ISIL, Muslims, and "Authentic" Islam...

December 6, 2015.

I was watching President Barack Obama’s Oval Office Address regarding threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) [1], particularly in light of the recent shootings in San Bernardino, California. In this speech the President made a few statements concerning Islam of significance to Christians in general and to particularly to those into apologetics.

One of the things President Obama pointed out was the San Bernardino perpetrators “had gone down the dark path of radicalization, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the West.”

Later on the President made the qualification,

ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death, and they account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world—including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology.

President Obama also said,

Muslim leaders here and around the globe have to continue working with us to decisively and unequivocally reject the hateful ideology that groups like ISIL and al Qaeda promote; to speak out against not just acts of violence, but also those interpretations of Islam that are incompatible with the values of religious tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity. 

I think that a world without ISIL and the like would be a wonderful place. Who would even see a problem with Muslims in the United States of America and the rest of the world taking positive strides to ending terrorism?

The elephant in the room which never gets mentioned for the sake of political correctness is that an effective apologetic against Islamic terrorist groups such as ISIS and the like calls for Muslims and the rest of the world to take on a serious examination of the Islamic faith. Ironically, the actions of militant Muslim religious extremist groups are far more consistent with Qur’an teachings on waging war against unbelievers in a kind of evangelism by the sword and execution of apostate Muslims, but the same commands from the Prophet Muhammad must be ignored or re-interpreted by those who want to declare Islam to be a religion of peace who want to distance themselves from the militants.

Here are examples of the Qur’an’s sanction of violence against unbelievers as a kind of evangelism by the sword:

For this reason did We prescribe to the children of Israel that whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men; and certainly Our messengers came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them certainly act extravagantly in the land. The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement (Surah 5:32-33) [2].

And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed the limits. And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers. But if they desist, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors. (Surah 2:19-193)

So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (Surah 9:5).

Some disagree with the idea that these passages sanction violence against unbelievers in evangelism by the sword. Colin Chapman notes that

Muslims point out that these incidents need to be understood in the context of ethnic and tribal revenge at the time, and remind us that Muhammad was often magnanimous toward his enemies and put no one to death when he and his followers returned to Mecca in triumph… Muslims have their own ways of dealing with the texts about warfare in the Qur’an. Islamists in many countries today feel that the world of Islam has been under attack from the West for at least the last two hundred years. They therefore feel that they are in a similar position to the first community of Muslims under Muhammad’s leadership, who were under attack from pagan Meccans, and the verses about jihad and warfare can apply equally well to them today. Other Muslims, however, point out that the word Islam is related to the word salam, which means “peace.” They argue that the commands to Muhammad and his followers to fight were related only to that particular context and cannot therefore be applied to situations today which are totally different [3].

The Qur’an never really provides a context when its oracles were received by the prophet, and taking the abovementioned surahs as being composed at a time when Muhammad and his followers were a persecuted minority struggling for existence has its appeal but there is still nothing definitive from the immediate Quranic context that would preclude a Muslim (or anyone else for that matter) from reading a more militant extremist interpretation, which presupposes the Islamic community will always be a persecuted minority until an Islamic state or theocracy is established. Moreover, it is really the militant extremists who appear to be taking the passages in the most straightforward sense.

The Qur’an and Hadith (reports and collections of Muhammad’s teaching) are really more consistent with the activities of ISIS and others while less wiggle room for liberal interpretations calling for peaceful coexistence. Christian apologist David Wood notes,

Jihadists fighting for the Islamic State (ISIS) have been committing a range of systematic abuses, including mass executions, the rape of female captives, forced conversions, seizing of property, and the destruction of churches and mosques (of opposing Islamic sects). While these jihadists claim that they are simply obeying the commands of Allah and Muhammad, many Western leaders, reporters, and Muslim groups maintain that the atrocities committed by ISIS (e.g. killing “innocents” and fellow Muslims) are strictly forbidden in Islam. Who is right? Since Islamic doctrines and practices are defined by Allah and Muhammad, this question can be answered by examining Islam’s most trusted sources. The Qur’an and the Hadith are filled with clear commands to subjugate or kill unbelievers, hypocrites, and apostates. Muhammad said that e was ordered to “strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them” (Qur’an 9:73). Although modern reinterpretations of violent passages are common, the Qur’an claims to be perfectly clear in its commands, and Allah repeatedly warns Muslims that anything but complete obedience (both to Allah and to Muhammad) is a sign of unbelief.

Reinterpretation of Allah’s commands is thus extremely difficult to reconcile with Islamic principles of exegesis and “innovation” (abandoning an Islamic doctrine or practice for something one thinks is better) is regarding as heinous sin. Hence, given an honest reading of the Qur’an and Hadith, a brutal theocracy is exactly what we would expect, as even some liberal Muslim leaders are beginning to acknowledge [4]. 

Peace, tolerance, and democracy are very good things, and many of us partake in these delights every day, but can Muslims seek the ways of Allah and Muhammad in the Qur’an and Hadith to find them? Can anyone in the world look to these things and find the kind of spiritual transformation which will make the world a better place to live? What would it take to transform the life of anyone?

The Christian is never to lose focus on the main issue in their conversations with Muslims—the proclamation of the Good News about salvation in Jesus Christ, but in the process, the question on the Qur’an and violence will eventually need to be addressed. The way one answers the Qur’an question will also shape the way other critical questions are answered, which include: Who is Jesus? Did Jesus rise from the dead? Is Muhammad a prophet of God? How do we know that Muhammad is restoring the truth of God? What evidence is there to show that Christians and Jews corrupted the Old Testament and New Testament? These would be the critical questions to ask a Muslim.

To the glory to God,

WGN
___________________________

Notes:

1. Also called the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
2. All Qur’an passages cited from M. H. Shakir, ed., The Quran (Medford, MA: Perseus Digital Library, n.d.) unless noted.
3. Colin Chapman, Cross and Crescent: Responding to the Challenge of Islam (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2007), 44-45.
4. David Wood, “Will the Real Islam Please Stand Up?” Christian Research Journal, 37, 4 [2014]: 11.