Christian Responses to Islam - Essay Example

Introduction It is possible some may imagine that how Christians have been influenced by Islam; but this is not the actual cause, for my present convictions are solely the outcome of many years of thought – conversion, according to the Koran, should come out of free choice and spontaneous judgment, and never be attained by means of compulsions. Since arriving at an age of discretion, the beauty and the simple purity of Islam have always appealed to me. The essential features of Islam which impressed Christians most to this religion are as follows: the source from which all the great religions sprang is one; the founder of these great paths, prepared for peace-seeking mankind, gave witness to one and the same basic divine teaching; acceptance of one of these paths means search for Truth in Love; Islam, in essence, means peace in submission to the Eternal Law; it is, historically speaking, the last founded among the great world religions on this planet; and the teachings of the Holy Koran stress this basic unity. The spirit of human brotherhood under the all encompassing divine fatherhood is much stressed in Islam and not hampered by the concepts of racialism or sectarianism, be it of linguistic, historic, and traditionalistic, to even dogmatic nature. The broadminded tolerance of Islam for Christianity recommends it to all lovers of liberty. Surely this is generous and fair in advance of the attitude of Christianity. A short history of Bible A history of the Bible written by Fred Gladstone Bratton, published in the United States acknowledges the textual unreliability of the Bible. The writer also admits the possibility of changes and alterations that have been steadily introduced into the body of its text. He says: “There is a necessary and inevitable uncertainty about biblical studies owing to the very nature of the task. If the Bible had been written in English or if we had the original autographs of the Scripture, there would be no problem at all in the text. But this is unfortunately not the case” (p. 2) Mr. Barton regrets the non-availability of the original text and the books appears to be more conjectural than real. He adds: “The absence of the original books of the Bible and the uncertainty attached to the history of the text make necessary a type of study called criticism” (p. 3) The history of the biblical text is shrouded in mystery and it has really flummoxed the Christian theologians and scholars: Then he refers to the frequency of changes made in the text. The changes are both capricious and consciously engineered: “Between the time of the original composition and the earliest manuscripts, as well as during the successive manuscript stages, numerous changes were made, both deliberate and accidental” (p. 3). He draws attention to the textual heterogeneity of the Bible: “The idea that the Bible is a book is comparatively modern. It is not one book but a library of sixty-six books, written by almost many authors during a period of one thousand years and on three continents” (p. 3). Islam – an inclusive religion All divinely revealed books and scriptures originally contained the same teachings as emphasized by Koran, but these were subsequently distorted, corrupted and altered. Hence the original teachings of the Prophets and Messengers could not be preserved historically. Whatever was preserved in the form of Old & New Testament most of it spurious, doubtful, concocted and inconsistent with the original. This is the basis of Doctrinal Conflict between Islam and other Semetic Religions. Holy Koran was revealed as the latest and final edition of divine guidance and was granted a complete divine guarantee of immunity against alterations in the words: (“Indeed we have revealed this book and indeed We will protect it”) (Hajr 15: 9) Therefore, Koran, being the latest divine book: confirmed the teachings of the formerly revealed books and religions; mentioned the distortions and corruptions in those books and religions, subsequently introduced by their followers; And indicated the errors and faults of faith later adopted by the Jews and Christians. Islam, thus, does not deny and negate the Originality of other Semetic religions, but invites their present-day followers to come towards the right path – the path originally prescribed by their own books and prophets. Moreover, this is to be understood that Islam is essentially an Inclusive Religion and not the Exclusive one. It considers the belief in all other Messengers and Prophets, including Jesus, the Christ, as an indispensable element of faith. One cannot be a Muslim even if he does not sincerely believe in the holiness and Prophet Hood of Jesus. It is clearly stated in Holy Koran: (“Those who believe in what was revealed to you and what was revealed before you”) (Baqarah 2:4) It’s further declared: (We do not differentiate between the Messengers in having faith in them) (Baqarah 2: 285). Koran has expressly confirmed not only the Prophethood of Jesus Christ but his spiritual distinctive signs as well. Here