MIRAGE
The Love Language of Islam
By: David Ibrahim
CHAPTER SIX
Which Abrahamic Faith?
It is disconcerting that the Yale Response appears to endorse the construct of “Abrahamic Faith.” The term “religion of Abraham” is a Quranic expression, which stands for the doctrine that Abraham and all the prophets were true Muslims, and not Christians or Jews. Despite its use in many recent interfaith discussions, this term stands in opposition to Christianity, not in harmony or cooperation with it.
Sura 2:135 of the Quran states:
They say: Become Jews or Christians if ye would be guided (To Salvation).
Say thou: ‘Nay! (I would rather) the Religion of Abraham the True [i.e. Islam], and he
joined not gods with Allah.
Sura 3:67 of the Quran states:
Abraham was no a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was a Muslim, and bowed his will to
Allah’s (which is Islam), and he joined not with Allah.
Muslims believe that Muhammad is the true descendent of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, and that they are the true believers in the true god (Allah).
By the way, it was written at a time that was long before:
· America scarcely knew where the Middle East was.
· The Muslim had acquired the oil wealth that now funds Jihad.
· The Muslims were allowed to settle within the infidel lands.
· The rebirth of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948.
“For us there are only believers and unbelievers.” The division of the world, according to the Muslim view is between believers and unbelievers (infidels).
Islamic beliefs and teachings have not changed since its origin. Muslims claim that Islam is based on an absolute text-the Quran, which cannot change or be changed. The world of Allah (according to Islam) is supreme, and does not change.
Now, stunningly, the Muslims, it seems are coming to the West with a new Quran, with a milder and more serene translation! Has the Quran changed? Or is this simply a new strategy of deception?
In the Preamble of “Loving God and neighbor Together,” it states
“A Common Word between us and you identifies some core common ground between Christianity and Islam that lies at the heart of our respective faiths as well as at the heart of the most ancient Abrahamic faith, Judaism.”
Here are two clues that will help you in your search for “some core common ground between Christianity and Islam”:
· It “lies at the heart of our respective faiths.”
· It also lies “at the heart of the most ancient Abrahamic faith, Judaism.”
The Islamic Faith
Islamic teachings from the Quran and Hadiths (the sayings of Muhammad) are the foundation of “The Islamic Faith.” To a Muslim, it is the total surrender to Allah and his prophet Muhammad. This entails the performing of The Five Pillars of Islam, which are the core beliefs of a Muslim’s faith (Shahada, prayer (salat), fasting (Sawm) Ramadam, Giving Alms (zakat), and The Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). Islam influences how one dresses, what one eats, who one talks to, how one thinks, who one marries, etc. These Five Pillars of Islam shapes the Muslims thought, deed, and entire life. It constitutes their whole society.
A complete change of identity takes place for a non-Muslim who converts to Islam. He or she is given a new Islamic name. The person’s old and new names will appear in the local newspaper, along with a statement that this person is now a Muslim. This is like an “official documentation” of the person’s conversion. Later, if he or she reverts back to a former belief or leaves Islam, this “official documentation” is then used to verify that person’s conversion, and his or her name is then placed on a list, which could lead to the person’s death.
The Five Pillars of Islam (Page 84)
The Five Pillars of Islam/Five Primary Duties all devout Muslims do to please Allah. It’s to make them a better person. You have to be committed in performing these acts and if you are you have a good chance to make it to Jannah (Paradise).
The Muslim’s Five Primary Duties Are:
1. Creedial Recitation:
If you are a true devout Muslim, you are to daily recite the Muslim creed – Shahadah (Literally “to bear Witness”) which states, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.” As a worshipper there are six conditions that must be met: “(1) they must repeat the creed aloud, (2) they must understand it perfectly, (3) they must believe it in their hearts, (4) they must profess it until they die, (5) they must recite it correctly, and (6) they must profess and declare it without hesitation.”
2. Prayers:
If you are a true devout Muslim, you must pray (Salat) five times a day: at dawn, noon, afternoon, evening, and night. The prayers are said in Arabic and certain words and a series of postures are required (standing, kneeling, hands and face on the ground, etc.) and all this is done while facing Mecca, the holy city for Muslims. They are also required to wash themselves (hands, face, and feet) in a certain way, (Ablution or wudu).
