Muhammad, Muslims, and Islam:
A New Church Perspective

Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom

(New Church Life 1995)

Introduction

     Who are invited to the New Jerusalem? There are twelve gates, which mean:

     The Lord continually invites every person to come to Him . . . "He who comes to Me shall never hunger, never thirst . . . I will by no means cast [them] out" (John 6:35, 37) . . . . Who does not know that the invitation or call is universal, and also the grace of reception? (TCR 358)

     The New Church will be established into which those who are of the former church are invited (AE 948). [And the gates themselves] mean all the knowledges of truth and good through which anyone is introduced into the church (AR 899).

     Are other world religions than the Christian invited? Those who will come to the New Jerusalem are those

     . . . who are in the love or in the affection of good, more or less . . . or in wisdom or the affection of truth, more or less (ibid).

     The invitation to the New Jerusalem is constant; the gates are never shut, which means:

     All are constantly received into the New Jerusalem; . . . all are admitted who want to enter (AR 922).

     [Those who are admitted into the city in the other life] live according to the commandments of the Lord for the sake of being in the Lord and the Lord in them through love, and of being in His New Church by knowledge concerning Him (AR 951).

     So it is clear that all religions qualify to enter the New Church. So far in the history of the New Church, mostly those of Christian background have become members. But past and present members include a few of Muslim and Jewish background. There is no record of former Hindus or Buddhists joining the General Church. However, Islam is a "religion of the Book." The Qur'an (Koran), considered "uncreate" by Muslims, refers to both testaments, thus sharing a base with both Judaism and Christianity.

     It may seem a strange time to emphasize Islam, considering the negative publicity it receives in modern media. But in the interest of New Church awareness and understanding, I submit this short summary and analysis of what constitutes a one-billion-member-strong religion: Islam.²

     ² Or one fifth of the world population. Islam has gained international positive repute for: eliminating alcoholism, prostitution and adultery (on mostly voluntary basis); restoring local religious practices endangered by westernization; and very high conversion to Islam among black U.S. prisoners, who then become model prisoners, earning respect by reforming and controlling others.

New Church Life

     New Church Life contains half a dozen or so articles on Islam, from Stanwood Cobb in 1912, p. 696, to Rev. Robert S. Junge in 1961. Alfred Acton I wrote on it in 1919, as did Rev. Hugo Lj. Odhner in 1924, and Editor William B. Caldwell in 1946.  All except Mr. Junge mainly repeat the wealth of quotes from the Writings on Muhammad and "the Mohammedans."³

     ³ The Qur'an mentions "Islam," meaning submission to Allah, and "Muslim," meaning those who have submitted to Allah. To call them "Mohammedan," although not intended to offend, is still not of their own choice, and is similar to our being called "Swedenborgians."

     Mr. Junge (1961, p. 326) quotes the Qur'an extensively to show the life and faith of the Muslims. He says that more "Christians reject the Word than Muslims reject the Qur'an." Muslims are taught in the other life " . . . from doctrines suited to their apprehension . . . [which are] in harmony with the good tenets of their religion, . . . lived in the world" (HH 516).

     He also treats of the Muslim practice of polygamy. I found Mr. Junge's article very stimulating.

Orthopraxy

     Islam is an "orthopraxy," i.e., a correct form of behavior based on the Qur'an. Its main doctrine is the Shahada: "La Illaha illallah, Muhammad ur-rasul Allah"?  There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."

     This is brought home in the Qur'an: "This day have I perfected for you your religion . . . and chosen for you Islam as a religion" (Sura 5.3).  "And I [Muhammad] am the first of the Muslims" (6.164). "Die not unless you are Muslims" (2-132).⁴

     ⁴ Of course according to Muslim teaching, all people are created Muslim, and become Muslim actually upon realizing that fact. Thus Abraham was a Muslim, as were all the prophets, including Jesus. Muhammad was thus the last prophet, and the leading example of what a Muslim should be.

Main Teachings

     There are several main doctrines: Allah is the Creator, who is omnipotent, omniscient, and provident:
     Allah! There is no God save Him . . . . Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. Who. . . intercedes with Him save by His leave?  He knows what . . . is in front of them and behind them . . . . His throne includes the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them (2.255).
     He is Allah, than whom there is no other god, the knower of the invisible and the visible. He is beneficent, Merciful . . . . glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partner unto Him. He is Allah, the Creator, the Shaper out of naught, the Fashioner . . . (59.22-24).

     Allah has no partners: Islam labels "shirk" the Christian or idolatrous practice of ascribing partners to God:
     Lo Allah forgives not that a partner should be ascribed unto Him. He forgives all save that to whom He will [sic]. Whoso ascribes partners to Allah, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin, . . . has wandered far astray (4.48, 116).

