The First Pillar is the Shahadah, or the Testimony of Faith. It consists of reciting two declarations: “There is no (true) god but God (Allah),” and “Muhammad is the messenger (or prophet) of God.” The words in parentheses are clarifications or alternative translations of the original Arabic. One pro-Islam site comments, “This simple yet profound statement expresses a Muslim’s complete acceptance of and total commitment to Islam” (Royal).
To comment on the first declaration, both Jews and Christians believe there is only one true God. The basic Jewish confession of faith is the Shema (from the Hebrew word for “hear”). It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Be hearing, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” This confession was taken over into the Christian faith when Jesus quotes the Shema in Mark 12:29. Many other passages in the Bible teach there is only one true God. These are listed in “Scripture Study #9” in this writer’s Scripture Workbook.
But is this one God of the Bible the same as the one God of Islam? The way to answer this question would be to compare all that the Bible teaches about the nature of this one God to all that the Quran teaches about its God. “Scripture Study #7” in my Scripture Workbook is on “The Attributes of God.” It presents hundreds of Bible verse references grouped according to the various attributes of God. The same would need to be done with the Quran, and the two compared.
Having read both the Bible and the Quran, I will say there would be some similarities, but also important differences. But the main difference would be in regards to what is meant by “one.” Another pro-Islam site comments, “The first part, ‘There is no true god but God,’ means that none has the right to be worshipped but God alone, and that God has neither partner nor son” (Brief). This comment is due to passages in the Quran that specifically declare that Allah does not have a son. The Quran also specifically says that Allah is one not three.
These Quranic passages are directed against the Biblical doctrines of the deity of Jesus and of the Trinity. But the Bible clearly teaches, “Within the one Being or essence of God, there eternally exists three distinct yet equal Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.” It also teaches the full Deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ and the full Deity and full personality of the Holy Spirit. These assertions are taken from the Confession of Faith for this writer’s ministry Darkness to Light. They are demonstrated to be Biblically true in “Scripture Study #9” on “God's Three-in-Oneness” in my Scripture Workbook by way of over six hundred Bible verse references.
These are not minor points as the teaching of God’s three-in-oneness and the Sonship and Deity of Jesus are essential doctrines of the Bible and the Christian faith. As such, this difference in the conception of God cannot be brushed aside, as many try to do. For instance, Jesus declared:
23And He said to them, “You* are from below; I am from above. You* are from this world; I am not from this world. 24Therefore, I said to you*, ‘you* will die in your sins,’ for unless you* believe that I Am, you* will die in your* sins.” (John 8:23,24).
Jesus’ assertion of “I Am” is a clear claim to deity. This can be seen by comparing Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 41:4; 43:10,25; 45:19; 46:4; 51:12. These verses all have “I Am” (Greek ego eimi in the Septuagint, the third century BC Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures). Jesus also claims to be this great “I Am” in Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:50; 14:62; John 6:20; 8:58; 13:19; 18:5f,8 (Note: Some versions have “It is I” in these verses, but the literal phrase is “I Am!” as seen in ALT.)
This is just one of many Biblical proofs for the deity of Jesus. But the important point for our study is Jesus links the belief in His deity to the forgiveness of sins. John later comments about his Gospel:
30Now indeed many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of His disciples which have not been written in this scroll. 31But these have been written so that you* shall believe [or, be convinced] that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that believing you* shall be having life in His name (John 20:30,31).
Thus John links having “life” meaning enteral life with God to a belief in the Sonship of Jesus. Being assured of the forgiveness of sins and having enteral life are essential to a confident spiritual life and are offered in the Christian faith via faith in Jesus, but the Islamic faith cannot offer assurance due to its denial of the deity of Jesus. As such, this is THE dividing line between Islam and the Christian faith.
Explanation:
Bahaha!
