The Call for Muslim Evangelism

I openned our Bible study up to questions last night, and this was the first question, “Why does the Bible have four gospels instead of just one?”

It’s actually a pretty good question. I mean what’s the point of having four books which pretty much tell the exact same story?

If you’re wondering the same thing, here’s what I told him last night.

Pretend you’re a judge of an extremely important case in court. You want to be as unbiased about everything as you possibly can. The prosecution has their story, the defendent has his story, but nobody really knows who’s telling the truth or not. You, as the judge, weren’t there when the incident took place and neither was the jury.

In every single case, the most powerful source in determining what happened is an eye witness.

The only thing more convencing than an eye witness is four witnesses telling the exact same story. 

Was Jesus the Messiah? Was He crusified and did He rise again? Is He the Son of God?

Don’t ask my opinion, ask the eye witnesses who saw the whole thing.

When evidence is stacked up like that, you have to either accept it or choose to ignore it.

It’s as ridiculous as saying that I don’t believe George Washington really existed. It’s just something made up by patriotic Americans to sound like we had a great man lead us to independence. I never saw him and my professor says the story is made up. Only naive fanatics would believe in somebody like that.

Another interesting thing about having four gospels instead of one, is that we get the same story about the life of Jesus but from four different perspectives.

Matthew focuses on Jesus Christ the King of kings and His right to the throne of David.

Mark focuses on Jesus the servant.

Luke focuses on the humanity of Jesus Christ as the “Son of Man.”

John, who was the closest disciple to Jesus, goes extreme and focuses on Jesus as the “Son of God,” and God in the flesh.

This probably isn’t the only explanation for having four gospels, but it sure makes sense to somebody as simple as I am.

One of the biggest obsticles the church faces in reaching Muslims with the gospel is the overwhelming ignorance of Christians on the topic of Islam. Before we can expect to win any person to Christ, we must learn how they think, how they live, and how they talk. Language is vital to touching the heart of an individual, and we have an obligation to speak to them in terms to which they can relate. Ignorance should never be an excuse for not completing our mission. Therefore we need to educate ourselves on this matter. The following link will provide you with a helpful resource which defines the common terms they use in their everyday religious lingo. 

http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Hughes/index.htm

Who Qualifies as a True Prophet of God?

(from criteria revealed by the Scriptures)

“Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7

We would all agree with Amos that God uses prophets to fulfill His purposes on earth. At times other individuals are used to prophesy a specific event. The office of a prophet, however, is a specific task given only to certain chosen men. Many of us know the names of the more famous prophets: Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, Yahya, and so on… Muslims add to the list of prophets another name, Muhammad, whom they believe to be the final and greatest of all prophets. But how is it that men have come to have the office of prophet? What gives them the authority for calling themselves “prophet”? If we follow the message of a prophet, it is important that we ensure the validity of his calling as well as the truthfulness of his message. In the Scriptures we find God’s three qualifications for the office of a true prophet. Let us now examine these qualifications.

Click here to examine the 3 qualifications of a true prophet.

Over the years, a number of Muslims and some non-Muslims have asked me why I had problems defending my Islamic faith. While a Muslim in the late 1980’s, and seeking the truth within Islam and also desiring to invite others to Islam, I was faced with a number of challenges to defending my faith. On many occasions while interacting with Christians, I claimed the Bible was corrupted and that the Quran supercedes it. But these Christians claimed that this argument was simply a Muslim position without proof and that the Bible was the word of God and it was not corrupted. Since I had not studied the topic myself, but simply repeated what I was taught, I decided to investigate the trustworthiness of the Bible, and focused my attention specifically on the Injeel, the New Testament of Christians. During this time I realized that I knew very little about how the Quran came into being. Growing up, I was taught by Muslim teachers that the Quran of today is the same as the Quran revealed to Mohammad, the Prophet of Islam and its wording is exactly the same letter for letter, even down to the dots and vowel marks as that which was recited to Mohammad by the angel Gabriel. I was also taught that Allah had guaranteed that He would protect the Quran from human tampering.

