Islam vs. the West: Why the Clash of Civilizations?

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Islam vs. the West

Why the Clash of Civilizations?

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Author Samuel Huntington stated in his book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order that "religion is a central defining characteristic of civilizations" (1998, p. 47). He's correct, of course. Most world religions are associated with one or more of our present civilizations.

Today we live in a multipolar age of multiple civilizations. We'll narrow our focus here to just two—Western Christian civilization and its Islamic counterpart. What sets them apart, and why are they at odds?

Crucial differences between Christianity and Islam

The Christian religion draws its teaching and values from a large number of books, written over a 1,500-year period, that collectively form the Bible. The Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles wrote down, while divinely inspired, the content of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures.

In contrast, while Islam teaches that the Bible is revealed Scripture, it also claims that the Bible has been corrupted and superceded by the Koran (or Quran, meaning "Recitation"). This book, which is about the size of the New Testament, is supposedly based on divine communication to Islam's founder, Muhammad (A.D. 570-632). The Koran is supplemented by the Hadith (or "Report"), a traditional record of other sayings and acts of Muhammad.

While Islam and Christianity claim belief in one God, the God of the Bible and Allah of the Koran are not one and the same. "Islam begins and ends with the concept that there is no God but Allah. Allah is all-powerful, sovereign and unknowable" (David Burnett, Clash of Worlds, 2002, p. 114, emphasis added throughout).

While the Arabic word Allah means "God," the fact that Allah is pictured in the Koran as so distant, abstract and transcendent as to be unknowable helps to show that Allah is not just another name for the Christian God, as some mistakenly believe.

Our Creator has revealed His personhood and merciful, compassionate nature in His Word. In contrast to the Muslim view of Allah, the God of the Bible is knowable! In Jeremiah 9:24 He says, "But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me." Jesus Christ said in His prayer to the Father not long before His suffering and death on behalf of mankind, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).

There is also the matter of reliability. For example, the Koran describes four conflicting calls to Muhammad.

Muhammad first stated that Allah appeared to him in the form of a man. Later Muhammad said that he was called by the Holy Spirit. Still later he said that angels (plural) appeared to him and said that Allah had called him to be a prophet. Last of all, he said that the angel Gabriel appeared to him and revealed the Koran to him.

The Koran similarly lumps peoples, places and practices separated by thousands of years and hundreds of miles all together at the same time. For example, it has crucifixion being used at the time of the Exodus, but it didn't come into practice until about a thousand years later.

It has Haman, a Persian official mentioned in the biblical book of Esther, working for the pharaoh in Egypt at the time of the Exodus, when that event took place a thousand years earlier. It claims that Alexander the Great was a Muslim who lived to a ripe old age, when Alexander was a Greek idolater who died in his early 30s.

These are only a few of the many conflicts not only between the Koran and the Bible, but between the Koran and historical fact.

Over the centuries these and other fundamental differences have produced profound clashes between the two disparate civilizations.

Relationships to worldly governments differ sharply

Western civilization, largely rooted in Christianity, has always recognized that practical conflicts between citizens need resolution sooner or later. It also understands that national political authorities are in place to maintain the social order.

According to the Bible, the state deserves respect and basic compliance from its citizens. Jesus Christ clearly stated, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21).

Two of Christ's apostles elaborated on this basic principle. Paul wrote, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities" (Romans 13:1). Peter wrote: "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's [Christ's] sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors . . . Honor all people. Love the brotherhood [members of the Church]. Fear God. Honor the king" (1 Peter 2:13-14, 17).

In sharp contrast, the ultimate goal of Islam is to bring all nations under its Islamic religious law (Sharia) now during this age of man—even if it means bringing down existing governments. Radical Islamic fundamentalists use suicide bombing and other gruesome forms of terrorism to accomplish this goal.

