Not the Same God
ISLAMIC POLEMICS SERIES • ARTICLE 25
Not the Same God
Allah and the God of the Bible Compared: Deception, Determinism, Love, and the Question of Divine Character
Extended Read
① THE ARGUMENT: WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS
Muslims, Christians, and Jews are often described as worshipping “the same God”—the God of Abraham, the Creator of heaven and earth. This claim has a surface plausibility: all three traditions are monotheistic, all trace their roots to Abraham, and all affirm that God is one, eternal, all-powerful, and sovereign over creation. But surface-level agreement can mask fundamental differences. Two people can both say “I believe in God” while meaning radically different things.
This article examines the character of Allah as revealed in the Qur’an and hadith and compares it to the character of God as revealed in the Bible. The comparison is not about names or linguistics (whether “Allah” is a valid word for God—it is; Arab Christians use it). The comparison is about divine attributes: Is God a deceiver? Does God determine all human actions, including evil? Does God love sinners? Does God relate to humans as Father or only as Master? Can God be known personally, or only obeyed from a distance? The answers to these questions in Islam and Christianity are not merely different. They are incompatible. And if the answers are incompatible, then despite the surface similarities, we are not talking about the same God.
THE CORE DIFFERENCES
DECEPTION: Allah is “the best of deceivers” (3:54). The God of the Bible “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2).
DETERMINISM: Allah creates both faith and unbelief; humans do what He decrees. The biblical God holds humans responsible for genuine choices.
LOVE: Allah does not love sinners, disbelievers, the proud. The biblical God “demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
RELATIONSHIP: Allah is Master (‘abd); humans are slaves. The biblical God is Father; believers are adopted children.
KNOWABILITY: Allah reveals His will, not Himself. The biblical God says “This is eternal life: that they know You” (John 17:3).
② THE ISLAMIC DEFENSE
The “best of deceivers” translation is misleading. The Arabic word makr does not mean “deception” in the negative English sense. It means “planning,” “strategy,” or “scheme.” When Allah “makara,” He outplanned the enemies who were scheming against His messengers. This is not deception; it is divine strategy against evil. A better translation is “the best of planners.”
Divine sovereignty and human responsibility coexist in Islam. Yes, Allah decrees all things. But humans still have kasb (acquisition)—they “acquire” responsibility for their actions even though Allah creates them. This is the Ash’ari position, held by the majority of Sunni Muslims. It is not pure determinism; it is compatibilism. The same tension exists in Christianity between divine sovereignty and human freedom.
Allah’s love is conditional, but so is His blessing. Allah loves those who do good, who repent, who are righteous. This is not arbitrary; it is moral. God should love good and hate evil. The Qur’an says Allah does not love the disbelievers, the proud, the transgressors—this is a statement of moral seriousness, not a defect in Allah’s character.
The “Father” metaphor is anthropomorphic and problematic. Calling God “Father” implies that God begets children, which the Qur’an emphatically denies (112:3). The biblical language of “Father” is either a dangerous metaphor that leads to shirk (Christians worshipping Jesus as the “Son”) or a corruption of the original teaching. Islam’s language of “Master” and “slave” is more accurate and more reverent.
Taqiyya is defensive, not deceptive. Taqiyya (dissimulation to protect oneself from persecution) is permitted in extreme circumstances—when a Muslim’s life is in danger. It is not a general license to lie. The concept is similar to Rahab hiding the spies (Joshua 2) or the Hebrew midwives deceiving Pharaoh (Exodus 1)—deception to save life, which even the Bible permits.
Christianity has its own tensions on sovereignty and love. Calvinism teaches that God predestines some to salvation and others to damnation. Many Christians believe God’s love is conditional on faith. The differences between Islam and Christianity on these points are often overstated.
