There are many differences between our God and the god of Islam, and we’ve detailed those in “Who is Allah compared to Yahweh?”

But the biggest thing that sets our God apart from the god of Islam is that He Loves. And we should always share this great news with our Muslim friends, because it is truly life-changing.

God is Love

There are countless passages and stories in the Bible that affirms this major fact; that God loves the entire world (John 3:16), that He loved us before we were saved, and He wants to be with us, even when we don’t want to be with Him:

“How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” Matthew 23:37 NASB 

But God does not only practice loving the world and us, but 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. He is the source of love and He practices this love with both His children and those who have not joined the body of Christ.

Meanwhile, Allah…

According to the Quran, Allah is loving or amicable only towards those who obey him and do good deeds.

Sura 2:195 - “And do good, for Allah certainly loves the good-doers.”

Allah’s love is an expression of approval, meaning it must be earned by doing good.

Muslims Need God's Love

Muslims never experience true love from their god; and most of them yearn to feel loved, cherished and accepted by the god they worship. They never know that there is a Loving Heavenly Father who actively reaches out to us because He is Love.

This means the best thing you can do in your friendship is to show your Muslim friends the nature of the God you worship and the personal, loving relationship you have with Him. Show them the love that you receive from God; be patient with your Muslim friend, be kind, be selfless, be forgiving, and be truthful. Basically, practice what 1 Corinthians 13 says about love!

Ways to start a conversation about love

• Do you feel loved by Allah?
• Would you say Allah’s love makes you feel confident or pressured?
• Do you believe love should be unconditional?

Use these questions as a way to better understand your Muslim friend’s relationship with Allah and their beliefs about love. Ask permission from your Muslims friend to share your own experience with God, who loves you no matter what.

Your Muslim friend is used to feeling pressure to be as close to perfect as possible, or else they’ll fall out of favor with Allah. It is a breath of fresh air when they are introduced to God, who already loves them as they are.

We have lots of resources to help you love your Muslim friends! To start, check out The Simple Truth by Samya Johnson, and follow us on Instagram (@calloflove) for encouragement and education about Islam and Muslims.