The Bible and the Koran:
Abraham, Jesus, Muhammed*
G. Richard Jansen
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80521
August 1, 2006
The Three Abrahamic Faiths
There are three monotheistic
faiths in the world that claim descent from the Jewish Patriarch
Abraham. All of Judaism derives from Abraham (Abram) whose genealogy is
described in Genesis 11: 27-31 This is the account of
Terah. Terah
became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the
father of Lot. While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur
of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. Abram and Nahor both
married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's
wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both
Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his
daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set
out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to
Haran, they settled there.
In Genesis 12: 1-3 the
Lord made a covenant with Abram : The LORD had said to Abram,
"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to
the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever
curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed
through you."
Christianity fully embraced the
covenant made with Abraham in the Jewish Bible and added a new
covenant in Jesus Christ, who is believed by Christians to be
divine.
As will be further discussed in
this paper Muhammed claimed to be the latest and indeed the last,
prophet of the covenant God made with Abraham and, in addition, claimed
that Abraham, Ibrahim in the Koran, was Muslim as indeed were all the
Jewish patriarchs and Jesus as well. Muhammed gave the name Allah
to God and claimed that Allah was the Muslim God before he was the
Jewish and Christian God because, in Islamic belief, the Koran existed
since the beginning of the world, i.e. predated the Bible. It is
reasonable to conclude that all three of these monotheistic
faiths claim to worship the same all powerful, all knowing creator God
with the important distinction that Christianity believes that the
divine Jesus Christ is part of a Triune God in the Trinity of
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Islam rejects totally the Trinity and
considers that those who believe “three in one”, i.e. Christians, are
unbelievers. Muhammed did, consciously, appropriate the God of the Jews
as his God and as the God of Islam but he gave the name of Allah
to this God. Allah had been the name of a pagan god in the Kaaba
in pre-Islamic Mecca.
Origins of the Bible
The Old Testament was written,
perhaps in part, as early as 1400 B.C, but certainly completely by 400
B.C. The first five books known as the Books of Moses are
the Jewish Torah and describe the Creation of the world and
pre-history of the Jews. Later books describe historical events from
the time of Saul, David and Solomon, approximately 1000 B.C , through
the Assyrian conquest, the Babylonian captivity, until the return
of the Jews to Jerusalem from Babylon under the Persian ruler Cyrus in
538 B. C.
The New Testament was written from 50
A. D. until the late 90's A.D. It describes the life, crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus, and the ministries and writings of his Apostles.
Origins of the Koran
The Koran is considered by
Muslims to be the word of God, Allah, as revealed to his prophet
Muhammed. It is believed by Muslims to provide revelation from God that
is complete, unalterable and final, and is not subject to change or
amendment. The intermediary in these revelations to Muhammed was
the Angel Gabriel. It is clear that Muhammed’s understanding of
these revelations was influenced by his knowledge of the Jewish
scriptures, the Christian Old Testament as well as the teachings of
Jesus. It was his view that the Jews from the time of Jacob,
renamed Israel in the Bible, had gone astray and that his revelations
expressed the true word of God in the lineage from Abraham to his
son Ishmael via Hagar.
Many Bible stories and Biblical
history are repeated in the Koran. The Jewish Torah, the first
five books in the Bible, is considered to be a definitive law in the
Islamic faith. The Koran includes from the Bible the creation
story, Adam and Eve’s fall, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon and many other Biblical stories
and events. Of the twenty-seven prophets mentioned in the Koran
exclusive of Muhammed, twenty-two are from the Old Testament including
Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses. Three are from the New Testament;
John the Baptist, his father Zechariah and Jesus. In addition to
stories, events and individuals many concepts were taken from Jewish
sources and incorporated into the Koran. These include Hell,
Satan, redemption, resurrection, a time of judgment and paradise.
The Koran consists of 114 suras,
or chapters. Some of these revelations were made to Muhammed in
Mecca before the hegira or flight to Medina. These are the
Meccan suras. The Medinan suras, approximately two thirds
of all suras, are longer than the Meccan suras and exhibit
less apparent religious enthusiasm. There is more tolerance for
other faiths and even for pagan Arabs in the Meccan suras than suras
from the Medinan period after Muhammed had consolidated political and
military power, and religious authority. The suras were recorded
by scribes, called ameneunses, since it is believed by some scholars,
but not all, that Muhammed could neither read nor write. Some
were Christians, some were several of his wives and other Muslims who
could read and write.
At the time of Muhammed’s death
in 632 the Koran had not yet been compiled. The first
written text of the Koran was , in the main, compiled under
the direction of the Caliph Uthman in 655, twenty three years after
Muhammed’s death. It is not known who arranged the order and
named the suras in their present form.
Abraham
In Genesis it is stated that
Abram, later to be known as Abraham, and his wife Sarai, later to be
known as Sarah , moved from Ur in the Chaldees of southern Mesopotamia
north to Haran and then, on command of the Lord, south to the Land of
Canaan on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea:
Genesis
12:1-5
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country,
your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show
you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I
will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram
left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was
seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his
wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated
and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the
land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
Genesis
15: 18-21 Abraham
traveled south to Egypt and
later returned to Canaan. The Lord made a covenant with Abram and
said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to
the great river, the Euphrates- the land of the Kenites,
Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.