③ THE SOURCES: ALLAH’S CHARACTER IN QUR’AN AND HADITH
PART A: ALLAH AS DECEIVER — THE MAKR VERSES
| Verse | Arabic Term | Text | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surah 3:54 | Wa makaru wa makara Allahu wa Allahu khayru al-makirin | “And they [the disbelievers] schemed, and Allah schemed, and Allah is the best of schemers.” | The enemies of Jesus plotted against him; Allah “out-schemed” them. |
| Surah 8:30 | Wa yamkuruna wa yamkuru Allahu wa Allahu khayru al-makirin | “And [remember] when those who disbelieved schemed against you…and they schemed and Allah schemed, and Allah is the best of schemers.” | The Quraysh plotted against Muhammad; Allah “out-schemed” them. |
| Surah 7:99 | Afaaminu makra Allahi fala ya’manu makra Allahi illa al-qawmu al-khasirun | “Then did they feel secure from the makr of Allah? But no one feels secure from the makr of Allah except the losing people.” | Believers should fear Allah’s makr; feeling “secure” from it is a mark of losers. |
| Surah 4:142 | Inna al-munafiqina yukhadiuna Allaha wa huwa khadi’uhum | “Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allah, but He is deceiving them.” | Allah “deceives” the hypocrites—the verb is khada’a (to deceive), not makara. |
| Surah 27:50 | Wa makaru makran wa makarna makran wa hum la yash’urun | “And they schemed a scheme, and We schemed a scheme while they perceived not.” | Allah schemes while humans are unaware. |
THE MEANING OF MAKR
The word makr in Arabic means: scheme, plot, stratagem, cunning, deception, guile.
Classical Arabic lexicons (Lane’s Lexicon, Hans Wehr) define makr as “the turning of another from his intent by deceit.” It is used in the Qur’an both for human scheming (negative) and for Allah’s counter-scheming (presented positively). The question is not whether Allah “schemes”—the Qur’an clearly says He does. The question is whether “scheme/plot” is an appropriate attribute for the God of truth.
Surah 7:99 is particularly significant: believers should not feel “secure” from Allah’s makr. If makr meant only “good planning,” why would believers need to fear it? The verse implies that Allah’s makr is something even believers should be wary of—an unpredictable, potentially dangerous aspect of His sovereignty.
The biblical contrast: Titus 1:2 says God “cannot lie” (apseudes—“without falsehood”). Hebrews 6:18 says it is “impossible for God to lie.” Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that He should lie.” The biblical God’s character is defined by truth. Deception is ontologically impossible for Him. The Qur’anic Allah is “the best of schemers/deceivers”—and believers should not feel secure from His makr. These are not the same character.
PART B: ALLAH AS AUTHOR OF ALL THINGS — INCLUDING UNBELIEF
| Source | Text | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Surah 7:178 | Whomever Allah guides—he is the guided; and whomever He sends astray—it is those who are the losers. | Guidance and astray-sending are both Allah’s actions. |
| Surah 6:39 | Whomever Allah wills—He leaves astray; and whomever He wills—He puts him on a straight path. | Allah actively wills some to be astray. |
| Surah 14:4 | Allah sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. | Same pattern: Allah is the active agent of both guidance and misguidance. |
| Surah 16:93 | If Allah had willed, He could have made you one nation, but He sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. | The diversity of belief/unbelief exists because Allah willed it. |
| Surah 32:13 | If We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance, but the word from Me will come into effect: I will surely fill Hell with jinn and men all together. | Allah could guide everyone but chose not to; He intends to fill Hell. |
| Surah 7:179 | We have destined for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. | Explicit: people are destined for Hell. |
| Bukhari 6594 | A person may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit, then what is written overtakes him and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it. | Destiny overrides apparent righteousness. |
| Muslim 2653 | Allah’s Messenger said: ‘Verily, each of you is gathered in his mother’s womb for forty days…then an angel is sent to him, and he writes four things: his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed.’ | Destiny—including salvation or damnation—is written before birth. |
THE DETERMINIST PROBLEM
If Allah actively sends people astray (not merely permits them to go astray), and if damnation is written before birth, and if destiny “overtakes” even those who seem righteous—then:
1. Humans are punished for what Allah decreed them to do.
2. Hell is filled because Allah intends to fill it (32:13), not because humans freely rebelled.
3. Moral striving is ultimately futile—what is written overtakes what is done.
This is not “compatibilism” in the Christian sense. Christian compatibilism holds that God’s sovereignty and human responsibility coexist without God being the author of evil. The Qur’an says Allah “sends astray whom He wills.” The biblical God “desires all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4) and is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9). These are opposite postures.
