Shared Monotheistic Foundations

Islam and Christianity both emerge from the Abrahamic tradition of strict monotheism — the belief that the universe was created and is sustained by a single, all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-merciful God. This shared foundation, rooted in the revelation given to the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), whom both traditions venerate as a father of faith, represents a point of profound common ground that Ahmad Deedat regarded as the most promising starting point for meaningful interfaith dialogue. Before examining the differences that have divided Muslim and Christian communities across the centuries, it is essential to establish clearly and forcefully the theological bedrock upon which both traditions stand.

The Islamic declaration of faith — 'There is no god but Allah' — and the first of the Ten Commandments given to Moses — 'You shall have no other gods before Me' — express the same fundamental theological commitment: the absolute uniqueness and oneness of the divine being. Both traditions affirm that God is eternal, uncreated, self-sufficient, and entirely unlike anything in the created world. Both affirm that He created the heavens and the earth, that He sustains all of existence at every moment, and that He is intimately aware of every thought and action of every creature He has made.

Deedat points to the Hebrew Shema — 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one' (Deuteronomy 6:4) — as a declaration that Muslims can affirm wholeheartedly. Jesus himself, when asked about the greatest commandment, cited this very verse from Deuteronomy and prefaced it with the same formula: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one' (Mark 12:29). The fact that Jesus placed strict monotheism at the pinnacle of all religious obligation aligns precisely with the Islamic understanding of his mission as a prophet calling his people back to pure Abrahamic monotheism.

Both Islam and Christianity reject the materialism and atheism that deny the existence of any divine reality. Both affirm that the created world is not self-explanatory — that the existence, order, complexity, and beauty of the universe point unmistakably to a Creator of incomparable intelligence, power, and purpose. Both traditions have developed rich theological and philosophical traditions arguing for the existence of God from the evidence of the natural world, human reason, and inner spiritual experience. The cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments for God's existence have been elaborated by thinkers in both traditions.

The moral implications of monotheism are also shared. Both Islam and Christianity teach that God is not merely a distant cosmic principle but a moral lawgiver who cares about human conduct and who will call every human being to account for their actions. Both traditions affirm that justice, mercy, honesty, compassion, and humility are divinely commanded virtues, and that selfishness, cruelty, dishonesty, and pride are sins that displease the Creator. This shared ethical monotheism — the belief that God is both the source and the ultimate enforcer of the moral law — provides a powerful basis for Muslim-Christian cooperation on issues of social justice, human dignity, and ethical conduct in public life.

Deedat's approach in identifying these shared foundations is not to minimize the real differences that exist between Islam and Christianity regarding the nature of God — particularly the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the Islamic insistence on strict divine unity — but to insist that honest dialogue must begin from a recognition of the vast common ground before moving to the points of theological divergence. Disagreement is more productive and more likely to lead to truth when it takes place within a framework of acknowledged shared values.