Chapter 7: The Errors in The Attitudes of Some Christians Toward Muslims

A fundamentalist is someone who appears to live by the requirements of a faith, but who actually lives by superstitions that have been added to it later, or even makes up superstitions for himself. There may be fundamentalists in all faiths. The most distinguishing feature of a fundamentalist is that he not only refuses to abide by the rules of the faith to which he claims to belong, but adopts his own concept of religion and attempts to impose that on society as a whole. Practices that are not actually part of a faith can easily be made part of it in the fundamentalist's eyes. Matters external to that faith can shamelessly be applied, and even murder can be committed in the name of religion, societies can be swamped in ignorance, people can be pressured and the true faiths that insist on love can be misrepresented as religions of hate. That is what makes fundamentalists so dangerous.

As we have just seen, fundamentalists can emerge from all religions. In the same way that there are Christian fundamentalists who totally misrepresent Christianity and portray that religion of love as one of hatred, so there are fundamentalists who also seek to misrepresent Islam. The mindset that is equated with anger, ignorance, hatred, suicide killings and slaughter under the name of Islam, that opposes science, art and all fine things, that takes no pleasure from blessings and that assumes an attitude that loathes Christians and Jews, is the mindset of fundamentalists, not of true Muslims. Many people criticize this strange image that they wrongly equate with Islam and therefore oppose Islam itself. But what they should really be opposing is not Islam, but fundamentalism and the radical mindset.

Radicalism is the Name of a Loveless System Diametrically Opposed to the Koran

The dark and bloodthirsty system that some people ascribe to Islam is actually fundamentalism, not Islam at all. This means espousing radicalism under the guise of religion. A fundamentalist - a radical in other words - is loveless, dark of soul, bigoted and lacking in understanding. He is opposed to all forms of beauty, aesthetics, art and science. He is opposed to life, and absolutely opposed to joy and happiness.

Someone with a fundamentalist mindset will regard all objects of beauty with hatred. He will hate flowers, and children, cats and dogs and rabbits. His soul is empty; there is nothing about love in their souls. They do not value other people, nor any other living thing. The concepts of consideration, love and compassion are entirely foreign to them.

As a result of all this, a fundamentalist will also hate women. The hatred of women that some people seek to ascribe to Islam is in fact a characteristic of fundamentalist radicals, not of Islam, which actually attaches the greatest value to women, and which praises and exalts them. (This will later be discussed in greater detail.)

In the same way that someone with a fundamentalist mindset loves nobody, nobody loves him, either. Everyone is made uncomfortable by the presence, lifestyle and ideas of a fundamentalist. Fundamentalists even detest other fundamentalists. They are never at once in friendship and ease; this, of course, stems from their living at a great distance from the Koran.

It needs to be reiterated as a matter of great importance that a fundamentalist - a radical in other words - can be found in every faith or section of society. People who seek to turn people away from the essence of their faiths and to replace the joy and fervor resulting from faith in God with a dark and bloodthirsty spirit can be found in Christian and Jewish communities, as well as Muslim ones. However, the subject under discussion here is those fundamentalists who seek to insinuate themselves among Muslims.

No matter what section of society or faith he comes from, a fundamentalist always stands for the same polluted and sinister ideas. As a result of this terrifying state of his soul, someone with a fundamentalist mindset will always seek bloodshed. He will seek bloodshed everywhere. Only bloodshed and wickedness will satisfy him. He can only express the hatred inside him through bloodshed and wickedness. People who appear in the name of Islam and encourage hatred and enmity toward Christians and Jews, and even Muslims, are not true Muslims as described in the Koran, but fundamentalists under the influence of the system of the antichrist.

Therefore, it is very important for our Christian brothers to distinguish very carefully between fundamentalists and true Muslims, and between the fundamentalist mindset and true Islam. Only then will they be able to see that what they are against is not Islam, but radicalism.

But why is Islam misrepresented by fundamentalists, and why is this being allowed?

The System of the Antichrist that Incites Opposition to Islam and Its Links to Radicalism

Spreading opposition to Islam is one major aim of the system of the antichrist because Islam is the final true faith and the Koran has remained unchanged for 1,400 years. The verses of the Koran are under the protection of God and are sufficient for people to live by the true faith in an unsullied manner. The true Islam that comes from living by the Koran leads to a sound and powerful faith.

This powerful faith, people becoming increasingly devout, and solidarity between the three Divine faiths represent a major peril and threat to the antichrist. The material and spiritual strength that stems from unity and solidarity, which represent an important part of Islamic moral values, is powerful enough to eliminate all the satanic systems and ideologies developed by the antichrist over the years. The antichrist is very well aware that when Muslims are completely united and when they establish an alliance with Christians and Jews, this will result in a major force, and that this major force will inflict a huge intellectual defeat on his own philosophy.

Leading members of the system of the antichrist have for a long time been aware of the presence of this spiritual force standing in opposition to the satanic system they have constructed. That awareness explains the plans they have made for a bloody Armageddon through calculated policies and strategies. As a part of that plan, various people who are actually Darwinists and atheists have been raised as terrorists under the guise of being "Muslims" and sent off to wreak slaughter, supposedly in the name of Islam. These very same circles have depicted concepts totally opposed to the spirit of Islam, such as killing and murdering innocent people and suicide bombings, as if these were part of Islam. They have so widely disseminated ideas that stand in complete opposition to Islam that even some people who portray themselves as Islamic scholars have openly come to advocate this plan for a bloody war that will take place between the faiths and result in the deaths of millions. They have managed to influence hundreds of thousands of people into thinking that killing and murder are legitimate. In addition, they have convinced themselves and others that they are doing this in the name of God.

Like the expectations of Armageddon discussed earlier, the scenarios of war and slaughter that are being ascribed to Islam are part of the same mindset, that of the antichrist. The antichrist aims to use this technique in order to create division between the faiths, to set them against one another, to weaken believers and thus to produce the means and climate through which to implement his own perverse plans.

We must always remember this; the antichrist has always used the name of God in his dealings with believers. He never shows his true face, and always uses religion and people who appear to be devout in order to lead believers astray from the true path. That is how the antichrist has managed to influence many devout people and easily been able to spread all kinds of superstitious and perverse ideas that can support and strengthen his own devilish systems.

The perverse claims that some people are seeking to attribute to Islam – including the idea that Muslims want to slaughter Christians and Jews, that they deny the right to life of non-Muslims and that they are devoid of love and affection - are complete fabrications.

People who are unaware of the true essence of Islam, a religion of peace and love, and of the brotherhood, justice, peace, compassion and love in the verses of the Koran, may fail to see the perverse aspects of these false claims. In order to see that this image that the forces of the antichrist are trying to ascribe to Islam is wrong and perverse, there needs to be people who judge by the Koran, know the spirit of the Koran and conceive of - and live by - the Koran in the same way as our Prophet (pbuh) did. If someone is a "fundamentalist," in other words, if he interprets Islam in the light of perverse superstitions, if he makes up rules and regulations that contravene all logic and reason – as well as conflicting with the Koran – if he portrays Islam, a religion of ease, as difficult, inaccessible, aggressive and loveless (Islam is surely beyond all that), then he can never understand the reality, unless God decides otherwise, of course. The important point is that fundamentalism is a major threat, not just to Islam, but also to Christianity and Judaism. Therefore, in order to be able to see the origins of the perverse ideas that are being ascribed to Islam, people need to realize how far removed fundamentalism is from the Koran and from all the true faiths in general.

Fundamentalists Neither Apply the Koran Nor do They Allow Others to do So

Fundamentalism, or radicalism, is the antichrist's greatest supporter against Islam. Our Prophet (pbuh) reveals this in a hadith:

Seventy thousand turbaned scholars from my Community will follow the antichrist. (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, p. 796)

In describing the people who will follow the antichrist, our Prophet makes special reference to people who will emerge from the Muslim community and portray themselves as "scholars." He also says in a hadith that the group who will work on the side of the antichrist against all the friends of God and who will inflict the worst harm on the Islamic faith are fundamentalists who depict themselves as Muslims.

In another hadith our Prophet says:

There will be deviants in the End Times; their minds will not function. They will speak eloquently. They will read the Koran, but their faith will not descend beyond their throats... (Bukhari, Sahih 3611, 5057, 6930, Muslim, 1066, Abu Dawud 4767, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad 1, 81, 113, 131, 289;
Tayalisi, al-Musnad, no. 1984.)

As the hadith says, these people will use eloquent speech and read the Koran, "... but their faith will not descend beyond their throats." In other words, they will not heed the Koran. They will speak of the Koran, but they will not be devoted to it. They will rule not according to the Koran but according to the superstitions they fabricate in the name of the Koran. They will not regard the Koranic accounts as sufficient and they will act on a faith of their own invention under the name of Islam.

The aim of the fundamentalists is to stop people from applying the Koran. While adding elements that are not in the Koran onto Islam, they also reject the commands and advice in the Koran that does not square with their own superstitious fabrications.

