Across the Centuries: The Day of Islam

Across the Centuries: The Day Of Islam
by Albert James Dager

The following is an extract from the article
Religion in Public School: From the Bible to the Koran
Media Spotlight, Volume 30, Number 4, Winter 2007

Reproduced with permission

To order the complete Article please write to:
Media Spotlight, P.O. Box 290, Redmond, WA 98073-0290, USA
or visit http://www.mediaspotlight.org/

Until recently Eastern religion and American Indian religion have been the favorite subjects for teaching young children in the public schools. Of late, Islamic religious practices are increasingly infiltrating schools. Through the use of one of the best-selling textbooks in the nation, Islamic culture is being presented as superior to Western culture and the Islamic religion as superior and more beneficent than Christianity.

The textbook Across the Centuries, was first published in 2003 by Houghton-Mifflin, and is among the most-used textbooks in the United States for the subject of social studies. It outlines the cultural aspects of various nations, and deals extensively with Islam and its influences in the world. It also addresses Roman Catholicism and its atrocities (e.g. the Inquisition) as representative of Christianity.

The manner in which Across the Centuries treats Islam as superior to Christianity is subtle and would not be recognized by the average student for the dishonesty that it is. Generally, little is said about Islam's history of militarism and nothing is said about its barbarism. In many cases it details the teachings of Islam as factual rather then merely belief.

Islam's Beneficence

In several places, Across the Centuries goes to extremes in telling students how kind-hearted Muslims are to those under their rule. A few examples follow:

Muhammed's success in spreading Islam was due in large part to his strong character. His followers were attracted to his morality, courage, and compassion, perhaps as much as they were attracted to his teaching [1].

The Muslims were extremely tolerant of those they conquered, as long as they were 'people of the book'. The Muslims allowed Christians and Jews to keep their churches and synagogues and promised them security. In fact, some peoples who were persecuted by Persian and Byzantine conquerors such as the Christians in Egypt and the Jews in Syria, welcomed Muslim rule. They even aided the Muslim takeovers.

Non-Muslims who were not Christians or Jews were less tolerated. Even some other non-Judeo-Christian groups were granted the status of people of the book [2].

What the textbook fails to say here is that Christians and Jews were allowed to live only if they paid an oppressive 'tax' called jizya. This tax is mentioned elsewhere outside this particular context, but it is presented as nothing of consequence. The fact that those who did not pay the tax and refused to convert to Islam were beheaded or otherwise dispatched is not once mentioned. We are told that under the Umayyad Muslims, particularly in Spain, Christians and Jews were virtually left alone:

Christians and Jews had full religious freedom. They built churches and synagogues, and several were financed by the state. The state did not ask Christians and Jews to perform military service, but required them to pay a head-tax called jizya. Many Christians, Jews, and other non-Muslims held key positions in government.…

Many different peoples benefited from Muslim tolerance.…Sassanid and Christian rulers had persecuted Jews, but Muslim rulers often protected them [3].

These are half-truths at best. Yes, as long as Christians and Jews paid jizya and were useful to their Muslim overlords in conducting affairs (in which Muslims were sorely lacking the skills), they were given some semblance of status. But those who did not benefit their Muslim masters were not so well treated.

Hasdai ben-Shaprut brought Jewish scholars, philosophers, poets, and scientists to Cordoba and made it the leading center of Jewish culture. Under Romans and Christian Visigoths Jews were persecuted, but under the Muslims in Spain they flourished [4].

Now, no one can dispute that Jews were persecuted under Roman Catholicism during the Middle Ages and even at other times. And under the subject of the Crusades, Across the Centuries is careful to detail the sins of the Crusaders and Christianity in general. Fair enough. But the book simply whitewashes the excesses of Islam as if they never existed. The only hint at Muslim militarism are a few sentences that speak about Muslim conquests. The term jihad is said to mean nothing more than “the struggle to overcome evil”:

An Islamic term that is often misunderstood is jihad (jee HUHD). The term means “to struggle,” to do one’s best to resist temptation and overcome evil. Under certain conditions, the struggle to overcome evil may require action. The Qur’an and Sunna allow self-defense and participation in military conflict, but restrict it to the right to defend against aggression and persecution. Jihad, for example, was first carried out against the Meccans who had forbidden Muslims to practice or preach their religion. While Islam forbade forced religious observance in the 600s, most rulers in the world at the time decided what religion their subjects would follow and persecuted those who refused [5].

