Islam and Christianity Part 1

    

 In beginning of the new Christian calendar we saw the birth of a man that would change belief, faith, stories and history—his name is Jesus Christ. To Christians Jesus Christ is viewed to be a great man, prophet and many view him as the Savior of the world. He was prophesied of prophets of old that He would come to redeem the world; He was born of the Virgin Mary as the only Begotten Son of God, organized a church, died on the cross and through His sacrifice redeemed the world of all sins. To Muslims though there is a different viewpoint – Jesus was not the Son of God, did not organize the Christian doctrine as it is viewed today (or for most of Christian history), and did not die as a sacrifice for mankind. Yes, he was born of the Virgin Mary, performed many miracles, and taught a new doctrine but he was just a profound prophet. Many Muslims revere him almost as much as the Prophet Muhammad. Christianity and Islam is a very intriguing topic for much of the West due to recent events. Many wonder what Islam thinks about Christianity. I will discuss what viewpoint Islam does have on Christianity that expresses respect and a call to correction according to the Qur’an and the Hadith.

            Muhammad at an early age heard the stories of Jesus the Christ, Moses, Abraham, along with other religious stories. They were probably legends to him filled with mystery and sacred teachings. Muhammad, though grew up in an idolatry society, believed in a One True God that would not only correct false teachings but would do it through a prophet similar the stories he had heard. Muhammad in his 40^th year was called as a prophet and was used as a mouthpiece for God to correct the false traditions and practices the people around him and around the world was doing.[1] In Daniel Peterson’s book titled the “Muhammad, Prophet of God,” Muhammad spoke of Christians being around him and even prophesying of the coming of a prophet for the Arab peninsula. After Muhammad’s call in 610 AD, many Christians in the Arab world did convert and some did not. Sometimes these two religions found contention because of the different structure of economic and social structures. Often they supported each other.[2] I believe Islam found greater peace about Christians even though they were not of the same faith through the following passage: "Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." Surah 2:62. In Surah 2:138-140 we find versus that describe that Jews and Christians worship the same God as Muslims and are related through a lineage of patriarchs. Mushaf Al-Madinah says the following about this concept, “If the Christians claim that these Patriarchs knew of and followed the teachings of Jesus, the claim [all people worshipped Christ in the past] is still more absurd, - except in the sense of Islam that Allah’s teaching is one in all ages.”[3]

            Teaching in all ages implies that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Just as Latter-day Saints (Mormons) believe in dispensations (a period between prophets that bring about significant doctrine like Adam to Noah, Noah to Abraham, etc.) and they believe in a falling away or an apostasy (the people rejecting the teachings of a prophet and then God calls another prophet to help correct the falsehoods created) so do Muslims believe these concepts. Islam preaches that just as Christ came to correct the fallen Jewish practices, Muhammad came to correct the false teachings that the Christians and other religions had changed. Everyone in the past that worshipped Allah (God) correctly are Muslims (one who submits to God), therefore Muhammad is bringing back these teachings. This point is confirmed in Surah 5:14 where it claims “Christians…did take a Covenant but they forgot a good part of the Message that was sent to them…” Though Christians are fallen away, they still carry truth and are considered “People of the Book” ( also known as Dhimmi). People of the Book according to the Qur’an are Jews, Christians and Abyssinians. These are people who believe in the prophets found in the Old and/or New Testament. Later, Muslim scholars would consider Zoroastrianists and Hindus People of the Book, most likely for political reasons. As People of the Book, they were considered a respectful people in a Muslim community with special privileges over non-believers. They were capable of holding a political office and be prominent people.

We then learn in Surah 5:82-85 that Christianity is the nearest in love to Islam. This could be interpreted to different meanings. Here Al-Madinah comments that it not means all people that call themselves Christians, but the true sincere Christians similar to the Abyssinian Christians that helped the Muslims for their hard work and willingness to learn. It states that when they listen to the message given by the prophet Muhammad we will “see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognize the truth.” Then then in the Day of Judgment they will be rewarded “With gardens, with rivers flowing underneath-their eternal Home. Such is the recompense of those who do good.” Christians that are honest and sincere will receive the same rewards that good honest Muslims will receive in the final Day of Judgment.

The Hadith, a collection of teachings and words spoken by the prophet Muhammad, carry similar viewpoints of the Qur’an on Christianity but also very different viewpoints as well that create contradicting opinions for Muslims to interpret . First, there is a hadith that seems to be harsh towards the Christians: “"Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Do not greet the Jews and Christians before they greet you and when you meet any one of them on the roads force him to go to the narrowest part of it."[4] It was later explained in a footnote that this may sound harsh, yes, but it is more so for the safety of the Christian or Jew to be given a separate part of the road for their own safety in case the Muslims may be desirous to harm them. I think Muhammad had an understanding of the differences between the three different monotheistic religions because of his revelations through the Qur’an so he knew to give these people space so that there may not be any harsh misunderstandings from Muslims toward the Christians.

