UI – Part 431 – Islam is Joyless

Those Who Have Joy and Hope

The Bible stresses those who accept Christ, his life, death on the cross, and resurrection and choose to live by his example have hope and joy in this life.  Peace on earth can only be achieved when there are happy, caring, civil, humane, and joyful people.  A love of the Lord, Christ as your example, provides that comfort.  Christ lived in total obedience to God.  He was not a warrior.  He did not seek to grow a following using the sword.  He did not organize raiding parties of caravans to build a treasury and an army to carry out a personal vendetta against people he felt may have persecuted him.  Many persecuted Jesus.  Jesus prayed for people to find peace in the love of God and obedience to him.  The truth of the bible when reflected in your daily life can only lead to a respect for all people, regardless of race or religion.  It defines freedom and freedom of religion.  Certainly the bible outlines a pathway leading to an eternal life with God, but it recognizes also that many may not choose the Way.

Evil in the World

There is evil in the world.  No one can deny that.  How do we eliminate evil?  That may not be possible.  Everyone is born with a sin nature.  Whether you believe in original sin (which took place in the garden of eden) or not, we still sin.  No one is without sin.  We are weak.  We can be tempted and succumb. That is why God proclaimed judgment is his alone.  The Quran may say that also, as it is to be Allah’s Will that prevails.  Yet with Muhammad as the example, if he is as stated Allah’s messenger, violence towards those who do not believe in Allah is permitted.

Dhimmi’s

A statement of superiority by adherents to Allah is proclaimed with conditions established to make non-adherents subservient, as dhimmi’s, to other Muslims. That is evil, as it clearly suggests oppression and control.  A choice is provided in Islam that enables conversion, joining this force for Allah, and assume the male oriented, female subjected, nature of the obedient Muslim.  Vigilantes are made of one another as watchmen over relatives, peers, neighbors and the general populace.  Man is given the authority to act for Allah and the Messenger to carry out punishment, according to Scripture.  Being a respected scholar of Islam, or a political authority, grants certain rights which make those higher up the chain leading to Allah able to live a life that is not the same as that required of those further down the chain.  Muhammad provided that example also.

Apostasy Laws – Intolerant

The height of intolerance and control is put forward in Islamic Laws with regard to Apostasy.  A prior blog was written on this topic alone.  Without apostasy laws Islam would die.  It is the sword of Islam.  Should you make a choice, a personal, independent and intelligent choice that is a path to life other than Islam, if once a Muslim, you will be killed.  The call of the schools of Islam, be they Sunni or Shiite, are for death to the apostate.  The same applies to blasphemy.  Criticize Allah.  Criticize Muhammad.  Make a joke about either, even a cartoon, and you die.  The fatwa is to kill those that attack the prophet, Allah, and even the Scripture, the Quran, in any way.  Make a side note in your copy of the Quran and you can be severely punished.  Where is the love, the tolerance and the hope and joy in this ideology of submission?

Not Optional

Even the practice of the ideology of Islam is a requirement, subject of course to punishment.  And remember such punishment is not with Allah as judge, it is imparted where you as a Muslim live, by those who are empowered to keep you under control.  Pray 5 times a day.  Take a once in a lifetime journey to Mecca.  Do not eat pork.  Hate dogs (but in that case they kill the dog). Pay a tax they refer to as charity.  The dhimmi must pay a fee for protection.  Yet such protection is not a guarantee.  Many Muslims see the welfare provisions in the free world as Allah’s gift for them should they emigrate to such places.  It enables them to live, eat, pray, and not work.  Work is an option.  And consider the potential outcome.  In France recently an automobile manufacturing facility had to close.  A Peugeot plant shut down as the large Muslim work force spent more time in prayer each day than producing cars on schedule (read more).  And the quality of their work was questioned.  “They may have considered it their due to receive payment from unbelievers even while not working,” the article reads.  Allah’s Will could not produce the cars alone.

