Understanding Islam's Ideology and Worldview

BreakPoint with Charles Colson  

Commentary

Americans are confused about how Islam -- a religion that we've been
told is known for peace and morality -- can spawn the vicious murder of
innocents in the name of God. The key to understanding those who
committed the atrocities in New York and Washington, and those who
supported them, has to do with the Islamic worldview.

For most Muslims in America, Islam is simply a religion. Muslims
believe in the six articles of Islam and practice the required "Acts of
Worship" which include prayer five times a day, fasting through the
month of Ramadan, and, if possible, a pilgrimage to Mecca, where
Muhammad founded the religion in A.D. 622.

There is, however, another aspect of Islam that many seem reluctant to
acknowledge. Islam is more than a religion: It is an ideology with a
clear sociopolitical agenda.

As Dr. Samuel Schlorff, an expert on Islam with Arab World Ministries
puts it, "The truth is that there is another side to Islam, a side that
embraces violence 'in the way of Allah.' . . . It holds that all men
are created to live in submission to Allah, as prescribed by Islamic
law. Muslims believe that Islam's destiny is to extend its control
until the whole Dar al-Harb [which means "House of War" -- that is, the
whole non-Muslim world] is subject to Islamic law in an Islamic state,
and this includes the use of force."

Islam, we've been told, is related to the Arabic word meaning "peace."
This is correct, except that the word means a particular kind of peace.
A better translation is "surrender" or "submission." It describes the
peace when a vanquished soldier lays down his arms in submission. And
so the very name, Islam, has militaristic connotations, and in this
lies the root of radical Islam. That root then grows in the soil of the
Islamic worldview.

Muslims view God, Allah, as absolutely transcendent. While Christians
understand that the Lord God reveals himself through the Scriptures and
preeminently in the Incarnation, Muslims insist that Allah never
reveals himself in that way. He primarily reveals his will.

Muslims also believe in the inherent goodness of people as over against
the Christian doctrine of original sin. Christians understand that we
are incapable of following God's law and are thus in need of salvation,
a fundamental difference. Muslims believe that we don't need salvation.
What we need is guidance and that guidance is the Islamic law, an all
encompassing system that controls every aspect of everyday life. (It is
administered, by the way, by religious leaders.)

As Dr. Schlorff puts it, "The model requires a Muslim government to
provide the legal and social framework necessary to facilitate
submission to the law. There is no separation between the sacred and
the secular, between church and state. This community is one,
universal, and cohesive, representing for Muslims the kingdom of God on
earth." And all people of earth are called to submit, for based on this
worldview, any who do not submit are living sub-human lives and are
impeding Islam's utopian vision for the world.

.......Continued on Part 2
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Copyright (c) 2001 Prison Fellowship Ministries

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