2/12/03
ROME AND MUSLIM ARABS IN LEAGUE TOGETHER PART II
By J. Parnell McCarter
We read in Revelation 16:12 how the kings of the East are released
against “Babylon”, as part of the Beast’s war against the mysterious “Babylon”
(Revelation 17:16). This implies some
sort of alliance between the Romish Beast and the kings of the East. In the first in our series of articles on
this topic we explored some aspects of this alliance in modern history. In this
second article we shall consider various ideological links between Romanism and
Islam.
To begin
our exploration of this topic in the early years of Islam, let’s first consider the
testimony of a Roman Catholic website (http://www.bluearmy.com/Response%20to%20Sept%2011.htm)
:
“Islam is an
Arabic word that can be defined as “to make peace.” Islam is the religion
founded by Mohammed, which considers the Koran as its holy book. In addition,
Islam accepts the New Testament of the Christians and the Old Testament of the
Jews as Divinely inspired works. Followers of Islam are known as Muslims (also:
Moors, Turks, and Moslems) and, just as Jews and Christians, believe in only
one God. Yet, over the centuries, Muslims have engaged in tremendous wars with
Christians and Jews. It would seem that there is little hope for peace. However,
Heaven’s Peace Plan, involving Our Lady, is evidenced at Fatima, Portugal as
well as other places around the world.
Fatima
The Moors once occupied Portugal. The village of Fatima was given the Islamic
name of the well-loved Princess of the nearby Castle of Ourem. She died at an
early age after marrying the Count of Ourem and converting to Catholicism.
Baptized with the Christian name of Oureana, she was named at birth “Fatima,”
like many other Moslem girls, in honor of the daughter of Mohammed. Of his
daughter, Fatima, the founder of Islam, Mohammed, said: “She has the highest
place in heaven after the Virgin Mary.”
It is a fact that Moslems from various nations, especially from the
Middle East, make so many pilgrimages to Our Lady of Fatima’s Shrine in
Portugal that Portuguese officials have expressed concern. The combination of
an Islamic name and Islamic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great
attraction to Moslems. God is writing straight with crooked lines, as we will
see. Fatima is a part of Heaven’s Peace Plan. It is hope for the world.”
The Islamic religion is very much
rooted in the adoration of Mary, like Roman Catholicism. And Islam, as noted in the quote above,
acknowledges another Mary-like personality by the name of Fatima. This Fatima is also acknowledged in Romanism
by “Our Lady of Fatima’s Shrine in Portugal”.
According to the Roman Catholic testimony expressed above and elsewhere,
this link between adoration of Mary and Fatima may eventually serve as the
basis for a “Peace Plan” between Roman Catholic Christianity and Islam. So it behooves us to understand more about
Fatima.
This is what the Muslim website http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/1731/a_khadijah.html says about Fatima’s background in the
context of Islam’s origins:
“The first woman to follow the religion of Islam was Khadijah ul-Kubra'. Every muslim knows who she was and what a role-model she was and continues to be. We also know that she was according to the Prophet(saw), one of the four greatest women from among the whole earth. Khadijah was born in the year 555 C.E. (christian era). Her parents were Khuwailid and Fatimah bint Zaidah. By the time she reached the age of forty she had attained quite a reputation for herself. She was known as a wealthy, noble, fine-natured business woman. Khadijah heard about Mohammed's(saw) reputation for being an honest and upright young man. She sent him a proposal to ask him to handle some of her business affairs. On the return from one trip to Syria, he reported a profit that doubled that which anyone else had done for her. Needless to say, that impressed her greatly!
Khadijah's satisfaction with her new employee was soon to turn into love. Despite their age difference of 15 years, she desired to marry him. She confided this desire to he friend, Nufaysah, who in turn approached Mohammed(saw). This confused him. How could such a noble woman, who had turned down the marriage proposals of the nobelist and wealthiest Quraysh men, desire to marry him?! Mohammed uncle Abu Talib and Khadijah's uncle 'Umar ibn Asad sat down to arrange the completion of the marriage. Little did any of them know just what the future had in store for this new couple!