Sarai was childless and in
accordance with the customs of the time gave Hagar her maid servant to
Abraham with the intent to provide him with an heir as described in
Genesis 16: 1-15: Now Sarai, Abram's
wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant
named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from
having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can
build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So
after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took
her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his
wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she
was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said
to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my
servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she
despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." "Your
servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think
best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The
angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the
spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, "Hagar,
servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"
"I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. Then the
angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to
her." The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that
they will be too”
Sarai later had a son who was
named Isaac. God made a covenant with Abram and he was renamed
Abraham and his wife was renamed Sarah. Abraham asked God to
bless both Isaac and Ishmael and this was done as described in Genesis
17: 1-27 : When Abram was
ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God
Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my
covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your
numbers." Abram fell face down, and God said to him, "As
for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many
nations. No longer will you be called Abram ; your name
will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I
will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and
kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as
an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after
you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your
descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are
now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your
descendants after you; and I will be their God."
Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must
keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the
generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants
after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be
circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign
of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come
every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,
including those born in your household or bought with money from a
foreigner——those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your
household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My
covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any
uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh,
will be cut off from his people; he has broken my
covenant." God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you
are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will
bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so
that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from
her."
Abraham fell face down; he laughed and said to
himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah
bear a child at the age of ninety?" And Abraham said to God, "If only
Ishmael might live under your blessing!" Then God said, "Yes, but
your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.
I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting
covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have
heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will
greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers,
and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will
establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next
year." When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from
him.
On that very day
Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or
bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised
them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he
was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and
his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. And every male
in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought
from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
Later one of Isaac’s son named
Jacob, renamed Israel, had twelve sons who gave rise to the
“twelve tribes of Israel”: (Genesis 49: 28)
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their
father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing
appropriate to him. Genesis
25:9 states
that
Abraham’s sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of
Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,
In the Koran Ibrahim is mentioned in
approximately 70 verses. Some of the most important, in
connection with the subject of this paper are the following:
sura
3.33 Surely Allah
chose Adam and Nuh and the descendants of
Ibrahim and the descendants of Imran above the nations.
sura 3.65 O followers of the
Book! why do you dispute about
Ibrahim, when the Taurat and the Injeel* were not revealed till after
him; do you not then understand?
sura 3.67 Ibrahim was not a Jew
nor a Christian but he was (an)
upright (man), a Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists.
sura 3.68 Most surely the
nearest of people to Ibrahim are those
who followed him and this Prophet and those who believe and Allah is
the guardian of the believers.
sura 3.84 Say: We believe in
Allah and what has been revealed to
us, and what was revealed to Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq and Yaqoub
and the tribes, and what was given to Musa and Isa and to the prophets
from their Lord; we do not make any distinction between any of them,
and to Him do we submit.
sura 3.95 Say: Allah has spoken
the truth, therefore follow the
religion of Ibrahim, the upright one; and he was not one of the
polytheists.
sura 3.97 In it are clear signs,
the standing place of Ibrahim ,
and whoever enters it shall be secure, and pilgrimage to the House is
incumbent upon men for the sake of Allah, (upon) every one who is able
to undertake the journey to it; and whoever disbelieves, then surely
Allah is Self-sufficient, above any need of the worlds.
*Torah and the Gospel
These passages make clear the
Islamic claim that the Abraham of the Bible, in both New and Old
Testaments, is the Ibrahim of the Koran and is a Muslim. In
addition Islam claims to have precedence and a stronger claim to be the
last and most authentic voice of God with Muhammed being his last
prophet. In the Bible Ishmael’s name is
mentioned 250 times. The life and death of Ishmael, and names of
his twelve sons are listed in Genesis 25:
12-18:
This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael,
whom Sarah's maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of
their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel,
Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish
and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the
names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and
camps. Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven
years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his
people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near
the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in
hostility toward all their brothers.
In the Koran Ismail’s
(Ishmael’s) name is mentioned in eight suras for a total of
twelve times. All but one are linked directly to Ibrahim and/or
Isaac and Jacob. There is no genealogy described in the Koran to
support the claim that Muhammed is a descendant of Ibrahim, or
that Ismail was present with Isaac at Abraham’s death and burial,
but that is found in the Bible. In sura 37: 100-113 of the Koran
we find the following passage:
My Lord! grant me of
the doers of good deeds. So We gave him the good news of a
boy, possessing forbearance. And when he attained to
working with him, he said: O my son! surely I have seen in a dream that
I should sacrifice you; consider then what you see. He said: O my
father! do what you are commanded; if Allah please, you will find me of
the patient ones. So when they both submitted and he threw him
down upon his forehead, And We called out to him saying: O
Ibrahim! You have indeed shown the truth of the vision; surely
thus do We reward the doers of good: : Most surely this is a manifest
trial. And We ransomed him with a Feat sacrifice. : And We perpetuated
(praise) to him among the later generations. Peace be on
Ibrahim. Thus do We reward the doers of good. : Surely he was one
of Our believing servants. And We gave him the good news of
Ishaq, a prophet among the good ones. And We showered Our
blessings on him and on Ishaq; and of their offspring are the doers of
good, and (also) those who are clearly unjust to their own souls.
