Notes and References on Islam
by Chuck Missler
(accompanying the briefing package "The Sword of Allah:
The Rise of Islam")*<>
Section I: Background
Islamic divisions of the universe:
1. Dar Al Islam: the domain of the faithful (to Islam)
2. Dar Al Harb: those with whom they are at war until Judgment Day.
(Not just the Jews: all non-Muslims!)
Islam is the fastest growing religion today: There are more Muslims than
evangelical Christians in Britain; 900 churches have been converted to mosques
in the UK. There are 1100 mosques in the US; there are more Muslims than
Jews in North America.
Pre-Islamic Arabia
Ur of the Chaldees is first mentioned in the account of Abraham's journey
in Genesis 12:1. The
spiritual ruler of Ur was the moon-god. This god would ultimately become
the supreme deity of the entire Babylonian empire. The root names of many
individuals in Babylon preserves links to the gods of the Babylonian pantheon:
Senacherib, or "Sin Ech-erib" = "Sin multiplies his brothers."
The god "Sin" was elevated to the top of the Babylonian pantheon
by Nabu-na'id (Nabodnidus) in an effort to make Babylonian religion more
acceptable to subjects like the Arabians and Aramaeans. The Arabians esteemed
the moon god, but had more difficulty identifying with Marduk, the supreme
Babylonian deity associated primarily with the city of Babylon.
The god Sin, "The Controller of the Night," had the crescent moon
as his emblem, and the lunar-based calendar, which became the primary religious
symbols of Islam, was worshipped in Arabia as AI-Ilah. Mecca became the
center of all pagan religions of Arabia before Mohammed. AI-Ilah, the Moon
God, was the "Lord of the Ka'aba" ("cube") which was
formerly the center of pagan worship, ruling over 360 idols. Lucrative trade
routes resulted. The Ka'aba black cube in Mecca is of course the center
of Islamic worship today.
Islam incorporates beliefs in jinns ( which are genies, fairies); in spells,
magic stones, fetishes; and animistic beliefs (spirits living in inanimate
objects). See: Suras 55; 72; 113, 114.
Such beliefs are contrary to Biblical injunctions found for example in Deuteronomy
4:19; 17:3; Job 31:26-28. Penalties: Deuteronomy 17:6; 2 Kings:5.
The Sabeans' Religion (pre-Muhammad)
Astral religion, which involves worshipping heavenly bodies ("the host
of heaven") is strongly warned against in the Bible. In such idolatrous
systems the Moon is often viewed as a male deity; and the Sun, a female
deity; with the Stars their offspring. A Lunar cyclical calendar results.
For example the practice of fasting from crescent moon to crescent moon.
Derived from these forms of worship of the host of heaven are the practices
of bowing and prayer toward Mecca; the requirement for a Holy Pilgrimage
(hajj) to Mecca, in order to circle the Ka'aba, the site of the protective
black stone. Al-Ilah was Lord of the Ka'aba; is to be circled 7 times and
kissed. Pilgrims then run to the Wadi Mina to throw stones at the Devil.
These rites are practiced in Islam today.
Pagans who lived in Saudi Arabia before Muhammed was born worshipped toward
Mecca because Mecca is where their idols were located. Because this pagan
worship centered on Mecca was so widespread, a rapid acceptance of Muhammad's
new religion was possible. Thus, Islam is a previously heathen religion
modified into a monotheistic form by discarding all the other pagan gods
except for Al-Ilah.
Particular attention should be paid to the pioneering work on Islam of Julius
Welhausen, Theordor
Noldeke, Joseph Halevvy, Edward Glaser, William F. Albright, Frank P. Albright,
Richard
Bell, J. Arberry, Wendell Phillips, W. Montgomery Watt, Alfred Guilllaume,
and Arthur Jeffery. (1)
Archaeological and linguistic work done since the latter part of the 19th
century has discovered overwhelming evidence that Muhammad constructed his
religion and the Quran from pre- existing material in Arabian culture.
The Life of Muhammad
The Quraysh tribe (Muhammad's tribe ) was previously devoted to Allah, the
moon god. Muhammad's father was Abd-Allah. His Uncle, Obied-Allah. His mother,
Aminah, was known to have been involved in the occult. (2)
Muhammad's Wives: (Sura 4:3 forbids more than 4 wives; Muhammad, however
had 16 official wives, and 6 others as well.)
