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Sermon #1061
Christianity or Islam?
The hundreds killed around the world in terrorist attacks even in the last month have focused our
attention to ISIS -- the self-proclaimed Islamic State. What is this all about? Why such unrelenting
animosity from a segment of the Muslim world?
An August 1, 2016, article by Jon Dean in the Mirror titled, “'Why we hate you,’” reveals the
perspective of the extremist periodical Dabiq.
The author writes, "We hate you, first and foremost, because … you reject the oneness of Allah …
you blaspheme against Him, claiming that He has a son, you fabricate lies against His prophets and
messengers… We hate you because your secular, liberal societies permit the very things that Allah
has prohibited while banning many of the things He has permitted... In the case of the atheist fringe,
we hate you and wage war against you because you disbelieve in the existence of your Lord and
Creator…We hate you for your crimes against the Muslims; your drones and fighter jets bomb, kill,
and maim our people around the world... We hate you for invading our lands... The fact is, even if you
… stop bombing us … our … hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam." What is the
religion that our avowed enemies attribute as the source of their animosity?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/why-hate-you-isis-reveal-8533563
About ten years ago I had a series of studies in Nashville with a thirty year old son of a Muslim Imam
from Nigeria. An Imam is the prayer leader at a Muslim mosque and recognized Islamic spiritual
leader. Later, I met with the Director of Education at the Nashville mosque.
Although Muslims claim to believe the Bible, when they say “Bible” I learned they refer only to the Old
Testament and the Gospels. They believe Paul promoted the “errors of Christianity.” Muslims claim
the Jews corrupted the Old Testament to shore up their beliefs, and that Christians manipulated the
New Testament text to promote Christianity. When I suggested surely all of God’s word would be
preserved and available, he said, “No, the Qur’an has all man needed.”
My friend Muhammad later said Allah preserved the Old Testament and the Gospels, but that it is
difficult to obtain a copy of this “genuine” Bible. Muhammad spoke with admiration of “the people of
the book” who purportedly possess and live by the original message. I expressed interest in meeting
these mysterious people, but learned they are difficult to find. They likely refer to the Ebionites related
to Muhammad. The Ebionites likely claimed to be Christians while attempting to reestablish Jewish
law. They regarded Jesus as the Messiah, but not the Son of God. We take a closer look at Islam and
draw comparisons with Christianity, but first, we have a song…
While Jesus teaches the apostles to call God, “Our Father,” Matthew 6:9, Muslims say that is
blasphemy. While the New Testament teaches we can know God and become close to God -- James
4:8, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you,” Islam teaches God is unknowable and
unapproachable. The apostle Paul tells the crowd on Mars’ Hill -- Acts 17:23, “the one whom you
worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you…” Paul writes that God will execute judgment on
those who do not know God -- 2 Thessalonians 1:8.
Muslims most despise Christianity because Muslims maintain Christians worship three gods. Muslims
wrongly equate Roman Catholicism with Christianity and are taught that we worship the “trinity of
God, Jesus and Mary.” This misunderstanding is likely rooted in the Roman Catholic teaching that
Mary is the mother of God, Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate. Of course, the Scriptures do not
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teach that, but teach that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are God. The Bible says in John 1:1, 14, “In
the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…and the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us.” Muslims claim calling Jesus the Son of God insults the holy nature
of God. To Muslims, Deity is incompatible with the weakness and filthiness of human flesh.
Muslims say where Jesus teaches God will send another Comforter -- John 16:7 -- is actually a
prophecy of Muhammad instead of the Holy Spirit. Nothing supports this idea in any New Testament
manuscript.
Another important difference between Islam and Christianity is the Qur’an’s teaching that Abraham
offered up Ishmael—not Isaac—on the altar. Muslims commemorate this on Eid al-Adha -- Festival of
the Sacrifice -- by sacrificing a sheep, camel, or goat. They give one third of the meat to friends and
donate one third to the poor. The sacrifice symbolizes a willingness to give up things to follow Allah’s
commands. Muslims visit friends and family and exchange gifts during this holy day. These sacrifices
are not offered to forgive sins.
While Jesus says, “the truth shall make you free” -- John 8:32 -- and Paul writes in Galatians 5:1,
“Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke
of bondage,” the Qur’an teaches that a Muslim can never rise above slaves.
