🌍 Dini za Ulimwengu — Sehemu ya 3: Uislamu🌍 World Religions — Unit 3: Islam

MwelekeoOrientation

Uislamu ni, kwa hesabu nyingi, dini ya pili kwa ukubwa ulimwenguni, ikiwa na wafuasi takriban bilioni mbili katika kila bara, na ni imani ambayo wanafunzi wako watakutana nayo mara nyingi zaidi na zaidi, iwe kupitia uhamiaji, vyombo vya habari, mazungumzo ya kidini kati ya imani mbalimbali, au udadisi wa kawaida wa jirani au mfanyakazi mwenzako. Tofauti na Uyahudi, Uislamu haukumea moja kwa moja kutoka katika udongo wa jumuiya ya agano ya Agano la Kale, lakini ulizuka katika mawasiliano ya karibu na Uyahudi na Ukristo pia, katika rasi ya Arabia ya karne ya saba ambako jumuiya za Kiyahudi na za Kikristo zilikuwepo tayari, na kwa makusudi unajiweka kuwa ufunuo wa mwisho na kamili unaochukua nafasi ya hizo zote mbili. Kuuelewa Uislamu kwa usahihi, badala ya kupitia uvumi au vikaragosi vya upande wowote, ni jambo la lazima kwa mchungaji yeyote anayetaka kuwashirikisha majirani Waislamu jinsi Paulo alivyowashirikisha watu wa Athene — kwa uchunguzi wa makini kabla ya changamoto, na kwa upendo usiorudi nyuma mbele ya kweli.Islam is, by most counts, the second-largest religion in the world, with approximately two billion adherents across every continent, and it is a faith your students will encounter with growing frequency, whether through immigration, media, interfaith dialogue, or simple curiosity from a neighbor or coworker. Unlike Judaism, Islam did not grow directly out of the soil of the Old Testament covenant community, but it did emerge in close contact with both Judaism and Christianity, in a seventh-century Arabian peninsula where Jewish and Christian communities were already present, and it consciously positions itself as the final and complete revelation superseding both. Understanding Islam accurately, rather than through rumor or caricature in either direction, is essential for any pastor who wants to engage Muslim neighbors the way Paul engaged the Athenians — with careful observation before confrontation, and love that does not flinch from the truth.

Sehemu hii itafuatilia chimbuko la Uislamu katika maisha ya Muhammad, itachunguza andiko lake kuu na desturi zake kuu, itaeleza mgawanyiko mkubwa wa kihistoria kati ya Waislamu wa Kisunni na wa Kishia, italinganisha kile ambacho Uislamu unafundisha kuhusu Yesu na kile ambacho Wakristo wanaamini hasa, na itamalizia kwa mwongozo wa vitendo kwa mazungumzo ya injili na marafiki Waislamu. Kama ilivyo katika kila sehemu ya kozi hii, lengo letu si dharau wala uvumilivu laini unaokataa kutaja tofauti halisi, bali ni muunganiko ule ule wa nidhamu ambao Paulo aliuonyesha katika Areopago katika Sehemu ya 1: uelewa wa subira ukiunganishwa na tangazo la wazi na la dharura la Kristo aliyefufuka.This unit will trace the origin of Islam in the life of Muhammad, examine its central text and central practices, explain the great historical division between Sunni and Shia Muslims, compare what Islam teaches about Jesus with what Christians actually believe, and close with practical guidance for gospel conversations with Muslim friends. As with every unit in this course, our aim is neither contempt nor a soft-pedaled tolerance that refuses to name real differences, but the same disciplined combination Paul modeled at the Areopagus in Unit 1: patient understanding joined to clear, urgent proclamation of the risen Christ.

