 All right. Well, as we get back started, let's talk about Sharia law. Sharia law. And I hope this time has been a blessing to you. It's been very informative for me. I've been very, very grateful. And so we're learning a lot and we want to put this to good use as we think through these things. I think we were talking about it over lunch and talking about it a little bit yesterday. How much looking at this subject and looking at what Islam teaches, how much it makes us appreciate the truth of God, appreciate our Bibles, appreciate the revealed will of God, just a blessing, what the Lord has done. I think it was Paul and Acts who said, the Lord has not left us without a witness of himself and in that he did good. And we praise him for that witness. All right. So tonight, today, this time we're going to study together, look together at Sharia law. And so I want to begin by considering for a moment together the concept of law, the concept of law. What comes to mind when you think about law? Many people today simply understand law as a collection of legal documents or legal principles or legal rules, people that legislate conduct and behavior. And when we think about law, what do you think about? Civil governments have them. Schools have them. Clubs have them. Sports have them. Churches have them. And God has law. There's a sense on the part of most people when they consider law that law is restrictive, that it's binding, that it's oppressive. Many of the past have used law to enslave people. Many view law as enslaving. Many view law or the development of law to be a function of no more than biology, right? That our laws have evolved over long periods of time out of our biology. Others see law as a product of cultural influence, cultural influences developing over long periods of time. And out of that cultural product of our civilization laws spring to keep us in check, they would say those same people that we were once ignorant and entirely lawless. But now that we've become more civilized, right, now that we have evolved into a civilized society, we become more cultured. We're a law abiding people. It appears to me in our own country and thinking through this topic that the more civilized we think we become, the more lawless we appear to be. Can't tell me that a country that thinks it's acceptable to murder 57 million babies since murdering babies was declared by that country to be legal is really and truly a civilized people, right? So that begs the question then in considering law, where does our sense of morality come from? And we're here, many of you professing to be Christians. We come to church every week and we think about these things. So we have a sense of the answers of these questions. We have a conscience. We have a sense of guilt. We have a sense of right and wrong. And where does that come from? That comes from God. Both the Muslim and the Christian would say that this sense of morality, this sense of right and wrong comes from God. The Bible says that his law has been written upon our hearts. Romans chapter two, verse 15. These are those who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them. So now if you think about it in these terms, whether you're a Jew or a Christian or a Muslim or a human for that matter, it would be absurd to consider law and questions of morality apart from God who created us. Amen. Apart from a knowledge or an understanding of God. And I would add that apart from a commitment to understand and follow the intentions that God has established for his people reflected in his law, then law in and of itself is nothing more than a wax nose, so to speak. It's moldable in any form that you need it to take, but it melts under heat. It's easily deformed. It's ugly when it's misinformed. It stinks, but you can't smell through it, right? It's good for nothing, but maintaining appearances for maintaining the appearance of morality and hopefully to restrain evil. But apart from God and apart from an understanding of God's intention for the law and law is nothing more than a wax nose. However, if it's God's law, God's law is holy, just and good. And God intends to communicate something important to his people through the law. One of the questions that we can ask by or answer by looking at God's laws, what is God like? God's law reflects his character. And like God, if it's God's law, then God's law will be immutable as God is immutable, unchanging. Because God is immutable and unchanging, his law is immutable and unchanging. He can't make himself better, and so his law is perfect. His law is holy. He can do no injustice, and so his law is just. God, the Bible says, is love. God is compassionate. God is merciful. God is good, and so God's law is good. His law never gets better. Do you see? It's consistent. God is love, giving himself to redeem sinners to himself, and so his law reflects God's love. And there's an intention behind his law to execute his love, so to speak, for the sake of his people, giving himself to redeem sinners to himself. He is eternally perfect. He is consistently just, and so his law is eternally perfect. His law is consistently just. His law reflects his character. Romans chapter 7, verse 12, the Bible says, therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just and good. Psalm 19, verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Romans 13, 8, Oh, no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Love does no harm to a neighbor in Romans 13, 10, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Someone might say, might say, well, I have the law of God, so I'm better than someone else. I'm better than a Muslim. Muslims don't have the truth of God. We have the truth of God. We have the Bible in our hands. We have the word of God. I have God's word, God's law. The Christian must say based on God's law with Paul in Romans chapter 3, beginning in verse 9, what then are we better than they? Not at all, for we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. So Christians claim to follow the law of God, and Muslims claim to follow the law of God, both claim to follow the one true in living God and believe that there is no other. As God, he alone has the right to rule and to reign as he alone sees fit. And so his laws administer his rule and reign among his people. What's the motivation for keeping the law, keeping God's law for the Christian? Motivation for keeping the law is to please him who already redeemed us, who redeemed us from under the curse of the law. We are bought with a price. We're not our own, our desire from the heart, isn't it? To hunger and to thirst for righteousness, to live for him who's redeemed us, to seek to glorify him, to be perfect as he is perfect, to be holy as he is holy, to see him as he is and to become like him, our creator and our redeemer, to enjoy perfect fellowship with him, unhindered by sin that is revealed under the law, unhindered by the filth of our depravity revealed to us, exposed under the law. That's the motivation for the Christian. But what is the motivation for Muslims under Sharia, under Sharia law? Is the character of God revealed in Sharia law? Are the nature and attributes of God reflected in Sharia law? According to Islam, Allah doesn't have the intention of revealing himself and his nature in the law. He merely intends to reveal law. It's a very important distinction. Allah in Islam doesn't have the intention of revealing himself or revealing his character or revealing his attributes to Muslim people or people in general. Allah merely intends to reveal law. Now Sharia is a word that means literally the way to the watering place. It's a path. It's a road to travel on. And watering place, that watering place is meant to convey two concepts. It's to intentionally suggest two ideas. One is that Sharia law then to the Muslim is a vital means of nourishment, of sustenance like water or an oasis in the desert. But secondly, it's also the