History of Islam: Part 5

And a very pleasant good day to each and every one of you.

I'm Brother James, and I greet you as always in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

And I welcome you one more time to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast.

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We're on this station because God, by his grace, has touched the hearts of his people to pray for and to help us so that we can continue these radio programs.

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We just want to teach you the blessed truths of God's holy word.

We began four broadcasts ago to study the Islamic religion.

This is a series presenting an overview, if you will, of the origins, the foundations, and the history, and some of the principal beliefs and practices of the Islamic religion.

Now, here's what I want to ask you today.

I I've been beginning each of these programs with a question, not a difficult question, a very easy question, one that anyone can answer.

Here's what I want to ask you.

I look out my front door after hearing a horrific crash.

I see in the street in front of my house two badly mangled automobiles.

I race from my front door across the yard out to the street where the two automobiles have collided one with the other.

I look inside the first vehicle, and there is a man crushed.

He is bleeding, he is gasping for breath, he is obviously going to die.

There's nothing I can do to save him.

By the time the paramedics arrive, even if they could arrive in a moment of time, there is no way they could spare this man's life.

Here's what I want to ask you.

As that man lays bleeding in that car, and the two Mormon missionaries ride up on their bicycles, and that man in his dying breath says, What must I do to be saved?

Those two Mormon missionaries begin to explain to him the five fundamental acts of obedience that one must perform in order to gain some form or semblance of eternal life in the Mormon religion.

By the time they have finished explaining those five rules, the man is dead.

He couldn't keep them if he had lived long enough to hear what they were.

Up rushes the priest.

The Roman priest begins to enumerate to this man the sacraments.

By the time that man is finished naming and attempting to explain the sacraments, the poor soul has died and stepped out into eternity.

Up steps the Muslim cleric, and he tells the man about all you need to do is kill some infidels and shed their blood, and you can have yourself some black-eyed beauties in paradise, but before that man could even create some lustful thoughts of black-eyed beauties in his mind, he is dead and never lives to kill an infidel and gain Muhammad's promise of life in paradise.

One religion after another steps to the window of that automobile, and not one of them can offer that dying man any hope at all, because every religion demands some form, some fashion, some type of good works done by man in order to please God and to earn eternal life.

I push them all aside.

Some think me rude.

I tell them all to get out of my way, some are offended.

But I reach the window of that automobile and I tell that dying man, Sir, listen to me.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

He looks at me and says, What?

What?

I say, Sir, Christ died to pay for all your sins.

And he rose from the dead.

Do you believe that?

He tries to nod his head.

All he can do is assent with his eyes.

He believes Christ died for his sins.

He believes Jesus rose from the dead, I say, sir, as surely as the dying thief hanging on the cross received the gift of God, which is eternal life, you too this moment can be saved if you will believe from your heart on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that man with dying lips calls upon the name of his Savior Christ, Jesus the Lord, and receives everlasting life.

Now that's why.

That's why I'm a Christian.

Not a Muslim, not a Buddhist, not a Catholic, not a Protestant, not a Jew.

That's why I'm a Christian.

Because I have a Savior to offer to this world.

Not a religion, not a system of good works, not a set of good deeds.

I have a Savior.

Jesus Christ the Lord.

And I'm telling you right now, any man, woman, boy, girl living, breathing on the face of this earth that will turn to Jesus Christ and trust him, he can and will forgive their sins and give them everlasting life.

That's the difference.

If you know nothing else about the Muslim religion, that's all you need to know.

It is a religion.

I'd rather have a savior than a religion any day.

Any day.

The promise of paradise.

The heaven of the Mohammedan religion is the most gorgeous garden of sensual delights ever conceived by the imagination of man.

Little is said about spiritual delights, although all the blessed are supposed to see and talk with God Himself twice each day, Muhammad held out the reward of paradise constantly before his soldiers, promising that those who died in battle attempting to slaughter those that disagreed with Muhammad would be at once admitted to its sensuous delights.

He declared that no true believer would be forever excluded from them, although he once stated that the poor would be admitted five hundred years before anybody else to recompense them for their extra suffering in this world.

Of course, he wasn't interested in getting there five hundred years early.

Now think about this.

