Is It Evil and Wicked?
Terrorism in Islam
BY VICTOR BELL
Captain United States Navy Retired
Published
By R. Victor Bell
At Smashwords
Copyright 2011 R. Victor Bell
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
Introductory
1-Foreign
Terrorist Organizations
2-What
is Islam
3-What
is the Qur’an
4-What
is Jihad
5-Sharia
Law
6-The
Spread of Islam
7-Islamic
Law
8-Shi’ites
9-Sunnis
10-Wahhabis
11-Pillars
of Faith
12-Women
in Islam
13-Marriage
& Divorce
14-The
End of Time
15-Stage
of Life/Heaven
& Hell
16-View
of Christianity
17-Muslim
Brotherhood
18-AlQaeda
19-Terrorism
Around the World
20-The
Spread of Terrorism
21-Six
Countries to Watch
22-Terrorism
in America
23-Key
Terrorists
24-Is
It a Wicked and Evil
Religion
25-Reformation
26-Armageddon
27-Similarities
of the Bible and Qur’an
28-Important
Islamic Terms
Conclusion
References
TO THE READERS
Over the last several years, I have been collecting information to write this book. This data has come from many sources including personal interviews with friends who have lived in the Middle East, with Muslims from several countries who I met during my military service and business related activities since that time. Also from public news media, books, magazines and various web sites.
The interviews with Muslim believers showed a real deep belief in an Islamic religion of love and peace. They were very interested in pointing out the differences in their belief and that of what they referred to as the radicals of Islam. These differences appeared to be over interpretations of the Qur’an and the aggressive acts that radicals were taking in the name of Allah.
What I have attempted to do with this book is to give a fair and unbiased short look at this religion and to present what believers of Islam are saying about their own religion at this time in history. Many points are taken from Muslim web sites, which cover the moderate to the radical Muslim.
Victor
Bell
Captain US Navy Retired
November 20, 2011
Shock and surprise caught every American on September 11, 2001. As news of the crash of the first hijacked airliner into the North Tower of The World Trade Center was broadcast to the world, Americans begin to gather in front of their televisions. To their great shock, live coverage showed a second aircraft hitting the South Tower. Then news of an air crash at The Pentagon and rumors of the possible hijacking of other airliners that were on their way to other U.S. targets including perhaps the White House and the Capital Building. News of a third airliner had been taken over by hijackers and was in trouble over Pennsylvania forced many American to ask what was next?
Not since the Civil War had such death been brought upon American soil. Surprise soon turned to anger, then to revenge but to who was the question. Who would do such a thing to a civilized society? The President of the United States made it clear when he addressed the nation soon after the attacks that America would find and punish those who were responsible. Two names moved to the forefront Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
Sign of terrorism had been surfacing against America for over ten years. Attacks on our overseas embassies, bombing of a U.S. ship in a foreign port and murdering of Americans aboard were just a few of the telling signs of things to come. Lack of concern by the U.S. administrations over these years just added strength to those who wanted to do America harm.
As news of who was responsible for these attacks began to surface, the finger was pointing directly to extremists of Islam, a religion who had expressed itself as one of peace. Were these individuals who had taken part in these attacks including those who worked behind the scenes really acting in behalf of Islam? Had Islam allowed itself to be hijacked by extremists? Or was it indeed “An Evil & Wicked” religion?
Chapter 1
Foreign Terrorist Organizations
As of September 15, 2011, the United States Government had 49 groups listed as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.1 Of these 28 had some type of connection to the religion of Islam.
Terrorist’s organizations that are listed by the U.S. government must meet three criteria’s:
1.Must
be a foreign organization.
2. Must engage in terrorist activity as
defined by the government or retain the capability and intent to
engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.
3. The organization
terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of the
U.S. national or the national security of the United States. 2
There are basically four reasons why these organizations dislike and threaten the United States:
1.Their
goal is to establish a worldwide Islamic Government.
2.Our support
of Israel.
3. Our presence in Islamic countries.
4.The godless
image that is presented by the U.S. entertainment and media
industry.
Eight of these forty nine terrorist organizations are Palestinian, who are fighting against the Nation Israel. At this time it does not appear that any of these groups pose a direct threat against the American people in this country.
Each of the organizations with Islamic connections will be discussed in a later chapter of this book.
Some basic understanding of the religion Islam is necessary before we can discuss these terrorist groups and their threats to the United States.
What is Islam?
Where did it start?
How did it spread to become one of the fastest growing religions in the world today?
What do the followers of this religion believe?
Are all Muslims a threat to Americans?
Chapter 2
The word Islam comes from the root word “salaam” in Arabic, which has two means. One peace and the other surrender. It is a religion that is based upon achieving peace through the submission or surrender to the will of their god who they call Allah. Its’ founder was a man named Muhammad Al Abdullah who lived in the 6th century.
One who believes in Islam is referred to as a Muslim. In the western world you will see the word Moslem or Muslim used interchangeable.
A mosque is a building used by Muslims for public worship. Mosque means place of bowing down. One of the most famous mosques the Al Aqsa, is located across from the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. You will often see this black roofed building in photographs of the Dome of the Rock.
Muslims believe in one, unique, incomparable god, who has no son, nor partner. Therefore they conflict with Christianity by denying that Jesus is the Son of God and the existence of the Trinity. They believe that Jesus was a great prophet of God but that Muhammad was the last and greatest of all the prophets.
