By Abayomi Olatunji Asunni
The Muslim and the Quran
Brethren, we need to make clear to the Church in Nigeria that Christianity and the Christians are under siege. We are dealing with the polemic content of the Scripture of the Muslims—the Quran. Regardless of the reality of the historical facts from the Muslim sources the Quran claims the following:
- That the Quran like Allah is Eternal. The Quran is the Eternal word of Allah. The Quran as the word of Allah is incorruptible i.e. inerrant; unchanging; accurate; clear and easily understandable.
- That the present physical Book (Al Kitab) in its entirety is an extract from an Eternal Book which is before the Throne of Allah. By this they insinuate that the ‘Logos’ meaning every single written word of the Quran is the spiritual word of Allah revealed piecemeal to Muhammad.
Surah 85:21-22(Hilali-Khan) “Nay! This is a Glorious Quran, inscribed in Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz (the Preserved Tablet)!” Surah 43:2-4(Hilali-Khan) “By the manifest Book (i.e. this Quran that makes things clear). Verily, We have made it a Quran in Arabic that you may be able to understand (its meanings and its admonitions). And verily, it (this Quran) is in the Mother of the Book (i.e. Al lauh Al-Mahfuz) with us indeed exalted, full of wisdom.
Brethren the thrust of my message is to call the Nigeria Church to a necessity to ‘study’ the Quran. We must be able to have self-knowledge that the Quran misrepresents, misleads, distorts, contorts, misinforms and deforms the content of the Bible. Please understand that I wrote ‘study’ not ‘recite’. Muslims religiously memorize and recite the Arabic language Quran. Many Muslims (Ummah) do not understand the meanings of what they memorized and are mostly dependent on their Islamic Leadership (Islamic Scholars) for interpretation, elucidation and understanding of their revered scripture. Many Muslims are therefore ignorant and unknowledgeable of many things. We know that Knowledge leads to Understanding and Understanding exposes one to Wisdom. We also know that Wisdom is a defense and Wisdom is the principal thing. We know who is the Power and Wisdom of God. In Indonesia, a country that is said to have about 90% Muslim population, they voted in a referendum against imposition of Sharia law for the country (Islamization).
Our neighbors, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, associates, colleagues and friends are in bondage. Many of them are in captivity with threats to their lives should they seek deliverance. Only the truth can set them free. Our love for them necessitates our study of the sources of their indoctrination and bondage. Consider that according to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 we must know the truth that we may apply it in this warfare of setting the captives free. Everything manifesting in the environment is the result of Ideological posturing of Islam and the Muslims. It is Jihad—an Ideological warfare. We should study the Quran!
Claims of the Quran
The Quran made many claims such as an assertion by (Allah) “We have neglected nothing in the Book”! Surah 6:38 (Hilali-Khan) “There is not a moving (living creature) on earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, but are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book, then to their Lord they (all) shall be gathered” Like many statements in the Quran we find that the science of Hadith and the Sunan were needed to compliment and elucidate many things inadequately treated in the Quran. For instance the injunctions on prayer (Salat ) are hadithic not quranic. The Quran neglected many things. The Muslims seem to forget that the Hadiths were compiled some 200 years after the purported compilation of the Uthmanic Quran by Zaid bin Thabit. Do the Islamic Scholars care to distinguish between these man-made scriptures and the Allah revealed Quran? You will find that many Muslims do not know about these things of their religion. Psychologically many ignorant are cantankerous and angry whenever they are exposed to their ignorance.
A non-Muslim would notice the affectation of the Muslims about the sacredness of the Quran. Have you ever considered why the Ilah (god) of Islam would want to reveal his word to his ‘slaves’ yet the revelation is not easily available to both the Muslims and the non-Muslims? Are the Ayat (verses) of the Quran truly perfected in every sphere of knowledge and ‘explained in detail’ as claimed in Surah 6:114? Surah 11:1 (Hilali-Khan) “Alif-Lam- Ra [These letters are one of the miracles of the Quran and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings]. (This is) Book, the Verses whereof are perfected (in every sphere of Knowledge), and then explained in detail from One (Allah), Who is All-Wise, Well-Acquainted (with all things).
