The Evil Side
Of Islam
By Joel Hilliker
***
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audio message on islam
The first day of the new school year quickly became a nightmare. At 9 a.m., with
the gymnasium packed with 6-to-16-year-old students in assembly, terrorists
blasted into the school. After machine-gunning down several adults, they took
over and rigged the building with explosives.
For 53 excruciating hours, they terrified their captives. One boy begged a
terrorist for some water, and in response got a bayonet plunged into his body.
Dehydrated students were forced to drink their own urine in order to survive.
After one of the teachers pleaded for the terrorists to spare the children, she
was asked, “Have you finished?” When she nodded, she was shot dead. Several
individuals were dragged to one particular classroom, murdered and thrown out a
window.
What causes people to act so mercilessly? How could a mind become so sick as to
justify terrorizing and killing innocent people—let alone children? The
terrorists of 9/11 targeted buildings full of adults—bad enough, to be sure. But
how evil do people have to be to deliberately select as their target a grade
school?
In the end, the terrorists slaughtered over 350 people with sniper fire and
rigged explosives. Over 150 of the dead were children.
In a world growing increasingly desensitized to daily headlines describing
suicide bombings, institutionalized torture, kidnappings and beheadings, the
September 3 terrorist attack at School #1 in Beslan, Russia, was particularly
shocking for its barbarity. It was deeply revealing of the grisly heartlessness,
the lack of concern for innocent life, that typifies the terrorist mentality.
But
perhaps just as shocking was the global response to the calamity.
Rather than expressing indignation over the wickedness—and sympathy for its
victims—several governments and much of the mainstream press sought to pin blame
on the Russian leadership. The European Union demanded that Russia explain “how
the tragedy could have occurred.” President Putin was particularly criticized by
an international community sympathetic to the aims of the separatists in
Chechnya that have been waging a terrorist war against Russia for over a decade.
The Council of Europe urged nations to “keep up the pressure [on Russia] for a
resolution to the Chechen conflict.”
Such statements effectively diverted attention from the evil by romanticizing
the terrorists’ cause and cloaking their Islamist connections. The mainstream
press, having largely opted to avoid the stigmatized word terrorist,
chose to describe the monsters of Beslan as activists, assailants, captors,
insurgents, perpetrators, rebels and so on.
This too was deeply revealing. It revealed moral compromise. It revealed an
unwillingness to admit the reality that Chechnya has become another bloody
battleground in a war waged by Islamic terrorists—killing innocent civilians for
political purposes in nations all over the globe. It revealed a complete
failure by so many in the West to comprehend the grim threat that terrorism
poses in the world today.
Such naivety is appallingly dangerous. It virtually guarantees that
Islamic
terrorism will become perhaps the
single most shockingly destructive force in the world in the near term.
We must face this issue squarely. Wishful thinking, political correctness,
careless assumption, unfounded emotion—all these obscure the truth. Looking at
the observable facts with unblinking honesty provides a chilling picture of
nothing less than the early stages of another Medieval religious crusade.
But even more importantly, if we also sweep aside any prejudice against the
unerring truth of the Bible, we will receive a far more accurate—and even more
terrifying—view not only of the
unseen cause
of Islamic terrorism, but also of its
future as we can
expect to see it unfold within the next few years.
Universal Conversion
The more clear-eyed and frank religious scholars generally agree that Islam is a
religion whose ultimate goal is universal conversion. “In the classical
Islamic view, to which many Muslims are beginning to return, the world and all
mankind are divided into two: the House of Islam, where the Muslim law and faith
prevail, and the rest, known as the House of Unbelief or the House of War, which
it is the duty of Muslims ultimately to bring to Islam” (Bernard Lewis,
Atlantic, September 1990).
Among the multiplicity of religions throughout history, most have been
polytheistic, idolatrous and relatively tolerant of other beliefs. Islam and
Catholicism, by contrast, stand out not only as being two of the few religions
that demand worship of only one god, but also as being missionary—and quite
aggressive in their ambitions. (Not surprisingly, then, Muslims and Catholics
have been found in conflict with one another during most of the 14 centuries
that they have coexisted, struggling through a repetitive cycle of jihads and
crusades.)
