CUL:The growth of Islam in the United Kingdom (fido echo message) The following commentary was taken from the Christian Net echo (an international Fidonet bulletin board echo) SUBJECT: GROWTH OF ISLAM IN UK Greetings Kevin. I wanted to contribute a response to your inquiry concerning the growth of Islam in Britain. I am an American, currently resident in the UK, with professional research experience in matters involving the Middle East. Statistics clearly infer that over the past 20 years Islam has been the fastest growing religion in Britain. The largest mosque in Western Europe is situated in London's Regent Park, and there is an Islamic university alongside. In 1945 there was one mosque in England, in 1950 there were 25, in 1960 there were 80, in 1976 there were 200, etc. Muslims here in Oxford were finally given permission to establish a mosque a few years ago, and it is located near where I live. Within the past couple of years in one part of Birmingham one has been able to hear above the urban din the electrically amplified calls to prayer of a Muslim muezzin, just like in cities in N. Africa and the Middle East. In one sense these facts are terribly disconcerting. When one passes through the English countryside it is the spires of the parish churches which are most prominent above all the villages, yet in recent years the abandonment of church buildings because of disuse has been a topic of much concern. One thinks of England, and one thinks of a *Christian* nation. The imprint of Christianity is everywhere. Last Saturday I attended a memorial service in the University Church for a don who died last summer, and the particular congregation was predominantly agnostic or atheistic, but the service itself was Christian through and through...a tradition. England is an Islamic target. During an international Islamic conference in Longon in the late 1970s the keynote speaker said, 'If we can win London for Islam, it won't be hard to win the whole Western world.' But all this evidence is only part of the picture. Muslims are not noticed proselytising here...but, then, Muslims do not generally proselytise the way evangelical Christians do. *Jihad* means 'struggle' rather more than 'war', and *influence* can be part of it. If Muslims are able to induce ecumenical attitudes in Western Christians, it can prove advantageous for them. You may be sure you will not encounter any reciprocal fair-mindedness in Saudi Arabia, much less in Iran. The influence of the oil and markets of Muslim countries has been awesome. This has however shifted with developments in international affairs. Oil lost its sway. Terrorism went too far. Britain and the rest of the West shifted their perspectives considerably. It must also be said that the growth of Islam in Britain has mainly been due to large numbers of Muslims moving here, rather than through many converts...though there have been, unhappily, conversions (Cat Stevens, the singer and composer, is a devout Muslim now). Finally, if you are in Washington, DC, you should take note of the 160 ft. high minaret above the mosque of the Islamic Center on Massachusetts Ave. And consider also the alarming growth of the Black Muslims in our country, the USA, and their links to the most radical Islamic nations. Read the Koran. 'Allah' is demonic, and has NOTHING to do with God. But Muslims in our midst are not to be feared or hated. We must prayerfully, confidently, show them the Love of Christ, and speak the Truth to them without compromise. David Canfil Trinity 3 (Reading), UK SUBJECT: Re: GROWTH OF ISLAM IN UK Greetings, David. I appreciated your words of encouragement and faith. Islam is a formidable seducing spirit and a murderous one in the world today...and no evidence is lacking in support of these conclusions. I empathize with some of the testimonials of others which preceded my words about the threat of Islam to the UK; I would agree with them that encounters with unbelievers (i.e. people who have no faith in any religion) often seem more common and problematic than confrontations with Muslim proselytising, etc. But whatever Muslims may seem to have in common with us is attributable to the fact that Muhammed selectively borrowed his values from Judeo-Christian revelation. This infers what it is that makes Islam one of history's most evil systems: most of the other so-called 'great religions' are not known to have originated amongst peoples who 'exchanged the truth of God for a lie'; there's no evidence that Buddha or Confucius, for instance, ever knew the truth of God; primitive tribes around the planet have variously created and developed all manner of unusual and imaginative religious systems; but Muhammed KNEW Christians and Jews, he was also exposed to the Old and New Testaments, and the religion satan spawned through him was, in other words, a Judeo-Christian heresy from its inception. The spiritual bondage of Islam is tremendously sinister and strong. Islam is no less devoted to world conquest than Communism. And Islam is very, very cruel. As the historian Toynbee once put it, while believers in Jesus and Buddha have sometimes waged murderous, unjust wars in the names of their religions, when they did it they were not following the examples of the founders of their respective faiths; but, he said, when Muslims do it they follow the example of Muhammed himself...he wiped out whole communities of peoples who resisted him, allowing debased sensuality, pillage and slave-taking as enticements to his followers. All unbelievers are equally dead in their sins while they remain unbelievers, but Islam BEGAN as a heresy. Muslims are consistently the most difficult of peoples to convert to Christ, and this explains why. David Canfil THE MUSLIMS WAY TO ALLAH # # ------------------------------------------------------#### # [GOOD DEEDS] [ 5 PILLARS ] [PROHIBITIONS] # # ------------------------------------------------------# # X X X X X # # X X X X X # G # X X X X X # M O # X X X X X # A D # X X X X X # N # X X X X X # # X X X X X # # X X X X X # # X X X X X # # X X X X X # ################################################### 5 4 3 2 1 (1) Belief [Shahada] (2) Alms [Zakat] (3) Fast [Ramadan] (4) Pilgrimage [Mecca] (5) Prayer [5 x a day] The ritual prohibitions together with the 5 pillars and as many good deeds as is possible do not guarentee that paradise will be attained. The Koran has no assurance of a 'heaven'. It relies on man's doing and all the failures associated with it. How like the nominal christian who believes in a creed(1), gives to charity(2), goes to church, birth, marriage and death , with the odd christmas and easter thrown in(4), and prayer, well yes if pushed or maybe every now and then at bedtime(5). Jesus says "I AM THE WAY" "I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU" "TODAY YOU