     So there is no idolatry, no polytheism.

Muhammad

     The Writings state that Muslims worship Muhammad. It is true that Muslims honor him much: "In him the essence of goodness is undivided . . . . How excellent is the person of the Prophet!  Good nature adorns him." This is far more honor than the New Church gives to Swedenborg!  But is there worship of him?

     It seems that Muhammad is regarded as a "universal human" and "exemplary model." He is generally regarded as a fulfillment of what Christians would call the Holy Spirit: "I am indeed the Messenger of God to you, confirming the Torah that is before me, and giving good tidings [gospel] of a Messenger who shall come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad" (61.6).

     "Ahmad" may actually be an elusive reference to the Second Coming. But Muhammad says of himself, "Muhammad is but a messenger, . . . like those who passed away before him. Will it be when . . . he dies or be slain, you will turn . . . on your heels? He who turns back does no hurt to Allah, and Allah will reward the thankful" (3.144).

     In other words, Muhammad says Muslims will only harm themselves by turning away from Islam upon Muhammad's own death; but Allah will reward those who remain Muslims even after Muhammad is gone! No idolatry there.

     Both testaments are included as the Word of Allah, teaching salvation to all those who do good: "The mark of them is in their foreheads from the traces of prostration.  Such is their likeness in the Torah and the Gospel, like the sown corn that sends forth its shoot . . . . Allah has promised unto such of them as believe and do good works forgiveness and immense reward" (48.29).

Muhammad's Life (circa 570-632 A.D.)

     The Prophet was illiterate. He received his "call" over a 22-year period, first when he was meditating in a cave near Mecca. He recited what the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) told him, and those who then heard him memorized the exact wording of Muhammad's recitations:
     The angel . . . drew near and suspended two bows' length away . . . then revealed to his servant [all] that he revealed (53.5-10).
     The angel first commanded Muhammad, "Recite." He said, "I am unable to recite." The angel then pressed down on him so hard he thought he would die, and he was told again, "Recite." Again he said he could not. This happened three times. Finally he said, "What shall I recite?" Jibreel's answer:
     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 which he knew not (96.1-5).

     From those early recitations comes the Islamic outlook on authenticity: the Sunna, which was the oral transmission of the recitation, and the Hadith, the written record that resulted. Only recitations that can be traced through a trustworthy lineage of narrators, called Isnad, are accepted. Since Muhammad, being illiterate, never wrote anything himself, everything attributed to him has come through his wives, especially 'Aisha, and the first converts to Islam, the "Companions," who were trusted leaders and relatives. They became "successors" or Caliphs. They were "Caesar-Popes" as Muhammad himself had been, that is, they had both temporal and spiritual authority, since the Qur'an pronounces many sayings on both.

From the Writings

     The most often repeated statement in the Writings concerning Islam⁵ is that Muslims believe "Jesus is the Son of God" (CL 68, TCR 828, LJ 50, CL 341, et al). However, that is the very point that the Qur'an disputes: There are no partners to Allah.  From the Qur'an:
     ⁵ I.e., Mohammedanism, of which one Muslim author says, "Although this term has been used so long in Western languages . . . Islam is a religion based not on the personality of the founder, but on Allah Himself. The Prophet is the channel through whom man received a message pertaining to the nature of the Absolute" (Ideals and Realities of Islam, Hossein Seyyed Nasr, 1966, London).
     "On that day He will call unto them and say: Where are My partners whom you imagined? Cry to your so-called partners of Allah . . . . they will give no answer . . . . If they had but been guided! Who is a God beside Allah who could bring you light?" (28.62-71) "Surely they disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when there is no God save the One God" (5.73).⁶

     ⁶ According to one passage, one Muslim in the spiritual world said, "the Lord was not the Son of Joseph as they believed in the world, but the Son of God Himself, by which was insinuated the idea of unity of the Lord's person and essence with the Father" (C LJ 69). The Qur'an calls Jesus "the son of Mary" (4.171, 5.75).

     When the idea was introduced to Muslims in the other life that "the part of the body rejected by those born of human parents, and which rots away in the grave, was with the Lord glorified and made Divine from the Divine in Itself, and that He rose again, leaving nothing in the tomb," they listened attentively and "wondered they had not heard of such things" (LJ post. 87).

     Other Muslim spirits complained about Christians from Greece (i.e. Eastern Orthodox) who worshipped three gods, not one (LJ post. 100). That is why they called Christians "fanatics" who "say God is one, and mutter three" (TCR 831). This verdiet is what the Writings also decree on the Christian creeds.⁷

     ⁷ See, however, Lord 58, the Writings' own "rewrite" of the Athanasian Creed to acceptable standards. Should it be in our Liturgy?

