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8 - The Facts on Islam
SECTION II
The Theology of Islam: Is It Compatible with
Christian Belief?
8. What does Islam teach about salvation?
Because the Koran teaches that
"the true religion with God is Islam," this means for the Muslim that salvation
is achieved only through submission to the teachings of Allah. Thus, salvation
in Islam requires that one must be a member of the Islamic faith. "Whose desires
another religion than Islam, it shall not be accepted of him; in the next world
he shall be among the losers." "Those who disbelieve, and die disbelieving -
upon them shall rest the curse of God and the angels, and of men altogether,
there indwelling forever; the chastisement shall not be lightened for them; no
respite shall be given them."
But what exactly does the Muslim believe about salvation?
Here are five basic points that reveal what the religion of Islam teaches about
salvation.
A. Islam teaches that forgiveness is
conditional upon good works and Allah's choice of mercy.
Islam is a religion of
salvation by personal righteousness. In other words, the Muslim thinks that by
striving to please God and by doing good works, he will hopefully gain entrance
to heaven through personal merit.
The Koran clearly teaches that salvation is achieved on the
basis of good works. Consider the following statement:
. . . every soul shall be paid in full what
it has earned. . .
. . . God loves those who cleanse themselves.
Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers
flow, there indwelling forever; that is the recompense of self-purified.
Islam teaches that on the Day
of Judgment one's good and evil deeds will be weighed on a scale. Good works are
heavy and evil deeds are light. Thus the person whose balances are heavy with
good deeds will go to heaven, while the person whose scales are light will go to
hell. The Koran asserts:
[In the Day of Judgment] they whose balances
shall be heavy with good works, shall be happy; but they whose balances
shall be light, are those who shall lose their souls, and shall remain in
hell forever.
With knowledge We will recount to them what
they have done, for We are watching over all their actions. On that day,
their deeds shall be weighed with justice. Those whose scales are heavy
shall triumph, but those whose scales are light shall lose their souls,
because they have denied Our revelations.
The Muslim assumes that his
chances for heaven are good if he (1) accepts only the Muslim God Allah and his
prophet Muhammad, (2) does good works and all that is required of him by Allah
(e.g., the Pillars of Religion), and (3) if he is predestined to heaven by
Allah's favor.
Given such requirements, one wonders if the Muslim can have
any assurance of salvation at all. Abdiyah Akbar Abdul-Haqq comments that the
Islamic reliance on good works is bound to leave any Muslim who seeks personal
assurance of salvation "utterly confused" because in this life no Muslim can
ever know if his good works are finally sufficient - let alone if he is
predestined to Allah's favor.
William Miller was a missionary to Muslims in Iran from 1919
to 1962. He discusses the Islamic view of salvation, its dependence upon good
works and personal merit, and the uncertainty which this brings to the heart of
every Muslim:
Islam has no Savior. Muhammad is rarely
called Savior. He is said to have brought God's law to men, and they, by
keeping those laws, must satisfy God's requirements and win His approval . .
. Since many Muslims realize that they [fall short of Koranic standards] . .
. they recite extra prayers in addition to those required for each day, they
make gifts to charity, and go on pilgrimages not only to Mecca, but also to
other sacred shrines, in order to gain merit, and if possible, balance their
account with God. But since God does not make known how the accounts of His
stand, a Muslim facing death does not know whether he is to go to paradise
or to hell. After all, the decision is made by the arbitrary will of God,
and no one can predict what that decision will be . . . And so the Muslim
lives and dies, not sure of his final salvation.
Thus the Muslim concept of
forgiveness is unlike that of biblical Christianity. In biblical Christianity,
forgiveness is based upon the death of Christ on the cross as a past
action. This means that once a person receives Christ as his or her Savior, all
of his or her sins are forgiven and each one is guaranteed a place in
heaven: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent
me has eternal life and will not be condemned" (John 5:24) and
"praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he
has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or
fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by
God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in
the last time" (1st Peter 1:3-5).
