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Abraham is one of the greatest prophets in Islam. He is appointed Imam to the Nations, the model Muslim for all mankind to follow. His life story appears as isolated segments in various chapters of the Qura’n, the Muslim holy book. His life, as depicted in the Qur’an, is quite different from the Bible version, but one story has similarities, the story of Abraham offering his son as a human sacrifice to God, though the Qur’an seems to indicate it was Ishmael, not Isaac, that Abraham prepared to kill.
Listen to these verses from the Holy Qur’an - Sura (chapter 37) verses 100-109:
Abraham prayed: O my Lord! Give me a righteous son
God’s answer: So we gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.
Then, when the son reached the age of serious work with him, he said, “O my son! I see in a vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view.”
The son said, “O my father! Do as thou art commanded: Thou wilt find me, if Allah so wills, one practicing patience and constancy.
So when they had both submitted their wills to Allah, and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead for sacrifice,
We called out to him, “O Abraham, thou hast already fulfilled the vision! This indeed do we reward those who do right,
For this was obviously a trial and we ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:
And we left this blessing for him among generations to come in later times: “Peace and salutation to Abraham.”
The Muslim clergy in our country, as well as President Bush and Mayor Giuliani and others, have stated that Islam is a religion of peace. But they are omitting the basis of that peace, which is total submission to the will of Allah, and complete obedience to His commands, to the point of giving up one’s life in joyful willing surrender to Allah. Muslims work toward world peace by seeking to bring all nations under the guiding influence of Islam. The peace will be the peace that occurs when the desert chieftain, god, is in total charge of his people, and they willingly submit to the dictator god.
Islam gained a foothold by war
The chief prophet of Islam, Muhammed, gained his power by fighting and overpowering other tribes, bringing them subject to Allah. His army conquered the city of Mecca, using the tactics of war. Those who rejected Islam, particularly among Jews and Christians, were sometimes brutally murdered so that the peace of Allah would rule.
How do nations maintain that peace?
We read in the Qur’an, chapter 5, verses 33 and 34, “the punishment of those who wage war against Allah and his Messenger [Muhammed] and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feel from opposite sides or exile from the land.”
Anyone who dares to challenge Islamic rules is either killed, maimed, or sent out of the country. That is how Allah’s peace is maintained.
Let’s reconsider the willingness of Ishmael to offer his own life as a sacrifice to God. According to the Qur’an, Abraham asked his son if he were willing to die. I will quote the answer I wrote in a book I hope to have published this next year.
Ishmael said, “Father, when there is a war, who is chosen to go fight the enemy? Isn’t it logical that the strong young men would go? If we were at war, surely I would be the one to go fight, in order to protect you and mother. And if I died in battle, you would be sorrowful, but you would be so proud of me. And if it meant that you and mother could be safe, I would gladly give my life for you. I would consider it my duty as your son.
“Now, father, it is very important that you fully obey Allah. You are going to be an example to all mankind of what a true man of Allah is. Allah has shown you to sacrifice me. I have been willing to live for Allah to honor you. We must all die some time. Isn’t it better if our death glorified Allah? Dying in order that you may completely obey Allah… what nobler thing could I possibly do. I am ready, father, I will do what you ask. I am not unwilling or difficult. I will submit myself to you without resisting. I am ready to die.”
In humble submission, the two obedient men, an elderly father and his young son, submitted their wills to Allah. They turned the rule of their lives over to their maker. They walked off into the wilderness together.
True Muslims understand the honor of dying for one’s people and one’s God. They, like Ishmael, are ready.
But many Muslims do not feel they are faithful enough to do that. My Muslim friend and I studied the Qur’anic life of Abraham together. His son had been born prematurely. “I could never offer him in death to God.”
Muslims feel it is a great honor to die in a battle against the enemies of Allah.
| Generally Muslims around the world deeply resent the founding of the
nation of Israel. The Israelis humiliated the Palestinians, many of whom
were Muslims, by stealing their houses and lands, chasing them away and
killing whatever Arab patriots dared to fight back.
| Generally Muslims resent the U.S.A. air base in Saudi Arabia.
| They hold the U.S.A. responsible for the deaths of perhaps millions in
Iraq because of the sanctions imposed there.
| They know that aid from the U.S.A. helps keep several moderate Arab
governments stable, and they dislike that.
| Muslims hate the immoral influences in Islamic culture brought there by
Western television and movies. Women nearly naked parade across the screen,
consumption of alcohol is encouraged, such sins as adultery, homosexuality
and godless secularism are openly condoned and espoused and laughed at. | |
The greater the influence of Islam in a Muslim’s life, the more he hates the economic, political and cultural influences of the U.S.A., named the great Satan by some. The dedicated Muslim living in a Muslim land looks at his own government as compromising true Islam to accommodate Western ideas of democracy and secularism. Money and safety seem to be the desire of even the Muslim nations.
Is it any wonder that there is a strong religious revival going on all over the Muslim world, that seeks to fight the immoral excesses of the West, and bring even moderate Muslim nations back into the fold of true Islam? And is it surprising that those united in their love for Allah should work together across national boundaries in the only fight that seems to work-namely terrorism?
While we may look upon the plane hijackers as terrorists, millions around the world consider them true martyrs in the righteous wars of Allah against sin and unbelief. Like Ishmael, they were willing to sacrifice themselves to help bring Allah’s peace to mankind. They are deluded into believing the evil they do is good.
What are the lessons we can draw from all of this? I believe President Bush and our government are very wise to declare a war on terrorists and those countries that harbor them. The free nations must resist and fight such treachery as caused the horror in New York City, Washington, D.C., and a field out in the country south of Pittsburgh.
But this war can’t be won by bombs and freezing bank accounts and destroying terrorist training camps. I have neglected patriotism to my country, but now I have a U.S. flag outside our home, and a U.S. flag on our car aerials. But love of country is not the full answer either. This is primarily a spiritual war and it must be won spiritually.
First, we can listen to the hijackers. Our society is secular and immoral and spreading bad influences around the world. We should hate these things as much as the hijackers did. We should work as hard to eradicate these evils as the hijackers did. I couldn’t believe that the world crisis of the moment was never mentioned last Sunday in the church I attend. We must heed the call to repentance, and repent of our laxity, and unconcern, and become prayerfully involved in the good fight for morality, decency, and respect for law and authority.
Second, we can relearn the lesson always to have our heart right with the Lord. He has warned us his coming will be unexpected.
Third, this is a time to pray for our enemies and those who misuse us. The evangelical churches in Pakistan are leading the way. Some churches meet daily for five hours of fasting and prayer each day asking God to reach Muslim hearts with the gospel.
Fourth, we must get the gospel to the Muslim people. Many Muslim lands are closed to the gospel, but God has brought between seven and ten million Muslim people here to the United States. Churches must develop outreach, evangelistic and social, to reach these millions. If we had done a better job here in South Florida in reaching Muslims, perhaps the hearts of the hijackers who lived here could have been changed by Christ.
Fifth, Christ’s death on the cross must be lifted up and proclaimed clearly. Even in the Qur’an, before Abraham killed Ishmael, God provided an animal to sacrifice. In the Bible we know that God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, substituting his death for ours, and then pronouncing forgiveness to those who believe. Christ died for Ishmael, too. The death that pleased God was the loving sacrifice of his son. Hijacker blood has no value to bring in God’s Kingdom. It is the shed blood of the Lamb of God that makes God’s Kingdom possible.