     Muslims, however, could not accept the Lord as Creator come on earth, but instead see Jesus as a "perfect natural man" (CL 341). Thus they pass Him by in their worship, declaring "Muhammad the greatest prophet." Only in the other life can they comprehend that the "Trine is in one Person" (see LJ post. 89).

     The other main teaching of the Writings regarding Islam is that it came into existence to destroy idolatry (see C LJ 71, DP 255). The Qur'an verifies this anti-idolatry, mainly directed against Christians who adore the Trinity. The Muslims were most condemning of idolatry as a practice, but were very tolerant of idolaters provided they could give it up.

They [non-Muslim Arabs] invoke in His [Allah's] stead only females [all Arab idols were female]; they pray to none else than Satan . . . (4.117).

     The idolatry of stone or wooden images is harshly condemned, as is also the adoration of other human beings: "They have taken their doctors of law and their monks for lords besides Allah," following blindly the "behests of great men" (9.31). This likewise is shirk, or adding partners to Allah, a sin.

     Another form of idolatry condemned by the Qur'an is to take "one's own low desires for his god" (25.43). This too is "shirk," a sin: "So shun the filth of the idols and shun false words, being upright for Allah, not associating aught with Him" (22.30).

     However, with idolaters themselves, the Muslims made treaties, calling these subjects "dhimmies."  Muslims protected them as allies. But the idea was to protect them for the sake of their conversion. When the treaty ran out, unless they had converted, they immediately became "enemies" again: "When the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever you find them . . . . But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor due, then leave their way free. Lo, Allah is forgiving, Merciful" (9.5, 6).

Polygamy

     There are just a few references justifying polygamy in the Qur'an: "And if you fear that you will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, four; but if you fear you will not be equitable, then only one" (4.3). "You will not be able to be equitable between your wives, be you ever so eager" (4.129).

     Muhammad's first wife was a wealthy widow, Khadija, for whom he worked as caravan manager. He was monogamous with her for 25 years, till her death. After that, he had four wives whom he treated with model equality, building each separate quarters attached to the Mosque in Medina. The reasons were to help them from poverty and provide for their children (orphans). Only 'Aisha was a virgin wife.

     Three reasons are brought forward for polygamy:  1. Only up to four wives, the reason being to prevent embezzlement of the inheritance to orphans by unscrupulous owners of slaves;  2. Fear of not being just to orphans or many wives prohibits having too many of either;  3. The fear of the "great sin of adultery." To "shun adultery you are allowed up to four wives."⁸

     ⁸ All, the Religion of Islam, Book Crafters, Michigan 1990, p. 473

     Polygamy is not seen as concubinage in Islam. Slaves were not coerced into sexual service, but could be married, and thus enter the harem:
     Whoso is not able to afford to marry free believing women, let them marry from the believing maids whom your right hand possess. Allah knows best concerning your faith . . . . So wed them by permission of their folk, and give unto them their portions in kindness, they being chaste, not debauched nor of loose conduct. This is for him among you who fears to commit sin (4.25).

     However, practices of large harems in later history strayed from this ideal.⁹

     ⁹ Muslim polygamy has been glamorized by the West, but the original statements in the Qur'an allow polygamy only for the sake of protecting widows and orphans when men have been lost in battle against idolaters-Islam's first and foremost enemies. The Turks went in for polygamy in a big way, as did the Abbassid Empire-ancient Iraqis. They were not the original Arabs, and interpreted the Qur'an in their own schools of thought.  Swedenborg may have been aware mostly of the Turkish odalisques, which do not represent all of Islam.

     The permission of polygamy is generally credited with the almost total absence of adultery and prostitution in Islamic countries. And where Muslim prostitutes exist, they are "sheltered" by many local authorities and helped back to morality.

     There are also specific rules of divorce, which are too complex for treatment here. Generally, women have complete authority at home, and such great freedom that it seems even greater than the western ideal. However, the restrictions that come with it are a moot point, and modern Muslim women are using the Qur'an to overcome such sayings as the Muslim scholar, Al-Ghazali: "It is despicable for a man to be less than a woman in matters of religion or of this world."  Thus misogyny has been a battle for Muslim women to overcome.  Also, the Qur'an gives less inheritance to women than to men, another point of contention, especially for Western critics, labeled as "Orientalists" and "ignoramuses" by Muslims.

