THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

Islam (Part 2)

ISLAM AND JESUS

Probably the greatest point of departure between Christianity and Islam concerns the person of Jesus. According to Christianity Jesus is God the Son; while He is not the Father, Jesus is as much God as the Father and Holy Spirit are. Christianity teaches that the death of God the Son on the cross has provided for the forgiveness of sin and for our salvation. We believe that He will return one day to raise all mankind from the dead and then vindicate His followers and condemn His enemies. We teach that our eternal destiny depends upon our response to Jesus.

Islam, on the other hand, totally rejects the belief that Jesus is God the Son. The main confession of Islam is: "there is no God but the true God; and Mohammed is His prophet." Islam rejects Jesus' resurrection and the saving element of the cross. According to Islam although Jesus was a prophet, He was misinterpreted by early Christians. Moreover, although Jesus was a great prophet, Mohammed was even greater. In fact he is supposed to be the greatest prophet, so great in fact that none greater will come after him.

The Crucifixion

God clarified in the Quran that Jesus was not crucified; rather, it was made to seem that way to the Jews, and that God raised him to the Heavens. The Quran does not explain, though, who was the person crucified instead of Jesus.

“They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but (another) was made to resemble him to them.” (Quran 4:157)

“God lifted him up to His presence. God is Almighty, All-Wise.” (Quran 4:158)

As such, Islam denies that Jesus came to this earth with the purpose of sacrificing himself for the sin of Adam, Eve, and the rest of humanity, freeing them from its burden. Islam strictly rejects the notion that any person bears the sin of another. God says:

“No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another.” (Quran 39:6)

Also, Islam stresses the notion that God is able to forgive all sins, if a person truly repents and then refrains from repeating it. God does not need any blood sacrifice for that, let alone descend in the form of man himself and die for every man's sins. Rather, God’s mercy extends to all creatures, believers and disbelievers alike. The door to forgiveness is open to anyone who seeks it.

The Second Coming of Christ

As Christians do, Muslims also believe in the return of Jesus the Messiah to earth, although his role and reason for his return does differ from what the Christians propose. He will return to earth first and foremost to prove his mortality and refute the false beliefs people held about him. He will live a normal life, marry, and also die as any other human. At that point, the matter will be clear concerning him, and all people will have believed that he was truly mortal.

“There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him (Jesus) before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.” (Quran 4:156-159)

According to Islam Jesus will also fight the false Christ, who will call people to the belief that he is God, and who will appear just before he returns. Jesus will defeat the antichrist, and all people will accept the true religion of God. The world will see a type of peace and serenity unfelt in history, all worshipping the same God, subservient to Him alone, and at peace with one another.

See also http://islam.about.com/od/jesus/Prophet_Jesus_Isa.htm

ISLAM AND THE JEWS

Another major area of disagreement centers around the Jew. According to Islam even though many of the prophets God sent to Israel are legitimate prophets (for example, Abraham and Moses), the Jews are not God's chosen people. According to Mohammed the hostile treatment many of the prophets received from the Jews is evidence that they are not God's chosen people.

Moreover, although Islam agrees with Judaism that Abraham is a significant person in the history of the true religion, it disagrees with Judaism about one of the most important events in the life of Abraham. According to Judaism and Christianity, Abraham took Isaac up to the top of Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him. Islam though teaches that it was Ishmael and not Isaac Abraham took to sacrifice on top of Mt. Moriah. Why is that significant? Because although Isaac is the father of the Jewish nation, Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations. By substituting Ishmael for Isaac at this most critical moment, Mohammed has claimed that God worked through Ishmael and not through Isaac. The Arab nations now become the focus of God's a attention and not the Jews. (Now you can readily see why the Muslims hate the Jews so much. The very existence of the Jews threatens their claim that they and not the Jews are God's chosen people.)

Finally, to illustrate their belief that Islam is dominant over Christianity and Judaism, Islam built their third holiest site, The Dome of the Rock. To show that they are superior to Judaism, the Muslims built this shrine on top of Judaism's holiest site, the Temple Mound. To demonstrate that Islam is superior to Christianity, the Muslims build this shrine after the model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place where Jesus was crucified which is also in Jerusalem. To show their superiority, the Muslims build their dome though much larger than the dome of the Holy Sepulchre. Islam is truly a religion AGAINST Judaism and AGAINST Christianity.

THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE

So who is right and who is wrong? Our holy scriptures say one thing, while the holy scriptures of Islam teach something totally different. Maybe the angel Gabriel did appear to Mohammed and correct all the errors of Judaism and Christianity. How can we know for sure?

We first respond by looking at the nature of the sacred books of Islam and Christianity. Both religions claim that their Bibles are God's Word. The question then becomes, "Which book is from God?" Screaming out loudly that the Bible is God's Word is not going to rule the day. What will win the day is evidence we can present in favor of the Bible. What is that evidence?

First, whereas the Koran is said to be the result of a direct revelation of Gabriel to only Mohammed, we claim that the Bible itself is an historical book. Yes, we do believe that God spoke directly to people in private; however, that is not the major part of the Bible. We believe that the events in the Bible are HISTORICAL events and as such can be either verified or disproved. For example, have you ever realized that the early Jews never claimed that Jesus did not do miracles? Not once did they make that claim. That claim did not emerge until the 19th-century German theologians decided that God did not do miracles. What the Jews did claim was that Jesus did miracles in the power of Satan. (That is another topic for later discussion.)

Well, why didn't the Jews just claim that Jesus did no miracles? Because they would have been laughed out of town. Jesus didn't do His miracles in some little darkly lit room. He did it out in the open, in public. When He fed 5,000, He did it in front of 15,000-20,000 people. Later Paul will tell the Roman governor Festus and the Jewish king Agrippa 2: "Since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner" (Acts 26:26). (See also Acts 10:37: "you yourselves know the things which took place throughout all Judea, starting rom Galilee . . . ")

In other words, the claims of Christianity could be verified. Paul when claiming that Jesus rose physically from the dead said that over 500 people at one time saw the resurrected Jesus. He says, "If you don't believe me, then go ask them yourselves because most of them are still alive!" (1 Cor. 15:6).

Mohammed and his claims, on the other hand, are beyond verification, beyond proof because he is writing about events which occurred 600-2300 years BEFORE his time! No one could PROVE he was wrong! How convenient! However, the converse is likewise true; he can't prove he's right.

Why then would anyone believe him? Well, look at just who did believe him. The Arabs, the very people he exalted to the status of being God's people. They had a vested interest in promoting Islam. After Arabia became Muslim, Islam was spread by means of force. Moreover, it is maintained by means of force. Whereas the Muslim loves to take advantage of the freedoms in the West, he does not extend that same luxury to non-Muslims in his own country. In fact you can be put to death if you abandon Islam in an Islamic country (for example, the Kurdish girl who was recently stoned to death).

[Finally, I find it ironic that Islam which promotes a fatalistic predestination will claim that the Jews are not God's chosen people because of their actions (rejecting the prophets). If the Islamic view of predestination is right, then the actions of Jews have nothing to do with this issue. The Muslims cannot have it both ways.]

THE MUSLIM CIVIL WAR

Just a side issue here. Many of us are puzzled about what is going on in Iraq. We hear that the Saudis and Syrians are funding the Sunni faction to attack American forces and the Shias, while Iran is funding Al Sadr to attack American forces and the Sunnis. Iraq is engaged in a civil war which few of us understand. The roots of this conflict though extend back to the time of the death of Mohammed himself. Upon his death many followers felt that the leadership of Islam (the caliphate) should pass to his son-in-law Ali who was married to Fatima. Instead it passed to Abu Bakr 632-634, then to Umar 634-644, and finally to Uthman 644-656. After Uthman was murdered, Ali became the caliph; however, he encountered great opposition since he did not vigorously pursue Uthman's murderers. When Mu'awiya the cousin of Uthman rose up against Ali, Ali struck a deal with Mu'awiya. This angered Ali's followers to such an extent that they murdered Ali. The conflict has continued to pitch the followers of Ali and Fatima with the followers of other Caliphs. (For information go to The Origins of the Sunni/Shia split in Islam.)