Michael Youssef - The Barbarians Are Here
The Western world is on a collision course. Contrary to what many think, militant Islam will not be appeased. Right now, violent extremists are among the tens of thousands streaming across the Mediterranean into Europe and the United States. These new radicalized immigrants have no intention of adopting our way of life. In fact, in many countries, they have set up their own communities, operate outside local law enforcement, and settle their disputes with their own Sharia courts. The mainstream media isn't telling you the whole story, but during the next 30 minutes, you'll discover the truth, and that truth is the barbarians aren't coming, they're already here.
Jane Robelotf: And that's the title of Dr. Michael Youssef's new book, "The Barbarians Are Here". Michael, who are the barbarians and what do we do?
Dr. Michael Youssef: Well, I use the term in a generic form, that is, anybody who does not have respect for human life. In the medieval times, and before that even, in all history, the barbarians are the people who come, and destroy, and kill. And so, I am basically including everybody who has no respect for human life, who go out there, and behead, and kill people, who crucify them is the barbarians. And that's what we're seeing in our living rooms every single night coming from the Middle East.
Jane Robelotf: Oftentimes when you get a new book, you'll kind of skip past the introduction or the author's preface. Do not do that with this book, because you state in the very beginning, this is not putting down Muslims. You grew up in Egypt, Evangelical Christian, but in a Muslim culture.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Right.
Jane Robelotf: The very first outreach of "Leading the Way" was to Arabic-speaking Muslim countries.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Exactly.
Jane Robelotf: And that's a major point of the focus of the ministry today. And I think it's important to note too, your PhD is in social anthropology from Emory University, and your thesis was on radical Islam. So, you're bringing a great deal of personal and educational perspective to this. But this is not an assault on Muslim people.
Dr. Michael Youssef: No, not at all. In fact, one of my closest friends in high school was a Muslim, and he's still a friend. When I go back, he comes to visit with me. And I mean, I think of people like King Abdullah of Jordan, I think of President Sisi and I think of Egypt, and I think of all these great men who are Muslims and yet they are great statesmen. They are standing up to these barbarians much stronger than some of the Western country leaders because they really know the truth and they know the inside story.
Jane Robelotf: But there is a point, too, that when mainstream Muslims, when so-called moderate Muslims, peaceful Muslims, when they become more involved with what the Quran says and more involved in their religion, that's when they can be radicalized. Let's take a look at this clip really quickly from CBN News.
Charlene Aaron: ISIS believes in establishing an Islamic state, a caliphate, and not only is it gaining recruits in the Middle East, but it's also bringing them in from around the world through its videos and Internet marketing. And those recruits could join ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and they could also go back to their home countries and launch terrorist attacks, including right here in America. Charlene Aaron, CBN News.
Jane Robelotf: So, there we see.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Yes.
Jane Robelotf: We hear about these lone wolf terrorists. Is that lone wolf thing something that's just designed to kind of separate us from the reality that these people are attached to that greater determination?
Dr. Michael Youssef: Here's the problem. Within the government and certainly the mainstream media, a certain naivety that if we play this down, if we don't really speak the truth, if we cover the truth up, they will not attack this. If we call these lone wolves, they just really have nothing to do with this ISIS group, or this group, or that group, that's ridiculous, because what they are, they are influenced by them, they read their websites, and they are hearing from them directly, and they are in contact with them directly. So, whether they go and do it on their own or they have sleeper cells, because I think there's sleeper cells in America. And it's a well-known fact, they are in 20 different states. There are training camps in the United States of these Jihadis, and the government knows about this, but they try to kind of put the lid on it.
Jane Robelotf: Maybe they're afraid that there'll be backlash. For instance, in the Ohio State terrorist attack, no one could've looked at that young man and predicted that that would happen. He gave no signals. And yet, after that, the big concern was for the Somali community in his area. Is that the reverse of how we should be focusing on this?
Dr. Michael Youssef: No, because I think that truthful, honest, Somali Muslims, they should be the first people to attack that. Instead of always say, "Oh, this is Islamophobe and we gonna get a backlash". This is all propaganda on their part and the part of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States, and they have said that those who try to make Islam look like Christianity, as with forgiveness and peace, they said they are wrong and they are apostate Muslims. And he said, "We are not like Christianity," and they have said that in their writings. So, nothing has changed.