Wrote British author Roger Scruton: "The Muslim conception of holy law, pointing the unique way to salvation, and applying to every area of human life, involves a confiscation of the political. Those matters which, in Western societies, are resolved by negotiation, compromise, and the laborious work of offices and committees are [under Islamic rule] the object of immovable and eternal decrees, either laid down explicitly in the holy book [the Koran], or discerned there by some religious figurehead" (The West and the Rest, 2002, p. 91, emphasis in original).

By contrast, true Christians await their soon-to-return King of Kings to supernaturally usher in the divine Kingdom of God to rule all nations—at last bringing peace and prosperity to this chaotic world (Revelation 11:15; 20:4-6).

Two radically different ways of life

The devastating 9/11 attacks on the United States revealed a world divided into two sharply different spheres—the Western democracies and populations propelled by radical religious fundamentalism. Islamists actually see a two-fold division of the nations—dar al-Islam (the "Abode of Submission") and dar al-harb (the "Abode of War").

To devout Muslims, only those countries predominantly controlled by the Islamic religion constitute the Abode of Submission (Islam means "submission"). The rest face infiltration, oppression and attacks by Islamic believers until they are coerced into submission. Until then, these non-Islamic nations are part of dar al-harb, the Abode of War.

In non-Muslim lands with a minority Islamic population, the basic strategy is to appear outwardly peaceful and cooperative. And many Muslims may well be. Yet radicals work covertly underground in carrying out subversive designs. And as their proportion of the population grows, particularly in Western nations, Muslims in increasing numbers become more assertive in demanding their "rights," using Western freedoms to advance their cause at the expense of others.

Then, if and when the demographic tipping point arrives, the tactics switch to various types of coercion and force, using the fresh powers of a recently acquired Muslim plurality or majority. Any activity becomes permissible as long as it serves the overall end result—the advance of Islam.

But first those countries outside of the realm of Islam are usually asked to convert. If they refuse conversion, then the radicals feel free to use whatever means are necessary to bring these countries into the Islamic fold.

Twin assaults on Western civilization

Not only are the radical fundamentalist elements of Islam actively working to destroy the West, but our own civilization paradoxically finds many of its political and cultural leaders and movements actually undermining resistance to these foreign influences that would destroy Western civilization.

By choosing political correctness over facing the hard facts of reality, we willingly participate in our own downfall. We simply don't want to confront the moral cancers that are primarily responsible for our current civilizational and cultural decline.

Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips explains: "Our [Western] culture has been upended by moral and cultural relativism, the doctrine that denies any hierarchy of values but is doctrinaire in its own enforcement. Faced with an onslaught from the Islamic world that correctly recognizes Western culture as decadent, we no longer know what it is we want to defend.

"We tell ourselves that we stand for human rights, freedom, democracy, tolerance—and yet we also tell ourselves that we cannot uphold these rights because to prefer one culture over another is racist or xenophobic, even if the culture so preferred is one's own. So a liberal society by definition cannot defend itself but, in the interests of equality, must apparently accept its own obliteration" (The World Turned Upside Down, 2010, pp. 281-282).

"Right and wrong" becomes a matter of adhering to one's own personal standards, based on whatever culture we currently embrace—whether liberal secular, nominally Christian or any other. Anciently, King Solomon warned us that the way of life that may seem so right to us will end up in our own spiritual destruction and death (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).

As in the days of Israel of old, many men and women today are thinking and doing what is right in their own eyes and choosing wrongly (see Judges 17:6; 21:25). Biblical standards are first ridiculed and then largely abandoned.

Abortion and euthanasia have gained acceptance by this misguided liberal thinking. Too many justify the murder of those not yet born and even encourage the premature death of the old and infirm among us. Marriage and family—the glue that holds society together—are redefined or discarded to meet people's personal whims.

Islam's gains paralleled by the West's decline

Unlike Islam, the West has lost faith in its own traditional religious values. Mainstream churches have endured decades of disturbing decline. Attendance is often in near freefall. The teachings of the Bible are impugned, and even God's existence is seriously questioned in religious quarters. Western clergy now includes so-called "Christian atheists."

