DECEPTION, SCRIPTURE, MUHAMMAD, AND INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

Ian Mevorach calls himself a “Christian Minister,” but insists that:

• The time has come for Christians to recognize how wrong we have been in these assessments [about Muhammad as a false prophet] and to correct the record by affirmatively identifying Muhammad with “the Spirit of Truth” [as Jesus taught in John 14 -16].

Mevorach claims that he is writing to:

• Open the minds of Christians to receive a future revelation not as something that competes with or diminishes the Gospel, but rather as something that glorifies Jesus. Unfortunately, these words in the Gospel of John have been totally missed by Christians who reject and belittle the Qur’an; we have for the most part completely ignored the unity of the Gospel and the Qur’an in terms of their common revelatory source. However, if we take Jesus’ words seriously, we have the opportunity to receive the Word of God in the Qur’an in accordance with Jesus’ promise that the Spirit of Truth “will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Could Jesus have possibly been referring to Muhammad in John 14-16? Well, let’s take a look:

• “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17)

Did Muhammad “dwell with” the Israelites and would he “be in you?” Even Muslims would deny this. Would Muhammad “be with you forever?” Certainly not!

• “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

Did Muhammad bring to remembrance “all things… that I have said to you?” Certainly not! The Qur’an even denies Jesus’ teachings about dying for the sins of the world and being the “Son of God.”

• “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27)

Instead, Muhammad bore witness to a different Jesus, denying the Crucifixion, the Deity of Christ, and salvation through Him:

• [Qur’an 4.157] And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure.

• [5:75] They do blaspheme who say, “God is Christ, the son of Mary” …Whoever joins other gods with God – God will forbid him the Garden and the fire will be his abode.

• [3:85] If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him; and in the hereafter, he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).

Mevorach acknowledges that Jesus’ references to the “Spirit of Truth” refer to the Holy Spirit but later, they refer to Muhammad:

• The major objection to applying these predictions to Muhammad or any other prophet is that Christians normally read them as part and parcel of Jesus’ promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit… But as Jesus’ farewell discourse proceeds these titles become multivalent and, in John 15:26-27 and 16:7-15, they begin to refer more to a future prophet than to the Holy Spirit.

What Mevorach is asking us to believe is absurd. It would be like writing a story about the passing of you “mother” and then, without any indication otherwise, you are referring to “Mother Teresa.” However, Jesus gave no indication that the “Spirit of Truth” would gradually refer to Muhammad. In support of this theory, Mevorach cites Jesus in John 16:

• “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-15, NRSV)

How is Muhammad a fulfilment, since Muhammad didn’t “declare” the biblical Jesus? Instead of glorifying Jesus, Muhammad detracted from Jesus, denying His Deity, Sonship, and even the moment of His greatest glory:

• And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:23-25)

Besides, Jesus insisted that “All that the Father has is mine.” However, if Muhammad is the greater prophet, who surpasses even Jesus, this assertion cannot be truth.

Yet, Mevorach insists that John 16 provides us with an unmistakable portrait of Muhammad, but how? The verses prior to the ones he cites provide addition problems for Mevorach:

• Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper [Muhammad] will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” (John 16:7-8)

How was Muhammad able to convict the world of sin? Was he as omnipresent as the Spirit? (omnipresence would be a requirement for anyone who was going to convict the world of sin!) Instead, of convicting the world of sin, his teachings have led to endless wars for world conquest, causing Islam to be called the “Ultimate Killing Machine.”

In addition to this, Jesus insisted that the “Spirit of Truth,” the Helper, would come when Jesus would leave and would teach His Apostles what they “cannot bear” to hear when Jesus was with them. However, Muhammad did not come until almost 600 years later and was not received by the people of Jesus, let alone did Muhammad ever instruct His Apostles.

What evidence does Mevorach have to claim that these teachings are fulfilled by Muhammad? Why not the head of the Mormons, Jim Jones, or David Koresh? Mevorach can offer only the Qur’an, a book compiled 600 years after Jesus:

• For centuries Muslim interpreters have seen Muhammad as this “Advocate,” based on Qur’an 61:6, a verse in which Jesus predicts the coming of a future prophet named Ahmad: “O Children of Israel! Truly I am the Messenger of God unto you, confirming that which came before me in the Torah and bearing glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me whose name is Ahmad.”

