In recent years we have seen the rise of Chrislam—the melding of Christianity and Islam. This synchretism has reached the stage where pastors are opening up their churches to allow Muslims to join them in worship to pray to the Islamic god Allah, whom they say is the same God of the Bible. Not only is this heresy, but it is blasphemy to both Jehovah, the God of the Bible, as well as to all Muslims.
The most obvious and fundamental difference in Jehovah and Allah: One is a father, and the other is not. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God whom He sent into the world to be our Savior and Redeemer. Jesus taught that God is our Father and we are to pray to Him as such. But the Koran states, “Allah has no son,” and even tells Muslims to rebuke Jews and Christians for calling God Father. They outright deny the Fatherhood of God and the Sonship of Jesus. No Muslim would ever say that Allah has a son. They do not call Allah Father—to them this is blasphemous.
While there are many other points that Christianity and Islam disagree on, we will address this fatal flaw that denies the Fatherhood of God and Sonship of Jesus Christ.
The apostle John wrote: “I have not written unto you, because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is an antichrist that denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father: but he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1John 2:21-23).
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God…. Whoever believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself: He that believes not God has made Him liar; because he believes not the record that God gave of His Son And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life, and he that has not the Son of God has not life” (1John 4:15, 5:10-12).
Clearly, those who say that the God of the Bible and the God of Islam are the same God have no idea what they’re talking about. And ministers who pollute Christianity with this lie and expose their congregations to worshipping Allah, are partakers of idolatry, worshiping the moon God, from which Allah originated.
It is Impossible to Worship with Muslims in Truth
One of Jesus’ most personal encounters in the Gospels was with the woman at the well of Samaria. He went out of His way geographically in order to meet this woman and minister to her one-on-one. The disciples had gone into town to get lunch. Jesus was there alone when she showed up with her water pot. It was noon, the hottest part of the day, when she knew the women of the town would not be there. They would wait till the cooler hours to fetch water. She came at this time, because she would not have felt comfortable in their presence and vice versa. To her astonishment, Jesus asked her for a drink of water.
There are several red flags here: First, she was a woman, and rabbis did not converse with women except for their mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters. Secondly, she was a woman of ill repute. Lastly, she was a Samaritan. In fact, she was shocked that Jesus even spoke to her, and much more to ask her for a drink! She responded: “How is it that you, being a Jew ask me, a woman of Samaria, when the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans?” (John 4:1-9).
Why was there such animosity between the two groups? The back story is found in 2Kings17. The 10 northern tribes of Israel had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians. The King of Assyria had taken the princes and chief of the Hebrews to Babylon. He then sent some of his people to replace the population of Jews he had displaced. They brought with them their pagan practices, polluting the land with idolatry. God judged them by sending lions in their midst, and many people were slain. Some begin to get the idea that the God of the land was angry with them, because they did not understand how to worship Him in His land. They requested the King to return some of the Jews to teach them Judaism, which he did. The problem was, they just mixed in their pagan worship with Judaism, including the atrocious sacrifice of children. They made the lowest of the people to be their priests and set up altars in high places.
It was because of this destructive pollution of the law of God that the Jews despised them and had no dealings with them—It was not a racial thing—it was in defense of God’s Word. The Jewish scribes were so meticulous in safeguarding the veracity and purity of the Scriptures, that if they made one mistake in copying, they would burn the parchment and start all over again. God had chosen them, and separated them from the other nations of the world for the specific purpose of giving them His Law, and keeping it unadulterated throughout their generations. We can understand how this wholesale corruption of Judaism by the Samaritans fostered such righteous disdain in the hearts of Jews.
Jesus did not answer the woman’s question as to why He asked her for a drink. Rather, He told her: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who asked you for a drink, you would have asked of me, and I would have given you living water.”
This is the problem with a majority of sinners today, with all Muslims, and sadly, some professing Christians: They don’t know who Jesus is, including that He is the Son of God. Muslims believe that Jesus was a good man, teacher, and prophet. But they do not believe He is God’s Son, and He died on the cross to pay for our sins. Then obviously, they do not believe He was resurrected. These are the very linchpins of Christianity. Paul said that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then he and the apostles are false witnesses, we are still in our sins, our faith is in vain, and when we die—we’re dead! (1Cor. 15:15-18).
Jesus went on to explain to the woman that He was speaking of “living water, and if she drank of this water, she would never thirst again.” Still thinking with a natural mind, she was eager to have this water, so she would not have to come back every day for more! She asked Him for the living water. At this point, Jesus, tactfully put her on the spot, telling her to first go and get her husband so he could also drink the water. To this she responded, “I have no husband.” Jesus was pleased with her honesty, saying, “You have answered truthfully. You have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband” (vv.10-18).
(Let’s be clear: According to Jesus, living together is not marriage. People today make excuses: “I don’t believe we need a piece of paper to be married.” Jesus said, “He is not your husband.”)