Followers of Islam believe that it is the religion that was given to Adam, the first man and the first prophet. That the name Islam was not decided upon by Muhammad and his followers or by later generations of man but by Allah Himself in their holy book called the Qur’an.
The word Islam in recent years has come not to have just one meaning but what Muslims make of it. For example, to some villagers it might mean everything. It would shape their very thoughts and actions. To the more reflective Muslim it may be the norm by which they try to shape their lives and how their acts would be judged. 1
All followers of Islam believe that their god Allah has no religion other than Islam. The only way to know Islam is through the book of Allah, the Qur’an and the sayings (the Sunnah) of his last prophet Muhammad. They also believe that the Qur’an is known without any additions or deletions.
There are three basic principles that are believed by all Muslims:
1.
That Allah is one.
2. That Muhammad is his last prophet.
3.
That Allah will resurrect all human beings and that all will be
questioned about their belief and action.
Muslims differ in their interpretation of the Qur’an and Muhammad’s sayings. These differences break the Muslims into basically two groups, the Sunni and the Shiites.
Each will be discussed in a later chapter.
Muslims believe in angels, heaven and hell. They also believe in prophets and that Muhammad was the last of a long line of prophets who stretch from John the Baptist and Jesus back through the Old Testament to Abraham and Noah.
To the Muslim, all public life in Islam is religious.
Islam along with Christianity and Buddhism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world today. It claims over 1.2 billion believers worldwide and between 4 and 5 million in the United States. 2
Contrary to what most people believe of the 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide only 15% are Arab.
The founder of Islam was Muhammad Al Abdullah, who was born about 570 AD in Mecca, a city in western Arabia, present day Saudi Arabia. He was born into one of the better known trading tribes of the day known as the Quraysh, although his family belonged to the lower part of this powerful tribe. Mecca was a city under the control of the best organized tribes in Arabia and where idol worship produced much income for the wealthy families. One of the gods worshipped in Arabia was Allah, the highest god.
Most people in that area and time were illiterate, poor and often died young; such was the case with Muhammad’s father, who died before his birth. His mother passed when he was about five years of age. Muhammad’s grandfather raised him until his death about three years later. When Muhammad was about eight years old, an uncle named Abu Talib, who was barely able to provide for his own family, took him in.
Accounts of Muhammad life tell us that he was never taught to read and write and that he remained that way throughout his life. Because of his line of work and travel, there may be some debate on this subject. At the age of ten, Muhammad made his first trip outside of Mecca. His uncle was leading a caravan to Syria and took Muhammad with him.
At the age of 25, Muhammad became a commercial agent and entered the service of a wealthy widow named Khadija who operated a trading business in Mecca. She was 15 years his senior.
This trading business took him to Syria, to Hubashah (modern day Yemen) and to Abd al Qais (modern day Bahrain Oman). He most likely came into contact with traders from China, India and Persia, who visited the great fair, which was held yearly in Oman. These travels most likely effected Muhammad’s life.
Muhammad married Khadija, a widow and looked after her business for her. They had four sons and two daughters. All of the sons died early in their lives, leaving only the daughters to grow to adulthood. They later adopt a son, who also died before Muhammad.
Because of the type of business, which Muhammad entered with his future wife, she may well have taught him to at least read.
While mediating in a cave at about the age of 40, Muhammad reported that he saw a vision that he thought was from the angel Gabriel. At first he doubted the vision but his wife convinced him that it was true. He later called that event the “Night of Power” or “Night of Testing”. 3
The vision was to Muhammad a call from his god. A call that established Muhammad as the last and greatest prophet of god and call for Muhammad to proclaim god to his people. He did not receive any further revelations for a period of time and grew discouraged. But then he claimed that Gabriel appeared again to him and told him to “arise, warn and magnify the Lord.” He is supposed to have had visions over a period of 23 years.
One of these visions as reported by Muhammad was to have taken him to Jerusalem to Mount Mariah. The ruins of the Jewish temple were located at this site. There he ascended up to heaven into the presence of God. While in this vision in heaven Muhammad is to have received God’s blessings and as a divine gift, the ritual prayer of Islam called the Salaat.
The Salaat is a prayer that is used at the end of the Muslim service of worship as a type of communion between man and God. When Muslims deal with the subject of God, they do not use the word communion. They prefer ascension.
To a Muslim the word communion implies participation in the presence of God, which they do not believe is possible.
Christians join in communion because it was commanded by Jesus. The ascension as described by Muhammad appears to be his answer to the Christian communion. Plus it compares Muhammad with the transfiguration of Jesus when Moses and Elijah appeared to Him.
The revelations, which Muhammad received over the years, were later collectively known as the Qur’an. Ramadan, the holy month for Islam is the month in which the Qur’an was first revealed and is so celebrated today.4
Muhammad then began to recite the revelations and to preach the truth which the angel Gabriel had revealed to him. His teaching attracted a small band of followers from the poor and downtrodden. He taught his followers and those who would listen that there was but one god, that the worship of idols was wrong and that the practice of baby girl sacrifices were evil. His teaching however disrupted the people in Mecca who were making money from idol worship. They began to attack him and his followers.
The year 622AD was a bad one for Muhammad, both his wife and uncle died and persecution became so fierce that Muhammad was forced to flee Mecca. He went north about 260 miles to present day Medina. This emigration as it was called marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Deduct 622 from our year and you get the Muslim year, 2011 being 1389.
