Pro-Islam Billboards Claim Muhammad Promoted Peace
Across America the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is erecting pro-Islam billboards such as the one pictured here which ironically stands over the Jewish Orthodox cemetery of Beth Tfiloh & Beth Jacob. The messages range from identifying Jesus as Muslim to this one claiming Muhammad believed in peace, social justice, and women’s rights. The ICNA is part of the larger umbrella organization called the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO). Most recently the USCMO made news by refusing to recognize Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day which encourages solemn awareness of the murder of 1.5 million Christian and indigenous populations by the Muslim Ottoman Empire.[1]
It has been documented that ICNA has connections with various terrorist organizations and frequently promotes anti-American radicals to speak at its annual conferences. The 2015 annual conference, held in Baltimore Maryland on Memorial Day weekend, featured its Vice President, Imam Siraj Wahhaj who made the list of unindicted co-conspirators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing[2]. He has been quoted saying, “there will never be an Islamic State, never, until there’s first an Islamic state of mind,” and that Muslims should be involved in politics not because, “it’s the American thing to do. You get involved in politics because politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam.”[3] Yehudit Barsky, a terrorism expert at the American Jewish Committee, has said that ICNA “is composed of members of Jamaat e-Islami, a Pakistani Islamic radical organization similar to the Muslim Brotherhood that helped to establish the Taliban.”[4]
So it seems the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) would have us believe that Muhammad was a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize paving the way in the sixth century for social justice. A phone call to their hotline provided on the billboard will direct you to a pre-recorded scripted conversation that is marketed as answering common questions about Islam. However, it appears that peace, women’s rights, and social justice are not part of this FAQ session. So we will quickly examine the life of Muhammad and the words of the Quran to shed some light on these claims.
Muhammad on Peace
Below is a sample of Islamic writings on peace. Their own sources provide the basis of their view on peace. Peace is achieved by destroying all who disbelieve the so-called prophet Muhammad. So with a twisting of words, you could say Muhammad believed in peace…peace achieved through violence.
“And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [disbelief or unrest] is worse than killing…but if they desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah [disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah] and worship is for Allah alone. But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zalimun (the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc.)”
-Qur’an (2:191-193)
“And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!”
– Qur’an(9:30)
“Allah’s Apostle said, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’”
– Bukhari (52:177)
“’Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us’ the words of Muhammad, prophet of Islam.”
– Tabari (9:69)
Muhammad on Social Justice
Below we can see the views of social justice Muhammad held. From the example below we can learn that it was considered merciful that after killing the parents, the Muslim was encourage to not kill the children. Rather it would be assumed they would be indoctrinated into the faith.
[Muhammad said] “Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah. Do not be deceitful with the spoils; do not be treacherous, nor mutilate nor kill children.”
-Ibn Ishaq/Hisham (992)
But we must understand Muhammad’s definition of a child. Following the surrender of the Qurayza stronghold, he ordered the execution of every male child who had reached puberty. His men had the boys drop their pants so that they could chop the head off of anyone with signs of manhood (Abu Dawud 4390)”[5].
There is also a record of a Muslim man named Amr Umayya who was sent out by Muhammad. Along the way he met a handicapped Shepherd with one-eye. After learning that this shepherd would not convert to Islam the man waited for him to go to sleep and then murdered him brutally. When the man returned to Muhammad it is recorded that, “He [Muhammad] asked my news and when I told him what had happened he blessed me”.[6]
Muhammad on Women’s Rights
We can also ascertain that women were regarded more as property than as equals from the Qur’an and the life of Muhammad. Even today in many Islamic countries it is regular practice to see restrictions on social interaction, mandatory coverings, forced marriages, honor killings, temporary marriages as a form of acceptable prostitution, wife beating, and pre-pubescent marriages. One such marriage led to the death of an eight year old girl on her wedding night[7]. There has been a long history of abuse of women’s rights within the Islamic faith and under Sharia.
“Your wives are as a tilth [as property such as land] unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will…”
– Qur’an (2:223)
“Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four”
– Qur’an (4:3)
“As for Ali, he said, ‘Women are plentiful, and you can easily change one for another.’”
– Ishaq (593)
A traditional Islamic proverbs says, “A woman’s heaven is beneath her husband’s feet.”
Conclusion
The examples cited above are but the tip of the ice berg in refuting the claims made by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and their billboards. But the facts just get in the way of the real purpose; the propagandizing of America. We should get used to seeing such dishonest portrayals of Islam. That is because Islam is just one of many tools that are being employed by the Satan in his mission to blaspheme the Truth. There has only ever been one way that leads to peace, social justice, and women’s rights. That is the salvation that comes through the death and resurrection of Christ. It is Christ that is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) and who reconciles man to God (2 Corinthians 5:18). It is Christ that is the father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5) and has mercy on the poor (Proverbs 19:17). It is Christ that models the loving relations between man and wife (Ephesians 5:25-32) and created humans in His image (Genesis 1:26). So it is Christ that must be proclaimed in the darkness that is Islam (John 1:5). The importance of articulating the truths of the gospel contrasting them with the truth of Islam must not be ignored. The longer Christians remain silent, keeping their faith to themselves and not engaging the culture with truth, the more ground will be lost to Islamic propagandist like the ICNA.
[1] http://www.jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10804:us-muslim-brotherhood-backs-turks-on-armenian-genocide&catid=118:war-on-terror&Itemid=301
[2] Letter and enclosure from U.S. Attorney General Mary Jo White to the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey Re: United States v. Omar Ahmad Ali Abdel Rahman, et al. S5 93 CR 181 (MBM), February 2, 1995. The letter reads in part, “Enclosed is a list of unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators.”
[3] Siraj Wahhaj, “The Muslim Agenda in the New World Order,” Islamic Association of Northern Texas, Dallas, Texas, November 15, 1991.
[4] http://www.wnd.com/2010/07/182001/
[5] http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/muhammad/myths-mu-kill-children.htm
[6] Guillaume, op cit, page 673
[7] http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/11/yemen-child-bride-dies-wedding