16 The Church and Islam

This post will defend the West, but please realize that the West is not identical with the church and the church is not identical with the West. However, Christianity built the West or at least provided the environment for it to be built. We need to preserve our high quality of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Let’s begin this warning post.

I. Introduction

A. Elites and “stranger danger.”

It will become apparent, I hope, in this post that the American and European left are like children who can’t spot “stranger danger.” But ironically they think they are so wise that they will lead us to their utopian New Promised Land.

They can’t see that it’s the path towards destruction. and if we point out our concerns, they label us “Islamophobes.”

Or worse, the left sees the danger and likes it, as they make common cause with Islam to take down the West. But what will happen to the left–many of whom are godless and atheist–when Islam become dominant? Destruction on them.

B. Will the church fail to warn the West?

This list explains the problem the church has in leading the West towards rejecting Islamic values, practices and sharia. In other words, it takes committed, Bible educated Christian disciples to warn the West of the danger Islam poses. But if they fail to warn the West and elsewhere around the globe and the larger society, particularly the politicians, will not listen, the larger society will eventually collapse.

II. Ten Reasons Why Islam Is Not Peaceful

A. Brief intro.

The list in reverse order just like a Top Ten List. For some readers this list will be hard-hitting. Actually, this is factual and gentle compared to online videos. The goal is to set up the next two major sections, explaining why sharia–and even Islam itself–is not compatible with western values.

All bold font has been inserted.

The analysis underneath each point in this list has mostly been edited out. Please see the original for more content and supporting material:

Top Ten Reasons Why Islam Is Not the Religion of Peace

B. The list

10. Muhammad nicknames his weapons.

Tabari (AD 839-923) is an early Muslim historian who is considered largely reliable by scholars today. In fact, the State University of New York Press selected his history to be translated into 38 volumes. (We use The Last Years of the Prophet, trans. Ismail K. Poonawala, 9:153-55.)

Muhammad nicknames three swords that he took from the Jewish tribe Qaynuqa after he banished them from Medina in April 624: “Pluck Out,” “Very Sharp,” and “Death.” Two other swords from elsewhere are named: “Sharp” and “That is wont to sink” (presumably into human flesh). After his Hijrah or Emigration from Mecca to Medina in 622, he owned two swords called “Sharp” and “Having the vertebrae of the back.” This last sword he collected as booty after his victory at the Battle of Badr in March 624.

Next, Muhammad took three bows from the Qaynuqa tribe and named them as follows: “Most conducive to ease, or wide,” “white,” and “of nab wood” (species of tree from which bows are made).

The name of a coat of mail implies “ampleness” or “redundant portions,” probably because Muhammad was portly (cf. Ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad, trans. Guillaume, p. 383).

Finally, even Muhammad himself has a nickname. After Tabari lists the positive ones, he matter-of-factly provides one that is not so positive: “The obliterator.”

Thus, violence sits at the heart of early Islam—in the life of Muhammad. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

9. Muhammad commands in his Quran that adulterers and adulteresses should receive a hundred lashes.

The Quran reads:

24:2 Strike the adulteress and the adulterer one hundred times. Do not let compassion for them keep you from carrying out God’s law—if you believe in God and the Last Day—and ensure that a group of believers witnesses the punishment. (MAS Abdel Haleem, The Quran, New York: Oxford UP, 2004)

Early and reliable traditions depict Muhammad and his Muslims stoning adulterers and adulteresses, as recorded by the two most reliable collectors and editors of the hadith, Bukhari (AD 810-870) and Muslim (c. AD 817-875):

Umar said: God sent Muhammad with the truth and sent down the Book [Quran] to him, and the verse of stoning was included in what God most high sent down. God’s messenger [Muhammad] had people stoned to death, and we have done it also since his death. Stoning is a duty laid down in God’s Book for married men and women who commit fornication when proof is established, or if there is pregnancy, or a confession. (Muslim no. 4194)

Umar was Muhammad’s right-hand lieutenant (along with Abu Bakr), and even shortly after Muhammad’s death he tried very hard to get a verse allowing stoning into the Quran, but he did not succeed (Ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad, trans. Guillaume, p. 684). Be that as it may, this and the next hadith are sufficient for many Muslims today to endorse stoning, as seen here:

Perhaps the most gruesome hadith is the following. A woman came to the prophet and asked for purification (by being punished for her sin). He told her to go away and seek God’s forgiveness. She persisted four times and admitted that she was pregnant as a result of fornication.

