This introductory session talks about why we as Christians should love our Muslim friends near and far by reaching them with prayer and the truth of the Gospel. As examples of individuals that have demonstrated sacrificial love towards unreached people, we look at the lives of Jesus, Paul, Raymond Lull and Henry Martin.
God is moving in the Muslim world like never before. In this session, we will learn about some of the ways that Muslims are coming to know and find hope in Jesus.
The Islamic religion affects every aspect of an individual's life, including the way Muslims pray, worship, fast, relate to their families, evangelize and fight for their religion. Muslims imitate Muhammad's example, the ultimate and final prophet, through obedience to Allah in their religion. What do Muslims believe about the life of Muhammad? In order to understand, Muhammad's life, we need to go back to the earliest Islamic histories and the beginning in 7th Century Arabia to tell that story of the genesis of Islam.
This summary continues the chronological study of Muhammad’s life and the battle campaigns of the Islamic State. Many Muslims you speak with may declare that Islam is actually a religion of peace. So, the question is, “Is it?” To get to the heart of whether or not Islam is a religion of peace we have to first make a distinction between the religion of Islam and the Muslim people. Islam is a set of fixed teachings and narratives that originates some 1300 years ago. However, the Muslim people are as different as there are people, or Muslims, in this world. Many are peaceful, some are not, what’s the difference from the Islamic Sources?
Muslims around the world uphold Muhammad as the perfect example for all mankind. And, they revere him as the greatest prophet to have ever lived. His life is reported the source for all Islamic law and tradition and the utmost example for human flourishing. Islamic literature promulgates the idea that Muhammad was not motivated by glory or monetary gain. He was a humble leader and denied himself earthy pleasures. Such impressively powerful claims merit consideration. For if Islam is true, and Muhammad was indeed the greatest man to ever live, a man whose superior lifestyle is worth imitating, then his character and ministry will hold to such rigorous historical scrutiny.
What are the historical sources for the Life of Muhammad as we look to understand his biography? Where did all these stories actually come from? The Qur’an only mentions Muhammad’s name four times. So, how do we know about his life and why did the Islamic tradition develop? In this session, come and learn about the six genres of earliest historical sources of Islam.
In this session we cover Shari'a Law in society. What is a Muslim society like? Of all the Islamic issues, there's no single one that commands more instant attention than that of the Shari'a or the Islamic Law. The term is once a rallying point for Muslims who demand its application in the East and to spread as much of it as they can in the West. And yet, it's worth noting that there's some difficulty in defining the term Shari'a, which basically means "The Way" or "The Road". This is the way that Muslims should actually live their lives.
In this session we begin to talk about what is the Quran: its revelation and compilation. Many Muslims view the Quran as the source of all knowledge. To Muslims ‘knowledge’ is revealed by God. And what is true, and known for certain, is from the Qur’an, an eternal book, on eternal tablets. So, what is the Qur’an? Where did it come from?
In this session we will outline the content of the Quran. This includes the main characters, the major themes such as: Who is Allah, who are the prophets, what the Qur'an says about Jesus, etc. We will also talk about Muslim beliefs and practices concerning the Qur'an such as rituals and the belief in its miraculous nature.
Muslims will often tell you that one must read the Qur'an in the original Arabic. Since only 3% of the global population speaking Arabic how can this be a universal revelation? Muslims also say that the Qur'an is the most beautiful of all literary works in history. Is this true? They claim that Arabic is the original and oldest of all global languages, but is this really the case? Hasn't the Arabic language evolved just like all global languages? Are there evidences of foreign Syriac words in the Qur'an? What are the implications of this if true?
Textual criticism is a critique of the manuscript evidence for literary works. So when we look at the manuscript evidence of the Qur'an what do we find? Muslims all over the world believe that not a dot, word, or sura has been changed and all the manuscripts are perfectly identical. Many Muslims also believe the original Manuscripts by Caliph Uthman are displayed throughout the world. But are these claims true? Very few people have actually been able to examine the manuscript evidence but in this session we will dive into the actual evidence and see if Muslim claims are true.
Jesus Christ is the central figure in Christianity and a very importaint figure in Islam as the second most important prophet in the Qur'an. However, the 'Isa of the Quran and the Jesus of the Bible are very differnt characters. This Session begins to compare these two versions of Jesus in search of the real Jesus from history. During this half hour you will walk through the Qur'anic understandings of Jesus and weigh the sources and authenticity of these "revelations".