39
Both Are Pride-Filled
Out of all the sinful and evil behaviors the Bible condemns, pride tops them all. The Qur’an on the other hand considers Al-Mutakabbir, which literally means, The Most Proud One, or the One filled with pride, as one of the 99 beautiful names of Allah. Describing how important pride is to Allah, He even cloaks Himself with it: “Pride is My Wear, Supremacy is My Dress, I will break anyone who vies with me, and for them I do not care.”133 And, “Glory be to the One who rightfully deserves to be called the Most Proud, He is Allah.”134 However, such attire is an abomination to God “I will punish the king of Assyria [Antichrist] for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes” (Isaiah 10:12).
Just as Allah links Himself with Pride, God links pride as the main behavior of ‘the imposter’ and the ‘greatest adversary,’ Satan: “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre [Antichrist] ‘This is what the Jehovah, the Sovereign says’ ‘In the pride of your heart you say, ‘I am’” (Ezekiel 28:2).
Muslims exulting in Allah’s pride are evident from their declaration “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is greater!). It is usually yelled out loud in unison by Jihadists as a gesture of triumph. They are also the first words recited by the Muezzin as he cries aloud from the tip of minarets. It is the spark of every rally when one ignites the crowd shouting the word “Takbîr” (glorify His pride), the crowd then must respond “Allâhu Akbar” (Allah is greater, Allah, the most Proud). Every Muslim glorifies Allah in this manner: “Majesty and glory belong to Allah alone. This is pride in a god in the purest sense of the word.”135
40
Both Are Lords Of This World And The Underworld
Another title of Allah, Malek-rab-Al-A’lameen means “The Lord of the worlds” that is, this world, and the underworld: “O Allah, the Lord of the seven heavens and whatever it shadows. Lord of the two worlds and whatever it is carrying. Lord of the wind and wherever it goes. Lord of the devils and whoever is unguided. I ask you all the good blessings in this country and the best of its people and the best of whatever it has. I seek refuge from all the evils of this country, the worst of its people and the worst of what it has.”136 Allah seems to have already been described in the Bible as “The god of this world who has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel” (II Corinthians 4:4). “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). Mohammed definitely connected to the Lord of the Air and the god of demons.
In Ibn Ishaq’s classic biography of Mohammed, we find an account of Mohammed praying to his lord: “O Allah, Lord of the heavens and what they overshadow, and Lord of the Devils and what into error they throw, and Lord of the winds and what they winnow, we ask Thee for the booty of this town and its people. We take refuge in Thee.” Like the Antichrist in the Bible who is addressed the same way as Satan, Mohammed carries the same attributes as Allah: “Mohammed is the exemplar to both worlds, the guide of the descendants of Adam. He is the sun of creation, the moon of the celestial spheres, the all-seeing eye; the torch of knowledge, the candle of prophecy, the lamp of the nation and the way of the people; the commander-in-chief on the parade-ground of the Law; the general of the army of mysteries and morals; The lord of the world and the glory of ‘But for thee;’ ruler of the earth and of the celestial spheres.”137 Always, Mohammed is not far from such attributes given to His Lord: “He, and only he, is without question the most excellent of mankind; he and only he, is the confidant of God. The seven heavens and the eight gardens of paradise were created for him. He is both the eye and the light in the light of our eyes. He was the key of guidance to the two worlds and the lamp that dispelled the darkness thereof.”138
This Lord of the Worlds is well-defined in Al-Fatiha (the opening) first chapter, and the most recited from the Qur’an: “In the name of Allah, the Merciful, and Compassionate. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the two worlds; the Merciful the compassionate, King of the Day of Judgment, You we worship and You we call upon. Guide us along the straight path. The path of those to whom You have given grace, Not those deserving anger nor those who have gone astray” (Qur’an, Al Fatiha).
