Greetings to readers of David Roseberry's Leaderworks

Greetings in Christ's name!

I really have enjoyed getting to know the Rev. Cannon David Roseberry over the years and working with him to help the larger Anglican community become more aware of a fundamental shift we are going through in the West.

The Muslim population is increasing very quickly.

That is not going to change. The truth is that Islam creates societies in which no one—including Muslims—wants to live.

Many Americans look at this and are alarmed. Now, Christians should voice their opinions on migration and security to their elected leaders in Congress. But, Congress will not and cannot stop the increase of Islam in the USA.

So what should we do? What is a Christ-centered response to this situation?

Serve them in Christ's name. Share your life with them in Christ's name. Pray of them and pray with them. Muslims are coming to Christ. It's not easy. It's not fast. But it's good. God is doing a new thing. I want you and your church to be part of it. That is why this book was published!

Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions via this blog. Just leave a comment on the latest post and I'll get back to you.

Enjoy the blog. Search for terms. There is a huge amount of information on this blog even though I only make new posts every month or so.

And do purchase a copy of Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America and check out my articles at academia.

Peace and grace!

Abu Daoud

Islamic State: We're coming back to take over Spain

New from you friends at the (failing) Islamic State:

In the recording a militant, speaking in Spanish with an Arabic accent, says: “Allah willing, al-Andalus will become again what it was, part of the caliphate. Spanish Christians, don’t forget the Muslim blood spilt during the Spanish inquisition. We will take revenge for your massacre, the one you are carrying out now against Islamic State.” 

Another man, whose face is hidden, adds: “Our war with you will continue until the world ends.” Spanish police identified the individual whose face can be seen as Muhammed Yasin Ahram Pérez, 22, from Cordoba in southern Spain. His Moroccan father is in jail in his native country for terrorism offences and his Spanish mother left Malaga in 2014 to live in an Isis-controlled area in Syria. 

But did you know that the Barcelona attacks were entirely preventable? Pray for Spain. Pray for revival in her churches. Pray for Muslims to come to Christ. Pray for Christians there to proclaim the gospel.

St Julian of Norwich on the Church and the body of Christ

“He wills that we take ourselves with great strength to the faith of holy Church and find there our most precious mother in comfort and true understanding with the whole communion of blessed ones. For a person by himself can frequently be broken, as it seems to himself, but the whole body of holy Church was never broken and never shall be, without end. Therefore it is a sure thing, a good thing, and a gracious thing to will meekly and powerfully to be fastened and joined to our mother, holy Church - that is Christ Jesus.” 

― St. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love

Islam, Not Climate Change or Poverty, Inspires Terror

It's amazing that studies even have to be carried out. But we live in a world where few people seem to have the ability to accept people's explanations for why they do the things they do. Muslim terrorists are pretty clear about things. Yet the liberal media keeps insisting that even though it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and smells like a duck, it's really a turtle.

But this is our world today. A strange one, no doubt.

Now, you may want to site down for some shocking news. Ready? A recent study has shown that Islam is in fact what motivates Islamic terrorism.

I especially liked the comments of Raheem Kassam. Here are some choice morsels:

Indeed, the only reason that some were surprised by the study's results at all was "because we have now had decades of indoctrination in this regard," he told LifeZette. "We are continually force-fed false narratives that are built to advance multiculturalist agendas and fetishization, usually in the name of cheap, migrant labour." 

When asked about the numerous excuses liberal and Islamist apologists have provided for the root cause of Islamic terror, Kassam said, "I've heard them all, but the climate change theory is particularly galling." 

"The Left is tying itself in knots trying to excuse radical Islam while advancing its Marxist agendas elsewhere," he told LifeZette. "They haven't yet realized they sound more like The Onion than reputable sources of news and analysis." 

"It is fairly evident from the Quranic verses often cited by Islamist leaders, as well as lectures freely available online, that there isn't so much a 'perversion' of Islam going on, as establishment leaders so often suggest, but rather, a literalist interpretation of what that book and the Hadiths openly state," Kassam said. 

While "one study scarcely ever proves anything," he said, "in my estimation this comes closer to the truth than the public pronouncements of Barack Obama and Theresa May ever have."

Read it all at Lifezette.

GK Chesterton on Modernity and Christianity

Ran across this fine quote from Chesterton from his book, The Man who was Thursday: A Nightmare.

"Do you see this lantern?" cried Syme in a terrible voice. "Do you see the cross carved on it, and the flame inside? You did not make it. You did not light it. Better men than you, men who could believe and obey, twisted the entrails of iron and preserved the legend of fire. There is not a street you walk on, there is not a thread you wear, that was not made as this lantern was, by denying your philosophy of dirt and rats. You can make nothing. You can only destroy. You will destroy mankind; you will destroy the world. Let that suffice you. Yet this one old Christian lantern you shall not destroy. It shall go where your empire of apes will never have the wit to find it."

There is brilliant insight here I think. That modernity creates things that are inherently temporary and ephemeral. I suspect this is true.

No-go areas in Sweden increase from 55 to 61

So sad to see what is happening to Sweden these days.

