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God-fearing Muslims from every corner of the earth are moving into American neighborhoods. Are we ready to welcome them and tell them the truth about Jesus? This week at ChristianityToday.com, we take a look at the basics of Islam and how Muslims view Christianity, helpful models for relating to Muslims, and how to engage our Muslim neighbors boldly and lovingly.Despite Islam's diversity throughout its history, the role of the Prophet Muhammad and the place of the Qur'an have remained unchallenged.

For Muslims, Muhammad is the last and greatest of the Prophets, surpassing Jesus. He was born in A.D. 570 in Mecca (in what is today Saudi Arabia). Mecca's heart of worship at the time was the local Ka'bah (shrine), or the Black Stone, and its numerous idols. According to Islamic tradition, Abraham's firstborn son Ishmael and Ishmael's mother Hagar, after being banished by Sarah, ended up in the desert surrounding Mecca, where they were miraculously rescued. Abraham—or Ibrahim, as he is known in Arabic—visited them there and he and Ishmael built the Ka'bah. Muslims believe they are the true heirs, through Ishmael, to the promise God made to Abraham. Jesus and Mary were among the many images—in addition to the goddesses of fertility and power—worshiped at the Ka'bah during Muhammad's day.Muhammad learned about "the People of the Book"—Jews and Christians—in his youth. He felt troubled that his own people, the Arabs, did not have a book of their own. As he reflected despondently on this one day in a cave on Mount Hira (in A.D. 609 or 610), Muhammad said, the angel Gabriel appeared to him: "Recite: In the Name of thy Lord who created Man of a blood-clot. Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught Man that he knew not" (Surah 96:1-4). The injunction to "recite" meant "make vocal what is already written," says Islamicist Kenneth Cragg, which means it was the "sending down" of a preexistent book. (Qur'an is Arabic for "recitation.")At first Muhammad feared he had been overtaken by a jinn, a troubling spirit. But Muhammad's wife Khadijah encouraged him that his visions were indeed from God and that he had been chosen as his special messenger. Muhammad's fear gave way to acquiescence and the visions recurred with greater frequency.His recitations denounced idol worship and proclaimed the total sovereignty of the One True God. Because the People of the Book also claimed allegiance to this God, his early recitations about Christianity and Judaism in the Qur'an were irenic: "O believers, be you God's helpers, as Jesus, Mary's son, said to the Apostles. 'Who will be my helpers unto God?' The Apostles said, 'We will be helpers of God' " (Surah 61:14).His small circle of followers, composed mostly of family members and domestic help, became increasingly assertive in their belief that Muhammad was a prophet, and this aroused the consternation of the people of Mecca, many of whom felt their vested interests in idol worship and commerce were threatened.The deaths of his beloved wife Khadijah (15 years his senior) and his uncle Abu Talib (who also served as a protector) in 619 precipitated a crisis for Muhammad. He and his followers could stay in Mecca in perpetual jeopardy as a despised minority, or he could move to a new location where the fledgling faith could gain a foothold and grow. Some of his disciples had succeeded in their missionary undertakings to the north, in a place called Yathrib, later called Medina. So in 622, Muhammad migrated to that city to form a new base of activity. The famous hijrah (emigration) occurred in September of that year and became the historical fulcrum of Islam.Several things happened with this move that solidified and redefined Islam. First, despite the previous missionary successes in Medina, Muhammad's new religion hardly received unanimous affirmation upon his arrival. Some resisted his presumption and others eschewed the notion of converting. Second, Muhammad had anticipated a warm reception from the People of the Book—primarily the Jews—in Medina, since they too were "Scripture people." Instead they treated him with "amused disdain," says Cragg, and rejected his claims as "pretentious."These difficulties triggered a shift in Muhammad's message. The portions of the Qur'an "sent down" during this period took on a more aggressive political and legal tone, in contrast to its previous poetic and mystical reflections. During the Medinan years (622-630) Muhammad consolidated Islam into a functioning, overarching political and religious community—the umma—and built a mosque. He also fashioned his revelations into principles, and administered the social, political, economic, and religious affairs of the Medinans. Recitations regarding the People of the Book (both Jews and Christians) became more belligerent: "God fight them, what liars they are" (Surah 9:30); and "O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Whoso of you makes them his friends is one of them. God guides not the people of the evildoers" (Surah 5:56).At the same time, hostilities with the Meccans continued as Muhammad raided their caravans traveling north. The Battle of Badr (624) proved decisive for establishing Islam as an aggressive force. "[T]he sword was unleashed and the scabbard cast away. The jihad, or appeal to battle, had been irrevocably invoked," Cragg says. (Jihad also has a spiritual sense in Islam: the struggle of the self against veering from the truth.)A contentious debate continues today in Muslim circles about whether this aggression should be considered "defensive," since the future of Islam was at stake. The Qur'an maintains that war is an evil, but the extinction of Islam is a greater evil (Surah 2:217). But for all intents and purposes, the victory at Badr marked a critical stage in the evolution of Islam from a defensive to an offensive position.By 630 Muhammad returned to Mecca in victory. He claimed the city for Islam and destroyed the idols being worshiped at the Ka'bah. This action introduced the notion of "manifest success"—geographical dominance—as a validating sign of Islam.Muhammad "combined the good and the bad qualities of an Oriental chief," notes Christian historian Philip Schaff. He despised ostentation and lived in small mud-brick cottages with his many wives. He mended his own clothes, cobbled his shoes, milked goats, and was accessible, gracious, and hospitable to visitors. Muhammad died in 632, two years after the conquest of Mecca. The recitations were complete—the canon, so to speak, was closed.

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March (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44