The Arabian society of that time had a limited existence with the majority of life living along the peninsula as the rest of the country was desert. There was no central state or government. The area was ruled by different tribes. Taxes were almost nonexistence due to the mobile society and the lack of the tribal leaders’ ability to collect.
Muhammad’s settlement in Medina or Yathrib as it was called at that time enabled his religious beliefs to gain a strong foothold among the tribes of that area. It gave something common for the tribes and for the first time brought them together collectively. This created unity and began to spread to other areas of the peninsula and finally after Muhammad’s death to the rest of the world.
Medina was an oasis on the main trade route from the north to Mecca and had a large Jewish population for that day. Muhammad became well known to the people of that city and area. Because he was trustworthy and honest, he was often consulted as an arbitrator. Muhammad established himself as “Supreme Arbitrator” with a number of deputies and a military levy of believers, although he never had an official army. Muhammad established a public treasury of gifts and taxes.
Muhammad continued to teach his revelations, which also included limiting the practice of having more than one wife and restricting divorce.
While in Medina, Muhammad established daily prayers and required that five be conducted each day, at sunrise, mid morning, noon, mid afternoon and at sunset. He even had his followers bow and pray toward Jerusalem. He established Friday as the Muslim day of congregational prayer.
According to the revelations Muhammad had received he expected to be accepted by both the Jews and Christians in Medina. He told them about his selection by god as his prophet along the same line as Jesus all the way back to Noah and the flood. He tried to connect his revelations to Abraham and the sacrifice of not Isaac but Ishmael, the son Abraham had with his wife maidservant. He even thought he would appeal to the Christians because he acknowledged that Jesus was a prophet of Allah. 5
Although it is written that Muhammad did not read, he did acquire a good knowledge of the Bible because he uses a lot of the same characters and events in his revelations.
A large number of Muhammad’s revelations were similar to the Holy Bible and its’ prophets were Jewish leaders of the Old Testament. Because of this Muhammad was surprised when both the Jews and Christians failed to accept him as a prophet of God. This rejected led him to turn against the Jews and Christians. All of Muhammad’s revelations prior to this occurrence are referred to as his Early Revelations. These revelations, which are often studied and compared to some in the books of Proverbs and Psalms, are full of love, forgiveness and peace.
Many present day peace loving Muslims take their main teaching from these early revelations.
After his rejection by the Jews, Muhammad revelations became harder. He accused the Jews of perverting the revelation that had been given them by god. He had the people pray toward Mecca not Jerusalem. He turned against the Jew and the Christian and referred to them as “People of the Book”.
Fighting occurred from time to time among the Arabic tribes and during one of these, Muhammad and his followers took control of Mecca in 630AD. He established his headquarters there and destroyed idol worship in the city.
After his wife’s death he married a total of thirteen other times, one to his divorced adopted son’s wife, his daughter in law. All but one of these marriages took place after he was fifty years of age and some may have been for political reasons. Muhammad died in Mecca in 633 at the age of sixty three and is buried in Medina.
It has been said that he was not a man taken to worldly wealth and died without many material processions.
Islam does not consider Muhammad divine nor do they worship him. He was just a man who to the Muslim, Allah chose as His final prophet. After his death, one of his followers said. “If you worship Muhammad, he is dead. If you worship Allah, Allah is alive.” 6
Mosque
Muslims hold their community prayers in what is called the masjid. The English word mosque comes from this word.7
The mosque is to the Muslim as the church is to the Christian and the Synagogue to the Jew. It is the center of their community and is commonly called The Islamic Center.
Late in the 7th century, Muslims built on the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem what became known as the Dome of the Rock. To the Jew and Christian this is the place where Abraham brought his son Isaac at the command of God to be sacrificed. To the Muslim it was the place to which Abraham brought his son Ishmael to be sacrificed and the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to Allah to receive the Qur’an.
The Dome of the Rock is often thought by westerners to be a mosque but is not. It is a shrine to which Muslims will pilgrimage. Inside they will find the rock upon which Abraham is thought to have made his sacrifice. Across from the Dome of the Rock is the Al Aqsa Mosque with its’ black roof. It is perhaps the best known mosque of all Islam. Other great mosques are located in Medina, Damascus and Aleppo.
Mosques were designed to serve as a house or court for congregational prayers. Worshippers stand in lines facing Mecca, which direction is indicated by a mark on the wall of the mosque. A prayer leader, called the Imam is in charge of the activities of the mosque and leads the prayer and service on each Friday. The Imam is educated in an Islamic college and is a paid employee. He will present his sermon on Friday from a raised pulpit in the prayer hall.
The mosque will also have a tower, called a minaret. This feature along with a dome makes the mosque easy to recognize as one travels. From the minaret, the Muslim is called to prayer five times a day.
The mosque, in addition to prayer may serve as the community center for the Muslim. It can be a gathering place for local Muslims. Although Saudi Arabia has a government paid public school system, some Islamic countries, such as parts of Pakistan, the school may be a part of the mosque, depending upon its size. In some mosques weddings and funeral services are also held.
There are more than 2,000 mosques in North America.
