Post 57--Fulani Attacks on Nigerian Christans

If you open the link below, you will find a great article about Fulani atrocities against Christians in Nigeria.  Fulanis are a nomadic tribe of Muslims who wander with their cattle through areas now settled by farming populations in Nigeria.  Of course, there has long been tension between settler and nomadic peoples in many areas in the world. Nigeria is no exception. 

However, the articles explains how it can be that the relatively uneducated and unsophisticated Fulani's attack with such modern weapons. It explains that powerful Muslims in government, army and society support the Fulani by providing them with modern weapons.  They use the Fulani to carry out their Muslim jihad in the country. That, it is said, explains why the government and army never stop these attacks. 
For images and hyperlinks, visit https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Frlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com&data=02%7C01%7Cboerjf%40hotmail.com%7C2b051a46169b4717a0bf08d526602453%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636457116724134359&sdata=%2Bd1nz2mMbg6rpjiXDd%2Fh73tjsWGmZdXQvLLOLck8tlU%3D&reserved=0  

This explanation is nothing new; Nigerian Christians have held it for decades, ever since the beginning of the contemporary Christian-Muslim struggle. I invite you to consult my STUDIES IN CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS which you can access on my website

                                     < www.SocialTheology.com/Islamica.htm > .




 >

Post 56--The Most Persecuted

Are Christians the most persecuted faith on earth? Though you will find the occasional report on persecution of Christians in the press now and then, the general situation is grossly under-reported. That is the main thrust of the following article from Jim Denison's Forum.  Once in a while I wish you a happy read, but this time I can't do that. If anything, a tearful weep is more appropriate--and serious prayer, not just after reading this post, but continuously, day after day. And turn to the websites he mentions to get daily updates on this continuing barbaric scene of horror, intolerance, blood shed and all the other terms you can think of.  And do remember that this Sunday, November 5 2017, is the annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  This is a day of prayer, not a day of revenge. The appropriate response is not to persecute the persecutors, but to pray for them. Continue to be a good neighbour to the Muslim in your life and reflect the image of Christ in you.   At the same time, keep your eyes and ears open and resist any attempt in your own country to impose various elements of Islam upon the population. The line between legitimate Islamic missionary efforts and attempts to impose elements of Islam does not exist any more than the line between exercising legitimate Liberal influence upon the people and imposing Liberal elements by stealth. The one is a continuation of the other. So, here goes Dr. Jim:

