Trevor Phillips, Islamophobia and the gospel

We must face the truth about Islam.

How are Christians to understand the merciless slaughter of those who were celebrating the Risen Christ in churches last Sunday? Is there anything in the Bible that leads us to an understanding of what is happening in our world today? We will come to this in just a moment - but first look at how the events have been reported.

The terrible attacks on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka are still very much in our minds, but it is notable how quickly they disappeared from the Western media or were relegated to personal stories of those who lost family members. It took a long time for major news agencies to report that those who were responsible for these terrorist attacks were Islamic fanatics – NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) - and our leaders and reporters have generally been reluctant to call the attacks what they were: Muslims attacking Christians.¹

Getting the Balance Right

By contrast, the Western media maintained focus for many days upon the Christchurch mosque murders carried out by a white Australian. He was heavily denounced as a white supremacist whose views were not representative of any mainstream Western institutions.

Photo: Alan Hamilton

The Prime Minister of New Zealand went to great lengths to identify herself with Muslims, declaring how she had abandoned her Mormon religion because of their narrow views.

Churches across the Western world also went out of their way to declare their love for their Muslim friends and neighbours. Churches in Luton still have posters such as that to the right in front of their buildings.

Our leaders and reporters have generally been reluctant to call the attacks what they were: Muslims attacking Christians.

Of course, it is right that we should love our neighbours, including those who hate us. The teaching of Jesus is unequivocal – “You have heard that it was said, ‘love your neighbour and hate your enemy’. But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:43-44). But this does not mean that we should be unaware of the dangers that face us in the modern world as we try to live our lives in accordance with Kingdom values, rather than those values forced upon us by our secular humanist politicians.

The fact of the matter is this: despite the heavy focus in our media and culture on Islamophobia, Christians remain the most persecuted religious group² – and the vast majority of the persecution they face comes from the Muslim world.

Avoiding the Truth

Yet, Western political leaders will go to any lengths to avoid criticism of Islam. The British Government downplayed criticism of Saudi Arabia’s mass beheading of 37 members of the Shia minority this week, probably to protect oil interests. The Western mainstream media regularly portray Muslims as the victims rather than the aggressors.

They avoid the simple truth that suicide bombers who indiscriminately slaughter Christians and any others who may be around them are carrying out the commands of Muhammad in the Qur’an, who tells them in numerous places to kill ‘infidels’, especially Christians and Jews.

Young Muslims are brainwashed with this teaching by fanatical imams who quote passages in the Qur’an such as Surah 9:111 and tell them that they go straight to paradise if they lose their lives by killing Christians. Such a promise is attractive to young people growing up in poverty who see little prospect of improving their life chances, but the Sri Lanka bombers are reported to come from wealthy, middle-class families. Their hatred obviously goes much deeper.

Western political leaders will go to any lengths to avoid criticism of Islam.

Christians are facing danger in every part of the world, because these beliefs are fundamental to Islam. They are not just the beliefs of a small fanatical minority; they are the teaching of the founder of Islam and are inseparable from the religion and its texts.

It is, of course, a fact that most Muslims choose to ignore the jihad passages in the Qur’an and live their lives peacefully, accepting Jewish and Christian neighbours and business associates. But until the Muslim scholars and imams declare that the jihad teaching is no longer valid for today, all Muslim communities potentially present a risk.

Persecution Foretold

How should Christians understand what is happening in the world today? Regular readers of Prophecy Today UK will be familiar with the prophecy in Haggai 2 that speaks of God shaking all the nations and even the natural environment. We are certainly seeing evidence of that today.

The next book in the Bible is Zechariah, who was a contemporary of Haggai. He had a vision of four horses sent from Heaven and going throughout the earth. That vision was picked up by John in the revelation given to him when in exile on the island of Patmos.

John foresaw a time coming upon the earth when there would be great turmoil, warfare, famine, disease and death. The fourth horse of the Apocalypse was a pale horse that brought a spirit of death that would lead to a time of great persecution of Christians with an increase of martyrdom – many being killed for their faith in Jesus.

Blessed Assurance

The 20^th Century was the bloodiest in the history of humankind, with more people dying in warfare and political upheavals than at any previous time. But what we are seeing in the 21^st Century is not so much open warfare as political, economic and social upheaval bringing enormous uncertainty, instability and fear for the future.

