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resented--- throughout the Middle
East.
To fill this void we publish this
article for our readers.
Events in the Moslem world are
too often interpreted through
Western
eyes. Western observers
often impose their own precon–
ceived notions onto events there
and interprct them according to
Western criteria. They see religion
from the vantage point of their own
limited Western experience.
Here líes the root of the West's
gross misunderstanding of the
Moslem world.
Prope r "Camer a Settlng"
To properly comprehend the Mos–
lem world, it is necessary to put
oneself into Mos lem shoes, to
think in Moslem terms,
to see the
world through Moslem eyes.
From that perspective one can
begin to acqui re a deeper insight
into Islam and its role in world
events today.
A century ago, when Britain was
wrestling with troublesome prob–
lems in Egypt and the Sudan,
Prime Minister Gladstone thought
it wise to study the Koran, lslam's
Holy Book. Only that way, he
asserted, could he really come to
know the people and the faith with
which he was contending.
Despite the questionable results
of his Middl e Eastern policies,
Gladstone had at least understood
in principie the importance of view–
ing the Moslem world from the
proper vantage point, the proper
"camera setting."
lt
is also time to understand
what
the Bible
says about the Mos–
lem faith and about the significance
of events in the Moslem world–
now, and in the tumultuous years
just ahead!
Popular Re l iglon
Understand, first, the importance
of Islam as a contemporary world
force. Islam is a global fait h. Near–
ly one person in five in the world
today- some 800 million people in
more than 75 countries- is a Mos–
lem. T his is a sizable bloc and one
with great potential power and
influence.
Islam is also one of the world's
most popular religions, possibly the
fastest-growing faith on the globe.
6
In sub-Sahatan Africa, Islam is
reportedly winning
JO times
as
many converts as. t raditional Chris–
tianity!
lt
is important to understand,
too, that not all Arabs are Moslems
(sorne 1
O
percent are Christian),
nor are all Moslems Arabs. l ntro–
duced among the Arabs in the sev–
enth century, Islam spread swiftly
throughout the Middle East, North
Africa and South Asia. Multiple
millions of non-Arabs were added
to the fold of Islam. Within a cen–
tury Islam cont rolled an empire
more vast than that of Rome or
Alexander the Great.
Submission to Allah
Islam means many things to many
Moslems. Literally, Islam means
"submission to Allah." A Moslem
is "one who submits." Moslems,
however, have differing ideas of
their faith according to their social
.class, education, política! leanings
and cultural background.
Like other religions, Islam has
become fragmented over the centu–
ries by theological feuds and dis–
agreements. Today, Islam is split
into two main branches, the Sunni
and Shiite groups. These two
branches resulted from a major
schism over the issue of who should
succeed. to Moslem leadership fol–
lowing the death of the Prophet
Mohammed, the religion's founder,
in A.D.
632.
Mainstream Sunn i l slam- ac–
counting for nearly 90 percent of
all Moslems-is divided into four
"schools" of interpretation. By con–
trast, the
1O
percent of all Moslems
who are Shiites- located primarily
in l ran, Jraq, Yemen and Oman–
are split into dozens of sects, sub–
sects and offshoots, sorne of which
are considered heretical by Sunni
Moslems.
The centuries- long quest for
lslamic unity remains a distarH
dream, due largely to a lack of
effective Jeadership. Disunity and
fragmentation have been the gener–
al rule within the Islamic
ummah,
or community.
lt
is therefore diffi–
cult to generalize about Islam as if
it were a single, coherent bloc.
Nevertheless, all Moslems share
certain basic beliefs and outlooks.
First and foremost is their one-sen–
tence creed, called the
shahadah:
"There is no God but Allah, and
Mohammed is His Messenger." A
solemn recitation of this confession
of fait h Uust eight words in Ara–
bio) is the only requirement for
becoming a Moslem.
According to Moslem belief, an
archangei - Gabriel--descended to
Mohammed, first in A.D.
61 O,
and
imparted to him the wisdom of the
Koran. At first, Mohammed was
afraid he was going insane or was
possessed by an evil spirit. But he
soon became convinced that his
calling was truly from God.
Mos lem Holy Book
Moslems consider the Koran's
114
suras
or chapters as the literal
word of God, superseding all pre–
vious revelations (including the
Bible) and correcting the alleged
"errors" that had crept into Chris–
tianity and Judaism. In length, the
Koran is somewhat shorter than the
New Testament.
Mohammed contended that J ews
and Christians had been worshiping
Allah all along, but under a differ–
ent name. The Koran recognizes
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses,
J esus and other biblical personali–
ties as genuine prophets through
whom God spoke. Mohammed's
fami ly lineage is traced to Abra–
ham through the patriarch's grand–
son Kedar, son of Ishmael (Gen.
25:13).
Moslems, however, regard Mo–
hammed as the greatest and the last
(or "sea!") of the prophets. Mos–
lems deny the divinity of Jesus, as
well as his crucifixion and resur–
rection. " They do blaspheme who
say: 'God is Christ the son of
Mary,'" the Koran asserts.
Despite the high position they
accord to Moharnmed, Moslems do
not venerate him as a divine being.
They take offense at being called
"Mohammedans," feeling that that
term implies they worship Moham–
med.
In addition to the Koran, most
Moslems also pay heed to the
sun–
na
(the traditions of what Moham–
med did) and the
hadith
(the tradi–
tions of what he said).
Compared to other relígions,
Islam is loosely organized. There is
no formal institutional hierarchy of
authori ty-no Moslem pope or car-
(Cont inued on page 41 )
The
PLAIN TRUTH