SUBJECT: GROWTH OF ISLAM IN UK
Greetings
I wanted to contribute a response to your
inquiry concerning the growth of Islam in Britain.
I am an American, currently resident in the UK, with professional
research experience in matters involving the Middle East.
Statistics clearly infer that over the past 20 years Islam has
been the fastest growing religion in Britain.
The largest mosque in Western Europe is situated in London's
Regent Park, and there is an Islamic university alongside. In
1945 there was one mosque in England, in 1950 there were 25, in
1960 there were 80, in 1976 there were 200, etc. Muslims here in
Oxford were finally given permission to establish a mosque a few
years ago, and it is located near where I live.
Within the past couple of years in one part of Birmingham one has
been able to hear above the urban din the electrically amplified
calls to prayer of a Muslim muezzin, just like in cities in N.
Africa and the Middle East.
In one sense these facts are terribly disconcerting. When one
passes through the English countryside it is the spires of the
parish churches which are most prominent above all the villages,
yet in recent years the abandonment of church buildings because
of disuse has been a topic of much concern. One thinks of
England, and one thinks of a *Christian* nation. The imprint of
Christianity ˙is everywhere. ˙Last Saturday I attended a memorial
service in the University Church for a don who died last ˙summer,
and ˙the ˙particular congregation was predominantly ˙agnostic ˙or
atheistic, but ˙the service itself was ˙Christian ˙through ˙and
through...a tradition.
England is an Islamic target. During an international Islamic
conference in London in the late 1970s the keynote speaker said,
'If we can win London for Islam, it won't be hard to win the
whole Western world.' But all this evidence is only part of the
picture. Muslims are not noticed proselytising here...but, then,
Muslims do not generally proselytise the way evangelical
Christians do. *Jihad* means 'struggle' rather more than 'war',
and *influence* can be part of it.
If Muslims are able to induce ecumenical attitudes in Western
Christians, it can prove advantageous for them. You may be sure
you will not encounter any reciprocal fair-mindedness in Saudi
Arabia, much less in Iran. The influence of the oil and markets
of Muslim countries has been awesome. This has however shifted
with developments in international affairs. Oil lost its sway.
Terrorism went too far. Britain and the rest of the West shifted
their perspectives considerably. It must also be said that the
growth of Islam in Britain has mainly been due to large numbers
of Muslims moving here, rather than through many
converts...though there have been, unhappily, conversions (Cat
Stevens, the singer and composer, is a devout Muslim now).
Finally, if you are in Washington, DC, you should take note of
the 160 ˙ft. high minaret above the mosque of the Islamic Center
on Massachusetts Ave. And consider also the alarming growth of
the Black Muslims in our country, the USA, and their links to the
most radical Islamic nations.
Read the Koran. 'Allah' is demonic, and has NOTHING to do with
God. But Muslims in our midst are not to be feared or hated. We
must prayerfully, confidently, show them the Love of Christ, and
speak the Truth to them without compromise.
SUBJECT: Re: GROWTH OF ISLAM IN UK
Greetings, I appreciated your words of encouragement and
faith.
Islam ˙is a formidable seducing spirit and a murderous one in the
world ˙today...and ˙no evidence is lacking in ˙support ˙of ˙these
conclusions. ˙I empathize with some of the testimonials of others
which ˙preceded my words about the threat of Islam to the UK; ˙˙I
would ˙agree ˙with ˙them that encounters with ˙unbelievers ˙(i.e.
people who have no faith in any religion) ˙often seem more common
and ˙problematic ˙than confrontations with Muslim ˙proselytising,
etc. ˙˙But whatever Muslims may seem to have in common with us is
attributable ˙to the fact that Muhammed selectively borrowed ˙his
values from Judeo-Christian revelation.
This ˙infers ˙what it is that makes Islam one of ˙history's ˙most
evil systems: ˙most of the other so-called 'great religions' ˙are
not ˙known to have originated amongst peoples who 'exchanged ˙the
truth ˙of ˙God ˙for a lie'; ˙there's no evidence that ˙Buddha ˙or
Confucius, ˙for instance, ˙ever knew the truth of God; ˙primitive
tribes around the planet have variously created and developed all
manner of unusual and imaginative religious systems; but Muhammed
KNEW Christians and Jews, ˙he was also exposed to the Old and New
Testaments, ˙and the religion satan spawned through him was, ˙˙in
other words, a Judeo-Christian heresy from its inception.
