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You are currently viewing Understanding Islam as a Christian (Chapter 1 – The Basics Of Islam)

Understanding Islam as a Christian (Chapter 1 – The Basics Of Islam)

Before we go into chapter one, let’s understand why Christians should learn about Islam. Since the start of Islam in the 7th century, Islam has grown to be one of the biggest religions in the world. Currently, Islam has over 2 billion followers and is growing rapidly. Within the next 10 years, Islam is predicted to be the largest religion in the world. Now, why does this matter for Christians? Simply put, behind these numbers are real people who follow Islam. To follow Islam means to reject Jesus and his gospel. It is our job as Christians to show them the gospel. And the most effective way to show them the gospel is to understand what they believe and why they believe it. So this three part lesson course will equip you to talk with Muslims about their faith and to effectively share your faith in the best way you possibly can.

Chapter 1 – The Basics Of Islam

Anyone can learn the basics of Islam; it’s as easy as just a history lesson. Just like a class in history, there are some key people and terms that we will need to learn about before we get into the core of it. So let’s start with definitions.

Definitions-

Muslim– A Muslim is someone who follows the religion of Islam

Quran– The Quran is the holy book of muslims (kinda like the bible)

Hadith– A Hadith is an oral memory of Muhammad, his friends, and close family, then later written down.

  • Shihi– Shihi in the context of Hadiths shows that the hadith is trustworthy.

Muhammad– Muhammad is the last prophet of Islam. And the most important one.

Allah– Allah is the Arabic word for God, but in this context, when we say Allah, we will be referring to the God of the Quran.

Isa– Isa is the Arabic name for Jesus.

Attribute-  a quality, character, or characteristic ascribed to someone or something

Paradigm– (in short, you look at something from another person’s perspective.)

Great! Now that we understand these terms, we can learn more about them. Let’s start with, what is a Muslim?

What is a Muslim?

What is a Muslim? Depending on who you ask, the definition can change. If you ask a Muslim this question, you will either get one of two answers: Answer one, a muslim is someone who submits their will to God. Or you will get answer two: a Muslim is someone who submits their will to God and believes Muhammad as the final prophet. There are some issues with both of these definitions, but we will get into that later. The main definition of muslim is someone who follows the religion of Islam.

Just like Christians, there are different Muslim denominations; these denominations can vary on many different things, such as the understanding of Muhammad or on what Hadiths we can trust. There are over 50 muslim denominations, but we will just be looking at three of them.¹⁶

Sunni: Sunnis are the main muslim group. Some Sunnis may believe slightly different things, but they all agree in Tawhid (The true oneness of Allah)², that Muhammad is the last prophet of Allah³, that Shihi-Hadiths are most authentic⁴, and that Jesus will come to judge the world in the end times⁵.

Think of Sunnis as the mainline Christian denominations, like Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant.

Shia: Shias are very similar to Sunnis in a lot of ways, but very different in others. Everything I listed about Sunnis, Shias also believe, except Shias don’t believe that all Shihi-Hadiths are the most authentic.⁷ Instead, they will grade hadiths on who wrote them. There are also a lot of historical differences between Sunni and Shia, but that is a conversation for a different time.

Think of Shias as the weird denominations that some people may consider heretical, like Oriental-Orthodox or Evangelicalism.

Quranest: Quranest are the smallest Muslim denomination. The big thing about Quranest is that they only follow the Quran.¹⁰

Think of Quranest as a group of people who think they are Muslim, but they really aren’t. Kinda like how Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses think they are Christians, but they really are not.

Understanding at least a small majority of Muslims and what they believe can help us respond to their needs. And show them the gospel the way they need to hear it. So it’s important to understand what kind of Muslim they are. Although you will most likely only run into Sunnis, it’s still nice to have the Shias and Quranists in the back of your mind.

The Quran

The Quran is the Holy Book of Muslims. The Quran is made up of 114 chapters, which are called Surahs, 6,236 verses, which are called Ayahs, and 604 Pages. These Surahs will have different names attached to them. Here are some examples: Surah Al-Fatihah (chapter one- the Opener), Surah Al-Baqarah (chapter two- the Cow), and Surah An-Nisa (Chapter four- The women).

Most Arabic-speaking Muslims won’t find verses in their Quran by looking at the Chapter and verse numbers, but by the Quran’s page number. Now, what do Muslims believe about the Quran?

