How Muslims Understand God
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There are some similarities between Islamic and Judaeo-Christian thought about God. Mohammed was certainly influenced by Christianity and Judaism as he developed Islam. Muslims, Jews and Christians agree that God is the Creator of heaven and earth. All three religions see God as everlasting, all powerful and all wise. All three proclaim that God will someday judge the world, and that He has sent prophets and has given scriptures. Muslims and Christians even use similar words to describe God. It is often surprising to many non-Arabic speakers that all Arabic Bibles use the word “Allah” for God (see note below).
The Crescent through the Eyes of the Cross
Insights from an Arab Christian
Differences
Despite the similarities, there are real, profound and significant differences between Christian and Muslim beliefs. Muslims have a fundamentally different understanding of God compared to Christians. Muslim faith and experience are remarkably different from Christian faith and experience.
Islam actually teaches that God Himself is unknowable. Muslims seek to worship a God whom they believe is unknowable. Christians are called into relationship with their Creator and Redeemer: Jesus defined eternal life as knowing the Father and the one whom he had sent (John 17:3).
* Pray that Muslims around the world will come to believe that it is possible to know God.
Friendship
The Muslim Allah is impersonal. In Islam God is not a person. He is simply beyond description. While Muslims habitually address prayers to the God of Abraham, they do not believe that this God will speak to them or reveal Himself to them. Abraham’s experience was very different. God spoke to Abraham and called him His friend (Gen. 12:1-3, 2 Chron. 20:7, Isa. 41:8, James 2:23).
* Pray that Muslims would come to know God as a real person.
Character
In Islam Allah is absolutely free (His actions are not bound by character or moral principles). Christians believe that God Himself always acts in accordance with moral principles and He even makes covenants.
* Pray for Muslims to have a revelation of the character of God (His love, faithfulness, kindness, holiness and justice).
Emotions
Allah in Islam has no emotions. Muslim theologians believe that it would be incorrect for God to have real emotions. For them it would be demeaning to His greatness. In the Bible God is seen as one who grieves, who rejoices and who loves passionately.
* Pray for a revelation of the loving-kindness of God which will touch the emotions of Muslims.
Revelation
Muslims believe that God is only one and He has no associates. Christians do not believe that Jesus is an associate of God but that He is God in the flesh (John 1:1-18). Knowing God as a Trinity is a profound thing. In the words of Francis Schaeffer: Love, communication and friendship have always been present between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity gives us an example of how to live.
* Pray for Muslims to have a profound revelation of the Triune God.
Note: In our 30-Days of Prayer for the Muslim World prayer booklet the words God and Allah are always spelled with a capital letter for simplicity.
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Filed under: Islam and the Bible by TDI
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Muhammad did not create Islam. Adam did not create it, Moses did not create it, Jacob did not create it. Jesus did not create it. None of the Prophets (may peace be upon them all) created Islam. The religion created by God himself. It is the total and utter submission to His will.
I can understand that one would think that Muslims believe Allah doesn’t have emotions because he is above us. However, Muslims believe that Allah is our most intimate friend. He is the one who knows us as no one else does. A reading of the Qur’an & study of the 99-names/attributes of God will help to relieve this misunderstanding. For God is unlimited in His Love and His Mercy.
Faeza,
I´ve just read the Qurán, and it leavse me with many questions! Do you know what a muslim would say about al the verses that states that “Allah does not love the sinners” and that he “hates all sinners” etc.?
The God of the Bible hates sin but his love for sinners(all of us) was so great that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross at Calvary to save us from the penalty for sin - eternal separation from God.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you WILL be saved. Repent of your sin(turn away from it) and accept His salvation.
Faeza,
Jesus Christ is the bridge to God. He is absolutely needed, because God is all Holy, and salvation is not something you earn or that you can earn, but, rather salvation is a gift from God, through Jesus Christ. Jesus death and resurrection on the cross is God’s blood covenant with us, that although we are not worthy of his salvation, love, or attention, we are granted it because of the blood covenant that is available to us through Jesus Christ. This is also the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the old Testament, people were always sacrificing animals to God, but God abolished that rule with Christ being the last lamb to be sacrificed, His blood is pure, and nothing can compare to Jesus as sacrifice, and this is why animal sacrifices to God don’t exist anymore, they’re not needed anymore!
I can only imagine that you were born a Muslim and this is your life, but if you truly seek God, and I mean with your entire mind, body, and soul, you’re going to get to Jesus Christ.
