By: Gen. James Green
LET’S SETTLE the matter of the crusades: Was it Christian aggression, or was it Islamic aggression that sparked the Crusades?: “There is far more violence in the Bible than in the Quran; the idea that Islam imposed itself by the SWORD is a Western fiction, fabricated during the time of the Crusades when, in fact, it was Western Christians who were fighting BRUTAL Holy Wars against Islam” (Andra Bistrich, “Discovering the common Grounds of World Religions,” interview with Karen Armstrong, Share Int’l 26, No. 7, Sept. 2007).
“Commands to kill, to commit ethnic cleansing, to institutionalize segregation, to hate and fear other races and religions…all are in the Bible, and occur with a far greater frequency than in the Quran. At every stage, we can argue what the passages in question mean, and certainly whether they should have any relevance for later ages. But the fact remains that the words are there, and their inclusion in the Scripture means that they are, literally canonized, no less than in the Muslim Scripture” (Philip Jenkins, “Dark Passages,” 2009).
We might STOP HERE and ask, “Why don’t these ‘scholars’ cite the Hadith?,” even though the Quran has its share of “VIOLENT” SURAS—which I quote time and time again in my writings (I have literally several hundred articles in print, plus a dozen or more DVDs, exposing political/religious Islam—free). Before we get into our comparative study on Islam/Christianity in the Crusades, let me mention a thing or two about the Hadith. Almost everybody cites the Quran, but few cite the Hadith. While the Quran is the most read and most popular, IF YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ISLAM’S FOUNDER—MUHAMMAD (OR MOHAMMED)—YOU’VE GOT TO GET INTO THE HADITH. Islam is defined by the words of Allah (Islam’s false moon god) in the Quran and the words and deeds of Muhammad, the Sunna.
The Sunna is found in 2 Collections of texts:
1) the Sira (Muhammad’s life);
2) the Hadith.
The Quran has in writing 91 times that his words/deeds are considered to be the divine pattern for (all) humanity. Of course we know this is not true.
A hadith (tradition) is a brief story about the (false) prophet Muhammad, what he did or said. All the hadiths are called a Hadith. One thing that the Muslims do not want us to know is that thousands of hadiths have been done away with. The most read Hadith is the Muhammad Ibn Ismail Al-Bukhari, or just “Bukhari.” The second is the Abu Al-Husayn Muslim, or “Muslim.” Bukhari once had 600,000 hadiths, he took the most reliable (ones he thought true!) 6,720, and recorded them in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari. Some scholars in Islamic matters claim 300,000, not 600,000. The 300,000 figure was dropped down to 100,000 that might be true. He then, as some scholars/historians claim, narrowed this number (100,000) down to 7,275, many of which are repetitions, so they claim the number is near 3,000. That means that BUKHARI (A MUSLIM) ADMITTED THERE WERE OVER 295,000 ERRORS!!
I have read enough from the Quran and Hadith to know that so much therein is hard to believe: but the terror/war aspect can be trusted, for Muslims love to brag about those.
Here is a list of authors (in descending order) that Muslims consider credible:
Sahih of Al-Bukhari (d. 256 A.H.=after Hijrah);
Al Sahih of Muslim (d. 261 A.H.);
The Sunan of Abu Du’ad (d. 275 A.H.);
The Jami of Al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 A.H.);
The Suand of Al Nasa (d. 303 A.H.); and
The Sunan of Ibn Madja (d. 283 A.H.). Along with these hadiths, there were biographers who wrote “miracle” stories (which are not always believed by Muslims themselves). They are Ibn Sa’d (d. 123 A.H.), Ibn Ishaq (d. 151 A.H.), and Ibn Hisham (d. 218 A.H.). Abdul Saleeb (in “Answering Islam,” 1993) says that Shia Islam rejects the above categories, but they accept the Quran as it is.
So, hadiths are sacred (what’s left of the 600,000) literatures. The Quran, over and over again, points Muslims to ‘the Book’ (of the Jews/Christians), and to the hadiths.
Remember
IN THE DEBATE about the Crusades, remember, the Old Testament IS WHAT IT IS. It does not even try to deceive its readers about war/violence. But when we turn to the New Testament, we find war/violence still there, BUT IN THE BACKGROUND; love, mercy, compassion, salvation etc. becomes the main theme. Jesus is not considered a man of violence—like Muhammad is. In fact, the Quran makes this evident.
Remember, Muhammad came centuries after the founding of Christianity. Did Muhammad take Jesus’ words seriously about “loving one’s enemies and neighbors?” NO! Islam was and IS a political/religious system of the SWORD (see my many “2 Faces of Islam” series, and the many booklets we have in print).
Although the Quran has 99 names for Allah, not ONE of them is LOVE! We read, “In the name of God (not the Biblical God though), most Gracious, most Merciful…” But this gracious, merciful god instructed Muhammad to KILL his enemies, enslave, rape, torture, tax etc. etc. (all this is proven too!).