Dr. Jim Denison | November 3, 2017  Denison Forum

Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Why do we need such a day?Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Why do we need such a day? In The Global War on Christians, John Allen calls the worldwide persecution of Christians "the most dramatic religion story of the early twenty-first century, yet one that most people in the West have little idea is even happening." The respected journalist describes this persecution as "the most compelling Christian narrative of the early twenty-first century." According to him, "Christians today indisputably are the most persecuted religious body on the planet." What evidence does Allen offer for his claim? The scope of persecution According to the evangelical group Open Doors, one hundred million Christians face interrogation, arrest, torture, and/or death because of their religious convictions. Todd Johnson of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary documents that one hundred thousand Christians, eleven per hour, have been killed on average every year of the past decade. The Catholic humanitarian group Aid to the Church in Need describes this global assault on believers as "a human rights disaster of epic proportions." While 30 percent of the world's population identifies as Christian, 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination around the world are directed at Christians. One scholar estimates that 90 percent of all people killed on the basis of their religious beliefs are Christians. Terrorist attacks against Christians escalated 309 percent between 2003 and 2010. There have been seventy million martyrs since the time of Christ, forty-five million of them in the twentieth century. In other words, more Christians died for their faith in the last century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined. Persecution and Islam Persecution against Christians is especially prevalent in the Muslim world. According to Newsweek, "In recent years the violent oppression of Christian minorities has become the norm in Muslim-majority nations stretching from West Africa and the Middle East to South Asia and Oceania. In some countries it is governments and their agents that have burned churches and imprisoned parishioners. In others, rebel groups and vigilantes have taken matters into their own hands, murdering Christians and driving them from regions where their roots go back centuries." What about the allegation that the West, post-9/11, has become Islamophobic? Newsweek notes: "A fair-minded assessment of recent events and trends leads to the conclusion that the scale and severity of Islamophobia pales in comparison with the bloody Christophobia currently coursing through Muslim-majority nations from one end of the globe to the other. The conspiracy of silence surrounding this violent expression of religious intolerance has to stop. Nothing less than the fate of Christianity—and ultimately of all religious minorities—in the Islamic world is at stake." Types of persecution John Allen cites the Barnabas Fund, a UK-based international body formed to support persecuted Christians. The Fund lists ten forms of aggression against Christians, in ascending order of ferocity: 1. Social discrimination, such as pressure on a Christian woman to convert to Islam if she marries a Muslim. 2. Institutional discrimination, such as difficulties obtaining building permits to construct or repair Christian churches. 3. Employment discrimination, such as bias against Copts in the Egyptian military and public sectors. 4. Legal discrimination: denying Christians and other religious groups access to the courts, legal representation, or action by police when they are attacked. 5. Suppression of Christian missionary activity, as in Iran, where missionaries are routinely arrested and deported or incarcerated. 6. Suppression of conversion to Christianity, usually through "blasphemy" or "apostasy" laws. Nearly half the countries in the world have laws that criminalize apostasy, blasphemy, or defamation of religion. 7. Forced conversion from Christianity, sometimes involving "reconversion" ceremonies where Christians are made to embrace the religion they left for Christ. 8. Suppression of corporate worship, as when authorities in China or Saudi Arabia raid house churches. 9. Violence against individuals, the most common and most lethal form of the global war on Christians. 10. Community oppression, when entire churches or faith groups are attacked. What can we do? If a member of your family was under attack today, what would you do? Apply your answer to your global Christian family as you consider three imperatives. First, we must pray. Intercede for your persecuted sisters and brothers, "making supplication for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18). Pray for their oppressors as well: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Second, we must tell their story. For resources that will help you and your church stand with persecuted Christians, click here and here. For resources focused on Texas churches, I recommend the "Speak Freedom Texas" initiative. Third, we must follow their example. Knowing that our sisters and brothers are facing torture and death for our Lord, what price will we pay for our faith? When last did it cost you something significant to follow Jesus? NOTE: For more on the importance of defending those in need, see Ryan Denison's Why people are more likely to defend their hamburger than another person.

Post 55--Persecution in Tajikistan

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 428 | Wed 18 Oct 2017

by Anneta Vyssotskaia

TAJIKISTAN: CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED SEVERELY

Tajikistan is a country in Central Asia bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, 
Kyrgyzstan and China. Tajikistan was part of the Soviet Union and became an 
independent country after the  dissolution of the USSR in 1992. Tajikistan 
suffered a five-year civil war which resulted in many deaths and had a 
devastating effect on the country's life and economy. It is officially the 
poorest country in Central Asia and one of the most corrupt countries in the 
world. Its population approaches nine million and is predominantly Muslim 
(about 98%).  

The Christian churches are a tiny minority and face a lot of pressure from 
the government and Muslim society. The law prohibits children and young 
people under 18 participating in religious activities in both churches and 
mosques. The greatest pressure is on the Christians with Muslim background 
who experience persecution at all levels - from their family members, the 
Muslim community and state officials. The pressure is especially strong in 
rural areas. The persecution can take different forms, from verbal  to 
physical abuse, beatings, abduction, home detention, discrimination, losing 
jobs and in other ways. The number of Christian churches remains small and 
there are many secret believers. It is illegal to meet for worship without 
state registration, but it is also extremely difficult and practically 
impossible to get state registration. For that reason many Tajik Christians 
meet secretly in house churches, facing the risk of police raids, detention, 
interrogation and fines.  

President Emomali Rahmon was bestowed the official title, 'The Founder of 
Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation'. During his 25 years' rule, 
the religious freedom situation in Tajikistan has worsened significantly. 
Since 2016, human rights in general are also considerably worse, with many 
arrests and imprisonment of members of the opposition parties, including top 
officials.  