watering place meant to suggest access to an eschatological end times world to come, how we will live in paradise. Through the desert, you come to the watering place. It's like coming through the wilderness of this world into paradise at the end. So Sharia, meaning literally the way to the water placing, the way to the watering place. Now this law, Sharia law is all encompassing. It includes details of ritual, manners, customs, legal, contractual, you could say from banking to the bedroom, right? From doctrine to the dinner table. It's all encompassing. It touches every aspect of Muslim life. And it has basically two purposes. Sharia law has two purposes. One for upholding the good of society. When you think about Sharia law in this way, it is as much religious or spiritual as it is political. It's to uphold the good of society. Sharia law would be used to establish an Islamic state to establish the caliphate and to keep the state ordered. So much like our civil law in the United States or much like the laws of a theocracy, like the theocracy of Israel in the Old Testament to uphold the good of society. But secondly, Sharia law is for the purpose of helping Muslims attain to salvation. And here's where there is a dramatic and striking and fundamental difference with Christianity. They are on two separate ends of the universe, two separate ends of the spectrum when it comes to law. God, who is holy and perfect, wants us to be holy as he is holy. The Bible commands be holy as I am holy. Muslims hope to attain salvation through the law. Christians were never meant to attain salvation through the law. Christians are pointed by the law to their hopeless condition and pointed to the fact that the law cannot give life. Muslims are hoping to attain to life through the law. It's a critical and fundamental difference. Galatians chapter three verse 20 says this. If there had been a law, any law, Sharia is jam-packed full of laws, right? If there had been any law, given, which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the scripture has confined through the purpose of the law, through the law, the scripture has confined all under sin. In order that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. We'll talk about that more as we go. With respect to Sharia law, after Muhammad's death, civil wars broke out. When Muhammad died, he did initially leave a successor, didn't leave a completed and full copy of the Quran. There was no Sunnah, no Hadith that was well-formed. There was a little bit of chaos that ensued after Muhammad's death. So civil wars broke out. Leadership struggles broke out. And those struggles defined the next three centuries while the Quran and while the Sunnah and while Sharia law was being developed. Caliphs or Imams were charged with establishing the Muslim community or the Caliphate. And these Imams charged with are responsible for upholding the rule of law. This is where Sharia law began. They initially saw themselves. These Imams saw themselves as arbiters of this rule of law. They made the rules. The rule of law called the Sharia was not initially in place, but had to be developed over time. Now the sources from which Sharia was drawn were beginning to be put in place, but everything at this point in time was all in a state of transition. So as there was confusion over who would be the Caliph, who would be elected as leader on the side of the Sunnis, who was the Imam on the side of the Shia, how those laws would be enforced and put in place all at this point in time in transition. It was being developed. So as the Quran was being put together, as the Sunnah was being put together, the Hadith being written over a long period of time, they began taking from the Quran, taking from the Sunnah laws that they would put in place and enforce and became to be known as Sharia law. Much of this in the beginning, as you can imagine, was hotly contested. It was debatable. There were arguments, there were splits and factions that were caused as a result of this. Because at that time, think about it, there wasn't an objective source of this external morality to hold them in check. It was in flux. And so commanders and leaders were making laws and justifying them, justifying them because they were Ismah themselves infallible, thought to be infallible, and they were in many cases putting laws together for their own personal gain or for pragmatic reasons. One example of this was Caliph Umar changing the penalty for adultery from 100 lashes given in the Quran to stoning. Now he changed that law in contradiction to the Quran and he changed it for pragmatic reasons. That decision, remember, they're infallible, was later supported in the Hadith and attributed to Muhammad. Now you see how this works at the time? If we take a look back and investigate this, you can look at the resources on your own. As they were putting together the Quran, as they were formulating or putting together the Hadith, all these things in transition, rules and laws being put in place by infallible, quote-unquote Imams, put in place laws that would later need to be changed. Maybe laws that they saw in the Quran were not enforced, they were enforcing other laws and those laws had to be changed. And so anytime someone wanted a law changed, again more or less revelations of convenience, Hadith would change or Hadith would be written to support laws that were being put in place. It was a state of flux. It was pragmatic and in many cases contradictory, inconsistent. So they began to enforce not only what they saw in the Quran or even what they understood from the Sunnah, but in implementing Sharia law, they began to enforce their own insights and judgments because they were Ishma, they were infallible. Here's the point I want to make from that. Think about it, what's going to happen to any rule of law when fallible men begin thinking themselves to be infallible? It's going to be disastrous. They're going to be inconsistencies. There's going to be contradiction. There's going to be confusion. Insanity is going to ensue, right? Disaster. Now we made this point last night. If you've been coming to Sunday school, you've heard Pastor Rick make this point with respect to many cults and Islam is certainly no exception with this. Islam is a parasitic false religion. In many respects it has attached itself to leech-like, attached itself to, and is fed off of in a self-serving way, fed on the truth of God as it is revealed in the Bible. Islam is parasitic. The law of Islam, Sharia law, is parasitic. And at that time when they're implementing these laws, many of these laws implemented with an understanding or at least the knowledge of Judeo-Christian law that was already in place, already written down, already codified. Because of Jewish or Christian influence on Muhammad, there is a Jewish or Christian influence on the Quran and therefore a Jewish or Christian influence on Islamic law. But now take that for a moment and think through again. What ultimately happens with that when depraved, selfish, and self-indulgent men begin to influence the rule of law? What happens to that law? The law of the Bible that is perfect, holy, just, and good. When it's in the hands of depraved men, it's corrupted, right? And we see that through our own history, those claiming to be Christians. What do they do with the law of God? It's corrupted, it's perverted. It's influenced by our depravity, wielded in the hands of those. You know we see it in the Bible, we've been working through the Gospel of John. Don't we see that that same law that is holy, just, and good from the Lord? Given in the Old Testament in the hands of Pharisees to be corrupted and perverted, right? It's what happens when you put law in the hands of depraved man. We see that in our own legal system today also, don't we? We have a rule of law, but it's shifting all the time. New rulings, new precedents, new Supreme Court decisions mean new laws, laws