There
are those who argue that this passage inplies that is was Ismail that
was selected to be sacrificed by Abraham. This is of course
nonsense. If Allah, Gabriel and Muhammed had intended it to be
Ismail it would have been so stated... Sura 38: 45-48
says this :And remember Our servants Ibrahim and Ishaq and Yaqoub, men
of power and insight. Surely We purified them by a pure
quality, the keeping in mind of the (final) abode. And most surely they
were with Us, of the elect, the best. And remember Ismail and Al-Yasha
and Zulkifl; and they were all of the best. This passage
gives clear priority to Abraham , Isaac and Jacob over Ishmael. Suras 37-38
were tramscribed in Mecca at a time that Muhammed was, in essence,
wooing the Jews claiming to be their last Prophet and these
suras include Bible stories about Noah, Lot, Jonah, Moses, Aaron
, Elijah, Ezekiel, David, Solomon and Solomon.
The first biography of Muhammed by Ibn Ishak
written a hundred
years after Muhammed’s death presents a genealogy from Ismail to
Muhammed. Twenty nine
generations since Ismail are provided with the names of all these
antecedents of Muhammed listed. To reiterate, there is
nothing known about Ismail.l found in the Koran that does not
derive from the Jewish Bible. Later sources and traditions have
embellished the story.
Jesus
The entire New Testament is
devoted to the life, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus
and the ministries of his Apostles in the 70 years after his
resurrection. The belief among his early followers was established that
Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God and their redeemer.
How was Jesus described and
evaluated in the Koran? There are many references to Jesus, named
Isa and referred to as Messiah in the Koran. However, that is
where the similarities to the New Testament end. In the Koran Jesus is
not the Son of God, not divine, not crucified and not
resurrected:
sura
4: 171-172,
O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in
your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the
truth; the Messiah, Isa ,son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah and
His Word which He communicated to Marium and a spirit from Him; believe
therefore in Allah and His apostles, and say not, Three. Desist, it is
better for you; Allah is only one God; far be It from His glory that He
should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the
earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector. The
Messiah does by no means disdain that he should be a servant of Allah,
nor do the angels who are near to Him, and whoever disdains His service
and is proud, He will gather them all together to Himself.
sura 5:73-74 Certainly they
disbelieve who say: Surely Allah is
the third (person) of the three; and there is no god but the one God,
and if they desist not from what they say, a painful chastisement shall
befall those among them who disbelieve. Will they not then turn to
Allah and ask His forgiveness? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
The Messiah, son of Marium is but an apostle; apostles before him have
indeed passed away; and his mother was a truthful woman; they both used
to eat food. See how We make the communications clear to them, then
behold, how they are turned away.
Jesus is described as totally
mortal and not immortal on the argument that he eats food just like
every one else. In the Koran the trinity is considered to be Jesus,
Mary and Allah, as the following passage in the Koran shows: sura 5:116
And when
Allah will say: O Isa son of Marium! did you say to men, Take me
and my mother for two gods besides Allah he will say: Glory be to Thee,
it did not befit me that I should say what I had no right to (say); if
I had said it, Thou wouldst indeed have known it; Thou
knowest what is in my mind, and I do not know what is in Thy
mind, surely Thou art the great Knower of the unseen things.
Muslims believe that Jesus foretold the coming of Ahmad, i.e.
Muhammed: sura 61.6 And when Isa son
of Marium said: O children of Israel! surely I am the apostle of Allah
to you, verifying that which is before me of the Taurat and giving the
good news of an Apostle who will come after me, his name being Ahmad,
but when he came to them with clear arguments they said: This is clear
magic.
Love
It is interesting to compare the
context and use of the word love in the Bible and in the Koran. In the
Old Testament the word love is used 697 times, in the New Testament 258
times and in the Koran 84 times. In the Old Testament
the most frequent use of the word love is love of God, and love of
family members such as fathers, mothers, wives and children. Love
is used nearly one hundred times in the Psalms alone with most of these
being God’s love for his people. The Song of Songs deals with love in a
romantic, sexual sense about fifty times. Leviticus 19:33-34
instructs that aliens should be well treated “as one of your
native born. Love him as yourself for you were once an alien in Egypt.
I am the Lord your God.” On the other hand Psalm 11:5 says “The Lord examines the
righteous but the wicked and those who love violence he hates.”
Psalm 31:23 admonishes “Love the
Lord, all his saints. The Lord
preserves the faithful but the proud he pays back in full.” And
Proverbs 15:9 says
“The Lord detests the way of the wicked but he loves
those who pursue righteousness.” Perhaps the
harshest passage in the entire Bible is found within the first of
the Ten Commandments “You shall not make for
yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the
earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the
children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation
of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand
{generations} of those who love me and keep my
commandments (Exodus
20: 4-6).
The New Testament places a much
different emphasis on the word love and its use. Since it
presents the teachings of Jesus as related by the writers of the
Gospels and the Epistles it is full of love. We list a few:
Matthew
5: 43-48
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on
the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what
reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if
you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do
not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father
is perfect.
Matthew 22:
36-40
"Teacher, which is the greatest
commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on
these two commandments."