PART C: ALLAH’S CONDITIONAL LOVE
| Verse | Those Allah LOVES | Those Allah DOES NOT LOVE |
|---|---|---|
| Surah 2:190 | Allah does not love the aggressors. | |
| Surah 2:195 | Allah loves the doers of good (muhsineen). | |
| Surah 2:222 | Allah loves those who repent and those who purify themselves. | |
| Surah 3:32 | Allah does not love the disbelievers (kafireen). | |
| Surah 3:57 | Allah does not love the wrongdoers (zalimeen). | |
| Surah 3:76 | Allah loves the righteous (muttaqeen). | |
| Surah 3:134 | Allah loves the doers of good. | |
| Surah 3:146 | Allah loves the patient (sabireen). | |
| Surah 4:36 | Allah does not love the arrogant and boastful. | |
| Surah 4:107 | Allah does not love the treacherous sinners. | |
| Surah 5:87 | Allah does not love the transgressors (mu’tadeen). | |
| Surah 6:141 | Allah does not love the wasteful. | |
| Surah 8:58 | Allah does not love the treacherous. | |
| Surah 16:23 | Allah does not love the arrogant. | |
| Surah 28:76 | Allah does not love the exultant (proud). | |
| Surah 28:77 | Allah does not love the corrupters (mufsideen). | |
| Surah 30:45 | Allah does not love the disbelievers. | |
| Surah 31:18 | Allah does not love everyone self-deluded and boastful. | |
| Surah 42:40 | Allah does not love the wrongdoers. | |
| Surah 57:23 | Allah does not love everyone self-deluded and boastful. |
The pattern: Allah loves the righteous, the repentant, the pure, the patient, the good. Allah does not love sinners, disbelievers, transgressors, the proud, the boastful, the wrongdoers. His love is earned by moral performance. It is not given to those who are still in rebellion.
THE BIBLICAL CONTRAST: LOVE FOR SINNERS
Romans 5:8: “God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Ephesians 2:4–5: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.”
1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Luke 15:1–2: Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners—and told parables of God’s joy over recovering the lost.
The biblical God loves sinners while they are still sinners. His love is not a reward for righteousness; it is the cause of righteousness. Allah’s love is earned. The biblical God’s love is given.
PART D: MASTER AND SLAVE VS. FATHER AND CHILD
| Dimension | Islam | Christianity |
|---|---|---|
| Primary relational term for God | Rabb (Lord/Master), Malik (King/Owner) | Father (Abba) |
| Primary relational term for humans | ‘Abd (slave/servant)—as in “Abdullah,” slave of Allah | Child/son (teknon, huios); adopted (huiothesia) |
| Intimacy permitted? | Allah is transcendent; humans obey from a distance. “None can encompass Him.” | Believers cry “Abba, Father!” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Jesus calls God “Abba” (Mark 14:36). |
| God as Father? | Explicitly denied: “He neither begets nor is begotten” (112:3). God is not “father” in any sense. | Central metaphor: the Lord’s Prayer begins “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9). Believers are “children of God” (John 1:12). |
| Adoption? | No concept of spiritual adoption. Humans are slaves who may earn Allah’s pleasure. | Believers are “adopted as sons through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5). Adoption is central to salvation (Romans 8:15, 23; Galatians 4:5). |
| Inheritance? | Paradise is earned by works, weighed on scales (23:102–103). | Believers are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). |
The relational contrast: In Islam, the highest aspiration is to be a faithful slave (‘abd) who earns his Master’s approval. In Christianity, the highest aspiration is to be an adopted child who inherits the Father’s kingdom—not by earning, but by grace through faith. These are not two ways of describing the same relationship. They are fundamentally different visions of who God is and how He relates to humanity.
PART E: TAQIYYA AND THE ETHICS OF DECEPTION
| Source | Text | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Surah 3:28 | “Let not believers take disbelievers as allies rather than believers. And whoever does that has nothing with Allah, except when taking precaution against them in prudence (tuqatan).” | The root of taqiyya: dissimulation when “taking precaution” against non-Muslims. |
| Surah 16:106 | “Whoever disbelieves in Allah after his belief…except for one who is compelled while his heart is secure in faith—but those who open their breasts to disbelief, upon them is wrath from Allah.” | Outwardly denying faith under compulsion is permitted if inward faith remains. |
| Bukhari 3177 | The Prophet said: “War is deceit (khud’ah).” | Deception in warfare is prophetically endorsed. |
| Bukhari 2692 | Muhammad permitted lying in three cases: war, reconciling between people, and a husband to his wife (or vice versa). | Explicit prophetic permission for deception in specified contexts. |
| Muslim 2605 | Umm Kulthum reported that she did not hear the Prophet permit lying except in three cases: war, reconciliation, and spouses. | Same tradition in Muslim. |
The scope of taqiyya: Classical taqiyya is narrowly defined: dissimulation under threat to life. But the hadith expand permissible deception beyond life-threatening situations to include warfare, reconciliation, and marital relations. The principle “war is deceit” has been applied broadly in Islamic jurisprudence to justify strategic deception in conflict with non-Muslims. Critics argue this creates a theological framework in which deception toward non-Muslims can be justified when the interests of Islam are at stake.