I. Muhammad na Chimbuko la UislamuI. Muhammad and the Origins of Islam

Muhammad ibn Abdullah alizaliwa takriban mwaka 570 B.K. huko Makka, mji wa biashara katika rasi ya Arabia ambao pia ulikuwa na mahali kuu pa kuhiji kwa wapagani, Al-Kaaba, palipohifadhi mamia ya sanamu za makabila. Akiwa yatima tangu utotoni, Muhammad alikua chini ya utunzaji wa jamaa zake na hatimaye akawa mfanyabiashara aliyeheshimiwa, akamwoa mjane tajiri aitwaye Khadija. Kwa mujibu wa mapokeo ya Kiislamu, mwaka 610 B.K., alipokuwa akitafakari katika pango nje ya Makka, Muhammad alipokea ufunuo wa kwanza kati ya mfululizo wa mafunuo ambayo Waislamu wanaamini aliletewa na malaika Jibrili (Gabrieli) katika kipindi cha miaka ishirini na mitatu iliyofuata — mafunuo ambayo Waislamu wanashikilia kuwa ni maneno halisi, neno kwa neno, ya Allah, yaliyokusanywa baadaye katika Kurani.Muhammad ibn Abdullah was born around A.D. 570 in Mecca, a trading city in the Arabian peninsula that was also home to a major pagan pilgrimage site, the Kaaba, housing hundreds of tribal idols. Orphaned young, Muhammad grew up under the care of relatives and eventually became a respected merchant, marrying a wealthy widow named Khadijah. According to Islamic tradition, in A.D. 610, while meditating in a cave outside Mecca, Muhammad received the first of what Muslims believe were a series of revelations delivered to him by the angel Jibril (Gabriel) over the next twenty-three years — revelations Muslims hold to be the literal, verbatim words of Allah, later collected into the Qur'an.

Mahubiri ya mwanzo ya Muhammad huko Makka, yakiyaita makabila ya Kiarabu yaliyoabudu miungu mingi yaziache sanamu zao na kumwabudu Mungu mmoja, yalikutana na upinzani mkali kutoka kwa viongozi wa Makka ambao maslahi yao ya kiuchumi na ya kidini yalifungamana na biashara ya mahujaji kuzunguka Al-Kaaba. Mwaka 622 B.K., akikabiliwa na mateso yaliyokuwa yakiongezeka, Muhammad na jumuiya yake ndogo ya wafuasi walihamia mji wa Yathrib, uliobadilishwa jina baadaye kuwa Madina — tukio linaloitwa Hijra, lenye umuhimu mkubwa sana kwa utambulisho wa Kiislamu kiasi kwamba kalenda ya Kiislamu inahesabu miaka yote kuanzia uhamiaji huu badala ya kuzaliwa kwa Muhammad au ufunuo wake wa kwanza. Huko Madina, nafasi ya Muhammad ilipanuka sana: akawa si kiongozi wa kidini tu bali pia kiongozi wa kisiasa na wa kijeshi, hatimaye akiwaongoza wafuasi wake kurudi kuiteka Makka mwaka 630 B.K. na kuiunganisha sehemu kubwa ya rasi ya Arabia chini ya utawala wa Kiislamu kabla ya kifo chake mwaka 632 B.K. Mwenendo huu — nabii, kisha mwanasiasa wa dola, kisha kamanda wa kijeshi — unatofautiana sana na mtindo wa huduma ya Yesu mwenyewe hapa duniani, na hadi leo unaunda tofauti muhimu katika jinsi Uislamu na Ukristo kila kimoja kilivyoelewa kihistoria uhusiano kati ya mamlaka ya kidini na mamlaka ya kisiasa.Muhammad's early preaching in Mecca, calling the polytheistic Arab tribes to abandon their idols and worship the one God, met fierce resistance from Meccan leaders whose economic and religious interests were tied to the pilgrimage trade around the Kaaba. In A.D. 622, facing increasing persecution, Muhammad and his small community of followers migrated to the city of Yathrib, later renamed Medina — an event called the Hijra, so significant to Islamic identity that the Islamic calendar dates all years from this migration rather than from Muhammad's birth or first revelation. In Medina, Muhammad's role expanded dramatically: he became not only a religious leader but a political and military one, eventually leading his followers back to conquer Mecca in A.D. 630 and unifying most of the Arabian peninsula under Islamic rule before his death in A.D. 632. This trajectory — prophet, then statesman, then military commander — stands in sharp contrast to the pattern of Jesus' own earthly ministry, and it shapes, to this day, important differences in how Islam and Christianity have each historically understood the relationship between religious authority and political power.

