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When and how did the religion of Islam come into existence? What are its values and beliefs? How did it rise to dominate many nations? And will it ultimately persist?
The two largest religions in the world are Christianity and Islam. Christianity is the largest with about 2 billion followers, and Islam isn't far behind at around 1.5 billion. If present trends continue, it's expected that Islam, with a rate of growth four times that of Christianity, will become the world's largest religion in the next 20 years. What does this mean for the world?
At times the followers of these two faiths have lived alongside one another in relative peace. But often their interactions have been punctuated by hostility, violence and war.
The most recent major explosion that rocked and shocked the Western world occurred Sept. 11, 2001, when Muslim hijackers flew four U.S. airliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing almost 3,000 Americans and citizens of a number of other countries. The United States was transformed almost overnight, as the need for security at home and abroad, including American involvement in two foreign wars, have placed a severe drain on its treasury and helped lead the world's only military superpower to the verge of financial collapse.
The fortune that America has expended continues to present it with critical choices regarding security issues and its ability to prevent future attacks. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has stated that the looming reductions in military spending will be devastating. Yet certain cuts are inevitable if America is to remain financially afloat. The encroachment toward bankruptcy will surely result in chinks in America's defensive armor, which others will certainly seek to exploit.
If the past is any indication, Islam will continue to play a major role in geopolitical events. It's no coincidence that the "Arab Spring" (with its toppling of Arab dictators), the never-ending conflict over Israel, and Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons continue to dominate our news headlines. The Middle East has long been the "ground zero" of Bible prophecy, and understanding Islam and its history helps us understand why.
Islam began in Arabia six centuries after the time of Jesus Christ with its founder Muhammad. He gained a following that, after his death, soon swept across the Middle East, North Africa and beyond-carrying with it a distinct culture. One historian explains, "Muhammad was one of the cleverest leaders in human history because he built a culture so strong that it has lasted for fourteen hundred years with very little change" (Mark Gabriel, Culture Clash, 2007, p. xvi).
It helps if we understand that Islam is more than a religion. It is a way of life into which true believers immerse themselves. "A Muslim person is indoctrinated and programmed by that system, though he may not realize it. He grows up in that way of life. He cannot think to ask if this is right or wrong. His mind cannot go beyond that line that Muhammad drew" (p. 3).
The faith is primarily an imposed one-at times by force.
When many think of Islam today, the word jihad frequently comes to mind, typically thought of as "holy war." The word of itself, however, does not necessarily imply violence. It simply means "struggle" and can refer to a spiritual struggle within oneself. But it can and also does mean the struggle for expanding the territory of Islam.
"The semantic meaning of the Arabic term jihad has no relation to holy war or even war in general. It derives, rather from the root j.h.d., the meaning of which is to strive, exert oneself, or take extraordinary pains" (Reuven Firestone, Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam, 1999, p. 16). Yet for a large portion of Islamic history, many of its followers have adopted a pattern of aggression and bloodshed, which they justify as "holy war."
History shows that Muhammad engaged in warfare for much of his adult life. And the Islamic religion requires complete obeisance to this human leader, regularly referred to by Muslims as "the perfect man."
Much of the teaching of Islam opposes the teachings of Jesus, who said His disciples should be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). Jesus even commanded all His followers that they should pray for their enemies who persecuted them and reviled them (verse 44).
Militant Muslims, however, in accordance with Islam's holy book, the Koran (or Quran), seek to annihilate, enslave or subjugate their enemies-anyone who does not accept Islam. They cite Koranic verses such as Sura 2:193 Sura 9:5> states, "Slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them"-unless and until they convert to Islam.
These words allow for beastly brutality as well as magnanimous mercy. What way of life has often prevailed? Here is the observation offered by one former radical Muslim: "Islam has left a fingerprint of blood through every page of its history, beginning with Hijra up to this very day ... From the time of Hijra, when Muhammad and his followers emigrated from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622, up to this hour, terror and fear have been the strategy of Islam" (Reza Safa, Inside Islam, 1996, pp. 36, 47).
