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Ramadan 2013 – Day 12 – “Stealth Jihad” in the West?

2013 Ramadan PrayerThe spread of Islam is an obligation for Muslims, and is often accomplished covertly. Stealth jihad is the advancement of Islam through non-violent methods in non-Muslim nations under the umbrellas of “tolerance” and “religious or civil rights.” Stealth jihad, through political and social pressure, forces non-Muslim countries to implement sharia law gradually into western society.

Sharia law, also known as Islamic law is the legal doctrine of Islam. Because Muslims believe sharia originated from Allah, it is sacred law and considered superior to any man-made laws. Sharia is derived from the Qur’an and the Sunna – the body of Islamic traditions and practice based on Muhammad’s words and deeds.

Sharia covers all aspects of life for Muslims. It is a comprehensive, totalitarian, supremacist doctrine that goes far beyond a traditional legal code. Sharia prohibits freedom of expression, freedom of religion and equality between men and women. It does not allow for any separation between the religion and state.

It seeks to control not only every aspect of a Muslim’s life, but it also attempts to control the lives of non-Muslims. This is what sets sharia apart from other religious laws such as Jewish Halakhic law and Christian canonical laws.

By using western concepts of freedom and tolerance, Islam forces its policies on western communities. There are many examples of this. For instance, this week tennis sessions for women only were launched in Blackburn in the United Kingdom in order to make the courts suitable for Muslim women. Earlier this year, in Canada, a single father was banned from watching his nine-year-old daughter’s swim class at a Toronto city pool due to “religious reasons.” The city has female-only swim programs to accommodate Muslims.

Qantas Airlines will no longer serve pork or meals prepared with alcohol on their flight to and from Europe because pork and alcohol are forbidden in Islam. Reports have surfaced this week that Saudi Arabia Airlines will not issue tickets for Israelis from JFK International Airport in New York despite U.S. law which states, “An air carrier or foreign air carrier may not subject a person in air transportation to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex or ancestry.”

Through stealth jihad – in piecemeal fashion, Islamists are changing many things in western nations that have been an accepted part of our culture for generations.

Prayer Points:

Pray that leaders and citizens will recognize and expose the political manipulation by Islamists who use western laws and freedoms to implement sharia.

Pray that Islam will not be successful in the implementation of sharia in any part of society (7 mountains: media, government, education, business, church, arts and entertainment, and family).

Many Muslims have left nations for the West because they were disenchanted with the control over their lives, only to see that stealth jihad is advancing in their new land. Pray they will expose this encroachment to others and take a positive stand against it.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 11 – Western Rape Victims – Criminals in the Middle East?

2013 Ramadan PrayerIn February of 2011 during the Arab Spring protests in Egypt, Lara Logan, an American reporter from CBS, was brutally assaulted as she was in Tahrir Square covering the protest. Although not raped, she was groped by a mob of men and all of her clothes were ripped from her body. As she lay naked, the mob took pictures with their cell phones and beat her with flagpoles and sticks. “What really struck me was how merciless they were. They really enjoyed my pain and suffering. It incited them to more violence,” she said. Eventually a group of Muslim women accompanied by Egyptian soldiers rescued her from the attack.

In October of 2012 a similar attempt in Tahrir Square was caught on tape as journalist, Sonia Dridi from France 24 was attacked and groped as she was giving a live report. In video footage of her report, you can see her being pushed off the screen as the mob moves in. Her colleague, Ashraf Khalil was able to help her escape. And last month, a female Dutch journalist was attacked and gang raped by 5 men in Tahrir Square. She had to have surgery for severe injuries.

Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, an Egyptian Salafist (a member of a literal, strict, fundamental sect of Islam) said the women protesting in Tahrir Square were not going to protest but rather they were there because they wanted to be raped.

