Not Peace but a Sword: The Great Chasm Between Christianity and Islam

by Robert Spencer

  41 Amnesty International Report 2007: Indonesia. http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Asia-Pacific/Indonesia.

  42 “We Are the Church of Islam,” Interview with the patriarch of Antioch Grégoire III Laham by Gianni Valente, 30 Days, April 2006.

  43 Mohammed Zaatari, “Sidon archdiocese reopens following refurbishment,” Daily Star, December 6, 2010.

  44 Amin Maalouf, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (New York: Schocken Books, 1984), 179.

  45 Quoted in Thomas Madden, The New Concise History of the Crusades (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), 76.

  46 Ibid., 78.

  47 Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) (Riyadh: Darussalam, 2000), vol. 4, 133.

  48 Muhammad Aashiq Ilahi Bulandshahri, Illuminating Discourses on the Noble Qur’an (Tafsir Anwarul Bayan), translated by Afzal Hussain Elias and Muhammad Arshad Fakhri (Karachi: Darul-Ishaat, 2005), vol. 2, 291.

  49 Will Lester, “Poll: Fewer People Link Islam, Violence,” Associated Press, July 26, 2005.

  50 Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), vol. 1, Darussalam, 2000, 87.

  51 The Navarre Bible: The Pentateuch (Princeton: Scepter Publishers, 1999), 48.

  52 Sahih Muslim 6325.

  53 “Ask the Religion Experts: Are people inherently sinful?” Ottawa Citizen, February 19, 2012.

  54 www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/05/statement-president-hajj-and-eid-al-adha.

  55 George W. Bush, Message on the observance of Eid al-Adha, January 8, 2007.

  56 Jalalu’d-Din al-Mahalli and Jalalu’d-Din as-Suyuti, Tafsir al-Jalalayn, translated by Aisha Bewley (London: Dar Al Taqwa Ltd., 2007), 1194.

  57 Ecumenical Jihad, 30.

  58 Gregory VII, Letter to Anzir, King of Mauritania (1076), in J. Neuner and J. Dupuis, The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church (New York: Alba House, 1996), 380.

  59 Nicole Winfield, “Pope marks 50th anniversary of Vatican II, seeks to correct errors that emerged,” Associated Press, October 11, 2012.

  60 Pope Benedict XIV, Quod Provinciale, Aug. 1, 1754, in The Papal Encyclicals, edited by Claudia Carlen (Ypsilanti, Michigan, Pierian Press, 1981), vol. 1 (1740-1878), 49-50.

  61 Von Pastor, History of the Popes, II, 346; quoted in Warren H. Carroll, A History of Christendom, vol. 3, The Glory of Christendom (Front Royal, Virginia: Christendom Press, 1993), 571.

  62 Jalalu’d-Din al-Mahalli and Jalalu’d-Din as-Suyuti, Tafsir al-Jalalayn, translated by Aisha Bewley (London: Dar Al Taqwa Ltd., 2007), 524.

  63 “Ask the Religion Experts: Are people inherently sinful?,” Ottawa Citizen, February 19, 2012.

  64 Ibn Kathir, vol. 1, 120.

  65 Tafsir al-Jalalayn, 941.

  66 Tanwir al-Miqbas min Tafsiribn Abbas, translated by Mokrane Guezzou, 36:9. www.altafsir.com.

  67 Ibn Kathir, vol. 8, 171.

  68 Ibn Kathir, vol. 8, 172.

  69 Ignaz Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, translated by Andras and Ruth Hamori (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981), 82.

  70 G. F. Haddad, “The Qadariyya, Mu’tazila, and Shî’a,” Living Islam, www.livingislam.org/n/qms_e.html.

  71 Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi, Towards Understanding the Qur’an, translated and edited by Zafar Ishaq Ansari (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 2008), 955.

  72 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book Two: Creation, translated by James F. Anderson. (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975), ch. 25, sec. 14.