Radical Muslim clerics have used mosques to call their followers to hostility against non Muslims. Cleric Abu Bakar Bashir in Indonesia used his position to call for attacks on Christians during Christmas in 2000 and is suspected of calling his followers to other bombing attacks. Clerics in Yemen, Qatar and London have called for Allah to destroy Christians and Jews. 8
Anwar al Awlaqi, the American born terrorist, who was killed this year by an American drone in Yemen served as an imam in the United States from 1994 until 2000 and preached jihad. After leaving the US for Yemen, he set up an anti-American internet site and was suspected of inspiring the mass shooting at Fort Hood Army base in Texas and planning the attempted Christmas day bombing of a Detroit bound airliner in 2009.
Arab news media pictures of American soldiers attacking civilians in Iraq during the war of 20032004 were placed in many mosques. These were used to recruit fighters of Islam against the collation forces.
Chapter 3
The Qur’an to a Muslim is Allah’s word spoken to Gabriel, who conveyed it to Muhammad, the Prophet. It is the complete and original compilation of the final revelation from God to mankind. Muhammad revealed these revelations to others over his lifetime. They were recorded in book form in what became the Qur’an between 644 and 656 AD.
To the Muslim, Allah is revealed through the Qur’an. To the Christian, God is revealed through Jesus Christ. To the Christian, the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God as given to the writers. To the Muslim the Qur’an is the final, complete word of Allah direct to Muhammad via the angel Gabriel.
The Qur’an is similar in size to our Christian New Testament. It contains chapters called Surahs and numbered verses. A quote from the Qur’an would be as 4:164. ”And Allah spoke to Moses directly”.
To the Muslim, the Qur’an depicts a language of great force and beauty of the transcendent of Allah. The Qur’an is the source of all power and goodness into the human world, which He has created.
The Muslim sees the Qur’an as Allah’s message that conveys his will through a line of prophets sent to warn man and bring him back to his true self as grateful and obedient creatures.
Muslims believe that the Qur’an is a continuation of an earlier revelation from Allah to Abraham, Noah, David, Moses and Jesus. The Qur’an informs its believers that both the prophet hood and revelation from Allah has been ended in Muhammad the last prophet.
To the Muslim the Qur’an is the pure word of Allah. Every word in it is divine. Over the years not one word in it that was spoken by Muhammad to the scribes has been changed. When Muhammad would receive a revelation, he would call a scribe and have it written down.
It provides for the Muslim a code of life for mankind, offering something for nonbelievers and everything to believers. To the Muslim it is a continuation of the Torah and the Bible. To the Muslim, the Qur’an supersedes both of these books. It is the only pure and unaltered book. No other book is to be placed above it.
The Qur’an teaches that the prophets that came before Muhammad were from the same Allah and that belief in these prophets is part of the foundation of Islam. They consider Allah’s prophets to include Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Jonah, Aaron, David, Solomon, John the Baptist, Jesus and of course Muhammad as the last prophet.
Reciting from the Qur’an is an integral part of Muslim’s worship.
The Qur’an has echoes of earlier religions which include Jewish ideas in it’s’ doctrine and Eastern Christianity in the terrors of it’s’ judgment, heaven and hell. In a later chapter we will see comparisons of the Qur’an and the Bible.
After Muhammad’s death, the first successor Caliph Hadhrat Abu Bakr had the whole text of the Qur’an written into a book. Copies were later made and sent to all capitals in the known world. Two of these copies exist today, one in Istanbul and the other in Tashkent in Uzbekistan.
It is said that the full intent of the Qur’an cannot be understood unless read in Arabic. Therefore one may see several different English translations of a Surah in an attempt to convey its meaning.
The Qur’an to the westerner is very difficult to read and understand. It is not written in any given chronological order as our Bible. 2
It appears to jump around. It begins with a long complex first chapter, which Muhammad actually received or had written later in his life. In this chapter it addresses legal, historical and religious points.
Another key difference between the Qur’an and the Bible traditions is in the narrative style. The Qur’an does not narrate the sacred history of the prophets in a linear fashion as the Old Testament does in the Bible. With the exception of the account of the prophet Joseph (Surah 12), the Qur’an scatters its tales of the prophets throughout the text. Aspects of the story of Moses, for example, occurs in forty four different passages in the Qur’an, but are never brought together in a single Surah.”3
The Qur’an may very well talk about Abraham in one chapter (Surah) and then refer to him in several other chapters.
What is known as the early revelations of Muhammad appear in the later part of the Qur’an. These Surahs are shorter in length than those in the first half of the book.
Two short Surahs from the Qur’an are worthy of mention here. One deals with Allah being the sole god. This directly attacks the Christian belief that Jesus is the Son of God. The other appears to counter how the radical Islamic believers interpret other parts of the Qur’an about killing non –believers of Islam.
Surah 112
“Say
he is God, one God forever
Not begetting, unbegotten
And having
as an equal none.”
To the Muslim this says, their god is their rock, their sole strength and that he does not have any others but himself. This counters the belief in the Trinity.
Surah 109
“Say,
You who reject the faith
I do not worship what you worship
and
you do not worship what I worship
I am not a worshipper of what
you worship
You are not a worshipper of what I worship
A
reckoning for you and a reckoning for me.”
This Surah differs from what is said in Surah 2:191
“And
kill them wherever you find them and drive them out from thence they
drove you out.
And persecution is sever than slaughter.”
Surah 2:193
“And
fight with them until there is no persecution
and religion should
be only for Allah” 4
Many Muslims, regardless of where they live learn the Qur’an in Arabic.