Prayer (Salat) – The various names of the prayers are Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha. The Maghrib prayer is the sunset prayers. Isha is the prayer that is said after sunset. There is also a prayer that is said right after Fajr known as Shurooq.
3. Giving Alms:
If you are a true, devout Muslim, you are to give alms (zakat) to the Muslim community which is one-fortieth (2.5) percent of your income. Zakat (“to be pure”) signifies the purifying of one’s soul. This offering is used to help widows, orphans, the sick and it can also go to further Islam (build mosques and religious schools.). This act in giving is seen as an extremely meritorious act in Islam (see Suras 24:56; 57:18). The Muslim knows that all things ultimately belong to Allah and we are just in charge while here on earth for a short period of time. If you withhold alms, Allah withholds his blessings (Hadith 2:515). You can also nullify salvation by withholding alms (Hadith 2:486). Muhammed said society is like a body with many parts and if one part of a society suffers the whole society suffers. Alms given prevents that from happening because the part of society that is suffering the alms is given in that area to make the society whole again.
4. Ramadan:
If you are a true devout Muslim you will fast during the month of Ramadan which is the ninth month of the Muslim lunar year. They stay away from food, drink, smoking, and sexual relations during the daytime. They fast to purify their body and soul and increase their self-awareness. Their sins are also forgiven during this time. “Muslim tradition affirms ‘Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah’s rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven’” (Hadith 1:37).
Ramadan (continued):
Muslims believe Muhammad received the initial revelation of the Quran when he fasted during the month of Ramadan and to honor him they too fast during this month. The fast begins with the blast of a siren or perhaps the beating of a drum.
Kaffara – reparation, penance [deliberately breaking the fast which carries a penalty of having to “fast sixty days, to feed sixty people the equivalent of one meal each, or to give charity equal to a meal to sixty people.”
5. The Pilgrimage To Mecca:
If you are a true devout Muslim, you have to travel to Mecca at least once in your life time (Hajj). This is a meritorious act that enhances your chance for salvation. This pilgrimage to Mecca cleanses the soul and wipes away sin. Through this entire journey, Muslims repeatedly recite the talbiya. As they make their way to the holy precincts of Mecca, they travel through gates/checkpoints – migats – beyond where non-Muslims cannot venture, they are not allowed to enter. In entering the sacred mosque in Mecca, they recite verses from the Quran, especially Sura 17:80-81.
Say: “O my Lord! Let my entry be by the Gate of Truth and Honor, and likewise my exit by the Gate of Truth and Honor; and grant me from Thy Presence an authority to aid (me).” And say: “Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.”
Once in Mecca the Muslim starts at the Black Stone – 12 inches in diameter which is embedded at the southeast corner of the Ka’ba (religious shrine), and then they run around the building seven times, three times fast and four times slow, counter clockwise. This event is known as tarwaf. Each time around the building you are to kiss the black stone and doing this ritual yields a blessing from heaven.
Muslims believe this black stone fell from heaven in the days of Adam. They also believe it is the site of God’s covenant with Abraham and Ishmael. They are all dressed the same way, in white, (ibram). There is no status during this pilgrimage.
THE MUSLIM HOPE
“All Muslims are acutely aware, however, that even if they faithfully perform these duties, they still do not have an assurance of going to paradise at death. They can only hope.”
The Islamic Creed/The Shahada
The Shahada is the “open confession” of the Islamic “believers,” the followers of Muhammad.
Here are two examples and explanations of “The Shahada.” They are taken from two different conservative sources:
1. “La ilaha il Allah, Muhammad – ur – Rasool – Allah” (Kalama)
This means:
“None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger
[Prophet] of Allah.” -This is a confession with your heart, saying: “I testify that none
has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone.”
Believing “Muhammad-ur-Rasool-Allah” (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah)” is a confession with your heart, saying: “O Allah! I testify that Muhammad is your Messenger.” That means that none has the right to be followers after Allah, except the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, as he is the last of Allah’s Messengers.
The Islamic Creed/The Shahada (continued)
2. “Ash-Hadu Anla Elaha Llla-Allah Wa Ash-Hadu Anna Mohammadan Rasul-Allah.
The English translation is:
I bear witness that there is no deity (none truly to be worshipped) but Allah, and I
Bear witness that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah.”
