It is true that the three primary monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all believe in an eternal, uncreated Creator God to whom all human beings must one day give an accounting of their life. But it is self-evident that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God.
The Muslim and Christian views of God do have some similarities. Christians believe in one eternal God Who created the universe, and Muslims apply the same attributes to Allah. Both view God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present.
A critical difference between the Islamic and Christian views of God is the biblical concept of the Trinity. In the Bible, God has revealed Himself as one God in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. While each Person of the Trinity is fully God, God is not three gods but three in one. Islam denies the Trinity and accuses Christians of teaching polytheism or multiple gods.
Islam is hostile towards the Trinity as evidenced by this passage from the Quran, 5:73 (Yusuf Ali), “They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.” As you can see, Islam denies that God is a Trinity, and in fact uses such teaching as a means of fostering hostility.
Also, in Christianity Jesus, the Christ is the second person of the Trinity, who was for a time in flesh. But Islam denies this as well, in fact Allah has no son at all. God’s Son came in the form of man, a truth called the incarnation (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:14; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 4:1-3). The Lord Jesus Christ conquered the penalty and power of sin by dying on the cross (Romans 6:23). After rising from the dead, Jesus returned to heaven to be with His Father and sent “God in the person of The Holy Spirit” to be with believers (Acts 1:8-11). One day, Christ will return to judge and rule (Acts 10:42, 43). Those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus will live with Him in His Kingdom, but those who refuse to follow Him will be separated to hell away from the Holy God.
Again the Quran, 5:17 is opposed to such belief... "In blasphemy indeed are those that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary. Say: "Who then hath the least power against Allah, if His will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all every--one that is on the earth? For to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For Allah hath power over all things."
Quran 5:75 goes further by diminishing the divinity of Christ Jesus... "Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!"
The Trinity is essential to the Christian faith. Without the Trinity, there would be no incarnation of God’s Son in the Person of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ, there would be no salvation from sin. Without salvation, sin would condemn all to an eternal separation from God.
So, do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? A better question is, “Do Christians and Muslims both have a correct understanding of who God is?” To this question, the answer is one does and one does not.
Because of crucial differences between the Christian and Muslim concepts of God, the two faiths cannot both be true. The Biblical God alone addresses and solves the problem of sin by giving His Son, which in-turn paves the way for a restored relationship with God and the prospect of eternal salvation.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18).
Christians must keep these central principles from the Bible – the Trinity, the divinity of Christ and His sacrificial death on a cross for the atonement of mankind's sins constantly in mind as one considers some of the most urgent questions in the world today. We must certainly have these principles in mind when we think about Islam.
The God of the Bible, known by many names – Yahweh, Jehovah, I Am, and the god of Islam – Allah, are not the same God. Jesus, the Christ, made this abundantly clear. In the simplest way imaginable, Jesus teaches us to know God as Father, and to use this name in prayer. The Lord’s Prayer begins with the words, “Our Father, who is in heaven.” By the grace that God has shown us in Christ, we can truly know Him as Father.
Muslims do not speak of God as their heavenly Father. In the Islamic faith, Allah is not only a different name for god; the deity it designates is far more impersonal than the God of the Bible. Father—the very name that Jesus gave us as the designated name for use in prayer—is a name that simply does not fit Allah as depicted in the Quran.
Trinitarian language is the language of the Bible, and it is essential to Christianity. Indeed, the Christian faith points to Christ and announces that we can only know the Father through the Son. Confusing the God of the Bible with Allah of the Quran is not only a mistake, it is a dangerous distortion of the Gospel of Christ.
Christianity and Islam do not believe in the same God.
