Koran, Isis and allegations to Non real Muslims

KORAN, ISIS and penalities to NON-Muslims

For a while now I have been involved with anti ISIS activities and groups. I took a trip to visit Muslim refuges who ran away from ISIS controlled areas in Southern Turkey and took some aid with me to the believers among them. 

Three days ago I received one of these refugees here in the US as a sponsor. The young Syrian activist is an influential leader of anti ISIS group who made their atrocities known to the world and their reports are highly visible in the news media we receive about ISIS everyday. He and over 15 other activists are my focus of prayer, love, care and spiritual guidance. They have been doing wonders, and I wish I could reveal more about what they did and who they are, but for their own security as they are on the top wanted list by ISIS, I have to be quiet about them.

I have observed the great decline of faith in Islam among those who ran away and received reports from this group of young activists of the decline of the state of faith in Islam among those who have been left behind in ISIS areas.

On Christmas day, just couple of days after my guest arrived from overseas, I had a family gathering which contained some members of my Iraqi Muslim family (sister in law, nephew and a niece) who received asylum status here in the US last October and live near me and my new guest from Syria.

A discussion about ISIS aroused and it took its natural end to discuss the religion of Islam itself. My Iraqi family tried to blame these atrocities done by ISIS on their “wrong” interpretation of Islam and not on Islam as such. I maneuvered in the discussion playing the “ISIS advocate” trying to recruit them to ISIS “extremist” ideology they believe to be wrong.

I started to quote Islamic authorities (Quran, Sunna, and widely accepted scholars) proving ISIS theology to be the right one. The family found themselves in the corner of what I called “following their own made-up god; desire” as they cherry pick their own religious convections according to their personal opinions and desire. 

When they tried to argue that religion has to conform to reason, I cornered them that they are “following their own made-up god; reason”. 

In any way they tried to play this game to excuse Islam from the “misinterpretation” of the extremists, I showed them that they (my family) are not true Muslims (one who surrender to Allah); because they made-up their own god to follow and submit to beside Allah, thus they could be easily labeled as Mushrkoon (idolaters) who associate other gods with Allah. 

They have either to totally surrender to Allah and his judgments or they cannot be considered among those who surrender (Muslim) and therefore they are as the Quran describe them Kaferoon (disbelievers). 

An example of a heavy corner they could not escape from in this discussion was these Quranic verses:

“Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers.” Quran 5:44

“So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires” Quran 5:49

“Is it a judgment of the time of (pagan) ignorance that they are seeking? Who is better than Allah for judgment to a people who have certainty (in their belief)?” Quran 5:50

The young Syrian activist guest, confirmed what I have been observing for a while, that in his native city of Raqqa (the de facto capital of ISIS), people either Muslims who support ISIS or as he put it “atheists” who reject ISIS and Islam. He even went further that what he followed as a Muslim and my Iraqi family follow is the shells of Islam not its core, and if they dived into the core, they will have no way but to become ISIS supporters.

In a desperate maneuver from my Iraqi family they said that following “extremist” (they mean fundamentalism) interpretation in any religion would lead to violence. I objected to this escape route and responded, that if you are a Christian “extremist” (fundamentalist), there is nothing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ teach you to kill others; instead the founder of this faith himself was the one who died for His followers and commanded them to love their enemies and to give the other cheek and go the extra mile because His kingdom is not of this world.

They agreed that indeed Christ is a unique person who came in peace and brought peace, but still when His followers extremely misinterpret His message they waged violence warfare, like the middle ages Crusades.

I explained to them that the Crusades were caused because of the Muslim atrocities against Christian pilgrims who were traveling to Jerusalem. These pilgrims have been under Muslim terrorists attacks. Robbers and kidnapers took the Christian possessions and enslaved them and sold their women and children in the salve markets. The response of Christendom back then was, “we have to secure the route to our holy city of Jerusalem”. 

I explained them that to the Catholic Europe at that time, mortal sins (according to Catholicism then, salvation could be lost because of mortal sin) only could be redeemed by going on this long and exhausting pilgrimage to Jerusalem which will restore the mortal sinner back into the grace of salvation Christ. In a way Jerusalem was to Christians of this time as of Mecca to Muslims, and interrupting such spiritual journeys by the Muslim terrorists raids on the Christian caravans needed a response from Christendom to protect its “city of salvation”. 

At the end of the discussion, my Muslim Iraqi family said something like: “if this is the true Islam, then I do not want to be part of such religion”. They consider themselves now to be nothing but a cultural Muslims who do not want to get into the core of such violent religion as Islam.

The opportunity we have to minister to those who have been disenchanted with Islam is great and imminent. Though my Syrian guest called those who rejected Islam back in his native country of Syria because of ISIS as “atheists”, they are not really as they believe in a god, they are mostly “rejectionist of Islam”, a theists (someone believe in a god without rejection of revelation), deists or agnostics, but hardly real atheists.

The opportunity is now and we need to pray for the salvation of these disenchanted “Muslim rejectionists” and all the other Muslims who are still enchanted with Islam. May the spell of Islam break up soon in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Not the same God but the same confusion

Paper translated from the original Italian Title  “Stesso Dio? No, stessa confusione” (Francesco Maggio)

Same God? No, but the same confusion.

