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Islam means submission. A Muslim is one who is submitted to the will of God. Their
prostration in prayers clearly illustrates this concept. For the Muslim it is more important
to submit to all that Allah has decided rather than to obtain forgiveness. This results in a
kind of fatalism since the Muslim is to submit to his kismet (divinely predestined fate).
The Muslim also must be submitted to Islamic authority—agreeing with the teachers of
Islam.
The Muslim world is extremely theocentric. Its focus is on God. In Islamic communities the
phrases, “Lord willing,” “Praise God,” “In the name of God,” “There is no God but God,” are
heard daily. However, in the Western world, with its materialistic, secular, and humanistic
viewpoints, God is left out of almost every area of life.
—Patrick O. Cate, “Islamic Values and the Gospel,”
Bibliotheca Sacra 155/619 (July 1998): 356
Both Christians and Muslims believe that God created the world in six days, and that there is
a hell and a heaven, angels and devils. They believe in all the prophets of the Old and New
Testaments, the virgin birth of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, the Resurrection, and the
Day of Judgment.
—Samuel Shahid, “Christianity Vis-à-vis Islam,”
Southwestern Journal of Theology 44/2 (Spring 2002): 73
• A prophet (nabi) carries information or proclaims God’s Word, but does not
receive a divine Book like the messengers. All messengers are prophets, but
not all prophets are messengers. 25 prophets are mentioned in the Qur’an;
124,000 prophets are mentioned in the Hadith: Abel, Noah, Lot, Jonah, John,
etc.
• Muslims have four acknowledged sources of authority and two that are not
acknowledged:
1. The Qur’an
2. Hadith, the traditions of the prophet
3. Qiyas, analogy taught by Muslim scholars and based on the Qur’an
and Hadith
4. Ijma, the consensus of the community and especially of Islamic
scholars
5. Adat, the custom of the community (fear of the evil eye, the power of
saints’ graves to get prayers answered, good luck brought by an unread
copy of the Qur’an)
6. Qanun, international law
• Most angels are good messengers and helpers of Allah. One, however, is evil:
Iblis (= Satan), who was thrown out of heaven for refusing to bow down to
Adam (Qur’an 7:11-18).
• Other supernatural beings of fire are the jinn. They are lower than angels,
limited in life-span, male or female, good or evil.
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5.0 The Last Day of Judgment (Yaum Al-Qiyaamah) and the Hereafter (Al-Aakhirah)
They will blow on the trumpet and everything in the heavens and the earth will be
swallowed up by death, save only that which God wishes to preserve. Then another
trumpet blast will be sounded and all creatures will suddenly rise to behold the plain
of resurrection.” (Qur’an 39:68)
On the day when the summoner (Israfil) summons mankind to awesome resurrection
the unbelievers will come forth with their eyes humbled, like locusts scattered
abroad, hastening to respond to the summoner to resurrection. The unbelievers shall
say to each other: “This is the day of hardship!” (Qur’an 54:6-8)
When the sun shall be darkened, when the stars shall be thrown down, when the
mountains shall be set moving, when the pregnant camels shall be neglected, when
the savage beasts shall be mustered, when the seas shall be set boiling, when the
souls shall be coupled, when the buried infant shall be asked for what sin she was
slain, when the scrolls shall be unrolled, when heaven shall be stripped off, when
Hell shall be set blazing, when Paradise shall be brought nigh, then shall a soul
know what it has produced. (Qur’an 81:1-14)
• The living and the dead shall be assembled in the presence of Allah and
judged by the book placed in their hands. The book will be handed to each in
either the left hand or the right hand.
Given the clarity of these verses [Qur’an 9:63; 11:16; 2:39, 217], it is not possible to give
them same [sic] special interpretation in order to deny the permanence of the punishment
of hellfire. The text of the verses proclaims that permanent residence in hellfire shall be
the lot of those unbelievers for whom all possible avenues to salvation are blocked. As
for those who have committed a certain number of lessen [sic] sins and offences, they
shall either spend an appropriate amount of time in hellfire or receive the kindness and
forgiveness of God.
— Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari, Resurrection Judgement and the
Hereafter: Lessons on Islamic Doctrine (Book Three), trans. by Hamid
Algar
(N.p.: Foundation of Islamic Cultural Propagation in the World, 1992), 217
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According to Islamic tradition, the 112th sura of the Qur’an is Muhammad’s own
definition of Allah:
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful. Proclaim: He is Allah, the Single; Allah,
the Self-Existing and Besought of all. He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none
like unto Him. (Qur’an 112:1-5)
Problem:
Is the Father of Jesus the God of Muhammad? The answer is surely Yes and No. Yes, in
the sense that the Father of Jesus is the only God there is. He is the Creator and
Sovereign Lord of Muhammad, Buddha, Confucius, of every person who has ever lived.
