What Every American and Christian Should Know about Islam

By William Merrifield

It is not the intent of this book to provide commentary to the whole of the Qur'an. What it does propose is to cover those areas of the Qur'an that will give the reader an awareness of the Islamic world's understanding of its relationship to the rest of the world and to the world's other religions. One would think there would be some grand plan for the writing of such a book. The truth is, it was ongoing discussions on Facebook that led to a two-year study to determine the truth of the matter. From this study came a correlated and transliterated copy of the Qur'an, which readers will be given the opportunity if they so wish to request a free copy. Who are the Muslims? What are their factions, how do they relate to the world and to one another? What is Shari'a law, and how does it equate to national and state laws? Is Shari'a law and therefore Islamic law compatible with western values? These are but some of the questions this book seeks to answer. About the Author William Merrifield graduated from the Oklahoma City Police Academy in 1974. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in "Professional Law Enforcement" from Oklahoma City University in 1977. He received a "Master of Divinity Degree" from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1980. He obtained a "Doctor of Ministry Degree" from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1992. His military schooling includes the Army War College where he received a "Masters of Strategic Studies" in July of 2002. He has been in the ministry as both a Southern Baptist Pastor and Chaplain, with over forty 40 years of service. He brings a wealth of experience to his writing. He has written several "White Papers" for the US Army, and doctrine for the US Army Chaplaincy. Since retiring, he has written three books, The Threat From Within, published by Tate Publishing, Who Do You Say I Am, Jesus Called the Christ, and Thoughts On Paul, both published by Christian Faith Publishing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781643490496

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What Every American and Christian Should Know about Islam

William Merrifield

ISBN 978-1-64349-048-9 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64349-049-6 (Digital)

Copyright © 2018 by William Merrifield

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Thus, have We sent this down - an Arabic Qur’an – and explained there in detail some of the warnings, in order that they may fear Allah, or that it may cause their remembrance.

Surah 20:113

Acknowledgements

To my God and Savior: "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).

To my family: "From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children" (Psalm 103:17).

To my country: America, America, God mend thy every flaw, confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law. (America The Beautiful).

Introduction

It is not my intent to provide commentary to the whole of the Qur’an. It is not my purpose to give the reader more than a casual understanding of the Qur’an. What I propose to do is to cover those areas of the Qur’an that will give the reader an awareness of the Islamic world’s understanding of its relationship to the rest of the world.

One should not be surprised that there are many areas where the Qur’an seems to quote or paraphrase the Torah or the New Testament. There are many people, whom I have read, that believe that Muhammad had only a rudimental understanding of Judaism and Christianity. In my studies I have found evidence, which I believe shows that he had more than a basic understanding. This is not to say that Muhammad was an expert on the Torah or New Testament. There are many places where he misquotes or misunderstands the meaning of a text completely. This does not take away from my belief that he had read both the Old and New Testaments.

I marvel at the comments people are making both for and against Islam. I also marvel at how many of the comments are either misquotes, assumptions, or just plain wrong! As I began to pay more attention to their comments, I determined that someone should write a book concerning not only what is written but also more importantly, what Americans and Christians should know about what is written in the Qur’an and how it influences modern-day Islam.

I must acknowledge my limitations in this endeavor. I am not a master of the Arabic language. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary gave me the rudiments to word studies, even with languages such as Arabic. Nevertheless, this has been a daunting task, often taking several days to gleam the understanding of just one verse, a verse that all three translations/revisions should have agreed on but did not. This is further complicated by the substantial dissimilarity of the three copies of the Qur’an. There are times when I find the coordinating verses separated by several verses or even pages. The revisions of the later translations, the removal of words such as infidel, and the obvious paraphrasing, all contribute to the complexity of the task.

This book is not just for Christians, but it is for anyone who desires to know what the Qur’an has to say about other faiths, cultures, and the world in general. Since I am a Christian, my focus is primarily on Christians. I will try to provide debate about those things that are important to the discussion and to the best of my ability, restrict myself to what is written and not what I think is good or bad concerning the Qur’an and Islam. Should I find that I must choose one side or the other, I will endeavor to alert the reader of what I consider to be personal commentary. I fear that there will be an abundance of endnotes. That being the case, let me apology upfront.