Here is a man who taught that if you were a true believer, you got to paradise.

If you were poor in this world, you got there five hundred years sooner, and yet he devoted his life to robbing, looting, plundering, and stealing to increase his wealth.

Would that make you want to follow that man to his paradise?

Now, if paradise is so great, why would you want to delay your entrance by five hundred years?

Why accumulate wealth if you can get there quicker being poor?

This paradise of Muhammad, or heaven, uh, is said to be filled with all things which the imagination can conceive to give pleasure.

The very uh lowest man in paradise, declared Muhammad, would have eighty thousand servants.

I don't suppose it'd be paradise for the servants, do you?

And seventy-two wives, translated variously as seventy-two girls of paradise, or seventy-two virgins, or seventy-two black-eyed maidens.

Now, the holy Bible, the holy Bible speaks of a river of life, speaks of light, speaks of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, upon his throne, speaks of no sickness, no sorrow, no pain, no death, no heartache, no bloodshed, no funerals, no graves.

Muhammad spoke of seventy-two women for you to take advantage of as you will.

Now where that leaves faithful women, we'll get to later in our study.

These seventy-two women and eighty thousand servants were besides any of the wives that uh the uh man had had in this world, if he wants them.

He didn't have to have his earthly wives in heaven, but he could have them if they wanted them.

The follower of Muhammad was promised an abode of his own in which the richest of hangings and furniture were adorning the place.

Round about would be gardens in which to grow rare and sweet smelling plants and wondrous trees from which can be plucked any form of fruit or bird ready for eating.

Magnificent banquets would be of daily occurrence.

A man would never cease to be hungry when he wants to eat all of them.

So a man could sit down at the table and just eat for a year, two years, five years, ten years, and he'd be hungry the whole time, just gorge himself endlessly.

All impurities would pass from the body in a sort of uh odoriferous, perfumed perspiration.

Now, I suppose a man that lived in tents in the hot desert would would view the ideal heaven as kind of a place where you could eat all you want and have gardens and trees, and your sweat wouldn't stink.

And that's what Muhammad promised his followers.

Seventy-two women and sweat that didn't stink.

That's the heaven of the Muhammadan.

All women would be made young again before they entered heaven.

There would be no old women there.

Now, isn't it amazing how much Joe Smith and Muhammad had in common?

They both conned people into believing that angels spoke to them and told them that Jesus Christ was a liar.

And they both had this hang-up about women.

They wanted all the young, good-looking women they could get.

Muhammad said that when he looked into hell, most of the people there were women.

That's what he said.

I didn't say that.

Muhammad said that.

Husbands would not rejoin their wives in heaven unless they so desired.

But wives would be replaced by young girls of the most ravishing beauty, free from all natural impurities, defects, and inconveniences pertaining to their sex.

But what do you want me to say?

Do I need to comment upon the intent and desire of this man's heart?

Do I need to speak to those of you that are born-again Christians about the difference between the writings and the promises of Muhammad and those set forth in the Holy Bible?

Do I need to suggest to you the difference between the Islamic offering of eternal life to all who believe, and the statement that in Christ there is neither male nor female, that both men and women have equal access to all the glories and blessings of God's heaven?

And that every one of us will get a new body so we can enjoy fellowship with one another and fellowship with our Lord.

Whereas Muhammad offers the bodies of young women to be enjoyed by the males who make it to paradise by killing people who disagree with them.

Each would live in a house of pure pearl construction.

There were said to be eight gorgeous gates set with the most precious stones by which paradise is entered.

When the blessed arrive at these gates, they will be met by two beautiful youths, whom God has appointed to wait and wait on and serve those that were arriving.

One of these shall run to give the happy news of the coming to the harem of waiting wives.

Two angels also shall meet him, bearing gifts from God.

These shall bestow upon him a new robe called his paradise garment, and place rings on each of his fingers inscribed with happy thoughts.

The joys of paradise are thus described by an Arabic scholar in his translations from the doctrines of Muhammad.

When the true believer has passed through all his trials and expiated all his sins, he will refresh himself at the pool of the prophet.

This is a lake of fragrant water, a month's journey in circuit, fed by the river Al Kotar Kothir, C-A-W-T-H-E-R, which flows from paradise.

