Part III: Touching Stephen Ogilvie's Face: Touching the Face of Islam

يَـٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوا۟ فِى دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْحَقَّ ۚ إِنَّمَا ٱلْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُۥٓ أَلْقَىٰهَآ إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌۭ مِّنْهُ ۖ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ ۖ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ ثَلَـٰثَةٌ ۚ ٱنتَهُوا۟ خَيْرًۭا لَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا ٱللَّهُ إِلَـٰهٌۭ وَٰحِدٌۭ ۖ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥٓ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌۭ ۘ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًۭا ١٧١

O People of the Book! Do not go to extremes regarding your faith; say nothing about Allah except the truth.1 The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger of Allah and the fulfilment of His Word through Mary and a spirit ˹created by a command˺ from Him.2 So believe in Allah and His messengers and do not say, “Trinity.” Stop!—for your own good. Allah is only One God. Glory be to Him! He is far above having a son! To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And Allah is sufficient as a Trustee of Affairs.

An AI generated query as to whether Allah has begotten a Son spews this response:   "Allah is free from having begotten a son, a concept the Quran describes as an atrocious and monstrous statement...."

And for this belief, millions of Christians across Muslim-majority regions live in fear.  The oppression and persecution is very real.  For others - the outcome is death.  We do not allow such behavior in the West.  And we do not condone it.  We prosecute this as a hate crime.  Islamic law is different.

We seem unwilling to research and examine the plight of Christians.  Nigeria has a big, bad Muslim problem.  In 2025 7,000 Christians were martyred for their belief in Trinity in the first 220 days of the year (Voice of the Martyrs).  The Democratic Republic of  Congo treats killing Christians like a yearly sporting event. Sudan seeks to drive out their Christian population. 

If you want historical scope, travel to Montebello, California.  It is there, that you will find a monument erected which depicts the martyrdom of Christians in Armenia between 1915-1921 by the Ottoman Sultanate.  This empire breathed it's last breath on 1 November 1922.  But not before they took care of the Christian problem

At my church last week a woman opined that a Muslim man told her we serve the same god. "Their beliefs are very similar to our own.  They revere Jesus, but view him as a prophet."  Smug in her newly found truth, I bit my tongue. Just another clucking hen.  I don't do stupid.

Isa is not Jesus.  And when Isa returns to earth he will break the Cross - that symbol of His sacrifice and atonement for the sins of man.  (Ahadith)   And when creating mischief in the land, the punishment is crucifixion or contra-lateral amputation of limbs. The Christian symbol of reconciliation is reduced to a torture device. Far be it from Allah to have begotten a son.

Regarding churches, according to Islamic law, the bells are not allowed to ring.  And churches cannot be rehabilitated or undergo reconstruction.   This does not matter in England.  Churches have become mausoleums of the faith.  And as the vibrancy of Christian faith is abandoned, another belief system takes hold.

Isa is not Jesus. He is one of three who spoke from the cradle; lost in the mists of times Isa was a prophet, but not the final prophet. And only what the final prophet said can possibly be true.  "Stop!  For your own good!"

Approximately 2.5 million Christians visited the "Holy Land" in 2023.  The numbers diminished substantially after 7 October.  But for those of you who are unaware,  Mohammed originally fixed the orientation for daily prayer at Jerusalem, until his message was rejected by the Jews. But they still want the real estate.

Be an atheist.  Be an Arab apologist.  Be the humanist who refuses to ponder how Islamic law has impacted tens of hundreds of millions of Christians since the armies of Islam marched across the globe to expand a nascent Islamic state.  And then consider how nations anchored in the Judeo-Christian tradition import threat which is then managed by  burgeoning budgets to manage watch lists.  We messed up after the 2 December massacre in San Bernardino.  The assailant and his wife smacked of a managed product to me. But Rizwan Farook attended his workplace Christmas party and had his picture taken in front of the Christmas tree.  And then he picked up his wife and returned to kill his co-workers.

Let me be clear.  Two doors distance from where Stephen Ogilvie was nearly beheaded there might be the Muslim neighbor who will never consider committing a crime. It makes no difference to Stephen now. This conversation falls flat.  Belfast and London leaders embraces their ThreatCon level and then show high levels of emotional incontinence - not for Stephen Ogilvie, the victim of their foolish policies - but against their own citizens who are responding with adrenaline rushes.

And then, please consider that while a bus burned, cars were torched, and homes vandalized in Ireland after Hadid Alodi carved up his victim on a Belfast street, across the untamed Muslim world are the many Christians who will have lost their lives because of Islamic belief.  You will not know their names. They will be remembered by God.