When to Worship

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Robert Sievers

Every Sunday morning, Christians the world over gather together in churches, sing praises to God, and hear expositions of the Bible by learned leaders. Once a week on Saturday, devout Jews attend synagogue. Similarly, Muslims the world over attend weekly Juma prayer on Friday. From the surface, a casual observer would conclude that this proves that all religions are essentially equal. They all meet once a week for services which follow roughly similar formats. Yet, as usual, digging deeper doesn’t just show differences; it illustrates complete antithetical aspects between Christianity and Islam.

The timing of when Christians attend services is not arbitrary. Deep meaning is embedded within traditions that we take for granted today. In the early church, Jews who chose to follow Jesus started meeting on Sunday mornings instead of Saturday. Whether this happened suddenly or gradually over time we cannot be sure. However, what we do know is that within a few years after the crucifixion, Sunday was a day that held special prominence. For example, the book of 1 Corinthians is one of the earliest books written in the New Testament. In it we find Sunday was the day for tithing. (1 Corinthians 16:1-2)

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2 On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.

Sunday was also the day for communion, as evidenced in Acts 20:7

7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

The reason for this transition is readily apparent. The first Christians moved the time of worship from Saturday to Sunday in order to celebrate the resurrection. Since Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday morning, this was the most logical time to gather to celebrate this pivotal moment in history.

So why do Muslims worship at noon on Friday? From a pragmatic standpoint, there are historians who offer various theories, but from a theological viewpoint, the answer is unclear. The Qur’an tells Muslims to congregate on Friday, but doesn’t offer much insight as to why this time is selected. The only relevant verse comes from Surah 62, verse 9.

O you who believe! when the call is made for prayer on Friday, then hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave off trading; that is better for you, if you know.

While the Hadith also discuss meeting on Friday, so too no specific reason is offered as to why the day of worship was moved to Friday.

Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Apostle (p.b.u.h) saying, “We (Muslims) are the last (to come) but (will be) the foremost on the Day of Resurrection though the former nations were given the Holy Scriptures before us. And this was their day (Friday) the celebration of which was made compulsory for them but they differed about it. So Allah gave us the guidance for it (Friday) and all the other people are behind us in this respect: the Jews’ (holy day is) tomorrow (i.e. Saturday) and the Christians’ (is) the day after tomorrow (i.e. Sunday).” [i]

Here Muhammad says that the day of worship is prescribed to be Friday, just to be different from the Jews and Christians. So what if any conclusions can be drawn about a worship time of Friday at noon? To unravel this, let’s return to the Christian time of worship, Sunday morning. This was the time marking when Jesus conquered the grave, once and for all. So what was happening two days earlier on that previous Friday? Jesus was being crucified. In fact, something very specific happened at noon on that Friday. From Mark 15:33 (NLT)

33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.

The darkness that fell is associated with judgment and with Jesus’ separation from the Father. Somehow Jesus was taking the full brunt of God’s wrath, experiencing rejection from the Father during these final hours of His earthly life spent in unimaginable agony. This is the time of the week that Muslims are told to congregate.

Rather than draw any hasty conclusions as to the causes behind this difference, let’s just review the facts. There is not a specific reason given within Islam for meeting on Friday. Christians worship on Sunday morning, the time of Jesus’ resurrection. Muslims worship at Friday noon, the time when darkness fell over the earth. Christians gather at the time of Jesus rebirth, Muslims at the time of His impending death.

What appears at first to be similar traditions turns out to hold an ironic and opposite twist when examined in more detail. Could there have been spiritual forces at work behind the time chosen for Muslims to congregate? As always, I invite and await your comments or criticisms.

[i] http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=13&translator=1&start=0&number=1#1

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The Reconquista and the Expulsion of Muslims

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Robert Sievers

One of the most fascinating events of the middle ages was the Reconquista. The Reconquista is a roughly 800 year stretch of time of Muslim incursion into the Iberian Peninsula, which is present day Spain. During the time between 711-1492 AD, there were various stretches of conflict between Muslims and Christians. Skirmishes would sporadically break out along various borders, relatively long eras of peace would ensue, and then larger campaigns by one side or the other would flare up again.

The back and forth nature of the events, both in terms of military as well as diplomatic efforts, is incredibly complex and warrants entire volumes. However, in a treatise on the tolerance of Muslims, the following quote appears on several Islamic web sites portraying the Reconquista this way,

This situation lasted for nearly 800 years until eventually the Catholics regrouped and, showing that old habits die-hard, expelled both the Jews and the Muslims out of Spain. [i]

The Reconquista is a period in history that I happen to know something about. So in an effort to clarify the situation, I felt compelled to offer a more objective rendition of why and how the Muslims left Spain, particularly during the last few centuries of this period. In an effort to be completely fair on the subject, all quotations in this article come from resources found in my local mosque library.

Why did Muslims leave these territories? Was it predominately from oppression by Christians, or from directives from their own authorities? It turns out many Muslims left the newly formed Christian territories, not because they were forced out, but because they were obeying the dictates of the Muslim scholars and leaders of the day. The Muslim leaders themselves felt strongly that Muslims should not stay in Christian owned territory. The rulings were clear and unambiguous. “The teaching of the Muslim religious leaders was overwhelmingly in favor of emigration to Muslim territory.” [ii] Many of these rulings and fatwahs have been recorded. While too numerous to list here, two representative declarations come from Al-Wansharishi and Yusuf III of Granada. Al-Wansharishi wrote that “what is required of the believer is faith in God, in the last day, and an effort to distance oneself from the enemies of God.” [iii] Yusuf III of Granada put it this way, “O Brethren, manifest your devotion to the service of God through emigration [hijra] as is enjoined on all Muslims by God Almighty.” [iv]

These fatwahs caused many Muslims to move southward to Muslim owned territories, while others left the peninsula completely, emigrating to North Africa. This ultimately did lead to the furthering of territorial advances of the Christians. However, it must be noted that this was not due to the intolerance of the Christian leaders. Rather, expulsion of the Muslims from the region was in large part due to the mandates of other Muslims! Once again, upon investigation, the irony emerges. Much of why the Muslims left Spain is exactly the reverse of what is stated; rather than Christians removing the Muslims, the Muslims removed themselves.

