Why Westerners don’t understand the Iran – Israel conflict
It's about strong religious beliefs

I heard someone on the news talking about the “decades old conflict between Iran and Israel”. The current conflict between Israel and Iran may be only decades old, but the conflict between Islam and Judaism has been going on almost since Muhammad’s visions. But many Westerners don’t understand the Iran – Israel conflict.

But first, what’s with the image here?

It’s to show the lack of awareness by many in the Western world where life is easy and issues can be avoided for too long. Essentially a “lukewarm Westerner”.

The thought about lukewarm Westerners, is a combination of that plus something Jesus said to the church in Laodicea, in Revelation:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Jesus’ warning, of course, was due to the lack of interest in Him – from people who claimed to be followers of His!

Today, since many in the Western world know so little about a Christianity that many still claim to follow, how much less aware are we about things that don’t directly affect us? Yet.

Many Westerners don’t understand the Iran – Israel conflict because we don’t understand the Islam – Judaism conflict.

In reality, there’s a larger conflict. Or I should say there are larger conflicts.

In Islam, there are two large sects: Shia and Sunni. Iran is controlled by a Shia theocracy – government and religion. On the other hand, countries like Saudi Arabia are run by Sunni Muslims. Each sect of Islam considers the other to be apostate. They don’t share all the same beliefs.

That may sound a bit like Christian denominations, but it’s different. Much more extreme. Both Shia and Sunni Muslims both consider Christians and Jews to be infidels. It wasn’t always that way, but it’s life in the Middle East, and for Muslims in some Western countries. The thing is – Shia and Sunni Muslims also consider each other to be infidels.

So when something happens, like Iran launching hundreds of drones, rockets, and ballistic missiles with something like (according to BBC), 60 tons of explosives, things get rather rough. The Sunni countries don’t want Iran getting too powerful. So even though they don’t like Israel, they’ll help to keep Iran from getting too much in control of the area. It’s the old saying – my enemy’s enemy is my friend. So, for this purpose, Sunni enemy Israel becomes their friend – because Israel is also Iran’s enemy.

But it doesn’t end there. This isn’t a decades long thing, as I said. It goes back to the 600’s AD, in one respect. But even further back in another.

Islam vs the world – starting with Judaism and Christianity

Here’s a summary from Copilot. I’ve read many books that align with this summary historically. Rather than dig through a bunch of paperback books, I asked for this online. Copilot did respond with items from Wikipedia the first time, so I repeated my request, with a specific exclusion from Wikipedia.

Let’s explore Muhammad’s interactions with Jews and Christians beyond Wikipedia. His views and actions in relation to these communities are significant:

1. 1. Views on Jews:

      • Theological Teaching: Muhammad referred to Jews as “People of the Book” (Ahl al-Kitab), recognizing their earlier reception of Abrahamic revelation.
      • Constitution of Medina: After migrating to Medina from Mecca, Muhammad established the Constitution of Medina, securing equal rights for Jews and Muslims as long as Jews remained politically supportive.
      • Failed Alliances: Despite this, most Jewish tribes rejected Muhammad’s status as a prophet. Their opposition may have been both religious and political.

   2. Interactions with Christians:

      • In Mecca, Muhammad viewed Christians and Jews as natural allies, sharing core principles of his teachings.
      • Muslims and Jews prayed toward Jerusalem at that time.
      • In diverse Medina, with a large Jewish community, Muhammad was offered the position of arbitrator. Many Medinans converted to Islam, but few came from Jewish backgrounds due to their rejection of his prophethood.

   3. Conversion Efforts:

      • Muhammad hoped for acceptance from Jews and Christians, but faced challenges.
      • His military raids targeted various groups, including polytheists, Jews, and Christians. Through these raids, he gained power and conversions to Islam occurred.
      • However, tensions arose due to the Jewish community’s rejection of his prophethood.

In summary, Muhammad engaged with Jews and Christians, but their responses varied. Some accepted, while others resisted his message. His interactions shaped the early Islamic community and its relations with other monotheistic faiths.

Eventually, as history clearly shows, Muhammad turned to conquering lands to further his beliefs. What started as a peaceful attempt to convert Jews and Christians to Islam turned bloody.

As you probably know, Christians did the same thing at various times. It wasn’t right for them either.

The thing is, since the Qur’an wasn’t assembled until decades after Muhammad’s death, it contains surahs that contain both messages of peace and messages of death to the unbelievers – Jews and Christians.

Here is just a small portion of Sura 9. Before you read it though – you need to know something about how the Qur’an is organized. It is not in chronological order. And there’s no attempt to clarify within it what that order might be. It’s strictly organized by the length of each Sura. The only way to determine when, and where, it was written is via a cross-reference table. They are easily obtained on the web.

