by Marcel Rebiai

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On the basis of my studies of Islam during the past 15 years, I wish to present our COR Journal readers with a series of articles on the essence and rationale, the beliefs and the spiritual background of Islam; especially its relationship to Jews and Christians.

It would fill libraries of books to present the whole scope of Islam's character and self-understanding, to say nothing of its controversy with the Jewish people and the Christian faith. The differences between folk religion, tradition, orthodoxy, practical rites, mysticism, and reform movements of various Islamic branches are a broad subject. Also the different Islamic cultures from Indonesia to Afghanistan and Morocco show that Islam has thousands of forms in everyday life.
Nevertheless we can speak of the Islamic religion, for in the Islamic world there is an identity which unifies all the differences. This identity is the foundation of Islam, a self-understanding common to all Moslems, in which they stand together against the non-Islamic world. We will clarify this basis of Islam here in order to shed more light on the increasingly intensive conflict with Israel and with the Christian world.
In my presentation of Islam and its relationship to Israel and the Christian church I make no claim to an exhaustive treatment or to so-called objectivity. On the one hand it is not so simple to portray Islam exhaustively. On the other hand, I also believe that God alone is objective. No person judges without a value system.
Whatever we present and describe is a product of our worldview, of our faith or lack of faith, of our thinking, our morals and our values. I myself think and judge as one for whom the message of the Old and New Testaments is the highest authority and who considers this message the binding truth for all mankind.

Since September 11, 2001, there is a growing desire to understand Islam in its relationship to the Christian and the Jewish world. It is being said everywhere that Islam is a peaceful religion which is very similar to Christianity and Judaism, since it is monotheistic. But does this correspond with the facts?

The idea that Islam is very similar to Jewish and Christian thought and that one can assume a common basis seems to me to be the wishful thinking of the world and of some assimilated or "clever" Moslems. The goal is to soothe those in the West who, frightened by Islamic terror, are searching for security and for something to hang onto.

This is not the thinking of Mohammed, the central figure of Islam. Let us see what he himself said! In the Koran, sura 109:15 he said, "You unbelievers (by which he meant Jews and Christians), I do not honour what you honour, I do not serve what you serve, and you do not honour what I honour. You have your religion and I have mine."

Before looking closer at Islam, I will briefly sketch the three so-called monotheistic religions.

Judaism

Judaism is concerned with a nation, with a people bound to a particular land. It considers itself a people which God called and which allows God to rule over it in the land God gave it. This makes it a testimony for all peoples that the God of Israel is the sole true, living God, who also considers himself the God of the peoples. The Jewish people's relationship to God, living under his rule, makes it a light to the heathen who do not know the God of Israel.

Thus we read in Isaiah 45:21; 44:8; or 43:10, "You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you (and the nations) may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me."

Judaism knows neither missions, i.e. winning adherents, nor territorial expansion. It gathers a people under the reign of the God of Israel in the land God has promised them. We could call Judaism a national religion.

Christianity

The first disciples of Christ (Hebrew: Messiah) were Jews. Christianity not only grew out of Biblical Judaism, but it is still based on the Old Testament, the Jewish Bible. Christians recognise that Jesus is the Messiah who was awaited by the Jewish people. According to the prophet Isaiah (chapter 53), this Messiah must remove the guilt of his people through his sacrificial death and to fulfil the promises to the Jewish people and through them to all peoples.
In Jeremiah 31:31-34 we read, "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel... This is the covenant I will make after that time: I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts..." The time of salvation and of the restoration of God's kingdom has come in the Messiah Jesus, as written in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

The Gospel is the restoration of God's reign in the hearts of individuals (Jeremiah 31:31 + 34). It is a universal message to the individual regarding his relationship to God and to his neighbour. The worldwide Christian church is neither an ethnic nor a national entity. It is a fellowship of people who all confess that they have received forgiveness of sins through the Messiah Jesus and now participate in God's kingdom. The differences in race, peoples, and nations, between class and gender are meaningless. Only the relationships to God through the Messiah, and to one's neighbour are important.

Islam

Islam is not a matter of a particular people, even though historically speaking it began among Arabs and the Arab world still claims leadership within Islam. Nor is it concerned with a particular land, although Islamic holy places such as Mecca and Medina exist, places upon which only Moslems may tread. Islam does not strive for the conversion of individuals. It is unable to comprehend salvation as presented in the Gospel. From an Islamic point of view, it is not just unreasonable, but indeed blasphemous that Allah himself would identify with the guilt of his creatures and suffer in their stead in order to redeem them.
Allah is so endlessly lofty, so omnipotent, so majestic, that he cannot be thought of in any direct relationship to his creation, except that it honours him through obedience to his law. Allah knows that man is by nature weak and has a tendency to evil.

According to the Koran, from the beginning Allah himself created man with the capacity to sin as well as to fear him. He challenged man to overcome sin through obedience to his law, in order to achieve what is good (sura 91:7+8). By keeping the commands and rules, man himself is able to live a life pleasing to Allah. There is no need for salvation, for each one can produce his own happiness - if Allah wills it.