upon laws, thousands of laws, laws unenforced, laws contradicting other laws, laws that preserve the rights of one and take away the rights of another, right? The farther that we get away from upholding God's perfect law, the more confused and self-destructive we become. So Sharia at a societal level over the centuries has functioned or evolved in a similar way. Because it has, like a parasite, drawn from the Bible, it retains some of the Bible's morality. We've already seen that in the Quran, right? As we looked at the Quran and Pastor Jeff was talking about that earlier, we see elements of the Bible in the Quran. We see its influence in the Quran, and the same thing happens with Sharia law. There's an influence on morality that appears in Sharia law that is drawn from the Bible. And God has given men by his grace a conscience, and God has given men some restraining grace. But because Islam is not ultimately a living branch attached to the vine and becomes, and because Imams are not Ishma, they're not infallible, but they are fallible depraved men, then in Sharia law as recorded in the Quran, as recorded in the Sunnah and other places, we'll talk about that, in Sharia law, you see injustice. You see corruption. You see institutionalized greed and selfishness and lust. Now we look at the law in the Bible, we see God's perfect law. It is a reflection of his holy character. It's a reflection of him. It is to his glory and to his praise the beauty of God's law. And we can look at our Bibles and we can see God in his word revealed to us and revealed through the law that's been given. It's not so in the Quran, not so in the Sunnah. What you see in the Sunnah, what you see in the Quran, is you see contradiction. You see injustice. You see corruption. You see institutionalized greed and lust. And so I would exhort you, especially in preparing to talk to Muslims, is to look at how law is revealed in the Bible and then compare that to how law is revealed in the Quran. We'll see that more in a minute. So as you can imagine now, through the centuries to this day, because of those contradictions, because of that confusion, because of that developing sense of law, Sharia has really never stopped evolving. The longer that it goes over the centuries, the longer that it goes, it's more and more etched in stone as it goes. As it becomes more and more developed, there are certain precedents that are set set, but Sharia law never really stops evolving. You see many, many variations today in the way that it's implemented. We tend to hear it as the now, right? Sharia law. But underneath that one title, there are numerous and various ways that Sharia law has understood, numerous ways that it's interpreted, numerous ways in which it's implemented. And it's implemented in different ways from sect to sect inside Islam and from country to country, implemented in many different ways and often for pragmatic reasons. So now through the centuries and the application of Sharia law, you see many examples of gross injustice. Some of those woven into the very fabric of Sharia law itself. We're going to take a look at a couple of examples of that. So Islam now in this, this is a difficulty for Islam. The contradiction and the confusion and the debate within Islam about their own law and the fact that that law is drawn directly from the Quran or directly from the Hadith is a point of embarrassment for many Muslim scholars. It's difficult to arbitrate and it's confusing. And like good lawyers that we know today, lawyers can manipulate it and take advantage of it to their own ends for their own purposes. The objectivity breaks down in Sharia law. It breaks down in the Quran. And the reason being is that it's not God given. And that's the point I think from this I want us to walk away with from today so that when you talk to Muslim people you can sit down and reason with them through this. Sharia law is not God's law. God's law is revealed in the Bible and it is perfect and it is pure. You don't find contradiction, you don't find error. It's perfect. Sharia law, not so much. We're going to look at that. One of the reasons why, one of the reasons why this objective morality breaks down so quickly in Sharia law is because of the sources that Sharia law comes from. So I would submit to you that the source of Sharia law is not God. And you see that reflected clearly in the very fabric of how their law is developed. There are four basic sources to Sharia law. They call them usul or roots of jurisprudence, roots of law. The first source is the Quran, is the Quran. All of that which Allah proclaims in the Quran can be perceived or understood by the Muslim as divine commands. All that's written there can be perceived or can be looked at as an example of divine command or a source of divine instruction. Okay, however only about 10 percent, only about 6,000 verses in the Quran contain actual law or actual injunctions. Mostly, most of this text is derived specifically from Muhammad while Muhammad was in Medina. When Muhammad began to legislate more actively, the bigger, the larger the Muslim community became. So laws about food, pork, certain birds, wine, animals sacrificed and pagan rituals, we find some of these in the Bible, don't we? Social etiquette, we were talking about last night, the example of someone going to eat at Muhammad's house and the etiquette that they were used from the Quran for how to visit the Prophet's house to have dinner. Laws regarding family, marriage, divorce, inheritance, criminal laws including robbery, sexual immorality, slander, again wine drinking, contractual law, commercial law, usury, so on. You find references to these in the Quran. However, as we've already said, like attorneys are known to do, these laws even from within the Quran are often debatable. There's ambiguity. There's certainly no consistency in the interpretation of these laws. And not only that, but in the Quran we'll see there are contradictions throughout. One law given and contradicted later. One law given and then changed later. One of the sources of their law, the Sharia law, is the Quran. The second of those sources is the Sunnah. As we talked about yesterday, the Sunnah, a much larger collection of material, a Sunnah, are the teachings, the sayings, the actions, the examples of the Prophet Muhammad. Including those things that he silently either approves of or disapproves of. So that's the Sunnah, a much larger collection and as such, I mean again, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of volumes written, thousands upon thousands of hadiths recording the Sunnah of Muhammad, that can all be used as legal material to implement Sharia law. Sharia law comes from this vast, seemingly innumerable number of sources called the Sunnah. And based in the Sunnah, many cases, on Muhammad's own legal judgments. Muhammad's own sayings, his own actions. Muhammad's action in the Sunnah is just as authoritatively binding as his very words, right? Muhammad's sayings are bindingly authoritative. Muhammad's approvals, Muhammad's disapprovals, binding and authoritative. However, again with the Sunnah, some hadith, as you would imagine, contradict others. There are contradictions throughout the hadith literature. So what do Muslims do with that? Well, you see a contradiction, right? There shouldn't be any contradictions. Allah shouldn't be contradictory. So his word should be pure, his word should be perfect. So what do you do with those hadith that contain contradictions? Well, one is accepted and one is said to be false. You believe one and you don't hold, don't believe the other. And so then again in Islam, you have these various sects that arise because of contradiction. You have various sects, various groups that arise because there are contradictions in the law. Some following some hadith, some following others. There are rules with the hadith about which ones are strong and which ones are weak and