Christian churches also have been experiencing increasing pressure in 2017. 
In the capital city, Dushanbe, two kindergartens were closed because of the 
Christians employed and a Christian book being found. In March, a registered 
church in Konibodom was raided, believers interrogated, threatened and beaten 
and the church was closed. In June, a non-registered Baptist church in 
Dushanbe was raided, books confiscated, believers videotaped, interrogated 
and their details taken. Demolition of the church building was threatened. 
Other non-registered churches were raided, books confiscated, church leaders 
threatened and fined.  

In April, Bakhrom Kholmatov (42), the pastor of a registered Sunmin church in 
Khudzhand, was arrested, accused of inciting religious hatred and sentenced 
to three years' imprisonment. The accusations were based on Christian hymn 
books found in the church with songs like 'God's army is marching' and 'Our 
fight is not against flesh and blood', as well as the 'More Than a Carpenter' 
book by Josh McDowell. The judges considered they were all 'extremist 
material'.  

Post 54--Victims of Muslim Intolerance

Post 

The stories of Zafar Bhatti, Aasia Bibi, Mashal Khan

Zafar Bhatt

Zafar Bhatti, a Pakistanti Christian accused of sending blasphemous text messages about Muhammad 

from a mobile phone, was given a life sentence on May 3. There 

is a mandatory death sentence in Pakistani law for “defiling the name” of Muhammad, but the judge in this case awarded the life-term in prison instead, because there was no concrete evidence against Zafar. For example, the phone used to send the messages was not registered in his name. Pray for Zafar, who has been in prison since 2012, that he will not lose hope. Pray also for the courageous Zafar Bhatti is a Pakistani Christian accused of sending blasphemous text messages about Muhammad from a mobile phone, was given a life sentence on May 3. There Christian legal team representing him, asking the Lord to protect them and grant them favour as they take his case to a higher court.

So, given a life-sentence, even when there was no concrete evidence as admitted by the judge.  What kind of justice is that?  And why should the lawyers need our prayers?  Are they not doing what they are supposed to?  The issue, of course, is that ordinary Pakistani might attack and kill them because they are defending an alleged Christian “blasphemer!” 

And then there is Aasia Bibi. She has been in a Pakistani prison for eight years. She was a Christian fruit picker, who was falsely accused of blasphemy by her Muslim co-workers after a quarrel djuing whey they rebuked her fron drinking water from the same cup that Muslims used and she said, “I believe I n my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Muhammad ever do to save mankind?”  She was sentenced to death in 2010 and has been appealing against it ever since. Her case has now reached the Supreme Court, the scheduled hearings keep being postponed. In April 2017 her legal request for an “early hearing” by the Supreme Court was rejected. Pray that God will intervene for her and grant her justice and freedom.

This story has been circulating around the world for years. People have prayed and prayed as well as written numerous letters on her behalf, but nothing is moving. If anything is moving, it is in the wrong direction.

Imran Khan, a prominent Pakistani Muslim politician in Pakistan, pledged he would make sure no one misuses the blasphemy law again. In April 2017, a 23-year-old Ahmadiyya student by the name of Mashal Khan was lynched because he allegedly had committed blasphemy. Imran Khan defended him and said that he was “framed and murdered.”  Like Christians in Pakistan, Ahmadiyyas are persecuted and easily accused of blasphemy. Previous politicians who have taken a stance against the blasphemy law have been threatened or assassinated. Pray that all minorities become safe from malicious false accusations.  

In reaction to Mashal’s murder, a Pakistani Mufti called Haneed Qureshi said that Aasia Bib should be hanged immediately, for that would prevent any further mob violence. He said it was because of the repeated delays in implementing Aasia Bib’s death sentence that “people have lost faith in the state, due to the carelessness of the institutions and their criminal silence.”  In other words, if the state delays executing blasphemners, Muslim mobs can hardly be blamed for taking on the job themselves. 

After such shocking stories, does anything more need to be said?  Where are the Canadian and American Pakistanis to defend these victims of intolerance?  Their silence leads to suspicions of approval. Instead, we find Muslims complain about discrimination and prejudice against them and their pure religion.  Muslims, don’t you get it?  Why do people mistrust you?    

