Cults & False Religion………

Islam

ISLAM• means 'submission to the will of Allah'.• is the second largest religion in the world

with over 1 billion followers. • recorded 1,591,000 Muslims in the UK in

2001.• 10,000 in NI.

Writings

Declaration of Faith

• "I bear witness that there is no god but (the One) God (Allah), and I bear witness that Muhammad is God's messenger.

• Circumcision

• Followers of Islam are called Muslims.• Muslims believe that there is only

one god.• The Arabic word for god is Allah.• According to Muslims, Jesus, Moses

and Abraham are respected as prophets of God.• Final Prophet was Muhammad.• Islam was revealed over 1400 years

ago in Mecca, Arabia.

• Muslims base their laws on their holy book the Qur'an, and the Sunnah.

• Muslims believe the Sunnah is the practical example of Prophet Muhammad.

• There are five basic Pillars of Islam.• The declaration of faith, praying five

times a day, giving money to charity, fasting and a pilgrimage to Mecca (at least once).

Islam Family

• Sunni 80 Orthodox Follow Caliphs• Shia 20 Follow line of Muhammad.

They are waiting for a second coming.• Sufti’s: mystics, spinners.

• Sufi whirling/spinning. • form of physically active meditation. • customary dance. • part of the worship ceremony.• aim to reach the source of all perfection. • abandon desires, by listening to the music,

focusing on god.• spinning in repetitive circles.• symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar

System orbiting the sun.

• Clergy, by virtue of their superior knowledge of the laws of God, are the best qualified to rule the society of believers who are preparing themselves on earth to live eternally in heaven. • The concept provides the doctrinal

basis for theocratic government, an experiment not attempted prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

• Syria is a majority Sunni country, but has been governed under Assad by a Shia minority.

Angels

• Muhammad claimed to receive a revelation from the archangel Gabriel in AD 610.

• Jihad means "to strive or struggle" (in the way of god). Jihad, in its broadest sense, is "exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavours, or ability to attain religious and moral perfection."

• Jihad, when used without any qualifier, is understood in its military aspect.

• For most Twelve Shias, offensive jihad can only be declared by a divinely appointed leader of the Muslim community.

Sharia Law• Sharia law is Islam's legal system. It is

derived from both the Koran, as the word of God, the example of the life of the prophet Muhammad, and the rulings of scholars.

• Sharia differs in one very important and significant way to the legal traditions of the Western world: it governs, or at least informs, every aspect of the life of a Muslim.

Ramadan• Ninth month of the Islamic calendar. • Muslims all over the world abstain from

eating, drinking, smoking; from dawn until the sun sets.

• It is a time to cleanse the soul, focus attention on god, and put into practice selflessness.

• Ramadan is a time for Muslims to fast for the sake of god and to put forward more prayer than is customary.

• Prohibited foods include pork products, blood and alcohol.

Muslim Faith• One god Allah: no other relations.• Muslims do not believe that human beings

are created in the image of Allah. • Muslims believe that there is no

intermediary who will take any one nearer to Allah or plead on anyone's behalf.

• Any individual can directly pray to Allah and ask for anything he/she wants.

• 25 messengers/prophets of God including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael Isaac, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad.

Day of Judgement

• Comes at the end of the world.• Everyone gives an account of their life.• Good records=Heaven• Bad records=Hell• No original sin

• The Old Testament claims that Ishmael, son of Abraham moved into the area we now call "Arabia.“

• The Arab peoples are the direct descendant of Ishmael.

• Muslims believe that the promised son of Abraham in Genesis is actually Ishmael, not Isaac.

• Abraham travelled to Mecca with Ishmael and worshipped the one true God at the Kabba, a stone idol in Mecca.

• Ishmael definitely did not establish Islam • He died over two thousand years before the religion

was founded by Muhammad.

Islam on Sin “Surely good deeds take away evil deeds” (11:114).

Kabira (big sins)—murder, adultery, drunkenness, disobeying parents, neglecting Ramadan or Friday prayers, gambling, dancing, shaving the beard, forgetting the Koran after reading it, usury… Forgiveness with repentance.

Saghira (little sins)—deceit, anger, lust. Forgiveness if greater

sins are avoided and good deeds are performed.

Shirk—association (of other gods with Allah). No forgiveness.

Salvation by own effort

Charity atones for sins

• Earn grace.• Earn favour of Allah.• Earn salvation.• Earn paradise.

Islam: Salvation is earned through the efforts of those who were pre-selected by Allah to inhabit a very sensual paradise.

Christianity: Salvation is granted by the grace of a loving God to those who, through faith and repentance and baptism accept that love.

Initiative

Human approach Truth

God God

Mankind Mankind

Islam has taken an adamant stance against the very heart of the Gospel message, including denial of the deity of Christ, incarnation, atonement, the crucifixion and the question of God as Father, Son and Spirit.