The Muslims in general, and that Arabic in particular, consider themselves to be sons of Abraham and descendents of Ishmael.
Abram, who later was called Abraham, took Agar, an Egyptian slave, by Sarah’s (Abram’s wife) recommendation, to give birth to a son because Sarah did not believe she would be capable of giving birth due to her age (she was 90). Sarah knew that God had promised Abram a son (Gen. 15:4). Since she was so old she gave Agar to Abram to have his child. God’s promise to Agar was: “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count” (Gen. 16:10). Also, an angel of the Lord told her “…and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your misery”. Genesis 21:13 says, “I will make the son of the maidservant (Agar) into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” Ishmael “…will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” (Gen. 16:12).
In the seventh century A.D., the armies of the descendants of Ishmael, inspired by the life and words of a religious and political leader named Mohamed, conquered a big part of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East - Palestine included. Many “Christian” governments would fall under the Islamic rule (1).
Islam, the same as the Hebrew and the Christian religion, is said to be a revealed religion. Everything about Islam can be found in the Koran. The Koran has a revelation expressed by the spoken work. According to Islam, only Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed received this type of revelations. But, according to Mohamed there have been 124,000 prophets throughout history. Each of them had a national character but Mohamed was the universal prophet which is why he was the last one (2).
This religion was started by Mohamed, who was born in 570 A.D. in Mecca, Saudi Arabia to a poor family (3). His father, Abadia, died before Mohamed was born and his mother Amina died when Mohamed was 6 years old. This is why he was such a young orphan and was raised by his uncle, who in his youth rode the camels on the caravans for the Christian and Jewish merchants (4). When he was 25 he married a rich widow whose name was Khadija (5).
Mohamed was called to be a prophet when he was 40 years old (6). He tried to unite the different factions and dispersed cities by having only one belief in one god. His message was loud and clear: “there is only one god and he is Allah” (7). According to Harris Lee Goodwin, the city where Mohamed was born worshipped a pagan god which they called Allah. The difference between the Allah of his people and the Allah in the Koran is that the Allah of the Koran is one (he is not the Trinity of three persons but one entity), one in attributes (no other being possesses his attributes) and one of his works ( no one can do what he does or will do) (8).
Even though Mohamed had contact and was influenced by Christian Monks, his concept of God was different than that of the Christians. According to the Bible, “there is only one God, but in the unity of His divine essence there are three coeternal personas and equal in all things. They have the same essence but they are distinct in substance” (9). In the Bible we see this in passages where they use the name for God Elohim in plural and plural pronouns to refer to God (Gen. 1:1, 26; Is. 6:8). And in regards to the works and attributes of God, we see that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have the same attributes (I.e. holiness: Lv. 19:2; Dn. 9:24; Is. 63:10) and do similar things (I.e. create: Neh. 9:6; Col. 1:16; Job 26:13). The Bible also states that this is only “one way, one truth, one life” and that is through Jesus (Jn. 14:6). On the contrary, Kernel Gadaffi of Libya said, “Islam has the only valid, divine plan, and it covers all religions. Jesus was also Muslim and had more things in common with us then with Christianity” (10).
Mohamed died June 8, 632 A.D. in Medina, Saudi Arabia (11). When he died, Mohamed had established the 5 principle pillars to a new religion: Shahada - “there is no other god but Allah and Mohamed is his prophet”; Saum-Ramadam, fasting; Zakat, Alms; Salat, prayers; and Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca (12). Mohamed also taught that a good Muslim should not have more then 4 wives at a time, but yet he had 10 wives and a lot of concubines. Despite all the women, he was not able to see any of his sons grow up to replace him (13). So, his death caused a crises in which he left no successor to govern the Muslims or interpret their laws. The first three leaders (califas) were chosen almost unanimously. They were Abu Bakr (father-in-law of Mohamed, he conquered Syria, Palestine and Egypt), Omar (the prophet’s advisor) and Otman (the prophet’s son-in-law). But after Otman was assassinated, Ali took over the throne (one of the victims relatives who was married to Fatima, Mohamed’s only daughter). The Syrian governor, Muawiyah, refused to recognize Ali’s authority and there was a battle in Sifflin in 657 A.D.. The battle led to a split within Islam, the two groups became known as the Shiites and the Sunnis (14).
References:
(1) http://www.pminternacional.org/doc_02.asp by Marcos Amado, President of PM International October 2, 2001.
(2) Bashir Ahmadminto, “Islamismo”, Nueva Enciclopedia del Mundo (NEDM), VOL. II, Director general: Luis Rodriguez Martinez, Ed. Durvan, 1990.
(3) Salvador Hernandez y Rafael Lavilla, “Dossier-Islam”, MUY ESPECIAL, N. 4, winter, 1991. Ed.
(4) Harris Lee Goodwin, “Una Comprension del Islam”,
(5) “El Islam”, Estandarte de la Verdad, N. 12, March 1991.
(6) “Dossier-Islam”, MUY ESPECIAL, pg. 50; Ramon Valles Casamayor, El Cancer del Ano 2000: Las Sectas, Ed. CLIE, 1989, pg. 106.
(7) Harris Lee Goodwin, Pg. 4.
(8) “Islamismo”, NEDM, Vol. II, Pg. 5406-5407.
(9) Biblia Estudio Ryrie, Moody Press, 1991, Pg. 1821-1822.
(10) “El Islam”, Estandarte de la Verdad, N. 12, March 1991, Pg. 7.
(11) Ramon Valles Casamayor, Pg. 103.
(12) “Dossier-Islam”, Pg. 51; Jerry Hill, “Islam”, Frontiers, Pasadena, Ca. Pg. 1-8.
(13) Ramon Valles Casamayor, Pg. 106. Jose Grau, “Todas las Religiones Iguales?”, Ed. Evangelicas Europeas, 1974, Pg. 61.
(14) “Sunnis o Sunnitas”, NEDM, Vol. XVIII, Pg. 9083, “El Islam”, PALABRA VIVA, N. 23, July - September 1992.