The Meccans did stifle Muhammed and his followers at first, simply because Muhammed had insisted that they convert to Islam. He became such a thorn in their sides that they took measures to oust him from their midst. But after he had attained a large enough following the worm turned, and the Meccans were forced to either convert or die. But this book tells us that Muhammed was gracious in forgiving his Meccan enemies.

Again, a half-truth. He forgave those that converted to Islam, but he killed or drove out those that didn’t.

And, yes, jihad may be applied to self-discipline and self-defense. But the definition presented in Across the Centuries begs credulity. What were all the Muslim conquests if not jihad, defined as “holy war” by its own proponents at the time? There are no negative terms used to describe anything Islamic in this book.

In contrast, words such as “slaughter” and “holy war” describe the conquests of the Crusaders:

Jerusalem is a holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Conflict has sometimes erupted over possession of Jerusalem and the right to visit its holy sites. The crusades were such a period.

From the 1900s, many European Christians made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The region was stable so the journey was relatively safe. After 1070 the region became unstable, and some leaders in Europe saw a chance to win the Holy Land. In 1095, Pope Urban II spoke to an audience and inflamed his listeners with the words above [from Urban’s plea to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim rule]. Many replied, “God wills it! God wills it!” They began preparing for holy war [6].

Referring to “the Sack of Constantinople,” we read:

For three terrible days, the crusaders burned libraries; desecrated churches; and stole many valuable works of art, jewels, and gold [7].

In Europe, the crusades proved to be a particular disaster for one group—the Jews. Crusaders considered both Jews and Muslims to be infidels. So at the same time that the crusaders set out to fight Muslims in the East, they slaughtered both the eastern and western Jewish population. The crusaders destroyed a number of Jewish towns along the Rhine River [8].

No reasonable Christian today would dispute the evils of some of the Crusaders. The Roman Catholic Church’s pogroms against Jews and other “heretics” is well documented in Christian publications as well as secular publications. Our quarrel is not that these things are brought into account, but that Islam gets a free pass for its atrocities.

Why are we not told that Muslims consider all people infidels worthy of death if they do not convert to Islam or, at the least, pay the jizya to spare their lives? Nowhere do we read that Muhammad or other Muslim conquerors “inflamed” their subjects. Nowhere do we read that Muslim conquests were “holy war.” Nowhere do we read that the Crusades were a response to Muslim conquests in Europe. Rather, Islam is spoken of as being attacked” by Christian leaders. The language throughout the book regales Islam while denigrating Christianity, offering only smatterings of positive statements, allowing, for example, that European trade expanded due to the Crusades.

In numerous places the superiority of Islamic culture is touted as if Muslims were responsible for all the material benefits to mankind that funneled their way through Europe. The truth that Islam has contributed little if anything original to any civilization, but built upon the civilizations it conquered by brute force is lost. Much Muslim architecture, for example, was taken from Byzantine architecture. Byzantine craftsmen were employed to construct elaborate mosques.

I’m not exaggerating about the one-sidedness of this textbook. Anyone with half a brain can see through its pro-Muslim bias unless they are totally ignorant of history. Unfortunately, children are not well-protected against these lies.

Islam is even said to have elevated the status of women:

In contrast to some other societies of the time, Muslim women were also given clear rights in marriage and the right to an education. They had the right to control the earnings from their work, to make contracts, and to serve as witnesses in court.

Many of these rights have become established law in Muslim countries to the present day. In other places, many of these rights have faded over time and have been replaced by oppressive local traditions. Customs of individual countries, some of them originating before Islam, often have determined women’s roles more than Islamic principles [9].

In western cultures where Islam is in the minority these things may be true. Even in a few Islamic countries they may be true to a degree. But they are the exception rather than the rule, contrary to this textbook’s claims. Staunch Islamic countries ruled by Sharia Law do not treat women with such benevolence. In some areas it takes the testimony of four women to equal that of one man. Women are still stoned for being raped in some Islamic communities. Burkas are certainly not common women’s wear in any society outside of Islam.

Yes, Islam is diverse depending upon where one lives. But the Qur’an is replete with verses that demean women, even allowing for them to be beaten by their husbands for the crime of “displeasing” them.

Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great [10].

“Desertion” does not mean only unfaithfulness or leaving, but any form of resistance.

It seems as if this textbook goes out of its way to dissuade students from the legitimate concerns right-thinking people have about the aberrant characteristics of Islam, particularly its intolerance toward “infidels” and its demeaning treatment of women.

Again, this isn’t true of all Muslims, particularly those that have been influenced by the culture of western civilization. An example was Saddam Hussein, who was benevolent toward Christians, and even supported Christian schools with state funds. He did call for the destruction of Israel, as do all Islamic nations, but within Iraq even Jews were treated tolerantly. His hammer came down upon those who sought to overthrow his regime. No one will deny he was ruthless in his approach toward his enemies, but that is characteristic of most dictators.

Please do not take these statements to mean that I favored Saddam Hussein. I mention these things merely to point out that not all Muslims, even Muslim leaders, are desirous of killing Christians and Jews. But the religion lends itself to those who are so radical.

“Allah is God”

Across the Centuries often speaks as if the Koran is God’s word to man. In some instances the beliefs of Islam are stated just that way: “Muslims believe that the founding and settling of Mecca is related to the story of Abraham and his son Ishmael”; “…Muhammad is believed by his followers to have had a vision of Gabriel”; “Muhammad’s followers believe that in another vision, the angel Gabriel took Muhammad to meet Abraham, Moses, and Jesus in Jerusalem.” There are a few more such qualifications. However, in many places we read statements that sound more authoritative of Islam’s legitimacy:

Muhammad’s revelations occurred from 610 until his death in 632. Although he was not literate himself, Muhammad had his revelations written down by his companions [11].

The Arabic word Qur’an can be loosely translated as “recitation.” In fact, the very first word the angel Gabriel spoke to Muhammad was “Recite” [12].

“In fact”? Would it not have been better to say, “Muhammad claimed”? Even if this passage followed on the heels of a disclaimer, the words, “in fact,” imply a factual event. Or are the writers of this textbook ignorant of proper English usage? Here’s another:

The fourth pillar is the ritual fast during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim year. Ramadan is a holy time, because in this month Muhammad received his first message from Allah [13].

Additionally, Across the Centuries makes this startling claim relative to Muhammad’s “revelations”:

These revelations confirmed both Muhammad’s belief in one God, or monotheism, and his role as the last messenger in a long line of prophets sent by God. The God he believed in —Allah—is the same God of other monotheistic religions, Judaism and Christianity. Allah, the Arabic word for God, is the word used in the Qur’an [14] (Emphasis theirs).

There are no less than three factual errors in this statement:

(1) These are “alleged” revelations to anyone other than a Muslim. And even Muslims cannot prove they are genuine revelations from God through Gabriel simply because they do not have the mark of the prophetic upon them. They are at best highly subjective.

(2) Allah is not the same God as that of Judaism and Christianity. Because they have rejected their Messiah, unbelieving Jews today worship as did the Samaritans in Jesus’ day, “they know not whom”; Christianity’s God is YHWH, who sent His only-begotten Son, the Word of God —Jesus—who is also called YHWH, to die for our sins. Islam rejects God’s sacrifice:

…and for their [the Jews] saying, “We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God”—yet they did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a likeness that was shown to them (Sura 4:155).

By rejecting Jesus they reject God.

Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ, that denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father, (but) he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also (1 John 2:22-23).

This requires far more than Islam’s claim that Jesus was a prophet—and an inferior one to Muhammad at that. Islam denies that Jesus is the Son of God (the Christ—anointed One) who has come in the flesh. Therefore, Islam does not have the Father, YHWH.

(3) Allah is not the word for “god.” Allah is the name of Islam’s god. And Allah is not YHWH. The revelation that YHWH gave directly to His prophets is entirely different from that which Muhammad claimed was given him by the angel Gabriel.

Practicing Islam

Across the Centuries takes students a step further in assimilating Islam into their lives. This is done through a couple of exercises that require students to take on an Islamic mindset. One exercise instructs students to construct a model of a mosque. Under the sub-section, “Preparing for Citizenship,” is an exercise under “Collaborative Learning”:

Form small groups of students to build a miniature mosque. You may decide to use cardboard, papier-mâché, or other materials. Have one member do research at the library to find out what the insides of mosques look like. Have another member design a building plan. And have two members collect the building materials. Together, construct the mosque according to your plan [15].

