The Black Flag Of Islam

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It is written:

Nehemiah 6:10-13-Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.” 11  And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” 12  Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13  For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

In the history of the world, deception has been a great tool of warfare. We see that here with Shemaiah, who pretended to be a servant of the Lord God. However, he was secretly working for the enemy, trying to lure Nehemiah into hiding from the enemy. If Nehemiah had done such, it would have demoralized the people into stopping their work of building the temple. It could have even paved the way for the wicked ruler, Sanballat to take leadership of the people, and who knows where that would lead?

Nehemiah learned that Shemaiah was a false prophet, a deceiver.

When I read this account, I am reminded of something which happened in the history of Islam.

“Philosopher Ibn Taymiyah (1263–1328) wrote a book titled The Sword on the Neck of the Accuser of Muhammad. In it he described how Muslims should live in the weakened stage. Believers when in a weakened stage in a non-Muslim country should forgive and be patient with people of the book [i.e., Jews and Christians] when they insult Allah and his prophet by any means. Believers should lie to people of the book to protect their lives and religion.1 In other words, it’s OK to lie to non-Muslims to protect yourself when you are a minority in their country. There’s a simple Islamic proverb that says, “If you can’t cut your enemies’ hand, kiss it.”2 This is clear in the prophet Muhammad’s life and his teaching in Mecca and after.…The first time the prophet Muhammad permitted denying Islam or him as a prophet was with Amar Ben Yasser. 3 Yasser, who was one of Muhammad’s friends, was captured and held hostage by the tribe of Quraysh. The tribe tortured Yasser, so he denied Muhammad and Islam to gain freedom. As soon as they set him free, he went back to Muhammad and confessed what had happened. Prophet Muhammad told Yasser that if that ever happened to him again he should do exactly what he did with no shame. At a different time the prophet Muhammad heard that one of his enemies (Sha’ban Bin Khalid Al-Hindi) was preparing his troops to fight the Muslims. Muhammad sent Abdullah bin Anis Aljohani to assassinate this enemy. Aljohani asked the prophet Muhammad to describe the man he was supposed to kill. Muhammad told him to go and join the enemies’ troops, curse Islam and Muhammad, and that he would find Al-Hindi that way. Prophet Muhammad’s messenger went to the enemies’ camp. When he identified the leader, he struck up a conversation and cursed Muhammad and his people. To make a long story short, Aljohani was able to build a close enough relationship with his victim to cut off his head when he was sleeping. He brought the head to the prophet. We see here that the prophet Muhammad’s messenger used lying—denying the faith and cursing prophet Muhammad—in order to accomplish his mission.” (Mark A. Gabriel Ph.D, Islam and Terrorism: Updated Version, 87-90 (Kindle Edition): Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine)

The Quran (the holy book of Islam), along with the Hadith (the Islamic traditions which are second in authority only to the Quran) discuss how those who follow Muhammad are allowed to lie to deceive their enemies. There are entire doctrines in Islam about this known as kithman and taqiya. One researcher (after providing an extremely detailed analysis of taqiya from the Quran and from Hadith) concludes about this subject:

“One of the causes that helped the development of Islam and its spread is the religious practice known as taqiya. At its inception, Islam relied on taqiya and found it to be the shield of protection and a safe haven for its followers. Thanks to this principle, Islam was able to grow beyond the phase of inception and gain the required strength and power so it could discard taqiya—only to then carry out violence against its enemies. In retaliation, these enemies of yesterday used the same principle of taqiya against Muslims by publicly professing and practicing Islam without genuine faith in their heart. When Muhammad noticed this tactic from his enemies, he called them “hypocrites” in order to remove any criticism from the principle of taqiya. However, taqiya is like hypocrisy, because it permits most prohibitions. It is an elastic word, which can be expanded and twisted based on personal need and according to the time of need. Taqiya has never disappeared from the dictionary of Muslims. Its practice among Muslims has survived and continues to the present day, reaching educational forums, Western universities, and media outlets. Indeed, it has become commonplace for Muslims to call Western researchers who accept the Islamic ideological infiltration as “objective” intellectuals and scholars. Those Westerners who stand against this Islamic current are labeled “Islamophobic,” and are charged with short-sightedness, intolerance, and racial discrimination. Consequently, this term “Islamophobia” has been used as a verbal cudgel to intimidate Western scholars and researchers at leading universities and research centers, so that they will refrain from spoken or written criticism of Islam. The bottom line is that as long as there are Muslims with a single-minded mission to establish Islam in the whole world, taqiya will remain as an insidious jihad, which ardent followers of this religion will apply unceasingly until this objective has been achieved.” (Mohamed El-Tayeb, Taqiya: Deliberate Deception (Unveiling Islam Book 3), 782-797 (Kindle Edition): Canada: The Qur’an Dilemma)

