Can We Talk? Otherwise We’re Not Solving The Problem

Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward

Nabeel Qureshi, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2016

 

I had read this author’s former bestseller Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus and was overwhelmed with the personal price he had to pay with respect to his own family when he left the ‘faith of his fathers’ and embraced new faith. When this book came out and he was coming to my city to speak about it I made sure I was there. I also bought this book and read it.

Nabeel Qureshi’s speaking engagement in Toronto had to be moved from its original venue at the University of Toronto (at one of their religious colleges, Anglican in fact) because the faculty had been warned by administration that there could be trouble as this converted, well-educated, medical doctor would likely annoy many Muslim students.  Fortunately, a nearby church welcomed the event. Qureshi was up to dealing with all comers in his usual soft-spoken, respectful, manner, affirming each member of the audience, regardless of their religious stripes – after all it was not too long ago that he would have died for Islam.

In this book, this former Muslim attempts to clarify “both the reality of violent jihad in Islam” and the response that we should have to that. He bravely calls for a “compassionate approach to our Muslim neighbors”. That alone was enough to make me think twice about writing a review recommending Answering Jihad even though, whether we like it or not, Islam has, and continues, to change our world. But as I read, I found that Qureshi succeeded in his hopes for the book, and in the process, radically changed my own mind on the subject.

He remembers hearing a slogan at his mosque that he shared with many: “The terrorists who hijacked the planes on September 11 also hijacked Islam.” And he proceeds to show us how that happened. But while he speaks highly of the millions of peaceful Muslims who have been deceived about what is or is not the true origin and circumstances of their faith, he extends no such excuses for Islam itself.  Much of the book is spent on exposing the recorded and known behavior of the religion’s founder, Muhammad.  He does so with excellent references, almost all Islamic in origin.

His conclusion is that “as long as Islam is practiced in a way that calls Muslims to return to its foundation, violence will follow.” To counteract that, he believes that “the Christian teaching of loving one’s enemies, even in the face of death, might perhaps be the most powerful answer to jihad at our disposal today.” And then he gives his reasons.

If I were to quote here every part of the book that I underlined as a key or unique thought, no publisher would allow me to share my review of Qureshi’s book.  Suffice it to say, that he deals with the origins of jihad and jihad today in a most interesting and complete fashion. In the third part of the book, he answers some very pressing questions many of us have wanted to ask, such as: Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? How Does Jihad Compare with Old Testament Warfare and the Crusades? What Does Jesus Teach About Violence? What Does Jesus Have to Do with Jihad?

He concludes with a chapter entitled “Answering Jihad” and then follows all this up with some very valuable appendices on: Timeline of Jihad in Islam; Muhammad’s Words on Jihad; What is the Caliphate?; and more, as well as an excellent glossary of terms.

You owe it to yourself to hear from a former passionate lover of Islam to learn how best to address the challenge it presents to the world today.

Answering Jihad is dedicated to the author’s sister whom he misses very much and yearns for the day that they can worship the God of Truth together.

--  By Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, May 11, 2016. www.accordconsulting.com

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By Far, the No. 1 Tool in Its Field.

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity

Nabeel Qureshi, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Mich., 2014

It’s been a long time since a book held my attention the way this one did.  And it did so for several good reasons. First of all, Nabeel Qureshi’s style is personal, professional and captivating. Secondly, he was writing about a topic dear to my heart and very relevant today.  Thirdly, I knew several individuals who had gone through the same struggle as the author.  Fourth, I knew many other individuals who needed to know about his journey. And finally, I needed to learn a lot about Islam myself. This book satisfied all of the above.

The author helps us understand Islam and the thinking of most Muslims in a way that only someone who loved his Muslim faith as much as he did, could do. He painstakingly takes us through his childhood and adolescent years explaining the teaching he received from his mother and father and the ‘elders’ in his community and mosques. He tells us how he learned all the arguments one needed to discredit any opposing religion others proposed to him.  He shares how he desperately wanted to prove his allegiance to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and to Allah year after year against all odds.

