The world’s two largest religions, Christianity and Islam, are both very much of the latter type. There is One God, and he is The Only God, and his will is Absolute Moral Truth, and any other so-called god is necessarily a false god
Muslims believe that it is the same god but that Christians have misinterpreted the words of Jesus.
And ˹on Judgment Day˺ Allah will say, “O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour upon you and your mother: how I supported you with the holy spirit so you spoke to people in ˹your˺ infancy and adulthood. How I taught you writing, wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel. How you moulded a bird from clay—by My Will—and breathed into it and it became a ˹real˺ bird—by My Will. How you healed the blind and the lepers—by My Will. How you brought the dead to life—by My Will. How I prevented the Children of Israel from harming you when you came to them with clear proofs and the disbelievers among them said, “This is nothing but pure magic.”
And how I inspired the disciples, “Believe in Me and My messenger!” They declared, “We believe and bear witness that we fully submit ˹to Allah˺.”
˹Remember˺ when the disciples asked, “O Jesus, son of Mary! Would your Lord be willing to send down to us a table spread with food from heaven?” Jesus answered, “Fear Allah if you are ˹truly˺ believers.”
They said, “We ˹only˺ wish to eat from it to reassure our hearts, to verify you are indeed truthful to us, and to become its witnesses.”
Jesus, son of Mary, prayed, “O Allah, our Lord! Send us from heaven a table spread with food as a feast for us—the first and last of us—and as a sign from You. Provide for us! You are indeed the Best Provider.”
Allah answered, “I am sending it down to you. But whoever among you denies afterwards will be subjected to a torment I have never inflicted on anyone of My creation.”
And ˹on Judgment Day˺ Allah will say, “O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you ever ask the people to worship you and your mother as gods besides Allah?” He will answer, “Glory be to You! How could I ever say what I had no right to say? If I had said such a thing, you would have certainly known it. You know what is ˹hidden˺ within me, but I do not know what is within You. Indeed, You ˹alone˺ are the Knower of all unseen.
I never told them anything except what You ordered me to say: “Worship Allah—my Lord and your Lord!” And I was witness over them as long as I remained among them. But when You took me, You were the Witness over them—and You are a Witness over all things.
Bahá′í religion claims that Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad were prophets of the same God, and that Buddha and Krishna were manifestations of that God. The differences between their teachings are explained as either adaptations of the religion to given age and society, or as a human error. This sounds convincing enough for a few million people.
Muslims believe that it is the same god but that Christians have misinterpreted the words of Jesus.
And misreported them, yes. But if you add that belief to Christianity you don’t get a syncretic combination of Christianity and Islam, you just get Islam, in much the same way as the people who call themselves “messianic Jews” are generally regarded as Christians who find it convenient for strategic reasons to call themselves something else. The Wikipedia page for “Messianic Judaism” does call it a syncretic variety of Protestant Christianity, which is kinda reasonable, but empirically it doesn’t seem as if this actually leads to less tension between actual Jews and “messianic Jews” than between actual Jews and Christians who call themselves Christians. I suspect something similar would be the case for any Muslims who tried calling themselves “submitting Christians” or whatever.
However, I concede that Baha’ism is a pretty successful syncretic combination of (among other things) Christianity and Islam. I expect other syncretic combinations of “Abrahamic” religions are possible too.
Syncretism between an “exclusive” religion and an “inclusive” one is definitely possible. I think there’s been rather a lot of it in India. But I think in these cases followers of the “exclusive” religion would generally consider that the result is a caricature of the true faith, and would not feel any more positive about it than about followers of “inclusive” religion who don’t mix any of their religion in.
Muslims believe that it is the same god but that Christians have misinterpreted the words of Jesus.
Bahá′í religion claims that Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad were prophets of the same God, and that Buddha and Krishna were manifestations of that God. The differences between their teachings are explained as either adaptations of the religion to given age and society, or as a human error. This sounds convincing enough for a few million people.
And misreported them, yes. But if you add that belief to Christianity you don’t get a syncretic combination of Christianity and Islam, you just get Islam, in much the same way as the people who call themselves “messianic Jews” are generally regarded as Christians who find it convenient for strategic reasons to call themselves something else. The Wikipedia page for “Messianic Judaism” does call it a syncretic variety of Protestant Christianity, which is kinda reasonable, but empirically it doesn’t seem as if this actually leads to less tension between actual Jews and “messianic Jews” than between actual Jews and Christians who call themselves Christians. I suspect something similar would be the case for any Muslims who tried calling themselves “submitting Christians” or whatever.
However, I concede that Baha’ism is a pretty successful syncretic combination of (among other things) Christianity and Islam. I expect other syncretic combinations of “Abrahamic” religions are possible too.
Syncretism between an “exclusive” religion and an “inclusive” one is definitely possible. I think there’s been rather a lot of it in India. But I think in these cases followers of the “exclusive” religion would generally consider that the result is a caricature of the true faith, and would not feel any more positive about it than about followers of “inclusive” religion who don’t mix any of their religion in.