 Well, we will get right into it. We have a lot of information and I don't know that we will be able to cover it all, but I have given you here a lot of good information. My real desire is really from last session and this session here, between these last two sessions you will have compiled a summary of Islam. So you have a good foundation of Islam. And then next week, we are going to get down to the objections, the Muslims' objections. And the Muslims normally have about five or six different objections that they bring up. Certain things that they have issues with a Christian. So we are going to talk about that next week and begin to learn how to share our faith and how to rightly divide the word of truth. But today we are going to look at starting with the five pillars of Islam. Okay, the five pillars of Islam. And I have written there in phonetics what it is in Arabic. Arkan al-Islam al-Khamsa. Arkan means pillars, al-Islam of Islam, al-Khamsa, the five. Okay, so just thought I'd give that to you. And every once in a while I'm going to give you some Arabic words, obviously phonetically, because you wouldn't be able to read Arabic. If we, if you want to do that, that would be another class and maybe we'll do that in the future. That would be fun. But there you go. So the five pillars of Islam. Whereas the last session we looked at the articles of belief or faith. Now we'll learn what the Muslims' fundamental practices consist of. In order to be a Muslim and to have hope of obtaining salvation, these five pillars must be adhered to continually. So remember guys that a Muslim does not have an assurance or guarantee of eternal life. They have no assurance. What they know is that they need to do these five pillars. These are the five things they need to do in order to hope that they will enter into heaven. Because a Muslim can even do all these five pillars faithfully. They can pray. They can give to the poor. They can go to Mecca. They can do the, say the confession of faith. They can do all these things and even God, their view of God at the end on judgment day can say you're going to hell. They really believe that. They believe that God is all sovereign and if he wants to, he can send someone to hell. So there's no guarantee. We have an assurance. Remember they're coming from a place where they are trying to do these things to obtain salvation. Whereas a Christian, because I have eternal life, because I am in Christ, because you are born again, you now serve God. Okay. And so that's a huge difference. That is a huge difference. My life and your life, the life of a Christian should be the overflow of a love relationship that I have with God. It doesn't have to be strained. It is a love relationship that I have with God. And so it just comes forth. Okay. So we're going to look at these five pillars. So the first of the five pillars is the confession of faith. Okay. In Arabic, the shahada. Okay. The confession of faith. So it is as follows. This is the confession of faith that every Muslim must say. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Okay. This is what every Muslim must attest to. This is also known as the creed of Islam. If someone chooses to convert to Islam, then he must simply say this statement in Arabic and try to say this in front of witnesses. Now you're going to see that there is a stronghold. There is a bondage with the language. There are things that are very much tied to the language. A lot of the power in Islam is tied to the language of Arabic. Okay. So if someone converts, all they need to do is say the statement and they're a Muslim. Okay. The confession of faith are the first words spoken into the ear of a newborn baby. And the last word spoken over or by a dying Muslim. You know, it's funny because as I was, I read that and I was thinking about when my kids were born, you know, and one of the things. And I think I actually heard this from Pastor Chuck Smith. When my little ones were born, I remember at the hospital and going close to my newborn baby's ear and saying, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord. You know, and, and yet it's the same for a Muslim. They will say this confession of faith in Arabic into a newborn baby, baby's ear. Now, as I, as I was preparing this study, you know, the neat thing is, as you're going to see these five pillars of Islam, we also, as you begin to think about your own faith and think about our own theology and think about the Bible that we stand upon. As a Christian, Jesus addresses each and every one of these things. And so I'm going to give you scriptures. So actually, as you see, this is what the Muslim believes, but we can see what a Christian, a genuine Christian believes, according to scripture. Now, write down 1st Timothy to five, because as a Muslim says, I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. We've discovered in Morocco, 1st Timothy to five, we've discovered that there is a confession of faith that we as Christians hold to. And this is really beautiful and amazing because there is a stark contrast, but we can see what it says. And 1st Timothy to five says this, that there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Okay, there is one God, the Muslims all think that you do not believe in the monotheistic God. They don't believe that. They think you believe in three gods because the Koran tells them that you believe in three gods, but I don't believe in three gods. Every Christian holds to the triunity of God that he is three in one, but we are monotheistic, meaning we believe in one God. Okay. And so that verse tells us that there is one God between God and men. There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And so here we have God being the oneness of God, but we also have the mediator Jesus Christ. And you can see that contrasted with them. They hold God and the messenger Muhammad as the prophet of God or the messenger of God. Now I want you to write down another verse because this is very interesting. Did you guys know that there is a verse in the Bible that tells us that Jesus Christ is God's apostle? Amazing, isn't it? Apostle, which means a sent one, which is what they say in Arabic messenger in Arabic is Rasul. And I looked it up in my Arabic Bible and it is the word Rasul. Hebrews chapter three versus one and two. Hebrews chapter three versus one and two. Could somebody real quick read that out real loud? Who could read that out loud? Okay. So there you have it. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is not only our mediator, but he is the apostle of our faith. He was the one sent by the father to redeem us. He is our apostle. That's amazing. And just as they call Muhammad the apostle or messenger of Allah, God says, I have appointed my apostle and he is my son, Jesus Christ. And so those are two verses that we can contrast their confession of faith with the Christian's confession of faith. The second pillar of Islam is prayer. Salat. So there are two kinds of prayer for Muslims. There is Salat and dua. Salat is known as ritual obligatory prayer. Dua is known as supplication and isn't obligatory to do. It can also be said in your own language. Okay. So the actual ritualistic prayer, which they call Salat must be said in Arabic versus what they also have is called supplication. And many times what you'll see is after a Muslim does their ritualistic prayers, they will actually do this. They will put their hands like this together and they will do supplications. They will make supplications to their God. Okay. And so they call that dua. But this what we're referring to today, the second pillar is Salat. Salat must be done in the Arabic language. And so no prayer by any Muslim. And remember you have Russian Muslims. You have Mexican Muslims. You have Chinese Muslims. So you have Muslims from every walk of life. But they when they do the Salat prayer, it must be done in Arabic. And this you can imagine creates all sorts of problems. But they must do this prayer in Arabic. Okay. Just remember guys, let's let's keep going. If you have any questions, write them down and then we'll get to those. We'll try to get to those later on. Okay. So performing Salat, the prayer for give sin. Okay. They believe this, this for give sin. The requirements before Salat prayer are special purification, otherwise known as ablution, where they actually have to wash. Okay. They normally this is why many times they wear sandals. One of the reasons is because five times a day, you will see this, you know, when I lived in a Morocco, when the time of prayer comes and you hear the call to prayer over every loudspeaker, every mosque in the city. So right away, they'll stop. They'll take their sandals off. They'll have some water and they'll wash their feet. They'll wash their hands down to their elbows. Very specific. Then they'll wash around their ears. They'll wash their face, their nose. And then maybe their face and then like I said their feet. So that's what they'll do. They'll do that ablution very much like Old Testament. And it's very interesting because you're going to actually see a pattern that the things they hold to are very much like they're still in the Old Testament under the law. Very, very interesting. So they must do ablution. Next, they must wear clean clothes. When they pray, they have to wear clean clothes. So if someone is in the construction and it's time for prayer, many times what he'll do is he'll actually have like a robe in his locker or whatever. And he'll put that on, go off with his prayer mat and then pray. There has to be clean ground for prayer. And they must face the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca. Okay, so they face Mecca. They will always pray in that direction. And then of course there are required positions in prayer. They actually have certain required positions when they pray. Okay, you can go on the internet. You can go on the internet, go to YouTube and type in Muslim Salat prayer or Muslim Ritual prayer or Muslim prayer. And you can see, you can probably see all sorts of, they'll probably show you how they do it, how they pray and how they bow and all that. So next, the frequency. Five times daily, they must pray this Salat prayer. Five times at the weekly Friday congregational gathering at the mosque and any funeral. There are other optional prayer times as well. But these are the required times by a Muslim. The times of daily prayer are at dawn, just past noon, mid-afternoon, immediately after sunset and evening. A Muslim must keep the time prescribed to pray. If not, the prayer needs to be made up. Okay, again, this is amazing. As a Christian, you know, learning this, you're just going, Whoa, you have to make up your prayer? Yes, you have to make it up. You should make it up. If not, they literally have a point system. And I don't understand it. I, you know, I love for someone to actually sit down and explain to me how it all works, but they have a literal point system. If you don't do those five prayers or if you miss one or miss two, I don't know, but certain points are knocked off. Okay, this is really serious. Next, place of prayer. They can pray anywhere even when traveling. Okay, so those of you who have been to airports, you might have seen Muslims actually praying, you know, in one place. They'll have a rug and they'll do their prayer and bow and bow to the ground and do all of that. You know, and even if they are seated in an airplane, when they are seated, you know, I've seen Jewish people do that where they go like that. Well, Muslim too can actually sit down and actually can pray and they can they'll bow all the way down to their knees and they'll do that even if they're seated. But I mean, you see this all through the Muslim world. I mean, when we're traveling from one city to a next, you'll see a man pull over the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. He'll just be out there on the grass and he'll just do his prayer sometimes with his whole family, you know, so everywhere at shops, anywhere, anywhere. Next prayers are made ineffective by women, donkeys or dogs passing in front of a man praying. This is true. This is from the Hadith. Sahih Bukhari. This is the reference. Now, this is narrated by Aisha. Aisha was one of the most important key wives of Muhammad. And this is what she said. She said, the things which annul the prayers were mentioned before me, they said, prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman if they pass in front of the praying people. I said, you have made us that is women dogs. I saw the prophet praying while I used to lie in my bed between him and the Qibla. Qibla is the place of prayer, the Mecca. Whenever I was in need of something, I would slip away for I disliked to face him. This is another story. You can actually research this about Aisha because Muhammad, as some of you may know, he married many wives. Some say 11, some say as much as 14 wives. Aisha was his youngest. I don't remember the exact age, but I know when he wrote the marriage contract with her, she was about six years old, and he was about 50 years old. And this is a very well attested fact, very well attested fact. And he married her, I think, when she was nine. So going on, prayers are ineffective by women on their period, nor can women touch the Quran. This is true. Okay, next, call to prayer can be heard publicly throughout the Muslim world over the loudspeakers from every mosque's minaret. If you ever see a mosque, where that's where the Muslims worship, you will see a tower normally, and that's called the minaret. That's where the call to prayer is sent out throughout the city. It's a reminder to all Muslims to fulfill their duty to God to pray. What do they say in this call? Okay, well, here, I gave it to you. This is the call to prayer. So four times they say, Allah is the greatest. Then two times they say, I bear witness that there is no God beside Allah. Then again, two times I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Come to prayer twice, come to success twice. And then in the morning only, they will say prayer is better than sleep. And then four times Allah is the greatest. And then one time there is no God beside Allah. So it's, you know, it's really interesting. You know, I would say this, because sometimes we as Christians, the Lord has really challenged me by living in the Muslim world, because right away I can be like, oh, they're lost. Look at what they're doing, all these works. And right away the Lord begins to show me and say, but do you seek earnestly after me? You know, yes, they are lost. But like I said before, and I heard this a long time ago, are you willing to do for the truth what cults do for a lie? And you know what? We