How the text of the Qur’an tells a ‘hidden’ story about its own origins.
In his recent book, The Qur’an and its Biblical Reflexes, and in this video (from the June 11, 2020 live webinar), Mark Durie explores how the text of the Qur’an tells a ‘hidden’ story about its own origins, one which is different from the conventional account.
The Qur’an is a difficult book to read and understand. Within the religion of Islam, its text has always been read, explained and understood through the lens of the biography of Muhammad, which was itself based on later, sources committed to writing more than a century after the Qur’an came into existence.
This is a story about a small religious community, not located in Mecca, but somewhere else, enjoying a more moderate climate suited to agriculture but vulnerable to earthquakes, which found itself facing an existential theological crisis. Tune into this webinar to hear Mark Durie tell the story of how this crisis was resolved, and the momentous consequences which continue to influence the lives of billions, right down to the present day.
Showing posts with label Mark Durie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Durie. Show all posts
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Mark Durie: 'The Qur’an’s Turn To Violence'
"A careful reading of the Qur’an’s text reveals a movement which was faltering under the weight of the non-arrival of a prophesied doomsday scenario. This movement was then saved – and transformed – by a shocking and epoch-making announcement that the swords of believers were to be considered an act of God."
This landmark article by Dr. Mark Durie, based on his groundbreaking new book on the Qur'an, upends the standard approach to understanding the shift of Islam from a relatively benign religious movement (in its so-called "Meccan Period") to an aggressive and militaristic religio-political ideology (typically identified as beginning with the "Medinan Period"), which expanded rapidly through the sword and bloodshed to conquer and subjugate huge swaths of the ancient Christian World lasting over a millennium — vast areas of North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Europe — and which is directly responsible today for the new era of global martyrdom of Christians in the 21st century, the relaunch of Islam's 1400-year-old jihad against the followers of Jesus Christ.
Dr. Durie's enormous contribution to Quranic studies reveals the desperate and opportunistic theological motives behind Muhammad's — and Islam's — embrace of outright hatred and bloody jihad against non-Muslims. The false prophet and forerunner of Antichrist now stands clearly revealed as the maniacal tool of a bloodthirsty "god," justifying the waging of divine wrath on those who reject Allah and his messenger.
The Qur’an’s Turn to Violence
A conventional Islamic theological interpretation is that in Mecca Muhammad and his community were weak, vulnerable and persecuted, so Allah wisely commended patience and forbearance. However when their power was established in Medina the Muslims were commanded to fight for the cause of Allah, ushering in the triumphant advance of the religion.
It is indisputable that there is a progression from peace to violence in the Qur’an. But is the conventional explanation for that shift supported by the text of the Qur’an itself? Does this explanation make the best sense of the Qur’an?
In my recently published book, The Qur’an and its Biblical Reflexes, I argue that the traditional explanation is based on a misreading. Setting aside the whole Mecca-Medina narrative (for a whole host of reasons), I argue that if we read the Qur’an with an ear for changes in its theology around the transition between the (so-called) ‘Meccan’ and ‘Medinan’ verses, a different story emerges. This is a story about a crisis of faith and how it was successfully resolved.
This landmark article by Dr. Mark Durie, based on his groundbreaking new book on the Qur'an, upends the standard approach to understanding the shift of Islam from a relatively benign religious movement (in its so-called "Meccan Period") to an aggressive and militaristic religio-political ideology (typically identified as beginning with the "Medinan Period"), which expanded rapidly through the sword and bloodshed to conquer and subjugate huge swaths of the ancient Christian World lasting over a millennium — vast areas of North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Europe — and which is directly responsible today for the new era of global martyrdom of Christians in the 21st century, the relaunch of Islam's 1400-year-old jihad against the followers of Jesus Christ.
Dr. Durie's enormous contribution to Quranic studies reveals the desperate and opportunistic theological motives behind Muhammad's — and Islam's — embrace of outright hatred and bloody jihad against non-Muslims. The false prophet and forerunner of Antichrist now stands clearly revealed as the maniacal tool of a bloodthirsty "god," justifying the waging of divine wrath on those who reject Allah and his messenger.