The water of this lake is as sweet as honey, cold as snow, and clear as crystal.

He who once tastes of it will nevermore be tormented by thirst.

After the true believer has drunk of this water of life, the gate of paradise is opened to him by the angel Rushvan.

The first heaven of the garden of eternity is made entirely of silver.

It is illumined with stars, each one of which hangs down from above on a chain of solid gold.

Angels stationed in these stars keep constant watch, lest demons scale the battlements and enter heaven.

This is the abode of Adam and of his angels in the form of all the various animals of earth.

These animals watch and protect the species in the earth itself.

So it's not clear from that wording, but the indication is that Adam now resides in an animal shape or animal form, as do the angels.

It's clear about the angels, I'm just not sure about Adam.

The writer goes on to say, the second heaven, and there are, by the way, there are seven of these.

So when you hear someone talk about being in the seventh heaven, that's uh that's uh a Muhammadan phrase.

That's an Islamic uh indication there or reference.

The second heaven, or the abode of peace, is wrought of polished steel, of surpassing brilliancy.

The prophet Noah has his home here.

The remainder is given over to the homes of the righteous of the second degree.

Those who, while they were believers, did fall into occasional sin, or were not distinguished for many good works, that is, they didn't blow up enough buildings with infidels in them, or by the amount of their gifts to the poor.

The third heaven, or the abode or rest, is inlaid with precious stones so brilliant that no mortal eye can survive their light.

Here lives the angel Death, named Azrael.

He is seated before a great table on which lies the book in which he enters the names of those about to be born, and erases the names of those about to die.

So he's a busy fellow indeed.

Azrael is of fearful proportions, his eyes being set apart from each other by the space of seventy thousand days' journey.

That's a big head.

Now let's suppose you're on foot and you travel ten miles a day.

This fellow's eyes are seven hundred thousand miles apart.

Let's suppose you're on horseback, and you've got a good, strong, sturdy horse, and you stay at it for twelve hours, and you cover a hundred miles a day.

This angel's eyes are seven million miles apart.

I don't know how far you can go in a Jared Airliner.

I suppose Muhammad didn't take that into account.

You talk about somebody having the big head.

Azrael's got the big head.

At his command, he has a hundred thousand battalions of armed men.

Then there's the fourth heaven, and this is called the Garden of Eden.

It is like the first, formed of the finest silver.

It is presided over by an angel, five hundred days' journey in height.

Well that's not much.

This angel is five hundred days' journey tall.

Azrael, his eyes are 70,000 days' journey apart.

So this angel's a mere pipsqueak.

At the ten mile per day situation, uh this angel is five hundred thousand miles tall.

Now just think about that for a minute.

Just just think about what what the man's saying.

Muhammad speaks of an angel whose eyes are seven million miles apart in the third heaven, and then an angel in the fourth heaven who is conservatively, this is taking the least possible figure, who is conservatively five hundred thousand miles tall.

You talk about fairy tales.

He has uh great eyes, they run with floods of tears.

I imagine so.

If somebody five hundred thousand miles high started crying, uh, you'd have a flood, that's for sure.

He weeps over the sins of mankind and he forecasts the calamities that are fall upon them.

The fifth heaven, or the garden of resort, is the place where everything shines with the purest gold.

Aaron lives there, and also the angel of fire, known as the avenging angel, he finds his abode there.

He's a most terrible being.

He's hideous and terrific.

His visage of copper is covered with wens and warts.

His eyes flash lightnings, and he grasps a flaming lance.

He sits on a throne surrounded with flames, and near him is a pile of red-hot chains.

To him and his angels are entrusted the carrying out of divine vengeance on infidels and sinners.

Then there's the sixth heaven.

This is the garden of pleasure.

Here everything is formed of the jewel Hasalah, or carbuncle.

This is the home of the prophet Moses, and the abode of the guardian angel of heaven and earth.

This angel dispatches his Servants when needful to the earth to take part in the affairs of man, helping the righteous and those who spread the faith.

So this would be the angel that helped Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and Omar Qaddafi and others who killed infidels in order to attain a paradise of 72 virgins.

Here also is the abode of those who have been martyrs.

That's people who strap bombs to themselves and walk into restaurants and onto buses and blow up women and children who are infidels.

