God Is Supreme, Not Jesus

23, 24. How did Muḥammad and the Muslims view Judaism and Christianity?

²³ The three major monotheistic religions of the world are Judaism, Christianity, and Islām. But by the time Muḥammad appeared toward the beginning of the seventh century C.E., the first two religions, as far as he was concerned, had wandered from the path of truth. In fact, according to some Islāmic commentators, the Qurʼān implies rejection of Jews and of Christians in stating: “Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.” (Surah 1:7, MMP) Why is that?

²⁴ A Qurʼānic commentary states: “The People of the Book went wrong: The Jews in breaking their Covenant, and slandering Mary and Jesus . . . and the Christians in raising Jesus the Apostle to equality with God” by means of the Trinity doctrine.​—Surah 4:153-176, AYA.

25. What parallel expressions do we find in the Qurʼān and the Bible?

²⁵ The principal teaching of Islām, for utter simplicity, is what is known as the shahādah, or confession of faith, which every Muslim knows by heart: “La ilāh illa Allāh; Muḥammad rasūl Allāh” (No god but Allah; Muḥammad is the messenger of Allah). This agrees with the Qurʼānic expression, “Your God is One God; there is no God save Him, the Beneficent, the Merciful.” (Surah 2:163, MMP) This thought was stated 2,000 years earlier with the ancient call to Israel: “Listen, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.” (Deuteronomy 6:4) Jesus repeated this foremost command, which is recorded at Mark 12:29, about 600 years before Muḥammad, and nowhere did Jesus claim to be God or to be equal to Him.​—Mark 13:32; John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 15:28.

26. (a) How do Muslims view the Trinity? (b) Is the Trinity Biblical?

²⁶ Regarding God’s uniqueness, the Qurʼān states: “So believe in God and His apostles. Say not ‘Trinity’: desist: it will be better for you: for God is One God.” (Surah 4:171, AYA) However, we should note that true Christianity does not teach a Trinity. That is a doctrine of pagan origin introduced by apostates of Christendom after the death of Christ and the apostles.​—See Chapter 11.e

Soul, Resurrection, Paradise, and Hellfire

27. What does the Qurʼān say about the soul and about the resurrection? (Contrast Leviticus 24:17, 18; Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; John 5:28, 29.)

²⁷ Islām teaches that man has a soul that goes on to a hereafter. The Qurʼān states: “Allah receiveth (men’s) souls at the time of their death, and that (soul) which dieth not (yet) in its sleep. He keepeth that (soul) for which He hath ordained death.” (Surah 39:42, MMP) At the same time, surah 75 is entirely devoted to “Qiyāmat, or the Resurrection” (AYA), or “The Rising of the Dead” (MMP). In part it says: “I do call to witness the Resurrection Day . . . Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones? . . . He questions: ‘When is the Day of Resurrection?’ . . . Has not He [Allāh] the power to give life to the dead?”​—Surah 75:1, 3, 6, 40, AYA.

28. What does the Qurʼān say about hell? (Contrast Job 14:13; Jeremiah 19:5; 32:35; Acts 2:25-27; Romans 6:7, 23.)

²⁸ According to the Qurʼān, the soul can have different destinies, which can be either a heavenly garden of paradise or the punishment of a burning hell. As the Qurʼān states: “They ask: When is the Day of Judgement? (It is) the day when they will be tormented at the Fire, (and it will be said unto them): Taste your torment (which ye inflicted).” (Surah 51:12-14, MMP) “For them [the sinners] is torment in the life of the world, and verily the doom of the Hereafter is more painful, and they have no defender from Allah.” (Surah 13:34, MMP) The question is asked: “And what will explain to thee what this is? (It is) a Fire blazing fiercely!” (Surah 101:10, 11, AYA) This dire fate is described in detail: “Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.” (Surah 4:56, MMP) A further description states: “Lo! hell lurketh in ambush . . . They will abide therein for ages. Therein taste they neither coolness nor (any) drink save boiling water and a paralysing cold.”​—Surah 78:21, 23-25, MMP.

