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Islam: Understanding and Outreach

An Apologetic Outline on Islam

outline from an apologetics DVD by Charlie H. Campbell

I. The Origin and Founder of Islam

1. The word Islam is an Arabic word meaning "to submit, surrender or commit oneself."
1. Followers of Islam, regardless of race or nationality, are called Muslims, "the ones who submit."
2. History
1. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was born in 570 AD in Mecca, which is in modern-day Saudi Arabia.
2. In 610 AD, Muhammad is visited by the angel Gabriel on Mt. Hira in Mecca, who reveals the words of the Qur'an (sometimes spelled "Koran").
3. In 620 AD he is taken by Gabriel to Jerusalem to talk with Jesus, Moses and Abraham and is taken to heaven for one night. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is believed to sit directly over the spot where Muhammad was taken into heaven.
4. In Mecca, because of its monotheism, Islam is persecuted.
5. 622 AD: Muhammad flees 250 miles from Mecca to Medina.
6. 630 AD: Muhammad and an army of 10,000 return and conquer Mecca.
7. He purges the Ka'bah (holy place) or all idols and dedicates it to Allah.
8. Muslims are required to face the Ka'bah five times a day to pray.
9. 632 AD: Muhammad dies in Medina where his tomb is located.
10. Disagreements on who was to succeed Muhammad caused a division
1. Sunnis believe the successors to Muhammad were to be elected democratically from among Muhammad's closest followers. (85-90% of all Muslims)
2. Shi'ites believe that Muhammad's successors were to be related to Muhammad. (10-13% of all Muslims)
3. Wahhabi are the ultra-conservative, legalistic, and often terrorism-friendly group (e.g. Osama bin Laden)
4. Al-Qaeda is a separate political group whose stated goal is to set up Sharia law and establish Islam over all the world. It may cross all other Islamic sects and groups.
11. Within the first century of Muhammad's death Muslim armies spread into Central Asia, China, North Africa and to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean into Southern France and Spain.
12. In 732 AD, Charles Martel, ruler of the Franks, stops the spread of Islam into Europe at the Battle of Tours in France.
3. An undeniable fact: violence is part of Islam
1. Historically Islam was spread by the sword.
2. In Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, Pakistan, Mauritania, Yemen and Qatar, Islamic law threatens death for any Muslim who would convert to another religion.
3. Muhammad said "if anybody disregards his religion, kill him."
4. Of people of other faiths who seek to evangelize, Muslim law requires the following punishments: "execution, or crucifixion, of the cutting off of hands, and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land" (Sura 5:33).

An alternate view: At the Islamic theological website Islam101.com, operated by The Sabr Foundation, there is an article titled "Jihad is a Peaceful Struggle", which argues that jihad is actually peaceful activism and latter-day Muslims are responsible for betraying "the original image of Islam." Click here to read it.

II. Islamic Beliefs and Practices

1. Major differences with Christianity
1. Allah is not triune in nature; Allah has no son
2. Allah does not love sinners. In Islam there is no fatherly concept of God. He is seen by most Muslims as a remote judge who is not personally involved with mankind.
3. Islam is not about fellowship with God but service, submission and allegiance to God.
4. Jesus is only one of many prophets. The last and greatest of prophets is Muhammad.
5. The Qur'an is supreme because the Bible has been corrupted.
2. Evidence the Bible has not been corrupted
1. 24,000 manuscript copies of the New Testament, and hundreds of copies of the Old Testament, which verify that the Bible today is the same as that used 2,000 years ago.
2. There are enough quotations from the early Church Fathers to reconstruct 99.86% ofthe New Testament.

III. The Qur'an: Could the Qur'an be the Word of God?

1. Five reasons to reject:
1. Contradicts Scripture as it teaches salvation by works: “Then those whose balance of good
   deeds is heavy, they will attain salvation: "But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls, in Hell will they abide” (Sura 23:102-103).
1. Gospel means "good news", having to work for your salvation is not good news
2. Contradicts known facts of science
3. Contradicts history; it denies the crucifixion of Christ
4. Has many internal inconsistencies
5. No particular reason to believe it is inspired

IV. Sharing the Truth in Love with Muslims

1. Genuinely befriend and love them: "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1, NIV)
2. Be prepared to defend the trustworthiness of the scriptures
1. Muslims distrust the reliability of the Bible
3. Respect gender distinctions
1. Muslims see cross-gender communication to be offensive
4. Be patient: "A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth." (2 Timothy 2:24-25, NIV)
1. Muslims to not respond to confrontational evangelism.
2. Apostasy for Muslims is a death sentence. They will not make a decision quickly.
5. Focus on important issues, NOT politics.
1. Where will you spend eternity?
2. How can a person be saved from his sins?
3. Who is Jesus?
4. Can the Bible be trusted?
5. DO NOT bring up the Qur'an's teaching of violence.
6. Be candid about the sins of supposed Christians
7. Emphasize the love of God and the intimacy that believers can have with God as their Father.
8. Many Muslims live with a sense of fear regarding their salvation and the future.
1. Muslims have no assurance of their salvation (paradise only through martyrdom).
2. Emphasize that their sins can be totally forgiven, through faith in Jesus and His gracious work on the cross.
9. Give them a copy of the Bible and pray for them
1. Many have not read the Bible and actually will be happy to receive a copy.
2. Encourage them to read one of the Gospels.
3. God's word is ALIVE and POWERFUL; it has opened the minds of many Muslims.
10. Prayerfully consider supporting a Christian ministry that is working to further the Gospel in the Muslim countries.

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