At the age of six, boys in devout Muslim families begin to go with their father to pray at the mosque
five times a day beginning at 3:30 a.m. These prayers include scripted words and physical
movements that sound like that of a slave. Consider the following regulations:
First of all, anyone who has become impure (by using the bathroom, touching a woman or an animal,
et cetera) must cleanse himself before prayers. Before he washes he says, “I put my face to the true
creator and I begin my washing.”
• He washes his right hand and then left hand three times.
• He rinses his mouth with water – rubbing his teeth with his right finger three times.
• He cleanses his nose with water three times.
• He washes his face from the hairline, around the ear and under the chin three times.
• He washes his arms from the wrist to the elbow, right hand first, three times.
• He washes his hair by dipping his hand in water and smoothing it over his hair three times.
• He washes his ears with a wet finger in a specific direction and with a particular motion.
• He washes his feet up to his ankles; right foot first, three times.
Because this is how Muhammad prayed, so must all Muslims. Muslims must be grateful to
Muhammad that they only have to pray five times a day. Initially, they claim, Allah demanded fifty
prayers a day until Muhammad negotiated it down to five. When Muslims pray, they line up in straight
rows facing Mecca and the prayer leader cups his hands behind his ears and proclaims, “Allah is
great.” Everyone repeats these words. Then, in unison, they cross their hands over their stomachs,
right hand on top and recite the first chapter of the Qur’an in Arabic. Then everyone is given a few
seconds to quote additional verses of their choosing. Next, the leader cups his hands behind his ears
and calls out again, “Allah is great.” The assembly echoes his words. Again in unison, they bow at the
waist with hands on their knees and respond, “I praise my great Lord. This completes the first half of
the first unit of prayer called a raka’ah. At 4 a.m. Muslims must pray two raka’ah’s; at noon, four
raka’ah’s; at 3 p.m., four raka’ah’s; three raka’ah’s at 5 p.m. and four raka’ah’s at 8:30 p.m.
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Muhammad taught that prayers at the mosque were twenty-seven times better than private prayers.
Jesus taught in Matthew 6:5-7, "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love
to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when
you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in
secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For
they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Jesus taught His disciples to pray as children
to a loving Father, whereas Muhammad taught men to pray as slaves to avoid Allah’s wrath. What
contrast!
Christianity and Islam are different in many ways, but the most startling is the attitude toward women.
One, obviously, emanates from God—the other from man.
• Muhammad claimed to visit hell and found that there were more women there than men.
• Muhammad said, “If there is evil omen in anything, it is in the house, the woman and the horse.”
• Muhammad said, “Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman.” Aisha, the nine year old
Muhammad married, later complained, “You have made us dogs.”
• Muhammad said, “Women are ungrateful to their husbands…(and) deficient in intelligence and
religion…the witness of two women is equal to that of one man.”
• Islam teaches women could be taken as spoils of war.
• Muhammad had twelve wives and twenty-three slave women. The Qur’an allows a man to have up
to four wives, if he can support them financially.
• The Qur’an teaches that husbands could beat their wives lightly to get them in line.
• A divorce was final, if a man simply said three times, “I divorce you,” but a woman could not initiate
a divorce at all.
Meanwhile, in the gospels we learn Mary and Martha were two of Jesus’ closest friends. A number of
women, in fact, traveled with Jesus from place to place according to Luke 8:1-3. These women, we
find in Matthew 27:55-56, were loyal to Jesus, following him all the way to the cross.
Women were witnesses after his resurrection and reported it to the twelve. Jesus praised a number of
women for their great faith (Matthew 15:28), generosity (Luke 21) and love (Luke 7:36-50). In John 4
and John 8, Jesus offered hope and forgiveness to women who had lost their way. Jesus taught in
Matthew 19 that a man could only divorce his wife in the case of unfaithfulness. The Holy Spirit writes
in Galatians 3:28, “There…is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The New
Testament shows genuine respect for women.
Islam’s most creative departure from Scripture concerns the crucifixion. Islam contends Judas Iscariot
led the authorities to Gethsemane to seize Jesus, but that God took Jesus up to heaven. Meanwhile
as the authorities searched for Jesus, Judas disappeared behind a tree. Then God miraculously gave
Judas the appearance of Jesus, so Jesus’ would-be captors, seized Judas, thinking they had Jesus.
So, Muslims explain, the crucifixion and the cruelties surrounding it were actually the meting out of a
well-deserved punishment on Judas. The Muslim explanation misses this point that Judas himself
was assigned with positively identifying Jesus.
