1. Islam is the world’s second-largest religion and is geographically concentrated.
Of the estimated 1.91 billion Muslims worldwide, approximately 80% are located in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.[1] Many polls suggest that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, largely due to relatively high birth rates.[2] Current migration patterns indicate that, distinct from past generations, Muslim populations are spreading globally. For example, one poll suggests that Muslims will represent 10.2% of Europe’s population by 2050, which is almost double their representation on the continent in 2010.
2. Islam is based on six essential beliefs and five core practices.
The essential beliefs are:
- The oneness of God (tawhid)
- Angels and spirits
- Prophets
- Revered books—i.e., the Torah, Psalms, Gospel, and Qur’an
- A coming day of judgment
- The decree of God—i.e., that everything happens according to the divine directive of Allah (the Arabic term for God)
Of these six, tawhid is the most essential belief. Violators of tawhid are guilty of shirk—associating partners with God. Thus, Christians’ worship of Jesus is misunderstood as shirk.
The five core practices are:
- Confession of tawhid and that Muhammad is Allah’s messenger
- Prayer
- Fasting during the month of Ramadan
- Almsgiving
- Pilgrimage to Mecca
Through adherence to these beliefs and practices, Muslims hope to gain Allah’s favor and allowance into paradise, following a works-based understanding of salvation in variance with the biblical gospel.
3. The two main sects of Islam are Sunnism and Shiism.
The origin of the Sunni-Shiite division concerns Muhammad’s successor. Sunnis recognize Abu Bakr as Muhammad’s rightful successor, claiming that he was the first to believe Muhammad’s message and that Islamic leadership should be determined by the community through election. Shiites contend that Muhammad publicly confirmed Ali, his cousin and son-in-law, as his successor, holding that Islamic leadership should follow Muhammad’s bloodline.
In addition, Sunnis and Shiites differ in sources of authority for Islamic belief and practices. Sunnis are devoted to Muhammad’s sunna—his actions, conduct, and sayings (known as hadith). Their beliefs are built mainly on the sayings (hadith) of Muhammad and his companions, as well as on the Qur’an. While Shiites also revere Muhammad’s sunna, they believe that authority to develop and interpret Islamic law was given to Ali and his 12 descendants, known as the 12 infallible imams.
4. Many variegations exist within Islam.
Sunnism and Shiism are the two main sects, but many visions of Islam exist. Sufism, for instance, is an ascetic vision of Islam in which practitioners seek closeness with Allah through prayer, meditation on the Qur’an, and fasting. A Sufi can be either Sunni or Shiite. Salafism is a revivalist or reformist trend in Sunnism whose aim is to return to the earliest form of Islam. Salafi visions of Islam are reflected in Wahhabism and militant Islamic organizations like the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and ISIS. The People of the Qur’an, meanwhile, is an Islamic vision that questions the reliability of the hadith and adheres strictly to the Qur’an. This group views the hadith as the cause of radical Islamic expressions which they believe contradict what they see as the peaceful message of the Qur’an.
5. Islam is built on two foundational tenets: the Qur’an and the prophet Muhammad.
Muslims believe that the Qur’an is Allah’s final revelation, congruent with and completing previous revelations, including the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus. Similar to how Christians believe that Jesus is the eternal Word who resides in heaven, Muslims believe that Muhammad is Allah’s final messenger and the Qur’an is Allah’s final word and the exact copy of the celestial tablet, on which they believe Allah wrote his revelation and record of the past and future.
6. The Qur’an contains many biblical figures and references.
As mentioned above, prophets are one of the essential beliefs in Islam. Some of the prophets mentioned in the Qur’an are recognizable by Jews and Christians, including Adam, Enoch, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, David, Jonah, John the Baptist, and Jesus. However, the Qur’anic stories differ from their biblical counterparts. For instance, in the Qur’an, Jesus performed his first miracle as a child by giving life to clay birds (Q 5:110). This account comes from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, an apocryphal work likely composed in the mid-second century.