The fact that the Koran recommends love, affection, brotherhood, unity and peace, the fact that all beauty is praised in the Koran and art and science are encouraged cause them to feel an intense rage. The quality of the soul bestowed by living by the moral values of the Koran and the depth of a Muslim model that is rational, esthetic, modern and loving is entirely incompatible with their own fabricated religions. That is why the antichrist, in his own way, uses fundamentalism to try to strike at the real Islam in the Koran, with the foolish idea that he can thus eradicate it. However, it is important to state that a large part of the army of the antichrist is made up of fundamentalists who will emerge from every faith with the aim of harming their own religion and the world as a whole. Christian, Jewish and Muslim fundamentalists come together around the same bloody and violent scenario and are doing whatever they can to incite this war and spread the system of the antichrist across the entire world.

It needs to be made clear here that there may be people who sincerely love Almighty God and who only espouse ideas that are not part of Islam out of ignorance or because they have been misinformed: Such people make up a large part of today's radicals, and affectionate and meaningful educational activity needs to be directed toward such people. Once they are illuminated with the light of the Koran, these people will see and admit the truth. Almighty God shows the true path to His sincere servants.

Fundamentalism is Also a Threat to Christianity

As we have just seen, fundamentalists can emerge from any religion. Indeed, those who, in their own eyes, imagined they could harm Jesus (pbuh) were also fundamentalists of that time who appeared in the name of religion.

Jesus describes the fundamentalists in explicit terms as hypocrites, the blind and snakes in the Gospel:

Christians Must Not Confuse Fundamentalism with True Islam

A model of Islam that has no place in the Koran, that causes war in the name of Islam, that oppresses others, that organizes suicide attacks and that desires killing and bloodshed causes Christians and Jews to develop a false impression of Islam.

As we have already said, those who espouse a bloody and wicked system have absolutely nothing to do with Islam, in other words, the moral values of the Koran. They do this because it is what their superstitious faiths, filled with nonsense of their own making and superstitious beliefs, require. There is absolutely no place in the Koran for such a loveless, ruthless and aggressive mindset.

In the Koran, our Lord describes such people, no matter what their religion, who espouse fundamentalism, who seek to confuse religion with superstitions and make it impossible to live by and who seek to deceive people using the name of God as follows:

Being a true Muslim means abiding by the moral values of Islam as revealed by God in the Koran and represented by our blessed Prophet (pbuh). In other words, Muslims have a responsibility to live according to the Koran and the way of life of our Prophet, not the superstitions and fabrications of fundamentalists. The criteria are the Koran and the way of life of the Prophet, not fabrications. True Islam is the Islam of the Age of Bliss, lived according to the Koran and the life of our Prophet. The loving, affectionate, protective and noble life of our Prophet, who valued art, beauty, cleanliness and kindness, is the perfect model for all Muslims. It is therefore a major error for non-Muslims to evaluate Islam on the basis of the murky lives of various fundamentalists rather than on the true facts. (For detailed information, see Harun Yahya’s Bigotry: The Dark Danger)

Our Christian brothers should read the following statements with great care:

Section 1: Equating Islam with Violence Stems from Being Unacquainted with the True Islam

Some people, who equate Islam with terrorist attacks, mass slaughter and suicide bombings, make the mistake of assuming that those who spread terror in the name of Islam are actually Muslims. They also imagine that such people are real Muslims who live by the Koran. But the truth is that these people have nothing to do with either Islam or our holy book, the Holy Koran.

Islam Curses Terrorist Attacks, Slaughter, Suicide Bombings and All Forms of Violence

The great majority of the infamous terrorist leaders who have inflicted great evil on their countries are generally intelligence agents specially trained to commit acts of provocation. They are members of well-known intelligence agencies in America and Europe and receive their orders directly from them. These people have all received a Darwinist and materialist education. They never reflect the true moral values of Islam commanded by God in any sphere of their lives, have nothing to do with the loving and affectionate, compassionate, forgiving and just values of our Prophet (pbuh) and have been indoctrinated by Darwinism. According to the terrible error in which these people find themselves, the only way to survive and be strong is through fighting and conflict. This requires violence and cruelty, while virtues such as love, affection and compassion are regarded as weaknesses.

Fulfilling a few religious obligations, being a citizen of an Islamic country or carrying ID documents that describe them as "Muslims" does not change the reality. These people have a completely Darwinist world view. They also look at those around them in terms of that Darwinist-materialist perspective.

According to this major error of theirs, "Human beings are just slightly more advanced animals; they have no souls and identities, they have no responsibilities toward anyone. Like all animals, human beings have to be selfish and think only of themselves in order to survive. The weak members of this community of animals must be eliminated and weeded out." Of course, someone under the influence of this perverse logic will lack the moral values and conscience to prevent them from carrying out mass slaughter.

The terrorist leaders in question have in fact been brought up to be "spoiled and arrogant," far removed from the moral values of Islam, in America and various countries of Europe. They spend all their time in night clubs and possess atheist mindsets that have signed up to all the negative and degenerate aspects of Western culture. It needs to be stated here that one may have any kind of lifestyle before beginning to live by religious moral values, and there is nothing to criticize in that; if a person sincerely repents and turns to belief in God, then it may be hoped that He will forgive their mistakes. But the situation is entirely different with the people in question.

When the time comes for these people to start work, they grow their beards and assume the appearance of Muslims. They receive their instructions from covert sections of various intelligence agencies and unhesitatingly carry them out. They have nothing to do with Islam or being Muslim. Their religion is materialism and Darwinism, not Islam. It is impossible for genuine Muslims who fully abide by the Koran to support and be a part of such a wicked system that contradicts the Koran. Those who perpetrate this wickedness are Darwinists, materialists and admirers of Stalin, Che, Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler and Mao. They are people who, in their own way, seek to apply the perverse ideas of bloody materialists, communists and fascists in the name of Islam, and think in a way totally incompatible with religious moral values. This is how the evil system that some circles wrongly seek to attribute to Islam operates.

Some Muslims might claim that these atrocities committed in the name of Islam do not reflect the facts and might choose to deny them completely.

Yet the right thing to do is not to deny these actions, but to tell people that they are most probably carried out by various intelligence agents opposed to religion in order to supposedly neutralize Islam and prevent it growing any stronger. The right thing is to tell everyone that these things are unlawful actions in the eyes of Islam.

Darwinism is the sole ideology of savagery adopted by communist and fascist leaders in order to shed blood. Darwinist logic lies behind terrorist attacks and savagery.

The Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima Was Not Blamed on Christians, and Terrorist Actions Cannot Be Laid at the Door of Genuine Muslims

In making these groundless claims against Muslims, Christians who think along the lines just described ignore one very important point. The United States of America once caused hundreds of thousands of innocent people to lose their lives by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is entirely possible there were Muslims, Christians and Jews among them. There were children and old people, and innocent men and women. Yet the Islamic world has never laid the blame for this action carried out by the U.S. government, the majority of whom were Christians, at the door of Christians.

It never concentrated on the faiths of those who dropped the bombs or claimed that these were "Christian attacks." In the same way, thousands of Muslims were savagely murdered during the Crusades, and even Christians belonging to different sects were tortured and killed during that dark era. Churches as well as mosques were destroyed. The blood so recently shed in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Islamic countries was Muslim blood but Muslims have never used this to suggest that those who abide by the Gospel are bloodthirsty by nature.

1. The diary of the antichrist ( Daily Radikal, 25 July 2011) 2. "Cruelty is my business" (Daily Hürriyet, 27 July 2011) 3. He was prepared for this slaughter for 5 years. (Daily Milliyet, 25 July 2011) 4. The fear of racist terror (Daily Türkiye, 25 July 2011)

Any rational person can easily see that irreligion prevails wherever there is wickedness. Reasonable Muslims who abide by the Koran and have faith in God would never hold Christians responsible for the killings in question. This is not something that a person who sincerely believes in God could ever do.

The time has now come for those Christians who make such ugly allegations against Muslims to abandon these false ideas and habits. Ignorance generally plays a major role at the root of such claims. Christians should therefore read the Koran with an unbiased eye, examine the life of our Prophet (pbuh) and bear in mind the lifestyles, ideas and actions of sincere believers who live by true Islamic moral values.

Statements by Mr. Adnan Oktar regarding the hadith concerning the tree of Gharkad (the Boxthorn tree)

The Hadith about the Tree of Gharkad Foretells the Hidden Camera Systems in the End Times

ADNAN OKTAR: The hadith says, "You must fight the Jews and kill them." If someone who is a Jew is also opposed to religion and attacks Muslims, if he sheds blood and kills children and others, then you have a right to defend yourself. This hadith is speaking about legitimate self-defense. Otherwise, it is a sin to go and kill an innocent Jew.

"Such that even a stone will say, 'O Muslim, here is a Jew (hiding) behind me, come and kill him'." Now, say there is a child of three or four years old behind the stone, and someone hears a voice coming from that stone saying, "O Muslim, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." That means you must be hallucinating. Satan is speaking to you. Children, innocent people, women must not be killed. But you can legitimately defend yourself. Apart from that, killing is wrong. Therefore, if we see a Jewish child hiding behind a stone and hear a voice coming from a stone, then we should say, "I must be hallucinating" and refuse to heed it.

Imagine that someone kills ten Jewish children, may God forbid. If we ask him why he did that and he says, "A stone told me to do it, so I did," then we can be sure that he is crazy and a murderer. He has blatantly killed people and done evil, and the reward for that is hell.

We must understand this hadith correctly. Our Prophet (pbuh) is referring to communications in the End Times. Operations are carried out on the basis of information emanating from rocks or trees. Cameras are hidden in trees and secret information obtained from them. This is a reference to a defensive system that will emerge. Our Prophet is indicating the advanced technology of the time of Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh). Otherwise, killing innocent people is a grave sin.

