9. Identified.
Here the Christian church is brought sadly into the story of Muhammad. The monastic movement was begun as a reaction to the worldliness that had crept into the church and wrested from it its former glory. Monks centered on the inner life. For some of these men we are grateful and in fact, in debt, as they discovered their own sinfulness and the cure for it.
Martin Luther was a monk. But others went to extremes in lifestyle and teaching that are as unacceptable as Luther's was acceptable. Being a monk in and of itself is not the issue, but what monastic living can drives one to believe and do.
There was a monk, Bahira, who lived in the early days of Muhammad's life. He had been reading documents about a prophet to come. One day, per Lings, he saw a cloud over a caravan in which Muhammad was traveling. The caravan stopped, and in a story that reads much like Samuel's picking out the future king of Israel from Jesse's sons, we learn that Muhammad is indeed the chosen prophet foreseen by the document Bahira had been reading.
True? Supernatural? You will be asking yourself this question throughout as Lings, a dignified scholar of no mean reputation, treats these miraculous occurrences so casually. Keep in mind that supernatural is not the key. From Heaven, is the key. When we see what Muhammad believed and taught about the Son of God, we will no longer worry whether his life was marked with occurrences "beyond nature." We will simply identify the source as above or below.
How was Jesus identified? The Spirit of God took a bodily form, that of a dove, and descended publicly on Jesus. John the Baptist was an eyewitness of this event, and the testimony was recorded for all time. Here, said John, is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
This was in keeping with what the angels had said about Jesus. He is Saviour. He came to deal with sin. One would think from reading current Christian literature that He came to make us rich and happy in the world's sense. But no, it was always about sin, and still is.
Jesus' identification was clear, His mission was spelled out. He is to eradicate sin. Muhammad is to be a prophet. What Jesus has already done for sin in the hearts of millions, and what He plans to do on His return, will make the statements made about Him satisfactory.
But in what sense Muhammad was a prophet is yet to be seen. Prophets prophesy, but Muhammad never did that. Prophets work miracles, but by his own admission in the Koran, he never did that either. Then we can just say that prophets speak the words of God to their generation. Those who believe that Muhammad spoke truth in his recitations (Koran) therefore can accept him as prophet on that basis.
But those of us who do not believe that he was speaking God's words must say that he is not a prophet on that basis either. Unfortunately there is only one other type of prophet we can name, and that we have already done.
10. Marriage and family
At first it seems we have come to a topic which again does not have content for both men.
Muhammad was married. Again and again he was married. Some say there were about 15 wives. His own teachings limited him to four, but one day a "revelation" came that freed him from the hindrances of the common Muslim.
By age 20 or so, Muhammad was becoming more and more involved in the business world. He was astute in this field, and was gaining a reputation as one who could be trusted, and one who was quite efficient. At age 25, this combination got the attention of a 40-year-old wealthy merchant named Khadijah. She had been twice married already. Initially she hired Muhammad to deliver goods. Enamored by his character and style, she proposed to him in the normal method of the day, and he accepted.
The story goes that an angel promised him a 6-year-old girl as his bride when he was 52. There was no intimacy until the little girl, Aisha, was 9. Lings tries to paint Muhammad here in youthful colors, a man who looked maybe half his age. Given that he had the appearance of a 26-year-old, then, we still think it odd that he would be sharing wedded bliss with a girl who was out playing with her friends on their wedding day.
Later, he married a slave girl from Egypt. Mariyah eventually gave him a son, but not before he had banned her from his presence because of the jealousies arising at home. Then came another convenient reading from Allah, basically telling him to cancel the ban, and if necessary divorce the complaining wives, all of whom could easily be replaced by other women. This reading is now chapter 66 in the Koran. It certainly solved a lot of problems.
He married several other women from this tribe or that, at the end of every battle, or so it seems, as, king-like, he began to consolidate power throughout the region.
Stories are told of the confusion in his house, and the disrespect with which he was treated by his wives, to the consternation of Arab men who were used to being honored in their home.
