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 Go to 'Abraham and Ibrahim'. Go to 'Thesis'. Go to 'Questions Back and Forth'. 
Study Guide writers: Kenneth and Margaret Thomas Editor: Tricia Tedrow Book interior and cover design by Jeanne Williams Illustrations: Stewart J.Thomas Published 2006 by Bridge Resources, Louisville, Kentucky. Web site address: http://www.pcusa.org/bridgeresources Printed in the United States of America ISBN 1-57153-072-X Content of the book: 163 pages Content of the Study Guide: 87 pages Introduction to the Study Guide: Muslims and Christians belong to storytelling communities. Abraham and Ibrahim focuses on figures known to both communities through the Bible and the Qur'an. The stories of these figures are an important common heritage shared by Christians and Muslims children; their parents, and their teachers will discover that the stories they know may be told differently in the other community. When this happens, they can discover something about what the story means in the other's tradition, thereby glimpsing another's view of God, the world, and human life. They may also find that, beyond the Qur'an and the Bible, there are other stories told by Muslims and Christians that reveal something about what each community values. Abraham and Ibrahim is divided into eight units. The accompany study guide offers the following aids for eight sessions to parents and teachers who are working with children in grades 3-8: * Plans for groups of Christian children, with the objective of learning about and appreciating Islam while standing within their own Christian faith. * Suggested discussion questions for groups made up of both Christian and Muslim children, intended to help them talk with one another about their religious traditions, beliefs, and practices. * Boxes and notes with background for adult enrichment (and for possible selective use by gifted readers among the children). * Activities Instruction Section, including directions and materials for a variety of activities. * Reproducible Resources, including patterns, instructions and Scripture readings. Leaders are urged to use the guide for their own reflection and learning as they prepare for working with children. Some notes in the guide are included solely for this purpose. The Study Guide is written to accommodate small groups of children but can be modified for use in a family setting with one or more children. In the Study Guide a list of names/attributes of God is given. Children are invited to share their names and what they know about their names. Is it a name that someone else in the family had? Is it a name from the Bible? In what language(s) is the name commonly used? Also the book's title comes from a name in two different languages, Abraham (English) and Ibrahim (Arabic). These names are given to babies in the United States today. Invite the children to look at samples of Arabic writing in this book. The book also shows pictures of the postures of Muslim prayer and tells about the two Arabic words for 'prayer'. Finally the book shows Geometric Patterns of stories in the Bible and the Qur'an. The price of the book is $ 18,95. 
As guidelines two 'parameters' were used, namely the theme that could be called 'Words of God in Bible and Koran', and the figure of 'Abraham/Ibraheem in Bible and Koran', who might be considered as the same person. In summary form the hypotheses formulated for this investigation run as follows: If it can be assumed that Ibraheem, named in the Koran, and Abraham, named in the Bible, are the same person, then the God of Ibraheem/Abraham worshipped by them can also be considered the same God, and the words of God in their Books can be connected with the same God. In that case they may differ as words of revelation, but not to the extent that they contradict one another, as God is not in contrary to Himself. When nevertheless this seems to be , the two Books in their respective contexts must offer a key to open a door to problem solving research. On the basis of the findings of the investigation the conclusion was drawn that the differences between Islam and Christianity refer less to differences between the divine Words in the Bible and the Koran than to differences between those divine words and churchly words. This result may give opportunity to reduce distance and intensify proximity between the two religions and, as a consequence, to the possibility of going forward together on the way to God. Statements 1. As the Koran is the latest Book of Revelations it should be taken in account that it may contain messages from God for other believers too, which may affect their opinions about previous messages. 2. If all Jews, Christians and Muslims had kept God's Laws concerning Sabbatical year, Jubilee year and the Tithes/Zakat, a 'Third World' would never have come into being. 3. The fortieth Jubilee, begun in the year of 2000, makes believers attentive anew to God's Law regarding remitting all debt to the poor every fifty years. 4. Fundamental religious life degenerating into fundamentalist terrorism not only takes away someone's life, but also the possibility for him/her of submission to God, which is actually the intention of fundamental religious life. 5. As in the book of Genesis the people of Israel are the people of God's covenant and the people of Ishmael God's blessed people and the Christians Jesus' sheep of another stable, all becoming one flock with one shepherd, then they don't have to quarrel about the property of the city of Jerusalem, as it is God's city. 6. The non-accessibility to all men and women, of all functions in God's Kingdom is like keeping hidden a part of God-given talents, about which men will be called to account (Matthew 25:14-30). 
These questions and point of view are brought together in this booklet. The questions are mostly heard in the society. And, with a reference to the message of God in the Tenach, Bible and Koran, it gives an answer to every question asked - as a first approach not as the final one. More answers are always welcome and can be a contribution to dialogue and trialogue. The starting point is the message of God in each holy book. In short, this is only the beginning - with an open end. Discussed questions are: · Do the Koran and the Bible have the same origins? · Who was Mohammed and who were the Arabs of that time? · Is Mohammed's coming predicted in the Bible? · Why, after the Tenach and the Bible, was the Koran still necessary? · Was Ibraheem/Abraham the first Muslim? · Was it Isaac or Ismael whom Ibraheem/Abraham had to offer up as a sacrafice? · Is the Koran copied from the Bible? · Are the Tenach or Bible forged? · Is the Koran a corrected version of the Bible? · Do you have one God or three? · Is the warning about worshipping false gods also given to Muslims? · Is Jesus Christ the son of God or not? · Was Jesus Christ crucified and did he die or not? · What is written in the Koran and the Bible about forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption from evil? · Are the Ten Commandments from the Bible also given in the Koran? · Why are there four Gospels in the Bible? Surely there is only one Gospel? · Is a child born stained with original sin? · Why are Jews and Muslims circumcised and Christians baptised? · What are 'fundamentalism' and 'jihad'? · Aren't too many mosques being built and why are the loudspeakers in a mosque necessary? · Why do Muslims adopt a certain position when praying and why do the women wear special clothes? · Are women kept down by men in Islam? · Can Jesus Christ and Mohammed be compared with one another? · Has the divide between Judaism, Christianity and Islam always been so great? · Should Jews, Christians and Muslims try to convert one another? |
