BEHOLD THE BEAST
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Islam Reviewed
15 - CHRISTIANS, THE BIRTH OF ISLAM & JIHADAs earlier noted, a time came when Islam was so persecuted that eighty-
three Muslims had to flee for safety to Abyssinia, a Christian country
(now Ethiopia). The Negus and his Christian subjects protected the
Muslims and lavished love on them. When the Meccan persecutors
demanded their repatriation, the Christians refused to hand them over.
The Muslims had earlier defended their faith in public debate, confessing
their belief in Christ's Virgin birth, His miracles, and His ascension into
heaven (the favorable passages about Jesus in the Koran may have been
"revealed" for that purpose). If those refugees were not outright willful
deceivers, one wonders why they did not state their position on Christ's
sonship, His death on the cross, and subsequent resurrection?
In any case, Muhammad's accommodation with the Christians was
short-lived. After Islam became fully established, it revealed its true color
as a rabid anti-Christian religion, and the blotting out of Christianity
from under heaven has been a major aim of Islam ever since. In their
quest to destroy Christianity, Muslims even went as far as to forge a false
"gospel," allegedly written by Barnabas.1
Following in the footsteps of their prophet, Muhammad's successors,
the Khalifahs, launched a Jihad against Christendom - in Mesopotamia,
Asia minor, central Asia, and in Egypt - killing millions and forcing the
rest to embrace Islam.2 Then they attacked and occupied Jerusalem. As
if all this wasn't enough, on the very site where the magnificent temple
of the "I AM" once stood, the Muslims chose to construct the Dome of
the Rock and their third most "holy" mosque (the mosque of Omar).
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1 Barnabas is believed to have been written by a monk named Marino, a Catholic
turned Muslim, who was later known as Mustapha Arandi. Barnabas contains direct
quotes from the Koran and from a 15th century comedy by Dante.
2 Before his death in 632, Muhammad ordered a military operation against
Christian Byzantine (the Eastern Roman Empire).
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Why was the Dome placed where it was, if not to desecrate the temple
site of the Bible God?1
The Muslims undid most of the achievements of the early apostles
by invading Christian populated North Africa, slaughtering many, and
forcing the rest to Islam at the point of the sword. Even today it is a
crime to preach Christ in most of the Middle Eastern countries. For
instance, in Arabia, if a Saudi national is found to be a Christian, he is
beheaded.
The battle-hardened Islamic "missionaries" swept over Palestine,
drove on to Persia, continued their drive into northwest India, and
settled finally on the southern steps of Russia. They overran Spain and
invaded France. Thank God for Charles Martel who halted their advance
into Europe. But for that battle, Islam could have overrun the whole
continent. Sadly enough, Islam is now using their petrol dollars to
achieve what they could not accomplish earlier through the sword.
Through its control of oil, Islam is now expanding at the expense of the
Christian world. 2
Important dates in the Islamic conquest:
632 AD - Islamic Jihadists conquered Yemen.
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1 Editor's Note: The exact location of God's temple was unknown to the Muslim
builders of the Dome of the Rock so they missed desecrating the temple by 300 ft.
The dome is actually located in what was once known as "the court of the
Gentiles." Jerry Landay in his book, The Dome of the Rock (Newsweek, New York,
NY, 1972) p. 18, records that when Khalifah Omar entered Jerusalem in 639AD,
he was met by Sophronius, Bishop of the Jerusalem Church, who showed him
through the city. Looking at the temple mount (then in rubble), Omar declared
that he was going to build a memorial to Muhammad on the original site of the
temple of God. Sophronius exclaimed in horror, "Verily, this is the Abomination of
Desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and it now stands in the holy place,"
(Daniel 9:27) Though Sophronius was an old man of about 80, Khalifah Omar put
him in prison and to forced manual labor, the rigors of which killed him. A new
understanding of biblical day=years has proved Sophronius' utterance to be both
prophetic and true. See Ellis Skolfield, Sozo, Survival Guide for a Remnant Church
(Fish House Publishing, Fort Myers, FL, 1995).
2 Editor's Note: This second spread of Islam was foretold in great detail in the Bible
book of Revelation. See Ellis Skolfield, The False Prophet (Fish House
Publishing, Fort Myers, FL, 1995).
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632 AD - Invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) but the invading Islamic army
was repelled by the orthodox church backed by the Portugese. This
was a particularly disgraceful event, because just seventeen years
earlier, Abyssinia had helped the persecuted Muslims.
633 AD - All the desert tribes of Arabia were thoroughly subdued
through military campaigns.
635 AD - The attacking Islamic army burst through the Euphrates river
(Iraq) and conquered Damascus.
637 AD - The Persians (Iranians) were defeated at the battle of
Qadisiyya.
637 AD - The fall of Iraq
638 AD - Islamic fighters occupied Jerusalem.
639 AD - All of Syria fell into Muslims hands.
642 AD - All of Egypt fell to Muslims after some resistance in Alexandria.
The great Coptic church was destroyed never to know strength again.