I give some instances to substantiate the fact narrated above: “We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of Messengers. We gave Jesus, the son of Marry clear (signs) and strengthened him with a holy spirit” (Baqarah 2: 87). “Those Messengers we endowed with gifts, some above others: To one of the God spoke; other He raised to degrees (of honour); To Jesus, the son of Mary, We gave clear (signs) and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit” (Baqarah 2: 253). This has resulted in conversion to Islam, as an Ireland guy wrote his story about his conversion to Islam: “Whilst Christianity and Islam have much in common, there remain fundamental differences about which no compromise is possible, principally concerning the Christian doctrine of Trinity and the belief that Jesus is divine.  Moving from being a practicing, sincere, if somewhat intellectually dissatisfied Christian to embracing Islam is therefore in some respects a major theological journey.  As someone who has already undertaken that journey, I hope that my travelogue may in some way help smooth the path of those who follow”. The following hadeeth (saying of Prophet Mohammed) comes to mind: Once a man, who was passing through a road, found a branch of a tree with thorns obstructing it. The man removed the thorns from the way. God thanked him and forgave his sins. (Bukhari) Through detailing my own experiences for the benefit of others of a similar background, I would like to think of myself as removing some of the figurative thorns which obstruct the road from Christianity to Islam1. 1. Trinity: Thus the first point of why conversion existed is that Islam preaches a very clear faith in divine unity, whereas present-day Christianity preaches trinity (though this posture does not harmonize with the stand originally taken by Christianity). Al of the original holy scriptures have been clearly expressing the belief in oneness of God, which can be easily traced even in present Bible at various places, such as: John, 17: 3, Mark, 12: 28, Mathew, 19: 16-17, John 14-24. The concocted mystery of Trinity has been mentioned only in the end of Mathew2, when Christ talks to his disciples after his resurrection about the Father, the Son of Holy Spirit, but the same is neither mentioned at this occasion in John3, nor in Luke4 and nor in Mark5. So here Christians got confused and ask: “Which one of them should one believe – Mark, Mathew, Luke or John” (Maurice, p. 60). The late William Adams Brown of Union Theological Seminary in New York figured that the threeness is simply the way we think about God, not the way in which He exists (Dogmatic in Outline, p. 156). Professor Cyril C. Richardson speaks of the three as “symbols”, not persons. He calls them mere terms. To him it is an artificial three foldness and says that a thoughtful Christian is not supposed to believe in it (The Doctrine of the Trinity, p. 14-111). In Hebraic Christian faith there is but one God not three. Irenaeus, Tertullian, Athanasius, Augustine, the Fathers in general and the Schoolmen and the Reformers, all saw it plainly taught in the Scriptures that there is but one God (Basic Christine Doctrines, p. 36). The same divine concept has been clearly upheld by Islam & Quran. As Abdul HAQQ (DTF WONG, China) wrote in his testimony: I couldnt fault Islam and the knowledge I was gaining had a profound impact on me more so than Christianity. I was slowly deciding to switch to Islam. Islam had a simple purity that anyone would appreciate - i.e. without the complexity of issues such as the Trinity. Islam allowed mankind to have an intellectual conviction on fundamental matters of belief. It didnt leave the spiritual instinct in man to be satisfied by an emotional conviction such as one would say of idol-worshipping6. 2. Crucifixion: Islam preaches that Jesus Christ was not crucified but he was directly lifted towards the heavens. He is alive and dwelling there till today and will come down again to preach the religion of Islam, before the occurrence of Day of Judgement. He neither died nor was hanged nor was he murdered but he was granted to complete safety from his enemies, whereas present-day Christianity believes that Christ was crucified, he was hanged and after three days was raised towards heavens. It is an amalgamation of death, resurrection and ascension. As Allison wrote in an article: I am a Christian who became Muslim, so it is with great surprise and no small disappointment that I read your article. When I was twelve years old, I attended church and heard a sermon on the "death of Jesus" (peace be upon him) on the cross. He asks for fish after his death. Why? Because he is dead? No, because he is alive and hungry. Read the whole chapter on John in the New Testament. At the age of twelve, I felt sure that Jesus was alive. This is also why Doubting Thomas is rebuked for doubting Jesus (A.S.), because Jesus was, in fact, alive7. 