20260104Alton Islam for upload 20260105

The speaker discusses the foundations of the Islamic religion, focusing on Ishmael's role as a key figure in Islam, Muhammad as the final prophet, and beliefs about biblical figures like Isaac and Ishmael. They explore the Quran's teachings, the concept of distortion in the Torah and Gospel, Muhammad's life and teachings, and comparisons between Christianity and Islam. The speaker emphasizes differences in beliefs, the importance of knowing about Islam, and quotes biblical verses to highlight contrasting views on Jesus as the Savior. They also touch on historical and geopolitical aspects related to Islam and Christianity. A few weeks ago, it had been requested that I present a lesson concerning the Islamic religion. And I've done some research years ago, but there's a lot of things that's happened here recently and continue to happen. So what I did is I used Grok, and you can also use other AIs, but I just asked five questions, and I want to go through those five questions before we get into the study. Well, we're getting into the study, but some of the things that I want to bring out today. First question I ask, is Ishmael of Genesis 16 and 17 the foundation of the Islamic religion? You know who Ishmael is. We'll deal with him later on, but it came back to me from Grok, that Elon Musk AI, says Ishmael plays a significant role in Islam as a prophet and a messenger of God. He's mentioned 12 times in the Quran, that's their Bible. And notice he says he is regarded as the progenitor. What that means is he's regarded as the parent of the Arabs, including Muhammad. And he's seen as an ancestor in the prophetic lineage tracing all the way back to Abraham. In Islamic tradition, Ishmael assisted Abraham in building the Kaaba in Mecca, which is the holiest site in Islam and central to pilgrimage. While Ishmael is not the sole foundation of Islam, that belongs to Muhammad, according to the Muslims. He is foundational in establishing the Arabic roots of the faith, and Muslims view Arabs as descendants of Ishmael, and seeing him as a key figure in God's covenant with Abraham. The Quran describes Ishmael as a prophet and apostle, emphasizing his settlement in Mecca after wandering in the desert. Second question, where does Muhammad connect with the Islamic religion? Muhammad is the central figure and the founder of Islam, believed by the Muslims to be the final prophet. He's the final prophet, in a line that includes Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others. He received divine revelations from God. Their God is called Allah. For we believe in the trinity of God. Do you remember Matthew 28, verse 19? Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So we believe in three in the Godhead. They believe in Allah, just one, mono. And so it's mentioned here what they said that divine revelations through Allah, through the angel Gabriel, in 610 CE, they say. They will not use the word A.D. in D.C. because if you notice, the word A.D. is Amnonomani, which means in the year of our Lord, and they would reject that. So they would use C.E., which stands for common error. Muhammad, his life and teachings formed the basis of the Islamic beliefs, the practices, and law. This is called the Sharia law. In fact, in parts of like Michigan and Minnesota, where Michigan, where there's quite a number, like in Dearborn, Michigan, it's actually a city a number, like in Dearborn, Michigan, it's actually a city that's governed by the Muslims. And so they want the Sharia law implemented into our constitution, which will not happen according to our present president. And so they believe in monotheism, which is one. They have five pillars concerning the Quran, the Islamic religion, and the Seal of the Prophets was confirmed and completed earlier in the monotheistic message, as they claim. Third question. Does the Islamic religion think that Genesis 22, that Christians have substituted Isaac for Ishmael? You know the story of Genesis 22. The answer is yes. The Islamic tradition holds that it is Ishmael, not Isaac, whom Abraham was commanded to sacrifice, since he was the oldest from the handmaid Hagar. The Quran retells the sacrifice story of Ensura, chapter 37, verses 99 through 113, if you want to look that up. For they think that we, as Christians, and also Jews, have flipped the story and substituted Isaac for Ishmael. Ishmael is seen as the son of promise in Islam, contrasting the biblical emphasis on Isaac. Some Islamic scholars argue that substitution reflects a broader bias in the Bible to favor Isaac's lineage, leading to Judaism and Christianity they teach, over Ishmael leading to Islam. Fourth question. Does the Islamic religion think that Christians have taken what should belong to them, concerning including the Bible? Yes, the answer is yes. Islam teaches the concept of the tariff, distortion, or corruption, where Muslims believe that Jews and Christians altered the original revelation in the Torah and Gospel to suit their interests, thus polluting or corrupting the scriptures. The Quran accuses people of the book of changing