Chapter 4
To the Islamic believer, one has to perform acts of worship, which include offering of prayers, observing fasts, paying the tax, or giving of gifts, pilgrimage to Mecca, abstaining from doing evil and performing good deeds. However there is one deed, which is the best of all to the Muslim and that, is Jihad.
What is Jihad?
The word itself is derived from the Arabic root meaning “to make an effort” or “to stir”. Its’ history goes back to Muhammad himself.
Before Muhammad fled Mecca to Medina, his interpretation of jihad had to do with just the nonviolence spread of Islam. But after arriving in Medina he added self defense and warfare as a form of jihad. It really became warfare of conquest and conversion against nonbelievers.
During medieval times, the use of jihad was not allowed unless authorized by the head of the religion, called the imam. Even then it was not to be used to kill or destroy the property of nonbelievers, only as defense.
As colonialism began to spread in the nineteenth century and to fight back the western belief that Islam was spread by jihad force, Muslims began to teach that the Qur’an only authorized the use of jihad as self-defense. This satisfied those who feared that Muslims would fight colonial rule.
The twenty century brought a new approach to jihad from groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood; which will be discussed in a later chapter, this new approach was first aimed at the rulers of Muslim countries who had allowed their societies to become corrupt from what the Qur’an taught. Once this had been done, the attention of directing jihad to nonbelievers could then be done.
The approach taken in the twenty century has now rolled over into the twenty first century and jihad is busy at work against the non Muslim believer by some extreme Muslims. It is justified by calling for a so called “Holy War” against all infidels.
To the Muslim, jihad includes all acts of worship and every part of his belief. 1
According to Sheikh ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid, the former Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia in his article “Jihad in the Qur’an and Sunna” refers to al Jihad as the holy fighting in Allah’s Cause. He spells out how jihad is to be done:
1-With
the Heart (intentions and feelings)
2-With the hand (weapons,
etc.)
3-With the tongue (speeches, etc.)
4-Jihad with
the Heart – living ones religion.
Most believers in Islam claim that it is a religion of peace. That jihad is best lived out in ones’ peaceful existence with others. Those who follow this type of jihad, which covers the majority of Muslims, live their religion and by so doing trust that others will come to follow their god.
Jihad by the hand gives a black eye to those trying to live jihad by the heart.
Jihad with the Tongue - preaching and teaching ones religion. This is the most common way, which is presented by the modern Islamic cleric from their mosque. However more radical clerics appear to be giving way to more teaching of jihad with the hand.
Jihad with the hand - physical action. A direct interpretation of the Qur’an and teachings of Muhammad.
Sheik Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid describes this when he said, “Allah will reward the one who performs it with lofty dwelling in the Gardens of Paradise. And to fight against all those who ascribe partners to Allah”. When he refers to partners, he is referring to those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
Sheik bin Humaid quotes Muhammad as saying,
“Permission to fight is given to those believers against unbelievers who are fighting them and because they, the believers have been wronged and surely Allah is able to give them victory.”
The Qur’an has one interesting thing to say to the Islamic believer about jihad.
Surah 47: 46
“So when you fight those who disbelieve smite at their neck till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly on them, take them as captives. Thereafter either for generosity or ransom, according to what benefits Islam, until the war lays down its burden. Thus you are ordered by Allah to continue to carry out jihad against the disbelievers till they embrace Islam or at least come under your protection…But He lets you fight in order to test you. But those who are killed in the Way of Allah, He will never let their deeds be lost. He will guide them and set right their state and admit them to Paradise which He has made known to them.” (They will know their places in Paradise more than they used to know their houses in the world.)
Surah 2:190
”And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you.”
Surah 2:191
” And kill them wherever you find them and drive them out from whence they drove you out … But if they do fight you, slay them; such is the recompense of unbelievers.”
Surah 2:193
”and fight with them until there is no persecution and
religion should be only for Allah.”
Surah 66:9
“O Prophet strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be hard against them and their abode is hell and evil is the resort.”
In Surah 9:29
The Qur’an tells how to deal with the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians…”Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.”
If one follows these statements, Islam is teaching that all who are unbelievers and do not convert to Islam are to be killed. The exceptions to this are those who are followers of the Book. These are the Jews and Christians. These would be given the opportunity to convert but if they chose not to, then they would be allowed to live if they did certain things, which are:
1-Must
submit to the Muslim political authority.
2-Must pay the toll tax
that is place on them.
3-Not allowed to hold positions of
authority.
4-Not allowed to wear certain colors.
5-Not allowed
to marry a Muslim woman.
6-Can not testify against a Muslim in
court.
During the Muslim rule of most of Spain until the 14th century, Jews and Christians were treated this way and required to abide by certain dress codes.
It appears that at first, Muhammad prohibited fighting but then it was allowed. Could it have been that once the Jews and Christians rejected Muhammad that he changed his views on this subject?
About this same period of time in his life, Muhammad and his followers were subject to punishment by people in and around Mecca. They rejected him. Even the uncle who raised him never accepted his teachings and beliefs. He then allowed fighting for:
1
Against those who started the fighting’s against you.
2 Against
all of those who worship others along with Allah.
The matter of jihad has become a requirement for the Islamic believer. The type of jihad they accept is the question and by the appearance of what is now occurring throughout the world, jihad with the hand is on the rise.
An Islamic scholar named Ikrima is quoted as saying, “At first Muslims dislike it (Jihad) but later they loved it and said. We listen and obey. And that is because the submission to the order to fight means hardship, but if the reward is made known it becomes to compare the hardship involved and its reward.”
