SLR: What I Learned About Islam?

Background

Islam as a religion has existed nearly 1400 years, but only in recent decades its influence has reached a new height. The oil resources controlled by Islamic countries are great assets, which in their own ways steer the politics and economics of the whole world. Worldwide migration of people has formed Muslim minorities in traditional Christian countries, and also Christian minorities in traditional Islamic countries. Wars and famines are also causing great migrations, bringing cultures together for better and for worse.

I have not had extensive cooperation or dealings with Islamic culture, and I have not really had any Muslim friends. I have not dealt with the “folk Islam”, which is effectively guiding the behavior of majority of Muslims. I have not needed to. However, nowadays Finland has also a populous Muslim minority, who are being watched by the media and suspicious eyes of phlegmatic Finns. How should I face this new situation? What can I learn about Islam? It turned out that there are plenty I could learn and do.

Religious Essentials

I took a course named “Introduction to Islam”, and thought it to be interesting and contemporary. It provided a lot of information regarding the history, essentials, and many facets of Islam. Here I am listing few items which were new to me or otherwise made an impression on me:

• Qur’an is the holy book of Islam, and it is recited everywhere in Arabic, which is held as the divine language.
• By reciting Qur’an in Arabic, Muslims experience the connection with God
• There were no diacritical marks nor vowels in written Arabic Qur’an, allowing for some degree of ambiguity in interpretation
• Prophet Muhammad had a rich life, and was a capable leader who cared for the poor, the weak, and the needy
• The Arabic culture prior to Islam was full of scattered idol worship, and in general not held in high esteem
• Islam means submission, practically submission/obedience to God and His prophets
• Muslim denotes a person who submits and yields his life to God according to Islam
• Hadith denote the whole collection of the actions and sayings of Muhammad, which are to be followed precisely
• Sunna means the conducts of Muhammad as a man
• Together, the Qur’an, the Hadith, and the Sunna mark the detailed ways of life all Muslims are to follow
• The 5 pillars of Islam are the creed (shahada), prayers (salat), fasting (sawm), alms (zakat), and pilgrimage (hajj)
• Umma denotes the “Islamic community” as one single nation, similar as Christian concept of church as the body of Christ. In this definition, Islamic view of the world is simply divided into the House of Islam and the House of War, basically Muslims and non-Muslims
• The concept of Jihad and power of Islam are rooted to the very beginning of Islam, when wars were fought and won and the House of Islam was quickly expanded to become a world power
• Folk Islam is a concept which describes the beliefs and practices of majority of Muslims, which are not according to orthodox Islam, but which are the way these Muslims live out their religion. Fold Islam contains such things as e.g. superstition, amulets, talisman, the evil eye, and various spiritual things.

There are of course more to Islam than above list. For example, a big surprise for me was how Christians are seen by the Muslims.

Christianity in the Eyes of a Muslim

Just as I did not know about Folk Islam, the Muslims are seldom aware about liberal theology or so called nominal Christians. Most of Muslims think that Christian West really means that all the people in Christian countries are Christians. No wonder Muslims have really low appreciation for Christianity.

Another major tenet I did not know was that Qur’an speaks very positively about Jesus, and that Muslims hold Jesus in very high honor! Connected to this, the deity of Jesus is refuted by Islam, but this relates to their understanding about Christianity: Jesus had the message from God, but Christians replaced/corrupted it by changing the content to the “gospels” in New Testament. In the same line, the concept of Trinity of Christianity is idol worship, where three gods are worshipped: God the Father, Mary, and Jesus. Huge misunderstandings!

Another major issue seems to be the crucifixion of Jesus. I did not know that Qur’an actually talks about this: “but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, …, for a surety they killed him not – Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself” (Sura 4:155-158). So, Islam has interpreted this text to mean that Jesus was NOT crucified at all, but a substitute was crucified, which Jews thought was Jesus. There are other theories also, but this is the majority view. Islam cannot understand, how God could give an innocent man like Jesus to be crucified on others behalf, it is against Islamic understanding of justice of God.

There seems to be many conflicts regarding who Jesus was, did He really die, and who is right about God: Islam or Christianity? At this point, I would like to consider, whether it is possible to find harmony between these two groups?

How to Live in Harmony?

When studying the course Introduction to Islam, at times I had difficulty to breathe: the tight grip of Islam on its adherents took my breath away. There are social, economic, and cultural implications for a Muslim to convert to another faith. The worldview built into Islam is totalistic and requires absolute submission, which the term Islam means. The division of House of Islam from House of War automatically puts non-Muslims into a secondary position, and any amount of oppression seems to be justified.

How does Christianity respond to this? All I can think of is Love. The Agape -love of God that Christians keep on talking about, it encompasses all people on earth, including Muslims. If there are wrongs done to them, Christians would love back, as Jesus taught in New Testament (Matthew 5:43-48). Of course, back in the history there has been plenty of violent responses from Christians to Muslims, but were those done in the spirit of God or in the spirit of man? There has been many a dark moment in human history, when men have erupted against other men and killed, tortured, wronged them, simply because they were somehow different.

Despite the history, I believe there can be harmony. The harmony of Love, which “keeps no record of wrong”, “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1^st Cor. 13:5, 7). Though it IS unfair, the Love of God is able to take all the beatings, humiliation, tortures, and offences. All this, because “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth” (Job 19:23). God will have his fair and just judgement, and by trusting Him in Jesus Christ, anyone can learn to Love.