That figure about the no-go zones is from the article "Sweden: A Failed State?" over at Gatestone Inst.

Another choice morsel about folks who fought for the Islamic State and then returned to Sweden:

Swedish news outlets have reported that the Swedish towns that receive the returnees do not even know they are returning ISIS fighters. One coordinator of the work against violent Islamist extremism in Stockholm, Christina Kiernan, says that "...at the moment there is no control over those returning from ISIS-controlled areas in the Middle East".

Hard to believe that a country would so actively and intentionally destroy itself.

Afghans and the rape epidemic in Europe

Why are Afghan refugees and asylum seekers at the forefront of a rape epidemic in Europe? That is the question that this article in The National Interest tries to address. 

Here is the author's best guess:

This brings us to a third, more compelling and quite disturbing theory—the one that my Afghan friend, the court translator, puts forward. On the basis of his hundreds of interactions with these young men in his professional capacity over the past several years, he believes to have discovered that they are motivated by a deep and abiding contempt for Western civilization. To them, Europeans are the enemy, and their women are legitimate spoils, as are all the other things one can take from them: housing, money, passports. Their laws don’t matter, their culture is uninteresting and, ultimately, their civilization is going to fall anyway to the horde of which one is the spearhead. No need to assimilate, or work hard, or try to build a decent life here for yourself—these Europeans are too soft to seriously punish you for a transgression, and their days are numbered. 

And it’s not just the sex crimes, my friend notes. Those may agitate public sentiment the most, but the deliberate, insidious abuse of the welfare system is just as consequential. Afghan refugees, he says, have a particular proclivity to play the system: to lie about their age, to lie about their circumstances, to pretend to be younger, to be handicapped, to belong to an ethnic minority when even the tired eye of an Austrian judge can distinguish the delicate features of a Hazara from those of a Pashtun.

There you go. Europe is the spoils of war. No need to assimilate, work, or do anything at all. The Europeans are soft and stupid. Sounds pretty accurate to me. 

A Prayer for Egypt

From A Sense of Belonging.

God, Five more policemen were killed today. Several high-profile militants were killed this week. And to avoid adding their number to the roll, Egypt’s churches canceled summer activities for the next three weeks. The intelligence services are finding material – warning the Christians and raiding the hideouts. Yet extremist elements are finding recruits – threatening Christians and targeting checkpoints. God, the cycle must end somewhere. May it be with the least blood. Criminals must be found, God. But give them justice greater than death. To the degree possible, help raids end in capture. Peace must be established, God. But give Egypt justice greater than security. To the degree possible, help rights end in responsibility. Death comes for all, God, when you will it. But in Egypt the past several years, it has come too soon for too many. In eternity you cancel death. May Egypt live as if you canceled it now. Amen.  

Paul Wood on Trump's Poland Speech

Loved this insight from Paul Wood at his blog, A Political Refugee from the Global Village. I think he is making a really good point--that President Trump is willing to recognize an obvious reality that neither Bush nor Obama were willing to acknowledge, or perhaps even able to see.

Here is most of the post:

Trump's speech yesterday at Warsaw was a very good one, though I have mentioned that I disliked him seeing the Assad regime and Iran as hostile.  

George W. Bush went to lengths to insist the West was not in conflict with Islam. He declared war instead on an abstract noun, terrorism, even though you can't win a war with an abstract noun. Barack Obama said the terrorist murders in Paris, several massacres ago, were "an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share", even though values are not really universal.

Donald Trump yesterday at Warsaw declared that Western culture, not universal values, are under assault in Europe and the U.S. This is an important step forward.

Read the rest of it here. And do leave comments over there.

Jews, Muslims, and the Nobel Prize

Great observation here:

There are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, a figure that may rise. There are roughly 14.4 million Jews in total. The disparity in numbers is remarkable. So is the disparity in Nobel Laureates. Take a deep breath. There have been twelve Muslim Nobel Laureates – seven for Peace [...], two in Literature, one in Physics, and two in Chemistry. For a brief survey of how several of these Laureates have been treated by their fellow Muslims, see Gordon Fraser's Oxford University Press article. As for the tiny Jewish population, there have been 193 Nobel Laureates, equaling 22% of Nobel Prize winners overall.

Read the whole article HERE.

David Goldman: Islamic civilization is destroying itself

Very interesting and wide-ranging article here by the David Goldman (aka, Spengler) over at Asia Times.

Some choice morsels.

On Sweden:

Even in liberated, feminist, gender-neutral Sweden, there is something more horrible than rape, something horrible enough to persuade the political elite to sacrifice the physical and mental health of tens of thousands of Swedish women. That is the horror of social disintegration in the Muslim world. Sweden opened its borders to refugees twenty years before the migrant flood arrived on Germany’s doorstep, and the foreign born rose from 9% of the population in 1990 to 15.4% in 2012. Foreigners have a higher birth rate, so the percentage is higher including second-generation immigrants.

And an interesting point about the "character of the people" and the civil war in Syria:

The death of Muslim civilization is too horrible for the Germans to contemplate, because the bell tolls for them, too. And it is particularly painful for Germans to consider the possibility that the source of the terrible events that have driven millions to Germany is the character of the people themselves. Syria has torn itself to pieces not only because of the malfeasance of its leaders but rather because of the character of its people. 

