Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
In one sense the answer to this question is no. The Muslim concept of God contradicts the Christian concept.
Christians read the Old and New Testaments of the Bible and realize that it reveals God as a trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They understand that Jesus is the Son of God and therefore He is God in the flesh who died on the cross for the sins of the world.
Muslims may respect the Bible to some degree, but they believe that the teachings of Muhammad in the Qur’an are more authoritative and Muhammad clearly taught that Jesus was a prophet of God to be honored, but Jesus certainly was not divine and he was never even crucified.
This is a fundamental contradiction. Christians worship a triune God who gave himself over to death in Jesus Christ and the Muslims worship Allah who spoke his message through his prophet Muhammad denying the death of Jesus. Both of these views cannot be correct. Somebody is mistaken.
On the other hand, the answer to the question could be yes. If it is true that there is only one truth and there is in fact only one God, then everyone who worships God earnestly (regardless how mistaken and divergent their understanding of God) must in one way or another be worshipping the same God.
But what if we asked the question differently? Suppose we asked: Does God hear the prayers of a Muslim? When we pose the concern this way, it really doesn’t matter what our theological views are. God doesn’t grade our theology when it comes to prayer. God pays closer attention to our hearts than to our doctrines. If anyone earnestly seeks God, then God listens carefully.
In Acts 10 we meet a man named Cornelius who was technically neither a Christian, nor a Muslim. In fact, he wasn’t even a Jew. But he was described as a “God-fearing” man and God heard his prayers. Eventually, however, Cornelius became a believer in Jesus Christ.
How much knowledge about God is required to pray to or worship God? Initially, not very much. Even a child can pray to God in general and nondescript ways. She can address God and surely God hears her. Throughout the history of religion, there have been many seekers after God and there have been many people who have merely “practiced’ their religion. Some of them have even called themselves Muslims and some have called themselves Christians. I don't want to say they were merely going through motions without any sincere devotion, but the rituals of religion and the legalism of doctrines can become security blankets that interfere with the divine encounter.
Most Muslims never even expect to know God personally. The best they can expect is just to know His will. As Muslim scholar al-Faruqi said, “He does not reveal himself to anyone in any way. God reveals only his will.” But if a Muslim would ever seek to know him, would not God respond?
On the other hand, too many so-called Christians who are supposedly taught to know God personally, never quite seem to get it. They may say that God is a trinity and they may even declare Jesus as Savior, but if they don’t actually seek Him in their hearts, They are no closer to God than anyone else.
A young woman named Begum Bilquis Sheikh (whose story is told in the book I Dared to Call Him Father) was a God-fearer in her native Pakistan. In her heart she sought God and eventually, under some extraordinary circumstances, she came to know the triune God. What revolutionized her life was a new concept of God as “Father”. Over time she began to speak to God in this way and over time, with the guidance of Christian friends, she entered a personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ. This transformed her life and changed everything.
Jesus states quite clearly what Begum experienced: “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:7 NIV) Muhammad never dreamed these words could be possible. For Muhammad, God could only be heard at a distance.
Does God hear your prayers? Do you seek him in your heart?