It is time to dispel widespread myths and misconceptions about
this important religion and to see what the Bible says about
Islam and the world’s future!
NOT SINCE the days of the Crusades has religion played such a
crucial role in world affairs.
From Morocco to Indonesia, Islam is reemerging as a political
and religious force that cannot be ignored. Moslems are
reasserting their faith–culturally, spiritually and politically.
“God may be Head in the West,” one observer has commented, “but
He is very much alive in the Middle East!”
Westerners Confused
Few topics have created as much misunderstanding in the Western
world as that of Islam. Most Westerners do not begin to
comprehend even the most basic tenets of that important faith.
They view it largely from a standpoint of ignorance and
uninformed impressions.
Yet few topics arc as vital to understand during this momentous
last quarter of the 20th century!
Moslems are well aware of how Western cartoonists depict them,
how Hollywood portrays them, how Westerners write about them.
The exaggerated and misleading stereotype of the robed,
hook-nosed camel driver is well known–and widely
resented–throughout the Middle East.
Events in the Moslem world are too often interpreted through
Western eyes. Western observers often impose their own
preconceived notions onto events there and interpret them
according to Western criteria. They see the Islamic faith from
the vantage point of their own limited Western, largely
Judeo-Christian experience.
Here lies the root of the West’s gross misunderstanding of the
Moslem world.
Proper “Camera Setting”
To properly comprehend the Moslem world, it is necessary to put
oneself into Moslem shoes, to think in Moslem terms, to see the
world through Moslem eyes. From that perspective one can begin
to acquire a deeper insight into Islam and its role in world
events today.
A century ago, when Britain was wrestling with troublesome
problems in Egypt and the Sudan, Prime Minister Gladstone
thought it wise to study the Koran, Islam’s Holy Book. Only that
way, he asserted, could he really come to know the people and
the faith with which he was contending.
Despite the questionable results of his Middle Eastern
policies, Gladstone had at least understood in principle the
importance of viewing the Moslem world from the proper vantage
point, the proper “camera setting.”
It is also time to understand what the Bible says about the
Moslem faith and about the significance of events in the Moslem
world–now and in the tumultuous years just ahead!
Popular Religion
Understand, first, the importance of Islam as a contemporary
world force. Islam is a global faith. Nearly one person in five
in the world today some 800 million people in more than 75
countries–is a Moslem. This is a sizable bloc and one with
great potential power.
Islam is also one of the world’s most popular religions,
possibly the fastest growing faith on the globe. In sub-Saharan
Africa, Islam is reportedly winning 10 times as many converts as
traditional Christianity!
It is important to understand, too, that not all Arabs are
Moslems (some 10 percent are Christian), nor are all Moslems
Arabs.
Introduced among the Arabs in the seventh century, Islam spread
swiftly throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
Multiple millions of non-Arabs were added to the fold of Islam.
Within a century Islam controlled an empire more vast than that
of Rome or Alexander the Great.
Submission to Allah
Islam means many things to many Moslems. Literally, the word
Islam means “submission to Allah.” A Moslem is “one who
submits.” Moslems, however, have differing ideas of their faith
according to their social class, education, political leanings
and cultural background.
Like other religions, Islam has become fragmented over the
centuries by theological feuds and disagreements. Today, Islam
is split into two main branches, the Sunni and Shiite groups.
These two branches resulted from a major schism over the issue
of who should succeed to Moslem leadership following the death
of the Prophet Mohammed, the religion’s founder, in A.D. 632.
Mainstream Sunni Islam–accounting for nearly 90 percent of all
Moslems–is divided into four “schools” of interpretation. By
contrast, the 10 percent of all Moslems who are Shiites–located
primarily in Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Oman–are split into dozens
of sects, sub sects and offshoots, some of which are considered
heretical by Sunni Moslems.
The centuries-long quest for Islamic unity remains a distant
dream, due largely to a lack of effective leadership. Disunity
and fragmentation have been the general rule within the Islamic
ummah, or community. It is therefore difficult to generalize
about Islam as if it were a single, coherent bloc.
