Messages For Muslims:
The Time for The Islamic Renaissance
with Love & Tolerance
Islam is one of the major religions in the world. After fourteen hundred years of development, it now has over one billion followers around the world. A thousand years ago, Islamic nations built up a huge empire with great success in cultural and scientific development. But now many Islamic countries are facing the problems of economy stagnancy, high rate of unemployment and illiteracy. There are also many religious conflicts involving Muslims and people of other religions in the world. Some governments of Islamic nations are very conservative, even prohibitive, toward other religions. This is very similar to the situation in Christian countries before the Renaissance and Reformation six hundred years ago.
Before the Renaissance and Reformation, Christian countries in Europe also had experienced economic hardship, natural disasters, wars and religious persecution for several hundred years. Religious Authority had very strict, but not always correct, interpretation on the Word of God, and those who had different thoughts or interpretations on the Word of God were severely persecuted or even burn to death. That’s the era of so-called “Dark Age” in European history.
After the Renaissance and Reformation, people’s mind became more independent and they have more tolerance on different ideas and thoughts as long as they are reasonable and verifiable. Since then the Christian countries have experienced great changes and achieved great success in both scientific and economic development and became the most developed countries in the world.
Now it’s time for Muslims to learn the lesson from Christian history and have an Islamic Renaissance and Reformation among all Islamic nations. But this Islamic Renaissance should be based on love, forgiveness and tolerance with additional teaching of Heavenly Love in the Second Phase of Word of God. Without love and tolerance, the Renaissance and Reformation will not happen. This message is the message of Love and Tolerance from Allah for all Muslim brothers and sisters to prepare for the Islamic Renaissance and Reformation.
1. The Rising & Declining of Islamic Movement
Islam is the religion of submission and accountability to One God, Allah. Fourteen hundred years ago, there was no Word of God preached in most of the Arabian areas. Most Arabs lived loosely in different tribes and worshiped all kinds of idols as their gods. So Allah had mercy on them and selected Muhammad as the prophet to teach them the Word of God through divine revelation, which were later compiled into the book of Quran, or Koran. When more and more people heard the Word of God and became Muslims, Muhammad united the loose tribes of Arabians and built a great Arab Empire. In the next few hundred years, Muslims achieved huge success in several areas, like commercial trading, science, and cultural development. All these successes were the result of the blessing from God, as He fulfilled His promise to “make him (Ishmael) into a great nation" (Genesis 21:18), for most Arabians were the descendants of Ishmael.
During the time of Muslim expansion, the Christendom in Europe gradually fell into the “Dark Age” because of some mistakes made by the kings and church authorities. At that time, Islamic countries were growing faster than Christian countries in Europe. But since the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation, the Christian countries had changed rapidly. After several hundred years of development, Christian countries are now well ahead of most Muslim countries. So what is the reason behind this dramatic reverse?
The difference is the Word of God people learned in their religions and the way they learned the Word of God. During the Middle Ages in Europe, the church authorities had tight control of people’s mind. They had little tolerance for people who had different beliefs or opinions. Disagreeing with church’s interpretation would be considered heresy and be persecuted. Over millions of people were killed during the Middle Ages because of their different beliefs. The church authorities also kept the Bible away from ordinary people so only the priests and monks had the right to access the Bible. People had to go through priests as an intermediary to communicate with God. Although proper guidance from experienced priests is important and very helpful, the lack of individual study on the Word of God in the Bible is a problem. As most people did not have direct access to the Bible, they could not learn the Word of God by themselves and fully understand it. That’s why the Christendom in Europe fell into the “Dark Age” during that time. In the contrary, at that time most Muslims were taught to recite the verses from the Book of Quran, or Koran. The more people learned the Word of God, the more blessing they would get from God.
After the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation, the Bible was translated into different languages and became accessible to everyone. People could look into the Bible to learn the Word of God by themselves and communicate with God directly through prayer without any intermediary. People were more open and tolerant to different ideas. New ideas and new discoveries were developed rapidly. Some of the ideas were truly inspired by God but some of the ideas were just human imagination, or even distraction from Satan. But only the good ideas with the inspiration from God could pass the test of time and merge into the mainstream. Those ideas that were not part of the truth of God would not survive the test of time. They all faded away and became history. These new ideas and new thoughts, good or bad, greatly inspired people’s interest in finding the truth of the universe and the truth of the Word of God, which brought more discoveries and innovations for the Christian world and lead the Christian countries to great success in all areas.
