What About Muslim Martyrs?

It has been said that one of the proofs of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is that the New Testament writers suffered persecution and death when they could have saved themselves by recanting. If they made up the Resurrection story, they certainly would have said so when they were about to be crucified (Peter), stoned (James) or beheaded (Paul). Why would they die for a known lie?



In the book “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist” by Geisler and Turek, the following is a quote from pages 293-296).


“Hold on!” the skeptic may object. “We see people dying for their faith every day! Do you ever watch the news? There’s a suicide bomber nearly every week in the Middle East! Have you forgotten about 9/11 already? The hijackers were doing it for Allah? What does martyrdom prove? Does it prove Islam is true too?”


Not at all. There are some similarities, but there’s one critical difference between the New Testament martyrs and those of today. One similarity shared by all martyrs is sincerity. Whether you’re talking about Christians, Muslims, kamikaze pilots, or suicidal cult followers, everyone agrees that martyrs sincerely believe in their cause. But the critical difference is that the New Testament Christian martyrs had more than sincerity – they had evidence that the Resurrection was true. Why? Because the New Testament martyrs were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ. They knew the Resurrection was true and not a lie because they verified it with their own senses. They saw, touched, and ate with the risen Jesus on several occasions. And they had seen him do more than 30 miracles. So they willingly submitted themselves to persecution and death for what they had verified themselves.


This is unlike anything from Islam or any other martyr-producing belief system. While the current martyrs for Islam are certainly sincere about Islam, they don’t have miraculous eyewitness proof that Islam is true.


In fact, the contemporaries of Muhammad weren’t eyewitnesses to anything miraculous either. When Muhammad was challenged to perform miracles to confirm that he was from God, he never took the challenge (Sura 3”181-184; 4:153; 6: 8-9; 17:88-96). Instead he said he was a man (17:93) and implied that the Qur’an authenticated him as a prophet (17:88).


But there are no clearly defined miracles recorded in the Qur’an. Miracles were only attributed to Muhammad by Muslims who lived 100-200 years after his death because Christians kept asking them for proof that Muhammad was a prophet. These miracle claims are not based on eyewitness testimony, and give every indication of being legendary. Several speak of trees moving or saluting Muhammad as he passed by. Mountains and wolves allegedly salute Muhammad as well. And other miracle stories seem to be variations of the miracles Jesus performed such as turning water into milk, feeding a thousand by multiplying a small meal. These miracle stories are found in the Hadith, a later collection of Muhammad’s saying and doings.


If Muhammad wasn’t confirmed by miracles, then why did people follow him? They didn’t at first. He and his few followers were kicked out of Mecca in 622AD, twelve years after he apparently got his first revelation. Since Mecca was a polytheistic city filled with tributes to other gods, Muhammad’s message of monotheism was not well received by the local merchants who made their living off the commerce associated with polytheism. It wasn’t until Muhammad led several successful military conquests between 622 and 630 that he began to attract a large following. His popularity was greatly increased when he led raids on Meccan caravans and divided the booty from those raids with followers. He also took numerous wives which helped solidify his base of support. In other words, Muhammad’s popularity resulted from his lucrative military victories that he shared with his followers, his astute political dealings, and his personal charisma rather than from any miraculous confirmation.


The military aspect of Islam highlights another major difference between the origin of Christianity and the origin of Islam. Christianity began as a peaceful faith and was considered illegal for about the first 280 years of its existence (during which time it experience its greatest growth). If you became a Christian in the Roman Empire before about 311, you might be killed for it.


By contrast, after a brief but unfruitful attempt to propagate his faith peacefully, Muhammad turned to military force to spread Islam. By 630, he had seized Mecca by force and had control of much of what is now the Saudi Arabian peninsula. Although Muhammad died in 632, his followers continued military campaigns in the name of Islam. By 638 – only 6 years after Muhammad’s death – the Muslims had seized the Holy Land by force. In the first 100 years of Islam, they successfully swept across northern Africa and into Europe. Had it not been for Charles Martel, mayor of the city of Tours, France, all of Europe would probably be speaking Arabic today. Martel drove the Muslims south out of Tours in 732, exactly 100 years after Muhammad’s death. But northern Africa remains predominantly Muslim to this day.


So here’s the contrast: in the early days of Christianity, you might be killed for becoming Christian; in the early days of Islam’s growth, you might be killed for NOT becoming a Muslim! In other words, the spread of these two great monotheistic faiths couldn’t have been more different: Islam spread by use of the sword on others; Christianity spread when others used the sword on it.


What about the Crusades?” the skeptic will interject. Take a history course – the Crusades did not begin until nearly 1100, more than 1,000 years after the origin of Christianity. And the initial rationale for the Crusades was to take back the land the Muslims previously had seized by military conquest from the Christians. So it was Islam, not Christianity, that initially spread by military crusade.


Now one can understand why a religion spreads when it takes over militarily. But why does a religion spread when its adherents are persecuted, tortured, and killed during its first 280 years? Persecutions are not good selling points. Perhaps there’s some very reliable testimony about miraculous events that proves the religion is true. How else can you explain why scared, scattered, skeptical cowards suddenly become the most dedicated, determined, self-sacrificing, and peaceful missionary force the world has ever known?


End of quote from “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist”.

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