Most of us are familiar with Islam, especially in its radical forms. How could we miss it when it is on the news almost every day? Not to mention the fact that the United States and its allies have been in the crosshairs of its most violent tendencies repeatedly. No one will dispute that Islamic aggression is a real threat, even on American soil.

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However, what is less known is Islamism. It’s also known as political Islam – a broad set of political ideologies that utilize and draw inspiration from Islamic symbols and traditions in pursuit of a sociopolitical objective. According to Newsweek, “Islamism is the religio-political-cultural belief system that the state should have an Islamic identity and be guided only by shariah law (Islamic jurisprudence). Islamists are part of a global political movement that ultimately seeks power and international hegemony. Like all totalitarian systems, Islamism is not compatible with Western secular democratic ideals. Not all Muslims are Islamists, but all Islamists are Muslims.”

It is alive and growing in America and one of the many tools Satan currently uses to destroy our nation from the inside out.

Islamism can be traced back to the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928. Initially, it focused on educational and social programs but embraced violence during and after World War II. The Egyptian government under Nasser repressed it ferociously, forcing the Brotherhood underground. It experienced a revival in the 1980s and spread rapidly throughout the Middle East with a new approach: “Islamism-from-the-ground-up.” The goal is the same: global hegemony through Islam as an all-encompassing way of life, including Islamic law. The popularity of violence and terrorism as a way to accomplish this has waned because of groups such as Al-Qaida and ISIS and other violent splinter groups such as Al Shabab in East Africa and Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Instead, they favor a more insidious approach: well-educated, well-funded Muslims who have taken advantage of the relative freedom of entry we offer are running for office in everything from school boards to Congress, buying up businesses large and small, and establishing social outreach programs through fronts like CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) and ISNA (Islamic Association of North America). Those are all independent organizations but united by common sources of funding, interlocking boards, and collaboration in the same initiatives. And they are all related to the Muslim Brotherhood – the hidden driving force behind Islamism in America.

Money appears to be one of their most powerful weapons. The Islamist Watch, which tracks Islamist money in politics, lists a number of familiar names as recipients of donations from Islamist organizations. Among them are U.S. Representatives Omar and Tlaib, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Jay Jalisi, a Pakistani Muslim and member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015-2023.

One of our intercessors in Maryland has had first-hand experience with Islamism-from-the-ground-up. In her school district, she ran against an Islamist for school board and lost. She recalled how aggressive Muslim influence led to the district incorporating Islamic holidays in its calendar. At a higher level, she recounts how a ceremony was held at the Maryland State House under the previous governor, declaring Maryland an “interfaith, open state.” During the ceremony, a Koran was displayed in favor of a Bible.

On the surface, these efforts may seem like Muslim immigrants protecting their right to practice Islam, build mosques, and contribute to society through social programs. But there is more than meets the eye. While they pretend to be on the side of persecuted minorities and the poor, they exercise more aggressive influence once in positions of leadership. It’s an age-old tactic of totalitarian ideologies: present yourself as people of goodwill, make use of the welcoming nature of a people or country that values diversity, and then strike once you have gained political, social, and financial clout.

Proof of that exists in a document found in the home of Ismael Elbarasse, a founder of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia, in relation to the Holy Land Foundation trial in 2008. Elbarasse was a member of the Palestine Committee, which the Muslim Brotherhood had created to support Hamas in the United States. The document was a Strategic Plan formed at a 1991 meeting in which the Muslim Brotherhood outlined its priorities for America. The most revealing excerpt from the document reads: The process of settlement is a ‘Civilization-Jihadist Process’ with all the word means. The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers…”
It also included a list of its organizations, including CAIR and ISNA.

While the trial did much to expose what was behind the façade of charitable organizations, it did not heighten awareness of or stop Islamist efforts in the U.S. Nearly 20 years later, we have pro-Palestinian, Islamist representatives in Congress, Islamist politicians in city councils and on school boards, lobbying groups, and powerful business networks – all well-funded from mostly the Middle East through the Muslim Brotherhood and its fronts. There is even a city in Michigan – Hamtramck – run entirely by Muslims. Islam is no longer the fastest-growing religion in the U.S. (approximately 3.85 million, according to a Pew Study of 2020). Still, its numbers are high enough to have significant influence, especially through slow, methodical expansion of influence in all spheres of life.

Why do we need to pray about this? Because Islam is an openly anti-Christian and antisemitic religion. The Koran contains several statements calling the beliefs of Jews and Christians blasphemy. Here’s one: The Jews said, “Ezra is the son of God,” and the Christians said, “The Messiah is the son of God.” These are their statements, out of their mouths. They emulate the statements of those who blasphemed before. May God assail them! (Sura 9:30). The word assail means curse. Islam curses Judaism and Christianity and considers every non-Islamic person an infidel. Europe learned this the hard way – they found out quickly that the millions of Muslims that fled there to escape the unrest in the Middle East could not be integrated. They do not accept other customs or laws – only what is according to the Koran.

Islamism seeks to take over society by any means possible – the most effective being gradual influence. Once Islamists have enough power, they will turn on anything that disagrees with them to try and force Islam on society. They will force Christianity and Judaism out. That makes it one of the tools of Satan’s hands to try and derail the advance of God’s kingdom in the U.S. and around the world. The current wave of violent anti-Israel protests on several woke universities is a sign of what is to come if Islamist influence grows. So are the waves of violent protests that erupt every time Muslims in the West feel disadvantaged in some way, which they interpret as “Islamophobia.”

How To Pray

The animosity of Islam against Christianity goes all the way back to Ishmael, who was prophesied to be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers (Genesis 16:12 ESV).

That is why Islam is currently the most prolific and brutal persecutor of the Christian Church around the globe. And that is why we must pray for God’s hand to restrain its radical elements and continue to call millions of Muslims to Himself. Here are some prayer points:

• Pray, first of all, for Muslims in America to come to Christ as they see the increasing hostility of radical Islam overseas.
• Pray for Islamist agendas and ties to terrorism to be exposed.
• Pray for Islamist politicians to be defeated.
• Pray for the flow of funds through the Muslim Brotherhood to Islamist influencers to dry up.
• Pray for loving but bold outreach to the 3.85 million Muslims in the U.S.

Father, we unite in prayer against the Islamist agenda in America. We pray for its hidden secrets to be exposed and its funding to dry up. Ignite a holy disenchantment against Islamic radicalism in the hearts of the millions of Muslims in our nation and call them into a relationship with You. In Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen.

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Remco Brommet is a pastor, spiritual-growth teacher, and prayer leader with over 40 years of experience in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the U.S. He was born and raised in the Netherlands and pastored his first church in Amsterdam. He moved to the U.S. in 1986. He and his wife, Jennifer, live north of Atlanta. When not writing books, he blogs at www.deeperlifeblog.com and assists his wife as a content developer and prayer coordinator for True Identity Ministries. Jennifer and Remco are passionate about bringing people into a deeper relationship with Christ. Photo Credit: Dying Regime from Maldives – Protest calling for Sharia in Maldives, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.