No Jew was ever killed in that way in the time of our Prophet, nor any Christian. Our Prophet personally took his robe off and spread it on the ground for them, for the People of the Book to sit on. Our Prophet respected them. Muslims in the time of our Prophet sought shelter alongside Christians. They entrusted their own safety to them. They were brothers with them and went to eat with them and married Christian women.

ALTUĞ BERKER: Let me read a verse from the Koran about what you said; verse 5 of Surat al-Ma'ida: "Today all good things have been made lawful for you. And the food of those given the Book is also lawful for you and your food is lawful for them. So are chaste women from among the believers and chaste women of those given the Book before you, once you have given them their dowries in marriage, not in fornication or taking them as lovers. But as for anyone who rejects faith, his actions will come to nothing and in the hereafter he will be among the losers."

ADNAN OKTAR: One can marry Christian women and one can also marry Jewish women. What does marriage mean? It means the presence of love, friendship and brotherhood, doesn't it? She becomes the mother of one's children. You sleep in the same bed. You eat and drink together. This is made clear in the verse. (Excerpt from Mr. Adnan Oktar's interview on November 21, 2010)

Stones and Trees Will Give Muslims Information in the End Times

ADNAN OKTAR: ... Our Prophet (pbuh) says; "The Day of reckoning will not come until Muslims war with Jews." They already fought the Jews in Palestine. There was the Six-Day War. That was a major event. They fought Egypt and Syria and Jordan. This hadith came true. It has already happened.

In another hadith our Prophet says; "Every stone and every tree will say, O Muslim, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." For one thing, a person must be punished according to his offense. If we come across an innocent Jewish child behind a rock and the rock tells us "Look, there is a Jewish child here behind me, come and kill him" then that voice comes from satan. We must not heed it because it is a hallucination inciting us to murder. What should we do? We can establish whether is there is anything behind us, using an electric device, for example.

We can locate someone's position using electronic communications but only to neutralize them, not to kill them. And only if the person is engaged in doing harm, is an irreligious, or atheist Jew, if he has no book, if he does not obey the Torah, if he does not obey the Koran because the Torah says nothing about wronging Muslims. According to the Torah, Jews must regard Muslims as the people of Noah (pbuh). What does the People of Noah mean? Muslims, believers. Since every Jew regards a Muslim as one of the people of Noah, as a believer, it is a sin to attack his life, property or honor. But it may be a Jew who acts wickedly, in which case stones, objects of all kinds, even furniture may give him away by means of micro-cameras and technical devices. Then we can locate and neutralize that person.

Killing here means neutralization in the ideological sense. That also applies to Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh). He will slay the antichrist. In other words, he will slay his ideas. It is an intellectual, mental killing, not a physical one. Therefore, stones and trees giving information to Muslims is already happening now in the End Times.

I said, "micro-cameras should be installed in the Southeast with our troops' permission and locate the whereabouts of the enemy." Where are cameras installed? If there is a covert campaign against the enemy, then they can be hidden in rocks. Or they should be placed in trees so they cannot be seen. Our Prophet refers, through revelation and in a most perfect manner, how a secret intelligence network will be set up with flawless technology.

This is only happening now, in the End Times. It does not apply to all Jews, but we must identify atheist Jews, Muslims or Christians who do evil and inflict suffering, if they kill people. The Messenger of God describes one aspect of this but we can deduce the whole matter from that. Our Prophet describes it in its essence and very briefly. When the time comes to defend ourselves, it means that Muslims will obtain secret intelligence of this kind in the End Times. For example, our Prophet says, "People will look at the palms of their hands and see Hazrat Mahdi." They have done that now. There are iPods and telephones. One can see the other person just by looking in the palm of one's hand. This has happened. That is what it refers to. (Excerpt from Mr. Adnan Oktar's interview on November 14, 2010)

The Allegation of "Violence in Islam" Is a Fabrication by the Antichrist and His Fundamentalist Followers

According to the Koran, there is absolutely no place in Islam for violence, terror and suicide bombings. According to the Koran, war is only permissible for defensive purposes if life, property or honor are endangered. Even under such circumstances, however, Muslims must not overstep the line. They have a responsibility to treat any prisoners they take justly, to feed their prisoners even if they have to go hungry themselves, to establish peace as quickly as possible and to protect civilians and the innocent. An examination of the life of our Prophet (pbuh) reveals exactly how one should behave in this regard.

Muslims have always waged war for defensive purposes

Throughout the thirteen years they lived in Mecca, the Prophet and his companions were subjected to the most terrible torments, assaults and slanders by the Meccan pagans. They were forced from their homes and threatened with death. Yet they never resorted to violence despite all of this aggression and persecution.

When the persecution in Mecca became intolerable they migrated to Medina. Since they were subjected to the same attacks in Medina, and their lives were in danger during the Medina period, they had no option but to fight for purely defensive purposes. For example, the Battle of Badr took place because the pagans of Mecca gathered their armies and attacked with the aim of martyring the Muslims.

The Battle of the Trench was an entirely defensive one in which the Muslims dug a trench around the city for their own protection. To summarize, these past battles were always defensive ones stemming directly from aggression on the part of the pagans: Not one was a war of aggression. The commands regarding defense revealed to our Prophet during this time are verses that apply only to such exceptional conditions in war.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is a man of love and compassion like Jesus (pbuh)

Some Christians rather ignorantly presume to compare the two prophets, both of whom are very valuable to us. They make highly unbecoming assumptions, along the lines that Jesus was a man of love while the Prophet Muhammad favored war. This is a slander on the part of certain ignorant and prejudiced Christians who ignore the fact that both the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus were submitted to God and that they were blessed messengers who acted through His revelation.

Due to their being lovers and friends of God, both of these blessed people were of course full of love, affection and compassion. Nothing else is possible.

Our Prophet spent 23 years as a prophet. During those 23 years, which included very difficult times involving direct assaults by the pagans, our Prophet undertook various wars in order to protect believers against attacks intended to martyr Muslims, and that continued uninterrupted despite Muslims' peaceable attitudes. And during all these wars he acted through God's revelation and took all his decisions in the light of that revelation. Had the responsibility regarding fighting intended to protect Muslims that came in the form of revelation from God also been imparted to Jesus, then he would have abided by that obligation in the same way that our Prophet did. But Jesus was not exposed to such attacks from pagans during the three years of his prophethood. There was therefore no need for these provisions about war and defense to be revealed to him.

A verse from the Koran reveals that war can be essential even though the Prophet and Muslims dislike it.

Islam commands people to be forgiving in war and not to go to extremes

Someone capable of seeing the depth of faith that God reveals in the Koran can also easily grasp that the essential thing for a Muslim is forgiveness. For example, God tells us in the Koran that Muslims must not go to extremes in the event of war, and that if one side in a state of war puts an end to hostilities, Muslims must do so, too:

In order for Muslims to be able to go to war, it is essential for the other side to have attacked first. War is a last resort for protection against the wickedness of a community that is aggressive and refuses to listen to reason. Even then, Muslims have a responsibility not to go to extremes; they can still only defend themselves. As our Lord reveals in the above verse, if the aggressors call a halt to hostilities, then Muslims are advised to do so as well. In addition, it is also very important in Islam for care to be shown to women, children, the elderly and the disabled and for extraordinary pains to be taken to protect them and keep them from harm.

It is unlawful in Islam to deliberately and unjustly take a life

The Koran also explicitly states that it is unlawful to take life:

As these verses make clear, the Koran makes it unlawful for a Muslim to kill for no reason. In the Koran, God reveals that most people still overstep the bounds, despite the envoys He sends telling them that this is unlawful. In other words, the Koran speaks of a community that does not regard the Koran as sufficient and thus goes to excesses, killing and shedding blood. This community is various fundamentalists who appear to act in the name of Islam, but in fact are following the bidding of the antichrist.

The Koran also recommends that prisoners of war should be forgiven and released. God reveals in the Koran that even if murder is committed, it is better for the perpetrator to be forgiven by the victim's family. According to the Koran, the responsibility of Muslims is always to choose the best course for God's approval. Since God regards forgiveness as the best course, even in murder, that is what Muslims should abide by. Islam is a religion of affection, compassion, love, peace, justice and tranquility. Those who depict Islam differently from how it is described in the Koran need to abandon that behavior as a matter of urgency.

Section 2:
Enmity toward Women Is a Characteristic of Darwinists and Fanatics, Not of Islam

Enmity toward women and the error of regarding them as second-class citizens is a shared characteristic of Darwinists, fascists, communists and fanatics. Fanatics attach no importance to women, and even hate them, because they live by the superstitions they invent, and Darwinists because they regard them as a supposedly less advanced species of animal. All these are, of course, inhuman ideas that emerge through encouragement by satan.

We have already discussed how fanaticism is as great a threat to Christians and Jews as it is in Muslim societies. There are a great many fanatics among Christians and Jews who also regard women as second-class citizens and make their hatred of them abundantly clear at every opportunity. However, in the same way that this false perspective of some Christians or some Jews cannot be laid at the door of all of Christianity or all of Judaism, so the same mistaken perspective of some Muslims cannot be attributed to all of Islam. Men and women are equal in Islam. Indeed, women are made superior and protected in the Koran. God reveals in the Koran that piety is the only measure among human beings. Islam exalts and praises women. Those who claim that Islam contains a kind of language that despises women are therefore gravely mistaken.