words from their rights to Islam, and this is from Quran, chapter 5, verses 13, also chapter 4, verse 46, implying that textual tampering has taken place by us in the book of Genesis. Fifth question. What is the history of Muhammad? Muhammad was born in 570 A.D., they say C.E., in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, into the Khoras tribe, and he was orphaned early. His father died before birth. His mother, when he was six years old, she died. So he was raised by his grandfather and uncle. Muhammad worked as a merchant and gained reputation for honesty. It says earning the nickname Al-Amin means trustworthy. At age 25, Muhammad married Khadija, a wealthy widow, and she had several children, though only daughters survived to adulthood through Muhammad. In 610 A.D., at age 40, he received his first revelations, he claimed, in a cave of Hira, marking the start of his prophethood, and this is found in Quran, revelation over 25, 23 years. Facing persecution in Mecca, Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina in 622 A.D., and so that's what happened concerning Muhammad, concerning their religious belief. There's some interesting things that you remember. There were some airplanes that flew into buildings in 911. And you see, they think that we polluted the Bible so badly that it justified doing what they did. There's some false, and you remember we went off into war in Iraq and then Afghanistan. The Garden of Eden was in Iraq from Genesis chapter 2, verses 10 through 14. A lot of things, interesting things, happened between the rivers, the tigers and euphrates, these rivers. Noah built an ark in Iraq, Genesis chapter 6. The Tower of Babel was in Iraq, Genesis 11, verses 5 through 11. Abraham from Ur was in southern Iraq, Genesis chapter 11. Jonah preached in Nineveh, which was in Iraq. Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq. See, they bring all this up because you know who inhabits between the rivers today? Mostly Muslims. Assyria was in Iraq. Babylon was in Iraq. No other nation except Israel has more history and prophecy associated with it than Iraq. We believe in God. They believe in Allah. We believe in Abraham. They believe in Abraham. We believe, though, it's in Isaac that the promise came. They said, no, Ishmael. We believe in Christ. They believe in Muhammad as the great prophet. In fact, Jesus was actually just pointing forward to the coming of Muhammad. We believe in Christianity. They believe in Islam, Islamic, which means submission. That's what the word Islamic means. We believe that we're Christians. They believe that they're Muslims. We believe in the Bible. They believe their Bible is the Koran, and it's the true word of God. We believe that there's a spiritual war in Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 20. Not a carnal war. We're to put on the whole armor of God to fight against the wiles of the devil, a spiritual war. You talk to them in Nigeria. If you don't submit, it becomes a physical war for them. Islam will use the book of Genesis. But you know, there's no war on earth. I promise you, this is the year 2026. Of all the places I've ever been, it's always the same year. But to reject Jesus, they say it's Satan coming there. But do the history of how they came up with that. During the Afghanistan war, a Saudi Arabia officer said, we will be friendly, but we can never be your friends. Across the Muslim world, there are currently demonstrations against the United States. In fact, after 9-11, there was parts of the world in the Arab countries, the Islamic, where they were celebrating the catastrophe that took place in the United States. John said in 1 John 2, verse 22, who is a liar? But he who denies Jesus is the Christ. He is a liar and an antichrist. And I believe John was referring to the Gnostics at that time, but it would certainly fit today, wouldn't it? Because they deny that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Jesus said in John 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father except through me. They deny that. They reject that. They vehemently get angry with those kind of words. Jesus is Greek for the Savior, Matthew 1, verse 21. Christ is Greek for the Anointed One. It is Hebrew for Messiah, Mark chapter 1, verses 10 and 11. Islam denies that Jesus is the Savior of the world. The great prophet is Muhammad. The Islamic religion is growing rapidly upon the Earth. Approximately 24% to 25% of the Earth's population now is referred to as being Islamic Muslims. It is the fastest growing religion in the United States among our blacks. We need to know about the enemy of Jesus Christ when they deny that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In John chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus said this. Muhammad, let's look at some of his beginnings. He was born in Mecca, as we mentioned. He was born in Mecca, as we mentioned. He was married at 25. He had lots of money through his marriage, and he claims that he received a call from his God, and he received revelation from the archangel Gabriel. But in Galatians chapter 1, notice what