need to wake up, guys. We need to wake up because they are dead serious. And if we don't get serious, then they will. They will. Okay? They're going, I was just talking with David Bustamani earlier, and he was talking about how the Lord is moving through the prisons and things like that. And he was telling me, and the Muslims are making, you know, inroads into the prison. You know, people are becoming Muslim. And the fact of the matter is, if we as Christians don't take prayer seriously and get on our faces and pray and intercede, then we will begin to see the Muslims coming in and taking over and infiltrating because they are, they are strong and they believe this with all their heart. Okay? So we need to wake up and we need to be challenged as Christians and say, Lord, you know what? I'm going to take my faith seriously. So, okay, the next pillar, the third pillar is charity or almsgiving. This is called zakhet in Arabic, zakhet. So, zakhet not only means charity for a Muslim, but also carries the meaning of purification. Giving of one's finances not only purifies his property, but also his heart from greed and selfishness. So, they, there is a belief that as they give from their finances, there is a purification process that is taking place in their heart. Zakhet is compulsory charity. Okay? Once again, they must do it. There is also voluntary, voluntary charity called sadaqah. Okay? So, there is, there is voluntary where you can give or not give, but this is required. It's an act of worship. Okay? They believe that when they are giving, they are, they are, this is an act of worship to God. The amount that is required for zakhet is 2.5% of a Muslim's net income. Not gross, but net. So, 2.5%. Those who can receive this charity are the poor, the destitute, needy travelers. It can be given for freeing captives. So, like if Muslims are captive and are in war and they've been taken prisoners, they can use the money of the charity to give towards them, to free them debtors and new or prospective converts to Islam. So, I mean, this is, this is very interesting too, because you know, you just, you wonder and you think, okay, you know, I wonder how many of these people in prisons are actually promised something. I don't know, but this is a fact. Okay? It can be given towards prospective converts to Islam. Now, once again, as I began to think about this, the second pillar of Islam, giving, charity, Jesus addresses us in Matthew 6 verses 1 through 4. And you can check that out later on. But Jesus tells us, and actually in Matthew chapter 6, in the Sermon on the Mount, you have in chapter 6 three very important practices of a believer. Okay? And it's interesting because Mohammed, remember, he was, he was around Jews and Christians. And so what a lot of scholars believe is that a lot of things that he saw from Jewish society and Christian society, he brought that into Islam. Okay? So it's very interesting, but we see in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus gives us guidelines. He says, and when you give, he doesn't say if you give. Remember, Jesus is expecting that we as believers will give out of the abundance of our heart. And he says, when you give, do not be like the hypocrites, making a big ruckus, okay? And he tells us, he gives us guidelines how to give with a pure heart. And he says that our Father in heaven will see if we give in secret. Okay? So we are, we are given that in Matthew chapter 6. The fourth pillar in Islam is fasting. Som. Som. Okay? Although fasting was encouraged by Mohammed to be done regularly, this is particularly emphasizing the obligatory fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Okay? So this is during the month of Ramadan, which we are in right now, 30 days where a Muslim must fast. Every Muslim. Okay? Next line. Every Muslim, male or female, after reaching puberty, must fast. So we were just on the telephone with one of our close friends in Morocco, and we talked to the son, and he's how old? He just turned 12, and he just started fasting. Okay? And you know, it's one of those things. Ramadan is a really exciting time. It's their, you know, Ramadan is getting close, and they celebrate. It's a time of rejoicing and celebration. So for a lot of these kids, like their first time fasting, it's like almost like an initiation. They're coming into their, they're maturing in their faith, if you will. Okay? So exceptions are women during their period of menstruation, a nursing mother, a person traveling elderly, and those who are sick. Okay? These are not required to fast. Those who do not fast, however, are required to make up the fast an equal number of days later in the year. So once again, just like prayer, you have to make it up. You have to make it up. If unable to, then they should feed a needy person for every day missed. So if, if you missed four or five days, you got to, for five days, you have to give towards a needy person. In the hadith, which is the Islamic tradition, it records, every good act that a man performs shall receive from 10 to 700 rewards, but the rewards of fasting are beyond reasons. And so for a Muslim, fasting is huge. It is a tremendous reward that they're going to get with God. Muslims believe fasting number one teaches obedience and thankfulness to God. Number two strengthens the power over will and self-control. Number three shows brotherhood since all Muslims are partaking in the same hardship. And number four helps gain sympathy for the poor and hungry. Fasting is abstaining from eating, drinking, any sexual conduct, smoking, and any bad language. So, you know, I've had some interesting conversations and once again, this is a great time. I can encourage you enough. During this time of Ramadan, you know, we have about, I think it's about 16 or 15 days more, maybe less, maybe 14 days left. During this month for the Muslims, it is a holy month. It is a time where they are very open to spiritual things. They will engage with you. Their mind is, they're trying to keep themselves pure, and so all of these things are in them. And so it is a time, this was a great time for Christians to discuss and to converse with a Muslim. And you know what I want to encourage you? Is simply, if you meet a Muslim, simply to ask, tell me what is Ramadan all about? Ask them to teach you and learn from them, and they would love that. Because when you do that, you're actually putting yourself as a student and them as the teacher. And that is a humble way of coming and wanting to communicate the gospel with a Muslim. And many times, many times when we were in Morocco, they would ask us, do you fast? And we would say, yes, we do. Really, you do. Because actually the Muslims think that Christians don't pray, they don't fast, they don't give, they're sexually immoral. And so all of these things they think because of what they see on television, what they see all of the foreigners that come into their country, and so that is their view of a Christian. Right away they are labeled, those are Christians. Okay? And so that's why we, you are a powerful witness. As you live your Christian life before the Muslims, you are a powerful witness because they're going to encounter a true born-again Christian. But we need to be that. Once again, Matthew chapter 6, verses 16 through 18, Jesus addresses the issue of fasting. And you know what? I think this, I