Muslims believe that the Bible was corrupted and modified, and that the Koran came about then to rectify the “incorrectness” of it. God is not a God of confusion. Why would He allow the Bible, His word be thought of as corrupted and wrong? His Will is His Will, all of the Books of the Bible are absolutely meant to be in the Bible, and they are truly His word. He loves us too much to ever confuse us into believing that the Bible is not His word, and then to make up an entirely new book called the Koran. This would never be.
Satan hates one person the most, and is always looking to hurt that one person, and that person is Jesus Christ. He wants Muslims to believe that Jesus isn’t the Son of God, he wants to confuse you. Jesus Christ loves you beyond belief, so who do you think satan wil go after? You! When you want to hurt someone, you go after what they love the most- Jesus loves you the most.
In the Bible, Jesus said, watch out for false prophets who are going to come after Me. “Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” Matthew 24:11. In Matthew 7:15, Jesus said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. In Verse 20 of the same chapter Jesus tells us “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them”
Jesus Christ never sinned here on earth when he was reincarnated into man for the 33 years he was living on earth, in fact He saved, and perfomed countless miracles, and did you know Faeza that He resurrected 3 people from the dead? He cured countless people, and fed thousands upon thousands. Prophet Muhammad killed countless people and never performed one miracle, his body lays in a tomb. Jesus Christ lives! His body is NOT in a tomb! The Koran speaks of killing Jews, the Holy Bible speaks of saving men and loving them no matter what their sin is!
My friend Faeza, I pray that you see Jesus Christ in your life, in a dream or in a vision or through the Holy Bible, the true Word of God, I pray for you to know Jesus Christ as YOUR personal Savior! Jesus Christ told us to be sons of light, not sons of darkness, I pray thr you become a Son of light!
Your sister in Christ,
Sandra
Allah say in the Qur’an : “Allah does not love the sinners” and that he “hates all sinners”. but Allah can forgive the sinner if they do mistake”. And Allah forgive all of us if we gonna have mistake. but don’t do same mistake again.
And Frida my Friend if you read the Qur’an Please read All of Verse in the Qur’an. Not read One or More Verse, But all of the Qur’an.
Remember Qur’an is not human creation. but Qur’an is Allah Said.
In the Verse of Qur’an (Al-Kafirrun : 6) : Your Religion are Your Religion, My Religion are My Religion
Your Friend from Indonesia
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world..
It would be nice if you would also quote from the Qur’an and not have your readers take your word for what Muslims believe. Besides that, I found your article very informative on the relationship Christians have with their god.
Assalamu alaikum…
Having been raised a Christian in the USA, I could never believe in the idea that person could be God in any way. I knew this from the time that I was a child. In Islam we don’t believe that Isa (alaiyhis salaam) was ever God himself or the son of God. He is a messenger of God, a prophet. He is however, someone very dear to Muslims. So much so that we await his return before Judgment Day.
Please READ more at:
(wikipedia) Islamic_view_of_Jesus
(islamonline.net) IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32.
Knowledge is power. What other evidence do people (Muslims) want when even in the Quran the second coming of Jesus is clearly stated? If Jesus Christ is coming back, does that not suggest that He is alive? If He is alive, does that not suggest a uniqueness in relationship between Him and God? If that is so would anyone not want to have a close relationship with Him (Jesus)? I pray that God would give the grace for people to have the freedom to read the Quran, rather than a portion of it being interpreted every Friday (or as convenient) by the Imam to suit a particular goal. When Quran and the Bible are read and the contents therein compared, surely one would know the truth and the truth would set one free. The Holy Spirit would convince and convict. Remain blessed.
Please provide a reference from Quran where the second coming of Jesus is mentioned.
Khan, your books states that a messiah will come. Our bible states that jesus is coming for the second time (quickly). When Jesus comes we know that he will come in love but also he will come as ruler - ‘every knee will bow’.
As a wise and loving judge who knows all of us intimately, he will clarify what is right and wrong, and we will all know the difference in the end.
What counts now is our relationship with him, not just what we know about him.
Trust that helps.
PS. I encourage you to ask him personally about who he is, when he is coming again and why he loves you - he answers those who ask.
Hi DI.
There is no mention in the Quran of Jesus coming back. For me it is ridiculous to even think that a person who gave the teaching of love of God and humanity will come back and will give a teaching contrary to what he taught earlier.
I don’t dispute that many muslims believe in what you stated. I am merely pointing out that this teaching/prophecy is nowhere to be found in Quran. And personally I reject this concept of a ‘bloody messiah’. If any messiah is come, he will surely come on the same pattern as the one before. Why should one messiah teach peace and love and the other advocate war and injustice.
P.S. This is great advice and also found in Quran. I turned from being an atheist to a Muslim three years ago.