A vigilante group tracking the incidents in Egypt recorded 46 cases of sexual assault and harassment against women in one night, and the UN Entity for Gender Equality reported that 99.3% of Egyptian women that they interviewed had been victims of some form of sexual violence. In Egypt and other nations operating under Islamic sharia law, rape victims do not go to the hospital or the police. The police treat the female victims of rape as criminals, because under sharia law in order to prove rape the rapist must confess or four adult Muslim men must witness the crime and testify that the sex was not consensual.

Two young western women learned this difficult lesson after being raped in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While on a business trip to Dubai a 25-year-old Norwegian woman was raped.  She reported the rape to the police, but the Dubai authorities confiscated her passport and charged her.  Yesterday, she was sentenced to serve 16 months for illicit sex outside of marriage.

In a similar case, Australian Alicia Gali was hired as the spa and beauty salon manager at a beach resort in the UAE. One evening her room began to flood from the bathroom drain. Maintenance came and fixed it, but it began to flood again. She left her room and was using her laptop in the hotel’s staff bar where her drink was spiked. She woke up the next afternoon in her room to discover three men had raped her. She was in pain with multiple bruises and broken ribs so she went to the hospital. Later it was discovered her drain had been intentionally blocked with a man’s shirt and a plastic bag. After going to the hospital she reported the rape to the police. She gave her statement and then after signing a document written in Arabic that she thought was her statement, she was taken to an Islamic court. In actuality she signed a confession. She was sentenced to 11 months in prison for sex outside of marriage and one month for drinking alcohol. The three rapists received similar sentences.

Prayer Points:

It is vital we educate our children and grandchildren, especially those who may travel to an Islamic nation. Pray that western youth will be open to hear the truth about Islamic sharia law. Pray that they will understand that uncovering the teachings of Islam is wisdom and is not a condemnation on any of the Muslim people.

Pray that leaders in western nations will realize that Islamic sharia law is in total opposition to freedom and democracy and take their stand against the advancement of this type of law that it is being promoted in our democracies.

Pray for protection for women in nations such as Egypt and the UAE – Muslim and non-Muslim. Thank God for people like the Muslim women and members of the Egyptian military who helped to rescue western women from attacks.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 10 – Jizya, the Islamic Tax for Protection

2013 Ramadan PrayerDhimmis or non-Muslims (especially Christians and Jews) living in Islamic controlled lands were forced to submit to Islam or pay the jizya – a protection tax. It was considered by Muslims as a punishment to degrade non-Muslims. Eleventh century documents show the authorities used harsh methods in collecting the tax and often the tax was extended to those who were supposed to be exempt such as children and the elderly. Those who could not pay the tax were sometimes forced to give their wives and children to the Islamists as slaves.

Eventually the jizya was eliminated although the Ottoman Empire did not abolish the tax until 1855. It was reported, however, that members of the Sikh community in Pakistan were forced to pay the jizya to the Taliban in 2009. Today Christian refugees from Syria have reported Islamist rebel forces once again are forcing non-Muslims to pay the jizya.

On June 25, 2013, Nina Shea, the director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.  As part of her testimony, she shared Syrian refugee, Jamil’s experience:

One Friday trucks appeared in the village with heavily armed and bearded strangers who did not know anyone in the village. They began to drive through the village with a loud speaker broadcasting the message that their village was now part of an Islamic emirate and Muslim women were henceforth to dress in accordance with the provisions of the Islamic Shariah. Christians were given four choices. They could convert to Islam and renounce their ‘idolatry.’ If they refused they were allowed to remain on condition that they pay the jizya. This is a special tax that non-Muslims under Islamic law must pay for ‘protection.’ For Christians who refused there remained two choices: they could leave behind all their property or they would be slain. The word that was used for the latter in Arabic (dhabaha) refers to the ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals.

Shea further related that Jamil and other families began to pay the jizya, but decided to flee after the amount they demanded kept increasing each month. Some who were unable to pay or escape were forced to convert to Islam. His account was independently corroborated by an Orthodox cleric who said if the Christians did not pay the jizya, they were killed.

