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Serious Study Home / Community Door / Christianity and Islam Home Page
UNVEILING CHRISTIANITY AND
ISLAM
Session Five - November
20, 2002 DISCUSSION: What about Buddha? Any god of Hinduism, etc? We live in an age of tolerance, which attempts to rename and redefine cultural beliefs to make of many one new world order. Religiously this ideal is expressed, "We all serve the same god, we just have different names for him, but essentially he is the same in every culture." The question of the name of God cannot be discussed apart from defining the nature of the God attached to the name! BASIC QUESTIONS: 1) Is Allah triune? If not then we are not speaking about the same God.
THE NATURE OF ALLAH 1) ALLAH IS ONE! "In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Say: He is God, The One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, Nor is he begotten; And there is none Like unto Him" (surah 112). "Islamic Theology (Islam and Christianity, page 1) of God can be summarized by one word: ‘tawhid’, which means "absolute unity." Muslims insist that there is no division within the Godhead. God is sublimely one. Thus the Islamic polemic against Christianity has centered on the doctrine of the Trinity." The Islamic confession is: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." More than 100 times the Qur’an emphasizes the absolute monotheistic nature of Allah, as being self-existent and necessary. Islam is essential to the salvation of humanity: "If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, it shall never be accepted of him" (surah 3:85). Christians, as Jews and Muslims, believe that God is totally other and beyond human comprehension, completely beyond the ability of humans to grasp, yet Christians add something different: that God sanctified the world by lowering Himself to become part of it., by loving us so much that he was willing to come down from His throne to give His life as a ransom for our sins! JESUS ACCORDING TO THE QUR’AN Muslims believe in Jesus. They believe Jesus was a great prophet. His name occurs 25 times in the Qur’an. They believe Jesus was born of a virgin, that Jesus preached the truth. Yet Muslims assert that Jesus is not worthy of worship and praise, but only of admiration as a messenger of Allah. The Islamic web site www.answering-christianity.com says, "The word Christian is not a valid word, fro there is no religion of Christianity according to Islam." We increasingly hear that Islam and Christianity "share" Jesus, that He belongs to both religions. This reflects the growing influence of Islam. Muslims believe in ‘Isa, their name for Jesus. His message was pure Islam, surrender to Allah (3:84). ‘Isa was a lawgiver, and Christians should submit to his law (3:50; 5:48). His disciples were Muslim for they said "We believe. Bear witness that we have surrendered. We are Muslims (5:111). Muslims believe that Jesus, like Adam, was created and a slave of Allah (4:172; 3:59). "The similitude of Jesus before Allah is that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: ‘Be’: And he was" (surah 3:59). Thus Jesus was a mere man, and not the eternal Son of God. Christians are commanded not to believe that ‘Isa is the Son of God: "It is far removed from his transcendent majesty that he should have a son’ (4:171; 25:2). The virgin birth is seen not as a sign of Jesus’ nature and power, but a sign of Allah’s power. Allah can and will do as he pleases. All that needs to be known about Jesus is contained in the Qur’an, (surah 5:47). Only fragments of Jesus’ message is preserved in the Christian Bible and it has been so badly corrupted that it cannot be recovered. Jesus merely worked to prevent false worship. Jesus is not God is the essential difference between Jesus of Islam and the Jesus of Christianity. "Christ the son of Mary was no more than a Messenger; many were the Messengers that passed away before him" (surah 5:75). Jesus’ real name is Isa. His mother was Mariam (Mary) the daughter of Imran (3:34,35) – the Amram of Exodus 6:20 (Aaron and Moses’ father). Mary was fostered by Zachariah (father of John the baptist), surah 19:28. The Islamic sources tell us, ‘Isa spoke while still in the cradle, breathed life into clay birds, healed blind lepers and raised the dead. He also foretold the coming of Muhammad. The Muslim who links the nature of Allah with the nature of man has committed the ultimate sin (shirk). Jesus is called the "son of Mary" 23 times stressing his humanity and mortality. Messiah was simply a title for one on a precise mission. Jesus was sent specifically to the Jews, the same as others were sent to different people groups. As a messenger, Jesus was a prophet since Allah gave revelation through Him. (Remember that to a Christian revelation is God ‘s revelation of Himself, to the Muslim revelation is only a revelation from God.) To the Muslim, Jesus did not die on the cross! They cannot say confidently what happened, but they believe that one of the disciples died in Jesus’ place, while Jesus hid; or that God made Judas Iscariot to appear like Jesus and to take His place; or Simon of Cyrene replaced Jesus before the crucifixion; or even that Satan