Allah bestowed upon them six children. They were given two boys, Qasim and 'Abdullah, but neither survived infancy. They were also given four daughters, Zainab, Ruqaiyyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah.
Mohammed would often go to Mount Hira for meditation. On returning one day, Khadijah could see he was quite shaken and upset. She inquired about this and he told her what had happened. She found out that today had been unlike any other in that, today, he had been given revelations from God! He had thought that he was possessed and was going mad. Khadijah tried to console her terrified husband by saying:
"Rejoice, O son of my uncle, and be of good heart. Surely by Him in whose hand is my soul, I have hope that you will be the prophet of this people. You have never done any wrong to anyone. You are kind to others and you help the poor. So Allah will not let you down."
He then asked for a blanket and she quickly fulfilled his request. Shortly thereafter, he fell asleep. when Mohammed woke, Khadijah took him to her cousin, Waraqah bin Nawfal. He was christian and quite knowledgeable of the scriptures of the Torah and Bible. He confirmed Mohammed's prophethood and said:
"This is the same one who keeps the secrets (angel Jibrail) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out."
Just a few months later Jibrail came again and
ordered him to start warning the people. Khadijah supported him in this by
financially supporting the family and his teaching. She was also content to
raise the children and handle the family affairs so that he could preach. During the next 10 years, she proved herself
to be a loving wife. She supported him when nobody else would. She consoled him
when rough time hit them. She comforted and encouraged him when the Quraish did
all they could to stop him from preaching.”
Fatima (also sometimes spelled
Fatimah) then was the child of Mohammed through his first wife Khadijah. Khadijah and her Jewish Christian cousin
Waraqah bin Nawfal
were instrumental in manipulating the impressionable Mohammed, just as many
centuries later the Jesuit Father
Staempfle was instrumental in
manipulating the impressionable Hitler. Hitler and Mohammed
were remarkably similar in character, as we read Mohammed’s description at http://www.pbministries.org/History/S.%20Hassell/church_of_god_13.htm
:
“He restricted ordinary
Mohammedans to four wives;[i][2][ii] but allowed chieftains as many as they wished;
and the estimate of the number of his own wives varies from thirteen to
twenty-five. His first wife, Kadijah, was a wealthy widow; and his favorite
wife, Ayesha, was a beautiful girl but nine years old when he married her, he
being fifty-three years of age. He was subject to epileptic fits from his
childhood, and was, in all probability, a partially insane religious fanatic,
or mono-maniac. He says that he never knew how to read or write. He pretended
that his fits were interviews with the angel Gabriel; and the so-called
revelations that he dictated were recorded and preserved by others and,
after his death, gathered into a book called the Koran—the Mohammedan Bible.
Mohammed was a licentious, ambitious and vindictive man; and his religion was a
strange compound of truth and error, of Judaism, Rabbinism, Christianity,
Heathenism and Fatalism. The most of the Arabs were heathens; but many Jews and
professed Christians had gradually settled in Arabia. Mohammed’s first wife’s
cousin, Waraka, originally a Jew, and subsequently a professor of Christianity,
was the first man on record to translate parts of the Old and New Testaments
into Arabic, and he gave Mohammed much information in regard to the Scriptures.
Mohammed admitted that the Old and New Testaments were divinely inspired, but
had become corrupted; that numerous prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses and Jesus, had preceded him, and that Jesus was the greatest before him,
but not the Son of God.”