And when he had given command over her and she was put in a hole up to her breast, he ordered the people to stone her. Khalid b. al-Walid came forward with a stone which he threw at her head, and when the blood spurted on his face he cursed her […] (Muslim, no. 4206)

Thus, cruel violence sits at the heart of early Islam—in Muhammad’s life and in his Quran. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

See this article for more supporting information

14 Adultery and Fornication in Early Islam

8. Muhammad in his Quran permits husbands to beat their wives.

The Quran says:

4:34 Husbands should take full care of their wives, with [the bounties] God has given to some more than others and with what they spend out of their own money. Righteous wives are devout and guard what God would have them guard in the husbands’ absence. If you fear high-handedness from your wives, remind them [of the teaching of God], then ignore them when you go to bed, then hit them. If they obey you, you have no right to act against them. God is most high and great. (Abdel Haleem)

Plainly said, Sura 4:34 specifies that husbands may beat their unruly wives if the husbands “fear” highhandedness, quite apart from whether the wives are actually being highhanded. This puts the interpretation of the wives’ behavior squarely in the husbands’ judgment, and this swings the door to abuse wide open. This verse embodies a gigantic cultural and social step backwards and should be rejected by all fair-minded and reasonable people.

The hadith says that Muslim women in the time of Muhammad were suffering from domestic violence in the context of confusing marriage laws:

Bukhari reports this incident about the wives in the early Muslim community in the context of marital confusion and an odd remarriage law:

Rifa’a divorced his wife whereupon ‘AbdurRahman bin Az-Zubair Al-Qurazi married her. ‘Aisha said that the lady (came), wearing a green veil (and complained to her (Aisha) of her husband and showed her a green spot on her skin caused by beating). It was the habit of ladies to support each other, so when Allah’s Apostle came, ‘Aisha said, “I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!” (Bukhari, emphasis added)

This hadith shows Muhammad hitting his girl-bride, Aisha (see rule no. 1, below), daughter of Abu Bakr, his right-hand Companion:

“He [Muhammad] struck me [Aisha] on the chest which caused me pain.” (Muslim no. 2127)

Thus, domestic violence sits at the heart of early Islam—in the life of Muhammad and his Quran. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

See this article for supporting content:

9 Domestic Violence in Early Islam

7. Muhammad in his Quran commands that the hands of male or female thieves should be cut off.

The Quran says:

5:38 Cut off the hands of thieves, whether they are male or female, as punishment for what they have done—a deterrent from God: God is almighty and wise. 39 But if anyone repents after his wrongdoing and makes amends, God will accept his repentance: God is most forgiving and merciful. (Abdel Haleem)

Three passages in the hadith interpret Muhammad’s policy and provide its context. This is a quick compilation taken from Bukhari and Muslim:

Aisha [favorite wife of Muhammad] reported the Prophet saying, “A thief’s hand should be cut off for only a quarter of a dinar and upwards.“ (Bukhari).

A dinar, a word taken from the Roman denarius, was not a small sum, but not exorbitant either, yet one-fourth of a dinar merits the loss of a hand in Muhammad’s view.

[…] Ibn Umar said the Prophet had a thief’s hand cut off for a shield worth three dirhams. (Bukhari)

The shield was fairly expensive. The poor in Muhammad’s armies could not afford one. But is a shield equal to a hand?

Abu Huraira reported the Prophet as saying, “God curse a thief who steals an egg and has his hand cut off, and steals a rope and has his hand cut off!” (Bukhari)

Some commentators are quick to say that an “egg” is really a helmet, and the rope is a ship’s rope, which is sizable and costly. However, the translation above is usually accepted, and this means that the penalty could be imposed for trivial thefts. But even if the more expensive items are in view here, they still do not measure up to a hand.

