German Chancellor Angela Merkel has proclaimed that Islam is not the cause of Terror. Since when did heads of state become scholars on Islam? I will never forget George Bush’s declaration that Islam is the “religion of peace.” He went on to repeat it over and over again. But it was the result of wishful thinking, not from his scholarly studies on Islam.
Merkel says Islam is being falsely interpreted. Or is it? For instance, when the Westboro Baptist Church says outrageous things such as “thank God for dead soldiers,” “God blew up the troops,” “thank God for 9/11,” and “God hates America,” there is no shortage of evangelical leaders to express that this is radical departure from the Scripture’s teaching. Yet, there are so few Islamic scholars, much less, Muslim head’s of states, that condemn this supposed “false interpretation” if Islam.
Where’s the beef?
I guess I would like to see a little bit of evidence of Islam’s peace. Now I understand that as a president or prime minister you are seeking to calm fears and alleviate tensions. But what if Islam is not a peaceful religion? Can we admit it? Simply because it is a religion, do we have to deem it peaceful, even if most adherents don’t practice it peacefully? Yes, I said most and I’ll get back to that.
Are all religions peaceful?
Let’s supposed that there was a new religion. It allowed wife-beating. It encouraged discrimination against women. It tolerated relatives killing relatives who left the religion. If your sister is immoral, or even raped, you can kill her to save your family’s honor. One of its tenets was that you could lie, if it was good for the religion’s cause. The founder had slaves, murdered his enemies, slept with a corpse, had over 60 sexual partners, many whom were sex slaves and married a six-year-old.
Would we be forced to call it a religion of peace simply because it was a religion or because lots of people followed it? I would hope not. Sadly, the new religion that I just explained to you is traditional Islam!
Strict—the other Islam
While I understand that a majority of Muslims are not suicide bombers or jihadists, I would submit that many of these non-radicals rejoice when these attacks take place. My wife, who has Middle Eastern features, was told in 2002 by Arab men in Paris, “Tell our brothers in the U.S. ‘Good job,’” referring to 9/11. They assumed she was Moroccan, not Israeli. No, they wouldn’t commit the act, but they do ‘praise Allah’ that someone had the courage to blow up a Tel Aviv bus or bring down the World Trade Center.
You see, we have been duped into thinking that there are just two versions of Islam: radical and moderate. Actually, the largest form that is practiced all over the Middle East and world is what I will simply call strict Islam. And strict Islam is what Angela Merkel and Barack Obama have ignored.
These are devout Muslims. They are not strapping on suicide belts, but many of them do beat their wives, abuse their daughters and use every sort of manipulation to make sure their children know that death is preferable to leaving Islam.
A personal story
Take the story of Safeeya. She was born in Kuwait. When Saddam invaded in 1990, they became refugees in the U.S. She explains that, in her home, Allah was cold and distant. He was to be feared. He was not easy to please. She once came in second place at in a Koran passage memorizing contest. Her parents were not pleased; she should have gotten first place.
At a certain age her father told her that her brother would now oversee her Islamic studies and he would be free to beat her if needed. This was normal in her non-radical, but very strict culture.
When she was eight, they made pilgrimage to Mecca, as all good Muslims should. There she saw a woman beheaded. Her father told her, “if you don’t listen to the teaching of the prophet from the Koran…this is what will happen to.” Young Safeeya was traumatized.
When she became a believer in Jesus, her father told her that she should be killed.
Another story
I met Joy in the business lounge at an Ethiopian airport. She was on the run. She was from Uganda, working in “western” Dubai. She and her husband were arrested on false charges and forced to convert to Islam or spend six years jail. She “converted” and memorized large portions of the Koran. She was released from jail and sent to Muslims in Uganda. She was so prolific that she was forced to recite the Koran in front of Libya’s Momar Gadhafi after her release. She showed me the video and death was all over her.
She escaped the Muslims in Uganda and fled. She told me, “If they catch me, they will kill me because I have memorized the Koran. To them, I have the word of God in my heart and must be eliminated.” Fortunately, we connected her to a great church in Uganda where she was reunited with her husband. The last I heard, they were serving the Lord.
A final story
In Pakistan, a man recently killed his sister. Her crime: she married a recent convert to Islam from Christianity. Apparently, he was not Islamic enough. His coworkers mocked him constantly for not acting against his sister. He was humiliated and finally bought a gun and shot her in the head. Her father was outraged. Not that his daughter was murdered, but that now other family members who know of the shame she brought on the family.
“My family is destroyed, everything is destroyed only because of this shameful girl. Even after death I am destroyed because of her.”
Honor killings in Pakistan are on the increase.
“Pakistan has seen an increase in the number of women and girls killed in the name of honor: last year, 1,184 people died, only 88 of them men. The year before, the figure was 1005, and in 2013 it was 869, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The true numbers are believed to be higher, because many cases go unreported.”
Not a minority!
This is most of Islam. Not peaceful. Not friendly. Not acceptable by any human rights standards. But amazingly, liberals like Ben Affleck stand up for the rights of Tzofia’s father to beat her. Well, he refuses to admit that it is taking place. Other than a few bad guys, Islam is just dandy! And Angela Merkel, a wonderful lady in so many rights, is now an expert on Islamic studies?
“The Islamic faith is not the cause of terrorism” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday, and urged members of the Muslim clergy to fight back against a ‘false’ interpretation of the religion that permits acts of violence to be carried out in its name.“I expect from religious authorities of Islam to find strong language in order to delimitate peaceful Islam from terrorism committed in the name of Islam. We as non-Muslims cannot do this; it should be done by Islamic clergy and authorities.”
But that will never happen and for one simple reason. That reason is not fear of other Muslims, but because the very “Islamic clergy and authorities” that might have a voice to be heard, have no problem with wife-beating or honor killings. How can they condemn it while they condone it?
The only hope for Islam is its collapse. Because at its very core, it is not peaceful, but quite oppressive and downright evil. I am not speaking of every Muslim, but Islamic teaching and the example of Mohamed. Donald Trump did not get elected because Americans are a bunch of racists (who elected a black president twice!), but because Americans are looking for tough (even if very peculiar) leadership that will not continue to espouse the politically correct and dangerous lie, that Islam is peace.
What about you? Do you think Islam is the cause of Islamic Terror or just a false interpretation of an otherwise peaceful religion? Use the comments sections below to answer.
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