The “helpful” influence of Khadijah and Waraqa
Ibn Nawfal is even admitted in sources sympathetic to Islam, as we read at http://www.wponline.org/vil/Books/MG_FMS/CHAPTER2.html
:
“With the first revelation, came a
short period of distress in the Prophet's life. Although he was comforted 1 by his
wife Khadijah, and by her cousin Waraqa Ibn Nowfal, he barely realized at the
time the huge responsibility he had been entrusted 2 with. For
a humble orphan to guide the whole world, this seemed unthinkable at first. So
"the very thought of being chosen out of all mankind, alone, with such a
message, 3 appalled
him at first. Recognition of the Divine nature of the Call he had received
involved a change in his whole mental outlook sufficiently disturbing to a
sensitive and honest mind, and also the forsaking of his quiet, honoured way of
life"
Here is how
another Islamic website (http://www.islamic-study.org/rise-of-islam-body.htm) describes the nature of this influence of
Khadijah and Waraqa Ibn Nawfal:
- - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Born in Mecca, the Arabian Peninsula, into
the prominent Quraysh tribe about 570 C.E., both of his parents died young;
first his father, Abdu-Allah and then his mother Amina shortly after. He was
about six years old at the time of his mother's death. His father had died when
he was still in the womb of his mother. His grandfather Abd-al Muttalib, a prominent
leader in Mecca, then took charge of him. Upon the death of his grandfather,
Muhammad's guardianship passed to his uncle Abu-Talib who, although never
converted to Islam, continued to show love and protection for his nephew
despite extreme hardships and dangers. Muhammad, like the rest of the young men
in Abu-Talib's family, had to work. At first he was a shepherd but later he
gradually gained respect as a businessman. At 25 he married Khadija, a widow of
40. They lived 23 years together and had four daughters and two sons. His sons
died during early childhood. All of his daughters lived and married, only
Fatima had descendants.
The next several years he devoted much time to contemplation. Often he climbed
to a small cave among the rocks of Mount Noor, in a cave called Hira, just
north of Mecca, to spend in fasting and meditation. There, in the year 610, at
40 years of age and although unlettered, a revelation overwhelmed him: a
blinding vision that frightened him to his knees. A voice from the sky said: "O Muhammad,
Read!" He said: "I cannot
read." The voice again said:
"Read!" He said: "I cannot
read." The third time the
voice was more terrible. It commanded: "Read!" He said: "What shall I read?" Then the archangel replied:
"Read, in the name of the Lord who createth, created man from a clot, read and it is thy Lord, the most Bountiful Who teacheth by pen, teacheth man that which he knew not." Quran, 96:1-5.
Troubled, Muhammad returned home to Khadija.
Is it that God has spoken to him and had appointed him His messenger? or is it
that he is losing his senses? It is an undisputed fact that Khadija was the
first to believe in his appointment as a Prophet, before anyone, even the
disturbed Muhammad himself, for he returned to her saying: "Wrap me,
wrap me," and right after he
told her what he had experienced and what was said to him, Kadijah responded by
saying: "Allah will not disappoint you, you feed the poor, you cloth the
needy..."
Muhammad then went to sleep on her lap. Soon Khadija ran to her cousin, Waraqah
Ibn-Nowfal who refused to worship idols and had became a Christian and who had
also translated part of the Old Testament into Arabic. When she told him what
Muhammad had seen and heard, he broke into these words: "Holy, Holy!
By Him Who dominated Waraqah's soul, O Khadija, this must be the great spirit
that spoke to Moses. Muhammad must be the Prophet of this nation." Khadija returned home and found Muhammad still asleep
and perspiring. As he opened his eyes, he heard the Angel saying:
"O you who lie wrapped in your mantle, arise and Warn. Glorify your Lord. Purify your garments." Quran, 74: 1-3.
Thus, Muhammad became the
Prophet who would later transform the face of this globe.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://www.hfe.org/prayer/ramadan/islam.htm
casts light upon how Mohammed sought religious counsel from a certain
‘Jacobite’ monk, apparently the Jew-turned-Christian Waraqa Ibn Nawfal:
“At the age of 25 he
married Khadija and their marriage produced 6 children, although all of them
died, except for the youngest daughter
- Fatima. Muhammed and Khadija were married for 25 years. Later, after Khadija
died, Muhammed endorsed polygamy and
married several wives.
