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Ramadan Prayer Day 10 – Family: “Shariah and FGM”

In 1776 the United States colonies declared their independence from Britain with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In part the Declaration reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This document is one of the foundations of our nation. Our adversaries also frequently twist it in their attempts to destroy, not enhance, the crucial underpinnings of our democracy as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.  Take the following example where Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) attempts to wrap the subjugating, medieval shariah law with the liberating political writings embodied in our founding documents.

In May, after signing legislation barring the use of foreign laws in court decisions, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback met with harsh criticism from Muslim groups.  Nedhira Al-Khalili, the CAIR legal council said, “This clearly unconstitutional legislation, like all the others targeting Muslims’ religious rights nationwide, invites a legal challenge. The unmistakable and un-American bigotry espoused by the sponsors of these bills should be repudiated by Americans of all faiths.”  Naeem Baig, Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) VP of Public Affairs said, “This goes against the noble principles of freedom of religion in America. Most people don’t realize that outlawing the use of Shariah would be akin to outlawing the Ten Commandments, Talmudic law, or the Gospels of Jesus. American Muslims observing Shariah are being discriminated against.”

As you can see Muslim groups use the idea of religious discrimination (though Islam is certainly among the most discriminatory of the world’s faiths) as a basis to counter this type of legislation. However, we must question what happens when Islamic religious practices take away Americans’ right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in direct opposition to both the meaning and purpose of our founding documents.

An example of a portion of shariah law that is in direct conflict with U.S. Federal law is female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM refers to the practice of partially or totally removing the external female genitalia, frequently without anesthesia. In yet another example of politically correct terminology and multiculturalism, the procedure is also referred in a U.S. government flyer as female circumcision and female genital cutting (FGC). The flyer explains, “Some people fear that parents may resent the implication that they are ’mutilating’ their daughters by participating in this largely cultural event and so reject the term FGM in favor of FGC. Some people point out that the word ‘cutting’ is less judgmental and relates better to terms used in many local languages.”

Regardless, the practice often causes serious physical and psychological effects. The World Health Organization says the practice has no health benefits and can cause a range of health problems including “severe bleeding and problem urinating, and later cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth.” Federal law in the United States prohibited FGM in 1996, but the Center for Disease Control or CDC estimated in 2010 between 150,000 to 200,000 girls in the U.S. are in danger of being taken overseas to undergo the procedure.

The flyer produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services further says, “Although many people believe that FGC is associated with Islam, it is not. FGC is not supported by any religion and is condemned by many religious leaders.”

Although it is certainly true FGM predates Islam and is still practiced by people from different religious backgrounds, there are Islamic shariah scholars who support and encourage FGM. The “Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law” specifically addresses female circumcision. The International Institute of Islamic Thought, the Fiqh Council of North America and the prestigious Islamic Al Azhar University have endorsed this manual.

This shariah law text states, “Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. Bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna [meaning, the normal custom, or a practice decided by Mohammad], while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.) 

Dr. Hatem al-Haj, PhD, MD, senior committee member of the Association of Muslims Jurists of America (AMJA) said in his paper entitled, “Circumcision of Girls: Jurisprudence and Medicine,” female genital mutilation is “at the very least it can be said that for women it is an honor.” After his paper, written in Arabic, was translated in April of 2012 and posted in part by Jihad Watch, Dr. al-Haj was fired by the Mayo Clinic for his position. He has since stated he only supported a “ritual nick” which is still prohibited by federal law.

Even more revealing, especially with U.S. support of the newly elected Muslim Brotherhood president in Egypt is the legal ruling by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who said, “The [Islamic] hadith indicates that circumcision is better for a woman’s health and it enhances her conjugal relation with her husband.”

PRAYER FOR THE FAMILY:

  • Pray that all Americans regardless of cultural or religious background will continue to possess and cherish the unalienable rights our forefathers considered self-evident – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  • Pray that Islamist advocacy groups will not be able to twist American freedoms to push a system that is the opposite of the founding documents of our nation.
  • Pray that Americans will demand that our government refuse to bow to multicultural and politically correct influences.
  • Pray for young women in our nation and around the world that may become victims of FGM.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 9 – Media: “The Scales Fall When Faced With the Truth”

Filmmaker Eric Allen Bell learned firsthand of U.S. media bias toward Islam. Bell, taking a break from his work in Hollywood, had moved to Murfreesboro, TN. He found himself in the middle of a controversy that continues today.

