WHAT IS ISLAM?/WHAT IS THE QUR'AN

What Is Islam?/What Is the Qur’an

Different religions have different beliefs.  Muslims have their beliefs in Islam which are many.  Most Christians, myself included don’t understand the Islamic teaching and in order to effectively share our faith with them we need major help. 

These are some facts about Islam:

1)      “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the prophet (or messenger) of Allah” states the great Shahada, or “confession” which faithful Muslims around the world declare daily.”

2)      There is no original sin.  Humans are not predisposed toward sin, but they commit sin.

3)      Jesus was not the Son of God.  He is revered as a spiritual guide.

4)      Salvation is by the will of God through human obedience to God’s law.

5)      The Qur’an is the perfect Word of Allah.”

[THE KINGDOM OF THE CULTS BY: Walter Martin, Copyright 1965, 1977, 1985, 1997 & 2003, Published by Bethany House Publishers, Pages 434-455]

My Reflection

As a Christian I am to share my faith with the Muslims about who my God is.  My God cares about people individually.  My God’s love is divine and this is missing from Islam.  This is where our peace and happiness comes from, knowing that I can personally go before my God and tell Him all my troubles and leave my burdens there.  With the Muslim God this can’t be done.

The Muslim’s God is a harsh, wrathful and angry god.  He is also distant and unapproachable if you have sinned but my God wants me to come before Him and repent of my sins so I can be forgiven.  The Muslims believed when Adam sinned he was the same before God but he wasn’t.  Everything changed that day.  Sin entered the world because of the disobedience of Adam.

I want to share with my Muslim friends that we all have sinned, (Roman 3:23).   They don’t believe that.  They believe there is no sin until you commit the act.  They believe “no child is born except in the state of natural purity (fitra).

The Muslims don’t consider Jesus as God’s son but as one of the divine prophets and He alone with the other prophets were sent only for their time period.  They were preparing the people to receive Muhammad as the Final prophet.  Doesn’t this sound familiar.  John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus but yet they switched it around and stated Jesus was preparing the way for Muhammad.  WOW!!! Confusion/Deception

The Muslims have different beliefs in salvation.  They believe in their own strength, they can free themselves from the bondage of sin and choose to follow the right path, Allah.  With that state of mind there is no need for atonement for sin but we as Christians know that we have all sin and that Jesus took our place on the cross so we need to go before Him so He can go to the Father on our behalf for forgiveness of sin.

The Muslims belief is that if they obey Allah he might forgive them.  But they also believe that Allah can lead them on a correct path or lead them astray.  He can show them mercy or he can be cruel to them.  Allah answers to no one and he forgives or condemns whomever he wants.  I don’t understand for the life of me how anyone can/would want to serve a God like that.

The Muslims feel that their good works are enough for salvation like giving Alms but in the Christian faith you need faith along with works to please God, (faith without works is dead).

The Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the perfect Word of Allah.  They believe that the Bible was misinterpreted but the Bible was here first and then the Qur’an came.  Who really changed things around?  When thinking of the Islamic religion the words confusion, world domination, and deception among a few comes in mind.  On one hand Allah is good to them and the next thing you know he is punishing them.  My God is not like that.  He is not wishy washy.  It’s either yes or no, no in between.  Islam is growing world-wide and they are deceiving people and people don’t even realize it.

Think about the daily pray the Muslims pray five times daily in the name of Allah, the most high.  Do they really know what they are saying?

“In each of the five daily ritual prayers, they pray the opening Sura of the Qur’an ending in the two verses, ‘Guide us to the straight path, the path of those who You have favored with guidance, not [the path] of those against whom there is wrath, nor of those who are astray.’” [Sura 1:6-7]

In the interpretation of the last verse, Muslim scholars are in unanimous agreement that ‘those against whom there is wrath’ are the Jews, who have incurred Allah’s wrath, for though having allegedly received the scriptures and the revelations of the coming prophet, who is the seal of all prophets, namely Muhammad, it is stated in the Qur’an that they concealed this revelation-hence justly incurring the divine and eternal wrath of Allah.  While ‘those who are astray’ are indentified as being the Christians, who have blasphemed by adding ‘partners to Allah.’”

