Son or Slave?

As Christians, our adoption by God into His family is the most lavish of blessings and a demonstration of His love. “In love, He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Ephesians 1:5). As adopted children, we are given the full rights and privileges of sonship. We are delivered from the penalty of sin. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit guaranteeing our inheritance. And “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him, we cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

In contrast, Islam means total submission to the will of Allah. The Islamic Unity Society explains, “To totally submit to the Will of Allah is to succumb to that superior status of Allah’s Lordship and to obey as would an obedient slave his wise master.” Al-Islam proclaims, “Slavery is the key to sanctity. The title “slave” is the best of titles.” Muslim scholar, Nouman Ali Khan, explained it this way, “slavery to anyone other than Allah is humiliation, but slavery to Allah is an honor.”

Submitting to Allah includes five basic acts which are considered mandatory by Muslims. A list of these five acts or pillars as they are known in Islam are found in Sahih al-Bukhari

Allah’s Apostle said: Islam is based on (the following) five (principles): 

  1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle.
  2. To offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly. 
  3. To pay Zakat. (i.e., obligatory charity) 
  4. To perform Hajj. (i.e., Pilgrimage to Mecca) 
  5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.

The first pillar is a confession of faith called the shahada. The confession, “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah” is to be declared in Arabic and must be said with conviction and an understanding of its meaning. The first part, “there is no god but Allah,” declares that only Allah can be worshipped and that Allah has no partner or son. The second part declares that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. It should be noted that you do not become a Muslim by simply pronouncing the words. The oral declaration is a reflection of the belief that is held in one’s heart.

The complete shahada does not appear in the Qur’an. It is actually found in Sura 9:31 and in Sura 33:40. As soon as a baby is born into a Muslim family, these words are whispered into his ears, and if possible, a Muslim is encouraged to repeat the words as he is dying.

The idea of Allah having a son is blasphemy in Islam, so it stands to reason that the thought of the God of the Bible granting sonship to Christians is outlandish to Muslims.

PRAYER POINT:

As a child of God, our relationship with the Lord is not characterized by a fear of losing our relationship; we have been bought with a price! We enjoy a personal relationship as sons and daughters. For Muslims, being a slave of Allah means they obey out of fear of punishment and passively do what they are told. As a slave, they do not have a personal relationship with Allah. 

We pray, “Father God, remove the blindness of Muslims by opening their eyes and giving them hunger and longing for a relationship with the True and Living God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, bring many Muslims during this Ramadan season into Your heavenly kingdom.”

Salvation

In Acts 4, Peter and John were arrested and brought before the high priest and other leaders for preaching about Jesus and his resurrection after healing a man who had been lame since birth. Despite being threatened and ordered not to speak about Jesus, Peter boldly claimed, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed…Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10;12).

Romans 10:9-10 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” 

The Bible tells us that God desires that all men be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and that salvation is a gift. We cannot earn it. (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is clear that salvation comes only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Qur’an states, “And if Allah had willed, He could have made you [of] one religion, but He causes to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills” (Sura 16:93).

Muslims do not believe Jesus died on the cross, so they do not believe in the resurrection. They believe Allah took Jesus to paradise. “Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger’ they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them…But Allah took him up unto Himself” (Sura 4:157-158). The Islamic version of Jesus returns to the earth, but his purpose is to establish Islam as the only religion in the world. Many Muslims believe this means that Jesus will punish Christians and Jews for not accepting Muhammad as the prophet of Allah (Al-Bukhari Volume 3, Hadith 425).

Islam is a religion of works. “And those whose scales are heavy [with good deeds] – it is they who are the successful. But those whose scales are light – those are the ones who have lost their souls, [being] in hell, abiding eternally” (sura 23:102103). Muslims believe two recording angels record all of a person’s good deeds and intentions throughout their lives. 

Islam has no Savior. Allah is said to have brought his laws to men, and Muslims, by keeping those laws, must satisfy Allah’s requirements and win Allah’s approval. A Muslim does not know whether he will go to paradise or hell. The arbitrary will of Allah makes the decision, and no one can predict what that decision will be.

