Introduction to Islam: A Christian Perspective and Appreciation (Part II)
Part II: Similarities and differences
by Fredric W. Bush
Note: The following is the text of a lecture delivered by Fredric W. Bush at Fuller Theological Seminary entitled: The Faith and Practices of Islam and Their Similarities and Differences with Christianity." This is part 2 in a 2-part series. (Read Part I)
A. Similarities
To begin, surely there is much that Christians can agree with in the description we have given of Islamic faith and belief. Indeed there is much in the Five Pillars of Islam to which Christians could give assent.
a. The Five Pillars of Islam
(1) The First Pillar. The first statement of the Muslim confession of faith, the Shahada, "I confess that there is no God but Allah,"? with its absolute commitment to monotheism is surely something with which Christians can concur. The Islamic confession of the one God is virtually no different from the biblical commandment, "I am the LORD your God... you shall have no other gods before me" (Exod. 20:2). This similarity is evidence of the fact that Christianity and Islam - together with Judaism - stand historically in the same monotheistic faith tradition. Nevertheless, within our common faith in one God, Muslims and Christians experience differences. The differences are rooted in different understandings of God's relationship to people. The Qur'an stresses the revelation of God's commands and laws to humans. In the Bible, however, we perceive God as the one who reveals not just laws of conduct to humankind, but himself. God has chosen to reveal himself in personal self-disclosure in Jesus Christ, mediated to us by the Holy Spirit.
The second statement of the Shahada, "and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God," also presents for Christians both areas of agreement and disagreement.
For centuries Christians have had a distorted view of Muhammad. It is time to tear down prejudices and to take account of the historical truth. Even without seeing Muhammad with the eyes of a Muslim, Christians should recognize and appreciate his great historical importance.
One of the common allegations against Muhammad is that he was an imposter, a charlatan, who to satisfy his ambition and greed propagated religious teachings which he himself knew to be false. But such a view renders both his history and the development of Islam incomprehensible. Only a profound belief in himself and his mission explains Muhammad's readiness to endure ridicule, hardship, and persecution, even to the point of assassination, during the Meccan period when there was seemingly no prospect of success. The evidence is strong that he was sincere. We may believe, indeed as Christians we must believe, that some of his views are mistaken, but these mistakes were not due to deliberate lying or imposture.
For Islam, Muhammad is the "prophet and chosen one of God." The biblical prophets, each in a specific situation, called their people back to obedience and faith in God. Muhammad, too, as a preacher of repentance, called the people in his region to faith in the one God. His message of submission to the holy and just God includes a considerable portion of biblical prophetic proclamation. Thus, Muhammad's call for personal righteousness and holy living, to work for justice and peace in the world, and to care for the sick, the poor and the disadvantaged in society is not only a call that Christians can approve, but Christians and Muslims could and should cooperate in implementing that call in society.
On the other hand, however, Christians cannot recognize the Islamic claim that Muhammad is the "Seal of the Prophets"? and that he brings the conclusive, universally valid revelation by which even the gospel of Jesus Christ would have to be measured. In contrast, Christians confess that God's truth and salvation appeared once and for all time in the person of Jesus Christ, as the Bible testifies. It is distressing to Muslims that Christians cannot see the prophet Muhammad as the seal of the prophets as Muslims do; and it distresses Christians that their confession of Jesus Christ does not strengthen their relationship with Muslims, but rather separates them. Both Christians and Muslims must learn to hold their different and conflicting faith convictions within the bonds of respect and integrity that should mark human communication and interaction.
Islam also sees Muhammad as the religious and political leader of the umma, the community of God. At Medina The Prophet's community became a state with the Prophet himself as sovereign - ruling a people and a place. Thus Muhammad has a similarly comprehensive meaning for Islam as Moses had for his people, as told in the Old Testament. Classical Islam knows no distinction whatsoever of the separation of church and state. This unity of religious and political leadership is foreign to Christians, who do not see Jesus in this way. Indeed, Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's' (Matt. 22:21).
(2) The Second Pillar. The requirement for daily prayer, the contents of which praise the perfection and greatness of God and recognize that he is source of all life and all goodness is something to which Christians can give assent, without concurring in the particular physical actions by which Muslim prayer is expressed. Indeed the practice of believing Muslims of praying five times a day far exceeds that of all but the most devout Christians.
