What in the World is Going On?

Islamic Terrorism

Lesson #4

Ezekiel 38:1-6

The Muslim religion can be measured in time, it has existed for 1,500 years. A personal relationship to God has existed since God created Adam and Eve, so do not confuse religion with relationship, the two are very far apart.

It is only in the last few decades that we Westerners have become aware of the power and presence of Islam in the world around us. Only a minority of the men and women of Islam are militant extremists. For these folks chaos and terror is their mission and goal.

We have looked at oil as source of trouble and we have studied the dynasties of the past and the revived Roman Empire. Now a third element the strength of Islam spreading the globe. It is the fastest growing religion in the world today. There are only 15% of the American population that know anything at all about Islam, most people will tell you that they know very little about Islam.

THE HISTORY OF ISLAM

Islam, the word means “submission” in Arabic. Thus a Muslim is someone who submits to god.” Of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, about 4 million live in the United States. The largest group or concentration of Muslims are not in the middle east, but in Asia.

The founder: Muhammad was born in 570AD, in Mecca which is located in present day Saudi Arabia. His parents died when he was young and he was raised by his paternal grandfather. He worked as a merchant until the age of twenty-six and married a wealthy woman of forty two. Together they had six children

He was exposed to numerous religions, Mecca and according to his own testimony, he received what he considered to be a divine revelation while meditating inside a cave. At the time he was forty years old and the revelations which he claimed continued throughout his remaining life. These meditations were eventually compiled into what is now known as the Qur'an, and regarded by Muslims as the word of god. There were at the time more than 360 deities in the Arabic pantheon, and Muhammad chose the name of one of them, Allah, to be the true god.

As Muhammad's follows grew, they slaughtered everyone in their path who would not testify that “there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad was his messenger. Muhammad and his followers eventually fled to Madina where he became head of the Muslim community in 631AD. Muhammad died in the following year.

After his death the Islamic world splintered as the followers of Muhammad tried to choose his successor. Today, Sunni Arabs comprise about 90 percent of the Islamic world, believing that Muhammad's gifts died with him. For Sunnis the Gur'an is there sole authority. (Saddam Hussein was a Sunni Arab, the minority branch of Islam is in Iraq.)

The other major branch of Islam is the Shiites who followed Muhammad's son-in-law after the founders death. The Shiites believe that their leaders (imams) have spiritual authority equal to the Qur'an. They also believe that the Twelfth Imam was concealed hundreds of years ago and is still alive in hiding somewhere and that sometime in the future he will come out of hiding and be revealed as “Mahdi” or messiah. The Sunni Shiite Muslims today have a contentious relationship.

THE HABITS OF ISLAM

The primary practices of the Muslim faithful are referred to as the five pillars of Islam.

1. To Recite the “Shahadah” a creed: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is hes messenger.” In prayer Muslims repeat these words over and over, almost as a mantra.

2. To Pray “Salat” Muslims are required to pray five time a day, the call to prayer goes out from the local mosque and Muslims stop whatever they are doing, kneel down facing Mecca. First they perform a quick ceremonial cleansing with water, if none available they use sand. The prayers are memorized in Arabic and recited over and over again.

3. To fast “Sawm” The most important time for fasting is during the month of Ramadan (September on the Gregorian calendar) During this time the Muslims do not eat during the daylight hours. Ramadan's purpose is for reflection and meditation and ends with a celebration.

4. To give alms “Zakat” Muslims are required to give 1/40^th of their income to the poor and needy.

5. To make the Pilgrimage to Mecca “Hajj” The fifth pillar of this religion is to make a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Mecca. It is required of all Muslims who are physically and financially able. The journey takes at least one week and includes stops and many Islamic holy sites along the way.

THE RELIGION OF HATE

The word jihad was made known to the western world on September 11, 2001. Muslims consider this to be the sixth pillar of faith and it means “struggle” or the spiritual movement to convert the world to this religion. A big part of jihad is Martyrdom, it is a culture of death. Martyrdom for the sake of Islam is a privilege and a great honor.

