A Religion of Peace?

This is not a political article; your congenial editor has no suggestions for Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Israel, or the United States. But occasionally we need to be reminded of certain facts about the religion of Islam. History records that Islam has a record of violence, which dates back to its very beginning.

A few decades ago, commercials came on television advertising Chiffon Stick Margarine. The woman portraying Mother nature was energetic, smiling, and happy with the Creation. When she tastes Chiffon, she affirms, "That's my creamy butter." "No," she is informed. "That's Chiffon Margarine. It's so good it even fooled you, Mother Nature." A scowl comes across her face, and she proclaims, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." A catastrophe accompanies her look of disdain.

The Internet will inform its readers that the Arabic root of Islam is from salaam, and it means "peace." Oh, it means peace, does it? Is that the reason Muhammad ceases to smile if he is challenged? The Qur'an (what we once called The Koran) depicts Muhammad as an apostle, and anyone who agrees with him may experience peace, but watch what happens to the person who holds a different view.

My sole work is preaching from God, and His message: and for such as rebel against God and his apostle is the fire of Hell! They shall remain therein always,--for ever! (Sura 72:24).

For, whoso believeth not in God, and His Apostle…. Verily, we have got ready the flame for the Infidels! (48:13). [The ellipsis is not the editor's; this is the way the text reads. The quotations in this article are from a 1909 version of the Koran. The 2003 Qur'an reads: "And if any believe not in Allah and His Messenger, We have prepared, for those who reject Allah, a Blazing Fire!"

Doesn't peace just radiate from verses like these? Consider how peaceful it must be to have Muslim neighbors: "O believers! Take not infidels for friends rather than believers. Would you furnish God with the clear right to punish you?" (Sura 4:143). Having infidels as friends merits punishment. But who is included in infidels? "O believers! Take not Jews or Christians as friends" (Sura 5:56). Hmm. It doesn't look like there will be any neighborhood barbecues.

If Islam were a religion of peace, it would still be a tiny sect instead of a world power. In 1981, Andrew Connally wrote a chapter titles, "The Doctrines and Militancy of Islam" for the book, Some Modern Cults, Sects, Movements, and World Religions, edited by Thomas B. Warren and Garland Elkins.

Connally wrote: "The militancy of Islam is well known to careful students of Islam." He goes on to furnish examples, such as the 52 hostages taken by the Ayatollah Khomeini and held for more than a year for ransom. This man wrote a book, Sayings of Khomeini, in which he urged all Muslims to unite against Western governments like the United States.

Muhammad really did compose "the Satanic Verses," which he later disowned. But the Ayatollah was not amused at Salman Rushdie's fictional story, published in September of 1988. He ordered a hit (fatwa) on Rushdie, his publishers, employees, etc. Here is a fundamental difference between Christianity and Islam. A month earlier (August 1988) the blasphemous movie, The Last Temptation of Christ was released. Christians protested across the country, but no one issued a fatwa against Martin Scorsese. Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies (Matt. 5:44). The Muslim philosophy is, "Kill your enemies."

The Sword

Muhammad died in A. D. 632. Within 100 years, the Muslim Empire' growth was finally stopped by the Franks after it spread all along the Mediterranean Sea through North Africa and up through Spain. It also spread the other direction through Israel and around the Mediterranean Sea, but it halted its progress in Europe. It took about one hundred years for all that conquering to occur. These countries did not become Muslim because they desired to do so; they were forced. Practically any objective historical account will reveal the methods of their expansion.

We have all seen in our own lifetimes the merciless attacks that have been conducted upon innocent people—like the unwarranted attack on October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, according to the Internet, killed about 1,200 people—most of whom were civilians—and captured 251 hostages. Sexual violence was also perpetrated against innocent women by the religion of "peace."

Warning

There are American citizens foolish enough to vote for Muslim politicians despite their own admissions of what they would like to accomplish. This article will not, however, go into the politics of such at this time, but Christians and Jews do need to be warned about what occurs under sharia law, which Muslims would like to impose on all. Andrew McCarthy is quoted below from Imprimis (February, 2016):

Sharia rejects freedom of speech as much as freedom of religion. It rejects the idea of equal rights between men and women as much as between Muslim and non-Muslim.