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Sunday, May 27, 2007

Islam in Prophecy and History


The study on Islam by Dr. Richard Wells at South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City was very good tonight. Attendance was good and there was a fair number of notable faces present.

Dr. Wells began the evening by introducing the audience to several books from which he referenced, quoted and read. The Qur'an, of course, was one. Others were the Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, The Truth About Mohammed, and What Went Wrong: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East. I believe all but one of these were written by Muslims, and the remaining one was written by one of the foremost authorities on Islam in the West; I just forget which one was which.

Wells said Islam was basically an amalgamation of many religious practices and philosophies that were already common in Arabia when Mohammed started having his "visions" in AD 610. One of the influences on Mohammed was Judeo-Christian teachings, which likely came to him through his wife's cousin, who was a Christian, and through a slave boy that Mohammed adopted, who was also a Christian. However, Wells said the type of Christianity that was practiced in Arabia at that time was not orthodox, and usually involved some form or another of heresy. So the picture of Christianity that Mohammed received was likely a very distorted one.

Wells quickly covered Mohammed's visions, his bouts of depression, and his flight to Medina, where his religious teachings first began to catch on. Mohammed died in AD 632 but his followers continued to work hard. Within 100 years, Islam had conquered the Arabian peninsula, the Middle East, North Africa, part of Spain, and was threatening France when Muslims were stopped at the Battle of Tours in 732.

Despite the occasional setback such as Tours, Muslims never suffered a major defeat until they made two failed attempts to take Vienna. Here, for the first time, Muslims were forced to make a treaty, and apparently it sent a shudder through the Muslim world that perhaps it has not yet recovered from.

Wells also challenged the notion put forth by many, including President Bush, that Islam is a "religion of peace." Reminding us all of what we see on TV and in the newspapers almost daily (despite all the "religion of peace" talk), Wells said the dominant desire of the Muslim world is the total annihilation of the Jews. Why, you might wonder, do Muslims hate Jews and the state of Israel so much?

Because the mere existence of Israel brings to light something Muslims find hard to accept, Wells said: that the Islamic world is inferior (Wells was reading from "What Went Wrong?" here).

To illustrate his point, Wells asked the audience if they could name any cars manufactured in Islamic countries? He asked if anyone could name any imported goods manufactured in Islamic countries? There was silence.

Wells reminded the audience that Israel just regained statehood not quite 60 years ago, and that it has been surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned by the Muslim world...and that it's continued existence is "a humiliation to Islam of the first order" (I believe he was quoting from "What Went Wrong?" here).

Examining Genesis chapter 16, Wells then looked at the prophecy regarding Ishmael, from whom Muslims are descended.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers
."


Contrast this to the prophecy regarding Abraham's offspring through Issac. Issac would bring blessing to all nations, but Ishmael would bring only war and conflict. (I know all Muslims aren't terrorists, but many are, and far too many of the remainder remain silent with no condemnation of the terrorism committed by other Muslims. So when you hear the word "Islam," do you think "grace," "peace," "love," "order," "stability," "nobility"...or do you think of violence, war, bombings, blood, killings, and the like?)

Wells wrapped up the evening by reading from the Concise Encyclopedia of Islam (which was written by a Muslim, he said). He read the definition of "jihad" which the Qu'ran teaches, as "a divine institution of warfare to extend Islam into the non-Islamic territory."

He also read a passage which said "In colonial times [which was the Western colonial time, such as when Britain was in control of Palestine] when Islamic countries were not under Muslim control, this was an anomalous condition from the point of view of Islamic law." In other words, it was an illegitimate condition, or an aberration, for Muslims not to be in total control. What this means is that Islam refuses to coexist with others unless the population with which they live accepts a state of second-class citizenship.

Part 2 will be next Sunday night at 6:30 pm at South Canyon Baptist again. If you're in the Rapid City area, you won't want to miss it.


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