Suffice it to say here, Christ never endorsed this. And Paul the Apostle says that thieves should work with their hands in order to share with those in need, not get their hand cut off (Ephesians 4:28). So Paul excels Muhammad.

Thus, harsh and excessive punitive violence sits at the heart of early Islam—in Muhammad’s life and in the Quran. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

See this post for more supporting information:

Thieves, Give Muhammad a Hand!

6. Muhammad assassinates poets and poetesses.

These two poets represent others in early Islam.

March 624: Uqba bin Abu Muayt

Uqba mocked Muhammad in Mecca and wrote derogatory verses about him. He was captured during the Battle of Badr, and Muhammad ordered him to be executed. “But who will look after my children, O Muhammad?” Uqba cried with anguish. “Hell,” retorted the prophet coldly. Then the sword of one of his followers cut through Uqba’s neck.

March 624: Asma bint Marwan

Asma was a poetess who belonged to a tribe of Medinan pagans, and whose husband was named Yazid b. Zayd. She composed a poem blaming the Medinan pagans for obeying a stranger (Muhammad) and for not taking the initiative to attack him by surprise. When the prophet heard what she had said, he asked, “Who will rid me of Marwan’s daughter?” A member of her husband’s tribe volunteered and crept into her house that night. She had five children, and the youngest was sleeping at her breast. The assassin gently removed the child, drew his sword, and plunged it into her, killing her in her sleep.

Thus, bullying and murderous violence sits at the heart of early Islam—in Muhammad’s life and in the Quran. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

For an in-depth analysis of Muhammad’s assassinations of poets and how they justify assassinations of artists today, like the one of Theo van Gogh, a descendant of Vincent Van Gogh’s brother, a Dutch filmmaker, refer to this post:

Muhammad’s Dead Poets Society

And this one

Muhammad’s ‘Peaceful,’ ‘Non-Assassinations’ of Mockers

5. Muhammad in his Quran commands death or the cutting off of hands and feet for fighting and corrupting the land.

The Quran reads:

5:33 Indeed, the punishment of those who fight Allah and His Messenger and who go around corrupting the land is to be killed, crucified, have their hands and feet cut off on opposite sides, or to be banished from the land. That is a disgrace for them in this life, and in the life to come theirs will be a terrible punishment. 34 Except for those who repent before you overpower them. Know, then, that Allah is All-Forgiving, Merciful. (Majid Fakhry, An Interpretation of the Quran, New York: NYUP, 2000, 2004)

Thus, gruesome violence sits at the heart of early Islam—in Muhammad’s life and in the Quran. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

Go to this post to read the historical and textual context:

Crucifixion and Mutilation in the Quran

4. Muhammad aggressively attacks Meccan caravans.

A year or so after Muhammad’s Hijrah from Mecca to Medina in 622, he attacks Meccan caravans six times, and sent out a punitive expedition three-days away against an Arab tribe that stole some Medinan grazing camels (or cattle), totaling seven raids.

W. Montgomery Watt, a highly reputable Western Islamologist who writes in favor of Muhammad and whose two-volume history of early Islam (Muhammad at Mecca (1953) and Muhammad at Medina (1956)) has won wide acceptance, tells us why geography matters:

The chief point to notice is that the Muslims took the offensive. With one exception the seven expeditions were directed against Meccan caravans. The geographical situation lent itself to this. Caravans from Mecca to Syria had to pass between Medina and the coast. Even if they kept as close to the Red Sea as possible, they had to pass within about eighty miles of Medina, and, while at this distance from the enemy base, would be twice as far from their own base. (Muhammad at Medina, emphasis added, p. 2)

Thus, aggressive military violence sits at the heart of early Islam—in Muhammad’s life and in the Quran. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

A Brief History of War in Earliest Islam

3. Muhammad in his Quran promises sensuous Gardens for martyrs dying in a military holy war.

Throughout the Quran, Muhammad promises the men in his fledgling Muslim community that if they die fighting for Allah and for him, Allah will reward them with a “virgin-rich” Garden (Suras 44:51-56; 52:17-29; 55:46-78).