7. The Qur’an itself lacks context.
Consider chapter (surah) 105, “In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy. Do you not see how your Lord dealt with the army of the elephant? Did he not utterly confound their plans? He sent flocks of birds against them, pelting them with pellets of hard-baked clay: he made them cropped stubble.”[3] In this short chapter, it is unclear who the speaker, recipient, or elephant army are. The passage is also ambiguous about the meaning of the flock of rock-pelleting birds. The context and explanation for this chapter are offered in Muhammad’s biography (sira), which was written two centuries later. Many other surahs are similarly without context. In addition, surahs appear in the Qur’an by descending order of length, rather than chronologically or by topic.
8. Islam claims that the Bible has been changed.
Islam claims that Allah sent Muhammad as the final messenger, bearing witness to the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel. Some Muslims believe that Deuteronomy 18:15 and John 16:7 originally mentioned Muhammad as the promised prophet and comforter. The absence of his name in these texts is explained as evidence of biblical corruption (tahrif). Some Muslims also misunderstand biblical translations as textual corruption.
Despite these allegations, the Qur’an speaks positively about the Bible. For instance, the Qur’an states, “We believe in what was revealed to us [the Qur’an] and what was revealed to you [the Bible]” (Q 29:46). In response to Islam’s accusation that the Bible has been changed, Christians have thousands of texts preceding the advent of Islam that attest to the Bible’s textual integrity through the centuries.
9. Depictions of Muhammad can be broken into three categories: historical, legendary, and traditional.
Limited contemporary or near-contemporary historical information exists about the life of Muhammad. The information we do have comes mainly from non-Muslim sources who identify Muhammad as a statesman, false prophet, king, and proclaimer of monotheism, among other things.
The legendary Muhammad is venerated as a miracle worker and intercessor offering help to Muslims in their daily lives. This depiction of Muhammad is common within folk Islam, a version of Islam followed by more than two thirds of Muslims worldwide.
The traditional depiction of Muhammad is derived from the thousands of accounts of Muhammad’s sunna. This depiction relies mainly on Islamic traditions since the Qur’an does not offer much detail about Muhammad. Muslims believe Muhammad was the most pious and wonderful man who ever lived. They seek to imitate his sunna and thereby earn access to paradise.
10. The celebration of Ramadan commemorates the first revelations reportedly received by Muhammad.
Ramadan is the month in the Islamic lunar calendar in which Muslims commemorate the initial revelations they believe Muhammad received. As a religiously significant month for Muslims, Ramadan is characterized by prayer, fasting, and doing good deeds. They fast from food and drink during the daylight hours, convening in the evening to celebrate and eat together. Muslims believe that Ramadan contains a special night called the “night of power.” On this night, it is believed that access to heaven is granted, Allah answers prayers, and sins are pardoned. Ramadan is an opportunity for Christians to pray for Muslims to encounter the risen Jesus, ask them about their faith, and offer to share the gospel of Jesus with them.
Engaging Muslims With the Gospel
In my experience, Muslims are very open to having conversations about faith. Some of the points covered in this article can serve as questions to initiate a conversation. Pray before and during the conversation for the Holy Spirit’s guidance—as Jesus tells us, apart from him, we can do nothing. Be informed about Islam, but even more so about your own faith, and enjoy the interaction. The theological differences between Christianity and Islam are significant and not easily or quickly resolved. However, our call is to share the hope of the gospel, and it is up to God to save.
[1] See “The Future of the Global Muslim Population: Projections from 2010–2030,” Pew Research Center, January 27, 2011, https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2011/01/FutureGlobalMuslimPopulation-WebPDF-Feb10.pdf, especially 69, 89.
[2] See “The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010–2050: Why Muslims Are Rising Fastest and the Unaffiliated Are Shrinking as a Share of the World’s Population,” Pew Research Center, April 2, 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/.
[3] Citations of the Qur’ān come from M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