  • Muslims believe that the Quran is the direct word of Allah(Surah 2:2)¹¹
  • Muslims believe the Quran is free from error and contradiction (Surah 4:82)
  • Muslims believe Allah protects the Quran from corruption (Surah 15:9)
  • Muslims believe there is only one Quran¹²
  • Muslims believe that the Quran has never been changed¹³

(Editor’s note: The footnotes on this section are to show quotes from muslims that make these claims) 

Hadiths

Hadiths are Islamic traditions and sayings of Muhammad and his companions, passed down and later written down, or recorded and written down during Muhammad’s lifetime. There are thousands of hadiths, but sadly, only a couple of hundred have been translated into English, with most Arabic hadiths unavailable to English speakers. 

There are different gradings of hadiths. These gradings make sure that what you are reading can be “trusted”. We have Sahih-hadith (Authentic), Hasan-hadith (Good), Da’if-hadith (Weak), and, last and least, Muwathaq-hadiths (dependable). There are some variables in these hadiths; depending on the website and the Muslim you ask, these grades may differ. For example: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2641 is graded a Da’if on Sunnah.com, but on abuaminaelias.com it’s graded Hasan. 

Scholars only use Sahih and Hasan hadiths. There are only 2 Sahih-Hadiths, and those would be Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. These are the most quoted Hadiths.

Muhammad

Muhammad is the main character in Islam. Muslims believe him to be the most important and last prophet of Islam. The beginning of Muhammad in the Muslim paradigm started like this: as a poor merchant in Arabia, Muhammad always felt that worshiping the false gods around him was wrong. And while he was in a cave, an angel came to him and told him that he was the next prophet of Allah. After that interaction in the cave, Muhammad continued to get revelations from that angel and Allah.

After learning about his origin story, it’s important to know what Muslims actually believe about him. So here is a short list-

Allah

Allah is just the Arabic word for God, but in the context of Islam, when I use the word Allah, I will be referring to the God of the Quran. 

There is a term in Islam called the 99 attributes of Allah. Some of these attributes are: All-knowing, All-powerful, Most-loving, etc. These attributes are essential to Allah’s existence; without these attributes, Allah is not Allah. Here is a good example: a square has four sides, but when the square loses a side, it becomes a triangle. Thus, the square needs the attribute of four sides for it to be a square, and if it stops having the four sides, then it stops being a square. It’s the same idea with Allah, when Allah stops being All-knowing or All-powerful, then he stops being Allah.

There is another term called “Tawhid”, which means “true-oneness”. In Islam, Allah has this attribute. Think of tawhid as just monotheism. There are three levels of tiwhid, which are broken down to oneness of lordship, oneness of worship, and oneness of attributes.

Although some of this Islamic understanding of Allah won’t directly help you evangelize to Muslim, it should indirectly help you. Understanding what they believe is essential to showing them the gospel the best way you can.

Let’s step back from all of the nerdy theology and look at what the Quran says about Allah.

Isa (Jesus)

Muslims don’t believe in the historical Jesus, so when talking about the Muslim Jesus, we will refer to him as Isa (the Arabic name for Jesus). But what do Muslims believe about Isa?

  • Muslims don’t believe Isa is God, and that he was only a prophet (Surah 19:30)
  • Muslims believe that Isa was not crucified (Surah 4:157)
  • Muslims believe that Isa was not the Son of God (Surah 17:111)
  • Muslims believe that Isa will judge the world at the end times (Sahih al-Bukhari 3448)
  • Muslims believe that Isa was born of a virgin (Surah 19:16-22)
  • Muslims believe that Isa is the Messiah (Surah 3:45)

The Bible

The Quran never actually talks about the Bible; it discusses only parts of it. The Quran talks about the Torwat (Torah), Zabar (the Psalms), and the Injeel (The Gospels). But what does the Quran say about these books?

  • The people of the Gospel should judge by the Gospel (Surah 5:47)
  • The People of the Torah and Gospel have no Ground to stand on unless they stand by the Torah and Gospel (Surah 5:68)
  • The Quran confirms the Torah and the Gospels (Surah 3:3)
  • The Quran is a guardian of the Torah and the Gospels (Surah 5:48)

In more modern Islam, Muslims tend to reject what the Quran actually says about the Bible. Instead, they will listen to their scholars and Dawah ( Muslim evangelists). Now it’s important to see what these dawah and Muslim scholars are saying about the Bible.

  • The Bible has been corrupted¹⁴
  • The “true” Torah and Gospel have been lost¹⁵

Now, depending on who you ask, these claims may vary, but the main idea still stands- only trust the Quran.

Thank you for reading Chapter One; it may be a little bit before the next chapter comes out, so enjoy this.

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