Lesson 20, No Friendship with Infidels!
The end of Sura 2, "the cow" , and the beginning of Sura 3, called "The family of Imran." We'll go through verse 31.
You may recall that a story of Abraham and some animals and a dream is recorded in Genesis 15. The Koran has its own special version of that story, preceded by some extra "revelation" about an unknown king with whom Abraham dialogued. The patriarch is able to convince the monarch of Allah's great power by causing him to die for 100 years, then resurrecting him. The monarch, back from the dead, believes that only a day or two has passed, and his waiting donkey is proof of that to him. The only proof of the much longer absence is that Abraham says it happened. And of course the only proof that this dialogue ever took place is that Muhammad says it did.
There seems to be no connection here to the reality of the man Abraham that we have come to know in Scripture. Abraham was not a miracle worker. He actually struggled with the promises of God, but eventually believed God and received Isaac, who is the true miracle in the Abraham story.
This unusual incident is used to introduce the idea of resurrection, which Muhammad turns into a question in Abraham's mind. "My lord, show me how you give life to the dead." He directs the question to Allah, and Allah answers with a story that looks a little like the carcass incident in Genesis. But in Genesis, Abraham is not questioning resurrection. He is asking about his inheritance in the land of Canaan. And God makes it clear to His man that certainly this land will be his.
There follows a lengthy - by Koranic standards - discussion of the wisdom of proper use of material things. The sentiments are largely in keeping with Christian thought, until verse 27, when Allah purportedly links almsgiving with atonement for sin.
The Muslim, alas! is not permitted to know of Christ's full atonement for the sins of mankind, for in the Koran, Jesus does not die for our sins. Therefore a human-generated atonement must be engineered, as in Rome and all the great religions of the world. Here is one step in that atonement, secretly and generously giving to the poor. While we must applaud the action, the motivation is not of God.
Verse 275ff now demands that Muslims not charge interest on loans, on pain of eternal hell-fire. Mixed in with the serious judgment over this sin is a statement that once more makes Allah stand out as very different from the God of the Bible, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our Father. "Allah does not love every sinful infidel."
Au contraire, Muslim believer. The true God loves this world passionately. He saw the trouble we were in, the sin we had committed, and He wanted to do something about it. That's why Jesus had to come into the world, to give His life a ransom for sin. While it is true that believing in a god who does not love sinners coupled to a belief that robs us of the blood of Jesus is consistent, it is consistently false.
God does love sinners. Jesus, Who is God, came into the world to save sinners. Jesus ate and drank with sinners. And while mankind was still in its sin, the God-Man died for their sins. To think that we must muddle through on our own, doing our best to be good little Muslims or good little Christians, is a dark thought, and is what makes the traveling through this Volume a very difficult journey. Nevertheless, armed with Jesus' Light, let's move on.
Next Muhammad enjoins on his people to be sure that they make records of all financial transactions regarding debt. That's good. Preferably, two male witnesses of the proceedings are called for, but "if there were not two men, so one man and two women..."
I'll let you think about that one awhile.
In verse 285, heavenly messengers are lumped together into one basket. Messengers come from God, whether they be angels, the books, prophets, they all cause the people to believe. "We do not differentiate between any of his messengers." Since we know that Isa (Jesus) is one of the messengers of which he speaks here, this is a serious misstatement by one who is claiming to be God's voice.
Just for the record, Christians do differentiate. We say that "God spoke to us in times past by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son." Two baskets for us. Jesus alone in one, and everybody else in the other.
This longest of all the suras ends with a prayer for victory over the infidels. One thing that unites Muslims is the fight against the whole non-Muslim world, the infidel. This outward look keeps many of them from looking inward and hearing those voices that tell them something is missing on the inside, where it really counts. Victory over self and sin is not a theme of the Koran.
Though we Christians too have a common enemy, and ours is not on the earth but in the heavenlies, we must here be reminded that the true battle is to fight off every thought, every distraction, that would keep us from the supremacy of Jesus in our own personal life, and then in the lives of those around us.
Sura 2, the "cow", is ended. Let's move quickly to the somewhat shorter Sura 3, entitled "The family of Imran".
This chapter opens with a declaration that the books of Moses, and the Gospel of Jesus, and the present stream of revelation in the Koran, are all of equal value, and are to be heeded by the people of God. But, as we covered in the introductory materials, Muslims teach that the books we call the Bible, which would include the words of Jesus and Moses, have all been corrupted through the years, and only the Koran comes down to us pure. The documentation points elsewhere, but I refer you to the intros for that study.
