From time to time, sincere Christians write to us with honest questions about what Muslims actually believe. These questions usually come from a good place: curiosity, friendship with a Muslim neighbor or coworker, or simply a desire to understand a faith tradition that shapes the lives of nearly two billion people worldwide. At Muslim Answers, we welcome these questions warmly. What follows is not a rebuttal of Christianity or an attempt to argue anyone out of their faith, but a straightforward set of answers to the questions we hear most often from inquiring Christians. Our hope is that this can serve as a starting point for respectful conversation and mutual understanding between neighbors of different faiths.
What do Muslims believe about God?
Muslims believe in one God, referred to in Arabic as Allah, a word simply meaning “the God” and used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews as well. God is understood to be the sole Creator and Sustainer of everything that exists, utterly unique, without partner, without offspring, and without physical form. He is described as merciful, just, all-knowing, and near to His creation, “closer to a person than his own jugular vein,” as one verse of the Qur’an puts it. Muslims hold that God’s oneness (tawhid) is the central truth of existence and the foundation of every other belief and practice in Islam.
This emphasis on divine oneness is one reason Muslims do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity. It is not that Muslims view God as somehow smaller or more distant because of this; rather, the Islamic understanding is that God’s unity is what makes Him worthy of complete devotion, and that associating any partner or intermediary with Him diminishes that unity. Muslims believe God speaks to humanity through revelation and prophets, that He hears every prayer directly without need of intercession, and that His mercy is the defining quality believers turn to again and again. Nearly every chapter of the Qur’an opens with the phrase “In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate,” a reminder of how central mercy is to the Islamic conception of the divine.
Islam also teaches that God has sent prophets to every nation throughout history to call people back to the worship of Him alone, among them figures familiar to Christian readers such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, along with others less familiar to a Western audience. Muslims are taught to believe in all of them without distinction as true messengers of God, even while holding that the message they preached, at its core, was always the same call to worship one God and to live justly. In this sense, Muslims often describe Islam not as a brand-new religion invented in the seventh century but as the restoration of a single, continuous message that had, in various times and places, become distorted or forgotten.
What do Muslims believe about Jesus?
Muslims hold Jesus, referred to as Isa, in very high honor. He is considered one of the greatest prophets and messengers God ever sent, born of the Virgin Mary through a miraculous conception, given the ability to perform miracles by God’s permission, and granted a special revelation known as the Gospel (Injil). An entire chapter of the Qur’an is named after Mary, and she is described there in terms of remarkable purity and honor. Muslims are taught to love and respect Jesus, and it would be considered a serious lapse for a Muslim to speak of him disrespectfully.
Where Islamic belief differs from mainstream Christian doctrine is on the questions of Jesus’s divinity and the crucifixion. Muslims do not believe Jesus is God or the literal son of God; rather, he is understood as a human prophet sent with a message consistent with that of earlier prophets, calling people to worship God alone. Regarding the crucifixion, the Qur’anic account is understood by most Muslims to mean that Jesus was not killed by crucifixion but was raised up to God, with the appearance of events made unclear to those who sought to kill him. Muslims also believe Jesus will return before the end of times, a belief that, interestingly, gives him a distinctive and much-anticipated role in Islamic eschatology. These are points of genuine and long-standing theological difference between the two faiths, and we think it is more honest to state that difference plainly than to paper over it.
What is the Qur’an, and how do Muslims view it as scripture?
The Qur’an is regarded by Muslims as the literal word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, over a period of roughly twenty-three years in the seventh century. Muslims believe it was transmitted through the angel Gabriel and that it confirms, and in some respects clarifies or corrects, the messages given to earlier prophets, while also standing as God’s final and complete revelation to humanity. The Qur’an is written in Arabic, and Muslims traditionally hold that its precise wording, rhythm, and meaning are inseparable, which is why translations into other languages are generally considered interpretations of the Qur’an’s meaning rather than the Qur’an itself.
For Muslims, the Qur’an is not primarily a history book or a rulebook, though it contains historical narrative and legal guidance. It is approached first as a means of drawing close to God: it is recited in daily prayer, memorized in whole or in part by millions of Muslims around the world including many children, and treated with physical and verbal reverence. Alongside the Qur’an, Muslims also draw on the recorded sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad, known as hadith, to understand how the Qur’an’s teachings were lived out and applied. Together these sources form the foundation of Islamic belief, worship, and daily conduct.
