Introduction to Engaging with Islam

In this course, we are going to examine Islam honestly—its founder, its texts, its history, its doctrines—and much of what we discover will be truly troubling. We will look at passages in the Quran that command violence, examine episodes from Muhammad's life that are morally indefensible by any reasonable standard, and trace 1,400 years of bloody conflict between Islamic civilization and Christendom.

Modern leftists and progressives bury their heads in the sand when exposed to these issues. But these issues are real, and true. They can only be avoided for so long. As many aspects of Islam and teachings of Mohammed stand in stark contrast to Western values and ways of life, it's important to not foolishly erase these differences under the worship of the false gods of inclusivity, moral relativism, or tolerance - all three which are appropriate in certain contexts, but can be used to foolishly, dangerously, and ignorantly welcome cultural strife. We do not pretend to believe Mohammed was a prophet, that the Koran was divinely inspired, or that there is a supreme being named "Allah". We reject all those beliefs entirely and find them to merely be ideas created by a man named Mohammed some 14 centuries ago.

None of the differences can be honestly denied. The theological differences between Christianity and Islam are not superficial disagreements that can be papered over with interfaith dialogue. They are fundamental and irreconcilable. Islam denies the deity of Christ, the Trinity, the crucifixion, and salvation by grace through faith. Much of Islamic doctrine is not merely different from Western and Christian values—it is antithetical to them: the subjugation of women, the death penalty for apostasy, the institutionalized second-class status of non-Muslims, and the religious sanction for violence against unbelievers.

This course will not pretend otherwise. We will examine these realities with unflinching honesty because truth matters, because the souls of Muslims matter, and because you cannot effectively share the Gospel with people whose beliefs you do not understand.

Love Your Enemies

Here is where this course must strike a careful balance—and where many Christians fail. Having acknowledged the serious problems with Islam as a religious and political system, we must immediately add something equally important: Muslims are people made in the image of God, and Christians are commanded to love them.

Jesus does not say, "Love your enemies unless they belong to a religion with troubling doctrines." He does not say, "Pray for those who persecute you unless their persecution is religiously motivated." The command is absolute. If Muslims were our enemies—and many are not—we would still be commanded to love them and pray for them.

This is not sentimentality. It is obedience. And it fundamentally shapes how we approach this entire course. This is not a call to roll over and surrender. Rather it is a call to strike the balance between firmly, clearly, and powerfully expressing the dark sides of Islam while not demonizing, bullying, mocking, or belittling Muslims. Use your judgement.

Distinguishing the System from the People

One of the most important distinctions we must make is between Islam as a theological and political system and Muslims as individual human beings. We can—and must—critique Islam's doctrines, book, history, and practices with rigorous honesty. But we must not transfer that critique into hatred, contempt, or dehumanization of Muslim people. Many Muslims are ignorant of Mohammed's history, the dangerous texts of the Koran, and traditional Islamic views. People of all faiths claim the faith of their parents or family or community without truly knowing much about it - this applies to Muslims as well.

Most Muslims were born into Muslim families, raised in Muslim cultures, and taught Islam from childhood. Many have never seriously examined their faith or considered alternatives. They are, in a very real sense, subjects of a system—many do not mockery.

The Reality of Cultural Muslims

It is also essential to recognize that the Muslim world is not monolithic. Not every person who identifies as "Muslim" is a committed follower of Muhammad or a student of the Quran. Many are what we might call cultural Muslims—people who identify as Muslim because of their ethnic background, family heritage, or national identity, but who rarely pray, have never read the Quran in a language they understand, and whose actual beliefs may be quite distant from orthodox Islam.

Think of how many people in the West identify as "Christian" while rarely attending church, never reading the Bible, and holding beliefs that contradict historic Christianity. The same phenomenon exists in the Muslim world—perhaps even more extensively. When you meet a Muslim neighbor or coworker, you do not know where they fall on the spectrum from devout to nominal. You must get to know them as an individual.

This means we must be especially careful not to:

• Demonize Muslim youth who may be questioning their inherited faith and searching for truth
• Demonize Muslim women who are often the primary victims of Islam's most oppressive doctrines
• Demonize cultural Muslims who bear the label "Muslim" but may know little about what Islam actually teaches
• Assume every Muslim endorses the violence, oppression, or extremism found in Islamic texts and history

Aggressive Evangelism, Not Cruel Mockery

Let us be clear about what Christian engagement with Muslims should and should not look like.

What It Should Look Like

Christian evangelism to Muslims should be direct. We do not hide our beliefs or pretend that the differences don't matter. We believe Jesus is God; Islam says this is blasphemy. We believe Jesus died for sins; Islam denies the crucifixion. We believe salvation is by grace through faith; Islam teaches a system of works and uncertain hope. These differences are real, and we state them clearly.

