This is very brief overview of the MOSLEM religion. There are many fine exposes of the Islamic faith that are more detailed, and can be found in just about any bookstore, and on the Internet. Here we offer just a simplified outline and synopsis that emphasizes the teachings of Islam and the Biblical answers that contradict and refute the writings of Muhammad as found in the Koran.
To check the references in the Koran, I suggest a Simple Search of the Koran found at this link (http://www.hti.umich.edu/k/koran/simple.html), and for the Bible references you may go to Bible Gateway located here (http://bible.gospelcom.net/) – all Bible references that I use or allude to are from the inspired and preserved, inerrant and infallible word of God (in English), the King James Bible.
I. DEFINITIONS.
As with the study of any subject, we need to understand basic terms and their definitions. Here is a list for the reader:
Islam = surrender; submission.
Moslem = one who submits; one who believes in and practices the Islamic religion.
Allah = the God of Islam.
Koran (Quran) = the holy book of Islam.
Hadith = another authoritative book of Islam; commentary by Islamic scholars.
Muhammadans = followers of Muhammad.
Sunnis = this is the majority sect in Islam. They believe in a separation of church & state (Iraq under Saddam Hussein).
Shiites = this is the minority sect in Islam. They believe in a state-church setup (Iran; Afghanistan under the Taliban).
There are basically three kinds of Moslems:
1) Nominal Moslems: those who were born into it, married into it, or converted to it, yet are not practicing their religion seriously. Sort of like nominal Christians who identify with their religion, but know little about it and it has little influence on their lives or views and opinions.
2) Moderate Moslems: those who practice their faith, but do not go so far as to want to kill you for it; they stress the positive aspects of their faith, not the negative. Sort of like liberal-minded Christians who don’t want to offend anyone with the negative aspects of their religion.
3) Radical Moslems: the terrorist-minded group of Islam. They will kill you for Allah if you disagree with their religion.
II. HISTORY.
The religion of Islam was founded in the seventh century by Muhammad. He was born in 570 A.D. and died in 632 A.D. in the city of Mecca (located in modern-day Saudi Arabia). The city of his birth became and is considered the holiest place in the Islamic religion.
At 40 years of age, he claims to have received a divine revelation in the month of Ramadan, 610 A.D., near Mecca. This is called the “Night of Power” by MOSLEMs. He was allegedly visited by the angel Gabriel and given the first fragment of the Koran.
For two years afterwards, he received no more visions. He was about to give up and commit suicide when an apparition appeared to him telling to stop, and saying, “Muhammad! Thou art the Messenger of God and I am Gabriel.”
The Koran was written down by Muhammad over the next 22 years. After his death, his writings were compiled into one book, the Koran. Also after his death the Hadith was written, which contains supposed and fabricated accounts of Muhammad’s life, sayings, and miracles.
He went about preaching against the idolatry of the pagan Arabian religion of the day. He fled to Medina (“city of the Prophet”) in 622. This marked the beginning of the Moslem era. (Medina is the 2nd most holy place in Islam.)
Muhammad’s followers conquered the Middle East and North Africa by sermon and sword within 100 years. Today, it is the largest religion in the world - 1 in 5 human beings are MOSLEM.
III. TEACHINGS.
1. MOSLEMS believe the Koran to be the word of God; it is their ‘holy’ book. The Koran was written by Muhammad over a period of 22 years. He claimed it was given to him by Allah. His followers compiled all his writings into what are now the Koran. It is the most memorized book in the world today. They believe it is the “last” testament (just like the Mormons believe that Joseph Smith’s “Book of Mormon” is “another” testament).
2. MOSLEMS are monotheistic – that is, the believe in one God - the head of the North American Islamic Society said that we all (Jews, Christians and MOSLEMs) worship the same God. On the panel with him were the head of the National Council of Churches (Protestant) and a leading Jewish rabbi. None of these objected to or corrected the statement. It is true that they all three worship only one God, but they do not worship the same God, with all due respect to President Bush.
3. MOSLEMS do not believe in idols (just like the Jews don’t) - unlike the Hindus, Catholics, etc. Muhammad preached against the numerous gods and idols of his own Arabian people.
4. MOSLEMS believe that Muhammad is the last of the prophets of God – according to Islam Muhammad was preceded as a prophet of God by Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus.
