Paul Luckraft reviews 'Islam: Threat or Truth?' by Andrew Baguley (RoperPenberthy, 2015)

This is a slim volume whose main value resides in the attempt to answer the question posed in the title. The author is issuing a call to Christians to consider what is happening around the world as Islam increases its influence.

The book is described as a teaching manual for those who want to know how to cope with Islam in the modern world and how to witness to those who follow its teachings. However, it is rather too brief and bitty for that. It may indeed stir some to action but they will need to consult other more substantial books if they are to succeed.

Chapters and Coverage

There is a chapter called 'An introduction to Islam', but it merely talks about the different strands of the religion (Shia, Sunni, etc). A later chapter on the growth of Islam is mainly concerned with what has happened in the UK and Europe in recent times.

All of this is important, but it creates the impression that the whole book is slanted towards the idea of the threat of Islam.

Two other chapters worthy of note are those on Sharia Law and the Islamic view of Jesus. This will be very informative to those who know little about these topics.

The author calls to Christians to consider what is happening around the world as Islam increases its influence.

End Times Position

The penultimate chapter is entitled A Biblical Understanding of Islam in the Last Days and it is here that the author's main purpose in writing the book is stated: "to show how the Bible has clearly set out the role of Islam in the End Times' events that herald the Tribulation period of seven years" (p60). The author subscribes to a pre-tribulation rapture position which fuels his desire to educate the Church before it is too late.

Previously he has commented that "the rise of Islam and its world view is another sign of the impending rapture of the church" (p11). However, his particular eschatological view does not affect the main points he generally makes and those who don't hold to this view can still benefit from the information he provides.

This book may stir some to action but they will also need more substantial books if they are to succeed.

Islam: Threat or Truth (72 pages) is available from the publisher for £5.99.

With new terror attacks happening almost daily across Europe, Western leaders still refuse to face the truth about Islam.

The sickening murder of a defenceless elderly priest in Rouen marks a new low point in Islam's relationships with the West. But none of the Western leaders are willing to face up to the reality of what is happening in Europe.

Even the Pope says that this attack is nothing to do with religion!¹ That is the standard politically correct statement that is made every time there is an atrocity carried out by Muslims in the name of their god.

Ever since the end of the Second World War the policy in the West has been to seek appeasement with the oil-rich Arab nations of the Middle East. The Islamic Revolution in 1979 that installed Ayatollah Khomeini as supreme ruler of Iran was a great shock to the West as Iran had been its main supporter under the rule of the de-posed Shar.

From that time Western leaders turned their attention to promoting the Saudis as the leading friend of the West and there has been a continuous effort in the Western media to paint Saudi Arabia in a favourable light despite numerous reports of brutality, persecution of minorities and strict enforcement of the ban on women driving cars or leaving home without a male escort.

Covering Up the Facts

Even the most atrocious acts of terrorism, such as the destruction of the twin towers in New York in 2001 and the bombing of the London Underground 2005, were deliberately downplayed in terms of their links to Islam. They were portrayed as the acts of 'extremists' who were not representative of mainstream Muslims and every effort was made by the media to stress that Islam is a religion of peace. This is still the politically correct policy.

The most atrocious acts of terrorism in recent years have been deliberately downplayed in terms of their links to Islam.

According to Brietbart,² last week the BBC appeared to go to extraordinary lengths to attempt to cover up the Muslim identity of the Munich killer. At 3pm on Saturday 23 July BBC reported the killer as Ali Sonboly, but within one hour this was changed to David Sonboly. In the 6pm news he was again referred to as David Sonboly although in the same bulletin the BBC's correspondent in Germany referred to him as David Ali Sonboly. Did the BBC make a high level decision to hide the reference to 'Ali', although it admitted that the teenager had dual German/Iranian citizenship?

Religion of Peace?Pope Francis, who has denied the religious nature of recent terrorist attacks.

The 'religion of peace' facade has been wearing somewhat thin in face of the recent wave of terrorist activities in Europe, but the latest pronouncement by the Pope shows that Western leaders are still not prepared to discuss the religious beliefs of those who commit atrocities. Whilst attack after attack is being carried out with cries of 'Allahu Akbar' ('god is great'), nobody is willing to ask questions about this god, whose greatness apparently demands or justifies the murder of innocent people.

What Westerners do not realise is that Islam not only condones violence but actually commands it against 'infidels', especially Jews and Christians. The Qur'an says

Let not the unbelievers think that they will ever get away. They have not the power so to do. Muster against them all the men and weaponry at your command, so that you may strike terror into the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others besides them who are unknown to you but known to Allah. All that you give in the cause of Allah shall be repaid to you. (8:59)

According to thereligionofpeace.com there are 109 verses in the Qur'an that call upon Muslims to wage war against unbelievers. They say "some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding." They also say that "there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to balance out the many that call for non-believers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam or are killed."

