PART 1

Who, When, Where and HowBasic BeliefsPillars of IslamThe Qur'an

PART 2

What the Qur'an says about Christianity.Why Christians and Muslims disagree.

Islam – The name of the religion

Muslim – A follower of the religion

Muhammad – The main prophet of Islam

Allah – The name of God

Dates – c. 600 A.D.

THE BASIC BELIEFS OF ISLAM

1) Belief in one God.2) Belief in the angels, genies and Satan.3) Belief in God’s revealed books.4) Belief in the prophets and messengers of God.5) Belief in the Day of Judgment.6) Belief in divine predestination. 6) Belief in divine predestination.

... (B)ut righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the prophets ... (Qur’an 2:177, Pickthall)

The Synoptic Qur’ans

The Standarizing of the Qur’an

Narrated Anas bin Malik: ...'Uthman then ordered ... to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. ... 'Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur'anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt. ..." (Sahih al-Bukhari: vol. 6, bk. 61, no. 510)

Then those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful. And those whose scales are light are those who lose their souls, in hell abiding. (Qur'an 23:102-103, Pickthall)

THE PILLARS OF ISLAM

1. Islamic Confession of faith2. Five Daily Prayers3. Financial Offering4. Fasting During Ramadan5. Pilgrimage to Mecca

There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

Anyone who, after accepting faith in God, utters unbelief - except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in faith - but such as open their heart to unbelief, on them is wrath from God. (Qur’an 16:106, Yusuf Ali) Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10, NIV)

Charities (zakat) shall go to the poor, the needy, the workers who collect them, the new converts, to free the slaves, to those burdened by sudden expenses, in the cause of GOD, and to the travelling alien. ... (Qur’an 9:60, Arberry)

The Roman Empire has been defeated - In a land close by; but they, after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious - Within a few years. With God is the Decision, in the past and in the Future: on that Day shall the Believers (Muslims) rejoice - (Qur’an 30:2-4, Yusuf Ali)

Invite (all) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious. (Qur’an 16:125, Yusuf Ali)

(Y)ou will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe (to be) those who say: We are Christians ... (Qur’an 5:82, Shakir)

If any one disputes in this matter (about Jesus) with you, now after (full) knowledge has come to you, say: "Come! let us gather together, our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: Then let us earnestly pray, and invoke the curse of God on those who lie!" (Qur’an 3:61, Yusuf Ali)

Fight those who believe not in God and the Last Day and do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden -- such men as practise not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book (Christians and Jews)-- until they pay the tribute out of hand and have been humbled. The Jews say, 'Ezra is the Son of God'; the Christians say, 'The Messiah is the Son of God.' That is the utterance of their mouths, conforming with the unbelievers before them. God assail them! How they are perverted! ... It is He who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may uplift it above every religion (Qur’an 9:29-33, Arberry, 48:28-29, 61:9)

O Prophet! Strive (jihad) against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them. ... (Qur'an 9:73, Pitckthall; also 2:278-279, 33:60-61, 49:9, 66:9)

(A) clear line of demarcation has been drawn between the hypocritical “Muslims” and the true Muslims, and instructions have been given regarding the treatment that should be meted out to the hypocrites. (S. Abdul A`La Maududi, The Meaning of the Qur’an, vol. 2, p. 229)

PART 2

What the Qur'an says about Christianity.

Why Christians and Muslims disagree.

They said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God"; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ about this are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of certainty they killed him not. (Qur’an 4:157, Yusuf Ali)

They are unbelievers who say, “God is the Third of Three”. No god is there but One God. ... The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; Messengers before him passed away; his mother was a just woman; they both ate food. (Qur'an 5:73-75, Arberry)

And when God said (to Jesus), “O Jesus son of Mary, did you say to men, ‘Take me and my mother as gods, apart from God?’” (Qur'an 5:116, Arberry)

It is not fitting for the Merciful (Allah) to take to himself a son. There is none in the heavens and the earth who will not come to the Merciful (except) as a slave. (Qur’an 19:92-93, Jones)

Permitted to you (Muslims) today are all good things. The food of those who have been given the Scripture is lawful for you, and yours for them. [Permitted to you in marriage] are the chaste women of the believers and the chaste women of those what have been given the Scripture before you. (Qur’an 5:5, Jones)

We have sent down to you the Scripture in truth, confirming all the Scripture [that had been revealed] before it, and watcher over it. So judge between them by what God has sent down; and do not follow their whims away from the Truth that has come down to you. (Qur’an 5:48, Jones)