Islam

In this article we will examine the religion of Islam. The material for this article is taken from my university textbooks, Practical Systematic Theology and Religion: History and Mystery.

I. The Rise of Islam

Mohammad was born in Mecca in 570AD. His father, a Quraysh of the Hashemite clan, died before his birth and his mother also died before he was six years old.  He was unable to have a formal education and was most likely illiterate. Mohammad lived with his uncle. He was from a Bedouin tribal environment and during his teens worked as a camel driver, a job which took him with his merchant uncle to Syria and onto the peninsula to the North. The Hashemite tribe shared the responsibility of the office of the trustee of the Ka'aba (ancient Arab shrine), its idols, its Black Stone, and the nearby sacred well. 

There were 360 tribal deities associated with the Ka'aba shrine, a cube-shaped building called 'the house of Allah'. The community in which Mohammad was raised worshiped Allah and his three goddess daughters - Allat, Munat and al-Uzzah. Many scholars believe that 'Allah' is just a contraction of the personal name of the chief god of the Ka'aba, the moon god. The minarets, shrines, mosques and flags of Islamic countries still bear testimony to this god in their symbols of the crescent moon. Pre-Islamic Arabs also believed in jinn, Satan, good and evil omens, etc. They were polytheistic people.

In 595AD, at the age of twenty-five, Mohammad married a forty-year-old widow who was his employer and successful merchant. Over the next fifteen or so years he travelled extensively and encountered both Jews and Christians. He is said to have been a deeply religious man, and upon hearing the Trinitarian doctrines of the Christians, believed that they were polytheists, worshipping three gods. The Christian belief of the incarnation was completely rejected by Mohammad, as he believed that God could never become human.

At the age of forty Mohammad began to spend time in isolation, often going to a cave near Mecca. Tradition says that he was seeking God at these times, and trying to understand spiritual questions which bothered him. It is also said that he took fits which may have been epileptic in nature. One night in his cave he had what he described as a vision in which an angel appeared to him and commanded him to recite certain words which are now written in Sura 96 of the Qur’an. He claimed that the angel's name was Gabriel - the same name as the angel who appeared to the Virgin Mary. When he returned to his wife, he told her that he was unsure whether he was possessed by a demon, or insane, but there was no doubt that he was uncertain that his vision was of God. 

Some records say that he was not at all distressed about his vision, whilst others say he contemplated suicide several times. He isolated himself for three years and eventually his wife convinced him that ‘Allah’ had spoken to him. Mohammad is said to have been taken over at times by a voice not his own and would spontaneously start reciting rhapsodies in Arabic.  After a long season of self-doubt, so tradition states, and under the influence of his wife, he became convinced that he was indeed the true prophet (nabi) and apostle (rasul) of Allah who had been given a special mission. This ‘Allah’ was supposed to be the same god who was known to both the Jews and Christians.

Consider that the root of the word 'Islam' is 'submission', albeit Muslims would say a voluntary submission to God. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that the greatest commandment is to 'Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength'. Submission can be forced, but love must always be given voluntarily. Islamic history shows that the meaning placed on 'voluntary submission' has always been to voluntarily submit or die. 

One might argue that Christianity in the Dark Ages adopted a similar policy of force; however, this must be recognized as in direct opposition to the New Testament emphasis on loving one's enemies and can never be justified within Biblical Scripture. Muslims who force submission on infidels are obeying the fundamental tenants of Islam; Christians who force Christianity onto others are fundamentally disobeying the gospel. Islam and Christianity have blatantly opposing theologies in this regard.

A close examination of Islam's teaching about Allah reveals other facts which make this god completely different to the Bible's revelation. Although the Qur'an teaches that 'God is nearer than a man's jugular vein', there is no way to have an intimate relationship with him as he is 'so far above every man in every way that he is personally unknowable'. Islam also teaches that Allah is the source of both good and evil. He is Al-Hadi, the one who guides, and also Al-Muthill, the one who leads astray. This idea is fundamentally opposed to the Biblical character of God.

In the early days of his mission, Mohammad preached against the social injustices and pagan worship in Meccan society. The leaders of this society were not pleased by this message, but Mohammad’s rich uncle Abu Talib, and the considerable wealth he had received from his wife, afforded him protection. Mohammad took the sacred Black Stone to Medina and set it up there, preaching that it could be related back to Abraham. 

