(Mankato, MN): From Voices Behind the Veil edited by Ergun Mehmet Caner: “Islam is an inherited religion. As soon as a child is born, the father whispers the Shahada into his/her ear: ‘There is no god but Allah. Muhammed is the messenger of Allah.’ From that moment, the child is considered a Muslim.”
So, I decided to read the Glorious Qur’an to learn about the Islam culture. I bought an English translation at Haigia Sophia when I was in Istanbul last March. The first thing that was interesting is that this version was an English version, and Muslims believe that the Qur’an must be read and understood in the original Arabic language. The second thing that was interesting is that this was a translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall and first published in London in 1930, so it had some interesting British English aspects to the language. And then, this edition was mis-printed and pages 255 through 278 were replaced with duplicates of pages 303 through 326.
Of course, I was interested in similarities and differences with the Christian Old and New Testaments.
Both faiths are monotheistic and believe in the God of Abraham. Christians, however, believe in 3 aspects to this God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Christians believe that Jesus is God in the flesh, that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus was crucified, and that Jesus rose from the dead. Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, along with others such as Abraham and Mohammed, that Jesus was not the Son of God, that Jesus was not God, that Jesus was not crucified, and that Jesus was not resurrected.
The Qur’an presents the Holy Spirit as the Angel Gabriel and the Devil as a fallen jinn or genie. God created angels (made of light), jinn (made from smokeless fire), and humanity (mde from clay). Christians believe the Holy Spirit is one manifestation of the one true God and that the Devil is a fallen angel.
Christians believe that salvation and eternal life are granted by God because the believer has accepted God’s gift through faith. Muslims believe that salvation comes through sincere behavior and good works. The word Islam means “surrender.” Muslims believe that one must surrender to Allah.
In the Holy Bible, many miracles are recorded and many prophecies are made and fulfilled. The Qur’an records no Miracles, except to claim the Qur’an is a miracle, and makes no prophecies.
Stories in the Qur’an tend to concentrate more on the moral or spiritual significance of an event rather than the details (though significant details are often offered). The tales seem to assume that people already know the basic details of the stories, and thus use the stories to make moral and religious points, rather than simply relating history for its own sake or for interpretation by the listener/reader.
Muslims believe that the Qur’an was sent from Allah (God) through the angel Jibrael (Gabriel) to the prophet Muhammad in a series of revelations, and this divinely-inspired text was then progressively dictated (word for word, and over and over again to make certain that there were no mistakes) by Muhammad to the followers of Islam. Moreover, they believe that the Biblical tradition was corrupted over time, and hence it would be futile to use it as a basis for any sort of comparison with the allegedly infallible revelation of the Qur’an.
Both books have creation stories (with Adam and Eve and Cain and Able), the flood story (with Noah), the ancestral story of Abraham (with sons Isaac and Ishmael), destruction stories (of Sodom and Gomorrah), the exile and exodus story (with Joseph and Moses), the kingdom story (with Saul, David, and Solomon), the whale story (about Jonah), and the birth and life of Jesus (Zechariah, John, Mary, and Jesus).
I can appreciate the dedication and single-mindedness and “surrender” of Muslim believers. I read where Muslims are encouraged to be faithful and to behave kindly toward others. I read that Muslims should only respond violently if they are treated violently. It sppears to me that everyone (Christian and Muslim) has long cultural memories and carry that sense of violation (by violence) through the generations.
It’s all rather confusing sometimes. I don’t pretend to understand God, the Creator and Redeemer. God may do whatever God wants. I told my mother-in-law once: “When I die, I will have lots of questions to ask God.” Her response was: “At that time, the answers probably will not matter very much.”