Inafaa mchungaji azingatie kwamba Muhammad alijiona kuwa katika mwendelezo wa manabii wa Biblia, si katika upinzani nao. Mapokeo ya Kiislamu yanashikilia kwamba Allah aliwatuma manabii wengi kabla ya Muhammad, wakiwemo Adamu, Nuhu, Ibrahimu, Musa, na Yesu, kila mmoja akileta kimsingi ujumbe ule ule wa kujisalimisha kwa Mungu mmoja, na kwamba Muhammad alikuwa tu wa mwisho na mkuu zaidi katika mstari huu — "muhuri wa manabii." Dai hili la mwendelezo ndilo hasa sababu jirani Mwislamu mara nyingi tayari huwaheshimu kwa dhati Ibrahimu, Musa, na Yesu, na ndiyo sababu mazungumzo ya injili na rafiki Mwislamu mara nyingi yanaweza kuanza na watu na simulizi ambazo imani zote mbili tayari zinazitambua kuwa muhimu, hata ingawa mapokeo haya mawili mwishowe yanawaelewa watu hao kwa namna tofauti sana.It is worth a pastor's attention that Muhammad regarded himself as standing in continuity with, not opposition to, the biblical prophets. Islamic tradition holds that Allah sent many prophets before Muhammad, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, each bringing essentially the same message of submission to the one God, and that Muhammad was simply the last and greatest in this line — the "seal of the prophets." This claim of continuity is precisely why a Muslim neighbor will often already hold Abraham, Moses, and Jesus in genuine esteem, and why gospel conversation with a Muslim friend can often begin from figures and stories both faiths already recognize as significant, even while the two traditions understand those figures very differently in the end.

II. Kurani na Nguzo TanoII. The Qur'an and the Five Pillars

Kurani, maana yake "kisomo" (usomaji wa sauti), ndilo andiko kuu takatifu la Uislamu, likiwa limegawanywa katika vipengele 114 vinavyoitwa sura (kwa Kiarabu surah), vilivyopangwa takriban kuanzia virefu zaidi hadi vifupi zaidi badala ya kufuata mpangilio wa nyakati. Waislamu wanaamini kwamba Kurani ni neno la mwisho, kamilifu, na lisilobadilika la Allah, linalochukua nafasi ya mafunuo yote yaliyotangulia, ikiwemo Taurati iliyotolewa kwa Musa na Injili (Injil) iliyotolewa kwa Yesu, ambazo Uislamu unathibitisha kuwa awali zilikuwa mafunuo ya kweli kutoka kwa Mungu lakini unashikilia kwamba baadaye zilipotoshwa au kubadilishwa na jumuiya za Kiyahudi na za Kikristo — fundisho lenye matokeo makubwa kwa jinsi Waislamu wanavyoiona Biblia ambayo Wakristo wanayo hasa leo. Kando ya Kurani, mapokeo ya Kiislamu pia yanategemea sana Hadith, mikusanyiko mikubwa ya taarifa kuhusu kile ambacho Muhammad alisema na kufanya, iliyokusanywa na wanazuoni wa baadaye na kutumika kuongoza sheria na desturi za Kiislamu katika mambo ambayo Kurani haiyashughulikii moja kwa moja.The Qur'an, meaning "the recitation," is Islam's central sacred text, organized into 114 chapters called surahs, arranged roughly from longest to shortest rather than chronologically. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the final, perfect, and unchangeable word of Allah, superseding all previous revelation, including the Torah given to Moses and the Injil (Gospel) given to Jesus, both of which Islam affirms were originally true revelations from God but holds were later corrupted or altered by Jewish and Christian communities — a doctrine that has significant implications for how Muslims regard the Bible Christians actually possess today. Alongside the Qur'an, Islamic tradition also draws heavily on the Hadith, extensive collections of reports about what Muhammad said and did, compiled by later scholars and used to guide Islamic law and practice on matters the Qur'an does not address directly.