PRAYER POINT

Continue to pray that during this holy week that multitudes will be presented with the truth of the gospel and, for the first time, have the courage to receive Jesus! A recent video was shared by a Christian broadcaster who was discussing with a Muslim man the difference between Jesus and Allah, and the Christian told the man to look up particular scriptures where Jesus told of His love for mankind and that He (John 14:1-3) was preparing a place for each person, all the Muslim needed to do was receive the free gift of Christ. As the Muslim man read the scripture, the love of Christ visibly touched his heart, and he immediately responded and received Jesus into his heart.

Core Message

The Bible states, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:2-4). 

The sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is the core message of Christianity. In Islam, however, Muslims do not believe Jesus was crucified. The Qur’an says, “And [for] their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain” (Sura 4:157).

There are several explanations of the crucifixion of Christ in Islam. These include:

  1. People saw an illusion of Jesus being crucified, but the event never happened.
  2. Someone else was substituted for Jesus. Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet, but that Jesus did not die on the cross, because Muslims do not believe a prophet of Islam can be killed in such a terrible way as crucifixion. Many Muslims believe Judas or Simon of Cyrene actually died on the cross, not Jesus.
  3. Jesus was crucified, but did not die, he fainted. 

The Biblical account of Jesus’ death is clear. Jesus said that he would be killed (Matthew 16:21; 20:17-19, 20:28). Each of the gospels describe the crucifixion (Matthew 27:34-35; Mark 15:22-24; Luke 23:32-33; John 16:19-20). In addition, the crucifixion and death of Jesus are spoken of throughout the New Testament (Acts 2:23-24; Romans 5:6; 1 Corinthians 1:23; Hebrews 2:9; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). 

Since Islam denies the crucifixion of Christ, they also deny the resurrection of Christ. 

PRAYER POINT

We enter this holy week by recognizing the death and burial of Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead on Sunday morning. As Christians, we celebrate all our Lord Jesus has done for us. Pray for the Muslim community; that they will desire to see and understand what His death on the cross truly means. Ask God to bring people across their path to share the gospel of Christ or have them tune in to a video, a story, or something that will give them the actual truth of what has happened because of the cross of Christ, opening their eyes and hearts to the One who is Truth.

Contradictory Accounts

The Bible and the Qur’an offer contradictory accounts of Jesus, beginning with the narrative of Jesus’ birth. 

The birth of Jesus is a story that most Christians are quite familiar with – Caesar Augustus had issued a decree that a census should be taken, so Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to be counted. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. She placed him in a manger because there were no rooms available. Shepherds in the fields nearby were visited by an angel who announced that a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, had been born. The angel told the shepherds they would find the baby in a manger. Then a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God. After the angels left, the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found the baby, just as the angel said (Luke 2:1-18). 

The Qur’an offers quite a different story about Jesus’ birth. In the Qur’an, Mary gives birth to Jesus under a palm tree. While in labor, she grabs the palm tree wishing she could die. However, Allah provides a stream of water under her feet where she can get a drink, and she is told to shake the palm tree’s trunk so she will have ripe fresh dates. (Sura 19:23-25). 

After she gives birth, she carries the baby back to her people, who question her about the child. She has been commanded to take a vow of silence, so rather than answering, she points at the child. Then the infant Jesus says, “Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet…And lo! Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path” (Sura 19:3036).

Jesus in the Qur’an identifies himself as Allah’s servant, which contradicts the Biblical account of God sending His Son. The most likely source for the Qur’an’s version is from apocryphal writings. The New Testament Apocrypha is a collection of writings that are, for the most part, either about or pseudonymously attributed to New Testament figures. These writings have never been viewed as canonical by any of the major branches of Christianity, nor is there any reason t believe that the traditions they record have any historical validity. The story about the palm tree is quite similar to an account in the Gospel of Pseudo Matthew. 

For a Muslim, Jesus is merely a prophet of Islam, pointing to their final prophet, Muhammad. To believe that Jesus Christ is God is “shirk;”it is blasphemy. The Bible says in 1 John 2:22-23, “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

PRAYER POINT

The Lord Jesus said in Scripture in John 6:44-45, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who had heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”

As we enter “Holy Week,” and as Muslims seek their god during Ramadan, pray that Father God will draw Muslims, convict them of sin, and receive the revelation of His truth of receiving salvation through Jesus Christ. 

Love

One significant difference between the Qur’an and the Bible is how the texts view and reveal love. 