THE BIBLICAL STANDARD
The Bible records instances of deception (Rahab, the Hebrew midwives) but does not establish deception as a permitted category. The New Testament standard is unambiguous:
Ephesians 4:25: “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor.”
Colossians 3:9: “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self.”
1 Peter 2:1: “So put away all malice and all deceit.”
The Christian ethic is truth-telling as a reflection of God’s character (“God cannot lie”). The Islamic ethic permits deception in specified circumstances, modeled on a God who is “the best of schemers.”
PART F: TAWHID, THE TRINITY, AND ISLAM’S OWN PLURALITY PROBLEMS
| Issue | Islamic Claim Against Christianity | The Problem Within Islam |
|---|---|---|
| The Trinity | Christians commit shirk by worshipping three gods: Father, Son, and Spirit. This violates tawhid. | Christians do not worship three gods; they worship one God in three persons. The Trinity is not tritheism. |
| The Qur’an’s misrepresentation | Surah 5:116: Allah asks Jesus if he told people to worship him and his mother as gods. This implies the Trinity is Father, Mary, Son. | The Christian Trinity is Father, Son, and Spirit—not Father, Mary, Son. The Qur’an attacks a doctrine no mainstream Christian has ever held. |
| The uncreated Qur’an | The Qur’an is the eternal, uncreated speech of Allah. | If the Qur’an is eternal and uncreated, there are two eternal, uncreated realities: Allah and His speech. This parallels the Christian Logos doctrine Islam rejects. |
| Allah’s attributes | Allah has eternal attributes: knowledge, power, will, speech, etc. These are not “created”—they are part of His essence. | If Allah’s attributes are eternal and distinct from His essence, Islam has its own “plurality within unity”—exactly what it accuses Christianity of. |
| The Mu’tazilite challenge | The Mu’tazilites (rationalist Muslims) argued that the Qur’an must be created, and that Allah’s attributes must be identical with His essence—otherwise, tawhid is compromised. | Mainstream Sunni Islam (Ash’ari, Maturidi) rejected the Mu’tazilites, affirming the uncreated Qur’an and distinct attributes. This means mainstream Islam accepts a form of plurality within divine unity. |
THE UNCREATED QUR’AN AND THE LOGOS
The Christian doctrine of the Logos (John 1:1): “In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Christians affirm that God’s Word is eternal, uncreated, and divine—and that this Word became flesh in Jesus Christ.
The Islamic doctrine of the Qur’an: The Qur’an is the eternal, uncreated speech of Allah. It is not a creation; it is part of Allah’s essence, preserved on the Heavenly Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz) from eternity.
The parallel is exact: Both traditions affirm an eternal, uncreated divine Word. Christianity identifies that Word with a person (Jesus). Islam identifies it with a book (the Qur’an). But the structure—eternal Word that is with God and is in some sense divine—is identical. If the Christian Logos doctrine is shirk, then the Islamic uncreated-Qur’an doctrine is the same shirk.
④ ISLAMIC DOCUMENTATION AND ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE CRITICAL CLAIMS
Makr means “outmaneuvering,” not “lying.” Allah does not lie or break promises. Makr is strategic response to human scheming—like a chess master outplaying an opponent. The Bible’s God also acts strategically against evil (2 Thessalonians 2:11: “God sends them a strong delusion”). The difference is not as stark as critics claim.
Divine sovereignty does not eliminate human responsibility in Islamic theology. The Ash’ari concept of kasb (acquisition) holds that humans “acquire” moral responsibility for actions Allah creates. This is no more philosophically problematic than Calvinist compatibilism, which Christians hold.
Allah’s conditional love reflects His holiness. A God who loves the wicked as much as the righteous has no moral seriousness. The Bible also speaks of God’s wrath, hatred of sin, and judgment. Allah’s conditional love is His holiness expressed relationally.
The “Father” language is dangerous anthropomorphism. Calling God “Father” led Christians to call Jesus “Son of God” and eventually to worship a man as God. Islam’s more transcendent language prevents this error. Reverence requires distance.
