While I admire Mohammed’s emphasis on charity (Zakat), one of the five pillars of Islam, I believe that Mohammed, and his teaching, fall short when compared to Gotama Buddha and Jesus Christ.
1. Violence to advance a cause.
I find Mohammed’s willingness to resort to violence as a means to advance his cause, unattractive. It stands in direct contrast to Buddha and Christ, both of whom espoused love and non-violence.
It’s probably worth noting here that Christians who resort to violence to advance the cause of Christianity are equally repulsive. Christianity, the conglomeration of sectarian, human organisations, fails to represent of the teaching of Jesus Christ and his gospel.
The same can be said of militant Buddhism.
2. Love (or a lack of it in the Quran).
I searched for three words in the Quran (English translation by Talal Itani)
- Love (54)
- Loves (38)
- Loved (3)
Total: 95
Of the above searches, “Allah does not love”, appears 18 times (20%); usually associated with not loving unbelievers and sinners.
Allah does not love any sinful ingrate. (Sura 2:278)
By contrast the Bible (English Standard Version) delivered the following results.
- Love (552): Old Testament (339) and New Testament (213)
- Loves (70): Old Testament (44) and New Testament (26)
- Loved (101): Old Testament (57) and New Testament (44)
Total: 723
The phrase “God does not love” does not appear in the Bible, not once. In fact, quite the opposite; both the Old and New Testaments, repeatedly state that God loves the whole world, even those who hate him.
Old Testament: The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness; keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." (Exodus 34:6-7)
Old Testament: Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11)
New Testament: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)
New Testament: God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
While, there is no ‘book’ of the Buddha’s teaching similar to the Bible or Quran, compassion and loving-kindness are foundation principles of the Buddha’s teaching.
Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child, so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings. Radiating kindness over the entire world spreading upwards to the skies, and downwards to the depths; outwards and unbounded, freed from hatred and ill-will. (Metta Sutta)
I personally, love the emphasis that both Christ and the Buddha place on love and compassion.
3. The lack of authenticating evidence.
Although the newest of the three major religions, there is no authenticating evidence for the Quran's claims.
For example, while the Quran adopts much of the biblical narrative, it asserts that the Bible has been corrupted, and yet provides no compelling evidence to back up such claims.
A case in point, are the parallel accounts of Abraham/Ibrahim’s near-sacrifice of his son; in the Bible, the son is Isaac, while in the Quran, the son is Ishmael.
It is worth noting that, in both accounts, God stops Abraham/Ibrahim from carrying out the human sacrifice. In both accounts, God’s command was a test of Abraham/Ibrahim’s faith and obedience. This fact is especially relevant when testing the veracity of each account.
In the Bible’s account, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac;
Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. (Genesis 22:2)
In the Quran’s account, Ibrahim has a dream in which Allah commands him to sacrifice Ishmael;
Then, when he was old enough to accompany him, he said, “O My son, I see in a dream that I am sacrificing you; see what you think.” He said, “O my Father, do as you are commanded; you will find me, Allah willing, one of the steadfast. (Sura 37:102 or 103)
How does the truth-seeker validate the above accounts? The Bible and Quran cannot both be true; one is true and the other is false.
Is it Isaac or Ishmael? See my Bible study setting out the evidence for the veracity of the Bible’s account and why it could only have been Isaac, and not Ishmael.
In conclusion.
In my opinion, Islam is an unattractive religion that offers no compelling evidence for its claims.
