Allah is Arabic for God. They are the same god. Christians believe that Jesus was the son of god born to die for all man's sins. Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet and important figure, like Moses. They believe that Muhammad was given special guidance on how people should live their lives. The Bible and Qur'an aren't as different as you would think. The Qur'an puts me in mind of the old testament really.

 

Hoopboy as for your claim, how is that any different than someone claiming they are the son of god?

 

Unlike the son of God, I can't do miracles. I can't bring people back to life, or cure blindness. I can make one hell of a cup of coffee though. The Bible says that in order to be saved, you have to believe that Jesus is the son of God and accept him into your heart and repent of your sins. The Quran says he's not the son of God. I may be just a simple minded peasant, but that seems like a pretty big difference to me.

The Bible was written by at least 40 different people, yet it presents a unified message.

 

There's more to it than just different people writing.

 

Actually, I believe that the Bible presents a lot of CONFLICTING messages. The central messages that Jesus is the Son of God, died for our sins and rose again are of course unified.

 

But, there are passages in the Bible that support vengence, yet others that support peace.

The same God; just radically different interpretations of His nature and Word.

Not true

Not true

 

So, Abraham, Moses, etc., worshipped two different gods?

So, Abraham, Moses, etc., worshipped two different gods?

I have studied some recently about the Muslim faith and Jihad. I'm no expert on the subject, I suggest asking someone of the Muslim faith(that's what I did) and they will tell you our Gods are not the same.

 

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob all worshiped the same God. I assumed you were referring to Muhammed from the post above yours.

Perhaps some things can be cleared up for me from our experts on Islam. This is from what I understand:

 

There is no intimate relationship with God in Islam. I've heard that Islam is a religion, but it is not spiritual or supernatural. I've heard that Muslims do not refer to themselves and sons and daughters of God- rather, they are slaves. Furthermore, heaven is less eternal happiness due to being close to God- instead, it seems to be an entirely natural and earthly thing, filled with virgins and great food.

Perhaps some things can be cleared up for me from our experts on Islam. This is from what I understand:

 

There is no intimate relationship with God in Islam. I've heard that Islam is a religion, but it is not spiritual or supernatural. I've heard that Muslims do not refer to themselves and sons and daughters of God- rather, they are slaves. Furthermore, heaven is less eternal happiness due to being close to God- instead, it seems to be an entirely natural and earthly thing, filled with virgins and great food.

 

 

From what I understand, following the teachings of the Prohpet Muhammad are what will yield a place in what we call heaven. There IS a personal relationship to Allah, in that they do pray to him. But their teaching is that everything Muhammad teaches in the Qu'ran must be adhered to in order to see Allah.

 

The teachings are especially restrictive and harmful to women, if you believe in any sort of value of women. Female circumcision is common to prevent the possibility of a woman feeling lust. Women are considered the vessel of the sin of lust, and the sight of a woman's hair, fetures, or skin, could be an invitation to a man to sin. Often women who are raped are killed because they caused a man to sin, or conversely, because they are no longer chaste.

 

The male is the owner of women, in all reality. Her future and her well being are completely in the hands of her father/brothers/husband/other male relatives.

 

The teachings of worship are so specific as to teach which hand is washed first in preparation for prayer, which hand can be used when using the bathroom (left), etc. A left handed child will be 'tortured' to ensure he/she learns to be right handed.

 

Those are some things I've gleaned from recent books I've read by authors who were raised Muslim and have left their countries and either are no longer Muslim, or do not practice as they were taught. One was male, one female.

Women are considered the vessel of the sin of lust, and the sight of a woman's hair, fetures, or skin, could be an invitation to a man to sin.

 

The male is the owner of women, in all reality.

 

Yeah baby yeah!

 

I have studied some recently about the Muslim faith and Jihad. I'm no expert on the subject, I suggest asking someone of the Muslim faith(that's what I did) and they will tell you our Gods are not the same.

 

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob all worshiped the same God. I assumed you were referring to Muhammed from the post above yours.

 

No, Moses is a prophet in the Islamic faith. They worship the exact same God, the God of Moses. The God of Abraham. They just parted ways in the 7th century, and their form of worship is markedly different than how Jews and we Christians worship God. It's still the same Creator.

Perhaps some things can be cleared up for me from our experts on Islam. This is from what I understand:

 

There is no intimate relationship with God in Islam. I've heard that Islam is a religion, but it is not spiritual or supernatural. I've heard that Muslims do not refer to themselves and sons and daughters of God- rather, they are slaves. Furthermore, heaven is less eternal happiness due to being close to God- instead, it seems to be an entirely natural and earthly thing, filled with virgins and great food.

 

It's sort of what you are saying but not really. Muslims have alot stricter rules to abide by to please God.

 

As for heaven, I would think that it would be a pleasurable place in any religion.

