A look at the religion that enslaves Iran…
Our conflict with Iran continues. Their military is decimated. Their economy is in “freefall“, a “death spiral“. Despite the real suffering of their people, the religiously motivated government has yet to capitulate to U.S. demands to dismantle their nuclear weapon capabilities. Waging war on the ‘infidels’, especially the Jews, but also the United States and almost anyone else in Western civilization seems to be the core reason for their existence, at least for the religious leaders, who are the real leaders of Iran. The welfare of their own people seems to be of little concern.
What are the characteristics and core beliefs of a religion that has declared war on the Jewish people and the Christian nations, and is today its biggest rival? Defenders of Islam, mostly other Muslims and secular people in the West who hate Christianity, claim that the militant nature of Islam is not the ‘true faith’, but is an extremist version of it. However, this is a religion that has claimed 270 million lives since its inception.[1] And how does it compare to the Christian faith?
Origins – how the different faiths began.
Islam was founded by Muhammed, who claimed to receive divine revelation starting in 610 AD which became known as the Quran. This is the text or ‘scripture’ of Islam, supplemented by the traditions (Hadith) that have been written down over the years. In contrast to one author, the Bible was written over a period of roughly 1500 years with about 40 different authors, starting with Moses and ending with the apostle John the Revelator. Defenders of the scripture point to the amazing unity of theme and belief by so many authors and over such a large span of time as evidence of divine inspiration, especially in the area of fulfilled prophecy.
To lend credibility to both the Jews and the Christians, Muhammed borrowed much from both the Old and the New Testament, while claiming the Quran was a ‘superior’ revelation to both, as these texts had been corrupted over time. Yet, in his Substack article, Why Islam is False: The Islamic Dilemma Explained[2], Matt Fradd exposes the contradictions of this argument, because in order to borrow from the historical credibility of these documents, the Quran states that both the Torah and the Gospels give ‘guidance and light’, meaning they are trustworthy. It explicitly upholds their authority (Surah 5:44-47 and 5:68). If they were corrupted, Matt argues, the Quran is misleading us in telling us to trust them. If they are reliable, they contradict the Quran in core doctrinal beliefs, and it cannot be trusted. Our modern scriptures are pretty much the same as those in Muhammed’s time, as we have the manuscripts dating back to that time, and even earlier. So, if the scriptures were not corrupted then, they are not corrupted now.
Conquest versus conversion – how the different faiths spread
After gaining this revelation called Islam, Muhammed found he could not recruit anyone but family for 12 years, so he went to a Jewish community in Medina to attempt to win them over, hopefully by incorporating many of their scriptures and traditions. When the Jews refused to accept him, he started killing them, as well as the Christians later. The history of the expansion of Islam is basically a history of conquest – convert or be enslaved or killed. This is where the 270 million deaths over the centuries come from.
Of course, many Muslims dispute the violent history of the spread of Islam, especially here in the West.. They have been taught a different picture of Muhammad’s life, one of peace and benevolence, who only fought in self-defense. Most of their knowledge comes from oral sources, passed down. In his excellent book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, author Nabeel Qureshi tells of his shock when he began to actually research Islam’s own written history. He found that even the famous historian, Ibn Ishaq, Muhammed’s first biographer, admitted he altered the story of Muhammed’s life to make it more acceptable.[3] He found that the Quran explicitly calls for the death of pagans (Surah 9:5). Muhammed wrote in Hadith 1.24 that he had been ordered to fight against people until they testify for Allah. Hadith 1.25 encourages Jihad, the physical kind.
By contrast, Christianity has spread throughout the world through conversion, not conquest. Witnesses died for their faith; they didn’t kill others for their faith. The infamous Crusades of the Middle Ages, events with which the enemies of Christ love to bludgeon unbelievers, were not attempts to either convert or kill unbelievers. It was an effort to recover Jerusalem from the Muslims who had captured it from the prior Christian population, much as we would do if a foreign invader captured one of our important cities.
Christian countries allow mosques, while Muslim countries generally do not allow churches, and have strict anti-conversion laws. You have to wonder how many conversions there would be to the Christian faith if these countries practiced true religious freedom. Makes you wonder – what are they afraid of? This alone is evidence of the difference in how the faith is spread – one convinces, the other coerces.
Muhammed seems to have been motivated by a hatred of the Jews because of their rejection of his message, and that has been passed down through the centuries and incorporated into Islamic dogma.
He also seems to have had a disdain for women. The Quran states that men can have up to four wives, except “the Prophet”, who can have all he wants. All can have as many slave girls as they want (Surah 4:3; 33:50-52). Men can beat (lightly!) wives from whom they fear disobedience (Surah 4:34). In heaven, a multitude of virgins await the faithful (men of course) for their pleasure (Surah 44:59; 55:52-56:40). On earth, it doesn’t take much to see how women are treated in many Muslim countries.
These beliefs and practices are not distortions by either Muslim ‘extremists’ or those who oppose Islam. They are the authorized texts, supported by fourteen centuries of history.
Results – what these belief systems produce
When 9/11 happened, the godless pagans in the media and journalism were quick to downplay the religious beliefs of the terrorists. The atheists, like Richard Dawkins, were quick to condemn ‘all religions’ as evil. Their war has always been against Christianity. Are the two faiths alike, or vastly different.? A great way to tell is to look at the results in modern society. Jesus said you will ‘know them by their fruits‘, specifically referring to true and false belief systems and the leaders or ‘prophets’ who create them. What kind of fruit does that belief system produce? One produces a society lacking human rights, especially in the treatment of women. One produces a society filled with freedom, economic prosperity, scientific progress, and compassion. All of these values came from and are maintained by Christianity. The modern pagans have tried to maintain this ‘fruit’ by thinking they could build a secular society without the ‘root system’ of Christianity, and have failed miserably. In Europe and other places, they have only created a vacuum that has replaced historic Christianity with militant Islam. One belief system is bent on the destruction of the Jewish people and the domination of the world (‘Islam’ means ‘submission’). The other belief system freed the world from the cruelties of ancient paganism and became the “true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.“.
[1] Brigitte Gabriel Explains the History of Islam in 8 Minutes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK2XhUtush0&list=WL&index=7
[2] https://mattfradd.substack.com/p/why-islam-is-false-the-islamic-dilemma?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true
[3] Seeking Allah Finding Jesus, Nabeel Qureshi, Chapter 37, p. 215
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