himself was put on the cross as a punishment for his disobedience. Since Muslims believe there is no original sin, there is no need of a savior. Since then Jesus did not die, his mission is not completed. Jesus will return and battle and defeat the anti-Christ, confess Islam, kill all pigs (destroy the Jews) break all crosses (destroy Christianity), establish 1,000 years of righteousness. When Jesus returns he will marry and have children, live 40 years and then He will die and be buried next to Muhammad. Yassar Arafat, addressing the United nations in 1983 called Jesus "the first Palestinian fedayeen who carried his sword." He was a freedom fighter. " ‘Isa, the Muslim Jesus," by Dr. Mark Durie; "Jesus’ mother tongue was Aramaic. In his own lifetime he was called Yeshua in Aramaic, and Jesu in Greek. This is like calling the same person John when speaking English and Jean when speaking in French: Jesu, pronounced "Yesoo", is the Greek form of Aramaic Yeshua. (The final -s in Jesus-s is a Greek grammatical ending.) Yeshua is itself a form of Hebrew Yehoshua’, which means ‘the Lord is salvation’. However Yehoshua’ is normally given in English as Joshua. So Joshua and Jesus are variants of the same name. "It is interesting that Jesus’ name Yehoshua’ contains within it the proper Hebrew name for God, the first syllable Yeh- being short for YHWH ‘the LORD’. "Yeshua of Nazareth was never called ‘Isa, the name the Koran gives to him. Arab-speaking Christians refer to Jesus as Yasou’ (from Yeshua) not ‘Isa. 2) ALLAH HAS ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY Allah holds absolute sovereignty. Allah knows everything, determines everything, decrees everything, and orders everything. Allah is even the cause of evil:
"Allah has seven basic attributes: life, knowledge, power, will, hearing, seeing, and speech. The last three are not to be understood in an anthropomorphic sense. His will is absolute, and everything that happens depends on it, even to the extent that believers and unbelievers are predestined to faith or unbelief." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2001. Allah is "The Mighty One" lit: one who holds the power to compel, which cannot be resisted! A Muslim’s prayer is not a petition, but an act of obedience (and escaping the punishment due those who neglect prayer), THE NAMES OF ALLAH "Muhammad said, ‘Verily there are ninety-nine names of Allah and whoever recites them shall enter Paradise." (8:419) In 1880 the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society listed 552 different names of Allah from the Qur’an and the Hadith. Others use 89 names found in the Qur’an with 18 from the Hadith. Allah, before Muhammad, was the name or title of a pagan Arabian deity worshiped in Mecca. Muhammad’s pagan father, who died before Muhammad was born, already bore the name ‘Abd Allah’ slave of Allah, and his uncle was called Obeid Allah. With the reconstruction of the Satanic Verses, the Qur’an seeks to refute the belief that Allah has daughters (surah 53:19-23; also surah 16:57 and 6:100), " ‘Isa, the Muslim Jesus", by Dr. Mark Durie. One name for Allah is Al-Ghaffer, the Pardoner (71:10). As Pardoner, Allah conceals and overlooks sins. He turns in forgiveness to whomever repents, even to someone who has committed deep sin (shirk). But Allah only conceals sin, Islam does not have a concept of cleansing from guilt. Unveiling Islam, page 112. Another name is Al-Malik, the King of all (59:23) "The most wretched person in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection and the worst person and target of His wrath would be the person who is called Malik al-Amlaak (the King of Kings) fro there is no king but Allah" (Sahih Muslim hadith 5339). Another, Al-Mumit, the Killer at His will (15:23). DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GODS The Distant One In the Islamic community Allah is discussed without a sense of intimacy, atonement, and omnibenevolence. In all the terms and titles of Allah, one does not encounter terms of intimacy. In Christianity each believer is referred to as a Temple of the Holy Spirit suggesting God’s presence within each believer. Jesus said, the spirit in us cries out "Abba, Father!" The endearing cry of a child for its parent. The most faithful and devout Muslim refers to Allah only as servant to master! Muslims have redefined "mercy" which says, Allah is merciful because he did not kill me or leave me in peril. ] The Cold Judge Allah is a "Liberal Giver," (Al-Wahab) but with the character of a fierce warrior who decides to be merciful in response to victory. Again, one sees a judge, as opposed to a God of love, Unveiling Islam, page 118. There is no sense of atoning provided by God for His own. The Hater Unveiling Islam, page 118: "Allah’s heart is set against the infidel (kafir). He has no love for the unbeliever, nor is it the task of the Muslim to "evangelize" the unbelieving world. Allah is to be worshiped, period. Any who will not do so must be defeated, silenced, or expelled. The theme is conquest, not conversion, of the unbelieving world. Allah has called the Muslim to make the name of Allah alone to be worshiped." |
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