GYC 2016: When All Has Been Heard

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Coexist - Understanding World Religions...

Ganoune Diop

1. Biblical Christian Covenant

2. Islam

3. Hinduism/Buddhism/Confucianism/Daoism

4. Traditional Religions and Beliefs

5. Contemporary Secular and Post-Secular Worldviews

6. God’s Revealed Insights into our World of Religions and Beliefs

This message was presented at the GYC 2016 conference, When All Has Been Heard, in Houston, Texas.

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

I would like to start sharing with you the inner logic of Islam.

You know, every religion has an inner logic, meaning the religion tries to solve some problems, right?

So what is the inner logic as far as Islam is concerned?

So first of all, you have to divide Islam into 2 episodes.

First of all, the 1 that characterizes the beginning of Islam was in Mecca.

That date was very, well, in Mecca, Islam started there, basically, in Saudi Arabia.

He insisted on the need for social justice, right?

Yes, this is, Yes, it is absolutely correct.

He migrated to Medina, and there you have basically a new branch of Islam.

Religious movement that changed the face of the 7th century Arabia and the world.

Initially he was a warner, a reminder, a religious reformer.

He was a sufferer because he was persecuted, right?

So this was the first part when Muhammad was in Mecca.

His message was directed against the idolaters of Mecca.

He preached monadic Monotheism, social ethics, accountability, impending judgment, by the way, to be carried out in the last days of life on Earth, culminating in the reward of the righteous, the paradise, and the damnation of unbelievers, the associators and the idolaters.

That was in essence what he was preaching while he was in Mecca.

Interestingly also in Mecca as long as his wife Khadija lived he was the husband of 1 wife.

And the face of Islam changed at that time.

He built a state religion, later to become an empire and a succession of dynasties.

In Medina, Muhammad became a political leader, a legislator, a warrior, and a military general.

He waged wars against his opponents, and he became a conqueror.

On the 1 hand, Mecca, where he was a warner.

He preached monadic monotheism, social justice, invite people to care for the poor.

He wanted to reduce social disparities, no problem.

But then, oh, during that time, by the way, he did not criticize Christians or Jews.

As a matter of fact, the first migration of Muslims occurred while Mohammed was in Mecca.

In 610, the first migration, they went to Abyssinia, interestingly.

The Negus, the king there, was a Christian.

But when Muhammad migrated himself to Medina and became part of the majority, the Jews refused to accept his message.

And then the discourse started to change.

It is interesting to know that he addressed his diatribes against Jews and Christians, all the wise though he makes a difference between them.

There is a verse in the Quran that say, from those 2 who call themselves Christians, We did make a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that we have sent them So we estranged them with enmity and hatred between 1 another to the day of judgment so What do we have also that I think is?

Of notice Jesus for Christians is the reference for living, thinking, doing, behaving, relating to God and to others.

To the Prophet Muhammad, he's ascribed such a role.

And I think there is really the big difference.

Islam can be, and I have summarized it this way so that we may understand the difference between Christianity and Islam in that sense.

And then we will, I'll talk about more practical things on how to approach Muslims.

Islam is like a brotherhood, yes it is a brotherhood, but without the revelation of the Heavenly Father.

The word God as Father, I mean the the concept of God being a father is unacceptable to Muslims.

And by the way, if as a Christian you want to witness to Muslim and you start with the idea that God is our Heavenly Father, you will immediately create a barrier.

This is because when Muhammad actually conquered finally Mecca, there was a shrine there that is called the Kaaba and in the Kaaba the Arabs used to worship idols And those idols were called the daughters of Allah.

So Muslims associate idolatry with the idea of calling, of thinking that God can have children.

So when you say oh God is my father they will think oh that's shirk, that's idolatry, that's terrible because it is associated to that story.

That is the meaning of the word Islam from Salaam, peace.

However, without the ministry of the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ.

Islam is also a spiritual path but a spiritual path without the knowledge of the fruit and the gifts and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

It is a different trajectory in other words.

All these words even reality in Christianity when you talk about the Holy Spirit, Muslims have a different understanding so you ought to understand and explain in a way that Muslim can understand this and we will we will come back to that.

Islam is like a guidance and actually the the the second chapter of the Quran very clearly calls the Quran a guidance.

This is the book, a guidance for the faithful or those who fear God.

So clearly the whole book of the Quran is seen as the guidance.

Now for you to sense what is going on here, you know people usually compare Jesus and Muhammad but that's not the most accurate comparison.

You know, you would compare rather Jesus and the Quran because the Quran is seen as a guidance and Jesus clearly says I am the way, the truth and the life.

Jesus is the guidance, so to speak, as far as Christianity is concerned.

Now, then the Islam commemorates sacrifice.

Every year millions of sheep and so forth sacrifice around the world, But this sacrifice has nothing to do with atonement, the sacrifice of Jesus.

So you can see we are really on 2 different worlds in other words.

Even when people say oh yeah we have so much in common certainly, however people ought to very clearly right explain what do they mean.

Islam is a hope of paradise yes the word paradise is in the Quran so many times, however, there is no such thing as the assurance of salvation.

The promise of God, the 1 who accept Jesus is saved, is not in those terms that you find in the Muslim faith.

Also, this is something many people do not know but Islam is like a prehistorical pact.

You know the Quran talks about that before God created human beings, he spoke with the so-called souls and make a covenant with human beings who are supposed to come.

Now this is like a very strange belief I know but it is there that God made a covenant with people that they committed to submit themselves actually and follow God's way.

Another thing is that Islam is a faith entirely based on the word of God that came to surpass all previous revelation without taking into consideration Jesus Christ.

In other words, for you to really measure what Muslims believe that they have the best book, the Quran.

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Series

Coexist - Understanding World Religions...

2. Islam

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

1. Biblical Christian Covenant

1h

2. Islam

57m

3. Hinduism/Buddhism/Confucianism/Daoism

1h

4. Traditional Religions and Beliefs

50m

5. Contemporary Secular and Post-Secular Worldviews

56m

6. God’s Revealed Insights into our World of Religions and Beliefs

1h

Sound Doctrine