Surah 3:7 (Hilali-Khan) “It is He Who has sent down to you (Muhammad pbuh) the Book (this Quran). In it are Verses that are entirely clear, they are the foundations of the Book [and those are the Verses of Al-Ahkam (commandments), Al-Faraid (obligatory duties) and Al-Hudud (legal laws for the punishment of thieves, adulterers)] ; and others not entirely clear. So as for those in whose hearts there is a deviation (from the truth) they follow that which is not entirely clear thereof, seeking Al-Fitnah (polytheism, and trials) and seeking for its hidden meanings, but none knows its hidden meanings except Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say : ”We believe in it ; the whole of it (clear and unclear Verses) re from our Lord”. And none receive admonition except men of understanding.(Tafsir At-Tabari).
The Quran itself confessed in Surah 3:7 above that there are Ayat (verses) in the Quran with hidden meanings known only to Allah. Such Ayat are therefore not ‘revealed’ by Allah. The Quran can therefore not qualify as complete, clear and detailed revelation of Allah. But the Muslims cannot see these things. Why should any Christian be concerned with Ayat (verse) of Quran with hidden meanings known only to Allah? We have enough of the Quranic Ayat (verses) with clear meanings. Many of these meanings are scary and hostile to Christ, Christianity and Christians.
Will Muslim Scholars be honest enough to explain the meaning of the word ‘confirm’(‘confirming’ ‘confirmation’) and distinguish it from ‘contend’; ‘refute’; ‘contradict’; ‘disaffirm’; ‘reject’; ‘abrogate’; ‘annul’? Why should Allah, the Lord of Mecca , concern himself with the scripture of Yahweh? We see how Allah, the Lord of Mecca, seeks to supplant Yahweh, the God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob. Surah 2:97 (Hilali-Khan) “Say (O Muhammad pbuh) “Whoever is an enemy to Jibrael (Gabriel) (let him die in his fury), for indeed he has brought it (this Quran) down to your heart by Allah’s permission, confirming what come before it [i.e. Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and guidance and glad tidings for the believers.
Is it not clear that the Quran and the Muslims seek to abrogate the Bible? We can see how the Saudi Arabia kingdom is hostile to Christ, Christianity, Christians and the Bible.
Surah16:101 (Hilali-Khan) “And when We change a verse (of the Quran) in place of another-Allah knows best what he sends down- they (the disbelievers ) say: “You (O Muhammad pbuh) are but a Muftari!(forger, liar).” Nay but most of them know not.”
Is it not frightful when the sacred book of Islam, (the Quran) from before Allah himself says and I quote part of Surah 16:101 above “they (the disbelievers) say: “You (O Muhammad pbuh) are but a Muftari! (forger, liar).” Nay but most of them know not.”? The ‘Eternal Scripture’ of Islam accused every non-Muslim of calling Muhammad a Muftari (forger,liar) and sadly leaves no room for rationality. Surah 29:46 (Hilali-Khan) “ And argue not with the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians),unless it be in (a way)that is better (with good words and in good manner, inviting them to Islamic Monotheism with His Verses),except with such of them as do wrong and say (to them): “We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our Ilah (God) and your Ilah (God) is One (i.e. Allah), and to Him we have submitted (as Muslims).”
We find the Quran making false and incendiary accusations against the Christians and at the same time warning the Muslims not to listen to the Christians point of view. Consider that these things were in the scripture of the seventh century and the Islamic Scholars see nothing wrong with its application in the twenty first century. Church we are faced with very few highly placed persons and not every Muslim. Many Muslims are lied to, deceived, confused and misled by these few persons. We must go direct to an average Muslim with the truth.
Adversarial posture
Unless the Nigeria Church leaders really understand the Scriptures of our Adversary, (Yes! Adversary!), the few Muslims would be achieving all their goals while many Christians would continue to die like chickens. These few Muslims do not really care for their fellow Muslims. Many Christians do not adequately understand the ideological divide between Islam and Christianity because we are dealing with high-powered indoctrination of mostly ignorant and ill-informed persons that are bound with threats to life. I shall explain why I have been mandated to call the attention of the Nigeria Church to fact that the Quran, radical Islam and Muslim fundamentalists are indeed adversary to Christ, Christianity and every Christian (including Catholic and all).