3. Inherited Sinfulness: Another point of difference between the two religions is that while Christianity believes in inherited sin, Islam believes in inherited purity and only earned sin. According to Islam, both virtue and evil are earned through actual deeds performed during the life-time of an individual. A child at the time of his birth is innocent; he is not born with the original sin perpetrated by Adam. Moreover, a man can get redemption and remittance directly from God through his act of Repentance which appeals to God’s mercy and forgiveness. But, according to Christianity, no child is born innocent. He carries the stigma of Adam’s sin; he is a product of sin. And this sin will be atoned through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Islam does not believe in this bizarre concept of pre-determinism which leads to inborn criminality; it believes in the freedom of the individual to achieve honour and dignity within the framework of human limitation. As Diana (CO, USA) wrote about her conversion: I wanted to really understand Gods truth, but I just couldnt see what it was, and I thought the Bible studies would help me. They did. Around the same time, I met a Muslim man. I became curious as to why he prayed the way he did, so I started to read the Quran. I soon realized that there was an aspect to Islam which I had really missed in Christianity: worship. All the prayers I had ever heard consisted mostly of "I want this, I need this, please give it to me," with the only real worship being "thank you Jesus for dying for my sins." I wondered, what about God? I was convinced that the God of Islam was the same as the God I believed in, but I was still unsure about who Jesus was. I was afraid to believe that he was not the son of God, because all my life I had been taught that such a belief meant eternal punishment in hellfire8. 4. Duality of Church and State: According to Islam there is no duality between Church and state, world and religion. For Islam – life is a totality. There is no cleavage between the mundane aspirations of men and his supra-mundane drives. But today’s Christianity believes in an essentially ascetic approach towards life. It asserts that spiritual purification can be achieved through a rejection of the world. As Abdul Haqq wrote in his testimony: As I continue learning and increasing my knowledge of the deen of Islam my faith in God increased. I became more aware of Christianitys lack of guidance for mankind. Church services was man-made, Christian festivals/celebrations was man-made, arguments as to whether to accept homosexuality in Christianity or Christians at war, etc. Islam had guidance for relationships between man/woman and God, between man/woman and himself/herself, and man/woman with other men/women. Islam had guidance on issues relating to economics, politics, education, social, legal/penal system, etc9 5. Human Equality: On top of all, Islam is the greatest exponent of the concept of human equality. In the eyes of Islam, every human being possesses equal human status. Every man is equal before law. There is no discrimination between white and black, rich and poor and man and woman; no restrictions are imposed on their social, moral and ethical progress, and in certain ways the woman enjoys more dignity and honour as compared to man. Islam is essentially a progressive religion; it is not retrogressive as its opponents irrationally and erroneously believe. Those who follow Islam in letter and spirit have made progressive strides in the material and spiritual fields. History is a witness to the glory of Islam. This then resulted in a conversion of Christians to Islam. Here is an example: “Joakim (Sweden) became Muslim more than two years ago and I became Muslim when I worked, together with my Muslim brother Ali from Somalia Allhamdullillaah for five years and I talked with him about God and it was very easy with him and he was also a very humble human being and he didnt get angry when I asked aggressive questions about Islam. If he couldn’t answer my questions, he said to me lets phone Abdulhaqq in Eskilstuna so he made a group call, (to talk with two or more at the same time) and later on we visited him Alhamdullilaah”10. 6. Islam and Science: There is another misconception hatched and propagated against Islam by its enemies. They accuse Islam of opposing scientific development. This is a charge based on unbridled jealousy. Islam and Koran do not contradict the teaching of science. As a matter of fact, the fundamental principles established by science were endorsed hundreds of years ago by the Koran and the Prophetic Sunnah. Koran is actually far ahead of this finding of modern science. The scientists now believe that life originated in water. Quran, however, declared fourteen hundred or more years ago: “Every living thing was originated from water” (Ambia 21:30). Similarly Scientists have reached the conclusion that the origin of man is a single cell which undergoes a series of divisions. Quran confirmed it fourteen hundreds years ago: “Each and every person originated from a single cell” (Nisaa 4:1) “And it was divided into two” (Nisa’a 4:1) “Then it was divided into hundreds of cells, male and female” (Nisa’a 