In the following Quranic passage, representing others (Suras 4:74, 9:111; 3:140-143), the Arabic word “jihad” (root is j-h-d) is the means or currency to trade in this life for the life to come in an economic bargain.

61:10 You who believe, shall I show you a bargain that will save you from painful punishment? 11 Have faith in God and His Messenger and struggle [j-h-d] for His cause with your possessions and your persons—that is better for you, if only you knew—12 and He will forgive your sins, admit you into Gardens graced with flowing streams, into pleasant dwellings in the Gardens of Eternity. That is the supreme triumph. (Abdel Haleem)

Thus, deadly, ‘heavenly violence’ sits at the heart of early Islam—in Muhammad’s life and in the Quran. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

Go here for the textual and historical context of those verses:

Islamic Martyrdom: The Economy of Death in the Quran

2. Muhammad unjustly executes around 600 male Jews and enslaves the women and children.

Death by decapitation for around 600 men (some Islamic sources say 900), and enslavement for the women and children (he took a beautiful Jewess as his own prize). Muhammad was wise enough to have six clans execute two Jews each in order to stop any blood-feuds. The rest of the executions were probably carried out by his fellow Emigrants from Mecca and lasted the whole night.

The prophet says the following in Sura 33:25-26 about the Battle of the Trench and his treatment of Qurayzah:

33:25 God sent back the disbelievers along with their rage—they gained no benefit—and spared the believers from fighting. He is strong and mighty. 26 He brought those People of the Book [Qurayza] who supported them down from their strongholds and put terror into their hearts. Some of them you [believers] killed and some you took captive. 27 He passed on to you their land, their homes, their possessions, and a land where you had not set foot. God has power over everything. (Abdel Haleem)

Now this atrocity has been enshrined in “the eternal word of Allah—and the Quran seems to celebrate it.” But these questions must be answered: Is intriguing with the enemy equal to slaughtering 600 men and enslaving the women and children? Who decides? The Arab tribal chief with the most powerful army? Muhammad said around the time of his Hijrah in 622 the following:

16:126 If you [people] have to respond to an attack, make your response proportionate, but it is better to be steadfast. (Abdel Haleem)

Any reasonable and fair-minded person would judge that Muhammad was not making his response (execution) proportionate to the breach of the agreement. The Qurayzah tribe never attacked the Muslims, and even if a few were to have done so, the punishment does not fit the crime. Therefore, Muhammad was being excessive and disproportionate because he used an irreversible penalty to express his human wrath.

Thus, anti-Semitic violence sits at the heart of early Islam—in Muhammad’s life and in his Quran. Islam is therefore not the religion of peace.

Here are articles that offer more textual and historical contexts:

Muhammad and the Jews

Muhammad’s Atrocity against the Qurayza Jews

9 The Sword and the Jews in Early Christianity and Islam

Allah’s Kosher Apes and Pigs

1. Muhammad launches his own Jihad.

In the following verse, Muhammad uses the Arabic word qital (root is q-t-l), which means warring, fighting, or killing:

9:29 Fight [q-t-l] those among the people of the Book [Christians] who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden and do not profess the true religion, till they pay the poll-tax out of hand and submissively. (Fakhry)

The two most interesting clauses in this violent verse are (1) People of the Book (Christians in this verse late in Muhammad’s life) are to be attacked if they do not profess the true religion: Islam. This leaves the door wide open for terrorists today to attack and fight Christians because they do not adhere to Islam; (2) Christians must pay a tax for the “privilege” of living under the “protection” of Islam—submissively or in humiliation.

Therefore, for ten clear and verifiable reasons, Islam is not the religion of peace.

Go to these articles for information that explains the verses.

A Brief History of War in Earliest Islam

The Truth about Islamic Jihad and Imperialism: A Timeline

A Brief History of War in the Earliest Caliphates

Here’s how the Europeans responded to 400 years of aggressive Islamic jihad, in the Medieval Age:

The Truth about Islamic Jihad and Imperialism: A Timeline

The West’s Struggle with Islam

Islamic Jihad v. European Crusades

C. Theological and practical results

Those items in the list that have burrowed into the hemorrhaging heart of early Islam have eight implications for us today. The first three are theological; the rest are practical.

