Secular Islam
By Elizabeth Peltola
A quarter of the world’s population belongs to Islam. That’s an impressive number of people. Yet emerging from that statistic, is an Islam devoid of faith, meaning a growing amount of disbelievers live among the masses of Muslims across the world.
Islam has left them disillusioned.
A complete denial of faith troubles any Christian reader, because though there are faiths that encourage soul-destroying practices, such as ancient pagan sacrifices (sometimes romanticised in movies), to modern acts of terror (experienced by many in the world); not all faiths destroy. Real faith in a loving creator, cannot help but rebuild lives.
I was sent an article on the rise of secular Islam from one of our mission teachers here at One Truth Project. You can find the article here: Who Killed Liberal Islam by Hasan Suroor, Rupa Publications.
It is a brilliant summary of the rise of disbelief among Muslims around the world. Different commentators point to a variety of factors and the reasons are fascinating. Though still appearing ‘Muslim’, there are reoccurring reasons for the exodus of Muslims out of Islam. Here’s a list of them:
troubled by Qur’anic behavioural commands
troubled by Allah who punishes those he has led astray
violence
violence towards homosexuals
abuse of women
lack of freedoms
The article leaves out the heart-reason for the exodus, and those are the reasons that God sees and addresses,
attraction to unbridled behaviour encouraged by modern society (i.e. sexual satisfaction for self above the good of others)
sweeping blame against everyone else (i.e. the belief that religion is the reason for our conflicts)
love of sin (imbedded in every person if left unbridled, and the battle of our lives)
Some might yawn at this point, because many people do not like to talk about sin, but the truth of the matter stands steady, though society runs wildly away from it. Being completely independent of accountability or restraint, is deeply attractive to those without faith, especially those who have been wounded by over-powering rules and edicts.
The article claims Richard Dawkin’s book ‘the God delusion’ is one of the most downloaded books in the Arab world. This should cause the Christian to pause and consider if there is another book that would be far more helpful to the Muslim abandoning the Islamic faith.
Here’s a question –perhaps those downloading the delusion book do not know of an alternative. In their thirst for satisfaction they focus on self, and never see God’s greater vision for their life.
Lack of faith might satisfy for a blip of time on this planet, but not for eternity. Ultimately it fosters destructive delusions, as do edicts directly out of the mind of Allah (Q. 4:34; 4:47; 8:12; 9:5,29).
How? Just look at the world around us.
In the West, the abandonment of Christ and his ways has led our societies to division, hate, rage, riot and war. A result of emphasising self above all others, lack of forgiveness, and ‘my rights’. It has forgotten God’s care for each of us and his evidential sacrifice seen through the suffering of Jesus on a cross. That cross cuts through the rage against others, love of self, and fights over lands lost, conquered, and so the cycle goes.
In some lands, those who follow the edicts of Allah continue to march through our streets, raging against Jewish and Christian communities. They boldly shout hate towards all that is not Islamic or belonging to Islamic lands. There again, the emphasis is self and ‘my rights’. As a side note, secularists who have boldly flown their lgbtq+ flags alongside the millions marching for Islam and (at this moment) against Israel, fail to realise that their actions would demand their death under Islamic law. It is a strange hypocrisy we witness on our streets. For now that flag is tolerated as it adds to the numbers supporting the Islamic cause (and it is an Islamic cause –see The Life of Muhammad, Alfred Guillaume, page 646; Qur’an 4:46, 5:51; 9:29-30), but the moment Islam becomes dominant, that flag will be buried, as will its pole-bearers. This is not my opinion, it is simply Islamic law.
None of us are fully informed on the world’s struggles, but there is one who sees it all and can walk a path right through it. There is one central person who cuts through all our delusions and noise. He can replace deluded minds with wisdom and understanding. He can give faith that satisfies the cries of our inner being, and delight our hearts-longing. He sees the angst we all feel, and he felt it as he died. Unlike us, he passed through the death and conquered it for one reason –to give us life.
Imagine a world built on this man? What would our streets look like then? Our conflicts simply could not survive. Our rage would have no place. Our confusion would flee.
Imagine a world built on this man? What would our streets look like then? Our conflicts simply could not survive. Our rage would have no place. Our confusion would flee.
Emerging from this man comes a world filled with faith. No more disbelievers among the masses. No more delusion. No one disillusioned. Just knowledge, understandings, love and hope, and eternal life.