Muslims also place great importance on the idea that the Qur’an’s text has been carefully preserved since it was first revealed, both in written form and through the long, unbroken tradition of memorization passed from teacher to student across generations. This is one reason a visitor to nearly any part of the Muslim world will find the same Arabic text recited from memory in the same words, whether in a mosque in one country or another thousands of miles away. For an inquiring Christian used to thinking about scripture in terms of translation history and textual variants, this emphasis on oral transmission alongside written preservation is often one of the more distinctive features of how Muslims relate to their scripture.
How does a person become Muslim?
Becoming a Muslim is remarkably simple in its outward form, even though it can represent a profound inward transformation. A person becomes Muslim by sincerely testifying, with understanding and conviction, “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” This declaration, called the shahada, is considered the first of the five pillars of Islam and can be spoken privately or in the presence of others; no clergy, ceremony, or waiting period is required, although many mosques are glad to help a new Muslim mark the occasion and connect with a local community.
What matters most is sincerity of belief rather than any particular ritual. Once someone makes this declaration with genuine conviction, they are considered a full member of the Muslim community, equal in standing to someone born into a Muslim family. From there, a new Muslim typically begins learning the remaining pillars of practice: the five daily prayers, giving to charity, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and, if able, making the pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime. Many people who come to Islam describe the shahada not as an ending point but as the beginning of a lifelong process of learning, worship, and growth in faith.
It is also worth noting that no particular ethnicity, nationality, or cultural background is required to become or to be recognized as Muslim. The global Muslim community includes people of nearly every background imaginable, and someone raised in a Christian home, a secular home, or any other tradition is fully welcomed once they make this sincere declaration. Many mosques and Islamic centers are glad to answer practical questions from anyone exploring the faith, whether or not they ultimately decide to embrace it, and there is generally no pressure or expectation attached to simply asking questions or attending to observe.
What does salvation mean in Islam?
This is often one of the most important questions for a Christian inquirer, since the concept of salvation sits at the heart of Christian theology in a particular way, and it is worth explaining carefully. Islam teaches that every human being is born in a state of natural purity (fitrah), without inherited sin. There is no concept in Islam comparable to original sin passed down from Adam; each person is instead held accountable for their own choices and deeds. Salvation, in the Islamic sense, refers to being saved from the consequences of one’s own wrongdoing and ultimately admitted to Paradise in the life to come.
Muslims believe this salvation comes through a combination of sincere faith in God, righteous action, and God’s mercy. Faith and good deeds are described throughout the Qur’an as going hand in hand, sincere belief is expected to express itself in how a person lives, worships, and treats others. At the same time, Muslims do not believe anyone earns Paradise purely through a ledger of good deeds; rather, entry into Paradise is ultimately understood as an act of God’s mercy and grace, extended to those who strive sincerely, repent when they fall short, and turn to Him in worship. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said that no one enters Paradise by their deeds alone, but by God’s mercy. Repentance is always open to a sincere heart, and Muslims believe God is quick to forgive those who turn back to Him.
A note on dialogue between faiths
We recognize that some of the answers above will confirm what an inquiring Christian already suspected, and others may raise new questions of their own. That is a natural part of any honest conversation between two ancient faith traditions that share some history and vocabulary while differing on core questions of theology. Our aim at Muslim Answers is not to caricature Christian belief or to suggest that these differences are trivial; they are real and significant, and thoughtful people on both sides have written and reflected on them for centuries.
What we would ask of any inquiring reader is simply patience and good faith: read Islamic sources on their own terms before drawing conclusions about them, ask Muslims you know directly rather than relying only on secondhand descriptions, and extend the same charity you would want extended to your own beliefs. Genuine friendship and respectful curiosity have a way of clarifying far more than debate alone ever could, and we believe that is true regardless of which faith, if any, a person ultimately holds.
If you have further questions of your own, we encourage you to keep asking them. Islam does not ask for blind acceptance; the Qur’an repeatedly invites its readers to reflect, to reason, and to examine the world around them. A sincere inquirer, whatever their starting point, is always welcome to keep looking, keep asking, and keep an open heart along the way.