I recently read a translation of the Quran (reviewed on Amazon). The main motivation was to better understand how Muslims think. Partly this is background for a character I’m writing. Partly I just want to know whether Islam really teaches the kind of violence we westerners have come to associate with it.
Based only on their scriptures, it seems to me that Judaism is the most violent, Christianity is the most peaceful, and Islam is somewhere in the middle. Historically, equally atrocious deeds have been perpetrated in the name of each of these religions.
Sometimes I’ve heard Christians claim that Muslims worship a different God. Given Islam’s claim to worship exactly the same God, this is an incredibly insulting statement. From what I saw in the Quran, they do worship the same God. The Quran affirms both the Jewish and Christian scriptures, and simply asserts that it is a clear revelation for Arabs.
The few specifics that the Quran addresses are well within the variance of Christian doctrine, with one significant exception: Islam is rigorously monotheistic, and thus finds the notion of the Trinity to be heretical. As a consequence it rejects the divinity of Jesus. Islam accepts with virgin birth without question, but denies that God has any children.
Setting aside that one small point, Islam could pass as any number of Christian movements, past or present. There’s a heavy emphasis on eternal reward/punishment, faith in God’s word, and holy living.
Islam describes God as “merciful” in the sense that he forgives any sin, provided that you believe the message he sends. This is very much like salvation by faith in Christianity. The main difference is that there is no atoning sacrifice of Jesus. It is simply God’s mercy.
There is a notion of grace for future sins as well. You can screw up and still be saved, as long as your heart is in the right place. Basically, everyone is a sinner, no one achieves perfection, and salvation is only by grace.
OTOH, I find the notion of God’s mercy to be a bit broken. God has no mercy on those who reject his message. They get tortured for all eternity without reprieve. This is of course a Christian doctrine as well. God is portrayed as feeling no sorrow for those he sends to hell. Just like with Christianity, my objection to this view is that annihilation would be infinitely more merciful. (The theology of Hell requires a whole post by itself.)
It seems God is much more offended by disbelief than by any particular sin. This of course reflects Mohammad’s own feelings about the matter. He dealt with mockery and outright persecution. In a position of powerlessness, it made sense to rely on poetic justice.
Regarding prophet-hood, the Quran asserts that God sends every community a messenger who communicates with them in a culturally-appropriate manner. I could accept that Mohammad was that messenger for 7th century Arabs. I really want to think well of him. Mohammad was a reformer and holiness preacher. He never set out to create a movement, it simply grew around him.
OTOH, he wasn’t perfect. The most disturbing thing was Surah 33, which justifies his marriage to his adopted son’s ex wife, and particularly ayat 50, where he gets an exception that doesn’t apply to other Muslims. Of course, the list of famous Christians and Jews who weren’t perfect is very long indeed.