Desturi za Kiislamu zimejikita katika kile kinachoitwa Nguzo Tano, wajibu wa msingi wa kidini unaomhusu kila Mwislamu anayeamini. Shahada ni tamko la imani: "Hakuna mungu ila Allah, na Muhammad ni mjumbe wake" — kukariri sentensi hii moja, ikiaminiwa kwa dhati, ndiko kunakomfanya mtu kuwa Mwislamu rasmi. Salat (Swala) ni wajibu wa sala ya kiibada, inayoswaliwa mara tano kila siku katika nyakati zilizowekwa, ukielekea upande wa Makka. Zakat (Zaka) ni utoaji wa sadaka wa lazima, kwa kawaida ukihesabiwa kuwa takriban asilimia mbili na nusu ya mali iliyolimbikizwa ya Mwislamu, ukitolewa kila mwaka kwa ajili ya kuwasaidia maskini. Sawm (Saumu) ni kufunga katika mwezi wa Ramadhani, kujizuia na chakula, kinywaji, na mahitaji mengine ya kimwili tangu alfajiri hadi machweo kwa mwezi mzima wa kalenda ya mwezi, kukumbuka mwezi ambao Waislamu wanaamini Kurani ilifunuliwa kwanza. Hajj (Hija) ni kuhiji Makka, kunakotakiwa angalau mara moja maishani kwa kila Mwislamu mwenye uwezo wa kimwili na wa kifedha, kukiwa kumejikita katika ibada zinazofanywa kwenye Al-Kaaba na kuizunguka. Kwa pamoja nguzo hizi tano zinaunda mdundo wa kila siku, wa kila wiki, na wa maisha yote wa maisha ya kidini ya Kiislamu kwa namna inayofanana na, ingawa inatofautiana kwa kiasi kikubwa na, jinsi kushika Sabato na sikukuu kulivyounda maisha ya kidini ya Kiyahudi zamani kabla ya kuharibiwa kwa Hekalu, kama tulivyojifunza katika Sehemu ya 2.Islamic practice centers on what are called the Five Pillars, the core religious obligations incumbent on every believing Muslim. The Shahada is the declaration of faith: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger" — the recitation of this single sentence, sincerely believed, is what formally makes a person a Muslim. Salat is the obligation of ritual prayer, performed five times daily at prescribed times, facing the direction of Mecca. Zakat is obligatory almsgiving, typically calculated as roughly two and a half percent of a Muslim's accumulated wealth, given annually for the relief of the poor. Sawm is fasting during the month of Ramadan, abstaining from food, drink, and other physical needs from dawn until sunset for the entire lunar month, commemorating the month in which Muslims believe the Qur'an was first revealed. Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, required at least once in a lifetime for every Muslim who is physically and financially able, centered on rituals performed at and around the Kaaba. Together these five pillars structure the daily, weekly, and lifelong rhythm of Muslim religious life in a way analogous to, though substantially different from, the way Sabbath observance and the feasts once structured Jewish religious life before the Temple's destruction, which we studied in Unit 2.

III. Sunni na Shia: Mgawanyiko MkuuIII. Sunni and Shia: The Great Division

Mgawanyiko mkubwa zaidi wa kihistoria wa Uislamu ulizuka karibu mara tu baada ya kifo cha Muhammad mwaka 632 B.K., kuhusu swali la uongozi badala ya, mwanzoni, swali la mafundisho: ni nani anayepaswa kumrithi Muhammad kama kiongozi wa jumuiya ya Kiislamu? Walio wengi, waliokuja kujulikana kama Waislamu wa Kisunni (kutokana na neno lenye maana ya "mapokeo," likimaanisha mwenendo wa Muhammad), walishikilia kwamba kiongozi mpya, aitwaye khalifa, anapaswa kuchaguliwa kwa makubaliano ya viongozi wakuu wa jumuiya, na wakawakubali makhalifa wanne wa kwanza — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, na Ali — kuwa halali. Wachache walisisitiza kwamba uongozi ulipaswa kupita kwa haki ya kiungu kupitia ukoo wa damu wa Muhammad mwenyewe, hasa kupitia binamu yake na mkwe wake Ali na wazao wa Ali; kundi hili likaja kujulikana kama Waislamu wa Kishia, kutokana na "Shiat Ali," maana yake "chama cha Ali." Kuuawa kishahidi kwa mwana wa Ali, Husayn, katika Vita vya Karbala mwaka 680 B.K., akiuawa na majeshi ya ukhalifa wa Kisunni, kulikuwa na bado ni tukio linalofafanua utambulisho wa kidini wa Kishia, likikumbukwa kila mwaka kwa maadhimisho ya maombolezo makali katika mwezi wa Muharram.Islam's largest historical division arose almost immediately after Muhammad's death in A.D. 632, over a question of leadership rather than, initially, a question of doctrine: who should succeed Muhammad as leader of the Muslim community? The majority, who became known as Sunni Muslims (from a word meaning "tradition," referring to the practice of Muhammad), held that the new leader, called the caliph, should be chosen by the consensus of the community's leading figures, and accepted the first four caliphs — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali — as legitimate. A minority insisted that leadership should have passed by divine right through Muhammad's own bloodline, specifically through his cousin and son-in-law Ali and Ali's descendants; this group became known as Shia Muslims, from "Shiat Ali," meaning "the party of Ali." The martyrdom of Ali's son Husayn at the Battle of Karbala in A.D. 680, killed by Sunni caliphal forces, became and remains a defining event of Shia religious identity, commemorated annually with intense mourning observances during the month of Muharram.