Cyber-attacks, terrorist bombs, vast changes in technology mixed with economic volatility, political corruption and social upheavals have created a climate of chaos and confusion. Changes in the weather and reports that the future of the earth is threatened by climate change add to the general sense of unease in the world.

On the island of Patmos, John foresaw a time of great persecution of Christians with an increase in martyrdom.

But God has sent us forewarning of these times, which will intensify as we get nearer to the return of the Lord Jesus. The message in the Book of Revelation is one of woe to the great city of Babylon with its wealth, power and corruption that human beings love. But for Christians there is the firm assurance that believers in Jesus will never be separated from him in life or death and that God’s good purposes will triumph over evil in the end, when there will be great rejoicing in Heaven as the multitude of believers join in singing ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!’

Yes, we can expect plenty of difficulties ahead for Christians: but the firm promise of God is that “nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39).

References

1 E.g. see articles from Maajid Nawaz at LBC and Rod Liddle for The Spectator (£).

2 According to figures from the Pew Research Centre. Read more here. Open Doors estimates that violent attacks on Christians doubled between 2017 and 2018.

A plea for clarity one year on from the Westminster attack.

This week members of both Lords and Commons began their day by remembering the terror attack on Westminster Bridge and on the Houses of Parliament. It has been just one year since pedestrians walking across the bridge were mown down by a speeding driver who crashed near the gates of Parliament and ran into the courtyard, fatally stabbing PC Keith Palmer.

People ran from the scene, but one man ran towards the incident: Tobias Ellwood MP, who had both military and medical experience, ran to the dying police officer, trying to save his life while the attack was still underway. One year on, Members of Parliament stood for a minute’s silence in each House and also attended a short commemorative service in Westminster Hall led by the Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Speaker’s Chaplain.

In an emotional interview, Mr Ellwood recalled the day and how, on arriving home, he had to explain to his son what had happened to PC Palmer. He paid tribute to the police for their work in protecting Parliament and the public in a day when things seem “to be getting more dangerous and more volatile”.

He said “These attacks will continue unless we step forward and actually participate, become more proactive in dealing with what is a very changing and dark chapter that we are enduring.”

An Islamic Response

On the same day as the MPs were remembering what happened last year I received two leaflets through the post from a friend in Derby. The leaflets had been put through his front door. One is entitled: ‘ISLAM’S RESPONSE TO EXTREMISM’. Its six pages are devoted to presenting a very different picture of Islam – claiming it to be a religion of peace!

The leaflet says:

The horrific actions of extremists, who conduct their brutality in the name of Islam, have led many to question whether Islam advocates terrorism and violence. The truth, however, is that Islam and terrorism are poles apart as there is no justification in Islam for any form of extremism.

MP Tobias Ellwood, who ran towards the scene of the attack, has described this period of British history as dangerous, volatile and dark.

The leaflet says, “furthermore the Holy Qur’an champions the sanctity of life” and then quotes “whosoever killed a person…It shall be as if he had killed all mankind; and whoso gave life to one, it shall be as if he had given life to all mankind.” (Qur’an 5:33). The bits missed out of this quote are, however, vitally important: they show that it was addressed to the Israelites – to the Jews – not to Muslims!

Moreover, the quoted verse is actually 5:32, not 5:33. 5:33 is quite different – it says “Those that make war against Allah and his apostle [Mohammed] shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land”.

The leaflet neglects to mention the many verses in the Qur’an that specifically instruct Muslims to kill Christians and Jews and polytheists – in fact, anyone who does not accept the religion of Islam. It not only says “fight against those who do not believe in Allah…until they are utterly subdued” (Qur’an 9:29), but it also provides a religious justification for the terrorists who do the killing: “You did not kill them but Allah killed them, and when you smote them, it was not you but Allah who smote them so that he might richly reward the faithful. Allah is the one who hears all and knows all” (Qur’an 8:17).

The leaflet also devotes a whole page to denying that Islam practices forceful conversion. It has the headline: ‘IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO FORCEFULLY CONVERT OTHERS TO ISLAM?’ Their answer:

No. The Holy Quran is very clear that mankind has a free choice in the matter of religion. Muslims are encouraged to spread the message of Islam peacefully with respect and love. The Holy Quran is very clear that each person is free to follow or change the faith of his or her choice.

This is the exact opposite of the truth! Mohammed’s practice was to slaughter all the non-Muslim men and take the women and children into slavery, using the girls for sex slavery. This is exactly the practice that has been followed in recent years by the Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq. And the same attitude to non-Muslim girls is repeatedly rearing its head in Britain too, from Rochdale and Rotherham to, now, Telford.

