Chapter 3: Learning Objectives & Discussion Questions Learning Objectives: Students should know the following: •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The difference between radical and moderate Islam [3.2–3.3] What characterized the early history of Islam [3.4] The history of Islam [3.4]
The differences between three main factions of Islam [3.4] Why Islam is a worldview [3.5]
What Islam teaches about the nature of God [3.6] What Islam teaches about the Bible [3.6] What Islam teaches about Jesus [3.6]
What Islam teaches about salvation [3.6]
What Islam teaches about judgment [3.6]
What Islam teaches about general revelation [3.7] The sources of special revelation for Islam [3.8] What Islam says about humanity [3.8]
What Islam says is wrong with us [3.8]
What Islam says about how we should live [3.8] How Islam views other worldviews [3.9]
Discussion Questions 1. In your opinion, the nineteen Muslims who used planes to brutally kill nearly three thousand innocent people were what? [Write some of the following options on the board: cowardly, courageous, devoted to God, deluded, intelligent, insane, martyrs, and murderers. Discuss their answers.] One religion’s murderers may be another religion’s martyrs. When someone’s faith is misplaced, the more extreme their faith the more they feel justified in doing unspeakable things and to think they are right in doing so. This is the case with the Muslim hijackers. They put their faith into action at the cost of their own lives, but devotion and self-sacrifice don’t make them right. Nor does the fact that they were Muslims mean that all who share their religion share their radical interpretation of the Quran, or approve of what they did. Page 1 of 12
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It’s wrong to judge an entire religion by the behavior of a few zealots, but it’s also dangerous to ignore the latent violence in a religion’s teachings. The concept of jihad that motivated the hijackers has some dangerous implications for America and the West. (See the question on jihadis.)
2. What are some distinctions between moderate and radical Muslims? [3.2]
Radical Muslims want to establish a global Islamic state by whatever means necessary, including terrorism. Moderate Muslims are committed to their faith and traditions, but are also open to economic ties with the West. They would rather be part of the modern world than destroy it. Radicals Muslims aren’t always on the lunatic fringe of society. According to research, radicals are more likely to attend religious services; earn more money and are better educated than moderates; express more satisfaction with their financial situation; are as likely as moderates to appreciate the West’s technology and democracy.
What makes them radical is the belief that the West threatens and attempts to control their way of life. Radical Muslims are a small minority in Islam—around seven percent—but that still means there are more than one-hundred million radical Muslims in the world today.
3. What makes a radical a radical? Are some religions more likely to produce radicals than others? [3.2]
A radical is someone who takes misplaced faith to extremes and commits to drastic political, economic, or social action to achieve his misplaced aims. Radical Muslims believe they have to destroy the West before it destroys them. There can be no coexistence. The use of terrorist tactics—including suicide bombers—seems justified to them because they face a larger, more powerful enemy. Islam and Christianity are similar in many ways. What makes them different? The source of their truth. In the case of Islam, it’s the Quran. In the case of Christianity, it’s the Bible. The further people go in the Quran the more they are encouraged to implement Muhammad’s teachings through force. The further people go into the Bible the more they are encouraged to implement Jesus’ teachings through love.
4. Can the Islamic worldview coexist with other worldviews? [3.3]
Islam is a theistic worldview centered on the life of the prophet Muhammad that derives its understanding of the world through the Quran and other holy books. It is
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a pattern of ideas, beliefs, convictions and habits that inspire a system of practices by which Muslims believe they demonstrate submission to Allah.
Muslims vary in how they perceive and respond to the Islamic worldview. Some are “culturally” Islamic. They follow Islamic practices but they can get along with nonMuslims and can live in societies that are not Islamic. Others are “Islamists” who believe the full application of shariah law should be enforced on everyone. They reject coexistence; their goal is to convert all opposition, or in the case of those we have call jihadis, to conquer it.