Luke 6: 27-36 “But I tell you who
hear me: Love your enemies, do
good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those
who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the
other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking
your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what
belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have
them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is
that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do
good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even
'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect
repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to
'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without
expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you
will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and
wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
John 3: 16-21 "For God so
loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes
in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only
Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who
does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes
into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done
has been done through God."
1
John 4: 7-12 “Dear
friends, let us love one another, for love comes
from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is
how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the
world that we might live through him. 1This is love: not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love
one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God
lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
Perhaps the greatest words ever written on
love by a man are those written by Paul in 1 Corinthians
13:
1-13 “If I speak
in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not
love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the
gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if
I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am
nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to
the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is
kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not
rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no
record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. Love never fails.
But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are
tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass
away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection
comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a
child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a
man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as
in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I
shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
In the Koran the great majority of
verses containing the word love deal with the requirement to love Allah
and Allah’s love for people. In connection with the latter there
are more examples of Allah not loving individuals who do bad things
than Allah loving individuals who do good things. In connection
with the former, Allah does not love unbelievers, mischief makers, and
those who exceed limits, are unfaithful, ungrateful, exultant,
treacherous, sinful, unjust and arrogant boasters. On the other
hand Allah loves those who love and follow Allah, do good, act and
judge equitably, are patient and trustful. Some examples are
listed below:
sura 2.190: And
fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you, and do not
exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed the
limits.
sura 2.195: And
spend in the way of Allah and cast not yourselves to perdition with
your own hands, and do good (to others); surely Allah loves the doers
of good.
sura 2.205: And
when he turns back, he runs along in the land that he may cause
mischief in it and destroy the tilth and the stock, and Allah does not
love mischief-making.
sura 2.222: And
they ask you about menstruation. Say: It is a discomfort; therefore
keep aloof from the women during the menstrual discharge and do not go
near them until they have become clean; then when they have cleansed
themselves, go in to them as Allah has commanded you; surely Allah
loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify
themselves.
sura 2.276: Allah
does not bless usury, and He causes charitable deeds to prosper, and
Allah does not love any ungrateful sinner.
sura 3.31: Say: If
you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you
your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful
sura 3.32: Say:
Obey Allah and the Apostle; but if they turn back, then surely Allah
does not love the unbelievers.
sura3.57: And as
to those who believe and do good deeds, He will pay them fully their
rewards; and Allah does not love the unjust.
sura 3.76: Yea,
whoever fulfills his promise and guards (against evil) -- then surely
Allah loves those who guard (against evil).
sura 3.134: Those
who spend (benevolently) in ease as well as in straitness, and those
who restrain (their) anger and pardon men; and Allah loves the doers of
good (to others).
sura 3.140: If a
wound has afflicted you (at Ohud), a wound like it has also afflicted
the (unbelieving) people; and We bring these days to men by turns, and
that Allah may know those who believe and take witnesses from among
you; and Allah does not love the unjust. sura 3.148: So Allah gave them
the reward of this world and better reward of the hereafter and Allah
loves those who do good (to others).
sura 22.38: Surely
Allah will defend those who believe; surely Allah does not love any one
who is unfaithful, ungrateful.
sura 28.76: Surely
Qaroun was of the people of Musa, but he rebelled against them, and We
had given him of the treasures, so much so that his hoards of wealth
would certainly weigh down a company of men possessed of great
strength. When his people said to him: Do not exult, surely Allah does
not love the exultant;
sura 28.77: And
seek by means of what Allah has given you the future abode, and do not
neglect your portion of this world, and do good (to others) as Allah
has done good to you, and do not seek to make mischief in the land,
surely Allah does not love the mischief-makers.
sura 30.45: That
He may reward those who believe and do good out of His grace; surely He
does not love the unbelievers.
sura 31.18: And do
not turn your face away from people in contempt, nor go about in the
land exulting overmuch; surely Allah does not love any self-conceited
boaster;
Aggression and War
The Old Testament is full of
aggression and warfare. What is described is the pre-history and
history of tribal warfare engaged in by Jewish tribes fighting for land
against other tribes in the Land of Canaan from the pre-historical time
of Moses and Joshua, through the Kingdoms of David and Solomon through
the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests. A good flavor of these writings
is found in Joshua:
Joshua
6 1-21 Now
Jericho was tightly shut up because of the
Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the LORD said to
Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its
king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all
the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry
trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march
around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the
trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets,
have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will
collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in. So
Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark
of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in
front of it." And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around
the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD.
When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying
the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their
trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. The
armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the
rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were
sounding. But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war
cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell
you to shout. Then shout!" So he had the ark of the LORD carried
around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and
spent the night there.
Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the
ark of the LORD. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets
went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the
trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed
the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. So on the
second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp.
They did this for six days.
On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around
the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they
circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the
priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout!
For the LORD has given you the city! The city and all that is in
it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute
and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid
the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that
you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them.
Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and
bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of
bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his
treasury. When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted,
and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the
wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the
city. They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the
sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle,
sheep and donkeys.
The following passage from Judges
shows how brutal a time this was:
Judges
21: 5-12
Then the Israelites asked, "Who from all the
tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD ?" For they had
taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD
at Mizpah should certainly be put to death. Now the Israelites
grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites. "Today one tribe is cut off
from Israel," they said. "How can we provide wives for those who are
left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD not to give them any of
our daughters in marriage?" Then they asked, "Which one of the
tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?" They
discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the
assembly. For when they counted the people, they found that none
of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there. So the assembly sent
twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead
and put to the sword those living there, including the women and
children. "This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every
male and every woman who is not a virgin." They found among the
people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never
slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.