Western leaders are still not prepared to discuss the religious beliefs and agendas of those who commit the atrocities.

The Islamic Agenda

In order to understand what is going on today you have to examine the history of Islam and the life of its founder, Muhammad. Islam's supreme purpose is world domination. The propagation of Islam by force has been its policy right from the beginning.

Muhammad personally led many expeditions and wars plundering communities and slaughtering defenceless civilians. He personally set the example of violent conquest and forcible conversion that has been followed down the centuries.

Muhammad's dying wish in 632 AD was to clear the whole of Arabia of Christians and Jews – a policy of aggression that was immediately carried out by Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, who became the first caliph of the Islamic state. Abu Bakr died in 634 and was succeeded by Caliph Omar, who was murdered in 644 and succeeded by Caliph Othman, who was murdered in 656 and succeeded by Caliph Ali, who was assassinated in 661.

All of these early caliphs led battles with the objective of expanding the Islamic state and forcing people to submit to Islam (the word Islam in Arabic means 'submission'), a policy which continued for centuries. Notable dates (some approximate) in the early years of Islam include:

• AD 647 conquest of the island of Cyprus
• AD 659 conquest of Egypt
• AD 700 military campaigns in North Africa
• AD 711 invasion of Gibraltar and conquest of Spain
• AD 716 invasion of Constantinople
• AD 732 Battle of Tours in France
• AD 777 Battle of Saragossa in Spain.

It does seem extraordinary that Western leaders can be so extraordinarily blind to the intentions of Islam. Our European forefathers who succeeded in stopping the advance of the Ottoman army at Vienna in 1683 were certainly under no such illusions. Could it be that this blindness is in fact a deliberate attempt by the secular humanist spirit driving modern Europe to look favourably upon Islam because of its hostility to the centuries of Judeo-Christian heritage that is so blatantly scorned by the European Union?

Is our blindness to the intentions of Islam connected to the secular humanist spirit at work across Europe?

If this indeed is the motive, the secular humanists are virtually committing social suicide because if Islam does become a majority movement in Europe, they will be the first to suffer along with LGBT communities. It is, of course, quite possible that Muslims will become the majority in Europe, given their extraordinary high birth rate and the number of young Muslims of childbearing age who have entered Europe as refugees or migrants.

Maybe Christians should accept responsibility for the confused spiritual state of Europe today. Clearly we have not been faithful to the Great Commission of Jesus to make disciples of all nations. Neither have we clearly demonstrated the love of God in our lives and in our teaching. If we had done, there could be no confusion between the God of the Bible and the Allah of the Qur'an. The greatest need today is to teach the truth of the Gospel. This is the only way to save Europe from catastrophe.

What is Ahead?

What does the future hold? A personal friend of mine whose ministry I value is Bill Wagner, who has lived and worked in Muslim countries for many years. Just before the invasion of Iraq he wrote perceptively:

Islam will continue to grow and will become more brutal in its attempts to conquer the world. There will be a rise of terrorism in all parts of the non-Muslim world since they have discovered how effective this can be. The nations of the world will be subject to suicide bombings. A number of wars such as those against Iraq and Afghanistan will take place but will be ineffective since Islam has learned to fight not from a position of military strength but from the shadowy back alleys of urban societies. Christians especially will be marked for death and persecution, although Islam will never completely take over the world.³

Many Christians believe that we have entered the days which Jesus foresaw when he warned his disciples about being deceived. He said, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matt 24:7-12).

It certainly looks as though a time of persecution lies ahead for Christians, but it is during times of persecution in the past that the Church has always grown. Maybe it is God's intention to allow the Church to go through a period of purging in the run-up to the second coming of our Lord.

References

1 E.g. Daley, K. Pope Says Terrorism Is 'Not A Religious War'. The Daily Caller, 28 July 2016.

2 Kassam, R. BBC 'Fixes' Munich Killer Article Following Breitbart Expose Of Muslim Name Cover Up. Breitbart, 23 July 2016.

3 Wagner, W, 2004. How Islam Plans to Change the World. Kregel Publications, Michigan, p216.

'The Secular Terrorist: The Slow Suicide of Christian Britain', by Peter Mullen (RoperPenberthy, 2012, 189 pages, available from the publisher for £9.99)

This is an interesting if disturbing read on a familiar theme: the decline of Christianity and Christian values in Britain. The author's experience as rector of Anglican churches in London, together with his keen observation of society in general, means he is well informed. Moreover, he believes the situation is so dire that he is prepared to speak out strongly, in some cases very strongly, hence his choice of words for the title.

