by Marcel Rebiai

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In part 1 we presented the following issues:

1.    A description and comparison of the 3 monotheistic religions.
2.    Islam's view of itself as the natural and sole true religion.
3.    Mohammed as Messiah.
4.    The beginnings of Islam.
5.    How Mohammed became a prophet

In the beginning, Mohammed was convinced that he had the same message as Jews and Christians. He viewed especially the Jews as the crown witnesses who would confirm his message.

During Mohammed's controversy with the Meccans, who rejected him, Arabs from the neighbouring city of Medina came and heard him preach. They were impressed. They immediately called him to Medina to help them. Blood vengeance between Arabs and Jews was threatening to wipe out whole tribes there and destroy the community.
In 622, which is known as the Year of the Hadj, Mohammed and his followers moved to Medina. Arabs and c. 40,000 Jews lived alongside each other in tribes. Together with his authority and charisma, Mohammed's successful mediation stopped the blood vengeance. He proved to be a capable statesman when he gave the city a law regulating relationships. As a result, the first Islamic fellowship was born in Medina, where Mohammed was both prophet and ruler.

After thus establishing himself he turned to the Jews, assuming they would accept and confirm him as a prophet. This would have led the Arabs to acknowledge his divine revelations. But the Jews made unmistakably clear to him that they were waiting for one prophet only, namely Elijah, who would proclaim the coming of the Messiah. They said Mohammed had absolutely nothing in common with Elijah. He was even derided by some Jewish poets.

Mohammed is rejected

This encounter with the Medina Jews was a great disappointment for Mohammed and a blow to his wounded inferiority feelings. Jews told him that it was not God who had revealed himself, but that he had listened to demonic whisperings. Of all people, his crown witnesses rejected him!

Because Mohammed originally believed he had received the same revelation as the Jews and was one of their prophets, he and his followers prayed toward Jerusalem, like the Jews. For him it was the city of the prophets and the centre of divine revelation. He continued to believe this even after his break with the Jews. In the interpretation of sura 17 in the Koran it is said that one night Mohammed had to ride to Jerusalem on his winged horse Alburak in order to ascend to heaven from the Temple Mount. There Abraham, Moses, and Jesus gave him their seal of approval as a prophet. In Mohammed's thoughts and emotions the Temple Mount was a special place of divine revelation and the gate to heaven. Islamic tradition sees it as the arena of the last judgment and the place to which the Messiah (Al Mahdi) will return. At the end of time, the Kaaba will even be brought from Mecca to Jerusalem where together with the rock of Moriah it will form the foundation stone for the new world. It is no coincidence that Islam calls only Jerusalem "the holy one", "Al Kuds".

Mohammed sought new ways to root his message independently of Jews and Christians in order to avoid derision. He also feared he would lose his standing as prophet and his honour among the Arabs, which was based on divine revelation. He struggled against Jews with all his means. The tribes were subjugated, enslaved, banished, or stamped out. He thought his victory over the Jews proved that God had made him lord and judge over Jews and Christians. He viewed himself as the son and successor of Abraham, who long before the Jews and Christians was the most important prophet and the "first Moslem".

Abraham as key person

Abraham, the central figure for Jews and Christians, became Mohammed's proof and anchor for the primacy of Islam. In sura 3:60+62 we read, "Abraham was not a Jew nor a Christian; but he was a god-fearing Hanif (Moslem) and no heathen. The persons closest to Abraham are those who follow him, and this prophet (Mohammed), and those who believe with him." Sura 2:134, "Or will you say that Abraham, Isma’il Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Do you know better than Allah?" This makes Abraham a Moslem because according to Islam he lived a godly life, namely “Islam”.
Mohammed soon realised that he could not do without Mecca, the religious centre, if Islam were to seize and control all the Arab tribes. Thus Mecca was not simply conquered; the religious cult of the Kaaba was given Islamic meaning and made the magnet of Islamic pilgrimage.
It was absolutely necessary to connect Abraham with the Kaaba as well. Sura 3:90+91, "The first house of Allah, made for men, is the one in Mecca...for blessing and guidance to all people. In it are clear signs: it is the holy place of Abraham."
In this way Mohammed attempted to distance himself from Jerusalem and the Jews. Sura 2:119-123, "At that time, when we made the house of Kaaba for a place of asylum for men... we required of Abraham and Ismael, 'cleanse my house...' At that time, when Abraham and Ismael laid the foundations of the Kaaba, they said, ‘O our Lord, receive it from us and make us Moslems and a people submitted to Allah... and let an Apostle arise from among their midst.. to instruct them in scripture and wisdom...'"