These were tribal wars that
occurred roughly 500-1500 years before Christ and were characteristic
of all tribal warfare that took place during these years. In them
Jewish scribes claim that God is commanding them and also is supporting
them. However, in contrast to the Koran these words in the Old
Testament are words written by men and are not claimed to have been
dictated by an angel directly from God.
In contrast, however, the Old
Testament also contains hopes of everlasting peace:
Isaiah 2: 1-4 This is what
Isaiah son of Amoz saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the
mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the
mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will
stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up
to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will
teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. The law will go
out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge
between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They
will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will
they train for war anymore.
Micah
4: 2-5 Many
nations will come and say, "Come,
let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of
Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. The
law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong
nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and
their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against
nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Every man will sit
under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make
them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. All the nations
may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the
LORD our God for ever and ever.
As
already discussed there are many stories, events
and persons from the Bible that are also found in the Koran. The
above words of peace from Isaiah and Micah, however are not among
them.
The New Testament is a book about
love and salvation through Christ, and is not about war. It is
primarily about the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.
This is made clear in all the words of Jesus, especially those found in
the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-48), and in the final command of
Jesus given to his disciples after his resurrection to spread the
Gospel by missionary work not by force:
Matthew
28: 16-20
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the
mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they
worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age."
This missionary work is described
in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. Many evil acts have been
committed in the name of Christ over the centuries including, among
others, the Inquisition and the treatment of the Jews. None,
however, have been committed by following the words of Christ.
There are several passages in the New Testament
where Jesus refers to using a sword: Matthew 10 :34-79 "Do
not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not
come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a
man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -a man's enemies will be the
members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his
cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will
lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Luke 12:49-53 "I
have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already
kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until
it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I
tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family
divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother
against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against
daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
It is clear that
in these passages Jesus uses the word sword in a metaphorical
sense. He is predicting that his teachings will cause division in
families between those who follow his teaching and those who do
not. It is equally clear in the following passage also from
Luke that Jesus is not interested in leading a rebellion and the use of
swords in a violent way against the authorities: Luke 22: 47-53
While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called
Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss
him, but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with
a kiss?" When Jesus' followers saw what was going to
happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" And one of
them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and
healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the
temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a
rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was
with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But
this is your hour——when darkness reigns."
Muhammed initially
was
clearly impressed with the Jewish scriptures and wanted the Jews to
accept him as the latest prophet of their covenant with
God. During these years he was conciliatory toward
Christian and Jews as shown by this passage in the Koran:
sura
2 256-258
: There is no compulsion in religion; truly the
right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever
disbelieves in the Shaitan and believes in Al}ah he indeed has laid
hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and Allah is
Hearing, Knowing. Allah is the guardian of those who believe. He
brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to) those who
disbelieve, their guardians are Shaitans who take them out of the light
into the darkness; they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall
abide. Have you not considered him (Namrud) who disputed with
Ibrahim about his Lord, because Allah had given him the kingdom? When
Ibrahim said: My Lord is He who gives life and causes to die, he said:
I give life and cause death. Ibrahim said: So surely Allah causes the
sun to rise from the east, then make it rise from the west; thus he who
disbelieved was confounded; and Allah does not guide a right the
unjust people.
Later, after he fled Mecca,
formed a power base in Medina and became a military commander and
a ruler, he turned on the Jews in Medina when they turned down his
claim to be the latest prophet of the Jewish covenant with God. The
Suras received via the Angel Gabriel in Medina establish the
requirement for Muslims to seek out and attack the infidels:
sura
4.74-76: Therefore
let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this
world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of Allah,
then be he slain or be he victorious, We shall grant him a mighty
reward. And what reason have you that you should not fight in the
way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the
children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! cause us to go forth from this
town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and
give us from Thee a helper. Those who believe fight in the way of
Allah, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of the Shaitan. Fight
therefore against the friends of the Shaitan; surely the strategy of
the Shaitan is weak.
sura 8.12: When your Lord
revealed to the angels: I am with you,
therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the
hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and
strike off every fingertip of them.
sura 8.15-17: O you who believe!
when you meet those who
disbelieve marching for war, then turn not your backs to them.
And whoever shall turn his back to them on that day
-- unless he turn aside for the sake of fighting or withdraws to a
company -- then he, indeed, becomes deserving of Allah's wrath, and his
abode is hell; and an evil destination shall it be. So you did
not slay them, but it was Allah Who slew them, and you did not smite
when you smote (the enemy), but it was Allah Who smote, and that He
might confer upon the believers a good gift from Himself; surely Allah
is Hearing, Knowing.
sura 8.39: And fight with them
until there is no more persecution
and religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely
Allah sees what they do.
sura 9.5-6: So when the sacred
months have passed away, then slay
the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and
besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they
repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free
to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. And if one of the
idolaters seek protection from you, grant him protection till he hears
the word of Allah, then make him attain his place of safety; this is
because they are a people who do not know.
sura 9.38-39: O you who believe!
