Islam, Religion of Peace!?
November 2005 version

Revelation 17:5-6 "And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON the GREAT, The MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement." (NKJV)

After Communism, the ideology that has killed the most Christians in the 20th century is Islam.

Jeremiah 8:11-12 "They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; ..."

The sword on the bottom of the flag of Saudi Arabia gives use a clue: Islam is the World's Most Violent Religion Today.

Muslims Have Said Islam is a Religion of Peace - But Where?

In Nigeria? In 1987 churches were set on fire in Kaduna and Kafanchan and Muslims killed hundreds of Christians.

In Algeria? Algerian Muslim students in the Houston admit that those who convert from Islam are killed in their country.

In the Sudan? Muslim are enslaving and selling women and children of the Dinka tribe according to the London Economist. The May 4, 1992 special ed. of Newsweek on slavery also reported that Muslims are still enslaving blacks as did the Austin American Statesman on 2/2/1996. Reader's Digest 3/1996 p.77-81 "Slavery's Shameful Return to Africa" is a heart-wrenching account of oppression today. Also, mosques are being bombed by Muslims of different groups.

In Egypt? A Muslim doctor was stabbed by a Muslim extremist. His crime? - treating a Christian stabbed by a Muslim extremist.

In Iran? On 13/3/1990 Iranian Christian pastor Rev. Hussein Soodmand was taken from his prison cell and executed because 21 years earlier he had converted from Islam to Christianity. Besides Christians, Baha'is, Sufis, and Zoroastrians have also been killed by government authorities.

In Afghanistan, the Sunni Taliban massacred about 3,000 Shi'ite Hazaris. This was probably in revenge for Hazaris massacring about 2,000 Taliban fighters earlier in the war.

In Tajikistan, there has been a brutal civil war that pitted Muslims against Muslims.

In Pakistan, a teenage girl was executed for converting from Islam to Christianity. Small Muslim sects, such as the Ahmaddiya, are by law persecuted by the authorities in Pakistan.

In the Qur'an? "Kill them, and Allah will torment them by your hands. He will humiliate them and give you victory over them..." (Sura 9:14) "Fight those who believe not... even if they be People of the book [Christians and Jews] until they have willingly agreed to pay the Jizya tribute in recognition of their submissive state." (Sura 9:29)

In Iraq, so far I have not heard of any persecution of Christians more than any other groups. Perhaps Iraq today, that pristine paragon of peace, is where Islam is most like a religion of peace.

Conclusion: Islam is the most warlike and violent major world religion today.

Do Christians Worship the Same God as Allah?

When Muslims are trying to put a favorable "face" on Islam they say they are the same? However, let's see what other Muslims say.

In Egypt Muslim extremists burned three churches in September 1991 and beat a number of people, six in critical condition. They chanted "There is no God but Allah and Copts [Coptic Christians] are the enemies of Allah" (Reach Out to the Muslim World April 1992 p.18)

In Iran before his death, Khomeini wrote, "Any man or woman who denies the existence of God, or believes in his partners (Trinity), or else does not believe in his prophet Mohammed, is impure in the same way as are excrement, urine, dog, and wine." (Sayings of the Ayatollah Khomeini p.51) (quoted from Reach Out to the Muslim World April 1992 p.21)

In Malaysia they do not have violent persecution of Christians, though the government destroyed a new Christian church in a mainly Christian village. But they have a law that no literature (Christian or otherwise) can say that the God of Christianity and Islam are the same. Malaysians are Sunni Muslims.

Three Clues to Figure Out if Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God

When Muslims kill Christians because of their worship and beliefs.

When Muslims destroy houses of Christian worship, that [allegedly] provide worship to the same God.

When Christians in Malaysia can only purchase Bibles through specialized Christian centers, and only Bibles that do NOT use "Allah" as a word for God are permitted.

Muslims might ask, if "Christianity is more peaceful that Islam, what about the Crusades?" That is a fair question, and there are three points in the answer.