Jane Robelotf: The other thing, though, that you bring in here that I really found fascinating and was not expecting is you say there are two types of barbarians. Okay, we understand this one, clearly a barbarian, but you say also that our own complacency within the church kind of makes us a barbarian, the church's separation from the gospel.
Dr. Michael Youssef: I show through history how, when the church fails and when the believers in God fail, like in the case of Israel, they basically are allies of the barbarians. Their naivety is causing them to align themselves with the group of people who, when they have the power, they will absolutely destroy them. They will kill them. They'll be the first ones to go. The leftists, and the homosexual lobby, and all of those folks who don't understand that we as Christians, we love them, we don't kill them, we don't throw them out of high-rise building. We welcome them in our churches and we welcome everybody. And so, this is the sad part. These internal barbarians in the West, whether they know it or not, they are opening the door wide and telling the really barbarians, "Okay, come on, kill us".
Jane Robelotf: But Michael, what a sweet and popular perspective that is, that we love everybody. And there's a group of Muslims in town and they have no place to worship, so we'll let them come and use our church. And honestly, from the worldly perspective, that just looks like a very nice thing to do and a sweet way to behave.
Dr. Michael Youssef: And that is really part of the problem. You see, we as believers, we love the Muslims. I love the Muslims. I work so hard day and night to make sure that they have the best that I have, namely Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. And so, I love Muslims. I have no hatred in my heart toward anybody. But loving people but being truthful about their ideology, it's not contrary. They go hand-in-hand, that I love you even though I hate your sin. I love you even though I hate your ideology. I love you no matter what, but I'm gonna tell the truth and I'm gonna speak the truth about your ideology.
Jane Robelotf: You say there are two humanities.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Yes.
Jane Robelotf: The city of man, Babylon; the city of God, Jerusalem. Explain to our viewers what those two cities man and that they're not necessarily literal places.
Dr. Michael Youssef: No, Saint Augustine who lived in the 5th century, and he saw the fall of Rome, and then he saw how the Christians were blamed for the fall of Rome, so he sat down and wrote this classic book, "The City of God". In it, he showed that it is from beginning of history, there's two cities represented, Cain and Abel, and goes all the way down to even the time when the Babylonians invaded Israel and took them into exile for 70 years. And this is exactly what is happening here today, that the city of God has failed completely by turning our back on the truth of the gospel. So many people in the so-called Evangelical churches no longer believe the resurrection of Jesus, or believe the virgin birth, or that Jesus is the only way to the Father. The very core of the gospel, the very core of Christianity, they're turning their back on that. And so, what is created is a vacuum. Who's gonna fill that vacuum? The barbarians. You see, there's no other option. When society turns its back on the one true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, there's only one option left, and that's the barbarians who are here, and ready, and committed to move on and destroy their enemies.
Jane Robelotf: And by churches and people who profess to be Christians failing to really hold on to the truth of the gospel, we are opening the door.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Exactly, and not only opening the door, but we are welcoming them with open arms. You see, it happened again in history. In the 500s, 600s, there was a movement among the churches in North Africa. Remember, North Africa was over 90% Christians at that point, and that movement was saying, "Well, you know, God can still speak through other people. The Bible is not a closed canon. There is other voices that we need to hear". And so, when the Arab invaders came to North Africa and they said, "Oh, we better to listen to this and welcome into the churches," within a matter of 50 years or less, actually 35 years, all these churches turned into mosques in Tunisia, Morocco, Algiers, and Libya. All of those countries, they were Christian lands.
Jane Robelotf: One generation?
Dr. Michael Youssef: One generation. Just one heresy like this, one falsehood like that destroyed Christianity in that part of the world. And it's happening again. I'm almost saying to people, "Don't you understand? Can you not read history? Don't you learn from history"? And unfortunately, it repeats itself with precision.
Jane Robelotf: When we talk about this happening in one generation, even many, many years ago, it can happen now. There's a clip from CBN that I would like for people to see, because it really shows what it looks like when Sharia law comes into a Western country.
male news anchor: This is the Tower Hamlets section of East London. It's really the epicenter of the Sharia movement here in Great Britain. Radical Muslims have threatened women here for not covering up, and gays have been beaten in the streets.
Anjem Choudary: If people are afraid of having their hands cut, don't steal. If you don't want to be stoned to death, don't commit adultery.
news anchor: Anjem Choudary wants Sharia law to rule Great Britain. Last year, his followers put up posters around Tower Hamlets labeling it a Sharia controlled zone. So, could Sharia courts come to America? According to the Center for Security Policy in Washington, there have been some 50 court cases in at least 23 states that have seen conflicts between Sharia law and American state law, and 4 states have adopted legislation that would protect U.S. citizens from the use of any type of foreign law like Sharia in the courtroom.
