Islam and Christianity

Qu’ran -- Surah 5:51 ff: “Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another . Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become one of their numbers” and later “Believers, do not seek the friendship of the infidels and those who were given the Book before you, who have made of your religion a jest and a pastime. Have fear of God, if you are true believers… Say: ‘People of the Book, is it not that you hate us only because we believe in God and in what has been revealed to us and to others before, and because most of you are evil-doers?’ … When they came to you they said: ‘We are believers.’ Indeed, infidels they came and infidels they departed. God knew best what they concealed… That which is revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase the wickedness and unbelief of many among them. We have stirred among them enmity and hatred, which will endure till the Day of Resurrection . Whenever they kindle the fire of war, God puts it...

THE OPENING “ In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, Praise be to God, The Lord of the Worlds, The Merciful One, the Compassionate One, The Master of the Day of Doom. You alone we worship, to You alone we call for help. Guide us in the straight path, The Path of those You have blessed, Not of those with whom You are angry, Nor of those who go astray.” “The Fatiha , the opening sura of the Qur’an, the Sura of Praise, is recited every time Muslims begin their prayer and when any new thing is to be undertaken.” (from the beginning of John Alden Williams, The Word of Islam , U. of Texas Press) The Call to Prayer “At first the people gathered to him (Muhammad) for the ritual prayers without any summons. The Messenger thought of using a horn like that of the Jews who call to their prayers with it. Then he disliked the idea and ordered a wooden gong (like those of the Eastern Christians) to be beaten when the Muslims should pray.     “Meanwhile, ‘Abdallah b. Zayd ...

By Curt Tilleraas ”This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those in whom he is well pleased!” (Luke 2:12-14)      When I was a child I was taught that there is only one God, and that people either worship false gods or they worship the one true God. In the Old Testament it is made clear from the get-go that (1) our God is a jealous God, and (2) that anyone who desires to receive the Lord’s protection and promises must abandon the worship of all other gods.       The revelation of God as a jealous God was not lost in the New Testament, either. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find Jesus speaking about the equality of the gods or saying anything that might be construed as meaning that all paths lead to His Father. In fact, ...

Allah – the proper name for God in Islam – Allah is also the name for God among    Arabic speaking people, including Arabic speaking Christians ‘arif – one who knows Allah by experience/vision Aya/ayat – verse/verses in the Qur’an – also means sign/miracle Dar al-Salam , “the abode of bliss/peace”, or Paradise Dar al-Islam :    “the abode of Islam” – parts of world where Islamic law ( sharia ) rules Dar al-Harb :     “the abode of war” – the parts of the world ruled by unbelievers Dar al-Sulh –   territory not under Islamic rule, but which exists via a treaty, or     agreement-- This status is, at most, a temporary status (truce). Djinn, or Jinn – We get the word “genie” from this word. In the order of created beings    (humans, jinn, and angels). They are created from air and fire. Angels from light, and    humans from the earth. Fatiha –   The Opening, or, The Opener – first Surah of the Quran “ In th...

“Abada b. al-Samit stated, I heard the Messenger of God say, “ Five prayers are prescribed by God for His servants in the space of a day and a night. Those who observe these have God’s promise that he will let them enter Paradise . One who does not perform them has no promise from God. If God wills, He will punish the person, and if he wills, pardon.”      The five prayers are obligatory for every Muslim who has reached the age of puberty and has the use of reason, except for women who are menstruating or recovering from childbirth. If Muslims deny the necessity of prayer through ignorance, one must instruct them; if they deny it willfully, they have apostatized .      It is not permitted to delay a prayer, unless one has formulated the intention of combining it with another prayer, or was prevented from fulfilling the conditions for it [e.g., great ablution].      If Muslims abstain from saying the prayers from negligence, o...

After Sept. 11 th , when it was learned that all of the attackers were Muslims, the President and all kinds of American leaders suddenly became ‘experts’ on Islam. They began telling the American people that the Muslims who attacked us were not really Muslims, and that Islam is a religion of peace. They said, as a matter of fact, that Islam means ‘peace.’ Not true.  The root letters of Muslim , Islam , and Salaam are:  S    L    M    (Mu sl i m , I sl a m , S a l aa m ) Islam means “submission to the will of Allah” and Salaam means peace. Salaam is what is promised to those who submit their will to Allah. In other words, if you are obedient to the will of Allah, you will attain peace and you will be a Muslim. It is this definition of Islam that leads Muslims to believe, and teach, that Abraham was a Muslim, Moses was a Muslim and Jesus was a Muslim. They were all people who submitted their will to the will of Allah, or God. And this is what A...

From the writings of A.A. Maududi, Towards Understanding Islam DEFENSE OF ISLAM      “The defense of Islam is not a fundamental belief but its importance has been repeatedly emphasized in the Qur’an and Sunnah. It is essentially a test of our sincerity as believers in Islam. If we do not defend a friend of ours against plots or assaults from his enemies, nor care for his needs, we are indeed false pretenders of friendship. In the same way, if we profess belief in Islam, we must jealously guard and uphold the prestige of Islam. Our sole guide for our conduct must be the interests of Muslims at large and the service of Islam in the face of which all our personal considerations must sink low.” JIHAD      “Jihad is a part of this overall defense of Islam. Jihad means to struggle to the utmost of one’s capacity. A man who exerts himself physically or mentally or spends his wealth in the cause of God is indeed engaged in jihad. But in the language o...