The Qur’an’s Turn to Violence
by Mark Durie, June 7, 2019
It is widely recognized that, on the topic of violence, the Qur’an speaks with more than one voice. Some verses speak for peace, and others for war. The conventional explanation is that the difference hinges on the migration of the early Muslim community from Mecca to Medina: in Mecca Muslims were persecuted while Muhammad and the Qur’an preached non-violence and tolerance, but in Medina an Islamic state was established, and Muhammad gathered an army, leading it to triumph in battle against non-believers.
The Problem Of Peace Vs. Violence
It is widely recognized that, on the topic of violence, the Qur’an speaks with more than one voice. Some verses speak for peace, and others for war. The conventional explanation is that the difference hinges on the migration of the early Muslim community from Mecca to Medina: in Mecca Muslims were persecuted while Muhammad and the Qur’an preached non-violence and tolerance, but in Medina an Islamic state was established, and Muhammad gathered an army, leading it to triumph in battle against non-believers.
A Conventional Explanation
A conventional Islamic theological interpretation is that in Mecca Muhammad and his community were weak, vulnerable and persecuted, so Allah wisely commended patience and forbearance. However when their power was established in Medina the Muslims were commanded to fight for the cause of Allah, ushering in the triumphant advance of the religion.
It is indisputable that there is a progression from peace to violence in the Qur’an. But is the conventional explanation for that shift supported by the text of the Qur’an itself? Does this explanation make the best sense of the Qur’an?
"If we read the Qur’an with an ear for changes in its theology around the transition between the (so-called) ‘Meccan’ and ‘Medinan’ verses, a different story emerges."
A Different Story To Be Told
In my recently published book, The Qur’an and its Biblical Reflexes, I argue that the traditional explanation is based on a misreading. Setting aside the whole Mecca-Medina narrative (for a whole host of reasons), I argue that if we read the Qur’an with an ear for changes in its theology around the transition between the (so-called) ‘Meccan’ and ‘Medinan’ verses, a different story emerges. This is a story about a crisis of faith and how it was successfully resolved.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Mark Durie on 'The Noble Qur'an' and its Call to Violent Jihad
Similar to how the Gideons place Bibles in America's hotel and motel rooms, Saudi Arabia globally distributes free copies of its edition of 'The Noble Qur'an', "which can be found in mosques, prayer rooms and meeting places around the world."
But what is contained in this book at the heart of the world's second largest (but fastest growing) religion?
Mark Durie uses the placement of The Noble Qur'an in a prayer room at the airport at Canberra, Australia as an opportunity to reveal what is actually contained in Muhammad's recitations of the literal words of the Islamic god, Allah. And this has much to teach us about the nature of Allah and what lies at the heart of Islam.
by Mark Durie, April 11, 2018:
There is not a Bible, Jewish or Christian, containing such incendiary commentary as populates page after page of 'The Noble Qur’an', which for four years has preached to the faithful in Canberra Airport's prayer room. The ideology it promotes is violent jihad. It is a book to start a war.
The Saudis, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt recently cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions, accusing the Qataris of supporting terrorism. The Saudis have demanded that Qatar close Al-Jazeera and cut all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and the Islamic State. Qatar’s long-standing and well-known support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which aims to unify Muslim nations under an Islamic caliphate and has networks of supporters across the Middle East, is now perceived as a serious threat its neighbours.
This is the pot calling the kettle black, for Saudi Arabia itself has a long record of exporting Islamic radicalism. Among its most notable exports are millions of Korans in translation, which, through commentary (mainly in footnotes) and accompanying materials, incite Muslims to wage violent jihad to establish an Islamic state.
Among the Saudis’ exported Korans is an English-language edition, The Noble Qur’an, which can be found in mosques, prayer rooms and meeting places around the world. Anyone who applies to the Saudi embassy in Canberra will be sent a copy gratis.
The Noble Qur’an can be found in the musallah or prayer room of Canberra’s airport. What is apparently the same edition, with “AIRPORT MUSALLAH”written in black marker pen on the page ends, has been sitting there for the past four years, ever since the new airport was built. The Noble Qur’an is also publicly available in other “multi-faith” spaces that have been springing up in institutions across Australia in recent years, in universities, hospitals and other public places.
But what is contained in this book at the heart of the world's second largest (but fastest growing) religion?