Moral reversal

Mullen examines all the usual areas of concern, starting with sexual morals, abortion, embryo research, and family breakdown. His main contention here, as elsewhere, is that over time, through a slow but steady series of incremental changes, humanistic values and secularism have transformed society until an almost complete reversal has occurred. Utilitarianism now dominates our thinking and consumerism our lifestyles.

He contends that the denial of our Christian roots has produced a slow suicide. We have been beaten by losing faith in what we believed. Secularisation is the hidden terrorist in our midst, creating impotence and encouraging self-doubt. Cultural and social defeat was "guaranteed once Christianity had died in the soul of Western man" (p119). The author maintains that only the re-discovery of our Judaeo-Christian heritage will save Western society. What is needed is "nothing less than a return to the practice of our faith" (p9).

Mullen contends that Britain's slow demise is due to our loss of faith, with secularisation the hidden terrorist in our midst.

Moreover, he believes that we "shall not turn again to God until we are overwhelmed and perhaps almost annihilated by some great catastrophe" (p180), and not one that we can blame upon God for: we will have brought it upon ourselves, as has happened repeatedly throughout history. Israel's desertion and repeated disobedience brought disasters. We cannot expect to be an exception to this pattern in the human/Divine story.

The problem with political correctness

In a strong section of the book full of good examples, Mullen vigorously attacks political correctness as a key component of the decline. He argues that "the secular gospel of Political-Correctness" creates a linguistic dictatorship and a form of social conditioning, deceiving many, especially into thinking that we have made moral progress. The claim that we are now much more advanced and enlightened has found an enthusiastic audience. We now feel superior to the primitive pre-PC era.

Mullen vigorously attacks political correctness as a linguistic dictatorship and a form of social conditioning that deceives us into thinking we have made moral progress.

In discussing science, creation and design, Mullen also makes many useful points, simply put but displaying good knowledge. The same is true when he examines literary trends and the history of reason and philosophy. Overall, he covers a wide range of intellectual ideas with skill and understanding.

Looking forward or backward?

The weaker points in the book come, first, when he attacks the press (tabloids and others) for crude reporting and dumbing down of information. His excessive examples add little to his overall argument and may be off-putting.

Second, Mullen rails against the Church of England for trying to be modern, correctly arguing that the Church has done little to stem the decline and has indeed contributed to it through situation ethics and de-mythologising Biblical truth. But his insistence that the only proper Bible translation is the Authorised Version and that the Book of Common Prayer is vastly superior to the Alternative Service book make him appear stuck in the past. He may be right that, in a typically memorable phrase, modern worship is merely a "third rate echo of recently abandoned fashions in pop culture" (p86) but to assert that the AV and BCP were meant to be preserved for all time suggests his only solution to modern trends is to retreat into a bygone age.

Nevertheless, the book overall is an important contribution to a vital debate. We do need to "wake up to the fact that there is a militantly anti-Christian elite in Britain today" (p41). But he ends with positive advice for Christians in such circumstances: be diligent in prayer and study, form strong church communities, and trust in God.

As the world responds to the attacks in Tunisia, France and Kuwait, Islam faces an internal crisis of identity. Clifford Hill asks: who are the true Muslims?

"Islam is a Religion of Peace." These were the words of Prime Minister, David Cameron, broadcast to the world immediately after he heard the news of the indiscriminate killing of 30 British tourists sunbathing on the beach in Tunisia. He said that the man who carried out this atrocity was not a true Muslim because "Islam is a religion of peace".

On the BBC News this statement was immediately followed by an interview with an expert on Islam who said that some Muslims use Ramadan as a "season of war" to further the cause of Islam against unbelievers. It was also reported that the Islamic State has been urging Muslims across the world to target Westerners and promising that Allah will reward 'martyrs' tenfold during Ramadan. Their definition of a 'martyr' is one who dies while killing non-Muslims – especially Jews and Christians.

But the Islamic State does not restrict their activities to killing Westerners. The suicide bomber who blew himself up in a mosque in Kuwait was targeting Shia Muslims whom the Sunnis regard as unbelievers: Which raises the question: who are the true Muslims?

Sisi's Call

President Sisi of Egypt has called for a "Revolution in Islam... to stop making enemies of the whole world". He said "We need a religious revolution" to reinterpret the texts that came from the time of Muhammad's warlike rise to power.