Taqiyya is a minority doctrine, not a general ethic. Taqiyya is primarily a Shia concept developed under Sunni persecution. The hadith about lying apply only to narrow cases. Critics who claim Islam teaches general deception toward non-Muslims are misrepresenting the tradition.
The Trinity is not monotheism—Islam’s critique stands. Three persons, each fully God, is three gods by any normal use of language. The Christian explanation (“one essence, three persons”) is philosophical gymnastics to avoid the obvious. Islam’s simpler tawhid is more coherent.
⑤ THE PROBLEM WITH THE ISLAMIC RESPONSE
The “makr means planning” defence does not address Surah 7:99. Even if makr can mean “planning,” Surah 7:99 says believers should not feel “secure” from Allah’s makr. Why would believers fear Allah’s “good planning”? The verse implies Allah’s makr is unpredictable and potentially dangerous even for believers. This is not the character of the God who “cannot lie.” As for 2 Thessalonians 2:11 (“God sends a strong delusion”): this is a judicial act against those who “refused to love the truth”—God giving people over to the consequences of their rebellion. It is not God’s essential character as “the best of schemers.”
Kasb (acquisition) does not solve the determinism problem. If Allah creates both the action and the “acquisition” of responsibility for the action, and if damnation is written before birth, then humans are punished for what they could not have avoided. Calling this “acquisition” does not change the causal structure. Calvinist compatibilism affirms that God ordains all things but that humans act according to their own desires (which are genuinely theirs)—and crucially, Calvinism affirms that God “desires all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). Islam says Allah creates disbelief and intends to fill Hell (Surah 32:13). These are different theological systems.
Conditional love based on performance is the opposite of grace. The Islamic defence that “Allah’s love reflects His holiness” misses the point. The question is not whether God hates sin (He does). The question is whether God loves sinners. The biblical answer is yes: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The Qur’anic answer is no: “Allah does not love the disbelievers.” This is the difference between grace and merit. Grace means unearned favor toward the undeserving. Merit means earned reward for the deserving. Allah’s love is merit. The biblical God’s love is grace.
The “reverence requires distance” argument assumes what it needs to prove. Why does reverence require distance? The Bible presents the opposite: true reverence comes from intimate knowledge of God’s character, which produces awe. “Abba, Father” is not casual; it is the cry of a child who trusts the Father completely. Jesus addressed God as “Abba” in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36)—the most reverent moment of His life. Intimacy and reverence are not opposites in the biblical vision. They are in Islam’s vision—which is why the two traditions are describing different Gods.
Taqiyya may be narrow, but “war is deceit” is not. Bukhari 3177 says “war is deceit.” This is not a Shia doctrine; it is in the most authoritative Sunni collection. The question is: what counts as “war”? If jihad (struggle) has a broad definition—and it does in Islamic jurisprudence—then the scope of permissible deception expands accordingly. The criticism is not that all Muslims lie all the time. The criticism is that Islamic theology provides a principled framework for deception toward non-Muslims when Islamic interests are at stake—and this framework is modeled on a God who is “the best of schemers.”
The Trinity critique and the uncreated Qur’an are in the same category. If affirming an eternal, uncreated Word that is “with God” and in some sense divine is shirk, then Islam commits shirk with its doctrine of the uncreated Qur’an. If it is not shirk, then the Logos doctrine is not shirk either. Islam cannot have it both ways. The Mu’tazilites saw this problem and argued the Qur’an must be created; mainstream Sunni Islam rejected them. By affirming the uncreated Qur’an, Islam accepted a plurality within divine unity that structurally parallels what it condemns in Christianity.
Surah 5:116 proves the Qur’an misunderstands the Trinity. The verse has Allah asking Jesus if he told people to worship him and his mother as gods—implying the Trinity is Father, Mary, Son. No Christian has ever held this. The Trinity is Father, Son, and Spirit. This is not a minor detail; it is a fundamental misrepresentation of the doctrine Islam claims to refute. Either Allah does not know what Christians believe, or Muhammad did not know, or the Qur’an is not addressing actual Christian doctrine. Any of these options is problematic for Islam’s claim to be correcting Christian error.