Related:
Calling for Violent Jihad in Australia
by Mark Durie, April 11, 2018:
There is not a Bible, Jewish or Christian, containing such incendiary commentary as populates page after page of 'The Noble Qur’an', which for four years has preached to the faithful in Canberra Airport's prayer room. The ideology it promotes is violent jihad. It is a book to start a war.
This is the pot calling the kettle black, for Saudi Arabia itself has a long record of exporting Islamic radicalism. Among its most notable exports are millions of Korans in translation, which, through commentary (mainly in footnotes) and accompanying materials, incite Muslims to wage violent jihad to establish an Islamic state.
Among the Saudis’ exported Korans is an English-language edition, The Noble Qur’an, which can be found in mosques, prayer rooms and meeting places around the world. Anyone who applies to the Saudi embassy in Canberra will be sent a copy gratis.
The handsomely gilded Noble Qur’an is distributed as part of the Saudis’ global da’wa or effort to propagate Islam. It appears to target two kinds of readers:
First, The Noble Qur’an seeks to enlist Muslims in violent jihad against non-Muslims, to establish an Islamic caliphate.
Second, it aims to engage with Christians. The longest essay in the appendices is an argument that Jesus was a prophet of Islam, and commentary throughout... challenges and “corrects” Christian teachings.
The Noble Qur’an can be found in the musallah or prayer room of Canberra’s airport. What is apparently the same edition, with “AIRPORT MUSALLAH”written in black marker pen on the page ends, has been sitting there for the past four years, ever since the new airport was built. The Noble Qur’an is also publicly available in other “multi-faith” spaces that have been springing up in institutions across Australia in recent years, in universities, hospitals and other public places.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Mark Durie: 'The threat is not extremism, but Islam'
"Mark Durie warns a cognitive dissonance is stopping many of us from understanding Islamist violence. No, we are not facing the threat of 'extremism' but of Islam."
Another in our series, 'Reconnecting with Mark Durie'.
Another in our series, 'Reconnecting with Mark Durie'.
Thanks to Andrew Bolt in the Herald Sun for the lede above, and for spreading this excellent analysis more widely. This is a good article to share with friends and family members who insist that there is no connection between Islam and terrorism, or that there are as many dangerous Christian extremists as Muslim ones, or that there is no difference between Islam and Christianity (a variant of the 'Same God' heresy), or ... "What about the Crusades?!"
On June 5 in Brighton, Melbourne, at a spot I have driven past countless times, there was a terrorist incident. An armed Muslim, Yacqub Khayre, crying out support for the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, took a hostage, killed a hotel worker, and engaged police in a shootout, until he was shot dead. It is hard to imagine a less likely place for jihadist violence than affluent, Anglo Brighton, with its tidily quiet tree-lined streets of multi-million dollar homes. If it could happen in Brighton, it could happen anywhere.
Islamic terrorism has been a shock to the secular soul of the West. We have tried to address the security challenge, but are not across the intellectual challenge. Recently in the Australian, Jonathan Cole exploded three myths that hamper efforts to counter terrorism: the essentialist claim that Islam is a religion of peace; the idea that jihadists are political actors exploiting religion; and the idea that jihadists are deranged psychopaths. In response, Cole argued that the terrorism debate needs to engage with Islamic theology.
There is a fourth myth not canvassed by Cole, the ‘myth of the extremist’. This is the idea that the jihadist’s condition is a case of ‘extremism’, a state which transcends any particular religion, and which therefore has nothing particular to do with Islam. The myth is that the problem is not what jihadists believe, but the way they believe; not the content of their faith, but the blindness with which they pursue it. This was the view of Charles Wooley’s recent article ‘Blind faith breeds barbarity in Islam as it did in Christianity’.
Excuse me, but your cognitive dissonance is showing
by Mark Durie, June 19, 2017
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| Herald Sun issue on the June 2017 Islamic jihad terror attack in Brighton, Melbourne, Australia. |
On June 5 in Brighton, Melbourne, at a spot I have driven past countless times, there was a terrorist incident. An armed Muslim, Yacqub Khayre, crying out support for the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, took a hostage, killed a hotel worker, and engaged police in a shootout, until he was shot dead. It is hard to imagine a less likely place for jihadist violence than affluent, Anglo Brighton, with its tidily quiet tree-lined streets of multi-million dollar homes. If it could happen in Brighton, it could happen anywhere.
