A friend seemed to demonstrate some confusion over understanding Islam and the Middle East... I answered him with my take on the situation. I truly, however, cannot emphasize enough the importance of understanding this issue. And so I'm posting what I posted to him with some further elaboratiion. The following is a short summary of my understanding of things. You're free to chime in and agree or make corrections.
I might add however, that there are great resources for further in depth study and understanding. Among many, I site the following:
http://davidstent.com/about/ "A Perspective on Islam" by Avner Boskey,
Questioning Islam by Peter Townsend.
And here is my short little synopsis...
Islam is fundamentally anti-Biblical. The orthodox Christian (Biblical) view of Jesus, i.e. that He is the God-Man and distinct yet indivisibly one with the Godhead is called "Shirk" in Islam. It is blasphemy and the most egregious of sins... punishable by death.
According to Surah 5:21 of the Quran The Jews are the inheritors of the land over which there is presently this disputation. How Islam reconciles this Quranic position and yet contradicts it with this present anti-Israel stance is beyond me, although I allude to some of the causes for the anti-Israel attitudes below.
In Islamic thought there is the notion of the "Caliphate"... dominance of the entire world under the "thumb" of Islam. Anyone whose thinking is not consistent with Islam is either to be "converted" subjugated or killed. Hence, Islam is territorial. Once a geographical area comes under the thumb of Islam the territory is called "Dar al Islam"... the House (or territory) of submission. There are two other territories in Islam... Dar al Harb (The territory of War) and Dar al Amin (Countries where Muslims have the right to practice Islam but are nevertheless not dominated by Islam... yet).
The dispute over the land (Israel) has many facets to it. The most obvious to me, yet overlooked by many, is built around the question... "What territory ought to be the most likely to be defined as Dar al Islam?" Answer... the Middle East... after all, that's where Islam had its origin and where Islam is most dominant. But smack dab in the middle of the Middle East is Israel... a nation not dominated by Islam but predominantly Judaism. This is an affront to Islam. Like a sliver in one's finger, as tiny as it may be, it needs to be removed. Hence, Islam, the world view, and the spirit dominating it's people will resort to anything to excise Israel... endlessly and determinedly using one strategy after another to put into practice what will eventually work in removing this "unclean" presence from it's midst. Presently Islam is attempting to use world opinion in it's incessant blame of Israel for the deaths of Palestinian citizens intentionally put into harms' way for the purpose of getting photo ops so as to garner sympathy.
The territorial issue is one thing. Another issue is that there has always been animosity between Islam and the Jewish people. The Quran calls Jews "apes and pigs" (Surahs 7:166, 2:65, and 5:60). Presumably this is because Jews, understandably, saw through the lie which was Islam and wouldn't convert when Muhammad had presented it to them.
This animosity was exacerbated when some 300 - 600 Jewish males of pubescent age and older from the Qurayza tribe were lined up and systematically beheaded by Muhammed presumably because of their collusion with his enemies. Such, however, was the not the case. The Qurayza were most notably neutral during Muhammad's military campaign.
This animosity was inflamed even further because it was a Jewish woman who was ultimately responsible for Muhammad's death. She was a captive from one of Muhammad's conquests who gained enough trust to become his cook. One day she poisoned his meat. Muhammad lived a number of years subsequent to his poisoning however, debilitating and painful symptoms that resulted from that poisoning grew until his eventual death.
So what is there to make of all of this? Israel is the only country in the world whose leaders are aware of the true nature and threat of Islam. Hence, while the world can't understand her recalcitrance, Israel will survive while the rest of the world will either be subject to the terror of Islam or take repressive actions in response to the presence of some form of Islam. Hence, I believe that Israel, for a time, is destined to become the only free nation on earth while the "Christian" nations whose populations are already luke warm at best in their faith, will never know or understand the nature and threat that is Islam. They will yield to political correctness. I think that this is what will characterize some of the geopolitical framework which will lead to what we know to be "the great tribulation". In the process, all the nations who think they know better than Israel will war against her, starting, obviously, with the Islamic nations and eventually the rest of the enslaved world. Hence Jerusalem will become like a giant bolder that will cause every nation that tries to lift and move her to get a "hernia" (Zech. 12:2-3).
On a final note: In this whole scenario I see two god's competing... the god of Islam (notice the small "g"), and the God of Israel. Allah of Islam is plainly not God. Avner Boskey puts it well in his little booklet to which I referred. Along with other reasons, Allah has a different agenda than the God of Israel. As an example, Allah would have the Jews destroyed. The God of Israel, on the other hand, assures that the Jews will survive history (Jer. 31).
Just as we see two g(G)ods competing we see two l(L)aws competing. Sharia (the law of Allah) seeks universality and to subjugate people. According to this law women are nothing but chattle to satisfy the behest of men. On the other hand, the law of God is freeing. Women are respected and cherished and people conduct themselves in a manner most fitting to the way that God made them. We can read about the law of God in the Sermon on the mount where Y'shua describes the conduct of citizens of the Kingdom of God. The epistles expound further. Ultimately this Law will be characterized by what the Apostle Paul called the "Fruit of the Spirit" in Ephesians 5. Paul points out that when people demonstrate this "fruit of the Spirit"... love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, their is no law that they could possibly be breaking!
Both world views look forward to the universality of their respective laws. Sharia is allegedly to be universalized when Islam dominates the planet. The Law of God will be universalized when Messiah Y'shua returns and all the nations which have come against Israel during the wars will be required to be represented at Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkoth (the Feast of Booths) in Jerusalem annually (Zechariah 14). ' The fruit of obedience to the Law of God (the first Law being to Love God with one's entire being) will be peace marked by loving and appropriate relationships between people.
This, my friends, is what the world of Islam has demonized by calling it "Zionism". This is why we must pray fervently for the peace of Jerusalem. True Zionism's actualization will be marked by peoples of all nations and tongues and cultures, each with their own wonderful and colorful unique qualities and yet each having one thing in common of which they'd never had in common before... a common constitution called the Law of God.
and...
Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2:3-4)
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2:3-4)
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