Without Love, it is impossible to reach harmony, because hate and vengeance are never-ending cycles. Despite the possible absolute submission to Islamic teachings about what is orthodox, in the deep heart of every man and woman, adult and child, there is the need to be loved. So, regardless are you a Christian or a Muslim, I call you to surrender to the Love. It is not blind, it is not cheap, it does not change your circumstances nor history, but it will change you! The Love of God was demonstrated: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And through Jesus: “to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12)!

How Do I Choose to Live?

Now in everyday life, how should this Love be seen? How it should affect my life? What I have come to understand is this:

1. Recognize my prejudices and repent about them
2. Pray and ask for Love from God
3. See Muslims first of all as men/women loved by God, and then as friends God has put into my life
4. Spend time together, do something fun, learn language, help with daily chores…
5. Share the Love of God via warmth, actions, and words.

There is always a risk of becoming hurt or deceived, if one chooses to Love. Then again, we are not called to love dumbly, but there are wise principles and safe limits that help us to Love consistently. To Love is not to forget rationale, but an attitude of life.

Conclusions

What has this blog text brought to your mind? Do you agree or do you object strongly? Your feedback is more than welcome! Our lives are always undergoing processes, because we are human, tied in time and given only each moment we live in. Fortunately God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11), so it is not only a meaningless ride, but every moment really counts! Make your words and actions count, not towards worldly and passing things, but towards eternal and meaningful things.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1^st Corinthians 10:31)

SLR: Christ - the Answer for All Things

The emergence of various new religious movements in Western society during the past decades have produced imminent shadows over the orthodox Christianity and especially the faith of individual Christians. Among the various new movements there are challenges from traditional religions such as Islam and Buddhism, as well as vast amount of "new" movements ranging from New Age to Theosophy, Transcendental Meditation to Unification church. Unfortunately the main stream churches are not responding to these challenges, mainly neglecting their existence or relying on active individuals to produce apologetics for Christianity.

The most challenging new movements that affect Christian individuals seem to be pseudo-Christian beliefs, for example Jehovah's Witnesses, Unity School of Christianity, and a diversity of legalistic Messianic Jewish teachings. Most of the "new" movements are not new in themselves, but reflect the ideologies from Arianism, Gnosticism, Eastern Mystics, and salvation through deeds. The answer to all these ideologies lies in the person of Jesus Christ, and the letter to Colossians is Paul's way of presenting this solution.

Paul attacks the word fullness (pleroma), which was frequently used by false teachers to present their ideologies, by presenting Christ as the fullness of God in creation (1:15-18), fullness of God in redemption (1:19-23), and fullness of God in the church (1:24-2:7). Creation is upheld by Christ and under His authority, redemption is fully accomplished by Christ and only through Him, and the church exists only because Christ is the head of it. No other ideologies or doctrines are needed, Christ is the fullness of these things and His followers should:
2:6-8 ... continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Paul then continues to present Christ as the answer to human philosophy (2:8-10), warning against Jewish legality (2:13-17), cure against oriental mysticism (2:18-19), and rebuke against carnal asceticism (2:21-3:1). It is amazing that despite the clear warnings of the Bible, moderns Christians still fall away into human philosophy, Jewish legality and New Age ideology. It looks like Christians are saying that Christ is not enough, they need something more, something better to make their lives worth living. The saddest situation is when all backsliding is done in the sincere purpose of glorifying God and seeking to find the "lost truth" that would cure all problems of church.

Paul depicts Christ as the Full Knowledge (epignosis), indicating that in His simplicity He is the true knowledge, the glorious mystery of God: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (1:27). If a Christian thinks that this is not enough, he can stray into human wisdom or Jewish legality, which provide seemingly good answers to spiritual growth and maturity, but eventually turns out to be hollow and shallow compared to the firm assurance provided by Christ. Paul exhorts us (3:15-17):

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. 
And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


For the modern people involved in new religious movements, Christ still offers the best solution to your problems of sin, frustration of continuous failures, cynical view on life, and vanity of all affairs. Compared to Hindu/Buddhist world view Christ offers hope of salvation and an active attitude to deal with life. Compared to Chinese wisdom and world view Christ offers not only high ethical standards, but the power and means to achieve and keep them. For the animists living in constant fear and uncertainty, Christ offers joy of life and freedom from all fear and bondage. For the materialistic modern man, Christ offers freedom to choose differently, real value for life, and the love that penetrates thickest doubts and criticism.


My message to you is: Christ is real, not fake. He is the resurrected Lord of all creation, and He wants to be the Lord of your life as well. Will you submit to His superiority and surrender your limited wisdom and knowledge into His use? Will you give Him a chance to manifest His great love and power into your life? Do not be tempted by the wonderful promises of new religious movements or traditional religions, they do not contain the fullness of life. 


Jesus said: Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 7:37, 4:14).

Sources used:
Robertson, Irvine. 1991. What the Cults Believe. Chicago, Illinois: The Moody Bible Institute.
Stewart, James A. 1965. Christ is All - Studies in Colossians. Philadelphia, PA: Revival Literature.
Tenney, Merrill C. 1985. New Testament Survey. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.


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