However, 600 years earlier, the Holy Spirit came upon the Christian Church, transforming a fearful group of people into bold ambassadors for Christ – people that Islam had to put to death by the millions in order to secure their ends. And their genocide continues today under the names of ISIS, Islamic Jihad, Boko Haram, Al Nusra, Al Qaeda, and many other groups, all assured that, according to their holy writings, they are serving Allah.

Meanwhile, Muslims in the West use other means. Mevorach assures us that fear and threat are not at all at stake here, just friendly persuasion:

• Based on the promises of Jesus, Christians can encounter the Qur’an without fear, knowing that it is a revelation which glorifies Jesus and, in a spiritual sense, is from him.

You might then ask, “How can Mevorach call himself a “Christian minister? Easy! Islam is a religion of deception (Taqiyya). Even friendship is to be used as a tool of deception:

• [Qur’an 3:27] Let not the believers take the disbelievers for friends rather than believers. And whoever does this has no connection with Allah unless it is done [deceptively] to guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully.

• [5:54] O ye who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other.

• [60:1] “O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies (i.e. disbelievers and polytheists) as friends, showing affection towards them, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth”

• [60:4] “Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibraaheem (Abraham) and those with him, when they said to their people: ‘Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allaah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred for ever until you believe in Allaah Alone’”

How do Muslims understand these verses? This is an important question, since Western Muslims will claim that this is all just a matter of interpretation. Therefore, it cannot be taken literally. However, one representative commentator writes (www.koranqa.com; fatwa 59879):

• “Undoubtedly the Muslim is obliged to hate the enemies of Allaah and to disavow them, because this is the way of the Messengers and their followers.

• “Based on this, it is not permissible for a Muslim to feel any love in his heart towards the enemies of Allaah who are in fact his enemies too. Allaah says”:

• “But if a Muslim treats them with kindness and gentleness in the hope that they will become Muslim and will believe, there is nothing wrong with that, because it comes under the heading of opening their hearts to Islam. But if he despairs of them becoming Muslim, then he should treat them accordingly.”

What does it mean to treat them accordingly? In order to answer this question, we have to understand the overall thrust of Islam – for the entire world to live in submission to Islam, by persuasion or by bloodshed.

Ibn Khaldun, the 15th century Tunisian historian, states:

• In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force... Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations.

Here’s the Koranic basis for this:

• [Qur’an 8:37] Make war on them until idolatry is no more and Allah’s religion (Islam) reigns supreme.
  

• [4:5]  When the Sacred Months are over, kill those who ascribe partners [like Jesus] to God wheresoever ye find them; seize them, encompass them, and ambush them; then if they repent and observe prayer and pay the alms, let them go their way.

• [Qur’an 8:12, cp. 8:60]   Strike off the heads of the disbelievers,” “Kill the disbelievers wherever we find them” (2:191) and “murder them and treat them harshly” (9:123).

The West regularly hosts many interfaith discourses, thinking that these will promote friendship and harmony, as evidenced by this Mevorach’s article in the Huffington Press. However, the West is merely providing a platform for a deception of the unwary, a platform gladly embraced by every Islamist. Meanwhile, such discussions cannot occur in the Islamic world without heads rolling. Perhaps this should tell us something about the true intents of Islam.

IS THE BIBLE THE ACTUAL WORDS OF GOD? IS THE KORAN?

There are many ways to approach this question. One way is to compare the biblical evidences against the Koranic evidences or claims. The first apologetic for Islam I encountered, entitled, “Can we Prove Quran [Koran] is From God?” reads (I copied it in its entirety.):

• Muslims have something that offers the clearest proof of all - The Holy Quran. There is no other book like it anywhere on earth. It is absolutely perfect in the Arabic language. It has no mistakes in grammar, meanings or context. The scientific evidences are well known around the entire world, even amongst non-Muslim scholars. Predictions in the Quran have come true; and its teachings are clearly for all people, all places and all times.