Note Melanie Phillips again: "The loss of religious belief has meant the West has replaced reason and truth with ideology and prejudice, which it embraces in the manner of a secular inquisition. The result has been a kind of mass derangement, as truth and lies, right and wrong, victim and aggressor are all turned upside down.

"In medieval-style witch-hunts, scientists who are skeptical of global warming are hounded from their posts; Israel is ferociously demonized; and the United States is vilified over the war on terror—all on the basis of falsehoods and propaganda that are believed as truth" (The World Turned Upside Down, inside front cover).

The Hebrew prophet Isaiah foresaw this aspect of our tragic human condition today: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness . . ." (Isaiah 5:20). Our Creator God makes His own views known through His Word of truth and judgments, which endure forever (Psalm 119:160).

God built the principle of cause and effect into the very fabric of our world. A simple biblical example: "For as the churning of milk produces butter, and wringing of the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife" (Proverbs 30:33). So the simple principle of cause and effect produces these trends among various civilizations.

We see one end result all around us: Islam grows in numbers and strength while the West continues to decline. The adherents of Islam do not question Allah or the teachings of the Koran, however contradictory we Westerners feel that they are. But we in the supposedly Christian West are cavalier about foolishly and disrespectfully questioning God and the Bible.

God laments: "Has a nation [ever] changed its gods, which are not [even] gods? But My people have changed their Glory [the true God] for what does not profit" (Jeremiah 2:11).

What should the West do?

The ideal reaction of Western civilization would be to follow the advice offered by Melanie Phillips in the Daily Mail: "If ever there was a time for the religious guardians of Western civilization to stand as its rock-solid defenders through their conspicuous moral clarity, surely this is it" ("Paralysis and Moral Confusion on Piazza Mahatma Gandhi (Otherwise Known as St Paul's)," Nov. 8, 2011).

But the likelihood of this seems very remote. So it comes down to your personal choices.

Your relationship with God must be at the very heart of your existence. Jesus Christ tells you exactly how to approach these end-time trends and events:

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:34-36, emphasis added throughout).

The alluring deceits of this age with its ungodly entertainment, its focus on gratifying the self and its multiple distractions will entice you to follow its false ways. The apostle John warns God's people: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:15-17).

In pursuit of the global restoration of His righteous ways (Acts 3:19-21), God is in the process of bringing this evil age of man to a close. Jesus Christ instructs us to pray, "Thy kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10, King James Version). Our Creator will answer that prayer!

But first He will teach the nations some very hard lessons. As Jesus said of the events leading up to His return, "For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written [in the prophecies of the Bible] may be fulfilled" (Luke 21:22).

This will be a time of traumatic reckoning. Jesus also said of that time: "It will be a time of great distress, such as there has never been before since the beginning of the world, and will never be again. If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive" (Matthew 24:21:22, Revised English Bible).

As the end of this age draws closer, it is high time for us to shift the focus of our lives onto God and His marvelous plan for mankind!

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Comments

  • DarrellG

    I would contend that it is hard not to look at Islam and the rise of Islam and not see the judgement of the Lord. 1 Samuel 19:9 tells the story of the affliction of Saul by an evil spirit which was allowed to afflict Saul with God's permission due to the disobedience of Saul. So it is with Islam and the West.

    Islam is ultimately Satanic in its origins and practice and its ambitions and aims and as with anything Satanic it only has power in so far as the subject transgresses the law of the Lord. The truth of the connection between the moral relativism of the West and the rise of Islam is found in the spiritual link between the two things.

  • DarrellG

    I would contend that it is hard not to look at Islam and the rise of Islam and not see the judgement of the Lord. 1 Samuel 19:9 tells the story of the affliction of Saul by an evil spirit which was allowed to afflict Saul with God's permission due to the disobedience of Saul. So it is with Islam and the West.

    Islam is ultimately Satanic in its origins and practice and its ambitions and aims and as with anything Satanic it only has power in so far as the subject transgresses the law of the Lord. The truth of the connection between the moral relativism of the West and the rise of Islam is found in the spiritual link between the two things.

