Is it “Un-Christian” to Speak Out Against Islam?

Christianity was founded as a religion about 600 years before Islam, and its sacred text – the Bible – has been widely circulated since the time of Constantine in the Fourth Century. A copy of the Bible, the Codex Sinaiticus, remains one of the principal sources for translators of the Bible. That copy was located at St. Catherine’s Monastery just 612 miles from Mecca at the time of Muhammad.

Except for the Arabian Peninsula, most of the Middle East, Egypt, and Anatolia were predominately Christian, as parts of the Holy Roman Empire and its derivatives. Spain and France were also Christian before they were invaded by Muslims in the Seventh Century.

Given these historical realities, it would be natural for Christians to speak out against Islam: 1) to correct the false statements in the Quran about Christianity, 2) to denounce Islam’s own recorded history of armed aggression against peaceful Christian neighbors, 3) to expose the continued hypocritical denial of these historical realities by spokespersons for Islam, and 4) to identify and condemn the ways in which Islamic values are hostile to Christian values. 

Christians are taught to love their enemies, to pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44) and to not judge others (Matthew 7:1) .  But Jesus warned about False Prophets.  He said, “Be on your guard against false prophets, they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. You will know them by what they do. . . Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know false prophets by what they do.” (Matthew 7:15-20)  Jesus also predicted, “. . . the time will come when anyone who kills you will think that by doing this he is serving God.”  (John 16:2).  He spoke out against some of the religious clerics of his day who imposed strict religious laws on their followers: “You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert: and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you  yourselves are!”(Matthew 23:15)  Finally, it should be remembered that Jesus violently threw out the sellers of sacrificial animals who were exploiting the pilgrims right inside the Temple in John 2:13-16.

QURAN’S FALSE STATEMENTS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

Most Bible-literate Christians will know that the following statements are not true, but if someone questions the sources that refute these statements, he/she should contact the website listed in this pamphlet.

·       The Bible has been corrupted (Surah 2:79  and 2:91, Surah 5:13, and Bukhari, Vol. 9, Number 461)

·       Mary, the mother of Jesus, was Amram’s daughter and Moses’ sister (Surahs 5:34 and 66:12)

·       Mary grew  up in the Temple under the care of Zacharias (Surah 5:37)

·       Jesus spoke from the cradle  (Surah 19:30)

·       Jesus was not the Son of God (Surah 19:36

·       Jesus denied he was the Son of God (Surah 5:116)

·       The Trinity consists of Jesus, God, and Mary (Surah 4:171 and 5:116)

·       Jesus was not crucified  (Surah 4:156-158)

·       The Gospel tells Christians to “kill and be killed” for the sake of God in order to get to Paradise. (Surah 9:111)

·       Muhammad was foretold in the Bible (Surah 7:157)

·       Jews claim that Ezra was the Son of God.   (Surah 9:30)

ISLAM’S AGGRESSION AGAINST CHRISTIANS

Muslims often claim that all of their warfare was defensive in nature.  When Muhammad’s followers experienced their first successful attack against a non-Muslim caravan, Muhammad received Surah 2:218 that asserted that “Idolatry was worse than carnage.”   So protecting Islam against any disbelief, even when it was passive, was considered a defensive war. The first attack against Christians recorded in Muhammad’s biographies was the Siege of Taif.  In 630, he mustered an army of 12,000   and marched   75 miles from Medina to Taif, which had a Christian Byzantine garrison there.  This was an unprovoked surprise attack, and the Muslims besieged the garrison for 20 days.  As it turned out, Taif sustained the siege, so Mohammad and his men cut down all of the vineyards and went elsewhere to capture booty.  (Al Tabari’s History, Vol. IX, pages 20-26)

After Muhammad died, his followers launched a continuous quest for land and booty across the Middle East until they were finally stopped at the Battle of Tours, France, in 732.  All of these territories were Christian.  Spain remained under Muslim control for 781 years until 1492.

Today, Christians are persecuted wherever Islam is dominant – in Pakistan, in Nigeria, in Lebanon, and in Egypt.  All told, some 100 million Christians live under persecution by Muslims, Communists, and totalitarian governments.  These persecuted Christians represent almost 10 percent of the total number of Christians today.  “It is in the Muslim world where persecution of Christians is now most widespread, intense, and, ominously, increasing.  Extremist Muslims are expanding their presence and sometimes exporting their repression of all other faiths.” (Source: “Persecuted – the Global Assault on Christians” by Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert, and Nina Shea, page 11. )

 ISLAM’S HYPOCRITICAL DENIAL OF ANTI-CHRSTIAN ACTIVITIES

Islam claims to be the “Religion of Peace,” but the almost daily news reports prove that is a false statement.  The most recent attack by a devout Muslim in the U.S. was the bombing of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, which left five dead and 264 innocent people injured.  A summary of specific recent Muslim attacks against Christians can be found at:  http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/ChristianAttacks.htm . There is, of course, no tally of Christian attacks against Muslims, because such an event is rare and definitely contrary to the teachings of Christianity, as stated above.  It is only proper and responsible for Christians to speak out against the huge disconnect between the apologetic words of Islamic spokespersons and the terrorist activities that make the headlines almost every day.

EVIL TEACHINGS OF ISLAM WHICH MUST BE CONDEMNED

Christians are taught to be contenders for their Christian faith.  “For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago, the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received.”  (Jude 3-4)  But Christian opposition is not violent or militant: “Then we shall no longer be . . blown about . .  by the teaching of deceitful men, who lead others into error by the tricks they invent. Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up . . . in Christ.”  (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Here are just a few of the teachings of Islam which are evil and offensive, and which must be vigorously opposed by Christians:

·       Chopping off the hands of petty thieves (Surah 5:38)

·       Beating wives  (Surah 4:34)

·       Whipping men and women 100 lashes for adultery (Surah 24:2) 

·       Marriage to prepubescent girls (Implied by Surah 65:4)

·       Eye-for-an-eye retaliation (Surah 2:178-80)

·       Death for apostasy (Bukhari, Vol. 9, Number 57)

·       Thinking of sexual intercourse as plowing a field  (Surah 2:223)

·       Sexual slavery (Surah 33:50)

·       Polygamy  (Surah 4:2)

·       Temporary marriages (i.e., prostitution) (Surah 4:24)

·       Making war on non-Muslims (Surah 9:73)

·       Allah  using Muslims to enrage the non-Muslims (Surah 48:29)

·       Using terrorism to advance Islam  (Surah 8:60

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