This attempt was unsuccessful and never convinced even Mohammed himself. Even though Allah supported Mohammed, according to the Koran, and approved the change of prayer direction from Jerusalem to Mecca in a special revelation, Mohammed knew that Jerusalem would remain linked with the prophet's name, even if Abraham was declared the founder of the Kaaba in Mecca.
Besides, Jerusalem was not then within his scope. Therefore the Kaaba, which allegedly had been built by Abraham and Ishmael as a house of prayer, was turned into the first house of Allah built for mankind itself. In the same way Islam became the original, natural religion for all of mankind. Thus Allah used Abraham to teach Islam to mankind.
At the same time, Abraham became the first to prophesy Mohammed's coming and the formation of the true, namely the Islamic congregation under Mohammed's leadership. But it was not only Abraham whom Mohammed enlisted in Islam's service, but all of Israel's patriarchs. Sura 2:134, "Or will you say that Abraham, Ismael, Jacob...were Jews or Christians? Say, Do you know better than Allah? And they said (129), No! for us there is none of them who added other gods to the one Allah. We believe in Allah and the revelation sent down to us and to Abraham and Ismael...we make no difference between one and another of them; truly we are Moslems."

How can Mohammed claim that Abraham and the patriarchs were all Moslems? According to the Koran (sura 30:30) every person is a Moslem. In addition, according to Mohammed, Judaism began at Sinai and Christianity with Christ. So it is logical that Abraham and the patriarchs were neither Jews nor Christians, but Moslems. And even this logic is not consistently followed because Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus are also made into Islamic prophets. Mohammed thus "islamized" all religious history.

Judaism and Christianity as falsified messages

This means that Judaism and Christianity are nothing but falsified, alienated, perverted Islamic messages. Allah sent the Islamic prophet Moses to the Jews to proclaim that they were chosen to walk in the footsteps of the Islamic patriarch and prophet Abraham, and to take the godly patriarchs as examples. They should be an exemplary people by obeying Allah's commands. But they rejected, persecuted, and killed the prophets who were sent to them. This proved the wickedness of their character. As disobedient unbelievers they forfeited their election. They were damned by Allah (sura 4:46) and turned over to Islamic society, primarily Mohammed as Allah's prophet and representative, for judgment and discipline.

Islamic theology: Jesus prophesied the coming of Mohammed

Jesus also, the second-most important Islamic prophet, taught nothing but pure Islam and even prophesied Mohammed's coming. But the Christians falsified and perverted his message, suppressing much of it. Therefore the Christian fellowship ended up with a blasphemous, religiously perverted and limited confession. Allah has no son and Jesus was not crucified, Islam screamed in the Christians' face. Sura 4;157-158, "But in reality they neither killed him nor crucified him, but they exchanged him for another - no he was not killed, but Allah raised him up to himself in heaven." Sura 5:72, "They are not believers who say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary.'"

Christ's followers also failed, so Allah chose a new fellowship for himself, one according to his heart. He found it in the Arab people, in Mohammed and his followers. Sura 3:110, "Ye (Moslems) are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them."

Islam's territorial thinking

Allah turned everything over to this new Moslem fellowship: election, the holy land, the calling. He chose them to be the exemplary people who are closest to him. By making the majority of the Biblical prophets into Moslems (even David and Solomon) the land where these prophets lived and worked is naturally Islamic land. For example, Bethlehem is to Moslems an Islamic town because Jesus, the second-most important Islamic prophets, was born there; Nazareth is Islamic because he spent his childhood there; Hebron is Islamic because the Islamic patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are buried there; Jerusalem is Islamic because it was the city of the Islamic prophets David and Solomon and because Mohammed himself went to heaven from the Temple Mount there.
Islam thinks in terms of territory. The world must be conquered and brought under the rule of divine law because wherever Islam rules, the world is as Allah desires. To bring peoples under Islam's reign is to bring them into the natural condition which Allah intended for them from the beginning. Since Islam is the natural religion of mankind, a non-Moslem is in an unnatural, for Allah an unacceptable condition. Nothing better can happen to a person than to be brought under Islam's reign.