Paul said concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul had wrote to these churches of Galatia, and he said to them in chapter 1 and verse 6 beginning, I am amazed, New American Standard, that you are so quickly deserting or turning away from him who calls you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is really not another, only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Jesus of Christ. But even if we are an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have received and what we preach to you, he is to be accursed. But yet they say Mohammed claims that the angel Gabriel spoke to him. Who are we to believe? We are to believe Jehovah God. They will take issues with us concerning that. The five pillars of Islam, pillar one. Belief in the Shahada, the only God is Allah, that's one of their pillars. And Mohammed is Allah's prophet, that's pillar number one. A confession has to be made in that effect. You see, they take a lot of the thoughts from the Bible, you know, in Romans 10, 9 and 10 where the mouth confession was made. They teach that you have to confess Allah and you have to confess that Mohammed is his prophet. Second pillar is prayer. They pray daily. They pray five times a day is traditionally set times. Don and I, we flew from Cape Town, South Africa to Dubai. And we were in the airport in Dubai and in the middle, as you go down, they had rooms. I looked in, I didn't want to go in, but that's where they would go in and throw the mat down and pray. I mean, they just stopped everything. If it comes time for that to pray, that's what they did. And I suppose they got a lot of that from Daniel, you know, he prayed facing towards Jerusalem. They prayed facing towards Becca, they claimed. Fasting, pillar number three. Fasting. Fast from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan, probably our December. Pork is permanently taboo with them. Arm giving, pillar four. Give alms to the poor. Zakat is a type which every Muslim is expected to donate as his portion towards the expansion in the faith and the support of the poor. Pillar number five. Pilgrimage. If possible, make one trip in your lifetime to Mecca. The word Islam means submission. There's no form of priesthood in Islamic religion where we have a form of priest, a high priest, and his name is Jesus Christ. But they don't have that. There are no elaborate ceremonies in the worship to Allah where we partake of the Lord's Supper. Islam is divided into many sects, the Sunni and the Shiite. The Sunni are the majority, over 80 percent. And these two groups cannot get along with each other. Most Muslims are Sunni, that's the Orthodox, which Webster's Dictionary defines the word all Orthodox is conforming to the belief of established doctrine. The Shiites believe that the caliph, Webster's Dictionary means that supreme ruler, like the Pope in the Catholic Church, the caliph should come by the physical descendant of Muhammad. Sunnis, on the other hand, would support any eligible person. You know, they talk about that Jesus Christ himself never wrote anything. Well, you know, he stooped down and wrote in the sand. But what word was written about him, they do that sort of like in your face, because Muhammad never wrote anything. The word Quran, which is their Bible readings, it is divided up into 114 chapters or surahs. Each surah is divided into verses. Each verse is viewed as a miracle, according to them. In addition to the Quran, the Muslims recognize the Sunni, the practice of custom of the Prophet Muhammad. Let's look at some thoughts concerning Islamic religion versus Christianity. Muslims claim that all the other prophets of God, including Jesus, point towards Muhammad, that he is the supreme prophet. Whenever the word is used as Hepler in John 15 and verse 26, where Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit, in John 14 and verse 26, they claim it's referring to Muhammad. They claim Jesus was no more than a man. They deny that Jesus died on the cross. They claim that the Jews made a mistake and crucified someone else in his stead. This is recorded for them in Quran, chapter 4, verses 156 through verses 159. Heaven, a difference between Christians and Islam. Heaven, Islam, it's a place of sensual pleasures. They're heaven, including drinking and gambling, and men would be pleasured by many dark-eyed women. Sexual pleasure would be intensified with 72 virgin women. That's why they could fly airplanes into the building, because they thought the more non-believers, the greater their reward would be in their heaven. Final judgment. Muslims believe that the second coming of Jesus and that all Christians and Jews will realize the truth about Jesus, that he's not the savior of the world. They believe that. They believe that good deeds are measured, and if you outbalance the bad deeds, that you can go to heaven. Well, God said there'll be nothing in Revelation 21 and verse 27 that's going to enter heaven that will defile it, but they say flying airplanes in the building builds a tremendous amount of good deeds, because you're destroying