He is the one before whom all shall one day bow (Phil. 2:5-11). Christians and Muslims
can together affirm many important truths about this great God—his oneness, eternity,
power, majesty. As the Qur’an puts it, he is “the Living, the Everlasting, the All-High,
the All-Glorious” (2:256).
But the answer is also No, for Muslim theology rejects the divinity of Christ and the
personhood of the Holy Spirit—both essential components of the Christian
understanding of God. No devout Muslim can call the God of Muhammad “Father,” for
this, to their mind, would compromise divine transcendence. But no faithful Christian
can refuse to confess, with joy and confidence, “I believe in God the Father …
Almighty!” Apart from the Incarnation and the Trinity, it is possible to know that God is,
but not who God is.
—Timothy George, “Is the God of Muhammad the Father of Jesus?”
Christianity Today 46/2 (Feb 4, 2002): 34
1.2 Allah Is One (see 1.0, under Basic Beliefs of Islam, above)
When a Muslim says the Qur’an is “the uncreated speech of God existing in the
mind of God from eternity past,” he is saying that the Qur’an and God are two
eternal and uncreated things. Yet he says there is only one God. Christians can point
out that in a somewhat similar way Christianity holds to three eternal and uncreated
persons but one God (John 1:1).
—Patrick O. Cate, “Islamic Values and the Gospel,”
Bibliotheca Sacra 155/619 (July 1998): 361
Problem:
The Qur’an strongly attacked Trinitarians in several places [5:76, 77, 79, 81, 116, 117].
But it is apparent that the Qur’an, or at least Muhammad, has failed to distinguish
between the heretical trinity and the biblical trinity. The doctrine opposed in these
references was either the Marcionian doctrine of the three gods: the god of justice, the
god of mercy, and the god of evil; or the heresy of the Marionites who considered Mary
as one of the three hypostases. True Christians all over the world detest this type of
Trinity and oppose it as the Qur’an does.
—Samuel Shahid, “Christianity Vis-à-vis Islam,” Southwestern Journal of
Theology 44/2 (Spring 2002): 70
Every chapter of the Qur’an except one (Surah 9) commences with “In the
name of God, the gracious, the merciful.” The Muslim concept of merciful
involves His benevolence or providential care—such as granting rain. It is
not His gracious mercy in not punishing people as they deserve. Indeed,
men and women cannot have a close relationship to Allah—He is too
distant and impersonal, too powerful and sovereign.
• 2 Peter 1:21—“Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men
of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (NKJV)
• Galatians 3:19—“What purpose then does the law serve? It was added
because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the
promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of
a mediator.” (NKJV)
• Hebrews 2:2—“For if the word spoken through angels proved
steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
reward, …” (NKJV)
The Qur’an says God told Muhammad, “When in doubt ask those who read the
previous scriptures” (Surah 10:95; 16:43). If Muhammad was told to read the
Bible, the “previous Scriptures,” should not Muslims read this same authority
which God commanded Muhammad to read?
—Patrick O. Cate, “Islamic Values and the Gospel,”
Bibliotheca Sacra 155/619 (July 1998): 361
• Most Muslims think of the current Bible (Old and New Testaments) as
being different than those to which the Qur’an refers. They think of
them as corrupted and, anyway, abrogated.
“Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and light, by which the prophets
who surrendered, pass judgement for the Jews, and the rabbis and the priests by such
of Allah’s Scriptures as was entrusted to them and thereunto they are witnesses.”
(Qur’an 5:44)
“And we cased Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that
which was revealed before him in the Torah, and We bestowed on him the Gospel
wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was revealed before it in the
Torah a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off evil.” (Qur’an 5:46)
“And unto you we have revealed the Scriptures with the truth, confirming whatever
Scripture was before it, and watcher over it. So judge between them by that which
Allah has revealed therein.” (Qur’an 5:48)
The fundamental difference between the sacred books of Christianity and Islam is that
Christianity lacks a revealed text that was fixed at the very time of its origins, whereas
Islam possesses one.
—Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari, The Seal of the Prophets and His Message:
Lessons on Islamic Doctrine (Book Two), trans. by Hamid Algar
(Potomac, Md.: Islamic Education Center, n.d.), 163
3.1 Islam summons men to repentance and calls him to return to piety and
virtue.
The messengers of God, whose proud lives were never penetrated by any element of
sin, would always invite sinners to seek God’s forgiveness and encourage them to
place their hopes in His mercy, for His kindness and compassion toward His
believing servants are such that He would never abandon them in the dark pit of
disobedience and sin. On the contrary, He invites all men to return to Him, and it is
up to us to answer His call and thus act to attain our salvation.