So, while this appears to be an early sura, given the number 9, it’s actually the 92nd one. As you’ll read, this is hardly a message of peace between the Muslims and anyone else.

at-Tawbah (Repentance)

1. A declaration of immunity from Allah and His Messenger to the polytheists with whom you had made a treaty.

2. So travel the land for four months, and know that you cannot escape Allah, and that Allah will disgrace the disbelievers.

3. And a proclamation from Allah and His Messenger to the people on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage, that Allah has disowned the polytheists, and so did His Messenger. If you repent, it will be better for you. But if you turn away, know that you cannot escape Allah. And announce to those who disbelieve a painful punishment.

4. Except for those among the polytheists with whom you had made a treaty, and did not violate any of its terms, nor aided anyone against you. So fulfill the treaty with them to the end of its term. Allah loves the righteous.

5. When the Sacred Months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them. And capture them, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every ambush. But if they repent, and perform the prayers, and pay the alms, then let them go their way. Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

6. And if anyone of the polytheists asks you for protection, give him protection so that he may hear the Word of Allah; then escort him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.

7. How can there be a treaty with the polytheists on the part of Allah and His Messenger, except for those with whom you made a treaty at the Sacred Mosque? As long as they are upright with you, be upright with them. Allah loves the pious.

8. How? Whenever they overcome you, they respect neither kinship nor treaty with you. They satisfy you with lip service, but their hearts refuse, and most of them are immoral.

9. They traded away Allah’s revelations for a cheap price, so they barred others from His path. How evil is what they did.

10. Towards a believer they respect neither kinship nor treaty. These are the transgressors.

11. But if they repent, and perform the prayers, and give the obligatory charity, then they are your brethren in faith. We detail the revelations for a people who know.

12. But if they violate their oaths after their pledge, and attack your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief—they have no faith—so that they may desist.

13. Will you not fight a people who violated their oaths, and planned to exile the Messenger, and initiated hostilities against you? Do you fear them? It is Allah you should fear, if you are believers.

14. Fight them. Allah will punish them at your hands, and humiliate them, and help you against them, and heal the hearts of a believing people.  ²The Quran Modern English Translation Translated by Talal Itani www.ClearQuran.com Available in two editions. This edition (A) uses the word ‘Allah’ to refer to the Creator. Edition (B) uses the word ‘God’. These files can be shared and distributed Provided under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

As I mentioned, this sura is quite long. It’s got 129 verses that continue on like this.

Islam versus Jews and Christians

What’s the underlying issue between Muslims and Jews/Christians? In a word, Abraham.

And how can one man be such a problem? In a very real sense, it’s because Islam itself doesn’t having any scripture from God. They do read portions of both the Jewish and Christian scriptures. However, they also believe portions of those scriptures have been corrupted.

The Qur’an isn’t from God. It’s supposedly from an angel. Initially, Muhammad thought it was a Jinn – an evil spirit or fallen angel. Muhammad’s first wife, Kadijah, convinces him it’s the archangel Gabriel.

Given the treatment of women in Islam today, this is quite shocking. Cleary, something changed somewhere along the line.

In any case, this kind of confusion, resulting from having scripture that borrows from Judaism and Christianity, making claims of corruption, but never spelling out what’s corrupted, when, how, examples, etc., leads to a messy situation. Abraham is but one of them.

Here is some commentary and one verse from Sura 2 that was about Abraham. This kind of thing, having a topic show up in the middle of a Sura with no foundation is very common. If you’re a regular reader here, then you know I believe context is critically important for understanding the Bible. This oftentimes complete lack of context makes understanding difficult, impossible, or at best misleading.

In any case, here it is, from Sura 2, The Cow — al-Baqarah. In chronological order, this is the 87th one, after the times when things were relatively peaceful between Muhammad and the Jews & Christians.

In keeping with its Quranic usage and its identification in the time of the Prophet, commentators have also understood ḥanīf as “pilgrim” (ḥājj); as “follower,” in the sense of those who followed Abraham in various practices such as circumcision; or as “devoted entirely [to God]” (mukhliṣ, also “sincere”). For al-Ṭabarī, it means the “straight” following of the way of Abraham and could not be restricted to pilgrims, which would have included pagans, or the circumcised, which would have included the Jews. He points out further that this verse does not mean that the prophets before Abraham were not ḥanīf in the sense of being straight and upright in their obedience to God, but Abraham is mentioned in this context because God made him an imām of monotheism and he would have a special role for monotheists who came after him.

* * *

136 Say, “We believe in God, and in that which was sent down unto us, and in that which was sent down unto Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what Moses and Jesus were given, and in what the prophets were given from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them, and unto Him we submit.”

