Revelation⤒🔗

Most of the theological terms in the Koran were borrowed from Jews and Christians. The Koran is slightly shorter than the New Testament and is divided into 114 chapters, or suras. It is a miscellaneous collection of hymns, prayers, dogmas, sermons, speeches, sto­ries, legends, and laws. It is not arranged in order of time and is full of repetitions and contradictions. The Muslim, however, believes that the Koran has existed from eternity, written on a vast table in heaven, and that a copy of it on paper was taken to earth by the angel Gabriel who communicated it to Muhammad.

After Muhammad’s death, the Koran was found to be so disconnected that it was not practical to use it as the sole guide of authority. Therefore, Muslims resorted to oral tradition, which was later followed by the Imams, regarded as divinely appointed leaders. These traditions were raised to the authority of divine laws and doctrines. The Hadith (meaning narrative) is the authoritative collection of accounts of the life and teachings of Muhammad and plays a very important role alongside the Koran.

Muslim scholars called Mujtahids became the authorized interpreters of hundreds of thousands of traditions and legends. Wherever the Koran was silent on any given issue, they decided which of these should become Islamic Law. They also retained the author­ity to issue new decrees. The Hadith echoes and explains the teachings of the Koran; it also adds to and details the doctrines of the Koran.

The Main Theological Errors←⤒🔗

First, Islam rejects the doctrine of original sin. The Koran does state that “the soul has an inward bias towards evil” (12:53) but this is chiefly attributed to the influence of Satan upon a person at birth — which, they say, is why a baby cries when it is born. To the Muslim, man in a spiritual sense is seriously ill, but not dead.

Secondly, Islam rejects the doctrine of the Incarnation — that Christ, the Son of God, became man. Rejection of this truth flows naturally from the first error. In the Muslim’s way of thinking, if sin is just a weakness in man, why would Allah have to assume human form to correct it?

Thirdly, Islam rejects the doctrine of the atonement. Naturally following the second error, Muslims deem it totally unworthy of the Creator’s greatness and majesty even to think that He would want to identify Himself with humans by suffering for their sins. The concept of salvation does not really exist in Islam.

Fourthly, Islam rejects the Bible’s inspiration. The Muslim concept of revelation seeks to protect God’s Word from any taint of human influence, so Muslims cannot understand our position that God is active within history. To them, what is more honoring and defensible is a book, the Koran, coming down intact from heaven. Their inconsistency should be obvious: if God condescends to come down to man in a book from heaven, why may He not condescend to come down to man some other way, for example, by taking human nature?

Fifthly, Islam rejects the doctrine of the Trinity. The Muslim has a fixation with the oneness of God and we must understand that, for him, it is a mathematical oneness, as opposed to a living oneness of life. It is a cold idea of solitariness as opposed to a living oneness of life. It is a cold idea of solitariness as opposed to a vital, caring, and loving Father.

Practice←⤒🔗

All except one of the suras (that is, chapters) of the Koran begin: “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” The name “Allah” is on the lips of a Muslim constantly, linking Him with every experience of life all day long. Extraordinary reverence is paid to each copy of the Koran, and one of the highest acts of piety is to memorize the whole book and recite it during Ramadan. It is their boast that they are monotheists (believers in only one God), but is this enough? Through James (2:19) the Lord says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe and tremble.”

A Muslim has five main sacred duties which are considered meritorious. They are sometimes called the “pillars of faith”: confession of faith, prayers, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage to Mecca. Some sources on Islam combine confession and prayers, and add holy war. We will say a little just about fasting and holy war.

The Muslim calendar follows the moon, so a month lasts 28 or 29 days, and each month begins about ten days earlier than in the previous year. The ninth Muslim month is Ramadan, which Muhammad ordained as a fast during daylight hours. This means that in some years it can occur at the height of summer with very little darkness, and the climate may be extremely hot. In the hours of darkness Muslims can eat and drink as much as they want, so Ramadan, established as a time of fasting, has actually become noted for feasting more than any other time of the year

The extreme interpretation of the Holy Way or Jihad (literally, struggle for the faith) remains a justification for murder in order to defeat the infidels (non-Muslims) and establish Islam as the one system of religion and politics in the world. Many forget that the Ottoman Turks, who were Muslims, slaughtered over a million Armenians in 1915-16. In the last 20 years, under General Umar Bashir, over 2 million Christians have been executed in Sudan, and over 300,000 East Timorese have been killed by Indonesian Muslims. Terrorist attacks in numerous other places are also signs of a literal interpretation of such parts of the Koran as Sura 9, Ayat 5: “Then fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, seize them, besiege them and lie in wait for them, in every stratagem (of war).” Many less militant Muslims today, however, interpret this passage spiritually, and with missionary zeal attempt to convert others to Islam.

From a time shortly after his death to the present day, Muslims have put Muhammad in a position greatly beyond what he himself claimed in the Koran. He is regarded as a sinless being, the very first act of God’s creation, and the one who cut the moon in half. His name is uttered hourly in all areas of life as much as that of “Allah.” The example of Muhammad is to be followed in everything: eating, care of the hair and beard, marriage and treatment of wives, relationships with friends, worship, civil government, and war.