Nevertheless, all Moslems share certain basic beliefs and
outlooks. First and foremost is their one-sentence creed, called
the shahadah: “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His
Messenger.” A solemn recitation of this confession of faith
(just eight words in Arabic) is the only requirement for
becoming a Moslem.
According to Moslem belief, an archangel–Gabriel — descended
to Mohammed, first in A.D. 610, and imparted to him the wisdom
of the Koran. At first, Mohammed was afraid he was going insane
or was possessed by an evil spirit. But he soon became convinced
that his calling was truly from God.
Moslem Holy Book
Moslems consider the Koran’s 114 suras or chapters as the
literal word of God, superseding all previous revelations
(including the Bible) and correcting the alleged “errors” that
had crept into Christianity and Judaism. In length, the Koran is
somewhat shorter than the New Testament.
Mohammed contended that Jews and Christians had been worshiping
Allah all along, but under a different name. The Koran
recognizes Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other biblical
personalities as genuine prophets through whom God spoke.
Mohammed’s family lineage is traced to Abraham through the
patriarch’s grandson Kedar, son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13).
Moslems, however, regard Mohammed as the greatest and the last
(or “seal”) of the prophets. Moslems deny the divinity of Jesus,
as well as his crucifixion and resurrection. “They do blaspheme
who say: ‘God is Christ the son of Mary,’ ” the Koran asserts.
Despite the high position they accord to Mohammed, Moslems do
not venerate him as a divine being. They take offense at being
called “Mohammedans,” feeling that that term implies they
worship Mohammed.
In addition to the Koran, most Moslems also pay heed to the
sunna (the traditions of what Mohammed did) and the hadith (the
traditions of what he said).
Compared to other religions, Islam is loosely organized. There
is no formal institutional hierarchy of authority–no Moslem
pope or cardinals–nor a centralized world headquarters, such as
the Vatican. The ulemas, mullahs, mujtahids or ayatollahs, as
Islamic scholars and teachers are variously called, are the
closest thing Moslems have to a religious clergy.
Way of Life
To see the world through Moslem eyes, it is necessary to
understand that to the vast majority of Moslems, Islam is a way
of life.
Many Westerners–to whom religion means merely attending church
services for an hour or two on Sunday–simply cannot comprehend
the all pervasive nature of the Islamic faith in the lives of
its followers. Most Westerners have long abandoned the challenge
of actually living their professed faith.
Islam, however, is central to every aspect of a Moslem’s life.
It is far from a Friday-go-to-mosque kind of religion. The
average Moslem takes the Koran seriously. He strives diligently
to obey its precepts. Islam guides thought and action to a
degree virtually without parallel in the West. Religion and life
are inseparable.
Western visitors to Islamic countries often make the mistake
of assuming that because many upper-class Moslems speak European
languages, dress like Westerners and may have been educated in
the West, that they also have adopted Western attitudes toward
religion.
Not so.
The overwhelming majority of Moslems of all classes and
stations diligently follow the precepts of their faith. They
pray toward the holy city of Mecca five times each day. On
Friday, Moslems observe a special day of public prayer in the
mosque.
During the entire holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the
Moslem year, Moslems refrain from food and drink from dawn (”as
soon as you can discern a white thread from a black one”) to
dusk.
Moslems are also expected to make a hajj or pilgrimage to
sacred Mecca at least once in their lifetime, if financially and
physically able. Almsgiving to the poor, aged and orphans is
also an obligation to Moslems. An annual 2.5 percent zakat tax
is levied against one’s total assets.
In addition to these major directives, the Koran forbids the
eating of pork, the drinking of alcohol and gambling. In more
liberal Moslem circles, however, these particular observances
are sometimes relaxed.
But Islam is much more than a set of prescribed ritualistic
observances. The Koran contains detailed secular as well as
religious injunctions. It lays down standards for a wide range
of personal, social, economic and political relationships, and
both civil and criminal law. This makes it virtually impossible
to confine Islam to spiritual matters alone.
