Last week, I got a response to my blog from a Muslim. He was very kind in what he had to say, and he made several interesting points that I think we all should consider. I’m posting his message below with my response in the comments section. I hope everybody reading this (both Muslim and Christian) will add their own thoughts and comments on the subject.
Here you go:
wqah:
“I am a muslim and i have been reading your blog.
No matter what religion we are from, our final goal should be the constant struggle for finding the truth, is it not right? And where ever we may find it we must accept it.
Do you call upon people to accept Jesus and Christianity in the name of religion, because you’re Christian, or because your belief is that Christianity is true, and truth must be told to everyone so people are able to see it and accept it?
I believe that people, if they are to be called to any faith, should be called on by telling the truth.
I have respect for you and your work. I believe you are a God fearing man. Remember, truth is what must be accepted, not the religion we are born into due to emotional or ancestral attachments.
Having said that, there are many falsehoods i have found in that pamphlet concerning Prophet hood; ‘Who is a True Prophet?’
http://debate.org.uk/topics/trtracts/t02.htm
Things that are here due to distorted understanding of Islam, or outright ignorance. We should be afraid of the day of judgment we both believe in, that we both become so narrow minded about our religions and ignore the truth.
We should be afraid that God might ask us that why did we spread falsehood in his name. He might ask why we said wrong things about each other without first understanding the complete truth about each other. He will ask us that why didn’t we accept the truth when we saw it, why instead of changing our views, we changed and distorted the truth.
May the One, True, and Only God guide us both.”
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Dear wqah,
I appreciate your willingness to step out on a limb and write to my blog. It’s important that we hear from both sides of the issue and keep from making ridiculous assumptions about other individual’s beliefs and practices. Both Christianity and Islam suffer from stereotypes, and I hope to clear some of those up through our dialogue.
In response to your comments, I would like to say that our goal in life should definitely be to arrive at the truth. Without the truth we are slaves to sin and have no hope. That’s why Jesus Christ said, “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
I preach Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior because I have personally been made free from my sins, not because my religious system dictates it. Yes, the biblical command to go into the entire world and preach the gospel applies to all born again Christians, but it is not my only reason to “call upon people to accept Jesus.” A witness can only be a witness if he/she personally experienced what they are talking about. I have experienced the forgiveness of my sins and have been given eternal life.
For years I searched for peace and fulfillment in life, but nothing could fill the emptiness I felt inside. I was religious, even called myself a Christian, but I was missing something and I knew it. On October 26, 1998, I realized what I needed when a religious friend of mine accepted Jesus Christ as her savior. It was that morning, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit that I realized being religious was not the answer. I needed a relationship with my Creator. I prayed that morning and confessed to God that I was a sinner and that I knew he sent Jesus Christ to die for my sins and that He raised Him from the dead. I asked Him to save me, and in that very short period of time, I found the peace and satisfaction I had been looking for. I have the promise of God that I have eternal life and nothing can take that away.
Why do I call on people to accept Jesus as their Savior? Because I have experienced the love and forgiveness of God, and I want everyone else to experience the same joy and hope that He’s given me. It was more than emotion (I didn’t even cry or shout afterwards), it was simply God using the truth to set me free.
I couldn’t agree more with you when you said, “Truth is what must be accepted, not the religion we are born into due to emotional or ancestral attachments.”
God did not send Jesus Christ to the world to give the world another religion. There are plenty to go around for everybody. He sent Jesus so “that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17). Religion is not the answer; a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is what the world needs.
We could go on for days talking about the evidence supporting the validity of the Bible (Torah, Prophets, Psalms, and especially the New Testament – The injeel), but I’m trying to be as concise as I possibly can be in this response.
As far as the “falsehoods” you found on the website put out by the “99 Truth Tracts,” I can’t really comment for the simple reason that, I did not make these accusations nor do I know the individuals who put it out. That is not to say that I do not agree with the tract, just that I didn’t do this study personally. Maybe you could point out the “falsehoods” and expound on it a little.
It wouldn’t be to wise for anybody to just accept something as truth just because it is written on some webpage.
I would like for us to continue talking and understand one another better over time.
You’re absolutely right when you stated that we should all seriously consider the Judgment. When we stand before God, He will not ask us if we were Muslim, Christian, Jew, or Hindu in our lifetime. The only thing that will matter is if we have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. If the answer is no, it doesn’t matter how much good an individual tried to do in his lifetime, he will hear, “I never knew you; depart from me you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).
At that time, everybody will know the truth, unfortunately for most, it will be too late.
Comment by Tyler Masters December 11, 2007 @ 9:02 pm” The only thing that will matter is if we have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. ”
I’m sorry… but you people are worshiping Jesus, not the creator of us all and of Jesus himself… and you call yourselves believers!
Jesus is a prophet… a human being that Allah sent to people on earth to carry His massage and to call upon people to worship Allah Who created us and Who sent Jesus and other prophets….
Jesus was giving so many miracles… he was born for no father… he could heal illness…. he could create birds from mud and give life to them with the permission of Allah… and he was lift up to Allah, not crucified, but simply taken to his Creator….
and before the judgment day he will come back to life and save people of earth from sins and ignorance…
we learn all of this in our religion (Islam) … and our holey book (Quran)…
we’ve been taught to believe in all Allah’s prophets and messengers with no exception… we’ve been taught to believe in all Allah’s religions and massages with no exception…
we know that Islam came not to underestimate or misjudge the previous heavenly massages but it came as a continuance to them all…. and as a correction to the false people added to these massages…
we believe in our God and Creator and we need no one to middle in between us and Allah … not even our prophet… not even Jesus…
and you…. Sorry to say that… but you’re so much in dark of the truth … since you cannot communicate with God without using Jesus as mediator…. And since you don’t have the courage to see beyond Christianity and to believe in God’s other messengers and prophets….