Common-ground Doctrines

     The Second Advent was prophesied at the First Advent. However, since Islam came between the two from 610 to 632, it is only to be expected that since the Lord revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad,¹⁰ it should contain doctrines similar to those expected at the Second Coming. Thus the bridge for Muslims who may wish to enter the New Jerusalem, that is, the New Church here on earth, seems to be these commonly held beliefs. Our interface with Muslims is best conducted on doctrinal grounds.

     ¹⁰ DP 255: "This form of religion was raised up by the Divine Providence of the Lord to destroy the idolatries of many nations."

     Let us now summarize some of the Muslim teachings which are practically identical to New Church teachings, omitting the beliefs already dealt with above (God the Creator, no idols, etc.). We start with the Writings and find in the Qur'an a parallel doctrine.

Freedom

     There is spiritual freedom, or free will, as taught all through the Writings: "Who does not know that man has freedom of choice in spiritual things? . . . . to deny it would be folly" (TCR 463). So also the Qur'an: "There is no compulsion in religion . . . . He who rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never break" (2.256).¹¹

     ¹¹Predestination is another matter, but is not like Presbyterian dogma: it is "Allah's will": "Whomsoever God guides, he is rightly guided; and whom He leads astray, they are the losers" (7.178). He leads astray the "ungodly [who] break the covenant" (2.26).

Salvation

     In the New Church, "Every person who has religion knows and acknowledges that he who leads a good life is saved, and that he who leads an evil life is damned" (Life 1). In the Qur'an: "Each one believes in Allah and His angels and His scriptures, and His messengers . . . . We hear and we obey. Unto You is the journeying . . . . Condemn us not if we forget or miss the mark!" (2.285, 2.286)  "Theirs will be home . . . . Gardens of Eden which they enter along with all who do right of their fathers and their helpmeets and their seed. The angels enter unto them from every gate"(13.23).

The Ten Commandments

      The Writings: "Listen: [The Ten Commandments] were promulgated with so great a miracle [because] they are also spiritual laws: to act contrary to them . . . is also a sin against God . . . . He commands in order that it may be of religion . . . and for the sake of man that he may be saved" (Life 53). So the Qur'an: "And We [Allah] wrote for him [Moses] upon the tablets, the lesson to be drawn from all things and the explanation of all things then bade him hold it sacred, and command your people saying, Take the better course made clear therein. I shall show you the abode of evil livers" (7.145).

The Virgin Birth of the Messiah

     This is a monumental truth in the Writings: "The Lord was like other men except that He was conceived of Jehovah but still was born of a virgin mother, and by birth derived infirmities from the virgin mother like those of man in general" (AC 1414; cf. AC 8909, TCR 538). That he was "the son of Joseph is an insane notion" (TCR 94).  Islam is approachable on this: "Lo, Allah gives you glad tidings from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary . . . one of those brought near to Allah. He will speak to mankind in His cradle, in His manhood, and He is of the righteous" (3.45, 46). Mary said, "My Lord, how can I have a child when no mortal has touched me? He said, So it will be. Allah creates what He will. If He creates a thing, He says unto it only, Be, and it is" (3.47).

The Lord Is God

     The Writings: "Jehovah God descended as Divine Truth, which is the Word, although He did not separate from it the Divine Good . . . . God assumed the Human in accordance with His Divine Order" (TCR 85, 89). The Qur'an puts it: "We make of Him [Jesus] a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained" (19.21). "Allah took Him [Jesus] up unto Himself" (4.158).  "The likeness of Jesus with Allah is truly as the likeness of Adam" (3.58).¹²

     ¹² This is perhaps what lies behind the Writings' teaching that the Qur'an teaches that Jesus is the "Son of God."

Life after Death

     "Man after death is a complete human form" (HH, passim). In the Qur'an: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good, they have their reward with their Lord" (2.62). "We have ordained death among you . . . that We may change your state and make you grow into what you know not" (56.60-61). "Certainly the Hereafter is greater in degrees and greater in excellence" (17.21).

The Book of Life

     The Writings reveal that man's own interior memory contains his entire life: "Man carries with him all of his memory, and nothing can be so concealed in the world as not to be disclosed after death" (HH 462). In the Qur'an: "Do they think that We hear not their secrets and private counsels? Aye! and Our messengers with them write down" (43.80).  "And the book is placed, then you see the guilty fearing for what is in it, and they say: O woe to us! what a book is this! It leaves out neither a small thing nor a great one, but numbers them all" (18.50). "Every nation will be called to its record. This day you are requited for what you did" (45.28). "Read your book; your own soul is sufficient as a reckoner against you this day" (17.14).¹³

     ¹³ We need to point out that no one is condemned for what he or she has done here, however. The Lord does not impute evil. It is our continued life that judges us, meant by the Lord's words, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." This means that "the Lord does not impute a single sin to anyone" (TCR 639).

