Examining Islam Booklet

About twenty-five percent of the world’s population is Muslim (2025), and that number continues to increase. Its origins are rooted in Muhammad and his denunciation of paganism and idolatry, which occurred about 600 years after the life of Jesus. Claiming visions and revelations, his message that Allah is the one and only God, was spread with intimidation and the edge of the sword. Within about a hundred years, Islam (which means submission) had spread from Arabia throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula, before being turned away from the European continent in AD 732. This spread is primarily due to trade routes between Europe and Arabia with the far East, Indonesia now has the largest population of Muslims in the world.

Islam rejects Jesus as the Son of God and His death as an offering for the sins of the world. The Five Pillars of Islam (The Testimony of Faith (Shahada), Prayer (Salat), Giving (Zakat), Fasting (Sawm), and The Pilgrimage (Hajj) are central to Muslim’s lives. Muslims are called to jihad (struggle, or holy war) by the Qur’an. Some believe this refers only to one’s spiritual struggle of faith, while radical Islamists see it as a call to arms to fight against the enemies of Allah until they submit or die. 

This brief examination of Islam addresses its origin, spread, and tenets of the Islamic faith, with biblical responses. There is no doubt that Islam and the gospel of Christ are incompatible.