Last week, I published a post on the emotional subject of the humanitarian crisis in Europe caused by the thousands of Middle Eastern and African refugees fleeing chaos and murder in their homelands. Today I am presenting the controversial side of this issue, which is likely to become a lightning rod for discussion and debate. There should be none of us who are ignorant of the tens of thousands of emigrants leaving their countries for the safety and sanctuary of Europe. This flood of refugees certainly appears to be the aforementioned humanitarian crisis, due to the thousands who have been uprooted from their homes because of violence, persecution and death at the hands of the Islamic Caliphate. Among these refugees are Arab and African Christians who are targeted because of their faith, and have been threatened with death if they do not convert to Islam. It is hard to argue with their reasons for leaving their homeland.
But what of those thousands who are not Christians or families who have been forced to flee? Have you ever wondered why the majority of them are young able-bodied Muslim men? Where are the women, the elderly, or the chronically ill? Why did they not choose to settle in Saudi Arabia or Iran or Turkey; countries that are larger than the over-crowded European countries and who practice their common Muslim faith?
Robert Spencer, the director of Jihad Watch, has spent much of his life studying the Muslim religion, from which his family comes. He has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community. Spencer is the Vice President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative and a weekly columnist for PJ Media and FrontPage Magazine, and has written many books and hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. Mr. Spencer's credentials are lengthy and he is well-versed in the Qur'an. From him, perhaps we can find the answers to the questions stated above.
It is his goal to raise our awareness about the activities of the global jihadists; to call attention to the roots and goals of jihad violence within Islamic texts and teachings; and to show how jihadists use those texts and teachings. Particularly, he wishes us to know that what we are witnessing across Europe is no longer just a “refugee crisis.” This is a hijrah.
In an article on FrontPage Magazine, Spencer writes that Hijrah, or "jihad by emigration", is historically, and according to Islamic tradition, the migration or journey of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622 CE. It was after the hijrah that Muhammad, for the first time, became not just a preacher of religious ideas, but a political and military leader. That was what occasioned his new “revelations” exhorting his followers to commit violence against unbelievers. Significantly, the Islamic calendar counts the hijrah -- not Muhammad’s birth or the occasion of his first “revelation,” -- as the beginning of Islam, implying that Islam is not fully itself without a political and military component.
Spencer further writes that "to emigrate in the cause of Allah – that is, to move to a new land in order to bring Islam there -- is considered in Islam to be a highly meritorious act. 'And whoever emigrates for the cause of Allah will find on the earth many locations and abundance,” says the Qur’an. And whoever leaves his home as an emigrant to Allah and His Messenger and then death overtakes him, his reward has already become incumbent upon Allah. And Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.' (4:100).
He is now warning the world that a hijrah of a much greater magnitude is upon us. What, in our Western eyes, looks like a humanitarian crisis (and which appeals to our faith's sense of mercy) may be in response to a February 2015 publication by ISIS, titled "“Libya: The Strategic Gateway for the Islamic State.” The flood of refugees we are currently seeing across Europe is the expansion of the call by ISIS for Muslims to go to Libya and cross from there as refugees into Europe. This document tells would-be jihadis that weapons from [deposed Libyan leader] Gaddafi’s arsenal are plentiful and easy to obtain in Libya – and that the country “has a long coast and looks upon the southern Crusader states, which can be reached with ease by even a rudimentary boat.” Isn't that what we have seen in the last few weeks and months?
What Spencer writes next should have all of us questioning our own foreign policy regarding the Syrian refugees this nation is poised to accept. He writes: "The Islamic State did not have in mind just a few jihadis crossing from Libya: it also emerged last February that the jihadis planned to flood Europe with as many as 500,000 refugees. Now the number is shooting well beyond that in Germany alone. Of course, not all of these refugees are Islamic jihadis. Not all are even Muslims, although most are. However, no effort whatsoever is being made to determine the refugees’ adherence to Sharia and desire to bring it to their new land. Any such effort would be “Islamophobic.” Yet there are already hints that the Islamic State is putting its plan into effect: jihadis have already been found among the refugees trying to enter Europe. There will be many more such discoveries."
Of course, to even suggest that there is an ulterior motive to this mass emigration is to be subjected to taunts of racism, and to be called hateful and an Islamophobe. Yet how can we ignore the coordinated social media strategy of ISIS? Spencer documents an Islamic State operative, who boasted last week that among the flood of refugees, 4,000 Islamic State jihadis had entered Europe. “They are going like refugees,” he said, but they were going with the plan of sowing blood and mayhem on European streets. As he told this to journalists, he smiled and said, “Just wait.” He explained: “It’s our dream that there should be a caliphate not only in Syria but in all the world, and we will have it soon, inshallah.”
So, what are we to think? Europe today, America tomorrow? It sure looks as if that is their agenda. But what are we to do? How do we remain faithful to our God's commandments, yet protect ourselves from the Evil that is ISIS? We are in the midst of a political season, and it is incumbent upon each of us to make our concerns known as we face an uncertain future. The next few months and year will surely reveal the results of the far-reaching decisions we make. May God and the Holy Spirit guide us; may we remain resolute and unfaltering in the face of Evil; and may YHWH Bless and Protect the United States of America!
John 3:20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."
I would like to say this. I don't believe all these people who are being considered refugees and need safety are truly that. I believe it is absolutely one big way to get into other countries to take over. It may sound like I have a cold heart, but I do not. I just think that people here in the US have not been paying attention to what is really going on AND if they actually realize that ISIS is presently in our country working to take over as well as all of Europe. If we and other countries continue to let these people come in and they truly want to become a citizen and live by that countries rule, regulations and freedoms of religion, that's fine to some degree with the numbers limited to entry, but as we have all witnessed, those who are paying attention, the majority of these people have no intention of doing that. I look at them as squatters in many ways with no citizenship and those of us who are so fortunate to have jobs will be paying for all of this. It's like signing our own death certificates if you ask me. I would prefer that the countries who are helping consider helping these people if they truly are in need, to stay in their own countries and help them as much as we are able to. Until people who do not like what is happening within their own countries and want a change, it will take them, and there is plenty of them, to make that own personal difference. We cannot continue to give man a fish to eat and not teach him to fish for himself and expect a good outcome. It's heartbreaking to see these people with children and the distraught looks and situations, but we also have to think about our own here in the US and what kind of trouble this is going to bring to our nation. We still are basically a Christian nation and as it stands I see no hope to continue to be one if this is allowed in. ISIS has a plan and as we can see, it's a darn good one, isn't it? I can only pray for these people, but I also pray for our country that we are not bamboozled to accept this when I would say that just from talking to others that we DO NOT want this. Of course, if you're not a government elite, you have no say. That's pretty obvious. So do we stand on the sidelines once again?
ReplyDeleteLisa, you always express your heart so well! We are certainly at a crossroads in this nation and the world, as you say. While it may seem as though Evil has a well-laid out plan, we must hang on to the hope that is in our Lord Jesus. Our God, too, has a plan and it involves our deliverance from the wicked intentions of mankind. But we must also be sure to stand against those things that endanger our families. The questions become: Have we humbled ourselves before God and therefore caused Him to show us a measure of His mercy? How close are we to the last person on earth accepting Jesus as their Savior, which means that God's drawing near to His final outcome? We do not know if this refugee crisis will be the tipping point or not... pray that those intent on evil will meet Jesus, and that those of who believe will fall to our knees in unison and ask for forgiveness and protection. Thank you, as always, for your decisive comments.
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