Last Judgment

     And so the final common-ground category covered here: "The Last Judgment must be where all are together, thus in the spiritual world, and not on earth" (LJ 28).  "No one is judged from the natural man, thus not so long as he lives in the natural world . . . but everyone is judged in the spiritual man,. . . when he comes into the spiritual world . . . ; the natural . . . cannot be held guilty of any fault or crime, since it does not live of itself but is only the servant" (LJ 30). "In the spiritual body, man appears such as he is" (ibid).

     So the Qur'an: "We will set up a just balance on the Day of Resurrection" (21.47). "And the heaven, He raised it high, and He set up the measure that you may not exceed the measure, and keep up the balance with equity nor fall short in the measure" (55.7-9). "And the judging on that day will be just, so as for those whose good deeds are heavy, they are the successful. And as for those whose good deeds are light, those are they who ruined their souls" (7.8,9). "Allah shows them their deeds to be intense regret to them, and they will not escape from the fire" (2.167). "Whoever does good, it is for himself; and whoever does evil, it is against himself" (45.15).

Conclusion

     There is a rising discontentment among Muslims, because "modernization" has brought with it "westernization" or, even worse for them, "Americanization" Generally they favor the first but not the second or third.

     There is a difference! Some Islamic nations such as Egypt and Turkey have become westernized, but at least Egypt remains heavily Muslim under some trappings of western culture. Other nations are further from the modernizing trends, and are thus able to withhold their peoples from the "damaging effects" of western influences. It is among the latter that the "Jihad" has been turned from the original meaning of Jihad, namely warfare against their own weak flesh, into warfare against those who would disrupt the Islamic way of life.

     Their pillars of orthopraxy-salat:  five times daily prayer;  zakat:  their poor-dues;  saum:  fasting during Ramadan;  Hajj:  pilgrimage to Mecca, and tahard:  purification-provide a method of living which appeals to one billion inhabitants of this planet.  Their official tolerance of other beliefs within their borders has resulted in mixtures of local customs with Islam, so that all brothers and sisters in faith in the international community meet on equal terms, without prejudice. In fact, everyone is already "Muslim," and being converted is when we recognize the fact!

     One task for the New Church is understanding.  Muslims in the other life heard the doctrines of heaven, and "on hearing these things, they were silent, and many acquiesced" (LJ post. 100).  And yet, "communication between Christians and Muslims is taken away" in the spiritual world. If not, none could be saved! (CL 352) But when communication does take place, Muslims wonder why "they had not heard such things" (LJ 87). Given the contents of the Qur'an, no wonder!

     New Church doctrines are spiritual truths stated in rational language. That is the bridge:  to state our teachings in their own wording, without fear, and then in our own wording, for personal communication. The Qur'an has many of our main doctrines. We can converse with the Muslims.*

     * I wish to thank two people who responded to my questionnaire. Mrs. Nuhad (Abed) Zachariah: "We have great respect and affection for our Moslem friends . . . . They are very tolerant and respectful of other religions. They believe it is a sin to convert from Islam, while converting to Islam is as easy as saying, 'There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet'; no instruction is required; Islam is not synonymous with Arab; Muslims can understand something special about Jesus."  Capt. Gregory Rose: "We need to learn a lot about accommodation before we . . . hope to find receptive ears. There is no intermediary between God and man. We [in the West] are immediately identified as strangers, outsiders, and a reason to be suspicious and guarded; to leave family, clan, and tribe has far greater meaning for them than for us. We need to think not only what to present, but how to present it. Sufis [esoteric Islam] were among the most successful Islamic missionaries because they attributed local folk religions to Islamic origins."

[This paper was presented to the Council of the Clergy in 1995 and is based on research done in a summer study (1994) investigating how new members in the General Church come to the New Church from various backgrounds. It follows the studies on those from Catholic or Orthodox background (1992) and those of Reformed background (1993). It followed a graduate proseminar in Islam, spring term 1994, Temple University.]

Letter to the Editor of New Church Life 1995

Dear Editor:
     I was happy to see the treatment of Islam in the May issue. Relations between east and west have often been contentious, at least partially because both Christianity and Islam see themselves as universal religions that will or should encompass the globe. Since Islam is currently the fastest growing religion on earth, it is well worth taking a closer look at what Muslims believe. As Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom's paper pointed out, there are many common doctrines because the qur'an (literally "recitation") was revealed to provide a means of salvation for people of a certain genius. There are several points that I think warrant emphasis and closer scrutiny.