One of the most familiar passages to Christians, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The word “loved” in this verse comes from the Greek word “agapao” which means “unconditional love, love by choice and by an act of the will.” 

In the Bible, God’s love has nothing to do with obeying laws or performing rituals. God’s agape love for the world is a sacrificial love available to all because, as the Bible says, “God is love.”

Allah’s love falls into two distinct categories in the Qur’an, negative and positive. In some passages, the Qur’an talks about man’s love of things, such as life and wealth. Other love references are about human love, including man’s love for Allah. 

The Qur’an tells us that Allah loves

  •     Those who do good
  •     The pure and clean
  •     Those who are righteous
  •     The just
  •     Those who trust Allah
  •     Those who love Allah and follow Muhammad
  •     Those who fight in Allah’s cause

But the Qur’an also says Allah does not love

  •     Transgressors
  •     The corrupt
  •     Unbelievers (anyone not a Muslim)
  •     Wrongdoers
  •     Wasters
  •     Boasters
  •     The treacherous
  •     Those given to crime and evil speaking

As Christians, we know that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” His love is extended to all. 

The Islamic god does not love non-Muslims. His love is only for good, righteous, and just Muslims. It is a love completely conditional on obedience to his laws, even for Muslims.

PRAYER POINT

Former Muslim Mosab Hassan Yousef is a Palestinian who worked undercover for Israel’s internal security service Shin Bet from 1997 to 2007. He received Jesus Christ as Lord after he was in Jerusalem, and a Christian showed him the red letters of Jesus in the Bible where He said, “Love your enemies.” He had never heard that; he only had heard of killing your enemies. Those words penetrated his heart, and he began searching for truth. 

Pray for Muslims today that Holy Spirit will reveal truths to them simply yet profoundly, causing them to search for the true love of God through Jesus Christ.

God: Triunity or Tritheism

Both Islam and Christianity are monotheistic – meaning that they both believe that there is only one God. However, Muslims have difficulty understanding the Christian concept of the Trinity, and their concept of our Triune god is erroneous.

The Trinity is foundational to the Christian faith. This doctrine of the Trinity states that God is a single being who exists simultaneously and eternally as three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, the Trinity is a belief that the Godhead is not three different people but rather three different conditions of the same person. 

Islam dismisses the Christian belief in the Trinity as tritheism or a belief in three distinct gods. Muslims believe Christians worship Jesus, the Messiah, his mother Mary, and Allah (Arabic for god). The Qur’an states,” They are unbelievers who say ‘God is the Third of Three’. No god is there but the One God” (sura 5:73, Arberry). 

This passage goes on to explain that because Jesus and Mary both ate food to sustain themselves, they cannot possibly be gods like Allah. “The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; Messengers before him passed away; his mother was a just woman; they both ate food. Behold, how We make clear the signs to them; then behold, how they perverted are!” (sura 5:75, Arberry).

The idea that Mary was considered divine by Christians and part of the Holy Trinity may result from the excessive veneration given to her by an early Christian heretical sect in Arabia known as the Collyridians, who considered Mary a goddess and offered cakes to worship her. Regardless of the source, Muhammad’s limited and defective knowledge of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity led him to mistakenly believe in a tritheism of Jesus, Mary, and Allah. Because of this mistake, the Christian belief in the Trinity is considered blasphemy in Islam. 

The Triune God of Christianity is demonstrated throughout the Bible, for instance, in the activity of redemption. The Father planned it; the Son obtained it (Ephesians 1:4-9); and the Spirit applies it. (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

PRAYER POINT:

For a Muslim, Jesus is a prophet of Islam, pointing to their final prophet, Muhammad. To believe that Jesus Christ is God is “shirk;”it is blasphemy. Because of this, ask the Lord to draw them to Himself and help them overcome this fear of believing in Him and receive the revelation that Jesus is Lord and is the Son of God.

The Basis of Faith

Both Christianity and Islam have foundational texts. For Christians, it is the Bible; for Muslims, it is primarily the Qur’an. 

Christians believe that God gave the Bible through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to more than forty authors. These authors wrote over an almost 1600-year period from three continents in three languages. Despite being written by different authors, the Bible does not contradict itself, and external texts are not necessary to practice Christianity.

