Christian leaders endorse Islam

Religious and civic leaders, interfaith Itfa, St John's Wood Synagogue, 2018    Source: Church Times 

Acting LibDem Leader Sir Ed Davey appeared on Twitter a few days ago announcing that he was preparing for his first ever fast in the holy month of Ramadan prompting Adrian Hilton (AKA Archbishop Cranmer) to respond:

"Forgive me, I'm curious. Did you fast during #Lent? I'll understand if you did but didn't signal it. But did you tweet about fasting or #HolyWeek? Did you express empathy with Christians in isolation over Easter, the holiest time in the liturgical year?

Along with other religious leaders the Archbishop of Canterbury has made a habit of identifying with Ramadan, eg, here and here. In this year's excruciating contribution here Archbishop Justin Welby implies that all religions are the same with some differences in theology but the god of Islam who demands submission could not be more different to the Christian God who sent His Son into the world for our salvation.

For years the BBC have been squeezing Christianity. This year they have been broadcasting the Islamic call to prayer, the adhan, prayed in Arabic:

Allah is greater (Allahu akbar); intoned four times.
I testify that there is no God but Allah (Ashhadu anna la ila ill Allah); intoned twice.
I testify that Mohammed is Allah’s Prophet (Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah); intoned twice.
Come to prayer (Hayya alas salah); intoned twice.
Come to security/salvation (Hayya alal falah); intoned twice.
Allah is greater (Allahu akbar); intoned twice.
There is no God but Allah (La ilah ill Allah); intoned once.

Dr. Gavin Ashenden, a former Chaplain to the HM the Queen, resigned his position in protest against a Qur’an reading in a Scottish church. In response to the BBC's decision he observed in Frontpage Mag, “the Muslim call to prayer is a dramatic piece of Islamic triumphalism. It proclaims Islam’s superiority over all other religions, and in so doing casts Jesus in the role of a charlatan and a liar. The Muslim god, Allah, is unknowable and has no son. Jesus was, therefore, a fraud in claiming He and the Father are one.

"Is the BBC, the government-funded broadcasting agency of an ostensibly Christian land, really wise to broadcast a declaration of the superiority of another faith, one that directs its adherents to make war against Christians and subjugate them as inferiors under the hegemony of believers (cf. Qur’an 9:29)? Is the BBC wise to broadcast the cry “Allahu akbar,” beloved of jihad terrorists the world over?"

Nobody is suggesting that all Muslims are evil but people quickly forget the victims of a political ideology that seeks to subjugate others.

In Germany the trial has begun of a 27-year-old Iraqi national, charged with membership in a foreign terrorist organization, crimes against humanity, human trafficking, and war crimes, including the murder of a five-year-old Yazidi girl.

According to the indictment, in the summer of 2015, Taha A. J. “purchased” and enslaved a five-year-old Yazidi girl and her mother, and he and his wife held them captive at their residence in Fallujah, Iraq, where they forcibly converted them to Islam. Taha A. J. beat the captives and one day chained the child outdoors, leaving her to die of thirst in scorching temperatures."

There is hope. In another story of "God at work around the world", this time from a man who grew up Muslim having memorized the majority of the Qur’an. He was warned by his grandmother to “Watch out for the infidels, and don’t befriend or associate with them; they are a disease on society.”

He started reading the New Testament and fell in love with the character of Jesus. Within months he had read the Bible in its entirety. When his Muslim family found out that he had become a Christian his uncle called him with a warning: “Gather your family, pack your bags, and move out of the house because your grandfather is going to terrorist groups, and if they find you, they will kill every single person in the house.”

Today, he works for a ministry that "shares God’s love with Muslims, presenting Christ in a way that connects with their cultural background and speaks to their interest in themes of shame and honor."

Our Christian leaders would do well to remember that "No-one comes to the Father except through me". (John 14:6)

Postscripts

[03.05.2020]

VATICAN URGES CATHOLICS TO SHARE RAMADAN

Throwing in the towel!

[06.05.202]

Food aid in exchange for converting to Islam: violence against the poor, in times of pandemic