Before we can begin to look at Islam’s origins, we need take notice of an event that took place this last week. The new American Pope, Leo XIV, hailing from Chicago, visited a mosque in Algiers. It wasn’t just the visit. The Pope entered in silence, took off his shoes and “expressed gratitude for being in ‘a place that represents the space proper to God.’” [Pope Leo, however, did insist that he did not pray during his visit to the mosque.] However, by visiting the mosque as, many could argue, more than a tourist, Pope Leocontinued to advance the theology of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who declared, “every religion is a way to arrive at God.” Francis likened the various world religions as “different languages” leading people to the same divine reality. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs were all essentially the same. 
In the view of the papacy, they all provided pathways to God. Jesus had a different point of view. He declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) Quite the different perspective from that of the current and recent residents of the Vatican. Pope Leo’s visit to the mosque creates the impression that “Christianity and Islam are simply different cultural expressions of the same faith. But in fact, Biblical Christianity and Islam are irreconcilable in their truth claims.
The Bible teaches Jesus is the Son of God. The Quran assigns Him merely the role of prophet and expressly denies His divinity. The Cross and Crucifixion are central to the Christian faith. That is how Jesus paid the price for our sins. Islam denies this and instead offers a works-based-salvation of which no one can be sure. Islam denies the Triune Nature of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These are just a few of the essential differences. But let’s go back to the origins of the Muslim faith. Just as the true essence of the Christian Faith reflects the heart of its’ genesis, so too Islam has taken on the characteristics of both its early history and its founding prophet.
How It Started
The faith that is called Islam emerged out of the religious chaos that characterized the Arabian desert of the 7th century AD. Zoroasterism dominated Persia, (today’s Iran). The Byzantine Empire practiced the Eastern brand of Christianity, Jewish tribes could be found, scattered about the Arabian Peninsula, maintaining as best they could, the traditions of the faith. Still much of the area was dominated by the multi-god paganism that had its origin in ancient times. Once a year, this pagan world would all come together in the city of Mecca. Now in that city, there was a shrine, the Kaaba, that housed 360 idols. During peace and war, the various tribes would come together, encamped about the shrine for this five-day religious festival. This was the world into which the Prophet Mohammed was born.[i] [ii]
Over the course of his early life, Mohammed had contact with all of the religious traditions that entered his region. Islamic writings tell us that he was meditating in a cave outside of Mecca when, in 610, he had a vision of an angel who ordered him to “recite” the word of God. When Mohammed resisted, this spirit seized him by the throat to compel him to accept the command. Shaken and filled with doubt, the future prophet at first believed himself in the throes of demonic possession. Over time he was reassured by his wife and renewed visits by the spirit being, eventually assuming the office of prophet and religious reformer. His uncle, Waraca, a convert to the Christian faith, declared him a prophet, yet never himself became a Muslim. So Mohammed began his ministry.[iii]
He preached that there was one true God, Allah. He railed against the pagan idol worship of Mecca. It is true that he was much influenced by the monotheism of Christians and Jews. But the Allah he worshipped was in no way the same as the God of the Bible. In fact the very name Allah was but an adaptation of Alilah, the supreme pagan idol found in the Kaba shrine. This same god Alilah can be traced back to an ancient Hindu diety whose name means mother or goddess. [iv]
Mohammed spread the faith by preaching, military might and deceit. The Arabs of Medina flocked to him believing that he was the Messiah to come. Unable to support themselves, his Muslim followers in Medina began to attack and rob the desert caravans, justified by a new doctrine called Jihad. War and violence followed this emerging ‘man of god’. After the successful battle of Bedr, he expelled from Mecca, one Jewish tribe that did not fully support him. Later he seized the property of another and still later slaughtered the men of a third Jewish tribe that had already surrendered, selling the women and children into slavery. In 628 he signed the peace treaty of Hudaybiah and 2 years later violated it when it served his interests. This led to the establishment of the principle of hudna. According to this principle, Muslims are allowed and even encouraged to make treaties with their enemies, when it serves their own interests and they have no intention of keeping them. The time gained is to be used to strengthen their positions after which they may be broken to advance the cause of Islam. All in all, Mohammed led over 80 military expeditions. By Islam’s own Hadith, it is admitted that his actions as commander and prophet were characterized by duplicity and cruelty to those thrown on his mercy.[v] After his death, his successors followed in his footsteps, conquering formerly Christian lands in the name of Allah. Their battle cry: Convert or die! It is not much different today. The Islam of the 21st century is committed to the establishment of a worldwide empire. It rests strongly on the historical / religious traditions of its birth.
[i] Silas, Pagan Sources of Islam, AnsweringIslam.org, re-monitored April 13, 2026
[ii] Kaaba, Wikipedia
[iii] Sam Shamoun, A Christian Perspective of the Fatrah of Muhammad, Answering Islam, viewed June 21, 2017
[iv] Alan Peters, Allah – The Origins, News Views, April 12, 2007
[v] What Is Islam, Truth Net.Org
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