Does
Allah approve of Jihad?
Question: Would it be possible to get clarification from the Ascended
Master level on the term “Jihad.”
Now, we know how the terrorists use it to promote their violence against
life. But I have heard other interpretations that seems to mean a
war within the self, for the higher self to conquer the lower self.
There are many Christians who say that the Muslim religion itself
is bad. But it seems to me that it is the interpretation of the Muslim
religion that is incorrect.
Jesus: Thank
you for raising an important question. Let me begin by commenting on
the religion of Islam.
Contrary to what many Christians seem to believe, the religion of Islam
is a true religion. When I say true religion, I mean a religion which
was originally inspired from God, or rather from the Ascended Host.
The Ascended Host is a body of spiritual beings, many of whom once walked
the Earth in a physical body and ascended to the spiritual realm. We
serve as the spiritual teachers for humankind, and in our roles as teachers
we are the ones releasing new religions and spiritual teachings to humankind.
Therefore, Muslims are correct in saying that the Koran was given to
man through direct inspiration, or revelation, from Archangel Gabriel.
Let me move on to say that although Islam is a true religion, it is
not the only true religion. As I explained in great detail elsewhere,
there is more than one true religion. Obviously, both I and all other
members of the Ascended Host are aware that human beings find it very
difficult to accept the concept that there can be more than one true
religion. However, this non-acceptance, which inevitably leads to extremism
and fanaticism, is a product of man and not a product of God.
The true purpose
of religion
Let me state clearly that I am a member of the Ascended Host. The archangel
Gabriel is also a member of the Ascended Host. Therefore, I know full
well the original divine intent behind giving the Koran and the true
teachings of Islam to humankind. I can assure you that God never meant
for Islam to be a warring religion, any more than he meant for Christianity
to be a warring religion.
As I explained in my statements about the war
in Iraq, there is no cause which, in the eyes of God, justify the
killing of human beings. Let those who have ears hear my words, be they
Christians, Jews or Muslims. Here in heaven there is no such thing as
a holy war. However, there is such a thing as spiritual warfare, and
I will return to it later.
For now let us consider the obvious question of why, almost from the
very beginning, Islam has been a warring religion, which advocated that
non-believers should be converted or killed. In the new book,
Save Yourself, I talk at great length about the true purpose
of religion. To summarize the discussion, let me say that true religion
is always given by the Ascended Host. The purpose of true religion is
never to give an absolute, a complete or an infallible doctrine about
God.
Human beings are currently in such a low state of consciousness that
they simply would not be able to grasp or accept the full truth about
God and God's being. Furthermore, the truth about God’s being
could never be described in words, not even the words of a language
as rich as Arabic. The true nature and being of God can be known to
man, but only through at direct, inner, mystical experience which transcends
all words and concepts found on Earth.
My point here is that when we of the Ascended Host bring forth a new
religion or spiritual teaching, it is never our purpose to create “the
one true religion” or to give an infallible doctrine. A new spiritual
teaching is always given to people in a specific state of consciousness.
Therefore, the religious teaching is always adapted to these people's
consciousness, which obviously is deeply affected by the times and circumstances
in which they live. Our aim is to give a spiritual teaching which is
higher than what these people currently have, but not so much higher
that they will be unable to grasp it or unwilling to accept it. In other
words, a new spiritual teaching is a measured response to a particular
situation, one might say a particular crises in the affairs of men.
This was also the case with Islam.
Why Islam became a warring religion
If you will take an objective look at the times and circumstances in
which Islam emerged, you will see that it was in many subtle ways adapted
to people's level of consciousness. Therefore, almost from the very
beginning certain interpretations were imposed upon the original spiritual
teachings which made it appear as if Islam was meant to be the only
true religion, replacing all other religions. However, if you take an
objective look at history you will see that people from many other religions
also imposed this interpretation on their religion, and obviously these
claims could not all be true.
Let those who have ears hear my words, and if they are willing to open
their hearts to the truth of God, I will now settle, once and for all,
the discussion about which religion is the only true religion. Let me
state very clearly that if someone claims that his religion is the only
true religion, then that person demonstrates beyond any doubt that he
has not understood the nature and being of God.
I understand that many fundamentalist people from various religions,
including the religion of Islam, will object to this statement. Yet
the very essence of Islam is complete surrender to the will of God.
If you are truly willing to surrender your all to the will of God, you
must be willing to reach for the truth of God. Unless you have the truth
of God, how can you know the will of God? And unless you know the will
of God, how can you surrender the will of man? The truth of God is,
by its very nature, above and beyond all interpretations imposed by
man.
It is a central idea on this website that humankind has descended into
a lower state of consciousness in which they can no longer see the truth
of God. Therefore, they create mental images, they create idols and
interpretations, and then they seek to impose them upon the reality
created by God. As the scriptures say, God is not mocked, meaning that
God’s law and God’s reality is in no way affected by human
beliefs and interpretations.