In spite of all the assertions that Islam is a religion of peace whose nature includes possibilities for reconciliation, we must perceive Islam as it perceives itself. It does not see itself as a religion on a level with other religions. It seeks neither co-existence nor parity with other religions. It co-exists with others only when it lacks the power to reign, according to the saying, "The hand you cannot cut off you must shake." Islam claims a leading position as the natural, original religion; after the wretched failure of other religions, especially Judaism and Christianity. Allah confirmed it through his prophet Mohammed as the sole religion which is unperverted, healthy, and pleasing to him. (sura 7:158 and 3:110)

Because Allah confirmed that Islam is the only right religion (sura 9:33, "It is he who sent his apostle with the true religion in order to make it victorious over everything...") he also appointed it to rule and gave the Islamic fellowship the task of subjecting the whole world to Islam's reign. Therefore Islam divides the world into two territories: the house of Islam (i.e. "peace") and the house of war.

Dar al-islam, house of peace

The house of peace is the area where Islam physically reigns. Moslems and non-Moslems are not given the same rights. If Jews and Christians do not convert to Islam they are allowed to live, but as second-class persons, so-called "protected ones". In other words, the Islamic ruler should protect them from the justified wrath of Allah and Islamic society. But they are differentiated from Moslems by special taxes, by lack of rights in court, by exclusion from public office, and by humiliating positions in society. Their beliefs make them for Allah and for Islamic society a blemish which must be borne. Of course, at various times, under some Islamic rulers, the Jews and Christians were treated more humanely, e.g. in Spain under the Moors. But the Koran itself and the traditions make it perfectly clear how Jews and Christians are to be treated. For the heathen there was the choice only of conversion to Islam or death. (sura 9:5, "slay them...")

Dar al-harb, house of war

The second territory is called the house of war. It indicates all those nations and peoples which are not yet under Islam's (i.e. Allah's) reign. Islam's attitude toward this territory was and is very simple. It must be fought until it is subjected to Islam. Every area on earth which is not under Islam's reign, i.e. Allah's reign, offends him and must sooner or later be punished. The call to battle for Moslems is not, as it is often harmlessly presented, a spiritual matter but quite a concrete order to fight for Allah with the sword. Mohammed himself is called to take up the sword to fight and kill. Sura 8:65, "Prophet, lead the believers to the fight. If there are 20 among you who persevere they will overcome 200..."
Further texts on this subject are Sura 8:67, "No prophet may have prisoners of war and set them free for money as long as the opponents in the land are not completely subdued." Sura 9:14, "When you fight them..." Sura 9:123, "Fight those who are near you... so that they see you can be firm..." Sura 47:4, 48:29, 2:216ff, "You must fight against the unbelievers..."

An additional reason for fighting the unbelievers is their opposition to Mohammed. Sura 8:12-13, "I will instil terror into the unbelievers, smite them with the sword... that will be their punishment... that they have opposed Allah and his apostle - see how strictly Allah punishes."
In order to motivate to battle, not only are the unwilling threatened with punishment, but those who participate are enticed materially with part of the enemies' plunder. (Of course Mohammed always had precedence and received the greatest share.) Sura 8:41, "And know that when you take any booty, a fifth share is assigned to Allah, and to the apostle, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer, and to him who has become needy because he followed Allah." Sura 4:94, "Allah gives you enough ways to make plunder..." 95, "Allah granted great reward to those who fight in war." 8:1, "They ask concerning the plunder of war. They are for Allah and the apostle.'"

Islam has a completely different starting point from our Western thought

According to the Koran, Islamic society claims the possessions of unbelievers and heathen who do not convert to Islam, and are therefore killed or treated as second-class persons. This concept that possessions, including land, wives, and children (whom Islam considers the man's possessions) are transferred to the hand of the victor may sound archaic to Western ears. But it is Islamic thinking through and through. In Islamic thought, everything becomes the possession of Islam wherever an Islamic ruler sets his foot, dwells, or buries his dead, because this establishes Allah's claim to the land.

It is extremely difficult for Jews and Christians, in fact for all non-Moslems, to understand Islamic thinking. This is not simply a matter of different morals, ethics, or the attitude toward what is right. They are more fundamental differences, a wholly different starting point, a different basis of  logic, perception, and reality. It has nothing to do with intelligence, education, or cultural background. Such a totally different understanding of God and of man not only results in quite a different understanding of truth, but also brings a different relationship to reality.

Jews and Christians believe in a God who not only created the world, but has a continuing relationship to it and actively participates in man's history. He reveals himself in a concrete way in time and space, and in man's history. He intervenes visibly and tangibly in man's daily life.
Our God is a personal God who seeks relationships. God shows himself in history as a Father who disciplines and corrects his son because he is interested in truth in the innermost parts and in a personal heart relationship. This was seen in his encounters with Abraham, Jacob, and Moses; in Israel's exodus from Egypt to the promised land; in God's instruction, encouragement, admonishment, warning, healing, judging; in the renewed forgiveness through the words of his prophets; in scattering and banishment; in the in-gathering and restoration of Israel.

