Title: 13
Author: Joe Griffin
Last saved by: PaulD
Company: GDC

The Church of the Living God

		09-09-06-B.FBC08-172 /

Religion: Islam: It Has Supplemental Texts to the Qur’an as Do Judaism for the Torah & Mormonism for The Book of Mormon; Islam’s Shari‛ah Controls both Mosque & State; Obsession for Worldwide Shari‛ah Law
	Similarly to Judaism and Mormonism, Islam relies on writings that were developed after the completion of the Qur’an.
	Judaism developed oral law to supplement their understanding of the Torah.  This was reduced to writing in the second century a.d. with the ultimate printed edition of the Talmud which contains two divisions: (1) the Mishnah containing the published oral laws and (2) the Gemara containing commentaries on the Mishnah.
	The Mormons claim divine revelation was given to Joe Smith, Jr., through the angel Moroni which is recorded in The Book of Mormon.  It is supplemented by two volumes: (1) Doctrine and Covenants and (2) The Pearl of Great Price.  Mormons believe that The Book of Mormon is the “most correct of any book on earth.”
	In the Macropaedia, part 3 of Britannica’s fifteenth edition, we find more details about Shari‛ah law:
The most important and comprehensive concept of Islam at the practical level is that of the Shari‛ah.  In its comprehensiveness, it includes law, moral principles, and the creed to which every Muslim must subscribe.
A conscious relationship between theology and law came to be established with claims that theology supplied the metaphysical basis for law.

Fazlur Rahman, “Islam,” in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia, 15th ed. (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1979), 9:920.

	The supplemental texts to the Qur’an are explained by Ergun and Emir Caner in their book Unveiling Islam:
The Qur’an contains teachings that Muhammad believed he had received directly from Allah.  But some of the more idiosyncratic cultural rules are actually in the Hadith and Sunnah collections of the sayings (hadith) and examples (sunnahs) of Muhammad.
The Qur’an is the highest authority in Islam, having been transmitted to Muhammad from Allah through the angel Gabriel.  Secondary to the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the Hadith serve as instruction to the Muslim in much the same way as the Midrash serves the Hebrew.
The Sunnah is the basis of the legal code of Islamic jurisprudence (sahari‛a), and is authoritative in rulings among Islamic states.  It depicts events in the life of Muhammad, and offers examples for ethics and living.
Hadiths (or ahadith) are similar to the sunnahs, but not identical.  Each hadith is a narration from the life of the prophet and what he said, as opposed to a biographical sketch.  Therefore, as the entirety of the Sunnah gives the significant story of Muhammad, the volumes of the Hadith expound Muhammad’s crucial, everlasting commandments.

Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fethi Caner, Unveiling Islam, (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2002), 95.

	It is from these writings that the Islamic worldview is developed.  There is no separation of mosque and state.  There is no other god but Allah and those who do not worship him become targets of Islamic jihad:
Allah’s heart is set against the infidel.  He has no love for the unbeliever, nor is it the task of the Muslim to “evangelize” the unbelieving world.  Allah is to be worshiped, period.  Any who will not do so must be defeated, silenced, or expelled.  The theme is conquest, not conversion, of the unbelieving world.  Allah has called the Muslim to make the name of Allah alone to be worshiped.

Ibid., 118.

	Everyone within Islam is equal.  Followers of any other faith are evil and are enemies to “jihad.”
	Muslims believe in a strict monotheism:
They do blaspheme who say God is one of three … for there is no Allah except one Allah.  (surah 5:73)
	This opposition is from ignorance since monotheism is simply the matrix from which the doctrine of the Trinity is developed.

© 2009 by Joe Griffin Media Ministries.  All rights reserved.	www.joegriffin.org