Is The God Of Islam The God Of The Bible?

By Laurence A. Justice

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Some time ago Louis Farakan called for a million black men to march on Washington. Farakan is a Black Muslim and the name of his religion is The Nation Of Islam.  Farakan's purpose in organizing and carrying out this event was ultimately to convert as many Black men as possible to The Nation Of Islam.  Part of his strategy for doing so was to tell Christians that after all Christians and Muslims worship the same God.  Muslims worship Allah, Christians worship Jehovah, and Allah and Jehovah are actually the same God.  I heard one of the speakers at the march state this plainly.

When I served as a chaplain at Oklahoma State Reformatory, a medium security prison, I had a lot of personal dealings with Black Muslims.  Time and again these Muslims told me that Allah of Islam is the same as Jehovah of the Bible.

What is Islam?  Islam is a religion founded in 622 AD by  Mohammed. The word Islam means submission to Allah and a Muslim is a person who is in submission to Allah.  The most basic statement of Islamic belief is "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet."

Islam is one of the world's major religions.  One out of every five persons on the face of the earth today is a Muslim.  Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.  Islam is the fastest growing religion in America today. Mosques or places of Islamic worship are being built in all our major cities.  There is a large mosque with a tall minaret just down the street from our church in Kansas City.  According to "American Demographics" magazine in a 1994 article, Muslims now outnumber Presbyterians in the United States.  By the year 2010 Islam will move ahead of Judaism to be the second largest religion in America.  The growth of Islam in America will soon mean that we can no longer define ourselves as a Judeo-Christian society.

A large part of the growth of Islam in this country has been among Black people.  Black Muslims have been busy over the last 30 years or so propagating Islam in our prisons and our inner cities.

The question we want to try to answer in this message is this: Is the god of Islam the God of the Bible? Do Muslims and Christians actually worship the same God?  Let's look at some of the teachings of Islam and see if as they claim the god of Islam is the God of the Bible.

ISLAM DENIES THAT GOD IS A TRINITY

The Christian doctrine which Islam most fiercely attacks is the doctrine of the Trinity of the Godhead.  Islam's sacred book the Koran, is divided into chapters and verses and the chapters are called Suras which, along with the verses are numbered so that specific passages may be easily found.

Sura 4 verse 169 says that Christians worship three gods; God, Jesus and Mary.  Sura 5:73 denies that there is a Trinity in the Godhead and says that those who say that God is a Trinity will be severely punished.  "Surely they are disbelievers those who said: Allah is one of the three in a Trinity. But there is none who has the right to be worshipped but one God (Allah). And if they cease not from what they say verily a painful torment will befall the disbelievers among them."

My friend Scott Wiegner was in the U. S. Air Force and went to Saudi Arabia in connection with Operation Desert Shield and the Persian Gulf War.  While he was in Dhahran the Saudi government gave our service men and women a book, a copy of which I have here, entitled "Christian Muslim Dialogue."  This book is a blatant attempt by Muslims to proselyte our service men and women to Islam. 

On page 16 of this book is the statement: "The Trinity is not biblical.  The word Trinity is not even in the Bible or Bible dictionaries, was never taught by Jesus and was never mentioned by him.  There is no basis or proof in the Bible whatsoever for the acceptance of the Trinity."  The Koran says that Jesus Christ was a son of God like anybody else is a son of God but that he is not God the Son. Sura 19:29 says "It is not meet for Allah, that he should have any son.  Allah forbid!"  The book "Christian Muslim Dialogue" says on page iii "The reader will be surprised to learn that in the Bible Jesus never claimed to be God."

Islam sees Jesus Christ as a prophet of God who otherwise is no different from other men.  The Koran says in Sura 43:59 "Jesus was no more than a mortal whom (Allah) favored and made an example to the Israelites."  According to Sura 61:6 the main significance of Jesus is that he prophesied the coming of Mohammed.  All Muslim commentators teach that Jesus' promise of the coming of the Comforter in John 16:7 is a prophecy that Mohammed would come.

The Bible, God's holy word, teaches that Jesus Christ was and is far more than "a mortal."  Colossians 2:9 says of Jesus Christ "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."  In John 10:30 the Lord Jesus Christ says "I and my Father are one." In John 14:9 the Lord Jesus says "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."  In Matthew 17:5 God the Father said from heaven in an audible voice concerning Jesus Christ: "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.  Hear ye him."

