THE FALSEHOODS OF THE ISLAMIC RELIGION

A Biblical and Qur’anic Comparative Theological Study

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba Shimba Theological Institute (STI) www.shimbatheological.org

Original publication date: Thursday, July 30, 2015

INTRODUCTION

We believe that, by carefully studying this subject, you will be encouraged to obey the Word of the true God, live according to it, and put its teachings into practice.

A Christian who desires to remain faithful to Christ should be prepared to examine religious teachings in the light of Scripture, while conducting theological discussions with wisdom, humility, and a commitment to truth.

This study compares selected teachings of the Holy Qur’an with those of the Holy Bible. The author writes from a Christian apologetic perspective and states that his personal experience of having lived in a mosque helped him investigate these religious questions.

We welcome you to this study and wish you a fruitful reading experience.

FIRST AND FOREMOST

Greetings once again in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Once again, our God, whose name is identified in the King James Version of the Bible as JEHOVAH, has granted us the grace to share these words of life: the truth of God’s Word, the Holy Bible.

Our purpose is to examine religious teachings and encourage people to seek the truth of Scripture. Regardless of your religion, nationality, or language, we invite you to examine the claims presented in this study carefully.

May the Lord bless you as you pursue the truth.

REASON NO. 1

DO CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS FOLLOW THE SAME PATH?

Amos 3:3 (KJV) asks:

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

The theological question is whether two religious communities can be said to follow the same spiritual path when their foundational teachings differ concerning God, Jesus Christ, salvation, and the authority of Scripture.

A. Islam and Christianity: Religion and Church

Qur’an 5:2–3 — Surah Al-Ma’idah

These verses contain instructions concerning the sacred symbols of Allah, pilgrimage, cooperation in righteousness, the prohibition of certain foods, and the declaration that Islam has been chosen as a religion.

The passage teaches Muslims to cooperate in righteousness and piety and not to cooperate in sin and aggression. It also identifies certain foods and practices as prohibited.

Qur’an 4:171 — Surah An-Nisa’

This verse addresses the People of the Book and warns them against excess in religion and speaking about God without truth.

What does the Bible teach?

Matthew 16:16, 18 (KJV)

Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus declares that He will build His Church upon the rock and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Acts 2:41, 47 (KJV)

Those who received the apostolic message were baptized, and approximately three thousand people were added on the day of Pentecost. The Lord continued adding to the Church those who were being saved.

1 Corinthians 3:23 (KJV)

“And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”

Acts 11:26 (KJV)

The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

Theological observation

The New Testament presents Christianity as a community centered on Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, the apostolic proclamation of the Gospel, and the fellowship of His Church.

Islam, as represented by the Qur’an, has its own religious framework, sacred text, and doctrinal commitments.

Therefore, Christians should not assume that Christianity and Islam teach identical doctrines merely because both traditions affirm belief in one God or refer to some of the same biblical figures.

The central question is whether their teachings about God and Jesus Christ are theologically compatible.

REASON NO. 2

THE DOCTRINE OF ONE GOD

Islamic teachers sometimes compare Qur’anic verses with biblical passages to argue that Allah and Jehovah refer to the same God. The author argues that this claim requires closer theological examination.

God’s commandment concerning worship

Exodus 20:1–3 (KJV)

God declares that He is the LORD who brought Israel out of Egypt and commands His people not to have other gods before Him.

The biblical commandment establishes the exclusive worship of the Lord. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is repeatedly warned against idolatry and the worship of other deities.

The Bible mentions several gods worshipped by surrounding peoples, including:

• Dagon — Judges 16:23.

• Baal — 1 Kings 18:21.

• Artemis of the Ephesians — Acts 19:24–28.

The Qur’an also refers to pre-Islamic Arabian deities.

Qur’an 53:19–23 — Surah An-Najm

The passage mentions Al-Lat, Al-‘Uzza, and Manat, deities associated with pre-Islamic Arabian religious practices.

The author uses these references to emphasize that the existence of many objects of worship does not establish that all who claim to worship one deity necessarily worship the same God in the same theological sense.

The biblical declaration of divine oneness

Deuteronomy 6:4 (KJV)

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”

Isaiah 45:18, 21 (KJV)

Isaiah declares that the LORD created the heavens and the earth and that there is no other God besides Him. The passage identifies the LORD as the righteous God and Savior.

Psalm 86:10 (KJV)

“For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.”

John 17:3 (KJV)

Jesus speaks of eternal life as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

1 Corinthians 8:4 (KJV)

Paul declares that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no other God but one.

Theological observation

Christianity and Islam both affirm monotheism, but they do not define the nature of God in precisely the same way.

Historic Christianity confesses one God in three distinct, coequal, and coeternal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This doctrine does not teach belief in three gods.

Islam rejects the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the divine Sonship of Jesus as understood in historic Christianity.

Consequently, the question of whether Allah and Jehovah refer to the same God cannot be settled simply by observing that both traditions use monotheistic language. It requires examination of their respective teachings concerning God's nature, identity, revelation, and relationship to Jesus Christ.

REASON NO. 3

IS ALLAH THE SAME AS JEHOVAH?

The author examines the Qur’anic account of Satan’s refusal to bow before Adam and compares it with biblical teaching.

Qur’an 15:30–39 — Surah Al-Hijr

The passage describes the angels prostrating, except Iblis, who refuses. Allah questions Iblis about his refusal. Iblis refers to Adam’s creation from clay, and Allah expels and curses him. Iblis then requests respite until the Day of Resurrection and declares his intention to mislead humanity.

Qur’an 51:56 — Surah Adh-Dhariyat

The verse states that jinn and humanity were created to worship Allah.

The author’s theological question

The author asks whether these passages, when compared with the Bible’s accounts of creation, humanity, worship, and rebellion, establish that Allah and Jehovah are identical.

