Blog · From Episode 1 of the Podcast
Is Allah the Same God? What Christians, Jews and Muslims Share
A short summary of Episode 1, in plain words, with examples from our daily life.
“GOD is my Lord and your Lord, you shall worship Him alone. This is the right path.”
[43:64]
In Short
Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad all brought one message. Worship God alone, and lead a righteous life. Allah is simply the Arabic word for God, the same God of Abraham. The Quran honours every messenger. It judges each person by their belief and the way they live, not by the name of their religion.
Most families have something old that gets passed down. It may be a ring, a watch or a box of photos in the attic. When we hold it, we feel that it belongs to us. It tells the story of our own family.
Many of us feel the same way about Abraham, Moses and Jesus. We feel they belong to our side. Now imagine walking down the street and seeing the same heirloom in every house. That is a little bit how this episode felt.
In Episode 1, a Christian asked the questions that many Christians and Jews ask about Islam. We answered them from the Quran. Let's go through what we learned together, in four parts.
One Family of Faith
A Jewish family may call Abraham the father of the Jewish people. A church may call him the father of faith. The Quran tells us who he really was:
Abraham was neither Jewish, nor Christian; he was a monotheist submitter. He never was an idol worshiper.[3:67]
This does not take Abraham away from anyone. It simply tells us what he did. Abraham lived long before Moses and long before Jesus, so the names Judaism and Christianity came much later.
Think about your great-grandfather. He never owned a phone, so nobody would call him an iPhone person or an Android person. Those names came long after him. In the same way, Abraham was a submitter. He worshiped God alone, and he submitted to Him.
This is where the word Islam comes in. Islam is an Arabic word, and it means submission. A Muslim is a submitter, someone who submits to God. In Spanish, water is agua, and in French it is eau, but it is the same water. In the same way, Islam is the Arabic word for something much older than Arabia. God tells us “The only religion approved by GOD is ‘Submission.’” [3:19]
Even the disciples of Jesus called themselves submitters. They said, “we believe in GOD, and bear witness that we are submitters” [3:52]. So far, we have seen that we all come from one family of faith. Next, let's look at the God we worship and the messengers He sent.
The Same God and the Same Messengers
Many people think Allah is a different God. Here is something that surprises them. Christians in Lebanon, in Jordan and across the Arab world say Allah when they pray in church. Jews who speak Arabic use the same word. Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. A French speaker says Dieu, and a Spanish speaker says Dios.
Picture a coworker from Lebanon who grew up in a Christian family. When her grandmother prayed at home, she said Allah. She was praying to the God of Abraham, and so are we. The Quran tells us to say to the people of the scripture:
our god and your god is one and the same; to Him we are submitters.[29:46]
Some people also worry that they would have to give up Moses or Jesus. The Quran says the opposite. It tells us to believe in all of them, and then it says “We make no distinction among any of them. To Him alone we are submitters.” [2:136]
Think of a school where every teacher was sent by the same principal, with the same lesson. A student does not have to love one teacher and reject the others. The teachers came in different years, but the lesson was the same.
The Quran speaks about Jesus with great respect. It calls him “The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary” [4:171]. It also tells us he was born without a father, the same way Adam was created without a father or a mother [3:59]. It also tells us that he was a messenger, and not God or the son of God. Jesus himself said:
“GOD is my Lord and your Lord, you shall worship Him alone. This is the right path.”[43:64]
So far, we have seen that we worship the same God, and that every messenger pointed to Him. Next, let's look at how God judges people.
Judged by How We Live, Not by Our Label
Many of us know someone who is kind, honest and faithful, but who is not Muslim. Maybe it is the neighbour who brought food over when our family was sick. Maybe it is a teacher who stayed late to help our child. It is natural to wonder what happens to them. The Quran answers this fairly:
Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the converts; anyone who (1) believes in GOD, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.[2:62]
Please look at what God measures here. There are three things: believing in God, believing in the Last Day, and leading a righteous life. The label we carry is not one of them. God also tells us “They are not all the same; among the followers of the scripture, there are those who are righteous.” [3:113]
The same is true for where we come from. Not all Arabs are Muslims. There are millions of Arab Christians today. Only about one in five Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa. The country with the most Muslims is Indonesia. God tells us what really counts: “The best among you in the sight of GOD is the most righteous.” [49:13]
History has real examples of people living by this. Jerusalem came under Muslim rule in the 630s. Then the caliph Umar allowed Jewish families to live in the city again. In 1492, Spain forced its Jews to leave. The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid the Second is said to have sent ships to bring them into his empire. During the Second World War, Muslim families in Albania hid Jews in their own homes. They did it because of their code of honour, called Besa. Yad Vashem is Israel's Holocaust memorial. It says there were more Jews in Albania at the end of the war than at the beginning.