Verses 7ff let us know that while some of the Koran is quite clear, much of it is ambiguous. With this I must concur. But Muhammad seems to be making the point that Jesus made when He spoke about why He communicated with parables. There are those who will hear but do not hear. They are without excuse. They had a chance to hear, but refused to follow through in seeking the Lord, and therefore either ignored the Lord altogether or came up with interpretations that excused them from responsibility.
"But none will remember except those who have understanding," says the author. And these infidels (there is that word again!) will be the "fuel of the fire" of hell. Remember, he says, Pharaoh did not believe our verses either, and look what happened to him. More serious curses follow. Then to lighten things up a bit, the promise of multiple ever-virgin wives for the faithful is repeated soon afterward (verse 15).
Verse 19 declares, "Surely the religion with Allah is Islam." Pretty clear. He then adds that Bible-believers are in agreement with that, except some who heard the knowledge of Islam and began to envy. Envy what, is not clear in the text.
Now those who fall away from Allah's verses and actually kill Muslim prophets are to be given the good news of a painful torment. Not clear what is good about that news. But nothing but eternal judgment for such as these.
Because of the holy separateness of the Muslim people, they are told in no uncertain terms, "Do not take infidels for friends (verse 28)." We must not condemn this concept. It is actually one of ours. Friendship with the world, by which we mean all the non-Christian system created by Satan, filled as it is with the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is all forbidden to us. Unfortunately Western preachers have all but stopped talking about this separation, but God's Word is eternal, and speaks still whether we hear it or not.
How then shall the world become Muslim, or Christian as the case may be, if we are never to mingle with the world's peoples? Well, mingling is allowed, and necessary. It is close friendship that is forbidden. Beyond this, both religions have mandates to go into the rest of the world and conquer.
It is in this conquest that we differ, although Christianity has a seriously un-Christian history in this regard. Islam, like the Church, goes everywhere preaching its message. Like us also, Islam tries to spread its influence by every form of giftedness possible, infiltrating all the kingdoms of men with example and word.
For the church, when it has preached the Gospel and lived the life, and some have come out as Kingdom people, the task is complete until Jesus comes, takes all the Kingdom people of all time and sets up His Kingdom. But Islam looks for a Kingdom now. When verbal and exemplary and infiltrative devices fail, it has one more tactic, namely, the sword. Think Romanism. In country after country Muslims have slaughtered and pillaged their way to power when their ideas were refused. As long as the Koran is the Koran, this practice will continue.
No, definitely no friendship with unbelievers!
Those who do not go astray are promised in verse 31 the forgiveness of their sins, because, he says, he is forgiving and merciful. But in the very next verse he reminds us that he does not love the infidel. We have covered above this crying difference between Allah and Jehovah. Though our God must judge the sinner, oh how He loves him!
By now, certainly someone has to be asking, why is chapter 3 named after one "Imran"? Who is Imran? The answer will at once be totally recognizable to all Christians as well as totally confusing. Next time we shall meet him, and his daughter, as Muhammad tries to tell us his version of the coming of Jesus into the world. Don't miss it.
Lesson 21, How Jesus Came into the World.
The rest of Sura 3, called "The family of Imran." Let's start at verse 33.
"Surely Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of Imran..."
Well, three out of four is not bad. Adam, Noah, Abraham, we recognize. But with the one Imran we may have run into another bump in the road. Who is Imran? Well, let's read on to see if Muhammad gives a clue.
Imran's wife is expecting a baby. She devotes what is in her womb to God. You say, this wife is Hannah and therefore Imran is Elkanah? Not so fast. Does not fit. Let me keep reading.
The child is born. It is a female. She is given the name Mary.
Here the head begins to swirl as so many possibilities become open to us for the choosing. Is Imran really Amram, the father of a "Mary" or Miriam, in the Old Testament? She was, you recall, the sister of Moses and Aaron.
Perfect. Except for one thing. The story goes on here to include Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, and then the birth of Jesus from this same Mary.
Somehow, then, Imran is really the father of Mary, the grandfather of Jesus. Sure enough, in Muslim thinking, Imran and Joachim are the same person. Did I say Joachim? Where did that name come from? Hang on, it gets worse before it gets better...
Long before Muhammad came along, all the New Testament books were in place. A council well over a century before his birth had ratified the 27 books we read in our Bibles today. And they had been circulating and accepted for hundreds of years before that.
Next to these God-approved books were a whole host of writings that were anywhere from fraudulent to ridiculous. These books, and the strange details therein, were still circulating when Muhammad rose to adulthood.
One such creation named one Joachim as the father of Mary. Another, that Mary lived in the Temple. And so on. It seems that our author here has inserted some of this knowledge into his own book. Many of these sources will later help him assault the Deity of Jesus Christ, while still attesting to the special character of the Prophet Isa.