The Shahada is the Islamic proclamation that:
“There is not true God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” – It
Means that all his rules and laws found in the Quran are to be followed. It means that
The Christian doctrine of God as a Trinity is false as are all other belief systems including
Pantheism. It was through Muhammad that Allah conveyed the last and final revelation.
The Nicene Creed (Page 86)
The Apostles’ Creed (as usually recited today) (Pages 86-87)
Isaac of the Bible or Ishmael of the Quran (Pages 87-89)
Christianity and Islam differ strongly about who inherited the blessings from Abraham. The Bible clearly says that Isaac was the chosen one because God promised Abraham a son from Sarah (Genesis 17:15-21), while Ishmael was born from Hagar, the maid-servant of Sarah (Genesis 25:12). So, in many ways, the current conflict between Israel and the Muslim nations is the continuation of a conflict, which began 4000 years ago, two families competing for the blessing of Abraham.
Isaac was the “son of promise” and the “son of faith,” whereas Hagar’s son Ishmael was the “son of unbelief” and the “son of human effect.”
The Islamic Traditional Beliefs About Ishmael’s Life: (Pages 87-88)
Isaac, The Other Son of Abraham: (Pages 88-89)
The Muslims believed that Muhammad came from the lineage of Ishmael. The scattered Ishmaelites (a tribe) from Havilah to Shur intermarried with the first two tribes over the years and eventually the descendents of the three tribes dominated other tribes in all of the Middle East. This is how the Arab race came into existence.
As the descendents of Ishmael multiplied, they carried jealously of Isaac’s seed with them from generation to generation. The ultimate goal of Islam seems to be the subject of Abraham’s blessing rather than being outside of it. The Quran speaks of the promised blessing, but it takes away the blessing of Isaac and Jacob. In Islam’s interpretation of God’s plan, Ishmael takes on the role of the son of promise.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Pages 89-92)
Here we need to underscore an interesting and profound fact!
Jesus (who, according to the Quran, is one of the greatest prophets)spoke the following phrase, which is recorded in the three synoptic gospels:
“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the god of Jacob”…(Matthew 22:36; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37)
Jesus did not say:
“The god of Abraham, the God of Ishmael, and the God of ‘whoever’ Ishmael’s son was!”
It is important to understand The God of Islam, Allah.
“Allah” is the standard Arabic word for God. Allah is the only one and only deity in all existence (Quran 5:73; 112:1-4). He is supreme, all knowing (Quran 30:20), ever present, different from all of creation (Quran 3:191), and in complete control of all things. Allah created the universe in six days (Quran 2:29; 25:61-62) and all that is in it continues to exist by his permission and will. Allah is non-Trinitarian (Quran 5:73), absolute and eternal. To say that God is a Trinity of person is an unforgivable sin to a Muslim.
Hanif’s - native pre-Islamic Arab monotheists
To a Muslim, it is blasphemous to say that the God of the Bible is one God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is not three gods but one God. The Quran says in Surah 5:73: They do blaspheme who say God is one of three…for there is no Allah except one Allah.
Allah is unknowable and transcendent, so exalted that no human can ever personally know him. Because he is impersonal and no man can understand his attributes it would lower him, as Supreme Being, to care because he is a distant god. In Islam it is demeaning to say that Allah is spirit as in John 4:24 (NIV) – “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth”. According to Titus 1:2, “God cannot lie” and never contradicts His divine nature (2 Timothy 2:13), this shows that God is limited in a moral aspect, while in Islam Allah is not limited by his nature and can do anything. Allah is totally capricious and untrustworthy. He is not bound by his nature or his word. Surah 8:30 says, “They plot and plan, and Allah, too plans, but the best of planners (deceivers) is Allah.
Islam claims that Allah is the same God who was revealed in the Bible. The God of the Quran and the God of the Bible have totally different characteristics and significance. The historical background concerning the origin and meaning of Allah reveals that Allah cannot be the God of the Christian faith. The Love of God and the fact that God is Love (1 John 4:8; John 3:16) cannot be found in any of the 6,346 verses of the Quran! The matter of God’s love is a major component of our Christian faith. The Bible teaches that God has deep feelings and care for His creatures, especially man. He has created man for a relationship of intimate fellowship. While Allah described as the “beneficent” and “merciful” one, he shows no desire for “relationship” and has not deep feelings or care for his followers. Muslims believe that Allah does not need or require his people’s love. The true God’s love for His people and their love for Him are very foreign ideas to Muslims.