29. What is the Bible’s teaching on the soul, hell, and hellfire?

²⁹ Muslims believe that a dead person’s soul goes to the Barzakh, or “Partition,” “the place or state in which people will be after death and before Judgment.” (Surah 23:99, 100, AYA, footnote) The soul is conscious there experiencing what is termed the “Chastisement of the Tomb” if the person had been wicked, or enjoying happiness if he had been faithful. But the faithful ones must also experience some torment because of their few sins while alive. On the judgment day, each faces his eternal destiny, which ends that intermediate state.f

30. What are the righteous promised according to the Qurʼān? (Contrast Isaiah 65:17, 21-25; Luke 23:43; Revelation 21:1-5.)

³⁰ In contrast, the righteous are promised heavenly gardens of paradise: “And as for those who believe and do good works, We shall make them enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow to dwell therein for ever.” (Surah 4:57, MMP) “On that day the dwellers of Paradise shall think of nothing but their bliss. Together with their wives, they shall recline in shady groves upon soft couches.” (Surah 36:55, 56, NJD) “Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): ‘My servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth.’” The footnote to this surah refers the reader to Psalm 25:13 and Ps 37:11, 29, as well as to the words of Jesus at Matthew 5:5. (Surah 21:105, AYA) The reference to wives now makes us turn to another question.

Monogamy or Polygamy?

31. What does the Qurʼān say about polygamy? (Contrast 1 Corinthians 7:2; 1 Timothy 3:2, 12.)

³¹ Is polygamy the rule among Muslims? While the Qurʼān permits polygamy, many Muslims have only one wife. Because of the numerous widows that were left after costly battles, the Qurʼān made room for polygamy: “And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice (to so many) then one (only) or (the captives) that your right hands possess.” (Surah 4:3, MMP) A biography of Muḥammad by Ibn-Hishām mentions that Muḥammad married a wealthy widow, Khadījah, 15 years his senior. After her death he married many women. When he died he left nine widows.

32. What is mutʽah?

³² Another form of marriage in Islām is called mutʽah. It is defined as “a special contract concluded between a man and a woman through offer and acceptance of marriage for a limited period and with a specified dowry like the contract for permanent marriage.” (Islamuna, by Muṣṭafā al-Rāfiʽī) The Sunnīs call it a marriage for pleasure, and the Shīʽah, a marriage to be terminated in a specific period. States the same source: “The children [of such marriages] are legitimate and have the same rights as the children of a permanent marriage.” Apparently this form of temporary marriage was practiced in Muḥammad’s day, and he allowed it. Sunnīs insist that it was prohibited later, while the Imāmīs, the largest Shīʽite group, believe that it is still in effect. In fact, many practice it, especially when a man is absent from his wife for a long period of time.

Islām and Daily Life

33. What are the pillars of Islām and of belief?

³³ Islām involves five pillars, or principal obligations, and six basic beliefs. (See boxes, pages 296, 303.) One of the obligations is that the devout Muslim turn to Mecca five times a day in prayer (ṣalāt). On the Muslim sabbath (Friday), the men flock to the mosque for prayer when they hear the haunting call of the muezzin from the minaret of the mosque. Nowadays many mosques play a recording rather than have a live voice give the call.

34. What is a mosque, and how is it used?

³⁴ The mosque (Arabic, masjid) is the Muslim place of worship, described by King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia as “the cornerstone for the call to God.” He defined the mosque as “a place of prayer, study, legal and judicial activities, consultation, preaching, guidance, education and preparation. . . . The mosque is the heart of Muslim society.” These places of worship are now found all over the world. One of the most famous in history is the Mezquita (Mosque) of Córdoba, Spain, which for centuries was the largest in the world. Its central portion is now occupied by a Catholic cathedral.

[Box on page 296]

The Six Pillars of Belief

1. Belief in one God, Allāh (Surah 23:116, 117)

2. Belief in angels (Surah 2:177)

3. The divine books: Torah, Gospel, Psalms, Scrolls of Abraham, Qurʼān

4. Belief in many prophets but one message. Adam was the first prophet. Others have included Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and “the Seal of the Prophets,” Muḥammad (Surah 4:136; 33:40)

5. The last day: when all the dead will be raised from their graves

6. Belief in destiny, its good and its bad. Nothing happens that God has not decreed