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro was planning to build a 53,000 square foot mosque on some farmland on the outer edge of town. Bell, not a fan of religion as he describes himself, felt the controversy was one of fanatical Evangelicals bullying peaceful Muslims who simply wanted to build a place of worship. When he learned of an anti-mosque parade planned for the community, he decided to make a documentary to illustrate what he believed to be typical Christian intolerance.  This documentary was to be titled “Not Welcome.”

The dominant liberal, mainstream media picked up on his project and soon he wrote several pieces for Michael Moore and others. He returned to California to show a short version of his documentary attempting to gain additional support to finish the project. He found someone who promised they would back him to finish the movie. The documentary on the Murfreesboro mosque would be used to focus on what he considered America’s “religious lunatic fringe” ignoring any serious investigation into the Muslims.

Around this time he returned to Tennessee and while in a taxi driven by an Egyptian cab driver, his views began to change. It began when he asked the driver, a Coptic Christian, how he felt about the fall of Mubarak. The cab driver replied he was concerned because he feared for his family back home. He said if the Muslims took control, it would become very dangerous for his family.  After this conversation, Bell took a fresh look at Islam. He began to read reports from authors like Robert Spencer and Frank Gaffney, and he did his own independent research, which verified this newly discovered information for him.  Indeed, this fear is especially well founded when considering how the most ancient of Christian populations is being driven from their homes in many nations in the Middle East including Iraq and Egypt.  This is a good example of an Islamist government taking over from a Sunni, secular government and then systematically persecuting Christians.

Bell’s change of perspective did not endear him to his former supporters as he soon discovered as he began to share his findings with them. They told Bell his judgment was unsound and unclear and suggested he step away from the project. He was even told to make the documentary the way it was originally planned painting a strong negative perspective on Christians or to return the money. To his credit, he decided to stick to the truth.

In January of 2012, he wrote three articles for Daily Kos. The first was called, “Loonwatch.com and Radical Islam” asserting Loonwatch was “fundamentally a radical Islamic front for terrorism, spreading distorted information about the reality of rapidly spreading Islamic fundamentalism – through lies of omission.” The next day Loonwatch.com called Eric Bell the “Loon at Large.” All three articles were ultimately met with cries of Islamophobia and “hate speech.”  The attacks were not on the truth of the information he presented, rather they were personal attacks no his character. His final article called, “Are You in Favor of Human Rights?” led to him being banned from Daily Kos.

Unfortunately, Eric Bell’s experiences are not unique, as we have seen recently with the personal attacks against Rep. Michele Bachmann.

PRAYER FOR MEDIA:

  • Pray that more members of the press will have their eyes open to the truth and have the strength to stand up to the personal attacks.
  • Pray that Americans will stop tolerating personal attacks by journalists and demand that media outlets present facts without prejudice.
  • Like Eric Bell, pray that American Muslims will begin to question the Islamist agenda and those that claim to speak for them. Pray that as they question they will come to know the truth about the system of Islam and come to know the one who is the Truth, Jesus Christ.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 8 – Business: “The Influence of Islamic Banking in our Nation”

 

The term “Islamic banking” refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with Islamic law (Shariah) principles and guided by Islamic economics. The Financial Times recently published an article regarding Islamic banking.  The article portrays shariah compliant finance in our banking systems as ethical, however by western standards one would question those ethics.

Shariah Finance Watch has compiled a list of financial institutions active in the United States that have a tie to shariah compliant finance along with entities that do not offer financial products but play key roles in enabling shariah compliant finance in our nation. This list includes AIG, Bank of America, Barclays, Bloomberg, Century 21, J.P. Morgan Chase, CitiBank, The Coca-Cola Company, Dow Jones, GE Capital, Harvard Law School, HSBC, International Institute of Islamic Thought, NASDAQ, and Standard & Poor’s.

Shariah compliant financial products are, as the name indicates, governed by Islamic shariah law. A product is determined to be compliant based on the approval of one or more Islamic scholars who serve on an advisory board for any institution offering shariah compliant products. The financial transactions cannot involve “impure” activities that include alcohol, pork, tobacco, gambling, pornography and western defense, and they cannot charge interest. Most importantly 2.5% of the assets of a shariah compliant instrument has to be donated as “zakat”. The Islamic scholars, serving on the advisory boards, determine how to distribute this money.