Both his wife and uncle died in 619 and he lost two of his most ardent supporters; however, he continued to gain a following. After the death of his wife Mohammed married a new wife every year over the next fourteen years, including the divorced wife of his adopted son. In his early 50’s he also married a 6 year old child and consummated the marriage when the child was nine.  In Quran, women are fundamentally a man’s property, created to serve their husbands in whatever capacity he desires.

After some three years, in 622, Mohammad and his followers went to Yathrib, which is now called ‘Medina’ from madinat al-nabi, which is literally ‘City of the Prophet’. This is considered to be the decisive moment of the beginnings of Islam and the year 1 in the calendar used by the Islamic world. After some time Mohammad became both the civil and religious leader of Medina, continuing to win new converts to his religion. 

Mohammed hired mercenaries, raised an army and attacked the caravans of Mecca, forcing its surrender in 630. Arab people, like the Romans, believed that the gods fought on the side of the victorious army. When Mohammed's mercenaries defeated Mecca, the people decided to follow Islam. At the time of his death, in 632, the Meccans and many Arabs outside of the two cities of Mecca and Medina had begun the militant religion of Islam.

The five main obligations of a Muslim:

1. The confession of faith. “There is no god but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet”.

2. Prayer five times a day.

3. Charitable gifts.

4. Fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

5. Pilgrimage to Mecca.

The word Islam means ‘submission to the will of Allah’.

III. Islamic Writings

The main source of ‘divine revelation’ is the Qur'an, which is supposedly the words of the prophet Mohammad. Secondly is the Hadith which records the traditions and other words of Mohammad, and thirdly, the Ijma which consists of the ‘accord of the faithful’, the body of law followed by devout Muslims. Taken together these three represent the ‘Sunna’, which is translated ‘The Path’. The Hadith also claims that Mohammed was pre-existent and the purpose of all creation; indeed, Muslims will turn a deaf ear to criticism of Allah, but any criticism of their prophet is met with vengeance from even liberal believers of Islam.

IV. The Spread of Islam

The initial spread of Islam is recorded over a period of exactly one hundred years dating from Mohammad’s death in 632. This was a religion with an ambition to take over the entire world. All idolaters must either accept Islam or be slain by the sword, but Jews and Christians, those who held to monotheist faiths, received a special status, being tolerated on condition that they pay a special tax. The rationale behind this was simply that, in Mohammad’s mind, both Jews and Christians shared the same Abrahamic heritage as Muslims, albeit Islam was the latest and most complete revelation from ‘Allah’, therefore all were worshipping the same god.

The wars between the Roman Catholic Empire and Persians had left both sides exhausted and vulnerable to attack by the new Islamic invaders. In the 620s the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Heraclius, took back Syria, Palestine (including Jerusalem), Egypt and invaded Persia.  

The Muslims, took Damascus and, in a siege lasting two years, captured Jerusalem. By 650 Mesopotamia had been conquered, and also parts of Asia Minor and North Africa. The Arabs also developed sea power and took Rhodes, parts of Cyprus, and raided Sicily and Southern Italy.  

In 711 the Arabs crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, and by 715 had taken over the Visigothic rule of Spain. Their advance was halted in 732 by the Franks in the battle of Tours (or Poitiers). The new Empire of Islam soon divided into a series of ‘caliphates’ based primarily in Mecca, Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo. There followed bitter wars between some of these states concerning arguments about succession.

Note: Apostasy (leaving the Islamic religion) was punishable by death; therefore, conversions to Christianity were rare. People were forced to join Islam or be executed, and if they left Islam they were executed, although many historians believe that forced conversion was rare, if not only for those considered to be polytheistic.

V. Islam’s Doctrine and Self - identity

At the time of its creation Islam was viewed by some as a Christian sect or heresy. This idea came about partly through Mohammad’s admission that he had visited Jerusalem and listened to the doctrines of Christians. Mohammed was well informed about the angel Gabriel long before his vision in the cave.  In fact, Islam was closer to the doctrines of Orthodox Jews than Christians. 

The following are some of the major claims of Islam.

1. The oldest of religions since it claimed to originate in Abraham.

2. The purist of religions to come from Abraham. Abraham was neither Christian nor Jew but of a ‘pure faith’ submitting to Allah (Muslim). Abraham is said to have set up the Ka’aba stone and established the rites of pilgrimage. Ishmael, Abraham's first son by the servant girl Hagar, is considered to be a prophet.