5. MOSLEMS believe “The (one, true) God” is Allah.(Al=the; lah=god) This was the name for the Arabian “moon-god;’ hence, the symbol/flag of Islam is the crescent moon and the star of the ancient Semites. But the God of the Bible’s name is “Jehovah,”the LORD (See Exodus 3:14; 6:3).
[Proverbs 30:4 - “What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?” [The name of God is JEHOVAH and His Son’s name is JESUS.]
6. MOSLEMS do NOT believe that Jesus is the Son of God, only a Prophet. (See Surah 4:171; Surah 5:75) According to the Koran, God does not have children. Yet the Bible says different inJohn 3:16; Mark 15:39; John 1:12; etc.
7. MOSLEMS deny the Trinity - goes against their concept of one God. Islam denies the “Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” (See Surah 4:171; Surah 5:73) But the Bible says different in Matthew 28:19; 1 John 5:7; 1 John 4:10, 14; references the “Spirit of God” are found throughout the Bible.
8. MOSLEMS deny the deity of Christ, that He is God. The Bible says different in Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13;1 John 5:20; John 20:28
9. Most MOSLEMS are ignorant of the Bible, even its simplest teachings - They have been brainwashed like the members of any cult or false religion.
A. One MOSLEM who lives in Memphis was taught that Jesus was born in Jerusalem. When he read the New Testament it floored him to find that it said Jesus was born in Bethlehem. See Luke 2:4, 11
B. Another MOSLEM in Memphis, an Egyptian, showed me his Koran. The notes on the Comforter in John chapters 14-15-16 say that the “Comforter” is a prophecy of Muhammad! The simplest reading of these chapters makes it plain that the Comforter is referring to the Holy Ghost of God, the 2nd member of the Trinity. See John 14:26; 15:26
10. MOSLEMS do not believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross – they teach that it was Judas who was crucified, and that the crucifixion of Christ is fiction, a hoax. (Surah 4:157) But the Bible says different in Matthew 27-28, Mark 15-16, Luke 23-24,and John 19-21.
11. MOSLEMS believe in salvation by works – there is no redemption in Islamic theology. In the KORAN, (The Dinner Table) Sura 5.9 it says: “Allah has promised to those who believe and do good deeds (that) they shall have forgiveness and a mighty reward.”
See what the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5.Salvation is “by grace through faith’’ and “NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast.”
12. MOSLEMS are obligated by the Koran to the “Five Pillars of Faith” –
A. Confession of Faith: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.”
B. Prayer: of praise to Allah, bowing towards Mecca, 5 times per day.
C. Almsgiving: charity, giving to the poor.
D. Fasting: one month out of the year, in January, called the month ofRamadan.
E. Pilgrimage: all who are able should make one pilgrimage to Mecca; called a hajj.
There are actually 5 other pillars, equaling ten (10). The 6th pillar is jihad (meaning “struggle,” and what we know as “holy war”). MOSLEMs delineate three types of jihad: 1) the inner struggle of self against sin; 2) the struggle of ideas that fights for Islam with words and literature; 3) and outright warfare; actual killing of the infidels and apostates, Christians and Jews.
13. MOSLEMS entire religion is based upon the false foundation that God made his covenant with Abraham through Ishmael, not Isaac. In the Bible, God is the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Luke 20:37) See: Genesis 12:1-3; 17:15-21; 21:9; 16:10-12. The chosen race of Jehovah comes down throughIsaac, not Ishmael.
14. MOSLEMS go so far as to say that Abraham took Ishmael, not Isaac, to slay in Genesis 22! (They have a tradition where they re-enact the supposed story of Ishmael stoning the devil 3 times, because he was being tempted by Satan to “chicken out” 3 times in Genesis 22. [They do this at the Kabba in Mecca]). A simple reading of Genesis 22 corrects this false teaching.
15. MOSLEMS have spread and continue to spread their Islamic religion by fear and terror, by coercion and intimidation, by the sword and the gun. Just look at history, and witness Sudan today. In the Hadith, vol. 1, no. 25 - Allah's apostle was asked, "What is the best deed?" He replied, "To believe in Allah and his Apostle." The questioner then asked, "What is the next?" He replied, "To participate in Jihad in Allah's cause."
According to the Hadith, Muhammad is alleged to have said: “I have been commanded to fight against people until they testify that there is no god but Allah...”
And again, according to the Hadith, Muhammad is alleged to have said: “I love to fight in the way of Allah and be killed, to fight and again be killed and to fight again and be killed.”