But he was Muhammad. He was the Prophet. And now he had a revelation to support his family choices. And oh yes, the revelation included the hitherto unknown fact that not only Lot's wife, but also Noah's, was corrupt and turned from God, whereas the wife of Pharaoh repented and was saved. Look out, wives, says the Koran to these offending females, you can be replaced, and rejected by God!
The Bible, in both Old and New Testament, frowns upon multiple marriages. Adam and Eve are looked to as the pattern given by God. Jesus suggested that persons who marry more than one person, without infidelity or death occurring, are hard of heart, weak in character. The many wives of David and Solomon are not given us as patterns for godly character but examples of the grace of God, His using of imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will.
Jesus never married. But it is unfair to leave it there. I speculate here, but I believe that because the Bible says He was tempted in all points as are we, that sexual temptation was a reality also.
Not for a moment did He yield, but only because of the constant contact with the Father. Jesus had no illicit relationships with women, but neither did He have to ignore them in fear. Mary Magdalene and the woman at the well are two examples of females who related to Him and he with them, in purity. As He would later share with Paul, the taking of a wife can slow the progress of the work of God. It is literally true that Jesus Christ was married to His work, but His work was us.
It is not stretching things to call God's people the bride of Christ, for such language is in the New Testament record. Though the marriage has not yet been consummated, we are all His intended. Like Muhammad, Jesus is to be married to a broad range of women, and men too, but unlike Muhammad, Jesus' character is in no way questioned.
Muhammad's world viewed marriage as the essence of satisfaction here. In fact, Islamic Heaven is physical union with many virgins who remain virgins forever. Jesus' description of Heaven claims that there will not be marriage as we know it in that place, but we shall be as the angels of God. The union that is coming is of the Spirit, and far transcends anything that can be worked up by the human body.
The Body of Christ, comprised of a huge number of person-parts will come together with Jesus in everlasting joy never before experienced by mere mortals.
11. The revelations
There is a clear distinction between Jesus and Muhammad in the area of revelation.
The Word claims that Jesus was identified publicly, and that a Voice from Heaven announced to witnesses that Jesus Christ is the very Son of God, and that God is pleased with Him. There was constant interaction between Father and Son for thirty years, for the truth is that Jesus is God, but when it was time for Jesus to be revealed to the world and His own, He left nothing to chance.
Jesus' own "recitations", as the sermon on the mount, were not the result of an epileptic-like seizure or mystical moment. Jesus and the Father flowed together in perfect union, so that He could simply listen to what the Father was saying in his mind and heart, and speak it out with his mouth.
No one took notes at his meetings. But He promised His disciples that when they were about to write these teachings down, the Holy Spirit of God would bring everything to their remembrance that was needful for the church to hear.
Muhammad's first revelations are of a totally different variety, and clouded with such mystery that we shall always be forced to ask, Did he really receive anything? or, Was his message from the enemy? or, Was this revelation a result of a physical illness?
At age 40, while meditating in a cave in Mt. Hira, a personage he came to identify with Gabriel began to "embrace" him to the point of overwhelming his person, and telling him to recite he knew not what. Gabriel visited him all his life, say some of the records. Later he would say that the revelations were preceded by a bell. And the angel, he said, was like a man.
Witnesses to later events would describe them as are occult manifestations described today. Sweat. Pangs. Seizure. Temperature change.
He would listen to what was being said, then pass the words on to followers, who would immediately afterward write down bits and pieces of revelation on a huge assortment of materials that can be used for recording. Leather, pieces of bone...
Given the memories of men and comparing that to the promise of Divine Assistance from the Spirit, we must conclude that in this category also, Jesus is better. Better words, and better means of recording them for all time.
Better words? Nothing in the Bible has ever been proved to be false, though much is not according to the workings of the mind, much is so difficult. But in the Koran are contradictions and factual errors. I have documented much of this in A Christian's Guide to the Koran.
Better means? There was much wrangling at the beginning as to what was truly Koranic. It took strong men to have all other "recitations" destroyed, leaving as holy only what had not been consigned to the flames.
