THE
ATTACK ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER
The barbaric, horrific terrorist attacks on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC have caused every American to ask why did it happen? Who did it? And why do they hate us? The investigation of the CIA and FBI has concluded that the attackers were Muslims. Does that mean that every Muslim is a terrorist? By no means. There are many decent Muslims. But while many news commentators and politicians are proclaiming that Islam is a peace-loving religion, others are warning of Islamic Jihad, or Holy War. These conflicting descriptions of Islam can be explained by examining the three types of Muslims: Secularists, Moderates, and Fundamentalists. The Koran, the holy book of Islam, is used by each group to justify their way of thinking. THREE TYPES OF MUSLIMS Secularists are Muslims who do not have a knowledge of the contents of the Koran and only know a verse or two to justify enjoying their life such as: "Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world" (Surat Al-Kahf 18:46). Moderates know the Koran but seek to make their faith relevant to modern life. They try to reconcile the contradicting verses in the Koran in such a way that Muslims may tolerate Jews and Christians living among them. They emphasize the verses that came to the Prophet Muhammad when he was weak militarily and in need of the support of Jews and Christians. These verses which are kind to Jews and Christians are: "So, if you (Muhammad) are in doubt concerning that which We have revealed unto you then ask these who are reading the Book (the Torah and the Injeel [Gospel]) before you. Verily the truth has come to you from thy Lord. So be not of those who doubt" (Surat Yunus 10:94). "Verily, you will find the strongest among men in enmity to the believers (Muslims) the Jews and those who are Al-Mushrikun, and you will find the nearest in love to the believers (Muslims) those who say: 'We are Christians.' That is because amongst them are priests and monks, and they are not proud" (Surat Al-Maidah 5:82). Verily, those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:62). Barnabas Fund in England wrote: The Muslim Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was a complex character whose attitudes and opinions changed and evolved during his lifetime in response to events around him. It is not surprising to find that Islam is a complex faith." When needed, Muslim clerics use Koranic verses including those kind to Jews and Christians to paint a glowing picture of Islam as a religion of peace, brotherhood, modesty, morality, self-discipline and family values. But, the true face of Islam is revealed in the Koranic verses calling Muslims to "Jihad," which means holy war against all non-Muslims. We will quote again from the article by Barnabas Fund. "It is true that many individual Muslims are peace loving and law-abiding. But, it is not true that peace is the main characteristic of the faith of Islam." Fundamentalists are those who want to apply the more extreme verses of the Koran to the letter. These verses came to Muhammad after he was strong militarily and after he realized that the Christians and Jews were not becoming followers of his new religion. Muhammad's anger in the following Koranic verses, which abrogate the nice verses in the Koran, is the root of violence which saturates and captures the minds of these fundamentalist Muslims:
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT IN ISLAM Islam is a prison with no way out. Once a person enters that prison, he cannot leave it alive. "Then what is the matter with you that you are divided into two parties about the apostates? Allah has cast them back (to disbelief) because of what they have earned. Do you want to guide him whom Allah has made to go astray? And he whom Allah has made to go astray, you will never find for him any way (of guidance). They wish that you reject Faith, as they have rejected (Faith), and thus that you all become equal (like one another). So take not Aouliya (protectors or friends) from them, till they emigrate in the Way of Allah (to Muhammad). But if they turn back (from Islam), take (hold of) them and kill them wherever you find them, and take neither Aouliya (protectors or friends) nor helpers from them" (Surat An-Nisa 4:88,89). This verse means that if a person says the Islamic Shahada (creed): "I testify that there is no God but Allah, I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," he cannot change his mind. If he does change his mind, he will be executed or beheaded as has happened many times in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and other Islamic countries. Islam is a religion of intellectual censorship. In Islam the democratic right to free thought and individual decision concerning religious matters is totally denied. We have more than one example of that intellectual censorship. The first is Salman Rushdie. Salman Rushdie was born to a Muslim family in Bombay but has spent much of his life in London, England. He wrote a book entitled The Satanic Verses. Muslims thought this book was an insult to the Prophet Muhammad and Islam so Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini issued an order to assassinate Rushdie and promised $5 million to the one whom would kill him. Khomeini, Iran's spiritual leader at that time, said in a statement read for him on the radio in 1989: "Anyone who died attempting to kill Rushdie, he promised, would go straight to paradise." The second is Dr. Farag Foda, the great author who was assassinated in Cairo, Egypt in 1993 because he wrote many books exposing the true face of Islam and Islamic society. He was accused of being an apostate Muslim and was shot and killed in front of his son. The third is Professor Nasr Hamid Abu Zeid, who was accused of being an apostate Muslim because of his books about the Koran. The court in Egypt ruled that he must divorce his wife, Ibtihal Younes. He fled from Egypt and is now living with his wife in Holland. The fourth is the well-known Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who became the first Egyptian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Muslims stabbed him in front of his house in an attempt to kill him. The man is over 80 years old. They wanted to kill him because they thought that he insulted Muhammad in his novel, "The Children of Gabalawi." It is of great importance for any American or any secular Muslim to know what kind of society he or she will live in if fundamentalist Muslims rule. The Taliban, Afghanistan's ruling Islamic movement, is an example of this extremist militant faith, which is based on a literal interpretation of the Koran, and it shows in their way of life. In Afghanistan any woman who will show more than her eyes will be flogged. In Saudi Arabia, a woman is banned from driving a car or from walking down the street without covering all of her body except for her eyes. Christians who went to Afghanistan to help the poor and the sick with food and medicine were arrested and jailed because they had Bibles and Christian cassette tapes. In Saudi Arabia Christians are banned from holding worship services let alone building a church. In the meantime, Muslims are taking advantage of the American freedom and building hundreds of mosques on American soil. In Sudan more than one million Christians were killed by the Islamic government in Khartoum. In Algeria, thousands of Muslims were slaughtered by militant Muslims with no regard for life. Today we are hearing on radio and television many Muslim clerics saying that Islam means peace. But the word Islam means "submission" and a Muslim is one who is in submission to Allah. Their goal as stated in the Koran is to bring the entire world into submission to Allah and the Koran and have a global Islamic empire. The author has written more than 60 books and hundreds of articles on Islam and Christianity in both Arabic and English. He has produced or been a guest of many radio and television programs. He holds a doctorate in Theology and has pastored Evangelical churches in the Middle East and America. |