Paying the jizya in the West is much more subtle. In March of 2013, during a roundtable discussion on the U.S. broadcast on Al Hafiz TV in Egypt, an Islamic cleric encouraged Muslim leaders to treat the United States as a dhimmi by making the U.S. conform to Egyptian demands and then accept foreign aid. He proclaimed a fatwa (an Islamic religious decree) that Egypt must “impose on America to pay aid as jizya, before we allow it to realize its own interests, the ones which we agree to.”

Other Muslims consider “welfare” from western nations as jizya. Anjem Choudary, a radical Islamic cleric from the Britain was secretly taped encouraging his followers to get a “Jihadseeker’s allowance” from the British government. He takes home more than £25,000 (around $38,000) each year in benefits. On the video, he explains to a group of his followers, “People will say, ‘Ah, but you are not working.’ But the normal situation is for you to take money from the kaffar (non-Muslim). So we take Jihadseeker’s Allowance. You need to get support.”

Without the outspokenness of a handful of Islamists few westerners would see how the policies of our governments are indeed twisted to appear that western governments are actually dhimmi states, financing the supremacy of Islam.

Prayer Points:

Far too often westerners mistakenly believe Islamic practices such as dhimmitude and jizya were part of Islam’s past. They fail to recognize that Islamic teachings and practices have not changed since the days of Muhammad. Pray that westerners will begin to have an understanding that Islam’s 7th century political and militaristic tendencies are a threat to democracies around the world.

Pray for the Christian and other non-Muslims populations in nations such as Syria where fundamental Islam is forcing them from their homes. Pray for the refugees and for those who were unable to escape the persecution – especially those who were forced to convert to Islam. Pray that they will realize that God does loves them and desires them to be a part of His Kingdom.

Pray for Muslims around the world to see the abuse, inequality, and destruction that Islam in its purest form brings to non-Muslims, especially Christians. Pray that they will question why Islam must insist by force – rather than by reason that Islam should be followed.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 9 – Dhimmitude

2013 Ramadan PrayerMost westerners are familiar with the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In addition to being found in Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31, versions of the golden rule principle are found in almost every other religion. The golden rule does not discriminate  – you are to treat everyone regardless of their sex, race, religion, etc., they way you want to be treated.

Because of Islam’s dual nature, there cannot be a golden rule in Islam. Islamic Dualism is seen in the early Qur’an versus the late Qur’an, in Islam’s internal treatment of issues like women’s rights, but dualism is most obvious in the treatment of kafirs (non-Muslims).

Muslims are to treat other Muslims quite differently than they treat kafirs. For example a Muslim is not to lie to another Muslim. However lying to a kafir in the form of taqiyya and kitman is allowed if it advances the cause of Islam. Taqiyya is saying something that is not true, and kitman is lying by omission. The Qur’an itself advocates deception against non-believers in Sura 3:54 which says that Allah is the best of schemers.

The most obvious double standard for Muslims versus non-Muslims can be found in the concept of Dhimmitude, a term coined by Bat Ye’or, author of Eurabia. The word comes from the Arabic word, “dhimmis” which means protected. Dhimmis are non-Muslims living in an Islamic state. Originally dhimmis were “people of the book” – defined as Jews and Christians but eventually the term came to encompass all non-Muslims.

As the Muslim empire expanded throughout the world, different people groups with their own religions were overtaken. Muhammad granted them “protection” if they would pay a tax. Non-Muslims conquered by Islam have the choice to convert, die or pay the Jizya (tax). Sura 9:29 commands, “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”

This tax collected from non-Muslims in Islamic lands was used to continue to fund jihad and the expansion of the Islamic world. Eventually the Pact of Umar set the legal foundation for how Muslims treated dhimmis. The pact most likely drafted around 717 AD forbade new churches or the repair of churches. It forced Christians to give room and board to Muslims passing through for three days. It forbade Christians from public worship and any evangelism. Christians were to give up their seats if a Muslim wished to sit. They could not display crosses and were not to bear arms.

