Muhammed and Christ
by R. E. Harlow
It is commonly believed that the Arab peoples are descendants of Ishmael, about whom Abraham prayed, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee." If so, it is a monumental example of the far-reaching consequences of one little slip on the part of a believer, in this case the father of the faithful.
Not all Arabs are devotees of the prophet Muhammad, but the vast majority are, and enthusiastically so. They are taught that their prophet is the answer to the promise of the Lord Jesus to send another Comforter. The word another (Gr. allos) implies one like Jesus, but dissimilarities between Muhammad and Jesus are enormous.
Neither the Koran nor any other book contains multiple prophecies about the coming of Muhammad, while the Old Testament foretells minute details about Christ. Muhammad supposedly had a great revelation and found out that he was supposed to be a prophet. The Lord Jesus knew He was the eternal Son of God, certainly did not gradually become aware that He was to be the Messiah. He did not intend to set up His rule on earth at that time, would not even let His followers fight for Him when He was arrested. Muhammad spread his new religion with the sword.
Missionary W. P. W. McVey once heard an Islamic teacher lecturing to Muslims on the radio. He said, "Your prophet (Muhammad) had hardly any sins of his own, and yet he was continually lamenting his sins" (Choice Gleanings). Was this another like Christ?
Well, what’s wrong with another monotheistic religion? We all believe in God, don't we? Perhaps Islam is a preparation for Christianity? Does Islam have a place in God’s plan for the future? Is not Allah just another name for the true God?
I would say that Allah is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Islam puts Jesus as a Prophet superseded by Muhammad, who arose six centuries later. He was not the Son of God and did not die on the cross. He never did die for the sins of mankind. A recent missionary letter describes the hopelessness of Islam by quoting two men who said they could live their whole lives following the way of Islam and be rejected by Allah on the day of reckoning.
So it must be a dying religion? Just the opposite. There are nearly three times as many Muslims as Protestants, and their number is growing 74 percent faster than Protestants.
They have the law on their side. Imagine your hometown soccer team is playing a scheduled game, and find that the field is sloping, your goal at the low end. Worse still, there are special rules whereby when the ball is in your half of the field, you cannot interfere with the other team; and when the ball is in their half, same thing, you cannot interfere. And the referee in a wheelchair is blind and deaf. How could you expect to win?
Yet is not this a picture of the world today? In Muslim countries, you could not even get in as a missionary, nor give away a tract if you were there. In Western countries (Christian?), no holds are barred. Did you ever hear of a city council refusing permission to build a mosque? or of a church being built in Arabia? In March of this year a session of the United States Congress was opened in prayer for the first time by a Muslim.
Muslims in Britain have set up a rump parliament with 155 members to ensure that their rights are maintained. For example, they threaten to withhold taxes unless the government agrees to pay for Islamic schools where the Koran is taught from Grade 1. The leaders have advised their people to disobey any laws which are unfavorable to Islam. In Kenya the Muslims have formed their own political party. In so-called moderate Muslim countries the radical "Fundamentalists" try to get power and force the old Sharia law, based on the Koran, on the whole population. The news media report frequent religious violence, for example, in Nigeria. Sudan missionaries "intruding" into Muslim lands have been abducted, raped, or killed.
Happily this powerful force is disunited. Sunnis fight with Shiites. Great differences divide blocs on economic and cultural issues. Last December at the All-Islamic Conference in Dakar, Senegal, less than half of the heads of state even showed up.
If Islam ever united, they would have a billion strong to start with against the world, more than Northern America and Europe combined.
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia donated 6.2 million copies of the Koran for world distribution. But the Bible Societies sent out 55 million Bibles and 83 million New Testaments last year.
Some say that missionary work is arrogance, especially when directed towards Islam. For believers who refuse to obey the last authoritative command of the coming King, it is indeed arrogance.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, that is. weak; they are mighty, that is, spiritual. Of what value are carnal weapons against principalities, powers, wicked spirits in heavenly places? By prayer we can pull down strongholds, We can overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, if we love not our lives unto the death. Let us give our lives to prayer, especially for missionaries of the cross seeking to witness in Muslim lands, and all others as they contact people of this false religion, anywhere in the world.