5. Some experts make a distinction between Muslims and Islamists. These two groups believe the same book—the Quran—so what makes them different? [3.3]
Muslims identify with Islamic culture and try to follow its practices, but they can coexist with non-Muslims and take part in secular society without feeling the need to radically change it. Islamists are radical fundamentalists who believe society should be governed by shariah law, the moral code outlined in the Quran and other teachings. This attitude toward shariah law is the key dividing line between Muslims and Islamists. This law is barbaric by modern standards. It accepts slavery, the physical abuse of wives, heavy taxation of non-Muslims living in Muslim lands, and even the killing of Muslims who convert to another faith. Muslims and Islamists also differ on the doctrine of jihad. Muslims see jihad as defensive in nature, protecting themselves and their faith from outside attack. Islamists see jihad as converting or conquering unbelievers. Islamists who have “weaponized” their beliefs and are committed to destroying the West are often called jihadis or jihadists.
6. How do you feel when you hear the word “jihad”? What is jihad and where does the idea come from? [3.3]
The word “jihad” strikes fear into many hearts as it conjures up images of collapsing buildings and gruesome beheadings. Jihadis or jihadists are Islamists who take up arms to impose their faith upon others. They believe in using violence and terror against non-Muslims in the service of Allah. They are an army of zealots committed to doing whatever it takes to destroy America and the West.
Jihad means to fight against non-Muslims until Islam conquers the entire world. It is taught in the Quran and applies to all Muslims. (There are 164 verses in the Quran addressing jihad and virtually all of them employ warlike language.) Moderate or cultural Muslims reinterpret the meaning of jihad as a form of personal discipline, or they just ignore the concept all together. They don’t take part in terrorism, but most Page 3 of 12
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don’t speak out against it either. Jihadis believe violence and terror are necessary in dealing with nonbelievers, who must be converted or killed.
7. Islam means “submission” and a Muslim is “one who submits” to Allah. But what does this submission look like? [3.4]
Submission to Allah is embodied in the ummah, the worldwide community of Muslims. The ummah exerts enormous pressure on individual Muslims to remain in the community and behave in an acceptable fashion. It is a long tradition of ideology, commands, cultural practices, and societal norms: children are subject to adults, women to men, families to community leaders, and community leaders to the Islamic state. To break away from ummah is to be alienated and lost.
8. How did Islam get started and how large has it grown? [3.4]
The founder of Islam, a merchant named Muhammad, was born around AD 570 in Mecca, in modern day Saudi Arabia. When he was about forty, he began seeing visions he thought were demonic but that he later accepted as messages from God delivered by the angel Gabriel. Muhammad was commissioned to be a prophet of God and spent the next twenty-three years transmitting the message orally into what was eventually compiled and written down—the Quran. Muslims consider the Quran to be the most pure understanding of God. “Quran” means to “read” or “recite.” Muhammad believed Islam was God’s final revelation to humankind, surpassing those given earlier to the Jews and Christians. His message was simple:
There is one God, Allah, who made all things. All people must submit to him. There will be a day of judgment when all will be judged by their deeds and rewarded or punished accordingly. Muhammad gathered followers, raided caravans to amass wealth, and eventually conquered large parts of the Middle East. He died in AD 632.
In the centuries since, Islam has grown to include nearly one-fourth of the world’s population. Current estimates put the number of Muslims at around 1.6 billion. The majority of Muslims are not Arabs and nearly half of them live in just four countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.
9. What are some key events in the life of Muhammad and early Muslim history? [3.4] In danger in Mecca, Muhammad fled to Medina in AD 622, an event known as Hijra. The Hijra began the Muslim era and begins the Islamic calendar today. Muhammad won significant battles and eventually captured Mecca in AD 629. He entered the
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city and cleansed the Ka’ba of its idols. From then on, Mecca became the most holy place to the Muslim faith.
Islam spread through military conquest and within one hundred years controlled parts of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. When Muhammad died in AD 632, three caliphs (successors) took his place. Later, Ali ibn Talib, Muhammad’s sonin-law, took power. The murder of Ali in AD 661 began a conflict that still divides Muslims. Those who think the successor should be elected by popular vote became the Sunni Muslims. The Shiite Muslims believe the successor should be from Muhammad’s bloodline.
10. What are the three main divisions of Islam? [3.4]
Sunni Muslims, currently about 80 percent of Muslims, believe Muhammad’s successor should be elected by popular vote.
