It is almost like Jesus was specifically refuting Islam on the Sermon on the Mount- Part 1
Jesus in the sermon on the mount emphasizes love for one’s brother.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says,‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
(Matthew 5:21–24)
Jesus’ definition of murder extends to even one’s state of heart regarding his brother. Murder begins long before an actual act is committed, a heart decision is made hence Jesus’ emphasizes to check one’s state of heart because for each unjustified state of anger towards one’s brother puts one in danger of a commensurate judgment from God. The ultimate message here is thus to love one another, including enemies as expressly stated later in the sermon.
Islam on the other hand, teaches you to hate. Allah specifically brags about how he spreads hate among Christians,
“And with those who say: “Lo! we are Christians,” We made a covenant, but they forgot a part of that whereof they were admonished. Therefor We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will inform them of their handiwork.”
(Surah 5:14)
Not only does Allah spread hate, he makes it clear he does not love anyone who does not believe in him and his prophet,
“Say, (O Muhammad, to mankind): If ye love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
Say: Obey Allah and the messenger. But if they turn away, lo! Allah loveth not the disbelievers”
(Surah 3:31–32)
And again,
“That He may reward out of His bounty those who believe and do good works. Lo! He loveth not the disbelievers”
(Surah 30:45)
Not only does Allah spread hate and hate the disbelievers, he admonishes as many as follow him not to love their family members if they do not follow him and his prophet,
“Thou wilt not find folk who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His messenger, even though they be their fathers or their sons or their brethren or their clan…”
(Surah 58:22)
And again,
“O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers.”
(Surah 9:23)
So the Allah of Islam commands and encourages you to hate people, particularly those who do not share belief in Allah and Muhammad. It also calls for such people to be put to death,
“ Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.”
(Surah 9:29)
Allah also admonishes as many as follow him and his prophet to commit murder in his cause in exchange for paradise,
“ Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah , so they kill and are killed…”
(Surah 9:111)
And again
“O ye who believe! Shall I show you a commerce that will save you from a painful doom?
Ye should believe in Allah and His messenger, and should strive for the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That is better for you, if ye did but know.”
(Surah 61:10–11)
The word “Strive” here means to “wage Jihad”. Dying for the sake of Allah is a sure-fire, one-way ticket to paradise with Allah according to Islam, as the hadith says,
“Narrated Al-Miqdam bin Ma’diykarib:
That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “There are six things with Allah for the martyr. He is forgiven with the first flow of blood (he suffers), he is shown his place in Paradise, he is protected from punishment in the grave, secured from the greatest terror, the crown of dignity is placed upon his head — and its gems are better than the world and what is in it — he is married to seventy two wives along Al-Huril-’Ayn of Paradise, and he may intercede for seventy of his close relatives.”
(Jami’ at-Timirdhi Book 22 Hadith 46)
Jesus also says in the sermon,
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
(Matthew 5:27–28)
In Islam however, the responsibility for preventing adultery lies with the woman hence she is to be veiled and to mind how she speaks because her voice is a temptation according to Surah 33:32. Again the prophet of Islam, who is the perfect pattern of conduct in Islam, could barely contain himself when a woman walked by. As it is written in the hadith,
“Jabir reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saw a woman, and so he came to his wife, Zainab, as she was tanning a leather and had sexual intercourse with her. He then went to his Companions and told them:
The woman advances and retires in the shape of a devil, so when one of you sees a woman, he should come to his wife, for that will repel what he feels in his heart.”
(Sahih Muslim Book 16 Hadith 10)
In summary, the prophet saw a woman, was so tempted by her that he could not control himself and then called the woman who he saw a devil thus exposing the mentality that the woman is responsible for not tempting men rather than the man taking responsibility for where his eyes look as taught by Jesus.
Again, Islam is not against looking at a woman in lust, according to the hadith,
“Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When one of you asked a woman in marriage, if he is able to look at what will induce him to marry her, he should do so. He (Jabir) said: I asked a girl in marriage, I used to look at her secretly, until I looked at what induced me to marry her. I, therefore, married her.”
(Sunan Abi Dawud Book 12 Hadith 37)
So apparently, according to Muhammad, one is allowed to look at “what would induce him to marry” in a woman. Some of the Islamic scholars like Ibn Hisham for example states that this makes it permissible for a man to look at his prospective bride naked. This is in stark contrast to Jesus’ teaching.
Another area of Jesus’ sermon that puts Islam under scrutiny is on the sanctity of marriage.
“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
(Matthew 5:31–32)
In Islam, divorce is not a hurdle at all. In fact Allah, on behalf of the prophet of Islam, threatens his wives with divorce and replacement with better ones,
“Perhaps, if he were to divorce you ˹all˺, his Lord would replace you with better wives who are submissive ˹to Allah˺, faithful ˹to Him˺, devout, repentant, dedicated to worship and fasting — previously married or virgins.”
(Surah 66:5)
There is an entire chapter on divorce, Surah 65 and it does not once talk about any strict preconditions to divorce as Jesus does.
The second side of the sanctity of marriage point is that Jesus is big on monogamy, which is the Genesis model of marriage as per God’s original design. In Matthew 19, Jesus expressly appeals to one man one wife and the TWO becoming One flesh and that no one should separate what God has joined together as God’s model and design for marriage. Islam on the other hand permits marriage to multiple wives,
“…then marry other women of your choice — two, three, or four…”
(Surah 4:3)
Finally (for now), Jesus forbids oaths,
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”
(Surah 5:33–37)
Jesus says let your yes be yes and your no be no, in other words, you should be a person of integrity and thus not need to swear to give additional gravitas to your words. Allah in the Quran cannot stop swearing by everything and anything
“…By the glorious Quran!”
(Surah 50:1)
And again,
“By Mount Tur”
(Surah 52:1)
“By the winds scattering dust”
(Surah 51:1)
“By the holy city”
(Surah 90:1)
It is almost like Allah cannot be trusted hence he has to continually keep swearing in order to sound believable. Why would God need to swear by his own creation anyway?
…to be continued