• Surprisingly enough, the Quran itself provides us with the test of authenticity and offers challenges against itself to prove its veracity. Allah tells us in the Quran:

• “Haven't the unbelievers considered if this was from other than Allah, they would find within it many contradictions?” [Noble Quran 4:82]
• Another amazing challenge from Allah's Book:  “If you are in doubt about it, bring a chapter like it.” [Noble Quran 2:23]
• And Allah challenges us with: “ Bring ten chapters like it.” [Noble Quran 11:13]
• And finally: “Bring one chapter like it.” [Noble Quran 10:38]

• No one has been able to produce a book like it, nor ten chapters like it, nor even one chapter like it. It was memorized by thousands of people during the lifetime of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and then this memorization was passed down from teacher to student for generation after generation, from mouth to ear and from one nation to another. Today every single Muslim has memorized some part of the Quran in the original Arabic language that it was revealed in over 1,400 years ago, even though most of them are not Arabs. There are over nine million (9,000,000) Muslims living on the earth today who have totally memorized the entire Quran, word for word, and can recite the entire Quran, in Arabic. (godallah.com)

First of all, this Islamic apologetic (TIA) claims that the grammar of the Koran is perfect. Therefore, it must come from above. However, after citing numerous grammatical errors, answering-islam.org concludes:

• No doubt many learned people have gone over this Arabic Qur'an to check it for mistakes, like any good publisher would do. If even with the advanced technology they have, there are still errors in it, how can we have any confidence that the first edition of the Qur'an in a time when very few people can read and write Arabic, was written down error free? Mohammad himself said "we are a nation that does not know how to write or do accounting." And the Muslim in early Islam used to set free some Jews among their war captives if they would in turn teach a few Arabs how to read and write Arabic.

While the Bible makes no such claims about its grammar, it does make many claims about its authenticating divine miracles. For example, when Moses complained that the Israelites would never believe that God had sent him, God gave him miracles to prove otherwise (Exodus 3-4).

Jesus performed so many miracles that even the adversarial writings of the Jews acknowledge them.

In contrast to this, Mohammad often indirectly confessed that he didn’t perform any miracles:

• [ Koran Surah 3:183-84) (The same are) those [Jews] who say: Lo! Allah hath charged us that we believe not in any messenger until he bring us an offering which fire (from heaven) shall devour. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Messengers came unto you before me with miracles, and with that (very miracle) which ye describe. Why then did ye slay them? (Answer that) if ye are truthful! And if they deny thee, even so did they deny messengers who were before thee, who came with miracles and with the Psalms and with the Scripture giving light.

• [2:118] And those who have no knowledge say: Why doth not Allah speak unto us, or some sign come unto us? Even thus, as they now speak, spake those (who were) before them. Their hearts are all alike. We have made clear the revelations for people who are sure.

• [29.50-51] And they say: Why are not signs sent down upon him from his Lord? Say: The signs are only with Allah, and I am only a plain warner. Is it not enough for them that We have revealed to you the Book which is recited to them? Most surely there is mercy in this and a reminder for a people who believe.

TIA also claims that scientific findings support the Koran. However, Wikipedia claims otherwise:

• This effort has been criticized by some scientists and philosophers as containing logical fallacies, being unscientific, likely to be disproven by evolving scientific theories.

Meanwhile, the Bible has many teachings that prefigure scientific findings:

1. TIME IS NOT ETERNAL: 2 Tim. 1:9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

2. THE UNIVERSE HAD A BEGINNING: Genesis 1:1  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Contra the steady-state theory that had ruled science).

3. THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE PHYSICAL WORD AREN’T VISIBLE: Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4. WATER CYCLE: Job 36:27 "He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams.” (Also Amos 9:6)

5. DINOSAURS?? Psalm 74:14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.

6. STARS AS GUIDES TO SEASONS AND GEOGRAPHIC POSITIONS: Genesis 1:14 lights in the expanse of the sky… [would] serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.”

