Mirriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty; also: a personal struggle in devotion to Islam especially involving spiritual discipline.” The infographic below shows the progression of the concept of jihad in the Qur’an.
Please note that “love” in the Qur’an is quite different than the unconditional love of God in the Bible. Because the Qur’an says Allah loves not unbelievers, his love is only for good, righteous, just Muslims. Allah’s “love” is completely conditional on obedience to his laws even for Muslims.
In Ibn Warraq ‘s book, Why I Am Not a Muslim, he writes:
Muhammad was not an original thinker; he did not formulate any new ethical principles, but merely borrowed from the prevailing cultural milieu. The eclectic nature of Islam has been recognized for a long time. Even Muhammad knew Islam was not a new religion and the revelation contained in the Quran merely confirmed the already existing scriptures. The prophet always claimed affiliations with the great religions of the Jews, Christians and others.
Many Qur’anic passages reflect Muhammad’s attempts to claim relationships with Jews and Christians, but despite his efforts, there were many inaccuracies about Christianity and Judaism in Muhammad’s revelations. As Christians and Jews pointed out the inaccuracies, Muhammad’s attitude toward them became hostile.
Here are 10 Qur’anic passages critical of Christians and their faith.
O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book. – Sura 5:15
They have certainly disbelieved who say, ” Allah is the third of three.” And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment. – Sura 5:73
Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Scripture, who believe in superstition and false objects of worship and say about the disbelievers, “These are better guided than the believers as to the way”? -Sura 4:51
Those [Christians and Jews] are the ones whom Allah has cursed; and he whom Allah curses – never will you find for him a helper. – Sura 4:52
O you who were given the Scripture, believe in what We have sent down [to Muhammad], confirming that which is with you, before We obliterate faces and turn them toward their backs or curse them as We cursed the sabbath-breakers. And ever is the decree of Allah accomplished. – Sura 4:47
And from those who say, “We are Christians” We took their covenant; but they forgot a portion of that of which they were reminded. So We caused among them animosity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection. And Allah is going to inform them about what they used to do. – Sura 5:14
They have certainly disbelieved who say, ” Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary” while the Messiah has said, “O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” Indeed, he who associates others with Allah – Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers. – Sura 5:72
O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people. – Sura 5:51
The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah “; and the Christians say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded? – Sura 9:30
Say, “O People of the Scripture, do you resent us except [for the fact] that we have believed in Allah and what was revealed to us and what was revealed before and because most of you are defiantly disobedient?” – Sura 5:59
Since Muhammad’s time, Muslims have had a view shaped by the rejection of Muhammad’s message by Jews and Christians. These ten hostile Qur’anic passages have shaped the way Muslims see Christians and Jews, even today.
It also helps to affirm the Qur’anic command to . . .
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture – [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled (Sura 9:29)”
Prayer Point:
God, the Father of Christians, dearly loves all Muslims but they don’t realize it. Pray that God will reveal His Truth regarding the accuracy of Jewish and Christian scriptures to Muslims so they may see that Muhammad’s interpretations of Biblical passages were incorrect.
In an attempt to debunk the statement, “Islam teaches Muslims to kill Christians and Jews,” a popular Christian website states, “There is not a single command in the Qur’an for Muslims to go out and kill Christians or Jews.”
Unless the author of the article on the Christian website believes you can have a war without any casualties, this statement is misleading because it ignores passages in the Qur’an such as sura 9:29 which says, “Make war on those who have received the Scriptures [Jews and Christians] but do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day. They do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. The Christians and Jews do not follow the religion of truth until they submit and pay the poll tax [jizya] and they are humiliated.”
The Reliance of the Traveller, a classic manual of Islamic Sacred Law, is a foundational theological manual. Al-Azhar University, known as Sunni Islam’s most prestigious university, certifies that the Reliance of the Traveller “conforms to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni Community” (Reliance, p. xx).
The manual explains sura 9:29: “The Caliph makes war upon the Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians, provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax Jizya…– while remaining in their ancestral religions (and the war continues) until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax in accordance with the word of Allah Most High” (Reliance o9.8, p. 602).
As ISIS captured Christian areas in Iraq and Syria, residents were forced to “convert or die.” In a few areas, Christians were given the opportunity to pay the poll tax, however ISIS leaders increased the amount of the tax to an amount that made it impossible to pay so many Christians were forced to flee their homes. In October 2015, Assyrian Christian business owners living in Sweden found the “convert or die” message on the walls of their businesses. The graffiti also included the message: “The Caliphate is here,” along with the ISIS logo. It is reported that the Swedish city of Gothenburg where the graffiti was found has had at least 150 people leave the city to join ISIS.