The Bible gives two genealogies of Jesus. In Matthew we are given the line from Joseph stretching back to David through Solomon. But in Luke, another son of David is followed, Nathan. Scholars have assumed then, that the name "Heli" in the Lukan account is actually Mary's father, not Joseph's, as Joseph's father is identified as "Jacob" in Matthew. Luke must be following Mary's line.
Both lines are given so that Jesus could be considered the "legal" heir but also, through Mary, the flesh and blood heir to the Jewish throne through David. Solomon's line, you will recall, was later cursed.
Sorry to follow this rabbit trail so far, but the fact is that we have a father for Mary identified in Scripture. To both the Catholic tradition of "Joachim" and to Muhammad's offer of "Imran" we must say, No, thanks.
The verses before us tell the fabulous tale of how Mary is provided for by God, miraculously, while she awaits the birth of Jesus in the Temple. She is looked in on from time to time by the soon-to-be father of John the Baptist. In Muhammad's version, Zacharias actually asks God for a son, then refuses to believe when his prayer is answered.
Then, in verses 42ff, all eyes are on Mary, as she is given the announcement of Jesus' birth. He is to be exalted. Good. His name is to be Christ. Wonderful. He is to be born without a human father. The Virgin Birth! Excellent!
But I see nothing here of son-ship. I see creation. "Allah creates what he will." But is not Jesus the only begotten Son? Did not the creeds that followed say specifically, "Begotten, not made"? Yes, Christian, here is the heart of the heresy of Islam. A created being is formed in Mary's womb. The tender connection of father and son will not be there. This created one will be merely "a messenger to the children of Israel." Another prophet. An exalted prophet. But only a prophet.
In fact, verse 59 says that the creation of Jesus is no different than the creation of Adam from the dust. He said "Be," and Adam was. So with Jesus. The One we know of as the very Son of the Living God is in Islam a separate creation of God no different than any other human being, except that the mother was a virgin. Thus the mother can potentially have more glory than the Son, a fact that is not lost on ecumenical-minded Romanists.
How exquisitely sad. How awful.
This passage goes on to tell the story of how Jesus made a bird from clay and then breathed life into it. Hardly original. This fable had been circulating in one of those afore-mentioned forgeries. Whether Muhammad knew and understood the New Testament canon or not I will leave to the scholars.
In an earlier lesson we saw how Muhammad made Muslims out of Old Testament characters. In verses 52ff he now puts this seventh-century concept into the mouths of Jesus' disciples. "We are Allah's helpers...We believed in Allah and bear witness that we are Muslims... write us among the witnesses."
Little by little, the author includes all under his banner.
In verse 64, Jesus, along with all other humans, is not ever to be considered "Lord."
An equally fantastic claim comes 3 verses later: "Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian," he says to those who are arguing about their ancestor. All Jews point to Abraham as their father, and Christians see him as the faith-father of our confession. Muhammad's point may refer to the fact that the actual term "Jew" comes from the name "Judah", who was Abraham's great grandson.
Of one thing we all are certain. He most certainly was not a Muslim.
There follows a lengthy discussion of how Jews mislead Muslims, which we will pass over as no clear proof is given.
Then another jab at those who make their prophets their lords, meaning of course the prophet Jesus, whom Christians do indeed call Lord.
A more direct punch in verse 85. "Whoever desires any other religion except Islam... the curse of Allah and the angels and the people together is on them... their torment will not be lessened and they will not be delayed... except those who repent...Allah is forgiving, merciful."
But wait. The next verse says that those who leave Islam, "their repentance will never be accepted..." Which is it? I want to be careful to continue our honesty about the Christian faith here. Hebrews says to us a similar message. It is impossible to renew to repentance those who have tasted all that is in Christ and then fall away. I cannot soften that blow any more than Islam will clean up this verse. The question here is, can Muslims repent from their apostasy or not? Just how merciful is Allah? What does it take to "fall away" from Islam. A wrong marriage? A moment's carelessness?
Works theology, Roman style, is taught in the Koran here in verse 92. "You will never receive the righteousness until you spend from what you love." We know that righteousness comes from believing in Jesus the Son of God, and then good works flow from our new relatedness to Him.
96-109. We have now entered into some repetitions in the Koran. The house. The pilgrimage. Die Muslims. Torment for infidels.
Next we find that the Arab nation is superior to all. And, that there are some decent Jews and Christians, namely those that follow the Koranic verses.