For example, when Muslims pray, they repeat over and over again the first sura of the Qur'an, called the Fatiha, or The Opening/Beginning. (See page 1, top half, of the enclosed handout.) There is not a statement in this prayer which a Christian could not pray:
(4) The Fourth Pillar. Likewise the 4th pillar, the practice of required giving for the purpose of providing assistance to the poor and needy in the community is also an essential element of Christian obligations.
(5) The Fifth Pillar. Finally, although the Hajj, the pilgrimage, has no counterpart in Christian practice, the purposes for which it is performed, namely to express both devotion to God and the utter equality of all believers, and to examine one's life and resolve to live righteously, can surely only find approval from Christians.
b. The Missionary Calling of Islam
Finally, there is another area of similarity between Muslim and Christian belief and practice that has occasioned not only misunderstanding, but also conflict. This is the fact that the faith commitment of both Islam and Christianity requires that they witness to their faith and attempt to win others to their faith commitment.
In Sura 16:125, the Qur'an itself demands of each Muslim: "Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious." The term in Islam is dawah and is understood as an invitation to faith. Others are invited to become Muslims, for according to Sura 3:110, Muslims are "the best of peoples evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah." But all recruitment is to take place without the use of force, for in Sura 2.256 the Qur'an also admonishes. "Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error."
c. The Islamic Concept of "Jihad"
Probably, the greatest misunderstanding of Islam among Christians is the belief that the opposite is true, namely, that Islam did and does propagate its faith by force. This is most often connected with the view that the Islamic term for this is "jihad," which most people in the west translate as "holy war."
In answer to this, let me let you read what a Muslim scholar has written on the issue. In A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue, Badru Kataregga writes as follows:
B. Differences Between Muslim and Christian Belief.
Dr. Dudley Woodberry, the head of the Islamic Studies program in the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller, has helpfully expressed the Christian beliefs which a Muslim can affirm by underlining those statements of the Apostles' Creed to which Muslims can give assent, and by leaving those statements to which they cannot give assent without underlining (See page 1, bottom half of the enclosed handout):
However, the statements of the Apostles' Creed, which are not underlined, and hence to which Muslims cannot give assent, point out sharply the three major areas where Muslims and Christian faith requires that they disagree.
a. "the Father"
First, Muslims cannot give assent to calling God "our Father." (See page 2, top half, of the enclosed handout.) Though Muslims believe that this would reduce the awesome otherness and transcendence of God, this is not the primary reason for their dissent. Rather, the primary reason is due to the Christian use of the term "Father" as a metaphor to express the nature of the first person of the Trinity, and Muslims believe that the Qur'an explicitly contradicts the Christian conception of the Trinity. Thus, using the translation most commonly read today in the English speaking world, Sura 5:171 says,
Do not say "Trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one God."
And Sura 5:73 says,
They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god but one God.
And Sura 5:116 says,
Allah will say, "O Jesus the son of Mary! Did you say to men, "˜Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah?' He will say, "˜. . . Never could I say what I had no right to say.'"
However, it is in my opinion really quite clear that the Qur'an in these passages is not speaking against the idea of the Trinity as it is understood in Christian theology. In the verses above, the word translated "trinity" is in actuality the ordinary Arabic word for the numeral "three." Therefore, Sura 5:171 literally says, "Do not say "˜three'"; and Sura 5:73 literally says, "They blaspheme who say, "˜God is a third (one) in a "˜three'."
What must be remembered is that Muhammad lived in and preached against the basically polytheistic world of Arabia. Now, the extent of Muhammad's knowledge about Christianity and the Christian world is difficult to assess. But, it is clear that Muhammad never came into direct contact with the canonical scriptures of the Old or New Testament. Rather, his knowledge of Christian scripture, beliefs and practices was sketchy and second-hand, undoubtedly from oral sources. Now, the language of the third quote above seems to imply that Muhammad thought that Christians believed in a trio of Gods, namely, Allah, Mary and Jesus. Hence, given the polytheistic culture in which Muhammad lived and against which he fought, and given this distorted conception of Christian belief, which he apparently had received, it seems likely that his understanding of the Trinity was really a "tri-theism," Therefore, it is really tri-theism, which is rejected in the Qur'an.
Nevertheless, whether based on a misunderstanding or not, Muslims are inalterably opposed to the Christian concept of the Trinity as a derogation of God's oneness. In witnessing to a Muslim, one ought to avoid the topic of the Trinity at the beginning as much as possible.
b "his only Son our Lord"
Secondly, Muslims cannot give assent to the statement about Jesus, that he is God's only Son, our Lord.
