Introduction to Islam: A Brief Overview of the Muslim Faith

For BSCC information only

A.     Islam is a “new” religion and recognizes both the Jewish and Christian religions.

1.       Judaism:

a.       The Jewish nation began about 1980 BC when God told Abraham and his wife to leave Abraham’s country and move to a land that God would show them (Gen 12:1). When Abraham got to this new land, God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants (through Isaac) that the land would always be his (Gen 15:18-21). (This land includes the area now called Israel.) 

b.       The Jewish Temple form of religion began about 1490 BC when God gave Moses the 10 commandments and the Tabernacle was set up.

2.        The Christian religion was established about 30 AD when Christ was resurrected from the dead.

3.       The Islam religion was established in 622 AD when Muhammad and his followers arrived at Medina.

B.     About Muhammad:

1.       Muhammad’s father died before Muhammad was born. Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca in 570 AD. His mother died when he was 6. He lived with his grandfather until he was 6 when his grandfather died. After his grandfather died Muhammad lived with his uncle who was a caravan trader. In his travels as caravan trader he was introduced to the Jewish and Christian religions.

2.       When Muhammad was 25 he married Khadija who was 40. She was his employer and a wealthy widow. She bore him 6 children. He received his first revelation in 610 AD when he was 40. His wife Khadija died in 620 AD. (Muhammad had many children from more than 14 wives and a number of slave concubines before he died at the age of 63). (He consummated his marriage to Ayesha/Aesah/Aishah (his third wife) when she was 9 years old and he was 53. He married his daughter-in-law Zainab after his adopted son, Zaid, divorced her. Zaid  divorced her so Muhammad could marry her. He had 2 Jewish wives Rayhana and Safia. He had 2 wives with a Christian background Khadija and Maryam.)

3.       In 622, Muhammad and his followers were forced to flee Mecca. (Before they left Mecca, Muhammad claimed to have been translated into the realm of heaven, where he passed through the land around Jerusalem. While in heaven he met all the Major Prophets including Moses and Jesus.) They arrived at Medina on 24 Sep 622. The first mosque was built in Medina and the Islam religion was founded. During his stay in Medina, Muhammad supplemented his income by raiding caravans that were passing by. (His justification was that they were non-believers.) He died in Medina on 8 June 632. He was buried near the great mosque of Medina. By the time Muhammad died, all the people of Arabia had either accepted Muhammad teachings, been killed or had been driven from the region.     

C.     The primary religious symbol for Islam is the Crescent Moon, which is placed above each mosque. The crescent moon is also the emblem for the occult god Al-llah “the moon god” or “the controller of the night”. Al-llah = Allah which in Arabic means “the god”.

D.     According to the Islam teaching:

1.        Muhammad received the teachings listed in the Quran (coor-ON) from the archangel Gabriel. The word Quran means recitation. Muslims believe that the Quran is the finial and absolute word of Allah (God). 

2.       God’s blessing to Abraham passed through Ishmael (not Isaac).

E.      The Quran is the Muslim’s holy scripture.

1. Muhammad did not write down any of the words in the Quran, he gave them orally. After Muhammad’s death, his successor collected and compiled the different sayings of Muhammad from “the palm-leaves, tablets of white stone and the breasts of men”.
2. It is divided into 114 Surahs (rows or chapters). It is arranged into 30 sections called Juz or Sipara. These 30 sections enable a Muslim to recite the whole book during the 30 day Feast of Ramadan. It contains about 6,200 verses and about 80,000 words.
3. It was first printed into Arabic at Rome in 1530 and translated into English about 1657.

F.      The Quran teaches the following:

1.       Prophets of the Old Testament - Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael, Joseph, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, and Jonah.

2.       Prophets of the New Testament – Zachariah, John the Baptist, Jesus.

3.       The [TS1] prophetic predecessors to Muhammad are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, [TS2] with Muhammad being the last and greatest.

4.       The virgin birth of Jesus.

5.       The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus did not happen.

6.       Allah is a stern and harsh god.

7.       There will be a judgment day which none can escape. Everyone will either go to Paradise or hell. Their Paradise is a wonderful [TS3] physical place to be.