1. Khadija
2. Sawda
3. Aesah (8 or 9 years old)
4. Omm Salama
5. Hafsa
6. Zaynab (originally Jahsh's, Muhammad's adopted son's wife.)
7. Jowayriya
8. Omm Habiba
9. Safiya
10. Maymuna (of Hareth)
11. Fatima
12. Hend
13. Asma (of Saba)
14. Zaynab (of Khozayma)
15. Habla
16. Asma (of Noman)
Other wives:
17. Mary (the Coptic Christian; chose to remain a slave rather
than convert.)
18. Rayhana
19. Omm Shank
20. Maymuna
21. Zaynab (a 3rd one)
22. Khawla
The Nature of Islam
Legacy of Hate; Born of deception, weaned on violence.
Islam = "Submission"? Originally: that strength which characterized
a desert warrior who, even when faced with impossible odds, would fight
to the death for his tribe. (3)
Allah = AI-Ilah. Arabic for "the god." pre-Islamic name, corresponding
to the Babylonian Bel. The Moon-god; crescent moon. (4)
Koran/Quran
[Quran never explains these tenets of the faith: it assumes familiarity
with them. Allah also is assumed to be well known to the reader.]
Violence is commanded:
"Fight and slay the pagans (infidels) wherever ye find
them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every
stratagem of war." Quran, Sura 9:5
If Islam is resisted?
"Their punishment is...execution, or crucifixion, or the
cutting off of hands and feet from the opposite sides, or exile from the
land." Sura 5:33
Al Tawbah The Repentance): "Prophet, make war on unbelievers and hypocrites,
and deal rigorously with them." Sura 9:73
Al Anfal (The Spoils): "Let not the unbelievers think they
will ever get away... strike terror into the enemy of God and your enemy...
rouse the faithful to arms! If they (the non-Muslims) incline to peace (accept
Islam) make peace with them."
Sura 8:59
Al Maidah (The Table): "If they reject your judgment, know
that it is Allah's wish to scourge them for their sins. Sura 5:49
The Quran is an amalgam of Hinduism, Buddhism, Mythraism, Greek mystery
religions, as well as elements from Judaism and Christianity.
Order confused, self-contradictions. Perfect Arabic? Claimed in 12:2;
13:37; 41:41,44.
Over 100 aberrations,5 such as 2:177,192; 3:59; 4:162; 5:69; 7:160; 13:28;
20:66; 63:10, etc.
Free of error? Claimed in Sura 85:21, 22. Claims to be consistent
with the Bible? Sura 7:51 and 10:3 claim 6 days of creation; Sura 41, 8
days of creation; Sura 32-48 disagree with Genesis 7; numerous errors concerning
Abraham: Father's name was not Azar (6:74); did not live in Mecca (14:37);
did not sacrifice Ishmael (37:100-112); eight sons, not two; three wives,
not two; did not build the Ka'aba (2:12~127); was not thrown into a fire
by Nimrod (21:68, 69; 9:69), etc. Numerous chronological errors. Flood did
not occur in Moses' day (7:136 vs. 7:59ff) (6)
{Note: The Bible was not in Arabic in Muhammad's day, in fact not until
the 9th century].
According to the Bible any new revelation must agree with what is already
established as God's Word. (See Isa 8:20).
Is the Islamic "Allah" equivalent to "El," the God
of the OT?
Islamic "Allah" implies a God who is unknowable, impersonal, capricious
(untrustworthy).
One God? (at a time) is a concept found in other pagan derivative religions:
Egypt: Ra, Isis, Osiris
Chaldeans: Ba-al, Molech
Greeks: Zeus; Jupiter
Muhammad was not sinless: See Sura 40:55. He never performed a single miracle:
Sura 17:91-95. He did not die for anyone. No personal relationship with
him is possible: he is dead.
For a detailed contrast between Muhammad and Jesus see Alfred Guillaume,
The Traditions of Islam.
Anti-Judaism: Islam is conspicuously Anti-Jewish (7)
Al Maidah (The Table): "Believers (Muslims), take neither
Jews nor Christians to be your friends: they are friends with one another.
Whoever of you seeks their friendship Shall become one of their number,
and God does not guide (those Jewish and Christian (called "wrong-doers,"
5:51-5:74).
"Say, 'People of the Book (Jews), is it not that you hate us (Ishmaelite
Muslims), only because we believe in God, and in what has been revealed
to others, and because most of you (Jews) are evil-doers?" 5:57
But according to the Bible Israel not to be cast off: Jer. 31 :36-37.
Islam is Anti-Black
American blacks have been widely deceived. Only people with white faces
will be saved; people with black faces will be damned: Sura 3:106,107. Arab
Muslims were enslaving black
Africans long before Westerners.
