Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?

Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God? The answer the Quran gives is yes. Muslims and Christians both worship the God of Abraham, the one Creator of the heavens and the earth. The Quran tells Muslims to say so directly to the People of the Book, and it honors the churches in which His name is remembered. The two faiths describe God differently in important ways, and they are describing the same God.

What does the Quran say?

The Quran teaches Muslims how to speak with Jews and Christians, and the words it gives them are words of shared faith:

وَلَا تُجَٰدِلُوٓاْ أَهۡلَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ إِلَّا بِٱلَّتِي هِيَ أَحۡسَنُ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ مِنۡهُمۡۖ وَقُولُوٓاْ ءَامَنَّا بِٱلَّذِيٓ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡنَا وَأُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكُمۡ وَإِلَٰهُنَا وَإِلَٰهُكُمۡ وَٰحِدٞ وَنَحۡنُ لَهُۥ مُسۡلِمُونَ

“Do not argue with the People of the Book except in the finest way, apart from those of them who do wrong, and say: We believe in what was sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God is one, and to Him we have surrendered.”

Quran 29:46

Muslims are commanded to believe in what was given to Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them) and to “make no distinction between any of” the prophets (2:136). And when the Quran explains why Allah allows people to defend themselves against persecution, it names the houses of worship that must be protected:

لَّهُدِّمَتۡ صَوَٰمِعُ وَبِيَعٞ وَصَلَوَٰتٞ وَمَسَٰجِدُ يُذۡكَرُ فِيهَا ٱسۡمُ ٱللَّهِ كَثِيرٗا

“Monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques, in which the name of Allah is remembered often, would have been torn down.”

Quran 22:40

The Quran says that the name of Allah is remembered in churches and synagogues. Christians at prayer are calling on the God Muslims worship.

Do Christians call God Allah?

Arabic-speaking Christians have no other word for God. The Arabic Bible opens “In the beginning Allah created the heavens and the earth,” and Christians from Egypt to Iraq pray to Allah every Sunday, as they did before Islam. Catholics in Malta call God Alla. More on the word itself is in Who is Allah?

What about the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus?

Here the two faiths part ways, and the Quran says so with clarity and courtesy. It calls on Christians not to say “three,” and teaches that Jesus is the Messiah, a messenger of Allah, His word and a spirit from Him (4:171). Christians, for their part, understand the one God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Some Muslims and some Christians conclude from this that the two faiths worship different gods. It is a sincere position, held by people who care about getting God right.

The stronger view is that the two faiths refer to the same God and describe Him differently. Both worship the God who called Abraham, spoke to Moses, and sent the prophets. When two people disagree about a person’s life and nature, they are still speaking about the same person. The Quran itself takes this approach. It corrects what it sees as errors about God, and in the same breath it says “our God and your God is one.” What Muslims believe about Jesus is explained in What do Muslims believe about Jesus?

How did the Prophet ﷺ treat Christians at prayer?

When a delegation of Christians came from Najran in southern Arabia to meet the Prophet ﷺ in Medina, the time of their prayer arrived while they were in his mosque. They stood and prayed there, facing east. Some people moved to stop them, and the Prophet ﷺ told them to leave the Christians to pray. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350) records the account in Zād al-Maʿād and draws from it the ruling that Christians may pray in a mosque when the need arises.

The Quran describes Christians as “the nearest in affection” to the believers, because among them are priests and monks who are free of arrogance (5:82). See What does the Quran say about Christians and Jews? and Can Muslims go to church?

What have modern Muslim and Christian leaders said?

On 13 October 2007, 138 Muslim scholars and leaders from across the Sunni, Shia and Sufi traditions addressed an open letter to the leaders of the world’s churches. Titled A Common Word Between Us and You, after Sūrat Āl ʿImrān, it was initiated by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan. It names two principles at the heart of both faiths: love of the one God and love of neighbor. The verse that gave the letter its name reads:

قُلۡ يَـٰٓأَهۡلَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ تَعَالَوۡاْ إِلَىٰ كَلِمَةٖ سَوَآءِۭ بَيۡنَنَا وَبَيۡنَكُمۡ أَلَّا نَعۡبُدَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهَ

“Say: People of the Book, come to a word common to us and you: that we worship none but Allah.”

Quran 3:64

Hundreds of Christian leaders responded, among them the scholars of Yale Divinity School and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. On the Catholic side, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Nostra Aetate (1965) had already said that Muslims worship the one God, living and subsisting, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth. The Protestant theologian Miroslav Volf argued the same case at length in his book Allah: A Christian Response (2011).

Living as neighbors under one God

Shared faith in one God makes friendship natural: Muslims and Christians can pray for one another, care for each other’s families, and stand together for justice and the poor. See Can Muslims be friends with non-Muslims? Where the two faiths differ, the Quran asks for the finest manners in conversation, and leaves the final word to Allah: “To Allah is your return, all of you, and He will tell you about the things in which you differed” (Quran 5:48).