Islam

A big Religion

Some leaders have called it a “great” religion.  I would call it a big religion.

Islam was 1.6 billion adherents in 2012, with Christianity at 2.2 billion. 

A book by Joel Richardson on Islam from 2004 said it was growing 4 times faster than Christianity, and at present trends, half of all global births will be in Muslim families by 2055. 

The book says that prior to 2001, roughly 25,000 Americans converted to Islam yearly, but after 9/11, some claim this number has quadrupled. The book says nearly 80% of these were raised in Christian churches.

On the other hand, there are Muslims converting to Christianity around the world.  A recent claim, prior to Richardson’s book, that over 6 million Muslims in Africa converted to Christianity annually.

Muhammad

The origin of Islam, which is Arabic for “submission to God,” begins with Muhammad.

Muhammad was born in AD 570 in Mecca (in Saudi Arabia).  His parents died while he was young, and he was raised by a grandfather, and then uncle.   He led caravans for a wealthy woman who later married him.  

He like solitude, and being oppressed with questions and restlessness, he would spend time in the desert, where he would eventually receive revelations believed from God through the angel Gabriel.

He and begin to receive revelations in AD 610 and was to be conveyed to his fellow Meccans.  He was encouraged by his wife that he was called to be a prophet and apostle, terms actually from the Bible.

These revelations would make him to be Allah’s prophet of the one true god.

The messages asserted that God was one, and he was merciful and all-powerful, controlling the course of events.  On the last day he would judge all men according to their acts and assign them heaven or hell.  According to revelation, a generous use of wealth was expected.

Muhammad gained a number of followers, including some family members, but others did not, including the tribe he was raised in.     His messages were not all well received by the Meccan merchants who held to their old pagan beliefs.  The Arab religion was polytheistic.

He left Mecca and moved to Medina where Islam took shape in its practices. 

Jewish clans there rejected it, and were either expelled or killed.  His followers there were eventually called Muslims (Arabic for “one who submits”).

In AD 630, his following was strong enough take Mecca with his followers.  He treated his enemies generously and many would convert to the new religion.

Muhammad eventually took 16 wives and had 22 women—this was after his first wife died.  The Quran only allowed 4 wives, so Muslims deny he had this many wives, because he was holy, sinless.

He died in 632.  How is a little bit of a mystery.  There is an attempt to claim he was poisoned by a Jewish woman in revenge for his killing of unbelieving Jews.

The Quran is the name of Islam’s sacred book means “recite.”   Muhammad could not read, and had to have the revealed text dictated to him by the angel Gabriel.  Most is in the form of the word of Allah which Muhammad was to proclaim.

It is 114 chapters long, arranged from longest to shortest and titled by the prominent or reoccurring  word.

It is the foundation to religion, law, politics, and culture. 

It’s believed the revelation occurred over a 20 year period compiled after Muhammad’s death by order of his Father-in-Law, Abu Bakr, who would become the first “Caliph,” meaning “successor.”

When the final version was  accepted, previous versions were destroyed. 

There are collected sayings said to be of Muhammad not in the Koran, and these are called the traditions or the Hadith. 

If there was an alteration from one saying to another, such as changing the orders to pray towards Jerusalem to Mecca, it is because a verse can be officially cancelled by another that is better or equal.

The Arab people were polytheistic, with shrines of various gods and goddesses.  There was also a widespread belief in a high god or supreme being called “Allah.”

There is debate over exactly who “Allah” was, whether the moon-god or actually the Arabic name for supreme God.   The other gods were sometimes regarded as angels and could intercede with the supreme God.

Arabs were nomadic.  They believed more in human excellence than divine power, and were subject to time and fate.  Some of them had become Christians, and Jewish communities existed among them.

Islam was a new religion for the Arabs that adopted parts of their 7th century culture, along with parts of the Old Testament and eastern Christianity. 

Islam claims a corruption of the Bible by both Jews and Christians, called “people of the book,” in the Quran.

Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad, and is located in Saudi Arabia, and is the most holiest city of Islam.

Only Muslims are allowed in the city, with millions arriving for the annual Hajj (pilgrimage). Dating from the 7th century, the central Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque) surrounds the Kaaba, the cloth-covered cubic structure that’s Islam’s most sacred shrine, considered the house of Allah.  Muslims are to face the Kaaba when praying wherever they are

This shrine use to contain over 300 idols, but Muhammad removed these, except for the black stone, of unknown origins, believed to have the power to absorb sins.

Some like to emphasize that the Arabs are descendants of Ishmael, and the conflict between Jacob and Isaac has been going on ever since.

Yet Robert Morey asks, “If all Arabs of the Middle east are descendants of Abraham, whatever happened to all the Akkadians, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, etc. that lived before, during, and after Abraham?  

The claim to be descendants of Abraham  is a religious one.

Maybe the distinction should be between true Arabs and the large number of Muslims in Muslim countries.  Obviously, many if most Muslims are not true descendants of Ishmael.

The 5 Pillars of Islam which every Muslim is expected to follow are…

·        Shahadah: sincerely reciting the Muslim profession of faith.

·        Salat: performing ritual prayers in the proper way five times each day.

·        Zakat: paying an alms (or charity) tax to benefit the poor and the needy.

·        Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan.

·        Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca.

After Muhammad, the Caliph and Caliphate, being the successor and office of successor of Muhammad involved a difference of view on who was qualified.  This resulted in the Sunni and Shia.    

Sunni means “tradition,” and The Caliph should be the man best for the job, and after Muhammad, it was his father-in-law.   This person is considered fallible.  

Shia means “follower of Ali”, and believed the successor should be a descendant of Muhammad, which was Ali Talib, a cousin and son-in-law.

Islam’s advance  was "Through raids, sieges, and diplomacy, Mohammed and his followers allied with or subdued most of the tribes and cities of the Arabian Peninsula. 

They also sent out raiding parties against Arabic-speaking communities under Byzantine leadership.”

Muhammad and the later Caliphs found that keeping peace within the federation required an outlet for the energies of the tribesmen.  “They therefore organized raiding expeditions in the direction of Syria and Iraq.  The aim was to obtain booty, including domestic animals.” 

The Byzantine and Persian Empires had been at war for half a century and had become exhausted.  Muslims overcame their opposition, established forward base camps and expanded, occupying Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, and into Libya and Iran.  They expanded into North Africa, Spain and southern France. They were stopped in France by the army, led my Charles Martel in early 8^th century.  

The Muslim expeditions were dignified by the title “Jihad,” meaning “holy war,” but were raids to get booty. 

Conversion wasn’t required except from pagan Arabs.  Those conquer were protected minorities, but the didn’t like being second class citizens and would convert to Islam. This way Islam became dominate.  Islam also advance through contact with Muslim traders and local people being impressed by confidence and culture of the Muslim traders.

The Islamic Law, called the “Sharia,” (meaning “the way”) formed the basis of social structure.  It’s derived from the Quran and the example of Mohammed found in the writings of the “Hadith”—stories about his deeds and sayings.

 The Caliphate, which had its base in Damascus of Syria until 750, moved to Baghdad for the next 500 years.   

The Caliphate had limited control, especially in far-reach places.   The last Caliphate was the Ottoman Empire which was centered in Turkey, lasting 500 years from the mid 15^th century to the mid 20^th century. 

Their defeat in WW1 with the Allied forces being aided by Arabs in the Middle East (Lawrence of Arabia) resulted in the Middle East being divided up by the British and French.  The British had control of Palestine until the large number of Jews coming into the land created an uneasy peace, and so the Brits moved out.

Sunnis make up about 80-90 percent while Shia 10-20.   Iran and Syria are dominantly Shia.

Saudi Arabia and former Hussein’s Iraq and the rest are Sunni.