Leo, Waislamu wa Kisunni ni takriban asilimia themanini na tano hadi tisini ya idadi ya Waislamu ulimwenguni, huku Waislamu wa Kishia wakiwa wamejikusanya hasa Iran, Iraki, Bahrain, na jumuiya kubwa huko Lebanoni, Yemeni, na kwingineko. Ingawa mzozo wa awali ulihusu urithi wa kisiasa, karne za maendeleo tofauti zimezaa pia tofauti halisi za kitheolojia na za kisheria, hasa kuhusu mamlaka ya kidini — Uislamu wa Kishia unaweka msisitizo mkubwa juu ya mstari wa viongozi wa kiroho walioteuliwa na Mungu wanaoitwa Maimamu, wazao wa Ali, wakati Uislamu wa Kisunni hautambui cheo chochote kinacholingana na hicho kinachoendelea cha mamlaka ya kidini isiyokosea baada ya Muhammad. Mchungaji anapaswa kufahamu kwamba desturi mahsusi za jirani Mwislamu, misisitizo yake, na hata kalenda yake ya maadhimisho ya kidini vinaweza kutofautiana sana kutegemea kama anatoka katika malezi ya Kisunni au ya Kishia, kama vile mchungaji alivyojifunza katika Sehemu ya 2 kutarajia tofauti halisi kati ya jirani Myahudi wa Kiorthodoksi na wa Kimageuzi.Today, Sunni Muslims make up roughly eighty-five to ninety percent of the world's Muslim population, with Shia Muslims concentrated especially in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and significant communities in Lebanon, Yemen, and elsewhere. While the original dispute concerned political succession, centuries of separate development have produced real theological and legal differences as well, particularly around religious authority — Shia Islam places great emphasis on a line of divinely appointed spiritual leaders called Imams, descended from Ali, while Sunni Islam does not recognize any comparable ongoing office of infallible religious authority after Muhammad. A pastor should be aware that a Muslim neighbor's particular practices, emphases, and even calendar of religious observance may differ significantly depending on whether he comes from a Sunni or Shia background, much as a pastor learned in Unit 2 to expect real differences between an Orthodox and a Reform Jewish neighbor.

Mbali na mgawanyiko wenyewe wa Sunni na Shia, matawi yote mawili yana utofauti zaidi wa ndani unaostahili uangalifu wa mchungaji. Uislamu wa Kisunni unatambua madhehebu manne makuu ya kihistoria ya sheria ya kidini, yanayotofautiana kwa mbinu na msisitizo lakini kwa ujumla yakichukuliwa kuwa halali sawasawa ndani ya desturi za Kisunni. Usufi, mkondo wa kiroho wa kifumbo unaopatikana ndani ya jumuiya za Kisunni na za Kishia pia, unasisitiza ukaribu wa moja kwa moja na wa kuonja na Mungu, unaokuzwa kupitia mazoezi ya kiroho yenye nidhamu, dhikri (kukumbuka majina ya Mungu kwa kuimba), na mara nyingi uongozi wa mwalimu wa kiroho — mkondo wa ibada ya Kiislamu unaoelekea zaidi sana kwenye ushairi, muziki, na shauku ya ndani kuliko msisitizo wa kisheria na wa kimafundisho unaojulikana zaidi katika usomi wa Kisunni wa kawaida. Mchungaji anayedhani kwamba Waislamu wote wanafanya ibada kwa namna moja atakosa utofauti huu halisi wa ndani, kama vile angekosa kama angedhani kwamba Wakristo wote wanaabudu kwa namna moja.Beyond the Sunni-Shia division itself, both branches contain further internal variety worth a pastor's attention. Sunni Islam recognizes four major historical schools of religious law, differing in method and emphasis but generally regarded as equally legitimate within Sunni practice. Sufism, a mystical current found within both Sunni and Shia communities, emphasizes direct, experiential closeness to God cultivated through disciplined spiritual practice, chanted remembrance of God's names, and often the guidance of a spiritual master — a stream of Islamic devotion considerably more given to poetry, music, and inward longing than the legal and doctrinal emphasis more typical of mainstream Sunni scholarship. A pastor who assumes all Muslims practice identically will miss this real internal diversity, just as he would if he assumed all Christians worshiped identically.

