Since reading the Quran a few weeks ago, I have been thinking a lot about the similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity and how each religion views the other. Although I still have much to study about Islam and its history, reading the Quran has provided me with a context of and insight into Islam.
Besides its value as a historical document, the Quran, more than other religious texts, is a book that Christians should strive to understand and think deeply about. The relationship between Islam and Christianity plays a large part in the histories of each religion, and I believe that how Christians choose to treat and view Muslims reflects greatly on our faith. Here are four reasons why Christians should order a copy of the Quran from Amazon or find it a local bookstore:
1. Islam is one of the three great monotheisms.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam not only all believe in one God, but according to each, they all worship the God of the Torah. Each, of course, is distinct from the others, and I am not suggesting that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are the same or that they worship the same God in the same way. But we cannot forget the relationship among the three. They share ideas about God's holiness, men's sinfulness, and the need for man to seek God's forgiveness and strive to do good deeds. They each offer different solutions on how to gain God's favor and escape God's judgment, but they all begin with the same fundamental problem: man's rejection of God.
2. The absence of a Saviour in the Quran reaffirms a Christian's need for Christ.
Where Christianity and Islam most obviously conflict is on the divinity of Jesus Christ. The Quran calls Jesus "the Son of Mary" and repeats several times that Jesus was merely a messenger like Moses and Muhammed, that to call him the Son of God dishonors God. But for the Christian, the incarnation of God into a man is the basis for our salvation and hope.
Because Jesus is the Son of God, Christians have the perfect mediator and sacrifice, who intercedes for sinners before the holy Judge. Christianity is about God's Son doing what man could not and making us righteous through his perfect life and death. In contrast, the Quran emphasizes that God is the Lord of mercy and justice but explains that each man's own striving and good deeds are what will make him righteous or not. After death, everyone will be separated according to their deeds and spend eternity in the Garden or the Fire. When you stand before God the judge, there will be no intermediary, no one to atone for you. You will be judged according to your deeds.
The thought of such a judgement terrifies me. To have to prove by my own effort that I am righteous? I know that it is impossible. When I read about such a relationship to God, I am made more grateful for Jesus, the Son of God, my Saviour and intermediator and redeemer.
3. The histories of Islam and Christianity are tangled together.
From the Crusades to the current conflicts between ISIS and the West, the cultures, peoples and governments of Christianity and Islam been tied together for over 1,000 years. While you have to look outside the Quran for the actual historical accounts, reading the Quran is a vital first step to understanding how this tension started and why it exists. In order to change the pattern of violence and fear between the two religions, we must study history and strive to learn the perspectives, beliefs and motivations of our fellow humans who are Muslims. Reading the text that inspires their religion and culture aids us in this goal.
4. Understanding Islam enables us to better love our neighbors.
Conflict between Islam and Western culture continues today, and studying the Quran will help Christians to make political decisions that are informed and based out of understanding and love, not suspicion and fear.
Even more, Christians who read the Quran will be able to better love their Islamic friends and neighbors, the people living around us whom we encounter in everyday life. Being able to see another person's point of view, even when it conflicts with your own, is an invaluable capacity that creates relationship instead of destroying it.
When approaching someone with a different faith background, there are so many ways to offend, judge, condemn or otherwise act out of pride and not humility. Cultivating empathy, grace and compassion requires effort, and by reading Islam's sacred text, we can make such an effort to humble ourselves and love others as Christ did, and so open an avenue for the gospel to be shared.