  73 Rodney Stark, The Victory of Reason (New York: Random House, 2005), 22-23.

  74 Stanley L. Jaki, Chance or Reality and Other Essays (Lanham, Maryland and London: University Press of America; BrynMawr, Pa.: The Intercollegiate Studies Inc., 1986), 242.

  75 Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, The Incoherence of the Philosophers, translated by Michael E. Marmura. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2000), 2.

  76 Ibid., 8.

  77 Tilman Nagel, The History of Islamic Theology from Muhammad to the Present, translated by Thomas Thornton, (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000), 211.

  78 Al-Ghazali, 226. Emphasis added.

  79 Stanley Jaki, The Savior of Science (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1988), 43.

  80 Rodney Stark, The Victory of Reason (New York: Random House, 2005), 20-21.

  81 Stanley Jaki, The Savior of Science (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1988), 56.

  82 Ibrahim Hooper, “Love for Jesus can bring Christians, Muslims together,” Washington Post, December 17, 2010.

  83 “Muslims Publish ‘Jesus’ Ad,” World Net Daily, March 24, 2004.

  84 “The Second Treatise of the Great Seth,” translated by Roger A. Bullard and Joseph A. Gibbons, in The Nag Hammadi Library, James M. Robinson, general editor (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1988), 365.

  85 Bulandshahri, vol. 2, 8.

  86 Ibn Kathir, vol. 3, 26-27.

  87 For example, the Qu’ran says the Jews “had disbelieved the signs of God and slain the Prophets unrightfully” (2:61; cf. 3:21, 3:112). Allah tells Muhammad to ask them: “Why then were you slaying the Prophets of God in former time, if you were believers?” (2:91).

  88 Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn’Abbâs for 19:33. www.altafsir.com.

  89 Sahih Muslim, translated by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, revised edition 2000), book 25, no. 5326.

  90 Tafsir al-Jalalayn, 130.

  91 Christoph Luxenberg, “Christmas in the Koran,” translated by Ibn Warraq. Unpublished. An abridged version of this article was first published in German in Imprimatur, No. 1, March 2003, 13-17.

  92 Samir Khalil Samir, “The Theological Christian Influence On the Qur’an,” in The Qur’an in Its Historical Context, Gabriel Said Reynolds, editor (New York: Routledge, 2008), 35-36.

  93 Tanwir al-Miqbas min Tafsiribn Abbas, translated by Mokrane Guezzou, 3:45. www.altafsir.com.

  94 Ibn Kathir, vol. 2, 160.

  95 “Gospel of Thomas Greek Text A,” from The Apocryphal New Testament, translated by M.R. James (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924). http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/noncanon/gospels/inftoma.htm.

  96 Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Meaning of The Holy Qur’an (Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publications, 1999), 1461.

  97 Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, translated by Alfred Guillaume (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1955), 410.

  98 Ibn Ishaq, 402-403.

  99 “Friday Sermons in Saudi Mosques: Review and Analysis,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Report No. 10, September 26, 2002.

  100 Muhammed Ibn Ismail Al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari: The Translation of the Meanings, trans. Muhammad M. Khan (Riyadh: Darussalam, 1997), vol. 3, book 46, no. 2476.

  101 Ibn Kathir, vol. 3, 32.

  102 Abdullah Yusuf Ali, “On the Injil,” The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an (Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publications, 1999), 291.

  103 Reza Kahlili, ”Iran: Discovery Will Collapse Christianity,” World Net Daily, May 23, 2012.

  104 “How the Gospel of Barnabas Survived,” March 23, 2008, The Gospel of Barnabas, www.barnabas.net/how-the-gospel-of-barnabas-survived.html.