non-believers. Marriage, Islam, they believe in polygamy. It's permitted up to four wives and as many concubines as you want, except for the prophet who had 12 wives in special revelation. Divorce is permitted for many reasons, but we're restricted in Matthew chapter 19 and 9, verse 14, chapter 7 and verse 2. Predestination. Differences in Christianity. It's very important in the Qur'an chapter 9, verse 51, naught shall befall us save what God has written down for us. It is not for any soul to die saved by God's permission written down for an appointed time in Qur'an chapter 3, verses 139. Violence. They believe in violence if it involves conversion. The holy world, holy war, jihad, a struggle in the path of God is what it means. Charist acts are very similar to what is taught in the Qur'an. Notice this. Fight and slay the pagans that's us. Wherever you find them, fight those who believe not in God, that's their Allah, nor in the last day. Qur'an chapter 9 and verse 5 and verse 29. If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him. Qur'an chapter 3 and verse 85. If you'll notice as their percentages grow in each country, the more violence that they cast forward. The unbelievers among the people of the book and the pagans did not desist from unbelief. In their Qur'an chapter 9, verse 1, it says they shall burn forever in the fire of hell. They are the vilest of all creatures. You know, God's word, we teach love. We teach trying to get along with our fellow man, but that's not what is taught. In the Qur'an chapter 2, verses 191 through verse 194, it teaches when you meet the unbelievers, that's Christians, anyone that believes not in their religion, strike off their heads. I want to, let's go to the Genesis chapter 12. Notice what happened. Notice where all this came about. In Genesis chapter 12 beginning, we know that, you know, God made a promise to Abraham, didn't he? He made it in the first part of that chapter. He made a promise to Abraham that through this seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. In verse 3, and he said, I'm going to make you a great nation, Abraham. And we know this took place down in Genesis 46, verse 3, down in Egypt. But notice what else it teaches. Here in Genesis 12, Abraham was 75 years old whenever God made this promise. Well, sometimes we as man, we want to help God out. Because going over to chapter 16 of Genesis, God made a promise to Abraham, but he didn't make who it was going to come through what the female was. But he was married to Sarah at the time he made this promise. So, in chapter 16, beginning in the first part of the chapter, Sarah, Abraham's wife, had bore Abraham no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarah said to Abraham, now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go into my maid. Perhaps I will obtain children through her, and Abraham listened to the voice of Sarah. And she did conceive. Hagar did. And brought forth a son. And notice what God said. He said in verse 11 of Genesis 16, the angel of the Lord said to her, Hagar, behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son, and you shall call his name Ishmael. Because the Lord hath given heed to your affliction, he will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him. Boy, isn't that true today? Now, let's go on over to chapter 17 as we're winding the lesson down. In chapter 17, here you have in verse 18, okay, Hagar had a child. His name is Ishmael. And notice what Abraham, Abraham said in verse 18, oh, that Ishmael may live. And God said, no, but Sarah, your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I've heard you, he's taught God, he's taught Abraham. Behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to him, you, at this season next year. So God's called Isaac's name even, it appears, before it's conceived. See, when we want to help God out, God's got his own game plan. You know, in Galatians 4 and verse 4, when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son. It was on God's time frame. God knows what he's doing. And notice it mentions here that Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised, and Ishmael was 13 years old. And back at the last verse of chapter 16, Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael. So my point is this, God has a plan, and it's through Isaac, not Ishmael. So when they took this, Muhammad took this religious belief and twisted it and said that we stole, we polluted the Bible, and it should be Ishmael and not Isaac. But we believe in what the word of God teaches us. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, you have to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and through his word. We have to believe that. It's not Ishmael, it's not Muhammad. You have to repent of your sins, and you have to confess Christ before men, not Allah, not Ishmael, and not Muhammad. And you have to be baptized into Christ for the remission of sin. In Galatians 3 and verse 27, you do not put on Christ until you're baptized into Christ. But they would reject this. And then the Lord Jesus himself will add you to his church, Acts 2 and verse 47.