One might think this is no big deal. Just because students are asked to build a model of a mosque should not mean they are being indoctrinated into Islam. But let’s put it this way: would any public entity ask Muslim students to build a model of a church? If that were to happen you can be sure Muslims would be up in arms, screaming that the “infidels” are trying to destroy their religion. Blood might even flow in the streets. Why should public school children, the vast majority of whom would identify with Christianity, be asked to build a model of a mosque? This is indicative of today’s anti-Christ climate in the public schools. Such an exercise could work to endear Islam to the students who participate.

We may tolerate false religions, and we are certainly commanded by our Lord to love all men regardless of their beliefs. It is that love that compels us to proclaim the Gospel to them. But we should not have their religion made dear to us.

Here’s another—a writing activity exercise—that, if reversed, would have Muslims calling for heads to roll:

Assume you are a Muslim soldier on your way to conquer Syria in the year A.D. 635. Write three journal entries that reveal your thoughts about Islam, fighting in battle, or life in the desert [16].

Can you imagine what would happen should a Muslim child be instructed to assume he were a Crusader and to give his thoughts on Christianity as a Crusader? A Muslim soldier would be devoutly religious in his thinking, even if it involved beheading the infidel. Should non-Muslim students be instructed to think like devout Muslims? Is that not pushing the envelope into religious activity at the behest of public education?

I’m not saying that these things will result in Christian children converting to Islam, but they are an affront to the true God. We are to put away the unclean thing and have nothing to do with it, not dwell on it in our minds and play with it as if it were a fun activity.

How Islam is Implemented

Let’s look at some ways in which some public schools are actually implementing Islamic religion into the exercises and lessons from the book.

At Royal Oak Intermediate School in Covina, California, World History teacher, Len Cesene, sent the notice duplicated below to parents:

ROYAL OAK INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

World History Mr. Cesene

Dear Parents or Guardian,

As part of the world history curriculum, your student has recently been studying the rise of Islam and the teachings of Mohammed. Fundamental to the Muslim religion are the Five Pillars of Islam. They emphasize the “word of God,” prayer, charity for the poor, fasting and the pilgrimage to Mecca. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims refrain from food or drink during daylight hours.

In an attempt to promote a greater understanding and empathy towards the Muslim religion and toward other culture, I am encouraging students to participate in an extra credit assignment. Students may choose to fast for one, two or three days. During this time, students may only drink water during daylight hours.

Once fasting is completed, students are to type a½page summary of their experience. They should describe how it felt to go without food during the day and connect it to the theme of sacrifice. Fasting is inconvenient and sometimes uncomfortable, many religions to (sic) consider it an important sacrifice.

I wish to emphasize that this is an EXTRA CREDIT assignment and is by no means mandatory. For those unable to fast, they may choose to type a 2 page paper in which they compare different religions that encourage sacrifice during the year. I give my son or daughter permission to fast for one, two or three days.

Final papers for either project are due by Wed. November 26th.

————————————————— ——————————————————

Student signature Parent signature

Granted, parents could opt out of this exercise in Muslim fasting, but it is still practicing religion in a public school. Yet as long as the religion practiced is not Christianity it is acceptable to the courts.

A landmark case involved Excelsior School—a Contra Costa County, California school—at which students were instructed thusly:

During the history course at Excelsior School in the fall of 2001, the teacher, using an instructional guide, told the students they would adopt roles as Muslims for three weeks to help them learn what Muslims believe.

She encouraged them to use Muslim names, recited prayers in class and made them give up something for a day, such as television or candy, to simulate fasting during Ramadan. The final exam asked students for a critique of elements of Muslim culture [17].

The course in question was a three-week exercise promoted by a textbook entitled, Islam: A Simulation of Islamic History and Culture, 610-1100. Two Christian students and their parents brought a lawsuit accusing the Byron Union School District of endorsing a religious practice, contrary to constitutional law as defined and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The suit was brought before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which quickly ruled that the school’s practices did not constitute indoctrination into a particular religion.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled in favor of the school district in 2003, saying that the class had an instructional purpose and that students had engaged in no actual religious exercises.

