There is a tendency by many in the West to judge Islam by the life of Mohammad rather than the words he gave in the Koran.  Finally, someone asked, “Should we listen only to his words ignoring his weaknesses and foibles, or allow only his actions to speak?” The answer, like so many things, is not “yes or no”, but “yes and no.”

We must be careful, for we ourselves will be judged on how we judge.  Many of the comparisons of Mohammad have been to Jesus.  For those of us who are Christians this is an unfair comparison, because we see Jesus as more than man.  If we condemn all that Mohammad built, said, and accomplished merely because he failed to live up to Jesus’s example then every philosopher, theologian, prophet, and man must be thrown on the ash heap along with him.  For only of Jesus can it be said “He was tempted in every manner and yet did not sin.”  If we are to use Jesus as the sole standard then the words of Moses, David, John the Baptist, the Apostles, and everyone who strove for a higher idea is to be ignored.

Words are not to be ignored due to human frailty.  The words of David’s psalms still praise God and ring with truth despite his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah the Hittite.

However, actions do also matter.  We may want to scream “hypocrite” whenever one fails to live perfectly to the ideal, he has set for himself, but hypocrisy isn’t in stumbling but in how you react after stumbling.  This is where David shows he is no hypocrite.  He completely repented when Nathaniel showed him his sin.  He begged God’s forgiveness and fasted in hopes of saving the child. Such actions validated his words.  It also forced him to be merciful with others’ sins.  The best example of this is when his son Absalom rebelled.  After taking Jerusalem he had sex with David’s concubines on the palace roof top for all the city to see.  Once David regained Jerusalem, by the law, he could’ve had all his concubines put to death for their adultery, but he spared them and treated them as widows.

David’s is not the only story of a man facing his own wretchedness resulting in repentant change.  Judah is another example.  He was forced to see his evil when his daughter-in-law, Tamar, proved she was pregnant with his child.  He could have still had her put to death and with it hide his sin.  Instead, he admitted his sin and took Tamar under his protection.  That act changed him from the brother who called for selling Joseph into slavery, to the one ready to trade himself for Benjamin.

This admission of sin and repentance is what makes men great and validates their words.  It’s not his frailty and his sins that make me reject Mohammad, it’s that I see no repentance and no forgiveness towards others.

#words and actions #Jesus #Mohammad #David #Judah #repentence #forgiveness