However, at the same time, most Islamic countries still limited themselves to their old doctrines without any tolerance of new idea or new thought. Even people from different denominations in Islam are considering each other as heresy and enemy. They are repeating the same mistake as those Christians made during the Dark Age and Religious War period. Eventually, they were gradually left behind as the Christian countries surpassed the Islamic countries and advanced rapidly to take the lead. The distance between Christian countries and Islamic countries became wider and wider.
2. The Missing Part of Islam: Heavenly Love & Salvation
Although both Christians and Muslims received some of the Word of God, there is a difference between the teachings in the First Phase and the Second Phase of the Word of God, and so is the blessing from God. The major difference between the First Phase and Second Phase of the Word of God is Heavenly Love. This Heavenly Love, as Jesus said, is not only to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39), but also to “love your enemies, do good to those hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28). To love your enemy is the toughest part of Heavenly Love; even most Christians may not fully understand it. But it carries the most blessings from God. The more you learn and practice Heavenly Love, the more blessings you will receive from God. After the Protestant Reformation, the Bible became available to any person who wanted to learn the Word of God. More and more Christians learned Heavenly Love through the Bible. Although they may not fully understand it or practice it, just by learning it and believing it they would get the blessings from God. That’s how powerful the Second Phase of Word of God is.
Before Muhammad started to preach Islam, there was no Word of God preached among most Arab tribes. Allah had to start with the First Phase of Word of God, just like what Moses taught Israel. As there were many wars ahead during the time of expansion, most Muslims were not ready for Heavenly Love -- the love that extends to enemies. So Allah gave them Islam, the most complete revelation of the First Phase of Word of God, the same way God gave it to Moses when he led Israel in the exodus from Egypt.
However, even without the teaching of Heavenly Love in Islam, as a prophet of Allah, Muhammad did have a heart of forgiveness for some of his enemies. When he conquered Mecca in 630 A.D., he met all those people who persecuted him before, who tried to kill him before, and who caused the death of his first wife and his uncle. But instead of killing them for revenge, Muhammad forgave them all, even including those who did not convert to Islam. That’s the example of forgiveness Allah set for all Muslims.
Unfortunately, after Muhammad died, not too many Muslims understood the true meaning of forgiveness and Heavenly Love. Some Muslims couldn’t even tolerant their own leaders. Three of the first four successors of Muhammad were assassinated by some extremists. Muslims also divided into different denominations. That is a tragic lesson that all Muslims should remember. Although Muhammad did not teach the Heavenly Love at his time, Heavenly Love of Allah will eventually reach all Muslims through the teachings of Jesus and this New Revelation of the Eternal Gospel.
Another thing that is not taught in Islam is the salvation from God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. People always make mistakes and commit sins before they hear the Word of God. Those sins will cause negative Fortune Credit for people. Without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, people need to redeem those sins or negative Fortune Credit themselves through their good works. It will be impossible for most people to completely redeem themselves through their own works. That’s why God/Allah sent Jesus to be the redeemer for human sins, not just a teacher or a prophet of religion.
After the sacrifice of Jesus, those people who accept His salvation could have all the past sins or negative Fortune Credit be redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice, and they only need to follow the Word of God to avoid any new sins. Although people could still make mistakes after they receive the salvation from God, as long as they do not deliberately keep on sinning or denying God, it is a much easier for them to take care of new sins only than to take care of all the sins in the past. Once people’s sin or negative Fortune Credit was taken care, all their good works could be counted for the reward and blessings from God. That’s the benefit of the salvation of God through Jesus’ sacrifice.
After the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, most Christians realized the importance of the salvation through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. So they strengthened their faith and let Jesus’ sacrifice take care of their past sins. The Christian countries soon took off with great success. The salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus is the gift from God, not only for Christians, but also for all other people of God as well. If Muslims can accept this great gift from God/Allah, there will be more blessings from Allah for Islamic countries.
3. Learn the Second Phase of Word of God and Keep the Good Tradition of Islam
In the First Phase of the Word of God, God emphasized on “Fairness” and “Brotherly Love”, which requires people of God to treat each other like brothers and be fair to each other. But in the Second Phase of Word of God, Jesus taught people more than just “Fairness” and “Brotherly Love”. Jesus’ teachings were more on “Forgiveness” and “Heavenly Love”, which is to “love your neighbor as yourself” and also “love your enemy and do good to those who hate you”. When Christians couldn’t fully understood “Heavenly Love”, or couldn’t even tolerate their own brothers with different opinions, Christian nations also fell into the Dark Age during the Middle Age.
