What should non-Muslims know about key similarities and differences between Islamic and Judeo-Christian traditions?
It is, of course, difficult to summarize the main teachings of the religious traditions embraced by nearly one-half the world’s population. Muslims understand Islam to be the same religion that God revealed to Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. They believe that those who came after various prophets confused or distorted portions of the revelation God had given. Central teachings in the Bible are also central in the Qur’an. There is only one God (Allah in Arabic). Humans are created and imbued with freedom and responsibility. There are similar passages about moral and ethical imperatives, the existence of angels and demons, the immortality of the soul, the coming day of judgment, the abodes of heaven and hell, etc. The Qur’an addresses Jews and Christians as “People of the Book” who may also share a heavenly home: “those who have faith, those who are Jews and Christians…shall have their reward.” (2:62 and 5:69) At the same time, the Qur’an clearly rejects the divinity of Jesus and