Islamic terrorism has been a shock to the secular soul of the West. We have tried to address the security challenge, but are not across the intellectual challenge. Recently in the Australian, Jonathan Cole exploded three myths that hamper efforts to counter terrorism: the essentialist claim that Islam is a religion of peace; the idea that jihadists are political actors exploiting religion; and the idea that jihadists are deranged psychopaths. In response, Cole argued that the terrorism debate needs to engage with Islamic theology.
There is a fourth myth not canvassed by Cole, the ‘myth of the extremist’. This is the idea that the jihadist’s condition is a case of ‘extremism’, a state which transcends any particular religion, and which therefore has nothing particular to do with Islam. The myth is that the problem is not what jihadists believe, but the way they believe; not the content of their faith, but the blindness with which they pursue it. This was the view of Charles Wooley’s recent article ‘Blind faith breeds barbarity in Islam as it did in Christianity’.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Mark Durie: 'The Abrahamic Fallacy: Why Abraham is not a point of unity for Islam, Judaism, and Christianity' (VIDEO)
Continuing our series, 'Reconnecting with Mark Durie'.
The Abrahamic Fallacy: Why Abraham is not a point of unity for Islam, Judaism, and Christianity'
Scroll down for video...
by Mark Durie, Interface Institute, August 19, 2017:
The phrase ‘Abrahamic religion’ or ‘faith of Abraham’ was first promoted in ecumenical circles during the 1950’s and 1960’s by Lebanese Maronite priest, Youakim Moubarak, whose theological vision was political, of an ‘egalitarian Palestine in which Jews, Christians and Muslims demonstrate together its abrahamic and ecumenical vocation’.
In reality, however, Abraham is a divisive figure: in Judaism he is the Torah-observant father of the Jewish nation; for Christians he is the apostle of salvation by faith alone; for Muslims he is the proto-typical Muslim, a forerunner and validator of Muhammad.
Moubarak took the phrase ‘religion of Abraham’ from the Koran and his promotion of it is a manifestation of dhimmi theology, a worldview constrained by existential fear, psychological accommodation and denial. In fact the ‘Abrahamic vocation’ inspired by the Koran leads to Islamization and sharia implementation. The current state of the Middle East offers eloquent testimony to the hollowness of this vision.
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Dr. Mark Durie is an academic, human rights activist, Anglican pastor, a Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and Adjunct Research Fellow of the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
In reality, however, Abraham is a divisive figure: in Judaism he is the Torah-observant father of the Jewish nation; for Christians he is the apostle of salvation by faith alone; for Muslims he is the proto-typical Muslim, a forerunner and validator of Muhammad.
Moubarak took the phrase ‘religion of Abraham’ from the Koran and his promotion of it is a manifestation of dhimmi theology, a worldview constrained by existential fear, psychological accommodation and denial. In fact the ‘Abrahamic vocation’ inspired by the Koran leads to Islamization and sharia implementation. The current state of the Middle East offers eloquent testimony to the hollowness of this vision.
______________
Dr. Mark Durie is an academic, human rights activist, Anglican pastor, a Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and Adjunct Research Fellow of the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
Monday, February 12, 2018
Mark Durie: 'Muhammad killed many, Jesus none' (video)
Dr Mark Durie interviewed by Andrew Bolt, Monday 17 April 2017. “Anglican Pastor Mark Durie questions people’s ability to recognise that religion has shaped culture…”
This wide ranging interview lets Mark Durie explore how religion does influence culture, and how that is critical when considering Muslim culture and issues like FGM, abuse of women, and of course jihad and terrorism.
Unfortunately, I could not embed the video code, so do click over to the Interface Institute to watch this excellent interview.
Dr. Mark Durie is an author, academic, human rights activist, Anglican pastor, a Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and Adjunct Research Fellow of the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
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| Click to watch the interview on the Interface Institute website... |
This wide ranging interview lets Mark Durie explore how religion does influence culture, and how that is critical when considering Muslim culture and issues like FGM, abuse of women, and of course jihad and terrorism.
Unfortunately, I could not embed the video code, so do click over to the Interface Institute to watch this excellent interview.
Dr. Mark Durie is an author, academic, human rights activist, Anglican pastor, a Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and Adjunct Research Fellow of the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
Reconnecting with Mark Durie
New Institute and blog series catches up with one of Christianity's most significant voices regarding the challenge of Islam.