A Muslim of this belief will fight once the reward is known and they see how great it is in heaven.
We hear after the terrible events of 911 that the hijackers had been promised eternal bliss in the Garden of Paradise where many virgins awaited them. One can only wonder what thoughts they have at this time.
Since 911 much as been released regarding certain wealthy Arabs funding terrorism, giving money to widows and families of bombers and killers, whom they consider martyrs.
Even Saddam Hussein when he was ruler of Iraq was accused of sending money to families of martyrs. This could only be interpreted as an endorsement of such activities and support for more martyrs.
But it could be of what the Qur’an says in Surah 4:95
“The holders back from among the believers, not having any injury, and those who strive hard in Allah’s way with their property and their pensions are not equal. Allah has made the strivers with their property and their persons to excel the holders back a high degree and to each class Allah has promised well, and Allah shall grant the strivers above the holders a mighty reward.”
According to this type of teachings, the martyr receives the highest degree of reward, a close place near god but not in his present and rich physical rewards such as virgins. Next in line would be those who give support to the martyrs. So if you can’t be one, then give to one.
While we read of supposing support of our fight against terrorism by certain countries around the globe, we don’t see the undisclosed backing of such activity with their money. It boils down to receiving their rewards in heaven.
Martyrs in regards to jihad are addressed in the Hadith No. 48 of Muhammad sayings as follows:
“Paradise has one hundred grades; the distance between each of the two grades is like the distance between heaven and the earth. And these grades Allah has reserved for the Martyr who fights for his cause.”
Surah 9:111
“Surely Allah has purchased of the believer their lives and their property. For this they shall have Paradise. They fight in Allah’s way, so they slay and are slain…rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded.”
Surah 3:139142
“So do not become weak against your enemy nor be sad and you will be superior in victory if you are indeed a true believer. If wound and killing has touched you, be sure a similar wound and killing has touched others….We give to men by turns so that Allah may test those who believe and that He may martyrs from among you. Allah likes not the polytheists and wrongdoers. That Allah may test the believers and destroy the unbelievers. Do you think that you will enter Paradise before Allah test those of you who fought in His cause.”
Does this teach that it is ok to kill or wound any who kills or wounds you? It sounds like it compasses some of the Old Testament in Exodus 21:24 “Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for a hand and a foot for a foot.” But it leaves out what Jesus taught in Luke 6:27.Love your enemies do good to them who hate you.”
Perhaps this explains the Palestine’s attacks on the Jews and the Jews attacks on the Palestine and the Palestine attacks on the Jews, etc. It also teaches that one must kill the unbelievers such as the polytheists, which is directly at the Christian and their belief in the Trinity.
Surah 4:74
“Let those who sell their life of this world for the hereafter fight in the cause of Allah and who fight in the cause of Allah and is killed or gets victory, we shall bestow on him a great reward.”
These verses clearly point out that it is ones duty to engage in hostile jihad and when they do and are killed, (martyred) they will be greatly blessed and rewarded in heaven. If you come from a poor background, little chance of bettering your situation, are unemployed and hear these things time and time again in your mosque, then you can perhaps see how so many young people martyr themselves.
The chairman of the supreme council of Sipahe Sahaba Pakistan, a leading Sunni group, Maulana Ziaul Qasmi, speaking on the subject of Sunni youth said “all doors are closed, they have not an option but to join extremist groups.” It makes you wonder why we don’t see older people, more of the religious leaders martyring themselves.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid made another statement regarding jihad that must be mentioned here. As you read this remember that this is the ex Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia, a country that is supposed to be a friend to the West and the country which supplies a large portion of oil to the West.
“also think deeply how jihad is connected with prayers and fasting. It is made obvious that a jihad (is) similar to both of them and all the three are ordained by Allah for the believers. See how Allah has encouraged the cowardly men to plunge themselves into the battles, to face death with an open heart and to run madly for it (jihad) with great encouragement showing clearly to them that death will certainly overtake them and in case they die as Martyrs, they will be compensated for their worldly life with a mighty compensation and they will not be dealt with unjustly in the very least. Jihad is a great deed indeed and there is no deed whose or blessing is as that of it, and for this reason, it is the best thing that one can volunteer for.” 2
We can see from this statement that jihad is right up there for the Muslim as pray and fasting. Islamic believers are encouraged to engage in jihad even to the death if it furthers their god. To make it even more appealing, a great reward awaits the martyr.
Martyrs in jihad are told that they will receive the following:
1-Their
souls are in the green bird dwelling in Paradise wherever they
like
2-That all their sins and faults are forgiven.
3-He can
intercede with Allah for seventy of his family members.
4-He will
become secure on the Day of Resurrection from the great terror.
5-He
will not feel the agonies and distress of death.
6-That he will
not be horrified by the great gathering on the Day of
Resurrection.
7-That he does not feel the pain of the killing
except like that of a pinch. 3
It is clear from reading the Qur’an, Muhammad’s sayings and the statements that have been made by key Muslim leaders, such as Sheikh Muhammad bin Humaid, who are interpreting the Qur’an and Sunnahs that all Muslims, who are physically able must take up the fight against anyone who they consider enemies of Allah.
Muhammad in his last speech in 632 AD said, “..Muslims should fight all men until they say, There is no god but God.” 4
That these fighters must prepare and train (think training camps in Afghanistan) and obtain the best weapons they need (funds to terrorist groups for weapons has been well documented) to carry on jihad.
