If You Have Not Read the Qur’an and Hadith, Beck’s New Book, “It IS About Islam,” Will Do More Harm than Good!

If you have not already read the Qur’an and Hadith (sayings and customs of Muhammad), and you do not know the details of Muhammad’s life, reading Beck’s new book, “It IS about Islam,” will do you more harm than good.  It is not so much about what he explains about Islam as it is about how he presents it and especially about what he leaves out of the discussion.  If you are a regular reader, then you know I have issues with Beck when it comes to matters of faith — even Islam.  If you’re interested in why I say Beck’s book will cause more harm than good, then I’ll do my best to set my disagreement with him aside and explain where and how Beck goes wrong.   After you finish reading my explanation, then you’ll have to decide why he did it.  But one thing is for sure, if you check on the information I will present to support my case, you will see that I am telling the truth: this book does not help explain the confusion over the threat of Islam, it adds to it!

Before we begin, we have to understand something.  It is crucial to the topic at hand.  If you do not accept this — at least intellectually — then you cannot understand the problem underlying this whole issue.  It is impossible.  What you have to understand is that we are discussing matters of religion, and the people who follow Islam believe that the Qur’an is the literal, infallible, unchanging word of Allah (their god).  They also believe that Muhammad is the perfect example of how a Muslim should live — because Allah said so.  To expect a Muslim to reject the Qur’an and Hadith is no different than to expect a Mormon to reject Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  If either do so, then they disobey their god and their prophet. This is not a matter of asking them to ‘re-interpret’ their holy books; it is a matter of asking they to tell their god that he is wrong and that they — the creation — know better.  In both Islam and Mormonism, this will earn the believer a rather unpleasant ‘reward.’

There is one more crucial point that we need to understand.  Joseph Smith defined Mormonism.  Yes, it has been altered since he created it, but Smith is the highest authority on what Mormonism is and what their god teaches.  Likewise, Muhammad is the highest authority on Islam.  When and where Smith or Muhammad speak plainly and clearly to a specific matter, there is no room for ‘interpretation.’  To argue this is the case is to argue that Muslims should re-interpret Allah to be the Mormon god, or the Mormons to re-interpret their god to be Allah.  Likewise when Muhammad said Islam is the only true religion.  Smith said the same thing about Mormonism.  So, to argue that clear instruction on a specific point — especially when it is explained by the example of the founding prophet in the way he lived his life — is to commit both a fallacy as well as a deliberate insult to the people of that religion.  We do not get to go back and change the words of either Smith or Muhammad to suit our modern sensibilities.

Now, let’s deal with Beck’s book.  He correctly states that Islam is fixed: it does not change.  he also explains that Muhammad is the perfect example of how a pious Muslim should live, and that this example if found in the Hadith.  He further explains that, while some Hadith are questioned, there are a great many that are accepted by all Muslims — that means both Sunni and Shi’a.  He also explains that Shari’a law is an all encompassing legal system.  This makes Islam a theocracy.  There is no separation of church and state in Islam.  Muhammad said this cannot happen — ever.  Beck does explain this.  Beck also explains that Muhammad said any Muslim that does not obey his commands, or who tries to change or leave Islam is not a Muslim, but a ‘hypocrite’ and an ‘apostate’ and they are to be killed.  Finally, Beck does admit that the Muslims the West calls ‘radical’ are following the teachings of the Qur’an and the Hadith, and that they can cite passages that allow every one of their actions — even terrorism.  All of this is true, and Beck provides a few of the passages from the Qur’an and Hadith where these things are clearly and forcefully and unequivocally stated by Muhammad.  But he has left out a lot, and the parts he has left out are very important.  But first, let’s review what Beck has admitted about Islam:

1 — Islam does not change:

Qur’an:48:22 “If the unbelieving infidels fight against you, they will retreat. (Such has been) the practice (approved) of Allah in the past: no change will you find in the ways of Allah.”

Bukhari:V9B88N174 “I heard the Prophet saying, ‘Islam cannot change!’”

