Broward Community College Comparing and Contrasting Islam and Christianity Discussion

1. Read the “Muslim creation stories” in the link here (here) and compare/ contrast them with the creation story in Genesis 1-3 in this link (here).

Read the Genesis account and the Muslim account. The story does not read straight through in the Koran as it does in Genesis. I picked out different verses from the Koran so you could read it in one shot.

2. Explain the importance for the angels in the Muslim story to submit to God because “God knows” what he is doing?

3. Does it make sense that Iblis (an angelic being/Jinn) refused to submit to a man, even though God asked him to do it?

A. I am not asking whether you agree with Iblis’ actions. I am specifically asking you to think about how the submissive posture of the angels before and after the creation of man may have influenced the character.

B. I am asking you to think about the answers that Iblis gave for his actions. Discuss why his reasons might be illogical or why he might be justified in his refusal to submit to mankind.

4. Click Here to review the article on Sufism on page 3 in this module and Click Here to read page 4 and 5 in an article by Allan Butler in which he cites the Ta-Sin of Before Endless-Time and Equivocation we find Hallaj’s declaration of “I am the Truth!” and Ahmad al-Ghazzali through Ayn al-Qozat. After reading the section, answer the questions below:

A. What were al-Hallaj’s three defenses of Iblis?

B. What is Ayn al-Qozat’s claim about Iblis (Eblis) and Mohammad?