So Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, has been “terminated” and “eliminated”. This Muslim so devoted to his cause committed the most evil deeds during his short life time, and was responsible for the torture and murders of thousands of people. He will be missed alright, and gratefully so by a great many more thousands and thousands who want the wings of Islam severely clipped and their criminals receiving the justice they deserve. My own reaction was a sense of great relief, but tinged with a surprising sadness as well. I heard the cheers of those delighted by the success of the raid, but I could feel no joy in the deed. Yes, it is certainly “good riddance” and the world will be much better off without him. Unfortunately, there are still more of the same to take his place, so the situation continues although this may cripple their cause for a while. I heard how this man will now be enjoying his 72 virgins and houris in Paradise, or else finding out that he really did “back the wrong horse” having been successfully duped through his mind-numbing brain-washing beliefs. And that is the source of my twinges of sadness - that he was someone who backed the wrong horse, followed the wrong leader, worshipped a false god, and was severely deceived. Now he is paying the price, and the price is eternal.

William Lane Craig, Christian philosopher and apologist, in the first chapter of his book titled Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, looks at how we can know that Christianity is true. In discussing faith and reason, he considers the rational and evidential arguments of reason, then regarding faith turns his attention to the work of God through the Holy Spirit. For the believer who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the inner witness of God’s Spirit provides the assurance of the truths to which are testified. The believer knows the truth by God’s Spirit. Those who do not believe do not have such an experience, and it will not become theirs until such a time that they do (if they choose to) believe. But the work of God’s Spirit is different when it comes to the unbeliever. Jesus describes this work of the Holy Spirit in John 16:7-11.

7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Would someone like al-Zarqawi ever have been subjected to any promptings of God’s Spirit? Would he ever have been convicted of his own sin, of God’s righteousness, and of his own condemnation before God? Did this happen and he chose to ignore it? Is this true of any Muslim at all? After all, they do make claim to know God (whom they call Allah) and to an understanding of what Allah wants them to do, and they lay claim to a sharing of Jesus as a prophet although not the Messiah.

The problem is that very little of what is written in the Qur’an actually gives a view of God as known to Christians, and their prophet ‘Isa (whom they claim to be Jesus) is nothing like the Jesus of the New Testament, the historical Jesus whose life, death, resurrection and teachings are recorded in the Gospels. Their Allah does not have a Holy Spirit - he is not our triune God. Would a man’s conscience alone be enough to tell him that certain things - scheming to murder, torture, beheadings, etc - are the wrong way to act? The Qur’an says it is the right way to treat the infidel and bring about our dhimmitude and eventual submission to Allah, or else death. I wonder if al-Zarqawi, in his prayers to Allah or thoughts about his Islamic faith ever received a niggle of conscience, a thought that something was wrong, that so much death and destruction could ever be right? I don’t know the answer to that.

All I can hope for is God’s justice on his soul. Many are ready to condemn him to rot in hell for all his evil deeds. How vindictive we can all be when someone like him is destroyed. This man was deceived, badly deceived, and he bought into the deception with one huge commitment to his Islamic faith, maybe tempered by whatever worldly rewards were offered as well. That has been devastating for many, and gives us just cause to fight against such evil. Our fight must go on but it is not merely between populations on this planet, but even more importantly, it is a spiritual one also.