Firstly, in the fifth Surah (Chapter) of the Quran i.e. Al Maidah Muslims are threatened twice not to have Christians as friends. Such unfriendly instructions can be found in most of the 114 Suwah (Chapters) of the Quran. Consider that a Muslim is expected to memorize (thereby internalize) these hostile Ayat (verses) from childhood. Characteristically we find Surah 5:82 (Hilali-Khan) “Verily you will find the strongest among men in enmity to the believers (Muslims) the Jews and those who are Al Mushrikun, and you will find the nearest in love to the believers (Muslims) those who say “we are Christians”. That is because amongst them are priests and monks and they are not proud.’’ All the Ayah, Surah 5:82 said was that the Jews are worse than the Christians.But Islamic Scholars of the twenty first century are cognizance of the slanderous Surah 5:51 (Hilali-Khan) O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Auliya (friends, protectors, helpers), they are but Auliya of each other. And if any amongst you takes them as Auliya then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the Zalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers and unjust). Please pause and re-read this injunction of Allah, in the Scripture of Islam, to the Muslims (whether highly placed or not). Consider that every Muslim is exposed to these things from very impressionable ages. How can a (1 Corinthians 13:1-13 soaked) Christian assuredly expects reciprocity of rationality, honesty, compassion and love from a well indoctrinated Muslim.
It is very unfortunate that this ‘do-not-be-friend-Christians’ slanderous injunction was reinforced in Surah 5:57 (Hilali-Khan) O you who believe! Take not as Auliya (friends, protectors, helpers), those who take your religion as mockery and fun from among those who received the Scripture (Jews and Christians) before you nor from among the disbelievers; and fear Allah if you indeed are true believers. Every non-Muslim is accused by Allah, the Ilah (God) of the Muslims in the scripture of Islam, the Quran to have taken Islam ‘as mockery and fun’! This might have been the case in the seventh century but certainly not in the twenty first century. Would the Islamic Scholars enlighten their followers?
The second and very important reason why the attention of the Nigeria Church must be brought to the Quran and Islamic History (both worldwide and in Nigeria) is the surreptitious, deliberate and malicious ways of the leadership of the Sunni Muslims. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawah and Guidance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the King Fahd Complex for Printing of the Holy Quran al Madinah al Munawwarah and both translators of ‘The Noble Quran English translation of the meanings and commentary’ presumed that no non-Muslim would care to read the Quran. And perhaps should non-Muslims read the Quran they will not bother to read the Appendices. Probably Dr. Hilali and Dr. Khan were careless whether a non-Muslim would see page 914 of the Noble Quran where they stated their mind and intentions for their intended readership.
It is intriguing to see that as many as eleven (11) pages (907-917) of Appendix II of the Noble Quran was devoted to Jesus Christ and Christianity. At page 914 Hilali-Khan wrote “If the story of the Cross is disproved then the very foundation on which Christianity is based will be demolished.” Was it not Allah the Ilah (god) of Islam who revealed Surat Al Kafirun. Surah 109:1-6 (Hilali-Khan) Say: (O Muhammad pbuh) to (these Mushrikun and Kafirun): ‘O Al Kafirun (disbeliever in Allah, in his oneness, in his Angels, in his Books, in his Messenger, in the Day of Resurrection and in Al Qadar)! I worship not that which you worship, nor will you worship that which I worship. And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping nor will you worship that which I worship. To you be your religion and to me my religion (Islamic Monotheism).
Ordinarily Muslims are taught to be strategic. Strategically deceitful! (Taqiyyya). Surah3:28 (Hilali-Khan) Let not the believers take the disbelievers as Auliya (supporter, helpers) instead of the believers, and whoever does that will never be helped by Allah in any way except if you indeed fear a danger from them. And Allah warns you against Himself (His punishment) and to Allah is the final return.
Apart from theological and worldview differences between Islam and Christianity there are ideological and mindset differences between Muslims and Christians. We also have so many differences between the Bible and the Quran. For a start the Quran plagiarized, redacted, contradicted, confronted, the over three hundred years older Bible. It is my mandate to call the attention of the Nigeria Church to the mind of God for the Nation, the Church and the Christians.
The mind of God for the nation
I know that many leaders of the Church by virtue of their offices, positions in the Church and their locations in the country have intimate and personal experiences of onerous activities of the enemies of unity, peace and progress. I know of atrocities in remote places like the Gongola mountain areas of Taraba state. Many things are happening in our dear country that the Media (both print and electronic) would not touch. I commend our Church leadership for all they have managed to do and are continuing to do with regards to Kaduna, Benue, Plateau and other states.
Our God knows the secrets of men. Remember Elisha and the king of Syria. Our God knows the hearts of men. Our God has a purpose and plan for this country, Nigeria. Our God is directly involved in the things that are happening in this country since two hundred years ago. He is particularly interested in things of the recent times. Our God is aware of the goings on in the rest of the world such as Yemeni, Saudi Arabia, United States of America, Russia, China, Afghanistan, and many other places. If indeed I am mandated by the living God, my God would probably send to corroborate this message in his own way, in his own time.
