Expert: Mel and Guyna Horne - 4/6/2011

Question
I am so grateful for your answers. I already sent a copy of it to the Muslim scholar who I was talking with. I hope you didn't mind.
Thank you so much!
Mary

Answer
Hi Mary,

We do not mind that you shared our response with others, however, our response was directed to you and not to someone of the Muslim faith. Some of our statements would have been phrased differently had we known that a Muslim would read it.  He may be offended by some of our comments and we try to avoid offending anyone.  

Comments critical of Islam are often labeled as "Islamophobia" and some Muslim organizations are trying to have all criticism of Islam banned by the UN as a hate crime, leaving them free to criticize and condemn all other religions at will.  A phobia is defined as an irrational, intense or unreasonable fear, and we have no fear of Islam or of terrorism because God commands us to fear no one but God himself (Mat. 10:28), in the sense of awe and respect, not terror. We do not hate Muslims because God considers hate a form of murder (Mat. 5:21-22, 27-28). God commands love toward, and forgiveness of, all others (Mat. 22:36-40).
A true Christian cannot hold feelings or thoughts of fear, hatred, or racial prejudice toward anyone, including Muslims.

However, the law of God always emphasizes speaking the truth in love (Eph.4:14-15) and condemns all form of lying including political correctness, socially acceptable lying and all other forms of deceit, including lies told in the name of a religion or told to promote a religion (Rev. 21:8), whether that religion is Christianity or Islam.
A true Christian must speak the truth in love, without fear of public opinion. While we are to pray for God's protection, Heb. 11 lists the examples we are to follow. Truth sets us free from fear (Jn. 8:32).

Muslims generally only accept the Torah, (Gen., Ex. Lev. Deu. and Nu.), the book of Psalms and the four gospel accounts (Mat., Mk., Lk, and John) as being from God, and reject the rest of the Holy Bible.

Public discussion of terrorists' goals, terrorists' connections with Islam, and Islamic teachings from the Qur'an and hadith that promote violence are met with blanket accusations of hate, racial prejudice and Islamophobia.
Accusations of fear, prejudice and hate do not negate the truth.  We are told to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15, 13-14). How others perceive that truth will vary according to their own individual feelings of fear, prejudice or hate.   It is impossible to please both God and men (Gal.1:10).


Pointing out the verses in the Qur'an that require violence is usually met with objections of them being taken out of context.

Obviously context is important to understanding.
However, the terrorists, the terrorist organizations and the Imams teaching violence and hate to Islamic children are obviously not teaching a non-violent context to those who are fully committed to Jihad, to bombings, to kidnappings, to beheadings and to the use of weapons of mass destruction, such as the events of 9/11 and the multiple and daily attacks on American civilians, the American military and other civilians and soldiers throughout Europe and the world. This includes attacks on those who are not inside Arab countries or threatening an Islamic holy place (excuses that even the non-violent Muslims say justify violence).

For example, the following headline is from just last month: "Muslim campaign to “clear Christianity” from Ethiopia"   
http://www.barnabasaid.org/muslim-campaign-to-clear-christianity-from-ethiopia.h...

We know that not all Muslims are terrorists and not all of them commit violence.

The non-violent Muslims are, by their own Holy Book, and by their own explanations, responsible for Muslims who are committing terrorists' acts.
"Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of God is commemorated in abundant measure . . ." Qur'an 22:40.   

"Note that the verse specifically commands the protection of all houses of worship. Finally, the Qur'an also says, "Let there be no compulsion in religion" (2:256).
Forcing someone at the point of a sword to choose death or Islam is an idea that is foreign to Islam in spirit and in historical practice. There is absolutely no question of waging a "holy war" to "spread the faith" and compel people to embrace Islam; that would be an unholy war and the people's forced conversions would not be sincere."
As examples of Qur'anic teaching of peace, they reference Qur'an 5:32, 16:125-128, 4:135, 42:40-43, 41:34-35.
http://expertscolumn.com/content/jihad-and-terrorism-what-quran-teaches


"The Qur'an describes Jihad as a system of checks and balances, as a way that Allah set up to "check one people by means of another." When one person or group transgresses their limits and violates the rights of others, Muslims have the right and the duty to "check" them and bring them back into line."
Expertscolumn.com, Jihad and Terrorism? What the Qur'an Teaches, Mar. 18, 2010
http://expertscolumn.com/content/jihad-and-terrorism-what-quran-teaches

[Ed. Note: If they do not "check them and bring them back into line," it would appear that they approve of their violence.  Islamic teachers often say, "What the Qur'an does not forbid, is permitted." http://muttaqun.com/names.html  ]

Muslims insist:
"Hate is not good for any person. I want to assure you that we Muslims also do not hate non-Muslims, be they Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhist or followers of any religion or no religion. Our religions does not allow killing any innocent person regardless of his or her religion. The life of all human beings is sacrosanct according to the teachings of the Qur'an and the guidance of our blessed Prophet Muhammad . . ."
"The Qur'an prohibits murder: al-An'am 6:151, al-Isra' 17:33, al-Ma'idah 5:32".
http://www.quranicstudies.com/articles/peace-in-the-quran/does-the-quran-teach-v...

However, it would appear that a large portion of Muslims understand the "context" of the violent verses of the Qur'an, in the same way that the thousands of Christian victims and other non-Muslim victims of Jihad understand them.

The word Islam actually means "submission” or “surrender to Allah" or “surrender to the will of Allah“.  It does not mean "peace" except by the Muslim interpretation of “peace accomplished under the Islamic Rule of sharia law.”
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Islam       http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Islam
http://www.4islam.com/islamdef.shtml                       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
http://www.netserf.org/glossary/I.cfm                         http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08190a.htm
http://www.submission.org/islam/

The violence and intolerance expressed in the Qur'an are obvious, unless obfuscated by a Muslim practicing taqiyya (deceit).
Surveys consistently show 10-15% of Muslims approve of radical Islam. Out of 1.2 billion Muslims, that means 120,000,000 to 180,000,000 (million) people ready to fund and physically help the "jihadists."

Regardless of all this, we always try to avoid offending anyone. If your acquaintance is offended, we apologize. Our comments were not directed at him or anyone else specifically, but were merely a frank discussion of Islam as written in the Qur'an and as practiced by millions.

As we said before, we have friends who are Muslims.  We also hope that he will not become angry with you over this matter.
Sincerely,
Mel and Guyna