On the sidelines of recent affirmations of Pope Francis on Islam.
Quotes, excerpts extracted from http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350689                             December 30tieth - 2013

Muslims “together with us, adore the one and merciful God” (n.252). The quotation recently reiterated by Pope Francis in “Evangelii Gaudium” had been originally used in the Second Vatican Council (Lumen Gentium 16). The idea that Muslims and Christians worship the same God is unfortunately spreading in the evangelical environment and people are more and more fascinated about the universalism of salvation. The writings on Islam of a theologian of Yale, Miroslav Volf, embrace the pope’s ideology, as other Evangelicals do, affirming to believe in different ways to worship the same God.
In the light of what the Bible says, Pope Francis’ quotation about Muslims and Christians worshiping the same God is seriously inconsistent. The Islamic faith refuses God’s nature of being three-in-one, it refuses Jesus’ and the Holy Spirit’s divinity (Koran 4:171) and it denies Jesus’ crucifixion: how is it possible to agree with such a position? The document “The Gospel and Islam: theological clarity without human hostility” (2011), promoted by the Italian Evangelical Alliance and META Onlus, with the signatures of many Italian mission agencies, states: “We reject that the God of the Bible and Allah of the Koran are the same God seen at different angles. This equation is a misrepresentation of the biblical teaching on the One and Triune God, of Jesus as true man and true God, and on the Holy Spirit as the divine Person in fellowship with the Father and the Son”.   See link: http://www.alleanzaevangelica.org/attualita/evangelo_ed_islam.html

Ironically, the Koran itself keeps the distance of such a theory. “Say, o disbelievers, I do not worship what you worship. Nor are you worshippers of what I worship. Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship. Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship. For you is your religion, and for me is my religion”. Religious syncretism is unacceptable as per the Koran itself (Koran 109:1-6; see footnote (in Italian) of following link: http://www.corano.it/corano_testo/109.htm).

But for a few exceptions, the Koran repeatedly refuses the existence of other divinities than Allah by saying “Allah is but He, the Only One” or including a warning for the reader: “turn away from those who associate others with Allah” (Koran 6:19,109; this includes Christians). See also Sura 5:72,73.
The Pope’s above mentioned affirmation shows another inconsistency when he says: “The sacred writings of Islam have retained some Christian teachings” (n. 252). This affirmation introduces a disquieting element of syncretism between the Bible and the Koran. The terminology in use correlates “sacred writings” to the Koran whereas the use of the term “Christian teachings” could generate the understanding that the beliefs of Christians are not based on biblical “sacred texts”.
Allah is the one and only god presented in the Koran, he is not the three-in-one God related in the Bible, it is not possible to try to establish a syncretism between the modus operandi of the God revealed by the Bible and Allah as per the Koran. When we contemplate the Son, the Father is also revealed to us, because the Son declares: “No one comes to (knows) the Father except through Me”. Where do all these mistakes come from? Certainly there are very good and deep reasons. Post- modernism, Universalism and Relativism are distinguishing marks of our time where each idea is perfectly acceptable and plausible. Pope Francis has only reiterated the ecumenical and syncretistic principles established in 2007 by the University of Yale (swayed also by Miroslav Volf).
The Yale Agreement, so called “A Common Word between Us and You” has been signed by more than 300 illustrious people of Christianity and by 138 people of the world of Islam including some of its most excellent personalities. It affirms that “the future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians”. This presumed peace is based on Islamic-imposed conditions prescribed by the Koranic Sura 3:64 to be signed-off and accepted by Christians without any discussion. It is an Islamic covenant which imposes on Christians to recognize and accept the following Koranic dogmas: firstly there is only Allah as God, secondly the Jesus of the Koran is a mere man and great prophet and thirdly Mohammed is the last prophet sent by Allah.

This covenant has been called “A Common Word between Us and You…” (Yale University) 

http://faith.yale.edu/common-word/common-word-christian-response  

The draft of the text “A Common Word between Us and You” has been first elaborated by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, then re-elaborated by the highest Islamic theological authorities and subsequently signed by 300 church leaders from all around the world and from many denominations (you find them online at the bottom of the document “A Common Word..” ) in order to find a common ground for peace based on the love for the only God (understood as Allah) and the love for our neighbor.
This Islamic open letter doesn’t make any reference to the cruel persecution inflicted on Christians by Muslims in many countries; it doesn’t blame Islam for repressing anyone who proclaims his faith in Christ in Islamic countries. On the contrary, it puts the whole responsibility for the Crusades on Christianity and accuses Christians of repressing Muslims(!). However, it is preoccupying that they have gotten 300 Christians (Evangelicals, Orthodox and Catholics), icons from all over the world, from the West and from the Middle East, to sign the document including Bible schools and respected Christian denominations around the globe.
In addition, why have the Jews been excluded from this open letter-invitation?
Pope Francis’ quotes about Islam are the result of the Yale agreement. It is true that many teachers and evangelical graduates of Islamic studies which have signed the agreement, are infiltrating both churches and mission organizations to introduce a sort of “Chrislam” methodology with the idea to combine Gospel and Islam. These people would still be called Evangelicals even though by conviction “Chrislamists”. It’s no exaggeration to affirm that this type of agreement is both useless and very dangerous for the spreading of the Gospel into the world, as the Bible says: “the way of truth will be slandered”.
The church has to keep a very watchful eye and to be ready to contrast this new theological and missiological trend that weakens the Gospel in trying to make it look more attractive. Instead of following the trend of Relativism, it is important to strongly declare the truth of the Bible. In fact, the document “Gospel and Islam” (see above) says: “We affirm the need of the Christian mission in the whole world, including the Islamic nations and populations, as response to the biblical mandate to bless the nations and to disciple them in the name of Jesus Christ (The Cape Town Commitment [2010] par. I.10). It must be done with sensitivity, humility, and a spirit of dialogue and adaptability, without however losing the distinctive traits of biblical faith, which foresee the proclamation of the Good News, the anticipation of conversions to Jesus Christ, and the beginning of a path of discipleship in the church”.

January 7  2014

Francesco Maggio 
Consultant Expert Islamistic 



Published as of 11/01/2014 Web “Evangelici ”http://www.evangelici.net/notizie/1389441000.html