In Matthew 22:42 there is a question upon which hangs the eternal destiny of every person in this world.  "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he?"  Take away the deity of Jesus Christ, the fact that he is the Son of God and God the Son and salvation is impossible.  I John 5:10-12 says, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."

Islam teaches that God is not the Father of Jesus Christ but the Bible says that he is, therefore the God of Islam is not the God of the Bible.  Islam teaches that the Holy Spirit is not God. It teaches that the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel and that through Gabriel God gave his revelations to the prophets.  In the book "Christian Muslim Dialogue" on page 18 we find these words: "Read Matthew 1:18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.  Compare (this) now with Luke 1:26-27. ‘And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.’  So in the miraculous birth of Jesus, Matthew mentioned the Holy Ghost and Luke mentioned the angel Gabriel.  What is the Holy Ghost then?  The Holy Ghost is then the angel Gabriel...Then God is God, the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel, and Jesus is...let me help you: Jesus is a prophet, son of Mary."

The Bible, God's holy word, teaches that God is a Trinity.  He is three Persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, yet he is one God. In Matthew 28:19 the Lord Jesus says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" One name yet three persons in that name.  I John 5:7 says "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."

The Bible speaks of the Father as God, it speaks of the Son as God and it speaks of the Holy Spirit as God.  Yet Christians do not believe that there are three Gods or to quote the Koran that God is "a third of three."  The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6:4 that "the Lord our God is one Lord..."

Christians worship the God of the Bible who is the Triune God. This is the only God who exists.  The God of Islam is not a Trinity, therefore the God of Islam is not the God of the Bible.

ISLAM DENIES THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED

"Christian Muslim Dialogue" says on page iii "The reader will be surprised to learn that in the Bible Jesus...did not die on the cross..."  Islam says that Jesus Christ was not crucified but that God caused someone else who looked like him, probably Judas, to be crucified and that instead of being crucified Jesus was taken up by Allah into heaven.  Sura 4:157-158 says "...They slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared so unto them...they slew him not for certain, But Allah took him unto Himself..."  Islam denies that Christ died a sacrificial death for his people therefore Islam denies that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer.

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was crucified and his crucifixion and resurrection is the basic message of the Bible.  About 1/3rd of the words in the four gospels are given to eyewitness accounts of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The basic essential message of the Bible is the gospel of Jesus Christ, his death on the cross for sinners, His burial and his resurrection from the dead.

In I Corinthians 15:1-4 the apostle Paul defines the gospel as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved...how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures..."

The very reason Jesus Christ was born into this world was in order to die for the sins of his people.  I John 4:10 says, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  The Lord Jesus himself says in Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

The apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 1:23 that the death of Christ is what the apostles preached. "But we preach Christ crucified..."  In I Corinthians 2;2 Paul says he was determined to preach the cross of Christ above everything else when he said "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."  The one thing God's people glory in is the redeeming death of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Galatians 6;14 says "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..."

The Bible teaches that from birth man is a sinner and cannot save nor help save himself.  He must have a substitute to atone for him and the only substitute God will accept is Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.  The death of Christ is the only means of salvation.  It is the only means of reconciliation to God.  Without the crucifixion God's word makes clear there is no forgiveness of sin and no eternal life.  If Jesus Christ did not die on the cross and rise from the dead there is very little left of the Christian faith. Paul says in I Corinthians 15:13-17 "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."

Islam denies the basic, essential message of the Bible, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In doing so it has taken away the Savior and has rejected God's saving grace.  Islam says it has a high regard for Jesus as a prophet of Allah but no amount of respect for Jesus as a prophet can be acceptable to God when the Person and work of Jesus Christ are not the heart and substance of faith.

 ISLAM HAS A FATALISTIC VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE

Like the Bible, Islam teaches a doctrine of predestination but Islam's predestination bears little resemblance to the predestination taught in the Bible.  Islam places so much emphasis on God as the sole cause of all events that second causes are all but excluded.

