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The Gospel According to Muhammad
Addressing the Fallacies of the Muslim Religion
William D. Barrick, Th.D.
 Professor of Old Testament and Director of Doctoral Studies, The Master’s Seminary
Islam
means
 submission
. A
Muslim
is one who is
 submitted 
to the will of God. Their  prostration in prayers clearly illustrates this concept. For the Muslim it is more importantto submit to all that Allah has decided rather than to obtain forgiveness. This results in akind of fatalism since the Muslim is to submit to his
kismet 
(divinely predestined fate).The Muslim also must be submitted to Islamic authority—agreeing with the teachers of Islam.
The Muslim world is extremely theocentric. Its focus is on God. In Islamic communities the phrases, “Lord willing,” “Praise God,” “In the name of God,” “There is no God but God,” areheard daily. However, in the Western world, with its materialistic, secular, and humanisticviewpoints, God is left out of almost every area of life. —Patrick O. Cate, “Islamic Values and the Gospel,”
 Bibliotheca Sacra
155/619 (July 1998): 356Both Christians and Muslims believe that God created the world in six days, and that there isa hell and a heaven, angels and devils. They believe in all the prophets of the Old and NewTestaments, the virgin birth of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, the Resurrection, and theDay of Judgment. —Samuel Shahid, “Christianity Vis-à-vis Islam,”
Southwestern Journal of Theology
44/2 (Spring 2002): 73
Basic Beliefs of Islam1.0
The Oneness (
Tahid 
) of Allah
•
 
Muslims are also called
muwahhidun
(= “unitarians” or “upholders of thedivine unity”).
•
 
Deuteronomy 6:4 — “Hear, O Israel: The L
ORD
our God, the L
ORD
is one!”
•
 
James 2:19 — “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even thedemons believe — and tremble.” (NKJV)
•
 
1 Timothy 2:5 — “For there is one God and one Mediator between God andmen, the Man Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)
2.0
The Messengers (
 Ar-Rusul 
) of Allah
•
 
A messenger/apostle (
rasul 
) is sent with the Word of God (Scripture) to guideand reform the recipients: Moses (the
Taurat 
), David (the
 Zabur 
), Jesus (the
 Injil 
), and Muhammad (the Qur’an).
 
Theology of Islam Shepherds’ Conference 3/03
Barrick 2
•
 
A prophet (
nabi
) carries information or proclaims God’s Word, but does notreceive a divine Book like the messengers. All messengers are prophets, butnot all prophets are messengers. 25 prophets are mentioned in the Qur’an;124,000 prophets are mentioned in the Hadith: Abel, Noah, Lot, Jonah, John,etc.
 
Passages of the Old Testament that Muslims claim as predictionsregarding Muhammad:Genesis 49:10; Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; 32:21; 33:2; Psalm 45; 149;Song of Songs 5:16; Isaiah 21:7; 42:1-4; 42:10-12; 53; 54:1; 63:1-6;65:1-6; Daniel 2:45; Habakkuk 3:3; Haggai 2:7. In addition, theShi‘ites claim Genesis 17:20 and Jeremiah 46:10.
 
Passages of the New Testament that Muslims claim as predictionsregarding Muhammad:Matthew 3:2; 17:11; 20:1-16; 21:33-44 (//Mark 12:1-11; Luke 20:9-18); Mark 1:7; John 1:21; 4:21; 14:30; 14:16, 17, 26; 16:13; 1 John4:2, 3; Jude 14, 15; Revelation 2:26-29.
3.0
The Revealed Scriptures (
 Al-Kutub
)
•
 
Muslims have four acknowledged sources of authority and two that are notacknowledged:1.
 
The Qur’an2.
 
 Hadith
, the traditions of the prophet3.
 
Qiyas
, analogy taught by Muslim scholars and based on the Qur’anand
 Hadith
 4.
 
 Ijma
, the consensus of the community and especially of Islamicscholars5.
 
 Adat 
, the custom of the community (fear of the evil eye, the power of saints’ graves to get prayers answered, good luck brought by an unreadcopy of the Qur’an)6.
 
Qanun
, international law
4.0
The Angels (
Malaa-ikah
) of Allah
•
 
Most angels are good messengers and helpers of Allah. One, however, is evil:Iblis (= Satan), who was thrown out of heaven for refusing to bow down toAdam (Qur’an 7:11-18).
•
 
Other supernatural beings of fire are the
 jinn
. They are lower than angels,limited in life-span, male or female, good or evil.
 
Theology of Islam Shepherds’ Conference 3/03
Barrick 3
 
5.0
The Last Day of Judgment (
Yaum Al-Qiyaamah
) and the Hereafter (
 Al-Aakhirah
)
•
 
Divine judgment is associated with divine unity. Divine morality demands judgment for sin.
•
 
The day of judgment and resurrection will be announced by means of a pealof thunder, a shout, or a trumpet blast.
They will blow on the trumpet and everything in the heavens and the earth will beswallowed up by death, save only that which God wishes to preserve. Then another trumpet blast will be sounded and all creatures will suddenly rise to behold the plainof resurrection.” (Qur’an 39:68)On the day when the summoner (
 Israfil 
) summons mankind to awesome resurrectionthe unbelievers will come forth with their eyes humbled, like locusts scatteredabroad, hastening to respond to the summoner to resurrection. The unbelievers shallsay to each other: “This is the day of hardship!” (Qur’an 54:6-8)When the sun shall be darkened, when the stars shall be thrown down, when themountains shall be set moving, when the pregnant camels shall be neglected, whenthe savage beasts shall be mustered, when the seas shall be set boiling, when thesouls shall be coupled, when the buried infant shall be asked for what sin she wasslain, when the scrolls shall be unrolled, when heaven shall be stripped off, whenHell shall be set blazing, when Paradise shall be brought nigh, then shall a soulknow what it has produced. (Qur’an 81:1-14)
•
 
The living and the dead shall be assembled in the presence of Allah and judged by the book placed in their hands. The book will be handed to each ineither the left hand or the right hand.
•
 
Eternal paradise or eternal hell—the final abodes of the judged. Men in paradise will also have their wives and children together with them.
Given the clarity of these verses [Qur’an 9:63; 11:16; 2:39, 217], it is not possible to givethem same [
 sic
] special interpretation in order to deny the permanence of the punishmentof hellfire. The text of the verses proclaims that permanent residence in hellfire shall bethe lot of those unbelievers for whom all possible avenues to salvation are blocked. Asfor those who have committed a certain number of lessen [
 sic
] sins and offences, theyshall either spend an appropriate amount of time in hellfire or receive the kindness andforgiveness of God.
 — 
Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari,
 Resurrection Judgement and the Hereafter: Lessons on Islamic Doctrine (Book Three)
, trans. by HamidAlgar (N.p.: Foundation of Islamic Cultural Propagation in the World, 1992), 217
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