The Ahmadiyya Sect

It is important to note that both the leaflets referred to above were produced and circulated by the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, which mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims regard as heretical.

The Ahmadiyya are committed to spreading Islam peacefully. Their tagline is “Love for all, hatred for none”. It was an Ahmadi Muslim shopkeeper in Glasgow who took to social media in 2016 to wish his Christian customers a ‘Happy Easter’ – and was later murdered by another Muslim who travelled all the way from Yorkshire to stab him for this act of kindness.

The Ahmadiyya are committed to spreading Islam peacefully – but they are regarded as heretical by mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims.

It was regarded as an insult to Mohammed because the Qur’an instructs Muslims not to make friends with Jews and Christians, which is why Britain now has so many cities like Blackburn and Leicester where there are whole areas that are solidly Muslim, and people don’t even speak English. The Qur’an says to Muslims: “Take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become one of their number. Allah does not guide the wrongdoers” (Qur’an 5:51).

There is a clear cultural clash here which undermines our Government’s policy of integration. There will never be integration until the mainstream Muslim and Ahmadi scholars sort out their differences and initiate a public debate of the Qur’an; and their scholars give rulings on which of its content they consider to be relevant for today and which should only be regarded as having been given for the Mediaeval period when Islam was first formed.

A Test from the Lord

Such a modernisation could release all Muslims from the obligations of jihad and would be a tremendous boon to Muslim integration in the West – but is it possible? We must, of course, see the rise of Islam in a proper spiritual context, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12).

Islam, despite its manifold sects and interpretations, remains a spiritual power set up to rival (and counterfeit and invert) the glorious truths revealed in the Bible about the One True God. Beneath Islam’s complicated exterior are demonic spirits – not least of violence and tyranny – which accounts for its total conflation of religion and state.

Its growing influence in the West – gradually through immigration and demographic growth, and more immediately through terrorisation – is being allowed to happen by our Sovereign God. Why? To test us, to know what is in the hearts of this ‘post-Christian’ generation.

Islam, despite its manifold sects and interpretations, remains a spiritual power set up to rival the glorious truths revealed in the Bible.

Will our politicians and leaders wake up and realise that the ascent of Islam represents a direct assault on what has been the bedrock of our Judeo-Christian culture for centuries – a faith and a set of biblical values which have no equal on this earth – and never will?

Will the public (including the Church!) recognise that our great Christian heritage is worth defending and celebrating, not ignoring and compromising?

And will believing Christians take the great opportunity to witness to the truth of the Gospel which has now, like the Ahmadiyya leaflets, arrived on our very doorstep?

Paul Luckraft surveys the Barnabas Fund’s short booklets on Islam.

(See base of article for ordering information)

Is the Muslim Isa the Biblical Jesus? (Patrick Sookhdeo, 2012, 24 pages)

This is one of the most important questions to ask when it comes to comparing Islam with Christianity, and a fitting starting point for our survey of booklets produced by the Barnabas Fund.

Islam is the only non-Christian religion which mentions Jesus in its holy book and yet it “denies His deity, His atonement, and His supreme place as Lord of all” (p5). The person of Christ is clearly a challenge to Muslims and likewise their response to Jesus challenges Christians.

The booklet sets out how Islam views Jesus (called Isa) in both the Qur’an and the Hadith (traditions) with lots of quotes from both which leave us in no doubt about the fundamental differences between the Muslim Isa and the biblical Jesus. There is also a short section on the role of Isa in the Islamic apocalyptic narrative, namely that he will return (as a Muslim) to fight and destroy the enemies of Islam which, of course, includes Jews and Christians!

Overall the booklet “explores Muslim beliefs about Jesus [and] shows how incompatible they are with the Christian confession of Jesus as Lord and Saviour” (p7). Although Islam reveres Isa as a prophet and miracle worker, its claim that he was a mere human being is the major point of departure from Christianity. For Christians who seek common ground with Islam it is important not to ignore or suppress the real differences over these two views of Jesus.

For those seeking to witness to Muslims here is a useful booklet, full of facts to help them discuss and debate from a secure place of knowledge.

In the same series…

Four other booklets in the same series also help equip Christians to this end. ‘What is Islam?’ is a useful 8-page summary covering the history and background of the Quran, Sharia law and what Muslims believe and practice. It concludes with two pages on the different kinds of Muslims in the world today, including Sunni, Shia, Sufi and Wahhabi.