Recent history demonstrates widespread persecution against Christians. TheReligionofPeace.com has a list of targeted acts of terrorism on Christians by Muslims since September 11, 2001. In the last five years (since January 1, 2011) there have been 7,420 Christians killed and another 7,754 injured in jihadi attacks. This list is of those that have been identified specifically as Christians and according to the website, it is not a complete account of Islamic terror attacks on Christians since much of the violence against Christians goes unreported, and often the victims of Islamic terror are not identified as Christians.
Overall during the same five-year time period there have been 14,203 Islamic terror attacks in which 107,857 people have been killed and 132,433 injured.
Christians should be aware of the teachings of Islam – not to invoke fear, but to understand why Islamists feel compelled to conquer other religions. Love for Muslims comes from God’s heart to Christians. To misrepresent the teachings of Islam denies truth.
Prayer Point:
The word of God tells us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Pray that Christians will be informed regarding their own faith and be able to speak the truth about Islam to receptive hearts.
In Islam, the term “People of the Book” refers to Christians and Jews. Because Islam has a dualistic nature there are verses that speak positively about Christians and Jews, but there are also verses written later that call for Muslims to make war on Christians and Jews. In Islam the verses that Muhammad received later in his revelations abrogate the previous verses, which means the later passages take precedent over the early passages, but they are not negated because the Qur’an is considered the verbatim words of Allah.
The early Qur’an (the portion Muhammad received in Mecca) accepts Christians and Jews, “Those who believe and those who are Christians and Jews and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and Judgment Day shall have their reward with the Lord” (Quran 2:62). But the later Qur’an (the portion received in Medina) states, “Make war on those who have received the Scriptures [Jews and Christians] but do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day. They do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. The Christians and Jews do not follow the religion of truth until they submit and pay the poll tax [jizya] and they are humiliated” (Qur’an 9:29).
When Muhammad began to supposedly receive his “revelations” in Mecca, the revelations came through the angel, Gabriel – an angel from Jewish scriptures. Therefore Muhammad considered himself in the lineage of Jewish prophets.
When Muhammad moved to Medina, the city was half Jewish. Muhammad saw himself as a reformer of Judaism, however Muhammad had most likely picked up bits and pieces of Jewish scriptures on the trade routes in ancient Arabia so the Jews were able to easily point out some of the contradictions in Muhammad’s revelations and their scriptures. The rabbis in Medina, quite correctly, did not accept him as a Jewish prophet. Because the Jews refused to accept Muhammad, he developed a hatred for the Jews and eliminated most of them either by death, enslavement or expulsion.
The Qur’an retells many of the stories of Moses, Noah, Adam and other characters in Jewish scriptures, but they are twisted to show that all people who deny any of the prophets of Islam are ultimately destroyed. Therefore anyone that denied Muhammad, as a prophet of Allah should be destroyed.
Certainly not all Muslims wish to see the Jews and Christians destroyed, but the “People of the Book” can trace the root of the hatred against them to the rejection of Muhammad’s teachings, which were contrary to Jewish and Christian scriptures.
Prayer Point:
Pray that Muslims and non-Muslims will both begin to question a religion whose scriptures encourage hatred and the destruction of people of other religions.
Once again our televisions are filled with news of innocent lives being taken by a terrorist as we learn of the deaths of 50 people in a gay Orlando nightclub. As news continued to break we learned the shooter, Omar Mateen called 911 pledging his support for ISIS during the attack. ISIS in turn has taken credit for the attack.
In his remarks about the incident President Obama said, “we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate…. And I’ve directed that we must spare no effort to determine what — if any — inspiration or association this killer may have had with terrorist groups. What is clear is that he was a person filled with hatred. Over the coming days, we’ll uncover why and how this happened, and we will go wherever the facts lead us.”
Perhaps the President did not yet know the identity of the shooter or the shooter’s admission regarding ISIS, however we now know that Mateen was at least inspired by ISIS. Mateen’s father, Seddique Mir Mateen, claimed, “This had nothing to do with religion.” He claimed that seeing a same-sex couple kiss in front of his family in a public setting had made his son angry. How did Mateen’s anger turn into the largest mass shooting in U.S. history?
Because Mateen admitted his support for ISIS, we need to look at what Islam teaches about homosexuality.
The Qur’an references homosexuality in several places: Sura 7:80-84, 26:165-166, 4:16. It is also found in the hadith. “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Loot, execute the one who does it and the one to whom it is done.” Abu Dawud 4462
Islamic scholar Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid, the founder of the website IslamQA.info provides answers to questions Muslims and others have. Alexa.com, a company that provides web traffic data and analytics says IslamQA is the world’s most popular website on the topic of Islam. When asked about the punishment for homosexuality, Al-Munajjid replied:
The crime of homosexuality is one of the greatest of crimes, the worst of sins and the most abhorrent of deeds, and Allah punished those who did it in a way that He did not punish other nations. It is indicative of violation of the Fitrah [human nature], total misguidance, weak intellect and lack of religious commitment, and it is a sign of doom and deprivation of the mercy of Allah. We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound.
