Where Does The Bible Address Muhammad And The Rise Of Islam?

[Matthew S Islam]

Greetings,

I'm curious to know how Christians make sense of the emergence and subsequent dominance of Islam from a Biblical standpoint.

The Islamic tradition was a successful enterprise both on a religious and political level. Muslims proclaim that their religion was completed; their scriptures and exegesis are preserved; and the immediate followers of Muhammad conquered the Persians and Romans.
Islam has survived the test of time and is currently the main opponent to Christian propagation. If one were to compare between the claims objectively, then the least we could say is that Islam poses a threat to the Christian narrative.

1) Does the Bible explicitly foretell the coming of Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic tradition?

I'm aware of Paul's censure of different Gospels and false apostles. What I'm looking for are explicit references to the fore-coming clash between the religions i.e. Clear Prophecies.

2) Considering how our circumstances are ultimately Destined and Willed by God, then would it not be reasonable for us to expect God to adequately address this dilemma? He could have revealed explicit prophecies and guidance concerning it, or He could've weakened the intellectual threat of the opponent.

As of now I feel as though Islam caught Christianity off-guard and I'm not sure how to make sense of that.

Feel free to share your thoughts.

[showme]

Greetings,

I'm curious to know how Christians make sense of the emergence and subsequent dominance of Islam from a Biblical standpoint.

The Islamic tradition was a successful enterprise both on a religious and political level. Muslims proclaim that their religion was completed; their scriptures and exegesis are preserved; and the immediate followers of Muhammad conquered the Persians and Romans.
Islam has survived the test of time and is currently the main opponent to Christian propagation. If one were to compare between the claims objectively, then the least we could say is that Islam poses a threat to the Christian narrative.

1) Does the Bible explicitly foretell the coming of Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic tradition?

I'm aware of Paul's censure of different Gospels and false apostles. What I'm looking for are explicit references to the fore-coming clash between the religions i.e. Clear Prophecies.

2) Considering how our circumstances are ultimately Destined and Willed by God, then would it not be reasonable for us to expect God to adequately address this dilemma? He could have revealed explicit prophecies and guidance concerning it, or He could've weakened the intellectual threat of the opponent.

As of now I feel as though Islam caught Christianity off-guard and I'm not sure how to make sense of that.

Feel free to share your thoughts.

The propheccy of Daniel extends from the head, Nebuchadnezzar to the feet of iron and clay. The brittle combination of iron and clay, the last kingdom to be crushed with respect to Daniel 2:34, was a combination of the Germans/Romans/Iron, and the Ottomans/clay, which were crushed by an assortment of calvalry men from India and Australia, plus some British artilery at the battle of Megiddo in 1918. A later contingent of Rome/Russia and Muslim countries/clay, were defeated in the 1967 Israeli war. The culmination of the destruction of all the kingdoms of Daniel, was to come when they are all crushed, "all at the same time" per Daniel 2:35. The culmination battle, for the "capture" of "Jerusalem" (Zechariah 14:1-3), will end with the attacking armies being struck down by a plague (Zechariah 14:12). Another viewpoint is given in Joel 3, and the culmination happens at what is referred to the "valley of judgment", or YHWH's valley of judgment" against the nations. Jeremiah 30:7-11 also gives another viewpoint. Since "Judah" and "Jerusalem" have been "revived" (Joel 3:1), we are just waiting for the nations to be judged in the valley of judgment (Joel 3:2), which would include the nations which surround Israel, conspiring to "wipe out Israel" to suffer their judgment (Psalms 83:4-6).

[JehovahsWitness]

I remember the "whore of Babylon" thing from before. Is this a popular understanding amongst Christians or just a Jehovah's Witness thing?

So what are your thoughts concerning the role Islam plays as oppose to Hinduism or Mormonism? Obviously Islam and Christianity are head-to-head when it comes to the "religious battle". Did God just pick one of the "whore's of Babylon" over the others to challenge Christianity?

The famous whore is in the bible (see Revelation 17:3-6).

We, Jehovah's Witnesses believe she represents ALL false religions combined (she is symbolic not a literal woman). In Revelation Babylon is described as a woman that " who sits on many waters"...We believe the waters represent the peoples religion influences.




Biblically, then, there is no difference between Islam and Mormonism or Hinduism or Satanism (which is also a recognised religion) or indeed between them and all the churches of Christendom..... Roll them all up into one and you have one globale entity, identified in scripture as Babylon the Great. The world's religions including Christendom are all in fact on the same side in the eyes of God.