The radical groups like Hezbollah are Shia, but Hamas, Taliban and AL Qaeda and ISIS are Sunni. 

Shia have political power over Iraq, but the displaced people are Sunni, and the AL Qaeda have become ISIS.

Taliban means “student” (of a strict form of Islam) and was formed in response to the Afghan conflict involving driving out Russia and the new government’s aim to become socialist.

AL Qaeda (means “the base”—the training camp in Afghan) was started by Bin Laden after Russian soldiers left Afghanistan with the purpose of driving the “Crusaders” and the Jews from the Middle East.

Al-Qaeda declined and the Al-Qaeda in Iraq developed from the Sunnis who were marginalized and threatened by the Shiite government that controlled Iraq—which was Sunni under Hussein. 

After the death of their leader, it went in decline and the rise of ISIS took place.   Sunnis did work with American soldiers to stabilize the region, but after troops moved out, and the Shiite government of Iraq sought to disband these groups, Al-Qaeda in Iraq became ISIS.

“Al-Qaeda had been focused on liberating Muslim lands from Western Crusaders and Jews, but ISIS had greater Ambitions.

The goal was not only to overthrow the governments of Iraq and Syria but to replace them with the ideal Islamic state”  (from “The Isis Crisis”).

With regard to sin and forgiveness, it is believed that Allah weighs an individual's good deeds and against his or her sins, and on the Day of Judgement, he punishes those individuals whose evil deeds outweigh their good deeds.  

Regardless, Islam teaches that God is merciful and individuals can be forgiven of their sins if they repent.

Yet, Forgiveness is clearly  set forth as an act of Allah’s will.

Surah 5.9  “To those who believe and do deeds of righteousness Allah has promised forgiveness and a great reward.”

Surah 5.18, 40  “He forgives whom he pleases, and he punishes whom he pleases.”

So forgiveness is ultimately an act of Allah’s will, and there is no real certainty he will show mercy.

Believing that Jesus is deity or in the Trinity are unforgiveable sins.

Surah 5.72 and 73 warns of judgment on believing Christ is God or in believing in the Trinity.

Islam rejects what is essential to our faith, that Christ died for our sins.  

Surah 4.157 “hey did not kill him, nor crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them”

Hebrews 9.22: “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”

Hebrews 10:14:  “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”

29: “how much worse punishment…the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing…”

1 Corinthians 15.1-3:  “The gospel which I preached … Christ died for our sins…”

1 Peter 2.24:  “bore our sins in his own body on the tree”

2 Cor 5.21:  “He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us”

“In a packed baseball stadium a few days after 9/11, a Christian minister stood to pray.  The minister began:  ‘We pray in the name of God—the God of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam…’Ever since the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, politicians and celebrities had been presenting Islam as no different than Christianity, and God as no different than Allah. 

Are they right?”  (“Islam and Calvinism: An Uncomfortable Comparison,” By Phil Congdon, “Grace in Focus” magazine, March/ April 2017)

Islam’s monotheism has an insurmountable problem concerning the attributes and nature of God.

Scripture says that God is love:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:7-11

Love requires both the lover and the one loved.

In the Christian orthodox view of God, we have a tri-personal being: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Islam rejects this.

In the Qur’an

Surah 2:72  “They do blaspheme who say: ‘God is Christ the son of Mary.’”

Surah 2:73  “They do blaspheme who say:  God is one of three in a Trinity:  for there is no god except one God (Allah).”

Surah 2:75  “Christ the son of Mary was no more than a Messenger.”

Islam views God as a solidarity.  He is alone.  In Trinitarian Christianity, God is a tri-personal being.  In Islam, there is no one for Allah to be in love with or to be relational, outside of creation.

Islamic theology seeks to solve this problem by saying the nature and attributes of Allah can not be known, only his absolute power and will. Any characteristics or attributes revealed in the Quran are acts of his will.  He so transcends creation that nothing can be known about him but his will.