  105 Lonsdale and Laura Ragg, The Gospel of Barnabas (New Delhi: Islamic Book Service, n.d.), 103-104.

  106 The Gospel of Barnabas, 104.

  107 Ibid., 106.

  108 Peter Kreeft, Between Allah and Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Books, 2010), 11-12.

  109 Dinesh D’Souza, The Enemy At Home (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 15.

  110 Sharia states base their entire criminal code upon Islamic law, criminalizing sins such as adultery, apostasy, and blasphemy, and prescribing for them the punishments that are mandated in the Qur’an and Sunnah. The most notable Sharia states today are Saudi Arabia and Iran.

  111 Saeed Kamali Dehghan, “Necklace ban for men as Tehran’s ‘moral police’ enforce dress code,” The Guardian, June 14, 2011.

  112 John Geog
hegan, “Widow of suicide bomber is arrested by terror squad on suspicion of helping husband plan attack on Christmas shoppers,” Daily Mail, September 15, 2011.

  113 Ibn Ishaq, 287-288.

  114 Ibid., 288.

  115 For example, 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Do not be mismated with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and iniquity?”

  116 Sahih Muslim, book 32, no. 6309.

  117 Bukhari, vol. 4, book 56, no. 3030; Muslim, vol. 4, book 32, no. 6303.

  118 Ibn Kathir, vol. 2, 141-42.

  119 Ibn Kathir, vol. 5, 530.

  120 Maududi, Towards Understanding the Qur’an, 72.

  121 Catholic Encyclopedia, “Mental Reservation.” www.newadvent.org/cathen/10195b.htm.

  122 IbnSa’d, Kitab Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabir, vol. I, S. MoinulHaqand H K. Ghazanfar, translators (New Delhi: KitabBhavan, n.d.), vol. I, 328.

  123 Ibn Sa’d, vol. I, 328-329.

  124 Bukhari, vol. 4, book 58, no. 3162.

  125 “Muslims Forcing Christian Assyrians in Baghdad Neighborhood to Pay ‘Protection Tax,’” Assyrian International News Agency, March 18, 2007.

  126 “Egyptian Salafi Leader Yassir Al-Burhami Compares the Christians of Egypt to the Jews of Al-Medina,” Middle East Media Research Institute, December 3, 2011.

  127 “Yohanna Qulta, Deputy Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church in Egypt: If the Salafis Come to Power and Instate the Jizya Poll Tax, We Will Oppose This to the Point of Martyrdom,” Middle East Media Research Institute, December 10, 2011.

  128 Bruce Bawer, While Europe Slept (New York: Doubleday, 2006), 30.

  129 Faraz Rabbani, “Zakat Cannot Be Given to Non-Muslims,” Qibla, n.d. http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1527&CATE=5.

  130 Reliance of the Traveller, 4.9. This manual of Islamic law is certified by one of the highest authorities in Sunni Islam as conforming to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni community.

  131 Sultanhussein Tabandeh, A Muslim Commentary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, translated by F. J. Goulding (London: F. T. Goulding and Co., 1970), 18.

  132 Bulandshahri, vol. 1, 235.

  133 Pope Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia In Media Oriente, September 14, 2012. www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20120914_ecclesia-in-medio-oriente_en.html.

  134 “Hilali in hot water again,” The Age, January 11, 2007.

  135 Bukhari, vol. 6, book 65, no. 4556.

  136 As-Suyuti, Al-Itqanfii Ulum al-Qur’an, p. 524, in Gilchrist.

  137 Bukhari, vol. 8, book 82, no. 816.

  138 Quoted in Amir Taheri, Holy Terror: Inside the World of Islamic Terrorism (Bethesda, Maryland: Adler & Adler, 1987), 241-3.

  139 “Gunmen attack night club Mombasa,” Telegraph, May 15, 2012; “Bomb in south Lebanon restaurant injures five,” Reuters, April 23, 2012.

  140 “Officials: Islamic extremist planned to bomb Florida sites,” WKMG ClickOrlando.com, January 9, 2012.

  141 Mohamed Saadouni, “Rabat Salafists assault woman over dress,” Magharebia, May 11, 2012.

  142 Dinesh D’Souza, “Land of the Free: The Islamic critique cuts deep, but there is an answer,” National Review, July 2, 2004.