After much more repetition, we hear Allah praising those who have performed jihad, and "desiring death before you met it." The martyrs of Islam. Muslim warriors will "cast terror into the hearts of those who became infidels..." Indeed, the terrorism of this religion is known around the world. Allah chides those who, in the midst of battle for the faith, "desired this world, and some desired the hereafter." Indeed, it is not normal to want killing all the time. But Allah pushes them on.
The Christian cause is the same and vastly different. True, soldiers are needed. True, battles are waged. True, many of our people grow weary and want to leave the battle for softer things. But the battle we fight is to give life, not death, to our enemies. How many Christian missionaries and national believers are now engaged in saving the souls of Muslim people? Oh, many! We don't love our enemies only because we are told to, but because... well, we really love them. It's in our new DNA!
In our warfare, only the Devil and his angels are defeated. Sicknesses flee. Sins are conquered. Broken hearts are mended. Our struggle produces joy, not terror.
But Muslims toil on selflessly, because, says verse 157, "...if you are killed for the sake of Allah or die, then forgiveness from Allah and mercy..." Indeed, if they refuse to engage in war, they are called hypocrites who are "closer on that day to infidelity than to faith." And for those who continue, great bounty in that other world.
In verses 178ff another word to non-Muslims. Don't think you are getting off the hook because of your long life. "We only gave them length of days so that they may increase in sin... they will have a disgraceful torment."
I thank God, don't you, for our loving Father, who wants no one to perish, but all to come to Him; Who weeps from His heart over cities that refuse to repent; Who does not at all enjoy the death of the wicked; Whose very name is love.
More repetition, more curses and judgment, and Sura 3 is ended. In Sura 4, much more about marriage and women. In fact, that's the name of the Chapter, "The Women." Join me soon.
Lesson 22, Women Disrespected, the Crucifixion Denied
Sura 4, called "The Women."
Treatment of the women of Israel in comparison to the peoples around that nation was liberating. Traditions of men rose and clouded God's original intentions. But then Jesus came and set all that straight. Women followed and served Jesus happily, and do so to this day. The woman is considered a co-heir with men of eternal salvation. She is active in Christian ministry, the apostles only forbidding certain leadership functions to the female, for compassionate reasons, while never suggesting inferiority or ultimate inequality.
We have already seen in Islam some clues that Muhammad did not feel exactly the same way...
"Two and three and four" wives are permitted in the first verses of this sura, provided that the man will treat them equally. We have seen, with the aberrations from the standard set in the Bible, just how impossible it is to treat two, three, and four human beings needing a man's love, with equality. I offer Jacob and David, two greats with God, as examples of what I am speaking. As with masters, so with women, you cannot serve more than one.
Actually Muhammad admits this much later in the chapter. He comes out and says, "You never can deal fairly between the women, even if you try carefully..." So, not to worry. If two women are squabbling over something and decide to leave you, Allah will make them both rich, so let them go (129-130). This may have been in the context of a woman who fears her husband is going to leave her, mentioned in the previous verse. But it also sounds like a general principle which Muhammad was forced to acknowledge.
In verse 11 Muhammad once more differentiates between male and female in terms of worth. The male heir is to receive the equivalent of two female portions.
We can sympathize with the ruling of the Koran (verses 15ff) that lesbians are to be detained in their own homes until death, or until they repent. Would that it could be so. That all sinful practices could be so quarantined. However, what sort of repentance comes from detention? We know the answer to that from the lives of the inmates of our penal institutions. Many promises, many professions, but when released, many stumbles. How would one know that repentance had taken place before the release, anyway?
In Christ we have the option of sharing not only forgiveness, but the very presence of God within to deter from future crimes. Detention is a death sentence. The Gospel gives life.
In verse 18, death-bed repentance is now forbidden. So the above-described lesbian cannot even hope for Heaven if at the last moments of her life she hears about Jesus and Jesus saves her, fills her, cleanses her. Islam says these shall have a "painful torment." Jesus says, "Today you will be with me in paradise!"
Next comes a discussion about being financially responsible when you "desire to exchange one wife for another," followed by a list of those with whom sexual relations is forbidden. This list is commendable, even recognizable to Christians and all people of a moral bent.
It is the list that comes next that is a bit difficult to deal with, partly because of the way it is worded, partly because of the fleshly behavior that is outlined, because Allah "created the human weak." Weak indeed. Part of the list says, if you cannot marry a "free believing woman," then enjoy intimacy with "those whom your right hand possesses from your young believing girls." That is, slaves. Um, ask their parents first, of course.
That's what it says. And it adds, "If you avoid the biggest [sins] of which you are forbidden, we will atone for your evil deeds..." Implication being, don't push it too far. But Allah understands your weakness, men, so he allows a lot of laxity in the area of sexual conduct.