But even more amazing is the that Allah is even claimed to be the Lord of the demons (Jinn in Arabic): “This is a Message sent down from the Lord of men and jinn (demons)” (Qur’an 69:43); “I only created jinn (demons) and man to worship me” (Qur’an 51:56). According to the Qur’an, demons are even said to have heard the Qur’an recited and decided to follow Allah as their lord. In this passage, the demons are actually declaring the greatness of Islam: “since we (the demons) have listened to the guidance of the Qur’an, we have accepted Islam: and any who believes in his Lord [Allah] has no fear of loss, force, or oppression” (Qur’an 72:13). How could Muslims follow a religion followed by demons.
Then in Qur’an 72:1-8 the Jinn describe their view of the Qur’an: “Say (O Mohammed): It is revealed unto me that a company of the Jinn gave ear, and they said: Lo! It is a marvelous Qur’an which guides unto righteousness, so we believe in it and we ascribe unto our Lord no partner. And (we believe) that He, exalted, be the glory of our Lord! Hath taken neither wife nor son, and that the foolish one among us used to speak concerning Allah an atrocious lie. And lo! We had supposed that humankind and jinn would not speak a lie concerning Allah; and indeed (O Mohammed) individuals of humankind used to invoke the protection of individuals of the jinn so that they increased them in revolt (against Allah); And indeed they supposed, even as ye suppose, that Allah would not raise anyone (from the dead), and (the Jinn who had listened to the Qur’an said): We had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors” (Qur’an, Al-Jinn).
41
Both Are Called The “Son Of The Dawn”
In the Qur’an, Allah is described as the Lord of the Dawn and the “bringer of evil.” “Say I seek refuge with [Allah], the Lord of the Dawn from the mischief of the evil that He [Allah] has created… from the mischievous evil of Darkness as it becomes intensely dark” (Qur’an 114:1-3).
Right: “I seek refuge with [Allah] the Lord of the Dawn from the mischief of the evil that He [Allah] has created… from the mischievous evil of Darkness as it becomes intensely dark” (Qur’an 114:1-3).
Seeking refuge in Allah the Lord of the Dawn (Morning Star) from the evil entities he created is similar to what the Shamans do to ward off evil. This same Son of the Dawn, who the Bible attributes to all evil, havoc, and destruction of the earth: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12)
42
Both Are Afflicters
Some Muslims get queasy when the 91st name of Allah Al-Darr is mentioned and even go as far as rejecting such title. Al-Darr happens to be the same word used to address vermin and anything nasty. It literally means the causer of harm, the afflicter and creator of all suffering. In the Bible, Satan is portrayed as the one who afflicts people with calamity and at times even with sickness and disease. His son of perdition, the Antichrist, is portrayed as one who afflicts the saints, and “the desolator.” He is described as “the abomination” and “one who makes desolate” anything that is holy. He sets himself on the Temple of God which sparks the wrath of God to be poured on him: “until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator” (Dan 9:27). The prophet Job in the Bible had to endure the wrath of Satan, the afflicter. The term “afflicted by Job” became synonymous to testing our patience with Satan’s afflictions. Would Job deny God? Can Satan win?
Despite Muslim uneasiness and rejection of such title, would any Muslim subtract one of the ninety-nine names of the beautiful names of Allah, to end up with only ninety eight? This in itself would cause some harm to the validity of Islam. Imagine if one uses such a name in the common usage of the names of Allah as customary for Muslim naming. Muslims love to connect the word “slave of” with every name
and title of Allah—Abdul-Rahman (Slave of the Merciful), Abdul-Malek (Slave of The King), Abdul-Rauof (Slave of the Kind One), Abdul-Jabbar (Slave of The Mighty One, as in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the famous basketball player). Yet when it comes to Al-Darr, one would never ever find a Muslim with the name Abdul-Darr, How could such a name be one of the most beautiful names of Allah? Muslims know deep inside their inner soul that something is definitely wrong. Allah in Islam is understood to be the producer of not only good, but also of evil.
