All aboard for a fascinating week of study.  We’re going to spend some time examining basic tenants of Islam and the Qur’an before attempting to answer the question, “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?”  We’ll follow that up by examining the Iranian agenda, then identifying radicals, reformers and revivalists in the Middle East.  The week will end with a lesson that may change our thinking in dramatic ways, so be sure to stay on board for that!

 

But before we dive in, let’s set the ground rules for this week’s study:

1. Bashing Islam (the religion) and Muslims (the people) is not the goal and is not encouraged.
2. Facts, particularly as they relate to Scripture, are important and will be shared, but without evil or malicious intent.
3. While followers of Jesus may hold views adamantly opposed to Islam, we are commanded to love others…regardless of the belief system they embrace.
4. While honest thought and discussion is encouraged, harsh criticism and debate are not goals and are not encouraged.
5. We must seek the heart of God as we study.

 

With intentions clearly defined, let’s begin!  We have seen that the Middle East is not a friendly place toward Israel, and that is an age-old problem dating all the way back to the day Abram and Sarai (Abraham and Sarah) decided to “help God out!”  Remember, Genesis 12 and Genesis 15 describe a covenant God made with Abram, promising to bless all nations on earth through Abram’s descendants.  However, Abram and Sarai were growing old and God’s promise of a son began to seem impossible.

 

Thus, attempting to help God fulfill His plan, Sarai’s handmaiden, Hagar, was allowed to bear a son (Ishmael) to Abram, thus violating God’s plan.  Ultimately, God was faithful to His promise, as Sarah later gave birth to Isaac, the son of promise.  But the course of history had been established.  Enmity arose between Ishmael and Isaac and it continues to this day.  Isaac’s descendants are primarily the Jewish people, while Ishmael’s descendants are primarily Arabs.

 

Judaism is based on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Prior to Abram, neither Jews nor Judaism existed.  God chose Abram to become the father of His people, and Isaac was the promised son through whom blessings would flow.  Later, Moses led the Israelites to the Promised Land where, in about 1200 BC, Joshua led them in.  God had given the law through Moses during the wilderness journey and made Himself known to the wandering Israelites…and Judaism was born.

 

Throughout the ages, many chose not to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but clung to various other religious systems.  One of those systems is Islam.  According to Islamic theology, the prophet Muhammad was born in 570 AD.  At age 12, angels are said to have opened his chest, taken out his heart and purified it (taking hate and anger away), then put it back in.  At age 40, Allah gave Muhammad a vision.  Though illiterate, supposedly an angel came and squeezed Muhammad very hard, miraculously causing him to be able to read.  Many years later, because of his inability to write down the vision, it is said that Muhammad recited the Qur’an to scribes, having kept it in perfect memory all those years.

 

The first 13 years of Muhammad’s ministry occurred in Mecca where he cultivated a small, peaceful following.  As a young man, Muhammad had picked up bits of ideology from Jews and Christians through the caravan trade.  Thus, by using similar terms and ideas, he tried to entice Jews and Christians to follow Islam.  However, due to the twisted teachings, he had few takers, and Jews who were familiar with the Apostle Paul’s warnings about false prophets began to question him as a prophet and found him to be false.

 

Thus, though the angels had supposedly cleansed his heart from hate and anger, Muhammad began killing Jews and Christians.  In addition, he began rejecting some Islamic teaching in order to teach his own theology and the peaceful ministry in Mecca ended.

 

In 623 AD, Muhammad moved to Medina where he and his growing following began to focus on jihad and violence.  Ironically, 623 AD marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

 

Two sons…Isaac and Ishmael…and two very different and distinct religious systems.  The ideological lines were drawn and we still see the effects today.

 

Tomorrow I will finish our introduction to this week’s study by examining a bit about the Qur’an and touching on the different sects of Islam.  We’re laying the foundation to begin answering the question, “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?”  Join us again tomorrow!

 

Thanks for stopping by!