I was updating the Facing Islam blog last week, and noticed (again) that Mark Durie had not posted anything on his blog for many months now (late June 2017, to be exact). This concerned me, as I consider him to be one of the most important Christian writers on Islam, so I ventured over to his site to see if I could find out the reason for this apparent absence.
I found it, in an unassuming blog post from June 20, 2017, in which Rev. Dr. Durie announces a new organization and platform designed to provide resources to help people "understand global religious currents and their impact on areas such as public policy, human rights, security and conflict." The full description sets forth the Interface Institute's purpose:
Upon exploring the Interface Institute's website, I found several new examples, including some video, of Mark Durie's most recent writings, interviews, and lectures, which are, as always, extremely thoughtful, informative, and persuasive.
I was updating the Facing Islam blog last week, and noticed (again) that Mark Durie had not posted anything on his blog for many months now (late June 2017, to be exact). This concerned me, as I consider him to be one of the most important Christian writers on Islam, so I ventured over to his site to see if I could find out the reason for this apparent absence.
I found it, in an unassuming blog post from June 20, 2017, in which Rev. Dr. Durie announces a new organization and platform designed to provide resources to help people "understand global religious currents and their impact on areas such as public policy, human rights, security and conflict." The full description sets forth the Interface Institute's purpose:
Introducing The Interface Institute
Readers of markdurie.com blog posts may wish to connect with the resources of the Interface Institute.
The Interface Institute is a new resource which provides the public with resources to understand the nexus between society and religion, particularly in relation to monotheistic religions.
After a phase in western history when a dominant assumption was that spiritual influences were in decline, we find ourselves launched into what Richard John Neuhaus already in 1997 called ‘the approaching century of religion’.
It is becoming increasingly clear that multiple social and political challenges are being brought on by profound global shifts in religious identity and allegiance, yet many feel ill-equipped to respond to these challenges. The Interface Institute assists people to understand global religious currents and their impact on areas such as public policy, human rights, security and conflict.
The Interface Institute curates a diverse range of published resources, both from Muslim-majority contexts, and also from nations of the Muslim diaspora, including the West. It also welcomes original written contributions Potential contributions can be sent to contact@interfaceinstitute.org
Readers can connect with the Interface Institute’s resources at:
Web: http://interfaceinstitute.org/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interfaceinstitute/
From Mark Durie
Upon exploring the Interface Institute's website, I found several new examples, including some video, of Mark Durie's most recent writings, interviews, and lectures, which are, as always, extremely thoughtful, informative, and persuasive.
I am adding the Interface Institute to the left hand banner here which provides current articles from important websites on Islam and jihad. I will also be posting a selection of Mark Durie's most significant recent posts at Interface Institute, which help illumine a dark and troubling subject, and provide helpful resources. Watch for more posts soon in this series, and do visit the Interface Institute.
You can also find links to Mark Durie's books in the right hand column here, or explore them on his website.
You can also find links to Mark Durie's books in the right hand column here, or explore them on his website.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Islamic Indoctrination Taking Place in Georgia Public Schools
Georgia Public Schools are teaching key components of Islamic dawah: “schools are reportedly forcing students to learn the Five Pillars of Islam—the creed one must learn to convert—and teaching students that Allah is the same God worshipped by Christians.”
So far, unlike in Tennessee, they haven’t [yet] forced the students to actually recite the Shahada, the Muslim confession of faith.
Further, homework assignments are designed to indoctrinate students into accepting this assertion as fact, when it is a strongly contested point which many Orthodox and traditional Christians flatly reject, and with compelling reason. In addition, the volume of Georgia school materials on Islam outnumber those on Christianity by up to 10 to 1, further highlighting the preferential treatment accorded Islam “in a way that could violate the U.S. Constitution.”
The “Same God” assertion is indeed a primary plank of Islamic dawah (proselytizing), and together with Islam’s claim to be an “Abrahamic Faith” is one of the main tools used by Muslim apologists to advance their agenda within unsuspecting Christian and Jewish communities.
Besides the theological issues with the “Same God” claim itself, Mark Durie explains some of the many dangers this and the “Abrahamic Faith” assertion conceals:
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Mark Durie: "They ARE the Reformation"
"Christianity has undergone its reformation, so why not Islam? The European reformation took centuries: why wouldn't an Islamic reformation also take time? Isn't it all a matter of time?"