1. The so-called "Christian" Crusades were against the teaching of Jesus and the New Testament. Crusades were even launched against genuine Christians, such as the Waldenses!

2. Europeans learned about religious Crusades from the Muslims. They started when Muslims harassed Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem.

3. The Crusades and Muslim Jihads were really not so different after all. Muslims even slaughtered great numbers of fellow Muslims because of religion.

4. We should not glorify those in history who participated in Jihads and Crusades, and that includes Mohammed.

Crusades ("Christian" Jihads)

1096-1099 1st Crusade (~70K Crusaders)

1120 Turks and Isma'ilis defeat 25K (Muslim) Nusayris

1147-1149 2nd Crusade, British capture Lisbon, Portugal

1162 Frederick I razes Milan, Italy

1189-1192 3rd Crusade

1202-1204 4th Crusade

1212 5th (Children's Crusade) 100k kids killed/captured

1218-1221 5/6th Crusade

1228-1229 6/7th Crusade

1229/30-1279 Teutonic Knights conquer pagan Slavs

1240 At Novgorod, Russians defeat Swedish invaders

1248-c.1291 7/8th Crusade

1262-1492 Spanish recapture Spain from Moors

UnChrist-like Aspects of the Crusades

1096 Soldiers of the First Crusade kill Jews

1097 Crusaders kill Nusayris at Mt. Lebanon

1204 Crusaders sack Constantinople for unpaid debts

1244 Massacre of Cathari at Beziers, 20K killed

1244 Burning of Cathari at Minerve 140 killed

1444 At Varna on Black Sea Turks defeat Crusaders

1487-1488 Crusade against the Bible-believing Waldenses

1478-1834 Spanish Inquisition

1483-1498 Spanish Inquisitor Torquemada

Jihads (Muslim Crusades)

632-642 2nd Phase of Muslim Conquests, Syria, Persia, Egypt, Cyrene

642-661 3rd phase, Armenia, Anatolia, Cyprus, rest of Libya

661-750 4th phase of Muslim conquests, Khazars, Spain

750-945 5th phase of Muslim Conquests, Afghanistan, part of Italy

969 Fatimids defeat other Muslims to conquer Egypt

1000-1025 Mahmud of Ghazni (Afghanistan) raids India

1039-1194 Seljuk Turks conquer much of the Muslim world

1364-1405 Tamerlane (fought more Muslims than non-)

1280-1919 Ottoman Empire

1354 Turks overrun Balkans, win at Kosovo in 6/27-28/1389

1453 100K Turks conquer Constantinople

"Distinctives" Muslim Holy Wars

732 Abd-ar-Rahman sacks St. Hilaire monastery

1076-1077 Muslims raze Ghana's capital

1084 Muslim Ghazni sacks Somnath, India - 50K

1168 Saladin recaptures Cairo Egypt from Fatimids

1175 Mahmud of Ghazni fights in India

1235 Muslims capture Ujjain, Central India

1260-1518 Mamelukes of Egypt persecute Nusayris

1300's Mamelukes conquer Christian Maqurra kingdom

More Jihad "Distinctives"

1320 Muslims destroy 60 Coptic churches

1324 Sultan of Delhi conquers Kalinga on the East India coast

1357 Tamerlane has a hill of 70K skulls at Isfahan, Iran

1398 Invades India because the Muslim Sultans were "too tolerant" of their Hindu subjects

1399 Tamerlane builds a great mosque in Samarkand

1401 Tamerlane sacks Baghdad, killing 20K

Wars in the Old Testament

Different under the Old Testament theocracy

Canaanite religion was horrible with infant sacrifice and ritual prostitution

Christ never said to fight anybody

In loving others, we have a higher standard today (except that many Muslims disagree)

Summary

A Muslim named Al-Mughirah bin Shu'ban said, "...We [all] entered his religion [Islam] either out of conviction or by coercion..." al-Tabari vol.12 p.137

"...you should know that Paradise is under the shade of swords." Abu Dawud vol.2:2625 p.727

Fighting is jihad. Abu Dawud vol.2:2503-2504 p.693

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