Presentation by Daniel, Felix and Ching Lam

Islamic Beliefs

• Allah is the one and only God, therefore Islam is a monotheistic religion.
• Collectively, Islam, Judaism and Christianity are known as the Abrahamic religions because they all claim that Abraham is a common ancestor.
• The Quran (Also spelled Qu’ran or Koran) is God’s last revealed word to people on earth.
• There are many prophets sent to earth by Allah, but the prophet Muhammed was God’s last prophet sent to earth and the most important of them all.

The Quran

• Recorded by the prophet Muhammed, the Quran is God’s final message for earth.
• Revealed to Muhammed through the Angel Gabriel over the span of 23 years.
• The only holy book accepted by the Islamic faith.
• Note*: The Quran was revealed to Muhammad in Arabic only. So, any Quranic translation, either in English or any other language, is neither a Quran, nor a version of the Quran, but rather it is only a translation of the meaning of the Quran. The Quran exists only in the Arabic in which it was revealed.

Prophets

• Prophets are human beings sent to earth by God who are interpreters and examples of how to live.
• In the Islamic faith, prophets include Abraham, Noah, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Jesus, Muhammed, etc.
• Jesus was not known as the son of God, rather, purely as a human being who, according to the Quran, did not claim to be God’s son or part of the Holy Trinity as we Christians believe.

Five Pillars

The Five Pillars of Islam (Shahada, Salat, Sawm, Zakat, Hajj) are the beliefs and rituals that make up the main practices of the religion.

Key Differences with Christianity

1. Islam believes that Jesus, although created as Adam was, was merely a human being who was a prophet. This differs from Christianity, as Christians believe that Jesus is God’s one and only begotten son and is part of the trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified and died a painful death. They do not understand why he would be put through a torturous death. Yet, the Bible says that Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of all, because there needs to be sacrifice in order for there to be reconciliation. Jesus is the only way to heaven.
3. Muslims believe that paradise can be earned through keeping the Five Pillars. The Bible, in contrast, reveals that sinful man can never measure up to the holy God. Only by God’s grace may sinners be saved through repentance and faith in Jesus, and therefore, we can only get into heaven through Christ.
4. The Quran contains the word “love” in different variations/tenses a total of 69 times. On the other hand, the Bible contains the word “love” a total of 551 times in the NIV.
5. The Quran explicitly states that Allah does not love non-believers, whereas the Bible says that God loves everyone regardless of our backgrounds or beliefs. God has unconditional love for us.

God’s Unconditional Love

Jesus said in Luke 6:32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.”

If God then only loves those who love Him, or do good, or are pure then this love is not above or beyond man’s love since man also loves and appreciates such people. But a love that goes beyond the surface and loves the unlovable and seeks to win over even the most wicked and rebellious can only be a manifestation of the One who is love.

YouTube Video from CrashCourse

Additional notes from the Teachers:

Daniel took the lead in research and development of this studies. Along with Felix, They created a well organized, informative presentation. One of the things that I enjoy the most is that they demonstrated the understanding of the Bible, characteristic of our loving God and challenge the Islamic belief of Allah.

It is unfortunate that Ching Lam was not able to attend the class. However, I do hope that she did learn about Islam through her own research of this religion.