Christianity and Islam... the two religions contrast sharply even in their positive aspects. To understand how adherents respond to the fundamentals of each religion, we must understand the core values of each religions founder and the instructions contained in each religions guide-book for followers.
Let’s be blunt, the morality of the Qur'an is amateurish and frustratingly obscure for those who try to compare it to what is contained in the Bible. Most of Islam's holiest book is devoted toward distinguishing and heaping abuse on unbelievers.
There are no verses that promote universal love and brotherhood. The few verses that are sometimes held up as examples of tolerance and peace generally require separation from textual and historical context.
The difference between Christianity and Islam starts at the top... with their respective founders. There are sharp differences between the religion of Muhammad and Jesus. The religious practices of adherents are almost certainly rooted in the teachings and instructions of each leader as he defined the core principles and values of the respective religions. Each religion therefore is defined by the teachings and lifestyle examples set by Jesus and Muhammad.
Let’s start by examining what each founder said with regard to the fundamental conduct and attitude of potential followers.
Muslims are told that their prophet Muhammad, a slave-owner, sexual glutton, thief and killer, is the most "beautiful pattern of conduct" and "example" for mankind to follow (Qur'an 33:21), as well as the "exalted standard of character" (Qur'an 68:4).
Christians are told to emulate Jesus - a man with a servant heart - and "walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:6). Unlike Muhammad, who ordered military assaults against Christians, Jesus told his followers not to resort to aggression which almost always leads to violence, but to pray for one's enemies.
These two men could hardly have been more different in how they lived or in what they taught others. Why should we not then expect starkly contrasting legacies - from the conduct of their closest companions to the livability of modern-day countries influenced by the predominance of one founder's teachings over the other?
To get an understanding of Christianity and Islam, we must consider the fundamentals of each religion. We can call it “orthodoxy” a believers close adherence to the teachings of each religion and counsel of its founder. Such believers are typically viewed as fundamentalist. The term fundamentalist has come to be a pejorative term. However, it need not be. Fundamentalism is a synonym for orthodoxy. A religious fundamentalist is one who is faithful to the foundational tenets of the religion he or she follows.
It is common today to profess or practice a religion in ways that are not orthodox. There are, for example, nominal Christians, nominal Muslims, and nominal Jews. They take on the label of the religion, but not the beliefs or practices. They may even attend worship services, but in their own mind modify, temper or reject many of the core beliefs.
Anybody can make up their own religion, by taking from the Bible whatever they want and tearing out the parts they don't want. But this is disingenuous, hypocritical, eternally dangerous and is probably heretical to whichever religion one claims allegiance. On what basis does one claim to know more about the religion than the founders of the religion themselves?
The objective of this article is to reference what the source documents say concerning these two major world religions, Christianity and Islam. That is, we will explore and compare the Bible and the Quran plus the written traditions of Islam.
This review is critically important. Most Christians know very little about Islam, the Muslim religion. Likewise, most Muslims have mistaken ideas about Christianity. Indeed, many people of both faiths do not even know enough about their own religion to validate its truth claims. This exercise is also useful for people who are under the false belief that all religions are equally valid, or that all religions lead to God. I will clearly show that Christianity and Islam have irreconcilable differences. If you are seriously interested in pursuing truth, then the following discussion should be extremely interesting.
Our axiom will be... Truth is discernible. At least, what is not true is discernible. Applying rules of logic, reason and evidence one can show that a truth-claim is not true by identifying arbitrariness or inconsistency in the claim.
Similarities between Christianity and Islam
Christians and Muslims have some beliefs in common. Both belief systems agree that there is one God who created the universe and is sovereign in the lives of humans. We agree that God is the source of justice and morality. We agree that there is life after death in heaven or hell.
Fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Muslims both consider such things as pornography and licentious living as pollutants to society. In fact, one of the reasons for the strong negative reaction to western civilization in Muslim countries is the influence of such practices emanating from the West.
But there are many things upon which the two religions disagree. These areas of disagreement are critical things. The points of disagreement touch on every important religious doctrine. Indeed, the disagreements are so severe as to be irreconcilable. Lets look at these issues point by point.
Overall Tone of the Two Religions
Most Muslims are exceptionally gracious and peace-loving people. And Islam has elements of peacefulness in it. For example, Muslims point to Suras 109:6 or 2:256 which claim there is no compulsion in religion, even though these passages are often interpreted in Islamic nations to mean that "there is no competition in religion" within their borders. Another passage is Sura 29:46 which says not to dispute with People of the Book (Jews and Christians) unless they do wrong. Also, Sura 41:34 instructs that one should respond to evil with doing good deeds to the evil doer. Others include Suras 2:190, 2:256, 5:8, 5:28, 5:32, 8:61, 109:6.
However, the message is inconsistent. Anyone who wants to commit violence has perfect justification for doing so from the Quran. While violence in the Quran is sometimes for self-defense; at other times it is open-ended aggression.