The purpose of writing this three-part response is to share with my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters the discoveries I made at that historical point in my journey of faith. During this time I was seeking to find the truth in defense of the Quran, and to prove the Injeel corrupted. In trying to grapple with this topic, I was armed primarily with the Quran, Hadith and Bible, along with supporting works by Muslim and non-Muslim authors. To that end, my first challenge was to determine how I was going to judge if the Quran is un-corrupted and that the Injeel is corrupted. The topics to address this include archeology, science, numerology, history, textual criticism, prophecy, etc. Many eminent scholars have spent years addressing them and others continue to do so. During that time, I did not have the time or the inclination to address the whole field. My goal was limited to making an assessment between the two – was the Quran or the Injeel more trustworthy? To that end, I restricted my study to the following three topics regarding the Quran and the Injeel:

• First, to understand what the Quran and the Injeel teach about what God says about communicating and protecting his message.
• Second, to investigate the history of how the early Quran and Injeel were compiled into the books that became the authoritative collection of God’s message from Mohammad and Isa.
• Third, to review what scholars say about the transmission of the Quran and Injeel manuscripts over the years, since their authoritative compilation.

In this article I will address only the first topic of the study. The other topics are covered in the second and third segments of the study.

Is there support within the Quran and Injeel that clearly state that God has spoken?

I started to check first into what the Quran and Injeel taught about God communicating and protecting his message. From the Quran it is clear that it claims that Mohammad was Allah’s messenger.

O Mankind! The Messenger hath come to you in truth from Allah: believe in him: It is best for you. But if ye reject Faith, to Allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth: And Allah is All-knowing, All-wise. Surah 4:170

This was my understanding as that is part of the Shahada, the confession of faith — that Mohammad was Allah’s messenger and has brought to us his words. So next I started to look at what Allah said about inspiring other messengers. I was aware of the Muslim teaching that Moses and Isa were also inspired by Allah. That just as Mohammad received inspiration, the previous messengers were also inspired to express the words of God. This is confirmed in the ayah (verse) below.

We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms. Of some messengers We have already told thee the story; of others We have not;- and to Moses Allah spoke direct; Surah 4:163-164

However I was very surprised to find that Allah states that he makes no distinction among these messages from him. That was a big surprise to me as I was taught that the Quran was superior to all of the other messages and that is why it was also the last and final revelation to come to mankind. But from the ayah below, Allah clearly states that all of them are equal.

We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them - Surah 3:84

When I started to study the Injeel to determine what it says about God’ message, I discovered that Isa said that the Jewish scriptures had full authority as the words of God. Note what Isa says about the message the Jews had in their possession. These words were spoken during the time when Isa was fasting in the wilderness and Satan came to tempt him. Note Isa’s response to Satan as he quotes from the Taurat (Torah):

‘But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’”’ Matthew 4:4

The words in upper case above are referencing the bolded ones below in the Torah.

He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3

Regarding the Injeel, Isa makes the claim that his own words are God’s words and they are truth.

“…The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does his work.” John 14:10

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ….Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. John 17:14,17

Also note that in the Injeel, we see Apostle Peter bearing witness of what the Jewish and Christian scripture teach regarding the word of God. The words in upper case refer to quotes from the Jewish scripture.

for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.  And this is the word which was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:23-25

From this portion of my investigation, it became clear, both from the Quran and the Injeel that God had inspired messengers to speak on his behalf and the message they gave are to be considered to be from him. Since the Quran came later, it even goes further and states there was no distinction to be made between the Quran and the previous messages.

Are there claims in the Quran and Injeel that they contain the written words of God?

Next area of importance for me was if God has spoken to us through messengers, has this message been written down? Being a Muslim, I believed this of the Quran. Nevertheless, I checked the Quran to see what claims it makes regarding this.

This Quran is not such as can be produced by other than Allah; on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt - from the Lord of the worlds. Or do they say, “He forged it”? say: “Bring then a Sura like unto it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides Allah, if it be ye speak the truth!” Surah 10:37-38

Hence not only does the Quran make the claim that it is from Allah, but also challenges others to create a Surah of similar caliber. What surprised me though was that Allah states he has inspired other books – which implied these previous scriptures were written down. Therefore the Quran does acknowledge other written scriptures as can be seen below.

O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Apostle, and the scripture which He hath sent to His Apostle and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denieth Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Apostles, and the Day of Judgement, hath gone far, far astray - Surah 4:136

When I started checking the Injeel, it claims that all written scripture, has been inspired by God.

