https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/IslamAndTheBible1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Philippians 2:3-11<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. I found an article on the editorial page of the newspaper back in 1996<\/p>\n
A. It was written in defense of the Islamic religion. <\/p>\n
1. Claiming that it is similar to Judaism and Christianity<\/p>\n
2. In fact, it is the natural follow-on to the work of Moses and Jesus<\/p>\n
B. It didn’t have the effect on me that I think the author intended<\/p>\n 1. Statements were made that showed the author was unfamiliar with the\nBible.\n 2. Assertions were made that, when compared with the Scriptures, show\nIslam to be a false religion.\n
C. [Reading portions of the article]<\/p>\n
The Image Of Islam Distorted<\/p>\n
by Saeed Mahmoodian <\/p>\n
Omaha World Herald February 11, 1996, p. 21-A<\/p>\n
\nThe ninth lunar month. Ramadan, during which Muslims observe fasting from dawn to sunset,\nstarted on Jan. 21. Fasting in Islam is complete; one abstains from food, drink, intimate\nintercourse and smoking. It is done for spiritual aims, physical needs and intellectual cultivation;\nit is by choice out of deep love for God and devotion to Him.\n
\nBecause of perpetual events in the Middle East and the recent peace agreement between Israel\nand the PLO, and participation of Americans in the United Nations forces preserving peace in\nBosnia, the American news media have once again touched upon the basic beliefs of Islam, but\nwith misconceptions if not outright bias. Exactly what is Islam?\n
\nThe word Islam is derived from the Arabic “salm” or “silm” which means among other things\npeace, tranquility, purity, submission and obedience. In the religious sense the word Islam means\nsubmission to the will of God and obedience to His law. Hence in the Koran all who bow to\nGod’s will, specifically the Disciples. are considered Muslims.\n
\nWhat Muslims do is not Islam unless it is in harmony with the Koran and the example of the\nprophets. Therefore, no one should, for example. equate Saddam Hussein’s actions to an Islamic\nprinciple, nor should anyone call genocide a Christian doctrine merely because Hitler was a\nChristian.\n
\nThe faith of nearly one billion people, Islam is the youngest of the world’s monotheist religions.\nThe God of Islam (Allah in Arabic, Khoda in Persian) is in the Koran a two-dimensional God. He\nis like Yahweh. the God of Moses, who is stern, severe in punishment and tyrannical. At the\nsame time He is like the God of Jesus, who is compassionate, most merciful and forgiving. \n
\nThe Book of Islam, the Koran, represents the revelation of God to the prophet Mohammad, and\nmany of its greatest precepts parallel those of the Bible.\n
\nAs Jesus taught the same religion which had been presented by Moses and other prophets before\nhim and as he criticized hypocrites, so did Mohammad, for both were ordered by God to efface\nand abolish the superstitions of ignorant people and the restrictive additions made in the Law of\nGod under non-Muslim domination. \n
\nMohammad therefore not only did not contradict Judaism and Christianity, but he acknowledged\nthe validity of Christian and Jewish teaching in their pure forms.\n
\nThe most important of these, in the mind of Muslims, is the theory of the sonship of Jesus. By the\ntime Mohammad was born, the concept of the Trinity and Jesus as the son of God, which was\nfirst formulated and written into law at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, had become a well-established Christian doctrine.\n
\nWhat a Muslim believes about Jesus — albeit very unpopular among Christians — does by no\nmeans underestimate His mission or degrade His great personality. A Muslim simply believes in\nJesus as one of the most distinguished apostles of God, who was born from a virgin birth by\nMary.\n
\nA Muslim believes Jesus was rejected and opposed by His own people who plotted in vain to\ncrucify Him, but God saved Him from violent death and favored Him by raising Him up to\nheaven. Even though a Muslim believes Jesus will come back at the end of the world to guide us\nonce again on the right path, he, nevertheless, repudiates as blasphemy the equality with God and\nthe sonship of Jesus Christ.\n
\nA successive wave of political defeats for Christianity started when Iran, then called Persia.\naccepted the new faith, Islam. This sowed enmity toward Islam among Christian missionaries.\n
\nThe Crusades intensified the animosities of the West toward Islam, and with the European\nRenaissance, which brought secularism into the European political systems, the religious\ndifferences became cultural and ideological. The 19th century doctrine of imperialism and the\nrival colonialist expansions of the European powers exploited the differences and promoted the\nidea that Islam is inherently far more threatening to the West than Marxism. Today with the fall\nof communism, Islam is indeed perceived — albeit speciously — as a real threat.\n
\nWith the creation of Islam and the influence of Zionism in Western societies, Islam has been\nbranded in the West in general and in the United States in particular as anti-Semitic and anti-Christian. Islam is, of course, neither.\n
\nIslam has never enjoyed a good image in the West; its teachings have been distorted, its heroes\nhave been smeared and its followers have been taunted. This indeed is repugnant to Christianity\nand an affront to Jesus’ teachings of tolerance. For a Muslim, however, acceptance of Jesus and\nthe Bible is a fundamental article of his faith.\n
\nA Muslim is a real and true follower of Jesus, so much that even in his daily prayers he\nceremonially does exactly what Jesus used to do before offering His prayers, namely\nperformance of an ablution.\n
\n
A Muslim can never think of Judaism and Christianity in derogatory terms.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
D. Let’s compare some of the claims against the Scriptures<\/p>\n
II. “Islam is the youngest of the world’s monotheist religions.”<\/p>\n
A. The Muslim faith was found by Mohammad 600 years after the death of Christ.<\/p>\n 1. Not that it makes much difference, but the Mormon religion, started in the\n1800’s by a man claiming to have newer revelations from God is newer.\n
B. The New Testament claims to be the final revelation from God<\/p>\n
1. Jude 3 – Salvation was delivered once to all saints<\/p>\n
2. Acts 4:12 – Salvation is only through Jesus<\/p>\n
3. Acts 20:27 – Paul claimed to have declared all the counsel of God<\/p>\n
4. II Timothy 3:16-17 – The Scripture is able to make a man complete<\/p>\n
5. Galatians 1:6-9 – Alterations to the given teaching is not to be tolerated<\/p>\n