See also: Raymond Ibrahim: Islam’s ‘Reformation’ Is Already Here—and It’s Called ‘ISIS’
See also: Raymond Ibrahim: Islam’s ‘Reformation’ Is Already Here—and It’s Called ‘ISIS’
By Mark Durie — January 4, 2010
On December 1, 2009, Wafa Sultan and Daniel Pipes debated whether and to what extent a 'moderate' Islam is possible. Although both are opponents of Islamic radicalism, on this question they did not agree.
Wafa Sultan argued that Islam is Islam, pure and simple, and there can never be such a thing as 'moderate Islam'. On the other hand, Daniel Pipes argued that the answer to radical Islam must be moderate Islam: Islam can be moderated, and the effort to support Muslim moderates is both necessary and worthwhile.
The two participants in the debate are as contrasting a pair as one could imagine. The ex-Muslim Wafa Sultan is undoubtedly a powerful voice in her native Arabic, and even in English she is impassioned and speaks with a memorable turn of phrase. In contrast, Daniel Pipes is measured and softly spoken, carefully and persistently making his case. He challenged her to explain what practical solutions she could offer to the challenge of radical Islam. She challenged him to show the results produced by his promotion of moderate Islam.
I commend the debate to readers, not because one party won the day, but because the speakers were addressing important questions, which will exercise many minds for years - perhaps generations - to come.
My concern here however is to focus on an important comparison between medieval Christianity and present-day Islam, which was raised by someone in the audience, who asked:
I will suggest that this [radical Islam] is not that different from Christianity at the time of the crusades, which was a very belligerent religion compared to what it is today. So look at that in terms of the evolution of a religious doctrine, and how long does that take?
The questioner went on to speculate whether the acceleration of change, which we see in the world around us, could allow a reformation of Islam to happen more rapidly than happened with Christianity.
On countless occasions over the years I have heard this comparison: Christianity has undergone its reformation, so why not Islam? The European reformation took centuries: why wouldn't an Islamic reformation also take time? Isn't it all a matter of time.
This line of thinking arises from a world view which looks at ideologies through the lens of 'progress' or 'evolution', shaped by a kind of Darwinism. The underlying presupposition is that human societies evolve as time passes, progressing and becoming more humane and more advanced.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Mark Durie: 'Killing Infidels the Key to Paradise: the Islamic State’s Hacking Division'
"Fighting to kill non-Muslims can be a ticket to glory, win or lose: either you kill and gain a get-out-of-hell free card, or you are killed and gain a get-into-paradise-free card. This is a win-win proposition for the jihadi."
by Mark Durie, March 23, 2015
Last week the Islamic State's ‘Hacking Division’ released the names and addresses of one hundred US military personnel. It urged the ‘brothers residing in America’ – i.e. Muslims in America – to ‘deal with’ them, which is to say, it wants them killed.
It is worth giving careful consideration to the Islamic legal reasoning given by IS in support of their call to kill non-Muslims.
The Hacking Division quoted two verses of the Qur’an:
- Sura 9:123 ‘fight believers who are near to you’ and
- Sura 9:14 ‘Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them, and satisfy [actually yashfi ‘heal’] the breasts of a believing people’.
These two verses include the word qātilū, translated here as ‘fight’, although the Arabic actually means ‘fight to kill’ (see discussion here). The verbal root q-t-l from which qātilū is formed means ‘kill’.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Mark Durie: ‘A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross’
by Mark Durie, February 21, 2015
This post is a analytical explanation of a film produced by Al-Hayat Media of the Islamic State, which portrays the ritual slaughter of 21 Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya, in the film “A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross”.
Indented, italicized text is commentary by Mark Durie.
Asterisk indicates words from the film, either in the form of titles or sub-titles, or as narration.
This is Part 2 of a pair of posts about this film. Part 1 is Bearing the cross: a letter to the Islamic State.
This post has also appeared on Lapido Media.
