Archive for September, 2006

Islam’s Claim To The Land Of Israel

Have you ever wondered how the Jews and Muslims both justify their claim to the same land?

Christians and Jews understand the Bible clearly identifies the land to have been given to Abraham and his descendants.

A lecture was delivered in early August in Jerusalem by an instructor in Islam explaining the “Claims of Islam on the Land of Israel.” The person lecturing defined the Muslim perspective. These are his insights.

From the Muslim view point the Koran came directly from Allah. According to non-Muslim scholars the Koran is written from a desert mentality with little reference to geography.

Muslims believe conflicting Bible texts are simply misunderstood by Christians and Jews. The lecturer stated, “I am bringing to you facts without expressing my own convictions.”

They believe the land being contested was “given by Allah to the Sons of Israel.” They content the Jews of today cannot be identified with the Israelites of the Old Testament. Muslims believe they are the true Israelites. Muslim, not Christian, names for the land are “the Holy Land” or “the Blessed Land.”

To lay further claim to the land they say any land where Muslim blood has been shed is Muslim land. Thus, the Holy Land is Muslim land. They are committed to possessing all such lands. This they say is the will of Allah.

Abraham is claimed by them to be the first Muslim. It was Ishmael not Isaac Abraham was willing to offer not in Jerusalem but somewhere near Mecca according to the Hadith. Abraham did not argue with or question God. Therefore, the Word and Will or Allah is not to be discussed or questioned just stated and obeyed.

They believe Issa, their name for Jesus, was a great Muslim prophet. According to their beliefs He is the only prophet who will come back at the end of days.

There are two primary Muslim bodies. El Qaeda is a Sunni movement. The Shiite movement is represented by Hezbollah and is centered in and controlled by Iran. The two groups hate each other and that is the reason for the insurgency in Iraq. The only thing they have in common is a desire to establish Islam in all the world. To the Sunni the Shiite countries have been corrupted by the West.

To Ben Ladin, who is a Sunni, the only good Shiite is a dead Shiite. The only thing binding them is a shared hatred for Israel and the West.

The Shiite believe they are the underdogs who have been mistreated, made to suffer, and be martyred. This enables them to relate to those who suffer. They believe they will continue to suffer until their Imam reappears to lead an apocalyptic war to establish justice and peace. Interpreted that means world conquest by Islam.

Our western mentality has a difficult time comprehending a youth happily strapping a bomb on his body and joyously blowing himself up to kill a few people. They rejoice to die for Allah and a better after-life. Such is the dedication of millions of Muslims. That is the resolve we face. Is anybody listening.

All of these principles stated to be believed by Muslims come from a lecture recently delivered in Jerusalem by an instructor in Islam.

Our Right To Know

In 1450 BC a colony was established on the lovely Island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea. It flourished and developed into a major trade and cultural center. Over the years its industrious inhabitants and natural terrain made it a viable military fortification. Its massive walls made it at times virtually invulnerable. One siege led to the frustration of its attackers. Disheartened they were on the verge of withdrawing and would have were it not for an arrow shot over the walls from within with a note attached.

The note revealed the besieged city was on the verge of collapsing from within because of a lack of munitions and food. Encouraged by the note and subsequent ones coming from the betrayer they extended their siege which resulted in the conquest of the city. A betrayer from within caused the defeat of the great walled city of Rhodes.

Antioch in ancient Turkey turned away would be invaders. The siege of the city took a dramatic turn when an armor maker who had command of three towers betrayed his fellow citizens. For a price he arranged for the invaders to gain access to the city through his three towers. Having breached the walls they opened the city gates for a flood tide of invaders who quickly conquered the city that felt secure within its fortified walls.

“The New York Times” cradled in the comfort of a free society and protected by an army of valiant young Americans under the guise of the public’s right to know divulged a technique used by our government to track and capture terrorists. Like the people of Rhodes and Antioch we American citizens have been betrayed by a government informer and an insensitive press.