‘What is Sharia?’ adds to the section in the above on the topic of Sharia. It covers its development and characteristics, and discusses the challenges of Sharia in Western countries.

‘Islam and Truth’ tackles the doctrine of taqiyya (dissimulation or concealing true beliefs and motives), and ‘Islam and Slavery’ provides an historical survey of how Islam has interacted with the contentious issue of the enslavement of human beings.

The UK, Islam and Operation Nehemiah

There are two other much longer booklets (just over 50 pages each) which may interest readers who want to know more about Islam in the UK. Both are written by Patrick Sookhdeo and explain the aims and objectives of the Barnabas Fund’s Operation Nehemiah, a project dedicated to the spiritual transformation of the UK.

One of these (‘Slippery Slope’) focuses on the increasing Islamisation of the UK, but also covers similar trends in Europe. The chapters are simply titled ‘Immigration’, ‘Integration’, ‘Islamisation’ and ‘Implications’. It ends with the mission statement of Operation Nehemiah (based on Nehemiah 3, rebuilding the walls) and encourages readers to sign up and support the mission.

The second booklet (‘The Way Ahead’) ends in a similar fashion and is subtitled ‘Returning Britain to its Christian Path’. This may well be on the heart of many who have experienced recent changes in society and at the very least want to understand this better, if not be spurred into action.

The retreat of Christianity in public life over recent decades has created a vacuum that has lent itself well to the increasing influence of Islam. This booklet is an eye-opening and thought-provoking assessment of what has become a vital aspect of the UK today and should be required reading for those wanting to engage in the important debate of how Britain will develop in the years to come.

Ordering information

All booklets are £1 each. Order from the Barnabas Fund website, by telephoning 02476 231923, or by writing to Barnabas Books, 9 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX.

The Editor-in-Chief responds to the Manchester atrocity.

I’m torn between grief and anger. I’m grieving for the people of Manchester and all those who have suffered in any way from the terrible atrocity that has engulfed the city – the appalling loss of life and the hideous wounds inflicted upon children and young people, as well as mothers and fathers who came to meet their children from a fun night out.

But I’m angry with the hypocrisy of the media, politicians, commentators and community leaders – none of whom are willing to face up to the truth.

They all pour out platitudes and meaningless slogans about unity and standing together and not letting this tragedy make any difference – and they express amazement that a boy born and raised in Manchester could have done such a thing. ‘How did he become radicalised?’, they cry.

What utter hypocrisy! All our leaders know perfectly well that he became radicalised by learning the Qur’an!

Salman Abedi learned Arabic in the local mosque and he was encouraged to learn the Qur’an by heart. It was there he learned that all Muslims are at war with the rest of the world and they should fight against unbelievers, “strike terror into the enemy of Allah” (Qur’an 8:60) until they submit to Allah and his religion. They are not to make friends with Jews or Christians and they are to kill them by any means, whenever there is an opportunity. All this is in the Qur’an that Salman Abedi learned by heart.

What Muhammad Didn’t Learn

This is the teaching of Muhammad – but Muhammad drew heavily upon the stories he learned in his early years as a merchant listening to Jewish travellers around the campfire in the evenings. He would have undoubtedly learned stories of the Hebrew tribes – the great stories of how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt; the crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army. Muhammad was illiterate but he remembered these stories and re-told them later; so a version of them appears in the Qur’an.

Sadly, what Muhammad did not learn from the Bible was how biblical teaching progressed through God’s revelation to the prophets of Israel.

I’m angry with the hypocrisy of the media, politicians, commentators and community leaders – none of whom are willing to face up to the truth.

For example, Moses had to deal with a dire situation where some false prophets were trying to persuade the Israelites to worship other gods and burn their sons and daughters in the fire (Deut 12:31). He said:

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you…and he says, “Let us follow other gods (gods you have not known) and let us worship them,” you must not listen...The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul…That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God…Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. (Deut 13:1-6)

Today we certainly would not put such false prophets to death by stoning them! But all the tribes of Israel were living in tents in the desert. Moses had nowhere to put someone in prison or send them to a re-education centre!

Also God’s people were in danger of being corrupted and led astray, which would lead to their destruction. They had to remain a distinctive and godly people following God’s laws, in order to be ready to receive God’s rescuer, their Messiah, the one who would ultimately bring salvation to all humanity as the Prince of Peace. This is why the punishment for leading Israel astray had to be severe and absolute - because the salvation of the whole world was at stake.