Post 55--Some Good Ramadan Habits

Sorry for the lengthy silence. It was due to a hitch in the mechanics of this blog. It simply did not allow me to open a new post. I tried several times and gave up for a while. Today I thought, "Let me try once more." I have a computer savvy guest at home right now--my son-- and planned to ask him to check it out. And you know what? Somehow it works today!  But just wait till this son of mine leaves!  And that will be an hour from now.  What will happen?  Who knows, but for now, here's this new post.  

I am not a Muslim, as you probably know, but this blog is for both Christians and Muslims. So, today's post contains some good advice to Muslims about good Ramadan habits. It is written by Samana Siddiqui and is accessible at: https://www.soundvision.com/article/10-tips-to-help-you-keep-those-ramadan-habits.

As to Christians, it is good for us to understand our Muslim neighbours and friends, including this matter of good habits.  In many cases, good Muslim habits are also good Christian habits and vice versa.  So, enjoy and here's hoping this blog will continue to cooperate with me. If so, you will see the next post within a couple of days.  After that, I will be traveling for at least two weeks. Whether I will have a chance at that time to do a post or two remains to be seen, but I promise to do my utmost.  

Samana Siddiqui

Ramadan was great for Sarah. She actually started praying five times a day on time. But once the blessed month is over she fears the momentum, drive and motivation that kept her going will fade out. Sarah is worried that this good habit might not last.

But it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, a number of psychologists agree that a person needs about three weeks to develop a good habit. If you've been praying regularly, fasting, controlling your temper, trying to be more patient, or keeping any other good habit during Ramadan, you're almost sure, Insha Allah, to keep up with it afterwards.

Nonetheless, we all slip up. As well, the drive that pushes us to do good in Ramadan is usually not as strong the rest of the year. Here are a few things you can do to maintain the good habits you picked during Ramadan:

1. Make Dua

It was Allah who gave you the ability to keep the good habit in Ramadan, and only He can help you maintain it afterwards. Make Dua that Allah helps you not only keep the habit, but that He accepts it and makes it a way for you to grow in closeness to Him.

2. Make it a habit

If you want to keep good habits, you've got to make sure they remain part of your daily schedule. For instance, fasting. Did you know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged fasting on Mondays and Thursdays? He said: A man's deeds are reported (to Allah) on Mondays and Thursdays and I prefer that I should be fasting when my deeds are reported (Tirmidhi).

This is a great way of maintaining the habit so you're not rusty by next Ramadan.

Or for example, were you extra generous during Ramadan? Well, maybe you can portion out a set amount of your weekly or monthly paycheck to a charitable cause to maintain the habit of giving.

Make the habit part of your daily and weekly schedule. The point is to keep the action in practice, and of course gain rewards from Allah.

3. Think about your day each night

Evaluating ourselves, our intentions, words and actions, every night is a very good way to maintain good habits (see a sample self-evaluation form).

Self-evaluation doesn't only help you see where you are and where you've got to go. It's also a great reminder of what you were supposed to do and didn't.

Add a question or two (or three or four) about your specific habit into a daily self-evaluation questionnaire. Ask yourself, for instance, how often did I pray today? What was the quality of my prayer? Did I pray on time? etc. These serve to remind you to keep up the habit and do better next time.

4. Evaluate yourself weekly

This helps you see the bigger picture. You'll be able to evaluate on a more long-term level how well you've been keeping your habit in practice. You can do the same thing on a monthly and yearly basis.

For those who are really into the technical aspect of self-evaluation, maybe you can make a graph to help you chart how well (or not so well) you've been keeping up with your good habit.

5. Get a friend to help

What are friends for anyway? If you've got a close friend you feel you can share your new habit with, let them join you in keeping up with it and keeping tabs on you while they're at it. This will not only encourage you, but Insha Allah, it'll deepen your brother/sisterhood as well.

Alternatively, look for groups where you can maintain the habit. If, for instance, you memorized Quran regularly in Ramadan and want to keep the habit, join an Islamic study circle focused on memorization.