Arne Rudvin: "Revelation in Islam deals with the will of Allah and not Allah himself."  (BibSac Journ. April-June 2004, The Predicament of Islamic Monotheism, Imad Shehadeh)

Al-Faruqi says God does not reveal himself but only his will.  "God does not reveal himself to anyone.  Christians talk about the revelation of God himself-by God of God--but that is the great difference between Christianity and Islam.  God is transcendent [beyond comprehension], and once you talk about self-revelation you have hierophancy [revealing sacred mysteries] and immanence [within the limit of possible knowledge] and then the transcendence of God is compromised.  You may not have complete transcendence and self-revelation at the same time." (BibSac, same article above)

Abduh:  "None of his deeds proceed from him of necessity as he essentially is.  All attributes of His acts, creation, provision, granting and forbidding, chastisement and beneficence, are affirmed of Him by special option of power."   (BibSac, same article above)

Yet his nature can not be one of love, even with this clever theological argument, because love requires both the lover and the one loved.

Allah is said to be merciful, but this is an act of will--one cannot know his nature by this. 

We cannot know things about God that are not revealed to us, but Scripture has revealed to us certain things about who God is.  Also, the incarnation had as one purpose being to reveal to us the character of God.  Jesus said by seeing him we saw the father, in His person or character.

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father."  John 14.7-9

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,   has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;   who being the brightness of His glory [perfect reflection of majesty] and the express image [character] of His person [nature]...” Hebrews 1:1-3a

Jesus was the manifestation of God’s character and person, and by him God’s love, as is his nature, was demonstrated, through dying for our sins:  “But God  demonstrates  His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Believers are said to be like their Father in heaven when they love their enemies:  "But I say to you, love your  enemies , bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,  that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:44-45

Islam's God  does not have to be bound to anything.  He is absolute power and will. 

Islam would assign all characteristics to God according to the Quran as Anthropomorphisms, being the attribution of human traits, emotions, and intentions.  

The attributes of God in the Quran reveal that God is able to do everything and anything he wishes.

The Quran gives no explanation for God's commands or decrees other than that they are his wish.  What is good is determined by his fiat rather than his character.

Allah by will chooses who to forgive or not to forgive, as he wishes. 

Surah 5.40 "He punishes who he pleases and forgives who he pleases."

Surah 2:284 "He forgives whom he pleases and punishes whom he pleases"

Al-Razi: " It is possible according to our religion that God may send blasphemers to paradise and the righteous and worshipers to eternal fire, because ownership belongs to Him and no one can stop him!"  (BibSac, same article above)

Sayyid Qutub specifies God's absolute freedom for those actions so that He is bound by no law or promise: "Every time the Quran states a definite promise or constant law, it follows it with a statement implying that the Divine will is free of all limitations and restrictions, even those based on a promise from Allah or a law of His.  For his will is absolute beyond any promise or law."  (BibSac, same article above)

The God of Christianity is bound to his integrity and his word.  God cannot lie.  If God could choose to lie, if he did, it would destroy his integrity, and everything changes. 

Scripture says he can't lie.  Of course we are only human, and if God went back on his word, and eternal life was no more, we would know nothing, for we would no longer exist.

However, Scripture says He can not lie, and he promises eternal life.

“Paul…in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time…” Titus 1.1-2

“Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:17

Though Islam speaks of God as having benevolent attributes, because these attributes are subject to his will, they only describe what is possible and not actual...described as merciful and compassionate is what he can do but not what he is.  His character is subject to his will.

Macdonald concludes "It is next to impossible for us to conceive of a character that is reduced to will as its one characteristic, but that is all there is in Allah." (BibSac, same article as above)

The biblical portrait of God differs from the quranic portrait.  In the Bible God's attributes are an expression of his unchanging nature and not arbitrary will.  Therefore the actions and promises of God are never contrary to his character.  He always acts consistently with what He is like.