3. Received the name ‘Allah’ from the arch-angel Gabriel. What about the Ka'aba 'Allah', the moon god who was worshipped by Mohammed and his tribe. Are we to believe that 'Allah' is a new name? The crescent moon on mosques and Islamic flags such as Pakistan testify to the moon god origins of Islam. 

4. Received visions while having his ‘epileptic fits’. These 'fits' only started after his concern about being possessed, and only recurred when giving his 'revelations'.

5. Christ only another prophet, but Mohammad the last prophet. According to Islamic tradition Jesus' crucifixion was not a real death. Christ never died but was taken up to heaven where He waits to return and serve both Allah and the Muslim savoir, the Mahdi.

6. Many regulations for daily life, but rewards in paradise. Pleasures which are denied in this world are given in the next; e.g., Muslim men must not drink alcohol, gamble or fornicate, but in heaven he may drink to excess, gamble, and enjoy ‘black-eyed maidens’, all of which are mentioned several times in the Qur'an and Hadith as rewards. That which is sin on earth is a reward in heaven? A schizophrenic god? 

7. Personal relationship with God is impossible. God is unknowable. If this is the case, no Muslim knows God, even Mohammed.

8. Incarnation is impossible as God cannot demean himself to stoop to humanity. Also, God can never stoop so low as to have a Son. Jesus, then, is just another human being according to Islam. The Bible claims that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, and God the Son. Are Allah and Jehovah the same God with a different name? The answer is a definitive 'no'. Allah has no son.

9. Holy War is essential and warriors dying in these wars receive the greatest pleasures in heaven. The end justifies the means. Killing unarmed infidels, even women and children, is honorable in Allah's eyes.

10. Very simple religion to understand, unlike Christianity’s many paradoxes in doctrine. 

By the end of the 9th century three distinct groups have emerged. The orthodox position, the largest group, depended solely on the Qur'an and traditional writings. The other two traditions were messianic and mystical concurrently. The messianic taught that there was a continuous flow of revelation by new prophets claiming to be descendants of Fatima, the daughter of Mohammad. The mystical tradition (Sufis) sought for a personal relationship with God, something which was deemed to be utterly impossible by Mohammad. 

The Arab cultures thrived so much so that in the tenth and eleventh centuries Arab scholars were the greatest philosophers and scientists of their age. Greek philosophy, including Aristotle who was virtually unknown in Latin Europe before the twelfth century, was translated into Arabic in the eighth century by Greek scholars who belonged to heretical Christian sects. The Arabic world of the Middle Ages was also known for its agricultural wealth and commercial prosperity, and its power resembling the Hellenistic and Roman empires in the size and grandeur of its cities at this time.

VI. Islamic Eschatology (Theology of the Future)

Islamic eschatology is taken from both the Qur'an and Sunna. Both mention Islam's version of Jesus, a Jesus completely removed from the Christ of the New Testament. For Muslims, Jesus was a Muslim before Mohammed. Jesus was just a man, a prophet who was never crucified. He never died, but was taken up to heaven where he waits for Allah to send him back. He will correct all of the false teachings about him by Christians and give Christians an opportunity to accept Islam. He will destroy Christianity and Judaism, establish Sharia Law, and play a key role in the Islamic version of the Day of Judgment in the End Times. Jesus will rule under the authority of the Mahdi for 7 or 40 years (both are taught), will marry, have children and die, but be resurrected on the Day of Judgement.

Islam teaches that there are three signs which herald the Last Days, each one connected to a specific person.

The first is the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam who is believed to be in hiding at present. His role is to complete the worldwide domination of Islam and Sharia Law. All who refuse to submit will be destroyed. The Madhi's armies will conquer all unbelievers under their banner, a black flag which bears the word 'punishment'. He will begin with the nation of Israel and establish his rule on the temple mount in Jerusalem. He will rule for seven years, do great miracles, bringing wealth and prosperity to all who submit to Allah. He will arrive on a white horse as described in Revelation 6:2, indeed, this passage of the Bible is quoted. The Islamic Mahdi, and the actions he is to fulfil, fit the Bible's description of the coming Antichrist exactly. 

