OTOH, are engaged in the game of gaining power over others.

In any society where there is an office which exercises absolute power over others, all evil parties will be obsessed with seizing control of that office. Hayek discusses this at length in "The Road to Serfdom". Tolkien also covered the concept in "The Lord of the Rings". The essense of evil is the lust for power over others, and the way to restrain evil is to minimize the avenues for power. This is what the Founders of the US tried to do.

You do well to keep that opinion as Islam is anything but a death cult.
...

Unprecedented call from Syria's top Muslim religious authority

'Resistance to the belligerent invaders is an obligation for all Muslims,' said Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro.

DAMASCUS - Syrian mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, the country's top Muslim religious authority, called Thursday for suicide bombings against the US and British invaders in Iraq.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/877335/posts?page=1

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.