In Islam, there is no atonement for sin - no propitiatory
basis for forgiveness of sins. The Bible however, teaches of Jesus, "He is the
atoning sacrifice for our sins." Because of His great love for us, Jesus
willingly died in our place (see John 10:18), taking the penalty due our sin so
that God could freely forgive us. Indeed, "God presented him [Jesus] as a
sacrifice of atonement" and "[God] did it to demonstrate his justice at the
present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in
Jesus" (Romans 3:25-26). In Islam, however, Allah simply forgives whom he
chooses to forgive. Again, this forgiveness is predicated upon both
personal merit and Allah's choice of mercy. Muslims never know if their personal
works are sufficient to forgive their sins or if Allah will finally be merciful
to them. Muslims certainly hope they will be saved. But the following statements
in the Koran, as well as others, indicate the conditional nature of Islamic
forgiveness:
. . . And whoever of you turns from his religion,
and dies disbelieving - their works have failed in this world and the next;
those are the inhabitants of the Fire; therein they shall dwell forever.
God has pardoned what is past; but whoever
offends again, God will take vengeance on him; God is All-mighty, Vengeful.
This is contrary to what the
Bible teaches - that full salvation comes solely by God's grace through faith in
Jesus Christ, who died for all the believers' sins: "He forgave us all
our sins" (Colossians 2:13). The Bible also emphasizes that salvation does not
come by good works or anything else we can do to please God on our own efforts:
"For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the
saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God - not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
In contrast to the teachings of Islam, the Bible teaches that
anyone who wishes may come to God, freely receive salvation, and
know he or she is eternally saved. Jesus taught, "For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). The apostle Peter taught, "The
Lord . . . is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone
to come to repentance" (2nd Peter 3:9). Again, Jesus taught, "He who believes
has eternal life" (John 6:47) and "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without
cost from the spring of the water of life" (Revelation 21:6). The apostle
John emphasized, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son
of God so that you many know that you have eternal life" (1st John 5:13).
B. Islam teaches that Jesus Christ was neither
crucified nor resurrected; therefore, salvation cannot possibly be had through
faith in Christ.
We mentioned earlier that
Islam rejects the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. One reason for this
is its view that man is basically good; thus, if men are not unredeemed sinners,
they do not need a savior from sin, just good works, abstention from wickedness,
and Allah's favor. Also, Islam considers Jesus Christ one of Allah's prophets,
and it is unthinkable that God would permit one of his prophets to be crucified.
Thus, the Muslim religion denies that Christ died upon the cross. The Koran
teaches: "They denied the truth and uttered a monstrous falsehood . . . They
declared: 'We have put to death the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle
of Allah.' They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but they thought
they did."
Because Muslims do not believe that Christ died on the cross,
they are forced to also deny His resurrection. Ahmed Deedat is one of the
leading public defenders of Islam. He claims: "Throughout the length and breadth
of the 27 books of the New Testament, there is not a single statement made by
Jesus Christ that 'I was dead, and I have come back from the dead.' The
Christian has [wrongly] been belaboring the word resurrection. Again and again,
by repetition, it is conveyed that it [the resurrection] is proving a fact . . .
[But] Jesus Christ never uttered the word that 'I have come back from the dead.'
in the 27 books of the New Testament, not once."
But Me. Deedat is wrong. On many occasions in the New
Testament Jesus predicted both His death and resurrection. For example,
He told His disciples, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected
by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed
and on the third day be raised to life" (Luke 9:22). After His resurrection
He told His disciples that this was to fulfill the prophecies written about Him:
This was what I told you while I was still with
you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses,
the Prophets and the Psalms . . . He told them, "This is what is written: The
Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and
forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations . . . " (Luke
24:44, 46, 47).
Further, in Revelation 1:18,
Jesus taught, "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for
ever and ever!"
Muslims also say Jesus Christ will not return at the Second
Coming. But in Matthew 16:27; 25:31; and elsewhere, Jesus also predicted His
literal, physical return to each to set up His millennial/eternal kingdom.