Anyway, read the whole thing here: More Horrible than Rape.

Was Islam really born in Mecca? Nope. Try Petra.

Every year new research on the early history of Islam comes out. It is very exciting!

Here is a video about one researcher, Dan Gibson, who argues that the original birthplace of Islam was in fact Petra (in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), and that the city known as Mecca today in Saudi Arabia didn't even exist at the beginning of the Islamic calendar (begins in 622 AD).

Here is a trailer, though the entire movie, The Sacred City, is at Amazon:



If you really into the topic of Islamic origins, I also note that Gibson has a newly published book, Early Islamic Qiblas. I understand that the book develops in much greater detail the argument in the movie.

Part XXIV: Terror in London, Nihilism, Islamic State

Part XXIV: Terror in London, Nihilism, and the Islamic State

by Abu Daoud

Some time ago I received an e-mail from a colleague and friend with ministry experience in the UK and Africa. He asked some questions about Islam, terrorism, and the Islamic State. I thought I would share my answers to his questions with you all. His questions are in italics.

I am (rightly or wrongly) slightly put off by some Christians who are very anti-Islam and see ISIS as the true face Islam. But I wonder if ISIS is not a Western phenomenon in many ways?

You are right in that many Christians are indeed very anti-Islam. I think it is important to not assume that ISIS is 'the' face of Islam. On the other hand, to dismiss it as 'not Islam at all' as all the pols in the UK (and many in the USA) do--that is clearly wrong too. When I share with Christians here about Islam, which I do often, I encourage them to form Christ-centered relations with Muslims. If Muslims are in fact the enemies of the Church, then we know how to treat them--love your enemy. If, on the other hand, they are merely our neighbors, we also know how to respond to them--love. The witness of the love of God in the life of a Christian is powerful and strong and is the main thing we see drawing Muslims to Christ around the world today.

As to ISIS being a Western phenomenon, I would say no. Islamic State has a very real and valid claim to trying to emulate the very first generations of Muslims, even with all their brutality and terror. Muhammad himself said, "Allah has made me victorious through terror." So why would Muslims not do this today? He, as the founder of Islam, imparted a very specific DNA to his community, and while it can mutate and change, it can only go so far. Same thing with Jesus and Christianity. Churches that become so divorced from the original praxis and doxa of the Church eventually die out (Church of Scotland, for instance) or become distinct religions (Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses). IS in killing and terrorizing and raping is following the Qur'an. They are doing it more literally than most Muslims do (thank God), but there is no question that they have a Qur'an warrant for everything they do. 

If there is one area where the IS is Western, or modern, really, it is in their use of Internet and media. They are very good at this. This is a key reason why IS has been successful in doing what Al Qaeda (another important reform movement in 20th Century Islam) was not able to do.

I am also perplexed about the horrible bombings in Europe, and occasionally in America, which are seen as expressions of Islam rather than as expressions of a nihilistic Western culture - in which maladjusted and non-practising Westernised Muslims, usually drug addicts, seem to go crazy. The Anders Breivik, Thomas McVeigh and Columbine rampage killings seem to fit into the same category of deranged young men taking their frustrations out on society. 

So the question is, can we believe people when they tell us why they are doing what they are doing? Breivik and McVeigh told us why they did what they did, and neither had to do with Christianity or the Bible or Jesus. They were motivated by nationalism or racism, if I recall the two cases. Similarly, when Muslims carry out attacks they are quite clear about why they are doing what they are doing. What warrant do we have to say that they do not in fact understand their own motives? Their answers are very clear and they cite the Qur'an and the hadith carefully. It is true that some of them (especially in Europe) are not well-educated. But many of them came from lives of frug use and morality and their decision to wage Jihad was part and parcel of their reformation as they left those things behind. In Christian circles it is not uncommon to hear of a drug-addict or criminal who had a dramatic conversion experience and went on to become an evangelist or pastor. We simply have the Muslim parallel here. 

Is it perhaps really nihilism that motivates these young men (and increasingly, women)? Nihilism is a philosophical school that asserts that all religious and moral principles are to be rejected, and that life is meaningless. Now that is certainly not what these men and women believe. It is precisely because they believe that they are called to assert the absolute triumph of Allah and his Prophet that they are called to "slay the unbelievers wherever you find them" (Qur'an 9:5) and "fight in the way of Allah" (Qur'an 2:190) "until the religion--all of it--is for Allah" (8:39). After all, as the Prophet, the ideal human and template for all human action, said, "Paradise is in the shade of swords." Whatever that is, it is not nihilism. It is rather a community of young men who are rejecting the nihilism of the secular West which can no long alert any absolute truth about anything at all. They are rejecting that nihilism and they hate it--as they should, for it is inhumane and hopeless--and then they are taking up a great and noble quest: to establish the absolute of reign of Allah over the whole earth--until all religion--all of it--is for Allah.

So, on the contrary, it is against nihilism that these men strive.