The appeals court upheld her ruling Thursday in a three-paragraph decision that was not published as a precedent for future cases, which generally is an indication that the court considers the legal issue to be clear from past rulings.

The court cited its 1994 ruling rejecting a suit by evangelical Christian parents in Woodland (Yolo County) who objected to elementary school children reading texts that contained tales and role-playing exercises about witches. In that case, the court said classroom activities related to the texts, which included casting a make-believe spell, were secular instruction rather than religious rituals.

The brevity of Thursday’s ruling “underscores the fact that what the district and its teachers did was entirely within the mainstream of educational practice,’’ said Linda Lye, attorney for the Byron schools [18].

Government Resources

Islam: A Simulation of Islamic History and Culture, 610-1100 may be found among the resources listed by Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Institution of Education Sciences (IES). On ERIC’s Web site we read the following:

This simulation allows students to learn about the history and culture of Islam and the Islamic world by “becoming” Muslims. There are five phases of the unit. Students are assigned to a city, choose an Arabic name, and become familiar with their group and responsibilities outlined in the Student Guide. In the introduction section, students take a pre-test, read a short history of Islam, and learn about Muslim dress and customs. In the Caravan Days section, cities compete to answer quiz cards and collect Arabic money. Oasis Days gives time for students to complete several tasks required of every group in the simulation. In Festival Days each group presents its own festival project. The Islamic Bowl culminates the unit with each city providing contestants for a “college-bowl” type of activity [19].

The process of “‘becoming’ Muslims” may involve bowing toward Mecca, reciting prayers, and fasting, among other things. Would the schools ask Muslims or children of other religions to “become Christians” for a time?

The push for sympathy toward Islam is part and parcel of the current politically correct approach to religion in the public schools. While the ACLU screams “bloody murder” at the constitutionally guaranteed right of Christian students to initiate for themselves prayer meetings and Bible studies on campus, it is strangely silent in regard to overt religious indoctrination of other religions, and, today especially, Islam. The hypocrisy of the government and anti-Christ organizations like the ACLU is palpable. The ACLU has the money and the volunteer resources to fight against Christians. It is part of the world system whose god is Mammon. The ACLU knows it can break the will and/or the pocketbooks of Christians who try to defend their just and constitutionally-upheld rights. In the world arena the faithful are at a great disadvantage. Yet Christians suffer in silence for the most part, and/or are ignorant of what is going on in the schools in which their children are enrolled.

Christians are not militant, and rightly so. But we do have the ability to protect our own. What would happen, do you suppose, should everyone who claims to be a “Christian” in the United States remove their children from the public school system and either send them to private school, or home school them? The system would collapse as it should. The anti-Christ government and “education” organizations would flop around like fish out of water, wailing that they are out of jobs. Good for them. And for us.

Also, parents would be taking hands-on responsibility for what their children learn. Many people have made the necessary sacrifices to ensure that their children are protected against the anti-Christ propaganda of the government indoctrination camps. Those who aren’t willing to make the sacrifices don’t deserve the hard-earned money of all the others.

But, of course, this will never happen. Too many people have a misplaced faith in the system. And evil must increase before the Lord returns. Yet these musings at least give me the opportunity to vent. And, hopefully, they may encourage some believers in Jesus to rethink whether or not they really care about what is happening to their children under the tutelage of government propagandists.

Footnotes

[1] “Early Islam,” Across the Centuries, (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2003), p. 65.

[2] Ibid., p. 66.

[3] “A Century of Expansion,” Ibid., p. 82.

[4] “The Great Mosque at Cordoba,” Ibid., p. 99.

[5] “Muhammad and Islam,” Ibid., p. 64.

[6] “The Crusades,” Ibid., p. 295.

[7] Ibid., p. 301.

[8] Ibid.

[9] “Muhammad and Islam,” Ibid., p. 64.

[10] The Koran, Sura 4.34.

[11] Across the Centuries, “Muhammad and Islam,” op. cit.., p. 61.

[12] Ibid., p. 63.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid., p. 59.

[15] Across the Centuries, “Chapter Review,” p. 71.

[16] Across the Centuries, “Early Islam,” p. 68.

[17] “Court clears school of pushing religion with lesson on Islam,” Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 18, 2005, p. B-3.

[18] Ibid.

[19] ED419740, Islam: A Simulation of Islamic History and Culture, 610-1100, http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED419740&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED419740