Muslims follow the God of Abraham because they can trace their lineage back to him and that is what the Qur'an instructs them to do.
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Who would forsake the religion of Abraham, except he who fools himself?" We chose him in this world, and in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous. (Qur'an 130)
"We will worship thy God, the God of our forefathers Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac, the One God; and unto Him will we surrender ourselves." (Qur'an 2:133)
Below is what Islam teaches about Jesus:
- His mother, Mary, was a virgin;
- Jesus was the "Word" of God;
- Jesus was the Messiah sent to the children of Israel;
- Jesus confirmed the validity of the Torah;
- Jesus lived a righteous life; performed miracles, healed the blind, the sick, and raised the dead;
- Jesus removed some of the law of Moses;
- Jesus was raised into Heaven, currently sits with God, and will return at the day of the Resurrection (Judgement Day);
- Jesus is the only living prophet today.
The Angels said, “O Mary, God gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, well-esteemed in this world and the next, and one of the nearest. He will speak to the people from the crib, and in adulthood, and will be one of the righteous.”
She said, “My Lord, how can I have a child, when no man has touched me?”
“It will be so. God creates whatever He wills. To have anything done, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is. And He will teach him the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. A messenger to the Children of Israel: I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I make for you out of clay the figure of a bird; then I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God’s leave. And I heal the blind and the leprous, and I revive the dead, by God’s leave. And I inform you concerning what you eat, and what you store in your homes. In that is a sign for you, if you are believers. And verifying what lies before me of the Torah, and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord; so fear God, and obey me. God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him." (Qur'an 3:45-51)
Muslims do not use the Bible, nor do they promote death to all who refuse to hear them.
Muslims can trace their lineage back to Abraham, and the Qur'an instructs them to put their faith in the same God that Abraham did. As we know, Abraham worshiped the one true God, so what other god could Muslims be worshiping?
It's impossible to come to the conclusion that Muslims worship a different god than the God of Abraham if one reads the Qur'an and/or talks to Muslims about their faith and what they believe. Muslims do, of course, miss the most important aspect of Jesus: that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6) and that He died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:2-4), but regardless, they are still worshiping the God of Abraham.
Yes, the gospel and the kingdom of God are all about planting, watering, and faith. When it comes to sharing the gospel our job is to plant and water seeds. It's God who makes things grow.
"What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building." (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)
I lived in Turkey for 11 months in the mid-80s, and for the past 11 years I have been a missionary based in Davao City on the island of Mindanao, where I serve among a people group that is Sunni Muslim for the most part. The first five years I was in Davao, I resided in a Muslim community, and I was the only Christian living in the apartment building I lived in. My mission work takes me to the predominately Islamic communities and islands found in the Sulu Archipelago, where the Muslim population is anywhere from 70 to close to 100%, depending on the island.
I have devoted my life to the gospel, and I'm also willing to take this gospel wherever God leads me, even when it means putting my life at risk to do so.
As a missionary, I get to meet many former Muslims who have become Christians and a few who choose to work in their communities to introduce others to Christ. In fact, one of my good friends in Davao is a former Muslim from Saudi Arabia who found Christ when he was in his 30s when a Filipino foreign worker shared the gospel with him in his country. He is now in his late 40s and is a missionary to Muslims in Mindanao, like myself. I have never known him to have slandered Muhammad, criticized the Qur'an, or told the people that they worship a different god. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, criticizing Islam, Muhammad, or the Qur'an when witnessing to Muslims is neither effective nor necessary and only leads to discord. Besides, our job isn’t to prove Islam, the Qur'an or the Muslim wrong, it's to give a clear witness to the Truth of the Gospel. It's the Holy Spirit that will convict the Muslim and show him or her the errors in their ways if that is God's will for them.
This is good to hear.