It is also incorrect to conclude that these people are doing this out of thuggery. Some do come from that background. But many of the most eminent mujahidin were well educated. All of the 9/11 men were, the men who executed the July 7 operation in the London Tube were too. The head of Al Qaeda is a medical doctor. The Caliph himself holds a PhD in Islamic Studies. Many more examples could be given.But that sword cuts both ways (it always does). If we dismiss their sincerity and devotion because they are not educated, then we must surely toss out the window most of the Apostles and that uneducated peasant girl, Mary. Are you ready to do this? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

As to 99.9%, that is certainly wrong. Also, the word 'terrorism' is misleading. One man's terrorism is another man's struggle for freedom. What the West calls terrorism, many Muslims don't. In the UK alone there are 26,000 Muslims under the surveillance of MI5. One of the recent attackers at the London Bridge had been on that list, but there were other 'higher priorities' to deal with, so they stopped monitoring him. That doesn't equal .1% at all. 

Thanks for the questions! Very good. And let me know what you think. I'm glad to continue this conversation.

Tom Holland on the origins of Islam

Bill Muehlenberg and Reverse Creeping Shari'a

Interesting thought experiment here by Bill Muehlenberg at CultureWatch. He asks what would happen if Christians tried to flood Muslim countries with immigrants and 'refugees' who demanded rights and then shari'a and so on.

It is really worth your time. Read it HERE.

My answer is that it would never work because Muslims still believe in their culture, tradition, and society. Europe obviously doesn't Europe doesn't believe in anything at all. It doesn't matter how many of their children are slaughtered. Europe is so deeply divorced from reality that there is no turning back.

When Christians move to Muslim countries (and they do in some cases), the Christians are very clearly expected to live and operate according to Islamic tradition and law. This doesn't mean life is bad for Christians. Some Christians in the Muslim world do rather well. But Christians really are always second class citizens.

So why no reverse creeping shari'a? Shari'a can only creep in a society with no roots and no future, no vision and no appreciation for its own heritage and history. That's why it won't work.

But Bill, thanks for the interesting article!

The Qur'an and 'moderate' Muslims

Did you know that during the life of Muhammad he knew some Muslims who did' want to fight Jihad, and who just wanted to get along? They were moderate folks, you know.

The Qur'an itself addresses them with these words:

"Jihad (holy fighting in Allah's Cause) is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it, and it maybe that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know." (2:216)

The lesson is that living at peace with non-Muslims is not okay! Allah knows what is best, and that's jihad.

Pray for Muslims to know the prince of peace. Pray for Muslims to know "the one, true God, and Jesus Christ whom [he] has sent" (Jn 17:3).

The death of the West

R. R. Reno over at First Things really knocked it out the ballpark with this new article, 'Return of the Strong Gods.'

Check this out:

Our political struggles over nations and nationalisms are best understood as referenda on the West’s meta-politics over the last three generations, which has been one of disenchantment. The rising populism we’re seeing throughout the West reflects a desire for a return of the strong gods to public life. 

Or this:

[After WW2] many political and cultural leaders assumed that restoration of a more humane way of life in the West would require softening and weakening. 

And this:

Our present-day view of the good life “has the features of lightening.” All of this is summed up in his catchphrase the “weakening of Being,” which he sees as a happy unburdening of the West, for weakening promotes tolerance, peace, and freedom. If there are no strong truths, nobody will judge others or limit their freedom. If nothing is worth fighting for, nobody will fight. 

But do yourself a favor and read the whole thing. It is well worth your time.

"Europe is commiting suicide"

From Douglas Murray at The Sunday Times....

I mean that the civilisation we know as Europe is in the process of committing suicide and that neither Britain nor any other western European country can avoid that fate, because we all appear to suffer from the same symptoms and maladies.

And this:

So whereas European identity in the past could be attributed to highly specific, not to mention philosophically and historically deep foundations (the rule of law, the ethics derived from the continent’s history and philosophy), today the ethics and beliefs of Europe — indeed the identity and ideology of Europe — have become about “respect”, “tolerance” and (most self-abnegating of all) “diversity”.

Do let Mr. Murray how much you appreciate his excellent writing. He is telling the truth. But the ruling class of Europe hate it and will not even hear it...

Crime in Germany hits new highs

I have said it before and will say it again: Future generations will look back at Angela Merkel and say, "She is the one who killed Germany."

Check out these statistics from the Gatestone Institute:

• According to the Germany's annual crime report, compiled by the Federal Crime Bureau (BKA), there has been a more than 50% rise in migrant crime in the country compared to the year before.
• They not only indulge in petty crime but have come to dominate serious and violent crime in Germany.
• European mainstream media may keep on putting a positive spin on Merkel's "courageous" and "selfless" stance, but her policy continues to incur heavy economic, social and human cost, not only on Germany, but on the cultural future of European civilization.
  
  
  Read it all HERE.
  
  

Allah, he did whatever Muhammad wanted

At one point Aisha became upset about so many women offering themselves to Muhammad in marriage. She asked Muhammad about this. He did not respond to her, but Allah did! Her response was to say more or less, "Wow, I feel like Allah really does whatever you want him to..."