We can only imagine how convicted she was feeling, and she, like many today, changed the subject to religious matters, trying to put her spiritual credentials on the table. She brought up the fact that Samaritans worshiped in their own mountain while Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. This statement alone shows the corruption of the Samaritans that persisted to that day, because God had mandated to Moses that when they entered the Promised Land, He would choose the place where He would put his name, and where they were exclusively to worship (Deut. 12:11).
Jesus told her, “Woman, believe me, the time is coming when you will not worship in this mountain, neither in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship you know not what; for salvation is of the Jews.” What Jesus said next about worship is revelatory and relevant for everyone who calls himself a Christian:
“But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (vv.20-24).
The Real Issue:
Jesus was saying that worship is not a place—but a Person—and that person is the Father. The Father is seeking worship from those who are in relationship with Him. True worshipers worship the Father in spirit and in truth. If there is true worship, then there must be false worship. Living in sin, like this woman was, and going to church, singing on the choir, leading the worship team, is not worshipping God in truth. It is false worship. How can someone living in sin offer up true worship? They are deceived. They worship they know not what.
And any form of worship that does not include a personal relationship with God as their Father is not worshipping God in truth. It is false worship. How can Christians join with Muslims who deny that God is our Father and offer up true worship? Is it possible to be that naïve? Or are they deceived?
Worship without relationship is showmanship. The Spirit of God does not anoint or partake of false worship, regardless of how melodious the music or talented the musicians. And without the Spirit, it is “sounding brass and tinkling cymbal” (1Cor. 13:1).
The Father is seeking worship through relationship—knowing who God is—as Father. And Jesus said that there is only one way to have relationship with God: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). There is only one way to God—through His Son Jesus Christ. To deny that Jesus is God’s Son is the spirit of Antichrist, according to Scripture as we have quoted. How then can Christians and Muslims claim to worship the same God when Islam is antithetically and diametrically opposed to the core belief that Jesus is the Son of God?
The primary credence of Islam is “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.” Since they strongly deny God is our Father and Jesus is the Son of God, then Allah cannot be the Christian God. Islam is a synchretistic religion: It borrowed from Judaism and Christianity, but corrupted the fundamental truths of who God is and the plan of salvation through His Son. This is what makes it so dangerous for those who do not know their Bible.
For instance, if Jesus was only a prophet like Abraham and Moses, as Islam claims, then He was a false prophet, because He said He is the Son of God.
Our Father Who Art in Heaven
The Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus taught His disciples when they asked Him to teach them to pray, is the most quoted portion of Scripture in the New Testament, spoken by millions of Christians around the world every day (Matthew 6:9-13). Jesus always referred to God as His Father, and He taught us to address Him as Father when we pray, and to do so in His Name. And He clarified His intent: “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name… for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”
“I Dared to Call Him Father”
This is the title of a book by a Muslim woman, Bilquis Sheikh, who was the wife of a high ranking official in the Pakistani government. She was born into a wealthy family and then married into a wealthy family. She lived in many European cities and entertained the elite of society. But when she was in her early 50s, her husband divorced her, and she returned to her ancestral home in Pakistan to live a quiet life. She still had wealth and servants and was treated as upper-class society.
Out of nowhere, she began having supernatural dreams about Jesus Christ (whom she knew little about). She was highly educated in the Koran which she had begun reading at age 4 years, 4 months, and 4 days. She turned to it for comfort after her divorce, but found none. She prayed five times a day, but she still felt alone and angry.
Eventually, she obtained a Bible, and her spirit was stirred within her. The more she read, the more she felt a Presence of love and goodness tugging at her, and the more her Koran left her cold and empty. She was drawn to Jesus, but she was confused, because Islam teaches God has no son, and no Muslim would ever consider calling God “Father.” That would bring him down on a human level, which was unthinkable!
One day while visiting the hospital, she spoke to a Christian doctor about her questions and doubts about Christianity. The doctor told her to pray to the God of the Bible and ask Him to reveal Himself to her. “Talk to Him like He is your Father,” she said. This absolutely stunned her! She never thought of God as Father!
That night she tried to, but just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She felt it was sinful to bring God down to her level. She climbed into bed, and lying there, she was transported in her mind back to her happy childhood and her wonderful father who had loved her. Suddenly she thought, Suppose God were like her father? If her earthly father had loved her so that he would put aside everything to listen to her, wouldn’t her Heavenly Father?
She knelt beside her bed, looked up to heaven, and said the words, “My Father…” She kept repeating it as the tears flowed and something inside her broke. Then she felt His Presence fill the room, and He laid His hand upon her head. She looked into His eyes filled with love and compassion. At some point she reached over and picked up her Koran and Bible from the night table, and said, “Father, I am confused. Which is Your book?”
She heard His voice speak within her being, “In which book do you meet me as your Father?”
“I Dared to Call Him Father” on Amazon.com
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