The perverse idea that Islam supposedly regards women as second-class human beings is one of the most basic tactics employed by satanic forces in order to disseminate opposition to Islam. These circles make use of fanatics in order to spread this totally false and baseless idea across the world and install an incorrect perception of Islam.

These people are oblivious to the affectionate and compassionate attitude of our Prophet (pbuh) toward women, and from all the rights bestowed on them in the Koran and the attitude that should be adopted toward them. They seek to portray nonsense of their own invention, oppression of and injustice and lack of compassion towards women and even a refusal to regard them as people at all, as supposedly a commandment of the faith. The masses who have ignorantly followed them have persisted in maintaining these attitudes for centuries and this unpleasant belief has become rooted in some Muslim societies. The source on which these fanatics base their nonsensical ideas is false hadiths that espouse hostility to women.

The value that Islam places on women with examples from the hadiths of our Prophet (pbuh)

ADNAN OKTAR: Our Prophet says, "Loving women is one of the moral values of the prophets." That is in Quleyni, Qafi and several other places. Another hadith from the Messenger of God says, "I do not think that anyone can increase his faith so long as he does not increase his love of women." Love of women is correlated with faith.

Another hadith from the Messenger of God reads, "It was decided the light of my eyes should be prayer and the source of my delight should be women." By God, as a blessing. Another hadith from the Messenger of God: "A person's faith grows in terms of virtue as his love of women increases." "Shall I tell you the most auspicious thing a person must hold onto? A pure woman," our Prophet says.

Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "I swear that we attached no value to women in the time of ignorance." It was the same in those days as it is with unbelievers now. "We began to value and love women after God sent down verses about them and gave them various rights." (Excerpt from Mr. Adnan Oktar's interview on October 7, 2012 on A9 TV)

How women should be valued in the End Times

ADNAN OKTAR: ... Love for women will be a feature of the End Times. Women will be loved and free in the time of the Mahdi (pbuh). Our Prophet (pbuh) recited special hadiths about that. For instance, our Prophet says that women will be able to travel long distances on their own or with their friends.

Women cannot go around now. There are very few women in the Parliament. This is very wrong. At least half of parliament and key positions should be occupied by women.

A woman could be Prime Minister or President, or Parliament Spokesperson. Women are very fine beings. Let us see their fine and warm features everywhere. Women are manifestations of God's names of the Compassionate and Merciful, of His Names of al-Latif [the Subtle One] and an-Nur [the Light]. … (Excerpt from Mr. Adnan Oktar's interview on Kocaeli TV and Aba TV on November 27, 2010)

Women's rights are always to the fore in the Koran, and women are exalted in it

In order to properly understand the place of women in Islam, we need to look at the verses of the Koran and the policies of our Prophet (pbuh).

According to the Koran, women are holy and exalted beings. They were created by our Almighty Lord as a great blessing, an adornment to the heart. They are also an important part of Islam's intellectual struggle against materialism, Darwinism, communism and all other such irreligious movements. Look at verses of the Koran; women's rights are always held above those of men. Women are always protected in the verses of the Koran. Their rights are observed and they are supported by rights to ensure they suffer no material or other losses. That is the wisdom behind more onerous responsibilities being placed on men. God has created women as a fine manifestation, a symbol of chastity and purity, and as a source of love and affection. Women teach the world warmth, love and the finest friendship. God has created them as adornments, a fine blessing whom He praises and sustains.

A woman is regarded as a queen in Islam. That is the reason why various physical responsibilities are placed on men in Islam. Women are not obliged to work inside or outside the house or to earn money. Of course, they can work if they wish, but men have an obligation to take care of women and meet their needs so they are not left in want or difficulties. Thus, a man cannot force a woman to work in the fields, in a factory or anywhere else. On the contrary, the man is under a duty to watch over and protect her, to ensure her comfort and to make sure no harm comes to her.

People who presume to criticize Islam on the subject of male-female equality are unaware of this superior value the Koran attaches to women. They make a lot of fuss about gender equality and accuse Islam in various ways but since they possess a prejudiced mindset and are ignorant of the true moral values of Islam as described in the Koran they do not realize that women are held much superior to men in the Koran.

With the revelation of the Koran, the perverse perspective toward women in the time of ignorance was eliminated and women gained a respected place in society. Our Prophet (pbuh) always attached great value to women, and through the verses of the Koran, sent down to him as a mercy by our Lord, he never allowed women to be treated as second-class people. At the same time, our Prophet regarded women as a blessing and harbored a profound love, compassion, affection and respect for them. Our Prophet expresses these profound feelings for women in the following wise words:

I was made to love three things in this world; fine scent, pure women andprayer, the light of my eyes. (An-Nasai, Ishrata an-Nisa 1, [7, 61])

Trustworthy hadiths handed down from our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) clearly show the value attached to women in Islam. Some of these hadiths read as follows:

Only noble and honorable people value women. And only evil and base people despise them... (Ibn al-Asakir)

The best of you is he who treats women best. (Ibn al-Asakir )

Do not distress your women. They are entrusted to you by Almighty God. Be gentle with them and treat them well! (Muslim)

Almighty God will love and increase the sustenance of people who treat their women well and laugh with them. (Ibn al-Lal)

The most superior believer is the virtuous who treats his wife the best and most generously. (Tirmidhi)

The best Muslim is he who treats his wife best. Of you all, I am the one who treats his wife best. (an-Nasai)

Someone who smiles at his wife earns as much merit as someone who frees a slave. (R. Nasihin)

Someone who beats his wife has rebelled against God and His Messenger. I will be his enemy in the hereafter. (R. Nasihin)

Someone who reads the Koran will immediately see various references in its verses to women's intelligence and ability to think deeply and see detail. For example, the Koran speaks of Balqis, the Queen of Sheba. Balqis was a head of state of her time. God thus shows us that a woman can be a head of state and govern that state.

Women who rebel against God and who are hypocritical and exhibit poor moral values are criticized not for being "women" but for their rebellion against God and their wickedness. The judgment on this subject is the same for women as for men: It is also the same in all of the Divinely revealed faiths. In the same way that a state cannot be called "hostile to women" for imprisoning female anarchists who seek to destroy it, so it is wrong to address the same accusation against an entire faith due to the presence of hypocritical and non-believing women.

Men in Islam are protectors and caretakers of women, not their rulers

Various people today, and particularly Christians, claim that men are described as "having sovereignty" over women in Islamic sources and evaluate the mistaken policies adopted toward women by certain fanatics in the light of that logic. The verse they foolishly cite as supposed evidence for this reads:

The Arabic word "qawwam" used in this verse means "protector, maintainer, caretaker." Therefore, the meaning of this verse is fully in agreement with what we have been saying above. God has charged men with protecting women against troubles and difficulties and with watching over them. This, as we have already seen, stems not from women being weak or helpless, but from their being valuable blessings. It is clear that the reference to one being given more than the other emphasizes how men and women are created differently. Of course men and women have physical differences but a woman's physical features do not make her more naïve than a man nor less valuable than him in society. Of course there are women with great physical strength and abilities but generally speaking, it is obvious that men enjoy a physical superiority to enable them to undertake hard and difficult work. However, this physical difference in their creation is no indicator of any superiority in terms of moral values, intelligence or psychological characteristics. On the contrary, it is essential if men are to discharge their duties of protecting women.

The Koran says nothing about man ruling over woman. According to the Koran, neither man nor woman can establish dominion over the other. Both are created in such a way as to complement one another, and with equal rights and responsibilities before God. The fact that women are protected and watched over by men is due to the superior value bestowed on women by God.

Superiority lies in piety, not gender

Through the verses of the Koran, God has placed women under protection as delights and blessings. However, He also holds Muslim men and Muslim women equal in terms of service to Islam. Both have a duty to worship God, to live by the moral values of the Koran, to tell people to do good and avoid evil and to obey all the commandments and advice revealed in the Koran. In the verse "You who believe! If you have fear of God, He will give you discrimination and erase your bad actions from you and forgive you. God's favor is indeed immense." (Koran, 8:29) God promises that He will give everyone who fears Him discrimination, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. It makes no difference if the person is a man or a woman. In return for sincerity, purity and faith, God will lead a person onto the true path in every sphere of his life and give him the intelligence with which to take accurate decisions and to behave in a proper manner. Intelligence therefore comes about on the basis of sincere devotion and proximity to and fear of God, rather than of a person's gender.

The sole measure of superiority among male and female Muslims who wage an intellectual campaign against irreligious trends in the name of God is piety. In one verse our Lord says:

This verse is the finest answer to the fundamentalists described above. Those who supposedly point to the Koran as evidence for regarding men as superior to women are lying; they are trying to deceive people with invented superstitions. Examination of the verses of the Koran and the life of our Prophet (pbuh) will suffice to show that this has nothing to do with the true Islam.

