I read the news this morning regarding the death of 11 more people in the riots centred on the satirical comics of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Here are some thoughts on what we’ve been seeing and some observations made by other Christians worth noting:
- I personally thought the caricatures of Muhammad were in slightly poor taste given the efforts by western society to come to terms with the Islamic religion post-9/11 (the caricatures and the response from those who published the images reveals to me a grave misunderstanding on how to deal with Islam). That said, I also firmly believe that all religions and beliefs should be open to scrutiny and critique. The post-modern ideal that each individual has an equally valid belief system is beginning to crumble (and I believe that in a few years, with hindsight, the turning point will have been 9/11), and each belief system needs to be critically analysed.
- It should be noted that, in the Koran, slandering the name of Allah does not bring as heavy a penalty as slandering the name of Muhammad…
- Islam, unlike Christianity, has no sense of an ‘end time’. Thus for the Christian when our Lord and Saviour is slandered and rejected (things really haven’t changed for the last 2000 years in that respect), we are reminded that God will bring about ultimate justice in the end in defence of His name when his Son, Jesus Christ, returns to bring judgement along with the new heavens and earth. But for the Muslim, their battle is here and now. Islam needs to be defended because there is no ‘final judgement’ for the world.
- We need immediate prayers for our Christian brothers and sisters who are in Islamic countries as the recent attacks in Iran were directed primarily against the Church. Pray for safety and security of our fellow believers, and pray that God will continue to work through this harsh persecution to continue growing His church.
- And don’t forgot to pray for Muslims world wide, that God would work through the nation of Islam and redirect Muslims back to his true Son – the incarnate one who hung on the cross to pay for our sins and was raised again for our justification. Jesus, the Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria
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