A. DEFINITIONS
1. Muslim. Webster’s definition, “One who surrenders to God, i.e., Allah.”
2. Islam. Webster’s definition, root, “Submission to Allah.” (a) The religious faith of Muslims, including belief in Allah as the sole deity and in Mohammad as his prophet. (b) A civilization erected as Islamic faith.
3. Allah. Webster’s definition, “The supreme being for Muslims.” Not another name for the God of the Bible. From Arabic word that means, “God.”
4. Koran. Webster’s definition, “The book composed of writings accepted by Muslims as revelations made to Muhammed by Allah through the angel Gabriel.”
a. Not chronologically, but from longest to shortest suras.
b. Claims to be written in perfect Arabic.
c. Muhammed appealed to Old Testament and New Testament as the basis for his teaching.
d. The Koran must be perfect because it had to be.
e. Also spelled Quran.
B. WHAT SOME CLAIM ABOUT ISLAM
1. Islam is an additional revelation to Christianity.
2. The name Allah comes from the Christian name for God.
a. Hallelujah has the name Allah. No, it is only one word in Hebrew the JAH is Jehovah.
b. When Jesus said “Eli, Eli” on the cross, He was calling for Allah. No, He was calling for Elohim, i.e., God.
3. Islam is monotheistic; Christianity is monotheistic; so we must be the same or similar.
4. Arabs come from Ishmael, i.e., the son of Abraham by Hagar.
C. SIX MAJOR DIFFERENCES
1. Allah is NOT the God of the Old Testament or New Testament.
a. Jehovah God is knowable. Allah is unknowable; he is lofty, far off, and abstract.
b. Jehovah God is a Person with intellect, emotion, and will. Allah is not a person; it would lower him to the level of man.
c. Jehovah God is Spirit, (John 4:24). To make Allah a spirit is blasphemous because it degrades the Exalted One.
d. Jehovah God is Trinity, three persons but one God. The Koran states Allah is neither a father; Jesus is not the Son of God, and the Holy Ghost is not God.
e. Jehovah God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, but limited by His nature. Allah is not limited by anything. He can do anything, anytime, anyplace, anywhere; with no limitations.
f. Jehovah God is limited by His righteous (good, holy, love) nature. Allah is totally capricious (impulsive, without motive, and undirected).
g. Jehovah God is love (John 3:16; I John 4:16). Allah does not have feelings (toward man or anything) for that reduces him to a mere man.
h. Jehovah God has entered personal history. Allah does not personally enter history, but works through agents, i.e., the Koran, prophets, and angels.
i. Jehovah God is positive in nature/attributes. The Koran gives 99 attributes of Allah, all negative; telling what he is not.
j. Jehovah God is Redeemer, Savior, and Intercessor, i.e., the source of grace. Allah has no grace but only law.
2. The Koran is a human book.
a. Allah is not speaking; Mohammad is the speaker.
b. Parts not in Arabic.
c. 127 verses lost.
d. Shiites claim Uthman’s text left out 25% for political reasons.
e. Creation took eight days; one of Noah’s sons drowned in the flood, Abraham built the Kabah (holy place) in Mecca.
f. Written in cycles of history, not in linear time, i.e., chronology.
3. The “Deification” of 7th century Aragian culture.
a. Islam forces Arabian culture on everyone. Christianity respects culture, panta ta ethne.
b. Cultural imperialism.
4. The Islamic rule has power over secular authority.
a. Autocratic rule, not democratic.
b. No wall of separation between “church” and state.
5. The religion of Islam is weak on civil rights. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly. Christians in Islamic culture do not have these guarantees of freedom.
6. The rights of women are denied.
a. Must wear a veil.
b. “Banish them to their couches and beat them,” the Koran.
c. “Men are the guardians of women,” the Koran.
d. Cannot vote, cannot drive a car, cannot be educated, can be kept prisoner in their home.
D. PERSPECTIVE
1. Religious freedom. We have religious freedom, which is the right to criticize the Bible or the Koran. They do not.
2. Respect their integrity. We will never reach them with slurs, mockery, or personal attacks.
3. False religion. Islam is not based on the Bible.
4. Jesus is the only way to Heaven. “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6).
5. Lost. There is no salvation in Islam.
6. Intercession for them. “Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the Harvest” (Matt. 9:30).
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God. Please contact me at eltowns@liberty.edu and tell us about your salvation experience so that we can rejoice with you.