6. Don't fall apart once you make one mistake

The beauty of Tawbah (repentance) in Islam, is that Allah blesses us with this opportunity to return back to Him after doing something wrong. We should remember that we are humans and that we will err. Only Allah is Perfect.

This is why, for instance, if we were able to pray on time all through Ramadan, but become slack afterwards, we must realize it, seek Allah's forgiveness sincerely, and try our best to get back on track, asking Allah to help us.

We should not give up trying to pray on time just because we have missed doing so on a couple of occasions.

7. Ask yourself WHY you kept the habit

Niyyah or intention is a key to Allah's acceptance of our good deeds. If we developed a habit to impress others, for instance, we may be able to keep the momentum for a while, but most probably it'll wear out afterwards.

But if we maintained a habit sincerely for the sake of Allah, Insha Allah, not only will we be rewarded for it, but our intention will help us maintain the necessary motivation to continue to do good.

8. Don't expect the same results

If you were ready to spring out of bed in anticipation for Fajr during many of the days of Ramadan, but find yourself barely waking up for the prayer afterwards, don't be surprised, but don't become slack either.

Good habits are often easy to maintain in Ramadan, the blessed month. The hard part is doing so after the "high" of Ramadan. This is where you'll have to work hard to force yourself to maintain your habit, whether it's waking up for Fajr, not smoking, eating less, being more patient, etc.

Be thankful when you're able to maintain your habit and think about practical things you can do to keep it up on a regular basis.

9. Work your way up slowly

Aisha reported that Rasulullah said: Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and remember that you shall enter Paradise only through Allah's Mercy, and also remember that the most beloved deed to Allah is that which is regular and constant even if it is little (Bukhari).

The wisdom in this Hadith is tremendous and it is one way of keeping up good habits you have picked up in Ramadan.

For example, let's say you were motivated to read Quran for half-an-hour on a daily basis in Ramadan. But now that it's over, you feel sluggish, lazy and want to give it up. Yet, you had wanted to maintain this habit after the blessed month was over.

Instead of trying to read Quran for the same amount of time, reduce the time period to as much as you are initially able to do, even if it's just five minutes a day.

If you keep up this 'five minutes a day' habit, Insha Allah, you will see the amount of Quran you read will increase slowly but gradually, perhaps even surpassing your Ramadan maximum in the long-term, Insha Allah!

10. Don't give yourself the option

What makes you get up for work in the mornings, no matter how tired you are? What makes you drag yourself out of a warm bed on a cold morning to get ready for school? It's the fact that you have no option, and you know that there are negative consequences to not going to work (you'll be fired) or school (you'll fail).

Use the same kind of psychology on yourself when it comes to maintaining your good habit. Tell yourself, for instance, that Allah will be very angry with you if you do not pray Fajr, no matter how cold your room is on a frosty December morning. That in turn can lead to more bad deeds, which could lead to decreased faith, and a downward spiral in your life. And Allah can punish you in various ways in this world as well as the next for not praying. You could lose your job; you could have a family crisis, etc.

Post 54--The Roots of the Islamist Crisis

To begin with: a disclaimer. The document below is about a book I have not read and have never even heard about till just a few moments ago.  However, I used to be member of its publishers, the Book of the Month club, and I was always impressed with their selections. So, I take the chance on the strength of their reputation with me.  Many books have been written about these kinds of subjects and all too many try to reduce the basic reason for or cause of our current Islamist--in distinction from Islam--problem(s), that I am skeptical about all of them, including this one. Many point to one single cause and try to convince us that that's the basic or even only cause. If we can solve that one particular cause, then we're done and the chaos will be a thing of the past.  I myself have written an 8-volume series about Christian-Muslim relations in Nigeria. You can find it on my website   < www.SocialTheology.com/ islamica.htm >.  During the course of my 30 years in Nigeria and of my years of research, I have come to the conclusion that there are a number of causes that worked together to create our present situation.  It is not all due to Islam; Western imperialism has contributed no small proportion.  So, though I am thus skeptical about the book offered below, I do suspect it lays its finger on an important component of today's crisis. So, I decided to draw your attention to it. A confession: During the course of writing the above, I suddenly wonder whether this Book of the Month is really the same as the club that used to have that name.  Who or what is "Intercollegiate Studies Institute?"  Well, if they are someone else than what I first thought, they have only themselves to blame for taking on a name that can cause confusion. Check them out for yourself--but do read the book.  Here goes:                                                 ==============

