The headline caught my eye, "Abraham Lincoln was Born a Muslim, Says Film Maker." Okay, now I've seen it all. Lincoln has been claimed to be secretly black, Jewish, Catholic...for some old Abe is secretly the son of Senator John Calhoun, the man who first threatened to lead the South out of the Union...for others, Abe is secretly the grandson of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, or some other member of the "Planter Elite of Virginia." But a Muslim? I've got to read this.
"Abraham Lincoln was born a Muslim, says Faruq Masudi, producer and director of the new Islamic movie, 'Quran: Contemporary Connections.' Faruq Masudi said, 'According to the Quran, everybody is born a Muslim. It is only by his own free will that a man chooses a different course for himself.'" Masudi goes on to say that he believes Lincoln was such a good person that he must have been a Muslim. "He chose to live by Islamic edicts like abolishing organized slavery; establishing equality of all human beings, democracy and accountabiliity to God and Man -- all core Islamic concepts as propounded in the Holy Quran."
At first I thought this was a very "liberal" (too liberal) view of Islam and its teachings. But I was wrong. It is not in the Quran, but in another of Islam's holy books that we read of a "hadith" which says, "The Prophet Muhammed said, 'Every child is born with a Fitra [a true faith in Allah; a natural inclination to worship only Allah]. It is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Polytheist."
There are some interesting implications in this statement. First of all, just as what we see in many Muslim-majority countries is that it's a grave crime to "convert" a Muslim into a Christian or Jew or some other religion, so also in those same Muslim countries it is easy to imagine Muslims being equally angry at, say, Christian parents for "converting" their own children from following Islam into following Christianity instead. Remember, Muslims believe all babies are Muslim, at first.
Secondly, along with being born Muslim, Islam teaches that no babies are "born in sin." This reminds me of what I found a few months ago, when I was surprised to find that in Judaism, as well, there is no such thing as "original sin." What does it mean that, of all the religions, only Christianity believes in original sin? Is that important, or not?
I tell you why I believe it is an important fact. I'm reminded of what the Apostle Paul once wrote in his letter to the Romans, chapter 7. He wrote, "For we know that the Law [of God] is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now," Paul goes on, "if I do what I do not want, I agree that the Law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me." (Romans 7:14-17)
Here Paul is describing original sin and its effects. No matter how hard we try, we cannot escape sin's mastery over us. While other religions (even Judaism and Islam) say directly or indirectly that we can free ourselves from sin, the Christian witness disagrees. Other religions may agree that we cannot save ourselves without God's help - -but they still say we must save ourselves. They may say "submit to God" or "let God help you," but the bottom line is -- "save yourself."
Meanwhile, Paul relies totally on the grace of God. He uses the term "rescue" -- "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Only Jesus saves. Only Jesus can.
Maybe that's why you don't hear Christians say that everyone is "born Christian." Maybe that's why only the Christian Scriptures testify to the depths of our difficulties -- why only our Scriptures are not surprised that all human projects to create goodness are bound to at least some failure -- why only our Scriptures command and plead a total reliance on God's forgiveness, mercy, and grace. That, my friends, is our cross to bear -- thank God!!!
David Hewitt
