Mary and Jesus in Islam

The Major Differences Between Islam and Christianity the Major Differences Between Islam and Christianityn

Following are ten points marking the major differences between Islam and Christianity:[^1]

1. Today's Christianity preaches belief in the Triune God; Islam, contrariwise, stresses the Unity of God, Tawhid. Muslims everywhere declare: La ilaha illa Allah! (There is no god except Allah). Not to accept Tawhid implies shirk, apostasy.

2. Christians preach that Jesus is “the only begotten son of God.” Islam preaches that Jesus was a human being who received Divine Inspiration and was thus empowered to perform all the miracles which he, by permission of his Creator and Maker, was able to perform. He was a prophet and a great teacher of mankind, a man of God.

3. Christians claim that Eve was the first to be deceived by Eblis in the Garden of Eden, that she was responsible for tempting Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. They, therefore, place the curse of God on woman, calling her “the organ of the Devil, “The foundations of the arms of the Devil whose voice is the hissing of the serpent,” “the gate of the Devil,” “the road of iniquity,” “the sting of the scorpion,” “a daughter of falsehood, a sentinel of hell,

the enemy of peace and of the wild [^1] Here, I have to some extent utilized Mawlana Fazlul-Rahman Ansari's book Islam and Christianity in the Modern World (The World Federation of Islamic Missions, Karachi, Pakistan, 1965 [1384 A.H.]), but most of this text is mine. This is one of the best books written by Muslims on this subject. May Allah reward Ansari with the best of His rewards, Allahomma Ameen.

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beasts the most dangerous...,” etc. These are the words of renown Christian Saints: St. Bernard, St. Anthony, St. Bonaventure, St. Cyprian, St. Jerome, St. John Damascene, and others. In Islam, Adam and Eve both were simultaneously deceived. Women, therefore, enjoy equal status with men in as far as their rights and obligations are concerned. The Almighty does not distinguish between His servants based on their gemder. Christians, however, accuse Muslims of pushing women back into their harems and discouraging them from educating themselves and competing with men in all fields and professions.

This is one of their numerous false charges which are all based on ignorance of the religion of Islam and a genuine feeling of prejudice if not sheer malice and spitefulness. Christians have been encouraging their women to bare themselves so that they would look at them, fornicate with them and beget by them millions of illegitimate children who are either killed by abortion or who grow up not knowing who their parents are. At the same time, they do not pay women the same wages they pay men, and they discriminate against them in all fields and professions. In fact, they enslave women.

4. The sin of Adam and Eve was not forgiven; therefore, every child is born in sin. Such is the belief held by Christians. In Islam, Adam and Eve regretted, repented, and were given the chance to be forgiven even while they were here on earth. Every child is born sinless and capable of achieving the ultimate limit of human perfection.

Parents often corrupt their children, causing them to deviate from the right creed, victimizing them, thus adding their children's sins to those of their own. Sin is acquired by one's intentional desire to ignore God's laws, to surrender to temptation, and to acquire by vile means what rightfully belongs to others. Sins are committed by one's misdeeds and miscalculations; nobody inherits sin.

5. Jesus' mission was “to wash away humanity's sins with his own blood,” Christians claim. In Islam, his mission was: to teach mankind the right way of leading an upright life. He was not sent to atone for humanity's alleged sin. He is regarded as one of the greatest prophets of God, and the original Bible revealed to him was surely the Word of God. He was born to Virgin Mary who is described in Islam as one of the four most perfect of all women of mankind in each and every aspect of human perfection.

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6. Christianity claims that man can attain salvation only by believing in Jesus as “the only begotten son of God”, and that Jesus had given his blood to wash the sins of mankind. In Islam, the essential condition for attaining salvation is to combine righteous deeds with a sound belief. Mere passive belief is meaningless. The Islamic system, which comprehends all problems of mankind and provides solutions for them, must be followed in its entirety.

7. Christians say that we cannot approach God without the mediation of a priest. In Islam, everyone, man or woman, is his or her own priest or priestess and can approach God without the mediation of anyone. God is near to everyone and the gates of His mercy are always wide open to receive those who repent and are willing to make amends. Islam strongly stresses the significance of one's dignity and self-respect.

