What Jesus Would Say About Islam
USATODAY – dateline, Aurora, Colorado:
[begin quote]
“…Mcdad Soleyman sits in his living room, quietly cataloging a week of fear and tension. There was gunfire Saturday night outside his house…His wife is afraid to go out on errands or take her daily walk in a public park. Her cousin, wearing a head scarf, was accosted in the supermarket check-out line last week by an angry man who asked: “are you a Muslim? You all are going to burn in hell.”
Like every other American, Soleyman says he was horrified by the terrorist attacks last week in New York and Washington…”No religion would tolerate that.”
But as a devout Muslim and an Arab-American of Palestinian birth, he knew on Sept. 11 that his family’s life of relative calm was over for not, if not forever.
…Last weekend, the taunting and slurs, vandalism, shootings, fire bombings and other strikes at mosques, businesses and individuals turned deadly.
Mistaken for an Arab or Muslim with his turban and beard, Sikh gas station operator Balbir Sing, 49, from India was shot dead Saturday in …Phoenix. That night, Pakistani Muslim grocer Wager Hasan, 46, was show to death in Dallas. The same day, Egyptian-born grocer Adel Karas, 48, A Christian, was killed at his San Gabriel, Calif. market after an argument.
The FBI is examining all three as likely hate crimes, They are among at least 40 cases under investigation since the catastrophe. [end quote]
We’ve learned a new vocabulary in recent days: Islam, Allah, jihad, Taliban, Mohammad. For most Americans those were all distant, irrelevant words, but now they seem somehow important to all of us.
We battle with issues of tolerance in a pluralistic society - all the while believing what the Bibles stays about sin, separation from God and the fact that when we stand before God the first question we will be accountable for will be, “What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ?”
How would Jesus speak to a Muslim? What would Jesus say about the religion of Islam?
The Islamic religion was founded about 600 years after the birth of Jesus Christ by Muhammad. What we know from history is that Muhammad established the first Muslim community in a town called Medina in what is now Saudi Arabia.
Both terms: Islam and Muslim imply “submission” – one who is wholly surrendered to the will of Allah (their word for God). As with most of this world’s religions Islam consists in belief and practice.
The basics of Islam say:
(1) Allah is unique, all powerful and all merciful to all Muslims (those who surrender to His will)
a. There is but one Allah -
(2) There are good angels and evil spirits
(3) There are many sacred or “Revealed Books” but the four greatest are the Law of Moses , the Psalms, the Gospel of Jesus and the Quran of Muhammad.
(4) There were many prophets – including Moses and Jesus, but Muhammad was the last.
(5) Islam teaches both a resurrection and what we would refer to as hell
The basic Muslim practices are
(1) The “witness” “there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”
(2) Ritual prayers (six times a day)
(3) The paying of alms (offerings)
(4) The fast of Ramadan
(5) At least one pilgrimage to Mecca in one’s lifetime.
(6) And Jihad – (individual efforts to serve Allah or engage in war against the enemies of Islam)
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today (there’s over 1.2 billion Muslims in the world) In fact over 100 million Muslims live in India alone where they co-exist with the majority Hindu population..
Islam is the second largest religion in Europe and has challenged Judaism as the second largest religion in America.
There are Muslim missionaries around the world and tens of millions of dollars are spent every year supporting missionaries and building mosques around the world.
A Muslim leader has been asked in the past to inaugurate a session of the US Senate praying in the name of Allah.
There are also different types or groups within Islam.
Sunni Muslims – consider themselves the orthodox Muslims
Shiite Muslims define their basic teachings differently than the orthodox
Sufi Muslims gather themselves in brotherhoods and emphasis more matters of emotion and the heart.
The Nation of Islam in America is actually a mixture of Islam/Judaism/Christianity as well as the occult and racial teachings.
That’s a short report on what Islam is, but what would Jesus say about Islam?
If Jesus were sitting across the table from a Muslim, what would He say?
First, I can tell you what He would probably say to Christians who must deal with Muslims or those of any other religion:
He said it this way to His disciples: “The world’s sin is unbelief in me.” (John 16:9) The issue is not how people dress, it’s not how people pray, when they feast or fast, or even if they believe in jihad. The issue is belief in Him.
“What did you do with Jesus Christ?” So let’s keep that the focus! People need to understand who Jesus Christ really is. How who He is and what He has done can change not only our lives – but our eternity.
Next, Jesus would remind us that ultimately the way we share who He is - is through love. When we treat others in a God honoring way – in spite of how they treat us as individuals – they will see Jesus.
Jesus Christ never spoke of “national security”, but He did say that in the end times there would be wars. Whether faced with Romans soldiers or Samaritan outcasts Jesus showed love and compassion as He brought people to Himself.
He challenged the religious leaders – .
He redefined who our neighbors should be. Some of His final words to His disciples were “love each other”.
With that said – there is no room in a genuine Christian’s heart or lifestyle for hatred toward anyone – especially someone of another religion. True love will act like Jesus. He spoke the truth – but always in love. He did not strike out at those who despised Him. He showed them sacrificial love.