  • Eric V. Snow
    The Quran presents a distorted version of the true God, but it also merged ideas of the pagan moon god with Him. "Allah" was used in ancient pagan Arabia to refer to the moon god. Not coincidentally, Islam is symbolized by the crescent moon. During the "Satanic Verses" incident, Muhammad had briefly authorized Muslims to worship the daughters of the moon god (see sura 53:19; cf. 23:51). Pilgrimages to Mecca are also very pagan by origin; the Kaaba once had an idol to the moon god set up by it. The Quran has historical errors. It claims that the pagan Greek Alexander the Great (Zul-Qurain) was a true prophet (sura 18:82-98). It says that the father of Abraham was "Azar," not Terah (sura 6:4). It say Moses (c. 1445 b.c.) challenged Haman as the Pharaoh's chief minister, when he actually was the servant of the Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I, ruled 486-474 b.c.) (sura 28:38, 29:38, 40:25-27, 38-39). It mixed up Mary the mother of Jesus with Mary, Moses' sister (sura 19:29-30; 66:12). The Quran also confused Gideon, who reduced his army's size at God's command, with King Saul (sura 2:250). (See Robert Morey, "Islam Unveiled," for more on these subjects).
  • Lena VanAusdle
    @Nauman, The point of the article, and above commenters isn't necessarily debating what the Qu'ran says, but how it is interpreted and lived by some. And while I truly believe that MOST Muslims are peaceful and loving, there is an element that is not. The following article shows the contradiction between the verses you quote and the reality of Islam: "And in Nigeria, according to Reuters, “fearing attacks by Islamist militant group Boko Haram over Christmas, Nigerian police said on Sunday they had ordered extra patrols, surveillance and covert operations to better secure potential targets during the festive period. The militants have struck every Christmas for the past three years, most dramatically in 2011, when they bombed three churches. One of them, on St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, on the edge of Abuja, killed 37 people and wounded 57.” All religions are judged by the very worst adherents. Even if we claim to worship the same God, they are doing it wrongly.
  • Nauman
    The holy Quran further says,V5:116 "and imagine thereafter Allah will say;Jesus,Son of Mary,did you say to people; 'take me and my mother gods beside Allah? and he will answer : Glory to you!it was not for me to say what I had no right to" Quran does not say to Kill any innocent human be it muslim or non muslim.the only order was given for those who waged war against muslims. if the non muslims agreed to pay Jizya(a kind of tax),no war will be waged against them.in the return they will be exempted from compulsory military services and provided religious freedom. evidence can be seen that still a number of christians still living in the muslim areas. the pious Caiphs ordered their armies to not to kill women,children,those in churchs serving the god,not to destroy plants not to harm un-armed I suggest all of you who mis understood/interpret Islam to read in reference to the context of the events, Read bioghraphy Of the Prophet(PBUH) and the pious Caliphs. regards
  • Nauman
    Dear All who have posted above.. U have not mentioned the verses from the Holy Quran with true reference to the context. God Says V:21:24 "Never did we send any Messenger before you to whom We did not reveal: there is no God but me,so serve me alone" so it is the lack of knowledge and denying the reality that which have created indifference towards the message of the Prophet, further the Quran says:V:21:25 "they say, the most compassionate Lord has taken to himself a son,Glory be to Him!those whome they so designate are only His honoured servents" Islam orders its adherents not only to respect the Prophets before Mohammad(PBUH) but also to believe the books sent upon them.V:41:2 "And believe in the book which I have revealed and which confirms the Scripture you already have,and be not foremost among its deniers"
  • Remo
    The Author of this Article said that; While Islam and Christianity claim belief in one God, the God of the Bible and Allah of the Koran are not one and the same. "Islam begins and ends with the concept that there is no God but Allah. Allah is all-powerful, sovereign and unknowable" (David Burnett, Clash of Worlds, 2002, p. 114 I think it's funny. the author doesn't knows that there is difference between god and God. god means "the thought of many gods and goddesses of ancient Arabic religious belief"; and God means God(in Christianity and Judaism), Allah(in Islam). God is always one in all religion. For this reason read all the religious text with perfect translation.
  • bjlamens