What (excuse) have you that when
it is said to you: Go forth in Allah's way, you should incline heavily
to earth; are you contented with this world's life instead of the
hereafter? But the provision of this world's life compared with the
hereafter is but little. If you do not go forth, He will chastise you
with a painful chastisement and bring in your place a people other than
you, and you will do Him no harm; and Allah has power over all things.
Marriage
The Jewish Bible deals very
little with marriage rules if at all. These are found in the
later Talmud. The Seventh Commandment prohibits adultery and the Tenth
Commandment recognizes the reality of marriage and commands that a man
should not covet his neighbor’s wife. The New Testament
recognizes the marriage customs of Jews in the first century except
that by that time polygamy had disappeared in Jewish and Christian
society. There is nothing in the teachings of Jesus or his Apostles
that changes these customs. Jesus does advise that there will be
no marriage or state of marriage after the resurrection in answer to a
Sadducee who does not believe in a resurrection of the dead (Mark 12:
25). Paul advises that it is best for a man to have one wife and
for a woman to have one husband (1 Cor 7: 2-3), that marriage should be
honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure for God for god will
judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral (Hebrews 13: 4) Paul
and Peter both advise that a man should both love and be considerate of
his wife and a woman should submit to her husband
In contrast, the Koran is full of
hard and fast rules about marriage. A man shall not marry
idolatresses (sura 2:221), and a man is
entitled to marry up to four
women (sura 4:3). In sura 4: 22-23 the rules on incest
are spelled out
in considerable detail. A man is entitled to consider his wife as tilth
: sura 2.223 Your wives are a
tilth for you, so go into your
tilth when you like, and do good beforehand for yourselves, and be
careful (of your duty) to Allah, and know that you will meet Him, and
give good news to the believers. It is forbidden to marry a marry
a married woman except those who your right hands possess, i.e. are
prisoners of war (sura
4:24). A married
woman who is a believer married
to an unbeliever may be married by a believer and her husband has
no longer a right to her (sura
60:10).
Muhammed received a special
dispensation from Allah to marry the wife of his adopted son: sura 33.37-38: And
when you said to him to whom Allah had shown favor and to whom you had
shown a favor: Keep your wife to yourself and be careful of (your duty
to) Allah; and you concealed in your soul what Allah would bring to
light, and you feared men, and Allah had a greater right that you
should fear Him. But when Zaid had accomplished his want of her, We
gave her to you as a wife, so that there should be no difficulty for
the believers in respect of the wives of their adopted sons, when they
have accomplished their want of them; and Allah's command shall be
performed. There is no harm in the Prophet doing that which
Allah has ordained for him; such has been the course of Allah with
respect to those who have gone before; and the command of Allah is a
decree that is made absolute: , and in connection with having more that
four wives.
In addition Muhammed received a
special dispensation to have more than four wives, in addition to any
possessed by his right hand:
sura 33.50: O
Prophet! surely We have made lawful to you your wives whom you have
given their dowries, and those whom your right hand possesses out of
those whom Allah has given to you as prisoners of war, and the
daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal
aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of
your maternal aunts who fled with you; and a believing woman if she
gave herself to the Prophet, if the Prophet desired to marry her --
specially for you, not for the (rest of) believers; We know what We
have ordained for them concerning their wives and those whom their
right hands possess in order that no blame may attach to you; and Allah
is Forgiving, Merciful.
Biblical Christianity and Koranic Islam
Compared.
It is clear that Muhammed adopted
the God of the Jews as his God renamed Allah, and also claimed
precedence for Islam over Judaism. The Koran rejects the crucifixion,
resurrection and divinity of Christ. The common element in
Christianity and Islam is that both accept the Torah, the Jewish law.
Issues to be considered are 1) Origins of the Bible and the Koran,
2)God, 3) Abraham 4)Jesus and Muhammed, and 5) Relationships to
Governments.
Origins of the Bible and the Koran
The origins of the Old Testament
are clothed in the mysteries of pre-history and may never be fully
known. The origins of the New Testament and the Koran occurred
within known and written history and are much better known and
understood. The Old Testament was written by Jewish writers who
attempted to present the pre-history and the history of the Jewish
people until shortly after the return to Jerusalem from Babylon in 528
B.C. The New Testament was written by followers of Jesus in
roughly the sixty years after the resurrection. It presents
Christian understandings of Christ’s life including his birth,
ministry, crucifixion and resurrection. It also presents in the words
of his Apostles the meaning and importance of these events to the Jews
and Gentiles. The Koran is claimed to be the direct word of Allah
to Muhammed via the Angel Gabriel. These recitations were
collected , organized and written down approximately thirty years after
Muhammed’s death and became the Koran. The only truly authentic Koran
is written in Arabic. The claim is also made that Muhammed is the last
and final Prophet of Allah.
God
In Jewish and Christian belief
God made a covenant with Abraham through Isaac and his descendants, not
through Abraham’s son Ishmael: Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah
will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my
covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after
him (Genesis 17:19). The God of Christianity is the Jewish God
with the understanding that the God of the Jews has additional
attributes not recognized by Jews and prior to Christ. God is a
God in the three persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God gave the
following commandment to the Jews, a commandment also recognized by
Christians: "I am
the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of
slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2).