SHALL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE" "NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT BY ME" Christianity does not rely on MAN, God sent HIS SON an atoining sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10) The GULF has been crossed by Jesus himself at Calvary and we can have eternal life here and now, recieve it and be sure of it, no one can take it away Jesus promise "none shall pluck them from my hand" The KEYS may look the same but only JESUS fits, only JESUS is the sinless, spotless SON OF GOD. THE GOD-MAN, God incarnate in human flesh, JESUS is the only way. I pray this Lord Jesus is your Saviour and your Lord now. David Rance ISLAM "It is commonplace today to speak of the battle of the eighties to be between Islam, Marxism and Third World Christianity. Western Christianity is on the whole too flabby to do anything about it. One of the clearest symptoms of this is the sad decline in true spirituality amongst the majority of Western Christians. We have neglected our prayer life; we have stopped listening to God; we have been caught by the covetous spirit of our affluent society, and worshipped the false god of materialism. We have exchanged our knowledge of *Theos* (God) for heady disputes about theological words, or for religious or social activism. We have forgotten how to be still before God, how to meditate, trapped as we are in the vortex of modern life. We have lost our sense of direction; and, confused and bewildered, we know little of the exhuberant joy of celebration enjoyed by God's people down the centuries, even in tough and depressing situations. There is little to attract the unbeliever in the traditional, organized Church. The tragedy is that most people outside the Church today are hungry and thirsty for God or for some form of spiritual reality, but the Church as an institution has little to offer in terms of living bread or the wine of the Spirit. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that a growing number are turning to the cults, to eastern mysticism, or to occult practices in pursuit of a basic spirituality that the Western Church no longer seems to provoke. From David Watson's foreword to 'Celebration of Discipline', by R. Foster David Canfil Dear Anton - Just a note here: Muslims most emphatically do not believe the same things as Christians, though they share some of the same moral values...along with many other religions. And even more emphatically, the Koran does NOT contain ANY of the same books as the Bible. Some of the historical figures from Scripture are mentioned in the Koran, but their characters and significances are radically altered, particularly the Person of Jesus Christ. Islam is an anti-Christ system, plainly and simply. Jesus is the Son of God. Islam explicitly denies the fact, and many others which are absolutely essential. The question here is not what you or I or anyone think about Jesus or about Muhammed or about anything. It has to do with what God has revealed. There is no way that one can be a Christian and admit the relative merit of a seductive, satanic deception... which is precisely what Islam is. If there are any doubts, read the Koran. I too know many Muslims personally, from a wide variety of backgrounds. Many are warm, hospital folks on personal terms. But don't be deceived by that which has deceived generations of their people. Stand firm under the Banner of Christ. Jesus died on the Cross for YOU! Muhammed didn't. The simplest way to deal with this, for anyone who feels confused, is to personally submit the matter to God, the God of the Bible, in prayer. He is Lord! He will clarify these points very satisfactorily, and in a personal, loving, and utterly convincing way, I assure you. In Him, David Canfil From: David Canfil To: All Msg #301, 25-Nov-87 03:59pm Subject: THE KORAN V.S. THE BIBLE Some quotes from the KORAN concerning Jesus and Christianity: "Those who say: 'The Lord of Mercy has begotten a son, ' preach a monstrous falsehood, at which the very heavens might crack, the earth break asunder, and the mountains crumble to dust. That they should ascribe a son to the Merciful, when it does not become Him to beget one!" 19:88. "...of Jesus, who said to the Israelites: 'I am sent forth to you by Allah to confirm the Torah already revealed and to give news of an apostle that will come after me whose name is Ahmed'" 61:6 (Note: "Ahmed" is another name of Muhammed's, meaning "The Praised One"). "The Jews say Ezra is the son of Allah, while the Christians say the Messiah is the son of Allah. Such are their assertions, by which they imitate the infidels of old. Allah confound them! How perverse they are! They worship their rabbis and their monks, and the Messiah the son of Mary, as gods besides Allah; though they were ordered to serve one God only. There is no god but Him" 9:30 (Note: The charge that Jews say Ezra is the son of Allah has no known basis in Jewish religious tradition). "To Moses We gave the Scriptures and after him We sent other apostles. We gave Jesus the son of Mary veritable signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Will you then scorn each apostle whose message does not suit your fancies, charging some with imposture and slaying others? They say: 'Our hearts are sealed.' But Allah has cursed them for their unbelief. They have but little faith. And now that a Book confirming their own has come to them from Allah, they deny it, although they know it to be the truth and have long prayed for help against the unbelievers. May Allah's curse be upon the infidels!" 2:86. "With those who said they were Christians We made a covenant also, but they too have forgotten much of what they were enjoined...People of the Book! Our apostle has come to reveal to you much of what you have hidden of the Scriptures, and to forgive you much. A light has come to you from Allah and a glorious Book...Unbelivers are those who declare: 'Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary'" 5:14-17 "Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become one of their number. Allah does not guide the wrongdoers" 5:51. "Unbelievers are those who say: 'Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary.' For the Messiah himself said: 'Children of Israel, serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord.' He that worships other gods besides Allah shall be forbidden Paradise and shall be cast into the fire of Hell. None shall help the evildoers. Unbelievers are those that say: 'Allah is one of three.' There is but one God. If they do not desist from so saying, those of them that disbelieve shall be sternly punished. Will they not turn to Allah in repentance and seek forgiveness of Him? He is forgiving and merciful. The Messiah, the son of Mary, was no more than an apostle..." 5:72-75. * Origin: Trinity 2 - Faringdon, Oxfordshire (511/113)