Dr Paul Allen

As a Christian growing up in Egypt, many of my neighbors and classmates were named “Muhammad.” From an early age, I learned the significance of that name—the name of their prophet—to the Muslims around me. Muslims cherish, love, and respect Muhammad. They also believe the use of his name brings blessing to their lives. Now I live in America. And as more Muslims come to this country, I believe American Christians need to know more of what Muslims understand about their prophet. Here are nine things you should know about Muhammad. 1. Muhammad was probably a historical figure. Muhammad was allegedly born in Mecca in AD 570 and died in Medina in AD 632. Many are skeptical of the information about his life because the Muslim accounts of it were documented about two centuries after his death. We have no eyewitness accounts. This is problematic, as we cannot fully trust the records about him. However, we have reason to believe Muhammad was a historical figure. Some Christians in the seventh c...

Recently I heard a friend came across a professing Christian. The individual was celebrating the idea that the Qur’an mentions Jesus Christ. They went on to suggest that Christians and Muslims can have a measure of theological and spiritual unity because both sacred books—the Qur’an and the Bible—feature Jesus. But, this common suggestion errs big in its presupposition . It assumes that the Jesus mentioned in the two sacred books is the same person. As long as it refers to a first century Hebrew individual named “Jesus” who did some remarkable things, then it’s pretty much the correct Jesus and all is well.  However, this is a serious error. It’s the same error that individuals often commit when it comes to understanding other religions in comparison to biblical Christianity. For example, the Jesus of Mormonism or the Jehovah Witnesses is both entirely different individuals; radically different. The same is true when it comes to the Qur’an. We will noti...

From time to time at the Cripplegate we attempt to equip people to think biblically about other religions and cults. For example, we have addressed  Mormonism ,  the Jehovah Witnesses ,  Buddhism , and  Seventh Day Adventism , among others. Over the next few weeks, we will attempt to address Islam. In particular, the goal is to briefly look at differences between the Qur’an and the Bible. A few disclaimers are needed. First, there are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world and many denominations within Islam. For example, there are the Sunnis, Shiites, Suffisms, Ahmadiyya, the Nation of Islam, the Ibadi, Mahdavia, the Quranists, and non-denominational Muslims. Some of these denominations also have sub-denominations. The Sunnis make up the vast majority, consisting of about 85% of the world’s Muslim population. So, these posts will generally attempt to represent a Sunni understanding of the Qur’an. Second, this is not an attempt to address ...

While there are many terrible places on earth to be a Christian ( Sudan , North Korea, Afghanistan, Bhutan, etc.), Pakistan is arguably the worst. Other nations persecute believers, but in Pakistan the entire country has spent generations forming a world view that values the torturing of those that claim the name of Christ. Pakistan used to have a noticeable Christian presence. Presbyterians had a sizeable school system, and those schools were largely responsible for the country’s relatively high literacy. But in 1973 Islam become the nation’s religion and the government seized those schools and replaced their teachers and curriculum. Now the Koran is required to be read and recited in all classes at all levels. When little kids learn science, they memorize passages about how Mohammad prophesied modern inventions. When they learn English, they learn it through the Koran. Meanwhile, it is illegal for Christians to touch or own the Koran. Now, 40 years later, this plan w...