Is Islam a Religion of Love?
In the second post of this series, I addressed the question of whether or not Islam is a religion of peace. It is clear from Islam’s own documents that it is NOT a religion of peace, but is a religion of bloodshed. Now the question arises, “Is Islam a religion of love?” With this question, as with the first we must look at what their religious writings state about Islam.
Before we go further, are Christianity and Judaism based on love? What did Jesus say about love? We find Jesus’ authoritative words recorded in Matthew’s gospel chapter 22, verses 34-40 (ESV). When a Pharisee asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment in the Torah, Jesus responded, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend all the Law and Prophets" Interestingly, Jesus’ first quotation is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and the second is found in Leviticus 19:18. Therefore, both Christianity and Judaism are based on love.
Contrast the above verses with the motto of Islam. Is the motto of Islam Allah is love, Allahu muhibba? No, the motto of Islam, the motto that Muslim terrorists scream, as they fly jets into buildings, blow themselves up in crowded restaurants or nightclubs, or as they crash into empty fields as those they have hijacked fight for their lives, is “Allahu ackbar” or Allah is greater. Notice that I did not translate Allahu ackbar as “God is great”. First, the Arabic word for “great” is kabir. Second, whether or not Allah is God is something that we will address in a future post. Third, there is a person in the bible that wanted to be greater than God. Satan, spoken of figuratively in Isaiah 12:13 (ESV), said that he wanted to “ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high...."
It is also interesting to not that the Arabic word for “love” is only found 69 times in the Qur’an. On the other hand, “love” occurs 186 times in the Old Testament and 223 times in the New Testament. It is interesting to note that when loved is used in the Qur’an, it is never used in the context of loving non-Muslims. Contrast this with how many times Jesus states that love expressed to non-Christians is nobler than love expressed to Christians. As anyone who hasn’t buried his head in the sand has seen how Islam expresses itself towards those that are not Muslims. The reason for this is simple, while the New Testament speaks of love towards the stranger and neighbor 155 times, the Qur’an is stunningly silent.
What a person does find in the Qur’an, can only be described as utter disregard for those that are not Muslims. “Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array as if they were a solid cemented structure” (Surah 61:4), Qur’an as translated by Yusef Ali), and “That ye believe in Allah and His Apostle and that ye strive (your utmost) in the Cause of Allah with your property and your persons: that will be best for you if ye but knew” (Surah 61:11). Not to mention the other Qur’anic verses mentioned in the Peace post. It becomes clear that Islam is neither a religion of peace nor a religion of love.
Next time, “Is Allah God?
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