Zakat is giving a portion (2.5%) of one’s wealth to charity and is one of the five pillars of Islam. The money can be distributed between eight categories: the poor, those short of money, zakat workers, those who hearts are to reconciled, slaves purchasing their freedom, those in debt, those fighting for Allah and travelers needing money. The phrase, those fighting for Allah, means, “people engaged in Islamic military operations for whom no salary has been allotted in the army roster” (Reliance of the Traveller h8.17 p. 272). Those fighting for Allah are given money even if they are wealthy which is to be spent on weapons, clothing and other expenses including supporting the fighter’s family.

Although zakat is found in the Qur’an, Islamic finance cannot be found in the Qur’an or the hadith. Islamic leaders in fact invented it in the 1940s and 1950s.  Abul A’al al-Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb – both who desired to insulate the Islamic world from western civilization wrote about Islamic economics, but at the time Islamic financial products did not exist.

The idea of Islamic financial products did not take root until the Arab Oil Embargo in the 1970s when countries such as Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates developed large banking institutions. The nation of Iran began to dominate the industry after the 1979 Islamic revolution and today 6 of the 10 top shariah compliant financial institutions are actually Iranian state banks.

There are only around two-dozen shariah scholars who serve on the advisory boards of shariah compliant financial institutions around the world. These scholars sometimes serve on the boards of competing institutions, which would be considered a conflict of interest in the western world.

Mufti Taqi Usmani was the chief of the Dow Jones shariah advisory board and the chief of HSBC’s shariah advisory board. After it was uncovered that Usmani believed Muslims in the West had a duty to rise up in jihad against their Western neighbors and had served as an officer of the madrassa in Pakistan that gave birth to the Taliban, he was replaced by his son.

Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood has been on the advisory boards of many financial institutions. This includes a bank called Al Taqwa based out of the Bahamas. The bank had an association with a real estate investment firm called BMI based in New Jersey.  Both were shut down by the US Treasury Department for sending funds to finance terrorism.

PRAY FOR BUSINESS:

  • Shariah compliant banks and institutions have poor standards for disclosure and transparency. U.S. policy makers, regulators and Wall Street are not equipped to handle the research necessary to investigate. Pray that God will bring forth His Truth to reveal anything that is hidden and reveal to American banking officials the concerns of Islamic banking in our nation.
  • Pray that any zakat funds that go to financing terrorism against western nations will be uncovered and challenged.
  • Pray that Muslims giving money to zakat will be made aware of exactly how their money is being spent.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 7: Government: “Honoring the Oath”

Members of Congress are required by Article VI of the U.S. Constitution to be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. The oath reads in part, “I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”

Five members of Congress, defending the Constitution against an enemy that is operating both foreign and domestically, have been attacked personally by other members of Congress for simply calling for an investigation by government agencies regarding the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in our government. The hesitation of members within our government to investigate these valid concerns raises the question of how seriously those leveling personal attacks take their oath of office.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt in 1928 as a result of the dismantling of the last Islamic caliphate by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1924.  Al-Banna was angered the caliphate had been dissolved and said, “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.” The creed of the Muslim Brotherhood is, “God is our objective, the Qur’an is our law; the Prophet is our leader, Jihad is our way and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” In case you think the Muslim Brotherhood has toned down its message, one week ago, Muhammad Badi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, “called on all Muslims to wage jihad with their money and their selves to free al-Quds [Jerusalem].”

The Muslim Brotherhood today is active in more than 100 countries around the world – overtly in some countries and covertly in others. The United States has a large and active Muslim Brotherhood presence. During the 2007, Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development trial, the largest terrorism funding trial in our nation’s history, evidence was introduced about the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities in the United States.

One document called The Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America detailed the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategy for our nation. The document said the Brotherhood is engaged in “a civilization Jihadist process” planning on “eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within.” In addition this document listed 29 “organizations of our friends.” These friends include many prominent Islamic groups currently operating in our nation including the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Students Association of the U.S. and Canada (MSA), the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).  These groups were named “unindicted co-conspirators” in the Holy Land Foundation trial. The Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) actually opened its first office through a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation.