But that's my paraphrase. Here is the actual hadith from Al Bukhari:

Narrated Aisha: I used to be jealous of those ladies who had given themselves to Allah's Apostle and I used to say, "Can a lady give herself (to a man)?" But when Allah revealed: "You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may receive any of them whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose turn you have set aside (temporarily)." (33.51) I said (to the Prophet), "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes."

Why atheism fails

So I mostly focus on Islam here, but I wanted to share something interesting I recently read about an atheist who became a Christian.

Here is the part of the article that really caught my attention:

Briefly, I grew tired of the lack of explanation for: the existence of the universe, moral values and duties, objective human worth, consciousness and will, and many other topics.

Bravo for an atheist who wanted to really think. I have never met an atheist who can really answer the question, why do I believe that good and evil are real? Or, Why prefer good over evil?

Most atheists will give a pragmatic answer, like, prefer good over evil because it will lead to a more enjoyable life, or living at peace with others. But that's is a lousy answer. Why prefer good over evil when evil will benefit me? Why care about the well-being of others?

I have yet to meet an atheist who can answer these questions...

Read it all HERE.

Attack in Sweden: Just say, "It has nothing to do with Islam..."

So Sweden,

How's that diversity working for you?

–Abu Daoud

Terror in the West. Get used to it.

This is my summary of this article, which includes the insights of some oft he worlds top experts on terrorism. It is an enemy that cannot be beaten. The irony is that in dar al Islam there will always be sectarian violence and terror, and so people will always be fleeing to the West for security. But the West is also an incubator for terror, a place where it can safely develop and grow in the cocoon of constitutional protections based on the incorrect classification of Islam as a religion.

Here is some sunshine and honey:

Like ISIS arising from Al-Qaeda’s ashes, Levitt worried that the political instability giving rise to ISIS would promote the resurgence of jihadists yet again, after the Islamic State’s impeding loss of its territorial “caliphate.”

Or rainbows and peaches and cream:

Levitt pointed out that the Islamic State actually emerged from the once-defeated Al-Qaeda in Iraq group. He said that tomorrow’s bin Laden or Zarqawi could very well be someone in his or her teens or early 20s in Syria or Iraq today.

Or lemonade and ginger:

Hoffman illustrated the global dangers emanating from such crisis zones by noting that, at most, 15,000 foreign jihadists passed through Al-Qaeda’s Afghanistan training camps from 1990–2001, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. By contrast, approximately four times that number of foreigners joined jihadist groups in Syria, an estimation Levitt considered conservative.

Anyway, read the whole thing. It is surely correct. What will be interesting is to see when the secular orders of the West are finally replaced by Shari'a. When will that be? 2080? 2050? Hard to say. But given that the non-religious, secular people just don't have babies, rest assured that it will happen. 

Did Muhammad Exist? The Qur'an was canonized in 1924...and other gems

Well, well. What can one say about Jay Smith? He's....a special fellow!

In this great video he gives us a great lecture summarizing the latest research about controversial topics: did Muhammad exist? Was Petra, not Mecca, the original qibla. Did Abd al Malik invent Muhammad? Why did the earliest mosques not face Arabia at all? How is it that sections of the Qur'an have been found that predate the alleged life of Muhammad?

Check it out. You will not be disappointed.

 

So what does the Qur'an say about Jesus?

Yes, yes, I've been posting lots of Youtube videos lately. But man, some of them are really good. Here is an interesting find. What does the Qur'an say about Jesus? Check it out and let me know what you think.

Terror in London: "a perversion of a great faith"?

David Wood takes on the PC police of Great Britain. Sad to see people living in denial. Their grand children will no doubt enjoy life under the shari'a in Londonistan.

So how is contemporary Christian music made?

As I've said before, if you can't laugh at your religion then it sucks.

And with that in mind, here is a great video making fun of contemporary Christian music.

There is only thing in the West that is really countercultural anymore: becoming a monk or nun. Beautiful and life giving. May God give many more to his churches around the world.

The Student Volunteer Movement and global missions

It was during my time as a student that I felt a calling to share the Gospel with Muslims. I recently saw this video and wanted to share it here. It is an important chapter in global missions:

No justice for Christians in Pakistan

America, UK, Europe, get ready. This is your future as you continue to import large numbers of Muslims.

From Christianity Today:

The ruling comes less than a month after the court acquitted more than 100 Muslims for rampaging through another one of Lahore’s major Christian communities in 2013 over one man’s alleged blasphemy. 

The 42 Christians were roughly half of those accused of murder and terrorism after two Muslim men suspected of bombing Sunday services in Youhanabad were killed. The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), an initiative of Pakistan’s Catholic bishops, told Fides that they were disappointed that the church attackers have not been punished. 

Also left unpunished were the approximately 112 Muslims who were arrested for ransacking, looting, and setting fire to more than 100 homes in Joseph Colony in 2013. The court found them innocent despite eyewitnesses and videos of the attack, reported World Watch Monitor.

For shame, Pakistan. A nation built on injustice and oppression. Jesus Christ is your king, though you refuse to know either justice or mercy.

Let's talk about the Jinn...

