Muslims around the world fast during the day (not at night) every year in the Islamic month of Ramadan. Based on the lunar calendar, in 2015 Ramadan begins on Thursday, June 18th and ends July 17th. Seeing no special fasting celebration among Christians, some Muslim friends ask, “Why do Christians not fast as Jesus and Moses did?”
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I am often asked in our seminars, “Just give us the bottom line.” Due to this request, the following is a short summary on the status (position) of women according to the Qur’an. Although there is much in the Qur’an, I will mention here 7 important verses from 2 different chapters.
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The brutal tactics of groups like ISIS have caused many sensible Muslims around the world to start thinking. They realize that Islamic groups, playing the “religious card” in the name of Islam, cause destruction and conveniently blame the West, as the cause for every problem in their countries.
Amidst all the killing and destruction and fleeing, there are Muslims who want to find meaning to life just as I did. When they see Christ’s faithful followers coming to their aid, they are challenged by the love Jesus presents them through His people.
... The Islamic extremist groups may be surprised however that their actions are having a result they never intended: many Muslims are turning to Christ!
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An Ex-Christian convert to Islam, at a Muslim-Christian gathering, quoted the following Biblical passage to support Muhammad’s prophethood:
“It was he [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).
The Muslim listeners applauded (though ironically, most Muslims do not appreciate Paul, the author of Ephesians. They also do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God: Qur’an 5:72; 9:30; 19:88-92). The Muslim who picked out the above passage as evidence for Muhammad’s claim of prophethood totally avoided the writings of Paul that Muhammad contradicted. Muslims who quote from the Bible tend to blatantly ignore Scriptures about Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as other important facts with which they don’t agree.
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Once a year, Muslims commemorate Abraham's deep, wondrous love for God, shown in his willingness to obediently sacrifice his own son. Every day of the year, true believers in Jesus remember God's deep, magnificent love for people, shown in His sacrificial Love through His own son Jesus Christ - the Word and Spirit of God. He did this to prove once for all His eternal love for us! He desires that we should not perish but through faith receive His gift of eternal life by accepting Jesus. He is our Savior and assurance (Matthew 20:28; John 3:16; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 John 4.14).
October 4, 2014 was this year’s date of the festival of Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice. Celebrated by Muslims with great feeling, Eid al-Adha focuses on the test that God gave to Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son. While Genesis 22 of the Bible states that Isaac was this son, Muslim exegetes claim it was Ishmael. Several early Muslims however believed it was Isaac and not Ishmael. (Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923), Tafsir al-Tabari, vol. 10, pp. 510-517, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah, 1999)
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Some American Muslims are trying to use the Founding Fathers of the United States in order to suit their purpose. For example, Hassan Shibly, the executive director of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) for South and Central Florida, was asked by a local TV newscaster about the statistic concerning 50% of Americans not trusting Islam, Muslims and their Islamic law system. Hassan replied, “They [Americans] will be shocked to really realize that if you study for example Thomas Jefferson – where did he get the idea of freedom of religion? They [He] did not get it from Europe. He got it from the Qur’an which was in his library and from the Muslim tradition [Sunna] which has the values of freedom of religion, freedom of speech. That’s where, you know, we got many of our principles as American citizens. People are shocked to hear that.”
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Is there anything common between Islam and Christianity that we may use to help Muslims to know more about Jesus and the assurance of salvation that he grants? Yes there are many. For example, Muslims usually tell us that Islam teaches ‘submission to God.’ Here is something to share with them on this subject.
Islam and Christianity both claim to be revealed and historical faiths. Both claim that the purpose of our lives is to ‘surrender to God’s will’. They claim that God intervened in the lives of people to lead them into 'the straight path'. Muslims and Christians believe that God chose to reveal himself and his will to people by speaking through prophets and apostles. He enabled them to share his message with their fellow human beings in order to explain our existence on earth and our direction for the future.
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Some Muslim organizations boldly campaign with the claim that “Jesus is Muslim.” One may wonder why the present tense? Like Christians, the majority of Muslims believe in the second coming of Jesus. However, they see him in a subordinate role to that of the prophet of Islam. According to them, Jesus will be under a Muslim Amir, a leader, showing his complete adherence to Islam. Some Ahadith (Islamic traditions) indicate that on his arrival, Jesus will ask Christians and Jews to become Muslims. A battle will begin. Jesus will destroy all the crosses and pigs.
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World peace! What an idea! Everyone would certainly like that! After all, we represent the Prince of Peace don’t we? However, it is a theological misconception to believe that we are here on earth solely to make peace. Jesus never said that. Nowhere in the Bible do we find Jesus telling us to find common ground with other faiths, ideologies and philosophies. Rather, He commanded us to declare the Gospel and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).
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“O night divine, O night when Christ was born”
Many versions of “O Holy Night” beautifully describe this night as found in the Gospel (Luke 2:8-14). God sent Jesus, the Word, into this world as Savior of those who receive him. Jesus is the great sacrifice given by our Heavenly Father to forgive our sins and restore us back to His own fellowship in Heaven. The angel said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)
You may be surprised that in Islam, there is also a special night known as ‘Laylat Al Qadr’ – the night of “power” traditionally celebrated during the last night of the month of Ramadan. Many Muslims pray continuously during this night for mercy, forgiveness, and salvation. This practice is also called Ihya’ – (meaning revival, also means to spend the night in prayer). It is believed that the angel Gabriel came to Muhammad on such a night, beginning with the exhortation: "Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists)," (Sura 96:1ff).
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How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? (See 2 Corinthians 6:15)
Many people today, in the name of interfaith and multiculturalism, misinterpret the “Love thy neighbor” command of the Bible (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39). Instead of helping unbelievers embrace salvation through Jesus (thus obeying the Great Commission Jesus gave us to make disciples, teaching them to obey him – Matthew 28:18-20), they embrace whatever non-Christians believe. They adopt a policy of “live and let live.” They think that there are many ways to reach God and that perhaps Jesus is also among other paths. This deliberately devalues the uniqueness of what Jesus said: “No one can come to the Father but through me” (John 14:6). Such an attitude or interpretation is an obvious indication of breaking the Covenant with God. In fact, it amounts to spiritual treason on the part of those who call themselves followers of Christ. Such views and behavior desecrate the Divine Truth and actively encourage others to do so as well, thus paving the way for eternal destruction.
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The USA was founded under God Almighty’s laws. The Pilgrims who were freed by fleeing (Matthew 10:23) from the tyranny of King James in England learned that the government of Christ begins in the heart of the individual. True religious liberty can only be built upon the genuine practice of self-government. In other words, every man is accountable to the One True God. In England, the powers that be were in this order: God, the king, and then the people. The new order of rule for our nation under the Mayflower Compact established in 1606 is God, the people, and then the government (the king). The reason is simple: Self-government, by its very nature, yields PEACE with everyone living in safety – “every man under his vine and his fig tree” (I Kings 4:25).