Islam & Christianity on Idolatry by Ellis Skoefield Part 1 Most Muslims believe that Allah sent Muhammad to retrieve Christians from the error of Trinitarian polytheism. But before we respond to Allah.s beckoning, don.t we have the right to examine what we are being asked to believe? The Bible admonishes us to prove (examine) all things; and hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Accepting a creed without examination and genuine conviction, is not just blind faith. It is like jumping from the frying pan to a roaring fire. Unfortunately, our Muslim friends are in that exact position. Their ancestors were forced to embrace Islam at the point of the sword. Today, over 90% of the people in Islam were born into it and were then brainwashed through al-majirin (the local Islamic school indoctrination system). Through that system, they are given an anti-Gospel vaccination. They are nurtured from infancy with the idea that Christians worship three gods while they worship only one, Allah. Muslims accept this idea without further examination. Any religion.s claim about itself is not sufficient evidence of its validity. No religion (except Satanism) would admit outright that it is of Satanic origin, because no one would be lured into accepting it. Religion is like a letter written in the name of God. Examining the contents of the letter is necessary to determine whether it is of God or not. It is patently obvious that Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism, Yogaism, Bahaism etc. . with their conflicting doctrines and confrontational postures . cannot all be from the same God. True God is not the author of confusion. A master stroke of Islam is its alleged teaching of one god S Allah S while declaring Christianity to be polytheistic. But do Muslims actually worship one god? Muslims generally believe that the prophet Moses did speak directly with God, hence his Islamic title of Kalimullah. The first of the ten commandments God gave through Moses is: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them.. (Exodus 20:4-5). The children of Israel often broke this commandment and most of their ordeals were a result of that sin. One of such instances is recorded in the book of Ezekiel: He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty five men. With their backs towards the temple of the LORD and their faces towards the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east. [This Baal worship is similar to Islam] (Ezekiel 8:15-16, NIV) The Children of Israel experienced the lovingkindness of Yahweh (God) in the wilderness; they witnessed His miracles. They knew it was not the sun in the sky that delivered them from Egypt, nor the sun that parted the Red Sea for them or provided them with manna during their wilderness wanderings. To the Israelites, the sun was but a symbol, and yet in the quote above they were bowing down to it. God who judges the intents of the heart, knew their hearts. He condemned their act and called it an abomination. But what is the Islamic attitude towards a similar practice? Allah is alleged to have handed down the following command, as recorded in Surat al-Baqara: From whencesoever thou startest forth, turn thy face in the direction of the sacred mosque, that is indeed the truth from thy Lord. And God is not unmindful of what ye do. (Sura 2:149). And still in another verse, the same command is rendered thus: We see the turning of thy face [for guidance] to the heavens: now shall we turn thee to a Qibla that shall please thee. Turn then thy face in the direction of the sacred mosque: whenever ye are, turn your faces in that direction. (Sura 2:144). The reader should notice that Muslims were previously commanded to turn their faces towards Jerusalem when praying. What the speaker is saying in the above sura is that they should change to Mecca. In the preface of the book entitled Islam.The First and Final Religion, page V, the author tries his best to defend the usual Islamic argument that Abraham and Ishmael built the Ka.aba for the worship of Allah. Whether that claim is true or false is not the point. The Islamic Abraham is alleged to have been guilty of shirk (idolatry), so it is not surprising if it is also claimed that he built Ka.aba. That author went on to say that Muslims do not really worship or bow to Ka.aba, that the Ka.aba is only a symbol. That argument is not convincing at all. Why should anyone bow towards Ka.aba in the first place? If God detests bowing towards a sun that was made by Him, bowing towards a Ka.aba made by man would definitely be worse, even if it was built by Abraham. Is the command to face Ka.aba a test? (Sura 2:145). Does God test people with idolatry? Why do Muslims run round the Ka.aba, and even go as far as kissing it during their .holy. pilgrimage?2 History tells us that Arabian pagans performed this ritual before Islam. It is said that the first Khalifah of Islam, Abu Bakr, when kissing the black stone (of all the colors available under heaven, why they chose black is not without significance) said,.Of a truth, I know that you are nothing but a stone and can do nothing good or harm. Had I not seen the apostle of Allah kiss you, I would never kiss you. (Cf. Rafique, Kinsmen of Abraham, P. 19). Worthy of note is the fact that after the signing of the treaty of al-Hudybiyah (7 A.H.)3 .while the Ka.aba was still housing those 360 idols. Muhammad performed the ritual pilgrimage to Mecca. The conquest of Mecca didn.t take place for another year, (8 A.H.). Muslims want the world to believe that the Ka.aba was sanctified (purged) because some of the physical idols were done away with. But religious matters go far beyond the physical world S powerful spiritual forces are involved. The Bible teaches that an idol is nothing in itself. What happens is that Satan stations demons (jinns) in venerated objects to influence people.s minds. If you destroy the objects (idols), the demons (jinns), associated with those objects don.t just vanish into thin air. Some demons are quite territorial, and will remain at the place where they were worshiped.1 So what happened to the demons that stood behind idols that used to be at the Ka.aba? Who is in the Ka.aba now? Is it Allah, or some displaced jinns? Ask yourself, if Allah is omnipresent (i.e. present everywhere) why does one need to face in a particular direction to pray, and in the direction of a black stone for that matter? .O ye who believe! intoxicants and gambling, [dedication of] stones and [divination by] arrows are an abomination, - of Satan.s handiwork: eschew such [abomination], that ye may prosper. (Sura 5:93). So the Koran teaches no dedication of stones, right? Well, what about the Ka.aba, which is also known as the black stone. If I were still a Muslim, I wouldn.t know what to believe, because another .revelation. in the same Koran tells us that Ka.aba is not only to be venerated, but also the small hills of Safa and Marwa: Behold! Safa and Marwa are among the symbols of God. So if those who visit the house [Ka.aba] in the season or at other times, should compass them round, it is no sin in them. (Sura 2:158). Which symbol? Does Allah look like Ka.aba or Safa or Marwa? Historically, the idolatrous significance of these hills was so strong that early Muslims were reluctant to run round them at all. Hence the .revelation. sanctioning the practice. Since Allah also ordered the worship of a mere man, Adam (Sura 7:11-13; 38:72-77), his command for Muslims to venerate stones and hills should come as no surprise.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 15:57:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015