At the age of 40,
he became very concerned about the state of his fellow countrymen and spent
much of his time in meditation on religious matters. During his life, Muhammed
had met many Christians priests and Jews. He often sought counsel from a particular
'Jacobite' monk who taught Muhammed many aspects of Jewish religious customs.
During the month
of Ramadan, Muhammed often retreated to a cave on the slopes of Mount Hira, 3
miles from Mecca. It was during one of these times that Muhammed began to
receive revelation and instruction that he
believed were from the archangel Gabriel. These writings form the basis
of the Qur'an. In addition to the Qur'an
is the book of 'Hadiths'. The Hadith is the teaching of Muhammed and is
an important part of the life of a Muslim.”
http://www.goodnewsmag.org/magazine/6NovDec/nd01muslim.html
confirms this account:
“At the age of 40,
he became very concerned about the state of his fellow countrymen and spent
much of his time in meditation on religious matters. During his life, Muhammed
had met many Christians, priests, and Jews. He often sought counsel from a
particular "Jacobite" monk, who taught Muhammed many aspects of
Jewish religious customs.”
According to http://www.wponline.org/vil/Books/MH_LM/from_marriage_to_prophethood.htm,
Waraqah ibn Nawfal was a Catholic priest who counseled Mohammed:
“Despite this keen and noble obsession with the spiritual,
this natural impulsion to religion, Muhammad never sought to become a priest
nor a wise counselor, such as Waraqah ibn Nawfal and others were, to whom men
ran for advice…One day Muhammad went to the Ka'bah for circumambulation. He was
met by Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who asked him about himself. Muhammad related the
events as they had happened. When he finished, Waraqah said, "By Him Who
dominates my soul I swear that you are the Prophet of this nation. The great
spirit that has come to Moses has now come to you. You will be denied and you
will be hurt. You will be abused and you will be pursued. If I should ever live
to see that day I shall surely help the cause of God. God knows that I
will."
And according to http://www.islamicdigest.net/id5/print.php?sid=1089:
“If you wish to research the life of this great lady, and if
you do not have al-Majlisi's voluminous [110 Vol.] encyclopedia titled Bihar
al-Anwar, the best references are: al-Sayyuti's Tarikh al Khulafa, Abul-Faraj
al-Isfahani's Aghani, Ibn Hisham's Seera, Muhammad ibn Ishaq's Seerat
Rasool-Allah, and Tarikh al-rusul wal muluk by Abu Ja`far Muhammad ibn Jarir
al-Tabari (839-923 A.D.). Of all these books, only al-Tabari's Tarikh is being
translated (by more than one translator and in several volumes) into English.
One publisher of Tabari's Tarikh is the press of the State University of New
York (SUNY). This article has utilized a number of Arabic and English
references, and it is written especially for those who appreciate history, our
great teacher, be they Muslims or non-Muslims, and who aspire to learn from it.
"Islam did not rise except through Ali's sword and Khadija's wealth,"
a saying goes… Waraqah ibn Nawfal, like Bahirah, the monk, adhered to the
Nestorian Christian sect. He heard the accounts about the personality and
conduct of young Muhammad (S.A.W.) from both his cousin Khadija and her servant
Maysarah, an account which caused him to meditate for a good while and think
about what he had heard. Raising his head, he said to Khadija, "Such
manners are fit only for the messengers of God. Who knows? Maybe this young man
is destined to be one of them." This statement was confirmed a few years
later, and Waraqah was the very first man who identified Muhammad (S.A.W.) as
the Messenger of Allah immediately after Muhammad (S.A.W.) received the first
revelation at Hira cave.”
Finally, here is how the Roman Catholic
website http://www.holycross.edu/departments/religiousstudies/fmurphy/fyp/elias-Islamreadingnotes.htm
characterizes the role of Khadijah in Mohammed’s religious thinking:
“Muhammad’s
Birth and Early Life
Clan of
Hashim in tribe of Quraysh, which was a merchant tribe with control of the
central shrine called the Ka`ba in Mecca.