“…and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17

When looking specifically at the Injeel I found Isa claimed that his word is God’s word. In addition, he said that God’s word will be brought to the memory of the apostles, which are written in the Injeel.

“…and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.” John 14:24

“But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26

My understanding was Mohammad had received revelation from Allah and that was directly made part of the Quran, while the other Scriptures were similar to the Hadith (Mohammad’s words or deeds), as it contained historical facts and quotes from other than Allah. But from the study of the Quran and Injeel, I was surprised that all scriptures have been written down and are from God, regardless of the format, whether in direct command form as most of the Quran is or multiple forms as in the Injeel and the Jewish scripture.

Is there support in the Quran or Injeel that the written scriptures are or can be corrupted?

This was an area of much discussion that I used to have with Christians. In the past, I understood from Muslim teachers that Allah had guaranteed to protect the Quran from human tampering, but the protection of the other Scriptures were given to Jews and Christians and that they had corrupted it. So I started again checking into the Quran regarding this topic, and it became very clear that Allah says that no one can change the words of God.

“There is none that can alter the words of Allah.” Surah 6:34

“No change can there be in the words of Allah.” Surah 10:64

The question was do the above ayahs restrict the protection only to the Quran? It became clear that this protection included the previous scriptures since Allah makes no distinction among them from Surah 3:84. But what about the Muslim teachers that kept telling me the Injeel and the Torah are corrupted. Where was that in the Quran? I kept looking and only found this type of teaching that says some Jews and Christians were hiding what was in their books. Note the following ayah:

“O people of the Book! There hath come to you our Messenger, revealing to you much that ye used to hide in the Book, and passing over much (that is now unnecessary): There hath come to you from Allah a (new) light and a perspicuous Book,” Surah 5:15

I was very disappointed. I was looking for the strong claim to corruption that I had been taught. But the above ayah does not claim that the Jewish or Christian scriptures are corrupted, only that the Christians and Jews were hiding things from the Muslims and that God has now revealed them in the Quran. I continued to look further, but did not find much to support corruption. Though, I was surprised to find that the Quran supports the authority of the Injeel by commanding the Christians to judge by what they have in their scripture. That is, from what they currently posses with them – which implied these are not corrupted, else Allah would not ask them to judge by it.

“We sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him. We sent him the Gospel… Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein, if any do fail to judge by the light of what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel…” Surah 5:46-47

So, I turned my attention to see what was being said about corruption in the Injeel. Were perhaps the Jewish scriptures corrupted? Looking at the Injeel, it claims all Jewish and Christian scriptures will stand, even if heaven and earth pass away.

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Matthew 5:17-18

Note also the reference by Prophet David to God’s word and their relation to heaven and earth in the Psalms (Zabur),

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. They stand this day according to Your ordinances, For all things are Your servants. Psalm 119:89-91

Further, Isa who speaks God’s word says the same about his words in the Injeel.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Matthew 24:35

At this point, I was satisfied that the Quran and Injeel clearly state that the words of God will stand.

Conclusion

Therefore from study of the Quran and the Injeel I was able to come to the following conclusions:

• The Quran claims that it is the word of God given by inspiration.
• The Quran also claims that the previous scriptures given to Moses, David, Isa and other Messengers are the words of Allah and inspired by Him.
• The Quran challenges the Christians to judge by what is the Injeel during the time of Mohammad and makes no mention of them being corrupted.
• The Injeel gives the Jewish scriptures complete authority to be the word of God and that it stands forever.
• The Injeel also claims that all of Isa’s words are the words of God and that they will never pass away.
• The Injeel also claims that God’s Spirit will teach the apostles and bring to their memory all of Isa’s words. Thereby affirming the Injeel, though written by apostles to be inspired of God.

I had begun with the belief like my other Muslim brothers and sisters that Allah had guaranteed that He will protect the Quran from human tampering, but not the other scriptures. For that reason, I was surprised to learn that Allah had always taught the incorruptibility of scripture even in the Injeel. Protection by God of his message was not new to the Quran. The claim that no human can change the words of God is one made by both the Quran and the Injeel. In addition, nowhere did I find any warning in the Quran that the former Jewish or Christian scriptures had been corrupted. Instead the Quran clearly states that the Jewish and Christian scriptures are authoritative inspiration from God. Regarding the claim that the Injeel was more like the Hadith and contained non-inspired words was not supportable either from the Quran or from the Injeel. I was able to accept that God’s message and teaching can come to us in different forms; it does not always have to come in direct command or quotes from God. Hence based on the ayahs and verses from the Quran and Injeel, it was clear that each of the scriptures speak to itself as being God’s words and to be protected from change.