You may be here this morning and the hurt of these past few weeks has begun to manifest itself as hate toward anyone who even looks Islamic. Remember carefully that the One we serve lived His earthly life in the “Middle East”. I’m afraid if Jesus walked down one of our streets today He might be the victim of a hate crime as well. (Of course how would we describe the cross?)
The main issue is what will you do with Jesus?
The only valid way to share that message is through God honoring love.
But what would Jesus say to Muslims? As I prepared for this portion of the message I came to a startling conclusion:
Jesus would say to Muslims exactly what He would say to you and me. He would say the same things to a Muslim, Baptist, Catholic, Buddhist, Methodist – it would make little difference…
He would say…
(1) It’s a good thing to believe in God, but it’s not enough.
The cry of every sincere Muslim “there is no God but Allah” is not much different from the confession of every Jew or Christian “Our God is one God” – but is simply believing in God enough?
The Apostle James said it this way… 19You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. James 2:19 (NASB)
I believe that Jesus would tell each of us today what he told the woman at the well in John chapter four (vs.24) 24“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
But worship must be true worship. Psalm 160 says, “Thy word is true”. Jesus said, “I am …the truth”. He called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth.
I’ve met a lot of people who assumed because they simply “believed in a God” that was enough.
Jesus would tell each of us that acknowledgement and genuine faith and trust – are two different issues. Believing in God is not enough – it is an issue of trusting faith.
Second, I believe Jesus would say to a Muslim is exactly what He would say to you and to me…
(2) It’s good that you pray…but when you pray, let’s talk.
Jesus warned His followers: (Matthew 6:7-9) When you pray, don’t just repeat yourself as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven,
As I studied this week I found that Muslims are no different than many of us as we pray.
a. Many assume that prayer is simply a duty. Once a day or six times a day, so many times we bow our heads at meals or before we sleep and pray out of habit.
But God doesn’t want habit, He wants relationship. He is our Heavenly Father who wants to hear from His children.
b. Every devout Muslim will wash before His prayers. This ceremonial washing is intended to purify the pray-er before they come before a Holy God. However far more important than clean body parts is a clean heart.
To truly draw near to God we must be pure and the Bible tell us that the only way to be pure before God is through accepting the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7)
How many times have I talked to people who assume that their outward acts were enough to be accepted by God. “I’m good enough” “I’m clean on the outside”.
Jesus would tell us that prayer is about relationship and the only way to have that relationship is to allow Him to clean up our “inside”, our heart, our soul.
c. I think Jesus would challenge our attitude about prayer. The typical attitude of prayer for a Muslim is an attitude of fear, and attitude of a fearful slave before a wrathful master. Before you react too quickly though, how many times have you gone before God aware of your sin and assumed He was mad at you?
Though we are to approach God with a holy reverence – His Word tells us that we can come before Him with boldness. And though God will punish sin – His ultimate desire is for us to confess our sin, be cleansed of our sin.
One other thing – it is far too easy to bow on the outside and refuse to bow on the inside through true obedience and submission to God’s will for your life.
If Jesus were talking to a Muslim today – He would say the same thing that He would say to us – It’s good to pray, but when you pray you must come before God with a clean and forgiven heart. Prayer should be more than duty or repetition – it should be relationship.
Finally, I believe if Jesus were talking to a Muslim this morning He would share with him the same thing He wants you and me to understand about eternity –
(3) You can know for sure that you are forgiven. You can be assured of a heaven inhabited by God Himself
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7If you had known who I am, then you would have known who my Father is. From now on you know him and have seen him!” (John 14:6-7)
My heart broke as I began to understand what the typical Muslim understands about heaven. An Islamic paradise (heaven) is a place where all fleshly appetites are fulfilled.
Beyond just the issue of what heaven is, there is an even greater worry: no one can really know if they are going to paradise or not.
Like many others I have met – they believe that ultimately they will either make it to heaven or not based on either their good works outweighing their bad deeds or maybe God will simply decide to let them in.
But for a Muslim there is no way of knowing until the final judgment.
Maybe you are here this morning worrying about the same thing. You’re just not sure what heaven is and even less sure of whether you will ever get there.
Contrary to what many believe, the Bible teaches that heaven is more than just a “happy place” – Heaven is where God is! Heaven is where every true believer will spend eternity with Jesus.
And how to get there…?
It’s not anything we can do! It’s already been done!
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
“He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit”(Titus 3:5
Jesus would tell each one of us that He is the way to heaven and heaven is a place where He is!
There is a way to know this morning exactly where you will spend eternity. That way is Jesus.
Simply by giving yourself to Him, accepting His death and resurrection and the payment for your sin debt and allowing Him to be the Lord of your life – you can know for sure that heaven is your destiny and Jesus is your Savior!
What would Jesus say to a Muslim this morning – the exact same thing He would say to each of us
– God is a God who loves us – enough to come to this earth and take on a human form – Jesus.
– God wants to have a personal relationship with each of us through Jesus Christ
– God wants us to spend eternity with Him in His heaven – but the only way there is through Jesus.
This morning it’s really not about what Jesus wants to say to the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Baptists or whoever – it’s what He wants to say to you!
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