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6 - The Facts on Islam
SECTION II
The Theology of Islam: Is It Compatible with
Christian Belief?
6. What does Islam teach about Allah, and
is he like the God of the Bible?
Islam teaches that the true
God is the Muslim deity, Allah. All other views of God are false because the
Koran teaches, "The true religion with God is Islam." The Koran emphasizes of
Allah: "There is no God but he, the Living, the everlasting."
But who is Allah? Is he anything like the God of Christian
faith? As we will see, the Muslim God is entirely different from the biblical
God. First, the Koran stresses that Allah is one person only: "They are
unbelievers who say, 'God is the Third of Three.' No god is there but one God.
If they refrain not from what they say, there shall afflict those of them that
disbelieve a painful chastisement." Here, the Koran emphasizes that Christians
are unbelievers because they accept the historic Christian doctrine of the
Trinity. But, as we fully documented in our Knowing the Truth About the
Trinity (Harvest House), the Bible unmistakably tells us that God has
revealed Himself as a triune Being, as One God eternally existing in three
Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; John 1:1, 14; Acts
5:3-4). Although many Muslims believe otherwise, Christians do not
believe in three gods. This idea is a clear misrepresentation of Christian
belief. Christians are not polytheists, who accept three gods, but monotheists
who believe in one God.
Second, the Muslim God has a different character than the
biblical God. It is significant that of the "99 beautiful names for Allah,"
which Muslims memorize and use for worship, not one of these names is "love" or
"loving." The Koran stresses that Allah only "loves" those who do good, but that
he does not love those who are bad. Allah himself emphasizes that he does not
love the sinner. Thus, the love of Allah is not the love of the God of the
Bible. The biblical God does love the sinner - in fact, He loves all sinners.
God does not love the sin, but He does love the sinner: "Christ died for the
ungodly . . . God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us . . . If, when we were
God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son,
how much more, having been reconciled, shall be saved through his life!" (Romans
5:6, 8, 10). Essentially, Allah is primarily a God of power, not a God of love.
But the Bible declares, "God is love" (1st John 4:16).
Next, through predestination of all things, Allah is
considered the direct author of both good and evil. This is not the God
of the Bible. While the biblical God is sovereign and permits evil, He is not
its direct cause. Even when it is part of his plan, He frequently turns it to a
higher good, as seen in the death of Jesus for our sins, Joseph being sold into
slavery (Genesis 45:8; 50:20), and in Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all
things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose." Again, the biblical God is not the direct author of
evil. Rather, He is infinitely holy and righteous (1st Samuel 2:2; Psalm 77:13;
99:9; Revelation 15:4), and His "eyes are too pure to look on evil" (Habakkuk
1:13).
Third, Allah is ultimately unknowable and incomprehensible.
In Who Is Allah in Islam, Abd-al-Masih writes, "Allah is the unique,
unexplorable, and inexplicable one - the remote, vast, and unknown God.
Everything we think about him is incomplete, if not wrong. Allah cannot be
comprehended."
In "What Is Allah Like?" George Houssney writes, "We humans
can never know Allah, because he is so far from us and so different from us. The
only knowledge Muslims may admit to is knowledge about Allah, not a personal,
experiential knowledge of him. People cannot know Allah and should not even try
to know him. Allah is not involved in the affairs of humans." Thus, Houssney
goes on to point out the contrast between Muslim and Christian concepts
concerning humanity's relationship to God: "The Christian claim that humans can
have a relationship with God is considered by Muslims to be a metaphysical
impossibility. To Muslims, Allah has not revealed himself, but rather he has
revealed his mashi'at (desire and wishes, i.e., his will). His will,
according to Islamic teaching, is limited to Islamic law. A person performs the
will of Allah when he follows the dictates of the Islamic legal system."
Finally, Houssney further illustrates the distinction between Muslim and
Christian concepts of God at this point: "Allah has no personality and is
indescribable by any characteristic attributable to man. Most of his attributes
are absolute qualities which are unique to himself, like adjectives of majesty.
Although some of his attributes may appear to be relational, such as mercy, they
are nonmutual and one-directional. According to the Islamic doctrine of Allah,
he is nonrelational. To claim that Allah is to make him dependent on his
creation."
All this stands in contrast to the biblical teaching that men
and women can know God personally on an intimate, relational level.
Consider these Scriptures: "This is eternal life, that they may know
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent" (John
17:3). Jesus said, "my sheep know me" (John 10:14).
The apostle Paul prayed for Christian believers concerning
God, "that you may know him better" (Ephesians 1:17). The apostle Paul
also said, "I know whom I have believed" (2nd Timothy 1:12).
The apostle John emphasized, "We know that we have
come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, 'I know him,'
but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1st
John 2:3-4). Thus, he emphasized, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for
love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows
God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (1st
John 4:7-8).
The Muslim God, Allah, and the biblical God, Yahweh,
constitute two distinct and opposing concepts of God. Regrettably, because
Muslims teach that Allah alone is the one true God, they claim that Christians
worship a false god.
John Ankerberg & John Weldon
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