The only real "religious battle" will be when God destroys them all!



JW













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NOTE All posts I write represent my personal faith based beliefs as one of Jehovah's Witnesses

[jgh7]

I've heard that Muslims claim to be descended from Ishmael whom they claim is the rightful heir of God's covenant and not Isaac. The bible has this to say about Ishmael, and I tend to apply it to Islam.

Genesis 16:11-12

11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

“Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.�

---

The Jews and Muslims are technically descended from brothers. And we see today that Muslims dwell in the presence of their brethren, both the Jews in Israel (their most literal brethren), and they pretty much dwell all over the world now among all people (brethren in the broadest sense). Other more violent natures that sprout from extremists in Islam seem to ring true in this prophecy as well; they are against everyone and everyone against them.

But this is just my interpretation.

[William]

JehovahsWitness

The only real "religious battle" will be when God destroys them all!

JW

FTFY

Post#5

[The Tanager]

Well the Bible is supposedly a book of Divine revelations and teachings of Prophets. The Prophets were tasked with conveying whatever information was needed for the guidance of their communities. This would also include warning us of any major threats to our salvation and providing us with prophetic solutions.

Why do you think Christians did not have the guidance they needed? Why is Islam a threat to a Christian's salvation?

In Islam, for example, the Prophet Muhammad explicitly informed his nation of all the major signs and tribulations that were yet to come. It is inconceivable from an Islamic point of view for their to arise a new religion which appears more cohesive and Divine. If that did happen, it would certainly put the Prophet Muhammad's truthfulness into question. We would expect him to warn us of what appears to be a more superior and persuasive religion, or we would have reason to criticize Muhammad's God for making life's test too difficult.

This is very general and it would help me understand your point if you could give us specific examples of the explicit information and every tribulation Islam has faced through these years? For this point to go through you'd also have to show how Islam is more cohesive and Divine than any other religion including those that have gone before.

[Mithrae]

Islam has survived the test of time and is currently the main opponent to Christian propagation. If one were to compare between the claims objectively, then the least we could say is that Islam poses a threat to the Christian narrative. . . .


As of now I feel as though Islam caught Christianity off-guard and I'm not sure how to make sense of that.

Feel free to share your thoughts.

I was raised in a heavily Protestant background, and no longer a Christian I find many Protestants' attitudes towards Muhammad/Islam quite strange. I imagine that many if not most would view the Christianity which was ascendant in the 7th century as an increasingly idolatrous compromise with paganism, as the heirarchy of the state-backed churches became more interested in accommodating and extending their influence over more tithers; Mary eventually became the "Mother of God" and "Queen of Heaven" in substitution for pagan goddesses, various 'patron saints' were subbed in for local deities and so on.

I'm surprised that more Protestants don't view Muhammad along similar lines as they view the likes of Martin Luther or John Calvin: Imperfect people whose views and actions they invariably disagree with on some important points, but nevertheless important reformers of an Abrahamic faith gone astray. In Muhammad's case obviously a return to strict monotheism in contrast to the Roman Christianity of his time, and in even more stark contrast to the Arabian peninsula's prevailing polytheism. The less agreeable aspects of his message and actions notwithstanding, how can any Christian (let alone any Protestant) view that as a bad thing?

It's not as if Christians follow Jesus' teachings anyway, so all the fuss over Islam's view of Jesus (which historically was shared by some very early Christians too) seems little more than esoteric nit-picking. In theory, I imagine that most Christians and perhaps most Muslims would agree that having the right doctrine, denomination and rituals is more or less irrelevant compared to love and sincerity, but in practice it's the doctrines, denominations and rituals that they really focus on. I think you're right that the biggest issue in Christians opposing Islam and Muslims opposing Christianity rather than looking for common ground and understanding is each group's feeling of being threatened by the other, the fear of not being the biggest kid on the block.

[FWI]

Does the Bible explicitly foretell the coming of Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic tradition?

No, the bible does not foretell the coming of a proposed prophet called Muhammad…But, it does "imply" the Islamic tradition will arise. Hence, from a biblical perspective, Muhammad was not a prophet of God or a prophet of the Christ.

However, the bible does foretell the rise of the Islamic peoples to greatness in Genesis 16, 17 and 21. Yet, the bible only seems to imply to their coming religious traditions. These peoples or "Islamic nation" would be the descendants of the biblical first born son of Abraham (through Hagar) and named Ishmael….