In the writings and speeches of many influential Muslims, the language of
religious conquest appears again and again. Sayyid Qutb, one of the leading
thinkers behind the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the mid-20th century, wrote
in a 1955 essay of his desire to establish a headquarters for Islam worldwide,
“which is then to be carried throughout the Earth to the whole of mankind, as
the object of this religion is all humanity and its sphere of action is the
whole Earth.” Qutb’s ideas provided impetus for the rise in radical Islamist
groups; his followers assassinated Anwar Sadat in 1981.
Qutb’s thinking is alive and well today. Even moderate Muslims speak of Islam as
being a universal religion aimed at encompassing the world. Dr. Zaki Badawi, the
moderate former director of London’s Islamic Cultural Center, said Islam “hopes
that one day the whole of humanity will be one Muslim community.”
Many Muslims are particularly excited about converting Western nations,
especially the United States. The first Muslim missionaries to the U.S. in the
1920s declared frankly, “Our plan is, we are going to conquer America.” Today’s
adherents to this belief are not just on the extremist fringe—they populate
mainstream Muslim groups in the U.S. and inhabit tenured positions in American
universities.
The ultimate goal “is to apply the Islamic law (the Sharia) globally. In U.S.
terms, it intends to replace the Constitution with the Koran” (Daniel Pipes,
FrontPageMagazine.com, September 23). For a clear statement of this goal, Pipes
points to a 1989 book written by an influential commentator on American Muslim
issues named Siddiqi: “Siddiqi argues that Muslims taking control of the United
States has more importance than such goals as sustaining the Iranian revolution
or destroying Israel, for it has greater impact on the future of Islam” (Pipes,
Militant Islam Reaches America). The prospect of uniting America’s
material success with the “superb ideology” of Islam is deeply motivating to
Siddiqi.
The vast majority of Muslims who seek to spread the religion globally are
nonviolent. Nevertheless, they seek to “save” decadent Western society by 1)
increasing the number of Muslims through immigration, reproduction and
conversion; and by 2) gradually applying Islamic law—that is, promoting the
spread of Muslim customs and rituals; securing special privileges for Islamic
schools, mosques and other organizations; and gradually cracking down on
un-Islamic activity.
The plan may be working. Islam has become the second-largest religion in
America, Europe and Australia. The French government estimates that 50,000
Christians in France convert to Islam each year; in Britain, mosque attendance
has outpaced that of the Church of England. In Europe, the purely demographic
danger posed by Muslim immigrants has become an explosive political issue: In
the last 30 years, Europe has absorbed some 20 million Muslims—equal to the
combined populations of Ireland, Belgium and Denmark. Reputed Islam scholar
Bernard Lewis says, “Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century.”
This evolutionary approach is a serious enough threat to the West, but some few
Muslims advocate a speedier, more revolutionary method. Though Osama bin
Laden is the most notable example, his thinking is not as far on the fringe as
most Westerners would like to believe.
In the July 24 Spectator, Anthony Browne wrote about the violent side of
the universalist mindset within Islam: “Saudi Arabia, whose flag shows a sword,
seems unabashed about its desire for Islam to take over the world. Its embassy
in Washington recommends the home page of its Islamic affairs department, where
it declares, ‘The Muslims are required to raise the banner of jihad in order to
make the Word of Allah supreme in this world.’ Saudi Arabia has used billions of
its petrodollars to export its particularly harsh form of Islam, Wahhabism,
paying for mosques and Islamic schools across the West. About 80 percent of the
U.S.’s mosques are thought to be under Wahhabi control.
“Saudi Arabia’s education ministry encourages schoolchildren to despise
Christianity and Judaism. A new schoolbook in the kingdom’s curriculum tells
6-year-olds: ‘All religions other than Islam are false.’ A note for teachers
says they should ‘ensure to explain’ this point. In Egypt, the schoolbook
Studies in Theology: Traditions and Morals explains that a particularly
‘noble’ bit of the Koran is ‘encouraging the faithful to perform jihad in God’s
cause, to behead the infidels, take them prisoner, break their power—all that in
a style which contains the highest examples of urging to fight.’”