The theological implications are as follows:

1.. As each reason in this article has hinted at and the links explain more thoroughly, Christ never, ever engaged in such violence.

For example, he never assassinated opponents, whipped adulterers, cut off the hands of thieves, or launched his own Crusades (what the Medieval Europeans did is not foundational to Christianity). Christ expresses the love of God. Therefore, Christians and all fair-minded persons have the right to question whether the true God would reveal the Quran when it contains such violent verses that conveniently support Muhammad’s violence, whereas the New Testament does not have such violence.

2. Muslims believe that the New Testament is corrupted, whereas the Quran is inerrant.

Even if we assume only for the sake of argument that these claims are true (but they actually are not), then why would reasonable seekers of the truth prefer the “pure” but violence-filled Quran over the “corrupted” but peaceful New Testament?

Before Muhammad is allowed to throw around unsubstantiated charges about alleged New Testament corruption, he and his Quran must pass a down-to-earth test regarding his dubious, violent practices. But he and it fail the test badly, as this article demonstrates, whereas Christ and the New Testament pass with a perfect score. Therefore, if Muhammad is so wrong about down-to-earth matters like whipping adulterers and cutting off the hands of thieves and beating wives, then he is likely wrong about unresearched accusations of New Testament corruption—and factually he is wrong.

Please refer to the articles listed on these pages for more information: [1], [2].

3.. Since Muhammad who claims divine guidance is so wrong about practical matters, why should we believe him about theoretical matters like the deity of Christ and the Trinity, both of which he denies?

Clearly, he was not divinely guided in practical matters because the true God would not degrade religion by endorsing such gruesome violence six hundred years after Christ came—the historical span is critical. Christ and the New Testament do not have even one example of such violence. Again, if Muhammad first fails the down-to-earth test, then he likely fails the theological or theoretical test—we have no reason to believe him in such high doctrines, especially since he was no theologian and his revelations are now empirically suspect.

The practical implications of the top ten reasons are as follows:

4.. Nominal Christians who no longer take their faith seriously, but who are tempted to convert to Islam, must stop to think a second time.

Christ the Son of God demonstrates the love of God (Matt. 3:16-17), not the wrath of an ordinary, self-described human messenger (Sura 3:144). Why would they trade in the religion of God’s peace and love for Allah’s human religion of violence?

5. Fanatical Muslims today are simply carrying on their prophet’s mission.

Why should we be surprised if they want to conquer the West, in order to impose Allah’s will on non-Islamic societies? They are still working out Muhammad’s Crusades and trying to put a halt to the reality embodied in this simple logic:

(1) If A, then B. If Allah endorses Islam, then it should expand endlessly.
(2) Not-B. But it is not expanding endlessly (see this analysis).
(3) Therefore, not-A. Therefore, Allah does not endorse Islam.

Christianity Is Fastest Growing Religion in World

This logic eats away at the heart of fanatics, especially premise two, even if they are not conscious of it in this logical form. What is stopping the endless expansion of Islam, according to the fanatics? Their answer: the US and even the very existence of the Jewish State of Israel in the heart of the Middle East. The fanatics have yet to uproot the Jews, despite three wars, which the Arabs lost. This tiny non-Islamic, Jewish State in their neighborhood slaps them in the face every day. How could Allah let this happen? Hence, premise two is the deepest reason that they have been launching attacks on the US and the West and Israel for the last two decades and why Osama bin Laden ignited 9/11. For more information on three Quranic verses that predict the worldwide dominance of Islam and that provide the motives for fanatics, refer to this article. And for more information on bin Laden’s motives specifically, go here.

6. Muslim apologists who have access to the national media and who constantly assert that Islam is the religion of peace must stop misleading unsuspecting Westerners.

Factually, Islam is not the religion of peace. True, it had peaceful moments, but not for very long. Muhammad sent out or went out on seventy-four expeditions, raids, and wars in only ten years (622-632), most of which were violent.

7.. Western civilization must never accept the lie that Muhammad’s life, the Quran, and sharia (the law derived from the hadith and the Quran) are benefits to society.

