This blog entry continues the series I began a few days ago to provide a brief overview of Islam.
In Part 1, I began by looking at Muhammad and the origins of Islam. Next, in Part 2, I looked at the message of Muhammad that is recorded in the Qur’an. Yesterday, in Part 3, I looked at what constitutes Islam’s core beliefs. Today I would like to look at the highly developed code of Islamic observance.
I have done my best to ensure factual accuracy in all these posts and have used Islamic sources as much as possible to ensure that I’m not propagating Christian misconceptions of Islam. I did send this to some Muslim friends for comment, but I have yet to hear back. If you are a follower of Islam and believe that I have misrepresented your religion, please drop me an email and I will remedy the situation.
There are many obligations associated with Muslim. For example, Muslims are not allowed to consume alcohol, pork, blood or carrion. The most important aspects of “religion” in Sunni Islam are the “Five Pillars”:
1. Confessing the faith (shahada): This is the basic Muslim creed, similar to the Jewish Shema, but with the additional affirmation that Muhammad is a prophet:
“I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” – The Shahada
In my previous letter I asked you to make an effort to understand what makes your Patient tick and to probe him for weaknesses which we may exploit. Unfortunately, all you presented me with was several pages of drivel, full of useless information and ridiculous speculation. I expect to see a better effort in your next correspondence.
I see from reading your Patient’s file that his recent renewed allegiance to the Enemy was brought about through the chaplain at the university. That priest is well known to us, my dear Bogwash, well known indeed! He is a formidable warrior in the service of the Enemy. Oh, the problems that man has caused for us over the years! Plans have been underway for some time to limit his effect on the souls at that institution of learning. I hear that an experienced task force of tempters was recently assigned to his case. We have yet to find a way to ruin him, but trust me, we will…
Fortunately for you, your Patient will soon be graduating and his contact with that man will soon be limited. With graduation comes a time of change and flux and this period has great potential for us. There is always the risk that during this time of uncertainty your Patient will come to trust more in the Enemy, but it is also a wonderful opportunity for us, a perfect time to encourage him to cast off childish things…such as his newfound religion. Do your best to remind him of all the ways this new faith will limit his freedom and his enjoyment of the new, exciting world of adult life.
You Patient will soon be leaving the protective womb of the University Chaplaincy and enter the wider world. Once he has left the university, even if he persists in the service of the Enemy for a time, he will soon face many new trials which will almost certainly abort this nascent faith. Outside of the walls of the Chaplaincy he will encounter something truly terrifying – the typical Catholic parish!
Your primary task at this time is to quickly stunt the growth of this renewed faith. This requires a two-pronged approach. Firstly, your must do your best to alienate him from the Christian community, isolating him from his brethren who will support, encourage and guide him. On his own he will not last long. Fortunately, as I said, he will soon be moving into parish life, so this task may be done for you with very little assistance required on your part. Secondly, it must be your priority to cut him off from all the sources of strength given to him by the Enemy, in particular, the Sacraments and that abominable Eucharist. In my next letter, I will begin address the steps to be taken to eradicate, or at the very least diminish, the impact of those Sacraments upon the Patient.
Today is the feast day of St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. Contrary to the insistence of some of my friends, “Polycarp” does not mean “much fish” 😉 Rather, his name means “much fruit”, an appropriate appellation for a man whose life was full of the fruit of one whose life was devoted to Jesus Christ:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”
– John 15:5
Polycarp, perhaps more so than any other Apostolic Father, provides us with a bridge between the Apostles and the Early Church. When Polycarp was young he sat at the feet of St. John and when Polycarp was old, another young man, St. Irenaeus sat at his feet and would later become one of the great defenders of the faith against the Gnostics.
Polycarp has a link to another Early Church Father. In fact, I have mentioned St. Polycarp on this blog before, when I wrote about the letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans and his letter to the bishop of that city, Polycarp. In his letter, Ignatius exhorts Polycarp:
“The times call for you, as pilots do for the winds, and as one tossed with tempest seeks for the haven, so that both you and those under your care may attain to God. Be sober as God’s athlete: the prize set before you is immortality and eternal life”
– Ignatius to Polycarp
The turbulent times did indeed call for a great bishop and they did indeed find one in Polycarp… Read more
This blog entry continues the series I began a few days ago to provide a brief overview of Islam.
My dear Bogwash,