136 The Tribes (asbāṭ) refer to the twelve tribes descended from the children of Jacob, mentioned in 7:160: And We divided them into twelve tribes. The singular of asbāṭ, sibṭ, means “grandchild,” which would signify that they are the grandchildren of Jacob (R). The ranking of the prophets is discussed in v. 285, where the Prophet and the believers are also enjoined to make no distinction between the messengers of God. The present verse is considered by commentators to invalidate the selective tendency to pick and choose condemned in v. 85: Do you, then, believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part? See the essay “The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions.” The continuity and wholeness of religion is described in such passages as He has prescribed for you as religion that with which He enjoined upon Noah, and that which We revealed unto thee, and that with which We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, that you uphold religion and become not divided therein (42:13).   ³Nasr, Seyyed Hossein; Dagli, Caner K.; Dakake, Maria Massi; Lumbard, Joseph E.B.; Rustom, Mohammed. The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary (pp. 60-61). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Abraham was a new name from God, between the birth of Ishmael and Isaac

Here’s the problem with that chain of that which was sent down unto Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what Moses and Jesus were given, and in what the prophets were given from their Lord.

Ishmael’s father was Abram and his mother was Hagar.
Isaac’s father was Abraham and his mother was Sarah.

It’s nice that the Qur’an says, we make no distinction among any of them, and unto Him we submit. That’s in direct conflict with what God said.

God did make a distinction between Abram and Abraham. Even though he was physically the same person, the name change was significant in God’s eyes. He was, as far as God’s covenant, a new man.

Plus, the original promise from God was about a child born to Abram and Sarai – not to Abram and Hagar. The name change came with a modified covenant promise for Abraham and Sarah – but no such covenant was made for a child born of Abram and Hagar.

After the birth of Ishmael to Abram and Hagar, we read the following:

The Covenant of Circumcision

Ge 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

Ge 17:3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Ge 17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Ge 17:15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Ge 17:17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

Ge 17:19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Ge 17:23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household,  including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

This makes it very clear that God did make a distinction between Abram / Abraham and Sarai/Sarah. And while it’s all well and good that the Qur’an says Islam doesn’t make a distinction, God did.

That throws off everything in Islam that tries to follow a covenant promise to Ishmael and that ignores the name change from Abram to Abraham. There’s no such promise to Abram/Ishmael. In fact, when Abraham asked about that very thing, he got this answer from God:

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

Ge 21:8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

Ge 21:11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

Ge 21:14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

Ge 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.

Ge 21:17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Ge 21:19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

Ge 21:20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

Yes, Ishmael’s offspring did become a nation, in terms of what nation meant in that context.

However, God confirmed that the covenant was through Isaac, not Ishmael.

Now, the offspring of those two – Ishmael and Isaac – are, respectively, Muslims and Jews/Christians.

That’s Muslims, Shia, Sunni, and other sects via Ishmael – although with no covenant from God.

And it’s Jews and Christians through Isaac – with the covenant from God.

And, as we’ve seen, there are deadly conflicts between the Shia and Sunni Muslims even now. The most recent large scale one is probably between Iran and Iraq, with Iran being Shia and Iraq being largely Sunni. Of course, the ousting from power of Saddam Hussein gave Iran much more power in Iraq.

But even now, with the Iran – Israel conflict, many of the Sunni countries in the area closed off their airspace to try to prevent Iran from sending explosives laden drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles over their territory.

What’s the latest in the Iran – Israel conflict?

All that leaves us with today’s news, from Forbes, via msn.com, under the headline: Iran Threatens ‘Fierce And Severe’ Response If Israel Launches ‘Tiniest Invasion’ In Response To Weekend Attack

Some of the highlights included:

What does this mean in terms of what we’re looking at in this topic?

Conclusion – Why many Westerners don’t understand the Iran – Israel conflict

If all that doesn’t make it hard enough for Westerners to understand what’s happening, let’s add one more thing.

Christians may be familiar with something Jesus said when He sent out the twelve disciples for the first time. The passage is a bit long, so pay special attention to the shaded portions.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve – Matthew

10:2-4 pp — Mk 3:16-19; Lk 6:14-16; Ac 1:13
10:9-15 pp — Mk 6:8-11; Lk 9:3-5; 10:4-12
10:19-22 pp — Mk 13:11-13; Lk 21:12-17
10:26-33 pp — Lk 12:2-9
10:34, 35 pp — Lk 12:51-53

Mt 10:1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

Mt 10:2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Mt 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; 10 take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.

Mt 10:11 “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

Mt 10:17 “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Mt 10:21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Mt 10:24 “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!

Mt 10:26 “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Mt 10:32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

Mt 10:34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“ a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
Mt 10:36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

Mt 10:37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Mt 10:40 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

Do you notice all the warnings? There are many things in there that might cause someone to deny being a follower of Jesus, let alone not be completely open and truthful about how strongly they believe. And yet, look what Jesus told them:

Mt 10:32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

In other words, do not deny Him. Even under penalty of death.