Dr. John Elder was missionary to Muslims in Iran from 1922 to
1964. Among his scholarly works are 11 books in Persian and 2 in English. He
discusses the Muslim rejection of the atonement and the reasons upon which it is
based:
Like the doctrine of the death of Jesus, the
ordinary Muslim completely rejects the doctrine of Jesus' atonement for sin. He
rejects it first on [allegedly] historical grounds. If Jesus survived the cross
[i.e., never truly died], as the Muslim believes, then He could not have given
His life to atone for man's sins.
In the second place, the Muslim idea of God and
his decrees recognizes no need for atonement. According to the doctrine of
decrees, God determined the fate of all men from the beginning, and we are
helpless to change it. This belief is taught in many places in the Qur'an . . .
A third reason why Muslims deny the possibility
of an atonement is their belief that God does not love man, and indeed, is
unaffected by man's actions . . . Any idea that God so loved the world that He
gave His only son is completely foreign to the Muslim mind . . . Thus, a pious
Muslim is constantly performing acts which he explains by saying, "savab darad"
(it is meritorious). Thus, he saves for most of his lifetime to make the Meccan
pilgrimage; he gives money to help erect a mosque; he faithfully reads the
Qur'an even though it be in a language he does not understand; and he prays the
prescribed Arabic prayers.
In conclusion, Muslims reject
the biblical teaching that Christ died for their sins, and therefore, seek
salvation by religious observance. Unfortunately, in doing so they deny their
need for Christ and repudiate what Jesus and the Bible teaches concerning His
death: "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many" and that "He Himself bore our sins in his
body on the Cross, that we might die to sin and live for righteousness . . . "
(Matthew 20:28; 1st Peter 2:24).
C. The concept of the loving God of the Bible
is difficult for the Muslim to accept.
As we have indicated, the God
of Islam, Allah, is not ultimately a God of love. In Islam, Allah's "love" is
not based on unconditional commitment and self-sacrifice, as is biblical love
(1st Corinthians 13:1-13). "But God demonstrates His own love toward us
in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). In Islam,
Allah's love is based on conditional performance and/or divine decree. In
Islamic theology, much like Buddhist philosophy, the concept of love seems to be
primarily that of "mercy." It is more impersonal than personal.
Dr. J. Christy Wilson observes that the concept of God's love
is foreign to Islamic thinking because of the extreme emphasis placed upon
Allah's sovereign power and transcendence: "It should be said, however, that
most Muslims will misunderstand and question the statement of the New Testament
that 'God is love.' His power and sovereign transcendence over all creation are
so emphasized in Islam that to call Him a God of love or to address Him as
'Father' would be far from Muslim thought."
John Elder also comments, "In addition to the idea that God
does not need men and therefore cannot love, the Muslim commonly cites two main
problems in believing that God is love: the existence of sin and pain, and man's
insignificance in the vastness of the universe."
But again, the Islamic view of God is refuted when the Bible
declares that "God is love" (1st John 4:16).
D. Muslim salvation is fatalistic.
We have discussed the fact
that the Muslim concept of forgiveness is conditioned upon good works. On the
one hand, we find in the Koran the promise of heaven for those who do good. But
on the other hand, the promise is conditional - one must posses the true
religion of Islam, obey its precepts, and also find favor with Allah. At this
point Islam's salvation (in contrast to that of the Bible) appears to become
fatalistic.
The largest apparent indeterminacy in the Muslim concept of
salvation is Allah's predestination. The Koran teaches, "All things have we
created after a fixed decree . . . " Further, "God leads astray whomsoever He
will; and He guides whosoever He will . . . " Abdiyah Akbar Abdul-Haqq observes:
"There are several [Muslim] traditions also about the predestination of all
things, including all people . . . Even if a person desires to choose God's
guidance, he cannot do so without the prior choice of God in favor of his free
choice. This is sheer determinism."