Jesus is highly venerated by Muslims, for he is given a special place among the messengers or apostles of God in the Qur'an. His birth was miraculous, being born of Mary without a human father (Sura 19: 16-28, 3:59). This is further confirmed by the fact that he is called "Son of Mary," an unusual naming in a society where the second part of a man's name is always that of his father not his mother, as was pointed out by the early Muslim commentator Al-Baidawi. He is said to have been given the Holy Spirit by God (Sura 2:87) and is spoken of as the Word of God (Sura 4:171). He is said to have performed many remarkable miracles, including healing the sick and raising the dead (Sura 5:113). He is declared to be among the righteous (Sura 6:85) and to belong to the company of those nearest to God.
However, the Qur'an explicitly denies that he is the Son of God. Sura 112, which is regularly recited in the prayer ritual, which, you will remember, is repeated five times each day says,
He is God, the One and Only, the Eternal God. He does not beget; nor is He begotten; and He has no equal.
Further, Sura 9:30 says,
The Christians call Christ the Son of God. . . . In this they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say.
And in Sura 5:72 we read,
They do blaspheme who say, "God is Christ the son of Mary." For Christ said, "O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord." . . .
In the explicit teaching of the Qur'an, Jesus was not divine, but stands in the line of the great messengers of God like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad. Sura 5:75 says,
Christ the son of Mary was no more than a Messenger.
And Sura 43:59 states that Jesus is,
. . . no more than a servant: We granted Our favor to him, and We made him an example to the Children of Israel.
c. "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead."
Thirdly, Muslims do not give assent to what Christians mean by the statement in the Apostles Creed that Jesus "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead."
Christians understand that these statements of the creed refer to the Christian conviction that Jesus' death on the cross was in atonement for human sin. This raises two questions. The first is a historical one, namely, what does the Qur'an say and what do Muslims believe about how, when and why Jesus died? The second one is a theological one, namely, since Muslims deny the atonement, what is the Muslim view of salvation?
(1) The Death of Jesus. (See page 2, bottom half, of the enclosed handout.)
The Qur'anic treatment of Jesus death is fraught with difficulties, since its statements seem contradictory. First, there are verses that clearly speak of Jesus' death. Thus, Sura 3:56 says,
"Oh Jesus! I cause you to die and then exalt you to myself and purify you from their calumny."
And in Sura 19:33/34 Jesus says,
Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day of my being brought back alive.
Now, in just a few verses preceding this passage (v. 15), Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, invokes the same blessing on his son John. Hence the language certainly implies a real death and resurrection in each case. That seems clear enough. But then Sura 4:157-58 reads:
We need not go any further into the involved controversy in Muslim writing about what actually happened to Jesus. Whatever view they take, the common conclusion of Muslims is, as Kenneth Cragg summarizes it, "historically Jesus did not die, morally he should not die, and theologically he need not die."
(2) The Muslim Concept of Salvation. (See page 3 of the enclosed handout.)
The Muslim conviction that theologically Jesus need not die brings us to the Muslim denial of the need for atonement and hence to the second question, namely, what is the Islamic concept of salvation? Here the matter can be stated rather succinctly. First, the Qur'an gives an optimistic analysis of the human condition. Speaking to Muslim believers, Sura 30:30 says,
"So set your face to the religion as a person of pristine faith (hanif)--the state of natural purity ( fitra) in which He created people. There is no changing of the creation of God."
This diagnosis of the human condition receives further support in the most authoritative collection of "Hadith" ("Tradition") about Muhammad, where he is quoted as saying,
"No child is born except in a state of natural purity (fitra) and then his parents make him Jewish, Christian, or Magian.
This perspective is mirrored by contemporary Muslim writers, such as Badru Kateregga, who has written in one publication,
"Muslims believe that man is fundamentally a good and a dignified creature. He is not a fallen being" (Islam and Christianity, p. 109)
In this view of the human condition, human nature does not need divine transformation to do that which is right, only divine guidance. After Adam is driven from the Garden of Eden, he is promised guidance from God and freedom from fear if he follows that guidance (Qur'an 2:38-39).
Since the Qur'an portrays the human predicament as primarily ignorance rather than evil, as in the biblical analysis, Muslims believe that to do the right they need only proper knowledge and guidance, not a savior. Therefore, the biblical dimension of the saving work of Christ is unnecessary in Muslim thought. In fact, only once does the Qur'an use the word najat (salvation). Sura 40:40-41 says,
. . . [H]e that works a righteous deed - whether man or woman - and is a believer, such will enter the Garden of Bliss. . . . O my people! How strange it is for me to call you to salvation while you call me to the fire!