Peace!
TDJ,Jesus Christ will come again to lead the people in prayer. He will take the cross and smash it,slaughter the swine and will abolish tax on non-Muslims. He will prove that Islam is the only religion and that he only follows God alone and confirms the message of our master Prophet Muhammad(Pbuh) that he(Jesus) is no more than a messenger.
Dear moderator(s). If this is not the correct forum for this discussion please let me know and I will not post such messages in future.
alyacoub I have a few questions regarding your last post.
Aren’t people already being led in prayers? What will be so special about Jesus leading the prayers? Which cross will he smash? Or will he break all crosses in the world? What will that accomplish? Which swine will he kill? Why will he kill an animal that caused him no harm? Do you think this is what islam teaches? Why will he abolish tax on non-muslims? Are you suggesting that taxation by a muslim government on non-muslims was wrong? Note here that the taxation rate of (Jizia) is much lower than that of Zakat (i.e. taxation on muslims). So all subjects in a government have to pay taxation but the rate of taxation for non-muslims in a muslim state is lower than that for muslims. Also shouldn’t all subjects pay tax for public services?
Hi. I would also like to refute some of the things attributed to Allah in the main article. I will do that piece by piece:
1. Differences.
“Islam actually teaches that God Himself is unknowable”.
No it does not . How can God remain unknowable, when he communicates with us? Do we know him fully, likely not, but can you claim that you know Jesus fully?
If one can not know God unless one sees Him in flesh, would you then agree that no-one really knew God before Christianity? And God was cruel to not allow people before Christ to see Him in flesh and to know Him? Also how does seeing God in flesh make you know/understand him better? If it is by His example as a mortal, then in islam we believe that prophets are the best examples and that is why God chose them. Otherwise tell me why should a merciful God choose prophets who can not communicate His teachings to His people. Such a God may indeed be a cruel God because He chose a broken vessel to guide people to Him. If you would suggest this was the very reason why God came in flesh, then please tell me why God did not do so for people before Christ?
Continued.
2. Friendship.
“While Muslims habitually address prayers to the God of Abraham, they do not believe that this God will speak to them or reveal Himself to them.”
No we don’t. If God does not speak, how will one know that He is there? This is not to be found anywhere in Quran where God says I will not speak anymore.
Some muslim sects in my view erroneously believe this since they believe Islam to be the pinnacle of religions and no teaching will come to abrogate Quran, therefore God has no need to communicate with manking anymore. Again, such a claim is nowhere to be found in Quran.
Some muslims believe that God only communicates with prophets and since there won’t be anymore prophets, hence there is no need for God to communicate with mankind anymore. Quran does not endorse this and has given the examples of Mary (mother of Jesus) and of mother of Moses (neither of whom were prophets but God communicated with them). If God communicates with people who were not prophets then why shouldn’t He now?
Continued.
3. Character
“In Islam Allah is absolutely free (His actions are not bound by character or moral principles). Christians believe that God Himself always acts in accordance with moral principles and He even makes covenants.”
In Islam God is the source of all morality. How can one and why should one believe in an immoral God? Where in Quran does God say that He is not a moral God?
Continued..
4. Emotions
“Allah in Islam has no emotions. Muslim theologians believe that it would be incorrect for God to have real emotions.”
There are many verses in the Quran where God shows emotions (what He loves and what He does not, what He likes and what He does not, how Mericful He is and that He is Most kind and Gracious). What God does not do is let emotions over-power him to make incorrect decisions.
Continued.
4. Revelation
“Knowing God as a Trinity is a profound thing. In the words of Francis Schaeffer: Love, communication and friendship have always been present between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity gives us an example of how to live.”
Christians can’t have it both ways. Many claim Trinity is a Holy mystery not comprehensible by the limited human mind, so how can this mysterious relationship give an example of how live to humans?
If Trinity is not a mystery then tell me why would Jesus lie when asked who will enter the kingdom of heaven and he replies that only God the Father knows when he is the same God?
Why would a merciful God not reveal Trinity to mankind before Christ? Why a fundamental change in the nature of God?
Islam teaches that God is the same God who spoke to Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad etc.(Peace and blessings of God be on all of them) and that His message has been consistent regarding His nature (i.e. Who He is?) and the fundamental teaching given to all prophets.
Sandra has raised several issues in her post on September 13th, 2007. Although a bit late, I will try to answer them one at a time for the benefit of those who either visit the site regularly or will perchance come upon it as I did a few days ago.
“This is also the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the old Testament, people were always sacrificing animals to God, but God abolished that rule with Christ being the last lamb to be sacrificed, His blood is pure, and nothing can compare to Jesus as sacrifice, and this is why animal sacrifices to God don’t exist anymore, they’re not needed anymore!”
