Unapologetically Muslim

Islam vs. Christianity and Judaism

Islam is the third of the Abrahamic religions, and just like Christianity and Judaism, the main doctrine of Islam is the belief and worship of only one God. 

Muslims also believe in many of the same prophets that Christians and Jews believe in, such as Moses, Joseph, David, Jonah, and Lot.  We believe that every single one of these prophets were sent by God to spread the exact same message, which is the submission to and worship of one, purely monotheistic God. 

Each one of these Prophets was given a scripture to teach to their followers. The Zabur was the holy book given to the Prophet David, the Tawrat (Torah) was given to Moses, and the Injil (Gospel) was given to Prophet Īsā (Jesus). The Prophet Muhammad was the last of these messengers, and he was given the Qur'an, the holy book that Muslims currently use today. 

We believe that at one point, all of these books contained the exact same message and were purely the words of God. However, the reality is that the original version of these holy books (all except the Quran) no longer exist today, and thus the original message from God had been lost and adulterated. This is the whole reason why the Quran was sent down, as God's final reminder to mankind and a final chance for human beings to come back to the one true religion. 

The Quran says,

"And We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth (Quran), confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth. To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ." (5:48) 

The verse basically says that the Quran is the final reminder and contains the pure, unadulterated word of God. It serves as a "criterion" over the other Holy books, meaning it's the only book that should be used for guidance. God's original message has been lost in the other books and thus, they can no longer be relied on.

The next few chapters will go into more detail on what exactly makes the earlier books corrupted, and why, according to the Muslim belief, they no longer contain the pure word of God. So stay tuned!