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CHRISTIANITY'S SUPERIORITY TO ISLAM
The Muslim a "natural man" One of the main reasons for the rapid spread of Islam was the comparative ease of obedience to its requirements. The presenting and daily use of one's human all as an acceptable offering to God (acceptable because offered in the appointed way, i.e., justified in God's sight by faith in the merit of Jesus' blood—see Rom. 3:20-25; 5:9), which the Bible shows is the Christian's "reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1), done in unselfish, disinterested love (1 Cor. 13:1-13), is unknown in the teachings of Islam. The unresentful endurance of trials of faith (1 Pet. 1:6, 7; 4:12), which are often caused by the enmity and persecutions of others and are experienced frequently by the footstep followers of Jesus, is comparatively unknown in Islam. For the Muslim, it is enough that he regularly prays with a form of words, practices some self-denials, fulfills some rituals and makes pilgrimages. The deeper, inner spiritual life, which includes that "peace of God which passeth all [human] understanding" (Phil. 4:7), coming as it does to the Christian by God's grace through the operation of the holy Spirit, is relatively unknown to the Muslim, for he is not spiritual, but natural (1 Cor. 2:14). Islam a Religion without a True Messiah Jesus is the Son of God (Mohammed's disbelief notwithstanding). By Jesus' sacrificial death, foreshadowed in the Atonement Day's sacrificial bullock (Lev. 16:3, 6, 11, etc.), God provided the Ransom-price and atonement for Adamic sin for all who believe and accept it by faith. This He did while the world was yet in its sins (John 3:16, 17; Ezek. 18:23, 32). From long before His birth (Rev. 13:8), Jesus was marked out as separate and distinct from Adamic stock (Matt. 1:18, 21; Luke 1:26-35), as a perfect man without blemish (1 Pet. 1:18, 19), sinless and therefore blameless under the Law of Moses (which was the mark of a perfect man) both in his non-Adamic lineage (Son of God—Matt. 3:17; 16:16; Mark 15:39; Luke 2:41-49; John 11:27) and in His life (Heb. 4:15; 7:26; 2 Cor. 5:20, 21). Thus Jesus, and only Jesus, was found worthy in God's sight (Rev. 5:1-14) by offering up His life as a Ransom-sacrifice in payment of the price incurred at the bar of God's justice for the sin of Father Adam (1 Cor. 15:20-22, 45, 47), to redeem the Church (first) and also all the rest of mankind which was in Adam's loins when he sinned, from the penalty of death (1 John 2:2). Hallelujah, what a Savior! Mohammed was a son of Adam, even though many generations removed. He was born and died a sinner of Adam's race, in common with all others (Rom. 3:10-16) who did not or do not accept Jesus as their Redeemer. Those who do not believe in Mohammed are unloved by Islam, or Islam's Allah, as the unbelieving world was loved by God (Rom. 5:8), even though subject to oppression and death! Mohammed knew nothing of God's great Plan of the Ages for the reclaiming of the race from sin through Messiah and the restoring again of the willing and obedient to Edenic perfection through Him. His Son Jesus was originally the mighty Logos (John 1:1-3), made flesh by His power, in the womb of a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Matt 1:18-25; John 1:14). Jesus the Messiah died a perfect man, sinless and blameless before God (Heb. 7:24-27) and was resurrected to the Divine plane of being, having become by His death the Savior of the whole world of mankind from the sin of Adam and its curse of Adamic imperfection, sin, sorrow and death. The understanding of Mohammed was not enlightened concerning these things, because the true Gospel of peace in its fullness never reached his ears in his lifetime (Rom 10:14). Kingdoms Compared The Muslims were instructed by Mohammed and other Islamic leaders to establish an Islamic Kingdom in this present world (2 Cor. 4:4) by the power of the sword. The Christian is instructed to seek the future (Millennial and eternal) Kingdom of Christ, to strive for deliverance from the ensnarements of this present evil world (2 Cor. 1:10; Rom. 8:21; Gal. 1:4), and to conquer the world, the flesh and the devil by the power of the holy Spirit (Matt. 6:33; 2 Pet. 2:9; 2 Tim. 1:7, compare Zech. 4:6). Furthermore, God's Kingdom was not to be set up by the conquering armies and carnal weapons (Matt. 26:52; 2 Cor. 10:4), for it was to be the gift of God to the Little Flock, the Body of Christ (Luke 12:32; 1 Cor. 12:12-27). Such a kingdom is infinitely more desirable to the humble seeker after truth and righteousness (Matt. 5:6) than the Paradise of sensual satisfaction which is the only hope of Islam. God's Covenants All of God's dealings with mankind are just, orderly, understandable (to the enlightened—Matt. 13:16) and reliable, because He first draws up and announces His covenant. God has made a number of covenants, such as those with Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc. (Gen. 2:16, 17; 6:18; 12:3; 22:16-18; Psa. 89:3, 4; Jer. 31:31-33; Isa. 55:1-3, etc.). The Jew approached God through the Mosaic Law Covenant. The Christian approaches God through Jesus, the greater than Moses (Deut. 18:15-18), the great antitypical High Priest (Heb. 5:1-10; 9:11, 12), arranged under the Covenant which is not of works of the law, but of grace (Eph. 2:8, 9). The world of mankind will in due time approach God under yet another covenant through Jesus and His glorified church as Kings and Priests, the Christ, which is Messiah, the promised Mediator of the New Covenant (John 1:41; Heb. 5:5, 6; Rev. 5:9, 10; Jer. 31:31). Muslims, however, have no such covenant relationship with God set forth in their Islamic teaching and practice. Furthermore, Mohammed's claim that the Koran replaced the Bible is in flat contradiction of the Scriptural statement that "the gifts and calling [under a covenant] of God are without repentance [God will not change His purposes]" (Rom. 11:26-29). The Abrahamic Covenant is not yet fulfilled (the Koran notwithstanding), as in due time it must be (Isa 55:11), in the blessing of the whole world of mankind through Christ (Gen. 12:2, 3; 22:16-18; Gal. 3:8, 16, 29). The Koran, covenant-less, can therefore have no effect whatever on the Bible, and certainly could never replace it. The Blood That Sanctifies The Bible teaches that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin" (Heb. 9:22). The Law of Moses directed that the covenant mediated by Moses between God and the Jews was to be sealed by the blood of sacrificial animals and maintained by the holding annually of the Day of Atonement in the Tabernacle arrangements. Subsequent offerings were acceptable under that blood alone, as the people brought their offerings to the gate of the Court and the Tabernacle, cleansed (typically) in God's sight by the sprinkling of that acceptable blood (Lev. 9:16, etc.; see Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices). The New (Law) Covenant also is a blood-sealed covenant, by the shedding of the blood of Jesus, the Righteous (Rev. 5:1-14), which sealed the redemption from sin for all who believe in Him (Acts 13:38, 39). Bulls' and goats' blood was no longer acceptable (Heb. 9:1-28; 10:1-39). In Mohammed and in all Islam there was no "righteous blood," which could be shed sacrificially. No claims are made in the Koran for the remission of sin by the shedding of blood. From the outset until this day, therefore, followers of Mohammed have been "in their sins" and remain so until they accept Jesus as Savior and King, for "there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12; 16:31). The way of the Christian, therefore, is in keeping with the Divine requirement for the sanctification of His people (Heb. 13:12). The way of Islam and the Muslims is not so. THE BIBLE VS. ERRORS OF THE KORAN There are many subjects on which the Bible's teachings are directly contradicted by the Koran's statements, as the following few sample quotations and citations will show: Jesus' Pre-existence and Human Birth The Bible clearly states that Jesus existed before his human birth as the Word, or Logos. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. … The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him. … And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1-3, 14, compare 3:13; 8:23, 42, 58). The Koran, on the contrary, says, "Jesus is as Adam in the sight of God. He created him of dust" (sura 3:52). Unlike the Bible (Luke 1:5—2:7), the Koran gives a highly imaginative (rather than informed) account of Jesus' birth (sura 19:1-37). The Koran teaches that Jesus was no more than a servant of God, a Jewish prophet, and that it would be unseemly for God to beget a son, to have offspring. THE BIBLE STATES "And to a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17). "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (John 20:31; see also Matt. 16:13-17). "Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant … but Christ as a son over his own house" (Heb. 3:5, 6). "The law and the prophets were until John" (Luke 16:16). "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16, 17; see also Rom. 1:3, 4, 14; Heb. 1:2; 4:14). THE KORAN STATES "The Christians say, 'The Messiah is a son of God.' Such the sayings … resemble the sayings of the infidels of old! God do battle with them! How are they misguided!" (sura 9:30.) "Jesus is no more than a servant whom we favored, and proposed as an instance of Divine power to the children of Israel" (sura 43:59). "In the footsteps of the prophets caused we Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow, confirming the law which was before him" (sura 5:50). "It beseemeth not God to beget a son … They say: 'The God … hath gotten offspring.' Now have ye done a monstrous thing!" (sura 19:36, 91-93.) Part of Mohammed's reasoning in this connection is apparent: "Sole maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! How, when He hath no consort, should He have a son?" (sura 6:101), and again, "He … hath taken no spouse neither hath he any offspring" (sura 72:3). But that reasoning is based on false premises. God requires no "wife" in the accepted sense (although He has covenants as symbolic wives—Isa. 54:1-5; Jer. 3:14; 31:31, 32), for even in the physical creation we see, in the plant and animal kingdom creations, some which do not "mate" to reproduce their kind, but which embody both male and female qualities (as did Adam when created in God's likeness and image). Therefore, we reason, God is not limited in begetting offspring by the absence of a sexual counterpart. God's creative work is sometimes referred to in the Bible as a figurative begettal. Additionally, the Bible states that angels are sons of God (Gen. 6:2, 4; Job 38:7) and that from the human family Jesus brings many sons to glory (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1, 2; Heb. 2:9-11). All believers who correctly and sincerely pray to God as "Father" are children of God, actually or prospectively (Luke 11:1, 2, 13; Eph. 5:1; 1 John 5:18). In fact, Adam himself was a son of God! (Luke 3:38.) Surely God has sons! God in His attribute of love figuratively joined Himself with the Oath-bound promise (symbolized in Sarah—Gen. 18:10; 22:16-18) as a symbolic "wife," and in due time from that union has come forth the Church. First He had joined Himself with the Law Covenant, as represented in Hagar, and from this union the nation of Israel, represented in Ishmael, was born as a symbolic son (Gen. 16:15; Gal. 4:22-31). Yet again, God in the soon-coming Millennial Mediatorial Kingdom on earth will unite Himself with the New Covenant as His symbolic wife, represented in Keturah, Abraham's third wife, and as offspring He will give life to many figurative children (Gen. 25:1-4), the "children of the resurrection," when Jesus and the Church, the Christ—Head and Body—will bring forth, on His behalf, those who, willing and obedient, will live forever on the earthly plane of being (Luke 20:27-36). And so we see that Mohammed, despite good intentions, was not in accord with God in this matter, as in so many others. The Bible clearly states in many places that Jesus was crucified and died for our sins (e.g., Matt. 27:35-50; John 19:16-30; 1 Cor 15:3, 4). But the Koran says concerning Jesus, "They slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness. … They did not really slay him, but God took him up to Himself." Mohammed evidently believed that "a double," "a likeness" of Jesus, was crucified, and not Jesus Himself, and that before the crucifixion Jesus was taken to heaven! This error of the Koran would vitiate the Ransom, the central doctrine of the Bible, which required the death of a perfect man, Jesus, as a ransom, a corresponding price, for Adam and his race (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6). Incidentally, there is a tradition based on the Koran (sura 17:1) that Mohammed was carried on a celestial steed Barak, accompanied by the angel Gabriel, "from the sacred temple of Mecca to the temple" at Jerusalem in a single night, from where he ascended by means of a celestial ladder to God and communed with Him! Angels and Intercession The Bible teaches that man, even in his original condition of perfection, was made lower than the angels (Psa. 8:4, 5; Heb. 2:6, 7; 2 Pet. 2:10, 11) and that not even God's holy angels, but only God and Christ, should be worshiped. However, according to the Koran, God required the angels to worship the perfect Adam: "When we said to the angels, 'Bow down and worship Adam,'" "'Prostrate yourselves before Adam,' they all prostrated them save Eblis, who was of the Djinn" (sura 2:32; 7:10; 17:63; 18:48; 20:115). The leader of the Djinn, the evil spirits, is called "the Shaitan," or Eblis. His fall is said to have been due to his refusal to worship Adam and because of it he was accursed! Also, he was given authority over those of mankind who were to be seduced by him. The Bible tells us that the Church's advocate is Jesus (1 John 2:1, 2), that it is Christ who makes intercession for believers (Rom. 8:27, 34), that He ever lives to intercede (Heb. 7:24; 9:24) and that there is hope for eternal life in none other (John 14:4, 6; 15:4, 5; Luke 10:22; Acts 4:12; 16:31). But the Koran gives the good angels the offices of Christ, as interceders and advocates on behalf of believers: "O our Lord!" the angels allegedly say, "forgive … those who turn to thee and follow thy path; keep them from the pains of hell … and bring them into the Gardens of Eden." "The angels celebrate the praise of their Lord, and ask forgiveness for the dwellers on earth" (sura 40:7, 8; 42:3). The Comforter The Bible tells us that Jesus before His crucifixion and death promised His disciples that in His personal absence He would send them for their