Here is a valuable article that Elizabeth Kendal wrote and submitted to major newspapers in Australia. Even though they have printed letters she has submitted previously (and even given them headline treatment) apparently this was too ‘hot’ to handle.

Feel free to use it wisely anywhere you think it would be helpful.

Grace, peace and joy in the Lord.

Ron Clough

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If truth is the first victim in war, it should not surprise us that it is an early victim in the present crisis. In this case, in the wholly understandable and commendable rush to deflect hostility from innocent and peace-loving Muslims, politicians have bent over backwards to project Islam as a religion of peace.

Unfortunately, world leaders will never understand or rightly address Islamic militant aggression until they recognise that violence is not a perversion of true Islamic faith, but is in fact consistently sanctioned in the Qur’an. To say otherwise is to obscure the truth and make it harder to understand the roots of such deeds.

Investigators recovered three copies of a letter belonging to the terrorists who perpetrated the 11 September terrorist attacks on USA. The letters detail instructions to be followed before and during the attacks as well as Islamic prayers.

“Let me make clear that, while this letter contains a number of religious references, I do not believe it to be representative of Muslims or the Islamic faith,” said United States Attorney General John Ashcroft. “The letter is a stark reminder of how these hijackers grossly perverted the Islamic faith to justify their terrorist acts.”

In a meeting with American Muslim leaders on 26 September, President Bush said the “teachings of Islam are the teachings of peace and good.” Likewise, British PM Tony Blair has been just as vocal in his public praise of Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance.

However, as a monitor of religious freedom issues and religious persecution worldwide, as an active advocate of religious freedom for all people, and as one who has read the Qur’an, I would beg to differ.

When Osama bin Laden says he is “steadfast on the path of Jihad for the sake of Allah, following the example of the Prophet,” he is consistent with the Qur’an and the example of Mohammed.

The call to “make war” on the unbelievers is repeated over and over in the Qur’an. “Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you.” (surah 9:123) In surah 8 from verse 65, which commences, “Prophet, rouse the faithful to arms.”to verse 69, the command is given to fight the unbelievers and take no prisoners. In fact in surah 2:216 it is written, “Fighting is obligatory for you, as much as you dislike it.”

In surah 7:4-5, Mohammed boasts of how his Muslim army would descend upon cities at night whilst the occupants were sleeping – destroying them completely. In surah 8:5-8 and surah 2:216-217, permission is given to attack unarmed caravans in the sacred month of fasting (Mohammed’s means of guaranteeing victory and great booty). Islamic militants in Kashmir, Indonesia, Egypt and beyond follow this practice each Ramadan.

In surah 9:73 – 95, in a passage that begins with the words “Prophet, make war on the unbelievers (non-Muslims) and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them.” Mohammed makes it quite clear that for those who refuse to fight, “Hell shall be their home, the punishment for their misdeeds.” (surah 9:73 – 95). This threat is strongly re-inforced, especially in surah 9:48 and 48:16.

There are those who say that militant Islam is “not representative of the Islamic faith” (Ashcroft) – well the Qur’an would beg to differ: “The Arabs of the desert (who refused to go to war)

declare, ‘We are true believers.’ Say: ‘Believers you are not.’ Rather say: ‘We profess Islam,’ for faith has not yet found its way into your hearts. True believers are those who have faith in God and His apostle, and never doubt; and who fight (go to war) with their wealth and with their persons in the cause of God. Such are those whose faith is true.” (surah 49:14-15).

The call to war stands alongside repeated commands for Muslims not to befriend infidels / unbelievers (all non-Muslims) because they are liars, deceivers, idolaters, blasphemers and evildoers whose only desire is to harm the faithful and lead them astray. “Believers, do not make friends with any but your own people. They will spare no pains to corrupt you. They desire nothing but your ruin. Their hatred is evident from what they utter with their mouths, but greater is the hatred which is in their breasts.” (surah 3:17-18).

The time has come for a clear distinction to be made between Muslim people and the religion of Islam. In Muslim nations there is no separation of Church and state – religion, politics, culture and national identity are seamlessly interwoven. A person born in a Muslim nation has no freedom of religion – they are born Muslim and apostasy is a capital offence, with death to the apostate generally coming either at the hands of the state or state sanctioned vigilantes performing honour killings or hate crimes with impunity.

Muslims are human beings, created I believe, by God in his image. I find the oppression of Muslim people appalling and I condemn racial or religious violence against Muslims as unacceptable. Muslim people must have the same rights as any people on the face of the earth – but generally they don’t, which is why the overwhelming majority of the world’s refugees are Muslim people, primarily from Muslim North Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, fleeing for their lives to Europe and the West in a one-way stream.

Islam is a different matter. Islam is not a person – it is a whole- of-life ideology. To ascertain whether a person, group or action is ‘Islamic’, one must be familiar with the Qur’an and with Mohammed in order to make a comparison and a sound judgment. Likewise, to ascertain whether a person, group or action is actually ‘Christian’, one must be familiar with the New Testament Gospels and Jesus in order to make a comparison and a sound judgment. A person who has never read the Qur’an, nor studied Islamic theology and history, should not presume to speak with authority on the nature of Islam.

Now is surely the time for peace-loving Muslims worldwide to confront the disturbing elements within their book, the Qur’an. Muslims raised in Qur’anic schools in the Muslim world know their Qur’an well, but most others don’t. A Pakistani cleric recently described those Muslims not wishing to fight a Holy War as, “Westernised pseudo-intellectuals.”

It is true that many Muslims, especially most in the Western world (where they live in freedom, in a society built on the foundations of the Judaeo-Christian ethic), are peace loving, hospitable, kind, gentle and gracious. Should these Muslims read the Qur’an, I believe they would be affronted by it. They might even find that they don’t approve of many of its teachings.

I love my dear Muslim friends who come from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq and Malaysia. I have seen them distressed over the 11 September terror attack and I have had to comfort them, assuring them that I love them and know they would never hurt anyone. I will defend their honour and their rights and I will continue to strive for religious freedom for Muslims worldwide – but I cannot defend the Qur’an, the essence of Islam, because, like the letters left behind by the hijackers, it is “a disturbing and shocking view into the mindset of these terrorists.” (Ashcroft).

– Elizabeth Kendal

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