For greater clarity, the names of biblical persons mentioned in the Qur'an are given, as a rule, not in the Arabic transcription, but in the traditional Christian spelling.

The chapter "Jesus Christ" (in the part concerning Orthodox teaching) was written in co-authorship with the priest Daniel Sysoev, and the chapter "Holy Scripture" was co-authored with Alexander Lyulka. To both of them, I express my deep gratitude for their invaluable advice and help in writing this book.

Over the past decades, two paths have taken shape in the sphere of interreligious dialogue: either polite politically correct verbiage, or an honest conversation on the point.

This book is for those who prefer an honest conversation.

And it contains answers to the questions that Muslims usually ask Christians: about faith in the Trinity and the Incarnation, about the Bible, about original sin and the death of Jesus Christ, and also about why Christians do not recognize Muhammad as a prophet and the Koran as the Word of God.

I hope that this modest work will serve the cause of mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims.

God

How do Muslims teach about God?

The word "Allah" means "God" (al-Ilah) according to the most common etymology, but Muslim theologians insist that this is the proper name of God, which is why they prefer not to translate it into other languages, and in their literature in Russian, English and other languages they use the transcription of the Arabic "Allah". This word is related to the Hebrew word "Eloah" ("God"), which, however, in the Old Testament is almost always used in the plural "Elohim" ("Gods"), and is not a proper name of the Most High (since it is also used in reference to the pagan gods in Judges 10:14, 2 Samuel 2:5, etc.).

"Faith in Allah" is the first of the six foundations of the Muslim faith (Aqeedah). It implies the knowledge that Allah exists and that He is the only one in His deeds, the only one worthy of worship, and the only one in terms of His names and His attributes. The confession of monotheism (tawhid) is considered the highest virtue and, on the contrary, the violation of monotheism (shirk) is the most terrible and the only unforgivable sin according to the teachings of Islam: "Verily, Allah does not forgive that He is given partners, but forgives what is less than this, to whom He wills. And whoever gives partners to Allah has invented a great sin" (Qur'an 4:48)1.

In addition to acknowledging the existence of Allah, faith also includes acknowledging Allah as the only Creator. Muslims understand this to mean that He creates the world anew every moment,2 and when they say that God is the only Creator, they mean that He is the creator not only of the world, but also of every action of man and animal that inhabits it: "God created you and what you do" (Qur'an 37:96).

Perfect monotheism, according to Muslims, is expressed in the first part of the confession of faith (tashshahud): "There is no god but Allah." Sincere and confident pronunciation of these words, from their point of view, guarantees the salvation of a person.