Almighty God speaks of male and female believers in several verses. Men and women are not kept separate in the Koran. In speaking of believers, God stresses that they must be people of piety, not whether they are men or women. The distinction in terms of superiority in the Koran is between believers who do good works and hypocrites and unbelievers, not between men and women. Everyone who acts in the light of the wisdom bestowed by faith, whether male or female, can achieve success in all areas of life and move ahead of a great many other people. This is entirely dependent on a person's ambition, wishes and enthusiasm. As stipulated by the moral values of Islam, believers never regard themselves as sufficient on any matter. They always strive to be wiser, more talented, more responsible and of better character and morals.

Almighty God reveals in verses that there is no distinction among Muslims between men and women and that any superiority among them lies solely in faith, sincerity, purity and fear of God, in other words in piety:

As is quite clear from this verse, women and men are equal in their responsibilities to God. Equality between men and women can be seen from the way that God recognizes equal rights for men and women during the test in the life of this world.

Through the verses "We made everything on the Earth adornment for it so that We could test them to see whose actions are the best." (Koran, 18:7) and "Every self will taste death. We test you with both good and evil as a trial. And you will be returned to Us." (Koran, 21:35), God reveals that men and women are tested in order to reveal who will behave best. In another verse, God says "We will test you with a certain amount of fear and hunger and loss of wealth and life and fruits. But give good news to the steadfast" (Koran, 2:155), thus revealing that men and women will be tested through various events up to the end of their lives, and that those who can exhibit fortitude in the face of them will receive His mercy.

God ordains the course of life for men and women. He holds them both responsible for the Koran. He has given them both a conscience to inspire them to do what is right at all moments of their lives and has made their lower selves and satan enemies of them both. God has also revealed that as a requirement of the test in the life of this world, if a man or a woman exhibits good moral values and does good deeds, then they will enjoy the finest reward in this world and the hereafter:

Women's rights are always protected in the Koran

Through the moral values of the Koran which establish peace and justice among people all a woman's rights in both social life and the family are placed under protection; this is without doubt a great mercy, comfort and blessing. When people act in the light of the moral values revealed by God, women will not be left in difficulties and their futures and comfort will be guaranteed.

In the following section, we shall be looking at some of the verses that discuss women and guarantee their social rights and revealing the value and prestige bestowed on women under Islamic moral values.

Women must be contented and satisfied in the event of divorce

For some people who live according to their earthly desires, divorce means the end of all relations based on self-interest with the other party. These people believe that once these self-interested relations have ended, there is no longer any need to respect or esteem the other side. Most of the time, since they have lost all respect and affection for the person they have left, they act solely in such a way as to protect their own interests and may ignore such matters as the other party being in want or facing difficulties. The fact is, however, that in the Koran our Almighty Lord describes how women should be treated with affection and compassion, and treated well, after divorce:

The kindness, respect, care, compassion and protection that a man needs to show a woman during and after divorce are commanded by the Koran. Such a morality can only be lived by adherence to the Koran. The greatest value is clearly placed on woman in Islam. In order to see that, one should look at the verses of the Koran and the policies of our Prophet (pbuh), not at the deceptions of those who fabricate superstitions.

Women must be given financial security after divorce

Islam commands that women must be provided with material security after divorce. The Koran forbids a divorced woman being left abandoned, unprotected and financially unsupported. If someone is a pure believer who abides by the Koran, then he has an obligation to adhere to these commands set out by God in the Koran. Such a person will in any case do this willingly and punctiliously out of his love of God.

Verses from the Koran setting out the obligation to give financial security to divorced women read as follows:

As these verses show, whether rich or someone of limited means, a believer is held responsible for protecting his divorced wife. Even if he never sees her again, and even if he stands to gain nothing from her, he still has a responsibility to ensure the financial security of the wife he has divorced and to treat her with kindness. Almighty God also reveals in verses the need to do this willingly and sincerely, without reluctance:

Goods given to women must not be taken back after divorce

Our Almighty Lord also reveals in verses that in the event of divorce the man must not take back those things he gave his wife during their marriage:

God recalls in verses that with marriage, a man has given the woman a promise and a guarantee. And because of that promise, he must not ask to take anything back, no matter how much he has given her. He who has faith, fears God and seeks to attain His approval in all he does knows that this promise is made before God. He will therefore be most scrupulous to discharge his obligation on the subject. This is a very lofty moral value, but one that is acted on almost nowhere in the world. This is one of the greatest errors of the fundamentalists who fail to realize the depth of the Koran and its conception of love and affection, and of those who make the mistake of regarding such people as the true representatives of Islam. The only place where women are valued as they deserve is the Koran.

Some Christians wonder why these commands are not acted on at the moment in Islamic countries and generally approach the matter with suspicion. The reason, of course, is that people do not live by the real moral values of the Koran in Islamic countries, and that superstitions fabricated by fundamentalists prevail in many of them. Otherwise, every Muslim who acts in the light of the Koran will abide by these commands with a peaceful heart and happiness.

We made everything on the Earth adornment for it so that We could test them to see whose actions are the best. (Koran, 18:7)

Women must be found accommodation after divorce

The verses of the Koran hold a man responsible for the security and comfort of his wife even after they divorce. A woman who until that time had all her needs met by her husband or the circumstances prevailing in the marriage may find herself in all manner of difficulties after divorce. The moral values of a believer require that under such circumstances a person should be as understanding and helpful as possible, considering the other person's needs in as much detail as if they were his own needs. That is why our Lord has set out in verses the precautions that need to be taken and the moral virtues that need to be exhibited in conditions, especially such as divorce, in which a woman may suffer great difficulties. Almighty God advises the man to keep the woman close by him during the divorce so that she should not experience difficulties and to ensure that she is sufficiently protected. Indeed, He says that this means that he should watch out for her in times of danger. Making appropriate facilities available for her after divorce until she can find a place of her own to live and ensuring that no harm comes to her is an important responsibility for a believer:

The importance of this needs to be reiterated: these protective measures cited in the verses do not, of course, mean that a woman is too weak to fend for herself; that is simply one of the fabrications spread by prejudiced people in order to attack Islam. The aforementioned verses speak of a superior moral value. The subject here is a kindly moral value attaching superiority and value to women. It is a question of watching out for the woman and making her feel she is a valued and respected person. It means translating the importance that God bestows on women and His protection of them into reality.

Women must not be inherited by force

One of the obligations in terms of the protection of women is that they should not be inherited by force. God says in one verse:

Through this verse, God forbids any pressure being placed on women and any measure that might make things difficult for them in material terms.

The importance attached to mothers

The station of motherhood is exalted in the Koran. Respect for one's parents, treating them well and watching over and protecting them in their elderly years, and at all other times, are responsibilities particularly imposed on devout believers in the Koran, and there are several verses on the subject. Some of these are as follows:

Muslims are advised in the Koran to respect their parents and treat them well. But mothers are shown a particular respect. As God reveals in verses:

Every mother makes great sacrifices for months in order to bring her child into the world, and that is simply the matter of pregnancy; it goes without saying that every mother makes great sacrifice for her child throughout her life. As God reveals in the verse, she carries her baby inside her, putting up with immense difficulties, and then brings it into the world with more great difficulty. Then afterward she engages in more great self-sacrifice to ensure its comfort in all respects and to ensure that it is protected. Moreover, she expects no reward for doing all this, and relegates her own needs to a secondary status. God reminds us of these truths and tells us that mothers are highly valuable people.

Even though the importance and value placed on women in the Koran is made clear with such explicit statements, and even though women are protected in all ways, some Christians still presume to claim that women are despised in Islam and to criticize those true Muslims who live by the Koran by pointing to evidence from those who fabricate nonsense. What these people need to do is to read these verses with care and reflect upon them without prejudice. It is also quite amazing how these people insist on criticizing the Koran while ignoring certain statements regarding women that appear in the Torah and the Gospel.

Some Misguided Statements Regarding Women in the Torah and the Gospel

Misconceptions regarding the Islamic view of women are frequently brought up by some Christian groups, particularly as of late. The fact is, however, that as we have seen in detail, the Koranic view of women is based on love, affection, compassion and justice.

The way that some Christian groups who produce these criticisms of Islam never mention certain statements that appear in the Torah and the Gospel is grounds for suspicion. When we look at the Torah and the Gospel we see that some very terrible things are said in regard to women.

For example, in the Torah, which Christians also regard as a holy book and one of their own scriptures, the punishment for an adulteress is to be stoned to death. Contrary to the practice in certain Islamic countries, stoning to death appears absolutely nowhere in the Koran itself. But it does in the Torah. Passages on the subject read as follows:

If a man is found lying with a married woman, both the woman and the man lying with her shall be put to death. You shall thus rid Israel of evil. (Deuteronomy, 22: 22)

[This is the law] where a virgin girl is betrothed to one man, and another man comes across her in the city and has intercourse with her. Both of them shall be brought to the gates of that city, and they shall be put to death by stoning. [The penalty shall be imposed on] the girl because she did not cry out [even though she was] in the city, and on the man, because he violated his neighbor's wife. You shall thus rid yourselves of evil. (Deuteronomy, 22: 23-24)

If the accusation is true, however, and the girl does not have evidence of her innocence, then they shall take her out to the door of her father's house, and the people of her city shall put her to death by stoning. (Deuteronomy, 22: 20-21)

If a man commits adultery with a married woman, [and] she is the wife of a fellow [Israelite], both the adulterer and adulteress shall be put to death. (Leviticus, 20:10)

If a man has intercourse with his father's wife, he has committed a sexual offense against his father. Therefore, both of them shall be put to death by stoning. (Leviticus, 20:11)

If a man has intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death. Since they have committed an utterly detestable perversion, they shall be stoned to death. (Leviticus, 20:12)

If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is a perversion, and both he and they shall be burned with fire. (Leviticus, 20:14)

In the Koran, on the other hand, someone who accuses another person of adultery has to produce four eyewitnesses to the event. A person can only be convicted of adultery in the presence of four witnesses and if those witnesses were present and actually saw the event with their own eyes.