Dr. Wilson comments, "The fifth article of [Muslim] faith is
predestination . . . everything that happens, either good or bad, is
foreordained by the unchangeable decrees of Allah. It will be seen at once that
this makes Allah the author of evil, a doctrine that most Muslim theologians
hold." The Koran teaches, for example, "And if a good thing visits them, they
say, 'This is from God'; but if an evil thing visits them, they say, 'This is
from thee.' Say: 'Everything is from God.' " And,
The man whom Allah guides is rightly guided, but
he who is led astray by Allah shall surely be lost. As for those that deny Our
revelation, We have predestined for hell many jinn and many men . . . We
will lead them step by step to ruin . . . None can guide the people whom Allah
leads astray. He leaves them blundering about in their wickedness . . . Say: "I
have not the power to acquire benefits or to avert evil from myself, except by
the will of Allah."
At first glance there does
appear to be one way a Muslim can guarantee his salvation. This is found in
connection with the Muslim concept of jihad or holy war: achieving
security of salvation requires death in battle: "If you are slain or die in
God's way . . . it is unto God you shall be mustered . . . "
When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefields
strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives
firmly . . . Thus shall you do . . . As for those who are slain in the cause of
Allah . . . he will admit them to the Paradise he has made known to them.
Allah has given those that fight with their goods
and their persons a higher rank than those who stay at home . . . The
unbelievers are your sworn enemies . . . Seek out your enemies relentlessly . .
. You shall not plead for traitors . . . Allah does not love the treacherous or
the sinful.
It appears at first that the
Muslim is promised heaven for death in battle. But we discover that even this
security of salvation is conditional on something else - in this case, bravery:
O believers, when you encounter the unbelievers
marching to battle, turn not your backs to them. Whoso turns his back that day
to them, unless withdrawing to fight again or removing to join another host, he
is laden with the burden of God's anger, and his refuge is Gehenna - an evil
homecoming!
Thus, even in the guarantee of
heaven through death in a holy war, the Muslim promise of salvation appears to
remain provisional. And none can deny that unnumbered Muslim, trusting in Islam
to save them and take them to heaven, have instead been sent to their deaths in
the jihads of history and of today. They have been sent to eternity without
Christ.
E. Do Christians have salvation according to
Islam?
Some have claimed that
according to Islam Christians can remain Christians and still inherit salvation.
They also claim that the God of Islam and the God of the Bible are the same. To
the contrary, the Koran teaches that only if Christians convert to Islam and
remains good Muslims will they have the opportunity for salvation. If Christians
reject the Koran, they are classified as unbelievers and their destiny is an
eternal hell:
God guides not the people of the unbelievers . .
. They are unbelievers who say, "God is the Messiah, Mary's Son." . . . The
Messiah [Jesus] said, "Children of Israel, serve God [Allah], my Lord and your
Lord. Verily, whoso associates with God anything, God shall prohibit him
entrance to Paradise, and his refuge shall be the Fire; and wrong doers shall
have no helpers." 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 . . .
In the above citation, we see
that (1) Christians who believe that Jesus is the divine Messiah are classified
as unbelievers; (2) those who believe in the Trinity (that "God is the Third of
Three") are unbelievers; and (3) Christians who believe that Christ is God
(those who "associate" God with Jesus) will be consigned to hell. Thus, if
Christians do not turn from their errors and accept Islam, they are subject to
the strictest judgment:
. . . [In war] kill those who join other gods
with God [the phrase in other translations reads "kill those who are idolaters,
pagans"] wherever ye shall find them; and seize them, besiege them, and lay wait
for them with every kind of ambush; but if they shall convert, and observe
prayer, and pay the obligatory alms, then let them go their way, for God is
Gracious, Merciful.
Do they not know that whosoever opposes God and
His Messenger - for him awaits the fire of Gehenna, therein to dwell forever?
Verily, God will not forgive the union of other
gods with Himself! . . . And He who uniteth gods with God hath devised a great
wickedness . . . The flame of Hell is their sufficing punishment! Those
who disbelieve our signs we will in the end cast into the fire: so oft as their
skins shall be well burnt, we will change them for fresh skins, that they may
taste the torment.
John Ankerberg & John Weldon
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