My study of the Qur’an for this book is The Meaning of the HOLY QUR’AN¹, 2009, eleventh edition, with revised English translation,² originally translated by Dr. Abullah Yusuf Ali, 1938, Amana Publications, Beltsville, Maryland. It does not state who did the revisions, however, Dr. Ali died in December 1952. It is translated using a modern style, choosing to expound, implant additions in selected passages, and paraphrase, rather than translate. There are also numerous misspellings and therefore I have taken it upon myself to create a file containing a clean copy of the Qur’an presented in the modern style of writing. Archaic words will be changed to their modern-day counterpart. The meaning of words and/or passages will be strictly observed.

My comparison revised Qur’an is the HOLY QUR’AN, fifth English revision, published in 1963 by Ahmadiyyah Anjuman Isha’Islam, Columbus, Ohio, some twelve years after the death of the translator. The original is from an extensive study, which began in 1909, with the first addition being printed in 1917. As with Dr. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, I have no knowledge of who made the English revisions to the fourth and fifth editions, although there are surahs where the use of wording seems to change from the higher education of Dr. Maulana Muhammad Ali’s level to a lower educational grade. Dr. Maulana Muhammad Ali, as reported by his biography, was incapable of having penned the fourth and fifth revised editions published in 1951 and following, due to illness and his later death in that same year.

My translation copy of the Qur’an is THE KORAN, translated from the Arabic, by Rev. J. M. Rodwell, MA, March 1909 third edition, published by J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London. It was translated using the scholarly style of the day and remained as true as possible to the Arabic.

I have, from these three, correlated and transliterated a clean copy of the Qur’an. Should the reader desire a copy of the correlated and transliterated copy of the Qur’an, please e-mail me at [e-mail]. I have endeavored to ask three questions, Does it clarify the verse? Does it strengthen the verse? And, does it correct the verse? In those cases, where none of the revisions or translation agree, I will provide all three interpretations and allow the reader to determine via the context of the verse in question. Where three are in agreement, I will include this in the text. I have attempted to keep footnotes to a minimum. For the more wide-ranging footnotes, please see the study copy. Where two of the translations/revisions are in agreement, I will note the agreed text in parentheses. Hopefully this will reduce some of the confusion. Simple because the word(s) may be in parentheses, does not mean the word or words are not in the original translation/revision.

I have included Judaism and Christianity in my discussion because it is primarily against these religions and their cultures that the major conflicts have been directed. This is not to demean the secular conflicts.³ The present-day conflicts are linked together, and it often proves near impossible to determine where one leaves off and the other carries on. I have endeavored to restrict the discussions of Judaism and Christianity to those points where Islam either agrees or comes into conflict with them. I have attempted to include relevant quotes from the Qur’an where appropriate.

The reader should understand that the events are far more complicated than the narratives indicate.⁴ The histories presented have been restrained in their presentations. Let me also acknowledge the limitation of writing a history, no matter how brief, where the evidence is sparse. The long stream of oral transmission and the forms the traditions have taken must be observed. Considering that the long process of selecting, reselecting, grouping, regrouping of the narratives, and the shape this book has taken, limits my ability to be dogmatic about the sequence of details, accounts, and events, especially where there are parallel accounts. Say you: ‘We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham⁵, Ish’ma’il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah’ (Surah 2:136).

It seems to me that the only safe and proper avenue lays in a balanced examination of the three faiths in their traditions and illumination of their individual histories. This includes the making of such positive statements as limited investigations may allow. All three of the mainline religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam⁶ – claim their heritage through the patriarch Abraham. And remember that Abraham was tried by his Lord with certain commands, which he fulfilled: He said: I will make you an Imam to the Nations. He pleaded: And also Imams from my offspring! He answered: But My Promise is not within the reach of evildoers (Surah 2:124). This then seems the best starting place. Concerning the three, I will do well to limit myself to a method as rigidly objective as possible while including quotes from the Qur’an in the discussions.

To rehearse the story of the Bible would be a pointless venture. Certainly, the readers can do that where they may have unanswered questions. Although debated by the three major religions, all agree that Abraham was the founding Patriarch of the Covenant.⁷ Remember We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take you the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Ish’ma’el,⁸ that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (Surah 2:125).

