Muslims believe that by practicing their faith, through submission to God alone, they can achieve peace and security in their lives and for the sake of the world. They, like all monotheists, believe in the (1) Oneness of God, (2) the Oneness of Humanity, and (3) the Oneness of the Message.
What Jews, Christians and Muslims hold in common:
- God is One, the Creator who desires a relationship with creation, a covenant.
Just as 113 chapters of the Qur’an begins with the verse, “In the name of God, the Compassionate and the Merciful” monotheists believe that God is both Grace and the One who dispenses Grace. - God has bestowed all creatures with the eternal Self, which is unique. We are never victim to a character determined for us by our environment, but rather we are free to become our best Self, the gift of our humanity.
- God is as close to us as our “jugular vein” (Qur’an 50:16) and hears our prayers, “When My servant ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close to them. I will respond to the prayer of every supplicant when he calls on Me. Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call and believe in Me, that they may walk in the right way” (Qur’an 2:186).
- God grants forgiveness: “But without a doubt, I am He that forgives again and again, to those who repent, believe and do right” (Qur’an 20:82).
- Prophets have been sent to us throughout the centuries to share God’s wisdom in order for humanity to know how to choose for the good. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Jonah are all revered prophets, sages in their own right.
What Muslims and Christians hold in common:
- Mary, the mother of Jesus is the most blessed of all women; she has her own chapter in the Qur’an.
- In Islam, Jesus is the most revered prophet next to Muhammad. Muslims believe in Jesus’ virgin birth, in his miracles, and in his ability to raise the dead, all at God’s bequest.
- Angels are helpers along the path of faith. Since the source of all sin begins with forgetting God, we need help. “Remember me and I will remember you” (Qur’an 2:152).
Jesus will return on the Day of Judgment; there will be a reckoning; all will come before God, stripped of defense, excuse, or justification, and like a third party, we will see our own lives, exactly as they were lived.
For Christians, Jesus is the Sacred Presence, and for Muslims, Muhammad delivered the Sacred Presence. Both believe that God reveals through the Word, and we are invited to “read” this Word, be it Jesus or be it the Qur’an.