The centre of Islam is Allah's law, to which all creation must submit, so that God may be honoured through the keeping of his laws. There is no liberation of a people from slavery, like Israel's exodus from Egypt, or redemption from darkness and insurmountable original sin. One is not led into a personal loving relationship with Allah, nor is there any redemption history which restores a broken relationship between Allah and man. There is only submission to the law as Allah revealed it through Mohammed in the Koran.

Islam, the sole true religion

Non-Moslems think of Islam as a world religion - alongside Judaism and Christianity - which was founded by Mohammed in the 7th century. For Moslems this is a devaluation of Islam because for them Islam is simply THE religion. In sura 3:19 we read, "The religion before God is Islam." And in sura 30:30, "So set thou thy steadily and truly to the Faith: God's handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind. That is the standard Religion, but most among mankind understand not."

For Moslems, Islam is not the religion of men who have a certain mutual faith and a mutual cultural and religious identity. They see it as the sole possible attitude toward Allah. Submitting to his will, obeying his commands, and surrendering all areas of life to his law. Thus a Moslem is a person who has unreservedly submitted himself to Allah's will and command. Islam is a faith, a way of life, and a movement to establish Allah's will, laws, and ordinances in the whole world.

Adam, the first Moslem

For the Moslem, Islam did not begin with Mohammed's appearance in Mecca, in 610 A.D., or with the beginning of the Islamic calendar in 622, the year of the flight (hijra) from Mecca to Medina, as non-Moslems see it historically. For Moslems, Islam began with man's creation of his appointment as Allah's representative on earth.

Sura 2:30f, "Behold, thy Lord said to the angels, 'I will create a vice-regent on earth...'" v. 34, "And behold, we said to the angels, 'Bow down to Adam', they bowed down." V. 37, "Then learnt Adam from his Lord words" Adam already called himself Moslem. Sura 7:172, "God said... 'Am I not your Lord?' They said, 'Yes, we do thus testify!"
Adam thus expressed that Islam is the sole natural religion of man. Mohammed's message brought the final form of Islam; binding for all humanity. The Koran portrays his revelation as the word of God. In the Sunna and Hadith Mohammed's way of life, habits and thoughts are passed down as the imperative example and briefing for all Moslems.

According to Islam, Mohammed's message not only revealed the heathens' godlessness and darkness, but also corrected the aberration and perversion of those with Scriptures, primarily Jews and Christians. All are called to man's natural state, Islam, so that Allah does not destroy them.

Submission to Islam

For the heathen there were only two possibilities: submission to Islam's reign, or death. Sura 9:5, "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight the Pagans... seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them...but if they repent...then open the way for them; for God is oft-forgiving, most merciful..."

Ultimately that applied to Jews and Christians also. The only true believer was one who believed Mohammed's message and acknowledged Islam's reign. Sura 5:77ff "O people of the Book, exceed not in your faith... If only they had believed in God, in the Apostle, and in what hath been revealed to him... Strongest among men in enmity to the believers (=Moslems) wilt thou find the Jews and pagans..."

For the “unbelievers” - Jews as well as Christians - submission to Islam is required. If they remain outside the pale of Islamic law, they should receive hard, merciless treatment in this life; and in the hereafter, judgement and hell. Sura 9:29-30, "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day...nor acknowledge the religion of truth (=Islam); fight them until they pay the tribute with willing submission...The Jews call Ezra a son of God, and the Christians call Christ the son of God; (in this) they but imitate what the Unbelievers of old used to say. God's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!"

Mohammed as a messiah

Since Islam is man's natural religion, a non-Moslem's condition is unnatural, and perverted, and thus an abomination to Allah. Beyond the so-called "shirk” of bringing someone or something on an equal footing with Allah, the worst sin is that of pulling a Moslem away from Islam. This is worse than even murder or deception.
In sura 2:214 it is written, "Leading astray from Allah's way and denying the holy mosque and driving his people from it is worse in Allah's sight; leading astray is worse than murder."

In all four Islamic law schools, both defection from Islam and wooing someone away from Islam are punishable by death. Leaving or questioning Islam insults the majesty of Allah, to which the only response can be death. Since Mohammed proclaimed Allah's will, everyone who questions or degrades him must be put to death. Sura 4:80, "Who obeys Mohammed obeys God and who insults Mohammed insults God."

Mohammed represents Allah on earth. He is prophet, ruler, and imam (prayer leader in the mosque). As prophet he reveals Allah's will; as ruler he subjects the world to Allah's will and enforces God's commands; and as imam he intercedes before Allah for Moslems, who can be saved from judgement solely through his intercession.