which ones are false. So Sharia law requires that in addition to the Quran and the Sunnah, there's got to be something else to help. The Quran and the Sunnah not enough to firmly ground and establish a rule of law. And so we've got to have two more sources of jurisprudence or roots of law. The third is ijma, ijma. Ijma is based on a statement in hadith that says my community will never agree upon an error. Again that's the statement in the Bukhari hadith. My community will never agree upon an error. Now roughly what ijma is, is that as Muhammad has said, whatever Muslims see as good is good with God. And whatever they see as bad is bad with God. So one example of this given in the hadith is circumcision. There's no rule of law given in the Quran related to circumcision. But the Muslim community saw circumcision as good and so God sees it as good because the Muslim community sees it as good. And so according to ijma, circumcision was placed in Sharia law as a precedent or as a tradition that all Muslims should follow. It became normative in Sharia law, circumcision did, through ijma. So ijma is the consensus of the community. So in addition to the Quran, addition to the sayings, teachings, examples, and approvals of Muhammad, the sunnah, you also have ijma. The fourth, it's not enough, the fourth root of law or root of jurisprudence in Sharia law is called the kias, the kias, q-i-y-a-s. The kias are considered to be analogous reasoning, is how it's described. Now this is how this works, analogous reasoning. An example of this reasoning is applied to specifically in the Quran and in the hadith, to cases of wine drinking, right? And we might think of things in a similar way. You'll see the comparison as we go through this. Some jurists in Sharia law would say that only fermented grapes or dates would be forbidden because that's specifically what the Quran says, that fermented grapes or fermented dates would be forbidden. The law clearly says no wine. The bible says the same, right? Do not be drunk with wine. It doesn't say no wine, it says do not be drunk with wine. However, according to the kia they would then reason. The effects from one intoxicating drink wine are the same as the effects from other intoxicating drinks and so all intoxicating drink then is considered as wine. So another vodka would be considered an intoxicating drink and so therefore in addition to wine vodka is also forbidden. That would be what they would call in Sharia law kia or analogous reasoning. If this is true, then this is true and that's going to be just as legally binding and just as authoritative as the first was, okay? So we have the Quran as a source, the Sunnah, the Ishma and the kias. All of these together are the roots of the foundation of how Sharia law is both compiled and developed and then implemented and practiced. So now how are these four sources then coordinated in Sharia law? What takes priority? You have the Quran, you have the Sunnah, the Ishma and the kias. What takes priority? This is explained in part in the Hadith. The prophet Muhammad sent one of his companions Muad ibn Jabal to be a judge in Yemen. He sent Muad to judge a case in Yemen. Before Muad left, the prophet asked them a series of questions. Listen to these questions. He asked Muad, how will you reach a judgment when a question arises? Well Muad replies according to the word of God. So Muhammad asked, and if you find no solution in the word of God, Muad replies then according to the Sunnah, the messenger of God or according to your practices, Muhammad. And then Muhammad asks him, and if you find no solution in the Sunnah of the messenger of God, nor in the word. So what do you do then Muad? Muad answered, then I shall take a decision according to my own opinion. And the prophet was pleased with his answer. So he slapped Muad on the chest saying, praise be to God, who has led the messenger of God to an answer that pleased him. So here's the way this works. You go first to the Quran. If you can't get an answer in the Quran or definitive answer in the Quran, you go to the Sunnah. Again, numerous volumes and thousands and thousands of Hadith. If you can't find an answer in the Quran or the Sunnah, then you make up your own mind according to consensus, analogous reason, or whatever at that time pleases you, okay? It's according to your own opinion. Now, as you can imagine with this, if this is the way that Sharia law is developed, there's going to be confusion. There's going to be conflict. There's going to be contradiction. So what happens then when the obvious occurs? You can expect, again, if it's not God's perfect law that is set in granite, right, carved by the finger of God, now written on our hearts, if it's if it's not God's law, then what are you going to do here when there's going to be inevitable conflict, inevitable contradiction, inevitable confusion? What happens with Sharia law when this takes place? And there are many conflicts, many points of confusion, many, many points of contradiction. Well, the way that Muslims deal with this is called the law of abrogation. It's the law of abrogation. Pastor Jeff mentioned this earlier. The law of abrogation, NASK, is what it's called. The law of abrogation is well-established in Sharia law. In fact, in order for Sharia law to function, the law of abrogation has to be in place. You have to deal with the contradictions. You can't have the law contradicting itself. You can't have one law enacted over here and another law enacted over here that disqualifies the the other law. So the law of abrogation has to be in place and it's again it's well-established in Sharia. Again, it has become a bit of an embarrassment to some Muslim scholars who tried to deny the law of abrogation, but we see the law of abrogation taught in Sharia law both through the Sunnah, but we also see the law of abrogation in the Quran. Abrogation, what that is, abrogation refers to the repeal or the replacement of a law or a custom. You set aside old law in favor for a new law, in favor of a new law. The new law invalidates or nullifies the old law. As you can imagine, this lends itself well to laws of convenience. We saw revelations of convenience yesterday, last night. There are also laws of convenience built into Sharia that exploit, if you will, this practice of abrogation. So whenever a new understanding came through the study of the hadith, or whenever a new hadith was written or a new law was enacted that contradicted an old law, abrogation simply allows for the old law to be done away with. It's just replaced. That at first blush, now you think about the character of God and think about how God has revealed his word, revealed his law in the Bible. You don't see God operating by abrogation. But in Sharia law, it's for the sake of those people who are enslaved in Islam, it's not a bad deal. They've enacted some really awful laws, some very injustice done in the name of Sharia law. And so someone with some common sense will come along and say, that's not right. They'll research the hadith or they'll institute another law to replace that old bad law in order to try to correct former injustices or correct former wrongs and make the law, in essence, more pure or better for the people. So if you're in Islam and you're under Sharia law, you're in one of those countries that implement Sharia law, abrogation is not a bad deal. It's actually helpful. We have the same thing, don't we, in our country. Now there's some old laws that have been put in place by our country that come to find out later, not good. So it's good that we enact new laws to substitute for, to replace those old laws. The problem is, is that again, law in the hands of fallible depraved men is going to become more and more corrupt over time. We'll use abrogation for a good reason, but then we'll turn around and use it for a bad reason. Like, to give you one example, the definition of marriage being rewritten by our supreme