bestcurrentnews 2023 Ramadan Prayer

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.

bestcurrentnews 2023 Ramadan Prayer

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.