Shiite Muslims believe Muhammad’s successor should be a direct descendant of the prophet. Without a living prophet, Shiites look to leaders called imams. They believe imams are gifted by Allah to guide them. (Sunnis also have imams, but they are more lay leaders.) Sunnis and Shiites agree on the importance of the Quran, but acknowledge different other collections of Muhammad’s sayings and teachings. Sufi Muslims arose later as a reaction to the worldliness its followers believed was taking over Islam as it grew in wealth and power. Unlike Sunnis and Shiites, Sufis believe that Allah has a personal and mystical nature. They advocate a personal experience and oneness with Allah that sometimes borders on pantheism. The result is a less legalistic form of Islam.
11. Does Islam recognize a distinction between the spiritual and the secular? [3.5] No. Like most other worldviews, Islam embraces all areas of life.
Islam does not divide life into domains of the spiritual and the secular. It spiritualizes the entire existence of man and produces a social movement to reconstruct human life in the light of principles revealed by God. … That is why Islam is not a religion in the limited sense of the word; rather it is a complete code of life and a culture-producing factor. … In Islam you can’t eat a la carte, you have to take the whole menu. (Urbain Vermeulen)
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12. Why is conformity important and individualism dangerous to Islam? [3.5]
When you have God’s own words spoken directly through his chosen prophet, interpreted by trained scholars, and reinforced by the whole community (ummah), there’s no room for personal opinion. Uniformity is paramount. Freethinking is dangerous because it can lead to disagreement and division. It can also result in unwanted reform and innovation. The danger of such unthinking allegiance is trust it can lead to groupthink and idolatry.
13. Is Christianity just as susceptible to groupthink and idolatry?
In some ways, yes. Christians also look to God’s Word as divinely inspired and authoritative. They trust respected scholars, and rely the living community (church) for direction on how to apply it to daily life. But here’s the difference. The Bible emphasizes loving God with one’s mind, being prepared to give an answer, and not being held captive by wrong philosophies. The church has been reformed and renewed through the ages as a result of godly men and women seeking to understand and apply God’s Word to their times. That healthy process continues today.
14. What are some beliefs the Islamic and Christian worldviews have in common? [3.6]
Monotheism and a hatred of idolatry A personal Creator who interacts with his creation A holy book given by God through his chosen messengers The importance of living one’s life in submission to God A coming day of judgment when all will be judged for their deeds and rewarded or punished accordingly
15. What does Islam teach about the nature of God? [3.6]
Muslims worship “Allah.” This is the Arabic word for God, not the name of God. He is eternal, self-existent, transcendent, and all-powerful. He spoke the universe into existence and is the sovereign over all creation. He created humans—but not in his image—and gave then free will. They are responsible for their actions and will one day be judged. Allah relates to people only through the prophets and authoritative teachings.
Islam strongly rejects the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The idea of one God in three persons is viewed as shirk (the sin of polytheism). Obviously, Muslims also deny the deity of Jesus Christ.
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16. What does Islam teach about the Word of God? [3.6]
Islam teaches that Allah communicated his will to humans through a series of prophets, twenty-five of whom are named in the Quran. Some Old and New Testaments prophets are on the list, including Moses, David, and Jesus. But when Allah communicated the Quran to Muhammad, this was his final word. The Quran is the only authoritative and uncorrupted scripture preserved without error. It supersedes all other holy books, including the Bible, just as Islam supersedes and fulfills all other religions, including Christianity. But the message of Islam differs substantially from the Christian message, especially when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Islam doesn’t fulfill Christianity; it seeks to replace it.
17. What does Islam teach about Jesus? [3.6]
Muslims believe in the virgin birth and miracles of Jesus, but they don’t believe he was divine, or that he died for the sins of the world, or that he rose from the dead. (The Quran teaches that Jesus wasn’t actually killed; it only appeared that he died on the cross.) Islam’s respect for Jesus as a holy prophet falls far short of revering him as the Son of God and savior of humanity. It also runs counter to the clear teaching of the Bible: Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:8) Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Cor. 15:3–4)
If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. … For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1 Cor. 15:14, 16–17)
18. What does Islam teach about salvation? [3.6]
Islam sees Jesus as one of many distinguished prophets whose words are helpful for living a good life. But he is not the savior, not a payment for sin, and not raised from the dead and seated in heaven, the first fruits of the resurrection. He is not “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Each person must bear his own burden and be responsible for his own actions, because no one can expiate for another’s sin. (Abdalati)
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The Quran gives the image of a balance: good deeds weighed against bad. If a person’s good deeds outweigh the bad, he or she will likely receive Allah’s mercy. A good person does not automatically enter paradise; it’s the mercy of Allah, not the deeds of man, that opens the doors of heaven. Allah has not promised salvation to those who do good deeds, but good deeds make paradise more likely. However, Allah has guaranteed paradise to all those martyred in jihad (Sura 4:74).