We are therefore faced with a
conundrum. Islam claims to worship the God of Abraham.
Christianity worships the God of Abraham. However, the complete
nature of the God of Abraham has been expanded by Christianity to
include Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead. Islam
categorically rejects the Trinity and further states that those
who worship the Trinity, namely Christians, are unbelievers.
Therefore it cannot be said that Islam and Christianity fully worship
the same God.
Islam makes the additional
claim that the Koran exists eternally from the beginning of time on
tablets in paradise (sura 85:21-22). The claim is also made by Muslims
that the Bible is an imperfect and incomplete version of this “book”,
the heavenly Koran. Further, because of the precedence of the
Koran over the Bible, Abraham and all the all the Jewish prophets were
and are Muslims and Islam has precedence over both Judaism and
Christianity. The Koran emphatically rejects the Christian Trinity and
states that those who believe in “three in one” are unbelievers.
Islam claims a link to Abraham via Ishmael (Ismail). It is the case
that, according to the account in Genesis, Ishmael was blessed by
God, at Abraham’s request and promised he would be the father of
twelve rulers. However, this is not in the Koran, nor are any
descendants of Ismail listed in the Koran. Apparently Muhammed’s
claim to be the final Prophet and descendant of Abraham and Ismail is
based on this rather obscure passage in the Koran: sura 2;
127-129
And when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the
foundations of the House: Our Lord! accept from us; surely Thou art the
Hearing, the Knowing. Our Lord! and make us both submissive to
Thee and (raise) from our offspring a nation submitting to Thee, and
show us our ways of devotion and turn to us (mercifully), surely Thou
art the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful. Our Lord! and
raise up in them an Apostle from among them who shall recite to them
Thy communications and teach them the Book and the wisdom, and purify
them; surely Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.
It is not possible to give
credibility to the claim that the Koran existed since the beginning of
time and before the Bible was written and that Abraham and other Jewish
prophets are Muslims because in the Koran 1) special
dispensations were given to Muhammed to marry the wife of his adopted
son and to have an unlimited number of wives, 2) many stories and
people from the Bible are included as are 3) details of one of
Muhammed’s most important battles, the Battle of Badr in
624 A. D. It
is not possible that these details could have been present on tablets
in paradise from the beginning of time. In the Koran the tenses
used are past or present, not future.
Jesus and Muhammed
In the New Testament Jesus is the
divine Son of God and a man of peace. This view of Jesus is
indisputably clear from his words recorded in the Beatitudes
found in Matthew.
Matthew 5:3-16
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a
mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to
teach them saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be
comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be
shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see
God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people
insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you
because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your
reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who
were before you.
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses
its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for
anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are
the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do
people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way,
let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5: 38-40
You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'
But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on
the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to
sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Little is known about the life of Jesus outside of
what is in the New Testament. In contrast, nearly everything
known about Muhammed is known from historical sources and virtually
nothing from the Koran except that he is claimed to be the last
Prophet of God.
Besides being the spiritual leader of his people, he
was a political and military leader. He led his forces on raiding
parties and in battle. He is known to have personally ordered the
slaying of Jews in Medina. He can be described more correctly as a man
of war than as a man of peace.
Relationships to Governments
In the New Testament, no
statement is made that the movement that developed after Christ’s
resurrection and became known as Christianity should rule the state or
the country. In contrast, Jesus uttered the following words
to make clear that the state and his movement which became the
Christian Church should be completely separate:
Matthew
22: 15-21
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him
in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the
Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You
aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.
Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar
or not?"
But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You
hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for
paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose
portrait is this? And whose inscription?" “Caesar's," they replied.
Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what
is God's."
Peter re-enforces this admonition of Christ in 1
Peter: 13-17 Submit
yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men:
whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who
are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who
do right. For it is God's will
that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
Live as free men, but
do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of
God. Show proper respect to
everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
The Koran lays out rules for
most areas of life. On the issue of the role of Islam in the political
life of the state the standard was set by Muhammed himself who was head
of state, the military and political leader, and also the spiritual
leader. Those who took his place as leader after his death were
known as Caliphs. Until Attaturk abolished the Caliphate in
1924 Caliphs were both head of state and the leader of Islam.
The Koran and the Jews
The Koran takes notice how the
Jews disobeyed God on many occasions, all of which are
found in the Old Testament itself. In the following
passages from the Koran the fate of these disobedient people of the book
is described: Sura 2.62-66: Surely
those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the f Christians, and
the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good,
they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for
them, nor shall they grieve. And when We took a promise from you
and lifted the mountain over you: Take hold of the law (Tavrat) We have
given you with firmness and bear in mind what is in it, so that you may
guard (against evil). Then you turned back after that; so were it
not for the grace of Allah and His mercy on you, you would certainly
have been among the losers. And certainly you have known those
among you who exceeded the limits of the Sabbath, so We said to them:
Be (as) apes, despised and hated. So We made them an example to
those who witnessed it and those who came after it, and an admonition
to those who guard (against evil). sura 5.59-64 : Say: O
followers of the Book! do you find fault with us (for aught) except
that we believe in Allah and in what has been revealed to us and what
was revealed before, and that most of you are transgressors? Say:
Shall I inform you of (him who is) worse than this in retribution from
Allah? (Worse is he) whom Allah has cursed and brought His wrath upon,
and of whom He made apes and swine, and he who served the Shaitan;
these are worse in place and more erring from the straight path. And
when they come to you, they say: We believe; and indeed they come in
with unbelief and indeed they go forth with it; and Allah knows best
what they concealed. And you will see many of them striving with one
another to hasten in sin and exceeding the limits, and their eating of
what is unlawfully acquired; certainly evil is that which they do. Why
do not the learned men and the doctors of law prohibit them from their
speaking of what is sinful and their eating of what is unlawfully
acquired? Certainly evil is that which they work.