Clearly in the context here, the salvation involved is achieved by righteous works and right belief. One cannot help but remember in this regard the words of James 2:19,
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder.
In another publication the Muslim author Kataregga puts it this way,
Islam does not identify with the Christian conviction that Man needs to be redeemed. The Christian belief in the redemptive sacrificial death of Christ does not fit the Islamic view that man has always been fundamentally good, and that God loves and forgives those who obey his will" (A Muslim and A Christian in Dialogue, p. 175)
In a course on Introduction to Islam that I attended recently, my colleague at Fuller, Dudley Woodberry, very helpfully expressed the significant differences between Islam and Christianity this way.
Both religions are committed to the belief that human beings stand in desperate need of the Word of God. In Muslim belief, the Word of God became a Book, the Qur'an, by means of the divinely appointed messenger Muhammad. In Christian belief, the Word of God did not become a book but is a Person, who became flesh in Jesus Christ. The Book, the Bible, provides the divinely guided interpretation and meaning of that event.
Both religions are committed to the belief that human beings need to be accepted by God. In Muslim belief, human beings are fundamentally good and only need the knowledge of right guidance provided by the Word as Book and the example of God's Messenger to earn God's acceptance through right action and sincere belief in the One God and his prophet. In Christian belief, human beings are not fundamentally good, but inherently sinful. What human beings need is not simply knowledge, but redemption. Therefore, as the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans 3:20-22, no human being will be justified in God's sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. What human beings need is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, the righteousness provided by the atonement for sin wrought by Jesus on the cross.
We could diagram that this way:
Both Islam and Christianity postulate that human beings need "Revelation," the Word of God. But how "Revelation" is acquired differs radically in the two faiths:
Islam
The word of God
through Muhammad
became book,
the Qu'ran
Christianity
The Word is a Person, the Son of God;
in Jesus Christ the Word
became Flesh;
The Book, the Bible, provides the
authoritative interpretation
Both Islam and Christianity postulate that human beings need acceptance by God, "Salvation." But how "Salvation" is acquired differs radically in the two faiths:
Islam
Humanity, fundamentally good,
needs only knowledge and guidance
provided by
the Word as Book
and the example of Muhammad
Christianity
Humanity, fundamentally sinful,
needs redemption and empowerment
provided by faith in the atonement of
the Word as Person,
Jesus Christ, the Righteous
________________________________________
Dr. Frederic W. Bush is the D. Wilson Moore Professor Emeritus of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.
(Note:The following books were used to prepare this survey. It should be noted that I have not used any footnotes, even though I have often used material verbatim from these texts.
Lewis, Bernard. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last Two Thousand Years. New York: Touchstone, 1995
Martinson, Paul V. Islam: An Introduction for Christians. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1994.
Watt, W. Montgomery. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. London: Oxford University press, 1964.
Nazir-Ali, Michael. Islam: A Christian Perspective. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983.)
by Fredric W. Bush
Note: The following is the text of a lecture delivered by Fredric W. Bush at Fuller Theological Seminary entitled: The Faith and Practices of Islam and Their Similarities and Differences with Christianity." This is part 2 in a 2-part series. (Read Part I)
A. Similarities
To begin, surely there is much that Christians can agree with in the description we have given of Islamic faith and belief. Indeed there is much in the Five Pillars of Islam to which Christians could give assent.
a. The Five Pillars of Islam
(1) The First Pillar. The first statement of the Muslim confession of faith, the Shahada, "I confess that there is no God but Allah,"? with its absolute commitment to monotheism is surely something with which Christians can concur. The Islamic confession of the one God is virtually no different from the biblical commandment, "I am the LORD your God... you shall have no other gods before me" (Exod. 20:2). This similarity is evidence of the fact that Christianity and Islam - together with Judaism - stand historically in the same monotheistic faith tradition. Nevertheless, within our common faith in one God, Muslims and Christians experience differences. The differences are rooted in different understandings of God's relationship to people. The Qur'an stresses the revelation of God's commands and laws to humans. In the Bible, however, we perceive God as the one who reveals not just laws of conduct to humankind, but himself. God has chosen to reveal himself in personal self-disclosure in Jesus Christ, mediated to us by the Holy Spirit.
