Missionaries to Muslims (few though they be) sometimes argue over whether “Allah” is different from God. However…
- “Allah” comes from the same Semitic root words as “elohim,” “El Elyon,” and “El Shaddai.”
- Even before Muhammed came along, Arabic Christians (and they were not few) called God “Allah. They still do. I’ve heard them do it myself.
- The Qu’ran says, “We believe in what has been sent down to us and in that which was sent down to you; our God and your God is One; and we are submitted to him”. Surah 29.46
- To Muslims, “Allah” means the Creator of the universe. There is only one of those.
The problem is that Muslims talk about God in ways that we disagree with. But so do other Christians.
How many Christians want to kill you when you disagree with them and when you proselytize others?
1) How many? Muslims would remind you of the Crusades and then keep going. Christians would remind you of the Inquisition, the Thirty Years War, the French Wars of Religion, etc. Read the Martyrs Mirror for the stories of 4,000 non-resistant Christians killed by church authorities.
2) If a Muslim missionary was effectively proselytizing in your neighborhood, how many evangelical Christians would consider violence to stop them? I think some in my neighborhood would. I remember a high school friend wanting to vandalize a home that was rumored to be a Moonie outpost.
3) True, the Qu’ran specifically recommends violence as a means to maintain the religious freedom of Muslims. The New Testament doesn’t. But that doesn’t always stop us from trying.
4) I like your psonnets, Michael. They sound like hymns.
I think the history of Christianity shows it has spread mainly through peaceful means. The missionaries go first. The mercenaries come much later. As I recall, the Muslims invaded Europe first. The Crusades came as an (over)reaction to this. Much of Christendom’s interdenominational bloodshed that once rocked the globe has ended, with sporadic outbursts, while systematic Islamism persists worldwide.
As for (2), a Muslim missionary seems even more unlikely in everyday American life than a Christian evangelist. When I asked an online forum how many Christians had presented the Gospel to them personally, in person, not as part of a TV or radio or Internet message, the number of occurences was quite dismal. I think Islamic proselytization, as we might see it as a counterpoint to Christian proselytization, is even less of an occurence. One might attribute that to fear of violent retribution. However, the Nation of Islam has proselytized in already violent parts of my city. So…
As for (4), thanks! 🙂