An excellent 10-part video series about the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities in America is available from the Center for Security Policy. The Center reveals, “The Muslim Brotherhood’s civilization jihad is being pursued through stealthy means involving penetration and subversion of this country’s civil society and governing institutions. A central feature of this stealthy, pre-violent jihad is what the military calls ‘information dominance’ – it helps the Muslim Brotherhood keep us ignorant of the true nature of the threat they pose and the progress they are making in bring shariah to America.”

In light of what our own government has uncovered regarding the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in our nation, the call by Reps. Bachmann, Gohmert, Franks, Rooney and Westmoreland is completely warranted and necessary for the security of our nation. Contact your Congressmen and urge them to support these Representatives and their call for investigations.

PRAYER FOR GOVERNMENT:

  • Pray that any enemy, foreign or domestic, will be revealed and defeated.
  • Pray that every Representative and Senator in the United States Congress will take their oath of office seriously and defend our Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic.
  • Pray for these Representatives as they are enduring many personal attacks. Pray the eyes of those who have made personal attacks against these Congressmen will have their eyes opened and will examine the evidence behind the call for the investigations.
  • Pray the Inspectors General of Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will indeed conduct thorough investigations of their departments.
  • Many Muslims in the United States who have lived in oppressive nations want to live in freedom under the U.S. Constitution. Ask God to reveal His heart to them and give them a revelation of His love for them.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 6 – Education: “May Truth Prevail”

President Thomas Jefferson considered the founding of the University of Virginia as one of his greatest achievements. Referring to the university in a letter dated, December 27, 1820, he stated, “This institution will be based on the illimitable (limitless) freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”

Today’s universities are increasingly distancing themselves from the vision of Thomas Jefferson. This is especially true when you examine certain groups such as the Muslim Student Association (MSA) that are present on many campuses. Jefferson’s desire for the human mind to be free allows students to follow truth, but when this western mindset of freedom to pursue truth meets Islam there is a clash of mindsets. The religion of Islam presents itself as absolute truth and unlike Christianity does not allow its followers to question its teachings. Both the Qur’an and the hadith warn Muslims not to question Islamic teachings. The Qur’an says “A people asked such [questions] before you; then they became thereby disbelievers” (sura 5:102). In the classic manual of Islamic Sacred Law, “The Reliance of the Traveller” it says that to deny any verse of the Qur’an, or anything which by scholarly consensus belongs to it, is apostasy from Islam, which is punishable by death.

Perhaps even more tragic is the refusal of western universities to insist their students employ reason to combat error when it comes to Islamic issues. Rather than insisting students examine issues and form opinions by considering differing viewpoints and engaging in respectful dialogue, universities far too often attempt to be politically correct and tolerant in their treatment of the Islamic religion and Muslim views on political and social issues. How can our institutions of higher learning follow truth when they are unwilling to allow reason to even be voiced much less considered?

A recent example occurred when speaker and author, David Horowitz was invited to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to discuss the increasingly dangerous position of Israel in the Middle East. The Daily Tarheel, the campus newspaper, reported nearly all the students in attendance for the lecture walked out about 20 minutes into Mr. Horowitz’s speech. However, another report says the majority of the students stayed for the entire lecture.

The Carolina Review, UNC’s conservative journal reported, a spokesperson for the Muslim Student Association (MSA) that participated in the walkout said, “…Mr. Horowitz hurts the ‘culture of tolerance’ that UNC has worked to build over the years, because UNC has made such great progress in making ‘a point of respecting diversity and minority voices on this campus.’”

The campus newspaper printed three articles, an editorial cartoon and one letter to the editor regarding the event that were all critical of Mr. Horowitz’s views. In addition to one-sided reporting of the incident, The Daily Tarheel refused to print a letter to the editor from David Horowitz addressing the walkout, which included the following observation:

The closed-minded students – mainly but not exclusively members of MSA – who came not to listen to what I had to say but with the intention of walking out on cue exemplified an attitude that is all too common on campuses today. The intent of these “protests” is to defame a speaker whose views they oppose but cannot answer intellectually.