We can understand jihad in today’s world by listening to what some Islamic leaders are saying and doing around the world.
According to the Associated Press in an article on October 16, 2002, the chief Muslim cleric in Jerusalem has made statements that can lead to violence in that region. Ikrima Sabri is the mufti at the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Holy Mount in Jerusalem. He is the one who preaches to the attendees at Friday’s services. He was quoted as saying…“he did not see any religion prohibition” against suicide bombings. On the contrary, it is self defense and one of the successful types of resistance.” Cleric Sabri denied the statement but it was reconfirmed by the Arab newspaper that carried the article.
The London Times in January 2002 reported that Muslim Cleric Abu Hamza al Masri, who was leader of the Finsbury Park Mosque, stated that the goal of Islam is to conquer the world. He has since been removed from his post.
Statements, which seldom reach the main line press, are made by Muslim clerics in various places around the world. Statements from Yemen and Qatar, which call for Allah to destroy the Christians and Jews.
Attacks by radical Muslims around the world are often hidden in the back pages of our news reports. Attack such as those that have taken place in Algeria and Egypt where Christian women were raped. Killing and torture of Christians in parts of Pakistan and Chechnya. The only major attack with large losses, as the attack in Indonesia on the Island of Bali and bombings in Morocco, has received front page coverage.
The leaders of al Qaida have convinced their young followers that it is right and it is their duty to kill Jews and Christians. In 2003 a 13 year old boy was involved in a terror attack in Israel, the youngest to date.
Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch stated in late January 2003. “The Palestinian Authority has been making a supreme effort to convince their children that there is no greater achievement than to die for Allah in battle.” 5
Ex Palestinian leader the late Yasser Arafat on New Year Day in 2002 said “The child who is grasping the stone, facing the tank, is it not the greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a shahid?” He was referring to children becoming martyrs.
Although Yasser Arafat often talked of peace in the Middle East and the establishment of a Palestine State, he strongly supported violence for his purposes.
Others have spoken out against children becoming involved. “We have repeatedly warned the children not to get involved in the resistance.” Said Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a leader of Hamas.6 Rantisi was killed by an Israeli Air Force in a targeted killing in 2004.
Many modern day Muslims would say that al Qaeda has misinterpreted the Qur’an and the teachings of Muhammad. They would say that the verses in the Qur’an and sayings of Muhammad, which deals with the subject of jihad, was and is directed at individuals and countries that attack Islam. That Islam is not the aggressor here that it is only protecting itself.
Surah 47:4 makes a good argument against that position by stating
“.Thus you are ordered by Allah to continue to carrying out jihad against unbelievers till they embrace Islam or at least come under your protection.”
If the real goal of Islam is domination of the world and your listeners are young unemployed men, who are living with little hope for improvement of their future, plus those, living in countries that are controlled by leaders who hoard the riches of those countries? Leaders who point outside of their countries to blame the Jews and America for their problems, then it is easy to see why these young men soon become followers of religious radical extremists. Is this a religion that promises things, that the young men only dream of ever having but know that maybe now through doing what their god ask of them they can acquire.
But why the Jews and the Christians (America)? The Qur’an is clear in its treatment of these “People of the Book”.
Surah 3:20
“..and say to those who have been given the Book and the unlearned people. Do you submit yourselves? So if they submit then indeed they follow the right way.”
Al Qaeda leaders such as the recently killed bin Laden and others terrorist undoubtedly have reached the conclusion that the “People of the Book” must die. That they will never submit to radical Islamic law until enough of them are convinced that if they do not then death is the only answer.
Radical Islamic Jihad is upon the world.
Chapter 5
Often an article will appear in the news media regarding the desire for Muslins to establish Sharia in their community. What is Sharia Law?
Shari Law is the religious law of Islam or one can call it the way they are to conduct their lives. It is based on two sources: Their Holy Book, the Qur'an and the examples set in the sayings, the Sunnah of their prophet Muhammad.
Muslims believe that Sharia is the law of their god and as most religions, their understanding of that law can be from the very fundamental, traditional to the modern. In other words that belief can be anywhere between very liberal to very conservative depending on where they live and the culture in which they live. A Muslin living in Afghanistan will interpret Sharai law different from one living in the United States.
As with English law, Sharia law deals with crime but it goes beyond that to deal with things that affect the everyday lives of Muslins, such as prayer, fasting, diet and even sex. The local imam has varying responsibilities depending on the interpretation of Sharia law. The reestablishment of Sharia law in many Muslim countries and communities around the world is a long standing goal of many of the within the Islamist movements.1
Chapter 6
The final division of the Roman Empire among the sons of Theodosius in the late 380’s AD, the defeat in Africa and the revolt of the Goths around 400 AD started the Roman Empire into its’ final decline.
Rome had conquered the entire known western world of the time. Its’ empire ruled from the northern coast of Africa along the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Northern Egypt, to Palestine up the Eastern coastline to Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, across to Greece, Italy, France and to Spain. It continued north through modern day France and into the northern part of England.
History has recorded a long list of pros and cons of the Roman Empire but two of the major pros included stability and transportation. To move and support their armies, the Empire built roads throughout the conquered lands. These road structures help allow for the rapid spread of Christianity through the Empire. The Apostle Paul traveled many of these same highways. Muslims would later use some of these same roads to conquer part of the Hold Land that led to the Crusades.
