Islam
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[edit] Etymology and meaning
[edit] Ten Things Worth Knowing about Islam
- A brief survey which can serve as a reminder of both the complexity and opportunities inherent in communicating the gospel to Muslims. Read the article in EMQ
[edit] History
[edit] Early years and the establishment of the Rashidun caliphate
[edit] Founding
Islam was founded by Mohammed (570-632) who believed himself to be the mouth-piece of God. His followers consider him a Prophet and his revelations to be compiled in the Koran. Mohammed referred to the supreme God as Allah. He knew much about Judaism and a little about Christianity and was influenced by both, honoring Jesus as a Prophet but refusing to consider him the Son of God as this would, in his opinion, denigrate the greatness and uniqueness of God. Thus some Christian missiologists consider Islam to be a Christian heresy but the vast majority of Muslims would consider Islam to be a fresh and unique revelation, and not a reinterpretation of Christianity.
[edit] Emergence of hereditary caliphates
[edit] Fragmentation
[edit] Zikri Baluch
[edit] The Crusades and the Mongol invasions
[edit] Rise of the Ottomans
[edit] Formation of modern nation-states
[edit] Beliefs
[edit] God
[edit] Qur'an
[edit] The Prophet
[edit] Sunnah
[edit] Angels
[edit] The spirit world
- Muslims worldwide are often afraid of evil coming from the spirit world. This fear is a source of profound unspoken anxiety for many. Islam has a complex and multifaceted set of beliefs about the invisible forces at work around us. Theses beliefs also vary greatly from one region and one people to another. Muslims not only believe in the existence of angels but also in Jinn (Djinn), who also populate this world. Jinn, Muslims believe, are very similar to humans: they have their own social organisation and activities, yet they can also change their appearance and become visible or invisible at will. Most Muslim theologians believe that Shaitan (Satan, also called Iblis) belongs to the Jinn. These beings were supposedly created just before the creation of mankind. They do both good and evil. The term “Jinn” is related to the English word “genie” known through Arabian folk stories.
[edit] Resurrection and judgement
[edit] Divine decree
[edit] Five Pillars of Islam
[edit] Shahadah
[edit] Salah
Prayer
[edit] Zakat
Alms Tax
[edit] Sawm
Fasting
[edit] Ramadan
- The Night of Power - Laylatul Qadr - holiest of all
- Muslim scholars believe that while the Qur’an was revealed over a period of 23 years the Night of Power is considered the night in which the first revelations of Islam and the prophethood of Muhammed began. This night is in celebration of the arrival of the Qur’an. In Arabic, Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power) is described in the Qur’an as, “better than a thousand months” (Sura 97:3). Al-Qadr means power and implies having power over something, particularly to Allah. The character of Allah is said to be excellence in power, capable, all powerful, almighty and also implies “high esteem” and thus the Night of Power is to be highly esteemed.
- It is often a point of debate among Muslim scholars as to when exactly the Night of Power occurs. Some scholars say that this night is hidden. Some say it occurs on either the 1st, 7th or 19th night of Ramadan. However, there is strong evidence that the night occurs during the last 10 days of Ramadan, specifically on odd numbered nights. In a report by Bukhari, Muhammed said, “Seek it on the odd nights of the last 10 days of Ramadan.” In Hadith by Ubayy bin Ka’ab, Muhammed also said, “By Allah, I know which night it is. It is the night the Messenger commanded us to observe, the night of the 27th.”
- Muslims believe angels perform special deeds on this night. The whole Night of Power, from sunset to dawn, is the holiest night of the year. It is believed that there are groups of special angels who are only seen on the Night of Power. These angels perform special purposes. Some come down for worship, others for granting the request of the believing Muslim. Other angels come down bringing with them proclamations of the coming year. Today, many Muslims think this is a special night when God gives heed to their requests. Often they are open to dreams and visions as they seek for guidance and revelation. Many Muslims pray all night seeking a response to specific requests. One common belief is that angels will shower down the peace and blessings of God on all who remain awake during this night of power. According to the Qur’an, God either listens directly or via the angel Gabriel, to the requests of Muslims concerning their fate.
- As Muhammed had his destiny fulfilled by receiving the revelation of the Qur’an on this night, Muslims also call this the “Night of Destiny”. This night seems equally important among orthodox Muslims and in Folk Islam. It is on this night, and during the following weeks, that many Muslims have had supernatural encounters with God. Muslims are encouraged to stay awake the entire night, and pray for blessings and forgiveness. According to Abu Huraira translation of the Hadith, the Prophet Muhamed declared that “whoever prays during the Night of Power with faith and hoping for its reward will have all his previous sins forgiven.” There are many things that a Muslim will endeavour to do on the Night of Power including recite and study the Quran, make special requests from Allah, evaluate their own lives and make plans for the next year. Some Muslims will take the day off work so they can stay up all night and will often spend this night in the mosque.
- Attitudes: Muslims come to this night with several attitudes. Some want to prove their devotion to God through their prayers, even being proud of their religious accomplishments. Others, knowing in their hearts that they are incapable of really pleasing God by their own religious activity, will feel disappointed with themselves. Finally, significant numbers will be praying in desperation and are genuinely seeking help from God.
[edit] Hajj
Pilgrimage to Mecca
[edit] Islamic law
The Shariah In General
[edit] Community
[edit] Mosques
[edit] Ethics
[edit] Customs and behavioral laws
[edit] Islamic calendar
[edit] Festivals
[edit] Jihad
Holy War
[edit] Denominations
[edit] Sunni
[edit] Shi'a
- The Shi'a, number between 130 to 195 million, or 10-15 percent of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims, according to "The Shi'a Revival". Shiites live throughout the Middle East, to the Persian Gulf, and in Central and South Asia.