He shares with us the prayers he was called to and his dedication to being an ambassador for Islam.  He systematically takes us through his efforts to test the Christian New Testament and to determine whether Christ was a “mortal messiah” or a “divine son of God”.  He challenges the authenticity of the Gospel writings most thoroughly and then turns his attention to discovering all he could about Muhammad.  He wasn’t happy with what he found.  That left him with his only hope, the “holiness of the Quran”.

It was only then, almost near the end of the book, he realized that his faith was in doubt. Now what? How can he be sure about what he thought was truth? And if it wasn’t Islam, how could he abandon it and do this to his parents who loved him so much? It would be like killing them himself.  With the help of others, Nabeel Qureshi, takes the necessary steps to discover what he had always sought – the truth. But as one would expect, the truth can only be verified ultimately by Truth itself and in the very last part of the book, the author shares how where he landed was totally “Guided by the Hand of God” Himself.

This is a must read book by any Christian believer who knows even one Muslim today. Every good Muslim owes it to him- or herself to read the book and do all possible to refute its contents. What amazed me the most was that Nabeel came to his conclusions based on a “friendship” that had no strings attached – he was loved for who he was regardless of what he believed.  His friendship with David reminded me of the friendship between Jonathan and David in the Bible.  You’ll see why when you read this real story of faith, doubt, a search for truth, and the consequences of finding it.

My recommendation is that you buy many copies and give them out to all those that would benefit from reading about this dramatic life journey involving the most critical aspect of who a person is – namely, what he or she believes.  

-- Ken B. Godevenos, Accord Resolution Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario. 15/12/13  

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Perversion of the Lord’s Name Today; Allah Is Not God

Exodus 20:7: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” as it relates to the use of “Allah”.

These comments form the conclusion to our look at Exodus 20:7 and the various ways we may be taking the Lord’s name in vain.  Earlier we covered the meaning of “taking something in vain”.  That led us to “abusing, misusing, and perverting” something.  All three aspects were covered with respect to the Lord’s name.  One area of discussion under the category of “perverting God’s name” was left for now.

On June 28, 2014, newspapers all over the world reported on a major decision made by the Malaysian government.  I read my account of it as found in the National Post column written by Robert Fulford.  Robert Marshall Blount Fulford, OC is a Canadian journalist, magazine editor, and essayist. He lives in Toronto.  This particular piece was entitled, The Lord’s name, in vain.

In it, Fulford informs us of the following:

·      Malaysian courts have made it illegal for Christian to refer to God as ‘Allah’ verbally or in writing

·      Many Muslims celebrated the news indicating they would defend the word Allah as theirs to the last drop of blood

·      Much of the world sees the two as synonymous and Allah as an Arabic term for God

·      In recent years Muslims have come to regard the word Allah itself as sacred, untouchable by non-believers in Islam

·      On this occasion, as on many occasions in recent times, the conservative, hyper-sensitive version of Islam won a considerable victory

·      Authorities claimed that the word “Allah” in a Christian context might confuse Muslims, causing them to become Christians

·      Malaysian politicians spend their days worrying about problems of racial and religious differences and their evenings congratulating themselves on how well they’ve solved them

·      Abdullah Zaik, the head of a passionate Muslim-Malay rights organization, has said the Christians should, in the name of national unity, set aside their stubbornness. Mohd Sani Badron, a leading Islamic scholar, has said that the use of “Allah” for “God” must stop because it “erroneously represents the two religions as equal” and may cause Islamic anger. Another leading Muslim said that Christians who go against the ruling are deliberately “trying to cause chaos,” raising the possibility of disharmony

·      This bizarre form of Bible censorship is another way of reminding Christians and Buddhists that they are not to consider themselves legitimate citizens of Malaysia

·      If a government in the West dared to intrude into an editorial decision on the publishing of the Koran, and if the courts supported that position, Muslims would be furious, and with good reasons.  But in many Muslim majority states a similarly outrageous decision is considered entirely within the rights of government.

