Bridge building between Christians and Muslims (I)

By Jamal Badawi

any particular person, race, or locality. A Muslim considers the term used by some writers, “Mohammedanism,” to be an offensive violation of the very spirit of Islamic teaching.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is not worshipped, nor is he regarded as either the founder of Islam or the author of its Holy Book, the Qur’an.

The term “Islam” is given in more than one place in the Qur’an itself. It is derived from the Arabic root (SLM) which connotes “peace” or “submission.” Indeed, the proper meaning of “Islam” is the attainment of peace, both inner and outer peace, by submission of oneself to the will of Allah. And when we say submit, we are talking about conscious, loving and trusting submission to the will of Allah, the acceptance of His grace and the following of His path.

In that sense the Muslim regards the term Islam, not as an innovation that it clear that Allah is beyond our limited perception. “There is nothing whatever comparable unto Him.” (alShura; 42:1 1) “No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision.” (al-An’am; 6:103).

A Muslim never thinks of God as having any particular image, whether physical, human, material or otherwise. Such attributes as “The PerfectlyKnowing,” “The Eternal,” “The Omnipotent,” “The Omnipresent,” “The Just,” and “The Sovereign” also emphasize transcendence. But this does not mean in any way that for the Muslim, Allah is a mere philosophical concept or a deity far removed.

Indeed, alongside this emphasis on the transcendence of Allah, the Qur’an also talks about Allah as “personal” God who is close, easily approachable, Loving, Forgiving and Merciful. The very first passage in the Qur’an, which is repeated dozens of times, is -In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful . . . . ’

The Qur’an tells us that when Allah created the first human “He breathed into him something of His spirit,” (al- Sajdah; 32:9) and that “Allah is closer to the human than his jugular vein.” In another beautiful and moving passage we are told, “When my servants ask you (O Muhammad) concerning me, then surely I am near to them. I listen to every suppliant who calls on Me. Let them respond to My call and obey My command that they may be led aright.”

For the Muslim, monotheism does not mean simply the unity of God, because there can be different persons in unity. Monotheism in Islam is the absolute Oneness and Uniqueness of Allah, which precludes the notion of persons sharing in Godhead.

The opposite of monotheism in Islam is called in Arabic “shirk,” association of others with Allah. This includes not only polytheism, but also dualism (believing in one God for good or light and another for evil or darkness).

The concept of “shirk’ also includes pantheism, the idea that God is in everything. All forms of Godincarnate philosophies are excluded by Islam’s monotheism, as is blind obedience to dictators, to clergy, or to one’s own whims and desires.

These all are regarded as forms of “associating” others with Allah (shirk), whether by believing that such creatures of Allah possess divinity or by believing that they share the Divine Attributes of Allah.

Badawi is an Egyptian born Muslim Canadian former professor in the Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is an author, preacher and speaker on Islam.

- Source: IslamiCity

‘Ali (RA) said, “Three things enhance memorisation and eradicate phlegm – fasting, and reading the Qur’an.”