Tag: One God

The Belief of Demons

On By Mona SabahIn Uncategorized

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! ~James 2:19

We spent this morning discussing the beliefs of some in the Church who profess to show their faith without works and those who show their faith through works.

The interesting thing about this discussion was that there are those who believe only in their own works. There are many religions that claim that human beings can work their way to heaven. Islam is one of those that proclaims this very loud and clear. Surah 16:97 states “Whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, We will surely bless them with a good life, and We will certainly reward them according to the best of their deeds.” Your reward is solely based upon how well you have followed the 5 Pillars of the Muslim faith and how many good deeds you have done.

When I was a Muslim, I used to wonder (and ask others) “what is good?” How do you know? What I might think is good might be considered bad to another. What is meant by a “good life” in the verse above? What does that “good life” look like? Is it prosperity? Is it a guarantee of entering Paradise? How do you know how many good deeds you need to enter into heaven? As someone who was very goal-oriented, I needed to know just how many good deeds I needed- just like I needed to know how many points I needed on my next exam to get an A grade and pass my course. I wanted to get an A on the ultimate course of life and make it into heaven. That was a great desire of mine because much of the Quran speaks about hellfire and damnation.

The basic tenet of Islam, however, is the belief in ONE God, Allah (this is called the “TAWHEED” or oneness). The Shahadah (statement of belief, confession or creed) states that “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Rasul (messenger).” If someone simply recites this statement in the presence of another Muslim, they become a Muslim right on the spot. The big question, however, is “Does this statement get me into Paradise?” The answer is a resounding “NO.”

The verdict is still out in Islam on how exactly one gets to enter into Paradise and who will enter Paradise. This is an even more difficult task for women, since Muhammad said that women don’t have good odds of entering.

If you look at the Muslim question and answer boards like Islamqa.com, there are many who are wondering the same thing – they are left scratching their heads even after having an Imam (Muslim cleric) answer their questions like this one: https://islamqa.info/en/answers/147996/will-every-muslim-enter-paradise-even-if-he-was-a-hypocrite-or-did-not-pray-or-committed-shirk

“Verily, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths (grade) of the Fire; no helper will you find for them” [an-Nisa’ 4:145]. 

But if what you meant by hypocrites is those who fall into some acts of hypocrisy, such as lying or betraying a trust or breaking a promise; or he fell into some kind of minor shirk, such as showing off or swearing by something other than Allah; or who fell into some major or minor sin – such a person does not become a kaafir just by doing that thing. It does not put him beyond the pale of Islam and he will not spend eternity in Hell because of it, if he dies believing in Tawheed. Rather his case is up to Allah: if He wills He will punish him for his sin, then admit him to Paradise because of his belief in Tawheed, or He will bestow His grace upon him from the outset and admit him into Paradise and forgive him for the sins that he committed. Al-Bukhaari (6933) and Muslim (1659) narrated that Abu Dharr said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Jibreel appeared to me at the side of the harrah and said: ‘Give your ummah the glad tidings that whoever dies not associating anything with Allah will enter Paradise.’ I said: ‘O Jibreel, even if he steals and even if commits zina?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ I said: ‘Even if he steals and even if commits zina?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ I said: ‘Even if he steals and even if he commits zina?’ He said: ‘Yes, and even if he drinks alcohol.’ And Allah knows best.”

Islam Question & Answer

That answer would not give me much hope, since I have said and done hypocritical things in my life!

The passage above references the Tawheed (oneness of Allah). If you look at all the answers in the link, the first answer states that anyone who commits “shirk” (adding partners to Allah) will be in hell-fire.

“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin. [an-Nisa’ 4:48]. “

This brings us back to the verse from the book of James. It is not enough to simply believe that God is one. James states that “…Even the demons believe—and shudder!” James was referring to Deuteronomy 6:4 which was a creed for the Jews ““Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” Just because you believe in the God of Moses or Abraham did not mean that you were saved from hellfire. A “saving faith” means that you don’t just recite a creed or a confession and go on with your life. Your faith needs to rest in more than that.

That faith also doesn’t rely upon your own “good” works because how does one know they will ever be good enough to please God? Your faith needs to rest in more than that.

The demons shudder because they have knowledge (and faith, dare we say?) that there is only ONE God. However, their fate is not heaven, but hellfire. The truth is that they are utterly condemned and they understand this as a reality… that’s why they shudder.