This important statement was reported in the New York Times on 1 January 2015, but as far as I am aware has been given no publicity in the British press. Why the silence? Are British journalists so afraid of offending Muslims that they dare not report a call from a prominent Muslim to sort out the problems of violence in their religion?

Jihadist Fighters

If an all-out war between Western culture and Islam is to be avoided Islamic scholars have to face fundamental questions about their faith. The jihadist fighters in the Islamic State in Syria and Northern Iraq claim to be the only true Muslims.

If an all-out war between Western culture and Islam is to be avoided, Islamic scholars have to face fundamental questions about their faith."

This is no doubt the reason why a whole family of 12, including three generations, have gone to join them. It is not only hot-blooded teenagers who are attracted to ISIS, but those who want to live in a genuine Muslim state. The jihadists say that those Muslims who oppose them have been corrupted by Western values and are not true Muslims. They claim that they are spreading Islam by force in exactly the same way as Muhammad and that he is their role model. So who are the true Muslims?

Qur'an Verses

There are plenty of verses in the Quran to support the jihadists. The man who murdered the defenceless tourists on the beach at Sousse can justify his actions by quoting, "It was not you, but Allah, who slew them. It was not you who smote them: Allah smote them so that he might richly reward the faithful. Allah hears all and knows all" (Quran 8:17).

In the same way the ISIS fighters in Iraq who are beheading their captives can justifiably claim to be doing exactly what Muhammad did in April AD 627, when he slaughtered the whole Jewish population of Banu Qurayza near Medina. This is recorded by ex-Muslim historian M A Khan who says,

The surrendered Jews offered to go into exile like the Banu Nadir tribesmen exiled two years earlier. Muhammad rejected the proposal; instead, he decided to slaughter all their adult males, some 800 to 900 of them. Their adulthood was determined by the growth of pubic hair. The women and children were captured as slaves and their homes and properties were as usual confiscated and distributed amongst the Muslims. The Islamic god gave an emphatic sanction to these barbaric atrocities by revealing: "Some ye slew and ye made captive some. And Allah caused you to inherit their land and their houses and their wealth, and land ye have not trodden. Allah is ever able to do all things" (Quran 33.26 – 27).

A trench was dug at the marketplace; and in Muhammad's presence, those 800 – 900 captives were brought to the brink of the trench with their hands tied behind and were beheaded with swords before pushing the dismembered bodies into it. Muhammad himself chopped off the heads of two Jewish leaders. The spectacle went on from morning through the day and continued by torchlight into the night. [M A Khan, Islamic Jihad, p35]

Islam in Crisis

Today, the whole of Islam is in crisis. It clings to its mediaeval roots while trying to exist in an advanced secular liberal culture that cherishes freedom of speech and respects individual choice, equality and tolerance. Islam respects none of these things- with the result that multitudes are leaving it.

Islam is suffering an internal crisis of identity, as extremists force its followers to ask who the true Muslims really are."

In Indonesia, 2 million Muslims are converting to Christianity every year. In Europe and America, millions of Muslims have settled in the West because they are looking for a better life, but their imams are repeating verses from the Quran forbidding them to make friends with Jews or Christians. These ordinary Muslims are only looking for a quiet life, to earn a living, raise their families and live at peace with their neighbours. They too are asking the question, who are the true Muslims?

Peaceful Majority

Most Muslims in the West are embarrassed by the acts of terrorism carried out in the name of Islam. But the Islamic scholars refuse to consider any revision of their Scriptures which were written for a mediaeval society and have little or no relevance in a modern urban industrial technological society. This article from the Middle East Media Research Institute gives an indication of the internal battle that is going on within Islam.

We should be calling upon Islamic scholars to examine their scriptures and give definite rulings that the historical narratives associated with the teaching of Muhammad and the early days of Islam are no longer valid today. They need to declare definitively what the valid beliefs and practices are for true Muslims today and separate them from mediaeval practices that are no longer central to Islam in the 21st century.

The future peace of the world depends, not upon stepping up the efficiency of the security services in Muslim-majority nations where Western holidaymakers go, or putting up the barriers at home, but on the willingness of Islamic scholars to give definitive answers to the question: who are the true Muslims?

Battle of Values

David Cameron is perfectly right in saying that this is a battle of values: it is an ideological clash between a mediaeval religious narrative and a modern secular narrative: emanating from Islamic State, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Boko Haram and similar organisations that insist on following the teaching of the Quran and the example of Muhammad. They believe that they are the only true Muslims and they are prepared to fight brutal war to enforce their ideology on others.