Currently, some Islamic countries have the similar problem. They had no tolerance for any Word of God other than their version of Islam. They even reject the teaching of Jesus and persecuted those who preach the Gospel of Jesus. That’s the big mistake. As said in Quran, the teaching of Jesus was also part of the message from Allah; rejecting the teachings of Jesus is like rejecting the message of Allah. That’s very harmful to all Muslims. Some Christians don’t understand or respect Muhammad’s mission for God/Allah. It’s their fault. But Muslims should not let other people’s misunderstandings block the message from Allah though Jesus, for the teaching and gospel of Jesus did carry great blessings from God.
In the early time of Islam, Prophet Muhammad and his followers all respected the teachings of Jesus and lived peacefully with Christians. That’s when Muslims got the most blessings from God/Allah and had the best time of Islamic Golden Age. But starting from eleventh century, due to some conflicts between Muslims and Christians, some Muslim scholars began to criticize the Bible as a “Corrupted” book of God. That was the beginning of misfortune for Muslims. Even Muhammad never denied the Divine Revelation in the Bible. When Muslims started to deny the divinity in the Bible and reject the teachings of Jesus, Allah began to reduce His blessings for Muslims and the Islamic Golden Age was soon ended.
Both Jesus and Muhammad brought the messages of God to people. But there were some differences between their teachings. What Muhammad taught in Islam was very close to what Moses taught in Judaism or the Old Testament of the Bible. But it does not include the main teaching of Jesus on Heavenly Love in the New Testament. Therefore, all Muslims should learn the messages of God from both Muhammad and Jesus. Although there are some discrepancies between the Bible and the Quran, they are just different views from different angles of understanding. Once Muslims learn the message of God on love taught by Jesus, Muslims will understand that not only Jesus was the Son of God, but all the peace-loving Muslims are also children of God. That’s the secret only to be revealed in the Second Phase of Word of God.
Muslims also have some great traditions that Christians should learn from. Muslims’ devotion to Allah and strict law against sexual-immorality are what God/Allah likes to see. That’s why Allah showed Muslims the treasure of oil when Muslim countries were left behind in technology development. And that’s why Allah shielded Muslims from the plague of AIDS when the whole world was suffering the dreadful disease. As Islam is the most complete revelation of the First Phase of Word of God, Muslims should keep the good tradition of Islam while learning the teachings of Jesus on the Second Phase of Word of God and accepting the salvation of God through Jesus’ sacrifice. That’s how Muslims can get more blessings from God and avoid the mistakes some Christian countries made in the past. All Muslims should learn both the Quran and the New Testament of the Bible, for they were both the revelations from God/Allah.
4. Learn the Lesson from the Dark Age in Europe and Prepare for the Islamic Renaissance of Love & Tolerance
About fourteen hundred years ago, Muhammad received the first revelation from the Angel Gabriel in 610 A.D. That was the time when the religion of Islam started. In the next fourteen hundred years, or 1393 years to be exact, Islamic countries experienced both ups and downs in history. But that’s the learning curve for Muslims to learn the Word of God. If you look at history, both Jews and Christians also experienced such a learning curve.
From Moses to Jesus, it took over fourteen hundred years for Jews to learn the First Phase of Word of God before God sent them Jesus for the Second Phase of Word of God. Unfortunately, they rejected the teachings of Jesus and soon were punished by God through almost two thousand years of exile. After Christianity spread to Europe, the people of Europe gradually turned their hearts to the God of the Most High. But from the first compilation of the New Testament to the translated Bible for the public during the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation, it also took about fourteen hundreds years for Christians to have the opportunity to see the Bible in their daily languages and learn the Second Phase of Word of God and love of God through the New Testament.
The first fourteen hundred years of Christendom was the learning curve for Christians to learn the true meaning of Christianity. Only after the Renaissance and Reformation were people more open-minded and more eager to find out the Word of God through personal study of the Bible. Then Christian nations were greatly blessed and had great progress in scientific and technological development. The different results for Jews and Christians is the difference between rejecting and accepting the teachings of the Second Phase of Word of God and the salvation through Jesus Christ, for the teachings of Jesus with Heavenly Love and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ contained great blessings from God.
As there were over fourteen hundred years between Moses and Jesus, there was also almost fourteen hundred years between Muhammad’s first revelation from the Angel Gabriel to the Enlightenment of “the Second Boy in the Bible” in the year 2000. This was not just a coincidence, for this New Revelation does contain the message from Allah for all Muslim brothers and sisters. It’s time for Islamic Renaissance and Reformation, the Renaissance of Love and Tolerance.