670 AD - Khalif Muawiya ordered an unsuccessful sea assault against
Byzantium.
688 AD - The fall of Carthage.
702 AD - The Berber tribes of North Africa conquered.
705 - 708 AD - Occupation of North Africa.
711-713 AD - Arabian expansionists captured all of Spain and Portugal.
The place the Islamic Commander pitched his headquarters still
bears his name, Gibralter, in English, or Jebel Tariq (Arabic),
meaning mountain of Tariq.
715-717 AD - Arabian armies subdued Afghanistan, central Asia,
northern limit of the Caspian sea, much of northern India.
718 AD - Islamic forces started attacking France.
725 AD . The invading Islamic armies besieged Toulouse and raided
Burgundy and the Rhone valley.
732 AD - Bordeaux was besieged. The Islamic armies advanced up to
Poitiers where they were defeated by Charles Martel.
And thus, just one century after the death of Muhammad, the
domain of Islam stretched from the Pyrenees to the Himalayas, from the
Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, and from central Asia to central Africa.
From 750 AD onwards, Islam went through a period of stagnation.
For a time, intellectual, commercial and artistic pursuit became more
prominent, and by the eleventh century, the Islamic empire was weak
enough for the Vatican to venture the crusades. However, this provoked
the Muslims to more conquests:
11th Century AD - Muslims penetrated Africa south of the Sahara.
11th - 14th Century AD - Muslims. occupation of northern India.
13th Century AD - A band of Muslim states linked Dakar (Senegal) to
the Red Sea across the sub-Sahara prairies.
14th - 16th Century AD - Muslim fighters conquered Indonesia.
15th Century AD - Constantinople fell. That city (renamed Istanbul) was
the eastern bastion of the whole of the Christian world. The great
Christian church of Santa Sofia built by Christian emperor Justinian,
was turned into a mosque.
1804 AD - Islamic Jihadists conquered northern Nigeria.
Islam (A Brief Historical Background)
Since many western nations have a distorted or vague knowledge of
Islam, it is essential to give a brief historical background of this political
entity that is also a religion.
Islam literally means submission. Consequently a true Muslim is one
who submits. Islam is not Muhammadanism nor are Muslims Muham-
madans. Such terms are a misnomer and offensive to Muslims. Islam
revolves around a central figure called Muhammad, but that does not
mean the religion is built around or on Muhammad. According to
Muslims he was only an instrument of Allah.
Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Mecca (correctly pronounced
Makka), a city northwest of Arabia. His father, Abdullah (meaning
servant of Allah) died before he was born. His mother, Amina, died
when he was six. He was raised, first by his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib,
and later by his uncle, Abdul Manaf, also known as Abu Talib. He was of
the Hashimite clan of Quraish tribe. As a young boy he traveled with his
uncle in merchant caravans to Syria, and for some years after he made
similar journeys in the service of a wealthy widow named Khadija.
Muhammad is said to have so faithfully transacted the widow's business
that she, at age forty, married Muhammad who was then twenty-five.
This marriage made Muhammad quite influential, as his wife's vast
wealth was now at his disposal. It should be noted that as long as
Khadija lived, Muhammad was a strict monogamist (their marriage
lasted 25 years).
Muhammad was a man of markedly religious disposition whose
dissatisfaction with the paganism and crude superstitions of his native
Mecca made him join a group who claimed they were in search of the
religion of Abraham. They were known as hunafa (sing. Hanif)). It was
his habit to retire for a month of every year to a cave in the desert for
meditation. His locale of retreat was Hira, a desert hill about 3 miles
north of Mecca, and the month he chose for his meditation was
Ramadan. It was in the course of such meditation that he heard a voice
say: "Iqraa!", meaning "recite!." The command was twice repeated, and
Muhammad asked what he was to recite. The voice replied, "Recite thou
in the name of the Lord who created man from a clot of blood." (Sura
96). It should be noted from the onset, that the spirit that inspired
Muhammad was a spirit of error, for man was not created from a clot of
blood, but from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). At first, Muham-
mad was not sure of the source of the revelations, was it from the jinn,
the creatures who inspired the soothsayers? Or was it from God? He
shared his worries with his wife (Khadija) who gave him much encour-
agement.
A renowned Islamic historian, Imam At-Tabari relates this incident
in his book entitled -Tarik ar-Rasul wa'l Muluk.:
"Then (Gabriel) departed from me, and I went off making my
way back to my family. I went straight to Khadija and seated
myself on her thigh to seek refuge there. She said, ....What is it,
O son of my uncle? Could it be you have seen something?"
"Yes", I answered and then related to her what I have seen. She
replied, "Rejoice, O son of my uncle, and hold fast. By Him in
whose hand is Khadija's soul, I hope that you are to be the
prophet of this people."