In the N.T. (Galatians 4:21-31), Ishmael is not introduced in a very positive light. But, he is mentioned positively, in the Quran. Hence, when we review all the pertinent information it should be clear why the Islamic tradition came to be and why a prophet was needed…We also should be able to understand why there was and still is a conflict between the Israelites and many Islamic peoples and their different religious viewpoints, while believing in the same God.

[marco]

As of now I feel as though Islam caught Christianity off-guard and I'm not sure how to make sense of that.

Any faith that feels it ought to turn the other cheek is prey to one that values weapons. Rome didn't rise by honouring Pax, but Mars, the war god. Islam rose at a most fortuitous period in history when the Roman Empire was crumbling in on itself and warlike Arabs were looking for lands to conquer. Allah was the abracadabra, the open sesame, but spears, arrows and swords were the force of persuasion.

There is nothing new in Islam; its God is great, weighs consierably more than old Yahweh and tolerates no offspring spouting messages of love. This form of martial art, disguised as a religion, appeals to the warrior but it retains enough superstitious content to capture the minds of those who would have loved the Bethlehem manger.


The Bible warns of false prophets and Muhammad, too, warned of future disagreements. The authors of these faiths understood that man is fickle. Perhaps we are moving into times where the union of humans will be more important than myth. The Scots poet Burns put it this way:


"Then let us pray that come it may
As come it will, for all that:
That man to man the world o'er
Shall brothers be, for all that."


Communists tried to comply, but were short on the humanity bit. So Islam is still claiming converts, or victims depending on your viewpoint - but it too has a shelf life.

[Matthew S Islam]

I've heard that Muslims claim to be descended from Ishmael whom they claim is the rightful heir of God's covenant and not Isaac.

Allah favored the descendants of Isaac and Jacob(Israel) above all nations with a unique relationship to Him. They were blessed with countless Prophets(pbut), Divine Scriptures, spiritual blessings, special preference, and a Divinely ordained sovereignty.

Of course with this came a number of covenants and expectations which God required of them. Islam's view is that the Children of Israel failed as a nation in meeting God's standard and are now theologically inconsistent due to their failures and blasphemies.

Following their disbelief and "murdering" of the Messiah, God sent forth a Universal Prophet/Messenger from amongst the Gentiles(Ishmaelites) to make clear the verdicts and expectations of God for humanity. The Jewish religion has been explicitly abrogated by Allah and they are now expected to recognize the most recent Prophet's authority over them.

Muslims do not blame the Prophets for the actions of their descendants, nor do we make competitions and unnecessary distinctions between the Prophets. All the Prophets and true believers share the same faith -- Submission to the Will of God.

Read Quran 2:40 onwards -- it addresses much of these issues:

https://quran.com/2/40-50?translations=20

The bible has this to say about Ishmael, and I tend to apply it to Islam. 

Genesis 16:11-12 

11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her: 

“Behold, you are with child, 
And you shall bear a son. 
You shall call his name Ishmael, 
Because the Lord has heard your affliction. 
12 He shall be a wild man; 
His hand shall be against every man, 
And every man’s hand against him. 
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.� 

Well, both Ishmael and the early Muslims were Bedouins!

However the Bible doesn't curse or condemn Ishmael:

"And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation."

The Jews and Muslims are technically descended from brothers. And we see today that Muslims dwell in the presence of their brethren, both the Jews in Israel (their most literal brethren), and they pretty much dwell all over the world now among all people (brethren in the broadest sense). Other more violent natures that sprout from extremists in Islam seem to ring true in this prophecy as well; they are against everyone and everyone against them.

But this is just my interpretation.

It's a fair interpretation to be honest. They do seem to apply to Muslims in our modern times, unfortunately.

[marco]

Following their disbelief and "murdering" of the Messiah, God sent forth a Universal Prophet/Messenger from amongst the Gentiles(Ishmaelites) to make clear the verdicts and expectations of God for humanity. The Jewish religion has been explicitly abrogated by Allah and they are now expected to recognize the most recent Prophet's authority over them.

We must remember that Muhammad was plying his trade some 600 years AFTER Christ, so Allah took his time to make up his mind. I understand that Allah by some absurd deception prevented Christ from being killed, either substituting some inconsequential human or mass-hypnotizing the normally observant Romans. Amazing!

Judaism retains its antiquity and it was rationally right to reject the claims of Christ. It is amusing to hear that the Creator of the Cosmos interests himself in the minutiae of rows between Jews and Arab tribesmen.