The greatest danger facing the West is in escalating the war in the Middle East. There are strong voices in the British Government advocating all-out war upon the Islamic State – bombing them in Syria as well as Iraq. But this is entirely the wrong tactic. It is the same mistake as the Crusaders made 1000 years ago. And it will harden attitudes and drive more young men to abandon the West and fight for the jihadists.

War on the Middle East is the wrong tactic - the same mistake the Crusaders made 1000 years ago - it will only harden attitudes. We need to present a different narrative."

A Different Narrative

The only way to win this war is on the ideological front: by presenting a different narrative. It is here that the teaching of Jesus to love our enemies is the greatest weapon that we have. There is nothing in the New Testament that encourages Christians to fight and everything points to putting our trust in God.

Many Christians believe that God has allowed millions of Muslims to come into the West so that they may experience at first-hand a different ideology. Christians have to say to Muslims that Western values are not Christian values! This throws a great responsibility upon Christians to live in accordance with the teaching of Jesus, to love our new neighbours and to show the power of a living faith that transforms lives of bitterness and hatred into love and gentleness.

The teaching of Jesus to love our enemies is the greatest weapon we have. It is up to Christians to show practically its power to transform lives."

If this is God's strategy for bringing peace and harmony into a world of darkness, there has to be a renouncing of violence by Western nations as well as positive action by Christian churches to reach out to the Muslims in their neighbourhood: not only speaking about the love of God, but showing that love practically in their lives.

'Magna Carta, Religion and the Rule of Law' (Ed. R Griffith-Jones and M Hill, CUP, 2015, 414 pages)

Paperback ISBN 9781107494367, RRP £24.99, hardback ISBN 9781107100190, RRP £64.99

This volume contains seventeen essays on a variety of topics from a wide array of expert contributors - jurists, theologians, historians - each with a worldwide reputation in their field. Together with an introduction by the two editors and a fascinating and informative keynote address by Lord Judge, the result is a substantial offering towards the anniversary debate on the relevance of Magna Carta and its relationship to religion and law.

The book has been compiled from talks given at a 2014 conference at Temple, London, with additional papers by other scholars unable to attend. The overall theme of the well-attended gathering was that of faith and governance, a critical topic for today. Within that overarching agenda, there were three main subsections into which the book has been organised.

The opening chapters concern the birth of Magna Carta and the spread of its principles. Included here is an account of the role and influence of Magna Carta on ideas about religion and the rule of law in the colonial and revolutionary periods of American history.

The following section debates comparative religious approaches to Magna Carta's rule of law. The conference's brief was to take account of religious diversity and included contributors from non-Christian faiths. Here are discussions, perhaps rather tangential to the main theme, on the origins of the rule of law in Islam, justice in Islamic legislation, Sharia and the rule of law. There are also lessons drawn from India as well as Magna's Carta 'still small voice' in Christian traditions.

Whilst the book is grounded in a respect for today's pluralistic religious culture, the chapter on Magna Carta's biblical principles is especially illuminating."

The final section focuses on the contemporary inheritance of Magna Carta, including the development of human rights from then until the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Of particular interest are essays on the possible links between Magna Carta and the European Convention on Human Rights, and Strasburg's approach to religion in pluralist European democracies.

The chapter on Biblical principles and Magna Carta, written by former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, is especially illuminating. Sacks insists that although Magna Carta can be read as a historical, constitutional or legal document, "it was first and foremost a religious document." (p301). Highlighted here is Archbishop Langton's original desire to create a Biblical, covenantal kingship in England, based upon what Moses had commanded in Deuteronomy. In this chapter we learn that "the torch handed down from Magna Carta to the present day is a torch that Langton had fuelled from the Bible he knew so well" (p302). Sacks strongly advocates that a covenantal basis for society founded upon the Judaeo-Christian ethic is just as relevant today.

In summary, the book's particular vantage point is the "monolithic English Church as it existed in 1215 and the plural and diverse faith communities of today's more secular age." (p3).

The appendix provides translations of the original 1215 version of Magna Carta side-by-side with the fourth version of 1225, showing how the charter developed in its early life. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography and a substantial subject index, very helpful for those wanting to pursue a topic across the many diverse chapters.

It is difficult to disagree with Lord Judge's assertion: here is an analysis of Magna Carta's significance unlikely to be equalled elsewhere."

This compilation might be rather technical and advanced for the casual reader but it is difficult to disagree with Lord Judge's assertion that here is a dissection and analysis of the significance of Magna Carta unlikely to be equalled by any other group of scholars. Certainly there is a wealth of factual information and ideas to ponder, and the whole project is a testimony to Magna Carta's iconic power and lasting legacy.