Many passages in the Quran exhort Muslims to hate or kill or terrorize infidels (non-Muslims) wherever they find them. See Suras 2:190-193, 2:216, 2:244, 3:56, 3:142, 3:151, 4:56, 4:74 (beheading), 4:76, 4:84, 4:89, 4:91, 4:95, 4:104, 5:51, 5:32-38, 7:96-99, 8:12-15 (beheading), 8:39, 8:57-60, 8:65-67, 9:5, 9:14, 9:20-30, 9:38-41, 9:73, 9:88, 9:111, 9:123, 17:16, 18:65-81, 21:44, 22:18-22, 25:52, 33:60-62, 47:3-4 (beheading), 47:35, 48:16-17, 48:29, 61:4, and 66:8-12. (English translators of the Quran sometimes try to soften the true Arabic meaning of some of these passages. For example, to "fight" really means to kill in Arabic.) There are various versions of the Quran available online so you can look these passages up for yourself.
There are dozens of violent prescriptive statements like those above in the Quran. Osama bin Laden in the famous videotape discovered in Afghanistan in late 2001 is quoted as saying, "I was ordered to fight the people until they say there is no god but Allah, and his prophet Muhammad." These words echo language in the Quran itself. Such calls to violence are not mere distortions of the Quran by extreme radicals who twist the Quran for their violent ends; violence is an integral part of Islam. Violence is Muslim doctrine. Just as many Christians are ignorant of what is actually in the Bible, many Muslims are not aware of such passages in the Quran, or choose to ignore them.
Unbelievers in Islam receive persistent chastisement in the Quran. They are described as the "worst beasts in God's sight" (Sura 8:7). Muslims are instructed not to obey unbelievers (Sura 33:1) nor to make friends with them (Suras 58:14-15, 60:1, and 60:13). These commands open up numerous questions about the duty of Muslims who live in non-Muslim countries or work for a non-Muslim employer.
But the Quran is not the only basis for violence in Islam. The example of Muhammad himself laid the foundation for violence via his deeds and commands, which are found in the hadiths. Eleven percent of the pages of the Bukhari Hadiths mention Holy War (jihad). Military jihad is a traditional and authentic part of Islam.
There are two meanings for jihad. One meaning is a personal spiritual aspect to kill sinful desires. It also means to use violence to spread the faith. Muslims are taught that those who fight and die in a jihad have their sins forgiven, and they are rewarded with a sensual and luxurious life in paradise. In fact, this is the only way they can be certain of going to heaven! See Suras 3:157-158, 3:169-171, 3:194-195, 4:74, 4:94-97, 22:58-59, 52:17-23, 56:10-38. Also see Bukhari 4:63, 72, 80, 85, 137, 175, 216, 266. So the killing of non-Muslims offers the religion's highest reward.
Additionally, there is a credible tradition in Islam that says that there are three specific reasons someone may be killed: murder, adultery, or leaving Islam (apostasy). See Suras 4:89 and 9:5,12. "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him." At least one Muslim country, Pakistan, has a blasphemy law. This law says that anyone who insults Muhammad may be put to death. If you follow Islamic events around the world you will regularly see violent actions against Muslims who convert to Christianity.
Another example of the violence in Islam is the way it deals with a thief. Sura 5:38 says, "And as for the man who steals and the woman who steals, cut of their hands as a punishment for what they have earned, an exemplary punishment from Allah; and Allah is Mighty, Wise." Muslims do this even to their children. If a child were to steal out of hunger, a true Muslim would not show compassion and feed the child; they would sever his hand at his wrist to drive home the lessons of Allah.
Muhammad first claimed to have a vision from God in the year 610 AD. The first 13 years of his ministry were marked by peaceful preaching in the city of Mecca. During this period Muhammad seems to have been a well-meaning man who sought to oppose paganism and evil in his day.
However, in the year 623 he became a political leader in the city of Medina. With his political power came a new aggressive behavior. He attacked pagan caravans and used the sword to spread his religion.
Muhammad personally led or orchestrated 66 bloody invasions. Muhammad assassinated many of his opponents during his lifetime. One particularly famous event was his battle against the Quraiza Jews, where women and children were sold into slavery, and hundreds of captured men were executed. Even some of his own people were horrified by his actions.
There is a principle in Islam of "abrogation." This means that when there is a contradiction in the Quran, the later verses cancel out, or at least modify earlier verses. Since the warring verses came during the Muhammad's later Medina period, they matter more than the earlier peacemaking ones. (The Suras in the Quran are in order from the longest to the shortest rather than in chronological order.)
According to Jihad Watch, "The Quran's commandments to Muslims to wage war in the name of Allah against non-Muslims are unmistakable. They are, furthermore, absolutely authoritative as they were revealed late in the Prophet's career and so cancel and replace earlier instructions to act peaceably. Without knowledge of the principle of abrogation, Westerners will continue to misread the Quran and misdiagnose Islam as a 'religion of peace'."
More to come on comparing Christianity and Islam in the NEXT installment...