12. Worship
Lings points out that the angel Gabriel taught Muhammad how to worship. The rituals that one sees in Muslim mosques of our day are meant to be replicas of the religious forms taught the Arabian. Prostrate. Five times a day. And so on.
Some might call this vain repetition. Lings tells a story of a burdened family that approached Muhammad asking for one of the captive slaves to be given them after a hard-fought battle. Instead of giving them what they asked for, Muhammad taught them to say many repetitions of phrases like "Glory be to God," "Praise be to God," "God is most great," etc. One can only imagine that it was the current Romanist religious system that gave Muhammad his ideas. Perhaps he had never met a genuine Christ-follower.
Worship, said Jesus, is an affair of the Spirit of God as wedded to the spirit of man. It is not in a particular place or in a particular way. The Father yearns for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Though we can easily believe that Jesus was taught the Jewish forms of worship as a child, and though we see Him in serious prayer, lifting His eyes to Heaven, the emphasis of Jesus and worship in the account, is of the worship that was directed to Himself, by others.
Disciples, the healed, the delivered, bowed before Him and gave Him glory. Never once did He reject it. In fact He could innocently pray, "Father... glorify Your Son...glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
A person who has gotten hold of a truth like that does not need to be taught how to worship. Whether Jesus or His followers, worship is spontaneous, from the heart. To know Him is to worship Him.
Just for the record, Muhammad never claimed to be Divine, though some erstwhile moderns have tried to thrust this role on him. But in this area of the worship of God, it is clear that Jesus Christ had the deeper insights. We continue to wonder why Muhammad claims to have a final revelation if his revelation does not even include such very important facts from Jesus' life.
13. Miracles.
Muhammad worked no miracle. That is his own testimony in the Koran. Lings shows him involved often in the miraculous, based on hadith literature. In a case as important as this, I part company with Lings and offer the official Koranic teaching.
Muhammad is criticized about being so spiritually impotent often in the Koran. People who flock to him want to know why, if he is a prophet of God, he works no miracle. They demand an angelic visit! His response in at least a couple of places is that the words they are hearing, the Koran, are the miracle. Look at the style, look at the substance, the content, and know that God is doing a miracle by the very fact that I am speaking so eloquently, words that are not even mine.
And as for the angel they requested, he kept insisting that Gabriel was the source of his revelations.
To me, that is a weak defense:
The people: "Show me a miracle."
Muhammad: "Listen to my words."
The people: "Prove your words with a miracle."
Muhammad: "No, the words themselves, just the words!"
I am not quoting the Koran, just trying to get inside what is being said. It seems that in Islam it is the "Word" made into a book that is important, whereas in Christ it is the [Living] Word made flesh.
Now, Jesus began with a similar statement in John 14. I paraphrase. "Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? These words I speak are not from Me, but from the Father in Me!"
But then Jesus took it a step farther: "Believe Me, that I am in the Father [just because I say it], or else believe me for the very works' sake."
"Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe," said Jesus. Knowing that, He showed them signs and wonders constantly. I need not catalogue this list, for it is well known throughout the world. Jesus was a miracle worker. God gave Him this unprecedented power, says John, so that "you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."
He gave such powers to all His prophets. He gave no such power to Muhammad. That's what Muhammad said. And that is the truth.
14. Disciples
Lings tells accounts of individuals who received visions and miracles individually and were told to follow Muhammad. I am told that many Muslims in our day are likewise having visions of Jesus, and being told to come out of Islam and follow Him.
That's the problem with individual visions. Undoubtedly God has appeared to people in the past via visions, angelic visitors, dreams. But do I know who they are? Do you?
By far the greater number of disciples began to flock to Muhammad later because of the growing political threat he posed. His slaughter at Badr, for example, caused more tribes to unite to his cause. Makes sense to me.
Muhammad was actively seeking powerful allies to meet the growing threat of those who would destroy the new religion. He tells the story of a time that he regrets, when he was earnestly beseeching one such candidate, a blind man came by, asking for assistance. Muhammad ignored him, caring only about his potential ally.