2 — Muhammad is the perfect example of how a Muslim should live his life.  This means that the life of Muhammad can be copied and the Muslim will be in perfect obedience to Allah (their god):

Ishaq:467 “Allah addressed the believers and said, ‘In Allah’s Apostle you have a fine example for anyone who hopes to be in the place where Allah is.’”

3 — Shari’a is based on perfect obedience to everything Muhammad said was a command from Allah:

Ishaq:322 “Allah said, ‘Do not turn away from Muhammad when he is speaking to you. Do not contradict his orders. And do not be a hypocrite, one who pretends to be obedient to him and then disobeys him. Those who do so will receive My vengeance. You must respond to the Apostle when he summons you to war.”

This command also extends to the Imam:

Bukhari: V4B52N203 “I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, ‘We are the last but will be the foremost to enter Paradise.’ The Prophet added, ‘He who obeys me, obeys Allah, and he who disobeys me, disobeys Allah. He who obeys the chief, obeys me, and he who disobeys the chief, disobeys me. The Imam is like a shelter for whose safety the Muslims should fight.'”

4 — Any Muslim who pretends to be a Muslim, who refuses to obey Muhammad’s commands, who tries to change Islam or who tries to leave it or converts to another religion is to be killed:

Qur’an:33:60 “Truly, if the Hypocrites stir up sedition, if the agitators in the City do not desist, We shall urge you to go against them and set you over them. Then they will not be able to stay as your neighbors for any length of time. They shall have a curse on them. Whenever they are found, they shall be seized and slain without mercy – a fierce slaughter – murdered, a horrible murdering.”

Now, I have only provided you with one or two passages because I do not want to write a book.  I can easily provide more, and I have in other posts on this blog and The Rio Norte Line.  But these should be sufficient to demonstrate the problem in Beck’s argument.  After Beck admits all of the above, he then turns around and tries to create a difference between what he used to call ‘moderate’ Muslims, but now calls ‘Islam,’ and what he used to call ‘radical’ Muslims but now calls ‘Islamicsts,’  According to Beck, those Muslims who are trying to ‘reform’ Islam, or who live peacefully among other religions are not the problem.  He says the Muslims who are politicizing Islam — the ‘Islamists’ — they are the problem and it is because they have taken a ‘radical’ interpretation of Muhammad’s commands.  This is how Beck explains it throughout his book:

“There’s a crucial distinction to be made between Islam and Islamism.  When discussing a topic this important, terminology is critical.  Islam is the faith of 1.5 billion people around the world.  Islamism is the supremacist political ideology that insists on imposing sharia, or Islamic holy law, on the world.” (pg. 8)

“The faith of 1.6 billion people around the world is not inherently bad, but those who insist on a fundamentalist, outdated, supremacist reading of it are.” (pg. 90)

After finishing the book, I could not help but wonder how Beck would react if I told him that his religion is not the problem, it’s just the people who read it and think it means what it says who are the problem.  But I don’t have to imagine, I already know.  On at least two occasions, Beck has spent more than fifteen minutes of his radio program telling his audience that, unless you accept his claim to be a Christian, you are a hater.  There’s only one problem with this: Mormons are not Christians!  This is not my ‘opinion,’ as Beck has been explaining his new book; it is the actual word of Christ.  So this leaves me with a question: how can Beck say that anyone who disagrees with Him is a hater, but he can disagree with Muhammad and not be a hater?  How can Beck call anyone who tells him he is not following the Bible  a hater, then tell Muslims they can’t follow the Qur’an without making himself a hater?

Here is the simple truth that Beck tries to avoid saying:

Muhammad said that Muslims must obey him — period!  Muhammad also said that anyone who disagrees with that command is not a Muslim, but a hypocrite and an apostate — period!

