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Technically, yes. Muslims believe in one God, as do Christians and Jews (these are the world three monotheistic religions. Christians and Jews believe that God revealed Himself through the Scriptures (Torah to Jews, the Bible to Christians). This is God’s written word. Christians believe that God also revealed Himself through the living Word (or logos), Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is the exact representation of God, and the same as God in substance.
Hebrews 1:1-3 explains it this way:
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
Christianity is centered in the person and work of Christ, who came to earth in the form of a human, yet was also fully God. Jesus lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and then rose again, thereby conquering death, and becoming for all who believe in Him the first fruit of the future resurrection for all believers.
Now, when you define Christianity in this way, it is clearly different from Islam or Judaism. With Islam in particular, Jesus is recognized as a prophet. He is even recognized as sinless. But in no way is Jesus recognized as the Son of God. That is blasphemy to a Muslim. So, if the God of the Bible (the Christian God) is the triune God–where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three Persons in one God–then that is a different understanding of the God of Islam, or Allah. By this measurement, Alla and the God of the Bible are quite different.
Another main difference between Allah and the God of the Bible is that Allah loves conditionally. He loves those who love Him. The God of the Bible loves unconditionally. Read 1 John 4:7-21. The key verse is “We love because he first loved us.”
Comments
How is it that Muslims revere (to regard with respect tinged with awe; venerate) Jesus Christ as a prophet, even though Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. To use Josh McDowell's analogy, Jesus is one of three things. Jesus is either a liar, lunatic, or Lord. Just wondering what your thoughts are on the reverence of Jesus Christ by Islam?
I just noticed your response to Bruce's answer. I'm not claiming to speak for him in responding to your thoughts, but I'll give it a shot anyway. Islam's respect for Jesus (I wouldn't call it reverence, since technically the idea that Jesus is the Son of God is blasphemy to Muslims) is consistent with the respect given Him by just about every other major religion in the world. Even Judaism respects Jesus as a Rabbi. But only Christianity has Jesus at the center of its belief system, and that's one of the things that makes Christianity unique among world religions.
Interestingly, Muslims don't deny that Jesus lived a sinless live, and they acknowledge that Muhammad was not perfect. I've always found that fascinating.
Thanks for the response Stan. One source of my question came from http://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-10.htm (Book website for A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam.) How can any religion revere and accept Jesus as a prophet, when Jesus clearly states He is the great I AM (literally God), receives and accepts worship as the great I AM? He cannot be both a prophet and God; can He?
You actually drive home the point when you say "technically the idea that Jesus is the Son of God is blasphemy to Muslims." If Jesus is whom He says He is, God Almighty, then wouldn't that make Him a false prophet of Islam or any other religion that recognizes Jesus as a mere prophet? How can a religion accept Jesus as a prophet, when Jesus clearly stated He and the Father are one, and if you have seen Jesus you have seen the Father, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 22:24, Psalm 110:1, etc., etc., If Jesus isn't God, then He is either a liar or a lunatic? I think Josh McDowell illustrated that quite well in Evidence that Demands a Verdict (I think that He made that illustration in his book -- it has been nearly 25 years since I read it and I could be wrong).
The following is copied from the website mentioned earlier. The site has footnotes.
What Do Muslims Believe about Jesus?
Muslims respect and revere Jesus (peace be upon him). They consider him one of the greatest of God’s messengers to mankind. The Quran confirms his virgin birth, and a chapter of the Quran is entitled ‘Maryam’ (Mary). The Quran describes the birth of Jesus as follows:
(Remember) when the angels said, “O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him (God), whose name is the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, revered in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (to God). He will speak to the people from his cradle and as a man, and he is of the righteous.” She said, “My Lord, how can I have a child when no mortal has touched me?” He said, “So (it will be). God creates what He wills. If He decrees a thing, He says to it only, ‘Be!’ and it is.” (Quran, 3:45-47)
Jesus was born miraculously by the command of God, the same command that had brought Adam into being with neither a father nor a mother. God has said:
The case of Jesus with God is like the case of Adam. He created him from dust, and then He said to him, “Be!” and he came into being. (Quran, 3:59)
During his prophetic mission, Jesus performed many miracles. God tells us that Jesus said:
“I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I make for you the shape of a bird out of clay, I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God’s permission. I heal the blind from birth and the leper. And I bring the dead to life by God’s permission. And I tell you what you eat and what you store in your houses....” (Quran, 3:49)
Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified. It was the plan of Jesus’ enemies to crucify him, but God saved him and raised him up to Him. And the likeness of Jesus was put over another man. Jesus’ enemies took this man and crucified him, thinking that he was Jesus. God has said:
...They said, “We killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of God.” They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but the likeness of him was put on another man (and they killed that man)... (Quran, 4:157)
Neither Muhammad nor Jesus came to change the basic doctrine of the belief in one God, brought by earlier prophets, but rather to confirm and renew it.