Islam, a Religion of Law … or Grace?
It’s a mainstay of negative Christian opinions about Islam. I’ve been to a few Christian events in recent weeks so I’ve heard it a few times — Christianity is a religion of grace (God’s mercy, especially in Jesus Christ) and Islam is a religion of law (rules). Coupled with an ‘unholy’ fear of shari’ah it’s a potent mix of negativity at best, hate at worst. We like to look down on others and feel superior, so the other must be diametrically opposed to us. How often is that true? Those we have most problem with are most like us, in fact we make them into a problem. So when I saw ‘Islam has no concept of grace’ in a Christian magazine I thought, ‘Oh, yeah!’ One search of an online Qur’an later and my original impression is confirmed, ‘grace’ appears 88 times (124 times in the Bible, translations may vary for both scriptures!). For good measure, I also looked up ‘gracious’ (63 times in the Qur’an, 45 times in the Bible). As I write this these statistics are waiting in my Twitter Buffer waiting to be sent! I suppose the author could have meant that there was no content behind these words which are used 151 times in the Qur’an. Although I think we can argue that if two related words are used to convey the same message then there must be a ‘concept’ behind them! Of course, searching and counting words can be very superficial but I think the point has been made. Perhaps the author was thinking, or meaning, that Islam doesn’t fit with the Christian idea of grace. Or maybe the author wasn’t that familiar with the Qur’an!
This is a joint article so this is what my colleague Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra would like us to be aware of from the Qur’an.
So, let’s sample a few verses (and on a closer look, 15 hits are for ‘disgrace’):
2.64. ‘But ye turned back thereafter: Had it not been for the Grace and Mercy of God to you, ye had surely been among the lost.’
2.221 ‘But God beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of bliss) and forgiveness, and makes His Signs clear to mankind: That they may celebrate His praise.’
3.103 ‘And hold fast, all together, by the rope which God (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude God’s favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it.’
4.175 ‘Then those who believe in God, and hold fast to Him, soon will He admit them to mercy and grace from Himself, and guide them to Himself by a straight way.’
These verses wouldn’t look out of place in the Bible. In contrast ‘law’ (including ‘lawful’) appears 82 times in the Qur’an and at least 20 of these appearances refer to the Mosaic Law.
It is worth closing with one of the verses from near the end of the Qur’an.
110.3 ‘Celebrate the praises of thy Lord, and pray for His Forgiveness: For He is Oft-Returning (in Grace and Mercy).’
Written in January 2013 by
Julian Bond, Director, Christian Muslim Forum
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Co-Chair, Christian Muslim Forum
Originally published at www.christianmuslimforum.org.