Jesus, of course, heard the cries of the blind. He not only cared about them, He allowed the power of God to match His compassion. Blind eyes could see again.
Today Islam's numbers are maintained by the birth process and the continued inherent threats. Those who are born in a Muslim country are taught the basics of the faith from childhood, and most stay with it. They are taught that to leave it means eternal hell, over and over in the Koran.
I do not say that Muhammad did not or does not obtain disciples by teaching, but at least in our day, these adherents are often not told the entire truth about Islam. Even non-Arabic Koran translations have been "doctored" for Western consumption.
And frankly, the entrance requirements for Islam are quite simple. Believe in Allah. Believe in Muhammad. Make a statement. Say the words, "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of god."
Similar requirements exist for much of the religious world. Only in Christ is full heart repentance demanded, and a new life from Heaven given in exchange for that old one. "You must be born again," is the actual wording of the Master. Prayers and confessions may come later, but the changed heart is the way to get in.
Again, isn't it strange that a religion that claimed at first merely to be a revision, an update, of the religion of "the Book", Jewish and Christian, makes no mention of Jesus at all in its entrance requirements?
Jesus' call to discipleship was direct. He saw people that the Lord showed Him in prayer, and simply called them to Himself. Everyone He called responded. Then as the power - not political but miraculous - of God began to be manifested in miracle after miracle of healing and provision, others came to Him attracted by the wonders. They loved His message of forgiveness, though often they did not listen to the message of taking up the cross, and they eventually deserted Him when things got tough. Unlike Muhammad, Jesus offered no military protection for His followers.
Jesus continues to call people directly to Himself. They hear His Voice in their spirit man, they love Him, they follow Him to the death and then walk with Him in Heaven. But as then, thereare those who follow for the wrong reasons. Both faiths have had their share of deserters.
It is a good time for all who hear this message to ask, Why do I follow Muhammad or Jesus? Because my parents did? Because it is legally protected and safe? Because I am financially prosperous and in good health? Because I've grown up in this faith and gotten connected to a lot of nice people?
Or because I am in perfect agreement with what he taught? Because He is the only hope of the world? Because with him I can live in inner peace now and eternal peace in heaven? Because I love Him with all my heart?
Time and truth and persecution will weed out true disciples on both sides.
15. Ultimate goals
Muhammad was not interested in just starting a religion. He called all men everywhere to come out of idolatry to the one true god. Unfortunately the one true god of Islam is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore not the God of the Bible.
Through the writings of the Koran we understand that Muhammad envisioned a world under Allah's control. That's religious and military control. The goal has not changed. "Allah is greater," is the shout and the passion of true Muslims. Every nation they have conquered has come under Islamic law. Democracy is, as it was for the Romanists who moved to the Western world a few hundred years ago, a means to an end. The end is a Theocracy. An even brief look at the Muslim nations of the world will bear this out.
So do I contrast Jesus here, and say that all He really wants is a spiritual kingdom, a place where freedom of religion prevails, a place of liberty somewhat like the founding fathers of America envisioned? Does Jesus wish for democracy to prevail eternally? Or does He too envision world control? What saith the Word?
God has set Jesus on the holy hill called Zion, in prophecy, not because the view is good up there. Jesus will rule and reign from that place. One day the kingdoms of this world, Islamic and democratic alike, will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. And Jesus shall reign forever and ever.
Muhammad and Jesus have nearly identical goals.
We see in Matthew 4 the first intimations of a challenge to the Lordship of Jesus. Satan promises Jesus the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship. Jesus refuses Him because He knows He shall have that world by conquest one day. Satan, and anyone trying for world power, is a usurper.
Call the roll of the power hungry of the earth. Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, Caesar, Hitler, Napoleon. Where are they now? And where is Jesus now? Quietly but powerfully gathering a people. And that people will reign with Him when he comes.
Muhammad's people seem to be on the rise, but we fear no change to the original plan. Jesus is the coming King. His goals will be met.