Or those who have spent their lives in teaching the faith.

Now, whether or not teaching the faith means a westernized, Americanized version of Islam that is socially acceptable to people in America, or whether or not teaching the faith is teaching the faith as Mr.

Arafat and his followers would teach it, but nevertheless, if you teach the faith, spend your life teaching the faith, you get to go to the sixth heaven.

And then the seventh heaven, or the garden of paradise, this is the home of Abraham and other mighty prophets.

Also an angel may be found here whose body exceeds in bulk that of the whole earth, which is really no big deal when another angel's five hundred thousand miles high, but this angel's body exceeds in bulk that of the whole earth.

It has seventy thousand heads.

In each head are seventy thousand mouths, and in each mouth seventy thousand tongues.

Each tongue speaks seventy thousand different languages, and all are constantly engaged in chanting the praises of Allah.

Now I've just got to be honest with you, uh, that's that's too much for my even my fertile imagination.

That's a little too much.

An angel with 70,000 heads, in each head are 70,000 mouths, in each mouth are 70,000 tongues, each tongue speaks 70,000 languages.

Hang on a second.

Let's let me reach across my desk.

Sorry about that, and grab a piece of paper.

I'm not very good at math, so I'm gonna try this.

70,000.

I'm taking a chance here, heads.

And in though each of those heads are 70,000 mouths.

Uh that wouldn't be enough.

490,000.

That'd be, we got some more zeros.

I look, I can't do the math.

We're somewhere in the zillions of tongues and languages at seventh heaven.

It'd be worth going to just to see that angel.

I'll tell you right now.

Well, besides these seven heavens, Muhammad, on his wondrous journey, was taken into another region, beyond the seventh heaven, where he spoke with God himself, whose face was shrouded with twenty thousand veils, for no mortal might look on that august countenance and live.

Besides the throne of God, beside on either side grew the great tree sedrat, S-E-D-R-A-T, a marvelous lotus, in whose branches sported millions of birds, all singing verses from the Quran.

Washington Irving's life of Muhammad says this its leaves are like the ears of elephants, and its fruits milder than milk and sweeter than honey, while every seed encloses a celestial virgin provided for the pleasure of true believers.

So there's that sex hang up again on the part of Muhammad.

The soil of paradise is of the finest wheat and flour, fragrant with perfumes and strewn with pearls and hyacinths instead of stands and pebbles.

Some of the streams are of crystal purity running between green banks, enameled with flowers, others are of milk, of wine, of honey, flowing over beds of musk between marges of campfire, covered with moss and saffron.

The air is sweeter than the spicy gales of Saba and cooled by sparkling fountains.

Mr Irving is far more poetic than was Mohammed.

There's a wonderful tree of life, so large that a fleet of horses would need a hundred years to cross its shade.

That's a big tree.

These boughs are laden with fruit.

The inhabitants of this garden were clo are to be clothed with garments of jewels, wear crowns of gold, pearls, and diamonds.

They live in palaces, silken pavilions.

Here every believer will have a hundred servants bearing dishes and goblets of gold to serve him every variety of food and beverage.

He'll eat without being filled, drink without being drunken.

The last morsel and the last drop will instantly be replaced by another, and they'll never feel a headache, and their wits will never be dimmed.

So here's the paradise of Muhammad.

You get virgins and maidens and women.

You get to eat all day long and never get full.

Your sweat smells good, and you can drink liquor twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and never get drunk.

Well, help yourself.

I'll choose Jesus.

I'll take the promises of the Holy Bible over angels with seventy thousand days' journeys between their eyes, and millions and billions of heads and mouths and tongues, and so forth.

Well, that's all the time we've got.

I tell you, it just goes so fast.

I'm sorry, we're we're just finished for the day.

If you'd like this study on cassette recording, an overview of Islamic history and Islamic beliefs, you may have it by writing to the address, which I don't have time to give you.

Maybe the announcer will be on in just a moment to give you that address.

Uh, but uh we'll be back uh again, God willing, on this radio station to continue the study.

Until then, I'm Brother James.

May the Lord richly bless you, and good day.

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Until next time and throughout eternity, may Jesus Christ be praised.