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Salaam (Peace) Smemily,
Thank you very much for your question.
In fact there is a lot of common ground between Islam and Christianity. You may know that the three religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are usually called the Semitic religions; because their prophets were all Semites, they spoke Semitic languages, and they lived in the same Middle Eastern lands.
Prophet Abraham (Ibraheem - peace be upon him) is considered the father of all the Middle Eastern Peoples, and all the three religions respect him as their Patriarch. Indeed Islam considers all the prophets mentioned in the Bible as prophets of Islam, though the Holy Qur’an mentions by name only twenty five of them.
Thus, Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus (peace be upon them all) are the prophets of Islam. The distinction of Muhammad (peace be on him) is simply that he was the Last of the Prophets.
The most basic article of faith for the Muslims as well as the Christians is belief in God, the Omnipotent Omniscient Creator of the universe. But there is a major difference here. While the Muslims believe that God is One and Only, the Christians hold that there are “three persons in One God”. According to Muslims, this is nothing but polytheism.
Christians hold “God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost” as three persons in One God. So they say that Jesus Christ was full God and full man. The Muslims would reject this belief, citing verses from the Christian Bible itself.
For example, Muslims would whole-heartedly accept the first and the second commandments Jesus mentioned to a scribe quoted below. See Mark 12:
- 28 - And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all?
- 29 - And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is One Lord:
- 30 - And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
- 31 - And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Moreover Jesus also said:
"....my Father is greater than I." (John 14:28)
Jesus says here that God is greater than he. So it is clear that he cannot be God. If he were God, how could he say he is less than God, or God is greater than he?
Another point to be noted is that the Muslims believe that all humans are born innocent; but the Christian belief is that all humans are born sinful. This Christian belief is based on the idea that Adam’s sin of disobedience – known as the “Original Sin” - to God is borne by all his children. So, they are all liable to be punished by God, unless they believe that God sent His own son – who is Jesus - to atone for that sin.
Muslims consider this idea incompatible with divine justice. They point out that this belief is a later addition, which is not only not endorsed by Christ’s own teachings, but opposed to the mercy and justice of God, so much emphasized by all the prophets, but most particularly Jesus Christ himself.
In short, Muslims hold the view that God has been sending His prophets from the beginning of mankind on earth to lead them out of darkness into light. All these prophets taught the same message: “Peacefully submit to the One and Only God, and lead a life of virtue in this world to deserve the reward of Paradise in the hereafter.”
After Jesus’ time, a man called Saul of Tarsus - later known as St Paul - came and declared himself “the Apostle to the Gentiles”, and misled many of Jesus’ followers to accept the polytheistic ideas which are now part of present-day Christianity.
Muhammad, the Last Prophet (peace be upon him) came to restore and complete the true religion of God, taught by Jesus and all other prophets before him. So, he did not teach a new religion; he restored the same old religion of unconditional and peaceful obedience to God Almighty, taught by all the prophets, including Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all). And this is Islam.
And God knows best.
Thank you again for your question and please keep in touch.
Salaam.
Useful Links:
Original Sin or… Innocence?
The Revelation of the Bible
Are Muslims Baptized?
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