G.     The Islamic creed is “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”[TS4] .

H.     Key Muslim beliefs are:

1. Allah is the one and only true God. Allah has no parents or offspring. [TS5] 
2. Angels and demons are the instruments of Allah’s will.
3. There are five inspired books:

a.       Torah - (Gen, Exodus, Lev, Numbers, Deut ),

b.       Zabur - (Psalms of David),

c.       Injil - (The New Testament Gospels of Jesus as revised in the Quran),

d.       Quran - The Quran is the final and absolute word of Allah. If there is any conflict between them then the Quran is correct. (Although the Muslims talk about the Torah, Psalms, and the Gospels they do not mean the same Old and New Testament [TS6] as the Jews and Christians have today. They believe that the original books have been lost or corrupted by the Jews and Christians.)

e.       Hadith – A collection of sayings and examples of Muhammad. This is the highest authority after the Quran. These sayings and examples do not always agree with the Quran: therefore, the Quran rules.

f.        Sunnah – Depicts the events of the life of Muhammad and offers examples for ethics and[TS7]  living. This is the basis of the legal code of Islamic jurisprudence and provides them “the way”.

g.       Belief in the all the prophets of Allah of whom Muhammad is the last. Sunnah – Depicts the events of the life of Muhammad and offers examples for ethics amd living. This is the basis of the legal code of Islamic jurisprudence and provides them “the way”.

4. Belief in the all the prophets of Allah of whom Muhammad is the last.
5. Belief in life after death. Everyone will be judged by his deeds and will either go to Paradise or hell. 

J.    The Muslims believe in angels because they believe that Allah revealed himself to Muhammad through angels. They believe there are:

1.       Four archangels: Gabriel (the angel of revelation), Michael ( the angel of providence), Israfil (the angel of doom), and Izra’il (the angel of death).

2.       Ministering angels.

3.       Fallen angels (with Iblis/Shaytan being their chief).

4.       A group of spirits, which are midway between men and angels (some good and some bad).

G.   Their salvation is based upon what they do physically in their life. The first 5 are their “Five Pillars of Faith”.

1. Declaration of their faith. “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
2. Fasting – To demonstrate one’s devotion to Allah.
3. Almsgiving to the poor.
4. Prayers – Offering prayer to Allah 5 times each day.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca – Each Moslem male must make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime. This pilgrimage takes place in the first and third of the 12^th month of the Muslim year.
6. Being killed in a Jihad (A Jihad is a Holy War where they may be killed in order to help spread Islam or defend Islam faith against infidels (anyone not of their sect)), they are guaranteed eternal life in Paradise. It is preached, “the purest joy in Islam is to kill and be killed for Allah”.

H.     Mohammed stated “The sword is the key of heaven and hell; a drop of blood shed in the cause of Allah, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting or prayer; whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven, and at the day of judgment his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim”.

Black Muslims are American in Origin

A.     The Black Muslims movement was stared in 1913 by Timothy Drew  (who changed his name to Noble Drew Ali). This is an adaptation of the original Islam religion.

B.     Some of the leaders of this movement are Wallace Fard Mohammed, Malcolm X and Farrakhan.

C.     Some of the names of this movement are Black Muslims, American Muslim Mission and the Nation of Islam.

D.     The Muslims under Farrakhan are inclined to be anti-Caucasian. Other Muslims classify their teaching to be “un-Islamic”.

E.      Timothy Drew  teachings were:

1.       Blacks were originally from Morocco, not Ethiopia as many scholars think.

2.       Blacks were enslaved by the “Caucasian Devil”.

3.       Blacks were to overthrow the tyranny of the white culture.

Muslim’s problem with Christianity

Perception 1: Paul and his followers altered the pure Christian gospel and the Quran corrects those mistakes.

Perception 2: Christians are divided and weak because there are so many different denominations and very few called Christians live their chosen religion. The Muslims are unified in their faith statement and their “Pillars of Faith”.

Perception 3: Christians malign the Quran and true Islam faith.

Perception 4: Christians are blind and unreasonable.

a.       Christians are blind because they do not realize that Paul and his followers altered the gospel.

b.       Christians are confused because they cannot defend their faith about Jesus as the Son of God, salvation, the Trinity, heaven, hell, final judgment, contradictions in the Bible, etc.