Anjem Choudary: If people are afraid of having their hands cut, don't steal. If you don't want to be stoned to death, don't commit adultery.
news anchor: Anjem Choudary wants Sharia law to rule Great Britain. Last year, his followers put up posters around Tower Hamlets labeling it a Sharia controlled zone. So, could Sharia courts come to America? According to the Center for Security Policy in Washington, there have been some 50 court cases in at least 23 states that have seen conflicts between Sharia law and American state law, and 4 states have adopted legislation that would protect U.S. citizens from the use of any type of foreign law like Sharia in the courtroom.
Jane Robelotf: And now, Michael, we're seeing Great Britain take some action. Just several months ago, a historic move by the Prime Minister.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Right, but that's just for self-preservation. They should have done that 20 years ago.
Jane Robelotf: They're now allowing...
Dr. Michael Youssef: Spying on...
Jane Robelotf: On their own citizens.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Yes, but these are the citizens of Britain, and they're the ones who are calling for the chopping of the hands and the stoning in England, not in Saudi Arabia. And that's the role of the government for the only thing the Bible said that the government supposed to do is to protect its citizens. They not supposed to get involved in education, they're not supposed to get involved in any of these things, and yet that's what Western governments are failing to do.
Jane Robelotf: And I hear you saying, too, that we should be more concerned about Sharia law than giving up and we see it in Great Britain. I mean, this is our mother country, if you will.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Yeah, but what happens is a father can beat his daughter and wife black and blue, and if she takes him to the British court system and he would say, "No, you have no authority over me," and the judge is literally terrified and says, "Okay, I'll send you to the Sharia court". So, you go to Sharia court and they show them the surah an-Nisa', which one of the chapters in the Quran, where it says beat your wife and do whatever, you know? And he says, "Yeah, okay, just, you know, beat a little bit gently".
Jane Robelotf: This is happening in Great Britain now, right?
Dr. Michael Youssef: And in other parts of Europe as well.
Jane Robelotf: And it's coming here.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Yep.
Jane Robelotf: Well, what can we do about that? You know, literally at the local level, what can people do?
Dr. Michael Youssef: I'll give you an example. When the Christian church in Egypt was so persecuted under the Muslim Brotherhood, which only lasted 12 months, God raised up 33 million people. What happened, the Christians went and prayed. They prayed day and night. Twenty-four hour a day, they were praying in churches. And God heard their cry and changed the situation. And we don't have that kind of faith. We go to prayer meetings and we might be praying, you know, for our economy. But if we really pray for God to send us an awakening or a new reformation, and genuinely seek God and seek after God, get out of the churches that have ceased to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and take a stand, I can tell you, God will intervene and he will save us. But if we keep going along just to get along, and we say, "Well, you know, everybody has their own opinion. I might not agree with the pastor who preaches that there are many ways to God, but I go anyway and support these churches". No, that's part of the problem. We have become part of the problem. And until we stand up, until we rise up and say, "We are ready to die for Christ if we have to," you're gonna see a revival like we've never seen in America. And that's really what I am calling for here, a new reformation.
Jane Robelotf: And we're seeing it happen. These barbaric hearts can be turned to Christ. That's been your work with "Leading the Way" for more than 25 years now. I'm gonna just read quickly, this is a testimony that came to us from a young man whom "Leading the Way" had reached. He says, "I was a radical Muslim and believed in Jihad and killing anyone who does not follow the laws of Islam. After watching your channel, I started comparing Islam with Christianity. I wanted to tell you, but I have decided to follow Jesus". This is a testimony, Dr. Youssef...
Dr. Michael Youssef: And thousands of those. Thousands of those every week and every month. Just last October of last year, a team of our follow-up team in the Middle East introduced our executives who were visiting in the Middle East to a man who was part of ISIS, and he called the follow-up team to come and meet with him because he planned to kill them. And by the time they arrived, he had a change of heart, and he became completely repentant, and he cried, and he received Jesus Christ, and then told them what was happening and why he called them. But we're seeing this. This is the power of Christ which we have ceased to believe in the West. We added Christ to every other conceivable involvement that we are in, instead of making Christ to be the focus and the central part of our lives. And until that day comes, we are in deep trouble.