Most of us will never hide a family from an army. But we can live by the same verse every day:
GOD does not enjoin you from befriending those who do not fight you because of religion, and do not evict you from your homes. You may befriend them and be equitable towards them. GOD loves the equitable.[60:8]
This can be as simple as treating a coworker of another faith fairly when the schedule is made. It can be as simple as saying yes when a neighbour of another faith asks for help. So far, we have seen that God looks at how we live. Last of all, let's look at what that life looks like each day.
Living It Each Day
This part surprises many Christians and Jews. The Quran tells us that our daily practices came through Abraham. About Abraham and his family, God says:
we taught them how to work righteousness, and how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat).[21:73]
That “We” is God speaking. So a submitter observes the Contact Prayers (Salat) every day and gives the obligatory charity (Zakat). A submitter also fasts in Ramadan, and makes the pilgrimage to Mecca if they can afford it. Even the name submitter goes back to Abraham [22:78].
Picture a busy parent on a weekday morning. There are lunches to pack, a bus to catch and a meeting at nine. The dawn prayer comes before all of that. It only takes a few minutes, but it starts the day with God. The other prayers do the same thing at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset and at night. They are small stops where we turn back to Him.
The obligatory charity (Zakat) works in a similar way. When we set aside part of what we earned, we remember that it came from God. Part of it belongs to people in need.
At the end of the episode, we chose one verse to take home. It is an invitation to Jews and Christians, and to all of us:
Say, “O followers of the scripture, let us come to a logical agreement between us and you: that we shall not worship except GOD; that we never set up any idols besides Him, nor set up any human beings as lords beside GOD.” If they turn away, say, “Bear witness that we are submitters.”[3:64]
Abraham, Moses and Jesus all called people to worship God alone. So let's worship God alone, and let's never set up anyone beside Him.
Something to Try This Week
Do you have a Christian or Jewish friend, coworker or neighbour? You can share one verse with them this week. A good place to start is [3:64] or [29:46].
Please share it kindly, as God commands us in [29:46], and then listen to what they think. A good conversation often starts with one verse and one honest question.
Quick Answers
Here are the questions from the episode, each with a short answer.
What religion did Abraham follow? He was a monotheist submitter, neither Jewish nor Christian [3:67].
Is Islam a new religion? No. Islam means submission, the one religion of all the messengers [3:19].
Do Christians and Jews have to give up Moses or Jesus? No. We believe in all of them [2:136].
Is Allah the same God? Yes. Allah is the Arabic word for God [29:46].
What does the Quran say about Jesus? He is the Messiah and a messenger of God. He is not God, and not His son [4:171].
Can Jews and Christians go to heaven? God rewards anyone who believes in Him and the Last Day, and leads a righteous life [2:62].
Are all Arabs Muslims? No. What counts with God is righteousness [49:13].
Shorts From This Episode
Each Short is one question from the episode, about a minute long. Please press one to watch it here.
What Religion Was Abraham? What Quran 3:67 SaysQuran 3:67Play the Short
Is Islam a New Religion? What Quran 3:19 SaysQuran 3:19Play the Short
What Did Jesus' Disciples Call Themselves? Quran 3:52Quran 3:52Play the Short
Did Moses and Jesus Bring Different Religions? What the Quran SaysQuran 2:136Play the Short
Is Allah the Same God as the God of the Bible?Quran 29:46Play the Short
Is Jesus the Son of God? What the Quran SaysQuran 4:171Play the Short
Can Jews and Christians Go to Heaven?Quran 2:62Play the Short
How Muslim-Majority Albania Saved Jews in WWIIPlay the ShortGrowth Prompt
Please take a few quiet minutes with [2:136]. Read it slowly, and say the names of the prophets in it one by one. Then think about the people around you who love some of those same prophets.
Is there a person or a community I was taught to keep at a distance, and what would change if I saw them the way this verse does?
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