So what does our faith need to rest upon?

It’s not a creed. It’s not a statement. It’s not a confession. It is a Person.

We believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The only work that will save us and make us right with God is the work Jesus Christ completed on the cross at Calvary over 2000 years ago. He is the only one who is the way to heaven.

We can rest upon Christ and Christ alone.

Do Muslims & Christians Pray to the Same God?

On By Mona SabahIn Bible, Diversity, Islam, Jesus Christ, Muslim, Prayer, Uncategorized4 Comments

katarina-church-and-stockholm-mosque-1024x575
Katarina Church & Stockholm Mosque in Sweden

One of the frequent questions I get is “Do Muslims pray to the same God as us (Christians)?” If you would have asked me when I first became a Christian, my answer would have been unequivocally “YES!” Having been taught that Allah is the same God of Abraham (whom both Jews and Christians worship) for 35 years was the reasoning behind that answer at that time. I didn’t understand fully who God Almighty was and more specifically, who He was as revealed by Jesus Christ.

This year, I was mortified to learn that churches right here in Oklahoma City were allowing Muslims to come and pray with them. When I asked how prayers were being conducted, the two people I spoke to said that their Imam was leading the Muslim prayer with everyone there… in the church. Did I mention that this was IN THE CHURCH???

What’s wrong with that?

In my Muslim brain, I would not have seen any issues with that. Same God = Same God. No problem.

As a more mature Christian, my understanding of who we worship is very different! We, Christians worship ONE God in THREE persons: God the Father Almighty, Jesus Christ his only begotten son and the Holy Spirit. All three separate persons who have existed together since the beginning of time (for there is no time for them – they are infinite!). They are three, but ONE.

This is not only completely different than what Muslims believe, it is also considered to be “Shirk.” Shirk is the ultimate sin of blasphemy that puts another equal to God. In Islam, the belief in Allah is called Tawhid. Tawhid comes from the Arabic root word for ONE “Wahid.” One means only one – not a father, no son and no Holy Spirit. In fact, in the Quran, the Trinity is called out by Isa (Jesus) in verse 5:116 (Yusuf Ali):

And behold! Allah will say: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah‘?” He will say: “Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden.

Yes… that’s right. The Quran points out that Christians believe the Trinity is Allah, Jesus and Mary. The next few lines say that is blasphemy and guess what… CHRISTIANS AGREE!  In fact, the Bible attests to this fact numerous times in both the Old & the New Testament:

Deuteronomy 6:4 (the Shema) ~ “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [NOTE: Jesus repeats this in Mark 12:29]

8:1 Corinthians 6 ~ yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

In Islam, the five daily prayers (Salat) attest to the Muslim belief that Allah is only ONE and that there are no others equal to him. In fact, there is a beautiful prayer I used to recite each time  I prayed and that is called “Surah Fatiha (the beginning prayer).” The Fatiha is prayed at least 16 times a day and can also be prayed upwards of 48 times a day.  I would pray this prayer as often as I could as a Muslim.

It is important to note that just in one prayer (there are multiple prayers recited in Arabic during each of the 5 times of Salat), there is a denunciation of the Triune Christian God and also it says that Jews and Christians are going into the path of destruction. Again, I urge you to not just take my word for it, but to look it up for yourself (www.muslimconverts.com). Here’s a screenshot of the prayer with translation in English. Many Muslims have no clue what they are reciting because they have to pray in Arabic and don’t even speak the language.

fatihah
Repeated 16-48 times by every Muslim during the day

In the name of inclusion and diversity, people are willing to consider Islam as the same as Christianity.  It is not the same – that’s the beauty of real diversity in the United States – that we can worship how we want. I am 100% on board for people wanting to open their hearts to Muslims – we should not only open our hearts, but also our homes. The only caution I give is to not compromise when it comes to belief and worship. Worship of the LORD our God YHWH is sacred and should be kept that way. Christians cannot stand in our place of worship with someone next to them who is denying the Triune God and His Christ with his every word.

Instead of asking do Muslims worship the same God, I think we need to be clear that Christians DO NOT worship the same God. 

This is what I believe, along with the thousands before me (The Apostle’s Creed):

Amen and Amen…

*NOTE: “The holy catholic church” does not mean the Roman Catholic church. It is a term that means the Church Universal (the big “C” Church!)! 🙂