God from the very beginning showed His love to all the humanity with everlasting, true and unconditional love.
Though man has been disobedient, rebellious and disloyal but it was the love of God that forced Him to take a human form and fulfill the gap between the God and man.
Jesus Christ is “the way” because of all mankind, only He unblemished by sin, has intimate knowledge of God.
Jesus not only is equal to and reflects God’s love, but He also reveals God to us because He is God. He is completely holy and has authority to judge the world.
Allah’s Way of: The forgiveness of Sins, Being Reconciled, Obtaining Salvation, Entering Paradise
In order to attain salvation it is based on personal “righteousness” and “merit”. One has to continue to do go works, and if Allah is pleased, maybe he might let you into paradise. [There is no concept of grace and salvation; neither is there security in or assurance of salvation. Salvation ids achieved only through submission to the teachings of Allah.
Islam rejects the doctrine of original sin – From the Quran we learn that Adam and Eve sinned, but they repented. And God Almighty accepted the repentance in his mercy and His grace.
Islam also rejects the redemptive work of Christ’s death on the Cross – “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.” (Hebrew 9:22).
Islam declares that the forgiveness of sin cannot be obtained by the suffering and sacrifice of any other person, human or divine. It can only come by the grace and mercy of Allah which depends on “if Allah wills it!”
How tragic it is that Islam knows nothing of the wonderful reality of the true reconciliation of God in and by means of Jesus Christ!
Muslims are never sure if they are “in good standing” with their god Allah. Even Muhammad was not sure of his own salvation. How could Muslims have any real sense of security when the one who gave them their faith (or as the Muslim says, restored the truth to them) was himself uncertain about his own salvation?
Muhammad was like other men (he did not know the unseen), but as a prophet he knew and followed everything revealed to him by Allah. The unique greatness and nobleness of the prophet lies in the fact that he never tried to put himself before the people as a superhuman.
Christianity’s View (Pages 94-95)
You will be able to see more and more of the many differences between Islam and Christianity as you read the following few verses from the Bible: (John 3:16; Isaiah 53:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; John 10:10; John 5:24; John 6:47; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 John 5:13).
Islam has no Savior and Islam teaches that Jesus Christ was neither crucified nor resurrected; therefore salvation cannot possibly be had through faith in Jesus Christ.
Islam rejects the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. One reason for this is the view that man is basically good; thus, if men are not unredeemed sinners, they do not need a savior from sin, just good works, abstention from wickedness, and Allah’s favor. Islam considers Jesus Christ one of Allah’s prophets and it is unthinkable that God would permit one of his prophets to be crucified.
The Yale Center of Faith and Culture Reconciliation Program’s View
“God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. – New Testament, 2 Corinthians 5:19
How come the words “In Christ” be missed so easily?
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NIV)
18) All this from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19) that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
How, as Christians, can we leave “Christ” out?
Contrasting The Man, Christ Jesus with the man, Muhammad (Pages 97-98)
A Messianic prophecy written by Isaiah the prophet hundreds of years before HE came tells of HIS ministry. It is a description of what would happen to HIM and what HE would do. Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Almighty, wrote of The One who came in the person of Jesus Christ! (Isaiah 61:1-27).
When Jesus began HIS ministry, HE took the scroll of Isaiah and read those very words, which were written of HIM. This account was later recorded in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 4:18-19).
Contrasting The Man, Christ Jesus with the man, Muhammad (continued) (Pages 97-98)
Jesus healed the sick, made the blind to see and the lame walk! HE raised the dead and miraculously feed thousands! HE walked on water and calmed the storm! Jesus commanded us to love our enemies! HE cleared the way and opened the door to the acceptable year of the LORD, the day of forgiveness, reconciliation and salvation! This was proof that HE was THE MESSIAH!
Differences Between Islam and Christianity (Pages 98-99)
Islam is not at all similar to Christianity!
Islam is a religion of hatred, total control of one’s life, discrimination of woman’s rights, and slavery based upon deception. Christianity is a relationship of love with God, based upon truth. Christians and Muslims do not have the same Abrahamic faith!
As light and darkness cannot co-exist, so the teachings of the Bible and Jesus Christ cannot be overlapped, integrated, or mingled with the false teachings of the Quran and the Hadiths.
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