Often in order to escape the dhimmi status, Christians, Jews and others would simply convert to Islam.

Today western nations are blindly adopting policies that subject westerners to dhimmi status without even realizing it. We will look at specific examples in a future article.

Prayer Points:

Nine out of ten Muslims have never been invited to a Christian home. Pray that God will open doors for Christians to begin to reach out to Muslims in their neighborhoods and communities, and pray that those who are able to reach out will be wise and equipped with the knowledge of the true system of Islam.

Pray that Muslims will begin to see the freedom available for all that is only available through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

There is much persecution today for Christians living in Muslim nations. Pray for strength for these Christians that they will not bow their knee to the false system in order to escape persecution.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 8 – Dualism

2013 Ramadan PrayerIslam is dualistic in nature, meaning Muslims believe in ideas that westerners would perceive as opposites. For instance, the passages written in the early days of Islam in Mecca, (the peaceful passages) are contradicted by the later passages written after Muhammad migrated to Medina when they became political and warlike. The Medina passages take precedent over the Mecca ones, but they are not negated because the Qur’an is considered the verbatim words of Allah. A Muslim can believe “you have your religion and I have mine,” but at the same time also believe you must submit to Islam or I can wage jihad against you.”

This dual nature of Islam is carried over in many aspects of Islamic teachings. As an example, we look at Islam’s treatment of women.  In discussing (Day 7) the epidemic of rape perpetrated by immigrant Muslim men in western nations, it was stated that immigrant Muslim males have been raised since birth to think of women as inferior. However Muslims repeatedly tell westerners that the issue of women in Islam is misunderstood and distorted, and that women are equal in Islam.

One passage that is quoted in an attempt to show equality is Sura 4:124. It does indicate the “whoso doeth good works, whether of male or female, and he (or she) is a believer, such will enter paradise.” However Sura 4:34 says, “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great.”

The Hadith states, “The Prophet said, ‘Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half that of a man?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind.’”

If a woman does good works such as obeying her husband she is capable (like a man) of going to paradise.

Although this is only a small example, it is possible to go through the Qur’an, the Hadith and the Sira and examine the passages regarding women. In order to understand the truth about women or anything in Islam, westerners must rely on all the texts (Qur’an, Sira and the Hadith) of Islam rather than the words of media experts or even Muslims themselves in order to draw their own conclusions. With modern translations and the ability to study the history of Islam, it is possible for westerners to know the true nature of Islam.

Prayer Points:

The Qur’an is written in classical Arabic. With today’s technology and scholarship there are multiple translations of all three of Islam’s texts available for study. Pray that Muslims themselves will begin to study the texts of Islam to see its true nature.

The vast majority (4 out of 5) of Muslims are not Arabs, and relatively few of the non-Arab Muslims understand Arabic. Yet, for practicing Muslims, Arabic is a language they use on a daily basis in their prayers. The Bible is available in Arabic and also their native language on the Internet.  Ask God to draw them to the Word of God (the Bible) in their own language that they may learn about Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life – and receive salvation.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 7 – An Epidemic of Rape

2013 Ramadan PrayerLast month six teenage boys, aged 15 to 17 from a Muslim community in Sweden were sentenced for the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl in a Stockholm. Because the perpetrators were minors, they received a very light sentence of community service and the payment of damages ($8,500 each) to the victim. Four of the boys confessed, but they denied they had committed any crime. In another Swedish gang rape, a 29-year-old mother of two ended up in an asylum in a wheelchair suffering from “mental distress” and fecal incontinence after having endured a rape marathon that lasted for seven hours. The convicted rapists were seven Muslim Afghan refugees who repeatedly raped her vaginally, anally and orally while cheering and calling her “slut” and “whore.” Their sentences ranged only from 4 to 6 years.

