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You Have Questions. The Bible Has Answers. |
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What are the major differences between Islam and the Bible?
| Doctrine |
Islamic View |
New Testament Christianity |
| The Religion |
"Islam" = Submission (to God). "A total way of life" |
Christian = Disciple of Jesus Christ. "A living sacrifice" |
| Names of God |
"Allah" = "The God", Forgiving, Merciful, Wise, All-knowing, Mighty, Helper, Protector, etc. |
Father, YHWH = "Eternal", Almighty, Healer, Lord of Hosts (=Armies), King, etc., |
| Nature of God |
Allah is one. He begets not and He is not begotten and there is none like unto Him. (The term "Father" is never used in the
Qur'an of God.) |
God is our Father. Jesus is His physically and spiritually begotten divine God-level Son. God is working out a plan in which
all humans come into the image of Jesus and become His divine children. ( The Trinity is not an New Testament doctrine.)
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| God's purpose/plan |
Allah does as He pleases. |
God is currently working out a plan in which all humans come into the image of Jesus as His divine children. What He plans to
do next is beyond our understanding. |
| What is "Spirit"? |
An angel or created attribute. God is not spirit. |
God is "Holy" Spirit. He can create angels made of Spirit. He can beget humans as His children by giving them His Spirit.
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Doctrine |
Islamic View |
New Testament Christianity |
Can God suffer? |
God is merciful and compassionate [but does that mean He shares our passions?] |
God suffers with His creation. |
God's Spokesmen |
Old Testament Prophets, Jesus, culminating in Muhammad. Muhammad was the "paracletos" (advocate) = "periklutos"
(illustrious) (John 14:15-17) |
Old Testament Prophets climaxing in Jesus followed by the apostles |
Who is Jesus Christ? |
A prophet of God, born of Mary, by the power of the Angel Gabriel. He was taken up by Allah, but a phantom was crucified in
his place. |
The "one-of-a-kind" son of the Supreme God, born of Mary, begotten by the Holy Spirit (the power and presence of God.) The
"Incarnation" is a New Testament doctrine. He descended from Heaven, became human and died for us, so demonstrating God's love for us. We now come to the Father through Jesus the Son. He is our link
to God, experienced through the Holy Spirit. |
God's Written Communication |
Al Qur'an (the recitation) of 114 suras (units) supported by many volumes of hadith (traditions). The
Qur'an was dictated to Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel in pure Classical Arabic. It is our link to God. |
The Bible (Books) of 66 Old Testament books in Hebrew and Aramaic and 29 New Testament books in Greek, composed by numerous
authors across many centuries under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Written in the dialect of the common people. |
Nature of Man |
Sinless at birth with capacity for unlimited moral and spiritual progress through belief in God and faithful adherence to the
teachings |
Sinless, but sin-prone, at birth, leading to natural enmity towards God. The grace of God and the gift of His Holy Spirit
imbues humans with the ability to turn from their evil ways and become holy. "Original sin" as popularly understood is not a New Testament doctrine -- "Redemption" is. |
Personal accountability |
The activities of the wicked and of the saint, of the generous and of the grasping, are all Allah's creation. Allah may give
up to seven spirits to a man. But those who choose good will be rewarded, and evil punished. |
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. God calls on humans to choose life and depart
from evil. Upon repentance and conversion, the gift of God is eternal life by begettal with the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. |
Believers are: |
"My slaves" |
"The children of God" |
Concept of Success |
"We hear and we obey" |
"Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself" |
Life after death |
At the Resurrection, righteous go to the Garden of God, but do not see God. Wicked dwell forever in fire. Especially righteous
do not need to await the Resurrection. |
All will be resurrected. All will have a genuine opportunity to be saved. The righteous will rule with Jesus in God's eternal
kingdom when the dwelling of God will be with men. Those who reject God's way, the incorrigibly wicked, will be obliterated. |
Martyrdom |
"Call not those who are slain in the way of Allah `dead.' No, they are living, only ye perceive it not." (2:154) "those who are slain in the way of Allah .. bring them into the Garden [Paradise]." (47:4-6) (Each martyr has 72 virgins waiting for him in Paradise: Sermon at Al-Aqsa Mosque September 9, 2001 - cf. 56:37) |
"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God
service." (John 16:2) "Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." (James 5:6-7) |
Enemies |
"Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors.
And slay them wherever ye find them." (2:190) "O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight." (8:65) "O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near you, and let them find harshness in you." (9:123) "Lo! Allah loveth those who battle for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure." (61:4) (Abdullah-b-Omar reported that Muhammad forbade to kill women and children) |
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you;" (Matthew 5:4) "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." (John 18:36) |
Prayers |
(Ob'adah-b-Swa'met reported that Muhammad had said: Five prayers [i.e., times of prayer] - the Almighty Allah made them
obligatory.) "When the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of Allah" (62:9) |
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." (Matthew 6:6) |
Modesty |
"Tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, ... and to draw their veils over their bosoms ... let them not
stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment." (24:31) "Tell thy wives and thy daughters to draw their cloaks close round them ..." (33:59) |
"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided
hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;" (1Timothy 2:9) "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven." (1Corinthians 11:5) |
Criminal Justice |
"Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered." (2:178) "As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands." (5:38) "The adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one of them with a hundred stripes." (24:2) |
"He who is without sin cast the first stone." (John 8:7) "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil ... But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." (Romans 13:3-4) |
Sources for Islam include: "The Koran Interpreted" by Arthur J. Arberry; "A Code of the Teachings of Al-Qur'an" by
Muhammad Sharif Chaudry; "Islam" by Alford T. Welch, in "A New Handbook of Living Religions"; "A Comparative Study of Christianity and Islam" by Ulfat Aziz-Us-Samad;
"Islam and the Gospel of God" by H. Spencer. Compiled by: Mike Linacre. |
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THE Bible Study Web Site at BibleStudy.org |
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