19. What does Islam teach about the final judgment? [3.6]
The creation account in Genesis is accepted by Muslims, but they don’t believe in the fall (Gen. 3:17, Rom. 8:19–23). Without a fall, there is no need for redemption and a redeemer in Islam. Humanity is able to advance Allah’s agenda on their own through political means. After this life, everyone’s deeds will be weighed in the balance. The weighing on that day [day of resurrection] will be the true [weighing]. So as for those whose scale [of good deeds] will be heavy, they will be the successful [by entering paradise]. And as for those whose scale will be light, they are those who will lose their own selves [by entering hell] because they denied and rejected Our Ayat [proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations].” (Quran 7:8–9)
There is still a need for Allah’s mercy and grace, as Muhammad said, “None of you would get into Paradise because of his good deeds alone, and he would not be rescued from Fire, not even I, but because of the Mercy of Allah.” However the emphasis is on performing good works as outlined in the Five Pillars of Islam.
20. Islam and Christianity use a similar argument for the existence of God from general revelation; what is it? [3.7]
The Islamic version of the argument is called the Kalam cosmological argument. Kalam is Arabic for “discourse,” and cosmology is the study of the order, structure, and design of the universe. The argument goes like this: Everything that begins has a cause. The universe began. The universe was caused. The Kalam argument is a horizontal (linear) form of the cosmological argument. The universe is not eternal, so it must have had a Cause. That Cause must be considered God. This argument has a long and venerable history among such Islamic philosophers as Alfarabi, Al Ghazali, and Avicenna. (Norman Geisler)
The cosmological argument points to a first cause, but it doesn’t reveal much about the nature or character of the creator. Nor does it address life’s ultimate questions. For that we need special revelation. The Quran provides this for Muslims while the Bible serves the purpose for Christians. Let’s ask the same five questions of Islam we asked of Christianity in the previous chapter to see the differences in worldviews:
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On what sources of revelation does Islam draw? What does Islam say about humanity? What does Islam say is wrong with us? What does Islam say about how we should live? How are we to understand other worldviews based on Islam?
21. On what sources of revelation does Islam draw? [3.8]
The Quran (from the verb qara’a, “to read” or “to recite”) is the incomparable, infallible, and final revelation from God (Quran 10:37; 46:12). The Quran was dictated word for word to the prophet Muhammad over twenty-three years through the angel Jibril (Gabriel). It completes and supersedes all previous revelations such as the Old and New Testaments. Earlier teachings and prophets like Moses, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus are understood by Muslims as having been originally Islamic and Muhammad is their successor. The prior prophets were for a specific time and place, but Muhammad is the one prophet for all humankind (Quran 7:158; 34:28) as well as the final prophet (33:40).
The other major source for Islamic theology is the Hadith. The Hadith is a collection of traditions about the teachings, rulings, and actions of Muhammad and his followers. It includes the Sunnah, descriptions of Muhammad’s lifestyle, and a prescription for exemplary action. These sources are viewed by Muslims as authoritative and divinely inspired by Allah.
22. What does Islam say about humanity? [3.8]
Muslims acknowledge humans as Allah’s “vice regents” on earth but reject the imago Dei (“image of God”). Muslims see humans as slaves of Allah, not his sons and daughters.
Although God breathed into man his spirit, as both Christians and Muslims believe, for Islam the only divine qualities entrusted to humans as a result of God’s breath were those of knowledge, will, and power of action. If people use these divine qualities rightly in understanding God and following his law strictly, then he has nothing to fear in the present or the future, and no sorrow for the past. (Badru Kateregga)
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23. What does Islam say is wrong with us? [3.8]
When Adam and Eve disobeyed Allah’s original prohibition, their mistake (not sin) was quickly forgiven. Their mistake, however, resulted in humans rebelling against Allah, who later sent Islam to give humanity a way back to its pristine state.
