Muslim Idiom Translations (MIT) are inaccurate and unfaithful renditions of the Bible. They alter and obscure the gospel message, which is essential for one's salvation! Some even introduce parts of the Muslim creed that Muslims use for conversion to Islam!
The idea of such renditions came from the field of anthropology after World War II.[1] However, the first prominent example did not emerge until 1987. Although its developer spoke of using “Islamic style,” he ended up substituting Islamic thought forms and even an Islamic worldview for the biblical one. Tellingly, after several years of doing this, he abandoned the Christian faith, but others have continued where he left off.
These MIT renditions eliminate references to God the Father and the Son of God, which the New Testament uses hundreds of times. Instead, they replace Father with Allah, and Jesus is replaced by the name of a prophet from the Quran called Isa, whom Muslims believe will come to destroy Christianity and force everyone to convert to Islam. In one particular MIT, Allah is called Rabb (divine Lord) and given the Arabic title Al-Malik Al-Wadud, which is defined in the English glossary as “the King and the Most Loving” but actually means “friendly” in Arabic. Isa is called a beloved Amir (prince) and mawla (a human master).[2] By using these terms, MIT renditions completely remove the divine familial relationships revealed by God in the Bible.
Also, note how the popular New International Version of the Bible clearly emphasizes the divinity of Jesus and his role in creation in Colossians 1:16, saying that in Jesus “all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” However, this same verse in a MIT rendition does not even mention Jesus! Instead, it says, “For Allah created everything by his word: everything in heaven and on earth, seen and unseen, and beings with thrones, dominions, rulers, or spiritual authorities.”[3]
Why would anyone want to obscure the divinity of Jesus like this?[4] In 2007, Islamic scholars sent an open letter to Christian leaders called A Common Word Between Us and You, which stipulated requirements to avert conflict with Islam. The title is taken from Quran 3:64, which says, “O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians): Come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah’” (emphasis added). In Islam, anyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God is called an “associator” and is guilty of an unforgiveable sin (Q4:48)! Furthermore, the Quran declares that there can be no peace with Islam unless the divinity of Jesus is denied (Q9:29-30).[5]
The Early Church Fathers, however, in full agreement with the Bible, clearly proclaimed that Jesus is God, and noted that the only system of thought into which Jesus Christ will fit is the one in which He is the starting point.[6] If we start with an understanding of God that is the same as Islam, instead of the biblical doctrine of God, then we can never really “fit” Jesus or the Trinity into the understanding. There is often confusion between showing respect to Muslims and claiming that Allah is the same as the God of the Bible.
The Trinity is basic Bible truth, not advanced theology. You will always struggle to understand the Bible if you do not look at it through the lens of the Trinity: The One God Who is Three Persons. If you are not talking about the Trinity, you are not talking about the biblical God at all.[7]
To know the Trinity is to know an eternal and personal God of infinite beauty, interest, and fascination that we can forever grow to know better.[8] The Qur’an, however, sharply distinguishes Allah from the God described by Jesus. It proclaims, “Say not ‘Trinity.’ Desist; it will be better for you: for God is one God. Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son” (Q4:171).
We are not just dealing with incompatibly different numbers in this discussion! Allah exists and functions in a completely different way from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If we content ourselves with being mere monotheists and speak of God only in terms so vague that they could apply to Allah as much as to the Trinity, then we will never enjoy or share what is so fundamentally and delightfully different about Christianity. We might acknowledge that the rule of some heavenly policeman was just, but we could never take delight in his regime as we can delight in the tender care of a Father.
For if, before all things, God was eternally a Father, then this God is an inherently outgoing, life-giving God. First John 4:7-8 emphasizes this: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” The God of the Bible is not an isolated god of power from all eternity with no one else to love, as one finds in Islam.
To be the Father means to love, to give out life, and to beget the Son. Before anything else, for all eternity, this God was loving, giving life through, and delighting in his Son. That is who He is. That is His most fundamental identity, which MIT renditions prevent Muslins from knowing. The triune, living God of the Bible is a God we can really want, and in whose sovereignty we can wholeheartedly rejoice.
Astonishingly, the moment when Jesus finally reached the deepest point of His humiliation on the cross is the moment when He was glorified and most clearly seen for who He is (John 12:23, 13:31). On the cross, we see the deepest revelation of the very heart of God—and it is all about laying down His own life to give life, which only a Trinitarian God can do! Here is a glory no other God would want. The God of the Bible is inestimably good, overflowing, and self-giving. MIT Bible renditions obscure the gospel message, substitute an Islamic worldview for a biblical one, and remove the divinity and Sonship of Jesus along with the Fatherhood of God. They foster a heretical view of God that is neither Christian nor Islamic.
FOOTNOTES
[1] A historical account of MIT development can be found in the Journal of Global Christianity, 3(1): 2017. “The ‘Mother of the Books’: A Case Study of the Consequences of a Seminal Muslim Idiom Translation” by John Span, 24-47. Journal of Global Christianity - Muslim Idiom Translations
[2] Jeffrey Hayes, 2018. The Arabic Al-Injil with English Translation. Dar-Al-Ilm, 408-09, 527, 536.
[3] Bible commentaries commonly point out that Colossians 1:16 is referring to earthly and angelic beings (Bible Hub - Commentaries on Colossians 1:16). However, the footnote on Colossians 1:16 in this particular MIT says, “These seem to be kinds of unseen spirits or jinn.” The glossary defines jinn as “a spirit, usually described as an evil spirit or an unclean spirit. These spirits sometimes affect people or even control them. In other translations, demon.” Muslims do not believe that jinn are fallen angelic beings (which Islam claims are made of light), but rather invisible earthly creatures (made of fire), who can even convert to Islam.
[4] Adam Simnowitz, Biblical Missiology - MITs of the Bible and Insider Movements, January 23, 2016.
[5] Sam Solomon and Al-Maqdisi. The Truth About “A Common Word,” Santa Barbara, CA: Pilcrow Press, 2008.
[6] Some of these Early Church Fathers include Ignatius (50-117 AD), Polycarp (69-155 AD), Justin Martyr (100-165 AD, Tatian (110-172 AD), Melito of Sardis (d. 180 AD), Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD), Tertullian (150-254 AD), and Origin (185-254 AD), who all proclaimed that Jesus is God.
[7] One Truth Project (FREE short course on the Trinity and Islam) https://onetruthproject.podia.com/the-trinity
[8] Many of the reflections hereafter are expounded upon in a book by theologian Michael Reeves called Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2012.
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