Because Islam started about six hundred years after Christianity, there is a six hundred years of delay in Islamic development. What is happening in most Islamic countries today is very similar to what happened in those Christian countries six hundred years ago. The most striking similarity is the tight control over people’s minds, with no tolerance for other religions or different thoughts. Six hundred years ago, the Roman Catholic Church had no tolerance for opinions different from that of the church’s interpretation of the Bible. Those who had a different understanding of the Bible would be excommunicated and persecuted. Even those Christian scientists who believed that the Earth is moving around the Sun would be persecuted. That was a darkest page in Christian history.
Now in some Muslim countries, only clergies are allowed to interpret the Quran. Most Muslims are not allowed to have their own opinions or interpretation of the Quran. A professor in Iran who advocated individual thinking and interpretation of the Quran even faced the death penalty. That was the exact situation during the Dark Age in Europe six hundred years ago. In most Islamic countries, Muslims are only allowed to learn the Quran and Hadiths. Bible reading is forbidden and those preaching the Gospel of Jesus could face the death penalty. But didn’t the prophet Muhammad also tell people that at the end time, Jesus would come back and teach the Word of Allah to Muslims too? If you did not learn the teachings of Jesus in the first coming, how could you understand the teachings of Christ in the Second Coming?
In the past, due to the conflicts and misunderstandings between Muslims and Christians, most Muslims didn’t read the Bible. Now, for the Islamic Renaissance to happen, Muslims should also open their mind to see what God has revealed to Christians and other nations. From learning and communicating with other religions, especially using world history as a testimony of God’s great work, you will have a better understanding of the Word of God.
The United States of America grew from a newborn country to a world super-power in less than three hundred years. One of the main reasons is the blessing of God for its policy on religious freedom and religious tolerance. All religions can be practiced freely in America, including Islam. That’s what God likes to see, for different religions contain different revelations from God. When all major religions of God are allowed to preach freely without fear of persecution, the whole nation will be greatly blessed. That’s something that the Muslim countries should learn from. There are some religions that contain idol worshiping or other false teachings, but if Muslims hold on to the principle of Islam and worship the God of the Most High, those false teachings won’t affect the true Muslims.
Another important factor for the Islamic Renaissance is education. Currently, many Islamic countries have the problem of illiteracy. That’s the main factor hampering the development of Islamic countries. Some Muslims think that just learning the Book of Quran is good enough. That’s a misconception. Science and technology are also part of God’s revelation and blessing. When Muslims pay more attention to scientific discoveries during the Golden Era a thousand years ago, the whole society prospered. Allah will only bless those who work hard to improve their knowledge and find the truth, not the ones who totally depend on His blessing. Muslim countries should increase their effort to promote education and fight against illiteracy; otherwise, the blessing of oil from Allah will run out shortly.
On the issue of education, it is very important to provide education for women. An educated mother can raise more intelligent children. She can also provide great help to her husband. The prophet Muhammad’s first wife Khadijah was a successful businesswoman and gave Muhammad great help in his earlier years. His another wife, Aisha, was a well-known authority in Hadiths. Prophet Muhammad once said, “Seeking knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim man and Muslim woman.” Any attempt to forbid Muslim women receiving education, like what Taliban did in Afghanistan, is against the will of Allah. No country will get blessings from Allah if the Muslim women in this country were mistreated and denied the right of education. The end of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan is a good example of Allah’s judgment for its mistreatment on Muslim women. All former Taliban members should lay down their weapons and work with the new government rebuild the country, instead of fighting for the overthrown Taliban.
5. Love, not Hatred, is the Key For Islamic Renaissance
The most important thing for Islamic Renaissance and Reformation is Love. Muslims were best known for their Brotherly Love to other Muslins, but after fourteen hundred years of Islamic movement, the Muslims’ Brotherly Love is running cold. Rich people are wasting their money on lavish lifestyle while the many Muslims are still living in poverty and illiteracy. They should put more money into reinvestment to create more opportunity for the poor and improve education for the illiterate.
Muslims should also be aware of the current trend in some Islamic countries of turning the moderate teachings of Islam into the extreme teachings of hatred and revenge. That will harm the Fortune Credit of Muslims. Hatred is from Satan, only love and mercifulness are from Allah. No one should incite killings, including the suicide bombing, in the name of Islam or Allah.
