Why I’m Not Muslim
In Surah 5:50, the Qur’an says to, “Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God
hath revealed therein. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what God hath revealed,
they are (no better than) those who rebel.” While Muslims claim the Old & New Testaments
as part of their scriptures, the Qur’an is the defining text of Islam. Because Islam
references the Old & New Testaments as being revealed by Allah, the God of Islam (Surah
3:3-4), Muhammad appealed to them as proof for the authority of the Qur’an.
In this verse, Muhammad exhorts Christians (here referenced as, “the people of the
Gospel”) to examine the validity of Islam on the basis of what the New Testament says
in comparison. He goes so far as to say that if Christians do not examine Islam according
to the New Testament, then we are no better than rebels against God.
So, in this video, I will take Muhammad up on his charge – what does the Qur’an say
about Jesus and the claims of the Christian faith?
In Surah 4:157, the Qur’an states, in reference to the Jews of Jesus’ day that, “…they
killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them…for of a surety,
they killed him not.” Based on this verse, Islam teaches that Jesus was not crucified.
The Qur’an does state here that something happened to the effect that it looked to people
as if Jesus had been crucified. However, it emphasizes twice that this is not what actually
happened.
Thus, as Christians, we now have a truth claim by which we can test the Qur’an – Jesus
was not killed or crucified. What does the Bible have to say about this?
In Matthew 16:21 & Mark 8:31, both authors record that Jesus taught His disciples that
He was going to be killed & resurrected. In Matthew 17:9 & Mark 9:31, Jesus makes a second
prediction of both these events. Jesus makes a third prediction of His death & resurrection
in Matthew 20:17-19, Mark 10:32-34 and Luke 18:31-33.
John also records Jesus giving a prediction of His death and resurrection in 2:19 after
He drove the merchants out of the temple. He gives three other references to His death
in chapter 10 where He refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for
His sheep (10:11,15,17,18).
Even though the Qur’an denies that Jesus was crucified, it does affirm that Jesus is
a prophet of God. However, this affirmation presents a quandary for the Islamic position;
if Jesus was a true prophet, then He could not have honestly made these predictions,
because a mistaken or false prediction about a death & resurrection that wouldn’t actually
happen would make Him a false prophet.
Thus, if the Qur’an is true that Jesus was not killed or crucified, then it means that
Jesus was a false prophet & Islam should not be trusted. On the other hand, if the Qur’an
is false in that Jesus was actually crucified and resurrected, then this proves that the
text of the Qur’an cannot be divinely revealed…which also means that Islam should not be trusted.
Moreover, the Bible very plainly records that Jesus was killed by crucifixion and that He
rose from the dead three days later. (Matthew 27:33-28-10; Mark 15:22-16:8; Luke 23:33-24-49;
John 19:16-20:29).
If the New Testament is a source of authority over the Qur’an, as Muhammad taught, the
result is that the Qur’an’s truth claim fails by its own litmus test. For this reason,
as well as many others, Islam should not be regarded as the true religion of God.