Politicians and priests, students and scholars in many countries have explained
persistently that the violence being advocated from within the Muslim community
is in fact a corruption of Islam, which is a peaceful religion. That
said, it is this Islamic desire for universal conversion that is manifesting
itself in widespread hatred of the West and, in its most fanatical form,
terrorism.
Tactics of Terror
With over a billion Muslims in the world, it takes only a tiny percentage who
are sympathetic to the militant cause to create huge problems. As the
Spectator’s Mark Steyn said, even 1 percent is “enough for a vast global
support network” (September 11).
Governments around the world are being forced to step up their resistance to
Islamist violence. Consider Europe. Officials dealing with terrorism are waking
up to the increasing threat of Muslim violence on the Continent, uncovering
terrorist cells with well-established links to North America, North Africa, the
Middle East and Central Asia. Post-mortem analysis of 9/11 showed that the
European Union, with its lenient asylum laws and generous social programs, had
served as a haven for the terrorists in those attacks.
Islamist activity in Southeast Asia is also burgeoning. In many ways, the region
is ideal for radicalism to flourish—its huge Islamic population (240 million)
largely lives under weak or corrupt governments and lax security conditions. The
past half-decade has seen a sharp trend toward their becoming more
anti-American, politicized and radicalized.
A similar pattern is emerging in Africa. Mideast Muslims are searching for safe
havens outside the reach of American power, and Africa is proving itself useful
to them. Suffering from crushing poverty and disease, much of the continent
provides powerful testimony to the failure of Western aid and religion to solve
its problems. Anti-Americanism in particular is growing, and increasing numbers
of Africans are seeing some appeal in the message of Islam.
There is a unique mixture of economic realities, cultural pressures and
religious beliefs that combine to create an environment conducive to terrorism.
Consider: The Western world spends trillions of dollars defending itself with
high-tech airplanes, warships, surveillance equipment, bombs, missiles and so
on. The poorer Muslim nations’ economic, technological and military inferiority
eliminates for them the option of direct conventional warfare. Terrorism,
however, can be a cheap tool. And effective.
Think about the bang that the perpetrators of 9/11 got for their buck: some
flight lessons, motels, rentals cars, box cutters—chump change. Used
strategically, these limited resources turned the most powerful nation on Earth
on its ear. Terrorism is, as intelligence analyst Dr. George Friedman put it,
“among the most accessible types of warfare,” one that “provides a unique
opportunity for small, non-state groups to wage war” (August 3).
The primary weapon of the terrorist is the fear within the heart of
his enemy. The more shocking, audacious, arbitrary, cruel and brutal his
attack, the deeper the fear it will inspire.
The terrorist doesn’t necessarily target a government directly. His goal is to
so terrorize the people that they pressure their government to make
political change. The potential of this tactic to get results was impressively
displayed in Spain on March 11 this year, when a train bombing just 72 hours
before an election moved the public to boot its prime minister in favor of a
candidate who pledged to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq. (As Steyn wryly
commented, this sent “a tough message to the Islamists: ‘We apologize for
catching your eye.’”)
The words of prophetic Scripture leap into perspective in vivid description of
these times: “For these be the days of vengeance …. Men’s hearts failing them
for fear …” (Luke 21:22, 26).
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the terrorists are not only wearing down
the resistance of the Jewish population through repeated suicide bombings and
other strikes, they are targeting Israel’s allies—trying to drive the costs
associated with the alliance above the advantages it brings. The same
approach is being employed in Iraq today against coalition forces.
But the mere possibility of injuring powerful enemies using low-tech means is
not enough to turn people into terrorists. In the Middle East and elsewhere, it
is the association of these strategies and goals with the universalist religion
of Islam that combines into such a potent poison.
Worshiping Death
It may well be a corruption of correct koranic interpretation, but Islamic
terrorists are using the Koran to justify the most monstrous of acts.
