Mohammed Mushtaha, imam at Dhu ‘l-Nurayn mosque in Shuja’iyah in Gaza, was kidnapped by Hamas last week, according to his son, Ala Mohammed Mushtaha, in a January 4, 2024 article in The Free Press. “He wouldn’t preach what Hamas told him to. He refused to tell Gazans that violent resistance and obedience to Hamas, is the best way out of our current hell.” Using mosques to store weapons, money, and equipment were not enough for Hamas. They required this refusing imam to support their resistance movement in his sermons. He refused for conscience sake. Pray for his safety, for men of conscience, God can reach and use. “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:16 KJV).
Arab Israeli Crisis
Impossible Choices
Life is full of seemingly impossible choices. The right choice is always to trust God. “Abraham believed God” (James 2:23) about a future line of descendants through his son Isaac. Then, in the “obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26 KJV), God commanded Abraham to kill Isaac as a human sacrifice. When Abraham complied, Yahweh stopped the sacrifice, substituted a nearby ram, and confirmed, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:18 KJV). Every offspring possessing faith — Arab, Israeli, Gentile — becomes a child of Abraham (Romans 4:16; 9:8).
Son of Hamas
“Son of Hamas” (2010) is the story of Mossab Hassan Yousef, son of a founding leader of Hamas. Mossab experienced his father’s humanity, witnessed Hamas’ duplicity torturing its own in Israeli prisons, was recruited as a spy for the Israeli Shin Bet for about ten years, then was converted to Christ. He wrote, “As long as we continue to search for enemies anywhere but inside ourselves, there will always be a Middle East problem.” “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Corinthians 5:17 KJV).
We Need A Miracle 