Another source catalogues some of the violent expansion: "During the first thousand years of military competition between the cross and the crescent, Muslim standards waved in triumph over countless battlefields as the ghazis [tribal warriors] who followed Mohammed's revelation annihilated Christian armies and devoured 'infidel' states, ultimately dominating half of the territory we now include in Europe. Arab cavalry raided north of the Pyrenees [into France], and Muslim emirs ruled over the Iberian Peninsula [of Spain and Portugal] for centuries.
"In a later wave of Muslim conquests, the Turks rampaged across the Balkans, their janissaries [infantry units of the sultan] failing them only at the plague-haunted gates of Vienna. Tatars [central Asian Turks] thrust deep into Poland, Arabs mastered Sicily, and the Greeks lost their independence for half a millennium ...
"The greatest of struggles between civilizations produced history's longest military confrontation ... the thirteen-hundred-year contest for hegemony over the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe never really ceased ... The intervals of peace were simply fits of exhaustion" (Ralph Peters, Endless War, 2010, pp. 3-4).
Here is the observation of two brothers who were reared as Muslims but read the Holy Bible and came to believe in Jesus (both of them now longtime professors and administrators at Christian colleges):
"Several conclusions must be drawn from the fourteen hundred years of shared Muslim-Christian history:
"With the notable exception of the Crusades, Muslims have initiated almost all wars, due largely to the philosophy of jihad.
"War is not a sidebar of history for Islam; it is the main vehicle for religious expansion. It is the Muslim duty to bring world peace via the sword ...
"While modern people are familiar only with the defensive Islam of the last three hundred years [standing against the encroachment of Western culture and imperialism], the religion has never forgotten the previous one thousand years of conquest in the cause of Allah. It is this traditional conquering Islam that has reemerged" (Ergun Caner and Emil Caner, Unveiling Islam: An Insider's Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs, 2009, p. 74).
The two former Muslims go on to show the modern terrorist mindset as in line with that history-and completely contrary to Christian thinking:
"The Hadith [the passed-down compilation of reports about Muhammad's statements and actions that Muslims consider supplemental to and clarifying of the Koran] explicitly states that the Muslim is promised eternal victory in the act of holy war. Victory includes both the success of battle, the promise of eternal forgiveness, and translation to the highest level of paradise ...
"The terrorists who died in the bombing [of Sept. 11, 2001] sincerely believed that they would be forgiven of all sin by Allah. They followed a route completely antithetical to the Christian mind, since Muslim beliefs are antipathetic to the Christian faith. Since Allah is completely removed from his people and is in no way incarnational or personal, the terrorists followed the route imposed upon them by the only sources they trusted and that guaranteed them paradise: the literal rendering of the Hadith and Quran" (p. 195).
According to the teachings of the Bible, such thinking is wholly wrong. The servants of the true God in this age are not to engage in military conquest of the world or attacks against those with different beliefs. Rather, we are to reach out to the world with the good news of God's coming reign. And as much as possible, we are to be, as earlier mentioned, peacemakers.
Yet it should be mentioned that God will ultimately take over the entire world when Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God over all nations. And this will include wiping out forces that fight against Him. However, this conquering of the globe will not be by human followers but through the direct intervention of Jesus Christ coming in power and glory with the hosts of heaven. Moreover, this taking over is to save humanity from itself and bring about the real peace the world has long yearned for.
Tragically, in this age of deception the whole world is confused and divided, with religious deception spawning untold wars. The conflict will continue until that time when our Lord Jesus Christ appears from on high to quash all false religion that has led to so much bloodshed and to bring eventual eternal joy and rest.
Ultimately, the throngs of ages past, present and future will live together without fear throughout the vast reaches of eternity. Then there will be no Islam-nor any other false religion. For all will know the truth. And the truth will make us free (John 8:32). Let us all pray for that day!
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Keywords: Islam jihad Muhammad Mecca Medina history of Islam
Islam, history of: