If one reads Middle Eastern newspapers, watches Arab television or simply talks with people fairly quickly one can hear things like: "September 11th was organized by the Americans and Israelis. The Arabs had nothing to do with it." The Syrian journalist, Hassan Hamada, has said that the January 2010 Haitian earthquake was obviously something which the Americans had brought about by their technology in order to take possession of that poor island nation.
In Islam it is impossible to pray correctly without the ritual cleansing by water, or in the absence of water with sand. Islamic instruction about prayer is filled with long passages on exactly how to accomplish the cleansing process. None of the steps can be sidestepped or done in an improper way, otherwise Islamic prayer looses its merit and validity. Here is a typical Muslim text about doing Wudu (the ritual cleansing):
Each day across the entire Islamic World men called the muezzin call the faithful to prayer five times per day: at dawn (fajr), noon (dhuhr), in the afternoon (asr), at sunset (maghrib) and nightfall (isha’a). On Fridays all male Muslims are supposed to attend the noon time prayers which are usually accompanied by a sermon. So today, Friday August 13, 2010 literally hundreds of thousands of muezzin are calling the faithful to prayer. Many millions of Muslim men will go to the mosque as their local muezzin pronounces the call to prayer. Below are the words which are repeated day after day (Shiite Muslims use slightly different phrases for some lines).
Looking ahead to a weekend which will involve Eid al-Fitr, the ninth anniversary of 9/11, and a Qur’an burning in Florida that is getting worldwide attention and nearly unanimous denouncement, what are some things that Christians could be doing on a one-to-one basis with American Muslims? Is it a time for prayer? Engagement?
Prayer in Islam is generally not meant to bring one’s self into direct personal contact or communion with Allah. Even when Muslims speak of prayer as communication with Allah they are never thinking that Allah will actually speak back to them. The communication is always one way. In the very small Sufi Muslim minority one can speak of meeting God. However
Spend even a short time around Muslims and you will become aware that they continually use the Arabic phrase "In sha Allah", which means "if God wills". While the Qur'an also lays great emphasis on the free choice and moral conduct of individuals and communities, popular Islamic thinking and practice are often very fatalistic.
While some Muslims know that Jesus is referred to as the Word of God in the Qur’an, the vast majority do not know what it means and even fewer realize that the same title is given to Jesus in the Bible.
The Caliph is the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, the worldwide Islamic community or nation which should ideally be ruled by the religious law, the Shari’ah. The word is derived from the Arabic word which means “successor” or “representative.” The early Caliphs in particular were seen as Mohammed’s successors.
Fatimah was apparently a good influence, but her name is also associated with an occult object that has fairly negative influence in the Muslim world. This so-called “Hand of Fatimah” is used by Muslims in amulets, charms and jewelry to ward off evil spiritual influences.
Most Muslims believe that death by crucifixion was not a worthy death for a good prophet like Jesus. Based on the Qur’anic passage cited above, the majority of Muslims in our day say that Jesus never went to the cross. It is commonly thought that He was taken up into heaven without dying and that someone else died on the cross in His place.