6. I Timothy 1:3 – To teach some not to teach any other doctrine.<\/p>\nIII. “A Muslim simply believes in Jesus as one of the most distinguished apostles of God,\nwho was born from a virgin birth by Mary. … he, nevertheless, repudiates as blasphemy\nthe equality with God and the sonship of Jesus Christ.”\n A. The author claims that these ideas were introduced to Christianity in 325 A.D. at\nthe Council of Nicea.\n 1. While the deity of Christ was a topic at the Council of Nicea, it wasn’t\nintroduced at that time.\n
2. Rather the teachings of Arius was threatening to split the church. <\/p>\n
a. Arius claimed that Jesus was not eternal, but a created being<\/p>\n b. This ran counter to the already accepted position that Jesus was\neternal God\n c. The council was to determine whether Arius was right or not. His\nteachings were rejected.\n 3. But notice that the council was not creating a new teaching, but defending\nan old one.\n B. Philippians 2:5-8 – Jesus did not think he was robbing God by claiming equality\nwith God.\n C. Hebrews 1:1-3 – God spoke to us by His Son in these last days. Note, last days\nmeans there are no other to follow.\n D. Matthew 16:16 – Peter’s blessed confession was that Jesus was the Christ and the\nSon of God.\n
E. In fact, the phrase “Son of God” appears 82 times in the New Testament. <\/p>\n F. I am amazed they believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, yet deny the message of\nGabriel – Luke 1:32\n
G. Core is believing Jesus is the Son of God – I John 5:5-13<\/p>\n
IV. John warned us to try every Spirit to see if they are from God – I John 3:24-4:3<\/p>\n A. The author claims “A Muslim is a real and true follower of Jesus, so much that\neven in his daily prayers he ceremonially does exactly what Jesus used to do\nbefore offering His prayers, namely performance of an ablution.”\n B. I searched, but there is no reference of such an action on Jesus’ part. Jesus prayed\nfrequently and regularly, but never was there a washing before the prayer.\nV. Yet, later the author claims “Mohammad therefore not only did not contradict Judaism\nand Christianity, but he acknowledged the validity of Christian and Jewish teaching in\ntheir pure forms.”\n
A. Let the author acknowledge then these teachings of the Bible.<\/p>\n 1. The escape, however, is the Muslims’ belief that the Bible is not in its pure\nform. Though this belief exists without any evidence.\n B. The author wants us to accept the religion of Islam. A refusal would be\n“repugnant to Christianity and an affront to Jesus’ teachings of tolerance.”\n C. Yet, the Bible is very clear that false teachings are not to be accepted. We cannot\ncompromise the truth with falsehood.\n
D. The Muslims must learn the way of truth and leave their false doctrines behind<\/p>\n
E. We as Christians must lovingly teach them the way of truth. – II Timothy 2:24-26<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:3-11 I. I found an article on the editorial page of the newspaper back in 1996 A. It was written in defense of the Islamic religion. 1. Claiming that it is similar to Judaism and Christianity 2. In fact, it is the natural follow-on to the work of Moses and Jesus B. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[361,362],"class_list":["post-40213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-islam","tag-muslims"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93327,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/islam-and-governments\/","url_meta":{"origin":40213,"position":0},"title":"Islam and Governments","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Larry Rouse Here is the simplest way to explain what makes Islam fundamentally different from every other major religion, and why it is uniquely destabilizing. Judaism, Sikhism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic religions, meaning they teach belief in one deity. Islam adds a second, inseparable layer, and that is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17250,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-call-upon-you-to-obey-allahs-command-and-convert-to-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":40213,"position":1},"title":"I call upon you to obey Allah’s command and convert to Islam","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a former Christian who converted to Islam after reading the Qur'an with an open mind. I am now a devout Muslim. I write this letter to you so that you might consider converting to Islam and becoming a Muslim. Peace be upon he who follows the right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24602,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-religion-did-the-arabs-follow-prior-to-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":40213,"position":2},"title":"What religion did the Arabs follow prior to Islam?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'd like to know what religion, if any, did the current Muslims have before Mohammad came. Since they are sons of Ishmael, were they following Judaism? Answer: Judaism is the following of the Law of Moses, which was given exclusively to the sons of Israel. \"And Moses called all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25479,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-islam-and-christianity\/","url_meta":{"origin":40213,"position":3},"title":"What is the difference between Islam and Christianity?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the difference between Islam and Christianity? If Jesus is God, what about the prophet Moses (Torah), or the prophet David (Injil)? The holy book Torah had been given to the prophet Moses and the holy book Injil had been given to the prophet David. Likewise, the holy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45985,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-god-of-the-old-testament-just-as-violent-as-the-muslims-allah\/","url_meta":{"origin":40213,"position":4},"title":"Is the God of the Old Testament just as violent as the Muslim’s Allah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As a minister of the Gospel, I have a question that I was recently asked and I was curious if you had ever been asked the same: How can we preach a loving God and Christianity to Muslims if our God in the Old Testament was a violent God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38914,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-converting-to-islam-marry-another-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":40213,"position":5},"title":"Can a man, converting to Islam marry another wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My friend married a Christian in a church wedding. 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