Rather than respecting Mr. Horowitz’s opinion and engage in the question and answer session that followed his speech, this group of students left. This is not the first time a group of Muslim students have left such a gathering. In February of 2010, eleven students that were part of the Muslim Student Union at the University of California Irvine disrupted and walked out of Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s speech. Because their actions were disruptive and stopped the Ambassador from being able to continue to speak, 11 students were arrested and the Muslim Student Union was suspended for an academic quarter. The school obtained e-mails that showed the group, “planned, orchestrated and coordinated” the protest.

Far too often those who disagree with the Islamic viewpoint on issues are the victims of insults and personal attacks in an effort to silence them. There can be no dialogue, education nor reason in such environments, only delusion.

PRAYER FOR EDUCATION:

• Pray those that are the victims of these attacks will continue to be invited to campuses across the country and will continue to speak truth.

• Pray that Muslims attending universities will begin to examine the teachings and political stands of their religion.

• Pray that God’s TRUTH will resound across college campuses throughout our land.

• Pray that Thomas Jefferson’s words will become reality – that our universities and colleges will not be afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead.

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Ramadan Prayer Day 5 – Arts & Entertainment: A Cartoonist Meets Shariah

A young cartoonist named Molly Norris learned first hand the influence that Islam demands upon the sphere of Arts & Entertainment in our nation. In response to censorship of the show “South Park” by Comedy Central, Norris drew a cartoon declaring an event called “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.” Although nothing in the Qur’an bans depictions of Muhammad, there are passages in the hadith (statements or actions of Muhammad) that bans the depiction of any living creature, including images of Muhammad or any other prophet in case the images become idols.

The creators of South Park had been threatened by members of an organization called Revolution Muslim because the group considered the depiction of Muhammad wearing a teddy bear costume in an episode insulting to Islam. A threat was posted on the group’s website saying that violent retaliation would likely happen to the show’s creators. In addition the website published the addresses of the show’s production office in Los Angeles and Comedy Central’s New York office. Comedy Central obscured all images and bleeped all references to Muhammad and removed a speech about intimidation and fear from the next episode.

Molly Norris drew a cartoon on April 20, 2010 declaring May 20,2010 as  “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” in protest of Comedy Central’s censoring of South Park. She reasoned that if everyone drew Mohammed, Islamic terrorists would be unable to murder them all and thus their threats would become unrealistic. Part of the text on her cartoon read, “Do your part to both water down the pool of targets and, oh yeah, defend a little something our country is famous for…the first amendment.”

The idea quickly became popular on Facebook and was supported by many bloggers drawing attention to Molly Norris. In a radio interview, she explained her reasoning behind the cartoon, “…as a cartoonist I just felt so much passion about what had happened, I wanted to counter Comedy Central’s message about feeling afraid.”

The cartoon and the idea took on a life of its own and by April 29, Norris suggested that “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” be called off. She said the campaign had grown much bigger than she ever imagined and her cartoon was being used in ways she could not control. “I said that I wanted to counter fear and then I got afraid.”

Unfortunately for the cartoonist, al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Awlaki called for Molly Norris’ execution even though she tried to end the campaign. The FBI notified Norris that they considered it a “very serious threat.”  Norris changed her name and went into hiding.

We read of art displays that are offensive to Christians, yet however repulsive Christians may find the art they do not attempt to force their beliefs on the artist through death threats. Molly Norris is only one of many within the Arts & Entertainment industry that discovered firsthand what happens when western freedoms are met with the archaic system of shariah law. Unlike law within the Christian and Jewish faiths, Islamic law applies itself to non-believers and believers alike.

Fear is a weapon oftentimes used by Islamists to intimidate Muslims and non-Muslims. Christians believe “there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…”

PRAYER FOR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:

  • Pray that Christians will begin to understand that love does not mean compromise or capitulation – Jesus Himself was perfect love, yet part of His very essence is Truth.
  • Pray that western Christians will take a decisive stand and insist that Muslims, who choose to live in our nation and use our system of Judeo-Christian laws to protect their rights to practice their religion, do not infringe upon the rights of all other Americans to exercise their freedom of expression.
  • Pray that Muslims and other non-Christians will begin to see the differences between the two religions and be drawn to the gospel message and freedom in Christ.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 4 – Family: The Real War on Women

Earlier this year, media networks began to report about “the war on women” as part of their coverage of the presidential primaries. Some described the war in economic terms as they reported on equal pay legislation. Others tend to have a definition of the war on women like the ACLU’s who defined the “War on Women” as the “legislative and rhetorical attacks on women and women’s rights taking place across the nation.” The ACLU’s examples of these attacks on women include waiting periods before abortion and ending Planned Parenthood funding.