court to now abrogate old law that had marriage between a man and a woman and substituting that old law, which was holy just and good, with a law that is no longer just. Abrogation practiced in our own land with laws that, so we do the same thing, in essence. Not a bad thing necessarily if you're in Islam. It doesn't happen with the law of God because the law of God is perfect as God is perfect. Law of God is unchanging as God is unchanging. So whenever a new understanding came through a study of the hadith, whenever a new understanding was enacted, they simply did it through the law of abrogation if it contradicted any other known law. They did away with that old law. Now there are contradictions, contradictions in the hadith. There are contradictions in the Quran, and there are many, many, many contradictions between the Sunnah and the Quran. If you can imagine, as the writers of hadith, again volumes upon volumes upon volumes, written some about the Quran and largely about sayings, teachings, examples of the Prophet Muhammad, in addition to extra to the Quran, there are many, many contradictions. So abrogation is the way and really frankly it's the only way that Muslims can explain away what is a serious problem in Sharia law. Newer revelation simply cancels out older revelation. Now where this is taught in the Quran is in Surah chapter 2 verses 106, and among other places, or a couple of other verses also, but in Surah 2, Quran says this, none of our revelations, and listen to this for a moment, let this sink in, none of our revelations do we abrogate or cause to be forgotten. Okay, let that sink in, none of our revelations do we abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but we substitute something better or similar. None of our revelations do we abrogate, abrogate, but we'll substitute those older revelations for something better. Well that's abrogation. Abrogation is taught in Surah chapter 2 or Surah 2 and it finishes there in verse 106, I-106, knowest thou not that Allah hath power over all things. Now the example of this, again there are many examples, I invite you to take a look at these, it'll really help you to inform your understanding when you're talking to Muslim people. An example of this is within the Quran itself and again regards wine drinking. So I want to run through this example with you. Early in Islam, a drinking and gambling was allowed. Drinking and gambling was allowed in the Quran. Surah 2, ayah 219 says this, they ask you concerning wine and gambling, Muhammad say, in them is great sin and some profit. Okay, now think about it, we're in the Quran, we're talking about gambling and wine drinking, Muhammad says in gambling and wine drinking there's sin and there's great profit, there's good and there's bad, okay? In them is great sin and some profit for men, but the sin is greater than the profit. They ask you, Muhammad, how much are they to spend? In other words, if I'm going to gamble, how much should I put down in my gambling? Muhammad says, what you can spare. Thus, Doth Allah make clear to you his messages in order that you may consider. Now that's in the Quran, direct revelation from Allah through the angel Gabriel to Muhammad and Muhammad then speaks that in Surah 2. Now the fact that Muslims used Surah 2 as a license to drink and to gamble is evident also in the Quran. In Surah 4, ayah 43, listen to this, O you who believe, approach not prayers while intoxicated until you can understand all that you say. In other words, listen, if you're coming to prayer, you got to sober up first. You need to understand what you're saying, so don't come to prayer drunk. And it also goes on to say, nor after sexual intercourse except when traveling on the road. Not sure exactly what that is in reference to if there are none the less, okay? So until you can only go to prayer after sexual intercourse, until after you wash your whole body. If you are ill or on a journey or one of you cometh from offices or of nature, that would be from the bathroom, or you have been in contact with women and you find no water, then take for yourselves clean, saner earth, rub there with your faces and hands, for Allah does not blot or for Allah does blot out sins and forgive again and again, all right? So what was happening? Surah chapter 4 or Surah 4, got the Bible stuck in my so referring to Surah 4, ayah 43 is Muslims were coming to prayers intoxicated. They were taking Surah 2 and their license to drink in the gamble and they were practicing drinking and gambling became a problem, became a problem with Muslims going to prayer intoxicated, right? Now this is evident also, also in the hadith of Bukhari which is considered by all Muslims to be authoritative, the hadith of Bukhari and it's regarding this Muslim defeat in a battle, the battle of Uhud, this is in volume 6, book 60, number 142 in the hadith of Bukhari, says this, some people drink alcoholic beverages in the morning of the day of the Uhud battle and on the same day they were killed as martyrs and that was before wine was prohibited. So here again we see Muslims drinking, becoming drunk, going into a battle now, the battle of Uhud and being intoxicated, going into battle, they were killed. Then listen to Surah 5, ayah 93, in Surah 5 it was revealed that Allah intended for them to stop drinking wine. O you who believe, the Quran says, intoxicants and gambling, dedication of stones and divination by arrows are an abomination, they are of Satan's handiwork. Now think about this for a moment, in one sense and according to the hadith, not condemned, in fact for some profit. It's one thing to say, listen, one point for man, for us to say, I don't think there's any problem with drinking at all and then you learn through experience why that was not good, people suffering under the consequences of drinking and alcohol and you see what drunkenness does to families and what alcoholism does to people and how it breaks up marriages and orphans kids and kills people on the road, drinking, driving drunk. So we see all those horrible consequences for people to come to their senses and say, you know what, that was a bad deal. Drinking is that we just need to stop, okay, so you know, you wouldn't tell a drunk, it's okay for you to drink a little. If you're a drunkard, listen, stop drinking, abstain from alcohol altogether, you know, so we can say if a man we could understand changing your mind, but now listen to the wording, the language that's used in other, in surah two, wine and gambling for some profit. In surah five, now this is from Allah, from God, that intoxicants and gambling are an abomination, they are Satan's handiwork. Well, if they were Satan's handiwork, why don't you tell us that from the beginning, right? And again, the point here being made from one example of many is that Allah changes when it comes to his law in the Quran. There are variations in his law, there are changes in his law, he adapts his law to circumstances, there are contradictions in his law, developments in his law, his law changes, and if his law changes, what does it mean? It means Allah is changing, right, changing his mind. It goes on to say, excuse such, they're an abomination, do away with them that you may prosper. So now finally, an ayah is revealed that considers drinking to be an abomination, it's an abomination to be avoided. Thus then, this put an end to drinking being allowed in Islam. We take this later revelation in the Quran, and now drinking is done away with in Islam. There's not much detail in the Quran about the context of this, so we have to go back to the Bukhari Hadith that clarifies then what transpired after that. This is in Bukhari Hadith, Volume 6, Book 60, it's number 144. It says, the alcoholic drink which was spilled at Ad Fadik, I used to offer alcoholic drinks to the people at the residence of Abu Talha. Then the order of prohibiting alcoholic drinks was revealed, and the prophet ordered