 

From what I understand, following the teachings of the Prohpet Muhammad are what will yield a place in what we call heaven. There IS a personal relationship to Allah, in that they do pray to him. But their teaching is that everything Muhammad teaches in the Qu'ran must be adhered to in order to see Allah.

 

The teachings are especially restrictive and harmful to women, if you believe in any sort of value of women. Female circumcision is common to prevent the possibility of a woman feeling lust. Women are considered the vessel of the sin of lust, and the sight of a woman's hair, fetures, or skin, could be an invitation to a man to sin. Often women who are raped are killed because they caused a man to sin, or conversely, because they are no longer chaste.

 

The male is the owner of women, in all reality. Her future and her well being are completely in the hands of her father/brothers/husband/other male relatives.

 

The teachings of worship are so specific as to teach which hand is washed first in preparation for prayer, which hand can be used when using the bathroom (left), etc. A left handed child will be 'tortured' to ensure he/she learns to be right handed.

 

Those are some things I've gleaned from recent books I've read by authors who were raised Muslim and have left their countries and either are no longer Muslim, or do not practice as they were taught. One was male, one female.

 

Very good additions. Like I said the Qur'an is very old Testament-ish to me.

 

Basically the differences in the Bible and the Qur'an start with Jesus and Muhammad. Everything else goes from there.

I have studied some recently about the Muslim faith and Jihad. I'm no expert on the subject, I suggest asking someone of the Muslim faith(that's what I did) and they will tell you our Gods are not the same.

 

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob all worshiped the same God. I assumed you were referring to Muhammed from the post above yours.

 

As in the Christian faith, Muslims are taught to believe that their religion is the right one. The God is the same, but the Qur'an states that Christians and Jews do not worship Allah in the way that they are suppose to.

 

Before anyone jumps the gun and slams Islam, the Bible would say the same thing about Muslims had Islam came about before Christianity, IMO.

Before anyone jumps the gun and slams Islam, the Bible would say the same thing about Muslims had Islam came about before Christianity, IMO.

That's a stretch. Are we playing the "what if" game?

That's a stretch. Are we playing the "what if" game?

 

No we're playing the human nature game.

In the interest of full disclosure, the last book I read was by a former terrorist, a jihadist. He makes some very powerful statemnts in that book, but one that he stated that has me most hooked was that those of us Americans who have defended the religion of Islam as non-violent are wrong. Coming from him, and reading his story, I've begun to change my mindset on Islam. HOWEVER, that is not to say that I believe that all Muslims or Islamic peoples are terrorists. However, from a VERY early age, those taught by devout Muslims are taught that Christians are infidels. It's not that they are subjecting their own interpretation, it is written in the Qu'ran that Jews (first and foremost) and Christians are the enemy and must be destroyed.

 

He also supports, though, my personal theory that a lot of boys become jihadists for reasons that are not strictly religious, but more circumstantial. In his case, he was bullied by some of other religions, and the Islamic leaders were the ones who essentially saved him from the constant bullying. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood at age 7, and was a top leader before he left his teens.

 

His account is much more frightening for me as an American than anything the media has published.

In the interest of full disclosure, the last book I read was by a former terrorist, a jihadist. He makes some very powerful statemnts in that book, but one that he stated that has me most hooked was that those of us Americans who have defended the religion of Islam as non-violent are wrong. Coming from him, and reading his story, I've begun to change my mindset on Islam. HOWEVER, that is not to say that I believe that all Muslims or Islamic peoples are terrorists. However, from a VERY early age, those taught by devout Muslims are taught that Christians are infidels. It's not that they are subjecting their own interpretation, it is written in the Qu'ran that Jews (first and foremost) and Christians are the enemy and must be destroyed.

 

He also supports, though, my personal theory that a lot of boys become jihadists for reasons that are not strictly religious, but more circumstantial. In his case, he was bullied by some of other religions, and the Islamic leaders were the ones who essentially saved him from the constant bullying. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood at age 7, and was a top leader before he left his teens.

 

His account is much more frightening for me as an American than anything the media has published.

 

Muslims who are terrorist take what is said in the Qur'an and interrupt it differently than someone who is just reading the Qur'an. Jews and Christians are directly accounted for in the Qur'an as it states that they do not follow Allah the correct way.

 

With regards to Jihad, which just means Holy War, Muslims are taught that they must fight to the death against enemies of their faith (which obviously includes Jews and Christians), so that the followers of wrong religions will know the true god. The Qur'an doesn't call for Muslims to just kill someone because of their religous views, but if the war is over religion then they are suppose to fight until they win.

 

Islam is only a violent religion when used in the wrong hands. As you said, you really may not choose to join a terrorist group, and once you are in you are brainwashed into a false interruptation of the book. Best way to settle this for anyone is go to a book store, and purchase a copy of the Qur'an in English, really Arabic would be better but how many of us speak that? Then you can decide for yourself.