This week at the Institute, we had the pleasure of having radio host, Kerby Anderson speak to us on Apologetics. Of the number of things he addressed, World Religion was a main discussion and I took an interest in his talk on Islam. For many reasons, I am intrigued by Islam. One being that my Dad is Muslim and I have a family that lives in Iran who are also Muslim.
Learning more about Islam and the Muslim people helped me have a greater understanding of what my Dad and family believes. I have been pretty ignorant of this subject in the past and feel that this is something I need to go deeper into, so that I know how to share my faith with Muslim’s.
What had the biggest impression on me was learning more about the Koran. It is the first and largest doctrinal barrier of Islam. The god of Islam is a Master of his people, who determines all and is the author of good and evil. But the God of the Bible is a Father to his children, who is sovereign and always good. Psalm 145:9, “The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” The Bible and the Koran teach very opposite beliefs, but there are places in the Koran that validate who Jesus is, though without fully recognizing Jesus as the Son of God.
Muslim’s hold to the belief that Mohammah is a prophet of Allah, but deny that Jesus is the Son of God. The Koran supports that Jesus was sinless (Sura 19:19), born of a virgin, and even that He is holy (Sura 3:42-55); yet it still denies his crucifixion and resurrection. The Koran encourages Muslim’s to observe the Old and New Testament (Sura 4:136), and confirms the historical accuracy of the Bible. It even confirms that Mohammad, while a prophet of Allah, committed sins, and did not know any outcome for his followers.
With all this information, I can take away at least two things. One, is that we can show Muslim’s who Jesus is, going through the Koran, and that he is the son of a loving God, who is the creator of good things for His glory and for our joy. Two, is that God has the power to save us of our sinful nature, because Jesus died for us. No good deed can outweigh the debt we deserve to pay, but that it has been paid for us. Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23; 1 John 2:2; John 3:16-17
The sweetest part of this lesson of Islam is the wonderful joy I have knowing that God is so powerful, but still so loving that I could call Him Father. Muslim’s don’t worship the same God I worship. We call our God Father, who reveals Himself to us, who came down and saved us based on no good deed of our own, for love; they call Allah, Master, who is transcendent, but unknowable, and the author of good and evil. My heart has grown, even more if possible, for Muslim’s and especially my family in Iran this past week. I pray that my desire for God’s Word would grow, that I may be able to, not only defend my faith, but share it with others and spread the good news of the Gospel.
kimia malekian 