Please show me from the Bible any of Jesus (Peace be on him) claiming that animal sacrifices has been abolished.
First the purpose of animal sacrifice must be understood, only then can one say whether it is still relevant today or not. When Abraham went to sacrifice his son (yes we do dispute which son it was so I am not taking any names here), he was ready and the son was ready to obey God even if it meant sacrificing their lives. Abraham’s sacrifice is that he gave up his most beloved in the world (his son) and the son’s sacrifice was that when God commands he will not hesitate to even to be killed in God’s way. When God told him that their sacrifice had been accepted, Abraham slaughtered a ram and offered it as a symbol of the sacrifice ‘he and his son’ were ready to offer.
In Islam the animal sacrifice after the Pilgrimage is done to remember and revive within ourselves, the sacrifice of Abraham and his son and if and when the time comes we should lay down our lives as the lambs of God and be ready to sacrifice our most beloved possessions in His cause.
I know ask you Sandra, is this sacrifice not required anymore? Slaughtering the animal is only an outwardly symbol, the real sacrifice is of heart and soul.
By the way did you know that a third portion of this outwardly symbol of sacrifice is given to the poor, a third to relatives and a third may be used by the person offering the sacrifice?
Continued…Response to Sandra’s post.
“Muslims believe that the Bible was corrupted and modified, and that the Koran came about then to rectify the “incorrectness” of it. God is not a God of confusion. Why would He allow the Bible, His word be thought of as corrupted and wrong?”
Yes we believe that Bible is corrupted and modified, both the old testament and the new testament, but it seems new Testament although more recent than the old testament, suffers more from this. The reason is that many books have been added to the Bible which contain sayings not attributed to Jesus (Peace be on him). See this link http://www.catholicdoors.com/bible/index.htm. The web address given is a link to Roman Catholic Red Bible where the sayings attributed to Jesus are marked in red.
Also in the revised standard version there is a long and a short ending of mark. This research was done by Christian scholars and not muslims. Also, there is disagreement between Catholics and Protestants in the number of books of the Bible (Catholics include duetrocannon books and Protestants don’t).
So Sandra how can you say Bible is preserved?
Continued…Response to Sandra’s post.
” His Will is His Will, all of the Books of the Bible are absolutely meant to be in the Bible, and they are truly His word. He loves us too much to ever confuse us into believing that the Bible is not His word, and then to make up an entirely new book called the Koran. This would never be.”
By the very same logic aren’t Jews justified in rejecting Jesus? Why should they believe in the New Testament which abrogates teachings of the Old Testament i.e. the Mosaic Law?
And why do we find God making new covenants in the bible (Noah, Abraham, Issac, Moses etc). Why is God trying to confuse us here?
In Islam we believe, earlier teachings of God were complete for those times according to the needs of the people. Everyone can understand the apparent harshness of Mosaic Law (i.e. Eye for an eye etc.), but that was the required prescription to make people who were slaves stand up for their rights.
At the time of Jesus Christ (Peace be on him), Jews of his era had become corrupt. Bible mentions they had made religion a business and there were money changers in the temple, who Jesus (Peace be on him) threw out. Jesus had come to reform them and bring them closer to the spirit of their actions (including prayers and dealing with one another). He did not put stress on the form but laid emphasis on the spirit, because it was the form without the spirit which was prevalent.
Also, a time was coming when the human civilization would be more closely connected. This would be the time when God would send a teaching addressing all nations and mankind as such. If the stay of mankind on this earth is finite then there has to be one last code of guidance from God to fulfill the needs of that time. We believe Islam to be just that.
In Islam there is no confusion about previous teachings why they differ in some respects. Emphasis was put on the need of the time (i.e. the correct prescription was given according to the ailment ).
Continued…Response to Sandra’s post.
“Jesus said, watch out for false prophets who are going to come after Me. “Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” Matthew 24:11. In Matthew 7:15, Jesus said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. In Verse 20 of the same chapter Jesus tells us “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them”
According to your own Bible
“Deu 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.”
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of God be on Him) passes the litmus test. He took part in many battles and survived.
Every fair minded person can see the condition of Arabia before and after the advent of prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessing of God be on him) and the spiritual change he brought about.
Christians of course may disagree just as Muslims would agree with the above statement.
Continued…Response to Sandra’s post.
“did you know Faeza that He resurrected 3 people from the dead?”
What does this prove? If you would like to suggest that this shows he was the son of God, then bible also mentions that even the bones of an older prophet resurrected a dead man.
