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I'm not really sure where to go with this question, since it is a question regarding Christianity. Also, I'm seeking a Christian perspective on this rather than a Muslim one. So, I thought that this site would be the best place for this question.

Muslims claim that they worship the same god as Christians do. (Similarly, Christians claim to worship the same God as the Jews do.)

Are there any Christian doctrines that accept this claim? If so, what is the biblical basis for this claim?

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+1 a very good question. Reminds me of a (not completely related) Christianity Today article about translating the Bible to Muslims. – dancek Aug 29 '11 at 13:09
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I live in a Muslim country and have some knowledge of their beliefs, but the way you have this question worded is going to be hard to answer. How about changing directions and doing something like "Is the God worshiped by Muslims the Christian God"? or "How is the character and nature of the Christian God different from the one Muslims worship?" – Caleb♦ Aug 29 '11 at 13:44
Also I'm not sure it's fair to claim that Muslims claim to worship the same god as Christians do. Their claim is mostly the other way around, they claim to worship the true God and that since God is ONE that if Christians worship God that they must be worshiping the same God but doing it wrong. Of course there are a lot of variations on that theme, but you get the idea. – Caleb♦ Aug 29 '11 at 13:45
Muslims are taught that Allah sent the angel Gabriel (Jibril) with the revelation to Muhammad. Muslims are also taught that Allah sent specific angels to both Abraham and Lot in order to warn them about the destruction of Lot’s people due to their gross immorality. Muslims worship the God of Abraham and believe Jesus is the Messiah, although they don't believe the divinity of Jesus. – pferor Feb 4 '12 at 14:41
youtube.com/watch?v=rTY-9FY13kw – Maltrap Dec 15 '12 at 14:34

4 Answers

up vote 14 down vote accepted

Muslims may not appreciate (or perhaps they would) this distinction. But Hilare Belloc claims in The Great Heresies, that Islam is a heresy of Christianity.

Therefore, if Mohammed had had a vague inkling of Christianity and claim the inheritance of Ishmael then yeah, of course they worship the same God.

However, we couldn't say they worship Him fully because they do not believe in the Trinity. They do not believe that Jesus could be God.

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Isn't the deity of Jesus a prime concept of Christianity? Wouldn't, then, this mean that "God" as worshiped by Christians is complete, whereas the Muslim god is not? (I see this as another argument for your case, not against it.) – Richard Aug 31 '11 at 19:23
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Both Jews and Muslims say they worship the God of Abraham, and have the same concept of the unity of God. So your statement about not worshipping fully would also have to apply to "our elder brothers and sisters" in the faith, would it not? – Firstrock Sep 21 '11 at 20:27
Don't forget about Unitarian Christians. They believe that the three are distinct and are still considered Christian. It's hard to say that all Christians believe in the trinity. – user1054 Jul 5 '12 at 20:53
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No, Unitarians are not Christians. The Trinity and the Incarnation are perhaps the defining dogmas of Christianity, upon which all the others hinge. – Ryan Sep 30 '12 at 5:10
up vote 4 down vote

Clearly not

I do not think either a Christian or Muslim would hold to that. The only people who would like to think so are Universalists, but that is not really the orthodox position.

John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

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"I do not think" is not really an answer, but an opinion. Do you have sources to demonstrate that the stance you mentioned is widespread and/or officially held by some denominations? – Ben Richards Sep 14 '11 at 23:44
That's not entirely true. The question asks if both Muslims and Chistians worship the same God. Muslims deny the divinity of Christ, but both worship the same God of Abraham and both see Jesus as the Messiah, son of Virgin Mary. You have to add more evidence to complete your statement. – pferor Feb 4 '12 at 13:01
up vote 3 down vote

Both Christians and Muslims claim to worship the God of Abraham, so in that sense, we worship the same God.

However, Christians believe that Jesus was God incarnate, while Muslims do not. So Christians worship Jesus and Muslims do not. So in that sense it's not fully accurate to say we worship the same God.

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It's funny that Christians and Muslims both say that they believe in the same God of the Jewish religion. The God of Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus. – user1054 Jul 5 '12 at 20:55
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It's interesting how we conflate our understanding of God with God Himself. If you make this distinction between Christians and Muslims then you have to admit similar distinctions between the various branches/sects/denominations of each. If we all accept that God is the uncaused cause, or the uncreated creator then that's enough for me to say we all worship the same God because there can be only one such entity. – kurosch Sep 14 '12 at 22:34
up vote -2 down vote

To get a clear answer, Judaism should be accounted. If Christians claim they worship the same God of Judaism, the God if Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses, the God Who does not change, then easy to say, Muslims and Christians worship the same God. If answer is no for the God of Judaism, then it is same for the Muslims.

A answer in Judaism.SE may help- http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/14501/1712

Update: As the OP himself has questioned about the substance matter of this answer, I feel to clarify my answer adding few more words.

We can see, from this page of answers, that the answer to the question "whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God" has a dual nature. At one side, the answer is yes, it is the same God they worship because they both claim to worship the God of Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses. On the other hand, a negative answer emerges because the idea of the God in this two religions are fundamentally different. Christians believe in Trinity, while Muslims do not.

Now, the question is, why the idea or concept of God is different? As both claim to worship God of Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses, what was their concept of God? Is it possible that, the concept of God can be changed? Because, The God Himself claimed-"I do not change". Here comes Judaism. Because, they also claim to worship the same God, the God of those prophets. And Christians and Muslims agree that, upto a certain period, before the time of Jesus, this was the true religion of God. So, what is their concept of God? How do they see the concepts of God in the Christianity and Islam? And then I supplied a link to an from a sister SE site regarding the the opinion of Judaism about the concept of God in Islam.

Hope I am clear now.

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"God does not change" - how? – H3br3wHamm3r81 Dec 15 '12 at 17:53
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@H3br3wHamm3r81 This a from a verse of Bible- biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Malachi%203.6 – Gulshan Dec 16 '12 at 8:36
I am familiar with the verse. But, again, God does not change, how? – H3br3wHamm3r81 Dec 16 '12 at 17:33
+1. Not because it's really excellent but because I see this post as a valid answer (it's not the only answer argumenting by Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses and it adds some more context and reasoning for it) and I don't understand the downvotes. Is it because Gulshan stated that God doesn't change? But it's a Christian teaching too, for example the Thomistic view here (thesis three). If you don't understand it, ask another question, but don't punish anyone for telling truth. – Pavel Dec 17 '12 at 0:10
My downvote has nothing to do with the unchanging nature of God, but rather that this answer has no substance to it. There's nothing here other than a simple answer and a link to Judaism.SE. The answer should stand on its own. And since it doesn't (no supporting information), then -1. – Richard Dec 17 '12 at 15:41
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protected by Caleb♦ Dec 15 '12 at 16:24

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