In this section we want to examine some of the teachings of Islam with that of the Bible.

God

The Koran teaches "there is no God but God (Allah), and Mohammed is his prophet." The belief in one God is the corner-stone of the Islamic religion. Mohammed believed the trinity of the Christians to be three Gods and therefore idolatry.

If it is the same God who speaks through the Bible and the Koran then He is a God who contradicts Himself. For in the Bible, He states that Christ is His Son and all are to hear and obey Him; while in the Koran, He states that Mohammed is His prophet and all are to hear and obey him.

Christ, not Mohammed, is God's spokesman today (Matt. 17:1-5; 28:18-20; John 1:1-3, 14; 5:22, 27; 10:30; 14:8-10; Acts 2:36; 3:13-26; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:1-4; 1 Tim. 2:5-6). Actually, all one needs to do is read the gospel of John. If one is honest and sincerely seeking the truth that ought to convince him, whether he be Jew or Moslem, that Christ is the final authority in religion today.

While it is true that there is only one God, the Bible uses such language as to convey the idea that there are three separate and distinct beings which make up Deity or the Godhead (Matt. 28:19; John 1:1, 14; 17:1, 3, 5; Acts 5:3, 4; Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; John 17:20-21; Eph. 4:4-6; John 20:26-31).

Christ

Moslems deny that Christ is God. To them, He is not the Son of God, but just a servant of God who prepared the way for Mohammed. They also deny the fact that Christ died by crucifixion. They believe He was delivered by a miracle from the death intended for Him and that the Jews slew a person who looked like Jesus by mistake. They claim that Jesus, in John 14:16, predicted the coming of Mohammed.

Most of the scriptures used in the above section can be used to prove that Christ is the Son of God. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God; He proved His claim; God endorsed His claim; and the Jews condemned Him to death because He made the claim (2 Pet. 1:16-19; Rev. 2:18; 1:10-12; Matt. 11:27; 16:13-17; 26:63-65; John 5:19-43; 9:35-37; 10:36; Acts 2:22; John 3:1-2; Matt. 17:1-5; 3:16-17; Rom. 1:4; Matt. 26:63-64; John 20:30-31).

Jesus plainly taught that He would be killed and that His death was a necessity. John and Peter, as well as the rest of the apostles, were witnesses to the fact that Christ died, was buried, and arose from the grave (Mk. 8:31; Matt. 16:21; 20:17-19, 28; 26:28; John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32, 33; 19:31-35; Acts 2:23; 1 Cor. 15:1-8).

A study of John 14-16 will show that the Holy Spirit is the promised Comforter and not Mohammed. In John 16:7-14, Jesus describes the work of the Comforter (or Holy Spirit). Mohammed certainly never did any of these things; i.e. "convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." The Moslems confuse the word "paracletos" with "periclytos" in John 14:16.

Holy Spirit

Moslems teach that the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel. Gabriel, being an angel, was created (Psa. 148:2, 5). The Holy Spirit is Deity and was not created. He has always been (Acts 5:3, 4). Furthermore, if Gabriel did reveal the Koran to Mohammed, he is accursed for revealing a different gospel and Islam is certainly that; i.e. a different gospel (Gal. 1:8-9).

Marriage

Polygamy is tolerated. At one time, a man could have up to four wives and there are no restraints upon getting a divorce, in Islam. God from the very beginning intended for a man to have only one wife (Gen. 2:24-25; Eph. 5:31-33; 1 Tim. 3:2). As far as divorce is concerned, unfaithfulness on the part of one of the marriage partners is the only cause for divorce and then in such cases only the innocent partner has the right to remarry (Matt. 5:32; 19:9).

Heaven

"The Moslem is promised a heaven in which he can partake of pleasures denied him in this world; he may drink, gamble, and enjoy the company of beautiful black-eyed maidens, who are mentioned several times in the Koran as rewards promised to the most worthy members of the faith."(1) "A moment of pleasure will be prolonged to a thousand years," and one's "faculties will be increased a hundred fold."(2)

Such a concept of heaven is one that appeals to the lust of the flesh. Heaven is a spiritual place and all such fleshly desires will be done away with there (Matt. 22:23-30; 1 Cor. 15:50-58; 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Rev. 21:8).

War

Mohammed praised what he called the Holy War (Jihad) against unbelievers. "The sword," we. are told in the Koran, "is the key of heaven and hell; whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven." This is the belief of the current leadership in Iran.(3)

Again, such indicates the fleshly nature and thinking of the Islamic religion. Christ taught His disciples to fight in a war, but it is not a physical conflict. It is a spiritual conflict and the weapons used are spiritual (John 18:36-38; 1 Cor. 1:18-31; 2 Cor. 10:5; Eph. 6:10-20; Rom. 1:16-17).

The Koran

All Moslems recognize the Koran as their sacred book. To them, it is the word of God brought to the world by Mohammed. However, the New Testament is God's final revelation (Jude 3). There is no need for the Koran; for all the Truth that man needs in order to be well-pleasing to God has been revealed to us in the New Testament (John 16:13; 2 Pet. 1:3; 2 John 9; Gal. 1:7-9; 2 Tim. 3:16).

Conclusion

Philip Schaff gives what I believe to be an excellent summary of Islam: "Islam is a compound or mosaic of preexisting elements, a rude attempt to combine heathenism, Judaism and Christianity, which Mohammed found in Arabia, but in a very imperfect form. It is professedly a restoration of the faith of Abraham, the common father of Isaac and of Ishmael. But it is not the genuine faith of Abraham with its Messianic hopes and aspirations looking directly to the gospel dispensation as its goal and fulfillment. Still less did Mohammed know the pure religion of Jesus as laid down in the New Testament, but only a perversion and caricature of it, such as we find in the wretched apocryphal and heretical Gospels. This ignorance of the Bible and the corruptions of Eastern Christianity with which the Mohammedans came in contact, furnish some excuse for their mischief and stubborn prejudices."(4)

One final thought: as one studies Islam and the arguments that Moslems make to justify its existence, one soon discovers a parallel between it and Mormonism; i. e. the same arguments that are used by Moslems to prove that Mohammed and the Koran are inspired are used by Mormons to prove that Joseph Smith and the book of Mormon are inspired. So, in dealing with a Moslem, many of the arguments used against Mormons can be used against them.

Endnotes:

1. Cantor, Medieval History, p. 150.

2. Schaff, p. 189.

3. U.S. News and World Report, 11/26/79, p. 33.

4. Schaff, p. 183-184.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 7, pp. 119-120
February 14, 1980