Islam
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[edit] Etymology and meaning
[edit] Ten Things Worth Knowing about Islam
- A brief survey which can serve as a reminder of both the complexity and opportunities inherent in communicating the gospel to Muslims. Read the article in EMQ
[edit] History
[edit] Early years and the establishment of the Rashidun caliphate
[edit] Founding
Islam was founded by Mohammed (570-632) who believed himself to be the mouth-piece of God. His followers consider him a Prophet and his revelations to be compiled in the Koran. Mohammed referred to the supreme God as Allah. He knew much about Judaism and a little about Christianity and was influenced by both, honoring Jesus as a Prophet but refusing to consider him the Son of God as this would, in his opinion, denigrate the greatness and uniqueness of God. Thus some Christian missiologists consider Islam to be a Christian heresy but the vast majority of Muslims would consider Islam to be a fresh and unique revelation, and not a reinterpretation of Christianity.
[edit] Emergence of hereditary caliphates
[edit] Fragmentation
[edit] Zikri Baluch
[edit] The Crusades and the Mongol invasions
[edit] Rise of the Ottomans
[edit] Formation of modern nation-states
[edit] Beliefs
[edit] God
[edit] Qur'an
[edit] The Prophet
[edit] Sunnah
[edit] Angels
[edit] Resurrection and judgement
[edit] Divine decree
[edit] Five Pillars of Islam
[edit] Shahadah
[edit] Salah
Prayer
[edit] Zakat
Alms Tax
[edit] Sawm
Fasting
[edit] Ramadan
[edit] Hajj
Pilgrimage to Mecca
[edit] Islamic law
The Shariah In General
[edit] Community
[edit] Mosques
[edit] Ethics
[edit] Customs and behavioral laws
[edit] Islamic calendar
[edit] Festivals
[edit] Jihad
Holy War
[edit] Denominations
[edit] Sunni
[edit] Shi'a
- The Shi'a, number between 130 to 195 million, or 10-15 percent of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims, according to "The Shi'a Revival". Shiites live throughout the Middle East, to the Persian Gulf, and in Central and South Asia.
[edit] Sufism
[edit] Wahhabi
[edit] Others
[edit] Islamic civilization
[edit] Art and architecture
[edit] Philosophy and literature
[edit] Science and technology
[edit] Islamic universities
- The evolving world of Islamic universities has become a major challenge for Christians. The mission of Islamic education is to establish Quranic values and promote Islamic rule and influence worldwide through university community life and studies.
[edit] Modern Islam
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Modern interpretations
[edit] Current Status
Remarkably, while Islam started the century in 1900 numerically far behind Christianity, its impressive gains caused it to end up in 2000 as the second largest global religion. While Christianity remained essentially static, with gains in some regions offset by losses in others, Islam managed to preserve its position in nearly all the regions it began with, while adding small increments in new regions. Islam, it should be noted, is the only religion that is gaining in its proportion of the global population: the nonreligious also made gains but have for the most part lost their momentum, and all other global faiths are static.
Islam’s gains have been due in many regions to demography: Africa and Western Asia, where Islam is strongest, simply have had a very high birth rate. It has advanced in other regions through the twin forces of immigration and Islamic missions. Many new mosques and copies of the Koran have been funded in part by billions of dollars of oil wealth.
Between 1900 and 1975, Muslims maintained their proportion in North and South of Africa while doubling in the Middle and West and nearly doing the same in the East. Although Muslims posted gains in Asia, they did not do so at nearly the same rate except in the Western “Stans.” Although Muslims form a very small part of Europe, they increased this portion and had similarly small increases in Latin America and North America. Only in the Pacific did Muslims for the most part fail to make any significant advance.
This situation is not likely to change by 2025. Islam will probably remain the overwhelming majority in North Africa and West Asia, where it is completely integrated into the culture. it is and will likely continue to be even with Christianity in West Africa, and will make up slightly more than 5% in Europe. The primary reason for this projection is the high birth rate in the Muslim world, the degree to which Muslim nations insulate their populations from other religious or non-religious influences, and the relative lack of any Christian outreach to Muslims.
[edit] Islam and Christianity
[edit] Compare
[edit] The God and Allah
- Muslims believe the Holy Trinity implies a belief in three gods. Many Muslims believe that the Christian Trinity is made up of the Father, Mary (the virgin) and the Son (Jesus).
[edit] The Qu'ran and the Bible
- Muslims often believe that the Bible has been altered and corrupted. They will deny its authority because they see it as not being authentic.
[edit] Jesus and The Prophet
- They believe it is blasphemy to affirm the divinity of Jesus and to give Him the title “Son of God”. Many believe this implies that God had sexual relations with Mary and that a son was born physically through the union. (This idea is also unacceptable for Christians.)
- Jesus in the Qur’an The Qur’an affirms certain beliefs about Jesus that are actually true biblically: He was born of a virgin, he performed miracles of healing the blind, lepers, and raising the dead, he had disciples and experienced rejection from his people. Jesus is also given many great titles in the Qur’an including “Servant of God”, “Prophet and Apostle of God”, “Lord of God”, “Spirit from God and “One of the Righteous”. He is called “The Messiah eleven times in the Qur’an but there is no explanation of what this means. He is most commonly called “Isa, son of Mary” in the Qur’an, emphasising his virgin birth, but it is clearly stated that this is not “God in the flesh” (He is no more than a prophet), not “Son of God” and he did not die on the cross. Even if he had died on the cross the Qur’an denies the possibility of an atoning death, declaring three times that on Judgment Day, noone can bear the sins of another! So although there are some similarities to the Jesus we know from the Bible, the Qur’an also presents some strong theological barriers for Muslims to come to know him as the Messianic King sent to bring forgiveness of sin and deliverance from the power of death, Satan and injustice.
[edit] The Cross of Christ
[edit] Miracles
[edit] Law and Grace
- Islam is a religion of works. People are caught up in doing what they have been told is necessary. They hope that because of their good works they will be accepted into paradise. Pray for their eyes to be opened to the Gospel of grace. 'For it is by grace that you have been saved ... not by works' (Eph 2:8-9)
[edit] Jugdment
[edit] Sin
[edit] Salvation
[edit] Love your enemy
[edit] Ethics
[edit] The second coming of Christ
[edit] The Gospel of Barnabas and other books against the Gospel
[edit] How to win Muslims for Christ?
[edit] Moslem background believers
[edit] Resources
You find resources for the ministry under "Resources for outreach to Moslems".
Karl Gottlieb Pfander has written three books about Islam and comparing Islam with the Bible. See under Karl Gottlieb Pfander.
[edit] External Links
A lot of books and radio programs you will find by Call of Hope: *[1]
