Every Religion is a Mix of Theology and Sociology

1. Every Religion is a Mix of Theology and Sociology Islam should be the dominant religion in the world.

2. Its theology perfectly accommodates the highest aspirations of the Old Adam. • Its sociology thwarts it.

3. A History of Jihad • Mohammed --His views on a holy war changed as he got the upper hand over his adversaries. • "O disbelievers! Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion." Sura 2:190 (early preaching in Mecca) • "Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors." Sura 2:190 (later preaching in Medina) • "Fight against those who have been given the Scripture but believe not in Allah nor the Last Day." Sura 9.29

4. Rightly Guided Caliphs Medina 632 AD The First Jihad • Abu Bakr (not Ali)--Arabia • Umar—Jerusalem and Damascus • Ali, Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law (by his marriage to Fatima).

5. The First Jihad • Ummayads 700 AD Damascus Power struggles between the family of the third caliph's family (Umayyads) and Mohammed's family led to Ali's assassination and the start of the Umayyad dynasty—North Africa/Spain/Sassanid Empire.

6. The First Jihad

7. The First Jihad • Abbasids 1200 AD Baghdad Purity Government after corrupt Ummayads. Height of Moslem Empire politically and intellectually. Start of Christian reconquest.

8. The First Jihad • Islam grants heaven on the basis of works, in this case—those who take up jihad will attain heaven. Also, those who use force to promote the faith will attain heaven.

9. The Second Jihad • Ottoman Turks 1530 AD Constantinople/Istanbul Take Constantinople, but turned back from Vienna. Hold Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania. Dissolved by defeat in WWI.

10. The Third Jihad • Oil Means Money • Rise of Wahhabi Extremism in Arabia Life must be strictly regulated by the words of the Koran. • Unbelievers in the "house of Islam"--Israel Wahhabiism is a growing arm of Islam, sponsored by the Saudis, influencing the Taliban and al-Qaeda. It preaches the overthrow of corrupt Moslem governments and the nation of Israel.

11. What is the rule of law in Saudi Arabia? Remove the false ones. • Women cannot drive a car. • Women are permitted to divorce their husbands. • Women must appear in public with a veil over them. • Harems are permitted. • The use of alcohol is forbidden. • The public display of Christian symbols is forbidden. • A Moslem converting to Christianity is permitted. • Thieves' hands are cut off. • Coed schools are forbidden. • A general election is held to vote for the President of Arabia. • No unbelievers are permitted to live in Arabia.

12. People of the Book • The Koran has no "books," but rather, is a book. Its chapters are called suras. Its verses are called ayat. It is written in Arabic poetry. • The Koran was "written" by one man, Mohammed, from the years 610 to 632 AD. • Mohammed claimed to be the greatest of the long line of prophets from the true God, Allah.

13. People of the Book

14. People of the Book • In a series of night visions, the angel Gabriel spoke these words to Mohammed. The words of the Koran have never been changed. Mohammed recited the revelations to his followers who wrote them down. • Mohammed claimed to be one in a long line of prophets from God.

15. People of the Book • Look up Deuteronomy 18.17-22 How are coming prophets going to be exactly like Moses?

16. People of the Book • Look up Deuteronomy 13.1-3 What added mark of a prophet is mentioned in these words of Moses?

17. People of the Book • So, let’s review and get the three marks of a prophet: • He must perform a miracle. • All his prophecies must come true. • His prophecies must agree with previous revelation from God.

18. People of the Book • Mohammed claimed to be a prophet from God, but he made no predictions and he performed no miracles, except for the existence of the Koran! Repeatedly Mohammed called himself an unlearned, ignorant, illiterate man. Yet how could he have come up with the Koran if it had not been given to him by Allah through the angel Gabriel himself?

19. People of the Book • But the Koran is not even consistent with itself!!! • In his early years in Mecca, Mohammed sought the safety of his followers by entering into a compromise with the polytheistic rulers of Mecca. He acknowledged three other gods besides Allah. • Have ye thought upon Al-Lat, and Al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other? Sura 53.19,20 • From what you know about Islam, what's the big problem with that? • He later said he had been misled by Satan! And that part of the Koran was abrogated. • Never sent We a messenger or a Prophet before thee but when He recited the message Satan proposed in respect of that which he recited thereof. But Allah abolisheth that which Satan proposeth. Then Allah establisheth His revelations. Allah is Knower, Wise; that He may make that which the devil proposeth a temptation for those in whose heart is a disease, and whose hearts are hardened. Sura 22.52, 53 • What’s the beauty of that?

20. Which is the true account? • Jesus born: in a mangerunder a palm tree • Abraham sacrifices: IshmaelIsaac • Jesus taken from the cross: appearing to be deaddead • Mary, the mother of Jesus: the sister of Moses and Aaron the daughter of Heli

21. Submission • Enshaalah (If God Wills) Allah, is active in the world and involved with people's lives. He demands right action and rewards good deeds. He punishes the evil-doer. He has everything in a Muslim's life laid out for them. All that is required of them is that they submit to his will. ---This attitude of "if God wills" easily translates into fatalism, destiny, fate, kismet!

22. Submission • Sharia Islam claims to govern the whole life of the Muslim. Not only their religious life, but every aspect of their daily life is regulated by laws and rules. Law rules everything in a Moslem’s life.

