by Larry Rouse<\/p>\n
Here is the simplest way to explain what makes Islam fundamentally different from every other major religion, and why it is uniquely destabilizing.<\/p>\n
Judaism, Sikhism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic religions, meaning they teach belief in one deity.<\/p>\n
Islam adds a second, inseparable layer, and that is exactly what makes it problematic.<\/p>\n
In Judaism, Sikhism, and Christianity, you are only required to believe in one God to be considered a monotheist. You can believe in God while living under any number of political arrangements without ceasing to be Jewish, Sikh, or Christian.<\/p>\n
In Islam, you are required to believe in one God, Allah (monotheism) and one governing authority, Sharia (mono-cracy).<\/p>\n
If you believe in one God but reject one governing authority, you are not considered a Muslim, even if you believe in Allah; this is called Alhakimiyya<\/em>.<\/p>\n To be Muslim is not only to believe in one God (Allah), but also to affirm one governing authority, sharia.<\/p>\n Belief in God without submission to God’s law as governing authority is insufficient. A person may believe in Allah, pray, fast, and still be considered outside Islam if they reject the idea that only divine law should rule. In that sense, Islam is not just monotheistic, it is mono-cratic.<\/p>\nUnder this framework, Muslims who reject the rule of sharia, Kurds, secular Arabs, or “moderate” leaders can be declared apostates or unbelievers. Most Muslims believe in one God and accept sharia as the ideal governing authority. What separates them from jihadists is not theology, but strategy and timing.<\/p>\n They may not seek to impose sharia themselves, but they accept its legitimacy, which is why jihadists are frequently rejected tactically while being defended ideologically.<\/p>\n This monocratic principle is not a fringe interpretation. It is what the Qur’an commands: “And whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, they are the disbelievers” (5:44) and what Muhammad, his companions, and the Islamic caliphates practiced throughout history.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Larry Rouse Here is the simplest way to explain what makes Islam fundamentally different from every other major religion, and why it is uniquely destabilizing. Judaism, Sikhism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic religions, meaning they teach belief in one deity. Islam adds a second, inseparable layer, and that is exactly what makes it problematic.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[310,361,362],"class_list":["post-93327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-government","tag-islam","tag-muslims"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40213,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/islam-and-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":93327,"position":0},"title":"Islam and the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:3-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I found an article on the editorial page of the newspaper back in 1996 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was written in defense of the Islamic religion. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Claiming that it is similar to Judaism and Christianity \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In fact, it is the natural follow-on to the work\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36606,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-allah-and-yahweh-the-same-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":93327,"position":1},"title":"Are Allah and Yahweh the same God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Many people believe that Allah and Yahweh are the same God though they have very different characteristics that I don't think they're the same.\u00a0 However, since the Arabs are Ishmaelites they obviously know God.\u00a0 Could it be that Allah is a partial interpretation of Yahweh that came about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25479,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-islam-and-christianity\/","url_meta":{"origin":93327,"position":2},"title":"What is the difference between Islam and Christianity?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the difference between Islam and Christianity? If Jesus is God, what about the prophet Moses (Torah), or the prophet David (Injil)? The holy book Torah had been given to the prophet Moses and the holy book Injil had been given to the prophet David. Likewise, the holy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65621,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-prove-jesus-was-not-a-muslim\/","url_meta":{"origin":93327,"position":3},"title":"How do you prove Jesus was not a Muslim?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Brother Hamilton and the rest of La Vista Church of Christ, I have two questions that I want to ask you. I want to start with this one in particular because they're two different ideas. As we know, the more time goes by, there will be a new\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41356,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-chrislam\/","url_meta":{"origin":93327,"position":4},"title":"What is Chrislam?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is Chrislam? Is it a widely accepted religion? Are followers of this faith allowed to marry anyone either Christian or Muslim? I have seen usually people with Christian family backgrounds adapted to this theory, but how is it possible that you travel in two ships together? Answer: You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24602,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-religion-did-the-arabs-follow-prior-to-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":93327,"position":5},"title":"What religion did the Arabs follow prior to Islam?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'd like to know what religion, if any, did the current Muslims have before Mohammad came. Since they are sons of Ishmael, were they following Judaism? Answer: Judaism is the following of the Law of Moses, which was given exclusively to the sons of Israel. \"And Moses called all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93327\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThis is also why figures like Mohammed bin Zayed can be labeled infidels despite being Muslim: political sovereignty, not personal belief, is the dividing line.\n