Over the years (and especially of late), I have seen examples of taqiya with regard to the “black flag” of Islam. We are often told that when Muslims raise the black flag, it is a symbol of sorrow and mourning. This, however, is only part of the truth. The black flag had special prominence in the history of Muhammad, and will play a large role in the coming Mahdi. (According to Islam, the Mahdi is the descendant of Muhammad who will some day arrive in the world and bring about an Islamic holy age).

One author tells us:

“The Mahdi’s ascendancy to power is said to be preceded by an army from the East carrying black flags or banners of war. Sheikh Kabbani states: Hadith indicate that black flags coming from the area of Khorasan will signify the appearance of the Mahdi is nigh. Khorasan is in today’s Iran, and some scholars have said that this hadith means when the black flags appear from Central Asia, i.e., in the direction of Khorasan, then the appearance of the Mahdi is imminent. 17 Another tradition states that: The Messenger of Allah said: The black banners will come from the East and their hearts will be as firm as iron. Whoever hears of them should join them and give allegiance, even if it means crawling across snow. 18 Islam waves two flags. One is white and one is black. Written across both flags in Arabic are the words, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger.” The white flag is called Al-Liwaa and serves as the sign for the leader of the Muslim army and is the flag of the Islamic state. The black flag is called Ar-Raya and is used by the Muslim army. It is also called the flag of jihad, and is carried into battle. One flag is governmental and the other is military. 19 When Muhammad returned to his home city of Mecca after eight years of exile, he returned as a conqueror. With him marched ten thousand Muslim soldiers. They carried with them black flags. On the flags was one word written in Arabic: punishment. 20 I was once talking to a group of young Muslim men and asking them some questions. I asked them if the obviously superior militaries of America and Israel, compared to the militaries of any Islamic nations, were a source of difficulty for Muslims. One of these men grew very angry at my question and snapped out, “You Americans and Zionists better get ready, because the black flags are coming!” At the time, I had no idea what he was talking about. Later I learned the meaning. THE CONQUERING OF ISRAEL Islamic tradition pictures the Mahdi as joining the army of Muslim warriors carrying black flags. The Mahdi will lead this army to Israel and re-conquer it for Islam. The Muslims will slaughter Jews until very few remain and Jerusalem will serve as the location of the Mahdi’s rule over the earth: Rasulullah [Muhammad] said: “Armies carrying black flags will come from Khurasan. No power will be able to stop them and they will finally reach Eela [Baitul Maqdas in Jerusalem] where they will erect their flags.” 21 It is important to note here the reference to Baitul Maqdas. In Arabic this means “the holy house.” This is referring to the Dome of the Rock Mosque located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In a particularly venomous manner, Egyptian authors Muhammad ibn Izzat and Muhammad ‘Arif comment on this tradition: The Mahdi will be victorious and eradicate those pigs and dogs and the idols of this time so that there will once more be a caliphate based on prophethood as the hadith states…. Jerusalem will be the location of the rightly guided caliphate and the center of Islamic rule, which will be headed by Imam al-Mahdi…. That will abolish the leadership of the Jews… and put an end to the domination of the Satans who spit evil into people and cause corruption in the earth, making them slaves of false idols and ruling the world by laws other than the Shari’a [Islamic law] of the Lord of the worlds. 22 (emphasis mine) A very famous tradition often quoted throughout the Islamic world speaks of the Mahdi’s military campaign against Israel. The tradition is both sickening and very sobering: The Prophet said… the last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him. 23” (Joel Richardson, The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth about the Real Nature of the Beast, 25-27 (Kindle Edition): Los Angeles, CA: WND Books)

Christianity stands in stark contrast to Islam. Recognizing that one of the core doctrines of the Quran is the destruction of enemies, Jesus instead teaches us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44-45). We overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Jesus sets the Example for us, coming to suffer for mankind and to be killed by His enemies, entrusting Himself to the Lord God (1 Peter 2:21-25). Christians do our best to speak God’s Word and not lie (Colossians 3:5-14).

Beware the black flag of Islam.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.