And the Jews say: The hand of Allah is tied up! Their hands shall be
shackled and they shall be cursed for what they say. Nay, both His
hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases; and what has been
revealed to you from your Lord will certainly make many of them
increase in inordinacy and unbelief; and We have put enmity and hatred
among them till the day of resurrection; whenever they kindle a fire
for war Allah puts it out, and they strive to make mischief in the
land; and Allah does not love the mischief-makers.
In the Islamic world today,
unfortunately the Jews are still often referred to as the
descendants of apes and swine. This unfortunate belief has
a basis in the Koran itself. The following passages from
the Koran refer specifically to the Jews: Sura 2: 65, And
certainly you have known those among you who exceeded the limits of the
Sabbath, so We said to them: Be (as) apes, despised and hated.
Sura 5:60, Say: Shall I inform you of (him who is) worse than this in
retribution from Allah? (Worse is he) whom Allah has cursed and brought
His wrath upon, and of whom He made apes and swine, and he who served
the Shaitan; these are worse in place and more erring from the straight
path. Sura 7: 166, Therefore when they revoltingly persisted in what
they had been forbidden, We said to them: Be (as) apes, despised and
hated.
Conclusions
Since the New Testament was
written the Christian Church has seen many organizational changes. In
the Roman Empire the Church was organized into five Patriarchies or
Sees: Rome Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria. In
addition outside the Empire there was a Christian Church in Armenia.
The Sees of Rome and Constantinople, which had been in close communion
with each other, parted company in the 11th century. The
Reformation of the 16th century split off what became known as
Protestantism from the Roman Church. The bloody Thirty Years War
among Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists led to an understanding that
the days of religious wars within Christendom were over. It should be
noted, however, that through all these events and until and including
the present day, all branches of Christianity hold to the Apostles
Creed of the very early Church.
In Christianity, following the
words of Christ, the Church has always been separate from the
State. Over the centuries many violent acts have been committed
by Christians against non-Christians, especially the Jews.
Although sometimes committed in the name of Christ, none followed the
teaching of Christ. Christ was a peaceful man and his ministry was one
of love.
The Crusades were initiated by a
call from the Pope to liberate the formerly Christian Holy Lands from
Islamic rule. It was a 200 year military struggle between Christian and
Islamic armies with atrocities committed by both sides consistent
with the wars of that time. The most unprovoked and unjustified acts of
violence during th Crusades were committed by the Christian Armies
against the Jews in Europe and in Jerusalem, and by the attack on
Constantinople by Roman Catholic armies.
Islam today is guided by not only
the Koran but also by the later sayings of Muhammed, the hadiths, and
the Sunnah or traditions. Also of inestimable importance is Islamic
Sharia law which developed in multiple schools of jurisprudence over
many centuries. The Koran requires that individual Muslims make
holy war against unbelievers. In Islamic belief the world is divided
into two spheres, dar al Islam, the world of Islam, and the dar al
harb, the world of the unbelievers and therefore the world of war It is
a religious requirement that individual Muslims make holy war, jihad,
until the world is an Islamic world.
The Old Testament had described
the tribal wars of the Jews in Canaan three millennia ago. This
is history not policy or a religious commandment. It is most
unfortunate that the Koran institutionalized the tribal warfare of
tribes in Arabia during the 7th century and made them a
prescription for interactions with other peoples forever. As a
result we have had fourteen hundred years of jihad waged against
the Christian West and the Hindu East.
In 1998 The World Islamic Front, Al Qaeda, declared in the name
of Islam a holy war against Jews and Crusaders. Although this is
the case, what’s left of the Christian world does not consider
itself in a religious war against Islam. The Shia government of
Islam definitely considers itself to be in a holy war against the Jews
and the West. Within Sunni Islam the Salafi and Whahabbi movements
share the 7th century view of Islam where the goal is to expand the
Ummah, the world of Islam, by all means possible.
There are 1.4 billion Muslims in
the world. It is fair to say that there indeed are hundreds of
millions of peaceful Muslims in the world. It is not possible to
say that Islam is a religion of peace. The large yet unanswered
question today is how many of these 1.4 billion Muslims are open to the
these expansionist and jihad prone movements in Islam. The future of
civilization as we know it depends on how those within the Islamic
world and the rest of the world answer this question and provide
solutions to the problem. The ball is in the court of the Islamic
world. The Muslim world can turn away from jihad. If this
does not happen, Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations’ will be
upon us, writ large.
* Bible translations are from
the New international Version taken from
http://www.biblegateway.com/
Koran translations are
taken from the Koran at the Electronic Text Center, University of
Virginia http://etext.virginia.edu/koran.html
Home page
Christian West and Militant Islam