I am now out to provide the clue to why there have been hostilities, at least in the last 80 years or so, between Christians and Muslims in Europe, the United States, Middle East (countries from Egypt to Iran), Asia and Africa, notably in northern Nigeria. As with the never – ending conflicts between the Israelis and Arabs, especially since 1948 the reason is divine and the facts are in the Book of Genesis Chapter 16: 1 – 15.
Like the Jews, whose Judaism religion was founded by Abraham, who also built the first two altars for the worship of God (Genesis 12: 1 – 19), Jesus Christ too was his descendant through Isaac, the son of Sarah and the covenant child the Lord promised Abraham (Genesis 18: 1 – 15).
Although Prophet Mohammed was from Mecca in Saudi Arabia, not from Egypt where Hagar, the mother Ishmael, came from and where he was brought up, the Muslims say Mohammed was his descendant. But it is when I want to write a book on all the Ancient of Days had told me on issues in the Holy Bible and Qur’an, that I will ask Him if the Prophet was related to Ishmael through his father’s or mother’s line or not.
In other words, I will find out from the Lord if the Muslims regard Mohammed to be a descendant of Ishmael because of blood ties or just because he was an Arab like Hagar, his mother. But I need to state here that the introduction to the Koran has it that the Temple in Mecca called Ka’bah, the House of Allah, was built by Abraham for the worship of Allah.
As can be seen in Genesis 12:10 – 20, God called Abraham to go to Canaan (Israel), when he was in his birthplace Ur, which is now in Iraq. He moved a lot in what is now the Middle East and Mecca might have been one of the places he stayed in before or after living in Egypt for a while before famine made him to leave the country for Canaan. As reported in the Bible, the King of Egypt took over Sarah as his wife. But how long he was married to her before God caused him to return her to Abraham is not stated, neither is it reported if Sarah had a child, son or daughter, for the Egyptian ruler. So, I will have to find out from the Most High if any of these things happened, which could have created blood links between Prophet Mohammed and Ishmael.
The Christians who say the enmity between members of their religion and Muslims is evidence that they worship different Gods have not read Genesis Chapter 16: 1 – 15. And if they had done so then the problem is that they do not understand that the Lord’s statements in the fifteen verses are behind the frosty relations between the Christians and Muslims and an indication that they worship the same deity.
The story in Genesis Chapter 16 is of how years of childlessness made Sarah tell her husband, Abraham, to sleep with Hagar, her Egyptian – born maid (slave) and was impregnated by him. And how this development made her to become proud and disrespectful to her mistress who began to treat her cruelly, a situation that caused her to return to Egypt (Genesis 21: 9 – 21).
During the journey an angel of God appeared to Hagar and told her to return to Sarah and submit to her authority. He also informed her that she would give birth to a son who should be named Ishmael because God had heard her cry of distress. The name in Hebrew is said to mean “God hears.”
The Servant of God then revealed that her son would live like a wild man in King James Version, but wild donkey in the Good News Bible and that he would be against everyone and everyone would be against him. He also told him that he would live apart from all his relatives (Genesis 16:12).
A statement which showed that Hagar would one day return to Egypt with her son and which came to pass in Genesis 21:9 – 21 where Sarah got angry when she saw Ishmael playing with Isaac, her son and God’s covenant child for Abraham. The incident caused Sarah to get her husband to send away Hagar because Ishmael must have a share in his inheritance. Abraham was distraught, but the Heavenly Father intervened and instructed him to do as Sarah had demanded.
Consequently, Hagar returned to Egypt with her son who in adulthood married an Egyptian woman. But when Abraham went to glory at the age of 175 years Ishmael returned to Canaan (Israel) for his burial in Machpelah cave in the town of Hebron (Genesis 25:7 – 11). It was where Sarah who passed on at the age of 127 about one, two or three decades earlier had been interred (Genesis 23: 1 – 20). It is not indicated in the Bible how older Abraham was to Sarah.
Till today about three thousand, eight hundred and twenty years after there is still hostility between Muslims and the Jews, who are the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and the Christians who belong to a religion brought by Jesus Christ who was also an offspring of the same man. Are these not proof that the enmity the Muslims have for the Judaists and Christians were caused by God’s pronouncements in Genesis 16: 1 – 15?
To be continued next Wednesday
Why Police Misbehave World – Wide
To most people in Nigeria and other African countries or in Asia, the Americas and elsewhere in the world white policemen are killing African – Americans in the United States because of racism. This is true, just as the problem is ethnicity in the developing countries. But what is common is that whether in the developed or developing nations, police men and women who commit murder, brutality and other serious offences or crimes are treated leniently than should be the case.
I got to know the reason for this about 30 years ago from a retired police officer in Lagos. And what he told me was that if they are treated appropriately that this would discourage people from joining the police or army service. He said this would create a big problem because there is no country that has enough police men or women for the maintenance of peace and security.
The retired officer told me that police men convicted for murder and other crimes serve a few months or years in prison and are freed. But they are sent to live different nations in the world or in another part of their country far from their former abodes or abroad, while some undergo plastic surgery.
Some may doubt the officer’s story, but I am inclined to believe it. Were the police men or soldiers who committed genocide in Odi in Bayelsa State and in Zaki – Biam in Benue State during the presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (1999 – 2007) ever brought to trial? The only military or police officers dealt with and executed publicly were those involved in armed robbery incidents with Isola Oyenusi in Lagos in the 1970s and with Lawrence Anini in Benin City in the 1980s.
This has never been extended to those who killed people during riots or while maintaining public order in tribal and other situations. And in the United States, Britain and other advanced countries, how many policemen have been jailed for killing people of minority races? I was at the Osodi police station near the international market on Lagos Mainland about five years ago with someone whose staff was arrested for wandering. One of the officers told the man to pay for the release of his boy and said bribery was not a crime or sinful offence before God.
For this he cited the statements of Jesus in Matthew 5:21 – 26 when teaching about anger. This is where he said people should settle disputes and not allow them to go before a judge in a court, who will keep the person in detention until he or she had paid what is owed. Since bribery is an offence in the Bible (Exodus 23:8 and Deuteronomy 10:17 and 16:18 – 20), it is when policemen and women die they would know that it is a sinful act before God.