The real war on women in the U.S. however is being waged by Shariah proponent groups who are attempting to hide behind the concept of the freedom of religion guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. One such group known as the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) has launched a $3 million campaign to “help the public understand Shariah and counter the rise of Islamophobia in America.”

On the ICNA website Naeem Baig, Executive Director of the ICNA Council for Social Justice states, “[Because of the freedoms granted under the First Amendment] Jewish family law is acceptable in civil courts today…Muslims are as American as any other faith group, and are deserving of these rights as well.”

Shariah law however differs greatly from Judeo-Christian law. Under shariah law women are considered inferior to men. The Qur’an says, “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other…”(Q 4:34) Inheritance laws within Islam further reflect this attitude with a woman inheriting half of what a man inherits (Q 4:11). Her testimony in a court of law is also only worth half of the testimony of a man’s (Q 2:282). Under shariah a husband is allowed to beat (Q4:34) and rape (Q2:223) his wife.

Arguments are made that these types of laws would not apply to women living in the United States, however a report issued by the Center for Security Policy examined 50 Appellate Court decisions from 23 states where shariah law had been considered in the case. Out of these 50 cases, the majority affected women and children with shariah being considered in marriage law and child custody cases. You may download a copy of the comprehensive report here.

Although often blamed on cultural traditions rather than shariah law by Islamic apologists, women around the world and in recent years in the United States have been the victims of forced marriages, honor killings and female genital mutilation. The Tahirih Justice Center conducted a survey on forced marriage in immigrant communities in 2011. Based upon the survey, there were as many as 3,000 cases of forced marriage in the past two years in the U.S. although the survey did not reveal how many of the marriages were Islamic.

A study of worldwide trends in honor killings revealed 91% of honor killings in North America were due to unacceptable “westernization”. Examples in our nation include Noor Almaleki. An article in Marie Clare describes the vision Noor had for herself, “Having lived in the U.S. for 16 years, she held dreams of becoming a teacher, or marrying a man she loved, and most importantly of making her own choices.” Her Iraqi father felt his daughter was dishonoring his family by desiring to choose her own mate and dress in a western fashion. So in October of 2009 as Noor and a friend walked across a parking lot her father driving close to 30 miles an hour hit Noor and her friend. The impact knocked Noor onto a median so her father swerved his SUV onto the median and ran over his daughter fracturing her face and spine. He was eventually apprehended in England. From jail her father defended himself, “I’m not a criminal. I didn’t kill someone randomly…For an Iraqi, honor is the most valuable thing.”

Eighteen year old Amina Said and her seventeen year old sister, Sarah were shot in 2008 by their father also for being typical teenage girls. Amina and Sarah had a cell phones and dated American boys. Their father, an Egyptian Muslim wanted his daughters to be Muslims and to marry husbands that he would choose. He had threatened the girls and finally on New Years Day of 2008, he shot them. A 911 call by Sarah as she was dying identified her father as her killer. Yaser Abdel Said is still at large. Even if the girls’ father is apprehended under shariah law a Muslim father is not subject to retaliation for killing his own children according to The Reliance of the Traveller, a manual of Islamic Sacred Law (approved by al-Azhar University and the International Institute of Islamic Thought).

Although our series deals with Islam in the United States, a quick look at the rights of women in any Muslim majority country clearly shows how shariah laws subjugate women discriminating against them through laws that give men control in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. For more information and personal stories of women affected in our nation by shariah law, visit End the Shariah War on Women.

PRAYER FOR THE FAMILY:

  • Pray for the truth about shariah to be revealed in all aspects of our society.
  • Pray that news outlets and law enforcement agencies will report truthfully when crimes against women are the result of religious law and not bow to political correctness.
  • Pray that state legislatures across the nation will begin to understand shariah law is being used in our nation and to pass legislation to stop any foreign laws from being considered in American Courts.
  • Pray for Muslim women and children in our nation who are most often the victims of the implementation of shariah law.
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Ramadan Prayer Day 3 – Religion: “No Compromise”

Recently an article appeared in a magazine on a denominational church’s website entitled, “A Moravian and Muslim Answer to an Imam’s Request”.  It is the story of two church members who, after living in the United States for many years, returned to the place of their birth, a village in Sierra Leone. They, with the help of their church, have built a mission house, a school and a church in the village.