The words of the Bible have been well preserved. Israel’s religious leaders created a system to ensure the accuracy of copies of the Old Testament through meticulous proofreading techniques. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered between the years of 1947 and 1956, are in substantial agreement with the Old Testament throughout the generations proving that the text has been preserved and kept the same. The accuracy of the New Testament is proven through dated copies and writings of the Church fathers. In fact, these writings contain over 38,000 quotations from the New Testament, making it possible to reconstruct the entire New Testament minus 11 verses.

In Islam, the Qur’an is considered to be the actual words of Allah dictated to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a 23-year period. Muhammad recited these words to his followers and instructed them to write them down on various materials such as palm leaves, bones, and stones. The words were assembled into the Qur’an after Muhammad’s death. This resulted in different versions of the Qur’an. The differences sometimes slightly affected the meaning but did not change the basic ideas of the Qur’an. Almost twenty years after Muhammad’s death, Caliph Uthman established a committee to produce an official version of the Qur’an.

The Qur’an’s chapters (or suras) are not in chronological order but are organized by length, starting with the longest, except for the opening chapter. It consists of 114 suras which read like an Arabic poem. Although the Qur’an has been translated into many languages, Muslims are encouraged to read and recite the Qur’an in Arabic, its original language. The Qur’an is also divided into thirty equal parts so that Muslims can read a portion each day during Ramadan.

The Qur’an states around ninety times that Muhammad is the perfect Muslim, so in order to properly practice Islam, a Muslim must worship Allah as Muhammad worshipped him, which is why external texts (the hadith and sira) are a vital part of Islam. The hadith are reports of Muhammad’s teachings, deeds, and sayings compiled generations after his death. As the Islamic website “whyislam” explains that without the hadith, the Qur’an does not make sense. The sıra is the biography of Muhammad. Together the hadith and sira make up the sunna (Muhammad’s way of life and legal precedent). If all a Muslim possessed was a Qur’an, he could not practice his religion.

PRAYER POINT:

  • By reading the Bible, we read words that bring God’s life into our hearts and understanding, bringing joy and peace. For Muslims, reading the Quran, which is more of a “duty,” does not bring hope and joy to their lives. Pray that during Ramadan, Muslims will be curious to see what is in the Bible, the true Word of God, and be drawn to read its life-changing message.

Christians: Be Prepared

According to Open Doors 2023, World Watch List, more than 360 million Christians around the world suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. 5,621 Christians (approximately 15 per day) were killed last year for their faith. 89% of those killed were in Nigeria as Islamic jihadi groups, such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), attempt to eliminate the presence of Christianity in the nation. 

Since Open Doors began their World Watch List thirty years ago, the number of countries where Christians suffer persecution has almost doubled. Although we tend to think of Christian persecution as overt acts of violence or discrimination against Christians, persecution can include hostile words and actions, and increasingly Christians, even in Western nations, are experiencing persecution. 

1 Peter 3:8-22 speaks of Christian persecution and instructs believers on how to respond. “…Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened. But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (I Peter 3:14-15).

Peter directed believers to have a deep personal relationship with Christ and to be able to respectfully explain their faith clearly to others. Being “ready to give an answer” is a natural response to being in a close, loving relationship with God. We naturally defend those that we love because we know them intimately. In order to be prepared, we need to first study and meditate on God’s Word and develop a strong prayer life. 

Our relationship with God, however, goes much deeper than an emotional response. Our faith is based on truth – and the crux of that truth is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s these core truths where Christianity and Islam differ, and as we go through the next few weeks, we will be looking at those truths so that you may be able to better direct your prayers and be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have.

Why pray for Christians during Ramadan? Because the lifestyle of Christians is one of the top reasons Muslims come to know Christ. Other reasons include the spiritual truth that is contained in the Bible and Biblical teachings about the love of God. Pray for Christians to draw closer to God and develop a deep personal relationship with Him so that their lives reflect Christ in all that they do. Pray that Muslims will see the difference in the lives of Christians and be drawn to the Truth.

Finally, rejoice that God is answering prayer. Open Doors reports that persecution lessened in nations like Qatar (falling 16 places in the World Watch List) and Egypt (falling 15 places) in 2022. Other smaller drops in persecution occurred in Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan. 

