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

Islam 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.