Islam is the system.
Muslims are people.
I don’t know of any time in the Bible where we are commanded to love systems. Nations are redeemable according to Scripture, but systems are more akin to what the Bible calls the Beast and the AntiChrist and the False Prophet.
Here is why I believe praying for the fall of Islam is one way to love Muslims:
- Islam teaches that Jesus is not God, that there is no Son of God, and that Jesus did not die on the cross. In itself, this is adequate reason to pray and work for the collapse of Islam by converting Muslims to be Christians. These three teachings of Islam are lies and must be countered with the Truth of the Bible. The Bible teaches that Jesus is God and that Jesus claimed to be Lord. The Bible in the Hebrew Scriptures and New Covenant teach that God does have a Son, and that Jesus (salvation) is his name. Jesus did die on a Roman cross, which is prophesied by the Hebrew Prophets and, predicted by Jesus himself, and historically verified by both the gospels, the teaching of the Missionaries, and the practice of the churches, not to mention external historical records.
- Islam exhorts the exemplification of Muhammed. If he were a godly person, this would be a good thing. However: Muhammed was anything but virtuous. He married a little girl. He had sex with a prepubescent girl according to Islamic tradition. He taught that raping any and all female prisoners of war was an OK thing to do, and commended it to his followers. Muhammed himself at one time had 10 wives. Historically, Islam has permitted other people to have 4 wives at a time. (Polygamy is oppressive to women and corrupts society. There are indication in Genesis that this one of the main reasons for the OT Flood in Noah’s day.) The Lord Jesus taught that marriage is to be between one man and one woman for as long as they both shall live. The missionary Paul taught that women (and men) should be mature before they marry.
- Islam, again following Muhammed, has been one of the perpetrators of racism and oppression of dark skinned peoples of Africa. Tradition Islamic teaching is that Muhammed was white and that Blackness of skin is a sign of a curse. Islam promoted the black African slave trade and spread it to Europe. The Bible says that all peoples are equal in the the Messiah.
- Islam launched as a military raiding movement. Islamic sources tell us that initially Islam spread primarily by military conquest. It did not succeed by the virtue of it’s ideals but by the sword. Arabs conquered other Arabs and then conquered other peoples and nations. Local people’s were exploited for their skills and resources, but once Islam’s system of oppressive taxation on minorities took root, the Arabic renaissance collapsed. Jesus rebuked his disciples for defending him with the sword. The message of Jesus is called the gospel of peace.
- Islam has a book that is full of significant alterations and changes, but most Islamic scholars refuse to address the textual corruption of their supposedly holy book. It is a book which promotes falsehood and is derived from Jewish and Christian sectarian and heretical works, not rooted in divine inspiration, see #1. Jesus urged people to look at the words of the Bible carefully and to remember truth accurately without distorting the words of revelation. Christians and Jews spend a lot of time and energy ensuring the accuracy of the Scripture.
There are other reasons, but these are some of the more major reasons I pray for the collapse of Islam.
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