The ˙spiritual ˙bondage ˙of Islam is ˙tremendously ˙sinister ˙and
strong. ˙˙Islam ˙is ˙no ˙less ˙devoted ˙to ˙world ˙conquest ˙than
Communism. ˙˙And ˙Islam is very, ˙very cruel. ˙As ˙the ˙historian
Toynbee ˙once ˙put it, ˙while believers in Jesus and Buddha ˙have
sometimes ˙waged ˙murderous, ˙unjust wars in the names ˙of ˙their
religions, ˙when they did it they were not following the examples
of the founders of their respective faiths; ˙but, ˙he said, ˙when
Muslims ˙do ˙it they follow the example of Muhammed ˙himself...he
wiped out whole communities of peoples who resisted him, allowing
debased ˙sensuality, ˙pillage and slave-taking as enticements ˙to
his followers.
All unbelievers are equally dead in their sins while they ˙remain
unbelievers, but Islam BEGAN as a heresy. Muslims are
consistently the most difficult of peoples to convert to Christ,
and this explains why.
THE MUSLIMS WAY TO ALLAH
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5 4 3 2 1 (1) Belief [Shahada]
(2) Alms [Zakat]
(3) Fast [Ramadan]
(4) Pilgrimage [Mecca]
(5) Prayer [5 x a day]
The ˙ritual prohibitions together with the 5 pillars and as ˙many
good deeds as is possible do not guarentee that paradise will ˙be
attained.
The ˙Koran ˙has no assurance of a 'heaven'. ˙It relies ˙on ˙man's
doing and all the failures associated with it.
How like the nominal christian who believes in a creed(1), ˙gives
to charity(2), ˙goes to church, birth, ˙marriage and death , with
the odd christmas and easter thrown in(4), ˙and prayer, ˙well yes
if pushed or maybe every now and then at bedtime(5).
Jesus says "I AM THE WAY" "I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU"
"TODAY YOU SHALL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE"
"NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT BY ME"
Christianity does not rely on MAN, ˙God sent HIS SON an ˙atoining
sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10)
The GULF has been crossed by Jesus himself at Calvary and we can
have eternal life here and now, recieve it and be sure of it, ˙no
one can take it away Jesus promise "none shall pluck them from my
hand"
The KEYS may look the same but only JESUS fits, only JESUS is the
sinless, ˙˙spotless SON OF GOD. ˙THE GOD-MAN, God incarnate in
human flesh, JESUS is the only way.
ISLAM
"It ˙is commonplace today to speak of the battle of the ˙eighties
to be between Islam, Marxism and Third World Christianity.
Western ˙Christianity is on the whole too flabby to ˙do ˙anything
about it. One of the clearest symptoms of this is the sad decline
in true spirituality amongst the majority of Western Christians.
We have neglected our prayer life; ˙we have stopped listening ˙to
God; ˙we have been caught by the covetous spirit of our ˙affluent
society, ˙˙and worshipped the false god of materialism. ˙We ˙have
exchanged our knowledge of *Theos* (God) for heady disputes about
theological words, ˙or for religious or social activism. ˙We have
forgotten how to be still before God, how to meditate, trapped as
we ˙are in the vortex of modern life. ˙We have lost our sense ˙of
direction; ˙and, ˙confused and bewildered, ˙we know little of the
exhuberant ˙joy ˙of celebration enjoyed by God's people down ˙the
centuries, even in tough and depressing situations.
There ˙is ˙little to attract the unbeliever in ˙the ˙traditional,
organized ˙Church. ˙˙The tragedy is that most people outside ˙the
Church ˙today are hungry and thirsty for God or for some form ˙of
spiritual reality, but the Church as an institution has little to
offer in terms of living bread or the wine of the Spirit.
It ˙is hardly surprising, ˙therefore, ˙that a growing number ˙are
turning ˙to ˙the ˙cults, ˙˙to eastern mysticism, ˙˙or ˙to ˙occult
practices ˙in ˙pursuit of a basic spirituality that ˙the ˙Western
Church no longer seems to provoke.
From ˙David Watson's foreword to 'Celebration of Discipline', ˙by
R. Foster
Just a note here: Muslims most emphatically do not
believe the same things as Christians, though they share some of
the same moral values...along with many other religions.
