Q&A

Islam

Islam means “submission”

A Muslim is “one who submits”

Beginnings

• Abraham and Hagar had a son named Ishmael (Genesis 16)

• Abraham and Ishmael built the Kabah.

• The region fell into sin/idolatry and the Kabah became full of idols.

Beginnings

• Muhammad was born in 570AD.

• His father died before he was born, mother when he was six.

• He was raised by his grandfather and then his

uncle. • He spent time with Bedouin family.

Beginnings

• Married a wealthy woman named Khadijah after working for her.

• Muhammad started receiving supposed revelation from God (through Gabriel) around 610AD.

• Ruling class in Mecca did not like his teachings.

He was protected by his uncle.

Beginnings

• In 622 he moved to Medina where he began facing Mecca in prayer.

• His teaching was rejected by the Jews there.

• There was fighting between Medina and Mecca.

Beginnings

• Muhammad returned to Mecca in 630 with so great a force that he was not resisted and got rid of the Kabah’s idols.

• He returned to Medina but continued to make a pilgrimage to the Kabah in Mecca.

• His friend and father-in-law Abu Bakr was elected caliph after Muhammad died in 632.

• There was a split between Shiites and Sunnis ever since.

Authority• They believe the Quran contains the direct words of

Allah.

• The Hadith is a collection containing Muhammad’s teaching and information about his life.

• Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus were all God’s prophets.

• The Bible has been corrupted and should be rejected.

Allah/God

• One who is the Creator and all-powerful.

• He can make right wrong and wrong right.

• Will judge men at the final judgment based on their deeds.

Man

• Born morally neutral and capable of keeping God’s law.

• Biggest problem is that he is forgetful. • Solution is education.

Jesus

• Is not God or the Son of God.

• He is one of many prophets but not as great as Muhammad.

• He did not die on a cross.

Jesus

• “And [for] their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.” (Sura 4:157)

Five Pillars of Islam

• Faith- “There is no god worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is His messenger”

• Prayer- five times a day with the first at dawn and last at sunset

• Alms- the payment each year of two and a half percent of one's capital

Five Pillars of Islam

• The Fast- fasting from sunup to sundown during Ramadan (with some exceptions)

• The Pilgrimage- making the journey to Mecca in the twelfth month of the Islamic year.

Salvation

• “And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah ? - and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.” (Sura 3:135)

Salvation

• “And the weighing [of deeds] that Day will be the truth. So those whose scales are heavy - it is they who will be the successful. And those whose scales are light - they are the ones who will lose themselves for what injustice they were doing toward Our verses.” (Sura 7:8-9)

Salvation

• “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”

- Romans 3:24-25

Salvation

• “O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow [on] the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, ‘Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent.’”(Sura 66:8-9)

Salvation

• “Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’ Say, ‘Obey Allah and the Messenger.’ But if they turn away - then indeed, Allah does not like the disbelievers- Sura 2:31-32

• “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

Jihad

• Greater jihad- striving against sin.

• Lesser jihad- fighting the enemies of Islam.

• “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers.” – Genesis 16:12

Jihad

• “And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” (Sura 9:5)

Jihad

• “Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled. The Jews say, ‘Ezra is the son of Allah’; and the Christians say, ‘The Messiah is the son of Allah.’ That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?” (Sura 9:29-30)

Jihad

• "When thy Lord inspired the angels, (saying): I am with you. So make those who believe stand firm. I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks and smite of them each finger. That is because they opposed Allah and His messenger. Whoso opposeth Allah and His messenger, (for him) lo! Allah is severe in punishment," (Sura 8:12-13).

Jihad

• "Allah's Apostle said, ‘Allah guarantees (the person who carries out Jihad in His Cause and nothing compelled him to go out but Jihad in His Cause and the belief in His Word) that He will either admit him into Paradise (Martyrdom) or return him with reward or booty he has earned to his residence from where he went out.’" (Volume 9, Book 93, Number 555: Narrated Abu Huraira).

Christian Response

• Understand they are lost in need of salvation.

• Muslims are not our enemies.

• We need to understand their mindset.

Christian Response

• Realize that postmodernism has affected them some too.

• Most will attack the Bible.

• You must always argue from authority.

Christian Response

• “He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.” (Sura 3:2-3)

• “So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that

which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.” (Sura 10:94)

Christian Response

• Emphasize the problem of sin and the need for grace.

• Show that grace only comes through Jesus.

• “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” - John 1:17

Christian Response

• Talk about the holiness of God and the need for a mediator.

• “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

- 1 Timothy 2:5