PRAYER POINTS:

  • A primary reason there is the persecution of Christians by Muslims is (1) they have never met a faithful Christian to influence their lives, and (2) they are taught to “kill the infidel.” Ask our Lord to open their eyes to hatred and to see that true followers of Christ want to be their friend.
  • More Muslims have come to Christ in the last 15 years than combined in the previous 1400 years of Islam. Pray they will have a longing for spiritual things and have dreams and visions of the Lord Jesus, bringing them to salvation.  

Pray With Us

Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam, begins today, March 22. Muslims believe that it was during the month of Ramadan when Muhammad first began to receive his revelations. Best Current News has produced a prayer series for Christians corresponding to the Islamic month of Ramadan for over ten years.

Because Islam is called one of the three “Abrahamic faiths” along with Judaism and Christianity, many Christians do not realize that the Abraham of the Bible is radically different from the Abraham in the Muslim faith. Statistics from the Pew Research Center reveal that 65% of Christians believe that many religions can lead to eternal life – breaking down the report further, 77% of Catholics, 82% of Mainline Protestants, and 47% of Evangelicals believe that at least one other religion (not denomination) can lead to eternal life. Interestingly, 56% of Muslims believe many religions can lead to eternal life.

During Ramadan, most Muslims will observe a fast from sunup to sundown. The fast is broken at sunset with a meal called Iftar. It is to be a time of spiritual reflection and increased devotion to Allah, and Muslims believe the rewards for fasting during this time are multiplied. Muslims are to abstain from smoking, drinking, eating, and sexual pleasure during daylight hours.

In addition to fasting, Muslims also increase their prayers during Ramadan, especially during the last ten days, which are considered the most blessed. It is regarded as a time of spiritual reflection and renewal for Muslims.

We are certainly not the first or largest Christian group that produces a prayer guide for Ramadan; however, our approach is unique. In addition to encouraging our readers to pray for Muslims, we often ask that our readers pray for themselves and their fellow Christians during this time.

Depending on which church you attend, there is a good chance that many of those sitting around you no longer believe Jesus’ words in John 14:6, “…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

So, as we begin this Ramadan season, we ask that you pray for Muslims and also your fellow Christians. 

  • Pray their hearts will be softened and they come to an understanding of, and most importantly, an encounter with “THE TRUTH,” Jesus Christ the Son of God.
  • That as the eyes of the Church are open to Truth, they will be bold and uncompromising in their witness to our Muslim neighbors.

Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha

Although we focus each year on Ramadan, there are other Islamic holidays and celebrations. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are the two major holidays that Muslims in the United States observe.

Eid Al-Fitr (Festival of the Breaking of the Fast) is celebrated at the end of Ramadan. The celebrations can vary since Muslims originate from many different countries, however some things such as offering congregational Eid prayers and enjoying a feast with family and friends is universal. In some Muslim nations the festivities can last up to three days.

Eid al-Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice) is celebrated from 4 to 12 days at the end of the Hajj. Hajj is an annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It is a mandatory requirement for adult Muslims to make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able to make the journey.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, as many as 2.5 million people would travel every year to Saudi Arabia for Hajj. Because of pandemic restrictions, only 10,000 people were allowed to perform the pilgrimage in 2020, and 60,000 in 2021. This year Saudi Arabia announced that it will allow one million pilgrims to perform Hajj as long as they are fully vaccinated against Covid 19 and are under the age of 65. 

Since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, the dates of Hajj change each year. This year Hajj will be from July 8 to 12, 2022. Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on July 10, 2020. Eid al-Adha is considered the holier of the two Eid celebrations. The festival commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son, Ismail (Ishmael). In Islam, Ibrahim has a dream instructing him to sacrifice Ismail (not Issac) as a sign of obedience to Allah. As he is about to sacrifice Ismail, the Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) stops him, and gives him a ram to sacrifice instead. As part of the Eid al-Adha celebration, Muslims often sacrifice a lamb or goat to reenact the story. 

As Ramadan comes to a close this year, we want to thank you for praying with us. Your prayers are making a difference in the lives of Muslims around the world. We would love to hear from you. Please feel free to give us your thoughts regarding this series, ask questions or make suggestions for future articles by sending an email to bestcurrentnews@gmail.com.