The second statement of the Shahada, "and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God," also presents for Christians both areas of agreement and disagreement.
For centuries Christians have had a distorted view of Muhammad. It is time to tear down prejudices and to take account of the historical truth. Even without seeing Muhammad with the eyes of a Muslim, Christians should recognize and appreciate his great historical importance.
One of the common allegations against Muhammad is that he was an imposter, a charlatan, who to satisfy his ambition and greed propagated religious teachings which he himself knew to be false. But such a view renders both his history and the development of Islam incomprehensible. Only a profound belief in himself and his mission explains Muhammad's readiness to endure ridicule, hardship, and persecution, even to the point of assassination, during the Meccan period when there was seemingly no prospect of success. The evidence is strong that he was sincere. We may believe, indeed as Christians we must believe, that some of his views are mistaken, but these mistakes were not due to deliberate lying or imposture.
For Islam, Muhammad is the "prophet and chosen one of God." The biblical prophets, each in a specific situation, called their people back to obedience and faith in God. Muhammad, too, as a preacher of repentance, called the people in his region to faith in the one God. His message of submission to the holy and just God includes a considerable portion of biblical prophetic proclamation. Thus, Muhammad's call for personal righteousness and holy living, to work for justice and peace in the world, and to care for the sick, the poor and the disadvantaged in society is not only a call that Christians can approve, but Christians and Muslims could and should cooperate in implementing that call in society.
On the other hand, however, Christians cannot recognize the Islamic claim that Muhammad is the "Seal of the Prophets"? and that he brings the conclusive, universally valid revelation by which even the gospel of Jesus Christ would have to be measured. In contrast, Christians confess that God's truth and salvation appeared once and for all time in the person of Jesus Christ, as the Bible testifies. It is distressing to Muslims that Christians cannot see the prophet Muhammad as the seal of the prophets as Muslims do; and it distresses Christians that their confession of Jesus Christ does not strengthen their relationship with Muslims, but rather separates them. Both Christians and Muslims must learn to hold their different and conflicting faith convictions within the bonds of respect and integrity that should mark human communication and interaction.
Islam also sees Muhammad as the religious and political leader of the umma, the community of God. At Medina The Prophet's community became a state with the Prophet himself as sovereign - ruling a people and a place. Thus Muhammad has a similarly comprehensive meaning for Islam as Moses had for his people, as told in the Old Testament. Classical Islam knows no distinction whatsoever of the separation of church and state. This unity of religious and political leadership is foreign to Christians, who do not see Jesus in this way. Indeed, Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's' (Matt. 22:21).
(2) The Second Pillar. The requirement for daily prayer, the contents of which praise the perfection and greatness of God and recognize that he is source of all life and all goodness is something to which Christians can give assent, without concurring in the particular physical actions by which Muslim prayer is expressed. Indeed the practice of believing Muslims of praying five times a day far exceeds that of all but the most devout Christians.
For example, when Muslims pray, they repeat over and over again the first sura of the Qur'an, called the Fatiha, or The Opening/Beginning. (See page 1, top half, of the enclosed handout.) There is not a statement in this prayer which a Christian could not pray:
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.(3) The Third Pillar. The Muslim practice of fasting annually in the month of Ramadan and the purposes for which it is performed is one which Christians can only affirm. Though fasting does not play a large part in either the OT or NT communities of faith, it is a recognized practice. For example, the OT community of faith was required to fast on the Day of Atonement; Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights in the wilderness of Judea; and in Acts 13:1-3 we find the Christian community fasting as an adjunct to the prayer needed to confirm the commissioning of Saul and Barnabas. It has also been used by some Christians throughout Christian history as a means to sharpen both their awareness of and their commitment to God.
Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment.
Thee do we worship, and Thine aid do we seek.
Show us the straight way, the way of those on whom
Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace,
Those whose portion is not wrath, those who go not astray.
(4) The Fourth Pillar. Likewise the 4th pillar, the practice of required giving for the purpose of providing assistance to the poor and needy in the community is also an essential element of Christian obligations.
(5) The Fifth Pillar. Finally, although the Hajj, the pilgrimage, has no counterpart in Christian practice, the purposes for which it is performed, namely to express both devotion to God and the utter equality of all believers, and to examine one's life and resolve to live righteously, can surely only find approval from Christians.
b. The Missionary Calling of Islam
Finally, there is another area of similarity between Muslim and Christian belief and practice that has occasioned not only misunderstanding, but also conflict. This is the fact that the faith commitment of both Islam and Christianity requires that they witness to their faith and attempt to win others to their faith commitment.