Revisionist historians in Muslims camps may assert that the Christians were cruel to the Muslim subjects. However, the documents of the time show their response to the Muslims was mixed. Was there oppression and subjugation of Muslims by Christians? Certainly there was. However, there was also protection and harmony at numerous stages as well. L.P. Harvey sums up the situation this way,

“To sum up, Christian legislation with respect to Muslims had tolerant and intolerant aspects, it sought to drive Muslims out and to keep them confined, it guaranteed the free exercise of the religion of Islam and sought to stamp it out” [v]

In other words, there was no systematic oppression of Muslims. Some aspects of the Christian law were there to guarantee certain rights of the Muslims. That doesn’t mean the Christians were always in the right, or even mostly in the right. However, the story isn’t quite so simple. In the end, the reasons why the Muslims left Spain were not just from Christian crusades. The reasons why Muslims left Spain was also because the Muslims themselves were ordered to do so by other Muslims of the time period. This piece of the equation is conveniently left out when this period in history is referenced by Muslims.

[i] http://muslimmatters.org/2012/09/20/5-examples-of-supreme-muslim-tolerance/
[ii] Harvey, L.P. Islam in Spain 1250 to 1500. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990, p 12
 [iii] ibid, p 57.
 [iv] ibid, p 59.
 [v] ibid, p 136.

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Mideast Beast

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Robert Sievers

Like many Christians, I have a personal interest is Biblical prophecy. I have avoided publishing a lot of articles relating to end-times events, because that isn’t what this blog is about. It’s about Islam. Nevertheless, a few prophecy articles may slide in where they intersect with Islamic theology.

mideast beastGiven this interest, I recently read “Mideast Beast,” by Joel Richardson. Joel is one of the most informed Biblical teachers and bloggers that I know. He runs a site over at www.joelstrumpet.com, and I would encourage my readers to check it out.

The book Mideast Beast takes aim at a longstanding Christian view that the Antichrist kingdom would be born out of some type of revived Roman Empire. For 2000 years, the majority Christian opinion has been that Rome was the 4th kingdom mentioned in Daniel 2, the 4th beast of Daniel 7, and the Antichrist kingdom spoken of in Revelation. However, Joel systematically dismantles this theory with a clear and a thorough approach. Instead of the Antichrist kingdom arising from a revived Roman Empire, Joel shows how the Bible teaches that the kingdom will be a conglomeration of nations, all of which are currently under Islamic governance.

Joel relies on Biblical passages heavily, and more importantly, in context. He pulls Scripture from Obadiah, Zephaniah, Micah, and all the places in the Bible that we don’t go to first for our daily devotions. His takes the passages at face value, reading them for what they are and not trying to put some spin on them to justify his own position. He also quotes patristic fathers to show the historical backing for the ever-present minority view that the Antichrist kingdom would come out of nations currently under Islamic rule. This view is now gaining credibility within scholarly circles.

To understand why there has been so much confusion regarding the nature of the final Antichrist kingdom, we must examine a longstanding point of Biblical misinterpretation. There are always countless ways that the church steers off course throughout each age. One such error is replacement theology. Replacement theology teaches that the church has replaced Israel with reference to the promises made in the Old Testament. Thus, this errant position holds that those promises made to Israel and are no longer in force for Israel as a nation after the advent of Jesus. Yet such a view cannot hold water in light of passages such as 1 Samuel 12:22, Jeremiah 31:37, Jeremiah 33:25-26, Romans 11:1,5 and others. In other words, many Biblical students err by allegorizing passages relating to Israel, when in fact God still has a plan in place for his chosen people.

Yet while many people recognize the danger of replacement theology, they make an identical, but more subtle mistake. Similarly to Biblical passages that outlines Israel’s role in events of the last days, so too the Bible names specific nations who will be judged at that same time. For example, countries named include Egypt, Libya, and Sudan (Daniel 11:43), Moab (Isaiah 25:9-10), present-day Turkey (Ezekiel 38:2), and Iran (Ezekiel 38:5). The point is that just as we should not allegorize passages about Israel, replacing them as if they related to the church at large, so too we should not allegorize passages about specific nations named for judgment, and somehow think a particular area will not undergo the prophecy spelled out for it. If God says He will judge a specific nation in the last days, what that means is that He will judge that specific nation in the last days.

But perhaps what I like most about Mideast Beast, and Joel’s writing in general, is the conclusions he reaches after outlining these types of passages. The last chapter is titled “Loving Muslims.” Many people view God’s judgment as an excuse to write off these Islamic nations as a lost cause. Yet nothing could be farther from the truth. It is because of God’s upcoming judgment against certain areas that we should be motivated to put even more effort into evangelizing and loving these people more than ever. Passages such as Jude 23 implore us to love those who are destined for disaster if not for God’s intervention through us. On an individual level, these are people who need to experience God’s mercy and grace, and we are God’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). When I know that certain places are destined to undergo God’s wrath, it breaks my heart for all those mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, and husbands and wives who have not yet heard about Jesus Christ and experienced the joy that comes with a relationship with Him. May God’s name be glorified everywhere! I hope that you, too, have a revived sense of our call to preach Christ in these spiritually dark places.

The bottom line is that I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in either Islam or prophecy in general.

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