Rather, Islam represents many gigantic steps backwards, culturally and socially. One of the most tragic events in the western world in recent years—and one of the most underreported—is the existence of an Islamic court in Canada. Muslims are pushing for a sharia divorce court in Australia, as well. The Canadian government should promptly shut it down, and Australia should never allow one. And such a court must never be allowed to exist here in the US or elsewhere in the West. Sharia does not benefit society, bluntly stated.

8. Finally, Islam should never be taught in our public schools, K through 11.

Perhaps grade 12 is acceptable, but only on one condition. If school administrators insist on teaching it, Islamic violence must be included in the lesson plans because it is part and parcel of early Islam and Muhammad’s life.

Of course, Muslim apologists assert that Christianity is filled with violence, citing the Roman Emperor Constantine and the Medieval Crusaders. However, to repeat, they are not foundational for Christianity—only Christ and the New Testament are. And he and the New Testament authors never practiced or endorsed such violence.

On the other hand, Muhammad and his Quran are foundational for Islam, and violence fills his life and its pages.

III. Resist Islam Peacefully

A. Brief intro.

The left and Islam are compatible. Will the left wake up to the cold, hard reality that it’s not America’s and the West’s fault, but the problem lies with Islam? Where does the left’s self-loathing come from? I don’t know exactly because it appears irrational.

B. Harmless aspects of sharia

First, we must acknowledge that parts of sharia are harmless to society, like washing before entering a mosque or not eating pork. If Muslims keep it there, then they can fit in to Western society. However, Islamic law penetrates every aspect of society, including government, civil law and its punishments, and basic, fundamental liberties.

C. Harmful aspects of sharia

If Islamic armies can’t conquer us through military might, then how can they take down the West?

What leftists miss are sharia and the Islamic legal system and government. Call it their version of mission creep. Let’s use six hallmarks of civilization and stay within the confines of the USA, though Europe and Canada closely parallel us.

1. Today, we keep government and religion separate and distinct.

That is, religious law like sharia does not control our government, nor does the government control religions. Islamic civilizations fuse together mosque and state in a mishmash.

2. Free speech is honored over here, even if citizens criticize religion.

In Islamic civilizations, such criticisms can land the critic in jail and earn him lashes on the back, and possibly execution.

3. Freedom of religion must be maintained in the West.

However, in Islamic countries such freedom is suppressed, and religious minorities are barely tolerated or are even eliminated.

4. Womankind can express herself in whatever ways she deems appropriate.

In Islamic civilization, womankind is oppressed, even to the point of domestic violence, permitted in the Quran itself.

5. Punishments here in America differ and are superior.

We treat private behavior as just that – private. Yet, gays can even go to night clubs if they choose the public square, or they can hold pride parades. In Islam, sexual misconduct is treated as criminal, leading to lashes, prison, and maybe even death.

6. In the USA today, there is no forced religion tax.

However, in Islamic civilizations the jizyah for religious minorities, under threat of death from the Muslim military, and zakat or charity tax are imposed.

D. Summary

From these six point, it is obvious that Islamic law severely restricts liberty. This conflict between suffocating and oppressive sharia and American liberty explains exactly why sharia is incompatible with American values. This explains why sharia, not even in part or certainly not in whole, should never worm its way into our culture and especially not into our legal system.

Bottom line on the irreconcilable differences:

American values: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (even by going to a gay night club)

Islamic values: Islamic law severely restricts liberty in an effort to stamp out public unrighteousness.

The two systems can never work together, so we have to block all efforts to incorporate sharia into our freedoms; then we can win this war of ideas and values.

No mistake or confusion: this is the Second Hundred Years War – a slow-grinding, gradual war with occasional flare-ups as we saw in various terrorist attacks. It will endure past 2100.

The real war is ideological and fought in the minds of our citizens. European leaders cave more readily than American ones, though often the left fails their country here.

It’s an open question whether we’ll win it, but we need to teach every generation that there is a legal and moral war that can be won.

IV. Sharia Is Incompatible with Western Values

A. Brief intro.

Sharia is part and parcel of Islam, and the Five Pillars do not pick my pocket or break my leg (Thomas Jefferson). So Muslims should have the right to practice these five areas of sharia and others that do us no harm (e.g. washing before entering a mosque or a head covering, but not a facial veil).