The population of the village is reported to be 90 percent Muslim, but the mission group maintains a good relationship with these Muslims. A church member visiting the village paid a visit to the Imam at the mosque in the village. After her visit, she asked if there was anything she could do to return his hospitality. His reply was the mosque was in need of prayer rugs so after returning to the United States the need was shared with other congregations.

Through an interfaith clergy group a pastor with the help of an imam in his city was able to purchase the prayer rugs and send them to the mosque in the village. The magazine applauded this effort and described the pastor and the imam as overjoyed that their friendship made them part of an interfaith effort stretching from the United States to Sierra Leone.

Unfortunately, as this well-intentioned effort by these Christians demonstrates, they obviously do not understand the teachings of Islam or the implications of their gift.

Prayer rugs are used for the ritual prayer, or salat, that Muslims perform five times daily at: dawn, midday, afternoon, sunset, and evening. Most prayer rugs have a mihrab (niche), an arch-shaped design at one end of the carpet. Muslim worshipers must point the mihrab toward Mecca when praying. When performing salat at the mosque, worshipers line up in parallel rows behind the prayer leader (imam) who directs them in actions and words. As part of the salat, Muslims recite Al-Fatiha, the first sura (or chapter) found in the Qur’an.

Although recited in Arabic, the English translation is:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the universe.

He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

He is the Master of the Day of Judgment.

It is you we worship, it is you we ask for help.

Guide us in the straight path.

The path of those you have blessed, as opposed

to those who incur wrath and have gone astray.

 One English version translates the end of the sura like this, “The way of those on whom you have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians). Islamic scholars verify the understanding by Muslims that Jews are those who earned Allah’s anger and Christians are those who went astray.

Each time Muslims in the village in Sierra Leone use the prayer rugs given to them by Christians they are declaring the very Christians who gave the gift have been led astray.  Muslims believe the Bible was corrupted and the teachings of the Qur’an supersede the Bible. The gift of the prayer rugs affirms Islamic worship as a valid path to God, yet Muslims do not believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God; to them it is considered blasphemy.  In fact they do not believe God has a Son.

Unwittingly, these Christians have in fact presented a gift in the form of prayer rugs to those who are lost that does nothing to bring Muslims closer to the Truth.

RELIGION PRAYER POINTS:

  • Pray that churches and denominations will have their eyes open to the truth of the teachings of Islam and learn that their followers do not worship the God of the Christians.
  • Pray that God will raise up missionaries to the Muslim world who will courageously proclaim the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
  • Pray that those involved in interfaith relationships will be moved to boldly go before the throne of grace and contend for the souls of those that God has brought across their path.
  • Pray that servants of Christ will demonstrate the love of our Savior to others, including Muslims, without compromise.
bestcurrentnews Ramadan Prayer

Ramadan Prayer Day 2 – Media: Media and Islamophobia

A quick Google search on the name of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) brings some interesting results. From the Los Angeles Times Op-Ed headline “Paranoia in the House” to the Huffington Post’s “It’s Time for Ms. Bachmann to Leave Washington”, Rep. Bachmann is being accused even by her own former campaign manager, Ed Rollins as being “downright vicious.” Senators John McCain, Marco Rubio, Scott Brown and House Speaker John Boehner have condemned her and fellow Minnesotan Congressman and Muslim Keith Ellison is calling for her to stop her “McCarthyistic witch hunt.”

What did Rep. Bachmann do to warrant such a response from the media and other members of Congress? On June 13, 2012, she, along with Reps. Louie Gohmert, Trent Franks, Thomas Rooney and Lynn Westmoreland sent letters to the Inspectors General of Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The letters questioned the direct influence within the intelligence community of members of the Muslim Brotherhood and requested the offices conduct investigations into the extent of Muslim Brotherhood involvement in their respective agencies.

Questioning these agencies about Muslim Brotherhood influence is understandable considering the Brotherhood’s Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America, a document seized by the FBI and entered into evidence in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial. The document states, “The Ikhwan [Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

On July 12, 2012, Rep. Keith Ellison sent a letter to the Congresswoman and her colleagues “to gather more information regarding the allegations you made.” Rep. Bachmann responded with a 16-page letter addressing Rep. Ellison’s concerns with 59 footnotes detailing sources.