  143 Jamie Glazov, Interview with Dinesh D’Souza, “Did the Cultural Left Cause 9/11?,” FrontPageMagazine.com, January 25, 2007.

  144 “Islamic Rulings on Contraception,” Islamic Learning Materials, http://islamiclearningmaterials.com/islam-birth-control.

  145 Sahih Bukhari, vol. 3, book 34, no. 2229.

  146 Malik’s Muwatta, translated by ‘A’isha’Abdarahman at-Tarjumana and Ya’qub Johnson, vol. 29, book 32, no. 98. Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement. www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/muwatta.

  147 Sahih Muslim, book 8, no. 3377.

  148 Sunan Abu Dawud, translated by Ahmad Hasan, book 11, no. 2166. Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement. www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/abudawud.

  149 Sahih Muslim, book 8, no. 3388.

  150 Malik’s Muwatta, vol. 29, book 32, no. 100.

  151 Sa’diyya Shaikh, “Family planning, Contraception and Abortion in Islam: Undertaking Khilafah: Moral Agency, Justice and Compassion,” in Sacred Choices: The Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions, edited by D. Maguire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).

  152 S. M. Rizvi, “Marriage and Morals in Islam.” www.al-islam.org/m_morals/chap4.htm.

  153 SayyidSabiq, Fiqhu’l-Sunnah, special edition, vol. 2, (Cairo: ShirkahManar al-Dawliyyah, 1997), p. 334. Quoted http://al-mawrid.org/pages/questions_english_detail.php?qid=374&cid=227#_ftn3.

  154 Tom Ehrlich, “Where does God stand on abortion?,” USA Today, August 13, 2006.

  155 Sherman Jackson, Islam and the Blackamerican: looking toward the third resurrection (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 151.

  156 Barbara Crossette, “Vatican Drops Fight Against U.N. Population Document,” New York Times, September 10, 1994.

  157 Nina Bernstein, “In Secret, Polygamy Follows Africans to N.Y.,” New York Times, March 23, 2007.

  158 Nicholas Hellen, “Muslim second wives may get a tax break,” The Times of London, December 26, 2004; www.muslimparliament.org.uk/about.htm.

  159 “Two wives,” Jerusalem Post, July 12, 2005.

  160 Maryclaire Dale, “Pa. bigamist slain hours before trip,” Associated Press, August 8, 2007.

  161 There have been a few notable exceptions. See, for example, Lornet Turnbull, “Opponents of gay-marriage law get unexpected aid: from Muslims,” Seattle Times, May 24, 2012.

  162 Some Muslim sources render this as “I divorce you.”

  163 Bukhari, vol. 7, book 67, no. 5206.

  164 Bukhari, vol. 5, book 63, no. 3894.

  165 Bukhari, vol. 5, book 63, no. 3896; cf. Bukhari, vol. 7, book 67, no. 5158.

  166 “Islamist leader threatens of waging Jihad,” Weekly Blitz, April 20, 2011.

  167 “Fatwa: ‘It Is Permissible to Have Sexual Intercourse with a Prepubescent Girl,’” Translating Jihad, January 14, 2011.

  168 Amir Taheri, The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution (Adler and Adler, 1986), 35.

  169 Lisa Beyer, “The Women of Islam,” Time, November 25, 2001.

  170 “Yemen: Ban on Child Brides Is Imperiled,” Associated Press, March 22, 2010.

  171 “Human Rights Watch urges Yemen to ban child marriage, details plight of country’s child brides,” Associated Press, December 8, 2011.

  172 “Outcry in The Hague over ‘pedo imam,’” Radio Netherlands Worldwide, December 6, 2011.

  173 “Calls to end child marriages rejected,” Straits Times, December 8, 2010.

