• Conscious that the conversation regarding Islam is now all but inexhaustible, I want to point out what seem to me two important differences between Islam and Christianity. The first regarding Islam and the state; the second regarding Christ and Mohammed. (I won’t be quoting the Quran because I could use it only to proof-text, and would misrepresent my familiarity with it.) The last paragraph addresses the idea that many Muslims are peace-loving. This is longer but worth it.
• An opening caveat: I’m not speaking to the great and foundational difference between the two faiths, namely that the premise of all God’s dealings with his people is love, and therefore grace (Deut. 7:7, Gen 8:21ff, among others); while the premise of Allah’s dealings with his people is the demand for complete submission (which is what “Islam” means), and therefore judgement. You can hear the practical outcome of this in language used in fundraising for a local Mosque: “generosity from what Allah has given you will provide a place for you in the hereafter.” The kernel sentence is: “[your own work of] generosity provides a place.” We would say our place in the hereafter is provided by the work of Christ on the cross, our assurance of which is faith, not monetary gifts or other forms of obedience.
• How we relate to the state is nuanced. Even though we view our culture and society through the lens of the Gospel, and therefore find ourselves “lovingly subversive” of culture/society, we believe that “[civil] rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad” (Rom 13:3) and that “[the authorities] that exist have been instituted by God” and those who resist civil authorities are “resisting what God has appointed” (13:1&2). Yes, there are rare instances in which civil disobedience is required of us, but those are few and must pass careful ethical tests. Jesus urged no vision for overthrowing Rome.
• Islam, on the other hand, is monolithic, holding no separation of religion, culture, and the state (how people worship, how they live, how they are ruled). The rules governing the Mosque ought to govern the nation or, for that matter, the world. While the Quran makes allowances for non-Muslims living in Muslim states (“dhimmi”), the dhimma is not a state of freedom, but defined subjection to the Quran. All dhimmi are second-class citizens. Muslim scholars make no bones about this.
• On Christ and Mohammed — Muslim or Christian, our lives are shaped by the one we follow. We imitate those we admire, even though we may do so subconsciously. Because of this, it matters that Mohammed was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in his lifetime, some of whom were killed for insulting or mocking the prophet. These accounts are reported, and defended, by Muslims — not the enemies of Islam. Muslims who follow the Quran make no bones about this either. The recent killings in Paris are not uncharacteristic of historic Islam. The Charlie Hebdo cartoonists frequently mocked Mohammed, and the killers reportedly shouted “the Prophet has been avenged!” Such retaliation has it’s roots in the life of Mohammed himself.
• Christ, too, was mocked: “… the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him” (Lk 22:63), and “…some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, ‘Prophesy!’ And the guards took him and beat him” (Mk 14:65). This was not a lark, but the prophecy of Isaiah: “I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting” (Isa 50:6). Yet rather than retaliation, Jesus prayed from the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).
• You may think I’m stirring controversy and inciting hatred of Muslims, but I hope to do something far more controversial. I hope to prepare you to love your enemies and, if necessary, to lay your life down for them, to pray for those who persecute you even as they are persecuting you. This is how we “retaliate” for Christ’s death on the cross, by giving good for evil as he did. Our faith does not preclude defending others who are endangered (as the French police are doing now), but it does preclude our defending ourselves.
• And yes, certainly, there are Muslims who believe this just as we do. But they are generally living at a greater distance from the Quran than those Muslims who feel the prophet must be avenged. My point in this — and you may need to think about this — is both “orthodox” Muslims and Christians derive their ethics from their respective scriptures. What Muslim scriptures define as ethical, and what Christian Scripture defines, are two very different systems. There is nothing in the Quran about loving enemies, and the conflict that this portends is, it seems to me, inevitable.
– Pastor Eric