enlightenment, assistance and encouragement "the Comforter [or Helper, Greek, parakletos], which is the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26). There is a similar-sounding Greek word, periclytos, which, when translated into Arabic, is ahmed, meaning praised, from the same root word hamad as Mohammed's name. Accordingly, Mohammed, evidently mistaking parakletos as being periclytos, wrongly took this as a proof that he himself was the promised one! And so we read in the Koran: "And remember when Jesus the son of Mary said, 'O children of Israel! of a truth I am God's apostle to you to confirm the law which was given before me, and to announce an apostle that shall come after me whose name shall be Ahmad!'" (sura 61:6.) Mohammed seems in the Koran to have downgraded Jesus from being God's only begotten Son to being no more than a servant of God, and seems in this instance to have upgraded himself to be the promised Comforter, all with a purpose—of exalting himself as the greatest, the sum and seal of all the prophets, the one who outshines all of them, even Jesus Christ! Sin and Punishment for Sin The Bible teaches that devils and evil men seek to and do mislead mankind (Zech. 3:1; James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8) and that God does not do so (Hab. 1:13; James 1:13-15). But the Koran plainly states: "God truly will mislead whom He will." "Verily God misleadeth whom He will." "And when they went astray, God led their hearts astray" (sura 13:27; 35:9; 41:5). The Bible clearly teaches that God created Adam perfect, "very good," in His own image and likeness and that Adam by disobedience against God sinned and went astray of his own free will with the whole human race in his loins, and that therefore all men are born in sin—sinners by heredity (Gen. 1:26, 27, 31; Psa. 51:9; Eccles. 7:29; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 3:10-19; 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:21, 22). But Imam Ata Ullah Kaleem, Missionary Incharge, USA, in a tract "What is Islam?" says, "Islam does not support the idea that man is born in sin." Thus Islam on this subject also flatly contradicts the Bible. The Bible clearly states, "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," "the soul that sinneth it shall die" (Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4). And death according to the Bible means cessation of life, of conscious existence—not merely separation from God (see BS 461—a copy free on request). Accordingly, the Bible says plainly, "The dead know not any thing," "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave [sheol], whither thou goest"; when a person dies, "in that very day his thoughts perish" (Eccles. 9:4, 5, 10; Psa. 146:4). Sheol (which is translated hades in the New Testament Greek; Psa. 16:10; Acts 2:27-34) is the unconscious condition of the first death state. Gehenna is the Second Death — utter, complete and eternal annihilation, which is symbolized by the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14, 15; 21:8). All hope for a future life is based on a resurrection awakening from the sleep of the first death state; if there were no resurrection, those fallen asleep in Christ would be perished, out of existence forever (Job 14:12-15; John 11:24; Acts 26:8; 1 Cor. 15:18). Those who have examined carefully and unbiasedly the Scripture testimony (John 5:39; 2 Tim. 2:15) have cast off the errors engrafted on Christianity in the Dark Ages, including the devil-inspired, blasphemous heathen doctrine of eternal torment in a fiery hell. Satan's first lie, "ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4; John 8:44), gave rise to grievous errors among men such as the consciousness of the dead, the immortality of the soul and eternal torment. (For a careful examination of this entire greatly misunderstood subject, including an examination of every text in the Bible where the word hell is found, see our Life — Death — Hereafter book.) Mohammed believed in and taught the God-dishonoring doctrine of eternal torment in a fiery hell as God's punishment after death for the unbelievers and the wicked. The Koran states: "As for the infidels. … They shall be the inmates of the fire, to abide therein eternally." "He shall say, 'Enter ye into the Fire with the generations of djinn and man who have preceded you' … As oft as a fresh generation entereth, it shall curse its sister … the last comers shall say 'O our Lord! … these are they who led us astray: assign them therefore a double torment of the fire.' He will say, 'Ye shall all have double.'" "The word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled, 'I will wholly fill hell with Djinn and men'" "We will surely cast him into Hell-fire. … Over it are nineteen angels." "It hath seven Portals; at each Portal is a separate band of them" (sura 3:112; 7:36-39; 11:120; 15:44; 64:26, 30). Paradise The Bible uses the word Paradise as another name for