Page 145 - Advanced Bible Geography ebook

Islam’s Major Beliefs

Muslims believe that there is one God (monotheism) who is the creator of everything that exists. They
say this God is sovereign, but in no place in the Quran is Allah identified with love, nor does it command
its followers to love God. They believe that God has given a special revelation to humanity through the
prophet Muhammad as written in the Quran. They believe that Jesus Christ was Messenger, prophet,
servant, Word, and Spirit of God. They believe He was virgin born. But they deny that He is the “Son of
God.” They deny that He died on the cross. In Islam there is no need for something like Christ’s atoning
death, for each person is responsible for his or her own actions, period! Sin isn’t a matter of the total
depravity of the human nature, but is more a weakness, defect, or flaw in human character.

Most Muslims don’t know a lot about what they believe. They, for the most part, have no ideas who
Jesus Christ is and what He has done for them to save them from their sin. They live under the scrutiny
of Allah, their god, who may or may not accept them as he is not a god of compassion or love. Islam is a
religion of performance. If you perform to Allah’s satisfaction, you MAY BE acceptable, yet that is not
guaranteed. Allah does not love; rather he observes and judges. No Muslim as any eternal security nor
do they experience love from Allah.

The Christian faith is about as opposite as you can get. While we both believe in one God, but the God
of the Christian is loving and merciful. He demonstrated His love by paying the penalty for our sins on
the cross of Calvary. We can come to Him in faith and KNOW that we are forgiven and have a place in
Heaven someday. Muslims are taught in their mosques how they can appease Allah.

The most authoritative source and most sacred scriptures for Islam is the Qur'an. Muslims believe that the
Qur'an consists of the literal words of Allah (the Muslim deity, otherwise known as God). The Qur'an was
revealed in the early 7th century AD to Muhammad, an Arab from Saudi Arabia.

Muhammad is considered by Muslims to be the greatest prophet in Islam, the last in a continuing chain of
prophets that is believed to have begun with Adam, the first man. Muslims revere Muhammad and strive to
follow his religious teaching, practice, and behavioral example, otherwise known as the Sunnah.

The term "Sunnah" means "custom" or "path" in the Arabic language. It is a term that refers to a precedent set by
people of the past, and in Islam takes particular importance when it applies to Muhammad and the Qur'an's
injunction to pattern oneself after him.

Second only to the Qur'an in authority, the Sunnah provides guidance that is critical for understanding and
clarifying the Qur'an. The Sunnah consists of recorded biographies called Sirah, as well as oral traditions
known as Hadith.

Muslims do not consider Islam to be a new religion. It is believed to be the original path of monotheism as
established by God, which developed into Judaism and Christianity. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam traces
its ancestry to the patriarch Abraham, but through his son Ishmael, not Isaac. The Qur'an records that Abraham
and Ishmael built the Ka'aba, a holy sanctuary in Mecca, Arabia, and instituted it as a place of worship and
pilgrimage.

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