Judaism believes that one becomes a descendant of Abraham through birth, although one may join the Jewish faith by profession. It is, however, the Jewish nation that determines who is a true Jew. Only in the last few years have the Falashas of Ethiopia⁹ been recognized as being Jewish. Christianity believes that one becomes a descendant of Abraham through faith in Jesus called the Christ,¹⁰ meaning Messiah. In Islam, Abraham is a link in the prophetic line that begins with Adam and ends with Muhammad. Muslims believe that the prophet Abraham became the Leader of the Righteous in his time, and it was through him that both the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula and Israel came into being. And who turns away from the religion of Abraham but such as debase their souls with folly? Him we chose and rendered pure in this world: and he will be in the Hereafter in the ranks of the Righteous (Surah 2:130).

Islam

Part 1

Chapter One

Judaism

The History of Judaism

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. The Jewish people are also called Hebrews, Israelites, and Semites, although Hebrew is the oldest of the terms. The name Hebrew is first mentioned in Genesis 14:13 where Abram is called the Hebrew. The original term is uncertain. The Biblical term lvri is usually translated as Hebrew in the English, meaning to cross over, or even better understood as one from across the river.¹¹

We first encounter Abram in Genesis 11:26 where the genealogy of humanity brings us to Terah, called Azar in the Qur’an, the ninth in descendent from Noah. When he was seventy, Terah fathered Haran, Abram, and Nahor the father of Lot. Haran was the first-born of Terah and was born in Ur of the Chaldees where he later died. It was here that God told Abram to leave his country.¹² Abram and his people paused in Harran. It was here, according to the Qur’an, that Abraham challenged his father’s religion. Lo! Abraham said to his father Azar:¹³ Take you idols for gods? For I see you and your people in manifest error (Surah 6:74). Terah died in Harran, a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia, at the age of two hundred-seventy.

Judean historians tell us that Abram was born some 1,940 years after the creation. This would place his birth somewhere near the year 1800 BCE.¹⁴ It was from Haran that Abram began his long journey, both in years and miles, to Canaan. Genesis chapter 12 paints Abram as being flawed in his allegiance to God’s promise, but later proving himself to be righteous.

Some twenty-four years after his nephew, Lot, had chosen the Jordanian Valley, Lot is recorded as living in Sodom. We also sent Lot: He said to his people: ‘Do you commit lewdness such as no people in creation committed before you? For you practice your lusts on men in preference to women: you are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds’ (Surah 7:80, 81). Here the Lord and two angels appeared to Abraham announcing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.¹⁵ And we rained down on them a shower of brimstone: then see what was the end of those who indulged in sin and crime (Surah 7:84)!

When childless, it was the custom for a wife to give her husband a substitute that could bear him children. Sara gave her handmaiden Hagar. When Abram was eighty-six years old, he fathered a son by Hagar. He named him Ish’ma’el. God said that Ish’ma’el would be of a wild disposition and would live in hostility against all his brothers.¹⁶

It is not until Genesis 17:5 that God gives Abram the name Abraham. Although the true meaning of the name is lost in antiquity, Father of Many Nations or Father of Multitudes is acceptable to the majority of Biblical historians. Abraham was one hundred years old when he fathered Isaac by his then ninety-year-old wife, Sara, somewhere near the year 1700 BCE. Should at a later date the wife bears a son, that son would become the heir to the father’s wealth. Even so the expulsion of the substitute mother and her child was forbidden.

This explains Abraham’s reluctance to send Hagar and Ish’ma’el away.¹⁷ The name of the son whom God tested Abraham with the decree to sacrifice his only son, is Isaac in the Torah,¹⁸ and Is’ma’el in the Qur’an. "Then, when (he became of age),¹⁹ he said: ‘O my son! I see in a vision that I offer you in sacrifice: now see what is your view!’ The son said: ‘O my father! Do as you are commanded: you will find me, if Allah so wills, one practicing Patience and Constancy’" (Surah 37:102)! Abraham died in the year 1625 BCE. and was buried beside his wife in a field purchased from Ephorn, a Hittite.²⁰ The Tombs of the Patriarchs is presently located in the West Bank City of Hebron and is the second most holy site in Judaism and Christianity.