As far as punishment is concerned the question is not if a homosexual should be killed, it is how he should be killed, and the website presents various views of the method of execution including burning, stoning, or finding the highest point in the town and throwing them head first from it.
Homosexual activity carries the death penalty in the Muslim majority nations of Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Although the Bible clearly teaches that homosexuality is sin, because God extended His love and mercy to Christians even while they were still sinners, Christians believe in extending the same love and mercy to others. God’s grace does not excuse or endorse the behavior, but it enables Christians to love despite the behavior.
Prayer Points:
Pray for the families of those killed and wounded in the Orlando nightclub terror attack.
Pray that other attacks planned during this Ramadan season will be uncovered and lives will be saved.
Most Muslims are just as horrified at the attack as Christians, pray that these types of attacks will cause them to take a close look at the teachings of Islam.
In an attempt to refute the statement, “Islam is a religion of violence,” a Christian website made the following statement, “Reality: Islam as a religious system has not been any more violent than Christianity or Judaism.”
This is an argument often used by Muslim apologists in the West to divert conversation regarding the violence in the Islamic texts. Far too often this puts an end to the discussion and those who are unfamiliar with history and the foundational texts tend to believe that all three religions are equally as violent.
Often quoted passages from the Bible that Muslim apologists use to prove Judaism’s violence and intolerance are found in the story of the military conquest of Canaan by Israel.
“But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 20:16-18).
“So Joshua conquered all the land: the mountain country and the South and the lowland and the wilderness slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded” (Joshua 10:40).
It is true the Israelites conquered Canaan, but the commands to annihilate other people groups were recorded in the Bible as history. The events were for a specific time and place, and never became part of Jewish law. While the Biblical accounts described the events, the violent conquest never became part of every day Jewish life.
Conversely, certain aspects of Islamic violence and conquest commanded in the Qur’an were not only historical battles that Muhammad led, but they also became part of Islamic law.
“Fight those who do not believe in God, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden, nor abide by the religion of truth-from among those who received the Scripture-until they pay the due tax, willingly or unwillingly” (Sura 9:29).
Modern Islamists demonstrate that they still believe this passage is a command from their god. “Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those who say this are witless. Islam says: ‘Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter their armies’” – The Ayatollah Khomeini (Iranian Supreme Leader 1979-1989).
When one looks at Christianity, it is impossible to find verses inciting violence in the New Testament. In fact, Christians are commanded to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
Have their been atrocities perpetrated in the name of Christianity? Sadly, yes, but violence is never commanded by the teachings of Jesus or others in the New Testament.
Prayer Point:
Pray that both Muslims and non-Muslims will see the clear difference between the historical violence in the Bible and the theological violence in the Qur’an.
Many Westerners assume the Qur’an is the Muslim counterpart to the Christian Bible, but if all a Muslim had was a Qur’an, they could not practice Islam.
One of the best illustrations to help Christians understand what the Qur’an is about is to imagine taking all the words of Jesus (the red letter verses in some versions of the Bible) out of context, randomly mix them up and arrange the passages in a book. The result would be similar to the Qur’an. The Qur’an lacks historical and biographical detail unlike the Bible, which contains the gospels with details of the life of Jesus.
Further, and significantly, the Qur’an was authored by one man, Muhammad, over the course of a single lifetime while over forty writers authored the Bible over a period of almost 1600 years. Despite being written by different authors, the Bible does not contradict itself and unlike Islam external tests are not necessary to practice Christianity.
The Hijra of Muhammad – the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to 
Medina in 622 AD marks a significant shift in the tone of the Qur’an. Muhammad arrived in Medina with approximately 150 followers, but by the end of Muhammad’s life the number of Islamic followers had increased to nearly 100,000. Once Muhammad had moved to Medina, the nature of his revelations changed dramatically. The early Qur’an written in Mecca is considered peaceful. “There’s no compulsion in religion” (Sura 2:256) and “Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion” (Sura 109:6). But when Muhammad migrated to Medina the message became much more militant. “I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite their necks and smite of them each finger. That is because they opposed Allah and His messenger” (Sura 8:12-13).
In Islam there is a doctrine of abrogation. This means that the 
later passages that Muhammad received in Medina take precedence over the Mecca passages. In a way the later revelation supersedes the previous one, however that does not mean the earlier verse is incorrect. Because the Qur’an is considered the actual words of Allah and Allah cannot be wrong, the early Mecca revelations cannot be wrong. So when a Muslim states that Islam is a religion of peace, he can also fully believe that it is okay to “smite” the necks of disbelievers.
PRAYER POINTS:
Pray that Muslims will be quickened to realize that the vast majority of their teachings do not come from the Qur’an itself – and pray they will explore the life of Muhammad and his words and deeds.
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