7. GOD WORKS THROUGH FIXED LAWS: Jeremiah 33:25 states that God accomplishes His purposes through “fixed laws of heaven and earth.”  (Although science demonstrated that phenomena operated according to laws, the Bible long before posited the operation of the God’s laws.) (Also Job 38:33)

8. COUNTLESS STARS:  Jeremiah 33:22 states, “I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore. " (Also Job 11:7-8; 22:12)

9. ROUND EARTH, EXPANDING UNIVERSE: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in” (Isaiah 40:22; 42:5).

10. THE EARTH DOES NOT SIT ON A PEDESTAL AS ANE COSMOLOGY HAS IT: Job 26:7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.

11. UNHEALTHY QUALITY OF EXCREMENT: Deut. 23:12-13 Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. 13As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.

12. FOSSIL FINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS: Psalm 104:6 …the waters stood above the mountains. (Even Everest)

13. SNAKES ONCE HAD USABLE LEGS (now covered by their epidermis): (Gen. 3:14)

TIA also claims that the predictions of the Koran “have come true.” However, answering-islam.org denies this:

• In all fairness, there are no true prophecies in the Quran and the ones that Muslims point to fail to be truly prophetic. The claim that the Quran contains dozens of prophecies is based purely on wishful thinking since none of the so called proof texts presented are convincing when taken within the context of the passage in question.

For example, Surah 7:157 reads: “Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write [Mohammed], whom they find written in the Torah [Deut.18:15] and the Gospel” [John14:16].

However, an examination of these passages does not bear out the claims of the Koran. Moses did not prophesy of Muhammad:

• The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." The LORD said to me: "What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. (Deut. 18:15-18)

Muhammad was not like Moses. According to his own admission, he wasn’t a miracle worker. Even more damning to the Koran is the fact that this prophet would come from “among their brothers.” Admittedly, Muhammad was not an Israelite.

The Gospels also fail to endorse Muhammad as the Koran alleges:

• “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (“paraclete” in the Greek and not “periclytos,” meaning “the praised one,” referring to Muhammad, as Muslim scholars claim) to be with you forever.” (John 14:16)

• "When the Counselor (“paraclete”) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. (John 15:26; Also 16:12-14)

However, out of the thousands of ancient Greek NT manuscripts, there is not one instance where “periclytos” is used.

Meanwhile, there are hundreds of OT prophecies that Jesus had fulfilled. There are also an equal number that Israel had fulfilled – about their successes, devastations, and even their restoration to the land of Israel. Oddly, there is even a prophecy that the children of Ishmael have fulfilled:

• The angel of the LORD also said to her (Hagar): "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." (Genesis 16:11-12)

TIA claims that another proof of the Koran is found in its lack of contradictions. However, answering-islam.org has documented hundreds, perhaps even thousands of contradictions. Meanwhile, the Koran consistently acknowledges that the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospels are perfectly true:

• Ultimately, the strongest, most serious problem of the Qur'an is that it affirms the scriptures of the Jews and the Christians as authentic and true revelation from God (cf. what the Qur'an says about the Bible), while radically denying central aspects of their message, e.g. the core themes of sacrifice and atonement in the Torah, the crucifixion of Jesus, the deity of Jesus and even the mere messianic title "Son of God" for Jesus, the very nature of God, the fall and the sinfulness of man (*, *), necessity and means of salvation, etc. For this reason Muslims had to invent the unwarranted theory of corruption of the earlier scriptures, even against the clear testimony of the Qur'an itself. 

Here are some assertions of the Koran about the accuracy of the Bible:

• [Surah 18:27] “Proclaim what is revealed to you in the Book of your Lord. None can change His words..”

• [3.3] He has revealed to you the Book with truth, verifying that which is before it, and He revealed the Tavrat [Torah] and the Injeel [Gospels] aforetime, a guidance for the people, and He sent the Furqan.

• [5.44] Surely We revealed the Taurat [Torah] in which was guidance and light; with it the prophets who submitted themselves (to Allah) judged (matters) for those who were Jews, and the masters of Divine knowledge and the doctors, because they were required to guard (part) of the Book of Allah, and they were witnesses thereof; therefore fear not the people and fear Me, and do not take a small price for My communications; and whoever did not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the unbelievers…[5.46] And We sent after them in their footsteps Isa, son of Marium, verifying what was before him of the Taurat and We gave him the Injeel in which was guidance and light, and verifying what was before it of Taurat and a guidance and an admonition for those who guard (against evil).