Before I share the following Hadiths, I believe it to be important to share that many people think that Islam has a God of horror and terror and not a peaceful God. I would have to say the first part is true but not the latter. Just as a Christian’s God is peaceful and loving so is He harsh and has shown horror. Both Gods express a form of mercy and damnation and you might say that both Gods are one in the same. The first hadith is “Jews and Christians go to hellfire in place of Muslims.” This one could easily be interpreted in a way of considering Jews and Christians to be of no worth. According to one viewpoint of this Hadith, Christians and Jews are not capable of going to paradise and will be sent to hell while the Muslims that are pure in heart will take their place in paradise. This also could imply that Jews and Christians are in a fallen state and Muslims now fulfill what was once lost. Another hadith that seems to penetrate a Christian: “Allah forbade Muslims to marry the pagans (Jews and Christians); I do not know any kind of associating others with Allah in one of Allah’s slaves.”[5] I believe this is saying for no Muslim to marry a Jewish or Christian woman, or at least not until they become believers themselves.

The hadiths also mention the doctrine of what the Christians believe. "The Christians … asserted that the Holy Ghost has incarnated Himself in the person of Jesus Christ."[6] This Christian doctrine to Islam would be considered blasphemous. Apparently at this time Muhammad had an understanding that this was a Christian doctrine, though this was probably not vastly believed then and especially now in the Latter-day Saint doctrine, he felt it worthwhile to correct the Christian falsehoods dealing with their sacred prophet Jesus. Another instance of Christians is in relation to the one above speaking of Christians and Jews going to hell instead of Muslims. I will sum up the hadith given its long length. The Christians will be summoned and asked who they worshipped. They will say they worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Then it will be said, “you tell a lie; Allah did not take himself either a spouse or a son.” And then they would be asked what they would want, they would want water. They would be pointed into a direction to gather this water. They didn’t want to go to the area because it seemed a mirage of hell. They were than gathered together and would fall into the fire one by one.[7] This hadith gives much room for the opponents of Islam to claim its dark nature. Though I may see this hadith as an extremely harsh one, I see it being a form of explanation of God’s judgment metaphorically for the Judgment Day.

Today Christians and Muslims still live side by side. There are millions of Muslims that now live outside of the Arab world that live among millions of other Christians (with millions of Christians still in the Arab world.) Largely due to the events on September 11^th, 2001 many Christians in the West have a natural instinct to be fearful of their Islamic brothers and sisters. We would call this fear Islamicphobia. Extreme Islamists seem to ruin it for the rest of the good and great Muslims found throughout the world. In the New York Times I recently read that Coptics and Muslims were clashing in Egypt with several dead and two churches in flames. Just four months ago Christians were circling around the Muslims while they prayed so that anti-protesters could not harm them during the Egyptian Revolution.[8]  Do their actions represent what each other’s religions really teach? They do not. It is the simple principle of pride that is spoken against in both religions coming into the hearts of the people. Though there is great contention today there is tension of Christians not liking Muslims throughout the West and Islamic extremists preaching to fight against the West, there is great understanding capable through discussion and listening to one another. One winter semester at Brigham Young University I would spend my Sunday evenings having interrelation dialogues with my friends Mohammad and Ali (“Not the boxer” they’d often say after introducing themselves). We speak of each of our faiths – Islam and Mormonism. As each week past, we found more things in common than not. Before my friends departed back to Jordan one said to me, “What you have taught me about your faith must be shared with all Muslims. If they knew what you had taught me, they would support you more than any other nation found in the world.” After speaking with other Latter-day Saints that have had similar discussions with Muslims I have found I am not alone with this type of respect and appreciation for our two faiths.

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[1] Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Islam Faith and History. Oxford: One World, 2004 p. 21

[2] Peterson, Daniel C. Muhammad: Prophet of God, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007

[3] Al-Madinah. The Holy Quran: English Translation of the meanings and commentary. Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia: King Fahd Holy Qur’an Printing Complex, p. 54

[4] Sahih Muslim vol.3 book 24 no.5389,5390 p.1185

[5] Sahih Muslim vol.3 book 68 no.5285 p. 838

[6] Sahih Muslim translation vol.1 p.127 footnote 393.

[7] Sahih Muslim vol.1 book 1 no.352 p.117.

[8] Kirkpatrick, David M. “Muslims and Coptic Christians Clash Again in Egypt” New York Times, May 15^th, 2011