According to Pew Research there are 2 billion Muslims in the world and based on independent research 4.5 million Muslims live in the United States.
Even though Islam is on the rise in many countries, especially the United States, most Christians aren’t educating themselves about what it teaches. When we aren’t educated about something we tend to make assumptions that may not be true. Another problem is that Muslims may have never had a Christian take an interest in why they are a Muslim or who they are. Then there are Christians who think that Christians worship the same God as Muslims and that Islam is just another path to God. A long list of issues happen when we don’t understand the times we live in.
Many Christians do not understand why Muslims believe the way they do because they are not seeking to understand what they believe. We tend to stay in our Christian circles and not venture out too often. We see the news reports of radical Muslim soldiers blowing up the innocent and think that this is what every Muslim believes is right according to their religion. Not long ago I met a lady at Barnes & Noble who said that she was in awe of the beauty of Islam (those were her words) and that is what she loves about it. Granted, she probably has never dug deep enough into Islam to know everything about it. She is viewing it at a distance and we must not make the same mistake.
While Islam is not a religion of peace there are some peaceful Muslims. If we are to tell Muslims why we have a real hope in Jesus Christ we cannot let fear lead us away from them. For too long we have allowed the liberal media to educate us about Islam without digging deeper ourselves to see if the information we are hearing is accurate or not. And just in case you’re wondering, this information is rarely correct. So, that is why we must research it ourselves or go to people who have done the work such as Nabeel Qureshi or David Wood.
Here are a few facts about Islam that I think all Christians should know:
1.) Islam means one who submits to Allah. Muslims have a religious book called the Quran that is divided into chapters or Surahs and they also have a text that accompanies the Quran called the Hadith. The Hadith is the recording of Muhammad’s actions and speech in tradition. You don’t have to be a scholar to learn what the Quran or the Hadith says but it will help you understand what Muslims think about creation, Jesus, and Muhammad.
2.) There are 5 pillars of Islam, they are practices expected of every Muslim:
-There is one God (Allah) and Muhammad is his messenger (shahada)
-Pray 5 times a day (salaat)
-Pay the religious tax (zakat)
-Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
-Fasting during Ramadan (sawm)
3.) Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet but they don’t think that he died by crucifixion nor do they think he was the son of God. They believe in the Swoon Theory which states that Jesus just looked like he died on the cross. They also affirm that the Bible is the word of God. Yet they think that Christians believe in many gods because of how we explain the trinity, so they call Christians polytheists.
4. Muslims call Christians and Jews, People of the Book (ahl-al-kitab). They don’t view Christians and Jews in a good light. Surah 9:29 says Christians must be fought and subjugated. Muhammad thought that Christians and Jews would welcome him but instead they rejected him. Muhammad called for the infidel (unbeliever) to be killed and he called on Allah to curse the Christians and Jews. Muhammad was a warlord who started over 80 wars and killed many Christians and Jews who opposed him. I was just watching a video of a Muslim talking about the Ruling of Al Wala Wal Bara. He said that it is a sin (haram) to love the non-Muslim. Surah 5:51 says that Muslims must not be friends with Christians. Further, Surah 98:6 says that Christians are the worst of all creatures.
5. Islam is classified as an Abrahamic religion but it is very different than Judaism and Christianity, so much that it shouldn’t be classified this way. The god of Islam (Allah) is very different from the God of the Bible (Yahweh). If you were to read the Quran and the Bible and compare characteristics of who God is, it becomes clear that these religions aren’t worshipping the same God. In the Quran, Allah is not a loving god and he does not have a loving relationship with people nor is he ever called Father.
I hope this information about Islam helps you to understand Muslims and their beliefs. We can share our hope in Jesus Christ in a very real way through connecting with Muslims and building relationships with them. We literally have millions of opportunities to tell them about the gospel and love them right where they are. If Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners surely we can take time to share the truth with Muslims. Now is not the time to ignore Islam because as Christians living in the Middle East will tell you it will be our downfall.
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