Islam for Christians

O Allah's Messenger! How is the Divine Inspiration revealed to you?" Allah's Messenger replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says." 'Aisha added: Verily I saw the Prophe...

Muhammad didn’t receive his first revelation until he was 40, starting an action packed 12 years of ministry until his death. But what came before that? There is little on Muhammad’s first 40 years, not dissimilar to the pre-ministry days of Jesus. And what is there, it really is impossible to tell legend from fact from hagiography. Regardless of what you want to call it, there are a few good stor...

Muhammad once called this surah “equivalent to one-third of the whole Quran.” The emphasis is on the oneness of God, the essential nature of God and the impossibility of comparing God to anything in his creation.

So… the Shia. What makes them different from their Sunni counterparts? The textbook explanation for the difference between Sunni and Shia is almost always the succession of Muhammad after his death and whom each side supported. It’s correct, but it’s really just a starting point. I start this episode talking about the commemoration of Husayn’s martyrdom at Karbala – because that’s really the birth...

None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself. The implications of this – this Muslim version of the golden rule -- are far-reaching. It means that when Muhammad talks about being a believer, it’s way beyond smashing idols and proclaiming there is only one God. This is surface belief, performative belief. To truly believe you must internalize the message and...

Islamic history dates back to Abraham… well, Adam, really, and there are some stories that are critical to understanding Islam that predate Muhammad. This includes most of the Old Testament, but I’m not going to rehash stories you already know. Abraham is a big deal Islam, as is the story of him sacrificing Isaac. It’s so big, actually, it’s a Muslim holiday. But again, you know that story. So wha...

This is an early Meccan surah, and combined with surah 114, it’s as much a prayer as it is a surah. The combined prayer of 113 and 114 is often called Al-Mu'awwid hatan – and according to the hadith Muhammad would say this prayer every night.

The Sunni story begins in 632, when Muhammad died without a clear heir. This was particularly important because, by this time, Muhammad wasn’t just the leader of his small group of Muslims. Pretty much the entire Arabian Peninsula had flocked to his banner, united under Muhammad’s religion. Obviously, this was no small feat, but without Muhammad, would the tribes remain united? Some thought the ne...

The Hadith is a collection of the sayings and deeds of the prophet Muhammad, particularly important in creating Islamic law and giving context to elements of the Quran. In Islamic fashion, this is more of a history exercise than a literary one, so there is no overarching narrative of the reports. In fact, many reports are found in multiple hadith collections. A standard hadith has two parts: 1.&nb...

Why on earth would anyone support the murderous tyrant Bashar Al-Assad? Especially confessed Christians? Once we dive into the religious and sectarian situation in Syria, and the history of the last couple centuries, it will start to make sense. For Christians in the Middle East, political preferences aren’t really preferences. We, and by that I mean people in democracies, support a candidate for...

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, The King of mankind, The god of mankind, From the evil of the sneaking whisperer, Who whispereth in the hearts of mankind, Of the jinn and of mankind.

This episode is an acknowledgment that for many Westerners, and that includes Christians, most of what is known about Islam is filtered through the lens of terrorism and extremism. I don’t like it, and I know Muslims freaking hate it, but I don’t think ignoring that perception is helpful, either. As you learn more about Islam, violent extremism will creep further and further into obscurity. But at...

The Quran is not the Bible. I went into detail on this in an earlier episode, but it’s hard overemphasize this point – the Quran is not the Bible. It’s a book about similar people, and it’s about the God of Abraham, and it’s a critical cog of a major religion, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. The archetype of the Christian Bible is the novel. It has a beginning, an end, character...

When talking about Islam, some Arabic is essential. It’s not necessary to be a Muslim – the vast majority of Muslims do not understand Arabic – but Arabic is the language of the Quran and the early Muslims and therefore essential for anyone attempting to study Islam.

This is the commentary for The Messiah (2007). This should not be confused with the short-lived Netflix series. The Messiah is a movie out of Iran that tells the story of Jesus from an Islamic perspective. Type – The Messiah 2007 full movie – into YouTube and it should be easy to find. Look for a movie that’s about an hour 23. It’s obviously not in English, but there are subtitles.

Welcome to the Islam for Christians companion to Empire of Faith. Go to YouTube or something similar and type in Islam: Empire of Faith. You should see three parts of about 50+ minutes. We’ll go through all three here. If the narrator sounds like Ben Kingsley, you have the right one.

The films I’ll be focusing on are the following: 1.       The Message. It’s a 1976 film centered on the life of Muhammad and his message, thus the title. It's available to rent on Amazon… 2.       Islam: Empire of Faith. This is a PBS documentary. Last I checked it was on YouTube, so you don’t need to pay for it. 3.   &nbsp...

Learn 1,400 years of Islam in under 30 minutes! 1. Before the first revelation – before 610. 2. The Mecca period – 610-622. 3. The Medina period – 622-632 4. Rightly guided caliphs – 632-661 5. Umayyad (spell) Caliphate – 661-750 6. Abbasid (spell) Caliphate 750-1258 7. Mongol Era 1258-1503 8. The Gunpowder Empires – Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals 1503 until...

Jesus, the Quran, Mary, Muhammad and like to like comparisons

Introduction to Islam for Christians. Brief introduction of the author, the purpose of this podcast and what to expect.