IV. Kile Waislamu Wanachoamini Kuhusu Yesu, na Ambapo Uislamu na Ukristo VinatofautianaIV. What Muslims Believe About Jesus, and Where Islam and Christianity Diverge

Pengine kwa mshangao wa Wakristo wengi wanaokutana na jirani Mwislamu kwa mara ya kwanza, Uislamu unamheshimu sana Yesu — anayeitwa Isa kwa Kiarabu. Kurani inathibitisha kuzaliwa kwa Yesu na bikira, inamwita Masihi, inamhusisha na miujiza mingi ikiwemo kuwaponya vipofu na kuwafufua wafu, na hata inatarajia kurudi kwake mwishoni mwa nyakati. Heshima hii ya pamoja kwa Yesu inaweza kutoa msingi halisi wa pamoja kwa mazungumzo ya injili, lakini mchungaji lazima aelewe waziwazi ni wapi picha za Kiislamu na za Kikristo kuhusu Yesu zinatofautiana, kwa sababu tofauti hiyo si ndogo — inagusa kiini kabisa cha injili.Perhaps surprisingly to many Christians meeting a Muslim neighbor for the first time, Islam holds Jesus — called Isa in Arabic — in very high regard. The Qur'an affirms Jesus' virgin birth, calls him the Messiah, attributes numerous miracles to him including healing the blind and raising the dead, and even anticipates his return at the end of the age. This shared reverence for Jesus can provide genuine common ground for gospel conversation, but a pastor must understand clearly where the Islamic and Christian pictures of Jesus diverge, because the divergence is not minor — it goes to the very heart of the gospel.

Uislamu unakana kwa uthabiti uungu wa Kristo; Kurani inakataa waziwazi wazo kwamba Mungu ana mwana, na inaukataa Utatu kama aina ya kuabudu miungu mingi isiyopatana na imani ya Uislamu ya Mungu mmoja isiyokubali maafikiano, inayoitwa tawhid — ingawa fundisho la kihistoria la Kikristo si imani katika miungu mitatu bali katika Mungu mmoja aliyepo milele katika Nafsi tatu, Baba, Mwana, na Roho Mtakatifu, tofauti inayofaa kuelezwa waziwazi mazungumzo na rafiki Mwislamu yanapofika hapa. Uislamu unakana kwamba Yesu alikufa msalabani kabisa — wafasiri wengi Waislamu wanashikilia kwamba Yesu alichukuliwa juu mbinguni kabla ya kusulubiwa na kwamba mtu mwingine, katika baadhi ya masimulizi akifanywa afanane naye, alikufa mahali pake, maana yake Uislamu hauna fundisho la upatanisho kupitia kifo cha Kristo kwa sababu unakana kwamba kifo hicho kilitokea. Ambapo Ukristo unafundisha kwamba dhambi ni uharibifu wa asili ya mwanadamu uliorithiwa kutoka kwa Adamu, unaohitaji upatanisho wa badala ambao Mungu mwenyewe peke yake angeweza kuutoa, Uislamu kwa ujumla unafundisha kwamba wanadamu huzaliwa katika hali ya asili ya kujisalimisha kwa Mungu (inayoitwa fitrah) na kwamba dhambi ni suala la matendo binafsi ya kutotii na kusahau badala ya asili iliyoharibika iliyorithiwa — tatizo linaloshughulikiwa kupitia toba, matendo mema, na rehema ya Allah badala ya kupitia dhabihu ya badala. Siku ya Hukumu, mafundisho ya Kiislamu yanashikilia kwamba matendo mema na mabaya ya mtu yatapimwa, na hatima yake ya milele kuamuliwa kwa kiasi kikubwa kwa msingi huo, ikilainishwa na rehema ya Allah, ambayo haihakikishiwi mtu yeyote mapema — picha ya wokovu unaotegemea kwa kiasi kikubwa utendaji wa mwanadamu badala ya kazi iliyokamilika na iliyohakikishwa ya Mwokozi, kinyume kabisa na neema inayopokelewa kwa imani, ambayo Waefeso 2:8-9 inaieleza kuwa "si kwa matendo, mtu awaye yote asije akajisifu."Islam firmly denies the deity of Christ; the Qur'an explicitly rejects the idea that God has a son, and rejects the Trinity as a form of polytheism incompatible with Islam's uncompromising monotheism, called tawhid — though the historic Christian doctrine is not belief in three gods but one God eternally existing in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a distinction worth making clearly when the conversation with a Muslim friend turns here. Islam denies that Jesus died on the cross at all — most Muslim interpreters hold that Jesus was taken up to heaven before the crucifixion and that someone else, in some accounts made to resemble him, died in his place, meaning Islam has no doctrine of atonement through Christ's death because it denies the death occurred. Where Christianity teaches that sin is a corruption of human nature inherited from Adam, requiring a substitutionary atonement that only God Himself could provide, Islam generally teaches that human beings are born in a state of natural submission to God (called fitrah) and that sin is a matter of individual acts of disobedience and forgetfulness rather than an inherited corrupted nature — a problem addressed through repentance, good works, and Allah's mercy rather than through a substitutionary sacrifice. On the Day of Judgment, Islamic teaching holds that a person's good and bad deeds will be weighed, and their eternal destiny determined largely on that basis, tempered by Allah's mercy, which is not guaranteed to any individual in advance — a picture of salvation resting substantially on human performance rather than on the finished, guaranteed work of a Savior, in sharp contrast to grace received by faith, which Ephesians 2:8-9 describes as "not of works, lest anyone should boast."