    Dear Brother Tuck,
    As far as translating any language to any other language, it is impossible to do it verbatim. Even from English to Spanish, Spanish to English; verbs fall in different order in the sentence, some words in one language are female or male, and in another language the same word has no gender,etc. That's why nothing can be perfected translated. Translators do their best to represent the meaning of the text. The same goes for translating the Bible from Greek/Latin/Aramaic/Hebrew into English or any other language other than the original language it was written in; it is impossible to do it verbatim. Translators use as close as they can find to an equivalent English word. I'm not sure if the Quran says it can't be translated, but if it does, that would be why, not because it's not allowed. There are translations of the Quran from Arabic into numerous other languages.

  • runner36

    Dear bjlamens,

    I quoted Q4:89, not Q4:88.

    Just because it is a translation does not mean it is not correct.
    I use the NIV Bible which is a translation because I am unable to read the Bible in the original Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek.Nothing wrong with that.

    In countering whatever I quoted ,you should have given a word for word quote from whatever English translation you consider true.

    How could my comments be misquotations when they are word for word quotes from my translation?

    I will continue to check up other versions of the Quran as I come across them to see if these verses I quoted are stated otherwise.Right now though I have no reason to think that the quotes that I gave in my blog earlier are actually what the Quran says.

  • Derrik de Moei

    There are tons of prophecies in the Bible hinting towards Jesus Christ's coming. Prophesied to be a king for ever. Not a single verse is talking about Mohammed though. Plus the Bible clearly states that Jesus Christ is the son of God Ephesians 3:14-15 'For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,' In addition to that in John 1:1-14 the bible makes clear that Jesus Christ who came in the flesh also known as the Word (see verse 14 for that) has been around with God since the beginning and that nothing was made without Him.
    Thus the Allah in the Qu'ran is not the same as the God in the Bible.
    What I then fail to understand is how can the Qu'ran be a replacement or the successor of the Bible as Islam teaches when it doesn't coïncide with what the Bible teaches about even the most basic teachings.
    I have only read one chapter in the Qu'ran and it was all about killing the unbelievers while the Bible teaches that he who kills with the sword will die by the sword and that if you're hit on the cheek to turn the other also.
    Again completely different teachings. Plus with all the hints towards the coming of Christ in the old testament if Mohammed were to be the most important prophet of all shouldn't he be mentioned in the Bible?
    John 15:15 also clearly states that God makes known everything unto us because we are called His friends.
    Also Mohammed was taught by Gabriel an angel but what he was taught was different from what the Bible teaches so if we Read 2 John 1:10 we may conclude that a demon that posed as the angel Gabriel deceived Mohammed. 2 Corinthians 11:14 supports this also.
    It was very enlightening reading all of your comments. I will probably read some more in the Qu'ran to set my facts straight that's also why I didn't refer to anything in the Qu'ran merely what I have been taught by a muslim I know.

  • tuck

    Does the Quran say that it can not be translated?
    The practice of not translating the Quran sounds similar to the medievil practice of the Catholic church preventing translation of the bible form latin so that the "leadership" (Popes & Bishops)could maintain power over both the knowledge and the people.

  • bjlamens

    Dear Brother Korede,
    The Quran does not confirm the Bible as you state. The word Bible is not in the Quran. The Torah and the Injeel are not the Bible. The Torah, which was given/revealed to Moses, is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Injeel is the Gospel that was given/revealed to Jesus and is not the New Testament. The New Testament is a book of biographies about Jesus, but not the Injeel of Jesus. The Quran does confirm the original Torah given to Moses, the original Zabur (Psalms) given to David, and the original Injeel given to Jesus, but none of those original texts are in existence. The Bible is a compilation of various books that make up the Old Testament and include the Torah, the Psalms, and many others, plus the New Testament.