Jane Robelotf: I hear your passion. You said that this book has been inside of you for a long time. Since when?
Dr. Michael Youssef: This is the culmination of 42 years in the ordained ministry, and in the passion to reach the lost for Christ, and to proclaim the gospel of the truth of Jesus Christ. This is the most important book I've ever written, and I've written some wonderful, great books 'cause they're all about the Scripture. But this is a dire warning to America, and to the West, and to Europe, and to Australia, and to New Zealand, and all the Western world. This is the cry of Jeremiah in our day. And I really pray that people will take it to heart.
Jane Robelotf: I'd like to show everybody another clip from CBN where we see one Jihadist view of the fact that they are planning to take over America. Take a look.
News anchor: So, you believe America, Great Britain, all of Europe will be Islamic states living under Sharia law.
Anjem Choudary: Inevitably. I'm convinced. I'm 100%, you know, certain that the Sharia will be implemented in America and in Britain one day. Ultimately, the Americans will be defeated. They're gonna be defeated back home and they will be defeated in entirety, and they will not get the resources. They will go from the depression, you know, and the recession into, you know, a complete, if you like, you know, downfall. If we have enough authority and we have enough power, we are obliged as Muslims to take the authority away from the people who have it and implement the Sharia.
News anchor: In the meantime, he's encouraged by the Islamist regimes coming to power as a result of the so-called Arab Spring and takes it as a sign that his goal of a global caliphate is inevitable.
Anjem Choudary: Inevitably. I'm convinced. I'm 100%, you know, certain that the Sharia will be implemented in America and in Britain one day. Ultimately, the Americans will be defeated. They're gonna be defeated back home and they will be defeated in entirety, and they will not get the resources. They will go from the depression, you know, and the recession into, you know, a complete, if you like, you know, downfall. If we have enough authority and we have enough power, we are obliged as Muslims to take the authority away from the people who have it and implement the Sharia.
News anchor: In the meantime, he's encouraged by the Islamist regimes coming to power as a result of the so-called Arab Spring and takes it as a sign that his goal of a global caliphate is inevitable.
Jane Robelotf: Inevitable. Again, we've talked about one generation. How do we loosen that political correctness and really understand they are serious, they are here.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Right. I wanna call on people, please take things seriously. Take your faith seriously. Take your commitment to Christ seriously. Don't nibble around the edges. Get committed and stand up for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ in prayer and in action. And support ministries that are taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, taking the gospel to these very places. I was there where this gentleman was in London not long ago, speaking at the Palladium Theatre, and there were all sorts of people there. And so, I believe that God can wake up America and the West if we are ready.
Jane Robelotf: And we need to be ready by being in our Bibles. When you talk about going into exile, that's not some made up thing. You refer to specific places where God's own people, he put the Israelites into exile under the Babylonians. You talk about the fall of Rome. We really need to prepare ourselves by reading our Bibles and by reading history.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Exactly. God doesn't say, "Well, I'm gonna do that to you". God is not a capricious God. God says, "This is the consequences of your departure from the truth". And how many prophet told them that, but they kept going, and they kept going. And then the false preachers kept saying, "Oh no, no, no. Peace, peace, peace. God will never allow this to happen. God loves Israel". And so, they lived for self, but then took God for granted. God said, "No, what is gonna happen to you and going into exile," and read in the book of Daniel, "is gonna be the consequences of your rebellion". Read Jeremiah. Read Ezekiel. Read Isaiah. Why did God permit them? Because they chose that.
Jane Robelotf: If our exile does come, if this is it, it's not that we as a nation or as Westerners will be taken to a place like Babylon, but that terrorism is our exile. What do you mean?
Dr. Michael Youssef: We will be hostages in our own country.
Jane Robelotf: Are we already?
Dr. Michael Youssef: Well, I think it's the beginning. They're still not... we're not there yet, but when you hear news like this from England, and when you hear about 80-plus Sharia courts all over England, and some in France, and certain, in Sweden, and so many parts, and here, even judges. A judge in New Jersey said, "Well, you wanna go to Sharia court, to the Sharia court you go".
Jane Robelotf: We've seen the Syrian refugee crisis. Christians, I think, have really wrestled over, are they victims or are they terrorists? Let's take a look at a quick clip again from CBN News to show that they are coming.