One who admits his sins to someone else will in all reality be humiliating himself before another human being. He should do so before his Maker, and only before his Maker, each and every hour of his life. Muslims seek Allah's forgiveness every day before, during, and after their five daily prayers. Humility before God is what Islam condones, not self-humiliation before another human being, even if such a human wears a collar and is a man of the Church.

8. Ascetic life according to Christianity is a saintly one; Jesus and the saints are models in this regard, and celibacy is preferable over marriage for the attainment of spiritual eminence. Not so in Islam. Asceticism is unnatural; it clashes with our human nature and deprives us of enjoying the lawful pleasures of this life__including and especially sexual pleasures__so that we may thank the Almighty Who provides us with them. Life is to be enjoyed; it is the greatest gift of the Almighty to the living. Take His gifts and thank Him for them; do not deprive yourself of what is lawful. “I have not enjoyed of your world,”

says Prophet Muh,.ammed, “except three: prayers, perfumes, and women!” Prayers bring one closer to his Maker, provide him with comfort against his worries, and pave the way for his salvation. They also are healthy daily physical exercises. Perfume, for both men and women, is very highly commended in Islam; one who wears it and thus smells good will not be shunned by others; rather, he or she will be loved, cherished and respected not only by other people, but also by the angels and by God Himself; He surely loves those who are clean

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physically and spiritually. Sex is one of the blessings of the Almighty on His servants as long as it is lawful and is not followed by remorse. No pleasure is pleasing if it is followed by remorse or, worse, by AIDS...! Whenever you cohabit with your wife, the Prophet teaches us, you earn a blessing, a good deed... Such is the beauty of Islam.

9. Christianity preaches the separation of the religion from the State, from politics. Islam, contrariwise, provides a socio-political system wherein politics are mixed with religion just as water is mixed with milk; they are inseparable. Today's “Muslim” governments are mostly hypocritical because they are not trying to please Allah but to please the enemies of Allah: Western politicians who are Christian only by name and who wish to suck the blood of the Muslims dry, buying their natural resources, especially oil, for very cheap prices while refusing to sell them their technology[^1], selling them their manufactured goods at very high prices.

The mosque used to be the place where people's problems were solved and criminals punished, the place where people get their marriage blessed. It is the place where they learn their creed. Nowadays, in many Muslim countries, there are more “security” and “intelligence” agents frequenting mosques than there are worshippers! Pro-Western hypocritical rulers of the Muslim world fear nothing more than Islam even as they lie and claim to be its adherents and defenders. This is so because they are constantly pressured by “Christian” Western politicians to keep people away from Islam, to encourage the opening of more bars and night clubs and the closing of more mosques and religious centers.

[^1] Westerners seldom acknowledge Muslims' contributions to science and technology. One is tempted to say that they are ingrates by nature. During my stay in the U.S., I noticed that the best minds in the U.S. are not American, and that the Americans do not work as hard as foreigners; they feel they do not have to. Why should they, especially since there are many, including heads of Arab and Muslim States, who are ready to be their obedient servants and faithful lackeys?! These servants and lackeys are the ones who facilitate for the enemies of Islam to spy on or even to attack other Muslim countries, thus becoming their accomplices and disclosing to the world and to history their ugly hypocrisy. May the Almighty condemn them and rid the world of them.

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10. According to the admission of many Biblical scholars, the Bible contains “irrational beliefs, crude science and indecent tales.”[^1] Today's Bible is far from being the revelation that descended upon Jesus. It was not put together during the life of Jesus Christ, so it cannot be regarded as representative of the message of Christ. The Holy Qur'an, on the other hand, was written down during 23 years under the direct supervision of Prophet Muh,.ammed, and not a single syllable in it has been changed. It is divinely protected against any alteration, addition, or deletion. Moreover, it essentially is rational, scientific, and modern in its spirit and shall always remain so. No other sacred scripture can ever be described as such, ever...

These are the basic differences between Islam and Christianity presented to the reader in brief. Now let us research the life of Jesus and his saintly mother, starting from the latter, then learn something about the Bible, its authors and message.

[^1] This is the statement of Canon Barnes.