The second Islamic sign of the Last Days concerns Islam's version of Jesus. The role of the Islamic Jesus is basically identical to the person described in Revelation as the 'false prophet', the one who aids the Antichrist. Fundamentally, this Jesus will claim that he is the real Jesus and command all Christians to reject the traditional Christian Christ and accept him instead. He will worship Allah and order all Christians to do the same or be destroyed. Islamic teachers state that he will 'shatter crosses and slaughter pigs' - symbolic language for the destruction of Christianity and Judaism. He will also destroy the  Masih ad-Dajjal, a one-eyed antichrist figure who tries to deceive Muslims.

The Dajjal is the third sign. He arrives on a mule, is blind in one eye, is a false worker of miracles, and an infidel. This person claims to be the Son of God, a divine figure; indeed, he claims to be Jesus Christ. There is a great battle and the Islamic Jesus kills him.

VII. In Summary

1. Like the Mormons, Islam is the product of a so-called angelic revelation to a single individual. In the case of the Mormons, the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith, and for Mohammad, the arch-angel Gabriel whose name he may have found in the Jewish scriptures or Bible. In both of these cases the experiences are not verifiable.

2. Consider that Mohammad was a pagan goddess worshipper and very devout. Consider that he also had ‘visions’ while he was experiencing ‘epileptic fits’. The idea of epileptic fits is a modern way of understanding his experiences for those who are hesitant to say he was manifesting a demonic spirit. By his own testimony he told his wife after his experience, “I don’t know whether I am insane or possessed”. It was his wife who convinced him that Allah was speaking to him.

3. Many sections of the Qur'an and Sunna are taken from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, although changed to fit with Islamic teachings. For example, God's name is changed from Jehovah to Allah. The history of the Jews in Egypt, and their liberation through Moses, has been changed to read as though Jews were Muslims. In one passage, which is not in the Bible, Pharaoh tells Moses he's going to cut off his hands and legs and crucify him. 

It was around 1300BC when Moses was in Egypt, and crucifixion wasn't invented as a punishment for another 1000 years. Also, there were no Arabs in Egypt as Moses was sent to the Jewish people. Mohammed cannot change this piece of history, so instead he makes the Jews pre-Islamic Muslims. In the Hebrew Bible the Jews are called God's people, but Mohammed's version calls them 'Moses' people'.  Although the fundamental story of Exodus is told in the Qur'an, it has been changed to fit Islamic teachings. Was Mohammed a plagiarist?

4. Jesus Christ is considered by Muslims to be a prophet of Allah, a messenger. He is mentioned many times in the Qur'an as the one who is given the Gospel and knows the Torah. Mohammed also states that Jesus was not crucified, against all the evidence - rather, Jesus ascended into heaven and will return to destroy Christianity and Judaism, and aid the Islamic messiah in establishing Sharia law worldwide. These teachings completely contradict Jesus' teachings and mission. Islam denies the death of Christ in order to deny His Divinity and resurrection. 

According to Islamic traditions, their Mahdi will find a new Torah and Gospels which are supposed to be the true ones. These new writings confirm that both Jews and Christians have been entirely wrong about God and Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the message of Jesus (within the Christian gospels) and Mohammed are almost opposite. Jesus commanded that we 'love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us'. Mohammed orders his followers to 'slay unbelievers'. There are a multitude of contradictions within the Qur'an which show that Mohammed, although knowing something of the Bible's teachings, hadn't done his research well enough.

5. The Qur'an and Sunna use exact details of the Bible, especially the Book of Revelation, and portray a sequence of End Time events which are exactly opposite to Christian teaching. Revelation states that the Antichrist will ride a white horse and be aided by a false prophet who claims to be Jesus Christ. Then Christ Himself will appear and destroy both of them. Keep in mind that Jesus warned that in the Last Days false prophets would appear claiming to be Him and deceiving people through miraculous signs.

6. Islam is not and has never been a religion of peace. If the Quran is the fundamental doctrine of Islam, then those labelled as ‘radical Muslims’ or ‘Muslim extremists’ are really the traditional Muslims as many passages in the Quran both justify and encourage the murder of infidels. The goal of Islam has never changed, basically to conquer the world and force Sharia Law upon all people, by whatever means necessary.

I hope this article has been enlightening for you. The video series on World Religions and Cults can be viewed from my YouTube channel @stevecopland6001.

Steve Copland