somebody to announce that Abu Talha said to me, go out and see what this voice is, this announcement is. I went out and on coming back said, this is somebody announcing that alcoholic beverages have been prohibited. Abu Talha said to me, go and spill it, go pour it out. Then it, alcoholic drinks, were seen flowing through the streets of Medina. At that time the wine was Al Fadik, the people said some people, Muslims were killed during the battle of Uhud while wine was in their stomachs, and so Allah revealed then on those who believe and do good deeds, there is no blame for what they ate or drank in the past. In other words, there is blame, there is guilt now. So again, Allah changing his mind. Now this is again, as you can imagine, has caused embarrassment for Muslim scholars. How do you like to be a Muslim apologist trying to come up with answers to these things? You know, in many cases it's a little like being a Roman Catholic apologist, you just sort of make things up as you go along. And that's, in essence, sort of what they're doing here. I'm going to write some Hadith to make this former question. I'm going to clear it up with new revelation. It's difficult, they just making it up as they go. Surah 16 says this, Surah 16, ayah 101, when we substitute, now this is Allah speaking from the Quran, okay, when we substitute one revelation for another and Allah knows best what he reveals in stages, they say thou art but a forger, but most of them understand not. I don't know all the time in some of these Surahs who the they is that are making these accusations, but those they are smart. Those they sometimes get it, right? This is Surah 16. We substitute one revelation for another. Allah knows best what he reveals in stages. They say thou art but a forger. In other words, Allah, you're a fake, you're a fraud, but most of them understand not. That's their answer. But Allah can change or confirm whatever he wants to change or confirm. Surah 13, ayah 39 says this, Allah does blot out or confirm what he pleaseth with him is the mother of the book. Now in many respects, this is the way Muslims answer questions or contradictions or controversy over Sharia law. Allah can do what he wants to do. If he wants to take one law and do away with it, then he can do away with it. He can do whatever pleases him. If he wants to enact a new law that contradicts an old law, then Allah can do that. That's why in the Quran, in the Sunnah, a newer revelation often replaces or substitutes for older revelation. That's why much of what is taught in the Bible is said to be for the Jews at that time. What is taught in the gospel, the injil given to Ishma was for Christians at that particular time. But what is given now in the Quran after all that is more authoritative and Allah can do that if Allah wants to do that. He can blot out or confirm what he pleaseth with him and him alone is the mother of the book. Now again, this issue of drinking is just one example of many. So I encourage you to go and look at other examples. They're there. Muslim scholars agree that there are, even now, different lists of abrogated ayat or aya verses as well as lists of aya that abrogate, abrogating aya, aya that replace others. So there are lists of these. Here's the original revelation, here's the new one that replaces it, right? Here's the first one. Here's the one that supposedly contradicts it. But listen, Allah can do what he wants to do. He can replace that old one. This one's now the one in place, right? There are lists of those. You can go and see them. Pastor Jeff mentioned one of those, just the idea of praying toward Jerusalem. And then, I don't know, not toward Jerusalem, real place you ought to pray toward is Mecca. These things sound on the surface simple, but listen, God does not change. When God establishes something, it's established for a purpose, for an intention. And our God, who doesn't change, who doesn't lie, there's no variation or shadow of turning in him. His law will reflect that. Let me give you one more. I can't resist. Adultery. One more. Surah 24, Aya 2. The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication flog each of them with a hundred stripes. This was the one that was initially replaced, right? Let now, let not compassion move you in their case in a manner prescribed by Allah. If you believe in Allah and the last day and let a party of the believers witness their punishment. So here, the punishment for adultery or fornication is to flog them with a hundred stripes. The Bukhari Hadith, volume eight, book 82 says this. While we were with the Prophet, a man stood up and said to the Prophet, I beseech you by Allah that you should judge us according to Allah's laws. Then the man's opponent, who is wiser than him, got up saying to Allah's apostle, that's Muhammad, judge us according to Allah's laws and kindly allow me to speak. The Prophet said speak. He said, my son was a laborer working for this man and he committed an illegal sexual intercourse with his wife and I gave one hundred sheep and a slave as ransom for my son's sin. Then I asked a learned man about this case and he informed me that my son should receive one hundred lashes and be exiled for one year. Now it's interesting, they add the exile, right? A little like even the garden, you know, don't eat it, but you can't touch it either. You know, this is stripes, a hundred stripes like it says in the Quran, but we're going to add a year of exile. And listen to this, the man's wife should be stoned to death. So now they apply the Quran, hundred lashes and add to that exile and add to that the man's wife should be stoned to death. Now listen to what Muhammad said. This is, again, a revelation that is communicated by the words and actions and example of the Prophet written in the authoritative Hadith. Muhammad said, by him in whose hand my soul is I will judge you according to the laws of Allah. So these aren't just arbitrary men's rules and regulations. This is from Allah. Your one hundred sheep and the slave are to be returned to you and your son has to receive one hundred lashes and be exiled for one year. Okay, so he's upholding the one hundred lashes rule, but he adds the, he adds, these are Allah's laws, this is Allah's law now, he adds the exile for one year. Oh, Eunaius, that's the guy's name, go to the wife of this man. And if she confesses, now bear in mind the son also committed the same sin, he gets a hundred lashes and exiled, but the wife of this man, if she confesses, then stoned her to death. Eunaius went to her and she confessed, he then stoned her to death. Vol. 8, these are the laws of Allah. Vol. 8, Book 82, again, the Bukhari Hadith, a man came to Allah's apostle while he was in the mosque and he called him saying, oh, Allah's apostle, I have committed illegal sexual intercourse. The Prophet turned his face to the other side, but that man repeated his statement four times. After he bore witness against himself four times, Muhammad called him saying, are you mad? The man said, no. The Prophet said, are you married? The man said, yes. Then the Prophet said, take him away and stone him to death. Jabir bin Abdullah said, I was among the ones who participated in stoning him and we stoned him at the Musala. When the stones troubled him, he fled, but we overtook him at Al-Hurrah and stoned him to death. Again, he just points to inconsistencies in the application of Sharia law. Not only inconsistencies in the application of Sharia law, inconsistencies in the law itself. Law that is intended to be or supposed to be drawn directly from the Quran, directly from authoritative Hadith, just has no comparison, right, to God's law that we see revealed in the Bible. To be fair to Muslim scholars, there is disagreement with respect to abrogation. Some implementing Sharia say that only the Quran can abrogate the Quran because there are obvious contradictions in the Quran and so they allow for abrogation