In the Islamic world, separation of church and state is
unknown. From its inception, Islam has been a state religion. No
distinction is made between “God and Caesar,” such as spelled
out by Jesus in Matthew 22:21.
Of course, the Islamic revolutionary government in Iran is
vastly different from the government in Saudi Arabia. This, in
turn, is different from that of Egypt, or Pakistan or Libya.
Moslem governments range from semi feudal monarchies to
parliamentary democracies.
But regardless of these differences, there is no question among
Moslems that religion and government are– and should be–
inseparable.
Talk of a “secular Moslem country” is generally considered a
contradiction in terms. The ultimate failure of the late Shah’s
attempt to set up a Western-style state in Iran, minimizing the
role of the mullahs, is attributed in part to this deepseated
Moslem view of the necessity of church-state union.
Moslems see government as a major vehicle for accomplishing
good in this world. Much more than among professing Christians,
whose hope often lies primarily in a “next life,” Moslems are
committed to the monumental mission of taking history into their
hands and fashioning it to what it ought to be.
The realization of good, Moslems believe, is possible in this
world. They generally do not view this life as an ordeal laden
with trials and sorrows through which the faithful must
laboriously pass to achieve salvation in the “next world.”
Instead, the Koran lays out a social and legal order aimed at
happiness, prosperity and well-being here and now.
This is not to say that Moslems do not believe in an afterlife
as well. Punishment in hell or reward in paradise is vividly
described in the Koran.
One of the most publicized aspects of Moslem life is the strict
Koranic code of justice, in force in increasing numbers of
Moslem countries.
The Sharia. or Koranic canon law, has been condemned in the
West as cruel and barbaric. The severity of Koranic punishment
shocks most Westerners. For habitual thievery, the penalty may
he the loss of a hand. For premarital sex, 100 lashes in public.
For false accusation, 80 lashes.
Most Moslems, however, are little concerned with the objections
of the West. The Koran sanctions the Sharia law. and that is
sufficient. Moreover, Moslems daily read of the growing crime
rate in permissive Western society. “How can the crime-ridden
West criticize us?” they ask. Moslem countries have considerably
lower crime rates than most Western countries.
The Islamic eye-for-an-eye Sharia law, they also note, is not
much different from those civil and criminal laws of the Old
Testament given by God to ancient Israel (see Exodus 21-23).
Moslems also point out that in their countries, unlike in the
“decadent” West, the seriousness of sin is stilt recognized and
dealt with accordingly.
Another point must be recognized. Like many Westerners, many
Moslems have themselves been horrified by the trials and
executions that have taken place in Iran under the Khomeini
regime. They point out that those trials and executions are not
a true reflection of Islam, but are instead associated with the
political turmoil in that country.
Moslems also observe that the taking of hostages–especially
diplomatic ones– is clearly forbidden by Islamic tradition “I
do not break treaties, nor do I make prisoners of envoys,”
Mohammed once insisted. Many Moslems saw the Khomeini regime’s
actions in this regard as an embarrassment and a demeaning of
Islam before the world.
Actually, the Koran specifies strict limitations on the power
of the Moslem religious courts. Accused persons are considered
innocent until proven guilty. In addition, the standards of
proof are so exacting that the severe punishments widely
publicized in the West can rarely be carried out. In the case of
adultery–punishable by death in some Moslem countries– four
eyewitnesses are required for conviction.
Another question often asked in the West is whether Islam can
be successfully adapted to a modern technological society.
This question is almost always asked by non-Moslems. Moslems
themselves do not see Islam as any barrier whatever to modern
life. They believe that Islam fits all times and cultures.
Moslems are often genuinely surprised that such a question
should even be asked.
Let us look at this issue through Moslem eyes. No reading of
the Koran could ever produce the notion that Islam is
reactionary or tailored only to a primitive desert society.
Development and change are not contrary to the spirit of Islam.
In fact, the seeking of knowledge and the desirability of
progress are heavily stressed in the Koran.
Why, then, the controversy over whether Islam can keep pace
with modern times?
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