Even as far back as the 8th century, Hajjaj, the governor of what is now
Iraq, invoked the Koran after a battle with these words: “The great God says in
the Koran, ‘O true believers, when you encounter the unbelievers, strike off
their heads.’ The above command of the great God is a great command and must be
respected and followed.” The koranic verse he referred to, Sura 47:4, reads,
“When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield, strike off their heads and,
when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly.” Other militaristic
verses include Sura 2:190-191 (“Fight for the sake of God those that fight
against you, but do not attack them first. … Slay them wherever you find them.
Drive them out of the places from which they drove you. Idolatry is worse than
carnage.”) and Sura 9:5 (“When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters
wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere
for them.”).
With such scriptures drummed into their minds, an increasing number of Muslims
are becoming saturated in a religious culture that worships death. Allah is
portrayed as being pleased with the murder of infidels as well as with the
“martyrdom” of those who murder them. This is a sick distortion of the
Christian concept of martyrdom—being innocently killed for one’s faith. A Muslim
“martyr” can be one who blows himself up while killing enemies of the faith.
There are verses in the Koran that condemn killing innocent people, which those
who claim that Islam is a peaceful religion often cite. But who is “innocent”?
One prominent Saudi sheikh strongly disagreed with those who condemned the 9/11
attacks because they killed innocents: “This was jihad and those people were not
innocent people.” Bin Laden also insists that his victims are not innocent.
Once a believer is convinced of the righteousness of his cause, he can be moved
to perform acts of disturbing ruthlessness. To him, the ends justify any means.
To kill an innocent is to do God a favor; but to kill him in a grisly manner and
upload a home video of the killing onto the Internet is simply to increase its
propaganda value.
Such methods evoke Isaiah’s prophecy about our present day: “Their feet run to
evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood …. The way of peace they
know not: … they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not
know peace” (Isaiah 59:7-8).
As Michael Ignatieff wrote in the New York Times, “Indeed, the whole
logic of terrorism is to exploit the rules, to turn them to their own advantage.
If we hesitate to strike a mosque because the rules of war designate it as a
protected place, then the smart thing for a terrorist to do is to store weapons
and suicide belts there. If our forces start from the presumption that civilian
women should be treated as noncombatants, then terrorists will train women to be
suicide bombers. If all existing codes of warriors’ honor forbid the desecration
of bodies, then it is not just mindless brutality but actually a sound terrorist
tactic to drag contractors from a car in Fallujah, set them alight and display
their severed and burned limbs from a bridge. Such provocations are intended to
drag us down to their level” (May 2).
A chilling peek under the lid of this faith-driven, death-loving culture was
offered last March. A 14-year-old named Hussam Abdu surrendered himself at an
army roadblock near Nablus, Israel. He had 14 pounds of explosives strapped to
his waist; after planning to blow himself up, he’d had second thoughts. His
confession was revealing: “I wanted to get to the Garden of Eden, and to have 72
virgins,” he told the soldiers after they cut his explosive belt off. “They told
me that this was the only way [to get to heaven], and they promised that my
mother would get 100 shekels [about
us$22]
if I did this.”
Having been bullied at school, Hussam wanted “to be a hero.” In the end,
fortunately, he proved too cowardly for that brand of heroism—unlike many other
boys before him. Since the latest intifada began in 2000, 29 children
under age 18 have been sent to their deaths on suicide missions.
Such brainwashing and intimidation is contemptible. We should not be timid about
passing judgment on individuals who not only don’t mind slaughtering innocent
children in Russian schools, but who are also comfortable with slaying their own
children to increase the death count! As the psalmist wrote, “The Lord trieth
the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth”
(Psalms 11:5).
In a May 29, 2002, interview with Islam Online, terrorist Salah Shehadeh, who
was commander of the military wing of Hamas before being killed by Israeli
Defense Forces in July, spoke of how his organization chooses a boy to become a
bomb. “The choice is made according to four criteria: First, devout religious
observance. Second, we verify that the young man complies with his parents’
wishes and is loved by his family …. Third, his ability to carry out the task
assigned [to] him, and to understand its gravity; and fourth, his martyrdom
should encourage others to carry out martyrdom operations and encourage jihad in
the hearts of people” (translated by Memri.org).