43
Both Are Cast Out Of Heaven
The casting of Lucifer, the rebellious ‘angel of light’ out of heaven, along with his fallen angels, has a similar account in the Qur’an, with a slight adjustment—this angel is given the title of deity ‘the Holy Spirit’ and is commissioned to dispatch the host of angels down to earth commencing the advent of Islam and the new revelations of the Qur’an: “Say, The Holy Spirit has brought it (the Qur’an) down from your Lord, truthfully, to assure those who believe, and to provide a beacon and good news for all who submit” (Qur’an 16:102). Not surprisingly the one to dispatch this “Holy Spirit” to earth is none other than the lord of this world: “This (Qur’an) is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds” (Qur’an 26:192).
Upon my detailed investigation of Lucifer in the Bible, it always ended up matching all the attributes given to Allah in the Qur’an—if Lucifer is described in the Bible as an angel, he seems to fit the angel Mohammed encountered—if Lucifer claims to be God, so does Mohammed’s angel claim attributes that belong to deity, for he is as Islam describes, “in-divisible from Allah” who is breathed through Allah into all the living, becoming the agent of creation. To top this all, even the Biblical account of Lucifer being cast out of heaven, seems to have an account in the Qur’an—considered the holiest event in Islam:
“We have sent it down to thee in the Night of Destiny, what do you know of this ‘Night of Destiny?’ The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months. In it, the angelic hosts descend along with the [Holy] Spirit by command of their Lord [Allah], Peace shall it be until the rising of the Dawn (Morning Star)” (Qur’an 97:1-5).
Such blasphemies litter Mohammed’s revelations. Muslims rarely question as to who is this “spirit” angel, the leader of this “descending angelic host.” How, and why does he “descend to earth,” and what is this “rising of this Morning Star?” Why is Allah “their Lord,” proclaimed as the “Lord of these angels”? How could this angelic spirit be given a name of deity “the Holy Spirit”?
Allah is Rabul-Falaq (Lord of the Dawn) and it is the same title given to Lucifer in the Bible. Allah in the Qur’an proclaimed that His Spirit, the angelic medium, descended to earth with His angelic host as the holiest day in Islam. A similar account is described in the Bible: “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him” (Revelation 12:9). This dark event parallels Islam’s Night of Destiny known in Islam to have dual fulfillments: not only did this event commission Mohammed to spread Islam after the angel nearly choked him to death, but is also a night destined when the sky splits asunder and the angelic hosts come down to earth to proclaim judgment and begin the advent of Mahdi. Yet this End-Times event is described in the Bible with Lucifer, son of the morning (Isaiah 14:12)—an angel who is finally cast out and then possesses a “man” (v. 16) the Bible calls Antichrist. In Revelation 12:4, Satan and his fallen angels are cast out; the dragon, “drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” These same stars are the fallen angels: “And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them” (Daniel 8:10). The prophecy concerning Petra in the land of Edom, has the same account with a similar long term application: “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, Says the LORD” (Obadiah 1:4). The same being is in Isaiah 14: “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God” (Isaiah 14:13).
Muslims everywhere need to ask themselves “why would this supremely holy event in Islam, so perfectly parallel an event that the Bible describes as being so completely evil?”
MUSLIM HOLY SPIRIT—DEIFICATION OF AN ANGEL
Islam was created by the author of confusion and knows little regarding the true God, the Holy Spirit, or the nature of God since the religion was so deeply influenced by the Gnostic and Christian heretics of Mohammed’s time. On the one hand, Islam claims that the “Holy Spirit” is not God, on the other hand, it accuses anyone of heresy, who claims that the Holy Spirit was created: “Whoever says it [the Holy Spirit] is created (makhluk) is a heretic…” (Ibn Hanbal).
A major dilemma in Islam is that if indeed this Holy Spirit is God, then Islam would have confessed a similarity to Christianity by admitting one of the Godhead of the Trinity. This would be an anathema since Islam is vehemently anti-Trinity.
John of Damascus appropriately challenges Islam: “if Christians are accused by Muslims to have Shirk (associating “partners” with God) then, according to the Qur’an, Muslims should be accused of mutilating God by separating Him from His Word and His Spirit.” This challenge still stands today.