In the early history of Islamic movement, there was a group of fanatic Muslim militias called Khawarij who believed in military actions only. They did not agree with Ali, the fourth Caliph of Islam, on peace negotiations with Mu'awiyah so they rebelled against Ali. They thought they were the only “true Muslims” so they started to kill other Muslims who did not agree with them. Later, they were used by Satan to assassinate Ali, the fourth Caliph from Allah. Eventually all the revolts or assassinations from Khawarijs were put down by the Muslim government. That was the punishment of Allah on their abusive killings.
Now, there are several areas of conflict in the world that involve the religious conflicts between Muslims and people of other religions. Some of the extremists and terrorists targeted unarmed civilians, including women and children, as a way of revenge. Some “Muslims” even used the name of Allah to kidnap people and ask for ransom. These are inexcusable crimes in the eyes of Allah, for Allah is the most merciful. Allah will not forgive those who shed the blood of innocent civilians in His name. When some Muslims kill unarmed civilians of other nations or other religions as a way of revenge, they will cause more negative Fortune Credit or bad karma for their own people, which will lead to more misfortune or tragedies for their own people.
In February 2002 in India, when some Muslim mobs burnt 60 Hindus to death in a train, mostly women and children, it lead to the death of 700 people in the next few months over religious conflicts, and the majority of them were Muslims. Although these killings should be denounced, the tragedies still hurt. So, no matter what kind of dispute is involved, do not kill the innocent people of other nations or ethnics, especially women and children. Otherwise, the negative Fortune Credit will cause more misfortune for your own people.
Now, in Palestine, some Palestinian militias specially target Israeli civilians, including women and children. That actually caused more negative Fortune Credit for their own people, which led to more death of Palestinians. The only way to stop the bloodshed in the Middle East is to stop attacking civilians first. Using suicide bombings against unarmed civilians is not the right way to reclaim their right. Prophet Muhammad was once persecuted and driven out of his homeland Mecca, but he never went back to Mecca to kill women and children as revenge. When Muhammad went back to Mecca later and faced those who persecuted him and caused the death of his first wife and his uncle before, instead of killing them, he forgave them all. If Muhammad did not kill women and children as a way of revenge, then neither should all Muslims.
People have the right to fight against oppression, but killing innocent people through terrorist attacks is not the right way. It will only lead to more misfortune and judgment from Allah. Those who died in suicide bombing will not enter the heaven but face the severe judgment from Allah for the atrocity they have done to other innocent people. The fighting for justice is just a method; the ultimate goal should be peace for everyone. Don’t let the heart of hatred or the mind of revenge block the peace process. Peace negotiation may take time and compromises from both sides. Those who put sincere effort to stop killing and make peace will be greatly blessed by God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (see Chapter 6.11).
One thing for Muslims to be aware of is Satan’s plot of destruction under the cover of nationalism. It fires up people’s enthusiasm to fight without thinking of the righteousness or consequences. It drives people like herd without rationality and justice. It is often the cause for the conflicts among different nations. Nationalism is also used by some leaders to cover their sins. Therefore, don’t let nationalism blind your sight of the justice from Allah. Put people’s interest first without being deceived by Satan’s plot under the cover of Nationalism.
The recent war on Iraq is the judgment from Allah for the atrocities Saddam Hussein had done to other Muslims in the last twenty years. This is one of the seven punishments from God prophesied in the Bible nineteen hundred years ago. Saddam has too much blood of Muslims, both Iraqis and non-Iraqis, on his hands; he no longer qualifies as a Muslim. Saddam had to go, otherwise the miseries for Iraqi people will never end. But now, after Saddam’s regime ended, some people again used Nationalism to cause disturbance in Iraq. They are blocking the peaceful recovery and post-war reconstruction in Iraq. That is hurting the interest of most Iraqi people. All Muslims and Christians should work together to bring true and lasting peace and prosperity for Iraqi people (see the Message for Iraq).
As the New Era of Peace and Wisdom is coming, God wants everyone to love each other, not to hate or kill each other. Hatred is like fire, whoever has hatred in his heart will eventually burn himself. Only love, especially Heavenly Love, can bring more blessings of God/Allah to all Muslims. For the coming of the Islamic Renaissance, all Muslims should learn the message of love and forgiveness, instead of hatred and revenge. Be merciful, because Allah is the most merciful. If all Muslims can learn Heavenly Love from God/Allah and share it with each other, God/Allah will bring more blessings and prosperity to all Islamic nations.