Islam: A Reformed Critique

“Islam and Moral Absolutes. In the film I adopted John Frame’s argument that the precondition for the obligation we all feel to be moral must be both absolute and personal since morals are absolute and obligation to be moral only makes sense in interpersonal relationships. Thus, a personal, absolute being is required (John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God, [Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1994], pp. 97-102). The Islamic god, “Allah,” is not truly personal. While the members of the Christian Trinity enjoyed eternal communion and relationship (meaning they have been eternally personal), the Islamic god is Unitarian and has not had relationship for eternity. Therefore, “Allah” fails as the truly personal precondition of the obligation we all feel to be moral. Another fact that proves the Islamic god is not personal is that the Koran teaches an impersonal, arbitrary fatalism and predestination of people (Islam teaches predestination in texts such as Koran 9:51 and Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Number 6406 with no explanation or care for how there is purpose or meaning in this), while the Bible explains God’s predestination of individuals has significance, purpose and meaning (e.g. Romans 9 explains God displays all His attributes of wrath, power, glory and mercy to His elect by His predestination of individuals to both heaven and hell – and this is a loving gift to His elect since God is not required to disclose His attributes to them). Hence, unlike YHWH, we are left with an impersonal god in Islam who fails to be the absolute and truly personal precondition to make sense of the obligation we all feel to be moral.

Islam and the Laws of Logic. In order for the Islamic god to qualify as the eternally logical precondition who accounts for the laws of logic, he (and his alleged divine book), must show themselves to be logical. If they violate the laws of logic through irreconcilable contradiction then they violate the law of non-contradiction and show “Allah” is not the source of the laws of logic upon which “his” nature is based. Do the “infallible” religious texts of Islam have irreconcilable contradictions? Consider how on the one hand the Koran and “inspired prophet” Muhammad affirm the validity of the Old and New Testament’s of the Bible (Koran 4:136; 7:157; Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 38, Number 4434; Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, [Oxford University Press, 1995], p. 268), while on the other hand it contradicts the Bible’s clear teachings on original sin, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, justification being by faith, the deity of Jesus etc. Another contradiction is that while Koran 88:6 says the only food for those in hell will be bitter dari, Koran 69:36 says the only food for the wicked in hell will be pus from their wounds. Since the Koran (which is allegedly from “Allah”) violates the law of non-contradiction, this means the false Islamic god’s nature is not logical and hence “he” is not the source of the laws of logic.

Islam and the Possibility of Knowledge. The Koran and hadith literature, upon which the Islamic world view is based, are not texts which offer relevant epistemic, philosophical discourses. The Bible on the other hand, as we have demonstrated, does. Instead, what is contained in the Koran are merely 114 chapters of petty stories, warnings to obey Allah and Muhammad and a skewed Islamized version of history. The hadith literature contains the actions of Muhammad as well as his extra-Koranic sayings, yet no hadith even deals with the issue of the justification of knowledge through “Allah.” Since these many volumes of sources do not even touch on this issue (though they make sure to cover all they can, including answering how many rocks a Muslim should use to clean himself after going to the bathroom), we can be confident the author of these sources did not have a justification for knowledge.”  Keith Thompson

http://www.reformedapologeticsministries.com/2015/01/failure-of-religions-to-provide.html?m=1

It has philosophical issues because of its doctrines like that of Tanzih.
“According to mainstream Sunni Islam, the absoluteness and utter transcendence of the Allah of the Qur’an preclude the very possibility that he could enter into his (alleged) creation. Indeed, this is a foundational reason why Muslims object to the incarnation, the doctrine that the second person of the Trinity entered into the world, was born of a woman and walked among us.
The idea that Allah cannot enter into his creation is believed to follow from a certain understanding of Allah’s transcendence, which, among other places, finds expression in the Aqida of Imam Abu Jafar al-Tahawi (239-321):
“38. He is beyond having limits placed on Him, or being restricted, or having parts or limbs. Nor is He contained by the six directions as all created things are.”
“51. He encompasses all things and that which is above it, and what He has created is incapable of encompassing Him.”

http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2010/09/allah-cannot-reveal-himself.html?m=1

If he isn’t a personal being (as Sunni orthodoxy teaches), then it precludes the possibility for the Islamic God to even communicate, as communication is inherently personal. Since laws of science appear in language like form (same as many laws of logic), they must also not originate with the God of Islam. He can’t give the proper foundations for logic, revelation, or science. Even mathematics exhibit the same features.
The God of Islam is also unjust as Islam has no concept of atonement. It leaves God to sacrifice his attributes of justice for mercy or mercy for justice.Either he punishes wickedness or he abandons his law. In Islam, he abandons his law to forgive and this results in justice never occurring.
Islam is completely arbitrary as it arises from a man who had only an arbitrary claim of being a prophet. Which goes against all previous evidence.

Dr.James Anderson notes another issue with Islam is that it is incompatible with the belief in the uniformity of nature.

“…Allah undermines the rationality of induction. It’s not enough that Allah does, as a matter of contingent fact, maintain order in the universe. We also need sufficient epistemic warrant to believe that Allah will continue to do so; indeed, that he has pledged to do so (and will not go back on his word).
For the Christian, the reliability of induction is grounded in God’s covenant faithfulness (Gen. 8:22; Jer. 33:19-26). Allah has no comparable attribute. Indeed, it would be beneath Allah to bind himself to men with a covenantal promise!
… Islam cannot provide the epistemological preconditions of induction, even if we grant that Allah is responsible for the order in the universe. After all, the same theology that deems Allah to be “the force that binds the universe together” can just as easily support the view that with the same force Allah could at any time, in an act of sheer unfettered will, throw the universe into utter disarray! Who can say one way or the other?”

In Apologetics to the Glory of God (pg. , Dr. John Frame points out that “Islam’s doctrine of predestination often have the ring of an impersonal determinism rather than of the good planning of the Biblical Lord. And Islam’s Allah can make arbitrary changes in his very nature, in contrast with the abiding, dependable personal character of the God of Scripture.”

inconsistencies such as:
– Allah is ineffable but has given revelation about himself
– Allah is just but can forgive someone without sacrifice or satisfaction
– Allah is a se but the Quran has eternal preexistence
here’s an academic paper by Christian philosophers arguing that according to the Quran, Muslims might be deceived by Allah, and therefore cannot trust their beliefs: https://tylerdaltonmcnabbdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/an-epistemic-defeater-for-islamic-belief.doc