Arthur Jeffery speaks out about these 99 names: “THE LISTS OF THESE NAMES AS FOUND IN THE TEXTS VARY GREATLY…” (he quotes, “The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,” 1880, which collected 552 different names for Allah; Jeffery, “Islam, Muhammad and His Religion,” 1958, p. 21). The Quranic basis for the 99 names is found in sura 59:22-24 (for a list of 99 names, see the book “Tasbih Asma Allah al-Husna,” by Muhammad al-Madani).
Jihad
SO, IF ONE WANTS to see what Islam really stands for—and it is NOT PEACE!—then research the Quranic jihad suras. I have listed over 100 that pertain to jihad alone, not counting all those in the Hadith (which describes in detail some of Muhammad’s violent acts, those of his cult, etc.).
Quran 61:11 says, “Believe in Allah and his messenger (Muhammad) and fight valiantly for Allah’s cause (jihad) with both your wealth and your lives…”
The Hadith prepares the foundation of jihad; about 21% of Bukhari is about jihad…and jihad encompasses an entire way of life. According to Islam, the world is divided into:
1) dar al Islam=land of submission, and
2) dar al horb= land of war.
The second is the country FREE of Islam, free of (false) Allah. The first is the land of the submitted, that are slaves of Allah. According to Islam’s (true) belief system, this struggle is eternal, universal, and obligatory for ALL Muslims. Because most Muslims refuse to do jihad, the true Muslims count them as apostates, hence, death! This is why we see ISIS killing so many Muslims in the world right now. The ISIS soldiers for Allah represent the TRUE ISLAM.
PEACE is temporary.
WAR is permanent.
So, don’t expect Islam just to go away or be nice!
The Hadith lays out/spells out, the details of bloody jihad. The hadiths call for armed struggle “fighting in Allah’s Cause,” or, “Allah’s Cause.”
Political Islam is universal and eternal (see our “2 Faces of Islam” booklets for proof). In Muslim 001, 0031, we find Muhammad spoke: “I have been ORDERED to WAGE WAR against mankind UNTIL they accept that there is no god but Allah and that they believe I am His prophet and accept ALL revelations spoken through me. When they do these things I will protect their lives and property unless otherwise justified by Islamic law, in which case their fate lies in Allah’s hands.”
Do you want to live under Sharia Law? If yes, then you must believe and act according to what is written in the Quran and Hadith; if no, then you are counted as an enemy of Islam forever! Just where is the peace?
Armed with this little bit of background info., we proceed to the Crusade debate.
Are Yahweh Wars In The Old Testament Like Islamic Jihad?
FIRST, JESUS never used physical violence; Muhammad did! Remember, Muhammad came centuries after Jesus, so Muhammad did not get his twisted bloody ideas about jihad from Jesus, or the Holy Bible (New Testament).
To get a background of the “Canaanite Genocide” that our opponents point to, request my trilogy by the same name. The question raised is: WHY did God command such a thing? I’ll give you a hint: read Lev. 18 and Deut. 18…they tell us WHY! Although the New Testament does not eradicate severe punishment, God’s wrath is mostly in the background; mercy is in the foreground. But Muhammad brought the wrath side into his bloody religion (some dislike the word “religion,” they prefer “politics”).
Offensive Warfare
Let’s ponder these two faiths. Professors P. Copan and Matt Flannagan made the following comparisons:
Judaism (Old Testament):
Geography:
War was geographically limited to the Promised Land.
Historical Length/Limit:
Limited to roughly one generation, though minor conflicts continued between Israel and her enemies.
Objects of War:
God used Israel to punish the pagan nations—deeply corrupted cultures. This punishment came 400 years after Israel came out of Egypt (Gen. 15:6).
Objects of God’s Love:
God loves even His enemies (although He punishes them for sins). His redemptive plan even in the Old Testament was to save the pagans if they repented.
Standard of Morality:
God’s love/mercy is the source of His commands. He cannot command what is intrinsically evil (Jer. 19:4, 5).
Signs/Wonders:
The Bible is full of such, even believers can work miracles (prophets).
Normative of War:
War is justified by God. The Canaanite war was unique and unrepeatable.
Islam:
Geography:
No geography limits; the non-Muslim world is the “abode of war.”
Historical Length/Limit:
No historical/temporal limitations to jihad.
Objects of War:
Offensive/Aggressive warfare is towards ALL non-Muslims (Q 9:5).
Objects of Islamic love:
God loves no unbelievers (Q 3:32, 30:45, 6:141, 2:190, 2:98)!
Standard of Morality:
The Quran stresses Allah as sheer will, who commands indiscriminately.
Signs/Wonders:
Lacking! The Quran/Hadith mention them, but most believe they were fakes or untrue.
Normative of War:
Military aggression until the WHOLE WORLD is Islamic!
Now, with this picture of [true Old Testament] Judaism (and New Testament Christianity), compared to Islam, we can see why militant, radical Islamic jihad is what it is. NOWHERE IN THE CHRISTIAN ERA ARE WE COMMANDED BY GOD TO HAVE AN ONGOING “OFFENSIVE” WAR CAMPAIGN, AS DOES ISLAM. One historian rightly said that no matter how much we stack up Biblical texts next to Qur’anic ones, clear differences between the two emerge as we peel back the layers and explore the notable differences at various levels.