At this point I was satisfied that I had unjustly denied myself a serious study of the previous scriptures due to fear of corruption. I was now ready to take a serious look at them. It now made sense to me why the Christian Bible not only contains the Injeel but also all of the Jewish scriptures – they are all words of God. This caused in me a desire to study all of the words of God, not just what Mohammad had taught.

** This article was first posted at the Answering-Islam website by the author Farooq Ibrahim. Copyrighted by Farooq Ibrahim and used by permission. For comments or feedback, please contact him or The Abraham Connection.

Mount Everest is much larger than my thumb. However, I can cover the entire mountain simply by placing my thumb in front of my eye. This is an optical illusion created by my perspective as a viewer. Because my thumb is much closer to me than Mount Everest, I can make it appear as if my thumb is larger. Similarly, the sun and the moon look exactly the same size from earth, but that’s only because we’re much closer to the moon. If we were to travel to the moon, we would be even closer, and it would look much larger than the sun. Yet none of this changes the fact that the sun is millions of times larger than the moon, and that Mount Everest is millions of times larger than my thumb.

Many Muslims are convinced that Islam is supported by a great deal of historical and scientific data. Christians are just as convinced that the evidence, when properly examined, points to Christianity. Muslims and Christians can’t both be right, so it seems that at least one of the groups is seeing something analogous to an optical illusion. Perhaps the evidence for Christianity is really no bigger than my thumb, while the mountain of evidence for Islam stands far off on the horizon. Or perhaps Islam, like the moon, is only able to eclipse the light of Christianity because Muslims see everything from an extremely biased position. One possible way of cutting through this difficulty is to find the most persuasive argument for each of the systems in question and to analyze these arguments carefully. Thus, in order to compare the evidence for Islam and Christianity, our first step could be to examine the strongest argument for Islam, and to compare it with the strongest argument for Christianity. This technique presents us with something of a “showdown” between the world’s two greatest (according to the numbers) religious systems.

…In evaluating arguments it often helps to put them into the appropriate logical form. In the case of Islam (as in the case of Christianity), the central argument can be put into a syllogistic pattern known as modus ponens.^[4] When put into this pattern, Islam’s strongest argument becomes the following syllogism:

…Whereas Muhammad argued that remarkable literary style is proof of divine inspiration, Jesus and Paul maintained that resurrection is proof of divine inspiration. The truth of the first premise of the Christian argument seems self-evident. One may object by pointing out that Jesus raised people from the dead, and that we don’t conclude that these people had messages from God. But this misses the point. Unlike the other people who were raised from death, Jesus made some extraordinary claims about himself, some of which are even granted by Muslims.^[17] Jesus also predicted that he would rise from the dead as proof of his claims, and his prediction came true.^[18] So the question for us is: “Would God raise a heretic from the dead?” I think Muslims and Christians would agree that he would not. Thus, if Jesus’ claims weren’t heresy, what were they? They must have been true. The first premise, then, makes sense in light of what we know about God.

Paul used Jesus’ resurrection as proof of the Christian message. In Acts 17, Paul says that God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising [Jesus] from the dead.”^[16] Putting this argument into logical form, we arrive at the following:

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” -I Peter 3:15- 

Have you ever wanted to engage in a spiritual conversation with a Muslim, but just didn’t know what to talk about? You are not alone, and we want to help you start down the road to effectively sharing the gospel them.  

 At first Muslims may come across rather intimidating. They know the Quran well and have been taught to defend their religion. Many, however, still have several questions that keep them wondering and searching for the truth. Do you know how to explain to Muslim what the Bible says about sin and how we can be free from guilt? How would you respond to someone if they told you that they believe the Bible is corrupted by men? What is the best way to explain who Jesus Christ was and tell what He did for them?  It’s time that we start giving answers to Muslims who are seeking after God.

Check out http://theabrahamconnection.org/phpBB2/index.php to learn more about how you can, “Be ready always to give and answer.”