Mark Durie: Bearing the Cross — A Letter to the Islamic State
Anglican pastor and author of key books on Christianity and Islam, Mark Durie, pens a powerful and evangelical response to ISIS in the wake of the martyrdom of the 21 Coptic Christians in Libya. Read all the way to the end, and share widely.
by Mark Durie, February 21, 2015
by Mark Durie, February 21, 2015
This is the first of a two-part post on the 21 Egyptian martyrs killed in Libya. This first part is a reflection, as a Christian, on aspects of this event and reactions to it. The second part, ‘A message signed with blood to the Nation of the Cross’ consists of explanatory notes on the texts – spoken and written – which were part of the Islamic State’s film of their ritual beheadings. This post has also appeared on Lapido media.
The Islamic State sent me a letter this week. This letter was in the form of a short film produced by the Islamic State’s Al-Hayat Media centre. This was not addressed to me personally, but to all Christians everywhere. Its title was A Message Signed with BLOOD to the Nation of the Cross. This was a video of the ritual slaughter of the 21 Egyptian Christians. Their blood flowing in the ocean waves was the ‘signature’ at the end of the video.
As I write this it is Ash Wednesday. This is the start of forty days of Lent, a period of fasting and contemplation for Christians all over the world. For many centuries it has been a custom of Christians to receive a mark of the cross in ash upon the forehead as a sign of repentance.
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A Coptic Girl with a Wrist Cross Tattoo
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As I received this mark of the cross today I was thinking of the 21 Egyptian Christian martyrs. Copts permanently bear the sign of the cross, tattooed on their wrists, as a sign that they will refuse to renounce their beliefs.
I intend to read out these men’s names at our morning church services this Sunday, here in Melbourne, Australia. And I also choose to honour them today by writing to acknowledge the truth about why they were killed, and in particular the explanation given by their killers.
I also wish to record, as a Christian and a pastor, my intense protest at the White House official statement of February 15 2015 concerning this event. This makes no mention of the reason the twenty one were killed: their Christian faith. This culpable denial dishonours them, as it dishonours me and Christians everywhere.
The White House statement claimed that “ISIL’s barbarity knows no bounds. It is unconstrained by faith, sect or ethnicity.” Not true. The Islamic State’s actions are constrained by its theology, and in this case its targets are also determined on religious grounds; they were Christians. It is not an endorsement of the killers’ Islamic beliefs to acknowledge that these jihadis follow a form of Islam, and that their sect and faith does constrain their behaviour accordingly.
President Obama has defended his administration’s misrepresentations on the grounds that the radicals are “desperate for legitimacy” so “They try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of Islam.” But these are not desperate people. They are shockingly confident in their beliefs. They do not “try to portray themselves” as Islamic: they sincerely believe they are. Christopher Hitchens got it right over a decade ago when he suggested of Al Qa’ida recruits that “they believe their own propaganda,” and “absolutely subscribe to the tenets of their version … of their religion, Islam.”
Obama also stated that “we must never accept the premise that they put forward, because it is a lie.” This too is nonsense. A lie is a deliberate intention to deceive, and these self-described jihadis are – at least by their own understanding – speaking the absolute truth when they claim to speak for Islam.
Some years ago I had the privilege of reading the Gospel at a Coptic service held in St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, here in Melbourne. The service was held to commemorate the 22 martyrs of the attack on Al-Qiddisin Church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve. It was led by Bishop Suriel, Melbourne’s Coptic bishop.
The Al-Qiddisin martyr’s service impressed me deeply. I long pondered the fact that the Coptic church of Egypt has been grieving over the freshly dug graves of its martyred sons and daughters since the dawn of Christianity. As I sat through the service and sung the hymns about martyrdom, I thought, “So this is what it means to be a Copt”.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Mark Durie: Fear and the rhetoric of 'unprecedented' barbarity
Context and analysis from one of the foremost Christian writers on Islam.
Many leaders have been stating that the Islamic State’s actions are ‘unprecedented’, ‘extreme’, ‘unique’, or even ‘eccentric’. Western leaders who are intervening in the Syria-Iraq conflict justify their actions by declaring the Islamic State to be uniquely evil. In announcing military action and increased security measures, Australian Prime Ministry Tony Abbottsaid of the Islamic State that “To do such evil — and to revel in doing such evil — is simply unprecedented”. David Cameron stated that “ISIL is a terrorist organisation unlike those we have dealt with before.” Barack Obama claimed “these terrorists are unique in their brutality.”
The actions of Islamic State’s adherents are morally repugnant in the extreme, but only by applying historical amnesia and selective vision could one claim that their evil is unique or unprecedented.