And going on like this … spreading falsehood and distorting truths about Islam is a thing that you people take as a massage just to drive yourselves away from meditating and reflecting on your state and the truth of your system of belief ….
I suggest that before you start to call people to your view, that you first try to arrive at a consistent truth and an unshakable base for you to stand upon and to call for…..
and “May the One, True, and Only God guide us both.”
Comment by Manal December 20, 2007 @ 6:24 pmWithout doubt the correct way of understanding the real Islam is to refer to the Holy Quran as the basis for all knowledge and then understanding the Sunnah and Hadith in its light. Anything that cannot be linked back to the Quran cannot be declared an integral part of Islam. We must be very careful when we assume that something is or is not part of Islam. Allah has protected the Holy Book for this very purpose that no matter how much time passes the word of Allah remains pure and provides guidance to those who truly want to submit to his will and stay on course to becoming true Muslims. http://www.quransunnat.com
Comment by Abdul Momin December 25, 2007 @ 8:54 pmYou seem to be an extremely piously religious man. I, on the other hand, am just a simple teenager. I do not consider myself free from sins. I am a sinful man. Furthermore, i do not have the luxury of anyone else suffering for my sins. This is what i believe in. If i sin, i shall suffer. If i do something good, i will reap the benefits. That, to me, seems a just system.
“That man can have nothing but what he strives for ;( 39) that (the fruit of) his striving will soon come in sight: (40) and afterward he will be repaid for it with fullest payment;” (41) [An-Najm: 39-41]
If you strive for sin, you fruit will be in kind and if you strive for good, your reward will be similar.
I do not call on anyone else towards religion because i consider myself saved, or better than other people, in fact im nothing, It is just the fact that it is your duty to pass on the truth.
Comment by wqah December 26, 2007 @ 8:19 pmTo me, God has promised justice. He is an all knowing, indivisible God, He has no one standing besides Him. If i pray, it is to Him, and no one else. No one else can give and no one else can take away. That is the reason we (Muslims) do not need to make a relationship with anybody except God. Prophets were here to guide us, they were great men. Selected, and pious and will receive their rewards.
This is what i believe in.
One on of the previous commenters it was stated that there were numerous falsehoods regarding the website, ‘the nature of a true prophet’ but I must have missed something in the dialogue as I did not see a defition of what those falsehooods were. If you see that could you pass it along?
Comment by David Campbell May 15, 2008 @ 8:06 pmdavid
Well, of course I worship Jesus!
That’s not shocking news for someone to tell me that’s what I’m doing. Everything I believe is based on Jesus Christ being God in the flesh. According to Ephesians 3:9, Colosians 1:16, and Hebrews 1:2, Jesus is the Creator. I quite deliberately and unapologetically worship Him.
We could go several ways with this but let’s try to be fair (and as short as possible) about deciding who Jesus Christ really is. Everybody seems to have their own opinion about who He is and what He did, but instead of sifting through all of that, why don’t we just examine who Jesus is according to Jesus Himself.
What did Jesus say about Himself?
Who did He say He was?
1. Jesus said that he came down from heaven (John 6:38-41) He makes clear claim here that he is eternal. Not that He visited heaven once, or that he hoped to go to heaven someday. No one else could ever make such a statement. Jesus Christ says, I was in heaven, I came down from heaven to be with you, and I am going back after my work here is done.
2. Jesus was more than just a good man (Mark 10:17-18) This is subtile but important to note. A rich man comes to Jesus and calls him “Good Master.” Jesus responds by saying, “there is none good but one, that is, God.” What He’s telling this guy here is that you cannot claim that I am a good man, a good teacher or a good prophet without acknowledging that I am God, because no man is good. God is good and God alone!
3. Jesus claimed the title “The Son of Man” (Mark 14:61-64) This is a prophetic title of God coming the flesh and ruling over the earth according to Daniel 7:13-14. Jesus used this title in reference to Himself more than 80 times in the gospels. Every time He use it, He was saying, “I am the King of kings.” 4. Jesus said that He was the one and only God (John 8:58, John 10:30-33)
This is an astonishing claim! Not only does Jesus say that He existed long before Abraham, He ascribes to Himself the most sacred name (YHWH) reserved for God alone. It’s such a strong statement that the Jews all pick up stones to kill Him on the spot. They knew exactly what he was saying.
Later on in John 10 he says that “He and the Father are one.” Again the people wanted to kill Him for making himself equal to God.
5. Jesus repeated and confirmed that He was God (Matt 26:63-65) This is the reason that they crucified Jesus. They even gave Him a chance to deny it, but He still held to the claim that, yes He was God.
6. Jesus was completely sinless (John 8:56) No human being could ever make that claim.
7. Jesus actually said that He could forgive sins (Mark 2:5)
Who can forgives sins, but God?
8. Jesus told people to pray to Him as though he were God (John 14:13-14; 15:7)
9. Jesus promised to judge all people as God (John 5:22-24)
10. Jesus claimed to be the only way to heaven (John 14:6; 11:23)
11. Jesus accepted worship as God (John 20:28) 12. He claimed authority and supremecy over all people, all nations, all creation, everything everywhere, in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18)
Comment by Tyler Masters June 19, 2008 @ 11:23 am