First mentioned in Genesis 10, the Jebusites, who were descendants of Abraham, lived in Jerusalem and were one of seven tribes that the Jews were to destroy.²¹ They are mentioned as worshiping the same God as the Hebrews.²² There is almost a prophetic pronouncement in Joshua 15:63, Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah. First Chronicles notes that the Jebusites forbade David to enter Jerusalem shortly after becoming king. Some Islamic politicians, most notable Yasser Arafat and Faisal Husseini, have claimed that Islamic Palestinians are descendants of the Jebusites, and as such have a historical claim to Jerusalem that predates Israel. It should be noted that there is no archeological evidence to substantiate that such a relationship ever existed.

Isaac married Rebecca who bore him two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob’s name means he grasps the heel, or more figuratively he deceives. Jacob deceived Esau out of both his birthright and his father’s blessing, thus becoming the patriarch of the family. Jacob fled the wrath of Esau. During this exile, he married Rachel and her sister Leah. Returning from exile, he wrestled with God and was renamed Is’ra’el, a name that the Qur’an does not recognize. It is through his twelve sons that Judaism is founded. The Patriarchal Age ends with the death of Jacob in Egypt somewhere around 1550 BCE. Were you witnesses when death appeared before Jacob? Behold, he said to his sons: ‘what will you worship after me?’ They said: ‘We shall worship your God and the God of your fathers, of Abraham, Ish’ma’il and Isaac, the one Allah: to Him we (submit)’ (Surah 2:133).

I leap forward, mainly because of time and limited space, to the division of Israel. The word Jew is from Judah the fourth son of Is’ra’el. His descendants were later called Israelites or, in a collective sense, Israel. After the death of David, his son Solomon, although wise, did not inherit his father’s leadership abilities. With growing outside pressure from Egypt and the discontent of the northern tribes over excessive taxation, rebellion was in the wind. Add to this the brassiness of Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and revolt was inevitable.

When the Hebrew nation was divided upon the death of Solomon in 922 BCE., the northern part became Israel, ruled by Jeroboam, son of Nebat. This northern confederation of tribes consisted of ten tribes. The southern kingdom, consisting of the remaining two tribes ruled by Rehoboam, became Judah. The two kingdoms existed together for nearly two hundred years, with the northern kingdom being the stronger. During that time, Israel had nine dynasties and nineteen kings, while Judah with the exception of one brief period, had only one dynasty lasting 350 years.

The Northern Kingdom fell in 722 BCE., and the Southern Kingdom fell in 586 BCE. The elite of Judah was deported and the Kingdom of Judah was incorporated into the Neo-Babylonian Empire.²³ It was the survivors of Judah that returned to Israel. It was through this remnant that the Hebrew traditions were preserved. Upon their return in 539 BCE., they found the descendants of Zadok,²⁴ who were alleged to have intermarried with the Jebusites who were in control of Jerusalem.

Israel survived all of her calamities because of the Prophetic Age, and the voices that called her to repentance. Unfortunately, the people very rarely listened, and so there fell a four-hundred-year period of silence in which there were no prophetic voices in the land. Sadly, the centuries have carried us to the end of the Old Testament era. These last 400 years are poorly documented, and the history of Israel all but stops until the second century BCE., where fortunately we have the manuscripts of First and Second Maccabees.²⁵

The history of Israel, up to and including the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE., and the following expulsion of the Jews can be read in The Works of Josephus, the Wars of the Jews, Book VII. ²⁶ It was not until the reign of Emperor Hadrian, 100 to 135 CE that Canaan called Israel, was renamed Palestine Syria because of the Bar Kochba Revolt. It was intended as an insult. Not until 361 CE that the Jews were permitted to return to Jerusalem. Jerusalem fell to the Sasanian Empire in 614 CE. The Sasanian Empire was the last Iranian empire prior to the rise of Islam. The Byzantine Emperor Heraclius retook Jerusalem in 629 CE.

At this point, there began an animosity that continues to the present. Or do you say that Abraham, Ish’ma’il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes were Jews...Who is more unjust than those who conceal the testimony they have from Allah (Surah 2:140)? There should be no confusion concerning this point. Muslims consider Jews to be cursed by God. Of the Jews there are those who displace words from their places, and say, ‘We hear and we disobey’; and ‘Hear what is not heard’; and (‘look at us’); with a twist of their tongues and a slander to Faith. If only they had said, ‘We hear and we obey’...it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah has cursed them for their unbelief; and but few of them will believe (Surah 4:26). Concerning the Jews, there is to be no piety or concern as to their fate.

