What is the Nation of Islam?

THE BLACK MUSLIMS ARE AMERICAN IN ORIGIN

A distinctly American adaptation of Islam is the Black Muslim movement. In 1913, Timothy Drew, who had changed his name to Noble Drew Ali, taught that Blacks were originally from Morocco (not Ethiopia as many scholars say) and that they had been enslaved by the "Caucasian Devil." Ali called for the overthrow of the tyranny of the White culture. After Ali died in 1919, Wallace Fard Mohammed claimed to be "Ali reincarnated" and formed the Nation of Islam in Detroit in 1930.

Sometime after 1935, Fard disappeared and Elijah Mohammed assumed leadership of the movement. Elijah taught that a mad Black scientist had created Whites, who would rule the earth for 6,000 years. That period ended in 1914, and Blacks were now supposed to unite and bring sanity to the world. The Nation of Islam grew rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, as Elijah focused on strict discipline and on bettering the education of Black people, while improving their economic and political prospects.

However, in the 1950s and 1960s, a very successful recruiter for the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, began moving away from Elijah Mohammed's positions and teachings. Malcolm X made a pilgrimage to Mecca where he saw the multiracial character of orthodox (Sunni) Islam and came to believe this was the path to follow. He challenged the leadership of Elijah Mohammed and finally was assassinated by Black Muslims in 1965.

Malcolm X's beliefs, however, did not die with him. By the early 1970s, Black nationalism was disavowed by key Black Muslim leaders, links to orthodox Islam were established and non‑Black members were admitted. When Elijah Mohammed died in 1975, his son, Wallace D. Mohammed, took over and relaxed the strict discipline and harsh rhetoric of the Black Muslim movement. He changed the group's name to the American Muslim Mission. This led in the latter 1970s and the 1980s to several breakaway groups, chief of which is led by Louis Farrakhan (born 1933). Believing that Wallace Mohammed's policies were lax, Farrakhan resurrected the Nation of Islam in 1978 and reclaimed the heritage and principles of Black separatism. He has emerged as the most influential leader among the Black Muslim community, but his racist tirades are considered "un‑Islamic" by orthodox Muslims."

In the West, whether members of the Nation of Islam or more orthodox Muslim communities, Muslims enjoy numerous freedoms that are unimaginable for Christians in almost all Muslim countries. Why the huge disparity? A large part of the answer is that the West's Judeo‑Christian heritage provides a theological foundation for the dignity of each individual's freedom of conscience. In 1,500 years of Islamic history, it has yet to be proven that democratic values and Islam can comfortably coexist.

The key point, however, is that, whether in the East or the West, Islam is a religion of self‑reliance and self‑effort. Muslims, who are trying to follow a religion that puts the responsibility for their salvation squarely on their own shoulders (or on kismet), can only do their best and hope that Allah might have mercy on them. As people whose confidence is not in themselves but in the God who sent His Son to reconcile them to Him, Christians have incredibly good news to share with Muslims who are willing to listen.

God. There is only one true God and His name is Allah. Allah is all - seeing, all ‑ knowing and all ‑ powerful. Angels. The chief angel is Gabriel, who is said to have appeared to Mohammed. There is also a fallen angel named Shaitan (from the Hebrew "Satan"), as well as the followers of Shaitan, the jinns (demons). Scripture. Muslims believe in four God‑inspired books: the Torah of Moses (what Christians call the Pentateuch), the Zabur (Psalms of David), the Injil (Gospel) of Jesus, and the Qur'an. But, because Muslims believe that Jews and Christians corrupted their Scriptures, the Qur'an is Allah's final word to mankind. It supersedes and overrules all previous writings. Mohammed. The Qur'an lists 28 prophets of Allah. These include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah and Jesus. To the Muslim, the last and greatest prophet is Mohammed. The end times. On the "last day," the dead will be resurrected. Allah will be the judge, and each person will be sent to heaven or hell. Heaven is a place of sensual pleasure. Hell is for those who oppose Allah and his prophet Mohammed. Predestination. God has determined what He pleases, and no one can change what He has decreed (also known as kismet, the doctrine of fate). From this doctrine comes the most common Islamic phrase, "If it is Allah's Will."

Regarding God: Muslims believe there is no God but Allah; Christians believe that God is revealed in Scripture as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons who are coeternally God (see Matt. 3:13‑17; 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14). Regarding Jesus Christ: Muslims believe that Jesus was only a man, a prophet below Mohammed in importance, who did not die for man's sins; Christians say Christ is the Son of God, the sinless Redeemer who died and rose again for sinful man (see John 1:13,14; 1 Pet. 3:18). Regarding sin: Muslims claim that humans are born with hearts that are clean states. if they commit sins, these can be overcome by acts of the will; Christians counter that we are born corrupted by sin, spiritually dead apart from God's grace, and that no one does good apart from faith (see Rom. 3:12; Eph. 5:8‑10). Regarding salvation: Muslims say that Allah does not love those who do wrong, and each person must earn his or her own salvation; Christians contend that a loving God sent His Son to die for our sins, according to the inspired Word (see Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:3,4).

