Download God or Allah? - Olsen Park church of Christ

God or Allah?
I. A Brief Introduction to Islam.
A. Muhammad.
1. Arab who claimed that God had called
him to declare that there is only one god.
2. Began preaching in Mecca in 610 A.D.
Forced to flee to Medina (Yathrib) in
622. Called the Hijra (i.e. “flight”).
God or Allah?
I. A Brief Introduction to Islam.
A. Muhammad.
3. Gaining support in Medina in 630 he
returned to Mecca and occupied the city.
He liberated a pagan center in the city
destroying its idols and made it a sacred
site known as the Kaaba.
4. Muhammad died in 632.
God or Allah?
I. A Brief Introduction to Islam.
B. The Qur’an.
1. During the life of Muhammad his
companions wrote down his teachings.
2. After his death these were collected and
compiled in an official edition ordered by
the Caliph Othman a little over a decade
after his death.
God or Allah?
I. A Brief Introduction to Islam.
B. The Qur’an.
3. These teachings, called the Qur’an are
viewed as the holy book and word of
God by Muslims.
God or Allah?
I. A Brief Introduction to Islam.
C. “The Five Pillars.”
1. Islam means “submission.” One who
follows Islam is a Muslim, meaning “one
who submits.”
2. Muslim submission revolves around
five duties, known as the “five pillars.”
God or Allah?
I. A Brief Introduction to Islam.
C. “The Five Pillars.”
a. Confession (Shahadah). “There is no
God but Allah and Muhammad is his
prophet.”
b. Prayer (Salat). Five times a day.
c. Almsgiving (Zakat).
God or Allah?
I. A Brief Introduction to Islam.
C. “The Five Pillars.”
d. Fasting (Ramadan). Daytime fast
during the ninth month of the Islamic
year.
e. Pilgrimage (Hajj). To the Kaaba at
Mecca.
God or Allah?
I. A Brief Introduction to Islam.
D. “Holy War” (Jihad).
1. Primarily applies to Islamic
evangelism.
2. Used in Medieval times and in modern
times to justify military action.
God or Allah?
II. Allah & the Bible.
A. Is God Allah?
1. It is often asserted that Allah the God of
Islam is the same God as the God of the
Old Testament and the New Testament.
God or Allah?
II. Allah & the Bible.
A. Is God Allah?
2. The Qur’an makes the same claim “Say: ‘We believe in God [Allah], and in what
has been revealed to us and what was
revealed to Abraham, Ismail; Isaac, Jacob and
in the Tribes, and in (the books) given to
Moses, Jesus and the Prophets, from their
Lord we make no distinction between one and
another...” (Sura 3:84).
God or Allah?
II. Allah & the Bible.
A. Is God Allah?
3. In the Old Testament, some of the
names for God are formed from the
Hebrew letters alh. [E.g. Hebrew aloha
> Aramaic-Syriac alaha > Arabic
allah]. But identity is much more than
words and names.
God or Allah?
II. Allah & the Bible.
A. Is God Allah?
4. Paul’s teaching to the Galatians. (Gal.
1:6-9).
a. Paul teaches that to accept different
truths is to accept a different gospel.
b. Paul teaches that no other true
gospel will come.
God or Allah?
II. Allah & the Bible.
A. Is God Allah?
5. Islam rejects the deity of Jesus.
(Colossians 1:15; 2:9).
Allah is a different God
as the Galatians’ gospel was a
different Gospel.
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
A. The Qur’an & the Bible.
What Does the Qur’an
Say About the Bible?
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
A. The Qur’an & the Bible.
1. God gave scripture to Moses - “And
remember We gave Moses the Scripture
and the Criterion (between right and
wrong): there was a chance for you to
be guided aright.” (Sura 2:53).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
A. The Qur’an & the Bible.
2. Moses was followed by the prophets
and then by Jesus - “We gave Moses the
Book and followed him up with a
succession of Apostles; we gave Jesus
the son of Mary clear (signs) and
strengthened him with the holy spirit...”
(Sura 2:87).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
A. The Qur’an & the Bible.
3. The books of Moses, the prophets and
Jesus came from God - “Say: ‘We
believe in God, and in what has been
revealed to us and what was revealed to
Abraham, Ismail; Isaac, Jacob and in the
Tribes, and in (the books) given to...
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
A. The Qur’an & the Bible.
3. The books of Moses, the prophets and
Jesus came from God - “...Moses, Jesus
and the Prophets, from their Lord we
make no distinction between one and
another...” (Sura 3:84).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
A. The Qur’an & the Bible.
4. The Qur’an was to confirm what went
before - “It is He who sent down to thee
(step by step), in the truth, the Book,
confirming what went before it; and He
sent down the Law (of Moses) and the
Gospel (of Jesus) before this as a guide
to mankind...” (Sura 3:3).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
A. The Qur’an & the Bible.
If the Bible is from God then
what it says must be true!
II Timothy 3:16,17; John 14:1-6;
John 12:47,48
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
B. Jesus & the Qur’an.
1. Jesus was born of a virgin - “She
said:‘How shall I have a son, seeing that
no man has touched me, and I am not
unchaste?’ He said: ‘So (it will be):’
Thy Lord saith, ‘That is easy for Me...”
(Sura 19:20,21).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
B. Jesus & the Qur’an.
What does the Bible say about
Jesus’ birth? (Isaiah 7:14).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
B. Jesus & the Qur’an.
2. He was an apostle of God - “And
remember, Jesus, the som of Mary, said:
‘O Children of Israel! I am the apostle of
God (sent) to you confirming the Law
(which came before me...” (Sura 61:6).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
B. Jesus & the Qur’an.
What does the Bible say about God
sending Jesus? (Hebrews 1:1-4.)
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
B. Jesus & the Qur’an.
3. He was the Christ - “Behold! the
angels said: ‘O Mary! God giveth thee
glad tidings of a Word from Him: His
name will be called Christ Jesus, the son
of Mary, held in honour in this world and
the hereafter and of (the company of)
those nearest to God” (Sura 3:45).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
B. Jesus & the Qur’an.
What does the Bible say about
the Christ? (Acts 4:10-12).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
B. Jesus & the Qur’an.
4. He was the word of God - “...Christ
Jesus the son of Mary was (no more
than) an apostle of God, and His Word,
which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit
preceeding from Him...” (Sura 4:171).
God or Allah?
III. The Great Dilemmas of Islam.
B. Jesus & the Qur’an.
What does the Bible say about
Jesus as the word of God?
(John 1:1-3; 1:14).