In Sura 16:125, the Qur'an itself demands of each Muslim: "Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious." The term in Islam is dawah and is understood as an invitation to faith. Others are invited to become Muslims, for according to Sura 3:110, Muslims are "the best of peoples evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah." But all recruitment is to take place without the use of force, for in Sura 2.256 the Qur'an also admonishes. "Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error."
c. The Islamic Concept of "Jihad"
Probably, the greatest misunderstanding of Islam among Christians is the belief that the opposite is true, namely, that Islam did and does propagate its faith by force. This is most often connected with the view that the Islamic term for this is "jihad," which most people in the west translate as "holy war."
In answer to this, let me let you read what a Muslim scholar has written on the issue. In A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue, Badru Kataregga writes as follows:
Jihad (striving) does not refer to war as an instrument to spread Islam. . . . [For] Islam does not condone spreading the Umma through war. Unfortunately, when non-Muslims try to explain why the Muslim faith was embraced by so many people of the world in a relatively short time, the common reason given is that of the holy war or jihad. The term jihad has often confused non-Muslims and Muslims alike. What is jihad? In the Arabic language, the word jihad is not synonymous with war. Jihad means the exerting of one's utmost power in . . . striving in the cause of God.This is the condition of war in Islam. War is not the mission of Islam nor the normal course for the Umma.
The struggle in the cause of God is of three kinds. The first is the struggle against a visible enemy. The second is the struggle against the temptations of the devil. The third is the struggle against one's own passions. While carrying on a jihad, Muslims must strive with their time, knowledge, energy, possessions, talents, and all their resources for the cause of God. This is the true meaning of jihad, which was commanded by Allah and expounded by the Holy Prophet for the faithful to follow. It has a much broader meaning than fighting in battle.
. . . Islam has recognized fighting as lawful for only two purposes: self-defense and restoration of justice, freedom, and peace. Muslims are commanded not to start any aggression, and not to submit to any aggression or oppression from their enemies. The Qur'an teaches, "Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you.... And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrongdoers." (Qur'an 2:190-193)
B. Differences Between Muslim and Christian Belief.
Dr. Dudley Woodberry, the head of the Islamic Studies program in the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller, has helpfully expressed the Christian beliefs which a Muslim can affirm by underlining those statements of the Apostles' Creed to which Muslims can give assent, and by leaving those statements to which they cannot give assent without underlining (See page 1, bottom half of the enclosed handout):
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.The underlined statements to which Muslims can give assent are really quite extensive.
However, the statements of the Apostles' Creed, which are not underlined, and hence to which Muslims cannot give assent, point out sharply the three major areas where Muslims and Christian faith requires that they disagree.
a. "the Father"
First, Muslims cannot give assent to calling God "our Father." (See page 2, top half, of the enclosed handout.) Though Muslims believe that this would reduce the awesome otherness and transcendence of God, this is not the primary reason for their dissent. Rather, the primary reason is due to the Christian use of the term "Father" as a metaphor to express the nature of the first person of the Trinity, and Muslims believe that the Qur'an explicitly contradicts the Christian conception of the Trinity. Thus, using the translation most commonly read today in the English speaking world, Sura 5:171 says,
Do not say "Trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one God."
And Sura 5:73 says,
They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god but one God.
And Sura 5:116 says,
Allah will say, "O Jesus the son of Mary! Did you say to men, "˜Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah?' He will say, "˜. . . Never could I say what I had no right to say.'"
However, it is in my opinion really quite clear that the Qur'an in these passages is not speaking against the idea of the Trinity as it is understood in Christian theology. In the verses above, the word translated "trinity" is in actuality the ordinary Arabic word for the numeral "three." Therefore, Sura 5:171 literally says, "Do not say "˜three'"; and Sura 5:73 literally says, "They blaspheme who say, "˜God is a third (one) in a "˜three'."
What must be remembered is that Muhammad lived in and preached against the basically polytheistic world of Arabia. Now, the extent of Muhammad's knowledge about Christianity and the Christian world is difficult to assess. But, it is clear that Muhammad never came into direct contact with the canonical scriptures of the Old or New Testament. Rather, his knowledge of Christian scripture, beliefs and practices was sketchy and second-hand, undoubtedly from oral sources. Now, the language of the third quote above seems to imply that Muhammad thought that Christians believed in a trio of Gods, namely, Allah, Mary and Jesus. Hence, given the polytheistic culture in which Muhammad lived and against which he fought, and given this distorted conception of Christian belief, which he apparently had received, it seems likely that his understanding of the Trinity was really a "tri-theism," Therefore, it is really tri-theism, which is rejected in the Qur'an.