In recent decades, not dissimilar horrors have regularly been reported from around the world, for example the abuses of the ‘Lord’s Resistance Army’, or the genocide pursued by the government of Sudan against the Christians and traditional believers in the Nuba mountains and the Blue Nile region, and before that against tribal Muslims in the Dafur region. Indeed for decades the Sudanese government has unleashed jihad – with all the atrocities of the Islamic State – against its own (black African) citizens, often assisted by jihadis from all over the Arabic world, just like in Syria and Iraq today.
The Islamic State's actions are also not unique in history. Quite apart from the horrors of Nazism and Communism, Andrew Bostom has rightly pointed out that the atrocities of the Ottoman Caliphate in exterminating Christians under their rule were greater in magnitude than what is currently being experienced in Syria and Iraq. He writes:
What is so disturbing to Western people about the Islamic State is not the extremity of the barbarity, which is far from unprecedented, but the fact that so many Western citizens have been signing up with IS, and the psychological warfare being directed by IS against the outside world, including the West, manifested, for example, in the videos of beheadings, and the way some enslaved, raped women have been forced to phone their families to tell them about their abuse, even while it is going on.
What is unique for us in the West is the way the fear is now upon our doorstep: this is the fear that what is happening there will come back home to haunt us.
The challenge facing the West now is not simply stopping the Islamic State – as important as that is – but what to do about the fear.
Dropping bombs on the Islamic State will not do it.
By Mark Durie, September 26, 2014
The actions of Islamic State’s adherents are morally repugnant in the extreme, but only by applying historical amnesia and selective vision could one claim that their evil is unique or unprecedented.
In recent decades, not dissimilar horrors have regularly been reported from around the world, for example the abuses of the ‘Lord’s Resistance Army’, or the genocide pursued by the government of Sudan against the Christians and traditional believers in the Nuba mountains and the Blue Nile region, and before that against tribal Muslims in the Dafur region. Indeed for decades the Sudanese government has unleashed jihad – with all the atrocities of the Islamic State – against its own (black African) citizens, often assisted by jihadis from all over the Arabic world, just like in Syria and Iraq today.
The Islamic State's actions are also not unique in history. Quite apart from the horrors of Nazism and Communism, Andrew Bostom has rightly pointed out that the atrocities of the Ottoman Caliphate in exterminating Christians under their rule were greater in magnitude than what is currently being experienced in Syria and Iraq. He writes:
“Notwithstanding the recent horrific spate of atrocities committed against the Christian communities of northern Iraq by the Islamic State (IS/IL) jihadists, the Ottoman jihad ravages were equally barbaric, depraved, and far more extensive. Occurring, primarily between 1915-16 (although continuing through at least 1919), some one million Armenian, and 250,000 Assyro-Chaldean and Syrian Orthodox Christians were brutally slaughtered, or starved to death during forced deportations through desert wastelands. The identical gruesome means used by IS/IL to humiliate and massacre its hapless Christian victims, were employed on a scale that was an order of magnitude greater by the Ottoman Muslim Turks, often abetted by local Muslim collaborators (the latter being another phenomenon which also happenedduring the IS/IL jihad campaign against Iraq’s Christians).”Bostom also points out that the Yazidi’s recent sufferings at the hands of the IS are nothing new, but are consistent with a pattern of genocidal assaults against them which stretches back to Ottoman times.
What is so disturbing to Western people about the Islamic State is not the extremity of the barbarity, which is far from unprecedented, but the fact that so many Western citizens have been signing up with IS, and the psychological warfare being directed by IS against the outside world, including the West, manifested, for example, in the videos of beheadings, and the way some enslaved, raped women have been forced to phone their families to tell them about their abuse, even while it is going on.
What is unique for us in the West is the way the fear is now upon our doorstep: this is the fear that what is happening there will come back home to haunt us.
The challenge facing the West now is not simply stopping the Islamic State – as important as that is – but what to do about the fear.
Dropping bombs on the Islamic State will not do it.
Mark Durie is the pastor of an Anglican church, a Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and Founder of the Institute for Spiritual Awareness. His book The Third Choice explains the implications for Christians of living under Islamic rule.
Originally posted at: http://blog.markdurie.com/2014/09/fear-and-rhetoric-of-unprecedented.html
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