And even more emphatically, the Koran does NOT contain ANY of the
same books as the Bible.
Some of the historical figures from Scripture are mentioned in the
Koran, but their characters and significances are radically
altered, particularly the Person of Jesus Christ.
Islam is an anti-Christ system, plainly and simply. Jesus is the
Son of God. Islam explicitly denies the fact, and many others
which are absolutely essential. The question here is not what you
or I or anyone think about Jesus or about Muhammed or about
anything. It has to do with what God has revealed. There is no
way that one can be a Christian and admit the relative merit of a
seductive, satanic deception... which is precisely what Islam is.
If there are any doubts, read the Koran.
I ˙too ˙know ˙many Muslims personally, ˙from a ˙wide ˙variety ˙of
backgrounds. Many are warm, hospital folks on personal terms.
But ˙don't be deceived by that which has deceived generations ˙of
their people. ˙Stand firm under the Banner of Christ. ˙Jesus died
on the Cross for YOU! Muhammed didn't.
The ˙simplest ˙way ˙to ˙deal with this, ˙˙for ˙anyone ˙who ˙feels
confused, ˙is to personally submit the matter to God, ˙the God of
the Bible, ˙in prayer. ˙He is Lord! ˙He will clarify these points
very ˙satisfactorily, ˙and in a personal, ˙loving, ˙˙and ˙utterly
convincing way, I assure you.
Subject: THE KORAN V.S. THE BIBLE
Some quotes from the KORAN concerning Jesus and Christianity:
"Those who say: 'The Lord of Mercy has begotten a son,' preach a
monstrous falsehood, ˙at which the very heavens might crack, the
earth break asunder, and the mountains crumble to dust. That they
should ascribe a son to the Merciful, when it does not become Him
to beget one!" 19:88.
"...of Jesus, who said to the Israelites: 'I am sent forth to you
by Allah to confirm the Torah already revealed and to give news
of an apostle that will come after me whose name is Ahmed'" 61:6
(Note: "Ahmed" is another name of Muhammed's, meaning "The
Praised One").
"The Jews say Ezra is the son of Allah, while the Christians say
the Messiah is the son of Allah. Such are their assertions, by
which they imitate the infidels of old. Allah confound them! How
perverse they are! They worship their rabbis and their monks, and
the Messiah the son of Mary, as gods besides Allah; though they
were ordered to serve one God only. There is no god but Him" 9:30
(Note: The charge that Jews say Ezra is the son of Allah has no
known basis in Jewish religious tradition).
"To Moses We gave the Scriptures and after him We sent other
apostles. We gave Jesus the son of Mary veritable signs and
strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Will you then scorn each
apostle whose message does not suit your fancies, charging some
with imposture and slaying others? They say: 'Our hearts are
sealed.' But Allah has cursed them for their unbelief. They have
but little faith. And now that a Book confirming their own has
come to them from Allah, they deny it, although they know it to
be the truth and have long prayed for elp against the
unbelievers. May Allah's curse be upon the infidels!" 2:86.
"With those who said they were Christians We made a covenant
also, but they too have forgotten much of what they were
enjoined...People of the Book! Our apostle has come to reveal to
you much of what you have hidden of the Scriptures, and to
forgive you much. A light has come to you from Allah and a
glorious Book...Unbelivers are those who declare: 'Allah is the
Messiah, the son of Mary'" 5:14-17
"Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends.
They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their
friendship shall become one of their number. Allah does not guide
the wrongdoers" 5:51.
"Unbelievers are those who say: 'Allah is the Messiah, the son of
Mary.' For the Messiah himself said: 'Children of Israel, serve
Allah, my Lord and your Lord.' He that worships other gods
besides Allah shall be forbidden Paradise and shall be cast into
the fire of Hell. None shall help the evildoers. Unbelievers are
those that say: 'Allah is one of three.' There is but one God. If
they do not desist from so saying, those of them that disbelieve
shall be sternly punished. Will they not turn to Allah in
repentance and seek forgiveness of Him? He is forgiving and
merciful. The Messiah, the son of Mary, was no more than an
apostle..." 5:72-75.
* Origin: Trinity 2 - Faringdon, Oxfordshire (511/113)