After conviction, the punishment is a hundred strokes (Koran, 24:2-8). The sentence is clearly intended as a deterrent because the presence of four eyewitnesses during the commission of adultery is impossible in practice.

Verses also say thatif four witnesses cannot be produced the charges are to be rejected:

In the Torah, however, the punishment for adultery is stoning to death. In addition, there is no need to produce eyewitnesses; mere allegation is enough for conviction. Some Christians criticize Islam on this subject but say nothing about this command in the Torah. Such a cruel and blatant rule could be laid at the door of all Jews and Christians if one so wished. These matters could lead to the emergence of very peculiar ideas about Christians and Jews. But Muslims regard the rule here as intended to be a deterrent, one that could never be applied in practice, and their view of Christians and Jews develops accordingly.

Another example concerns female prisoners in towns under siege. All captives, male or female are placed under protection in the Koran, which commands that they should be released at the end of hostilities. But according to the Torah, women and children in a besieged town are the "property of the enemy" and "can be pillaged":

If they reject your peace offer and declare war, you shall lay siege to [the city]. When God your Lord gives it over into your hand, you shall then strike down its [adult] males by the sword. However, the women, children, animals, and all the goods in the city, you shall take as your spoils. You shall thus consume the spoils that God your Lord gives you from your enemies. (Deuteronomy, 20:12-14)

Furthermore, in some circumstances, women and even children and babies in besieged towns must be put to death:

The need to leave nothing alive, not even women and children, is another of the laws in the Torah:

That is what you must do to the cities that are very far from you, and which do not belong to the nations that are here. However, when dealing with the cities of these nations, which God your Lord is giving you as hereditary territory, you shall not allow any people to remain alive. Where the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizites, Hivites, and Yebusites are involved, you must wipe them out completely, as God your Lord commanded you. (Deuteronomy, 20:15-17)

As verses make clear, the penalty for theft in Islam is the severing of the hand in order to prevent repeated acts. But if a person repents of the crime he has committed, then the penalty is not enforced (Koran, 5:38-39). Nobody will renounce the blessing of repentance and forgiveness in the knowledge that they will suffer such a deterrent penalty. Therefore, the rule here is intended merely to act as a deterrent, not to be enforced.

Christians who criticize Muslims because of this rule should really have a look at the Torah. The penalty of loss of a hand appears in the Torah on some interesting pretexts. The penalty is also intended to be enforced, and there is no question of having pity:

If a man is fighting with his brother, and the wife of one comes to defend her husband, grabbing his attacker by his private parts, you must cut off her hand and not have any pity. (Deuteronomy, 25: 11-12)

Another of the interesting rules regarding women in the Torah is this:

If a woman presents herself to an animal and allows it to mate with her, you shall kill both the woman and the animal. They shall be put to death by stoning. (Leviticus, 20: 16)

Mankind! worship your Lord, Who created you and those before you, so that hopefully you will have fear [of God]. (Koran, 2:21)

He is God in the heavens and in the Earth. He knows what you keep secret and what you make public and He knows what you earn. (Koran, 6:3)

The same thing applies to the Gospel. Some Christians accuse Muslims of regarding women as second-class citizens. Yet when one looks at the Gospel, there are striking statements in it placing women in the position of second-class citizens and about men being created to have dominion over them. Passages from the Gospel along these lines are:

While, as we have seen, there are such statements intended to degrade women in Judaism and Christianity, it is inconceivable how some people choose to close their eyes to them and try to blacken the name of Islam. There is no explanation for the way that these people presume to target Islam because of rules that in any case do not appear in the Koran. If Muslims do not look at Christians and Jews in that way and know that there are some fanatics who despise women among Jews and Christians but do not ascribe their views to those two faiths, then Christians should likewise not adopt a false view of Muslims, pointing to nonsense with no place in the Koran and the fanatics who abide by it as supposed evidence.

The Real Enemies of Women Are Fundamentalists, Hypocrites, Darwinists, Materialists, Communists and Fascists

Treating women as second-class people, denigrating them at every opportunity, refusing to regard them as blessings and, in short, hating them, are all characteristics of Darwinists, materialists, communists, fascists and fundamentalists. In the same way that these people take no pleasure from any beauty and have no understanding of art, beauty, pleasant scents, animals, plants or music, so they are unable to understand the value of women, who are created as blessings. That is largely because they are themselves spiritually uneasy and live lives devoid of cleanliness and loveliness; they are unable to appreciate beauty. Their lives are full of troubles rather than pleasures, for which reason they approach blessings with rage and hatred.

Under fundamentalism, the person who most despises women and treats them as second-class people is held up as a role model. This sad truth goes for the fundamentalists of all three faiths. Yet the fact is that the fundamentalists who appear in the name of Islam act in total contravention of the Koran and live lifestyles that have no place in the verses of the Koran and the practices of our Prophet (pbuh). It is senseless to ascribe the ideas of these people, who abide by a superstitious faith and nonsense of their own creation, rather than by Islam, to Islam.

The perverse logic with regard to women of course has its roots in Darwinism, the main cause of irreligion. Darwin had no qualms whatsoever about expressing views that blatantly despised women. In his book, The Descent of Man, he says that with regard to women's ability to reason, understand and mimic, they possess the characteristics of "inferior races" and therefore they possess an outdated and inferior civilization. (John R. Durant, "The Ascent of Nature in Darwin's Descent of Man" in The Darwinian Heritage, Ed. by David Kohn, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985, p. 295). It is immediately apparent what kind of terrifying lifestyle such a mindset that regards women as an inferior race still in the process of evolving represents. Darwin, who did possess such a bigoted mindset, described women's place in marriage in these unbelievable words:

Fundamentalists, hypocrites, communists, fascists and atheists have maintained this terrifying view of Darwin's. The foul and fanatical Darwinist mentality maintains this attitude toward women. This is the prevailing logic in all communist societies. It is the mindset of some Darwinist religious teachers who appear in the name of Islam. It is the fundamentalists who kill their baby daughters as soon as they are born – even though female infanticide is explicitly prohibited in the Koran – and regard themselves as humiliated by having daughters. The Koran is always on the side of women and stresses the importance of protecting them, while with Darwinists, fundamentalists and hypocrites, the whole system is predicated on protecting men and the general oppression of women. This perverse mentality that despises women is therefore that of Darwin and the radicals, not of Islam.

Women are today treated as second-class people in all societies that do not live as the moral values of Islam require. The community that attaches the greatest value to women is that of Muslims who fully abide by the moral values of Islam and the practices of our Prophet (pbuh). That is why those people who seek to give the impression that the foul ideas of societies that are irreligious or live by nonsense instead of the Koran, actually stem from Islam are gravely mistaken. Islam attaches the highest value to women and is the only faith that recognizes all their rights, protects their lives and values them as they deserve.

Section 3: There is no Compulsion in the Religion. This is an Absolute Rule of the Koran.

The Koran's commandment is an explicit one: There is no compulsion in the religion.

This is revealed as follows in verses:

Believers obey God's command to "command what is lawful and forbid what is unlawful" and call people to the path of God with gentle words. However, it is God Who bestows guidance (Koran, 28:56), and all Muslims who read and comprehend the Koran know this full well. Therefore, the duty of a Muslim is to tell people about the Koran and to invite them to it, to preach, in other words. Only people who find guidance will heed this call, while those without will reject it. This means that no matter how hard you work at it, someone who has not found guidance will never become a true Muslim. It is therefore unlawful in the eyes of the Koran to compel such people, and compulsion produces no results.

Islam means submission. In order for someone to enter Islam, find true guidance and become a true Muslim, he must genuinely submit himself to God and the Koran.

But what happens if someone is forced to become a Muslim?

If someone is forced to convert to Islam, he will be a hypocrite, not a Muslim. He will worship and pray through compulsion, as a result of which he will most likely become a hypocrite full of rage and hatred. He will detest Islam and Muslims and, while appearing to be a Muslim, he will spend his life trying to lead Muslims into traps.

The hypocrite is Muslims' worst enemy, and the lowest form of life on Earth. God regards hypocrites as deserving of the lowest level of hell. These base creatures constantly seek to harm Muslims. Therefore, to go against God's command and try to compel someone to become a Muslim merely results in generating hypocrites and ends in harm. This is one of the last things Muslims should ever want.

Forcing someone to be a Muslim is also against the general spirit of the Koran. There is a conception of justice set out in the Koran, according to which all ideas and opinions are as free as possible. God makes this clear in the verse "You have your religion and I have my religion,"(Koran, 109:6) addressed to the unbelievers. This means full democracy, freedom of religion and belief. In other words, freedom of belief and democracy have their origins in the Koran. When this conception enshrined in the Koran spreads across the world, then we will have complete democracy and liberty. This system of justice is a law of humanity that includes all communities, the whole world and all beliefs: It is the law of God. The commandments of the Koran are created so as to bring people material and psychological comfort.