Did the public have a right to know the date of the Normandy invasion? Was there an inherent right for the public to be informed as to what was being developed in Oak Ridge in the early 1940s? That was an era of patriotism when members of the press had a sense of responsibility. A prominent slogan encouraging not divulging sensitive information read: “A slip of a lip might sink a ship.”

Somewhere along the line we have lost the distinction between a right and a responsibility. Though there might be a right to yell fire in a crowded building there is a responsibility not to do it if there is no fire.

“The New York Times” might show in a court of law they had the right to disclose the information regarding tracking terrorists by their financial transactions. It is elementally obvious they had the responsibility not to. In doing so they achieved two ends. They placed Americans at risk and aided the terrorists.

On a personal level there is an admonition to “speak the truth in love.” There are times love prompts us not to speak even the truth. That is not an encouragement to deceive. It is an appeal not to divulge hurtful truth if it is known to be injurious and of no benefit. That same principle needs to be employed by the press. I don’t know what motivated “The New York Times” but it wasn’t love for the American people.

Hezbollah In Our Midst

Let’s start with a disclaimer. Not all Baptists are alike. There is the understatement of the year. Against the reality of that background it is time we acknowledge not all Muslims are alike. Some want to live peacefully with non-Muslims.

There are over one billion Muslims. A significantly large number of them are blood thirsty and believe they are doing the will of Allah in trying to institute Islam globally. These jihadists are willing to go to apocalyptic extremes to bring all people into the Muslim fold and exclude all other religions.

There are several terrorist groups dedicated to this end with the backing of their religious leaders. Hizbollah in Lebanon, al-Qaeda in Iraq and Hamas in Gaza, are three. Only the naive believe the first two are restricted to the countries listed. One million Muslims were seen demonstrating in the streets of Beirut in support of Hizbollah.

For some reason the large demonstrations by Muslims supporting Hizbollah in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit were rarely seen on American TV. We failed to realize an elemental fact when we went into Iraq. Two factions of Islam, Shias and Sunnis, have battled each other there for nearly 1200 years.

When we leave they will start again. Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki, elected by a democratic process, is a Shia. He is having to battle the Sunni insurgency. The groups have battled for centuries. One thing they have in common is a desire for Iraq and the world to be a theocracy with Allah as “Theo.”

Shias and Sunnis fight because of a riff that occurred upon the death of Muhammad. Shias thought leadership of the movement should go to Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali, who was married to Fatima the daughter of Muhammad.

Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s confidant was chosen as the first Caliph to headed the Sunni branch. Sunnis constitute 85% to 90% of the world’s Muslim population. They are divided into four major schools of law, “Shari’ah,” the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi, and Hanbali. Each is named for the founder of their school of law.

The division between the two groups has widened to include such things as the role of oral tradition (Sunna) in interpreting the Qur’an.

All Muslim extremists have the same objective in mind. It is to make Islam the world’s religion to the exclusion of all others. All others, such as Christians and Jews, are considered infidels.

Fundamentalist Muslims divide the world into two categories. Dar El Islam, the House of Islam, consists of those countries under Islamic control. Dar El Harb, the House of War, is comprised of countries not under Islamic control.

Radical Muslims believe they are under a mandate from Allah to bring all nations into Dar El Islam. To do this they have three alternatives as to how to deal with non-Muslims: conquer and tax them, convert them, or kill them.

There are 129 war verses in the Qur’an that many Muslims interpret as legitimizing any means, even 9-11, to achieve this end.

Our best, and perhaps only way to win the war against terrorism, is to encourage the peace loving element of Islam to the extent they bring rational influences within their society that calm the world conquest passion. There are verses in the Qur’an that would support their effort.

America’s War Dead

We are each diminished by the death of any of our military personnel. Abhorrence for war, which we all share, has led some to become critical of what many feel is an essential military struggle against terrorism. We don’t want it but it won’t go away by itself.

Our grievous casualties were put into perspective for me by research done by a friend, Pat Adams.

Since the beginning of the Afghanistan War (10/01) there have been 295 US Military casualties.

Since the beginning of the Iraq War (3/19/03) there have been over 2,500 US Military deaths.