Instead of investigating and reporting the information supplied by Rep. Bachmann, media outlets have launched personal attacks against the Congresswoman, her colleagues and groups which work to expose radical Islam’s agenda in our nation such as the Center for Security Policy. In an attempt to silence Rep. Bachmann and other like-minded citizens, the press accuses her request for investigating and reporting the Muslim Brotherhood as being Islamophobic. Her investigating and reporting is necessary especially in the absence of the media fulfilling its mandate.

The term Islamophobia is a calculated and deliberate attempt to end any investigation or questioning of Islamists by Westerners. It attempts to silence critics, not through thoughtful and persuasive argument, but rather through insults and intimidation. Former radical Islamist, Abdur-Rahman Muhammad revealed details of the creation of the term, “Islamophobia.” According to Muhammad the term was intentionally created at a meeting of the International Institute for Islamic Thought in northern Virginia to silence critics of political Islam by enabling the Islamists to portray themselves as victims.

MEDIA PRAYER POINTS:

• Pray that western media will recognize issues and concerns that involve Islam in a balanced, professional manner.
• Pray those under personal attacks from the media will be courageous and continue to stand up for the security of the United States and that citizens will understand what is truth.
• Pray the Inspectors General contacted by the five members of Congress will indeed investigate their departments for any hostile influence.
• Ask God to raise up investigative journalists across all media outlets that are driven to uncover truth rather than engage in personal attacks.
• Many Muslims in our nation are peace loving and do not want “political Islam” to hinder the freedoms of our U.S. Constitution. Ask the Lord to reveal Himself to them and show them their God-given rights and responsibilities as citizens in our nation.

bestcurrentnews Ramadan Prayer, Uncategorized

Best Current News Prays – Ramadan – Day 1

THE BACKGROUND OF RAMADAN

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is considered the holiest month in Islam. Because Ramadan is based on the lunar calendar, the dates of Ramadan change each year by approximately 11 days. This year Ramadan should begin on Friday, July 20 with the sighting of the new moon.

During this month most Muslims will observe a fast from sunup to sundown for each of the 29 to 30 days of the month. During the fast they are to abstain from smoking, drinking, eating and sexual pleasures during the daylight hours. The fast (sawm) of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam and is required by the Qur’an for all Islamic believers except the elderly, young children and pregnant women.

WHY SHOULD CHRISTIANS BE IN PRAYER DURING RAMADAN?

It is a time of heightened spiritual awareness for Muslims and an excellent time for American Christians to gain more awareness regarding Islam in the United States. Although many Muslims within the U.S. desire to live with the same rights and freedoms that Americans hold dear, there are factions of Islamists actively working to change American life and culture.

ISLAMIC VIEWS ARE OPPOSITE OF AMERICAN FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS:

Unlike Christianity, Islam is a complete way of life; a social, political, economic, judicial, educational, and militaristic system, which even dictates how, those who do not adhere to the religion are to be ruled. Reza Safa, in his book Inside Islam, states, “The goal of Islam is to produce a theocracy with Allah as the ruler of society, a society with no separation between religion and the state. This society would have no democracy, no free will and no freedom of expression.”

For the next 30 days of Ramadan, we will be examining Islam’s impact on American culture by examining the effect these groups are having on seven specific spheres of American society – education, government, media, business, family, religion, and arts & entertainment. As Christians we realize that we are in a spiritual battle for the survival of our nation. Radical Islam is only one of many threats to our freedoms, but one that many within the body of Christ are unaware that it even exists.

30 DAYS OF PRAYER REGARDING ISLAM IN THE UNITED STATES

The purpose of the Ramadan series of articles is to uncover this system that seeks to destroy the American way of life by using the very freedoms Americans hold dear to covertly and fundamentally bring our culture into bondage. Join us each day, as we become not only an informed citizenry, but also informed intercessors.

“An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will.” – Thomas Jefferson

 AND . . . 30 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE MUSLIM PEOPLE

Although Islamic Law is a threat to our society — the Muslim people have been created by God to have a personal relationship with Him. Each day we will pray for Muslims to receive God’s love and have a Divine encounter with Jesus Christ as the Son of God.