The information presented here is from “Despatch From Jerusalem,” Vol. 15, No. 2, 1990, P.O. Box 7304, Jerusalem, Israel.
Islam means “submission” — surrendering all to Allah. Muslim clergy cannot talk or write about their faith to non-Muslims nor can they question the teaching of the prophet Muhammad.
Superiority
Islam teaches it is superior to all other religions and a Muslim is superior to all non-Muslims.
Muhammad taught that God first gave the revelation of truth to the Jews who perverted it. Then he gave it to the Christians who also perverted it. So he gave it to Muhammad, the last of the prophets who superseded all others.
Muhammad stated that Allah (God) had spoken before to Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other Biblical prophets, but that Allah had given him the one true and superior revelation unto which all others must submit. Christianity and Judaism are altered forms of Islam. Christians and Jews are inferior to Muslims and are, therefore, second class citizens in an Islamic state and must submit to Islamic law.
All Old Testament and New Testament characters and events are part of Muslim history. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and even Jesus were all good Muslims.
Scripture
The scriptural basis of Islam is the “Qur’an” (Koran, recitations) regarded as the uncreated, eternal word of Allah and “Hadith” (traditions) containing the “Sunna” (the Way or Path) exemplified in the sayings and deeds of the prophet. The Qur’an is a mixture of desert folklore and customs, revelations of Muhammad and elements of teaching from Judaism and Christianity.
Practice of faith
The most important unit in Islam is the community (“umma”) sustained by faithful adherence to the words of the Qur’an and the Sunna. This can be very disconcerting to the non-Muslim because of the exclusiveness and militancy of Muslim teaching. For example, Muhammad said: “Swords are the keys of paradise,” “A sword is sufficient witness,” “Expel the Jews and the Christians from the Arabian peninsula,” ” The unbeliever and the one who kills him will never meet in hell,” “A day and a night fighting on the frontier is better than a month of fasting and prayer.”
Islam is based on five pillars. (1) Witness — which is confessing, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.” (2) Prayer — to be performed five times a day facing Mecca and the sacred Ka’ba. Prayer is submission: a Muslim must pray five times a day [according to a Muslim who is just now in the editor’s office, these prayers can be made up during the day if it is inconvenient to perform them at the proscribed time]. Prayer is not created by the individual but is recitation from the Qur’an with preset gestures. (3) Almsgiving (Zakat) — to the poor and the mosque. (4) Fasting (Sawm) — during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan. (5) Pilgrimage (Haj) — to Mecca at least once in one’s lifetime. Some add a sixth pillar, Jihad — exertion in the way of God or Holy War. This has a personal application in the continuing inner exertion against the tendency to stray from the tenets of Islam. It has a global application in the on-going war against evil and the enemies of Islam and the struggle to spread Islamic truth. With Jihad, Islam is to spread the “Dar Al Islam” or “The Household of Submission.” This is the territory governed by Muslims under Muslim law. The household of submission replaces “The Household of Warfare” (“Dar Al Harb”) which are lands lacking the security and guidance of Allah.
Sin
There is no concept of sin in Islam, though there is a concept of shame -honor versus dishonor — to the community. God is not a savior in Islam, because man is not a sinner. There is no absolute right or wrong — only situational ethics — and, therefore, no need for divine forgiveness and no need for a doctrine of salvation or redemption. The situation determines the action — not a standard of right or wrong. A Muslim theologian wrote, “Know that a lie is not wrong in itself. If a lie is the only way of obtaining a good result, it is permissible. We must lie when truth leads to unpleasant results.”
Islam teaches all humans have a “fitra” (sound constitution or conscience) and that Allah and Qur’an will bring men back to truth; that all men, even non-Muslims, inherently thirst for justice and balance. Islam teaches that Allah sends prophets to guide men and, if they follow, they will end in heaven. If men do not follow the prophet, they end in fire. The major theme of Qur’an is not love but Allah’s strict justice.
No individualism
All truth is measured by the Qur’an, the prophet and Sunna. The good of the community is the main object of Islam, not the individual. The individual is unimportant. Personal initiative is not good. A non-Muslim may live in a Muslim country as a second or third class citizen: he must submit and not offend Islam or a Muslim. Nothing may be superior to Islam — a church steeple must not be higher than the minaret of the mosque; a Christian or a Jew cannot rise in rank over a Muslim (e.g. as principal of a school or head of a state).
History
The average Muslim believes the Bible has been corrupted to hide the predictions of the coming of Muhammad. The Qur’an mentions some Bible prophets and some Bible events, but most Muslims do not know the historical context of Bible events or pre-Islamic history in general. History is unimportant for the Muslim because Muhammad is the seal of the prophets and the Qur’an contains all the revelation that he needs to satisfy God.
Government policy and law
The Qur’an is the constitution of a Muslim nation. Government and theology are the same. There can be no true democracy, nor the separation of Church and State. Governments are dictatorial and theocratic as expressed by the leader, the servant of Muhammad. For example, though Iraq is called a “Democratic Republic,” it is sheer despotism. Its current president-for-life, Saddam Hussein, gained power by personally shooting his predecessor in the head. He rules by the bullet, not the ballot
Islam seeks to have Muslim law (Shari’ a) based on the Qur’an and Sunna enforced in every Muslim nation. It is meant to keep the people in subjection by punishments still practiced in many Islamic countries, such as public beheading’s, chopping off hands and whippings in the town square; even slavery is legal. Non-Muslims in Muslim countries must abide by Muslim law.
Territory
The spreading of Islam is by territorial conquest. Once Islam has controlled a territory or area, it is regarded as always Islamic. If the territory is lost to non-Muslims, then the nature of Allah has been diminished and the territory must be retaken.
In relations between nations, Muslim to Muslim nation, there is the concept of “The House of Peace;” in respect of Muslim to non-Muslim nation, there is “the House of War.” No nation can get out of the “House of War” except by becoming a Muslim nation, i.e. when the nation has a Muslim leader.
Peace
True peace cannot exist between Muslim and non-Muslim nations. The concept of Jihad is always in force to spread Islam through territorial conquest. Territories lost to Islam (such as Israel) must be reclaimed. In Islam, vengeance does not belong to God, but to the Muslim community which must avenge Allah. There can be no peace with non-Muslims as co-existence between societies or pluralism within society.
Israel
Islam can never accept Israel. First and foremost, Israel is ruled by Jews making it a Jewish state, not a Muslim one. That places Israel in “The House of War.” Second, Israel became a state in the post-Ottoman period, which is Islamic. In fact, Muslims conquered this area in 638 A.D. Therefore, Allah was diminished when his territory was taken over by non-Muslims, and it must be reclaimed for Allah by the Muslim community.
It is immaterial that the Land of Israel was given to the Jews in covenant with God or that Jews have historical and religious prior claims. Jews and Christians have perverted Allah’s word and, therefore, hold no authority over Muslims.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One