Male news anchor: As Europe's winter closes in on Syrian refugees, many find themselves out in the cold. As America prepares to accept some of them, many are asking, "Which of them are true refugees"?
Male: I take ISIS at its word when it says, "We want to exploit the refugee program to infiltrate the West".
News anchor: The Germans say almost one out of three migrants are lying about being Syrian. Czech President has warned that Europe is facing an organized invasion. One young refugee told this Swiss newspaper he met many radical Muslims on his way to Europe. And FBI Director James Comey has warned Congress that Syrian refugees cannot be properly vetted. Polls show most Muslim countries are overwhelmingly antisemitic. One survey found that almost 80% of Syrians support the Palestinian terror group Hamas. Polls show most Americans overwhelmingly oppose accepting Syrian refugees and over 30 states have refused to accept them. Americans may be forced to choose between charity and safety.
Male: I take ISIS at its word when it says, "We want to exploit the refugee program to infiltrate the West".
News anchor: The Germans say almost one out of three migrants are lying about being Syrian. Czech President has warned that Europe is facing an organized invasion. One young refugee told this Swiss newspaper he met many radical Muslims on his way to Europe. And FBI Director James Comey has warned Congress that Syrian refugees cannot be properly vetted. Polls show most Muslim countries are overwhelmingly antisemitic. One survey found that almost 80% of Syrians support the Palestinian terror group Hamas. Polls show most Americans overwhelmingly oppose accepting Syrian refugees and over 30 states have refused to accept them. Americans may be forced to choose between charity and safety.
Jane Robelotf: Dr. Youssef, are they victims or are they invaders?
Dr. Michael Youssef: Well, there are invaders within the victims. So, there are some victims, there's no doubt about it. And so, we as Christians also should not be afraid of them, and then we should share the gospel with them openly. So, if you have them in your area, please by all means reach out to them, and minister to them, and share Christ with them. So, without any fear, we need to be proactive and reach out to them so we can lead them to Christ right here in this open society that is still open.
Jane Robelotf: And now, this ministry is embarking on a new project. You're looking at the churches, you're telling them, "Speak the truth to the people," but "Leading the Way" is also helping them do that to teach pastors how to teach their congregation the truth of Islam.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Exactly.
Jane Robelotf: Tell us just a little bit about that.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Well, so we started this whole ministry with some of my colleagues and most able people to be able to go to churches all across America and Europe, and be able to help the pastors train their people to understand the truth and how to speak the truth in love, because we cannot separate those two. And I know there are some people who are big on the truth and therefore very short on love, and there are some people big on love which turned out to be sentimentality and ignore the truth. But the Apostle Paul, the Bible says, "Speak the truth in love," and that's what we're trying to do in helping congregations across the land.
Jane Robelotf: Amen. The title is, "The Barbarians Are Here", but the ending of the book is very hopeful. There's one paragraph in particular that struck me toward the end of the book. Would you mind reading that for us? Because to me, that really says... we should almost read that first and then understand why this is true.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Right, because it is important to know that in the midst of all this trouble, there is a solution. And here's the solution: a new reformation. And a new reformation would expose the lies that have blinded so many professing Christians in our time. A new reformation would awaken our Western civilization from the false hope that we can bargain with the barbarians or persuade them to turn from their ways of destruction. A new reformation would be rooted in realism, not wishful thinking, and it would recognize that those who seek to destroy our civilization and our faith will never abandon their quest. Only the good news of Jesus Christ can melt a barbarian's heart.
Jane Robelotf: The name of Michael's new book is, "The Barbarians Are Here", and the subtitle, there's great hope there, "Preventing the Collapse of Western Civilization in Times of Terrorism". Michael, there is hope.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Yes. To all my friends who have been watching me, I want to thank you for inviting me into your home week, after week, after week. For those who are listening on radio, who follow me on radio, and on Twitter, and Facebook, and I wanna thank you for that. But I wanna urge you with every ounce of my being, read this book. Of all the 35 books that I've written, this is the crowning achievement. It is the cry of Jeremiah in our time, and it's burdening me inside that I can no longer hold it. And so, I want every family, every supporter, every viewer, every listener on radio to get this book. And I hope that families can read it together, because I don't wanna scare kids, but I want them to be also realistic. And I pray that you'll order multiple copies so that you can give to your friends and to your church members.
Jane Robelotf: Michael, thank you so much for your passion for the Lord and for your passion expressed in this book, "The Barbarians Are Here". Get your copy.