Sweden is the second highest rape capital of the world, and it is estimated that 1 out of every 4 Swedish women will be raped. Last summer in Stockholm, there was an average of five rapes reported each day. These statistics have skyrocketed with the increase of immigrants from Islamic countries. Muslims make up only about 6% of the Swedish population, but statistics reveal they commit 77.6% of all crimes.

This epidemic is not limited to Sweden.  In Oslo, Norway 100% of all rape cases solved by the police from 2007-2010 were committed by immigrant Muslim men, and nine out of ten of their victims were native Norwegians. In June, Scottish police made 37 arrests and identified 108 further potential victims and perpetrators of two “large scale” child sex rings. The police report a “significant proportion” of “ethnic minority offenders” which is oftentimes how Muslims offenders are identified due to fear of offending Muslim populations. This case follows the May conviction of seven Muslim men for being a part of a child sex trafficking ring that lasted over eight years in Britain.

The Sydney gang rapes by a group of up to 14 Lebanese Australian Muslims in 2000 prompted the passage of new laws increasing the sentences for gang rapists. In another case of gang rape by Pakistani Muslims in Australia, one rapist serving a 22 year long sentence admitted, “…at that time when I commit these offences I come from such a background which led me to.”  According to FrontPage Magazine, “In the view of Islam, when a man rapes an immodestly dressed woman, the rape isn’t his fault but hers; and when a Muslim rapes an infidel in the ‘House of War,’ it’s recognized as a form of jihad.”

Immigrant Muslim males have been raised since birth to think of women as inferior. Overall women are given a low status in the Qur’an. PoliticalIslam.com estimates that 71% of the Qur’an and 93% of the Hadith subjects women to a lower status than men. In addition when Muhammad would conquer other people, he allowed his followers to take women as prisoners of war. These women became slaves and as such Muslim men were allowed to have sex with them. (Sura 70:22-30, Sura 23:5,6; Sura 4:24; Sura 33:50).

For those who respect and value women it is difficult to read this information. However, it is very important to understand what many women, even those in western nations are facing so we can speak out on their behalf and protect them.

Prayer Points:

Pray for the victims of this violent trauma – for healing of not only their physical bodies, but for their hearts and emotions. Pray that God will raise up Christian counselors to help these women walk through the healing process.

Pray also for the perpetrators – those violating the women and committing these acts of violence.  Though they must be held accountable for their actions, they need to hear His truth on how women are to be treated. Ask God to reveal Himself to them, lead them to Christ and teach them His ways.

Pray that western media and governments will be honest and expose this root of rape jihad taking place in their nations.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 6 – The Mosque

2013 Ramadan PrayerFollowing the Hijra (Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina), the first thing Muhammad did as he entered the outskirts of Medina was to stop at Quba and lay the first stones for a mosque.

Although westerners oftentimes believe a mosque is the equivalent to a Christian church, because of the political and militaristic nature of Islam the two are not the same.  The Mosque Exposed written by Sam Solomon and E. Alamaqdisi, lists traits of the first mosque. Sam Solomon is an expert on Islam who as a Muslim studied Sharia law for fifteen years prior to his conversion to Christianity.

In addition to being a center of religious teachings some other characteristics of the first mosque included:

  1. The first “Islamic seminary” where Muhammad taught his followers.
  2. The center where the affairs of the Islamic state were conducted. Official Islamic delegations were sent from the mosque, and it was in the mosque where all the delegations and tribal representatives were received.
  3. The place where Islamic sharia (law) was unfolded.
  4. The place where jihad was discussed, declared, and directed. It was where Muhammad and his successors chose commanders for jihad operations, and then sent out Islamic armies to wage holy war.

The first mosque was the center of political, governmental, and militaristic aspects of early Islam in addition to being a religious center. The pattern for all future mosques was set. A fatwa (legal pronouncement in Islam) issued in April of 2000 clearly shows modern day mosques continue to emulate the original teachings and purpose of the Medina mosque.  The fatwa reads in part:

“…a mosque is symbol of the presence of Islam, the heartbeat of the Muslim community, an educational outlet where the community is taught to combat evil, ignorance and apostasy. It is a university as well as a court, from where the laws of Allah are promoted, it is a symbol of authority within that community and ultimately within the state and beyond, for the Apostle of Allah said Islam rises and nothing rises above it, for it is the uppermost.”