want to challenge all of you. I would, I would challenge you to try to fast. If you've never done it, I want to challenge you. Jesus, once again in Matthew 6, doesn't say if you fast, he says when you fast. Fasting in the Bible, if I were you, do a study on fasting in the Bible. Because it is a powerful thing. It is a time where you meet with God and you deprive yourself of the earthly things, of food, of television, whatever it might be in order to seek the heart of God. And you know what? God moves. God breaks bondages. You're going to, you're praying for these people, your neighbors, or your family, or you're praying for these Muslim friends. You fast and pray and see what God can do. Watch God move. We've seen it. We've seen God move through prayer and fasting. But I want to encourage you to do that. But Jesus tells us. He says when you fast, this is how you, this is what you do. Okay? And Matthew chapter 6, verses 16 through 18. So once again, again this is a powerful witness. Because a Muslim that meets you and asks you, do you fast? And you say, yes, I do. It's like, whoa, it's shocking to them. They thought they're the only ones in the world that fast. Okay? So once again, I encourage you to do that. The fifth pillar in Islam is the holy pilgrimage, otherwise known as the hajj. Okay? So required of every Muslim once in their lifetime and who is physically and financially capable of taking the pilgrimage. Every year around two million Muslim pilgrims from all over the world journey to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and descend on the Kaaba, the big black box in the center of the mosque. Many of you might have seen it once again. Google it. Go to YouTube and type in Mecca. Okay? Or the Kaaba. And you can see video. They'll have video and showing all of the Muslims, the millions going around this black box. And it's crazy. I mean, you look at that and you think, man, these are millions of people completely deceived and going around this black box. What's that? It's pretty big. It's pretty big, yeah. So non-Muslims, interestingly enough, are forbidden to visit Mecca or be present at the Hez. It is forbidden. If a non-Muslim wants to go there, it is forbidden. They will not be allowed into that city, into that area. Okay? The season of this, the time of the pilgrimage, the season begins in the 10th month, the month following Ramadan and lasts through the middle of the 12th month. Muslims associate the origin of the Hez and the founding of the Kaaba with Abraham who was believed to have built the Kaaba. Okay? So they believe that Abraham with Ishmael built the Kaaba. Rituals begin five miles from the center of Mecca. Muslims prepare, bathe, and do brief salat, the prayer, the ritual prayer. Each man puts on two seamless white cloths, one around his waist, the other over his shoulder. He states his intention by saying, Oh Allah, I purpose to make the Hez. Make this service easy to me and accept it from me. In the Kaaba, he goes around it seven times, first three quickly running the other walking. He performs a brief salat at a point where Muslims believe Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt the Kaaba. Outside the mosque, pilgrims run between two hills. One called Safa and the other one Marwa. 400 yards apart in memory of Hagar running to find water for Ishmael. Okay? Once again, all these stories you're going to discover and say, Oh I, they have that story. Yeah, they do. Okay? But this is what they're commanded to do during the Hez. On the seventh day of the month, the Dhul Hez, he listens to a sermon in the great mosque at Mecca. The next day, he travels east to the city of Mina to spend the night. Most continue to the plain of Arafat, 12 to 14 miles east of Mecca. According to tradition, this is where Adam and Eve met after falling from paradise. Remember guys, that Adam and Eve were created in heaven according to Islamic doctrine and then were cast to the earth. Okay? So that's why it says that. Important thing is to stand on a nearby hill on the afternoon of the ninth day. This is the Hez. Failure to meditate at this particular place means failure to complete the Hez. After sundown, returns to Muzdalifah to perform evening salah. Collect some pebbles and spend the night. Now you're wondering why would they have to collect some pebbles. Okay, we'll look at the next paragraph. On the 10th day, Muslims celebrate A'id al-Kabir, which means the great feast. Kabir is the great or big. Or A'id al-Adha, feast of the sacrifice. The pilgrim continues toward Mecca, stopping at Mina to throw seven small stones at certain stone pillars. This stoning of the devil, which is it's called, is in memory of Abraham whom Muslims believe chased away Satan. So they will actually, and you see video of this, and once again millions of Muslims with stones throwing rocks at pillars, symbolizing, believing that they are throwing rocks at Satan. Okay, nearby is a hill where Muslims believe Abraham prepared to sacrifice Ishmael and Muslims slaughter a ram according to his means. So I don't know if you know about this, but during this time, at the great feast, or the feast of sacrifice, this is when every Muslim man who is the head of a home must take one ram, okay, and slaughter it for his household. And this is very interesting because you know you have the Passover. It's exactly what the Passover was all about, where God commanded them to each household to take a sheep, and to take the blood of that sheep, and to put it on the lentil, the lentils, and on the top doorposts, and at the bottom. And it's amazing because we're going to look later on in the, not the next session, but the fifth one, about how we see the blood of the lamb throughout scripture, and how the blood of redemption is so important. And when you share that, and when a Muslim hears that, it clicks. They understand as God reveals it to them, but the blood is super important, and every Muslim will slaughter a ram. Nails must be cut, shaved, and returns to normal clothes after the hege. Normally, after completing pilgrimage, they're addressed as al-hajj for a man or al-hajjah for a woman. So this is interesting too, because I remember when we were in Morocco, we began to hear somebody, this guy's name was Hassan or Muhammad, and now they're calling him hej, hej, hej. I thought, why is his name different now? Well, because he came back from the pilgrim, so now he takes on a title. And I thought, wow, Jesus said, call no one on earth father, for you have only one, and call no one on earth teacher, for you have only one. And I thought, that's interesting. So they take on a title, and obviously when you have that title, it's obvious that you completed that pilgrimage, so it gives you a level above the others. I mean, it's just, it's going to be natural in the mind. And you can actually see that, just observing that in society, you see that more respect, that more greater honor when that person is a hej, or heja. OK, you just see it. Before leaving Mecca, he again goes around the Kaaba, drinks from a well called Zem Zem, it's fun to say, Zem Zem, which is believed by Muslims to have been opened by Gabriel for Ishmael. Most pilgrims travel 250 miles to Medina to visit the tomb of Muhammad. So that is the place, the city of Medina, where Muhammad's body lay. That's where his tomb is. And this was all taken from, you