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The Amish Voice 13
5. Belief in the last day of judgment and the hereafter:
Everyone will be resurrected for judgment into either
paradise or hell.
6. Belief in predestination: Muslims believe Allah has
decreed everything that will happen. Muslims testify to
Allah’s sovereignty with their frequent phrase,
inshallah
,
meaning, “if God wills.”
The Five Pillars of Islam
These five tenets compose the framework of obedience for
Muslims:
1. The testimony of faith (
shahada
): “
la ilaha illa allah.
Muhammad rasul Allah.
” This means, “There is no deity
but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” A
person can convert to Islam by
stating this creed. The shahada
shows that a Muslim believes
in Allah alone as deity and
believes that Muhammad
reveals Allah.
2. Prayer (
salat
): Five ritual
prayers must be performed
every day.
3. Giving
(
zakat
):
This
almsgiving is a certain
percentage given once a year.
4. Fasting (
sawm
): Muslims fast during Ramadan in the
ninth month of the Islamic calendar. They must not eat or
drink from dawn until sunset.
5. Pilgrimage (
hajj
): If physically and financially possible, a
Muslim must make the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi
Arabia at least once. The
hajj
is performed in the twelfth
month of the Islamic calendar.
A Muslim's entrance into paradise hinges on obedience to these
Five Pillars. Still, Allah may reject them. Even Muhammad was
not sure whether Allah would admit him to paradise (Surah
46:9; Hadith 5.266).
An Evaluation of Islam
Compared to Christianity, Islam has some similarities, but
significant differences. Like Christianity, Islam believes there is
only one God. However, Muslims reject the Trinity—that God
has revealed Himself as one in three Persons: the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.
Muslims claim that Jesus was one of the most important
prophets—not God’s Son. Islam asserts that Jesus, though born
of a virgin, was created like Adam. Muslims do not believe
Jesus died on the cross. They do not understand why Allah
would allow His prophet, Isa (the Islamic word for "Jesus") to
die a torturous death. Yet the Bible shows how the death of the
perfect Son of God was essential to pay for the sins of believers
(Isaiah 53:5-6; John 3:16;14:6;1 Peter 2:24).
Islam teaches that the Qur'an is the final authority and the last
revelation of Allah. The Bible, however, was completed in the
first century with the book of Revelation. The Bible warns
against anyone adding to or subtracting from God’s Word
(Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Galatians 1:6-12; Revelation
22:18). The Qur’an, as a claimed
addition to God’s Word, directly
disobeys God’s command.
Muslims believe that paradise can be
earned through keeping the Five
Pillars. The Bible, in contrast, reveals
that sinful man can never measure up
to the holy God (Romans 3:23; 6:23).
Only by God’s grace may sinners be
saved through repentant faith in
Jesus (Acts 20:21; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Because
of
these
essential
differences and contradictions, Islam
and Christianity cannot both be true. The Bible and Qur’an
cannot both be God’s Word. The truth has eternal
consequences.
1 John 4:1-4 (KJV)
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out
into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every
spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that
spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should
come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of
God, little children, and have overcome them:
because greater is he that is in you, than he that
is in the world.
See also John 3:35-36.
Muslim Beliefs, continued from previous page
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