You become like what you worship

My last article here on the will of Allah being higher than the moral nature of Allah , and questions and comments by TUAD, caused me to think more about this, because the article at 9 Marks ministries about evangelism with Muslims also came into the picture; and wrestling with the struggle of those three different approaches to evangelism/apologetics/polemics/debate/friendship evangelism with Muslims.

Civilization Sharia, creeping Sharia, stealth Jihad

“Because I’m an expert and they are not.”
Ebrahim Moosa
Associate Professor of Islamic studies, Duke University

see his comments and context in the video below:



Not only is this pretty arrogant, and similar to Bart Ehrman’s “trust me, I’m the expert” type of argumentation as regards NT scholarship and textual variants, as Dr. James White has pointed out; it is also similar to Muslim reactions when one starts getting deeper into discussions about details in the Qur’an or the Hadith or Islamic issues.

It reminds of the same thing that many Arabic speaking Muslims told me when I was preaching the gospel to them from the NT; and also quoting from an English Qur’an in pointing out inconsistencies, contradictions and basic apologetic issues. Especially that the Qur’an affirms the previous revelations (OT and NT) as from God and true (5:44-48; 5:68; 10:94; 2:136; 29:46); and yet, contradicts them in content and meaning.

They would say: “You don’t understand the deep meaning of the Arabic word.” And “you must go talk to my sheikh” or “come and see the Imam”

Then they would not return my phone calls and then they would avoid me; after we had several good meetings in a hospitable and friendly environment around Arabic coffee or hot tea and fruit, pistachios, roasted pumpkin seeds, shish kebab and rice, pita bread and hummus, cucumber salad, Tabouli, and many other wonderful middle eastern cuisine.

Because Islam is more than a spiritual religion about worship and God; it is a socio-political-military-economic system that controls every area of life; eventually in witnessing to Muslims, politics and laws about punishing criminals and military issues always comes up, many times brought up in conversation by Muslims themselves. They interpret all of our politics and social trends in the west as “Christianity” because their politics and social trends of their cultures are part and parcel of Islam.

This article and video is very interesting about “civilization Jihad” or “creeping Sharia” or “stealth Jihad”.

The laws about lying and deception are clearly a part of Islam.

Everyone should watch the video and read this article at the www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org site

They discuss this book, Sharia, The Threat to America




This part from the article is very significant:
“How could the Professors both have gotten this all so wrong? The answer might be found, once again, in shariah. According to Shafi'i fiqh, as stipulated in the ‘Umdat al-Salik, lying is not only sometimes permissible for a Muslim but actually obligatory.

Umdat al-Salik (Reliance of the Traveler), section r8.0, "Lying". Section r8.2, entitled "Permissible Lying," cites the 11th century Islamic scholar Abu Hamid Ghazali:
"When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible....and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory." See also the Qur'anic verses 16:106 and 66:2. See also "Ghazali and the Poetics of Imagination," by Ebrahim Moosa (June 2005) in which he argues that Ghazali's work has lasting relevance today.

Moreover, deliberately misleading infidels holds a special status in Islam and goes by two forms: taqiyyah (deceit or dissimulation) and kitman (lying by omission). Because the defeat and conquest of infidels by jihad is an explicit obligation defined in Islamic law, deceit, dissimulation, and outright lying to infidels in the execution of jihad is also obligatory.

Umdat al-Salik (Reliance of the Traveller), o9.0 (pg. 599), "Jihad" says:
"Jihad means to war against non-Muslims..." and is scripturally commanded in a number of Qur'anic verses, including 2:216 "Fighting is prescribed for you," 4:89, "Slay them wherever you find them," and 9:36 "Fight the idolators utterly."
This is the complete opposite of what Prof. Moosa told his listening audience during this interview. In response to a listener's question, Prof. Moosa said: "...under no circumstances is any Muslim allowed to lie, because lying is a major sin. And you cannot even lie to a non-Muslim. You cannot lie to a non-Muslim. You cannot lie to a Muslim." “


“The Reliance of the Traveler (Umdat al Salik): A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law” ( Sharia in Arabic = شریعه ; Shariat in Farsi = شریعت )



But in Muslim cultures, the ability to “outwit” and trick and deceive the other person is a very highly admired quality, as long as the person doing the deception doesn’t get caught.

Do Muslims trick and lie and deceive, because they worship a god who is the best trickster, liar, schemer, deceiver?

Allah is the best of deceivers” (Qur’an 3:54, 8:30; 10:21)

وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ ۖ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ

Qur’an Surah 3:54 - “And (the unbelievers) schemed/deceived and tricked, and Allah too schemed and tricked, and the best of schemers/tricksters/deceivers is Allah.” (my translation) See all ten English translations. A few come close, but none of them bring out the full significance of the Arabic word, مکر (deception, trickery, guile) http://www.quranbrowser.com/

Especially since the context of Surah 3:54 is the crucifixion of Christ – it is seen as a deception by Allah, along with Surah 4:157-158, that Allah tricked the Jews into thinking that they had crucified Jesus. That means also that all the Christians, and pagan Romans also were deceived. (Yet, the Qur'an claims that the followers of Al Masih (Jesus the Messiah) were full of integrity, helpers of Allah, and believers in Allah, and that Allah would never trick the believers, hence there is a big contradiction in the Qur'an and Islamic theology on this point. (see Surah 5:111; 61:14. Muslims read their theology back into the previous Scriptures. They think the disciples of Jesus were Muslims. Surah 61:14 even says that the believers in Islamic monotheism, the way they interpret who the original followers of Jesus are, (they have to assume that they did not believe in the crucifixion, yet in reality they did; and they assume that they and the first 6 centuries the true believers did not believe in the Deity of Christ, no Trinity; oops, that doesn't work!) The true believers became the "uppermost" - victorious. That contradicts the first 6-7 centuries of Christian history. ) That also means that this deception dominated history for 6 more centuries until Islam came later and “set the record straight” with “40 lonely Arabic words in one verse”. ( I first heard the emphasis on “40 lonely Arabic words" from Dr. James White)

Maybe this is why conspiracy theories are big in the Muslim world. They project onto the west what they know to be true in their own culture and politics. Many Iranians have told me that they think that behind closed doors, the Ayatollahs in Iran, later, Ahmadi Nejad, earlier Saddam Hussein in Iraq (until he got caught) and George W. Bush and Dick Cheney (or Ronald Reagan, pick the leader at the time period) and Tony Blair were together plotting and scheming how to control the world.

We become like in character what we worship. Those who worship false gods become like them. Psalm 115:8

Worshiping the true God of the Bible transforms our character into true goodness, the moral character of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (see also Romans 8:29; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:21-24; Colossians 3:1-17; 2 Peter 1:4)

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV, 2010)

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18, NASB)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. ( 2 Cor. 3:18, ESV)

“keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. . . Set your mind on things above . . . ( Colossians 3:1-3)