can see that from the website answering dash islam.org. I encourage you to go there, it has tons of information. OK, next we're going to look at authoritative texts. OK, first of all, the Qur'an. Also spelled with a K, K-O-R-A-N. And this way, also Qur'an. The reason why it's, many times you will see it with an apostrophe is because the way it's pronounced, the division of the word. Not simply Qur'an, but Qur'an. There's a little stop in it, Qur'an. So Islam's sacred and holy book, the Muslims regard the Qur'an as the final infallible divine revelation from God given to the angel Gabriel who then revealed it to Muhammad. That's real important that you understand the order. OK, Allah gave it to angel Gabriel who then transmitted it to Muhammad. And then Muhammad, he didn't write it down because he was illiterate. He memorized the whole Qur'an. OK, the meaning of Qur'an, and I was asked this last week by somebody, is recitation or recitation. The majority of Muslims memorize the whole Qur'an and are able to recite it. You, if you meet Muslims, many times you will have, that will come up in the discussion, that they can memorize the entire Qur'an. And they're learning this from a young age. From school they are taught to memorize the Qur'an. You know, and I've spoken to people in Iraq, I remember one man in Iran, he remembers being beaten in school for not memorizing the Qur'an. They treat it very severely and very, it's very, they're strict about it. So they memorize it and they're able to recite the whole Qur'an. I mean just like, they can memorize it and recite it. They usually pride themselves in this and present this fact as an evidence of divine inspiration. This is really interesting once again. I've talked to Muslims and they'll say, how could the Qur'an not be from God if all Muslims can memorize it by heart? They will use that as a proof or an evidence of the fact that of its divinity. Okay. Often in the Muslim world you will hear the Qur'an being played in homes, especially on Friday. Friday is the holy day, remember, so you will hear that everyone's playing the Qur'an. You know, and it's like a chant. Okay. In taxis, buses, shops, and restaurants. I mean can you imagine guys living in a Christian country, if you if you went out on Sunday and you just heard people putting on the Bible, the scriptures, everywhere you went, restaurants, Wal-Martin, you heard the Bible being read, it's been like, well this is crazy. I mean that would be awesome. But in the Muslim world that's what it is. You hear it everywhere, you get in the taxi, they got the Qur'an, the bus, everywhere, everywhere. What's that? Same thing, yes, yes for everyone. The major difference, here this is very important, major difference between Muslims and Christians. Muslims emphasize recitation while Christians emphasize understanding leading to application. Now this I found very important because what you will find is that the Muslim, they stress to memorize and recite simply. Not understanding, but the Bible for the Christian emphasizes us to understand God's Word which will lead to application of God's Word. If I understand then I will do. Okay, look at this. Surah 17, 106 through 107. It is a Qur'an which we've divided into parts from time to time in order that thou mightest recite it to men at intervals. We have revealed it by stages. Say, whether ye believe in it or not, it is true that those who were given knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration. So what he is saying here in the Qur'an is that when you recite it as a Muslim, people will just bow down and will say, man this is the true religion. They're saying that. Now check this out. Nehemiah 8 verses 2 and 8. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. And then verse 8. So they read distinctly from the book in the law of God and they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading. So God emphasizes us to understand, search the scriptures and understand it and then seek Him. And we all probably know 2 Timothy 2 15. Be diligent to present yourselves approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Okay, we are taught every Christian, you know, and this is not just for pastors and missionaries. No, we are supposed to divide the word of truth, God's word. Okay, so real important. Next an exact copy of Allah's revelation to man which is preserved on tablets in heaven for eternity. So in Surah 85, Neh, this is a glorious Quran inscribed in a tablet preserved. So they believe as Muslims that there is a actual tablet of the Quran in heaven in eternity. So note, anything that is eternal is placed on par with God. So once again, if they believe the Quran is in a tablet in heaven and the Quran is eternal, but Allah is eternal. So then you have two objects here which are eternal. So that's a dilemma there because God is also eternal. The Quran is then a co-equal with God. So this creates a dilemma for them. This is a good question to ask. If they believe the Quran is eternal and if it is in heaven, how can two objects be eternal at once? If God alone is eternal as they believe. Shirk, S-H-I-R-K, shirk means is this, this is a sin in Islam. Shirk means to take two things and make, to take something and make it equal with God. That is a sin in Islam. Every letter and word is free from human influence. The Quran is unchanged, they believe. Yusuf Ali, this is one of the versions of the Quran in English. Surah 85-22 says this. Allah's message is eternal. The tablet is preserved or guarded from corruption. For Allah's message must endure forever. That message is the mother of the book. It was revealed to Muhammad over a period of 23 years by the angel Gabriel through visions, dreams, and other supernatural phenomena as the need arose. Okay, so the Quran is the Quran began to be revealed to Muhammad as he was in that cave meditating and it began to be revealed to him through visions, through dreams over 23 years. Surah 25-32 says those who disbelieve say why is not the Quran revealed to him all at once? Thus it is sent down in parts that we may strengthen your hearts thereby and we have revealed it to you gradually in stages. Okay, so this Surah in the Quran is saying how the Quran was revealed in stages. Revealed to Muhammad in Arabic. Okay, in Surah 43 you can look it up for yourself. It says how God revealed it in Arabic and once again it is very important that the Quran stays in Arabic to be understood properly. Revelations were compiled over the next 200 years into what is now called the Quran. So once the Quran was revealed to Muhammad over 23 years he memorized it and then passed that on to his companions and over 200 years they compiled the Quran and put it together. It consists of 114 chapters or in Arabic it's called Surahs each composed of a number of verses. Verses are called Eya. Order of the Surahs are not arranged chronologically. Okay, so if you get a Quran and you look at it and you go from the beginning it's not chronological. Okay, or by subject matter but generally by order of size with the larger Surahs at the beginning and the smallest at the end. The Quran is highly respected never to touch the ground nor to be marked or written in. Okay, so they wouldn't do like what we may do with our Bibles and write in our Bibles and write notes. They will never, never do that. Not to be marked in it is held to be very