Conclusion
Although Islam asserts that it accepts the Gospels of the Bible as inspired by God, they do not heed the words of Jesus proclaimed in John 14:6 “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me” Therefore any perceived similarities between Islam and Christianity is purely superficial and purposely deceptive.
5. Belief in a Day of Judgment
Muhammad teaches that all creatures will be raised from the dead on the Last Day for judgment by the righteous yet merciful and compassionate god. On that day the deeds of each individual will be weight; each individual is responsible for his own salvation for Islam recognizes no “forgiveness for sins” nor need for a Saviour or Messiah. Islam has rejected God’s saving grace in Christ Jesus and instead demands salvation by works of the Law. Each individual human is capable of and expected to learn and follow god’s Will revealed by Mohammad.
6. Belief in Predestination
The god of Islam has decreed everything that happens. However, since men cannot know what this unnamed god has fully decreed, they must not cease to act and to choose between good and evil. Piety enjoins a humble submission to whatever Islam proclaims their god to have ordained.
In addition to the six articles of faith, Islam imposes religious duties on all Muslims (known as The Pillars of Islam):
7. Reciting the creed (Shahada)
Every true believer in Islam is required, at least once in his life, to pronounce aloud, with full understanding and perfect conviction, the declaration: “There is no god but god, and Mohammad is his prophet” or “…and Mohammad is the messenger of god.” The devout Muslim thus proclaims his personal belief in the satanic god of Mohammad while also sounding forth a call to Christians to turn away from “idolatry” of worshiping the one true God (Jesus).
8. Worship (Salat: Ritual Prayer)
Formal worship is required of the faithful Muslim five times every day: (a) dawn upon rising; (b) noon; (c) midafternoon; (d) after sunset; (e) at the end of the day just before retiring. He must ritually purify himself before each required period of worship (e.g., remove his shoes upon entering the Mosque and wash his feet, hands, head and arms before prayer); he must worship facing in the direction of Mecca (the “holy city”); he must assume fixed positions; and he must recite specific prayers or texts. The primary purpose of these times of prayer is one of praise and supplication. A secondary purpose is to remind the believer that he is not god, to keep him humble. The set times of prayer also create a sense of participation and fellowship in a worldwide brotherhood for the devout Muslim, even when he is isolated from other believers.
Traditionally on Fridays, although Friday is not required in the Koran, communal prays are led by a layman known as an Imam, which means leader, in a Mosque. This replaces the private noon worship. Just before this required time of prayer the Imam may recite or read a portion of the Islamic holy book as well as preach to the faithful in the Mosque.
9. Alms giving
There are two classifications of alms: zakat (compulsory) and sadaqat (voluntary). The compulsory almsgiving is set on all that a man possesses all of his assets rather than just his income, which includes his food and grain, 10% if watered by rain, 5% if watered by irrigation, and money 2.5%. Only after zakat has been paid is the remainder of the individual’s assets considered purified and legitimate.
10. Fasting
The time during which the archangel Gabriel revealed the Koran to Mohammad is known as Ramadan; this is a period of mandatory fasting for the faithful Muslim during which believers are to refrain from all food, drink, sexual intercourse and other pleasures between dawn and sunset each day of this lunar holy month.
11. Pilgrimage to
Every Muslim who is economically and physically able to do so is required to make at least one pilgrimage, known as a Hajj, to the holy city of
12. Sanction of Jihad (“holy war”)
Islam asserts that fighting a “holy war” to extend the territory controlled by Islam or to defend such territory already governed by Islam is mandated by the Archangel Gabriel’s revelation to Mohammad and is the obligation of all men capable of doing so.
The fourteenth century Muslim theologian, Ibn Taymiyya, wrote: “Nothing in the Law of Mohammad states that the blood of the unbeliever is equal to the blood of the Muslim, because faith is necessary for equality.” Therefore, the killing or murder of a non-Muslim is not a capital crime. Non-believers are required to convert to Islam on penalty of death. “Make war on them [i.e., against all non-Muslims] until idolatry is no more and god’s religion reigns supreme” (Sura 8:39). All impediments to the spread of Islam must be removed – through the tongue, the pen, or the sword! From its very founding by Mohammad, Islam turned its political boundaries with the outside world, almost all of which was Christian, into a perpetual war zone. Before Islam, Christianity covered the entire ancient province of Asia, extending across the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea,
Jews and Christians, as “people of the Book” and thus not true pagans, are allowed a limited amount of religious autonomy but are still subjects for conversion. They are, however, inferior to the TRUE believer, Muslims, and therefore are required to pay “jizya”, a special tax, and subject to certain social and legal restrictions. This dhimmis status is still enforced today in all Islamic controlled nations.
In most Islamic countries, such as
13. Shari'a (total way of life as commanded by god)
The sacred law of Islam indicates that Islam is more than a "religion" in the Western sense of that term. That is, Islam certainly deals with ritual and worship and doctrine but also regulates the total behavior of the individual as (1) a member of a family, (2) a member of society, and (3) a citizen of a State. Where Islam dominates, it controls religion, culture, and politics. The idea of the "separation of Church and State" is totally incomprehensible to a pious Muslim. Islam is a total way of life; within Islam all institutions are "religious." The State itself is just another religious institution; its constitution and laws, of necessity, are assumed to be based upon the Shari'a (the religio-moral values of Islam). Shari'a includes all human action: public and private law, national and international law, details of religious ritual and ethics of social conduct. Every action (or inaction) falls under one of five categories of Shari'a: (1) What is commanded (by god); (2) What is recommended (by god); (3) What is legally indifferent (to god); (4) What is condemned or censured (by god); and (5) What is strongly and positively forbidden (by god). And this is all grounded in what the pious Muslim believes to be "immutable divine revelation."
Islam teaches (Sura 4:34) that: "Men have authority over women because god has made the one superior to the other, and because they [men] spend their wealth to maintain them. ... As for those [women] from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them." Traditionally Islam has kept its women in seclusion and (although not required in their "holy book") heavily veiled; this custom is still observed in the more pious Islamic nations. The devout Muslim is allowed four legal wives at one time (even though Mohammed himself had 14 wives and three concubines) and divorce is a very simple procedure for the man (so it is easy to divorce one wife in order to "marry" another).
According to Mohammad's "holy book," the evidence of one man equals that of two women because "should one of them slip, the other may correct her" (Sura 2:282). In the matter of inheritance, daughters are allowed only half the shares given to sons. In the matter of divorce, the mother never retains legal custody of her children.
The typical Muslim worships his god and strives to obey his god's commands out of fear. There is punishment awaiting all who do not fully obey Mohammad's "god." The devout Muslim does not pray for the heathen’s conversion to Islam but rather prays god's destruction upon the heathen since they are nothing more than "firewood for Hell."
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