God’s acceptance of repentance indicates a particular worthiness in man to
receive God’s mercy, a worthiness which causes the gates of forgiveness to remain
open before sinners. They have the opportunity to express contrition and shame
before God over their dark past and to abandon and attempt to make up for the evil
they have committed. If they do this, all their misfortune will be turned to good
fortune, and all their darkness to light.
—Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari, Resurrection Judgement and the Hereafter:
Lessons on Islamic Doctrine (Book Three), trans. by Hamid Algar
(N.p.: Foundation of Islamic Cultural Propagation in the World, 1992), 163
The one who continues to sin until he witnesses death and then begins to
experience regret, saying, “Now I repent”—the repentance of such a one will
not be accepted. (Qur’an 4:18)
It is only those gifted with understanding who take heed; those who fulfill
Allah’s pact and break not the covenant; who join together the ties of kinship
that Allah has bidden to be joined, and fear their Lord, and dread the evil
reckoning; those who are steadfast in seeking the favour of their Lord, and
observe Prayer, and spend secretly and openly out of that with which We have
provided them, and overcome evil with good. For them is the best reward of the
Hereafter: Gardens of Eternity, which they shall enter and also those who are
righteous from among their ancestors, and their consorts and their progeny.
(Qur’an 13:20-23)
“Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7) // “Who forgiveth sins
save Allah only?” (Qur’an 3:135)
Those who have wronged themselves in this world will be asked by the angels
when they die what they have done. They will say, “We were weak and
oppressed and unable to move.” Then the angels will ask, “Was God’s earth not
wide enough for you to travel in it (so that you might hasten from the land of
ignorance to that of faith and knowledge)?” The abode of these evildoers shall
be hellfire; how evil and terrible an abode! Excepted from this shall be those
men, women and children who were indeed unable to act or to move; they could
not flee and they had no path of escape. It may be that God will forgive and
show mercy to them, for He is Merciful and Pardoning. (Qur’an 4:97-98)
Muslims are required to be doers of truth, not just hearers or speakers of the truth.
Islam is as much action as faith.
• See James 1:22.
4.2 Prayer—Salat
4.3 Almsgiving—Zakat
• During the 9th lunar month those observing the fast must not eat or
drink, smoke, or have marital relations from dawn until sunset.
• During the last 10 days of the fast the “night of power” is observed. It
is a night of vigil and spiritual retreat for the men.
4.5 Pilgrimage—Hajj
• One who dies during hajj is considered a martyr of the faith and is
granted entrance into paradise.
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In its religious context, it always involves a fight against evil, but this can take many
forms: jihad of the heart, of the mouth and pen, of the hand, and of the sword. Jihad of
heart, mouth, and pen are sometimes spoken of as “spiritual jihad,” particularly among
the Shi‘ites (the largest Islamic minority party, comprising roughly 10 percent of the
Muslim world).
All Muslims must engage in jihad of the heart, which finds a rough parallel in the
Christian command to put to death the sin nature. Muhammad clearly commanded his
followers to fight their sinful tendencies, as did Jesus. Islam, though, offers no resistance
in this struggle from the Holy Spirit, the counselor and guide promised to Christians.
Jihad of the mouth aims to undermine opposition to Islam through speech that takes
one of two forms. The first, verbal argumentation, finds a Christian parallel in the
discipline of apologetics. The second, curses and saber-rattling, has roots in pre-Islamic
Arabia, where the art of extemporaneous imprecatory poetry was prized as a means of
verbal jousting between warring tribes.
Generally, a war of words is considered preferable to one of physical violence.
Muslims still employ this tactic. When Saddam Hussein bragged before the Gulf War
that coalition troops were facing “the mother of all battles,” he was engaging in a jihad of
the mouth.
Jihad of the pen applies the written word to Islam’s defense. Over the last thirteen
centuries, much Islamic ink has presented Muhammad as the ultimate prophet of God
and his message as the perfect will of Allah for all humanity. The central doctrines of the
Christian faith, though sadly misunderstood by many Muslim scholars, have been the
special target of Islamic apologetics.
Jihad of the hand seeks to promote the cause of Allah through praiseworthy deeds.
Muslims’ exemplary treatment of others and devotion to God are supposed to prove the
superiority of their message and serve as a vehicle for the proclamation of their beliefs.
Christians also embrace the concept of jihad of the hand. As Francis of Assisi is
credited with saying, “Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.”
—Mateen A. Elass, “Four Jihads,”
Christian History 21/2 [Issue 74] (2002) 35-36
Recommended Reading
Denny, Frederick Mathewson. An Introduction to Islam, 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan
Collier, 1994.
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Geisler, Norman L., and Abdul Saleeb. Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the
Cross, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2002.