Christian evangelism to Muslims should be honest. We do not pretend that Islam's history is something other than what it is. We do not ignore the troubling passages in the Quran or the troubling episodes in Muhammad's life. When Muslims claim that Islam is a "religion of peace" or that jihad is merely an internal spiritual struggle, we respectfully but firmly point to what their own texts actually say.

Christian evangelism to Muslims should be bold. We do not shrink back from declaring that Jesus is the only way to God, even though this claim is deeply offensive to Muslim ears. We do not let fear of being called "Islamophobic" silence our witness. We speak the truth because the truth is what sets people free.

What It Should Not Look Like

Christian engagement with Muslims should never descend into:

• Bullying — Using our knowledge of Islam's problems to humiliate or belittle individual Muslims
• Mocking — Making fun of Muslims, their practices, their dress, or their accents
• Dehumanizing — Treating Muslims as enemies to be defeated rather than souls to be won
• Stereotyping — Assuming every Muslim is a terrorist, an extremist, or an enemy of the West. Although there are thousands upon thousands of terrorists and terrorist sympathizers who deserve condemnation and incarceration, there are thousands and thousands of Muslims who are not. Again, this whole thing requires a lot of discernment, wisdom, and clear thinking.
• Hatred — Allowing our critique of Islam to curdle into contempt for Muslim people

The Apostle Peter instructs us to give a defense of our faith "with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15). Paul tells us to speak "the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). This is the posture we must maintain even when—especially when—we are discussing difficult truths about Islam.

Notice: we correct opponents "with gentleness" because our goal is not to win arguments but to see God "grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth." We want Muslims to be saved. That desire must shape everything we do.

The Goal of This Course

By the end of this course, you will:

• Understand Islam thoroughly — its beliefs, practices, history, and internal divisions
• Know the difficult truths — the passages, events, and doctrines that reveal Islam's incompatibility with Christian faith and Western values
• Be equipped to respond — to Muslim objections to Christianity and to share the Gospel in ways that connect with Muslim hearers
• Love Muslims genuinely — seeing them as people who need the Savior, not enemies to be feared or despised
• Engage with wisdom — understanding cultural dynamics like honor and shame, building genuine relationships, and supporting those who come to faith in Christ

This is not a course in Islamophobia. It is a course in Islamo-realism combined with Christian love. We will see Islam for what it is—and love Muslims anyway, because that is what Christ commands and what the Gospel demands.

What This Course Covers

This course is organized into several major sections:

Understanding Islamic Beliefs

We begin by learning what Muslims actually believe: the Five Pillars, the Six Articles of Faith, the nature of Allah, the role of Muhammad, and how Islam understands salvation. You cannot share the Gospel effectively until you understand what you're responding to.

Muhammad: A Critical Examination

We will examine the life of Islam's founder with unflinching honesty: his military campaigns, his treatment of enemies, his marriages, and the troubling episodes that Islamic sources themselves record. This is not to mock Muhammad but to understand who he actually was.

Problems with the Quran and Revelation

We will investigate the origins of the Quran, the doctrine of abrogation, the so-called "Satanic Verses" incident, and other issues that raise serious questions about Islam's claims to divine revelation.

Islamic Doctrines and Laws

We will examine doctrines like jihad, sharia, taqiyya, and apostasy—understanding what Islam actually teaches and how these teachings have been applied throughout history and in the present day.

Treatment of Non-Muslims and Women

We will look at how Islamic texts and civilizations have treated those outside the faith and those who are female—including the dhimmi system, Islamic anti-Semitism, and the subjugation of women.

The Christian Response

We will then turn to how Christians should respond: finding common ground where it exists, clearly articulating the fundamental divides (especially regarding Jesus), and answering common Muslim objections to Christianity.

Practical Evangelism

Finally, we will address the practical work of sharing Christ with Muslims: building friendships, understanding honor-shame dynamics, using the Quran as a bridge, sharing your testimony, and supporting those who come to faith.

A Prayer Before We Begin

Before we dive into this material, let us orient our hearts properly with prayer:

Conclusion: Truth and Love Together

The great temptation is to separate truth and love—to either soften the truth about Islam in the name of love, or to abandon love for Muslims in the name of truth. Both errors are deadly. The first leaves Muslims in their spiritual bondage by refusing to tell them what they need to hear. The second repels Muslims from the Gospel by treating them with contempt rather than compassion.

We must hold truth and love together—not in tension but in harmony. We tell the truth because we love. We love by telling the truth. We examine Islam's darkest elements because Muslims deserve to know what their religion actually teaches. We do so with gentleness because Muslims are people Christ came to save.

This is the narrow path we must walk throughout this course. It is not easy. But it is the path of faithfulness—to Christ, to the Gospel, and to the nearly two billion people who need to hear that there is a Savior who loves them and died for them.

Let us begin.