Not all Arabs are devotees of the prophet Muhammad, but the vast majority are, and enthusiastically so. They are taught that their prophet is the answer to the promise of the Lord Jesus to send another Comforter. The word another (Gr. allos) implies one like Jesus, but dissimilarities between Muhammad and Jesus are enormous.
Neither the Koran nor any other book contains multiple prophecies about the coming of Muhammad, while the Old Testament foretells minute details about Christ. Muhammad supposedly had a great revelation and found out that he was supposed to be a prophet. The Lord Jesus knew He was the eternal Son of God, certainly did not gradually become aware that He was to be the Messiah. He did not intend to set up His rule on earth at that time, would not even let His followers fight for Him when He was arrested. Muhammad spread his new religion with the sword.
Missionary W. P. W. McVey once heard an Islamic teacher lecturing to Muslims on the radio. He said, "Your prophet (Muhammad) had hardly any sins of his own, and yet he was continually lamenting his sins" (Choice Gleanings). Was this another like Christ?
Well, what’s wrong with another monotheistic religion? We all believe in God, don't we? Perhaps Islam is a preparation for Christianity? Does Islam have a place in God’s plan for the future? Is not Allah just another name for the true God?
I would say that Allah is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Islam puts Jesus as a Prophet superseded by Muhammad, who arose six centuries later. He was not the Son of God and did not die on the cross. He never did die for the sins of mankind. A recent missionary letter describes the hopelessness of Islam by quoting two men who said they could live their whole lives following the way of Islam and be rejected by Allah on the day of reckoning.
So it must be a dying religion? Just the opposite. There are nearly three times as many Muslims as Protestants, and their number is growing 74 percent faster than Protestants.
They have the law on their side. Imagine your hometown soccer team is playing a scheduled game, and find that the field is sloping, your goal at the low end. Worse still, there are special rules whereby when the ball is in your half of the field, you cannot interfere with the other team; and when the ball is in their half, same thing, you cannot interfere. And the referee in a wheelchair is blind and deaf. How could you expect to win?
Yet is not this a picture of the world today? In Muslim countries, you could not even get in as a missionary, nor give away a tract if you were there. In Western countries (Christian?), no holds are barred. Did you ever hear of a city council refusing permission to build a mosque? or of a church being built in Arabia? In March of this year a session of the United States Congress was opened in prayer for the first time by a Muslim.
Muslims in Britain have set up a rump parliament with 155 members to ensure that their rights are maintained. For example, they threaten to withhold taxes unless the government agrees to pay for Islamic schools where the Koran is taught from Grade 1. The leaders have advised their people to disobey any laws which are unfavorable to Islam. In Kenya the Muslims have formed their own political party. In so-called moderate Muslim countries the radical "Fundamentalists" try to get power and force the old Sharia law, based on the Koran, on the whole population. The news media report frequent religious violence, for example, in Nigeria. Sudan missionaries "intruding" into Muslim lands have been abducted, raped, or killed.
Happily this powerful force is disunited. Sunnis fight with Shiites. Great differences divide blocs on economic and cultural issues. Last December at the All-Islamic Conference in Dakar, Senegal, less than half of the heads of state even showed up.
If Islam ever united, they would have a billion strong to start with against the world, more than Northern America and Europe combined.
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia donated 6.2 million copies of the Koran for world distribution. But the Bible Societies sent out 55 million Bibles and 83 million New Testaments last year.
Some say that missionary work is arrogance, especially when directed towards Islam. For believers who refuse to obey the last authoritative command of the coming King, it is indeed arrogance.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, that is. weak; they are mighty, that is, spiritual. Of what value are carnal weapons against principalities, powers, wicked spirits in heavenly places? By prayer we can pull down strongholds, We can overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, if we love not our lives unto the death. Let us give our lives to prayer, especially for missionaries of the cross seeking to witness in Muslim lands, and all others as they contact people of this false religion, anywhere in the world.
Missions Magazine, June 1992