The way that seems
right unto a man
Therefore, I can say, being that I am an Ascended Master and therefore
one with truth, that there are many valid ways that lead to God's kingdom.
However, as I stated 2,000 years ago, there is also a way that seems
right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. The way that
seems right unto a man is what this website describes as the outer approach
to religion. It is this approach that causes people to become fanatical
and dogmatic. It is this approach that causes people to fall under the
illusion, an illusion that never originated in God, that their religion
is the only true one or that it is superior to all others.
The dangerous illusion here is that people engage in an outer struggle
to prove that their religion is the only true one. Instead, if they
were concerned about their salvation, they should engage in the inner
struggle by embracing the inner, mystical teachings of their own religion.
I can assure you that those who embrace this inner path, the straight
and narrow path, within the context of any religion will soon discover
that religious conflict is the most meaningless all all human conflicts.
The only conflict, the only struggle, that has any meaning and validity
in the eyes of God is the spiritual struggle, the spiritual warfare,
whereby the soul fights to overcome the forces that pull it away from
the kingdom of God.
These forces include the inner forces of the lower self, the carnal
mind and the human ego, and it is the true goal of Islam, Christianity
and all other true religions to offer people a way out of this lower
state of consciousness.
The true meaning of Jihad
This spiritual warfare is the true meaning of Jihad. Jihad was never
meant to be an outer warfare, whereby Muslims would engage in the killing
of unbelievers. This is a misinterpretation imposed by man, and it was
imposed by a warring culture. If you take an objective look at the historical
circumstances in which Islam was given, you will see that it was given
to people who were deeply divided and who were on the brink of destroying
themselves with warfare and decadence. Islam was given in the hope of
unifying these people in a surrender to the will of God.
Unfortunately, instead of fully embracing the central message of Islam,
namely that of unconditional surrender to the will of God and the truth
of God, many Muslims created a mixture of the true teachings of Islam
and their warring culture. Thereby, as also happened to the early Christian
church and especially through the formation of the Roman Catholic Church,
the culture of a warring people became imposed upon the true teachings
of Islam.
Instead of being united in a true, spiritual union that can only be
brought about through a total surrender to the will of God, the Arab
peoples became united in a fight against an outer enemy. These people
were not able to let go of their warring culture, and since Islam told
them to stop seeing each other as enemies, they had to create and outer
enemy, namely nonbelievers. I might say that this particular psychological
mechanism is the cause of most of the wars we have seen throughout history,
including the wars between Christianity and Islam, the rise of Nazi
Germany and the wars between Jews and Arabs that are ongoing to this
day.
Is a third world war necessary?
Let me say again, as I have stated elsewhere,
that because of this very psychological mechanism, this unwillingness
to surrender to the will and the truth of God, planet Earth has become
a powder keg. There is a real risk that the world will soon see a major
conflict between Christians, Muslims and Jews.
Can this conflict be avoided? Let me state clearly that human beings
alone cannot avoid this conflict. Only the intervention of God can avoid
this conflict. Yet God will not intervene and prevent the conflict unless
human beings not only ask him to do so, but ask him by demonstrating
their willingness to embody the true, inner principles of both Islam,
Judaism and Christianity.
What I am saying here is that we of the Ascended Host are hoping against
hope that a critical mass of Christians, Jews and Muslims will suddenly
awaken and decide that it is time to stop the madness. That it is time
to take a new approach to religion. That it is time to overcome the
belief that you can kill your fellow man in the name of God.
If such an awakening was to happen, I can promise you that we would
avoid a large-scale military conflict that could potentially pull this
planet into a third World War. Yet I must also tell you that if such
an awakening does not happen, and happen very soon, we of the Ascended
Host do not see how such a war can be avoided.
It is a simple fact that when human beings refuse to surrender their
all to the will and the truth of God, they enroll themselves in the
school of hard knocks. In this school they must learn by reaping the
consequences of their actions, by reaping what they have sown. Those
who have sown the wind of religious conflict and fanaticism will reap
the whirlwind of military conflict and war.
I for one hope that we do not have to see a third world-wide war in
order for people to wake up and let go of the erroneous belief that
the end can justify the means and that God condones the killing of other
human beings.
Let people wake up and realize that the Old Testament, which is honored
by both Muslims, Christians and Jews, clearly states, “Thou shallt
not kill.” The Old Testament does not define conditions under
which killing is acceptable. The simple reason being that there are
no such conditions in the eyes of God.
Let those who have ears, hear these words, and let them decide, be they
Muslims, Jews or Christians, to once and for all abandon the concept
of a holy war against their fellow man. Let them engage in the holy
war against the forces of this world that are working against God's
purposes and trying to prevent the manifestation of God's kingdom on
earth.
Let me make it clear as crystal that the kingdom of God will not manifest
on earth as long as human beings believe that they can kill each other
in the name of God.
NOTE: For additional comments
on Islam and Muhammad, see this
question.
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Copyright
© 2003 by Kim Michaels |