I of course have a problem with this because I can not comprehend why would a just God do such a thing? Why only raise 3 people from the dead? If he wanted to show a miracle so people would know he is the son of God then Bible rejects this idea. For it states that Jesus felt sorry for the loss of the next of kin of the deceased so he brought him back to life. Why doesn’t he bring people back to life today? Are people not grieving today?
Bringing physically dead people back to life does not accomplish anything unless the hearts are changed as well. Otherwise the person would again live the same lifestyle and nothing would be gained. So changing of hearts is a bigger miracle than raising the dead, and I believe Jesus did that because he had come to change the hearts and minds of Jews back to God the Father.
Khan, thanks for asking about how we moderate this site. In general, responses are welcomed. I would ask that everyone try to respond to comments directly as you seem to be doing. We may or may not agree with all comments, but that is not the point. You are welcome to discussion (I will only stop comments which start to create problems / are aggressive in nature or are unrelated such as porno junk which comes often and I have to delete - yours do not related to these categories.)
Just for reference, here is a quote from your original question … “Dear moderator(s). If this is not the correct forum for this discussion please let me know and I will not post such messages in future….”
Continued…Response to Sandra’s post.
“Prophet Muhammad killed countless people and never performed one miracle”
We believe in Islam defensive wars are permitted to safeguard from oppression. Also Islam prohibits starting any wars. However, when a war is started then one is permitted to defend oneself. Battles may be started by either party on supply caravans as long as two peoples are in a state of war. This practice also helps reduce the amount of bloodshed as many more would fight and kill each other when new supplies are received.
Although I don’t believe in it, but I ask you did Moses (Peace be on him) not commit genocide? Yet you believe him to be a prophet of God so why frown upon defensive wars fought by prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him) about which the Quran states were fought to safeguards Synagogues, Churches and Mosques where the name of God is often remembered?
I ask you Sandra, hypothetically speaking of course, if Muslims were to attack Christians today, will Christians not fight back? If not would the Christians a) accept the Muslim rule and/or b) be happily accept annihilation? This was the circumstance prophet Moses and prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of God be on them both) found themselves in and were permitted to defend themselves.
As far as miracles are concerned, we believe prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be on him) showed many more miracles than Jesus Christ (Peace and Blessings of Allah be on him). What we may differ on is the nature of miracles. As stated in my previous post I believe changing of hearts and minds to be a bigger miracle than raising someone from the dead. I also infer from the bible that it was raising of spiritually dead to life (i.e. communion with God aka changing of hearts and minds towards God) which Jesus himself did. He said even if someone has an iota of faith he will be able to perform all these miracles that Jesus (Peace be on him) performed. No Christian has raised anyone from the dead physically. Can you do this Sandra if you have even an iota of faith? I believe, here Jesus (Peace be on him) is referring to the spiritually dead.
As far as the number of miracles is concerned, at the time when Jesus (Peace be on him) was put on the cross, only eleven disciples believed in him. Even from among them some cursed him and one sold him out. The number of people Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be on him) touched far supersedes that of Jesus (Peace be on him).
Continued…Response to Sandra’s post.
“his body lays in a tomb. Jesus Christ lives! His body is NOT in a tomb!”
Actually I don’t believe on my understanding of the Quran that Jesus is still alive. I am an Ahmadi Muslim and we believe that the tomb of Jesus is in Sri nagar, Kashmir (see http://www.tombofjesus.com).
Continued…Response to Sandra’s post.
“The Koran speaks of killing Jews.”
The Quran speaks of only killing those Jews a) who had broken their agreement to defend the city together with the Muslims in case of an invasion other tribes and b) had come to fight the muslims i.e. they were the oppressors and as I have already explained earlier Islam permits one to defend oneself. The Jews at the eleventh hour sided with the attackers and were judged by their own arbitrator who judged them according to law of Torah (Old Testment).
Continued…Response to Sandra’s post.
” the Holy Bible speaks of saving men and loving them no matter what their sin is!”
Are you suggesting that we should do away with all forms of jurisprudence?
Quran also mentions this teaching, but in a slightly different way. It talks to people who have transgressed that if they turn to God and repent then God is ever Merciful.
But do away with jurisprudence and see what happens to a society! If Bible is teaching to apply the jurisprudence and still love the person, then how can you a) either lovingly kill a person or b) lovingly let a person rot in jail for the rest of his/her life? If you say these are harsh punishments then I am sorry but Bible offers nothing in the arena of jurisprudence. Only the first five books of the Old Testament are books of Law (which have been abrogated by Saint Paul because the law was the flesh which was done away with on the cross).