Hi Tracy,

*shrug*

History and fact trump self-definitions.

Check these links out for starters.

http://www.bible.ca/eo/islam.htm
http://www.pbs.org/visavis/BTVPages/Origins_of_Islam.html
http://answering-islam.org



>Not according to the Qur'an:
>
>And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate to Allah Who created them, if you (really) worship Him. (41:37)
>
>AND
>
>He reminded them that there was only one God, the Lord of all creation, who controlled Life, death and resurrection. He told his own father, Azar, to desist from worshipping idols. He said he had learned from his own experience that God alone was worthy of worship.
>
>When the night was dark, Abraham saw a star; he said to himself, 'This must be the Lord.' But soon the star set and his faith was shaken. Then he saw the moon rising in the sky. 'This is the Lord,' he said. However, when it waned, he lost faith in it. Likewise, when the sun rose, brighter than everything, he was convinced that it was the Lord. But the sun also set, and Abraham cried: 'I set my face against all these. I repudiate every other kind of worship except the worship of God, Creator of all that is in the heavens and on the earth.' [6:76-79]
>
>AND
>
>Tell the people, O Muhammad! that to be rightly guided one need not be a Jew or a Christian. The righteous belong to the community of Abraham, who was pure in his worship of God. So were Ishmael, Jacob and the tribes, and Moses, Jesus and the rest. They are all Our messengers; We make no distinction between them. [2:135-136]
>
>
>Tracy
>
>>Jim,
>>
>>>Hilmar,
>>>
>>>As I understand it, ALL of the three religions - Christianity, Jewish and Moslem - have the SAME single God (as opposed to any old god) and that is the God of Abraham.
>>
>>Not quite correct. Judaism and Christianity have the same god whereas 'Allah' finds his origins in the worship of the pagan (multiple) dieties that Mohammad essentially refactored into a form of monotheism. Apparently he chose the moon god hence the crescent & star. Check out http://www.khouse.org/strategictrends/islam/ as a starting point. There's
>>
>>Now, historically all three have Abraham as the point of convergance. Jews and Muslims in that he is their physical progrnitor and Christians who may or may not have the physical link but all of whom must have the faith link.
>>
>>>
>>>cheers
>>>
>>>SNIP
>>>>
>>>>Actually, it seems that some versions of the Qur'án translate "Allah" as "God", others keep it as "Allah". But it is still the same God - muslims believe in one single God.
>>>>
>>>>Hilmar.