Abrahamic descent?
Arabs are not (necessarily) descendants of Ishmael. (8)
Abraham never lived in Mecca.
Ishmael
Son of Abram and Hagar (Genesis 16:1); WAS promised blessing, but a very
different from that God gave to Isaac. Of Ishmael God said, "A wild
donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand
against him, and he will dwell (settle, encamp) in the presence ("in
the face") of his brothers." See Genesis 16:1~12; 17:2~21; 21:8-21;
25:9,12-18....
God's Plan for Israel and the Middle East:
Settle the Jewish people in the land of Israel, including Judea, Samaria
and Ephraim. Give Jerusalem back to Israel.
Cause Jerusalem to become a "Cup of Trembling" to all nations
Zechariah 12:2
Russian exodus: Jer. 16:1-15. Overflow: Zechariah 10:10-11:1.
Destroy Babylon completely. Judge Mount Seir and Edom. Cause all the nations
to know that it is God who brought Israel back. Ezekiel 36:36; 38-39.
Cause a spiritual revival among the Jewish People. Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 36:25ff;
Jer. 31:31. Jewish People to accept Yeshua: Zechariah 12:10
The Land of Israel
Land originally held by 10 nations descended from Ham after the Flood: the
Kenites, Kenezzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites,
Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.
Jericho, the capital of the Amorites, was named after the moon-god: Khirbet
Kerak, Beth-Yerah, "House (Temple) of the Moon God."]
Land Grantof Israel to the Jews: See Genesis 15:7-8, 13-16; 17:8; Deuteronomy
28-30; Jer.. 30-31; Ezekiel 36. The boundaries of the land given to Israel
extend from the "River of
Egypt" to the Euphrates: from eastern Egypt, all the way into western
Iraq. Genesis 15:1-21; Exodus 23:2~31; Numbers 34:1-14; Joshua 1:3; Ezekiel
47:1 ff.
Is Islam In the Scriptures?
Mt. Seir: (Esau's descendants) S. Jordan and N. Saudi Arabia: Ezekiel 35:3,-S;
10,12; 36: 2,3,5
Babylon (Iraq): Jer. 5O:4-6, 11,18-19; Isa 13:1-14:2
Lebanon: Israel will possess "the land of the Canaanites as far as
Zarephath." (on the coast of Lebanon between Tyre and Sidon.) Obad.
1:20; Zechariah 10:10; 11:1.
Gaza Strip: "The shoulder of the Philistines to the west" (Isaiah
11:14) and "the Philistine lowland (Obediah 1:19) will be possessed by
Israel.
Moab (Southern Jordan, and Northern Saudi Arabia) will yield to Israel.
Isa 11:14.
The "West Bank": Called Judea and Samaria and Ephraim, will belong
to Israel. Jer. 30:5-8; Obediah 1:19)
Gilead (Southern Syria and Northern Jordan) belongs to Israel. Zechariah 10:10.
Jordan: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a European creation of 1946.
Moab and Gilead had been populated by unaffiliated Arabic Bedouin tribes.
Recent and Future History Notes
W.W.I: British and Allies fought Germans and Ottoman Turks. Major T.E. Lawrence
organized the "Arab Revolt." Allenby victorious in Middle East;
League of Nations award the British "Mandate" on April 25, 1920.
(endures until May 14,1948.)
1921, the son of Sharif Hussein of Mecca in Arabia, an aggressive young
man named Abdallah, moved in with his troops, to the land east of Jordan.
The British Colonial Secretary (Winston Churchill) recognized Abdallah as
the emir (chieftain) of "Trans-Jordan." Abdallah consolidates
his control with his British-trained "Arab Legion."
1946: Abdallah crowned King of Transjordan. His grandson, Hussein, is the
current king.
Joining in on the attack on Israel in its War of Independence in 1948, the
"Arab Legion" successfully fought the Haganah and held the "West
Bank." After joining Egypt in the "6 Day War", they lost
it in 1967.
The inhabitants of the Negev will possess "the mountains of Esau":
Jordan, including Petra.
The Ultimate Jihad: See Ezekiel 38 and 39.
Magog is the forbear of the Scythians, or modern day Russian. (Hesiod, Herodotus,
et al. See The Soviet Breakup, The Magog' Factor , and other
Koinonia House publications.)
The lead ally in the list is Iran ("Persia") Rafsanjani has announced
his "Grand Design" to unite the Islamic world from Indonesia to
Mauritania: almost 2 billion followers. He believes he has the resources
to "disconnect the Middle East from its Judeo-Christian world order."
