Once again, nearby Dearborn is in the news because of the demonstrations against the city’s Islamification, which brought out counter-protesters, involving clashes & arrests. A showdown took place between those waving American flags & those walking in the street shouting, “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is the Greatest/Greater!”).
But Islam has been growing in many cities beyond the Detroit area through immigration & procreation, with numerous mosques being constructed in Texas, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, & others. That’s enough to create spiritual concern, but it goes beyond religion. If all the imams were teaching just the Quran’s false doctrines, that’d be bad enough, but they’re teaching the hadiths, the sayings of Muhammad & his biography, which are largely political. That’s because Islam is a political & legal system that also has a religion to it. It is a conquering religion, not, as claimed, a peaceful religion.
For 14 centuries, Christian nations have resisted Islamic expansion. So we can’t afford to be ignorant of the history of Islamic conquest, or be naive about its intentions today. Islam is vastly different from Christianity, with radically different views of God & Jesus, & the kingdom, which has led to radically different civilizations. Christians seek to be like Jesus; Muslims want to be like Muhammad.
Jesus didn’t establish an earthly government or legal system (“My kingdom is not of this world”). He didn’t lead military battles to kill soldiers & civilians, torture anyone, or conquer territory. He didn’t own slaves. Jesus never forced anyone to follow Him or strike down anyone who left the faith. Muhammad did all those things. He led around 70-100 military actions. He personally killed at least one, but ordered or oversaw battles that killed many hundreds. In addition, he had hundreds of Jews beheaded.
In 632, Muhammad died. Within 9 years, Muslims conquered the Christian cities of Damascus & Antioch, the Holy Land, Armenia (the 1st Christian country), & the Coptic Christian country of Egypt. Through the centuries, Christian areas were targeted & invaded through military jihad. They went on to reach southern Italy & Cyprus, taking thousands as slaves & concubines.
Recently, in Ceuta, Spain (population of about 80,000), on the coast of Africa, some 60,000 mostly young men from Morocco flooded the city. This isn’t new. Muslim armies conquered North Africa & used Ceuta as the launching pad for invading Spain in AD 711. Within a few years, they took over most of the nation. In 730, they pushed into France, but were stopped at the Battle of Tours. The Muslims held Spain for nearly 800 years. They were finally pushed out of Spain in 1492.
Within 100 years of Muhammad’s death, Islam conquered most of the Christian world. By 732, Islam had taken North Africa from the Christian Byzantine Empire. In 792, they tried invading France again. 35 years later, they invaded Sicily & Italy, persecuting monks. In 846, they invaded Rome & forced the Pope to pay tribute. They soon after tried a 3rd invasion of France, but were repelled again. In 909, they occupied Sardinia. In 1071, they defeated the Byzantines & took control of most of modern Turkey. In 1094, the Byzantine emperor asked Western Christendom for help against Muslim Turkish invasions. This led to the Pope calling for the First Crusade. There’s no justification for what took place during the Crusades, but they should be seen as a response to over 400 years of Islamic aggressions.
Christians were treated as 2nd-class & required to pay the “jizya,” a tax & sign of submission. Failure to pay could result in enslavement, death, & destruction of church buildings. No public displays of Christianity were allowed, & no new churches could be built. Criticism of Islam & evangelizing Muslims were strictly forbidden. Typically, important Christian holy sites were turned into mosques or museums, including the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the largest church in Christendom for 1000 years.
In countries currently dominated by Muslims, Christianity is illegal or severely restricted (public worship is prohibited or extremely limited, & conversion from Islam to Christianity, evangelizing Muslims, or publicly practicing Christianity can result in imprisonment, severe punishment, or (in some cases) the death penalty: Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Maldives, & Brunei.
In other countries, Christianity is legal but faces significant oppression from Islamist governments, extremist groups, or Muslim-majority societies: Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mozambique (Cabo Delgado Province), Cameroon (Far North Region), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, & Kyrgyzstan. Why would anyone think they’d treat us differently if they gain enough power here?
Muslims are constructing mosques all over America thanks to our tolerance, but try to open a Christian church in any Muslim nation, & see how far you get. The goal is not to integrate & assimilate into American society – it’s to integrate Islam into America. It won’t be by military conquest as in the past. It will be by subversion from within.
The issue isn’t about individual Muslims. It’s with Islam itself & those who take the Quran’s violent texts seriously. Individual Muslim beliefs vary widely; many reject theocratic or militant interpretations. As my friend, who’s translating the Scriptures for 1 million Muslims in East Africa, told me– there’s a difference between Quranic Muslims & “folk” Muslims who may not even be aware of who Mohammed is. Most practice a cafeteria version, following the parts they like, & ignoring the parts they don’t. No one knows really how many Muslims would impose Islam if they could, but not all would. Even if the peaceful majority of moderates don’t want to, they’re irrelevant because once Islamization takes place, the forceful minority of Islamists will use intimidation, oppression, & force.
We should love our Muslim neighbors, but we should also hate the destructive & dangerous ideology they claim. We don’t attack the people; we attack beliefs & behaviors. We treat Muslim people with consideration as we do all people. But we should not surrender our civilization where Christianity is the foundation, with freedom to openly practice & spread our faith. We’re not “Islamophobic” because we hate Muslims. But we have every justification to be “Islamophobic” due to a long history of conquest & current acts of terrorism.
Even now, people are afraid to speak out. If we were to hear someone shout, “Allahu Akbar,” we’d be looking for an escape. But we don’t live in fear. We pray, befriend, & share our faith because we want Muslims not only to assimilate into society, but to enter into God’s kingdom through the Lord Jesus.