Christians are the most persecuted
people on planet earth. Open Doors
lists 33 countries where Christians are widely persecuted by Islam.1
Most of these countries boast a Muslim majority. However, Christians are being
persecuted even in a few countries where Islam is not a majority. This is an
interesting dynamic.
In the wake of the recent Easter
Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, a proper understanding of the motive behind the
Islamic persecution of Christians is necessary.
The
Quran seems to motivate terrorism against Christians. I mentioned a few verses
from the Quran in my earlier blog entitled Islamic
Terror & A Peaceful Response:2
Quran 2: 191:
“And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they
have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at
al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then
kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.”
Quran 3: 85:
“And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted
from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.”
Quran 5:33:
“Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and
strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or
crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that
they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and
for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment…”
Quran 8: 12:
“…I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them]
upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip.”
Quran 9:5:
“And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you
find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every
place of ambush…”
Quran 47:4:
“So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks until,
when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds, and
either [confer] favor afterwards or ransom [them] until the war lays down its
burdens. That [is the command]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken
vengeance upon them [Himself], but [He ordered armed struggle] to test some of
you by means of others. And those who are killed in the cause of Allah - never
will He waste their deeds.”
There are more verses from the Quran that seems to motivate the persecution
of Christians. Christian apologist David Wood mentions these verses in his
YouTube video:3
Quran 9:29: 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.
Quran 9:123: O
you who have believed, fight those adjacent to you of the disbelievers and let
them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.
Quran 48: 29: Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah ; and those with him are forceful against the
disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating
[in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on
their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the
Torah. And their description in the Gospel is as a plant which produces its
offshoots and strengthens them so they grow firm and stand upon their stalks,
delighting the sowers - so that Allah may enrage by them the disbelievers.
Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them
forgiveness and a great reward.
Quran 8:60: And
prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by
which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them
whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the
cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged.
Quran 9:111: Indeed,
Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in
exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah,
so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the
Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than
Allah ? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is
that which is the great attainment.
Some of our Muslim friends would refuse
to believe that the Quran promotes terrorism. They insist that Islam is a peace-loving religion and that these verses are misinterpreted.
Christian apologist David Wood has a
very interesting thought. He correlates the life of Prophet Muhammad to the notion
that Islam is a peace-loving religion, “…more than thirteen centuries ago, the
relatively peaceful Muhammad fled Mecca because of intense persecution. As he
fled the city, he left the path of peace farther and farther behind him. He
eventually returned at the head of an army, and few were brave enough to oppose
him. Islamic law was suddenly supreme, with a host of bloody tales to warn its
enemies. A similar phenomenon occurs in the world today. When Muslims are in the minority (as they are in America) the message
is always "Let us live in peace with one another, for Islam is a religion
of tolerance and understanding." Then, once Islam has spread throughout
the country, the message suddenly changes to "Anyone who stands against
the Prophet is worthy of death!"”4
In his
article Is Islam a Religion of Peace?
Christian apologist Sam Shamoun claims that Islam is not a peace loving
religion. In fact, Shamoun demonstrates the fact that the Quran teaches Muslims
to seek peace if they are outnumbered. On the contrary, and interestingly, if Muslims
are in power (and in the majority), the Quran teaches them to not seek peace.5
Shamoun lists three stages in the Muhammadan
model of dealing with enemies:6
Stage 1 – Preach tolerance when
outnumbered by unbelievers/No retaliation stage.
Stage 2 – Permit Defensive Fighting
when there are enough Muslims and weapons to successfully carry it out.
Stage 3 – After amassing a large
number of soldiers and resources permission is given to carry out Offensive
Warfare in order to kill the pagans and humble the Christians and Jews.
To further substantiate the notion
that Islam is not a peace loving religion, David Wood’s enlightening response
to the question Is Islam a peace loving
religion? is a must-read:
David Wood
writes, “If someone were to ask me, "David, do you believe that Islam is a
religion of peace?" my answer would not be "Yes" or
"No." Rather, my response would be, "First tell me what you mean
when you say ‘Islam,’ for it is a term that is used in different ways." If
by "Islam" we mean the religion that is practiced by more than a
billion people around the world, I could reasonably answer with a qualified
"Yes," because it is a religion of peace for many people (though not
for all). But if by "Islam" we mean the religion taught by Muhammad,
I would have to respond with a resounding "No."”7
David Wood
asserts that the peace-loving group and the terror-loving group can coexist
under the unifying worldview of Islam. He writes, “One Muslim beheads an
innocent woman to protest the war in Iraq, while another Muslim curses him for
slaying the innocent. One group of Muslims flies an aircraft into a building,
while another group condemns the attack. One Muslim detonates a bomb on a bus
filled with passengers, while another Muslim says on the evening news,
"Islam is a religion of peace." Each side quotes the Qur’an to
support its actions. However, it may be even more important to note that each of
them is following the example set by Muhammad.”8
How then do we reconcile with our friends
who ardently claim that Islam is a peace loving religion?
David Wood
cites the reason behind the claim of our benevolent Muslim friends that Islam
is a peace loving religion. He writes, “I’m very happy that most Muslims are
willing to live in peace with their neighbors. Yet we have to be honest here. Benevolent Muslims aren’t peaceful because
they are following the example set by Muhammad. They are peaceful because
they’ve chosen to do what’s right, and because they are willing to live far
better lives than Muhammad himself lived. In fact, many Muslims are such
kind, peaceful, and gentle people that they seem to be following the example
set by another great religious leader—one who died on the cross for the sins of
the world and rose from the dead to prove his message. This man gave his
listeners a sober warning: "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you
in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you
will recognize them" (Matthew 7:15). And, may I add, we should also watch
out for false religions, which come to us crying "Peace! Peace!" when
they are built on a foundation of murder and bloodshed.”9
To conclude,
Islam persecutes Christians because the Quran validates the persecution and Prophet
Muhammad’s life reflects the Quranic validation of persecuting Christians. Furthermore, there is a reasonably good
case to believe that Islam is not a peace loving religion. Having said this, we
should mention the presence of many Muslims who believe in living peaceably
with their neighbor and let’s pray that these Muslims would, slowly yet surely,
instill peace into Islam.
Endnotes:
1https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/
2https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2017/06/islamic-terror-peaceful-response.html
3https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt8Z_XMcluw&t=362s&fbclid=IwAR37vizfZXQwMby6zoVZdBS0WUF2yQ2N1CDH16vsh_fwIZv-011wrjnH7qg
4https://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Wood/two_faces.htm
5https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/na_debate.htm
6Ibid.
7https://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Wood/two_faces.htm
8Ibid.
9Ibid.
Websites last
accessed on 25th April 2019.
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