Mosques are being built across western nations at an alarming rate. At the opening of the Baitur-Rahman Mosque, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, declared, “In Spain there are signs that Islam will dominate once again.”

In Liege, Belgium a mosque is planned with a capacity for 1,000 Muslims. In Munich, Germany politicians are debating where to build the Center for Islam in Europe-Munich, which is “designed to be a strategic platform for spreading Islam throughout Europe.” The government of Greece has pledged to spend $1.4 million to build a mosque in Athens. A mega-mosque complex is planned for Dublin, Ireland.

The former Capernaum Church, a cultural heritage site in Hamburg, Germany is being converted to a mosque.

Dr. Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, Grand Mufti of Australia advises that more mosques need to be built to stop young Muslims from becoming radicalized, and in the United States the Turkish government is building a $100 million mosque complex in Maryland.

Prayer Points:

Pray that leaders of western nations realize that a mosque is not simply a religious center – rather that it is patterned after the first mosque and as so it is the center of an Islamic state within its host nation.

Pray that leaders in Christian churches will realize that Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God.

Muslims in the mosque pray rote prayers, hoping to satisfy the requirements of their god. Pray for the Muslims as they go to the mosque to pray – that they will have an encounter with the true and living God through Jesus Christ.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 5 – Jihad, the Strong Arm of Political Islam

2013 Ramadan Prayer

Yesterday we reviewed how Islam is primarily a political system seeking to control kafirs (non-Muslims) rather than actually a religion. Let’s now look at jihad, the technique Islam uses for accomplishing its goal.

Jihad can mean, “an individual’s striving for spiritual self-perfection or a Muslim holy war or spiritual struggle against infidels.” In the United States, there is currently a battle over the meaning of the word “jihad.” The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has launched a campaign called “My Jihad” which presents jihad as an individual spiritual struggle. CAIR claims Muslim extremists, Islamophobes and a sensationalized media have misrepresented the word “jihad,” and says jihad is “a positive, peaceful, and constructive practice in the lives of everyday Muslims.” However, the trilogy of Islamic texts (Qur’an, Sira and Hadith) contradicts this assertion.

Islam recognizes two types of jihad – the lesser and greater jihads. The greater jihad is the soul’s struggle with evil – basically striving to become a better person. The lesser jihad is about holy war. Interestingly only about 3% of the Bukhari Hadith is about the greater jihad, the remaining 97% is about the lesser jihad or holy war. Bat Ye’or, author of Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis, said, “[the jihad] is the normal and permanent state of war between the Muslims and the [infidels], a war that can only end with the final domination over unbelievers and the absolute supremacy of Islam throughout the world.”

The Qur’an and other texts teach that Islam is the perfect political system and is destined to rule the entire world. All other governments and systems must submit to Islam. If they do not submit then jihad can be used.  Since Muslims consider refusing to submit to Islam an offense against Allah, all jihad is defensive, allowing Islam to portray itself as a victim.

Although many westerners may think of terror attacks when they think of jihad, jihad actually takes various and less identifiable forms such as jihad through the pen, jihad through the mouth, jihad through charity, jihad through marriage, jihad through immigration and even jihad through interfaith meetings. Jihad uses every aspect of civilization as a war machine. Military force and terror are actually are the smallest components in jihad.

Violent jihad has brought about the deaths of roughly 270 million of people in Islam’s 1400-year history. It is estimated that through Jihad – Islam has killed 120 million Africans, 60 million Christians, 80 million Hindus, and 10 million Buddhists.

Prayer Points:

Pray that western Christians will insist their governments demand an end to the current rampant Christian persecution around the world by radical Islamists.