  • bjlamens

    Dear Brother Runner 36,
    What you state as being quotations from the Quran are not quotations from any Quran. I referred to many English translations, including Abdullah Yusuf Ali's(which is regarded as one of the best English translations) and also referred to the translation you cited, and you are not quoting the Quran, but are simply stating what you 'think' the Quran says. Also, for your enlightenment, there is no such thing as a "version" of the Quran. If you find a Quran that says "version", then it isn't THE Quran. There are only "translations" (as best as a translator can do)from the original Arabic into local languages such as German, English, Indonesian, etc. Versions of anything are a person's point of view of the story. With that said;
    Q4:88- is not speaking about someone who just leaves Islam, and doesn't say that as you claim. It is speaking about the person who rejects faith (belief in God), then becomes a renegade and starts fighting against you. In other words, defend yourself against persons who start fighting you. And yes, it does say not to befriend them. Would you want to befriend a person who is fighting against you? It goes on to say in verse 90 that if that person forms a treaty with you (they stop fighting you), then you are obligated to abide by the treaty.
    Q3:28 Says BELIEVERS aren't supposed to take NON-BELIEVERS as friends and helpers over believers. It does not say that a Muslim cannot befriend a non-Muslim. Believers are simply persons that believe in God. Q9:111 (one of many places in the Quran that describe the characteristics of a believer) mentions believers as those who follow the law (Torah) and the Gospel (of Jesus). The interpretation of this verse is that, for example, an atheist may not have the same thought of accountability as a person who believes that there will be a judgement day. An atheiest (or a pagan) would be in the category of a non-believer. Is it necessary to go on and correct all of your MIS-quotations? I would hope that a non-Christian would not take verses from the Bible and "quote" them as stating something that they do not.

  • meldd

    Wow, It is like living in fear, I pray come soon Jesus, come soon. ( All will know the true way to live).

  • runner36

    Here are some quotations from the Quran for bjlamens and Ruthey1954; in addition to those given by Korede:

    1)A man who leaves islam must be put to death...Q4:89
    2)Muslims must not befriend non-muslims....Q 4:89 and Q 3:28
    3)No religion other than islam shall be accepted....Q 3:85
    4)No Jew or Christians for friends...Q 5:51
    5)Non-muslims must pay tribute in order to stay alive...they must be humiliated...Q9:29
    6)Pagans have no choice but to die or embrace islam...Q9:5
    7)Husbands can beat their wives.....Q4:34

    Source:Terjemah AlQuran...English and Indonesian Version 1:1....**Link removed to comply with comment policy.**

  • meldd

    I learn a lot from this Good news magazine, things i never knew about,this world is so angry, not much love in this world at all, it has to be the ways of satan who hates our God in heaven. It is like spirits fighting against spirits. We sure need someone like jesus to came and stop this world from fighing each other, and every second of the day. There is no peace here on earth...

  • oncalvary1

    To judge someone is to pass sentence on them. To point out the wrong in their way of thinking or they way they are living using scripture, either their god or our God is not wrong. Actually the scripture itself is pointing this out. The scripture used is passing judgement, if you will. We are not being judgemental if we lovingly point out to someone that what they are saying or doing is against God's word or even their god's word. This is called accountability. Holding someone accountable to their profession of faith.Thats the importance of knowing scripture and what bjlamens pointed out is the Chapter and verse of the book used to condemn a way life or a way of thinking that we consider the authority in our life.
    There is power in the "Word" Amen