Hatred by Islamists

The world observes almost daily, it seems, the hatred of Islamists (Muslims) towards others.  From Raymond Ibrahim, Jihad Watch, May 11, 2017, he writes that it is not the Islamic State that promotes hatred, it is Islam itself. (Read the article)

Islamists are violent and careless in their regard for human life.  There is no joy.  With that there is no hope.  And the Imams and political leaders proclaim all will be better in the afterlife.  So if you feel you can’t stand life on earth anymore, let us know, we have a role for you on the front lines of the Islamic suicide squad.  You can be with Allah sooner or later.  Those that believe that, should also believe that pigs fly!
Bible and Joy

From Psalms 37:14-15: “The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.”

The ‘upright’ are those who are tolerant and accepting of others. Where there is pluralism, there is tolerance. The ‘upright’ are not the warriors intent on a world limited to be one way of living, especially not a life controlled in every step one takes.

Psalm 67:4: “May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you (God) rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.”

Ruling with equity is not the way of the Islamic ulema or authorities.  Equity allows for choice.  In equity all are equal under God, born in his image.  Humans are treated, one another, with fairness.  People feel safe in their homes, neighborhoods, when they travel, and when and where they worship.

Psalm 126:3: “The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

Following Christ, being obedient to God, is a voluntary choice, a choice presented with historical facts and events to consider.  Christ died for our sins according to Scripture, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day, according to Scripture.

Galatian 5:22-23:  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

You allow the Lord into your heart.  God provided the gift, you just need to accept it with thanks.  In so doing you live by Christ’s example. You pray when you want, but you pray.  You are considerate of others, because that is how Jesus was. You are not the judge, that is for God, and God alone.  You recognize your sin nature and, accepting Christ, you are reborn, forgiven, in a new life obedient and purposed by God.

Love in Islam is Absent

Where is the comparable love for this life in Islam? What can a Muslim do to be filled with hope and joy?  Jihad is not what I would consider an action that provides anyone peace and comfort.  Where is the joy in killing a fellow Muslim because they become a Christian, or slapping a Muslim woman who does not wear a head covering, or beating your wife, or simply living a life hating Jews and Christians as called for in Sura 60:4?  Those that seek the afterlife, if you really think about it, are trying to leave this life, even as a Muslim, because they are frustrated, confused, and by suicide they can end the hatred that possesses them.  This is proof of the lack of hope and joy on earth for a member of the Islamic ideology (masked as a religion).   Or they are brainwashed, drugged, in a stupor, confused and forced to perform, with the trigger to their demise in the hands of a coward.

The moderate Muslim that ignores the calling of Sura 9 is not Muslim enough for the Islamist, the fundamentalist.  They are heretics and hypocrites.  They are no different that the non-Muslim in the eyes of the hierarchy of Islam, those that proclaim and teach “true Islam.”

Find Joy in Christ – It’s Free

The alternative is to find the joy and hope offered by Christ.  But if, as a Muslim, you do, then the Islamophobia within a Muslim, a fear of their cultural or adopted ideology, is stirred as your life may end anyway at the hand of a fellow believer in Muhammad and Allah.  What kind of a world that is All for Allah can possibly be welcoming?  It is only because of apostasy laws that Islam continues to exist!  The serious business of Islam is being subject each and every moment of every day to the blade of a sword, virtually, at your neck on the ready to dismember your head if it turns away from Allah.  I call that bizarre!

How can there be any hope for those that cannot think for themselves or live as they prefer? Why should any person on this earth be required to live according to manmade laws that allow power over others and cause them to think the will of God is the reason they are the subjects they are?  That is man’s will, not God’s.  Sinful men want to be in charge, to bully others, to take advantage of others, to have what others desire, to take what they want, to possess what they’d like, as making chattel of women, and to have their way in the world.  Their way is not the way God provides for those that seek his kingdom in heaven.  It starts right here on earth.

The way was shown by God through god-incarnate, his begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Take his hand and find the sun rise in your heart and the light of his grace shine on your future joy in this life and the hope for the life hereafter.  John 14:6-7, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.'”

Grace and Peace