First
“OLD TESTAMENT MILITARY campaigns captured in a Biblical canon are merely descriptive of a unique part of the unfolding of salvation history” (Copan/Flannagan, “Did God Really Command Genocide?,” 2014, p. 279).
I think it is clear that most Christians do not believe the Old Testament warfare texts are to be understood as literal, i.e.—all Christians are obliged to carry on with the Old Testament way of fighting enemies–while it is true that some misguided “Christians” have done this, or at least thought it was binding.
[Note: Searching of the texts of a WordWeb 2007 dictionary for all “terrorist group(s)” and “terrorist organization(s)” revealed the titles of many militant / terrorist / physically aggressive Islamic/Muslim-related groups and their branches/titles including:
Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, al-Muhajiroun, al-Qaeda, Qaeda, al-Qa’ida, al-Qaida, Base, al-Rashid Trust, Fatah Tanzim, Tanzim, International Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders, Islamic Army of Aden, IAA, Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, Aden-Abyan Islamic Army, Islamic Group of Uzbekistan, IMU, Islamic Party of Turkestan, Jamaat ul-Fuqra, Fuqra, Tanzimul Fuqra, Jayshullah, Kaplan Group, Association of Islamic Groups and Communities, Caliphate State, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, LET, Army of the Pure, Army of the Righteous, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, FIG, Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya, Libyan Fighting Group, Libyan Islamic Group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Palestine Islamic Jihad, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, PIJ, Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami al-Filastini, Palestine Liberation Front, PLF, Jabat al-Tahrir al-Filistiniyyah, Pentagon Gang, Qibla, Salafist Group, Salafast Group for Call and Combat, GSPC (and under “organization”), al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, Islamic Group, Armed Islamic Group, GIA, Fatah Revolutionary Council, Fatah-RC, Abu Nidal Organization, ANO, Arab Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims, Abu Nidal Organisation, Harkat-ul-Mujahidin, HUM, Harkat ul-Ansar, HUA, Harkat ul-Mujahedeen, Al Faran, Movement of Holy Warriors, Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front, IBDA-C, Jaish-i-Mohammed, Jaish-e-Muhammad, JEM, Army of Muhammad, Kahane Chai, Kach, Lashkar-e-Omar, Al Qanoon, Laskar Jihad, Holy War Warriors, Maktab al-Khidmat, MAK, Mujahidin-e Khalq Organization, MKO, MEK, People’s Mujahidin of Iran, Mujahidin-e Khalq Organisation, 15 May Organization, People against Gangsterism and Drugs, PAGAD, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, Palestine Liberation Organisation, Popular Struggle Front, PSF.
THOSE ARE QUITE A FEW ISLAMIC TERRORIST GROUP NAMES/BRANCHES!!!
With all the violence and political upheaveal in the world, you would think there would be a lot more non-Islamic terrorist groups than Islamic-related ones? However, all the non-Islamic terrorist-related groups COMBINED seem about EQUAL to Islamic ones. So, what are the other terrorist organizations? Probably several violent “Christian” groups…right? Actually, almost all of them appear to be political, not religious. There seemed to be only two that had ANYTHING to do with Christians (Protestants):
Orange Group, OV: a terrorist group of Protestants who oppose any political settlement with Irish nationalists; a paramilitary group that attacks Catholic interests in Northern Ireland
And only one that had to do with Catholics for that matter:
Irish National Liberation Army, INLA, People’s Liberation Army, People’s Republican Army, Catholic Reaction Force: a radical terrorist group dedicated to the removal of British forces from Northern Ireland and the unification of Ireland.
And even with those stated, noticing that they are both involving Northern Ireland, I wonder if they were all responding to each other’s extremism? It would seem to be the case even more if one would consider the, “Loyalist Volunteer Force”—a terrorist group formed in 1996 in Northern Ireland; seeks to prevent the peace process; MURDERS CATHOLICS AND ANY PROTESTANT LEADERS WHO FAVOR PEACE?”
Seems to me, that if more Christians believed in applying physical warfare today–such as the Old Testament describes–there would be some physically militant Christian groups. When was the last time you heard any Christian teaching conquering, Old Testament-based, physical aggression warfare?
But Islam is different. The Qur’an issues enduring commands to terrorize and kill (murder). When Muhammad died in A.D. 632, he left an “offensive warfare” example for his followers. I need not go into history here, but history does prove this out.
While those who spout “Islam is a religion of peace,” ETERNAL JIHAD IS THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER.
While Christianity offers eternal life by and through the “Lamb of God,” Islam offers NO salvation except by killing for Allah: “Whosoever fights in the way of Allah and is slain, or conquers, We shall bring him a mighty wage” (Q 4:74). John 3:16 is the exact opposite of Q 4:74. Q 9:29 plainly tells Muslims to, “fight those who believe not in Allah” (see Q 3:151 for “terror!”, also 8:12).
This is not to say that all Muslims are violent, BUT THEIR BOOKS DO TEACH THEM TO BE SO.