These parts of Islam are not in doubt.  We know this because of how Muhammad treated Muslims who questioned or disobeyed him, or who left Islam or converted to another religion.  Muhammad had them killed!  And it is equally clear in islam that Muhammad is the perfect example of how a Muslim should live.  This means the people Beck calls ‘Islamists,’ and ‘radicals’ and ‘Muslim fundamentalists’ are true Muslims.  The people Beck tries to praise for changing or ‘reforming’ Islam are not.  This is according to Muhammad.  Now for a shocker.  Jesus said the same thing about people who claimed His name but did not adhere to His Gospel message!  He said they are not His disciples and will not be saved!

OTHER THINGS BECK LEFT OUT OF HIS BOOK

One of the biggest things Beck left out of his book pertains to the Sunni-Shi’a rift in Islam.  True, he does discuss it and he covers the origins of this rift.  He even covers many of the beliefs that differentiate the two sides, up to and including their end times theology.  But what he does not tell his reader is how the Sunnis and Shi’a see Jihad.  Shi’a Islam teaches that the individual Muslim can declare his own Jihad, but Sunnis believe that only a seated Caliphe can do so.  Why does this matter?  Well, as Beck rightly points out, about 80% of Islam is Sunni.  This means a majority of those the West calls ‘radicals’ or ‘terrorists’ likely come from Shi’a Islam.  But what happens if a Caliphe is seated and recognized by the majority of Sunni Islam and that Caliphe then declares global Jihad against the West?  Well, if that happens, Beck is likely to suddenly, all these ‘moderate’ Muslims Beck he likes to refer to as ‘peaceful’ are now brandishing swords and coming after him to take his head. I should think this is a rather important distinction because it means Sunnis are not more peaceful, they just believe they have to wait for the Caliphe to tell them to take up arms.

There are some other things Beck left out of his book that you should know.  He left them out because, if he had explained them, it would have been even harder to make the case that there is nothing wrong with Islam, itself.

1 –Muslims can lie to non-believers

Beck does explain the Muslim practice of taqqiya (pg 184), but it might have been helpful to have done so on page one — before he started to quote what other Muslims have said in defense of Islam.  Taqqiya is the practice of lying to non-believers to advance the cause of Islam.  Muhammad also said that Allah is the best of ‘schemers’ (deceivers).  Basically, this means you cannot trust anything a Muslim says.  This is drawn from the Qur’an and Hadith:

Bukhari:V4B52N270 “Allah’s Messenger said, ‘Who is ready to kill Ashraf? He has said injurious things about Allah and His Apostle.’ Maslama got up saying, ‘Would you like me to kill him?’ The Prophet proclaimed, ‘Yes.’ Maslama said, ‘Then allow me to lie so that I will be able to deceive him.’ Muhammad said, ‘You may do so.'”

[NOTE: Muhammad allowed his follower to lie so he could kill a poet who had insulted Muhammad — see where that comes from now?]

2 — Muslims are allowed to sin in deed, so long as they do not sin in their heart.

This is related to #1 above.  Muhammad gave Muslims permission to sin in their actions when they were in peril, or places where it is difficult to live according to Shari’a.  This even includes eating pork and drinking alcohol.  The key is, they have to not sin ‘in their heart.’

3 — Abrogation

Beck deals with this, but in a very poor way.  Abrogation is the replacing of an older command with a newer one.  Most of the passages in the Qur’an that talk about peace have been abrogated — replaced by passages commanding violence.

4 — The order of the Qur’an

This is an area where Beck causes great confusion.  He treats the Qur’an as though it was written from front to back, in a linear progression of time.  It is not!  The Qur’an is arranged by length of the chapter, longest first and shortest last.  This means many of the earliest passages are found in the back, not the front, so Beck misunderstands the order of abrogation, thus, he teaches it incorrectly in this book.

Bukhari:V6B60N8 “Umar said, ‘Our best Qur’an reciter is Ubai. And in spite of this, we leave out some of his statements because Allah’s Apostle himself said, “Whatever verse or revelation We abrogate or cause to be forgotten We bring a better one.”