Lastly, TIA quotes the Koran claiming that no one can produce a verse like those contained in the Koran. However, the same assertion can also be made about the Bible, Talmud, or even Shakespeare. However, these assertions do nothing to prove that they come from God.

What I have presented here is far from an exhaustive presentation. This would require volumes. However, I hope that I have whet your appetite enough to pursue this question further.

Who is the Real Muslim?

 Is Bin Ladin the real Muslim or the peaceful Muslim next door? Debater and host of the Aramaic Broadcasting Network, David Wood, provides us with a sobering analysis of the real Islam:

• Islam is unique among world religions in that it explicitly calls for the violent subjugation of unbelievers. Western theorists insist that Islam can be reformed…However Islam does not allow Muslims to question or reinterpret the commands of Allah or Muhammad (Qur’an 33:36). Hence, any attempts to reform the Islamic concept of Jihad will be considered innovation and heresy among Muhammad’s more devout followers. (Christian Research Journal, Vol. 36/Number 01, 47)

However, whenever I mention these harsh realities to my secular friends, they brush off my concerns, claiming that they have many friendly and respectful Muslim friends and that I need to make some myself.

However, Wood insists that if the Muslim is faithful to their religion, then this show of friendship is no more than a ploy according to the Islamic doctrine of Taqiyya, which authorizes the Muslim to deceive the infidel, until they can gain the upper hand:

• Concealing the true intentions of the Islamic community in order to guard against attacks from non-Muslims. This tactic was eventually made explicit in Qur’an 3:28: “Let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them, taking (as it were) security” (Pickthall). This verse forbids friendship with unbelievers, unless Muslims are heavily outnumbered and they feel that they are in danger from a stronger adversary. That’s when Muslims are told to pretend to be friendly. Ibn Kathir, history’s most respected Qur’an commentator, quotes Muhammad’s companions to explain 3:28:

• Allah sad next, (unless you indeed fear the danger from them) meaning, except those believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers. In this case, such believers are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly. For instance, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Ad-Darda said, “We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them. Al-Bukhari said that Al-Hasan said, “The Tuqyah […Taqiyya] is allowed until the Day of Resurrection.”

Consistent with this, wherever Islam becomes a sizable minority, they are compelled by their faith to seek to impose Shariah law, which reduces all non-Muslims to a secondary and dependent status. It also means the end of free speech and the rights we have long cherished in the West.

Wood demonstrates that Islam has a long and deeply entrenched history of intolerance:

• In Medina, Muhammad began ordering his followers to assassinate critics. Early detractors such as Abu Afak, Asma bint Marwan, and Ka’b bin al-Ashraf were all murdered for writing poems about Muhammad or Islam…Muslims began following Muhammad’s example by killing those who spoke negatively of their prophet: “Narrated Ali ibn Abu Talib: A Jewess used to abuse the Prophet and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died…” Muhammad eventually laid down harsh penalties of death, dismemberment, or imprisonment for the extraordinarily vague crime of “making mischief” in the land: “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned…” (Qur’an 5:33. Shakir)

What then is the overriding intention of Islam? Wood claims that their purpose is to:

• Subjugate and humiliate Jews and Christians. The justification for carrying out the attacks commanded in Qur’an 9:29...  “And Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!” (Qur’an 9:30) (45-46)

How do we explain the fact that peace with Islam is always so tentative? The Qur’an gives us all the explanation we need. While the Muslims are the best of peoples (3:110), the “People of the Book [the Bible] … are the worst of creatures” (98:6, Hilali-Khan). Consequently, Muslims perform righteously by fighting against these “worst of creatures”:

• “Fight those who believe not in Allah, nor the Last Day…nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth [Islam]. From among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Qur’an 9:29, Ali)

If this is all true, then concern should lead us to expose these threats. However, the West has not only failed to do this, but has criminalized those who do, charging them with “Islamophobia” and “hate speech!”

What is the true face of Islam? It really doesn’t take much to answer this question. Even if we can’t read the Qur’an, we can travel to Islamic nations, even to the supposedly “secular” Islamic nations where the religious minorities are compelled to live in fear that someone might charge them with “insulting the Prophet.”