(The Dinner Table) Sura 5.33,34“THE punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement, EXCEPT those who repent before you have them in your power; so know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
(The Immunity) Sura 9.5“So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
MOSLEMs, in fact, divide the world into two sectors: Dar-al-Islam(the House of Islam) and Dar-al-Harb (The House of War). The only countries considered to be at peace are those where Islamic law (the Sharia) is enforced.
The leader of Iran (Persia) - Aytollah Khomeini (Iran - 1979)-“Our plan is to overthrow all Western influence in the Middle East and then to overthrow the Judeo-Christian world order.” (Israel and the U.S., the “great Satan.”) He also said:"We shall export our revolution, to the whole world. Until the cry 'Allah Akbar' resounds over the whole world. There will be struggle. There will be Jihad . . . Islam is the religion of militant individuals . . . Islam will be victorious in all the countries of the world, and Islam and the teachings of the Quran will prevail all over the world . . . This is the duty that all MOSLEMs must fulfill.”
As much as America does not want to face the truth of the matter, we are in a religious war. (Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son, said this on national TV.)
The former Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: The Islamic terrorists are the front-line forces in “a war to reverse the triumph of the West.”
MOSLEMs are taught that suicide is a sin, but to die for Allah is an automatic ticket to Paradise, with 70 palaces and 70 virgins in each one, plus the time and strength to enjoy it all forever. What incentive to serve Allah! Radical MOSLEMs practice this by dying for the cause of Islam and Allah.
Hadith Vol 1:35 "The person who participates in Jihad (Holy battles) in Allah's cause and nothing compels him to do so except belief in Allah and His apostle, will be recompensed by Allah either with a reward or booty (if he survives) or will be admitted to paradise (if he is killed)."
You cannot intimidate an enemy who is not afraid to die!
[As a humorous aside could Hell be any worse than this?The split-second after Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacking terrorist, died, he was in a fiery, burning hell. The devil was there, waiting for him, pitchfork in hand. “Welcome to my nightmare, my son. I am Allah.” Mohammed, in shock, said, “But you said we would go to paradise if we died for the cause!” “I lied.” “But what about the 70 virgins?” The devil said, “I lied about that, too.” Mohammed said: “What then?” The devil, pointing to a line of women coming into Atta’s little chamber of hell, said, “You get 70 mother-in-laws.”]
Now, back to harsh reality: One Islamic militant who was charged but not convicted of murdering a rabbi in New York in 1990, had this written in his personal papers that were found and entered as evidence: “We have to thoroughly demoralize the enemies of God...by means of destroying and blowing up the towers that constitute the pillars of their civilization, such as...the high buildings of which they are so proud.”
An Islamic militant told an American crowd in 1988: “After Afghanistan, nothing is impossible for us anymore. There are no superpowers...What matters is the willpower that springs from ourreligious belief.”
16. Muhammad’s final revelation that he preached was this – He said that Allah told him: “This day I have perfected your religion for you...and have chosen for you...Islam.” (Surah 5:3; also 3:19,85)
17. Radical MOSLEMS believe that Apostates deserve to die!
HadithVol. 9:57"Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him."
A MOSLEM from a MOSLEM country is not safe if he converts to another religious faith. There are converted MOSLEMs in America that cannot return to their native Countries, such as Saudi Arabia, for fear of being arrested, tried, convicted and EXECUTED by the Islamic government. I have heard it said and confirmed by Saudis that there is a $10,000 governmental reward for any citizen who “turns in” an apostate MOSLEM who has converted to Christianity.
IV. FINAL THOUGHT: In closing, let me stress that MOSLEMSneed to be witnessed to and won to Christ like anybody else: the more of them that get saved, the better for them, you and the world. God loves them, Christ died for them, and we need to pray for them and witness to them with love and compassion. CORRECTION I need to address this familiar e-mail forward. You may have received an e-mail forward that claims to quote the KORAN in reference to the USA attacking Iraq. It gives some interesting facts about Iraq in the Bible, and then closes with this:
“This is something to think about! Since America is typically represented by an eagle Saddam should have read up on his MOSLEM passages...
The following verse is from the Koran, (the Islamic Bible):
Koran 9:11 - For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; and there was peace. (Note the verse number!) Hmmmmmmm?! God Bless you all. Amen!”
If you will look up the verse in the KORAN, you will see thatthis is a fabrication. The Koran says no such thing. Why such misinformation is put forward and by whom I don’t know, but it is sheer propaganda.