[AL-YAHUD:  ETERNAL ISLAMIC ENMITY & THE JEWS, By:  Elias Al-Maqdisi & Sam Solomon, Copyright 2010 By Sam Solomon, Pages 2-3]

My Reflection is that the deception is seen in this prayer by only a few.  Just think of all these years this prayer is prayed five times a day.  Do the Muslims realize what they are truly saying?  I wonder.  I think they are just reciting the words.  The enmity between them is seen/heard in

their words but it’s not really theirs it’s all about Allah.  Allah’s angry because according to him the Jews have turned away from their Muslim roots.  They have stolen the land and they are to be destroyed but that’s another issue.

“THE SIMILARITIES

·         Both are One

·         Both are transcendent Creators of the universe

·         Both are sovereign

·         Both are omnipotent

·         Both have spoken to humanity through messengers or prophets, through angels, and through the written word.

·         Both know in intimate detail the thoughts and deeds of men

·         Both will judge the wicked

THE DIFFERENCES

·         The God of the Qur’an is a singular unity; but the God of the Bible is a compound unity who is one in essence and three in person (Matthew 28:19; John 10:30; Acts 5:34)

·         The God of the Qur’an is not a father, and he has begotten no sons (Surahs 19:88-92; 112:3); but the God of the Bible is a tri-unity who has eternally existed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:21; John 5:18).

·         Through the Qur’an, God broke into history through a word that is written, but, through Jesus Christ, God broke into history through the Word who is a person (John 1:1, 14; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:2-3; 1 John 1:1-3; 4:9-10).

·         The God of the Qur’an ‘loves not the prodigals” (Surahs 6:142; 7:31, Ali; Ali has “wasters”); but Jesus tells the story of a father, a metaphor for God the Father, who longs for the return of his prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24).

·         ‘Allah loves not those that do wrong’ (Surah 5:49, Ali; also see Surahs 4:168-169; 7:179; 9:2; 40:10) but the God of the Bible does not ‘take any pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23) and is ‘not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ (2 Peter 3:9).

·         The standard for judgment for the God of the Qur’an is that our good deeds must outweigh our bad deeds (Surah 7:8-9; 21:47); but the standard of the God of the Bible is nothing less than complete perfection as measured by the Holy character of God (Matthew 5:48; Romans 3:230.

·         The God of the Qur’an provided a messenger, Muhammad, who warned of Allah’s impending judgment (Surahs 2:119; 5:19; 7:184, 188; 15:89-90)  and who declared that ‘No bearer of a burden can bear the burden of another’ (Surahs 17:15; 35:18, Ali); but the God of the Bible provided a sinless Savior, Jesus, who took our sins upon Himself and bore God’s wrath in our stead (Matthew 20:28; 26:28; Luke 22:37; John 3:16; 10:9-11; 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).”

[THE COMPACT GUIDE TO WORLD RELIGIONS, By: Dean C. Halverson, General Editor, Copyright 1996 International Students Inc. Pages 110-11]

My Reflection

Before James told me some time ago, I used to think the God of the Qur’an was the same as the God of the Bible but this book opened my eyes to the Similarities and differences.

Abrogation

“Muslim’s say that a prerogative of the Qur’an is abrogation, which involves the annulling of a former law by a new law (Sura 16:101).  What this means is that Allah is not bound to his revelation.  If he wants, he is free to bring new revelation that contradicts former revelation. If need be, Allah is free to rescind earlier revelations and bring about entirely new and different ones.”

[THE 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ISLAM, By: Ron Rhodes, Copyright 2007, Page 26]

My Reflection

Abrogation shows me I’m glad I serve a God who when He forgives my sins I start off with a new slate.  He doesn’t change His mind and tells me the next moment my sins are no longer forgiven.  Would anyone make it to heaven?  Imagine that.