Khadija did not leave Muhammad with her counsel alone. She
consulted her cousin, too, who happens to be one of the hunafa:
"Then she arose...and went off to Waraqa ibn Naufal, who was
her cousin on the paternal side. This Waraqa had become a
Christian, had read the scriptures and had listened to the
people of the Law (Torah), and the Gospel (Injil). To him she
set forth what the apostle of God had told her. Said Waraqa,
"Qudus! Qudus! By Him in whose hand is Waraqa's soul, if you
are telling the truth, O Khadija, there has indeed come the great
Namua;" and by Namua he meant Gabriel who used to come to
Moses. "So he will assuredly be the prophet of his people." So
Khadija returned to Muhammad and informed him of what
Waraqa had said and that eased the anxiety he had felt."
After the incident related above, Muhammad himself met Waraqa
at the shrine of Ka'aba and related his experience again:
"Thereupon Waraqa said, 'By Him in whose hand is my soul,
thou are assuredly to be the prophet of this people, for there has
indeed come unto thee the great Namus that came to Moses,
...And the apostle of Allah went to his house, encouraged by the
word of Waraqa, so that some of the anxiety he felt was re-
lieved.'" (Leiden edition. Pp. 147-152).
You can see this confirmed in commentary No. 31 & 32 of the Koran
translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, a translation honored by all Muslims.
The counseling and encouragement of Khadija and Waraqa were
instrumental in establishing Muhammad as a prophet. Before anyone
remarks on the roles of Khadija and Waraqa, one needs to know the
religious setting in pre-Islamic Arabia. The Jews and Christians were said
to be priding themselves (because of their scriptures) over the Arabs who
had no scripture (cf. Ahmed Deedat, Christ in Islam, p. 32). This made
the Arabs feel inferior; so it is not surprising that Muhammad was
encouraged. Now the Arabs would have their own prophet and scripture,
and the boasting of Christians and Jews would be silenced.
Some western authors dispute the fact that Muhammad was given
revelations from a spirit entity. That ignores the spiritual dimension.
Muhammad did indeed receive "revelations," over a span of 22 years.
What remains suspect is the identity of the "angel" who whispered in his
ear. I have heard some people exclaim, "Oh! If only someone could have
met Muhammad and given him the truth!" But the hard truth is:
Muhammad or no Muhammad, some kind of false religion would come
to Arabia - a prophet and an Islam or something similar. Genesis
chapter sixteen verses eleven and twelve still had to be fulfilled . . .
Gen 16:11-12 (KJV) And the angel of the LORD said unto her,
Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call
his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man,
and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the
presence of all his brethren..
And eventually, a Middle Eastern Islam did raise its hand against
every man and every man's hand was against it.
When Muhammad made the claim that he was the apostle of Allah,
his household believed him at once. That included Khadija, his wife, Ali,
his cousin and Zaid ibn Haritha - a freed slave and Muhammad's
adopted son. The first convert outside his family was a rich and
honorable merchant called Abu Bakr.
At the age of forty-three, Muhammad went to the public square
around Ka'aba to preach. He proclaimed that Allah was one, unseen and
all-powerful. He condemned the worship of other gods beside Allah and
warned of a coming day of judgment. In thirteen years of peaceful
preaching, he won about a hundred souls. As previously stated,
persecution broke out and some of his followers fled to Abyssinia (now
Ethiopia, a Christian country).
Since Islam is not just a religious but a political entity, and since
politics is a game of compromise, Muhammad made concessions to his
Arabian opponents by recognizing and worshiping their idols (Al-Lat, Al-
Uzza and Manat) (Sura 53:18-22). When these concessions backfired,
Muhammad blamed Satan for fixing the "revelations" in his mouth (Sura
22:52). It is interesting to note that these satanic verses came in the same
way as his earlier "revelations," but still, Muhammad did not suspect that
all might have had the same source.
June 25th, 622 AD marked the turning point in Islam as Muhammad
migrated (Hijra) to Yatrib (now Medina) and was declared as head of
state and commander in chief of the first Islamic Umma (community of
believers). Muslims start their dating from that year. Thus, according to
Islam, we are in the fifteenth century not the twentieth. That anti-Christ
would attempt to change time and seasons is stated in black and white
in Daniel 7:25:
He will speak against the most high and oppress his saints and try
to change the set time and laws . . . (NIV)
Once Muhammad had consolidated his position in Medina, Allah
commanded him to wage a Jihad. Attacks and counter attacks continued
until a ten year peace pact was signed with the Meccans, known as the
treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah. This treaty was just a ploy, and Muhammad
invaded Mecca two years later with ten thousand Jihadists (cf. Daniel
11:23-24). Knowing that resistance would be suicidal, the Meccans
surrendered unconditionally.
Muhammad's bitter enemies, Abu Sufyan, Suhail and the like, saved
their lives by immediately switching over to Islam. Those who could not
do so were summarily executed (Another sterling example of Allah's
tender "mercy"). Since then, Islam has maintained a steady expansion,
much of it by open military aggression. Maybe that's where Mao Tse
Tung got the idea that power flows through the barrel of a gun.