Islam and Christianity worship the same God

Table of contents

If the God of Islam and Christianity are one and the same then they should share the same attributes. If even one attribute is not the same, then they are not the same God.

Differences between Allah and Yahweh

God’s essence and character

Allah	Yahweh
Allah is an absolute oneness with only one person.	Yahweh is one divine being with a plurality of divine personages.
Before creation Allah was alone. He can therefore not be love.	Before creation Yahweh was not alone. He therefore IS love. 1 John 4:8
Allah is described as loving only his followers.	Yahweh is described as being love in essence, loving everyone.
Allah does not love unbelievers. (Surah 2:98,276;3:32)	Yahweh loves the whole world, including unbelievers. (John 3:16)
Allah only loves if you do something for him first. (Surah 2:195;3:146)	Yahweh loves you before you even know him. (Jer 32:3;Rom 5:8;1 John 4:10,19)
Allah is absolutely transcendent.	Yahweh is both transcendent and immanent (interacting with and revealing himself directly with humans in this world).
Allah is unable to enter our world.	Yahweh regularly enters our world through theophanies and ultimately through Jesus.
Allah can not be compared to any created thing and is beyond human comprehension.	Yahweh created humans in his image, and describes himself in anthropomorphic language so we can understand him.
Allah is fickle and untrustworthy.	Yahweh is unchanging and trustworthy.
Allah lies (e.g. Surah 4:157;8:43,44)	Yahweh can not lie (Ps 31:5; Titus 1:2; Heb 6:18; Num 23:19)

God’s authority

Allah	Yahweh
Not every knee will bend before Allah. (Surah 48:62)	Every knee will bend before Jesus. (Phil 2:10-11)
Swears by creation, like the moon (and by extension the moon god Sīn.) (Surah 74:32-34)	Swears by himself because there is none greater. (Genesis 22:16; Isaiah 45:23; Hebrews 6:13)

God’s relationship with humanity

Allah	Yahweh
Allah is not a father to anyone, but a slave master treating his followers as slaves. (Surah 112:4; 18:4; 19:35, 88-93)	Yahweh is a loving Heavenly Father who treats his worshipers like children.
Allah can not be a father because he has no spouse. (Surah 6:101)	Yahweh doesn’t need a spouse to be a Father.
The relationship between Allah and humanity in Islam is characterized by submission and obedience to Allah’s will.	Yahweh’s relationship with humanity involves a covenantal personal relationship based on love, grace, and redemption through faith in Jesus Christ.
Allah guides humanity through prophets, with Muhammad being the final prophet.	Yahweh interacts with humanity through history, prophecy, and ultimately through the incarnation of Jesus.

God’s view of sins

Allah	Yahweh
Allah wants people to sin.	Yahweh does not want people to sin. (Satan wants people to sin)
Allah forgives sins by overlooking them.	Yahweh can not overlook sins, but must judge righteously.
Allah promotes adultery	Yahweh prohibits adultery
Allah demands that a divorced woman must marry another man and divorce again before she can remarry her original husband.	Yahweh forbids a man who divorced his wife to remarry her if she became another man’s wife.
Allah lets you break oaths (Riyad as-Salihin 1716; Surah 66:2)	Yahweh dos not allow breaking of oaths. (Psalm 15:4)

Other differences

Sonship of Jesus Christ

Islam	Christianity
In Islam, the concept of Allah having a son is rejected.	In Christianity, Jesus is considered the Son of God.
The Quran explicitly denies that Allah has any children or partners (Surah 112:3; 19:35).	The Bible teaches that God is a trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Salvation

Islam	Christianity
Islam denies the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, saying that Allah deceived humanity into believing that it happened when it didn’t.	Christianity and all historical evidence says that Jesus was indeed crucified.
Salvation in Islam is attained through faith in Allah, righteous deeds, and following the Five Pillars of Islam. It involves submission to Allah’s will, repentance, and seeking Allah’s mercy.	In Christianity, salvation is viewed as a gift of grace from God through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). It involves belief in Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection, repentance from sin, but can not be attained by righteous deeds.