New Testament Times

Over the years, rabbis had made laws about stoning to make it less likely and even then, there were many conditions that could halt a stoning. And we know Jesus’ view on stoning - let him who is without sin cast the first stone (John 8:7).

The teaching of the New Testament on what to do with offenders is very clear – they are to be rebuked and restored if possible, or else expelled from the fellowship, but they are certainly not stoned or put to death. Jesus said, “You have heard it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, but Jesus said, “I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5:38).

This is very different teaching on what to do with those who do not agree with you or who have a totally different philosophy of life. It was at the climax of the ages when Jesus' sacrifice was made on the Cross, that this transformation from retribution to forgiveness was at last made possible by the power of God's Spirit released among his people.

It was at when Jesus' sacrifice was made on the Cross that the transformation from retribution to forgiveness was at last made possible by the power of God's Spirit.

God’s Love and Compassion

But you don’t have to jump straight from Moses to Jesus to see a change of emphasis in the Bible. You can stay in the Old Testament and just go some 500 years later to the time of the Prophet Hosea, and you see that his teaching and whole lifestyle is very different. Hosea’s own wife left him and went to work as a ritual prostitute in a pagan temple; but he still loved her and paid the redemption price to get her back.

This helped Hosea to understand the love and compassion of God who still loved and forgave his people even when they deserted him and worshipped other gods. Hosea expressed the word of God beautifully in chapter 11: “When Israel was a child, I loved him…But the more I called Israel, the farther they went from me…All my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.”

Sadly, Muhammad was unable to study the Bible himself and he may never have heard the Gospel from Christians. The Qur’an was not written during his lifetime, it was written by his friends from their memory of his words after his death, hence the striking difference between accounts of the same incidents in the history of Israel between the Qur’an and the Bible.

Need for Honesty About Islam

I am certainly not suggesting that Muhammad’s policy of forced conversion and violence against Christians and Jews in any way came from the Bible, I’m simply saying that Muhammad may have heard that corporal punishment was permitted under some extreme circumstances during the time the Israelite tribes were encamped in the desert.

Of course, we have great problems today in discussing these things because Muslims in the Middle East try to re-write history and pretend that the Jews never occupied the land of Israel. What is greatly needed today is honest discussions between biblical and Islamic scholars, which is the only way to change the worldview that Muslims are at war with the world and may use any acts of violence in an attempt to force their religion upon others.

Honest discussions between biblical and Islamic scholars are needed if we are to change the worldview that Muslims are at war with the world.

This is the worldview that is being taught to Muslim boys across the mosques of Britain, the USA and Europe, where they are actually taught to hate the West. We will never stop terrorism until we face the true issue that from its inception, Islam has warped and co-opted parts of the Torah to serve its own ends. Its very foundation is a misunderstanding of truth.

Muhammad desperately tried to persuade Jews to accept his teachings, but when they refused he became filled with hatred towards them and the rest is history.

On Thought for the Day today (BBC Radio 4),¹ Mona Siddiqui said that Muslims have to stop believing that they are at war with the world. She is the first Islamic scholar I’ve heard who is prepared to admit that the problem of Islamic terrorism actually comes from the Qur’an – and she will probably incur the wrath of some Muslims. We should be praying for her protection and for any Muslim imams who are prepared to face the truth about their religion.

Jesus the Stone of Judgment

We must also be careful, in considering what I’ve quoted from the teaching of Moses, to remember that the whole Torah is the unchangeable word of God and was accepted by Jesus. He commanded his followers to follow the teaching of the Pharisees who sat “in Moses’ seat” (Matt 23:2), and most certainly did not reject the Torah, although he did criticise the Pharisees’ practices and interpretations, all while upholding the veracity of the Law.

This is what Jesus was doing when he said: “You have heard that it was said, love your neighbour and hate your enemy but I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:43-44).

And yet, Jesus did not shy away from speaking about judgment. He spoke about stoning as judgment, saying that metaphorically he would be the Stone of judgment that would crush or break. He quoted Psalm 118, a psalm known to be about the Messiah, saying: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Ps 118:22). And he added: “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Death at the hands of humans is not what we should fear - but judgment at the hands of the living God, who said that "If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matt 18:6). Anyone who justifies the killing and maiming of children in the name of jihad (as in the Manchester atrocity) should remember that punishment, not paradise, awaits them.