Pray for the leaders of your nation (government, church, education, media, etc.) – that they will have a more clear and truthful understanding of Islamic jihad and have God’s wisdom to recognize it in their midst, and take a godly stand for truth.

Pray that Muslims will begin to question why their religion must use jihad in order to advance, and pray God will soften their hearts and give opportunity to hear the message of the gospel of Christ.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 4 – Mixing Religion and Politics

2013 Ramadan PrayerReligion is defined as “belief in, worship of, or obedience to a supernatural power or powers considered to be divine.” Politics however can be defined as “the use of strategy or intrigue in obtaining power, control or status.” Religion is between a follower and their god. Politics is between men.

Once Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina, his message evolved from primarily a religious one to a political and militaristic one. In the first 13 years of Islam (the Mecca period) Islam averaged 11 to 12 converts per year, however in the Medina period Islam averaged around 10,000 new Muslims per year. Dr. Bill Warner from PoliticalIslam.com estimates based on the number of followers during the Mecca period as opposed to the Medina period of Muhammad’s life Islam’s success as a religion during Muhammad’s lifetime was about 0.3%, but its success as a political system was 99.7%. If Islam had remained only a religion, it would not exist today.

To illustrate the difference between religious Islam and political Islam, think of one of the multiple events where westerners have “outraged” the Muslim world. One of the more famous events would be the Muhammad cartoons published in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten in 2005. Four months after the cartoons were published, protests and riots broke out around the world eventually resulting in at least 200 deaths. The religious side of Islam teaches that a Muslim must respect Muhammad by not drawing a likeness of him. However, when Muslims pressure, threaten and hurt non-Muslims for not respecting Muhammad it is political Islam.

The difference between the religion of Islam and the politics of Islam is found in its treatment of the “kafirs.” Kafir is translated from the Arabic as “unbeliever,” however the translation does not accurately confer the meaning. Kafir refers to “people who reject Allah or deny or hide the truth revealed by Him. One who knowing what is true, decides to forget the evidence decides to sidetrack, deceive himself.”  Kafir refers to all non-Muslims – Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, pagans, atheists, etc., and political Islam seeks to control non-Muslims.

There are some positive verses in the Qur’an about the kafirs such as Sura 109:6 “you to your religion and me to my religion,” but the overwhelming majority of verses (around 97%) about kafirs are quite negative. According to Islam kafirs are ignorant (Sura 6:111), disgraced (Sura 37:18), cursed (Sura 33:60-61), can be killed (Sura 4:91), raped (Ishaq 759), stolen from (Bukhari 5, 59, 537), crucified (Sura 5:33), made war on (Sura 9:29) and annihilated (Sura 6:45).

64% of the Qur’an, 81% of the Sira, and 32% of the Hadith is about the kafir. Overall 60% of the Islamic texts deal with the kafir, which means the majority of Islam is political rather than religious.

In March of 2007, a group called the Secular Islam Summit released The St. Petersburg Declaration. The Declaration states in part, “…We enjoin academics and thinkers everywhere to embark on a fearless examination of the origins and sources of Islam…We say to Muslim believers: there is a noble future for Islam as a personal faith, not a political doctrine;”

Prayer Points:

Pray more Muslims will begin to encourage an examination of their sacred texts.

Pray that western Christians will wake up to the realization that they are not infringing upon a Muslim’s religious rights when they question the aggression of the politics of Islam in western society.

Pray that Christians will learn to effectively communicate that they are not against the people of Islam, but they are against a political system that violates Christian ideas, laws and western constitutions.

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Ramadan 2013 – Day 3 – The Root of “No-Go” Zones

2013 Ramadan PrayerIslam divides the world into two parts, Dar al-Islam (House of Islam) and Dar al-Harb (House of War). Early Islamic jurists used these terms to denote legal rulings for ongoing Islamic conquests about a century after Muhammad’s death. Dar al-Islam refers to Muslim ruled lands, and Dar al-Harb refers to lands ruled by non-Muslims. The ultimate goal of Islam is to bring the entire world into the house of Islam by establishing a worldwide Islamic caliphate (Islamic state).