the Garden of Eden, the blissful abode of our first parents, Adam and Eve. The Arabic Bible says "God planted a paradise eastward in Eden" (Gen. 2:8). Because of Adam's sin, he lost that Paradise for himself and his race. The Bible declares that when God's Kingdom is re-established on earth, in "the times of restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21 ASV), the whole earth will be made a Paradise, like the garden of Eden (Ezek. 36:35, 36; Isa. 35:1, 2; Rev. 21:1-4; 22:3) and mankind will be restored also, and live together in peace, happiness and harmony with God and one another (see BS No. 408—a copy free on request). Also, the Bible uses the expression "the paradise of God" (Rev. 2:7) in a figurative sense to describe the glorious position in heaven for the Church, selected in the Gospel, or Church Age. But neither this Paradise nor the restored Paradise on earth is described in the Bible as a place of sensual, sexual indulgence. In fact, the Bible shows that those who will be in Paradise will be "as the angels of God in heaven" — i.e., sexless (Matt. 22:30; Luke 20:34-36). But the condition of those in the Paradise promised to faithful Islamites in the Koran differs considerably from and is vastly inferior to the descriptions given in the Bible of that future blissful estate for the faithful in God's Paradise. Mohammed describes Paradise as a place of sensual delights for males. The condition of the females is not described, other than that the wives of the faithful will accompany them to Paradise (to see their husbands attended by dark-eyed maidens?). The Arab's thinking was colored by the poor, arid ground and the waterless heat of the desert lands where most of them lived. The Koran says, "Two gardens … in each two fountains flowing … in each two kinds of every fruit … on couches with linings of brocade shall they recline. … Therein shall be the damsels … whom nor man nor djinn hath touched before them … and … two other gardens … of dark green … with gushing fountains … fruits and palm and the pomegranate. In each, the fair, the beauteous ones … with large dark eyeballs … whom man hath never touched, nor any djinn … their spouses on soft green cushions and on beauteous carpets shall recline" (sura 55; see also 56). How different this is from that high and holy condition of restored mankind promised in the Bible, when under the New Covenant, aided by the holy Spirit (Joel 2:28) and under guidance from the Christ, they will have been drawn out of sin's miry pit into a sexless, sinless state, in the image and the likeness of God (Gen. 1:26, 27)! The Heavenly and the Earthly Salvation Furthermore, Mohammed shows no knowledge of the proper distinction between the heavenly and the earthly salvation. The existence of a class of Divine beings, the Church, or Bride, of Christ, raised to their immortal (death-proof) condition from out of this evil world (Acts 15:14; Rev. 5:9, 10), for the future purposes of God, and additionally the calling out from the world of other elect classes as subsidiary parts of His eternal purpose and Plan (Eph. 1:11, 3:9-11), are nowhere mentioned in the Koran. The "Gardens of Delight," with fountains, fruits and dark-eyed maidens, are the rewards promised in the Koran. Such rewards and conditions are not to be compared with those in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, leading to Ages of Glory in which are things beyond man's imagination, but which are held in the mind of God, until His due time. Surely the rewards for obedience promised in the Koran really dishonor God, when we consider the true rewards of either the elect (1 Cor. 2:9, 10; 1 John 3:2) or the non-elect (Isa. 35:10; Rev. 21:1-7), which He in His great love offers to His creatures (Heb 11:6). The True Hope of Mankind A study of Church history shows that at the end of the sixth century, when Mohammed began his work, the Dark Ages were setting in. Satanic errors were more and more replacing the great truths of Apostolic times, and sectarian influences and nominal Christians (the "tares" of Matt. 13:25-40) abounded. Such "Christian" teachings as Mohammed encountered were but a very small part of the whole—and even those he met were mixed with Dark-Age errors and sectarian influences, so that he saw but very little of the full light of the Gospel and the all-embracing Divine Plan of the Ages. In consequence, such deep and solemn truths as were brought forth in the Apostolic writings of Paul and other Apostles, all given by Divine inspiration, do not appear in the teachings of Mohammed. The understanding of the Ransom, the Blood of Atonement, the Sin-offering, Spirit-begettal, the High Calling, the identity of the Messiah, the World's High Priest, the New Covenant, the Millennium, Restitution and many other wonderful truths fundamental to the understanding of God's great Plan, are nowhere to be found in any of the Islamic writings, such as the Koran or the Hadith. In