  • jangtm

    Dear Korede,

    I would have to disagree with your comment. Even after becoming a Christian for more than 10 years, I still regard 'Allah' mentioned in the Qur'an as the same God of the Bible. The only thing's that's changed my understanding of Allah or God is the theology. Back when I was Muslim and like the Jew, Muslims consider it blasphemous to even consider that Jesus was God incarnate. The very idea of God coming to Earth and taking on flesh in the person of Christ and God having died on the cross was just too blasphemous for the Muslim and likewsie for the Jew. But as a Christian now, my understanding of God has changed & I'm able to accept the Christian theology of God. But, I never felt like I was worshipping a different God after having become a Christian. I still worship the same Creator (who is referred to as Allah (Arabic), Elah (Hebrew), Alaha (Aramaic), Deus (French) etc. and the translation of Bible in my language use the word Allah for God and if I attend any Sunday service in my native language we refer to God as Allah. An example would be the Bible, regardless whether it's KJV, RSV or NIV, the message within the Bible is still the same yet even though all the different churches/denominations claim to receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit, yet different interpretations exist even though there is only ONE Holy Spirit. It all boils down to people's understanding and interpretation of God. It has nothing to do with Allah of the Qur'an or Yahweh of the Bible.

  • TruthDefenders

    With all due respect sir, I must disagree with your disagreement. Having read the primary source materials on all major religions and many smaller ones no two proper religions believe in the "same God". I think that the only reason muslims and ex-muslims believe that both islam and Christianity have the same deity is because of the plagiarism and borrowing that took place by the writers/compilers of the quran. But those superficial overlaps are not enough to present the God of Christianity completely or accurately. Who ever wrote the quran made too many changes and mistakes in regards to the nature and attributes of the True and Living God as revealed in the Bible. In fact the writers of the quran never even came to know the True name of God which is YHWH. You and others may mistakenly assume allah and YHWH and the same, but if you take the time to compare and contrast the nature and attributes of each you will see that one is actually the True and living God (YHWH) and the other is the devil (allah) by his own admission. see: quran 3:54; cf. 8:30; 7:99, 27:50; then compare that to what the Bible says in: John 8:44. YHWH cannot lie, Hebrews 6:18; Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2. Take care.

  • Korede

    Bj and Ruth, God bless you brothers, actually what Mr. Schroeder is the entire truth, but I don't know he has not provided the quotes to what he is saying here, please allow me to help you with those verses so that you guys can verify it in your Qur'an.

    1. Allah not been the same God of the Bible:
    There are various examples in the Qur'an that shows that Allah is not the God of the bible, here are few references,

    Marriage in Heaven: When it is very clear in the Bible that, there is no carnal marriage in heaven, Allah said that, there will be sexual intercourse for his followers in heaven.

    Say: "Shall I inform you of things far better than those? For Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V.2:2) there are Gardens (Paradise) with their Lord, underneath which rivers flow. Therein (is their) eternal (home) and Azwajun Mutahharatun (purified mates or wives) [i.e. they will have no menses, urine, or stool, etc.], And Allah will be pleased with them. And Allah is All-Seer of the (His) slaves". (Qur'an 3 : 15)

    Here, the Qur'an says that Muslims men will have virgins to have sex with in paradise, describing how these beauriful virgins look like, the Qur'an said again:

    And young full-breasted (mature) maidens of equal age;
    Qur'an 78 : 33).There are quotes on this, request if u want more.

    2. Another thing he mentions is the Qur'an confirming the Bible.
    There several places where the Qur'an admonishes Muslims to believe in the earlier Scripture Torah and Injil, which is the Bible, here are few verses.

    Say (O Muhammad Peace be upon him ): "Whoever is an enemy to Jibrael (Gabriel) (let him die in his fury), for indeed he has brought it (this Qur'an) down to your heart by Allah's Permission, confirming what came before it [i.e. the Taurat TORAH) and the Injeel (Gospel)] and guidance and glad tidings for the believers. Qur'an 2:97)

    Sorry, I have to manage the space right here, u can check this ones too,Qur'an 3 : 65,Qur'an 5 : 68, Qur'an 6 : 154 Just a few.

    3. Another Face of Islam.
    He mention the fact that Muslims are peaceful when they are in minority and start spreading Islam, that is Muhammed did too. The Qur'an commands d Muslims to kill non-Muslims (who are actually Jews and Christians) (Qur'an 9 : 29)

    I can't post it because of space, but can also check out this book I wrote on Islam **Link removed to comply with comment policy**.

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