Nevertheless, whether based on a misunderstanding or not, Muslims are inalterably opposed to the Christian concept of the Trinity as a derogation of God's oneness. In witnessing to a Muslim, one ought to avoid the topic of the Trinity at the beginning as much as possible.
b "his only Son our Lord"
Secondly, Muslims cannot give assent to the statement about Jesus, that he is God's only Son, our Lord.
Jesus is highly venerated by Muslims, for he is given a special place among the messengers or apostles of God in the Qur'an. His birth was miraculous, being born of Mary without a human father (Sura 19: 16-28, 3:59). This is further confirmed by the fact that he is called "Son of Mary," an unusual naming in a society where the second part of a man's name is always that of his father not his mother, as was pointed out by the early Muslim commentator Al-Baidawi. He is said to have been given the Holy Spirit by God (Sura 2:87) and is spoken of as the Word of God (Sura 4:171). He is said to have performed many remarkable miracles, including healing the sick and raising the dead (Sura 5:113). He is declared to be among the righteous (Sura 6:85) and to belong to the company of those nearest to God.
However, the Qur'an explicitly denies that he is the Son of God. Sura 112, which is regularly recited in the prayer ritual, which, you will remember, is repeated five times each day says,
He is God, the One and Only, the Eternal God. He does not beget; nor is He begotten; and He has no equal.
Further, Sura 9:30 says,
The Christians call Christ the Son of God. . . . In this they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say.
And in Sura 5:72 we read,
They do blaspheme who say, "God is Christ the son of Mary." For Christ said, "O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord." . . .
In the explicit teaching of the Qur'an, Jesus was not divine, but stands in the line of the great messengers of God like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad. Sura 5:75 says,
Christ the son of Mary was no more than a Messenger.
And Sura 43:59 states that Jesus is,
. . . no more than a servant: We granted Our favor to him, and We made him an example to the Children of Israel.
c. "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead."
Thirdly, Muslims do not give assent to what Christians mean by the statement in the Apostles Creed that Jesus "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead."
Christians understand that these statements of the creed refer to the Christian conviction that Jesus' death on the cross was in atonement for human sin. This raises two questions. The first is a historical one, namely, what does the Qur'an say and what do Muslims believe about how, when and why Jesus died? The second one is a theological one, namely, since Muslims deny the atonement, what is the Muslim view of salvation?
(1) The Death of Jesus. (See page 2, bottom half, of the enclosed handout.)
The Qur'anic treatment of Jesus death is fraught with difficulties, since its statements seem contradictory. First, there are verses that clearly speak of Jesus' death. Thus, Sura 3:56 says,
"Oh Jesus! I cause you to die and then exalt you to myself and purify you from their calumny."
And in Sura 19:33/34 Jesus says,
Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day of my being brought back alive.
Now, in just a few verses preceding this passage (v. 15), Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, invokes the same blessing on his son John. Hence the language certainly implies a real death and resurrection in each case. That seems clear enough. But then Sura 4:157-58 reads:
As for their (i.e. the Jews) claim that they killed the Messiah Jesus...they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him. It (or he) appeared so to them. There is a lot of doubt about this matter among those who are at odds over it. They have no real knowledge but follow only surmise. Assuredly, they did not kill him. On the contrary, God raised him to Himself.It is generally understood by Muslim commentators that the language here denies the crucifixion, but they differ as to what actually happened. A common interpretation is that a substitute who was made to look like Jesus was crucified in his place, and Jesus was taken alive to heaven. Other commentators reconcile this passage with the other passages that speak of Jesus' death by adopting the view that the passages that speak of his death refer to his second coming (a belief in Jesus' second coming is almost universal among Muslims).
We need not go any further into the involved controversy in Muslim writing about what actually happened to Jesus. Whatever view they take, the common conclusion of Muslims is, as Kenneth Cragg summarizes it, "historically Jesus did not die, morally he should not die, and theologically he need not die."
(2) The Muslim Concept of Salvation. (See page 3 of the enclosed handout.)