4:1). Dr. Keith Moore, Chairman of the Anatomy Department of the University of Toronto, a known embryologist says: “The Holy Koran 1400 years ago described the human embryo’s stage by stage development with full accuracy, and I found it so graphic and accurate that I got amazed” (1984). There are lots of scientists who embraced Islam after knowing the reality11. Those who did not convert To Islam: For understanding the Christian’s responses to Islam, it is, however, important to look at other side of the story. Like James L. Barton in The Christian Approaches to Islam (p. 176-177) wrote about “Inadequacy of Islam”: “Mohammedanism never claimed that it is a spiritual religion, that it brings God to men or lifts men to God… It has always ingloriously failed to provide a way by which the sins of men were forgiven, much less a way through which the desire to sin was removed. Islam told men what they could do and what they must not do, but it never has attempted to reach to the fountains of human action for their cleansing. It has dealt only with that which was external, ignoring the fact that a littler fountain cannot send forth sweet war… In spite of this fatal defect, Mohammedans have now and then appeared who seemed to have a deep insight into spiritual realities, but this has been not by the aid of their religion but in spite of it. The large number of mystical sects that have sprung up within Islam and contrary to its teaching and practices are but evidence of its own spiritual barrenness… This absence of spiritual power has produced in Islam a mighty force for the destruction of spiritual impulses and religious ideas in the individual as well as in society. While it fails to save, it has become a dominant force of evil”. Similarly Rev. H. Golnath in Urdu Book “Truth Unfolded” (1903) wrote: “The Koran in Arabic enjoys such a position among the Muslims that its translation in any other language is not deemed to be the Koran at all; as prayer in Arabic permissible but prayer in other languages is forbidden. ‘I have revealed the Koran in Arabic’. All leading scholars of Muslims insist that prayer should be said in Arabic. Among Muslims are thousand of such people who say their prayer in Arabic which they have learnt by heart, but do not understand a word of it. They still think it to be meritorious. Without ablution they regard recitation of the Koran sinful… Even Mullas, their teachers, are ignorant likewise who spend their lives learning Arabic and the Koranic learning but understand nothing. If an ordinary worshipper is asked, ‘do you understand your prayer which you so dutifully perform fives times a day, he answers ‘no’ our Prophet has ordered us and this is meritorious” (p.137-138). Mr. Stanton in his book “Outline of the Religion of Islam” states: “We may compare the doctrine of Islam with the Apostles’ creed. It confesses “I believe in God…Almighty Maker of heavens and earth and in Jesus Christ…born of the Virgin Mary….Ascended into heaven, who will come again….The forgiveness of sins…The resurrection of the body, the life everlasting”. These beliefs the Muslim shares with us. What has left out? The fatherhood of God; The incarnation, death, resurrection and reign of Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer and the church; precisely those truths which assure to us reconciliation with a holy God, filial approach to a heavenly Father and likeness to Him. Muhammad spontaneously repudiated the worship of God as Father. To a mind recoiling from Arab Pagan notions, it connoted sexual ideas which he believed to be unworthy of God. And denying the fatherhood of God, Muhammad could not believe in the sonship of man, nor in the possibility that a sinless human nature could be the fine dwelling place and manifestation of God. Here we find fundamental difference between Islam and Christianity” (p. 44). H. Kraemer in “The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World” writes: “One of the favourite expressions about God (in Islam), which testifies to an intense religious feeling is, He whom everyone needs and who does not stand in need of anybody or anything. Man is entirely absorbed in the greatness and majority of God and vanishes away. Fellowship does not exist between God and man. God is too exalted for that, and the relation of Father-child between God and man is not primarily abhorrent to the Muslim because of the association of parenthood and sexual life, but because it suggests a sacrilegious lack of reverence towards the Divine”. My Thoughts Mr. Barton, Mr. Golnath, Mr. Miller, H. Kraemer have brought forward a very malicious accusation against Islamic religion. If they had accused that all the Muslims have high blood pressure, then I have a sphygmomanometer to prove them wrong. But there is no scientific instrument or a chemical test to prove that the Muslims are not spiritually destitute. Unfortunately pagans always believed themselves to be more spiritual, and that is why paganism always flourished in the history. Moses (PBUH) was one of the foremost monotheists, but always