And yet, check out this next item for Muslims:

Taqiyyah, in Islam, the practice of concealing one’s belief and foregoing ordinary religious duties when under threat of death or injury. Derived from the Arabic word waqa (“to shield oneself”), taqiyyah defies easy translation. English renderings such as “precautionary dissimulation” or “prudent fear” partly convey the term’s meaning of self-protection in the face of danger to oneself or, by extension and depending upon the circumstances, to one’s fellow Muslims. Thus, taqiyyah may be used for either the protection of an individual or the protection of a community. Moreover, it is not used or even interpreted in the same way by every sect of Islam. Taqiyyah has been employed by the Shīʿites, the largest minority sect of Islam, because of their historical persecution and political defeats not only by non-Muslims but also at the hands of the majority Sunni sect.

Scriptural authority for taqiyyah is derived from two statements in the Qurʾān, the holy book of Islam. The 28th verse of the third sura (chapter) says that, out of fear of Allah (God), believers should not show preference in friendship to unbelievers “unless to safeguard yourselves against them.” The 16th sura was revealed (according to tradition) to ease the conscience of ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, a devout follower of the Prophet Muhammad, who renounced his faith under torture and threat of death. Verse 106 of this sura proclaims that if a Muslim who is forced to deny his religion is nevertheless a true believer who feels “the peace of faith” in his heart, he will not suffer great punishment (16:106). The meaning of these verses is not clear even in the context of the sura in which they appear. Thus, even among Islamic scholars who agree that the verses provide Qurʾānic sanction for taqiyyah, there is considerable disagreement about how the verses do this and about what taqiyyah permits in practice.

The Hadith (record of the traditional sayings or accounts of Muhammad) has also been cited as providing theological warrant for taqiyyah. One hadith in particular mentions that Muhammad waited 13 years, until he could “gain a sufficient number of loyal supporters,” before combatting his powerful polytheistic enemies in Mecca. A similar story relates how ʿAlī, the fourth caliph (ruler of the Muslim community) and Muhammad’s son-in-law, followed Muhammad’s advice to refrain from fighting until he had “the support of forty men.” Some scholars interpret these legends as examples of taqiyyah. By avoiding combat against enemies of Islam until they could muster sufficient military force and moral support, ʿAlī and Muhammad preserved not only their own lives but their divinely appointed mission to spread the faith.  ⁴https://www.britannica.com/topic/taqiyyah

This says it’s OK to renounce your belief in Islam but still go to Paradise – the Islamic destination for those Allah saves. It’s the total opposite of what Jesus told His followers.

To be sure, there’s another paragraph to go with it:

Neither the Qurʾān nor the Hadith decrees points of doctrine or prescribes guidelines for behaviour when using taqiyyah. The circumstances in which it may be used and the extent to which it is obligatory have been widely disputed by Islamic scholars. According to scholarly and judicial consensus, it is not justified by the threat of flogging, temporary imprisonment, or other relatively tolerable punishments. The danger to the believer must be unavoidable. Also, while taqiyyah may involve disguising or suppressing one’s religious identity, it is not a license for a shallow profession of faith. Oaths taken with mental reservation, for example, are justified on the basis that God accepts what one believes inwardly. Consideration of community rather than private welfare is stressed in most cases.

This paragraph, other than the part about not being a license for shallow faith, is in conflict with the first part in many areas. Some, but not all, even take this to the point where it’s OK to outright lie to infidels, non-believers.

Of course, in politics, war or not, people often lie. But bold, in your face, outright lies can be difficult for many Westerners to accept.

The problem is, with this Iran – Israel conflict, the rules are different. And if we don’t get a grip on them, understand them, then we’ll never understand why they do the things they do.

Their religious beliefs – good, bad, or indifferent – are often so much stronger than ours, that we can’t fathom them. I sometimes wonder, if Christians prayed as often and as earnestly as many Muslims do, what would our faith mean and what could we accomplish for our Savior?

But then, too many Christians don’t understand that either.

Which makes me wonder, and worry, how many people who believe they’re Christian will end up having Jesus spit them out of His mouth? I pray it’s not you. But, that’s a warning to one of the churches when The End begins. It has to be relevant for us as well. Unfortunately, unless we know and understand that, we’ll stay lukewarm.

Footnotes

• 1
  Summary is a modified/corrected version of one generated by MS Copilot
• 2
  The Quran Modern English Translation Translated by Talal Itani www.ClearQuran.com Available in two editions. This edition (A) uses the word ‘Allah’ to refer to the Creator. Edition (B) uses the word ‘God’. These files can be shared and distributed Provided under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
• 3
  Nasr, Seyyed Hossein; Dagli, Caner K.; Dakake, Maria Massi; Lumbard, Joseph E.B.; Rustom, Mohammed. The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary (pp. 60-61). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
• 4
  https://www.britannica.com/topic/taqiyyah