The Psychology of Islam, Part 1: The Defective Father Hypothesis

[Lou Newton]

Muhammad's father died before he was born. He was sent to a foster home and then sent back to his mother when he was four. His mother died when he was six and sent to his grandfather who died when he was eight. He was then provided with food by his uncle.

There is much evidence that children whose father died at a very early age grow up to be hostile against fathers. Is this why Muhammad claims Allah is not a father and is hostile against Jews and Christians who believe God is our Father.

[glen smith]

Technologies invent ways of doing things. Making motors are inventions. The process of the smelting of metals is a scientific discovery. Furthermore, science uses models to describe observations. Observations are first a hypothesis, then with more support a theory, and finally when there is no observable contradictions a law. Common among scientists and laymen is the confusion of the differences in meanings of theory and law. Very often, people speak of a hypothesis or theory as if it is a proven fact or law. All of science is based upon observations from both natural phenomenon and experiments.

In mathematics and logic the process is from premises to axioms to theorem and is primarily based upon deduction.

Psychology is a wonderful magician in that the field of study uses the terms from math and science to describe observations. By appropriating science and math terms both the general public and the practitioners are deluded into believing psychology is a science. The illusion is just a magic trick. It appears real, but it is an illusion. In psychology there are always too many observable contradictions for a conclusion to ever be a law or theorem. Placing a label upon a behavior does not make it science.

The evidence of how little value there is in an undergraduate degree in psychology has already been determined by the market at being about $18,000 a year. This is because there are not any jobs practicing psychology for a person with only an undergraduate degree. It takes more study and practice to be a magician of psychology.

What else would any reasonable person expect when describing something as irrational, erratic, and unpredictable as human behavior? Humans on the same battle field might be honored with a medal of valor while another is put in the brig for discretion. One husband murders his wife for adultery while another forgives his wife. One worker saves his money while another spends his paycheck on sex, drunkenness, or gambling. One hoards every penny while another gives “all that he has to the poor.” Another believes in YHWH, another in Jesus, another in Allah, and another is an atheist.

Rant over. Now about the video.

The speaker details many of the moral atrocities and debaucheries of Islam, both of Mohammed and things supported in the Quran. To attribute such evil as caused by psychological projection denies the existence of every exception and reduces, if not eliminates, the responsibility of every person without a good father. The Lord Jesus explained psychological projection a different way to the Pharisees in John 8:13-58.
¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”
¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. ¹⁶ But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. ¹⁷ In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ¹⁸ I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
²¹ Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
²² This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
²³ But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶ “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
²⁷ They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. ²⁹ The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” ³⁰ Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”
³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”
⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
⁵² At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵ Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” ⁵⁹ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
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As can be demonstrated in the above example from John 8, psychology takes these spiritual truth and re-labels it with pseudoscientific terms. Psychology is a secular explanation with secular and chemical solutions to spiritual problems that are healed by the divine solution.

The most determined and primary attacks by the devil are to destroy the relationship of God with man. Destroying the family unit, the sanctity of marriage, and the role of the father so as to alleviate any metaphorical association of the human father with God the Father is the thrust of the devil’s strategy. These videos are insightful for secular minds but miss the eternal reality clearly visible to all who walk in the Spirit.