So now you have the story and how at least Robert Fulford feels about it.  But here’s my take.  The only thing I can say is, “Amen!”  Why did it take the Malaysian government to force Christians to stop doing something that they should not have done on their own account?  And here’s where I lose some of you as promised . . . I believe substituting the word Allah for our one and only true God is indeed perverting the name of the Lord.  If you’re still with me, let me explain why I believe that.

When one takes on the use of a word that comes from a religion which is a) anti-Christian, b) anti-Judaic, and c) further wants to eliminate those who do not want to become Muslims, then there is no way we are talking about the same God, and the use of Allah should therefore not be used by us.

Secondly, if as I believe many Christians who do use Allah, as a substitute for God, do so for the purpose of aligning themselves with Muslims in order to reach them, then they are compromising on who God is.  He does not need a pseudonym for His impact to affect people – even Muslims.  Many are turning to Him without the need for His witnesses to refer to Him by the word Allah.  As Christians, we are so good at compromising our tenets and our ways and watering down our beliefs in order to attract more to our faith.  We could well take a lesson from Muslims in that regard.

Now let’s look at some of the things that Fulford informs us about:

• Of course, as Christians it would be wrong for us to make it illegal for our own people to refer to God as ‘Allah’.  We are not that kind of religion.  And we are not a political force.  But that should have happened out of our own collective free will.  It did not, because too many were interested in taking a pluralistic approach to God.  That was a mistake.
• We could learn from the celebrating Muslims and be ready to state that we would defend the name of the Living God, our Lord to our last drop of blood.
• We need to stop seeing ‘God’ and ‘Allah’ as synonymous. Others do not and in that we should agree.
• God’s name to us must be sacred and we should object to those using it in vain much more than we do.
• Not only are Muslims possibly confused when Christians use the word ‘Allah’ but I believe we are slowly confusing our current and future generations of Christians when we say it is okay for us to use the word ‘Allah’ for our God.
• Perhaps we would all live in greater peace if we kept to our God and let the Muslims stick to their ‘Allah’ and thus allay the fear of many Islamic politicians who worry about problems of racial and religious differences causing trouble.
• I am not sure we should do it in the name of national unity as Abdullah Zaik calls for, but Christians should set aside the use of the name of Allah as God because it should be us that does not want to erroneously represent the two religions as equal, not them.  They are anything but.
• As Christians we should not be trying to cause the chaos they accuse us of by stealing their nomenclature for their deity.
• And Christians do indeed need to be reminded that not only may they not be legitimate citizens of Malaysia, but we need to realize that ultimately our citizenship is in heaven, not on earth.
• Finally, let us be thankful that most of us live in countries where such an “editorial decision” on the publishing of the Koran would never take place.  I pray that this remains the case.

For all of the above, I would say thank you to the Malaysian government for the action they took recently on this topic.  We, as Christian believers should have been there long ago.

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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Colorado student quits high school choir over Islamic hymn proclaiming "There is no truth except Allah"

You can read about and see the video in the link below from Jihad Watch or you can go directly to the story on FoxNews without a video (from within the link). Either way, you need to realize what is going on in America today. Bottom line: Muslims complain about anything that is Christian in American public schools and to compensate, American schools seem to be embracing at least singing songs which state "there is no truth except Allah". Go figure. Better still go pray and then get involved.

Colorado student quits high school choir over Islamic hymn proclaiming "There is no truth except Allah" - Jihad Watch

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Halal Food: How Islam is taking over your favorite restaurant's menu.

Just when we thought it was all about ruling nations, sharia law, elimination of infidels, etc., now we find out it is also about "food". The article attached to the link below gets better and better as you read through it to the end.

Don't be fooled by the title. You need to answer some questions yourself. For example, when food is prayed over in the name of "Allah" is it food offered to "idols"? Most Christians, as I have read, argue that Allah is not the same God they worship.

Whether we should be eating that food (as advised against in scripture) depends on the answer you give to the question above. The fact remains that many Christians and other groups are upset about doing so unknowingly. Many major restaurant chains are involved. It's a bigger issue than most liberal Christians will admit.

Find out how Islam is taking over the restaurant menus you're selecting from. Here's the link:

Are you eating food sacrificed to idols?

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