As prophet, king, and priest, Mohammed embodies all the characteristics of the messiah. Islam calls him the essence of all divine prophecies, the "seal of the prophets". He is a messiah figure so superior to everyone before him, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, that he ultimately has a divine claim to obedience - in spite of all Islamic assertions to the contrary that he is only a human and himself needs Allah's forgiveness. Sura 4:80, "Who obeys Mohammed obeys God."

He is the essence of Islam and of what is pleasing to Allah. Thus he is not just the central figure of Islam, but the centre itself. He embodies what a Moslem should be, according to Allah, an example for all men. Since Allah in his eminence and majesty is so unapproachable for normal men that we can speak of an absent god, the Moslem is primarily and continually confronted with the thoughts and acts of Mohammed.


Islam as an anthropocentric religion

Islam, which loves to present itself as an absolutely monotheistic religion, is in its essence actually anthropocentric, i.e. man is in the centre. The intellect, the humanly possible, the given needs, desires, and limits of man determine the measure of a Moslem's actions and beliefs.

A large part of the so-called revelations in the Koran serve to explain Mohammed's life and actions, to justify and protect him especially where he claimed other rights than normal Moslems. Thus he was allowed to have not just 4 but 9 wives, along with his concubines and women slaves. He had the right to demand that his adopted son get divorced because Mohammed desired that son’s wife. He could attack and fight his enemies, mainly Jews in Medina, during what were generally considered war-free, peaceful times; a season which had hitherto been respected as holy months by all Jewish and Arab tribes. He ordered or allowed his enemies' assassination.

As Allah's representative Mohammed was removed from all judgement, accountability, and moral code; from custom, or ethnic consideration. In order to set up the reign of Islam, Allah allowed him every means, from trickery to deception; from breach of contract to murder. It is said, after all, that pulling a person away from true Islamic faith is much worse than killing. These are not just insinuations. The Koran itself and the traditions speak clearly regarding Mohammed's character and conduct.

The beginnings of Islam

Why did Islam never acknowledge that it is a post-Christian religion, even though historically speaking it began at least 2,000 years after Judaism and 600 after Christianity? Why did Islam, in spite of its obviously perverted use of the Old and New Testaments, never admit that it was inspired by or at least arose from them? On the contrary, Islam considers the Old and New Testaments originally Islamic revelation which was falsified by man. The coming of Mohammed was even supposedly prophesied, e.g. in John's Gospel.

In order to understand this, as well as the present relationship of Islam to Jews and Christians, we must look at Islam's beginnings. I do this without claiming to be totally systematic or complete.
Mohammed realised that his people's religious rites and customs were less a matter of religion than business. In pre-Islamic time, the Kaaba was a central holy place to which Arab tribes made pilgrimages in order to secure for themselves, through religious rites, luck and success in business and life.
Arab religious culture of the time was a mixture of polytheism, animism, and fetishism. The black stone, the Kaaba, was then even thought to be the dwelling of a god and a main idol. Not only religious life, but society itself was rapidly disintegrating. Murdering girls was a daily occurrence; alcohol and gambling brought many to ruin.

Mohammed was concerned about the future of his people. As a son of a poor side branch of the suppressed clan of the Kuraish, he had no influence whatsoever. But because he was a skilled businessman, a very wealthy and influential woman 15 years his senior, named Kadisha, married him and he did business for her. During his business trips to Christian Byzantum, where he came in contact with Jews and with Christian monks, Mohammed learned of the existence of the one God, creator of heaven and earth, who had revealed himself to Jews and Christians and given them holy Scriptures. He was impressed by the piety of the monks, who often lived in desert caves. In addition, in Mecca he met many of the heretics whom the Byzantine church had banished to the Arabian Desert. From them he received a false understanding of the Trinity, consisting of father, son, and Maria. This found its way into the Koran, where it is written for all time.

How Mohammed became a prophet

Mohammed was inspired and fascinated by the idea of a mighty God. Even in pre-Islamic times there was the concept of one God above all the various gods and idols, one father-god. This was later called the god, al-illah, from which the word allah derived.
Mohammed withdrew increasingly from his business. His desire was to receive a message for his people. He must have had such momentous religious encounters and experiences that he himself later said he had wanted to take his own life. They had been so fearsome that he no longer wished to be exposed to them. He was not sure whether he had encountered demons. But his wife and a so-called Christian relative encouraged him in these religious encounters in order that he would become a prophet to his people. Then Mohammed began declaring messages which he claimed to have received from the angel Gabriel.

At first his message was very simple and oriented itself primarily according to Jewish-Christian teaching. When the inhabitants of Mecca turned against him because of his campaign against a myriad of idols they demanded proof that he was of divine origin. He referred them to Jews and Christians as his witnesses. He was convinced that he proclaimed the same message as they did, even though he had never read the Bible, for he was illiterate. He considered the Jews his chief witnesses. The Christians confused him too much with their doctrine of the Trinity, in spite of their positive attitude toward him. They gave him the impression that they believed in three gods, namely god the father, son, and Maria, God's mother.

To be continued.

Note: The Koran verse  numbers may differ from one translation to another.

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