This kind of thinking is being promoted on a broad scale within certain segments
of Islamic society. Many Islamic seminaries, called madrasas,
are infecting their young students with hatred and death worship. This religious
education is generally free, unlike a regular education, and the countries that
devote the least amount to public education have the highest madrasa
enrollment. “In some ways, madrasas are at the center of a civil war of
ideas in the Islamic world,” says Husain Haqqani, a Muslim and former madrasa
student. “Poor students attending madrasas find it easy to believe that
the West, loyal to uncaring and aloof leaders, is responsible for their misery
and that Islam as practiced in its earliest form can deliver them” (Foreign
Policy, November-December 2002). Thus, the education these masses of people
are receiving is, in an increasing number of cases, frighteningly militant, and
is churning out students who end up being foot soldiers in the terrorists’ war
on the West.
But even the intoxicating combination of economics, culture and religion does
not completely account for the terrorism problem we have today. The most
brilliant thinkers cannot fully explain why the West faces such ferocious
enemies within Islam.
There is an
unseen cause
of Islamic terrorism that we need to understand.
The Unseen Cause
How could human beings act in
such inhuman ways? What would drive people to such cruelty? There is a
spiritual dimension to this question that we must not overlook.
The terrorist mind-set—though extreme—is a measure of the evil within man. God
states plainly in His Word, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked …” (Jeremiah 17:9). The unspeakable horror of terrorist
actions is a clear demonstration of the wickedness of human nature.
But where does this evil human nature—the cause of this world’s problems—come
from?
Scripture reveals the very real presence of an invisible spirit being—the
original murderer and the father of evil—intent on destroying humanity (John
8:44). Satan the devil is not a myth. The fact that he is invisible does not
negate his existence. The Bible reveals that he deceives this whole world
(Revelation 12:9) and is the god of it, blinding the minds of mankind (2
Corinthians 4:4). It is critical for you to understand how Satan generated the
evils of human nature and continues to influence mankind today.
What causes terrorism? It is man’s willing submission to the mind of Satan!
Terrorist behavior is a direct reflection of Satan’s mind—which has no capacity
for feelings of sympathy, empathy, kindness, sorrow, love. This alone explains
the despicable, cold-blooded atrocities perpetrated by terrorists! The devil is
stirring hatred and emotions with a mind to destroy. But, as he masquerades as
an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), he couches his evil intentions in
high-sounding rhetoric and noble religious ideals.
A failure to grasp this hidden cause of terrorism results in misguided
and fruitless efforts to negotiate, compromise and appease. Like Satan himself,
terrorists probe for weaknesses in their adversaries (1 Peter 5:8); efforts to
pacify them only make them stronger.
As we have often pointed out, it is Western naivety, weakness and lack of
will in eradicating terrorism that has enabled it to flower into such a
monstrous problem today.
Never in human history has the potential for such
devastation been placed in so few hands! A mere handful of suicidal terrorists,
with adequate coordination and appropriate technology, can wreak extraordinary
destruction. This terrifying reality is a reminder of the Apostle Paul’s words:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall
be … [w]ithout natural affection, … incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good” (2 Timothy 3:1-3).
How serious is the problem of terrorism? How much of a threat does it pose to
Western nations? Politicians would have you believe they can provide security
against it. The Bible tells a different story entirely.
Cursed Sevenfold!
We are moving into the very days prophesied in your Bible: days of rampant
terror, crime, corruption and subversion!
America and Britain (and Australia) have forgotten their history with God. And
now they are clearly reaping the
curses of
wholesale rebellion against God and His law.
Meditate on these warnings from the great God of the Bible: “I also will do this
unto you; I will even appoint over you
terror …
that shall … cause sorrow of heart …. And I will set my face against you, and ye
shall be slain before your enemies … and ye shall flee when none pursueth you”
(verses 16-17). In this age of terrorism, we are living these curses!