V. Kuwashirikisha Majirani na Marafiki Waislamu InjiliV. Engaging Muslim Neighbors and Friends with the Gospel

Tukifuata mtindo ambao kozi hii iliuweka kwa Paulo katika Areopago katika Sehemu ya 1, mchungaji anayemshirikisha jirani Mwislamu anapaswa kuanza na msingi halisi wa pamoja badala ya changamoto ya papo hapo. Waislamu na Wakristo wanashiriki imani katika Mungu mmoja Muumba, mtazamo wa juu kuhusu maandiko kama ufunuo wa Mungu, kujali kwa uzito maadili binafsi na maisha ya haki, heshima kuu kwa maombi na kufunga kama nidhamu za kiroho, na — kama sehemu hii ilivyoonyesha — heshima ya kweli kwa Yesu, hata kama inaeleweka kwa namna tofauti kiasi gani. Mchungaji anayeanza mazungumzo kwa kuziheshimu imani hizi za pamoja, kama vile Paulo alivyoiheshimu dini iliyoonekana wazi ya watu wa Athene kabla ya kuirekebisha, atawakuta majirani Waislamu, ambao mara nyingi wao wenyewe ni watu makini na wenye kufikiri kuhusu mambo ya imani, wako tayari zaidi sana kuendelea na mazungumzo kuliko mchungaji anayeanza kwa changamoto.Following the pattern this course established with Paul at the Areopagus in Unit 1, a pastor engaging a Muslim neighbor should begin from real common ground rather than immediate confrontation. Muslims and Christians share belief in one Creator God, a high view of Scripture as divine revelation, a serious concern for personal morality and righteous living, deep respect for prayer and fasting as spiritual disciplines, and — as this unit has shown — genuine reverence for Jesus, however differently understood. A pastor who begins a conversation by honoring these shared convictions, much as Paul honored the Athenians' evident religiosity before correcting it, will find Muslim neighbors, who are often themselves serious and thoughtful about matters of faith, far more willing to continue the conversation than a pastor who opens with confrontation.

