Thursday, May 19, 2005

Islam, the "religion of peace": telling testimony from Islamic scholar, Dr. Mark A. Gabriel

In his illuminating testimony, Dr. Mark A. Gabriel, a former professor at Al-Azhar University in Egypt, an imam in Giza, and an Islamic scholar, relays how much and in what way Islam is a "religion of peace."

As Pope Benedict XVI has indicated, territories must be reclaimed for Christ, especially in the West. As part of this restoration, it is incumbent upon all believers to counteract the counterfeit message of Islam with the true message of the gospel.

In the light of the true gospel of peace, we are all called to be God's emissaries: to be missionaries, and to spread abroad the gospel of Jesus Christ, the true Prince of Peace.

My Story
Disillusioned at Al-Azhar

Fifteen years ago I was the imam of a mosque in the city of Giza, Egypt, which is where the famous Egyptian pyramids are located. (Imam of a mosque is a position similar to pastor of a Christian church.) I preached the message of the week on Fridays from 12 to 1 in the afternoon, as well as performed other duties.

One Friday the topic of my message was jihad. I told the two hundred fifty people seated on the ground before me:

Jihad in Islam is defending the Islamic nation and Islam against the attacks of the enemies. Islam is a religion of peace and only will fight against one who fights it. These infidels, heathens, perverts, Christians and Allah's grievers, the Jews, out of envy of peaceful Islam and its prophet---they spread the myth that Islam is promulgated by the sword and violence. These infidels, the accusers of Islam, do not acknowledge Allah's words.

At this point I quoted from the Quran:

And do not kill anyone whose killing Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause.
---Surah 17:33, The Noble Quran

When I spoke these words, I was just freshly graduated from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt---the oldest and most prestigious Islamic university in the world. It serves as the spiritual authority for Islam worldwide. I was teaching at the university, and I was an imam on the weekends at this mosque.

I preached my sermon on jihad that day according to the philosophy of the Egyptian government. Al-Azhar University focused us on the politically correct Islam and purposely overlooked areas of teaching that conflicted with the authority of Egypt.

I was preaching what they taught me, but inside I was confused about the truth of Islam. But if I wanted to keep my job and my status at Al-Azhar, I needed to keep my thoughts to myself. After all, I knew what happened to people who differed from Al-Azhar's agenda. They would be fired and would not be accepted to teach at any other university in the nation.

However, I knew that what I was teaching at the mosque and at Al-Azhar was not what I'd seen in the Quran, which I had memorized in its entirety by the age of twelve. What confused me the most was that I was told to preach about an Islam of love, kindness and forgiveness. At the same time, Muslim fundamentalists---the ones who were supposed to be practicing true Islam---were bombing churches and killing Christians.

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