Is Islam Abrahamic?

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘the three Abrahamic religions’? Most people use it to refer to Judaism, Islam and Christianity? However, the Christian responds to this definition with a few more questions –what does the Bible say? What links you to Abraham in the Bible? How do you get to know Abraham’s God? Check out this blog post to find out more…

Are Islam and Christianity the same?

It is quite common for people to put religions into the same box. Yet, if you compare the Bible with the Qur’an, you will see that they have two very different views on every level of life, from God, humans, sin and suffering, salvation and eternity.

Is there only one God?

Yes. But who is the one God? The Bible is clear that God is the Father, His eternal son and the Holy Spirit. The ancient Christian creeds testify to this, and the historical church has never changed its teaching on who God is. When a group of people begin to follow a new and different vision of god, that church has moved into heresy. A Christian apologist from the 8th century (John from Damascus, Syria) speaks about a new religion emerging with a false prophet, he calls it a heresy. It is the religion that became known as Islam. The Bible speaks about other ‘gods’. It warns Christian to be aware of other ’spirits’ or powers at work. It specifically says that many will follow clever fables as time goes on (Colossians 2:4-10; 1 Timothy 1:3-11). Biblical teaching is clear that those who deny the son of God, do not belong to God the Father (1 John 2:23-25). Strikingly different to Islam, the Bible repeatedly speaks about the Lord who appears to many throughout history (Genesis 3:8; Genesis 16:9-13; Genesis 18:1-15; Genesis 19:24-25; Exodus 3:1-18; Exodus 33:9-11; 1 Samuel 3:8-10; Numbers 12:6-8; Judges 13:9-25)

Is Allah the same as the God of the Bible?

The Bible and Qur’an speak about two very different Gods. To see this, let’s start by comparing three Bible texts with a few verses from the Qur’an. In Genesis 1:27-28, God speaks together as they create human beings in their image. In Matthew 3:16-17 we read about the baptism of Jesus when the Father spoke of His Son and the Holy Spirit descended upon him. Lastly in Matthew 28:18-20 we see Jesus commissioning Christians to proclaim the good news (that Jesus is God come to us to rescue us, pay for the world’s sin by dying for us and conquering death, so we can live with Him forever). Jesus commissions Christians to speak in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Compare this to Qur’an [an-Nisa] 4:171, which challenges Christians directly. It says Allah has no son, and is no Trinity. We read in Qur’an Al-Mā’idah 5:72-82 a direct challenge against the divinity of Jesus. It implies Christians took Jesus and elevated him to the same level as God; yet no Christian would believe this. The Bible is clear that one from everlasting will come, and that Jesus came to do t the Fathers will; they work together (Micah 5:2; John 6:38; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:10-11)