in the Quran. Do you see? Some would say that only the Quran can abrogate the Sunnah. So if you have a contradiction between Sunnah and Quran, well then Quran takes precedence. There's a group, there are groups that believe in that. Others believe that the Sunnah can abrogate the Quran. Now what would be the motivation for that? Because the Sunnah being written and developed over centuries after the Quran was compiled and completed, they can go back then and alter and adjust anything they want to. So there are groups that believe in that. And some deny abrogation altogether. They attempt to explain it away with, I don't know what it's, you can't explain it away. They attempt to, there's just nothing that's convincing. Clearly, clearly abrogation actually occurs in the Quran and certainly it occurs when you include the Hadith. Examples of these, if you want to write these down and look at them later. Surah 9, 29, abrogates Surah 2, 109. Surah 2, 185, abrogates Surah 2, 184. Surah 9, 36, abrogates Surah 2, 217, and Surah 45, 14. They remember when you're looking at the Quran too, based on what translation, you're going to look at that in Arabic. Based on what translation you're looking at, the numbering is different. So you have to look and compare those two passages and see them line up. Now the question, the obvious question is, how is it that an eternal revelation of Allah could have such changing revelation in it? How can something that is eternally unchanging have such time-bound contradictions and time-bound circumstantial problems? Consider this from Surah 4. Do they not consider the Quran with care? Now listen to what Allah says in Surah 4. Do they not consider the Quran with care? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy. I would submit to you, again, yes, we would agree with that. If it had been from God, we would not expect to find discrepancy. But in Surah 4, Aya 82, this is what Allah says. If it had been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy. Well, there's discrepancy, right? And it's clear discrepancy. The way around that is abrogation. By this position, taken by many Muslim scholars, the abrogation of one Aya by another, when the two cannot be reconciled with each other, this position of accepting abrogation clearly contradicts the clear teaching given by the Quran itself. Namely, that teaching is that no part of the Quran is at variance with any other part of the Quran. And just from looking at this one situation, we can tell that that's not true. This is from a former Muslim, someone who was in Islam and has now left Islam. Listen to what he says. For many Muslims, this concept that Allah, as the absolute sovereign, can alter his commands and replace them at will, appears at harmony with their view of God. To them, the will of God is paramount. While I respect their thoughts and opinions, this was at odds with my view of an all-knowing and all-wise God. Again, think on the character of God as it is reflected in his own law. This person, this former Muslim, thought and considered, if God is God, right, then what would our eternal, immutable, transcendent, holy, just God, what would his law look like? And what he couldn't do is he couldn't recognize that understanding of God with Sharia, with the Quran. He says, it seems to me that a man like myself is limited and needs to learn from his mistakes, and therefore need to provide better commands after earlier commands, if those commands have not worked. It is not self-evident to me that the creator and sustainer of the universe is like that. Hence, I reached a point where I could no longer defend the Quran as we have it today as the true and complete revelation of Allah. This cast doubt on the credibility of the current Arabic Quran's claim that it is the perfect and final revelation of Allah. Right thinking, right? Now record of all these decisions, these reasonings, these precedents are all contained, all of this, this law as Sharia is being developed, right, and collected and compiled and applied and implemented, all of this is contained in books called Fik, F-I-Q-H. Probably be similar to, if you went to a legal library today and do an attorney's office, you'd see books of law, right? Books of precedent, former cases, those kinds of case law. It's similar to that, not legal codes, but their guidance for judges, both religious, social duties, includes theory on political matters like the establishment of an Islamic state or the caliphate, and all of this to govern in Sharia four or five categories of behavior, five categories of behavior, that which is required, that which is prohibited, that which is recommended, that which is discouraged, and then that which is permitted but morally indifferent. No reward or punishment either way. So all this law, they have an intention with Sharia law to govern conduct, to govern behavior in five categories, that which is required, that which is prohibited, that which is recommended, that which is discouraged, and then that which is permitted but morally indifferent, okay? Now, Sharia defines correct behavior in Islamic practice in these five areas from a societal level, from a government level, all the way down to a personal individual or social level. It impacts every area of a Muslim's life where it is implemented. Now, I want to think through this for a moment. Again, we're sort of looking at broad categories here. We haven't gone into specifics like specific laws. There are many, many, many of those. You know, I was talking to Sean earlier. Sean had texted me. A buddy of Sean Ropers went to travel to Saudi Arabia. Somebody he works with had to travel to Saudi Arabia. Well, on his way out of the country, he had to sit down and complete paperwork that basically articulated that he understood all the things in Sharia law implemented in Saudi Arabia that he could be killed for. So he had to acknowledge, yes, I know I can be killed for that. Yes, I know I can be killed for that. Yes, I know I can be killed for that before he could even travel out of country. There are a lot of laws and a lot of harsh penalties associated with those laws. It impacts every part of a Muslim's life. Now, we know that God's law is the only true source of an objective morality, a morality that comes outside of ourselves. If it comes from within ourselves, it's out of the heart of man that all kinds of evil flow, right? But if it's God's law, the only true source of an objective morality comes from God. His law is perfect. So if you think about that now, why do then Christians live so differently than the world? Because God promises them by covenant that he will draw us to himself. He'll indwell us with his spirit. He'll give us a new heart and he will cause us, or Ezekiel 36, right? He will cause us to walk according to his statutes. Do we do that perfectly? No. No. But the Christian empowered by God and dwelt by his spirit, given the greatest motivation in the world, in imagination, given the greatest possible motivation, Christians desire to live for God. They live differently than the world, and they submit to themselves to the perfect law of God. They love their neighbors as themselves. They forgive much because they've been forgiven much. They esteem others more highly than themselves. They sacrifice for their wives. They resolve conflict and love. They honor and submit to authority. They look at how a genuine Christian lives. Look at how the genuine Christian community is governed and well-ordered. You can look at the church and in looking at genuine Christians, you can see that wisdom is justified by our children. You see the fruits of God's law in God's people. God's people strive to live holy. They want to live like Christ. They want to please him and reflect him, glorify him with their lives. So what happens then when you abandon that objective morality, that morality that comes from God, not from within you? If you abandon that and you start