Even in his mercy, which is Allah's favourite name in Islam, he remains the Great and Exalted One who at best will condescend a little to help his needy creatures. Even in exercising his mercy he remains distant and impersonal.

Our God, on the other hand, in his love came down to our level in Jesus Christ. He took on the form of a slave and abased himself to the lowest level, bearing our guilt and taking our place in judgement. His self-sacrifice for us sinners means eternal holy love.

We do not have a distant impersonal God, but a Father, a Son and a Holy Spirit, who does not hesitate to save us and make his home within us. In an exaggerated sense we could say, "God, in the earlier meaning of his name, no longer exists since Jesus came to earth. What actually exists is only the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." As a result everyone who does not recognise or accept the Holy Trinity shows that the true God is hidden from him.

You Shall Know them by their Fruits

Since Allah in Islam is fundamentally distinct from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, it follows that ethics, culture and way of life in both religions are essentially incompatible with one another.

One of the main principles in Islam is that all thought is based on law and justice. The whole of life is influenced by and remains under the law. Sin necessitates expiation. Words similar to the Old Testament are used in the Qur'an, such as, "An eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth" (Sura al-Ma'ida 5:49; Exodus 21:23,24).

Christ, however, taught a new law based on his love, and commanded his disciples, "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:44).

Because our heavenly Father has unconditionally forgiven all people all their sins through the death of Christ, Christian ethics and principles are thus built upon an unconditional forgiveness toward all people. Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). He applied his prayer with the words, "But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:15).

In Christianity God's love and unconditional grace have become the guiding principles of life. In Islam law and justice are the basis for all thought and behaviour. The everyday language of Muslims abounds with expressions like, "I am in the right" (literally, "The right is with me"), "you are in the wrong" (literally, "The wrong is upon you"). There is no flexibility in deciding the right, and compromises are seldom possible. To compromise would be an injustice.

Consequently, every sin and mistake merits reprisal and punishment. When sin is not propitiated, then justice is not satisfied. We read in the Old Testament that shed blood cries out to heaven (Genesis 4:10). Murder requires retribution and vengeance. In Islam blood revenge is a law of Allah. It would be unjust to forgive a crime or a mistake casually. In the Old Testament forgiveness was possible only through sacrifices and the shedding of blood. The Muslims do not understand the need for sacrifice nor that all demands of justice in God's law have been fulfilled by Jesus, once for all time and for all people. He shed his own holy blood for those who deserve to die. However, since reconciliation with God through Christ is denied in Islam, the principle of blood revenge is perpetuated. As long as unconditional forgiveness is regarded as unjust in Islam, grace does not supersede justice, but justice overrides grace. Anyone who has been in Islamic countries, the "House of Peace", for a long period of time, knows of endless blood feuds, the revengeful murder of family members for the maintaining of another family's honour.

In the Middle East, wars seldom end in a compromise. The right to land, rivers and wells must be restored intact; if not, those who fought for their rights will have no peace of mind. When the Israelis had given back 99.99% of the Sinai Peninsula to the Egyptians, the Egyptians said, "We demand that every grain of sand is returned to us."

This rights-oriented attitude leads to a kind of war between Islamic tribes and nations that we scarcely comprehend. Iraq and Iran have destroyed one another's oil pumping equipment. Meanwhile, Anwar Sadat made a peace treaty with Israel because of pressure from America and was shot for it. The Lebanese civil war raged for more than ten years. In Syria, the Alawites and the Muslim Brotherhood are destroying one another, and Qaddafi with his billions in oil money intends to conquer Chad and destabilise Morocco. The spirit of Islam is a restless spirit. The Old Testament predictions about Ishmael are being proven true until today. "His hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him" (Genesis 16:12).

The sensitive concern of Muslims for justice and law is deeply rooted in their concept of Allah himself. In the Qur'an he commanded Islam to be defended with weapons, to carry out Holy Wars with bloodshed, and to kill every convert who leaves Islam by rejecting Allah and accepting Christ as the Son of God (Sura al-Ma'ida 5:9). The God of Islam is a God of retribution and a judge who is merciless in punishing iniquity. The legalistic reasoning among Muslims comes from Allah himself, as well as from a fanatical pride and the desire for retribution.