That totals more that 2,795 reasons to sorrow.

However, contrast that with what we have grown to tolerate in the United States.

From 2003 to 2005, drunk driving deaths in the US totaled 50,771.

During that same period the murders in New York City and Los Angeles totaled 3,184.

The total number of murders in America in those years was 49,577.

A breakdown shows an American Military member would be 1.3 times more likely to be killed walking the streets of New York or Los Angeles than patrolling a street in Iraq or Afghanistan.

A member of our military would be 18.2 times more likely to be killed driving on the streets in the United States than driving on the streets of Iraq or Afghanistan.

A member of our military is 17.7 times more likely to be murdered inside the United States than killed inside the boundaries of Iraq or Afghanistan.

This is no attempt to rationalize or minimize the war deaths. It does put into perspective the dramatic deaths tolerated in America.

A Palestinian youth in Israel being aware of the murder climate in New York asked me why our military doesn’t invade New York and establish peace there before going to Iraq. That is the mentality among many in the Arab world.

The Nazi invasion of the neighbors of Germany inevitably started World War II. What is now happening globally is the precursor to World War III.

Not all of the one billion Muslims are committed to this war. Many prefer peace. However, it is estimated there are over 5,000,000 radicals jihadists aligned against us. Scores of these want to be martyred in our destruction. They are anxious to die for Islam in a fight against those of us they consider infidels. Islam can win this war. That is not to say they will prevail militarily.

There is another hopeful outcome in which Islam prevails. In a different era when Islam was engaged in world conquest a rational element within realized their blood lust was not good for their countries. This rational element cooled their ambitions of conquest and aggression ceased. Such an element in the Muslim world needs to be encouraged. It is there. Let’s hope they win.

How Little Can A Person Be

Who is the smallest person you have ever known? I don’t mean small like the littlest man in the Bible. It wasn’t Nehemiah (Knee-high-miah) or the Bildad the Shuhite (Shoe-height). It was the Roman soldier who slept on his watch. Now that is small.

Not that kind of small. The reference is to a person who is insecure, one who has an inferior complex which results in trying to build up self by tearing others down. That never has worked. Lincoln said, “You can’t gain ground by slinging mud.”

A little person works insidiously to destroy the reputation and even institutions, programs, fountains, and facilities in general associated with a predecessor. Such a person is preoccupied not with filling the shoes of one who went before but burying them. This often results in the person being so consumed by this passion all other decisions are influenced by it. The past is to be forgotten and those associated with it diminished.

Such a person fails to realize they are building their own negative legacy as a little envious person. They begrudge the success of the past and resent persons associated with it. They hope to make themselves look better by making others look bad.

I learned of such a person on a recent trip to Egypt. The queenly Hatshepsut ruled Egypt as Pharaoh. Her son and successor Tutmose III worked with a passion to have all indication of her life and work eradicated. He even had her name removed form the list of rulers. All monuments to her were defaced; tributes were destroyed. On occasion Tutmose III would have sculptors chisel off her face from statues and have his replace it. He had a problem and it wasn’t Hatshepsut.

During her reign she had the support of the leaders in Thebes and the populace throughout the land, took full royal titulary, and ruled for twenty years as pharaoh. Yet, only faint reminders of her success and image remain. Were it not for her stunningly beautiful mortuary terrace temple at Deir el-Bahri there would be little remaining evidence of her rule. She was one of three leaders who develop the new Egypt but the efforts of her successor virtually removed all evidence of her life and work.

It is the centuries old effort to eradicate her accomplishments that has resulted in a contemporary effort to redeem her record and give her the place deserved on history’s horizon. More and more efforts are being made to confirm her deeds. Such efforts reveal Tutmose III as a little man. Any persons disposed to his conduct align themselves with the little people of this world.

Over an entrance to Westminster Abby is this inscription: “The workman dies, but the work lives on.” That is especially true in the spiritual realm. Solomon described the permanent record of their work in these words: “Whatever God does, it shall be forever, nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it” (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

Little people decry what God won’t deny. In the mean time fluff up that pillow on the watch.