A range of news items from ISIS beheadings to Muslims buying Christian church buildings illustrate the "competing streams" within Islam and the divergent theology of moderate and radical Muslims.
"There are and have been competing streams, ideologies within Islam from the earliest moments," Islamic studies professor J. Scott Bridger of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Baptist Press. While all forms of Islam run counter to the Christian Gospel of salvation through Christ alone, "some of them are subversive to democracy" and do not provide for freedom of religious expression.
All Muslims believe in God and the prophet Muhammad, and they advocate such practices as fasting during the month of Ramadan and giving to the needy. But beyond that, various groups of Muslims hold divergent theological and ethical systems -- and they all find passages in the Quran that reflect their approach.
On the violent end of the Muslim spectrum, ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq released a video Oct. 3 showing the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning. He was the fourth westerner beheaded by the Islamist group on video.
Non-violent Muslims have purchased at least two buildings in Louisville, Ky., that once housed Baptist churches to turn them into mosques, according to a Kentucky Baptist Convention news release. Dozens of church buildings in the United Kingdom have similarly been turned into mosques, the release stated. Read more
See also
Kentucky church buildings being turned into mosques
United Charity - a Muslim organization supporting and funding Louisville area mosques and Islamic schools
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