23. Submission • Koran--Allah's will revealed in the Koran. • Hadith--traditional record of the sayings and deeds of the Prophet and his Companions. Disputed. • Qiyas (Reasoning)--reasoned analogies from rules in the Koran and Hadith are applied to situations not explicitly covered by them. • Ijma' (Consensus)--seeming contradictions between Hadith or Qiyas are resolved by binding consensus among legal scholars. • Ra'y (Human Reason)--When all other sources are exhausted, human reasoning from an individual Muslim legal scholar can be used as a source of law.

24. Submission • Caliphate/Uluma Majority Mulsims (Sunni) believe the caliph is the rightful successor of Mohammed. As the sole ruler of the state, he is the guardian of the faith. Abolished in 1924 with the dissolution of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Under ungodly caliphs, religious leadership delegated through the Ulama, widely recognized scholars who interpreted Sharia for the people. Absolute submission to caliph and Uluma.

25. Submission • Imam Minority Muslims (Shiite) believe caliphate belongs to direct descendents of Mohammed. Rather than calling their leader caliph, they speak of him as the Imam. The imam is infallible. He alone interprets the Koran and makes legislation, as the prophet Mohammed did. Ali, killed in 661 at Najaf and his son Husain in 681 at Karbala.

26. Which is the motivation for you?

27. Works, Not Faith • Islam preaches Five Pillars. The Five Pillars are not taken from the Koran, but they come from the Hadith, the traditional recollections of Mohammed by his Companions. Every Muslim is to follow these Five Pillars, five basic religious practices.

28. Works, Not Faith • Shahada (The Creed) “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.” Every devout Muslim is to say this at least once in his or her lifetime. Most say it several times a day. With the confession of the shahada also comes submission to the words of Allah and the teaching of his prophet. Coupled with this submission is the promise that the faithful will strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah.

29. Works, Not Faith • Salat (Prayer) Ritual prayers five times a day Ceremonially cleanse self by washing hands and feet. Prayer begins and ends with the confession Allahu akbar, "God is great!" Bodily position and direction is important. Recite "The Opening of Scripture" and one of the suras from the last part of the Koran.

30. Works, Not Faith • Zakat (Almsgiving) Giving to the poor purifies the giver Give 2.5% where it’s needed most. Demanded of every Muslim In some Muslim countries the zakat is a tax taken by the state from Muslims.

31. Works, Not Faith • Sawm (Fasting) Dietary Laws–no pork or alcohol. Voluntary Fasts--from sunrise to sunset to repay vows to Allah or do penance. Ramadan Fast—a day-time month-long fast for all able-bodied Muslims. Special reading of the Koran is for self-purification.

32. Works, Not Faith • Hajj (The Pilgrimage) Every able Muslim must make the hajj to Mecca once during his lifetime, during the Month of the Hajj. Ceremonial acts reenact events of Muslim history. Visit the Ka'abah, the black stone, which is housed in the great mosque of Mecca. Those who have completed the hajj experience a sense of deep accomplishment, spirituality and respect from the Muslim community. Non-Muslims cannot visit the Ka'abah or its surroundings.

33. Works, Not Faith

34. Works, Not Faith • “For the saved the reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and gardens with rivers flowing underneath, an eternal dwelling: how excellent a recompense for those who work and strive!” Ali Sura 3.136

35. Works, Not Faith • Low Standards What do the Five Pillars require? How good do you have to be to earn Muslim Paradise? What is required of a person who is trying to earn their way to heaven according to the Bible? What is required of a Christian to get into heaven? On the surface, which "way" seems the most lax? Prove that Christianity challenges its believers with the highest standards for entrance into Paradise.

36. God • Natural Knowledge of God Describe what you think most people would say God is or is like. What would most people say God wants from human beings?

37. God • These Koran passages sum up Allah’s nature. --“He created the heavens and earth with truth. He formed you, and made goodly your forms. He knows what is in the heavens and earth. Allah knows what is in the heart.” Sura 64.3-4 --“Allah has revealed the Book with the Truth; those who go against the Book are in great opposition.” Sura 2.176

38. God • How do what people generally think about God compare with what the Koran says? • If a pill promises to make healthy and young people look healthy and young, what can you figure out about that pill? • If the Koran promises to reveal a God who has already been revealed to everyone in nature, what does that say about the Koran?

39. God • If religion is to be more than what man can ascertain for himself using the spiritual tools at his disposal, that religion should give him some new information. • A teacher that teaches only what we already know is no teacher at all.

40. God • That's the test God put forth in Isaiah. "I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, 'My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.' You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?" Isaiah 48.5-6

41. God • Then Isaiah brings forth the news of the Suffering Servant of the Lord, the Savior! God's plan of salvation is that "something new!" "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him--but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." 1 Corinthians 2.9-10

42. God • The Koran steadfastly and vehemently denies the Trinity. “Jesus son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah. Believe in Allah and his apostles, and say not, Three. Allah is only one God: far be it from his glory that he should have a son; Allah is sufficient for a Protector.” Sura 4.171

43. How does this prove the Trinity? • Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28.19

44. How does Christianity offer? • A better Word • A better Holiness • A better Motivation • A better Confidence