THE CUMULATIVE PROBLEM
Allah is “the best of schemers,” and believers should not feel secure from his makr. The God of the Bible “cannot lie.” Allah actively sends people astray and has destined many for Hell. The God of the Bible “desires all people to be saved.” Allah does not love disbelievers, sinners, or the proud. The God of the Bible “demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Allah is Master; humans are slaves. The God of the Bible is Father; believers are adopted children who cry “Abba!” and inherit the kingdom. Allah permits deception in war, reconciliation, and marriage; “war is deceit.” The God of the Bible commands: “Put away falsehood; speak truth.” Allah’s eternal, uncreated speech (the Qur’an) parallels the Christian Logos—but Islam condemns the Logos doctrine as shirk while holding an identical structure. And the Qur’an attacks a Trinity (Father, Mary, Son) that no Christian has ever believed. These are not minor differences in emphasis. They are fundamental differences in divine character. A God who schemes vs. a God who cannot lie. A God who actively damns vs. a God who desires all to be saved. A God whose love is earned vs. a God whose love is given. A Master vs. a Father. These are not the same God described differently. They are different Gods.
⑥ KEYS TO ADDRESS THIS IN A CONVERSATION
1. Start with the “same God” question. “Do you think Muslims and Christians worship the same God? I’ve heard people say we do because we’re both monotheists. But when I look at what the Qur’an says about Allah’s character and what the Bible says about God’s character, they seem really different. Can we look at some of those differences?”
2. Use the makr/deception verses. “The Qur’an says Allah is ‘the best of schemers’ (3:54) and that believers should not feel ‘secure from Allah’s makr’ (7:99). The Bible says God ‘cannot lie.’ Why would believers need to fear Allah’s scheming if He’s always trustworthy? What does it mean to worship a God whose makr you should not feel safe from?”
3. Press on love. “The Qur’an says Allah does not love the disbelievers (3:32). The Bible says ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ In Christianity, God loves sinners before they repent—that’s grace. In Islam, Allah loves the righteous after they obey—that’s merit. Which picture resonates with you? Which one offers hope to someone who knows they’ve failed?”
4. Ask about the Father language. “Jesus taught us to pray ‘Our Father.’ The Bible says believers receive ‘the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry Abba, Father.’ In Islam, that language is rejected. Allah is Master; you are slave. Which relationship would you want with God? A child who is loved unconditionally, or a slave who earns approval?”
5. Use the uncreated Qur’an parallel. “Islam says the Qur’an is eternal and uncreated—Allah’s speech that has always existed with Him. Christianity says Jesus is the eternal Word (Logos) who was with God from the beginning. Islam criticizes Christianity for this as shirk. But isn’t an eternal, uncreated Qur’an the same structure? If the Logos is shirk, why isn’t the uncreated Qur’an?”
6. Point out Surah 5:116. “There’s a verse where Allah asks Jesus if he told people to worship him and his mother as gods. But Christians don’t believe the Trinity is Father, Mary, and Son—it’s Father, Son, and Spirit. No Christian has ever believed Mary is part of the Trinity. If the Qur’an is correcting Christian error, why does it attack a doctrine no Christian has ever held?”
7. End with the character of God. “At the end of the day, this is about who God is. Is He the ‘best of schemers’ or the one who ‘cannot lie’? Does He actively send people astray, or does He desire all to be saved? Does He love only the righteous, or does He love sinners enough to die for them? Is He Master or Father? I’ve come to believe the God revealed in Jesus—a God who entered our suffering, who loves the undeserving, who calls us children, who gave Himself for us—is the true God. Would you be willing to read the Gospel of John with me and see how Jesus reveals the Father’s character?”
Sources and Further Reading
Qur’anic citations follow Sahih International translation. Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim. Arabic lexicons: Edward William Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon; Hans Wehr, Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. For Islamic theology: al-Ash’ari, Maqalat al-Islamiyyin; al-Ghazali, Ihya Ulum al-Din; Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmu’ al-Fatawa. For the Mu’tazilite controversy: Richard M. Frank, “The Science of Kalam.” For taqiyya: Kohlberg, “Taqiyya in Shi’i Theology and Religion.” For Christian engagement: Nabeel Qureshi, No God but One: Allah or Jesus? (Zondervan, 2016)—the most thorough Christian comparison of Allah and the biblical God; James White, What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur’an (Bethany House, 2013), ch. 2, 6, 9; David Wood, “Who Is Allah?” and “Allah: The Best Deceiver” (Acts17Apologetics). For Trinitarian theology: Thomas F. Torrance, The Christian Doctrine of God (T&T Clark, 1996); Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God (Crossway, 2017).
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