holy and treated as such. Now I'm going to give you a tip important tip if you ever have a Muslim with you in your house or if you are ever sharing with a Muslim or witnessing to a Muslim and you have a Bible I would encourage you to have a clean Bible and you know what I mean by that nothing written in it that's what I mean. Okay, because that will only create more dilemma in his mind and right away he will say wow you don't even really respect the Bible. Okay, now obviously I have I have explained when because we've had friends at our house ask us and they've they've seen that there are markings in the Bible and we've explained to them the fact of that and that's a really interesting discussion because once again for them it's the it's the actual paper this is holy for us no this can be burned the fact of the matter is the power is in the spirit of the word okay it is the spirit of it but obviously as a Muslim they cannot comprehend that and that is why you have missions and you have the translation of Bibles and that's why you have people all over the world coming to Christ converting being able to read the Bible in their own language because we don't say the Bible must be read in Greek and Hebrew otherwise you can't know God no you need to understand it in your language and when you understand the message of the Gospel you will be transformed and that's what takes place okay so we believe once again what is our our memory verse guys the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God amen okay next moving on the Hadith and Sunnah okay you have the Hadith and Sunnah the Hadith is the written record of what Muhammad said what he did and what he gave approval to the words and deeds of Muhammad form the Sunnah or pattern of living that faithful Muslims must imitate okay so Sunnah literally means the pattern okay looking at Muhammad's life everything he did meaning the way he walked even how how long did he have his beard okay they they have a certain length it cannot go longer than a certain length the way he he shaved the way he ate the way he greeted a Jew the way he greeted a Christian the way he walked into a house okay they have a certain way when you enter into a house you should step in with your right foot first okay and you should say Bismillah which means in the name of God they say that all the time when they get into a car they say Bismillah and they get in they say in the name of God okay so they use that all the time so there are certain ways there's a certain pattern and they all follow Muhammad every Muslim their goal in life is to imitate Muhammad just as our goal as a Christian is to imitate Christ and that's when you're going to begin to see the beauty as we imitate Christ and a Muslim imitates Muhammad there should be a stark difference contrast okay so the Hadiths consist of two parts chain of narrators and the texts okay so normally what you'll have for example if you open up a Hadith and you read one of the Hadiths it will say so and so son of so and so son of so and so son of so and so said this okay and so this is what the Hadith is it's a written record of so you have a chain of narrators and then you have the text what did he say okay this is what Muhammad said it was recorded by this who gave it to this who gave it to this okay so the earliest collection of Hadiths date from one and a half to two centuries after Muhammad's death El-Bukhari collected over 600,000 reports but kept only 7,397 as true so out of the 600,000 reports he only kept 7,300 of the six important Muslim collection of Hadiths Bukhari and Muslim are accepted as the most reliable now Muslim doesn't mean the the Muslim follower this is an actual person's name okay just so you're not confused so these are the two men these two are the most reliable in Islamic religion Bukhari and Muslim their collections are called Sahih El-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim respectively okay Sahih means true or the right one or the genuine one okay so in other words these are the ones most trustworthy we can trust them most Muslims believe the Hadith is also divinely inspired especially since they follow carefully what is written in them most of the practices of Islam cannot be understood without the Hadith so in the Quran for example you are told to pray but you are not told the way a Muslim actually prays you are not told any of that from the Quran which they believe came directly from God none of that is in the Quran so you ask yourself so how do they know how to actually do the prayer well that's in the Hadith because they have recorded this is the way Mohammed did it and so that's what they do not all Muslims believe in the Hadiths and Muslims have been divided since the existence of these books the Shiites and Sunnis have different collections of Hadiths some believe them only when it suits them for example they would accept passages in them that would glorify Mohammed and his teachings but reject those that discredit him and so once again you will have people the majority of people I can tell you from experience the majority of Muslims that we've talked to believe and hold to the Hadiths as being true so if you were to present a Hadith from either Bukhari or Muslim they will trust it this is reliable I only know one man he was an English teacher in Morocco who told me he doesn't believe in the Hadith he said he only follows what the Quran says and so you have difference of opinion there okay and I think it's very similar to for example in Mormonism you have the Book of Mormon but then you also have right the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants and you have these type of things and then even with Jehovah's Witnesses you have obviously their new new world translation and then you also have the Watchtower and Bible Track Society they actually say they give you the sense they are actually going to interpret what the Bible says so what Jehovah's Witness cannot understand without the awake or the Watchtower very interesting the enemy is the same wherever he goes he's the same for us we hold to the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation next and I did not have enough time to go into detail here once again but I'm giving you a summary of everything okay Mohammed the Messenger of Islam now obviously remember when we did the brief history and we touched on how he started what happened when he came and all of that so we touched on that but you can do if you choose to your own personal research on this and there's so much to read about him he is the final messenger and prophet of God to the whole world he is called the seal of the prophets and many other names that's one of the most important names for him for a Muslim he is called the seal of the prophets and this is very interesting because I've read where Christian scholars say very likely they took this term from the scriptures from where we are told in Ephesians that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit remember in Ephesians chapter one you have been sealed for the day of redemption so we have been sealed not by a man but by God himself coming and dwelling inside of you and I as believers so there's a there's a big difference there his name Muhammad means the praised one that's what his name means the praised one he's also known as Ahmad so if you ever heard the word Ahmad that is