A lot of folk Islam is concerned with appeasing or controlling jinn (genies). Some of them are good. Some of them are bad. Solomon chatted with them. Some of them are Muslims!

Here are two hadith about these spirits made of fire:

Hadith - Al-Bukhari 7.657, Narrated 'Aisha, r.a. Some people asked Allah's Apostle about the foretellers. He said. -They are nothing." They said, -O Allah's Apostle! Sometimes they tell us of a thing which turns out to be true." Allah's Apostle said, "A Jinn snatches that true word and pours it into the ear of his friend (the foreteller) (as one puts something into a bottle). The foreteller then mixes with that word one hundred lies."

And one more:

Hadith - Tirmidhi #350 Allah's Messenger said: Don't cleanse yourself with dung or with bones for that is the food of your brothers from amongst the Jinn.

GK Chesterton on Islam

A new friend of mine recently passed on that previous quote on Islam by Churchill. And now he passed this gem by Chesterton on Islam:

There is in Islam a paradox which is perhaps a permanent menace. The great creed born in the desert creates a kind of ecstasy out of the very emptiness of its own land, and even, one may say, out of the emptiness of its own theology. [...] 

A void is made in the heart of Islam which has to be filled up again and again by a mere repetition of the revolution that founded it. There are no sacraments ; the only thing that can happen is a sort of apocalypse, as unique as the end of the world ; so the apocalypse can only be repeated and the world end again and again. There are no priests ; and yet this equality can only breed a multitude of lawless prophets almost as numerous as priests. The very dogma that there is only one Mahomet produces an endless procession of Mahomets.

— Lord Kitchener (1917) p. 7-8

Winston Churchill on Islam

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. 

"The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

"A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

"Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.

"No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."

 -- Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899)

Bernie Powers dismantles Miroslav Volf on Allah

Here is a critical review of Miroslav Volf's book on Allah, wherein Volf argues that the deities of Islam and Christianity are, at the end of the day, one and the same.

Here is a section of the review I really liked:

Unfortunately another key foundation of his thesis, that Muslims along with Christians, are commanded to love their neighbours (pp.14) is simply an illusion. The Qur’an nowhere tells Muslims to love those who are different from themselves. Allah does not love such people (apparently He only loves Himself), so why should Muslims do so? There is only a single mention of preference for others and it is not unequivocal. There are two collections of the Hadith which are seen as sahih or ‘authentic’. In Muslim bin al-Hajjaj’s collection, which Volf quotes, it is rendered as: “None of you has faith until you love for your neigh bour what you love for yourself” 8 (p.105) Al- Bukhari’s collection of the Hadith puts it like this: “The Prophet said, ‘None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself.’” (al-Bukhari 1:12) Muhsin Khan’s translation of al-Bukhāri’s Hadith occasionally contains bracketed insertions. Through their use, he identifies between the most likely meaning. In this particular case, the term “brother” is judged to apply only to fellow Muslims.

Powers is rightly pointing out that Islam, at best, has a golden rule that applies only to fellow Muslims.

Read the whole review HERE.

On President Trump's recent order to stop immigration from Muslim-majority countries

I was recently chatting with a friend on Facebook, a mature Christian with a lot of experience working with Muslims and a history in the Middle East. 

The question we were discussing was, what do you think about the recent order to stop immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days.

I thought his answer was thoughtful and worth sharing with you all. So, with his permission, here is his response, with slight edits for the sake of clarity:

I think the ruler of this age is clouding hearts and minds. People don't realize that this isn't high school debate with your teacher. Using bogus rationale and facts just to prove your point is going to cost the USA dearly with stuff like this in the real world.

Obviously secularism and Islam have one major thing in common: the hatred of the Church. What's troubling to me is Chrisitans, even Christians who are well-versed in the evils of Islam, are shoving their heads in the sand and pretending like jihadism is some sort of anomaly.
I often have wondered which snake would eat the other when their borders expanded into each other's territory. I always thought secularism would overturn Islam as money and education grew in the Middle East. But it's turning out to be quite the opposite.

Obviously people operate on a spiritual level more so than an intellectual one, so what I see makes sense. 

But it never ceases to amaze me that there is no limit to which people are willing to go in order to look the other way with Islam. While at the same time holding Chirstianity accountable for the most trivial and non-offenses imaginable. How bizarre.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: Abu Mussab Wajdi Akkari on Allah's Love

Does Islam need a Reformation?

Does Islam need a Reformation?
by Abu Daoud

I have noticed a good deal of talk regarding the hope that exists in the West of a Reformation for Islam. There are two points I wish to make in response.

The first is regarding what exactly constitutes a "reformation." Historically the term refers to a decentralized group of reformation movements throughout western Europe in the 16th Century. But there is a significant gap between what the Reformers intended and actually accomplished. The complete picture is complex, but Calvin and Luther (among others) would be horrified to see the seemingly endless multiplication of Protestant-tradition churches we see today--that is, the continual splitting of denominations and ecclesial bodies.