If the Holy Spirit in Islam is an angel, the Bible describes Lucifer as an angel of light proclaiming himself as god. This deification of an angel is not absent from Islam even though Muslims deny this—most are unaware of it—the function of this angelic “Holy Spirit” in Islam is not some small function—for Islam ascribes to him attributes and acts exclusive to deity. This angel in the Qur’an is even involved in all creation by breathing life into the mother’s womb: “But he fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of his Spirit. And he gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): little thanks do ye give” (Qur’an, 32:9). “When I have fashioned him [Adam] (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My Spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him” (Qur’an, 38:72). “And (remember) her [Mary] who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her of Our Spirit, and made her and her son [Jesus] a sign for all peoples” (Qur’an, 21:91).
If this spirit was not claimed by Muslims to be God, how could it be involved in the act of creating, and how can a created being create? It is no wonder why Islam is so vague in explaining this spirit angel that Allah kept his nature as a secret—a mystery Muslims need not to question. When Mohammed was asked to explain exactly this angel’s true identity: “They will ask thee concerning the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is by command of my Lord, and of knowledge you have been shown but a little” (Qur’an 17:85).
44
Both Are The “Lord Of Demons”
Muslims are to seek refuge in what the Qur’an names Rabul-Falaq “the Lord of the Dawn.” But from what are they seeking refuge? Ironically, it is against “the mischief of the evil that He (Allah) created…the mischievous evil of Darkness as it becomes intensely dark” (Qur’an 114:1-3). Allah is the producer of the mischievous evil of darkness, the very entity the Bible warns us we wrestle against: “the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12). These are indeed the works of “the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24).
Only through the God of the Bible, was I able to see that Mohammed was standing on sinking sand and sought “refuge in the Lord of men and Jinn (demons), the King of men and demons, the God of men and demons” (Qur’an 114:1). Jinn are demonic “fiery spirits.” This was the ruthless God of Islam, so ruthless that He said: “I swear by those who violently tear out souls and drag them to destruction” (Qur’an 79:1). Why would Allah swear by angels that tear out and destroy souls? Mawaridi states that these are the angels of the air which penetrate back and forth from heaven to earth. They are those who allegedly manage the affairs of Allah both in the heavenly and earthly realms. Biblically speaking, these Jinn can be none other than the hosts of demons that serve under their prince—the prince o
f the power of the air—who is none other than Satan.
45
Both Are Possessed
The Qur’an was not inspired—inspiration is conveying God’s thoughts and words, not dictating them. Each individual author of the books of the Bible was entirely conscious and brought to the Scriptures his own individual human style and personality. God used the human agents as His vessels, but He did not literally override them. The Qur’an was dictated to Mohammed; however, this is not inspiration—rather it is known as possession. All Muslims claim that, “The Prophet was purely passive—indeed unconscious: the book was in no sense his, neither it’s thought, nor language, nor style: all was of Allah, and the Prophet was merely a recording pen.”139
It is no wonder why Karen Armstrong became an apologist for Islam. Armstrong, a former nun who had similar experiences like Mohammed, with seizure-like religious hallucinations gives an account of the manner of Mohammed’s initial encounter with the angel in the cave of Hira:
“Mohammed was torn from his sleep in his mountain cave and felt himself overwhelmed by a devastating divine presence. Later he explained this ineffable experience by saying that an angel had enveloped him in a terrifying embrace so that it felt as though the breath was being forced from his body. The angel gave him the curt command: ‘iqra!’ ‘Recite!’ Mohammed protested that he could not recite; he was not a kahin, one of the ecstatic prophets of Arabia. But, he said, the angel simply embraced him again until, just as he thought he had reached the end of his endurance, he found the divinely inspired words of a new scripture pouring forth from his mouth.”140 Alfred Guillaume however, in The Life of Mohammed, mentions that it was not actually until the third time that the “angel” had strangled Mohammed, demanding that he recite, that he finally did so.”141
God's War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible Page 20