What Do Muslims Believe And What Does The Bible Say?
There are many types of religion in the world. Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and many other attempts to connect with God. Many pray to many gods, and some have a single god. Islam is a monotheistic one-god religion. The god’s name is Allah and is not related to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Yahweh. Yahweh is the Almighty God of the Christians and the Jews. Jesus taught that in John 14:6 that He was the only way to have a relationship with God. Others compare Muslims, Jews and Christians as they all seem to have just one god. Universalists go so far as to try to connect Yahweh with Allah saying they are the same, but are they?
The Roots Of Islam
The roots of Islam go back to 570 AD when founder Mohammed was born in the isolated city of Mecca in the Arabian peninsula. Over 500 years after Jesus was born and changed the world. Many religions existed in the area including Christians and Jewish groups. Mohammed had a tragic beginning where he was raised by a nurse for the first three years of his life. As a young boy he fell into frequent trances that his nurse attributed to demonic possession. The book Islam, Religion of War or Peace? does an excellent job detailing the roots of the religion. The similarity to Joseph Smith and the Mormons and Islam is uncanny.
In the case of Islam, the religion is built on war and submission. There are various levels of commitment within those practicing Islam. Extreme Muslim’s call unbelievers infidels and those infidels who do not convert to Islam must die according to the teaching of the Muslim book called the Quran (Koran). The Quran is a collection of traditions saying and deeds of Mohammed. It is very hard to argue that Islam is a religion of peace. One Muslim website says,
“The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called ‘hypocrites’ and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.”
Islam in it’s purest form is violent, discriminatory, and controlling.
Treatment Of Women
In Acts chapter 2 the church that the Lord Jesus said He was founded was created by those who waited in that upper room for the power of the Holy Spirit to fall on them. The power fell on both women and men. This is a clear indication that God does not show partiality to people according to Acts 10:34 and James 2. Men and women are equal before God. However, from actual life we know men and women have clear differences in their strengths. There are just some things a man can’t do but a woman can. The reverse is the same. However, in Islam the woman becomes the property of the man. A woman who is raped in Islamic society must have 4 male witnesses to convict the man who raped her. If she does not have four male witnesses, she has just condemned herself of fornication (sexual relations outside of marriage).
In many Muslim societies women are not allowed to go outside the house without covering their head, and in some cases their whole bodies. The headscarf is called the Hijab and the full body covering is a called a Burqa. Some Muslim countries require the women to get permission from a man to leave the house. Despite being quite uncomfortable for western societies, mothers have to get permission from their sons, which is not only awkward but also different from what the Bible teaches in Ephesians 6:2 where children are commanded to honor and respect their parents not lord over them.
The Lord Jesus In The Devout Muslim’s Eyes
Islam sees Jesus as a famous teacher and considered the Lord Jesus a great prophet. A Christian may feel they have an understanding when a Muslim says Jesus was a great man or a prophet. To a Muslim who doesn’t know Jesus is just one of many great prophets who have lived in this world. However, Islam doesn’t recognize Jesus for whom He is, God incarnate. Nor does Islam recognize that Jesus taught He was the only way to a relationship with God in John 14:6 and that God sent Him into the world to save the world as we know from John 3:16.
Muslim Prayer
Islamic (or Muslim) prayer tends to be reciting or chanting of pre-defined sayings as one kneels on a rug facing a direction considered ‘holy’, the Saudi city of Mecca. The religion has originated from present day Saudi Arabia thereby based on the Arabic language and prayers are in that language. Many non-Arabic speakers also recite the pre-written prayers but do not know what they are saying. Allah is fierce, judgmental, and demanding. Prayer is a not personal relationship between God and redeemed man, but a requirement, 5 times a day, to be considered a good Muslim. In this aspect Islam praying is not much different from Buddhism or any other tradition of men (religion). Jesus teaches us how to pray telling us to address the Almighty God Yahweh, “Our Father, who is in Heaven” in Matthew 6:9-15. That prayer is not predefined by a guideline for a personal relationship with God. Nor is there a daily concept that we should forgive and be forgiven.
Prayer in any religion tends to focus on chanting or saying out predefined phrases. In Islam, many practitioners repeat Muslim ‘prayers’ in Arabic but don’t really know all that they are saying. Buddhism also chants prayers in many forms with some being unstable and others garbled. Christian prayer should be focused on the Father and a conversation.
Living With Others
Jesus recognizes that there are some that will follow the way of God and His Kingdom, and there are those who will reject. There are really only two groups, believers and unbelievers. Those who are not weekly regular members of the local church of Jesus Christ are questionable in their future. However, the Kingdom of Heaven is not a physical kingdom on the earth yet, it is more powerful. It is spiritual. Islam wants to creep into society and take it over. It’s not just a religion, it’s a political organization.
Islam is a way of life that attempts to rule both over followers and people who are not interested. Citizens of most Muslim countries are forced to conform whether they want to or not. Women have to wear head coverings in public and cannot be seen to control a man in any way. People are pushed to go towards the mosque for ‘prayers’ each week. Non-Muslims are not respected therefore it is difficult for a Christian or an unsaved person for that matter to really connect and build trust with a Muslim.
Quick Facts About Islam
- There is only one god named Allah
- Believers are required to visit Mecca, the birth city once in their lifetime
- Reciting of prayers facing Mecca five times of day is required
- Woman must submit to men and are not allow to make decisions in many Muslim countries
- Cannot usually peacefully coexist with other people groups that are not Muslim
- Has two main sects Sunni and Shia
- Animals such as beef, sheep, goats, are butchered in a certain way by approved people in a approval process called Halal. Only Halal approved meat is allowed to be eaten by the Muslim
- Halal butchering is very painful for the animal
- No pork may be eaten by a Muslim
- A female is required to wear a hajib at the age menstruation begins.
There is so much more to say about Islam. Views on angels, God, sex, life after death do not mix with both secular and Judeo-Christian societies. The majority of Islam is made up of moderate Muslims that are wonderful people. Many moderates are accepting of other peoples in multi-cultural societies. It is very different were a Islamic government controls the nation. In contrast to Christians who are required to love, seek peace, liberty, and good among man, extreme Muslims seek to oppress those who do not agree with them.
What Can We Do For Muslims?
You can see God’s view on religion here. We followers of Jesus must show Muslim that God is personal, He loves them, and He has given us all free will. Former Muslims always talk about how they were surprised that God wants to have a personal relationship with them and is a mean impersonal old man in Heaven. Islam is a very controlling religion and it takes prayer for people to get free. The power of God is greater than any religion and many times they need to see that God is active in our lives through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Show them how to receive Jesus here. Then get them baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Pray For Muslim Friends
Father, I pray for __________(name), please draw them by your Holy Spirit so that they can know the true salvation we have as humans through Jesus the Messiah. Convict their heart of their sin, and show them your love. Envelope them with your love so that they can know you personally. Father, in the Name of Jesus I pray that wherever they go, whatever they do, put Christians who know You and Your Word around them. Give them dreams and visions that reveal the truth that Jesus is the only way to you. Reveal yourself to them. Lord, I thank you for them and thank you for your love surrounding them to change them forever. Again, I thank you for this in the Mighty Name of Jesus the Anointed One, AMEN.
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