Chapter 3

THE DOCTRINES OF ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY

Christianity, as understood and believed by christians of both Roman Catholic and Protestant persuasions, means the Three Creeds, namely, the Apostles, the Nicene and the Athanasian.

The cardinal doctrines of Christianity are (l) the Trinity, (2) the Divinity of Jesus Christ, (3) the divine sonship of Jesus, (4) the Original Sin, and (5) the Atonement.

The religion of Islam has no place in it for any of these dogmas. Muslims believe in the Oneness of God as against the Triune God of Christianity. Islam considers the Christian deification of Jesus to be a reversion to paganism. According to the Glorious Qur'an, Jesus was not an incarnation of God but a Prophet or Messenger of God, and, like all other prophets (including the Prophet Muhammad); he was every bit a human being. Islam also rejects the Divine-sonship of Jesus. He may be called a son of God in the sense in which all righteous human beings may be called the children of God, but not in any literal or special sense. In the same way Islam rejects the dogmas of the Oriental Sin, the Vicarious Sacrifice and the Atonement.

The fundamental doctrines of Islam are (l) the Unity of God, (2) the Belief in the prophets raised by God among all nations of the world, (3) the belief in the Revelations sent by God to the prophets to guide human beings to truth and righteousness, (4) the inherent sinlessness of human nature and man's capacity for unlimited moral and spiritual progress (through belief in God and faithful adherence to the inspired teachings of the prophets), (5) personal accountability for one's actions, (6) the life after death, and (7) the equality and universal brotherhood of mankind.