It will help at the outset to make my story plain, if at this stage I say what Mohammedanism stands for. The terms Mohammedanism and Islam are interchangeable terms. The former is the name given to the followers of Mohammed; the latter the name given to the movement by Mohammed himself. The word, Islam, is an Arabic word, denoting resignation to the will of God. The Creed of Islam is summed up in the well-known statement, "La ilaha Allah, Mohammed resul Allah," which translated into English means, "There is no God but one, and Mohammed is his prophet." This is the great rallying cry of the armies of Islam. Their propaganda is carried on with fanatical zeal. Islam is a great system based on monotheism. It is the religion of one-sixteenth of the world's population. Within eighty years of its inception, it spread over a great part of Asia with phenomenal rapidity, and later to Africa, largely through the persuasion of the sword. It is based on two cardinal points, Iman, the Faith or Creed; Din, its Practice. The Mohammedan boasts of the simplicity of his religion, and that all we need to do to obtain salvation is to know and believe its teaching, and so an abundant entrance into paradise is assured. On these two words hang all the laws and morals of Islam. The God of Islam is almighty and all powerful, but not a God of love, nor even of justice. Much stress is laid on the intellectual and metaphysical attributes of God.

The Bible has had an important influence on the teachings of Islam. For instance, the Muslim proudly traces his ancestry to Ishmael, a son of Abraham. Muslim beliefs about the nature of God, the resurrection of the body and judgment are roughly similar to the teachings of the Bible. But there are some striking differences. Following are some of the Muslim ideas that contradict what is taught in the Bible.

For Muslims, God is one, period. The Qur'an explicitly attacks the Christian teaching on the Trinity, saying that anyone who ascribes "partners" to God is committing the sin of shirk (blasphemy). This prohibition is explicitly directed against the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the teaching that Jesus is God. Many Muslims are also erroneously taught that Christians are really tri‑theists who believe in God the Father, Mary the mother and Jesus the Son. This grotesque caricature of the Trinity is a complete misrepresentation of what biblical Christians believe and what the Bible teaches.

Let us consider other religions. Mohammedanism has borrowed much from revelation; but it has met the lusts of men as on God's part, who, as He is there represented, will and does satisfy them: Christianity does so not even in thought.

has gained thousands of converts in North America, including many professional athletes? is the youngest among major world religions but still one of the largest? is so missionary minded that it is seeking to convert Western countries, not just African and Asian countries?

The answer to all of the above is Islam, a religion that claims nearly 1 billion followers in countries throughout the world. Islam originated in what is now Saudi Arabia, and from there it expanded along trade routes to Africa and Asia. The country with the most Muslims is Indonesia, with 120 million. In addition, there are millions more in parts of Eastern and Western Europe and in the Americas. One out of every six human beings on the face of the earth subscribes to the faith of Islam.

Next we have the counterpart. "And every spirit that confesseth not Jesus"; such is the shorter and, as I believe, the true reading, in which the best critics agree. The acceptance of this text confirms the genuine sense of what precedes, and makes it perfectly plain that it is the confession, not of a mere fact, but of the person. For in the detection of the evil spirit there is nothing expressed as to Christ's coming in the flesh, though implied of course. It is simply "Jesus," while here the article appears, "the" Jesus of whom more had just been said. "Every spirit that confesseth not (the) Jesus is not of God." He is adequate to detect every evil spirit. It is not only that He came, was truly man, and will come again. The Mahomedans believe all this; yet they themselves are, what they call others, unbelievers. For they do not believe in the glory of His person. Their unbelief makes them hate Christians, and join with the Jews in a measure against Christians. They only look at Him as a prophet, a wonderful man, excellent beyond all the sons of men, and the appointed Judge of the world when he comes to reign for seven years! But they do not believe in His divine nature, or that He put aside His divine glory to manifest God's grace.

Mohammedanism accepts the whole of the Old Testament, but refuses the New Testament, denying the Godhead of the Lord Jesus as the Son with the Father and Holy Spirit — one God, the atoning character of our Lord's death on the cross of Calvary is refused by them, and also the testimony of His resurrection. They daim that when the Jews were about to crucify our Lord, God caught Him up to heaven, causing His likeness to be put upon another, who was crucified in His place, expostulating all the time that they were crucifying the wrong person.