Five Pillars of Islam

This post is about the harmful aspects of sharia, not Muslims.

B. Short list of Islamic law

ISIS and many Islamic nations believe, because original Islam teaches, the following:

Mosque and state are not separate.
Apostasy, or leaving Islam, is outlawed up to the penalty of death.
Speaking against Islam is outlawed up to the penalty of death.
Jihad or qital (military war only) to force conversions or submit to a tax is allowed.
Having sex with female prisoners of war is allowed.
Drinkers and gamblers may be flogged.
Adulterers and fornicators may be flogged (and adulterers may be stoned to death).
Bearing false witness about sexual sin (a “crime” in Islam) can incur flogging.
Homosexuals may be flogged or executed.
A woman inherits half of what a man does.
Domestic violence is allowed.
A woman’s testimony counts as half of a man’s testimony.
A man may divorce his wife by pronouncing three times “you are divorced” outside a court of law, and the divorce is legal and final.

It should be pointed out that sharia has laws that look like those of any other system (e.g., don’t murder, steal, or traffic drugs). And some laws are benign (e.g. not eating pork, or washing before entering a Mosque).

And it is true that in seventeenth-century American society, the punishments were harsh, but we have worked hard to move away from the past.

America has improved on that list and the whole tone of sharia, like head coverings for women.

C. The US Constitution

Our Constitution by itself defangs most of those sharia laws. The First Amendment offers freedom of religion, without government intrusion, and free speech. The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The Second Amendment allows gun ownership.

Our state laws also diminishes or even eliminate sharia laws (so far, at least). Domestic violence, for example, is illegal. A woman can inherit as much as a man can, if the last will and testament says so. Her testimony counts equally to a man’s. Divorce, though lax in some states, has to be done through a court.

Our military does not allow an army to attack people to “strongly encourage” conversion or impose a second-class citizen tax if the conquered foes don’t convert.

Once again, I would still like to go a little deeper than these written laws to the uncodified moral law, or perhaps just to universal values.

D. The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence proclaims:

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Let’s put it in a simple (but not simplistic) formula, the arrow meaning “leads to” or “produces”:

Life + Liberty → Pursuit of Happiness

Self-evident means America didn’t invent those universal and timeless values; she only discovered them.

Happiness at first glance appears completely subjective, but it is actually confined within limits, because it’s different from pleasure.

E. Liberty for the individual

Aristotle rightly teaches that happiness is achieved by living life in balance and in excellence. Extreme behavior like licentiousness on the one side and apathy on the other is a vice; temperance is in the middle or the Golden Mean between the two vices is a virtue. One lives in excellence when one has temperance (is not a party animal), and excellence leads to happiness.

That’s for the individual.

F. Society

Socially, life and liberty lead to happiness. You get to live in freedom, and now you can create your own version of happiness. But it must be done within individual limits – and individuals make up a nation.

You can’t have the highest quality of life without the highest quality of liberty.

G. Sharia is oppressive for American and western values.

On the Islamic side, religious law that suppresses liberty does not permit a life to develop, and thus happiness is denied. This religious, legal system denies the freedom of conscience and movement and viewpoints, for example, and is oppressive.

Here is a variation on the formula, the arrows again meaning “leads to” or “produces.”

To me, Islamic law and society look like this:

Extreme religious laws → Control → Oppression → Misery

The more restrictive and extreme Islamic laws are, the more controlling and oppressive they are, which leads to personal and social unhappiness.

It is difficult for Islamic clerics and legal scholars to see that their laws are extreme and therefore oppressive because they believe that the laws came down from Allah himself; if only humanity would follow them, it would be submissive to him and eventually be happy (if happiness is even a goal for them, so let’s instead say “social submission and conformity”). But they don’t have a broad enough perspective.

H. American perspective

By comparison, it is believed that the Law of Moses came down from God with its harsh punishments and severe restrictions; Yes, when Muhammad moved from Mecca to Median, a large, thriving community of Jews lived there. He borrowed from the Torah.