The Reformers did, however, claim that they were returning Christianity to its original, if obscured, Apostolic and Biblical roots. There was a concrete and pervading desire to reject what the Reformers understood as traditions that departed from the original Biblical mandates. The relation of the believer to God was also made more direct, jettisoning the role of the priest or the bishop as the representative of Christ. The Reformers also introduced what were either entirely new or recovered principles of interpreting Scripture. Inherent in this entire and largely uncoordinated group of reform movements was a decentralization of power from the bishop of Rome (the Pope) to local pastors, congregations, laity, royalty, and governments.

So the second question is what would "Reformed Islam" look like? Well, it would discard centuries of traditions that people adopted to live with the presence of diversity and plurality--even taking into account how minor those accommodations were. It would also release the individual Muslim from accountability to his community, making him directly accountable to God and his mandate for perpetual and global jihad. It would finally lead to a proliferation of schools of interpretation, many of them accusing the other of faithlessness in right interpretation of the Qur'an.
I would therefore argue that we have in our midst a highly-Reformed Islam in the form of what is alternately called Wahabi or Salafi Islam. There is an interesting history behind each of the words and they are not identical. Suffice to say that followers of Salafiism understand themselves as interpreting and living out the Qur'an and Hadith (sayings of Muhammad) in accordance with the original and plain meaning understood by Muhammad and his companions (the salafi, which is Arabic for "predecessors.")

It was indeed this school of Reformed Islam that highly influenced the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Not for centuries have we seen a government that so faithfully and perfectly obeyed the pattern of the early Muslims (salafi). In other words, the Afghanistan under the Taliban was Reformed Islam. It was Islam stripped of accretions not mandated by the Qur'an or his companions (who play a role like the Apostles in many ways), who understood themselves as interpreting the Qu'ran plainly and simply, without the influence or intermediary of distracting scholars and philosophers and theologians.

Part of Reformed Islam is the return to active, vigorous and perpetual jihad, as was the custom of Muhammad and his companions. Muhammad himself was part of over 70 battles/raids during his own lifetime, very few of which were defensive. The expansion of jihad we see today is not radical or fundamentalist Islam. It is Islam in its most historically accurate and pure form.

Is the Qur'an really from Muhammad? The Sana'a Manuscript

Muslims insist that the Qur'an they have today goes all the way back to Muhammad and has never been changed or altered. However, in 1972 during a renovation of the great mosque in Sana'a, Yemen, this palimpsest was discovered. But it turns out that we have two different manuscripts with edits written on this one palimpsest. Amazing.

Learn more by listening to this talk by Al Fadi, a convert from Saudi Arabia. He is also founder and president of CIRA International.

Allah is not ok with Tom and Jerry

And you thought it was just a harmless cartoon! Turns out that this venerable cartoon is in fact part of a huge plot to subvert the integrity of Islam....or something like that.

The Qur'an and the Crucifixion of Jesus

The Qur'an and the Crucifixion of Jesus
by Abu Daoud

Excerpts from a Conversation with a Muslim

Me: I am arguing that the Qu'ran does not actually say that Jesus was not crucified. The passage you reference is, "they did not crucify him, but it only appeared so." But if you look at the whole sura, you will see that it is discussing God's relationship to the descendants of the sons of Israel, whom we call Jews today. And historically, if you read the Injiil (Gospels), you will see that the Jews did not have the authority to crucify Jesus by their own power. They had to get the permission of the Roman authorities, and actually it was Roman soldiers that crucified him. So yes, to an observer it may have seemed like the Jews were actually totally responsible for his death, but that was not the case.

So when I say that Jesus was crucified, I am not saying anything against the Qu'ran itself, which you believe is from God. Rather I am disagreeing with one tasfiir (interpretation). The interpretations are not from God, but from man, so they may be incorrect.

Leith (my Jordanian friend): But we are guaranteed correctness in these interpretations because the Prophet related the correct interpretations to his followers and they have been collected by men likeAl-Muslim, Al-Bukhtori, [and so on].

Me: Ah, you refer to the ahadith [this is the plural of hadith, or the sayings of the Prophet, which after the Qu'ran extremely important for Muslims]. But who compiled the ahadith? They were men like you and me doing historical investigation. My point is that you cannot know for sure if they are correct because these men were not directed by God himself. The point is that I am disagreeing with the interpretation of the Qu'ran, not the text itself.

***

Leith: We are all sinners, but the prophets receive a special gift, they become immune to error and sin. They can no longer sin.

Me: But what about before they receive the message from God?

Leith: Yes, they can sin.

Me: But Jesus never sinned at all, that is in the Qu'ran. This is why we [Christians] pray in the name of Jesus. When we pray in our own name, why should God listen to our prayers? But when we come to God in the-name of Jesus, this is the only person in all of history who never offended God. So then God will listen to us and forgive us.

Leith: Actually we pray to God in the name of Muhammad and all the prophets.

Me: Ah yes, Muhammad. Who in the Qu'ran has problems with one of his wives because he is spending too much time with his Egyptian concubine. And then one of his wives gets jealous of her and tells him, "Don't come to me saying you have another message from [the Archangel] Gabriel!" I think she was too clever for him!

Leith: Yes! [Smiling] I think you are right. You know the Qu'ran well! Do you know how many wives he had?