Not mentioned in any of this is the feeling of the woman, except that she is to be given financial consideration, and equality. Most women I have heard on this subject care more about love than these other commodities. The text here seems to be catering, not to love, but to lust.
Under Moses, a woman was to be given a certificate of divorce so that her life could continue in some way if a marriage broke up. Under Christ, God's people are commanded to keep the bond of marriage unbroken at any cost. Divorce, abandonment, exchanging wives as property, severely damages the human psyche, not to mention the pain to the children often involved. Untold evil follows such casualness in relations.
Allah's - or is it not Muhammad's- feelings about the genders are spelled out in verses 34 ff: "Men are in charge of women..." "Good women are obedient..." "And of whom you fear rebellion, so preach to them...and scourge them." This is not called spousal abuse in Islam. It is the command of Allah for the man to so discipline his wife.
We see occasional severity in Moses. But nothing so sustained as this. Christians believe in the headship of a man in the married life. It is natural, normal, and also spiritual, a picture of the headship of Christ over His church.
But Christ Jesus does not have to keep telling His true bride that He is "in charge." Or that to be good, she must be obedient. The relationship assumes such. It is even harder to picture Jesus having to beat His beloved, as a Muslim husband is enjoined to do to his wife. Once more, this "later revelation" is far inferior to the two original ones it seeks to replace.
By the way, men who are on their way to prayer need to stop in their tracks if they are drunk, sick, traveling. Or if they touched a woman in any way. They must be cleansed, and if water is not available, some good dirt will do.
Though this chapter is called "The Women," there are many other subjects covered, as in all the Koran's suras. I will give here some quick summaries:
Watch out for Christians and Jews trying to give you their errors.
The present giving of the Koran confirms the Bible. Believe the Koran. Believe the Bible.
Those who do not believe the Koran will be roasted in a fire.
Shade and virgins for the faithful.
Muslim believers are to go to war, in separate groups or all together.
A great reward for Muslim warriors. Don't be afraid of the battle!
The command to kill infidels wherever they are found, and never to befriend them, is repeated in 89ff. Those who apostasize are to be treated the same way. "Wherever you find them."
A Muslim who kills another Muslim by mistake must pay "blood money" to free a slave. Straight to Hell, though, if it was not a mistake.
Jihadists are favored over non-jihadists.
Islam is the best religion.
Verse 142. Several times Allah is pictured as a deceiver. At first, one thinks this is a misprint. But eventually it settles in that Allah deliberately leads astray those who refuse to follow him. We remember our God who hardened Pharaoh's heart. But this same God hates the death of the wicked. Never does it surface in the Koran, to my knowledge, that tears are shed at the prospect of the lost having their doom sealed eternally.
The contradictions continue. In verse 78, Allah says that both misfortune and fortune are all from him. But in 79, "Whatever good fortune befalls you is from Allah, and whatever misfortune befalls you is from your own self." Ironically, in verse 82, "Allah" declares that "if it [the Koran] was from other than Allah, they would have found in it many inconsistencies."
Hidden away in a chapter about women is one of the biggest fantasies of all time, the denial of the crucifixion, and therefore resurrection, of Jesus Christ. This most reliable of all historic and Biblical facts is attacked head-on by Muhammad in 157ff: "And they did not kill him [Isa, son of Mary]...but it was made to appear to them...Yet Allah raised him up to himself...And on the day of resurrection, he [Isa] will be a witness against them."
Probably knowing what he has just done, he becomes very defensive. Muhammad insists that those who have become infidels have strayed far from the truth, and cannot be forgiven.
On that day, at the resurrection of which Muhammad speaks, his words will come back to haunt him.
As though the latter twisting of truth is not enough, Muhammad ends this sura with more falseness. "Surely the Christ Isa, son of Mary, is only a messenger of Allah and his word, which he cast to Mary, and a spirit from him... do not say 'Three'... surely Allah is only one god...Allah is sufficient as a guardian [not a father]...Christ does not disdain to be a servant of Allah..."
He concludes, "We have sent down to you a clear light... Allah will guide them to him a straight way."
Allah calls his darkness light and his crooked, straight. Let it be known by God's people that Jesus is the true light that comes into the world, and that His way is the only straight way. I need not tell you that Jesus did indeed die for your sins, that Jesus indeed was resurrected from the dead, that Jesus, along with the Father and the Spirit [all three of which are mentioned in this passage!] constitute the Godhead, defined in Scripture and in church creeds for many centuries as the truth from God.
Muhammad's saying differently has changed nothing, except the potential fate of one fourth of the current human race if they believe him. Let us pray fervently for Muslims everywhere.