However, the New Testament wrestles with religious law. The wisdom of the New Testament, which is also revealed by God, teaches a new path that goes higher than the Law of Moses (go here, and here for the theology).

What Does the New Covenant Retain from the Old?

Do Christians Have to ‘Keep’ the Ten Commandments?

Suffice it to say, the New Covenant moves away from excessive religious law and toward freedom.

Islam, in contrast, is different. It does impose its law on the rest of us.

Of course, Islam’s defenders say online that America wallows in licentiousness, and this is true in some ways. However, we have also learned to let moral law take care of private behavior that does not seep out into public and disturb the peace. Written law should deal with unruly citizens.

I. No to the extremes

So now let’s figure out where we should live between these two extremes:

Sharia ———————————-X————- Anarchy

It’s hard to know how far we can get away from sharia without lurching over to anarchy, but if I can’t figure it out precisely, I go right of center. And for sure I don’t want a state-imposed mixture of religious and civil law.

The point: Liberty and the highest quality of life leading to happiness do not entail lawlessness or anarchy. We don’t need the extremes to enjoy social harmony.

Where would you put the X?

J. Summary

Islam imposes extremely religious and oppressive laws that degrade society and hinder improvement in society and make people miserable, whether they realize it or not or are qualified to say so or not.

By contrast, it’s those universal values embedded in us that make us recoil instinctively at sharia.

And I believe that those values are embedded deeply in all humans, even Muslims, but they just don’t have the experience with liberty. If they did experience it, their quality of life and the happiness that naturally ensues would improve.

In any case, we have moved on from state-imposed, old, harsh religious laws mixed with civil law.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are intrinsically better than sharia.

Islam is not peaceful.

However, the First Amendment allows for religious liberty of mosques and synagogues. Muslims and Jews can hold their services with freedom. Of course we have laws against threats of violence, but if the services are peaceful, then they have the right to their religious liberty.

V. Application

A. Brief intro.

I can think of no better application than salvation

B. Scriptures for Salvation in Jesus’s Name Alone:

To be saved, all one has to do is to obey the truths in these verses:

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

³¹But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31)

¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. (1 John 4:15)

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father [God] loves his child [the Son of God] as well. (1 John 5:1)

¹¹And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹²Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)

⁹If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. […] ¹³for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9-10, 13)

To be saved: Just call on his name, and with saving faith believe in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. Profess your saving faith out loud. Declare him Lord, with your mouth. Believe in your heart that God resurrected him (= vindicated his Son’s entire life, ministry, and death). And then you shall be saved and born of God. Simple. Even a child can do this with his childlike faith.

Here is a time-tested acronym to explain faith:

F-A-I-T-H = Forsaking All, I Trust Him.

C. Prayer

Now pray this prayer:

Loving, Heavenly Father,

In the name of Jesus, I renounce Islam. I renounce any mixture between Islam and Christianity. I repent of my sins. I surrender my life to Jesus. I place my faith and trust in him. I believe that he is the Son of God. I believe God raised him from the dead. I declare him Lord of my life. Cause me to be born again with your Holy Spirit. Fill me with your Spirit to overflowing. Wash and cleanse me from the inside.

Thank you, Father, for saving me and filling me with your Spirit.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

D. Counsel

If you’re a girl in a Muslim country and still live at home, don’t reveal that you have given your life to Jesus. If your father requires you to go to the mosque every Friday, say your prayers to Father God who loves you. Bow in the name of Jesus. Be discreet. Keep your new faith secret. Pray to find an underground church.

Ten Sharia Laws that Oppress Women

Top Ten Reasons Why Islam Is Not the Religion of Peace

All the Jihad Verses in the Quran

Qital (Warfare) Verses in the Quran

Is the Bible More Violent Than the Quran?

Are Christianity and Islam Equally Violent?

The Truth about Islamic Jihad and Imperialism: A Timeline (400 years of aggressive Islamic jihad before the pope called for the first crusade)

Islamic Jihad v. European Crusades

Jesus and Muhammad: Fifteen Major Differences

Twenty-Five Reasons Not to Convert to Islam

Twenty-Five Reasons to Leave Islam

16 Thirty Shariah Laws