Me: At any given time up to eight, but in all his life I think 13.

Leith: Eleven.

Islam: A Religion, and an Empire too! Part 2

Islam: A Religion, and an Empire too! Part 2
by Abu Daoud

In Part IV of this series I established that Islam is more than just a religion, according to Western standards, which allow for a separation of religion and state. Islam contains within its teaching regarding the relations and duties of man before God a very specific political order. What is it?

It is the caliphate. The Arabic word xalifa (caliph) means “successor [of the Prophet].” When God appointed Mohammad to be the Prophet who would bring the incorrupt and incorruptible revelation from God, he also chose him to be a ruler over the Umma. The caliphate existed in one form or another through the 20th century (1924), lastly within the Ottoman Empire (whose successor is Turkey). Devout Muslims therefore long for and must work for the restoration of the caliphate. This was precisely the desire of Abu Mussab al Zaraqawi (a Jordanian mujahid), recently deceased. He was a devout and good Muslim. This may seem like a troubling statement, but in reality his devotion to his religion extended far beyond my own devotion to my religion, and probably yours as well. He was working to restore the caliphate, to unite all Muslim people into one Umma that would unite all the nation states of Islam. In his willingness to use violence as a means of ushering in God's gracious and righteous reign he was following Muhammad's pattern of life (sunna).

In fact, the existence of nation states is reprehensible to devout Muslims. They run against a central tenet of Islam: that there are only two religious-political entities in the world: Dar al Islam (House of Islam) and Dar al Harb (House of War). The vision of conservative Muslims (it is an error to call them fundametalists) is to bring all Muslim peoples into one entity. The combined power would be capable of completing the effort (jihad) of making the peoples of the world submitters (muslims) to God’s rule.

In other words, God’s grace is manifest not in bread and wine and water and oil (as in our religion), but in political rule. Political-religious rule is how God reveals his grace and goodness to the world. It is how he works to restore justice and peace and order to the world. Until that rule of God is completely restored, the Ummah must continue to exert effort (jihad) to work for that restoration and submission and surrender.

This is the good and glorious vision of Islam for the world. I do not agree with it, of course, which is why my family is devoted to evangelizing Muslims. My family and I want then to understand that true submission (islam) to God means submission to his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the image (iconos, in Greek) of the glory of God, as Paul said. If one rejects the Son, how can one say he accepts the Father? "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."

Islam: A Religion (and an Empire too!), Part 1

Islam: A Religion (and an Empire too!), Part 1
by Abu Daoud

There are two central aspects of Islam that folks in the West tend to misunderstand. Because of these two flaws in our understanding we continue to make decisions and take actions that are ineffective or counterproductive in the Dar al Islam.

The second thing is the relation of power to grace. But the first thing, which is related to the second, is that Islam, properly speaking, is not simply a religion, but an entire civilization. Islam is a holistic and organic system of life that includes very specific regulations and laws regarding everything from inheritance to divorce, investing to commerce, and—here is sticking point—regulations regarding government.

Muhammad was the civil and religious ruler of the Umma (the Islamic nation) at the time of his death. Since a prophet gains immunity against sin once he has been called by God, he can do no wrong. This certainly gets around the messiness of dividing and distributing power, which the founders of the USA attempted to do. But there is a problem: original sin. For all have sinned! There is not one righteous, no not one!  

Christianity has flirted with the union of all civil and religious power under one person, specifically in the idea of the Holy Roman Emperor, who was considered by some to be rex et sacerdos—King and Priest. But overall we have tended to separate the two spheres in some way or another.

For traditionally-minded Muslims, the idea of separating the two kinds of authority is unnatural and an affront to the human person, who is at once a political and religious being. Before you dismiss this insight, let me point out that the so-called alternative (secularism) is running into great problems nowadays. The reason for this is that it is very difficult to figure out where to draw the line between the religious person and the political person—as Islam rightly argues. Does the line exclude a prayer before Congress meets? Does the line exclude students from bringing Bibles into public schools? Does the line exclude atheists from holding public office? What about Satan worshippers? My point is simply that Islam has a good point here: the human being is at once political and religious, reflecting the unity (tawheed, wahda) within God. So any attempt to divide the two spheres must be, to some extent, artificial, mutable, and provisional.

But what is a religion? This might seem like a simple question, but in fact it is very difficult to answer. Christians in the USA these days like to say that Christianity is a relationship (with Christ), not a religion. I appreciate the sentiment behind that statement, but it is in reality totally false. A religion, speaking generally, is any system of beliefs and practices that teach people(s) how to relate to Ultimate Reality (what we call God). So the very idea that Christianity is relational is a very religious idea: we should relate to God personally, not impersonally; or personally, and not communally. Some people say they are spiritual and not religious—I used to say that. Now I say I am very religious. Let people draw their own conclusions.

Islam teaches that part of the relationship between the political ruler and the religious ruler is all encompassed within the submission, yielding, sublimination, or surrender (various translations of the Arabic word islam) that must characterize the community and person before God and his Prophet. So to those who say that Christianity is a personal relationship, not a religion, the traditional Muslim replies that Islam is a political relationship, not just a religion.