Again—these prophecies are conditional. And when people ignore God’s correction,
He increases the pressure: “And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me,
then I will punish you seven times more for your sins” (verse 18).
Read the rest of the prophecy. As long as our nations refuse to hear, they will
experience intensifying curses and punishments from the living God! He cries out
in verse 28, “I, even I, will
chastise you”!
God warns four times of Israel receiving “seven times” the punishment (verses
18, 21, 24, 28). Those two English words are translated from the single Hebrew
word sheba, which conveys both the duration of punishment, and a
sevenfold increase in the severity of the punishment.
In other words, the terror of September 11 was only a mild prelude. Failure to
turn to God will mean a sevenfold increase in terror! God is allowing
the terrorism, allowing the violence—allowing the devil to sway these people
into acting upon their brutal, satanic hatreds against western democracies.
How Severe?
The peoples of America and the rest
of the world must understand the nature of the enemy they face. It is
bigger, angrier, more violent, more elusive, more terrible than they understand.
And rather than trusting in God to deliver them, they are trusting in armaments.
Their sins, their stubbornness, their faithlessness, will lead to their defeat.
And just like after 9/11, Muslims will dance in the streets.
These successes will stoke the aggression of Islam’s radicals. The dream of the
downfall of the West and the dawn of a new era in Islam will become vivid. It
will inflame the hearts of great numbers of Muslims. The elusive goal of
political Islamic unity will effectively be reached.
The Final Jihad; the Last Crusade
It is easy to imagine what will be on the Muslim mind at this point: for on the
scene will be another power, one which also rose to fill the void left by the
U.S.—a united Europe,
the king of the north. As
has been the case throughout its history, this war machine will also be guided
by a muscular, politicized religion.
The stage will be set for the climactic conclusion to a centuries-long
struggle—the final jihad, the last crusade.
“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the
king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and
with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and
shall overflow and pass over” (Daniel 11:40).
Watch and
pray
that you will not be around to witness the time when they form the heads of the
two spears that will clash in this spectacular battle spoken of by the Prophet
Daniel! For by then it will be too late: That war will occur in the early days
of the
greatest tribulation this world has witnessed.
These are the days when we need the vision to see beyond the immediate horror of
the current reality. In these darkening times we need a vision of hope such as
portrayed by the Prophet Isaiah to those who repent of their rebellion against
the Eternal God: “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
behold …. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from
oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near
thee” (Isaiah 54:11, 14).
Those who watch world events with their eyes open realize that this world is an
angry, conflicted, violent place. Those who watch with an awareness of biblical
prophecy realize that it is going to get angrier, more conflicted, more
violent—right up until its last tortured breath.
But only those who
watch and
pray,
those who repent now, those who submit themselves to the
all-powerful God who foretold these events and is now bringing them to pass, can
look to the future with hope and confidence. They alone know in faith
not only that they will be protected by a loving Father, but that when
the warfare reaches its climax they will then help usher in the start of a truly
new age—an age of peace, of a single world religion under merciful, righteous
rulership
—under
the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.
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It is a matter of history that when Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead. He did this because he said in words to this effect: "Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some one will get up and say that this never happened"
Now, more than ever,
with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is
imperative to make sure the world never forgets.
"All that is necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". (Edmund Burke)
In Memorial
six million Jews,
who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated
Muslims March In London
View the pictures below and decide how you really feel about the future of the Western World. You won't see these in the Herald-Sun or The Age or hear about this on the evening news! Why would that be?
These pictures are of Muslims marching through the streets of London during their recent 'Religion of Peace Demonstration.'
|
TODAYS QUIZ..... name the country
where Islam has brought liberty, individual freedom and lasting
peace??? God loves Muslims and so do I. I wish
them no harm. That's why I pray and hope that Muslims will
learn that Jesus Christ loves them too and that
He alone can truly offer them peace and
eternal life in paradise. .....Keygar! |
( Click here for related article..... " Isaac or Ishmael " )
