What Muslims Believe
Islam has been called the most Christian-like,
yet most anti-Christian religion in the world.
Muslims believe in one, true God, they
acknowledge many truths about Jesus Christ; they accept the Bible as a
divinely inspired book; they respect the Hebrew prophets; they believe
in divine revelation, heaven and hell, and many other truths which
correspond with Christianity.
Yet a close look at the whole religious system
of Islam confirms that Muslims are, in fact, lost and need to be
brought to the Truth. There are possibly more bridges between Islam
and Christianity than any other two world religions, but a close
examination reveals that these bridges are actually roadblocks which
hinder Muslims from a clear understanding of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Belief in One God
Muslims believe in one God Who created the
universe. However, the God of Islam is far removed. He is separate,
aloof and impersonal. Islam offers no father-child relationship with
the Almighty. Submission to Allah implies a blind surrender of a
helpless slave to the tyranny of a ruthless despot.
There is a great gap between Allah, Islam's
unpredictable, arbitrary God, and the dependable, faithful God of
Christianity whose promises never fail to the end. Muslims deserve to
hear that God loves them, that He seeks them through Jesus the Savior,
that He wants to adopt them as children and take them to be with Him
forever. This is the good news.
The Nature of Man
This is the greatest point of difference between
Christianity and Islam. Muslims are taught that although man is weak,
he is intrinsically good. What a Christian calls a sin, a Muslim calls
a "mistake." The good and bad things that man brings about
are not due to man's sinful nature according to Islam. Rather, man is
an innocent victim of circumstance within a universal battle between
good and evil.
Unless Muslims realize that no one is
"basically good," they can never be saved. Bridging the gap
is impossible unless a Muslim realizes that he possesses a sinful
nature and can only be liberated from his slavery to sin if he accepts
Jesus' victory on the cross.
Atonement
Since in Islamic belief, man is basically good
and not evil, it follows that man does not really need a Savior.
Therefore the death of Jesus is not only misunderstood but rejected as
unnecessary. It depicts the Almighty Allah as weak and incapable of
protecting His "prophet."
Muslims can be brought to God only after they
realize their need for atonement based on their inability to save
themselves and the conviction that Jesus is the only redeemer.
Jesus Christ - a Prophet?
All Muslims believe that Jesus is a prophet of
God sent from heaven. The Qur'an speaks of Jesus as the "Word of
God and Spirit from Him." Muslims believe in many of the other
facts about Jesus that the Bible teaches. This is a good starting
point, but in fact, the Islamic acceptance of Jesus is a great
stumbling block.
What good is it to accept Jesus as a prophet, if
His claim to be the Savior of the world is rejected? If Jesus claimed
to be God and was not, then he must have either been crazy or had evil
intentions. A Muslim is not likely to see Jesus in the true light
until he becomes aware of this erroneous and contradictory idea, and
transforms his convictions regarding Jesus.
Acceptance of the Bible
The Qur'an makes numerous references to the Old
and New Testaments of the Bible. The Bible is considered by Muslims to
be divinely inspired. Nevertheless, Islamic teaching rejects many of
the claims of the Bible claiming that the original manuscripts are
missing and that the Bible has been corrupted. The Qur'an is
considered to be the ultimate authority which outshines the Bible.
This belief is a major obstacle in communicating
the Truth to Muslims. The Bible is considered to be God's word,
however, any point that diverges from the teaching of Islam is
automatically considered to be a corruption. No Muslim can come to
know God until he accepts the Bible as God's true Word.
Salvation
The very concept of salvation is nonexistent in
Islam. The closest idea to salvation is "going to heaven."
Going to heaven is based on the doctrine of balancing good deeds
against bad deeds. This decision is made arbitrarily and there is no
guarantee that anyone will get to heaven. If God desires, according to
Islam, He may allow you into heaven, but if he does not, none of your
works will get you anywhere.
Muslims live continually with this insecurity
and need to understand that salvation is not a matter of "getting
into heaven" but of knowing and loving God through a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ. Only in knowing Christ can a Muslim
obtain eternal life. This "life" is not based on good works
of religious practices; it is a gift from God. |