has a fierce opposition for his own pagan nation as well as from the gentile pagans. The Jewish history up to the advent of Jesus (PBUH) is full of idol worship, and so the wrath of God visited the Jews time and again for many reasons of which idolatry was the most important. A pagan could always show hundred of deities in addition to one Invisible God, while the believers of monotheism could show none; thus pagans always found their cults more spiritual. These accusers claim to be the Christians are incidentally offspring of the followers of Mithraism. Christianity only flourished in Europe when the Christian fathers adopted many of the pagan customs already popular in their countries, thus making the religious conversion more agreeable for the followers of Mithraism. Even today, many Christian scholars who write about Hinduism and Buddhism praise these religions were being spiritually rich. They become fascinated by seeing a Hindu bowing and worshipping a snake, a monkey, a mouse, a swine, a tree, the sun, the Moon, the stars, and innumerable hand made deities and icons, and feel depressed that the Christians only make images of Jesus, Mary, Joseph (PBUH), the Holy Cross and few dozens saints. But they do have the consolation that their many churches have big wall to wall paintings and even the roofs and the window glasses are richly decorated with the paintings depicting various incidences of the Holy Bible. They must be proud of it. But when they see the Muslims mosques, they are utterly shocked to find them without any idol or icon at all and thus conclude barrenness of their spirit. They also find that the Muslims only have names of Allah upon their lips in all the affairs of life while the Holy name is not beyond the throat, certainly not in the heart and the spirit. So one certainly notices the baseness of their propaganda and trickstery with word play; they even claim to see the spirits as well as inside of hearts too. The Christians claim in the Holy Gospels, and they do claim it rightly that the last prophet will baptize his followers with fire and spirit (Matthew 3:11). They also believe in the promised Holy Spirit who lives with them, also named ‘Paraclete’ (John 16:7-14). So they think that with the help of this spirit and also by their religious services, they become infused with spirituality which the Muslims lack so much. And even if they think there is any sign at all of spiritualism among the Muslims that is only mechanical, verbal without any intelligent participation, seeking not nearness of God and in no case such an act reaches foundations of human action (i.e. soul, heart). These worthy polemists after being alarmed with spiritual destitution of the Muslims, very kindly undertook to survey enthusiastically and they found one Muslim or more, who didn’t know the meaning of the prayer he was uttering. It’s a fact that Christians ruled over almost all the countries of the Muslim world, and during their merciful and spiritual rule, they did their utmost to utterly destroy the Muslim faith, prohibited the publication of the Holy Koran, performance of Hajj; their religious institutions were closed. Their properties and businesses were confiscated and thus the ruling Muslims became slaves of a most ruthless people which the heaven has ever seen. After very scientific destruction of the Muslims, it goes to their credit that they effectively carried on their holy mission for more than a century. Had not there been the First and the Second World Wars, they would have, by now established their long awaited kingdom of God. So it does not surprise a Muslim to know that newly freed Muslim countries have problems of illiteracy, poverty, low religious education, but it does surprise Muslim readers that in spite of the Christian rule, there was some Islam left among the Muslims. Many accusations of the Christian propagandists are exaggerated. Even today, when Christianity i.e. Western influence reaches, we note alarming rise of moral crimes i.e. liquor intake, adultery, prostitution, materialism, games of chances etc. So it is to be envisaged that whole story is based on bogus interviews and concocted assumptions or some people played joke with them. It takes only a few hours for a Muslim child to learn the meaning of his prayer. Mr. Stanton has right said that the Islamic God is different from that of Christians. In Koran: “Say, O disbelievers! I do not worship that what you worship nor you worship what I worship” (Al-Kafiroon 109:2) This is because all disbelievers have a very low and undignified opinion of God not worthy of the Majesty of God. The nearest word which Muslims have for fatherhood of Allah is Rabb. God is Rabb –ul-Alimeen. Rabb has many meanings in Arabic such as lord, bread-giver, master, sustainer etc. In the case of God Rabb means the One Who gives sustenance, a Provident, a Sustainer Who provides His creation their needs like a human master does for his slaves. The word ‘rabbi’ is commonly used for a reverend person or priest even today. The equivalent for it in English is ‘father’. Muslims call God as Rabb and the Christians as Father. This is in fact one and the same thing. Both the followers so not give these words any sexual idea. Jesus (PBUH) was later called real son of God, the Father; His first begotten by some sects of Christianity and his mother Mary (PBUH) was called as ‘Mother of God’ by Catholics and other sects. Seeing this, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) stopped the use of such epithets which give sexual ideas and are in use for human relations because its use is lowly for His Majesty, and can lead to wrong interpretation by the people with vested interests. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told the Muslims that Allah is Sustainer, Rabb of all, and all mankind is His creation; thus Muslims do believe in Allah as Father in an exalted sense; also because Allah is more loving to His mankind than what a human father is to his children. Thus the Christians have no superiority at all in this particular respect. The concept of God’s dwelling in a sinless human nature, the Christ’s death and atonement have discussed under “Trinity” above. The case I found most interesting The most fascinating case I found was the case of Trinity (Abdul HAQQ – DTF Wong, China). Islam believes in divine unity and Christianity believes in trinity. The concept of trinity is anti-rational. If a feeler to gauge my personal opinion, I must say that, in Islam Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is the Prophet of God; and in Christianity, Jesus is the son of God. Islam declares each prophet is a human being; He is not a divine incarnation. But Bible says that God appeared in the guise of Christ, that there was God inside Christ and his claim to divinity was quite justified. According to the Bible, “when Christ was crucified, he was crying at the top of his voice: O my God, why did you leave me, leave me, leave me”. If he was God himself, then which God was he calling out. Christians say again that at the time of crucifixion, his divinity had fitted away, and he was stripped down to his bare humanity. If this is the reality, I would like to ask where the third God is. If he were God, then where is the God of Christ? Besides the concept of divine unity did not originate with Islam; it was actually preached by Christianity itself and it is present in the Old Testament and the early Gospels. The concept of trinity was a later development and was rooted in sheer prejudice and a perverse misinterpretation of the divine message. It is preached even today in the Old Testament. There is only one God, and Jesus Christ is only a mediator. He mediates between God and men, he justifies the ways of the Lord to men but he is not God himself. He never claimed to be God. His followers, out of sheer enthusiasm or perversity, clamped divinity on him. These quotations from the Old Testament establish beyond doubt the idea of divine unity and reject trinity as a perverse fabrication. The fact is that Jesus himself negated the notion of trinity. Conclusion: In the above discussion, I have briefly discussed the reason why Christians prefer to convert to Islam and also gave answers to non-converters. The main rationale behind the conversion is that they are impressed by the Islamic philosophies of “legal justice”, “social equality”, and “moral accountability” without discriminating between the high and the low, the rich and poor, the male and female. A non-Muslim French scholar in his book “The Bible, Quran and Science” has prepared a mind-boggling list of contradictions and inconsistencies found in the Bible. But he has not pointed out a single discrepancy in the Koran. Many Christians have accepted Islam, as we have discussed briefly above. However, this is proved beyond doubt that anti-Christ i.e. Dajjals wrote fantastic lies to keep the world away from the Truth, Islam. All propaganda against Islam is prejudiced, and it is not easy to convince a prejudiced mind, especially a prejuce which has grown deep-rooted for centuries, but still it is to be hoped from Allah that they accept Islam. There are myriads of other reasons also which has led to be a prominent reason behind prevailing conversions to Islam. References: F.G. Bratton: A History of Bible, p.1-5 Maurixe Bucaille, The Bible, Qur’an and Science. Translated from French by Alastair D. Pannell and the Author, p. 1-70 H.U.W. Stanton. 1925. “Outline of the Religion of Islam”. Missionary Literature Supply, Church House. SWI Is, pp. 44 H. Kraemer. 1938. “The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World”. The Edinburgh House Press, 2 Eaton Gate, London SWI Rev. H. Golnath, 1903, “Truth Unfolded” (Kashf Al-Haqaiq). Christian Literature Society, Branch, Ludhiana, pp. 137-138 Barton, James L. 1918. “The Christian Approach to Islam”. Pilgrim Press, Chapter XI, pp. 176-177 Dr. Keith Moore December 23, 1984, Pak. Times, The Ottawa Citizen, The Canadian Press. Quran Baqarah, Nisa’h, Anbiya, Al-Kafiron Gospel of Mathew (85-90 AD) Gospel of Mark (65-75 AD) Gospel of Luke (80-85 AD) Gospel of John (95-140 AD) Read More