Are God And Allah The Same?

The Ventura County Interfaith Community released a statement asserting what they call some “truths” about Islam that screams for a reply. http://www.vcstar.com/opinion/columnists/lotker-morris-patel-and-soyster-a-statement-by-muslim-christian-and-jewish-leaders-27fa52e8-8943-5f1-363944611.html

The first “truth” they assert is that Muslims, Christians and Jews worship the same God. That’s a lovely idea but yelling “Allah Akbar” as they behead 21 Christians on a Libyan beach is not what the God I worship would condone. Nor would the God I worship reward such barbarism with 72 virgins in heaven.

In order to believe Muslims worship the same God Christians and Jews worship, one would have to believe God told Muslims to kill infidels at the same time he told Christians and Jews, “Thou shalt not kill” and to “love thy neighbor as thyself”. The Qur’an requires ALL to convert to Islam or die. I’m not a Biblical scholar but if there is a passage in the Bible that says all must convert to Christianity or die, I’m not aware of it. The God I worship doesn’t say those who insult Jesus must die. I don’t believe the Torah demands all convert to Judaism, pay a heavy tax to become a second class citizen or die.

Qur’an 9:123 says “Murder those of the disbelievers and let them find harshness in you.” Qur’an 2:191 says “Kill them wherever you find them and drive them out from wherever they drove you out.” Qur’an 2:193 says “Fight them on until there is no more tumult and religion becomes that of Allah.” Qur’an 48:29 says, “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves.” I’m not aware of any such passages in the Bible or Torah.
Omar Ahmed, Chairman of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) said this, “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Qur’an should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.”

It’s no secret the intent of the caliphate is world dominance of Islam. To ignore that truth is not naïve, it’s suicidal. 2009 World Wide Opinion Poll showed 83% of Palestinian Muslims, 62% Jordanian Muslims, and 61% of Egyptian Muslims approve of Jihadist attacks on Americans. 38% of American Muslims say ISIS beliefs are Islamic and correct. One third of American Muslims agree that violence against those who insult Muhammad or the Qur’an is acceptable.

The second “truth” they assert is that Islam, Christianity and Judaism all mandate peace and cite the Golden Rule as proof. The Qur’an has a similar saying. And, yes, the Qur’an also says killing one man is the same as killing all mankind. However, that applies to Muslims only, not unbelievers or infidels. Sorry, it’s not the same at all.

Their third “truth” is that those who murder in the name of Islam are perverting the religion just as those who murder abortionists in the name of Christianity are perverting Christianity. This is a false comparison. Those who murder infidels in the name of Islam are not extremists they are orthodox Muslims. They are not perverting Islam, they are following it to the letter. I have already cited several passages that instruct them to kill non-believers but there are many, many more and nowhere are they revoked, reversed or amended.

The Hadith backs those commands up as well. Bukhari 52:177 says, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’” Ibn Ishaq/Hishan 992 says, “Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah.”

Anyone who has killed abortionists in the name of Christianity is perverting Christianity. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests or condones murder.
The Ventura County Interfaith community may believe Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews but Muslims don’t. If they did they wouldn’t call Christians and Jews “unbelievers” and “infidels”.
The fourth “truth” they discuss is in response to the constant question of why Muslims don’t condemn the terrorists. Their answer is that Muslim authorities have condemned the actions of ISIS in a letter to Baghdadi (ISIS leader) dated September 14, 2014. The letter was sent by 126 leaders and scholars of Islam (later 49 others joined them). That’s all well and good, however, in 2014 there were more than 2 Billion Muslims worldwide. 175 Muslims sending a letter to Baghdadi is hardly earthshattering. I’ve seen many pictures and videos of thousands of Muslims marching in the streets calling for the beheading of infidels or those who insult Muhammad but I have never seen thousands of Muslims marching in the streets to denounce the actions of ISIS or Al Qaeda or Hezbollah, etc. When I see thousands I might be convinced but one letter from 175…..in 2014, when we’ve been under siege for decades? Not so much.
To understand Islam we need to understand “taqiyya” the obligation to lie to protect Islam. I don’t believe that is a Christian or Jewish obligation. We must also understand the Three Stages of Jihad. The First Stage is when Islam is in small numbers, they are to live peacefully among the infidels. The Second Stage is when the Muslim population has grown, they start making demands for Sharia law, hala food, official recognition of their religious holidays, etc. The Third Stage is when they become a majority and have political power they demand infidels leave (and leave their homes, businesses and belongings), pay a tax every year to be second class citizens with few rights or……die.
The fifth point was, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, suggesting those who warn of the incompatibility of Islam with the Western way of life, rule of law and Judeo/Christian values are fear mongering. I’m sorry but when someone you’ve worked with for years and recently honored with a baby shower comes in to a Christmas party, blows away 14 of your friends, and wounds 21 others, that’s not fear mongering. The belief that if we’re loving, understanding and accepting they won’t murder us is unrealistic. Self preservation is one of our strongest instincts and our God gave it to us for a reason.
The Ventra Interfaith community statement reminds me a an old movie, “War of the Worlds” where the kindly old scientist walks toward the spaceship telling them we are their friends and they have nothing to fear…………and they incinerate him with a death ray.