Russia has signed a treaty to back him.
God will intervene to protect Israel. This key event marks God's dealing
again with "My people" Israel. Cf. Hosea 1:9-2:3.
Clean-up after the battle? Left-over weapons provide all the energy needs
of the nation Israel for 7 years. Professionals sent in for 7 months (after
7 month wait) and bury remains east of the Dead Sea (downwind); tourists
encountering a bone that was missed don't touch it: they mark its location
and let the professionals deal with it. (Current day procedures for nuclear,
biological, and chemical warfare: TM 3-9905-007-70, HQ Dept. of Army, US
Dept. of Defense; et al)
Bibliography
Bruce Cohen, Israel, Arabs and the Middle East, Har Tavor Publishing
Ltd, Wynnewood PA, 1991.
lbn Kathir, The Signs before the Day' of Judgment, Dar Al Taqwa Ltd,
London, 1992. (Ismail Abul-FadI Umar lbn Kathir was one of the leading scholars
of Islam of the 14th century. Excerpted from his 14 volume history of Islam.)
Malachi Martin, The Keys of This Blood, Simon Schuster, New York
NY 1990.
William McElwee Miller, A Christian's Response to Islam, Presbyterian
and Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, NJ, 1979.
Robert Morey, The Islamic Invasion, Harvest House. Eugene OR. Lucid,
well documented, an excellent reference.
Bill Musk, The Unseen Face of Islam, Monarch Publications Ltd, London,
1989.
George Otis, Jr., The Last of the Giants, Reming H. Revell Company,
Tarrytown NY, 1991.
Joan Peters, From Time Immemorial, Harper & Row, Publishers,
New York NY, 1984.
Michael Youssef, America, Oil, and the Islamic Mind, Zondervan Publishing
House, Grand Rapids, Ml, 1983,
1991.
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, ed. James Hastings, T & T Clark,
Edinburgh, 1908.
Encyclopedia of Religion, eds. Paul Meagher, Thomas O'Brien, Consuela Aherne,
Corpus Publishers, Washington DC, 1979.
Encyclopedia of Islam, E.J. Prill, Leiden, 1913. Page 18
Notes:
1. Michael Nazar-Ali. Islam: A Christian Perspective, Westminster
Press, Philadelphia, 1983, p.21 Alfred Guillaume, Islam, Penguin Books,
London. 1954, p6; Augustus H. Strong, Systematic Theology, Judson Press,
Valley Forge PA, 1976, p.186.
2. John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological,
and Ecclesiastical Literature, Baker Books House, Grand Rapids Ml, 1981
reprint. 6:406.
3. Dr. M. Baravmann, The Spiritual Background of Early Islam, E.
J. Brill, Leiden, 1972; Dr. Jane Smith, M. Historical and Semitic Study
of the Term Islam as Seen in a Sequence of Quran Commentaries, University
of Montana Press, for Harvard University Dissertations,
1970.
4. Robert Morey. The Islamic Invasion, Harvest House. Eugene OR,
p.48; Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, ed. James Hastings, T
& T Clark, Edinburgh, 1908, 1:326; Encyclopedia Of Religion,
eds. Paul Meagher, Thomas O'Brien, Consuela Aherne, Corpus Publishers, Washington
DC. 1979, 1:117; Encyclopedia Britannica, 1:643; Encyclopedia
Of Islam, E.J. Brill, Leiden. 1913,
1:302; 1:406; 111:1093.
5. Ali Dashti, 23 Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad,
George Allen & Unwin. London, 1985, p.48, 50.
6. For a detailed discussion, see Morrey, p.158.
7. Bat Ye'or, The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam, Farleigh
Dickinson University Press, 1965.
8. McClintock and Strong, 1:339; Gibb, Levi-Provencial, Schacht, eds., The
Encyclopedia of Islam, J. Brill, Leiden. 1913, l:543-47; Thomas Hughes,
A Dictionary of Islam, Allen & Co., London, 1885; pp.18ff.
9. J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology, Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub.
Co., Grand Rapids Ml, 1965, pp.1-16.
10. The famous martyr of Karbala. Jassim M. Hussain. The Occultation
of the Twelfth Imam, Muhammadi Trust, London, 1982. p.17.
11. Barbara G. Walker, The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets,
Harpers, SF 1983. pp.51-S2; 306.
*Two cassette-tape lectures with above notes are available from Koinonia
House, PO Box D., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83816