Perhaps the greatest disparity between Christianity and Islam exists in the place of love in the Bible
and the Qur’an. When I asked Mohammad about his favorite scripture on love in the Qur’an, he
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wanted instead to talk about the mercy of Allah. Christianity extols both the love and the mercy of
God. It was surprising to learn the Qur’an provides ninety-nine names for God, but the one
conspicuously absent is the one considered most significant in the New Testament. 1 John 4:8, “He
who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” In 1 John alone (a book of three or four
pages), the word “love” is found thirty-five times and over two hundred twenty times in the New
Testament. Meanwhile, the Qur’an only speaks of God’s love for man twenty times.
Five times the Qur’an teaches God loves those who do good. Two times the Qur’an says God loves
the pure. Seven times the Qur’an says God loves the righteous or just. One verse each in the Qur’an
expresses God’s love for Moses, those who trust Him, those who are patient, those who love him and
follow the prophet, those who will love him and, of course, those who fight in battle for Him.
So, how should Christians interact with Muslims? Burning copies of the Qur’an will not bring the
desired effect. Consider the following suggestions:
Become familiar with Islam to demonstrate openness to investigating the merits of Islam. We see the
impressive devotion of Muslims in their steadfast adherence to daily prayers, religious fasting,
abstinence from alcohol, charitable giving, a zeal to die for their faith and dedication to the Qu’ran.
Thousands of Muslims are admitted every year to the Muslim university, Al-Azhar University in Egypt.
To be admitted one must recite the entire Qur’an from memory.
Recognize common ground. Islam is opposed to polytheism, believes in a final judgment and in many
of the prophets recorded in the Bible. Muslims look to Abraham as father of the faithful. While they
deny Jesus is the Son of God, Muslims do believe in Jesus as a sinless Messiah and great miracle
worker.
When discussing religion with a Muslim, practice the Golden Rule. The most effective way to win
them over or at least gain a listener is to disarm them with respect and kindness. The Holy Spirit puts
it this way in 1 Peter 3:15, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” This
last phrase, “with meekness and fear” has also been translated “with gentleness and respect.” (NIV)
Ask questions respectfully to learn where they are coming from and to clear up possible
misunderstandings.
Listen. Christians are taught in James 1:19 to be “slow to speak” and “swift to hear.” The importance
of this truth is highlighted in 2 Timothy 2:24-26. Even though Jesus was one hundred percent right
and the Samaritan woman at the well was in error and comparatively ignorant, Jesus allowed her -John 4-- to speak the same amount of words he spoke. By allowing another to talk, we earn the right
to be heard.
Ask what the greatest blessing they receive from being a Muslim and then tell them about the
blessing of forgiveness and the confidence of salvation. 1 John 5:13, “These things I have written to
you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life…” This
assurance is one of the great blessings of Christianity that Islam fails to deliver. Muslims never know
if they will go to heaven until judgment.
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Ask if the Qur’an teaches love. Then ask them to share their three favorite passages on love from the
Qur’an. Next, share three scriptures on love that are meaningful to you. This will intrigue them, and
create the greatest likelihood of stimulating openness in the future.
Confirm their belief in the Bible. When they tell you the Jews corrupted the Old Testament and
Christians corrupted the New Testament to promote their own teachings, ask them to read aloud
prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament. I prefer Isaiah 53 because of the many consecutive
prophecies that point clearly to Jesus. Then, ask if they know who Isaiah is speaking about. If they do
not see that they are prophecies about Jesus, explain it to them. Remind them this is the Jewish
Bible. Then ask, “If Jews were going to corrupt Old Testament, wouldn’t they have removed such
lengthy, lucid prophecies about Jesus?” Most likely they will have never seen these and be struck by
them.
Then, ask if the Old Testament has any prophecies of Muhammad as detailed and striking as the
ones you shared about Jesus from David and Isaiah. They cannot help but see how full the Bible is of
prophecies about Jesus and how none can be found of Muhammad.
Finally, avoid anger and frustration if you cannot answer one of their arguments. Write it down and
research it further. Stay with us to learn how to get a copy of this message and the booklet on Islam
soon to be released…
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of the apostle Paul when he wrote in Romans 16:16, “the churches of Christ salute you.” Until next
week, goodbye and God bless.
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