There is absolutely no commandment in the verses of the Koran that can offend anyone or make them uneasy. Islam was sent down so that people could live in happiness and tranquility. A Muslim has a responsibility to pray for others, even idolators to find happiness, to treat them with compassion and to protect and watch over them. God has given Muslims a responsibility even to protect unbelievers as they go from one place to another. Muslims are charged with protecting unbelievers even at the cost of their own lives. One verse on the subject reads:

Islam is a religion built on love, affection, understanding and respect. Those who engage in other practices are unacquainted with and do not live by the moral values of Islam.

Fundamentalists are Dissimulating When They Say, "There Is No Compulsion in the Religion"

Some people point to various Muslims who initially say "there is no compulsion in the religion" but later employ stealthy and compulsive tactics to impose it, and suggest that Muslims are employing dissimulation on this matter. First of all, these people need to make a careful distinction between true Muslims and extremists who live by superstitions rather than by the Koran. A fundamentalist is a radical who has failed to fully grasp the goodness and wisdom in the commandments that God has revealed in the Koran, who has failed to properly understand the spirit of the Koran and who is therefore not convinced that the Koran is the one true Book. He, in his own eyes, imagines that if he resorts to force and compulsion, despite God's clear command and the verses of the Koran, then some people can become Muslims. Yet this blatantly flies in the face of our Lord's commands. The result, as we have already seen, is hypocrites, enemies of Islam and people who regard the faith as one of compulsion and force.

When Islam is properly and fully applied, as in the time of our Prophet (pbuh), when people fully live by the verses of the Koran, only then will people be living by the real Islam. Nothing else is Islam. People who regard even a single verse of the Koran as insufficient have abandoned the faith. Things done by such people in the name of Islam, that have no place in the faith, cannot be attributed to Islam, in exactly the same way that fanatics who kill and burn mosques and copies of the Koran cannot be attributed to Christianity.

If a practice is incompatible with verses of the Koran, then it is not Islamic. Therefore, if Christians wish to learn the essence of and truth about Islam, they must look to the Koran alone.

The Koran Declares War on Fundamentalism

The Koran has declared war on all forms of affliction caused by fundamentalism; unhappiness, oppression, lovelessness, anger and bloodshed. The Islam based on the Koran is the exact opposite of fundamentalism.

Islam advises love, peace and friendship. It encourages unity, exalting the name of God together, brotherhood and the establishment of peace and security in the world.

Fundamentalism cannot be eliminated by declaring war on Islam

Those who mistakenly equate fundamentalism with Islam itself and wish to eliminate this extremist system are generally making a major error in adopting a hostile attitude toward Islam. Some elements of the atheist, materialist and Darwinist press, think tanks and other circles influential in global politics are attempting to spread this false perspective. The people in question deliberately misrepresent what it is to be a Muslim and incite hostility toward Islam and Muslims by saying, "This is what Muslims are like, they deny you the right to exist, so you must destroy them before they destroy you."

Under the influence of this conditioning, some Christians maintain the need for a fight against the Koran and Islam in order to eradicate the wrongful practices that the extremist system brings with it (surely Islam and the Koran are beyond that). But this, which is a violation of reason and good conscience, simply leads to the further encouragement and growth of extremism. All attacks on the Koran and true Islam merely strengthen the extremist system that believes in the need for violence against all those who think differently from it. The only way to eradicate the bloody system that these extremists espouse is to bring the Koran and the true Islam into the foreground and to make them a reality again, as in the Age of Bliss.

The joyful, extroverted, modern and progressive lives of true Muslims, built on love, affection, friendship and brotherhood cause extremists a great deal of unhappiness and discomfort. Therefore, our Christian brothers should therefore support true Muslims and act together with them against the extremist mindset, which is opposed to Christians and Jews as well as Muslims.

Combating extremism is a religious observance for Muslims because striving against those who ascribe equals to God is one of the commandments of the Koran. Extremist is another term for the word "idolaters" in the Koran. Almighty God speaks in verses of the hypocrites and unbelievers and those with sickness in their hearts; these are all idolaters. They are the enemies of the Age of Bliss, people who declare war on the Koran in the name of the Koran.

This struggle has to be an intellectual one, an ideological struggle, of course. Extremists are generally uneducated and ill-informed people who are unacquainted with the Koran for various reasons. These people therefore need to be educated if the fundamentalist threat is to be done away with. Once they are educated and understand the true Islam as described in the Koran, they will of course see the illogicality of the fundamentalist mindset.

The perverse school that is loveless, unaffectionate, ruthless, unintelligent, uncultured and ill-mannered, that dislikes art and science, that is unable to think deeply, that is all show, that seeks to make religion unnecessarily complex and that wants to invent its own religion on the basis of constant fabrications and superstitions is properly referred to as "fundamentalism," or the "school of the idolaters." An extremist system that has been developed in complete opposition to the Koran, that does not regard the Koran sufficient and that applies the exact opposite of what is commanded in the Koran is one against which Muslims must wage an intellectual struggle.

The solution to extremism is to advocate the Islam of the Age of Bliss and true Koranic moral values and to educate people who have fallen into the clutches of fundamentalism. Our Prophet (pbuh) was against extremists and applied the blessings of democracy, love, respect and liberty brought with it by Islam in the most perfect manner.

Christians and Jews will also be at ease when people live by the moral values of the true Islam

It is very important for our Christian brothers to regard the explanations regarding concepts such as love, peace, democracy, freedom, happiness and modernity set out in this book as being made with the very best of intentions. These are not personal opinions: They are the essence of the Koran. These are what conform to the spirit of the Koran, to all the examples we see in the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and to the approval of God, the Compassionate and Merciful. This is how these rulings of the Koran were applied in the time of our Prophet. Bloodshed exists only in the superstitions of the fundamentalists. People with a fundamentalist mindset under the influence of the antichrist have depicted Islam as bloodthirsty by striving to spread it across the world and have thus deceived vast masses of people.

It is of the utmost importance for Christians to see the true and essential message of the Koran. Our Prophet and the Koran are both sources of light for all the people in the world. Everything that makes people happy and illuminates the world is in the Koran. Everyone who looks with the eyes of good conscience and faith will clearly see this. Living by the Koran as in the time of the Age of Bliss will bring comfort and beauty to the entire world. Muslims applying the Koran in this way will also bring peace, happiness and comfort to Christians and Jews. As a result, an exceedingly happy life will prevail throughout the world. That is in any case what is in people's nature, and the seeds of joy that have disappeared under the influence of the antichrist will return. Joy will return to people. Art will expand and artists who create true art will appear. The architecture that has vanished under the influence of the antichrist will be restored to life. Peace, happiness, security, friendship, brotherhood and, most important of all, love of God, will spread across the world. Once the love of God is in people's hearts, art and joy, happiness and science will come to that society, in other words, all beauty and delight. The Koran is built upon a Muslim having affection, compassion, love and intelligence, behaving in a balanced way, thinking rationally, being altruistic, thinking the best of events and seeing goodness in all things. A world in which Islam spreads in this form will also be an extraordinarily beautiful place for Christians and Jews.

What Christians need to oppose and wage an intellectual struggle against is extremism, Darwinism and materialism; a major threat to all three faiths. What they need to support and espouse is people living by Islam as described in the Koran and the system of the Mahdi that will bring this about in our day. When they support this, all fundamentalism, Darwinism and materialism will disappear, a great joy will descend on the world and everything and everywhere will be illuminated. Fundamentalism will be eliminated through the proper education of people who have fallen under the influence of Darwinist and materialist ideologies. As revealed in verses of the Koran, churches and synagogues are under the protection of God. Our Christian and Jewish brothers will be able to worship as they wish and will enjoy the comfort and security they desire. Muslims will live in brotherhood and love with Christians and Jews, wars will come to an end, there will be no more bloodshed and the world will become a place of peace where people live in well-being and tranquility. This is God's promise. It will definitely come true. But God wants us to make effort for it.

Our Prophet's (pbuh) Affectionate, Protective and Loving Attitude toward the People of the Book

During a Visit by the Christians of Najran our Prophet (pbuh) spread his robe out for them to sit on

There are a great many accounts of our Prophet (pbuh) attending weddings of the People of the Book, visiting them when they were sick and giving them gifts. Indeed, when the Christians of Najran visited the Prophet Muhammad he spread his robe out on the ground and invited his Christian guests to sit on it.

Our Prophet (pbuh) Said that the People of the Book Are under the Protection of Muslims

In the peace treaty he had drawn up with the Christian ibn Kharis ibn Ka'b, the Prophet Muhammad said: "The faith, churches, honor and property of all Christians living in the east and west are under the protection of God, the Prophet and all believers. None of those who live by Christianity shall be forced to convert to Islam against their will. If any Christian is killed or exposed to any injustice, Muslims have a duty to come to his assistance." (Ibn Hisham, Abu Muhammad Abdulmalik, As-Siratu'n-Nabawiyya, Daru at-Turasi al-Arabiyla, Beirut, 1396/1971, II/141-150)

Our Prophet (pbuh) Opened the Houses of the Companions for Visiting People of the Book to Stay in

Envoys and delegations would visit Medina in groups in the time of our Prophet. Delegations, including those of the People of the Book, might sometimes stay longer than 10 days, and the houses of Abdurrahman ibn Avf, Mughire ibn Shubea, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and some members of the al-Ansar would be made available for them. In addition, accommodation used by the people of the Suffa studying around the Masjid al-Nabawi and a tent set up near the mosque would be prepared for visitors.