Hatred for Israel began in 1948 when Palestine returned to Israel as a homeland. Since America is an ally of Israel, Americans are targets of this hatred too. Experts believe that there are millions and millions of Muslims who are willing to die as martyrs to defeat their perceived enemies. Not all Muslims represent these extreme practices, but they all know of the sixth pillar of Islam.

THE HOPE OF ISLAM

To convert the entire world to Islam. To cover the world or to spread Islam to all the world. This push is working, only the western world resists but it to is caving in to the submission of allah. The former Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran once said, “The governments of the world should know that Islam cannot be defeated, and the teaching of the Qur'an will prevail all over the world.”

In 2005 Iraian president Ahmadinejad spoke before the United Nations to explain hes country's continued pursuit of nuclear technology. He open his remarks with this prayer. “Oh Allah, the almighty and merciful, hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being. The one that will fill this world with justice and peace.” He was praying for the twelfth Imam. He was not praying for the second advent of Jesus Christ the true Messiah.

Remember that modern day Iran is ancient Persia. The rise of radical Islam within Iran correlates perfectly with Ezekiel 38:1-6. Never in history has there been an alliance between Russia and Iran. Gog and Magog represent modern day Russia and of course Persia represents Iran. Today, Russia provides extensive military and technological support to Iran. Ezekiel 38 foretells of this alliance that will one day in the future come against Israel. From the Shiite Muslim view, creating chaos works to their advantage because it hastens the return of their messiah. The true Messiah will return and arrive at just the right time to save Israel and destroy her enemies. Revelation 19:11.

THE “HOW TO NOT DO” REGARDING ISLAM

Even though we may see parallels in this religion to a relationship with God do not consider that this material about Islam is “lightweight”. The thoughts of international alliances leading to wars in the future can give any of us cause for looking at the return of Christ being very close. We must be careful as we think about the fastest growing religion in the world. Here are five cautions with regard to Islam.

1. Do not compare Islam with Christianity – Jesus states clearly that the only way to God the Father is through Jesus Himself. John 14:6. Now lets add some of the noted differences.

• Christians do not call for the genocide of a particular race of people, radical Islam does (the Jews)

• Christians do not send suicide bombers to kill innocent people; radical Muslims do.

• Christians do not work for worldwide chaos to set the stage for the return of their Messiah, radical Islam does.

• Christians work for the salvation of Muslims; radical Muslims call for jihad against all who disagree.

2. Do not Consider that Allah is God. In Psalm 86:10 we read as David proclaims: “You alone are God” The names are as different as the character and teaching, thus these are different. One is &ldquoeity” while the other is false deity.

• Allah was chosen by Mohammad out of a pantheon of 360 Arabic deities; Jehovah God is eternal, self existing and self-revealing.

• Allah is not a trinitarian god; Jehovah is – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

• Allah did not die for man's sin, Jehovah God sent the Son of God to die for the sin of all mankind.

  3. Do not confuse Jihad with Salvation. Salvation is totally different in Islam and Christianity. Titus 3:5. The works of Ramadan and Jihad are just that, Islam is a works based religion of self righteous practices and has nothing to do with the outworking righteousness of Christ in His believers.

  A converted PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) bomber who came to Christ understands salvation and explains in his broken English that to be a Muslim one must be prepared to die as an offering to God to go the heaven. In Christianity, Jesus Christ died as an offering for us so we can go to heaven.

  4. Do Not believe that the Qur'an can be associated or compared to the Bible as errant truth. The Muslims believe that the bible is subservient to the Qur'an, but such a ranking is impossible! The Qur'an is self contradicting. The bible written over a period of 1,400 years is self-revealing. Anyone who read the Qur'an would have no trouble seeing that the self-contradictions are the work of man and not a revelation from the angel Gabriel to Muhammad. Muhammad could not read or write. The Qur'an is made up of collected quotes from Muhammad from those who heard him teach.

  5. Do not conclude that all Muslims will be lost. In 2 Peter 3:9 we find the promise that applies to all peoples and cultures of the world around us. While we seldom find ourselves praying for Osama bin Laden, he still has a soul and that soul belongs to God.