O Messenger! Let not those grieve you, who race each other into unbelief: among those who say, We believe with their lips but whose hearts have no faith; or it be among the Jews – men who will listen to any lie – will listen even to others who have never so much as come to you. They change the words from their times and places: they say, If you are given this, take it, but if not, beware! If any one’s trial is intended by Allah, you have no authority in the least for him against Allah. For such—it is not Allah’s will to purify their hearts. For them there is disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter a heavy punishment. (Surah 5:41)

Attributes of Judaism

The single most characteristic element of the Jewish faith is the belief that God has revealed Himself to mankind through divinely inspired individuals. Their utterances, both oral and written, are the real words of God. In my attempt to grasp the ancient Hebrew concept of God, the reader needs to be on guard against the conjecture that the writers of the Old Testament were theologians in any practical sense of the word.

In Judaism, God’s primary concerns are the individuals, not the heavens, the world, or the rise and fall of kingdoms. When Adam sinned, God still spoke with him. When Cain killed Abel, God conversed with him. When God determined to destroy the world, he warned Noah. He directed Abraham to leave Babylon and go to Canaan. And He gave direction to the patriarchs of the nation. Judaism is based on a covenant with God.

In fact, this event is the one irrefutable element, and it is as eternal as God Himself. When Judaism breaks the covenant she is punished, but the covenant is never repudiated. "O Children of Israel! Call to mind the favor, which I bestowed upon you, and fulfill your covenant with Me as I fulfill My Covenant with you, and fear none but Me (Surah 2:40). For the Hebrews it is the watermark to which they are able to return, the foundation on which they can rebuild, and the future to which they can look. God promises to bless the Jewish faith, but only if they keep the covenant.²⁷ Muslims believe that, as a nation, Israel never kept the covenant. Is it not that every time they make a covenant, some part among them throw it aside? No, most of them are faithless" (Surah 2:100).

To the Hebrew mind, they view God as being with them. If they look to the heavens, He is there in the stars. They hear Him on the waters and in the thunder. He speaks and they hear His voice full of majesty and power,²⁸ all of this reflecting the earthly lives of their ancestors. They were close to nature. They were fascinated with the stars. They wondered at the sunrise and sunset. They felt the wind and the rain. In all of this, they saw God!

As near as I can comprehend, the Jewish people never thought of religion as a theological system. It was not a creed that needed to be accepted. Hebrew life still involves the family, community, and nation. There were even times when they caught hold of a world ruled by God. There was, however, never a concept of world domination.

Literature of Judaism

For many centuries, the history of the Jewish people was transmitted orally. Older manuscripts describe the origin of the religion of the Israelites in terms of lower to higher development. The exalted idea of God, the strong ethical element in the Mosaic laws, and the concept of covenant all combine to provide this progression. The Book of the Covenant (Exodus 21 through 23) is certainly of an early origin. Even in Israel’s early beginnings, their God was Yahweh, Jehovah in the English. Their concept of the one God was unique in ancient society. When finally they began to write down historical events, none of them were in the sense of the word, books. Many were little more than epistles or letters. Eventually the writings would be condensed into twenty-four books, which were further divided into the laws, the psalms, the prophets, and the writings.

The Book of Moses, or the Torah, contains five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Torah provides a vibrant account of both the history and social life of the Jewish people, as well as their religion. Moses lived around 1200 BCE. There have in recent years been assertions that the Torah has been revised over a period of 600 to 700 years by at least four editions and revisions. Much of this assertion is due to the Torah’s having been carried forward orally. Muslims do accept some accounts of the Exodus. "We took the Children of Israel across the sea. They came upon a people devoted entirely to some idols they had. They said: ‘O Moses! Fashion for us a god like to the gods they have.’ He said: ‘Surely you are a people without knowledge’ (Surah 7:138). The Qur’an also acknowledges that God gave the Hebrews the Ark of the Covenant. And their Prophet said to them: ‘A Sign of his authority is that there shall come to you the Ark of the Covenant, with assurance therein of security from your Lord, and the relics left by the family of Moses and the family of Aaron, carried by angels. In this is a symbol for you if you indeed have faith’ (Surah 2:248). Moses is considered by both Hebrews and Muslims to be the father of the Jewish faith. Remember Moses said to his people: ‘O my People! Call in remembrance the favor of Allah to you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what He had not given to any other