The Institution of Marriage

The Muslim attitude toward marriage and family life is indicative of further contrasts between Christianity and Islam to a degree where it becomes absurd to speak of the same God being in both religions.

According to Islam, Muhammad received a revelation from Allah, through which he learned that any Muslim can legally marry up to four women (Sura al-Nisa' 4:3). Muslims can also, according to an interpretation of several schools of law, enter into a temporary marriage. For instance, when travelling a Muslim can keep wives in different places or take concubines from among his slaves, just as it pleases him (Sura al-Nisa' 4:3-34).

Of course, today only the rich can afford several wives because a man is bound to give each wife the same amount of food, clothes and presents, as well as give equal gifts to all the children. If he marries several wives, he must support separate households. The hatred, envy and jealousy that spring from this arrangement can hardly be imagined by an outsider.

In this age of birth control, modern Islamic theologians have arrived at a special interpretation of Sura al-Nisa' 4:3. According to this verse, Allah had intended Muslims to be monogamous from the beginning, because his requirement for men to love all four wives equally cannot be achieved by an husband.

No matter what modern scholars may write, a woman in Islam stands on a lower level than a man. He is responsible to educate her in marriage; he may keep himself from her as a punishment for disobedience and has the right to strike her (Sura al-Nisa' 4:34). The witness of one man at a trial is equal to that of two women (Sura al-Baqara 2:282). Children always belong to the man. Admittedly, a mother has the privilege of caring for the children up to a certain age, but then they must return to the father. According to Islamic understanding, these rules are commands of Allah in the Qur'an.

In most Islamic countries it is very easy for a man to divorce his wife. Should it have been an action carried out in hasty anger, he can remarry her later. Later, if he divorces her a second time, he still has the right to marry her once again. But if he divorces her a third time, he forfeits his legal right to remarry her until she has married another man and has been divorced by him. Then the first man can remarry her (Sura al-Baqara 2:229,230).

We cannot grasp the wretchedness behind such a regulation. The wife is not a partner but a commodity for the man, a means to an end. This is all linked to the fact that in Islam a person is not made in the image of Allah but is only his slave. For this reason the wife also does not stand on the same level as her husband, but is considered to be only a little higher than a maidservant. She is regarded as his field, in which he can sow whenever he wishes (Sura al-Baqara 2:223).

This dominance of the male is projected even beyond the gates of paradise. A magnificent life awaits the faithful Muslim - trees of shade and fresh fruit, alongside cool rivers; a few dozen maidens and several lads always at his disposal. Little is said in the Qur'an about his previous wives in connection with paradise (Suras al-Rahman 55:54; al-Waqi`a 56:15-22,34-35,72).

How utterly different is the Christian outlook on marriage! Woman too is created in the image of God, not just the man. As far as the spiritual relationship is concerned, she is equal to the man. Monogamy is therefore the consequence of the spiritual position of a woman. She is a partner and helper to her husband to tackle all problems of life together. Christ confirmed monogamy and prohibited any irresponsible divorce (Mark 10:6-12).

The Apostle Paul demanded complete submission of the wife to her husband, but only in conformity to the Church's submission to Christ. Accordingly, the husband has the privilege of offering his life out of love for his wife and children, just as Christ gave his life as a sacrifice for the church (Ephesians 5:22-25).

Such spiritual principles regulate all areas of the Christian's life. The secret of the Christian culture is the everlasting love of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. In Islam, all areas of life are governed by the judicial dominance of the dictator, Allah. Islam and Christianity are thus two completely different religions, as distinct from each other as Allah is from the Holy Trinity.

III. THE TRUE FACE OF ALLAH

1. An Unbiblical Spirit

Table of Contents

Muslims claim that Muhammad was not the author of the Qur'an. Their theological experts do not accept the obvious fact that 75% of the Qur'an is composed of distorted laws and stories from the Old Testament. On the contrary, they vehemently defend their belief that Allah inspired Muhammad and revealed his words and commands to him. Every sentence in the Qur'an is supposedly the pure word of Allah, infallibly by the Almighty.