him that is the same as Muhammad okay but Sunnah as previously stated and it is the words deeds and complete example and behavior of Muhammad Muslims believe that they are not only to follow what is in the Quran but also to carefully imitate the life of Muhammad okay so once again I mean I went I mean they they have so much you can find about the life of Muhammad and what he did how he acted the things he did and I'm going to be bringing you some things later on but once again they imitate everything Muhammad did and so a Muslim is literally they're just following what Muhammad did and they've been deceived and remember the bible says that they are perishing remember the bible says that they have a veil that has been cast over their heart so that they cannot come to the knowledge of the truth but that's why we pray and that's why we say Lord in Jesus name may you break these bonds may you break these chains may you tear the veil that has covered their hearts the last thing here that we're going to look at is Jihad the holy war in Islam and this this here was taken this next section because it was so there's so much talked about this and to be honest with you I really don't even get into it talking about Jihad with Muslims there's a lot more heavier and more important things like who Muhammad is and who Jesus is that I really don't talk about Jihad so really it's my thing is like okay you know I want to give it to you guys just so we have something to look at and know what they believe so here you have it Jihad defined the word Jihad has a somewhat broad lexical meaning struggle striving okay this is literally the word the verb to strive or struggle is where you get the root that's the root word to struggle okay then you have obviously all sorts of different views of that and like we said we either last week or the week before is what's happening now you have a lot of Muslims who are wanting to make Islam very palatable for the West and so they say well you know what Jihad no no no it's not holy war it's actually your personal struggle with yourself it's a personal struggle like with your own flesh and with your own sins in your heart that's the Jihad okay but this is really interesting at the most basic level the word Jihad means to strive or struggle particularly as it applies to the desire of Muslims to please Allah Jihad is most defined as striving in the way of Allah struggling to do what he pleases which pleases Allah or exerting oneself with regard to one's religion listen to this the Encyclopedia of Islam says of Jihad that in law according to general doctrine and a historical tradition the Jihad consists of military action with the object of the expansion of Islam and if need be its defense okay I want you to jump down to where it says scholars scholars who study and analyze Middle East culture note that spiritual Jihad is merely a facade created in an attempt to disguise the truth of Jihad hiding behind the facade to those of us in the West Jihad as a spiritual struggle is presented only to Western audiences this is not known amongst them what they're talking about here they don't know anything of that few Muslim scholars or even apologists writing in non-European languages have ever made the exaggerated claims regarding the spiritual struggle those who write in Arabic or other Muslim languages realize that it is pointless to present Jihad as anything other than militant warfare Buhari which is remember from the the Hadith also includes the possibility of martyrdom as a consequence of Jihad becoming a martyr is an odd concept if Jihad is limited to an internal struggle alone how in the world are you going to be a martyr if that's referring to a spiritual struggle no this is referring to literal militant warfare okay next warfare a footnote in the English translation of Buhari's Hadith collection notes El Jihad which is holy fighting in Allah's cause with full force of numbers and weaponry is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of the pillars on which it stands so there are there are those that would say this is a sixth pillar to fight in holy war by Jihad Islam is established Allah's word is made superior and his religion Islam is propagated so now there are over 160 verses obviously I'm not going to give you all of them but 160 verses in the Quran speak of Jihad as fighting for example Surah 2 216 Jihad holy fighting in Allah's cause is ordained for you speaking to the Muslims next surah 474 whoso fights in the cause of Allah and is killed or gets victory we shall bestow on him a great reward so obviously how how can it be speaking of a spiritual struggle when it says in the Quran whoever is killed or gets victory it's obvious surah 839 fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression or there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere surah 929 this is the one that is is very well known and used many times in discussions and debates surah 929 fight those fight against those who number one believe not in Allah nor in the last day nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and his messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth which is Islam among the people of the scripture Jews and Christians the people of the scripture is referred to here to fight even them the people of the scripture surah 47 verse 4 so when you meet this is pretty crazy so when you meet in fighting in fight jihad in Allah's cause those who disbelieve smite their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them so it literally says all of these verses you are when you find them you are to fight them strike off their heads at their necks smite them okay the hadith also speaks extensively of jihad as warfare and nothing else in this this is from the hadith when you are called by the muslim ruler for jihad holy fighting in Allah's cause go forth immediately note however that in many cases warfare was preceded by a call to Islam the target person or people group were first given an opportunity to embrace Islam and this is something that is also very important what they did was before they would fight with the sword they would first invite them so we are inviting you to Islam you want to either come the peaceful way if not then it's the sword so it is preferable not to begin hostilities with the enemy before having invited the latter to embrace the religion of Allah except where the enemy attacks first they have the alternative of either converting to Islam or paying the poll tax short of which war will be declared against them and so what happened actually within the Arabic world whenever you had communities which remained little pockets of Christians and Jews it's because they didn't convert to Islam but they rather paid a tax so they had to pay a tax in order to stay Christians and not be killed now imagine if we did that here for Muslims what would the what would the cry the outcry be if you have to pay you want to you can stay a Muslim if you do then you have to pay us a tax they would be cries of discrimination this would be a huge problem but this is what they did this was commanded this was from the Quran this is what their prophet Muhammad did okay so terrorism this is where you get okay the idea of terrorism in modern day terms obviously when you read historically and if you were to see all the battles one after another that Muhammad