consequence, and in spite of his reverence for "Allah," the Muslim's concept of religious truth, apart from being largely erroneous, is pale and insignificant beside the rich and grand designs of the mighty Jehovah as He has revealed them through His servants (Amos 3:7; Psa. 25:14; John 15:15) to such as feed at the table of His Word, on a "feast of fat things" (Psa. 23:5; 63:4, 5), which by the grace of God shall be made available to all mankind in due time in the Millennial Mediatorial Reign (Isa. 25:6-8; Rev. 22:16-17). The Koran teaches submission only, which is a ritual acceptance of the Articles and Pillars of the Islamic faith. This requirement falls far below the calling of the Christian, to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, in justification and consecration and to develop those wonderful fruits (graces) of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22; Eph 5:8-10) in both duty love (Matt. 22:37-40), and unselfish, disinterested love (1 Cor. 13:1-13). The doctrine of "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, man's life for man's life," so prevalent among Muslims in the past, is still strong in Islam today. Doubtless Muslims would take kindly to the saying "Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy" (Matt. 5:43), but the higher injunction (v. 44), "love your enemies," sounds very strange to them, for what has been enjoined upon them from the earliest days of the Community at Medina is to slaughter the enemies of Islam, to "'strike off their heads then, and strike off from them every finger-tip.' This, because they have opposed God and his apostle. … 'This for you! Taste it then!' … when ye meet the marshalled hosts of the infidels … whoso shall turn his back to them … shall incur wrath from God: Hell shall be his abode and wretched his journey thither. So it was not ye who slew them, but God … and those shafts were God's, not thine." "O believers! retaliation for blood-shedding is prescribed to you: the free man for the free and the slave for the slave and the woman for the woman" (sura 2:173; 8:12-17). How different is Mohammed's bitter harangue to justify the slaughter of opponents, from the majestic teaching of Jesus, "Love your enemies, do good to them … which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on one cheek offer also the other … For if ye love them [only] which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same" (Luke 6:28-33). Assuredly God and Jesus have set a pattern for the Christian (John 3:16, 17; Eph. 2:2-6; Rom. 5:6-8) which is far above the highest moral injunction in all Islam, for the end (aim) of the commandment for the Christian is not slavish obedience, but love (1 Tim. 1:5). The superiority of Christ, the Captain of our Salvation, to Mohammed, the founder of Islam, is the superiority of the living (Rom. 6:9; 14:9; Heb. 7:24, 25) over the dead (which Mohammed assuredly is, even according to Muslim belief). Beyond the resurrection in the Ages of Glory, and supposing Mohammed gains everlasting life, in "that day," this superiority will still be maintained, eternal and immeasurable, as the superiority of immortality over mortality, and as that of the Divine, spiritual nature over that which is flesh. By the grace of God and in His due time, Muslims will be granted an opportunity to submit (under the terms of the New Covenant, a form of "Islam," submission, yet unknown to them) to the healing, uplifting influences of Christ in His Millennial Mediatorial Reign. Together with all the willing and obedient of mankind, "the ransomed of the Lord" (Isa. 35:10), they will be granted the joy of perfect humanity and everlasting life in a perfect earth—a reward far, far above their highest hopes—but not consisting of sensual pleasures in "Gardens of Delight." In Paradise restored (Acts 3:19-21) they will have joy evermore as God's children, a relationship made possible especially because of the good offices of Christ (Luke 20:35, 36; Rev. 21:1-6). We encourage Muslims, as all others, to approach God and make prayerful supplication in the name of Jesus, for spiritual enlightenment and nourishment and direction in this evil day. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isa. 55:1). WORLDWIDE ISLAMIC CONVERSION EFFORTS Islam is on the move on a scale that is world-wide. Spreading throughout the world is a rising tide of Islam, originating in Arabia. One Muslim leader says: "Unless we win London to Islam, we will fail to win the whole of the western world." They speak with determination. At the present time there are 100 mosques in London, and 607,000 Muslims. In 1977 the Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre was built in Regent’s Park at a cost of 7.5 million dollars. It was recently stated by the Vatican, that the Islamic faith is now the largest religious group in the world surpassing the Catholic denomination. |
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