Islam teaches a predestination of the ends regardless of means.  So determined by predestination is every event in a person's life that there is little place for moral responsibility or guilt.  Sura 6:39 says "Allah will lead into error whom he pleaseth, and whom he pleaseth he will put in the right way." Sura 13:33 says "None can guide those whom Allah has led astray.  They shall be punished in this life; but more painful is the punishment of the life to come."

Islamic predestination is a doctrine of inevitable necessity. Fatalism is the proper term to describe it.  A Turkish proverb expresses the fatalism of Islam's doctrine of predestination when it says "A man cannot escape what is written on his forehead."

One time I read a story about a ship which crowded with Englishmen and Muslims.  As the ship plowed through the waves a man fell overboard.  The Muslims on board watched the floundering man indifferently saying, If it is written in the book of destiny that this man shall be saved, he will be saved without our help and if it is written that he shall perish, there is nothing we can do, so they left him in the water.  The Englishmen said, maybe it is written in the book of destiny that we should save this man so they threw him a lifeline and he was saved.

Islam denies any predestination when it comes to election.  Islam denies that there has ever been any election in Christ Jesus to salvation.

The Bible teaches that God has predestined all things that come to pass in this world but it also teaches that God uses second causes to bring his ends to pass. God uses means to bring about his holy purposes in this world.  "…We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" says Romans 8:28.

God has predestined a certain time for people to die and nothing can cause them to die before that predestined time but God also preserves people alive through the use of second causes.  God has predestined the time when I shall die and nothing shall ever change that predestinated time but if I'm standing on a railroad track and a train comes by, I'm going to get off the track so the train won't hit me because God uses means such as my caution to preserve me till the predestined time of my death.

Ephesians 1:4-5 in the Bible says that God has an elect people who he has predestinated unto the adoption of children by himself.  "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will..."

THE GOD OF ISLAM SPREADS HIS RELIGION BY THE SWORD

The spread of Islam through the centuries has been carried out largely on the battlefield. Islam has been advanced by the widespread use of war, torture and force of arms.  Islam has swept over the world slaughtering Jews and Christians alike.  The choice of all nations over which Islamic hordes have swept in history has been conversion to Islam or death.

Islam is a fighting religion.  Conquest is a religious duty in Islam. The Koran urges Muslims to take up arms against the infidel.  "When ye encounter unbelievers, strike off their heads until ye have made a great slaughter among them, and bind them in bonds..." the Koran says.  Kill thine enemy! is the practical teaching of Islam.

The Bible says that God's work is not to be spread by means of the sword. In John 18:36 the Lord Jesus said to Pontius Pilate "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight..."  In Matthew 26:52 the Lord Jesus says "all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" II Corinthians 10:3-4 says concerning Christians, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)"  In Matthew 5:44 the Lord Jesus tells his people to love their enemies. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" True Christianity is a peaceful religion and a peaceable religion.  "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" says the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:9.

Muslims never tire of reminding people that in the Crusades "Christians" swept over the holy land slaughtering Jews and Muslims by the hundreds of thousands.  People need to keep in mind however that the Crusades were Roman Catholic crusades and that all Christians may not fairly be lumped with Roman Catholics.  God's work, true Christianity, biblical Christianity has always been spread, not by the sword, not by war and torture and military might, but by the weakest men, unarmed with anything but humility, love, God's word and holy lives.

CONCLUSION

Is the god of Islam the God of the Bible?  Are Allah and Jehovah one and the same?  Clearly the answer is, No!  According to the Bible Allah is not God, Mohammed is not his prophet, and the Koran is not the word of God.  Islam is a false religion and utterly without power to save from sin because it doesn't recognize Jesus Christ as the Savior!  No person, no matter how religious or how sincere he may be can possess truth or salvation apart from Jesus Christ the Savior!

The Person and work of Christ is the crucial divider between Christianity and Islam.  Christ's death is the perfect and only sacrifice which God will accept in behalf of sinners.  Acts 4:12 says "There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."  Bow to Christ today sinner.  Surrender to the God of the Bible, the only true God! 

In this ecumenical age most people want to emphasize the resemblance and similarities between Islam & Christianity.  The two religions do share many historical persons and events in common but still there is an unbridgeable gulf between them.  There is no possible compromise between biblical Christianity and Islam and none should be sought!