Muslims believe every human being is born a Muslim in a state of submission to Allah. But from very early on, we are led astray to worship false gods or to deny Allah altogether. To stay in this state is to be in rebellion against Allah. Muslims are obliged to battle rebellion against Allah through jihad. Internally, jihad involves resisting temptation and developing virtue. Externally, jihad is the battle against all who oppose Islam.
Fighting against non-Muslims is an act of restoration—the offering of Allah’s mercy to those willing to end their rebellious ways. Some call this second aspect of jihad “holy war.” In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the [Muslim] mission and [the obligation to] convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or force. (Ibn Khaldun )
In areas dominated by Islam, there is a provision called dhimmitude in which Christians and Jews (“people of the Book”) may live in peace without converting to Islam. As dhimmis, though, Christians and Jews are officially second-class citizens and must pay the jizyah (the tax upon unbelievers).
24. What does Islam say about how we should live? [3.8]
In Islam, what you do is more important than what you believe. Muslims have five basic requirements they must perform, popularly known as the Five Pillars of Islam: Shahada, the confession of faith: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.” If a person pronounces this confession with sincerity, then he or she is a Muslim. To believe in God and Muhammad as his prophet is to obey the Quran and follow the example of Muhammad. Salat, prayer: Muslims are to pray five times a day, facing Mecca. On Friday, men (and, in some cases, women) are to meet at a mosque at noon to pray. Prayer provides a daily rhythm to Muslim life.
Zakat, almsgiving: Muslims are to give 2.5 percent of their annual capital to the poor. This is to foster a generous lifestyle and a sense of caring for fellow Muslims, especially those in physical and financial difficulties. Sawm, fasting during Ramadan: This involves refraining from food, smoking, and sexual relations during daylight hours. These periods of fasting are to encourage
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Muslims to develop self-control and to refocus their minds toward spiritual progress.
Hajj, pilgrimage: At least once in their lifetime, if finances and health permit, Muslims are to journey to Mecca. During their pilgrimage, they don white garments and remove all indicators of status to help them recognize that all are equal before God.
Those Muslims we are referring to as Islamists add a sixth pillar, jihad—compelling non-Muslims to cease their rebellion against God; Islamists who die in jihad are guaranteed a place in Paradise.
25. What are the sources of Islamic law and practice? [3.8]
Quran: The Quran ”specifies prohibitions on certain foods, a number of legal rules concerning family law, criminal law, rules about witnesses, and commercial regulation including the ban on riba (interest) and forms of contracts.” This law is called shariah.
Sunnah: Muslim legal scholars use the Sunnah to discern the shape of shariah. This body of material contains many more legal rulings and examples than the Quran. But it also contains several conflicting, even contradictory examples arising from different places and times. Ijma: In addition to the Quran and the Sunnah, a third source for understanding shariah Law is the communal consensus called ijma, expressed among Muslim jurists of the first three centuries of Islam. Finally, there are “legal reasonings” that address situations not dealt with elsewhere.
26. What is the principle of abrogation, and how does it create problems for modern Muslims? [3.8]
The principle of abrogation means that later passages in the Quran overrule (abrogate) earlier passages. The problems is that the peaceful, merciful nature of Allah presented in the first part of the Quran is replaced by a version of Allah with a noticeable sense of revenge and bloodlust in the second part of the Quran. This can encourage devout Muslims to become more aggressive and violent.
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27. How does Islam relate to other worldviews? [3.9]
There is little room for dissention or disagreement within Islam, and no room for accommodation of opposing worldviews. Submission to Allah (Islam) is not optional: those who choose not to submit are in danger of subjugation or death; those who leave it are in danger of their lives.
Earlier tolerance of other faiths (Judaism and Christianity in particular) ended with the completion of the Quran. Now, “If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost [all spiritual good]” (Quran 3:85). Some Muslim scholars have explored the possibility of adjusting the Quran in keeping with modern times, but these efforts are rejected by most Muslims. Thus, the conflict between Islam and other worldviews will likely continue.
28. Do you know any Muslims or have any Muslim friends? If so, have you talked about your different worldviews? Do you care to share about those conversations?
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