Dear Philip, The Manchester and London Bridge terrorist attacks have reignited the debate over Islamic radicalism. But you’ve probably noticed that the terms of the debate haven’t changed in years; pundits on all sides rely on the same talking points. That’s why I’m so grateful for Robert Reilly’s eye-opening book The Closing of the Muslim Mind. Reilly goes well beyond the simplistic analyses we always hear. He reveals that our contemporary crisis can be traced to a heated battle within Islam itself, waged a thousand years ago. It was a battle over the role of reason—and the side of irrationality won. This was, as Reilly writes, “one of the greatest intellectual dramas in human history.” And we’re still feeling the reverberations today. I’m excited to make Reilly’s masterful work the Book of the Month so you can purchase it at a special 30% discount. As National Review notes, The Closing of the Muslim Mind is a “brilliant and groundbreaking” book that “should be read by anyone who wants to understand one of the most fundamental causes of conflict in the twenty-first century.” Roger Scruton, widely considered the greatest living conservative intellectual, calls Reilly’s book “lucid and fascinating.” Please pick up your copy today. This book will change how you understand the Islamist crisis. Best, Jed Donahue Editor in Chief, ISI Books

Post 53--Why the Ramadan Violence?

Why so much violence during Ramadan?

Dr. Jim Denison | June 5, 2017

Last night, ISIS claimed responsibility for the London attack that killed seven and wounded forty-eight. One of the terrorists wore a fake bomb vest. According to ABC News, the vest was likely intended to guarantee a police response that would lead to his martyrdom. He was the father of a toddler; his wife was expecting a child. What would motivate him to carry out such an atrocity at the cost of his own life? The day of the attack, an ISIS message called on its followers to use knives, guns, and vehicles in an "all-out war" on "infidels" during Ramadan. The audio message instructed jihadists to "attack them in their homes, their markets, their roads and their forums." When Ramadan began this year, jihadists attacked a bus filled with Christians in Egypt, murdering twenty-nine. Ten of the victims were children. The day after Ramadan began, a suicide bomber murdered eighteen people in Afghanistan, two of them children. Last year's Ramadan was the bloodiest on record. A gunman killed forty-nine and wounded fifty-three at an Orlando gay night club. An Islamist then stabbed a police officer and his wife in Paris. He claimed that he was responding to ISIS's call for violence during Ramadan. Later that month, three ISIS suicide bombers killed forty-five and wounded more than 250 at Istanbul's main airport. When Ramadan ended last year, the final global body count was 421 dead and 729 wounded. Why would terrorists make Ramadan a time to escalate their violence? Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar. Muslims believe that Muhammad received the first of a series of "revelations" that became the Qur'an on the seventeenth day of Ramadan in the year AD 610. For this reason, the month has always been holy to them (Qur'an 2:185). The month begins eleven days earlier each year on the solar calendar; this year, it extends from May 26 to June 24. During this month, Muslims fast from their first prayer of the day (at dawn) to the fourth (just after sunset). They also refrain from smoking and sexual relations during the day. They pray more fervently during the month and increase almsgiving. Their increased fervor is not just to honor the month—it is also to receive greater rewards for themselves. Muhammad is believed to have preached a sermon on Ramadan in which he said, "Whoever performs an obligatory deed in (this month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time." A Taliban spokesman recently stated, "Our fight is Jihad and an obligatory worship. And every obligatory act of worship has 70 times more reward in Ramadan." We can expect further attacks this month as radical Islamists seek reward in heaven for committing atrocities on earth. But Ramadan is also an important time for Christians to intercede for Muslims and especially for jihadists. As Muslims focus more intensely on prayer and worship, many are seeing visions and dreams of Jesus. Saul of Tarsus was committed to killing Christians until he met Christ (Acts 9:1–31). It's vital that we pray for Islamist terrorists to experience the same transformation. F. B. Meyer believed that "the greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer." Is his warning especially true this month?