This isn't my first rodeo on the subject. Here's something I posted on another site years ago before hackers took it down.
In an earlier post, I alluded to Islam as a "gospel of works." These works are represented in what are known collectively as the "Five Pillars of Islam."
Here is what Wikipedia says of them:
The Five Pillars of Islam
[1] Shahadah is a statement professing monotheism and accepting Muhammad as God's messenger. The shahadah is a set statement normally recited in Arabic, translated as: "[I profess that] There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet."
[2] The second pillar of Islam is Salah, the requirement to pray five times a day at fixed times during the day. The times of day to pray are at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. Each salah is performed facing towards the Kaaba in Mecca.
Salah is compulsory but there is some flexibility in body and clothing. Nonetheless, the place of prayer must be cleaned.
Contrast that with Paul's admonition to "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thess 5:17.
[3] Zakat or alms-giving is the practice of charitable giving by Muslims based on accumulated wealth, and is obligatory for all who are able to do so. It is considered to be a personal responsibility for Muslims to ease economic hardship for others and eliminate inequality.
Contrast that with another of Paul's admonitions: "Each of you should give whatever you have decided.
You shouldn't be sorry that you gave or feel forced to give, since God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Cor 9:7.
In the Koran, giving is morally obligatory. In the New Testament, it's morally desirable.
[4] Three types of fasting (Sawm) are recognized by the Qur'an: Ritual fasting,[2:183–187] fasting as compensation or repentance,[2:196] and ascetic fasting.[33:35]
Ritual fasting is an obligatory act during the month of Ramadan. Muslims must abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk during this month, and are to be especially mindful of other sins.
The fast is meant to allow Muslims to seek nearness to Allah, to express their gratitude to and dependence on him, to atone for their past sins, and to remind them of the needy.
Fasting as atonement for sin??? Not in my Bible: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Matt 26:26-28
Fasting is mentioned throughout the Old and New Testaments, but NEVER as atonement for sin!
[5] The Hajj is a pilgrimage that occurs during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah to the holy city of Mecca, and derives from an ancient Arab practice. Every able-bodied Muslim is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if he or she can afford it. When the pilgrim is around 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from Mekkah, he must dress in Ihram clothing, which consists of two white sheets. Both men and women are required to make the pilgrimage to Mekkah.
The main rituals of the Hajj include walking seven times around the Kaaba, touching the Black Stone, travelling seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah, and symbolically stoning the Devil in Mina.
The believer should be self-aware and examine their intentions in performing the pilgrimage. This should lead to constant striving for self-improvement.
"Self-improvement?" There is nothing in the "old nature" of man that can be improved by any religious ritual. This is why Paul writes:
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor 5:17.
The "passing of the old things" occurs at the cross: "When I tried to obey the law's standards, those laws killed me. As a result, I live in a relationship with God.
I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live I live by believing in God's Son, who loved me and took the punishment for my sins. Gal 2:19-20.
Of course, as shown in a previous post, Islam does not believe Christ was crucified [Sura 4:157]. Therefore, if the Koran is true, there is no reason to believe in Christ at all. Paul writes: "
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins....If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." 1 Cor 15:16-17, 19
How could Christ have risen from the dead if He first were not killed on the cross???
Finally, there is this: "
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Eph 2:8-9 (KJV)
Islam teaches that salvation comes to the believer via the "Five Pillars."
The Bible teaches that salvation comes solely and exclusively through our Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6, 1 Thess 5:9-10) through faith in His death on the cross, and that even our faith is a gift from God: "
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb 12:2
"
If anyone tells you good news [gospel] that is different from the Good News [Gospel] you received, that person should be condemned to hell." Gal 1:9
Muhammad preached a different gospel. Islam teaches a different gospel. Precisely because it is a different gospel, Muslims do not worship the God of the Christians and Jews. The Bible and the Koran cannot be reconciled and it is both folly and heresy to try.