Following the Hijra (Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina), Islam began to evolve from primarily a religious system to a more political and militaristic system. Muhammad arrived in Medina as an immigrant with only 150 followers and made a treaty with the pagans and three Jewish tribes already residing in Medina. Likewise in the modern world, Islamic supremacists have been arriving in western nations in small numbers since World War II.

When Muhammad arrived in Medina, the Jewish tribes made up about half of the population of the town. Within a year, Muhammad had become a politician, gaining more followers and within three years after he arrived, all the Jews had been driven out of Medina, killed or sold into slavery.

We see a similar pattern in Muslim immigration today. Unlike Christian churches, mosques are more political and militaristic in nature than religious. As more Muslims arrive in a given area, oftentimes a more fundamental version of Islam is taught in the mosques. The overall Muslim population of an area becomes more political and as you will see in some areas more violent. The native western populations of the now Muslim majority neighborhoods are driven out just as the Jews were driven out of Medina in Muhammad’s day.

In the hadith Muhammad says, “I charge you with five of what Allah has charged me with: to assemble, to listen, to obey, to immigrate and to wage Jihad for the sake of Allah” (Modern Day Trojan Horse, p. 10).

There are minorities of Muslims that believe migration to a non-Islamic land is obligatory for the advancement of Islam. In many western nations, Islamic supremacist immigrants have established their own enclaves and overtaken portions of western cities. These areas become “no-go” zones where western law and ruling authorities no longer have control– they are in fact as Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum observed, “Dar al-Islam” in the middle of western cities. These areas function as their own microstates ruled by Islamic Sharia law, and are too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter. Western governments are unable to provide even basic services such as police, fire and ambulance services to some of these areas because of the threat of violence. These “no-go” zones exist in many European nations including Britain, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

France, the nation with the highest percentage of Muslims in Europe, has 751 “sensitive urban zones,” the French equivalent for “no-go” zones with approximately 5 million Muslims living in these areas. The Netherlands has forty “no-go” zones, and in Brussels, Belgium (20% Muslim) police have been ordered not to drink coffee or eat in public places during Ramadan in order to not offend Muslims.

A group calling itself the “Muslim Patrol” was filmed patrolling London streets accosting women who they considered inappropriately dressed and approaching others announcing “Alcohol banned. This is a Muslim area. Muslims patrol the area.” An Islamist group called Muslims Against the Crusades had launched a campaign to turn twelve British cities into independent Islamic states until it was banned in 2011.

The trend is certainly not limited to European nations. A report from the Australian government on multiculturalism stated, “references were made to Muslim ‘enclaves’ in Sydney and Melbourne and the riots in Cronulla in 2005 to suggest a lack of willingness on the part of Muslims to embrace the Australian lifestyle, values and behaviours.”

There are Muslim enclaves across the United States, including Muslim of Americas’ compounds in New York, Virginia, South Carolina and California. The Clarion Project identified Dearborn, Michigan as a “no-go” zone following the attack on Christian street preachers in June of 2012. It is certainly no surprise these enclaves exist, Muhammad himself demonstrated the use of immigration as a technique to spread his religion.

Most Muslims that immigrate to western nations are simply trying to better their lives and the lives of their families. In fact many left their Islamic nations to escape the rigid arm of Islamic Sharia law. “No-go” zones imprison these Muslims seeking a better life back into the very culture they tried to escape.

Prayer Points:

Romans 8 declares that “neither death nor life, nor angel nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Although man may not be able to penetrate “no-go” zones, God’s love cannot be stopped. Pray that He will pour out His Spirit and His love in these areas.

Pray that as Muslims immigrate to western nations, Christians will reach out to them with the love of God so they will resist the pull to live in areas controlled by sharia and will be drawn to the freedom found only in Jesus Christ.