His parents die while he is young. He’s sent to the desert to be with the
nomads, who are considered the true guardians of Arab tradition.
His custodian
is his uncle, Abu Talib, a merchant, with whom Muhammad travels.
Works for the older woman merchant Kadijah, whom he
then marries.
Begins to meditate in a cave outside Mecca, where, when he is about 40 years old, the angel Gabriel begins to appear to him and give him revelations which he is to “recite.” Kadijah supports this.”
Various sources
allege that Kadijah and her cousin Waraquah were Roman Catholic, and that they
were used by the Roman Catholic Church
to raise up Islam for their own purposes. For example, http://www.reformation.org/brainwashed.html
discusses the papist origins of Mohammedism. The assertion is basically this: “Mohamed was unknowingly used by the Roman Catholic church
working through the influence of his Catholic wife, the widow Kadijah who had
become a nun, and through her cousin Waraquah who interpreted his
visions.” http://tuppersaussy.com/HTMFILES/attackonamerica5.htm
notes: “In his twenties, Mohammad began working for a rich and savvy
businesswoman by the name of Khadija ibn Yshaq. Khadija was twice his age and
had been twice married. She is said to have studied in a convent and
contributed much money to the bishop of Rome.” Evidence for this assertion is
lacking, however.
But it is an indisputable fact that now many Muslim
pilgrims are traveling to “Our Lady of Fatima’s Shrine” and the Vatican is part
of the Muslim Arab League.
Excerpts from the two following
articles suggest the ideological unity which can help serve as the basis for
political unity. The first article,
entitled “Fatimah, Mary and the Divine Feminine in Islam” at http://www.sol.com.au/kor/22_02.htm
notes:
“… Muhammad openly praises both Judaism (Abraham is
deeply respected within the Koran) and Christianity (Muhammad frequently
praises Jesus and Mary in the Koran).
Even more surprising is the Koran’s reverence for Mary, mother of
Christ. Muhammad (and also in later Islamic theological scriptures) regarded
Mary as the most marvellous of all women, a high adept and living example of
the pure and holy life. Later Koranic commentaries describe Mary as an
intervening force between God (Allah) and humanity. This intervening force is
characterised by Allah’s mercy, forgiveness, sweetness and humility- the
embodiment of Allah’s love for creation.
When Muhammad retook Mecca he began a programme of
removing the pagan influences from the Kaaba, the most holy of Muslim sites. He
removed many frescoes and images that he considered inauspicious but he
specifically left on the walls a fresco of the Virgin Mary and her child.
In one of the most powerful Hadiths ( prophetic sayings of
Muhammad) it is reported that Muhammad said, “Paradise is at the feet of the
Mother”. Does this suggest that the feminine aspect of God is an important and
essential pathway to the attainment of supreme consciousness?
Muhammad’s peak defining experience, called the Meraj, saw
him elevated through the seven heavens to the realm of God Almighty at the
resplendant Sidrath where he communed with God, received his divine visions and
instructions and was placed on the inexorable course of his life-mission to
establish Islam. Muhammad was escorted by the archangel Gabriel (a masculine
force) but the vehicle upon which Muhammad rode was the beautiful “Buraq”. The
Buraq was a white horse with wings and the face of a woman! Clearly suggesting
that the great power by which Muhammad was elevated to the level of supreme
consciousness was ultimately feminine in nature! Some scholars say that the
Buraq is an Islamic symbol of the Kundalini, a force that Eastern Yogis
describe as the Goddess or Divine Mother.
Fatimah is another prominent female in the Islamic
tradition. Muhammad revered Fatimah as if she were a divine being, saying
"Allah, The Most High; is pleased when Fatimah is pleased. He is angered;
whenever Fatimah is angered!"
