June Thoughts

The month of June is swiftly coming to a close, but it brings with it this year’s observance of the Ramadan.


 

Islam, the religion of “Complete submission to the will of Allah.” Some 70% of Sierra Leonean’s claim to be Muslim, but most are nominal Muslims at best.

Here are a few things that I have learned in regards to Islam in Sierra Leone.

There are two frequently asked questions that stem from a misunderstanding of Deuteronomy 18.

1. Is Mohammed mentioned in the Bible?

Seeing as he was born near A.D. 570 and the Bible was finished by at least A.D. 90, a difference of 480 years, no he was not mentioned in the Bible.

2. Doesn’t the Bible say that “The Prophet” will come? 

Deuteronomy 18 does speak of a prophet coming, but a good question to come back with after reading the passage to them is “From what country did Mohammed come out?” Saudi Arabia. Ok. So in Deuteronomy 18:18 It says a prophet will be raised up from among the BRETHREN, and that he would speak God’s words. God is speaking to the Jews, of a man who will be of their nationality, Mohammed is not a Jew, and even worse, he does not speak God’s words, but his own. So no Mohammed is not mentioned in the Bible as the Prophet that would come!

3. Doesn’t Jesus say that someone greater than Him would come after Him? 

This question surprised me the first time I heard it and I really had to think about what was being asked, but then I realized that John 1:26-27 has been twisted out of context.  John the Baptist is the one in John 1 that was speaking, not Jesus and John says that there is one that “STANDETH” among the people whose shoe latchet he, John, was not worthy to unloose. Mohammed was not standing on the earth during the time that John spoke these things. Also, what can be mistaken for this notion is John 14:16 where Jesus speaks of sending another Comforter, but the one qualification to be the Comforter was that He would “Abide with you for ever.” Mohammed is dead and in the grave! So he is not the one who would come after John, nor is he the Comforter that should come. (It is amazing what perversions are taught by lifting verses out of their context!)

4. Did Jesus really die on the cross?

Islam says no! Actually they say, Judas died in Jesus place. God put a face like Jesus over Judas’ face so that men would not realize it was not Jesus who died! Some people believe Jesus came down off the cross; He then went to India, where he married and had many children!

5. One of the strangest things I have heard was in regards to the story of Cain and Abel. .

According to one young former Muslim I talked with, when Cain and Abel were born, they both were born with twin sisters. Now there was nothing taboo about marrying your sister, but you could not marry your own twin! Both brothers had twin sisters, but Cain’s twin was more beautiful than Abel’s twin was. Cain wanted to marry his own twin, but Abel told him he could not. They went to sacrifice to God to see who God would say was right, Cain or Abel. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but rejected Cain’s, thus Cain was prohibited from marrying his twin. He got angry, that God accepted Abel, so Cain killed his brother!  Makes for an interesting story, but I will stick with the Biblical account!

6. You must know a special language to get into heaven –

Somewhere in either Islamic writings or verbal tradition, they have taught that when men stand before God at the Judgment they will have to know a special language (AKA Arabic) in order for God to let them into heaven. That works out all right for you if you are from Saudi Arabia and other staunchly Arab countries, but not for everyone else.   

7. We all serve the same God!

It would be impossible to count how many times I have heard this comment! Sadly, it is not true and the Quran itself is confused on this issue. Surah 3:85 say, “And whosoever seeks a faith other than Islam (-complete submission to the will of God) it will never be accepted from him, and she shall be of the losers in the hereafter. While Surah 29:46 states, “…We believe in all that was revealed to us and in that which has been revealed to you, and our god and your God is one, and to Him we stand resigned.” These two Surah’s contradict each other. One says that if you do not follow Islam, that Allah will not accept you, but then later the Quran says that “we” (Muslims) believe their own writings (Quran) as well as God’s writings (Bible)! In truth to the ONE, TRUE, and Living God they will stand resigned, but not in the way, they think!

One day I got into a conversation with a young boy about Islam. He was trying his level best to prove that I was wrong about Mohamed, the Quran etc. Near the end of our conversation, I learned that this boy, probably 12 years old, was not able to read. Everything he knew about Islam, he had learned from his father. He did not have the ability to read the truth, but had the utmost faith in what his father had told him. While it is great that a boy would put great faith in what his father tells him, how sad when you realize that father is leading him down a path that will end in separation from God forever! The only hope that boy has is for someone to continually tell him about Christ, until there is doubt in his mind about his religion that he will seek for the truth.

 

Please pray for the thousands of children whose faith in Christ will have to come about by HEARING the word of God, because they will never be able to read it for themselves!

 

Romans 10:17

So then faith cometh by hearing,

and hearing by the word of God.