engaged in this is what is modern day terrorism obviously it takes on a whole different look surah 812 remember thy Lord inspired the angels with the message I am with you give firmness to the believers I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers smite ye above their necks and smite all their fingertips off them this is straight from the Quran so this is inspired of God okay this is from the Quran now so this is what God has commanded Muslims the fact of the matter is this this jihad is normal Islam this is what the Quran commands so Muslims who are not engaging in jihad are simply not following the Quran okay just as Christians who are not living the Christian life and who are not living holy and who are not living separate are not living the way the Bible commands okay just as a person will look and say oh well he's doing all these things well yeah but he's doing that against what the word of God says okay it's the same thing for a Muslim that doesn't engage in jihad they are doing it against what the Quran says okay but once again in the west it is given a we're given a facade of what Islam is it's a peaceful religion well it's because the people are no longer following it the way it should be followed and we're actually we're actually thankful that they're not following it okay no it depends you'll find that as you're engaging one-on-one with them the thing is this and this is what you discover in the Muslim world the majority of people are illiterate and that's interesting because so what happens they go to the mosque they sit there they do what they're told they listen to what they're told and they just believe it they can't read so they cannot read the Quran for themselves they cannot read the hadith for themselves so the majority of the Muslims in the Muslim world are illiterate so they can't study for themselves okay now obviously when you come here come to the west you have a lot of studied people okay but the problem is they are being there is a facade and they're being there a snow job is being done on us okay and we're not being told what is the truth so now when you begin to open up the book of the Quran we can now see this is exactly what is given by by their God okay so I just once again I couldn't go into detail there's a lot of details on these last points but I'm giving you these these are key issues concerning jihad okay martyrdom so obviously they believe that as martyrs those who are killed in battle or in going against unbelievers they will go directly to paradise okay this is for them the dawah which is inviting others to Islam okay you have a lot of now Islam Islamic evangelists if you will Muslim evangelists that are doing this dawah which is inviting okay they're inviting but that is always the first step to the spreading of Islam the expansion first you invite second it's jihad they don't want to come peaceably then there's jihad the purpose of jihad is to rid the world of polytheists unbelievers hypocrites number two to spread Islam three to test the true followers of Allah whether they will obey him number four obtain booty five assure one's place in paradise so these are the purposes methods of jihad number one taking disbelievers captive or two killing disbelievers once again you can look in history jihad is found through all the multitudes and multitudes of campaigns the Quran reveals four stages of jihad basically to give it to you in a nutshell the first stage in the early years of Muhammad when he was in Mecca he didn't fight though they ridiculed him and the the unbelievers persecuted him those that were still idolaters and didn't receive Islam he was he didn't say anything back to them then the second stage was they would persecute him and then he would defend himself the third stage was he would fight and then the fourth was he got even more aggressive when he went down to Medina okay so they they explain it as there were four stages of jihad and then you have this interesting issue the jihad versus the Christian crusades that is often brought up in debates that is often brought up by Muslims okay well we have the jihad but what about your crusades when all of you Christians with the shield with the cross on the shield in the name of Christ are slaying all these people why did you do that and it's actually very simple actually the answer was the answer is they the crusaders did that contrary to the teaching of Christ who is our Lord the Muslims did jihad because of what Allah told them to do so they were following the orders whereas the crusaders were going against what Christ commanded us because remember Christ said he who lives by the sword will die by the sword and just look at the example of our Lord where it says he let them beat him he let them take out his beard okay so Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek and Jesus is our example okay he told us to bring the gospel spread it through the preaching of the word and that's how the apostles did it that's how all the missionaries through history through the preaching the proclamation of the word then lastly this very important point and this is where we're going to close the abrogation of the Quran in surah 2 verse 106 and there are others it says this such of our revelations as we abrogate or cause to be forgotten we bring one better or the like thereof so earlier revelation can be overruled or abrogated by later revelation so in simple terms certain things were given to Muhammad by God they were given they were followed and then later on God said no no it's going to be different that's actually this way so these verses were now you can erase those those are abrogated or overruled by the later revelation okay this is from the Quran this exists this is this is you know this is what they believe okay but once again a lot of Muslims do not know this okay but it's it's very good to actually bring this and actually ask and say what do you think about this okay but anyways all of this is very key information and so um let's close our time here and then we'll go into questions and answers Father we thank you that we have a faith that is unshakable Lord we thank you God that your word does declare to us that there is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus who was testified in due time as a ransom for all Lord we thank you as we think about our Lord and our Savior that on one occasion as as they rejected I believe the the the town of Samaria Lord as they rejected you Lord Peter and John came and they said Lord shall we call fire from heaven as Elijah did to consume these who who reject our message but Jesus your words are so powerful for you said the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them Lord that is amazing because Lord that is the spirit of Christ that is the spirit of the gospel that is the spirit of Christianity you didn't come to destroy men's lives but you came to save us you came to make us new Lord you came to make us born again and Lord we thank you for that Lord Father we we just Lord we're we're so blessed Father to be sons and daughters of the living God and Lord we just pray that you would take all of this information Lord and Lord just planted in our hearts and Lord give us once again give us a broken heart for the Muslims Lord because they are those whom you died for and Lord we commit all these things to you in Jesus name Amen