Our Prophet would give official documents, written commands discussing rights and privileges bestowed on certain individuals and groups and documents setting out agreements with foreigners, to some of those who came to meet him. These would set out the places set aside for them. He would appoint governors from among them to some regions. The Prophet would send alms officials to Muslims and collectors of the tax on non-Muslims to those who remained Christians. These official delegations that arrived were evidence that the prophethood and sovereignty of the Prophet were recognized in the entire Arabian peninsula. (Sarıçam, Hz. Muhammed ve Evrensel Mesajı [The Prophet Muhammad and His Universal Message], p. 356)

Our Prophet (pbuh) Followed the Behavior of the People of the Book Rather than That of the Pagans of Mecca Regarding Some Matters Not Clarified by Revelation

The Messenger of God acted according to the behavior of the People of the Book, in opposition to the pagans of Mecca, on matters not clarified by revelation. (Bukhari, Libas 70; Muslim, Fedail 90)

Our Prophet (pbuh) sent Companions on Hegira to the Christian Najashi

The first Christian country to interest our Prophet before the hegira, and to which he wished Muslims to migrate, was Abyssinia. The Messenger of God desired the Muslims of Mecca to migrate to Abyssinia because of the ruthless persecution on the part of the pagans of Mecca. He expressed his feelings as follows:

If you wish and if it is possible, seek refuge in Abyssinia. Because nobody can be persecuted in the lands of the king who rules there. That is a safe and sure place, so remain there until God makes matters easier.(Hamidullah, al-Wasaiku as- Siyasiya, [trans. Vecdi Akyüz], Istanbul 1997, p.115; Hamidullah, İslam Peygamberi [The Prophet of Islam], vol. I, 297)

Our Prophet (pbuh) Rose to His Feet When the Funeral Cortège of a Jew Passed by

Jabir ibn Abdullah relates:

A funeral cortège passed by us. Our Prophet immediately rose to his feet for it. We followed him and also rose to our feet and said: "O Messenger of God, this is the funeral of a Jewish woman." Our Prophet replied: "... Rise to your feet at once when you see a funeral procession." (Muslim, Janaiz, 78, Hadith no: 1593)

Ibn Abu Layla narrates in an account from Qays ibn Sa'd'in:

A funeral procession passed by Qays ibn Sa'd and Sahl ibn Hunaif when they were in Qadisiyye. They rose to their feet. They were told that the funeral was that of one of the local people (a non-Muslim, in other words). Qays and Sahl said: A funeral procession passed by the Messenger of God. The Messenger of God rose to his feet. When he was told it was the funeral of a Jew, he said: "Is he not also a human being?" (Muslim, Janaiz, 78, Hadith no: 1596)

Our Prophet (pbuh) Commanded that Non-Muslims Should Not Be Oppressed

In one hadith our Prophet said, "Whoever oppresses a non-Muslim, I will be his enemy."

Our Prophet (pbuh) Spoke with Christians When the Prophethood Came to Him

When our Prophet (pbuh) began preaching with the title of Messenger of God, he first met with various Christians from Mecca. In the first days, when revelation began coming to him, it was Waraka bin Nawfel, a Christian with handwritten copies of the Gospel, who spoke with the Prophet and Hazrat Khadija. (Bukhari, Bedu al-Vahy 3)

Our Prophet (pbuh) Never Permitted Any Interference in Anyone's Religion

In 630 our Prophet who applied the verse "La iqraha fı'd-dîn (There is no compulsion in the religion)" (Koran, 2:256), an expression of the freedom to choose one's own religion, issued the following command to the envoys who arrived at Medina from the ruler of Khimyar to announce that they had become Muslims:

If a Jew or a Christian becomes a Muslim, they are then one of the believers (equal with them under the law). But there can be no interference with anyone who wishes to remain in Judaism or Christianity. (Ibn Hisham, as-Sira, vol.II, 586)

Our Prophet (pbuh) Personally Did Business with Jews

One of the values on which the Messenger of God based his relations with other people is honesty. The fact that someone in whom he saw this virtue was a member of another faith did not stop him entering into business relations with them. He personally received foodstuffs from Jews of Medina.

The Affection that Our Prophet (pbuh) Showed to the Jews in the Time of the Capture of Khaibar

Among the booty secured after the capture of Khaibar were copies of the Torah in scroll form. Our Prophet had these scrolls removed from the booty and ordered that they be returned to the Jews.

Again after the capture of Khaibar, Muslim troops began eating from the orchards and date groves belonging to Jews. The Jews complained to the Prophet. Our Prophet commanded that the goods, orchards and gardens belonging to the people of the region should not be touched.

Through the Constitution of Medina Our Prophet (pbuh) Commanded that There Should Be No Interference with the Faiths of Jews and Christians

The Constitution of Medina that our Prophet signed with Christian, Jewish and pagan communities is a most important example of justice. One of the articles of the constitution reads as follows:

The Jews of the Bnai Awf are the same community as the believers, the Jews have their own faith and the Muslims have their own faith.

Article 16 of the Constitution says, "The Jews who follow us will enjoy the right to our help and support, with no injustice being inflicted on them and with no succor for their enemies."

After our Prophet (pbuh), the Companion remained loyal to this rule that he had placed in the Constitution, and also applied it to the Berbers, Buddhists, Brahmans and holders of similar beliefs.

In the Protection Treaty He Gave to the People of Najran Our Prophet (pbuh) Said They Were under the Protection of Muslims

The freedoms our Prophet gave to the People of the Book from Edruh, Makna, Khaibar, Najran and Aqaba show that the lives and property of the People of the Book were placed under the protection of Muslims and that they recognized their freedom of belief and worship. These articles on the agreement our Prophet made with the people of Najran are particularly striking:

The lives, belongings, religion, assets, families, churches and everything else belonging to the people of Najran and their associates will be placed under the protection of God and the Prophet of God.

No bishop or monk will be forced from his church or monastery and no priest will be forced to abandon the life of the priesthood. No oppression or contempt will be shown them and their lands will not be invaded by our armies. If anyone makes a rightful demand, a just ruling will be made in Najran...

Their duty is to strive on loyalty and responsibilities. They will suffer no persecution or oppression.

An alliance between believers is obligatory

What belief in God, justice and good conscience demand is an intellectual struggle against the opponents of belief in God and the demolition of their ideological infrastructure by exposing all the evils in the world. The actions of those who foolishly seek to misuse the great religion of Islam in acts of violence, of ignorant people who bear the name of Muslim, or who are in fact atheists, and take part in actions which are incompatible with Islam and the verses of the Koran must be exposed.

It is impossible for a sincere believer to be taken in by the plans of the supporters of the antichrist by ignoring the true essence of Islam. Because of this covert and systematic conditioning, some Christians keep their distance from Muslims and even form a front of opposition against them. By doing this, under the influence of some people who portray themselves as Evangelical Christians but who in fact are opponents of the faith, they encourage feelings of hatred and anger toward Muslims. Instead of forming the necessary alliance, as people who truly love God, with the friends of God they, intentionally or not, follow the path of a stealthy organization in the vanguard of a Darwinist and terrorist system. They fail to see the dreadful harm that this erroneous belief does to both themselves and to all the believers in the world.

By God's leave, the name and the word of God will emerge victorious and rule the world. This is God's promise to all true believers. But in order to be instrumental in this, we still need to make use of natural causes and to establish a great union of faith across the world.

If genuine Evangelical Christians can see the cunning plans of evangelical followers of the antichrist and become aware of the grave danger approaching and form an alliance with genuine and devout Muslims, then it will be possible to build a world in which everyone can live in peace and tranquility and in which wars and conflicts come to an end. As a blessing from God, they will live more peaceful, easier and pleasanter lives.

When they become better aware of the dimensions of the true danger being pioneered by atheist fanatics –in other words, the danger of atheism, Darwinism, materialism, Marxism and communism– then they will oppose all these perverse systems that have declared war on belief in God, and will wage the real struggle in the company of all other believers. By Almighty God's leave, the time of the coming of Jesus (pbuh) and Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh), awaited with great excitement by the members of all three faiths, is imminent. According to the Koran, as required by God's promise, all Christians at that time will, of their own volition, heed Jesus' call for peace and unity.

According to the Koran, when Jesus returns, nobody from the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) will refuse to believe in him before his death. (Koran, 4:159) Then, by permission of our Almighty Lord, they will realize that what really needs to be done is to constitute a powerful union of love and alliance between believers. The really essential thing, now that the time of the coming of Jesus and Hazrat Mahdi is so imminent, is to be aware of this and to prepare a climate in which these blessed individuals can work easily by preparing the requisite intellectual environment for them. It is of course an absolute fact that God has no need of anything in order to bring about the reign of Islamic moral values, peace, justice and love. (Surely God is beyond that.) However, God has also bestowed the blessing of prayer and reward on all believers. A powerful alliance among sincere believers is equivalent to a prayer for irreligion to vanish from the world and for the name of our Almighty Lord to be remembered across the world as the One and Only.

The People of the Book have a special place in Islam. Muslims have a duty to treat the People of the Book with love and respect, to protect them and to be their brothers.