Kutoka katika msingi huo wa heshima ya kweli, sehemu hii inawatia moyo wachungaji kuyasogeza mazungumzo, kwa subira na kwa muda, kuelekea mambo mahsusi ambapo injili inatoa kitu ambacho Uislamu hauwezi kukitoa: upatanisho ambao kwa kweli umekwisha kukamilishwa badala ya hukumu ambayo bado inasubiri juu ya rehema isiyo na uhakika, Mwokozi ambaye yeye mwenyewe ni Mungu aliyekuja karibu badala ya kuwa tu nabii mmoja kati ya wengi, na haki inayopokelewa bure kwa imani badala ya kukusanywa kwa wasiwasi kupitia maisha yote ya matendo ambayo hakuna anayeweza kuwa na uhakika mapema kuhusu kutosha kwake. 1 Timotheo 2:5-6 inaeleza dai la Kikristo kwa usahihi unaofaa hasa kwa mazungumzo haya: "Mungu ni mmoja, na mpatanishi kati ya Mungu na wanadamu ni mmoja, Mwanadamu Kristo Yesu; ambaye alijitoa mwenyewe kuwa ukombozi kwa ajili ya wote." Mstari huu unathibitisha imani ile ile ya Mungu mmoja ambayo Uislamu unaisisitiza — Mungu mmoja — huku ukitangaza mambo yale yale ambayo Uislamu unayakana: Mwokozi mpatanishi aliyejitoa mwenyewe, maana yake kweli alikufa, kuwa ukombozi, maana yake kifo chake kilitimiza kitu halisi kwa ajili ya wengine.From that foundation of genuine respect, this unit encourages pastors to move the conversation, patiently and over time, toward the specific points where the gospel offers something Islam cannot: an atonement that has actually been accomplished rather than a judgment still pending on uncertain mercy, a Savior who is himself God come near rather than merely one prophet among many, and a righteousness received freely by faith rather than assembled anxiously through a lifetime of works whose sufficiency no one can be certain of in advance. First Timothy 2:5-6 states the Christian claim with precision suited to exactly this conversation: "there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all." This verse affirms the very monotheism Islam insists on — one God — while proclaiming the very things Islam denies: a mediating Savior who gave Himself, meaning He actually died, as a ransom, meaning His death accomplished something real for others.

Kwa vitendo, wachungaji wanapaswa kuwa tayari kujadili kwa uaminifu na kwa heshima ushahidi wa kihistoria wa kusulubiwa kwa Yesu, unaothibitishwa na vyanzo vya Kirumi na vya Kiyahudi vilivyokuwa na uadui pamoja na vile vya Kikristo, na unaosimama juu ya msingi wa kihistoria ulio imara zaidi sana kuliko mapokeo ya baadaye ya Kiislamu yanayodai vinginevyo; uaminifu wa maandishi ya Agano Jipya kama yalivyotufikia hasa, likijibu moja kwa moja dai la Kiislamu la kupotoshwa; na maudhui halisi ya kile ambacho Kurani yenyewe inasema kuhusu Yesu, kwa kuwa majirani wengi Waislamu hawajavichunguza vifungu hivi kwa kina wao wenyewe na mara nyingi hushangaa jinsi Kurani inavyothibitisha mambo mengi kuhusu Yeye. Zaidi ya yote, kama ilivyo kwa kila dini ambayo kozi hii inaichunguza, urafiki wa kweli, kusikiliza kwa subira, na aina ya ukarimu ambao Yesu mwenyewe aliuonyesha kwa wale waliokuwa nje ya nyumba ya Israeli vinabaki kuwa mazingira ambamo mazungumzo haya ya kina zaidi yanawezekana kabisa.Practically, pastors should be prepared to discuss honestly and respectfully the historical evidence for Jesus' crucifixion, which is affirmed by hostile Roman and Jewish sources as well as Christian ones and stands on far firmer historical ground than the later Islamic tradition claiming otherwise; the reliability of the New Testament text as it has actually come down to us, addressing directly the Islamic claim of corruption; and the actual content of what the Qur'an itself says about Jesus, since many Muslim neighbors have not studied these passages in depth themselves and are often surprised by how much the Qur'an affirms about Him. Above all, as with every religion this course studies, genuine friendship, patient listening, and the kind of hospitality Jesus Himself modeled with those outside the household of Israel remain the context in which these deeper conversations become possible at all.

— Dkt. Wayne Cook
Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala— Dr. Wayne Cook
Chapala Theological Seminary

Wasilisha Mtihani & Angalia MatokeoSubmit Exam & Check Pass Anza UpyaReset