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Every week the number of casualties in Iraq rises. Armed forces, civilian contractors and Christian volunteers from all parts of the world are being killed, wounded or taken captive.

Few reports of the intensified warfare reveal the religious roots of this terrorism. Islam is the common thread in almost all of the atrocities.

Violence is a key element in Islam. In the second surah (chapter) of the Qur’an, each Muslim is challenged to fight until the religion is Allah’s (2:193).

“Those who have left their homes and suffered harm in My Cause, and fought and were slain, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath a reward from Allah and from Allah is the best of rewards” (surah 3:195).

Muslims believe they receive forgiveness for sins if they fight in the cause of Allah. “Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them, in every stratagem of war” (surah 9:5).

This teaching of religious warfare affects every adherent of Islam. Recently I encountered a Muslim woman working at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. After an extended conversation in which I explained the gospel as clearly as I could, I asked if I could ask her a personal question. “Yes,” she said. I asked, “Do you consider suicide to be murder?” Her response was chilling: “No.”

This should be no surprise. While not all Muslim people resort to violence, those who do simply follow their scriptures. Muslim terrorists appear to be an extension of the “powers of this dark world“ and “spiritual forces of evil” to which the Apostle Paul refers (Eph. 6:12).

The gospel provides a radical contrast to Islamic teaching. Christ shed his blood on the cross to give salvation to all who believe. Mohammad shed other people’s blood to bring people under subjection.

A rising force of Latin missionaries is especially effective in bringing light to the Islamic world. Paul Sywulka, director of the Christian radio station TGNA in Guatemala, says, “Missionaries from Latin America blend into Middle Eastern cultures and have the distinct advantage of not being from the United States.”

We need to pray for breakthroughs for the gospel in the Muslim world. The Islamic root of terrorism must be replaced with the seed of God’s message of salvation, the only hope for lasting peace.

Ron Blue coordinates the Spanish-language Doctor of Ministries program at Dallas Seminary.