Holy books

Quran	Bible
Took 23 years to complete.	Took 1600 years to compete.
Has 114 chapters and 77,797 words.	Has 1189 chapters and 783,137 words.
Affirms the inspiration, authenticity and preservation of the Bible	Denies the inspiration, authenticity or preservation of the Quran
Is considered the literal word of Allah, unaltered and preserved in its original language.	Is considered written by men and inspired by God’s Holy Spirit.
Islam expects the Quran to be preserved word for word and letter for letter. Therefore the existence of 30+ variants is devastating to this claim.	Christians don’t expect the Bible to be preserved by the letter, but only by the theological meaning. Therefore the existence of minor variations is irellevant as they don’t impact the meaning.
The Quran is said to be perfectly preserved, however several chapters have gone missing, there was several different variants already during Muhammad’s lifetime, and afterward Uthman burned all variations but one. So there is no way to confirm the original text.	The Bible is the most well preserved ancient text by orders of magnitude. No central authority could touch it. There are tens of thousands of consistent manuscripts proving that the Bible text has not been changed for over 2300 years.
Is written in Arabic, and Muslims believe that this language is somehow magical, so that you can’t understand it fully unless you know Arabic.	The Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Yahweh adapted to the languages that were most common in each period so that as many as possible would understand.
Translations are not considered real Qurans. Allah expects you to adapt to his language.	Translations are judged individually on how well they preserve the original meaning.
Was dictated by one angel to one man, Muhammad, in a manner completely foreign to previous scripture. Allah never shows up himself.	The Bible was written by about 40 different people. Inspiration came through direct revelation from Yahweh, visions, dreams, sometimes angels, etc.
The Angel dictating the Quran is supposed to be Gabriel, but the first time Muhammad met him, he didn’t introduce himself, and then violently abused Muhammad.	From the Bible we know that Gabriel always introduces himself and treats people kindly and lovingly. So whatever Muhammad met, it wasn’t Gabriel.
The proof of divine inspiration is it’s “excellent literary quality.” But experts in Arabic agree that it’s literary garbage.	Doesn’t claim proof of divine inspiration by literary excellence, but still both it’s prose and poetry has shaped the literary world.
No verified prophecy.	A lot of verified prophecy.

Muhammad v.s. Jesus

Muhammad	Jesus
Never did any miracles.	Did many miracles.
Married 11 women.	Was chaste and celibate.
Was a boy toy to a rich successful sugar mama.	Was a hard working carpenter.
Was a warlord.	Was a peaceful itinerant teacher.
Taught: “hate your enemy”.	Taught: “love your enemy”
Sexually abused little children.	Taught that it would be better to have a mill stone hung around your neck and be thrown into the sea rather than harm a child.
Killed many people.	Never killed anyone but raised people from the dead.
Tortured people.	Never tortured anyone but healed the sick.
Said women were mentally deficient and equal to dogs and donkeys.	Loved and honored women, treating them as equals, giving them the privilege to be disciples and the first witnesses of his resurrection.
Abused women	Cared for women
Stoned an adulteress to death.	Saved an adulteress from being stoned to death.
Had unfair advantages over his followers, like being allowed to take more wives.	Served his followers.
Had no real authority. (Surah 72:21)	Has all authority in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)
Dying words: “Cursed be the Jews and Christians, for they build their Holy places on the graves of the prophets.”	Dying words: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Had no idea what would happen to him after death. (Surah 46:9)	Knew he would resurrect himself after death.
Is dead in his tomb.	Was resurrected and lives forever.
Sahih Muslim 22 “I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”	Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Muhammad can not direct you the correct way. Surah 72:21	Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6
Muhammad can not save anyone from Allah’s punishment. Sahih al-Bukhari 2753	Jesus saves and no one can snatch us out of his hand. John 10:28

Sexual morality

Quran	Bible
A husband can have 4 wives.	A husband may only have one wife.
He has the right to have sex with her however and whenever he wishes, but the wife does not have this right.	He and his wife have equal rights to sex.
If he even suspects his wife of being rebellious, he should chastise her, banish her from their bed and physically beat her. (Surah 2:223; 4:3,34)	He should love her like his own body, and be willing to give his life for her. He should not be harsh with her, but show her honor and understanding as an equal, feed and cherish her, and treat her carefully like he would treat a very valuable fragile vase. If he doesn’t do this, God will not listen to his prayers. (1 Peter 3:7; Ephesians 5:28-29, 33; Colossians 3:19)

How are these equal?