obeying that morality, which comes more from within you, then law becomes self-serving. Law begins to serve the rights of some while at the same time violating the rights of others. It becomes self-indulgent. It becomes pragmatic. It becomes laws of convenience. And we see all of that. We see all of that represented in Sharia law. We see man's law represented in Sharia's law. We've made that point before that you look at the world's religions. The world's religions, world religion, false religion comes from and out of the heart of man. It's a figment of man's imagination. All world religions, that's why all world religions look generally in many respects the same. It's all works righteousness. Apart from God's revealed word to us, we wouldn't come up with the Trinity. We wouldn't come up with justification by faith alone. We wouldn't come up with God who condescends to come in the form of a man, not counting it Robert E. B. Equal of God, but condescending to take upon himself our humanity, our mud, to walk the filth of this earth, to die on a cross for sinners, to suffer the wrath of God in place of those who he redeems to himself. We wouldn't conceive of that. But we see man's imagination and the deceptions of man's heart written all over Sharia law. And frankly, we see it written all over Islam. The passage of laws that protect perversion, for example, are not only immoral because they violate an objective morality. They end up violating the rights of others. We also see that contradiction in Sharia. A culture of sexual immorality ensues. Women are objectified and they're marginalized. Homosexual rights are established in our country at the expense of religious freedom. Abortion ends up being paid for at the Christian taxpayer's expense. Land is snatched up from property owners by the government. I mean, you see these, when man gets his hands on law, you see injustice. You see the fruits of that. That's what happens when you abandon objective morality, specifically when you abandon God's morality. Evil ensues, insanity in legislation, insanity in the courts. There's no way to be practically consistent because man has abandoned his moral compass. The only true north that we have, which is God's word, all governments impose a morality on its people. All nations are built on the idea that there's an objective moral law that should govern the nation that does that through the civil laws that are instituted in view of God's morality, we'll put together in place just laws. But in view of God's morality, laws will either be moral or immoral. And we see in our country, and we see in Sharia, immoral laws. Specifically in our country, abortion, gay marriage, legislators pursuing now euthanasia. So governments around the world have based their laws on some kind of objective morality. Islam is no exception. The point that would be made is that although Islam may be based on some form of morality, it's not based on God's morality. Because again, it doesn't line up with the character of God. We contend that the only source of true objective morality comes from God. If you take that moral objective objectivity away, if you begin to take apart the moral compass on which laws are based, then insanity, immorality, confusion, inconsistency, contradiction, all of those things will ensue. And that's what we see in Sharia. All this to say is that Sharia law is not God's law. According to the Sisters of Islam, we talked about that last night briefly, 75% of women in Pakistani prisons under Sharia law are there for the crime of accusing someone else of rape. And now that's been turned around, their accusation becomes an admission. Many of you have seen on the news now in Cologne, Germany, the culture of sexual immorality largely evident within Islamic culture. Now it's part of the refugees that are migrating to Germany, having a real problem with sexual immorality among those groups. It breeds a culture of sexual immorality because of the loose laws around it. Deplorable condition of women, the deplorable condition of children under Sharia law. It doesn't curb lawlessness, it increases lawlessness. I encourage you to investigate some of those things for yourself. In many places in Sharia law, in direct opposition to Proverbs 17, 15, that says, he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are in abomination to the Lord, we see often under Sharia law those that are innocent, imprisoned. Implications for the Muslim then. Law apart from God is a hopeless condition. But specifically law without Christ is a hopeless condition. Romans chapter three, verse 20, therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. And again, remember that one of the purposes for Sharia law is it is a means by which the Muslim attains to salvation. But no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is not salvation, by the law is the knowledge of sin. Romans chapter four, verse 15, because the law brings about wrath, for where there is no law, there is no transgression. The law brings about wrath. Romans chapter five beginning in verse 12, therefore justice through one man sin into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who was a type of him who was to come. Romans chapter seven, verse seven, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin, except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. It's a hopeless condition for Muslims to hope to attain the salvation by their law. The law is intended to point us to Christ. Christ didn't abrogate the law, Christ perfectly fulfilled the law. You see, how did he do that? By perfectly obeying it, by removing its curse, by paying our debt to the law, by suffering our penalty, our punishment under the law. Romans chapter eight, verse one, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. That's a message that you take to Muslim people. What the law can't do, God did, and he did it by sending the Lord Jesus Christ. He condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. No one, no one, certainly not Muhammad, no one has done this in Islam. Muhammad is no more than an example to Muslims of law keeping. He's merely an example to them of law keeping. They would say a perfect example to law keeping. Galatians 319, then what purpose then does the law serve? Muslim, what purpose does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was pointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. There is no mediator in Islam. The end of the law is Christ. Acts chapter 13 verse 39, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. It's justified from all things by him. Romans 320, therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin, not salvation. Romans 328, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Galatians chapter 2 verse 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Galatians chapter 3 verse 11, but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident for the law for the just shall live by faith. The only hope that we have in regard to law is if someone else has kept it perfectly because we haven't. If someone else can redeem us out from under the curse of the law, if God would be merciful to condescend to take on himself our humanity and suffer in our place, it's the only hope that a Muslim has. Amen. Amen. Let's pray a father in heaven or thank you again for this time together. I just grateful Lord for the opportunity that we have to think through these things and I pray Lord that for your glory for your name for your eternal praise and worship Lord I pray that you'd find us faithful to share the gospel with Muslim people Lord help us Lord to do that faithfully to preach your gospel articulately to do that Lord in a thoughtful way to try to reach Muslims with the truth of the gospel and Lord that you would be pleased to glorify yourself in saving Muslims, saving sinners to yourself God drawing them to yourself in Christ for their good for your glory in Jesus name. Amen.