The comparison raises questions concerning the respective religious narratives, the identity of the Creator, the purpose of human existence, and the origin of evil.

A responsible theological examination must consider the passages in their literary and historical contexts rather than assume that differences in wording alone establish the identity or non-identity of the God being described.

REASON NO. 4

THE CREATOR, DIVINE OATHS, AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

The author compares Qur’anic passages in which Allah swears by created things with biblical passages in which the LORD declares His sovereignty and swears by Himself.

Qur’anic passages

Qur’an 92:1–3 — Surah Al-Layl

The passage invokes the night as it covers, the day as it appears, and the One who created male and female.

Qur’an 91:1–7 — Surah Ash-Shams

The passage invokes the sun, its brightness, the moon, the day, the night, the heaven and its construction, the earth and its spreading out, and the soul and its formation.

Qur’an 45:22 — Surah Al-Jathiyah

The verse declares that Allah created the heavens and the earth in truth.

Qur’an 44:7–8 — Surah Ad-Dukhan

The passage identifies the Lord of the heavens and the earth and declares that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, the One who gives life and causes death.

The author observes that these passages affirm Allah as Creator and sovereign Lord.

The biblical declaration of creation

Isaiah 44:24 (KJV)

The LORD, Israel’s Redeemer and Creator, declares that He made all things, stretched out the heavens alone, and spread abroad the earth without assistance.

The author emphasizes that the God of the Bible identifies Himself as the sovereign Creator of all things.

Does God swear by Himself?

Isaiah 45:22–23 (KJV)

The LORD calls the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved, declaring that He is God and that there is none else. He swears by Himself that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.

Hebrews 6:13–16 (KJV)

When God made His promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself because there was none greater by whom He could swear. The passage explains that human beings swear by someone greater than themselves to confirm a matter.

The author contrasts these biblical passages with Qur’anic oaths by created things and asks what theological significance should be assigned to the difference.

He also refers readers to Isaiah 14:24 and Genesis 22:16.

Theological observation

The biblical passages emphasize God's sovereignty, faithfulness, and unique authority. The Qur’anic passages likewise affirm divine creation and lordship.

The fact that a religious text contains an oath by a created object does not, by itself, prove that its speaker is a created being or that the speaker did not create the object. The theological significance of an oath must be examined within the conventions and context of the text.

The central Christian doctrine remains that the LORD is the sovereign Creator of all things and that His promises are established by His own unchanging character.

REASON NO. 5

THE QUESTION OF TRUTHFULNESS AND THE IDENTITY OF JESUS CHRIST

The author argues that a major theological difference between the Qur’an and the Bible concerns the identity of Jesus Christ, particularly His divine Sonship.

What does the Qur’an teach about Jesus?

Qur’an 19:35 — Surah Maryam

The verse declares that it is not befitting for Allah to take a son. When He decrees a matter, He says to it, “Be,” and it is.

Qur’an 112:1–4 — Surah Al-Ikhlas

The passage describes Allah as One, the Eternal Refuge, who neither begets nor is begotten and for whom there is no comparable being.

The author interprets these verses as a rejection of the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ as confessed in historic Christianity.

What does the Bible teach?

1 John 2:22–26 (KJV)

John asks who is a liar except the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ. He warns against denying the Father and the Son and teaches that whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, while whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

John explains that he has written these things concerning those who seek to deceive believers and reminds them of the promise of eternal life.

Colossians 1:13–15 (KJV)

Paul declares that God has delivered believers from the power of darkness and translated them into the kingdom of His beloved Son. Through the Son, believers have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. Christ is described as the image of the invisible God.

John 3:16–17 (KJV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The passage continues by explaining that God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

The theological significance of Christ's Sonship

Historic Christianity does not teach that God produced a son through a physical or biological act. Rather, the doctrine of the eternal Sonship of Christ concerns the unique relationship between the Father and the Son within the Godhead.

The Christian confession is that Jesus Christ is truly divine and truly human, and that salvation is accomplished through His incarnation, death, and resurrection.

The author therefore argues that the Qur’anic rejection of divine Sonship conflicts with the central Christological claims of the New Testament.

From this Christian apologetic perspective, the question is whether a teaching that rejects the biblical identity of Jesus can be reconciled with apostolic Christianity.

REASON NO. 6

THE NAME OF GOD: JEHOVAH AND ALLAH

A name is an important means of identifying a person or distinguishing one thing from another. The author therefore asks whether the names used for God in the Qur’an and the Bible establish that the two traditions refer to the same divine identity.

The Qur’anic designation

Qur’an 17:110 — Surah Al-Isra

The verse instructs the reader to call upon Allah or Ar-Rahman, explaining that God has the most beautiful names.

The author notes that the Qur’an frequently uses the designation Allah and argues that this is the principal name by which God is identified in Islamic worship.

The biblical name

Exodus 6:2–3 (KJV)

“And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”

The author emphasizes the divine name Jehovah, which appears in certain English Bible translations, including the King James Version.

Psalm 83:18 (KJV)

“That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.”

Psalm 138:2 (KJV)

The psalmist declares his intention to worship toward God's holy temple and praise His name because of His lovingkindness and truth.

Is “God” a name or a title?

The author argues that the word God functions as a designation or title rather than being the personal name revealed in Exodus.

In Arabic, Allah is the ordinary word for God and is used by Muslims and by Arabic-speaking Christians. The term itself does not, simply by its linguistic form, establish that the speaker is referring to a different deity.

Likewise, the Hebrew divine name represented by the four consonants YHWH is commonly rendered as LORD in many English Bible translations. Jehovah is a traditional English rendering of that name; Yahweh is another widely used scholarly rendering.

Theological observation

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This teaching continues in Dr. Shimba's full study.