  174 Pavan Amara, “Islington girls forced into marriage at the age of nine,” Islington Tribune, January 27, 2012.

  175 “Flerahundra fall avbarnäktenskapi Sverige,” Dagen, April 20, 2011. Translated as “Several hundred cases of child marriages in Sweden,” translated by Nicolai Sennels, Jihad Watch, June 13, 2011.

  176 Hilary Andersson, “Born to be a slave in Niger, BBC News, February 11, 2005.

  177 Reliance of the Traveller, o9.13.

  178 “Egyptian Shaykh: Jihad Is Solution to Muslims’ Financial Problems,” Translating Jihad, May 31, 2011.

  179 “Video: Shaykh al-Huwayni: ‘When I want a sex slave, I just go to the market and choose the woman I like and purchase her,’” Translating Jihad, June 11, 2011.

  180 “Video: Kuwaiti Activist: ‘I Hope that Kuwait Will Enact a Law for . . . Sex Slaves,’” Translating Jihad, June 22, 2011.

  181 Raymond Ibrahim, “Muslim Woman Seeks to Revive Institution of Sex-Slavery,” FrontPage Magazine.com, June 6, 2011.

  182 Graham Smith and Damien Gayle, “Grooming gang found GUILTY: Nine men shared girls aged 13 to 15 for sex and raped one up to twenty times a day,” Daily Mail, May 8, 2012; Dominic Casciani, “More than 2,000 children ‘victims of sex grooming,’” BBC News, June 29, 2011; James Tozer, “Police ‘
hid’ abuse of 60 girls by Asian takeaway workers linked to murder of 14-year-old,” Daily Mail, April 8, 2011.

  183 Brandon Gee, “Sex trafficking trial unusual in scope: As many as 23 will face jury simultaneously,” Tennessean, February 28, 2012.

  184 Najafi Quchani, Siyahat-e Sharq (Tehran, 1984), 399-401. Quoted in BaqerMoin, Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999), 30.

  185 Benedict XVI, “Faith, reason and the university: memories and reflections,” Papal Address at University of Regensburg, September 12, 2006.

  186 Khaled Abu Toameh, “Gazans warn pope to accept Islam,” Jerusalem Post, September 18, 2006.

  187 “Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI,” Islamica Magazine, issue 18, 25, October 13, 2006. http://islamicamagazine.com/?p=634.

  188 “Sheikh Ahmad Abu Quddum of Jordan’s Tahrir Party Discusses Jihad Against Germany, Pledges to Impose ‘Jizya’ Poll Tax on Non-Muslims, and Vows to Annihilate Israel,” Middle East Media Research Institute, December 12, 2011.

  189 “Jordanian Sheik Nader Tamimi, Mufti of the Palestinian Liberation Army, to the West: We Will Restore the Caliphate and You Will Pay the Jizya ‘or Else We Will Bring the Sword to Your Necks,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, December 15, 2011.

  190 Sandro Magister, “The Mayor of Bethlehem Is Christian, But It’s Hamas That’s in Charge,” Chiesa, December 29, 2005.

  191 Moses Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed, M. Friedländer, trans. (New York: Barnes & Noble, 2004), 220-221.

  192 Quoted in Pamela Geller, “‘Rediscovered’ Another Museum Exhibit of Muslim Lies,” AtlasShrugs.com, February 21, 2012.

  193 Sahih Muslim, book 19, no. 4294.

  194 Reliance of the Traveller, o9.0.

  195 Reliance of the Traveller, o9.8.

  196 Al-Hidayah, vol. Ii. P. 140, quoted in Thomas P. Hughes, A Dictionary of Islam (W.H. Allen, 1895), “Jihad,” 243-248.

  197 Al-Hidayah, vol. Ii. P.140, in Thomas P. Hughes, “Jihad,” in A Dictionary of Islam, (London: W.H. Allen, 1895), 243-248.

  198 IbnKhaldun, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, translated by Franz Rosenthal; edited and abridged by N. J. Dawood (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967), 183.

  199 Ibn Taymiyya, “Jihad,” in Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1996), 49.