Tabari VI:110 “When Muhammad brought a revelation from Allah canceling what Satan had cast on the tongue of His Prophet, the Quraysh said, ‘Muhammad has repented of [reneged on] what he said concerning the position of our gods with Allah. He has altered [the bargain] and brought something else.’ Those two phrases which Satan had cast on Muhammad’s tongue of were in the mouth of every polytheist. The Messenger said, ‘I have fabricated things against Allah and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken.'”

5 — The importance of Muhammad’s biography

Beck did not tell his reader that Muhammad’s official biography is the third highest holy book in Islam, and crucial to understanding how Islam evolved.  Here is where we will learn that Muhammad turned violent because he discovered he could attract more disciples if he let them rob people and keep 4/5 of whatever they took.  He could also get rich by keeping the other 1/5 for himself.

Ishaq:327 “Allah made booty lawful and good. He used it to incite the Muslims to unity of purpose. So enjoy what you have captured.”

Here is also where we find that Muhammad not only lead many raids, but that he had many Jews and Christians murdered.  Here is where we discover that many of the passages in the Qur’an came after Muhammad had done something — many times something that was forbidden.  And each time, Muhammad was absolved by Allah and given permission to continue doing it.

6 — Pedophilia is allowed in Islam

Beck totally ignores the fact that Muhammad took a wife when she was six years old, and consummated his marriage when she was nine.  Since Muhammad is the perfect example of how Muslims should live, pedophilia is allowed in Islam:

Tabari VII:7 “The Prophet married Aisha in Mecca three years before the Hijrah, after the death of Khadija. At the time she was six.” Ishaq:281 “When the Apostle came to Medina he was fifty-three.” {NOTE: this means Muhammad was fifty when he married a six year old]

Tabari IX:131 “My mother came to me while I was being swung on a swing between two branches and got me down. My nurse wiped my face with some water and started leading me. When I was at the door she stopped so I could catch my breath. I was then brought in while the Messenger was sitting on a bed in our house. My mother made me sit on his lap. Then the men and women got up and left. The Prophet consummated his marriage with me in my house when I was nine years old.”

Ishaq:311 “The Apostle saw Ummu’l when she was a baby crawling before his feet and said, ‘If she grows up, I will marry her.’ But he died before he was able to do so.” [NOTE: Muhammad was in his late fifties or early sixties at this time]

Muhammad also took several women as ‘wives’ the very day he had killed their husbands in raids on their towns, and even forced his son-in-law to divorce a woman he wanted for himself:

Tabari IX:134 “Muhammad took Zaynab [his daughter-in-law] but Allah did not find any fault in the [incestuous] relationship and ordered the marriage.”

One of his followers said of Muhammad’s lust:

Tabari VIII:110 “When Abu Sufyan learned that the Prophet had taken her, he said, ‘That stallion’s nose is not to be restrained!'”

7 — Muhammad was a racist

Ishaq:243 “I heard the Apostle say: ‘Whoever wants to see Satan should look at Nabtal!’ He was a black man with long flowing hair, inflamed eyes, and dark ruddy cheeks…. Allah sent down concerning him: ‘To those who annoy the Prophet there is a painful doom.” [9:61] “Gabriel came to Muhammad and said, ‘If a black man comes to you his heart is more gross than a donkey’s.'”

Bukhari: V9B89N256 “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘You should listen to and obey your ruler even if he is a black African slave whose head looks like a raisin.'”

And there is more — much more.  One in every fifty-five verses of the Qur’an commands war against, murder of, and terror or torture of non-believers.  But Beck argues that all of this is just ‘bad interpretations,’ and not something inherently wrong with the teaching of Muhammad.  I argue that Beck is trying to will a change of reality — the very thing he has made a career of attacking when Progressives do it.  Which leaves me to wonder:

If, as Beck says in his book, we will not defeat Islam without being honest about what it is and what it teaches, how — pray tell — does Beck propose his audience and readers learn that truth when he, himself, refuses to tell it?