Stability was a major part of the Roman Empire. Under normal operating conditions, when the Romans conquered a land, they would allow the conquered to rule themselves with a ruler that answered to Rome. Rome required submission and taxes. If the local ruler could not provide these two things, then Rome would intervene with troops.
Such was the case of rebellion of the Jews in several cases. When Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, it was fulfilled when the Roman Emperor Titus in 70 AD with his army laid siege to the city and later destroyed it because of rebellion against Roman authority.
Barbarian tribes, who were mostly idol worshippers began to attack Roman outposts and over time were knocking on Rome itself. As Roman authority collapsed so did the stability of the lands. All of modern day Europe and its’ surrounding areas that the Romans had conquered, enter what history recorded as the “The Dark Ages” meaning “Lack of Learning”. The arts basically stopped and would remain so until the Renaissance of the 1500s. Jews were scattered throughout the known world and Christianity was spreading through Europe.
The Arab world, little of which had been conquered by Rome, consists mostly of tribes that were idol worshippers.
The main center of this idol worship was Mecca or Makkah in Arabic, located in present day Saudi Arabia. Three idols were setup in this city and Arab tribes would travel to Mecca for worship. Into the instability of what had been the Roman Empire and heavy idol worship among Arabic tribes was born Muhammad al Abdullah in 570 AD in the city of Mecca.
Muhammad became the founder what was to become known as the Islam religion and without even knowing it; he started his religion on a jihad that would lead to serious radical movements of our day with his last speech. This speech he gave in his last year 632 when he said “.Muslims should fight all men until they say, there is no god but God.” 1
After Muhammad’s’ death, confusion entered the picture for Islam. To maintain some order within the territories that Muhammad had sent his message, an army was formed for the first time. The army went forwarded and conquered Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Egypt and as far north as part of Armenia. and the Sasanian lands, which included Iran and part of modern day Iraq. This was possible because of the fall of the Byzantine Empire, which ruled the eastern part of the Roman world and the fall of the Sasanian Empire.
After the fall of these empires a void of any authority or central leadership followed into which flowed various regional tribes? As Islam began to conquer these areas, they were accepted because they brought some system of order.
As the empire expanded the capital was moved from Medina to Damascus in Syria. With the holy land of Palestine in the hands of the Muslims, a building was built on the place where Abraham was to have sacrificed his son Ishmael. It became know as the Dome of the Rock with its golden dome an attraction for most visitors to Jerusalem. This location just happened to be on the location of the destroyed Jewish temple, the most holy spot for the Jews. The Muslims had now done what Muhammad had tried to do during his lifetime, to put Islam on equal footing with Judaism and Christianity.
Islam soon spread across northern Africa and in 710 AD it leaped from Morocco across the Mediterranean into Spain. In the east it had spread into northwestern India. It was now becoming a power, which would have to be checked at some time in the future.
During the late 7th century into the 8th, Islam built a new capital in what was to become Iraq and they called it Baghdad.
Islamic rule had now become absolute in these areas and a means of support had to be found. Taxes were the answer and two different types were imposed. Taxes on land and what it produced and a poll tax on non Muslims according to their wealth.
Tribes had now been absorbed into the Muslim Empire and the empire began to grow. Cities were built, trade was expanded, and governments grew, wealth and power increased.
Although Islam was the religion of the Empire, the “people of the book”, the Jews and the Christians, did live in many areas under Muslim rule.
The dawn of the 11th century found an Islamic Empire that stretched from Arabia in the south to Western India in the east to north of Iraq and Iran and west to Spain and northern Africa. Three rulers oversaw this empire from three cities, Baghdad in Iraq, Cairo in Egypt and Cordoba in Spain.
Starting in the late 11th century, threats to the Muslim Empire began to appear. The Christian Crusades pushed into the Holy Land trying to take back the Land of Jesus from the Muslims. The Crusades lasted until the 1300’s. The Mongol Dynasty moved into Iraq and Iran and conquered that part of the Islamic Empire. Although Christian’s threats in Spain appeared earlier, they were repelled until Queen Isabella seceded in pushing the Muslims out in 1492. The Turks, most of who were Muslims took over the Holy Land, Syria, Egypt and Arabia. The Turks maintained those lands until the British defeated them at Megiddo during the First World War and took control of most of that area.
The British in the mid to late 1940’s gave up their control of the area due to the high cost of maintaining a wide spread empire. The Jews returned in 1948 and established Israel.
The problems that directly face the Middle East and indirectly the rest of the world today can trace its’ roots back through this history.
Chapter 7
There are approximately 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today.1 90% belong to two sects within Islam, the Sunni and the Shiites. The remaining 10% are spread over about eight other minor sects. 85% of all Muslims are Sunnis. Both of these sects date back to the days after Muhammad’s death.
The major differences between the Sunni and the Shia sects are in doctrine and political life. The Shiites or Shias, Shia is the short form of Shi’atu ‘Ali. A historic phase which means followers of Ali.
They believed that the leadership of Islam should be from a descendant of Muhammad and that his son in law should have succeeded him. Their idea of leadership is along the lines of a priesthood type. The priest type person rules his followers as one who is infallible. The late Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran was this type of leader. Shiites throughout the world looked to him for leadership.
Iran is the only country where the Shiite sect rules. Although Iran has a political government that runs the country, its’ decisions can be overruled by the Supreme Leader or the Ayatollah, the religious leader.