Whenever Fatimah would go to the house of Muhammad, he
would stand up out of respect for her and honour her by giving her a special
place to seat herself in his house. He regarded her as a sort of primordial
woman, a symbol of divine womanhood giving her many holy names, such as: Siddiqah;
The Honest, The Righteous; Al-Batool, Pure Virgin; Al-Mubarakah, The Blessed
One; .Al-Tahirah, The Virtuous, The Pure, Al-Zakiyah ;The Chaste, The
Unblemished ;Al-Radhiatul Mardhiah, She who is gratified and who shall be
satisfied; Al-Muhaddathah, A person other than a Prophet, that the angels speak
to; Al-Zahra, The Splendid; Al-Zahirah, The Luminous.
Shias revere the person of Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter
and mother of the line of inspired imams who embodied the divine truth for
their generation. As such, Fatimah is associated with Sophia, the divine
wisdom, which gives birth to all knowledge of God. She has thus become another
symbolic equivalent of the Great Mother.
Sunni Islam has also drawn inspiration from the female.
The philosopher Muid ad-Din ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240) saw a young girl in Mecca
surrounded by light and realised that, for him, she was an incarnation of the
divine Sophia. He believed that women were the most potent icons of the sacred,
because they inspired a love in men which must ultimately be directed to God,
the only true object of love.”
And an
article at http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/agodfor.html
notes:
“As the first and most
perfectly redeemed Christian, Mary is thus a prototype of this divinised
humanity.
The cult of Mary, becoming popular in the 12th century, at the time of the
Crusades, satisfied a desire for a less macho Christianity. Yahweh Sabaoth,
whose authorisation of divine wrath may have spurred the Crusaders' massacre of
Jews and Muslims, was balanced by a gentler presence. 'O clement, O loving, O
sweet Virgin Mary,' ends the hymn attributed to St Bernard, who summoned the
Second Crusade. All over Europe, great cathedrals dedicated to Mary expressed
this alternative vision. Instead of taking Jerusalem by slaughter and
bloodshed, Christians could build their own holy places at home.
Muslims are reminded that God embraces both sexes each time they read the Koran.
Each recitation begins with the bismallah: 'In the name of Allah, the
Compassionate (al-Rahman), the Merciful (al-Rahim).' Allah,
which in Arabic simply means 'The God', is masculine in grammatical gender, but
al-Rahman and al-Rahim are etymologically related to the word
for 'womb'.
Muslim theologians have followed this lead. Shias revere the person of Fatimah,
Muhammad's daughter and mother of the line of inspired imams who embodied the
divine truth for their generation. As such, Fatimah is associated with Sophia,
the divine wisdom, which gives birth to all knowledge of God. She has thus
become another symbolic equivalent of the Great Mother. But Sunni Islam has
also drawn inspiration from the female.
The philosopher Muid ad-Din ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240) saw a young girl in Mecca
surrounded by light and realised that, for him, she was an incarnation of the
divine Sophia. He believed that women were the most potent icons of the sacred,
because they inspired a love in men which must ultimately be directed to God,
the only true object of love. At about the same time, Dante had a similar
experience in Florence, when he saw Beatrice Portinari as an image of divine
love.
Muslims are reminded in the Koran that humans can experience and speak about
God only in symbols. Everything in the world is a sign (aya) of God; so women
can also be a revelation of the divine. Ibn al-Arabi argued that humans have a
duty to create theophanies for themselves, by means of the creative imagination
that pierces the imperfect exterior of mundane reality and glimpses the divine
within. Jean-Paul Sartre defined the imagination as the ability to think of
what is not present.”
Here then are some
of the unifying ideological factors between Romanism and Islam:
1. Mariolatry/adoration
of a female with a special place
2. The prominent role
of symbol instead of word. (It is
interesting to note how the Koran calls Jews and Christians the “people of the
Book.” This admission reflects how
important the word of God is in the life of true Christianity. And this contrasts with Islam, in which the
founder was illiterate. It also
contrasts with Romanism, which has historically thwarted the study of the Bible
by the laity, instead focusing on drama and other means of communication.)
3. Most fundamentally,
a rebellion against the commandments and doctrines of God’s word the Bible. Its
basis is rooted in sinful human imagination rather than historical record.