In the new covenant, in the incarnation of his son the Messiah Jesus, God's truth (=He is love) and His grace (=His love is for me) are revealed. God descends into time and space and becomes a part of man's history. Therefore both the old and the new covenant in the Bible speak of God's salvation history, which has a beginning and an end. God reveals himself in both individual and collective history. He himself challenges man not to forget his redemptive interventions in history. "If your son asks you, tell him, 'We were slaves and the Lord led us up out of Egypt.'" (Deuteronomy 6:20) Historical thinking is indispensable for Jews and Christians. Our relationship to reality orientates itself according to what happens in time and space.

This is not the case with Islam, where a personal, intimate relationship between Allah and man, as between father and child, is unseemly and inconceivable. Allah cannot be thought of as contiguous with weak and sinful men. The honour and majesty of the endlessly exalted Allah would be profaned and stained by inappropriate proximity to a man, even the prophet.

For Islam, Allah stands outside history

According to Islam Allah cannot participate in man's history. It is absolutely blasphemous to Ialamic thought hat Allah could humble himself and take on the form of a servant, as Phillipians 2 says of God, submitting like a man to the law of time and space, of transience, pain and death. The god of Islam confronts man with his law, not with himself. We can speak of Islam as a religion with an absent god.

The starting point for all thought and logic for a Moslem is the word revealed through Mohammed in the Koran and in the traditions with respect to Mohammed's life. Allah is outside history and his word has thus no relationship to man's history. The law which is revealed and the word of Allah in the Koran cannot be questioned by a Moslem, because it is absolutely binding truth. It stamps every message which does not conform to it as a lie, falsification, and godlessness.

Therefore the former Saudi King Feisal said of the Jewish claim to the Temple Mount, "Archeology has not yet convincingly proven that the Jewish temple ever stood there." (This remark is in accordance with Islam's teaching that on the one hand the Bible has been falsified and on the other hand non-Moslem historians and archaeologists can provide only falsifications.) "But from divine revelation we know that the prophet Mohammed rode to Jerusalem on his winged horse in order to ascend to heaven from that place."

Islamic logic

A few months ago Sheikh Salah Ra'ad, former mayor of Um-Al-Fahm in Israel and recognised Islam authority among Israeli Arabs, was asked what he thought about the Jewish claim to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. He replied, "The Jews' claim to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall is incorrect and misleading thinking. The Jews have absolutely no right to the Temple Mount area nor to even one single stone of the Al Aksa Mosque. Archaeologists have clearly proven that the Alburak Wall (Islamic name for the Western Wall) has nothing to do with a Jewish temple. Unfortunately, Jewish extremists stir up Jewish emotions with lies and false information regarding the Temple Mount."

When asked about the historical reports of the Temple in the Bible he replied, "We believe the Bible is falsified, not only regarding the history of the Temple. The Koran clearly teaches this." He was also asked, "Do you believe that 70 virgins are waiting in paradise as a reward for a martyr for Islam (=suicide terrorist)?" The answer, "We have clear proofs for this, as written in the Koran and in the Sunna (tradition of Mohammed's life). The matter is clear: A martyr will receive 6 special rewards from Allah, including 70 virgins. He will not be tormented in the grave, and 70 of his relatives will enter paradise without passing judgment."
These are examples -from a solid, educated, moderate Moslem for Islam's logic- which reveal its understanding of reality and truth. Terms such as truth, justice, even mercy and grace have a different meaning from the same words in Judeo-Christian thought and faith. Even though we use some of the same religious terms and even claim common examples of faith (Abraham, Moses, Jesus), the Bible's understanding of God and man has nothing in common with Islam's. All talk of the so-called common core and the similarity of monotheism is in the end misrepresentation, dishonesty or intentional deception.

The Islamic world needs the Gospel

It is painful, demanding, and challenging to study Islam and find a clear Biblical position. And yet it would be unloving and shirking responsibility if we Christians were to do Moslems the injustice of not bringing them the good news that God is not only their Creator, but also their Father and Saviour. For this reason we cannot avoid looking the differences in the eye. We are challenged to testify that Islam as a religion is ultimately a strategic system which distorts God's true face and hinders access to personal fellowship with him as Father.

In closing I wish to stress once again that Moslems are not our enemies. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, according to Ephesians 6. As definitely as we oppose Islam, we also decidedly respect and honour the people who live under Islam, because the God of the Bible loves them and offers them salvation in Jesus.

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