The Muslim conviction that theologically Jesus need not die brings us to the Muslim denial of the need for atonement and hence to the second question, namely, what is the Islamic concept of salvation? Here the matter can be stated rather succinctly. First, the Qur'an gives an optimistic analysis of the human condition. Speaking to Muslim believers, Sura 30:30 says,
"So set your face to the religion as a person of pristine faith (hanif)--the state of natural purity ( fitra) in which He created people. There is no changing of the creation of God."
This diagnosis of the human condition receives further support in the most authoritative collection of "Hadith" ("Tradition") about Muhammad, where he is quoted as saying,
"No child is born except in a state of natural purity (fitra) and then his parents make him Jewish, Christian, or Magian.
This perspective is mirrored by contemporary Muslim writers, such as Badru Kateregga, who has written in one publication,
"Muslims believe that man is fundamentally a good and a dignified creature. He is not a fallen being" (Islam and Christianity, p. 109)
In this view of the human condition, human nature does not need divine transformation to do that which is right, only divine guidance. After Adam is driven from the Garden of Eden, he is promised guidance from God and freedom from fear if he follows that guidance (Qur'an 2:38-39).
Since the Qur'an portrays the human predicament as primarily ignorance rather than evil, as in the biblical analysis, Muslims believe that to do the right they need only proper knowledge and guidance, not a savior. Therefore, the biblical dimension of the saving work of Christ is unnecessary in Muslim thought. In fact, only once does the Qur'an use the word najat (salvation). Sura 40:40-41 says,
. . . [H]e that works a righteous deed - whether man or woman - and is a believer, such will enter the Garden of Bliss. . . . O my people! How strange it is for me to call you to salvation while you call me to the fire!
Clearly in the context here, the salvation involved is achieved by righteous works and right belief. One cannot help but remember in this regard the words of James 2:19,
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder.
In another publication the Muslim author Kataregga puts it this way,
Islam does not identify with the Christian conviction that Man needs to be redeemed. The Christian belief in the redemptive sacrificial death of Christ does not fit the Islamic view that man has always been fundamentally good, and that God loves and forgives those who obey his will" (A Muslim and A Christian in Dialogue, p. 175)
In a course on Introduction to Islam that I attended recently, my colleague at Fuller, Dudley Woodberry, very helpfully expressed the significant differences between Islam and Christianity this way.
Both religions are committed to the belief that human beings stand in desperate need of the Word of God. In Muslim belief, the Word of God became a Book, the Qur'an, by means of the divinely appointed messenger Muhammad. In Christian belief, the Word of God did not become a book but is a Person, who became flesh in Jesus Christ. The Book, the Bible, provides the divinely guided interpretation and meaning of that event.
Both religions are committed to the belief that human beings need to be accepted by God. In Muslim belief, human beings are fundamentally good and only need the knowledge of right guidance provided by the Word as Book and the example of God's Messenger to earn God's acceptance through right action and sincere belief in the One God and his prophet. In Christian belief, human beings are not fundamentally good, but inherently sinful. What human beings need is not simply knowledge, but redemption. Therefore, as the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans 3:20-22, no human being will be justified in God's sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. What human beings need is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, the righteousness provided by the atonement for sin wrought by Jesus on the cross.
We could diagram that this way:
Both Islam and Christianity postulate that human beings need "Revelation," the Word of God. But how "Revelation" is acquired differs radically in the two faiths:
Islam
The word of God
through Muhammad
became book,
the Qu'ran
Christianity
The Word is a Person, the Son of God;
in Jesus Christ the Word
became Flesh;
The Book, the Bible, provides the
authoritative interpretation
Both Islam and Christianity postulate that human beings need acceptance by God, "Salvation." But how "Salvation" is acquired differs radically in the two faiths:
Islam
Humanity, fundamentally good,
needs only knowledge and guidance
provided by
the Word as Book
and the example of Muhammad
Christianity
Humanity, fundamentally sinful,
needs redemption and empowerment
provided by faith in the atonement of
the Word as Person,
Jesus Christ, the Righteous
________________________________________
Dr. Frederic W. Bush is the D. Wilson Moore Professor Emeritus of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.
(Note:The following books were used to prepare this survey. It should be noted that I have not used any footnotes, even though I have often used material verbatim from these texts.
Lewis, Bernard. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last Two Thousand Years. New York: Touchstone, 1995
Martinson, Paul V. Islam: An Introduction for Christians. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1994.
Watt, W. Montgomery. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. London: Oxford University press, 1964.
Nazir-Ali, Michael. Islam: A Christian Perspective. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983.)
