Foundational Texts of Islam & Christianity
Posted: June 14, 2017 Filed under: 2017 Ramadan Prayer | Tags: Bible, Hadith, Muhammad, Qur'an, Ramadan, Ramadan Day 19, Sira, Sunna Leave a comment
World Changers: Jesus & Muhammad
Posted: June 6, 2017 Filed under: 2017 Ramadan Prayer | Tags: Christianity, Deuteronomy, Islam, Jesus, Muhammad, Ramadan, Ramadan Day 11 Leave a comment
Child Marriage
Posted: July 5, 2014 Filed under: 2014 Ramadan Prayer | Tags: Afghanistan, Aisha, child marriage, forced marriage, Iran, Muhammad, Saudi Arabia Leave a comment
Muhammad is the perfect example to Muslims, and as such they are supposed to model their lives after his. Muhammad had multiple wives during his lifetime, however his favorite wife was his third wife, Aisha. He married Aisha when she was a child of six, but did not consummate the marriage until she was nine.
Child marriage continues to be practiced in much of the Islamic world despite the fact that it is considered a human rights abuse. More than 60 million girls worldwide are child brides. In developing nations one in seven girls marries before the age of 15, and nearly half of the 331 million girls in developing nations marry by their 20th birthday.
Child marriages create a cycle of poverty, gender inequality, abuse and numerous health problems. Many young brides are married to men who are much older than they are and often suffer abuse in the marriage. The leading cause of death worldwide for girls ages 15 to 19 are complications related to childbirth and pregnancy.
Child protection experts report that child marriages cause mental illness, suicides, teenage runaways, and even prostitution. The children are forced into prostitution because the marriages often end in divorce, and the child has no way to support herself.
In Afghanistan, girls can legally marry at age 15, and 57% of girls in the nation are married by the age of 16. 66% of girls in Bangladesh are married before the age of 18, and slightly more than 50% of girls in Mali, Mozambique, and Niger are married before the age of 18.
A 55 year old Afghani man with his 8 year old bride on the day of their engagement. Photo by Stephanie Sinclair.
Iran’s legal age of marriage for girls is only 13. One British newspaper reported that in Iran in 2010, 716 girls under the age of 10 had been married. There is no minimum age for girls to marry in Saudi Arabia, and statistics show that there are more than 5,500 child brides under the age of 14.
Western Islamic apologists often cover up the example of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, however it is clear that many continue to follow Muhammad’s example today. As Islam has spread to western nations, child marriage is also spreading.
Prayer Points:
Pray that the international community will speak out loud and clear regarding young girls being forced into marriage when they are too young to understand what is taking place or too young to take on this responsibility.
In nations where parents are taught in their culture that child marriage is acceptable, ask God to open their eyes to the truth that this will most likely be frightening and harmful to the young girls.
In Western nations teenage girls most often are given opportunities for further education, choose a future career and make their own decisions. Ask the Lord to give His heart to the parents (especially the fathers) to give their daughters opportunities in their lives – rather than child marriage.
Pray that the families will receive revelation of Almighty God’s desire to bring them true liberty and freedom – through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Ramadan 2013 – Day 2 – Imitating Muhammad
Posted: July 10, 2013 Filed under: Ramadan Prayer | Tags: Abrogation, Hadith, Muhammad, Qur'an, Sira, Sunna 4 Comments
Few western Christians grasp a basic understanding of Islam. Many presume the Qur’an is the “bible” of Islam, however if all a Muslim possessed was a Qur’an, he could not practice his religion. The Qur’an is considered the actual words of Allah as dictated to Muhammad. It contains 114 suras or chapters, which are not in chronological order but roughly arranged from the longest to the shortest. It is actually the “Sunna” that governs a Muslim’s life more than the Qur’an. Sunna is defined as “the body of Islamic custom and practice based on Muhammad’s words or deeds.” The Sunna is made up of the Sira (Muhammad’s biography) and the Hadith, a collection of stories and traditions of Muhammad’s life.
It is the trilogy of texts, the Qur’an, the Hadith and the Sira that make up the “bible” of Islam. PoliticalIslam.com reveals that based on the size of the texts in the Islamic trilogy, the Qur’an makes up 14% of Islam, the Sira 26% and the Hadith 60% which means Islam is actually 14% about Allah (in the Qur’an) and 86% about Muhammad. The Qur’an says around 90 times that Muhammad is the perfect Muslim so in order to properly practice Islam, a Muslim worships Allah as Muhammad worshipped Allah. For those truly seeking an understanding of Islam, one needs to only look to Muhammad as the perfect example.
For example, examine the Hijra of Muhammad – the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. 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.
Ask God to give them a “holy dissatisfaction” with what they are reading and long for their own revelation of the true Word of God.