[edit] Sufism
[edit] Wahhabi
[edit] Others
[edit] Islamic civilization
[edit] Art and architecture
[edit] Philosophy and literature
[edit] Science and technology
[edit] Islamic universities
- The evolving world of Islamic universities has become a major challenge for Christians. The mission of Islamic education is to establish Quranic values and promote Islamic rule and influence worldwide through university community life and studies.
[edit] Modern Islam
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Modern interpretations
[edit] The doctrine of taqiyya – which means dissimulation
- Islam claims that its teachings are the absolute truth. But in Islam there is another doctrine, which allows people to tell lies in some circumstances. This is the doctrine of taqiyya – which means dissimulation. It allows Muslims to tell lies in order to save their lives, or their honour, or their property. It was developed during persecution, but now has become quite normal. This doctrine concerns the making and breaking of treaties. This will clearly affect the situation in many countries. According to the Islamic rules about warfare, Muslims are allowed only to make temporary peace treaties with non-Muslims. These treaties should last no more than ten years. If, after a while, such a treaty is no longer advantageous to the Muslims, they must break it.
[edit] Current Status
- Remarkably, while Islam started the century in 1900 numerically far behind Christianity, its impressive gains caused it to end up in 2000 as the second largest global religion. While Christianity remained essentially static, with gains in some regions offset by losses in others, Islam managed to preserve its position in nearly all the regions it began with, while adding small increments in new regions. Islam, it should be noted, is the only religion that is gaining in its proportion of the global population: the nonreligious also made gains but have for the most part lost their momentum, and all other global faiths are static.
- Islam’s gains have been due in many regions to demography: Africa and Western Asia, where Islam is strongest, simply have had a very high birth rate. It has advanced in other regions through the twin forces of immigration and Islamic missions. Many new mosques and copies of the Koran have been funded in part by billions of dollars of oil wealth.
- Between 1900 and 1975, Muslims maintained their proportion in North and South of Africa while doubling in the Middle and West and nearly doing the same in the East. Although Muslims posted gains in Asia, they did not do so at nearly the same rate except in the Western “Stans.” Although Muslims form a very small part of Europe, they increased this portion and had similarly small increases in Latin America and North America. Only in the Pacific did Muslims for the most part fail to make any significant advance.
- This situation is not likely to change by 2025. Islam will probably remain the overwhelming majority in North Africa and West Asia, where it is completely integrated into the culture. it is and will likely continue to be even with Christianity in West Africa, and will make up slightly more than 5% in Europe. The primary reason for this projection is the high birth rate in the Muslim world, the degree to which Muslim nations insulate their populations from other religious or non-religious influences, and the relative lack of any Christian outreach to Muslims.
- There are about 220 Muslim peoples around the world with over 100,000 members each, and these peoples have no local committed Christian witness. In addition, there are no known believers who are specifically planning to take the Gospel of the Kingdom to them. There are huge numbers of Muslims peoples where there is a small Christian witness, but the Muslims still have never heard the Gospel in a meaningful and culturally adapted way. This is true of millions of Arabs in the Middle East as well as millions more in Africa and Southeast Asia.
[edit] Islam and Christianity
[edit] Compare
[edit] The God and Allah
- Muslims believe the Holy Trinity implies a belief in three gods. Many Muslims believe that the Christian Trinity is made up of the Father, Mary (the virgin) and the Son (Jesus).
[edit] The Qu'ran and the Bible
- Muslims often believe that the Bible has been altered and corrupted. They will deny its authority because they see it as not being authentic.
[edit] Jesus and The Prophet
- They believe it is blasphemy to affirm the divinity of Jesus and to give Him the title “Son of God”. Many believe this implies that God had sexual relations with Mary and that a son was born physically through the union. (This idea is also unacceptable for Christians.)
- Jesus in the Qur’an The Qur’an affirms certain beliefs about Jesus that are actually true biblically: He was born of a virgin, he performed miracles of healing the blind, lepers, and raising the dead, he had disciples and experienced rejection from his people. Jesus is also given many great titles in the Qur’an including “Servant of God”, “Prophet and Apostle of God”, “Lord of God”, “Spirit from God and “One of the Righteous”. He is called “The Messiah eleven times in the Qur’an but there is no explanation of what this means. He is most commonly called “Isa, son of Mary” in the Qur’an, emphasising his virgin birth, but it is clearly stated that this is not “God in the flesh” (He is no more than a prophet), not “Son of God” and he did not die on the cross. Even if he had died on the cross the Qur’an denies the possibility of an atoning death, declaring three times that on Judgment Day, noone can bear the sins of another! So although there are some similarities to the Jesus we know from the Bible, the Qur’an also presents some strong theological barriers for Muslims to come to know him as the Messianic King sent to bring forgiveness of sin and deliverance from the power of death, Satan and injustice.
[edit] The Cross of Christ
[edit] Miracles
[edit] Law and Grace
- Islam is a religion of works. People are caught up in doing what they have been told is necessary. They hope that because of their good works they will be accepted into paradise. Pray for their eyes to be opened to the Gospel of grace. 'For it is by grace that you have been saved ... not by works' (Eph 2:8-9)
[edit] Jugdment
[edit] Sin
[edit] Salvation
[edit] Love your enemy
[edit] Ethics
[edit] The second coming of Christ
[edit] The Gospel of Barnabas and other books against the Gospel
[edit] How to win Muslims for Christ?
[edit] Moslem background believers
[edit] Resources
You find resources for the ministry under "Resources for outreach to Moslems".
Karl Gottlieb Pfander has written three books about Islam and comparing Islam with the Bible. See under Karl Gottlieb Pfander.
[edit] External Links
A lot of books and radio programs you will find by Call of Hope: *[1]