The mind of God for this nation is to assure the people of Nigeria that though indeed there is a plan to Islamize the nation-(which plan is in implementation stage). With man it is impossible to halt and reverse but with God (the living God) there is nothing too hard. The pertinent word of God is Jeremiah 29:11-14 “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity.’’
Brethren you are hereby enjoined to read, study, teach, preach, the story of the Midianites and Gideon in Chapters 6 and 7 of the Book of Judges. Christianity and the Christians are faced with a siege and the God ordained solution for Nigeria is for every Christian to internalize these words of God. Perhaps the God of Jehoshaphat would in response to our coperate prayers raise a Gideon and establish conditions for the deliverance of our nation. This is no time for elaborate showy cooperate (denomination of interdenominational) prayers. Rather our God wanted you to know that the spirit at war with the church is the ‘spirit of the Midianite’ (Midianite) and the divine ordained strategy is the use of the ‘Prayer of Agreement’ and ‘the spirit of unity’ with faith, love and hope.
- Simply put the message is: As often as possible wherever, whenever two or more Christians are together let them supplicate and pray in agreement for the living God to have mercy on our nation.
Be assured that it is the will of God to radically turn the captivity round. Only our God can break this demonic strangulation of our country. And he is ready to hear our prayers.
Brethren, there is a deliberate governmental policy to starve the people of Nigeria of knowledge –knowledge of history of the world affairs-any knowledge that may encourage rationality and application of commonsense. There is a correlation between Hosea 4:6 (‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge I also will reject you from being priest for me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God I also will forget your children.’) and Jeremiah 29:10-14. There is a need for the people of this nation to go into the history of our heroes past. It is the will of the living God that articles, seminar papers, books etc. should be made immediately available on Uthman Dan Fodio, Afonja, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, and many others.
The mind of God for the Church
After our Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan at Calvary, Satan ran to hide in Mecca. During annual Hajj pilgrimage increasing number of pilgrims had been throwing several physical stones at Satan to no effect. Rather Satan seems to be waxing stronger in his opposition to Christ, Christianity and the Christians. We all can see how satanic hostility seems to have pervaded Saudi Arabia –overt hatred of Christ, Christianity and the Christians. We can also perceive the handiwork of John 10:10-Enemy in the lives of these people.
Brethren, Satan has made inroad into many of our congregations. Characteristically he came in through the world and worldliness, through the flesh and our human weaknesses, through overt and covert satanic practices condoned by many Christians. The Church allowed Traditions and Cultures of our people to open doors to satanic influences. The Church allowed Mammon to creep into churches with all his infernal influences. The Church gave room to scoffers. The Church is contending with 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
Brethren it has pleased the living God to ask that the Church should go and embrace our Lords priestly prayer in Chapter 17 of the Book of John. Our God assures the brethren of the ramifications of Romans 8:35-39(in particular verse 39). Let it be known that in this clime the concern of the living God is the establishment of his kingdom on earth (in particular Nigeria). Let it be known that it is the Glory of God that matters right now. The Nigeria Church is therefore called to Unity! Yes. Unity of Purpose! Let it be known that the Holy Spirit does not distinguish along denominational lines. The Holy Spirit sole concern is the glorification of the name of Christ. In these times the Holy Spirit calls on all Believers in Christ to be united in the name of Jesus for the establishment of the kingdom of God in our churches and in our lives.
The mind of God for the Christians
Brethren, this is the time to permeate the environment with Spiritual War Songs such ‘Onward, Christian soldiers’, ‘Stand up stand up for Jesus’ and many others. Primarily a Christian is a believer in theology that accepts the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh (Jehovah) as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob as the memorial name of the living God. We and the Muslims do not worship the same God. Let every Christian know this truth. We are besieged and we shall respond spiritually by each and every one of us going into battle mode. This is a command.
Shallom
NOTE
I have a message for the leadership of the Nigeria Church. Therefore I seek an audience with the leadership of C A N at your convenience, that I may make a presentation. I want to make a case for Responding Strategically and not Reacting Intelligently to Islamic Challenges.
You may contact me Chaplain Abayomi Olatunji Asunni on +234 909 019 8058 or +234 701 690 8411(text messages only)