The Prophet Mohammed was a follower of Jesus? He Believed the OT? Did Billy Graham affirm Islam?

Just a quick video here of Billy Graham seemingly affirming the faith of boxer Muhammad Ali, who is a Muslim. Billy Graham also seems to affirm the prophet Muhammad, who is the founder of Islam. Let's watch the video, and then I'll comment.

You recently played host to Muhammad Ali, a black man. You're a white southerner. He's a black Muslim. His religion, as I understand it, doesn't speak too kindly of Christians.

Well, you know, it's very interesting. If you study the Koran, you find that Muhammad had a great deal to say about Jesus Christ. He was a great admirer and follower of Christ. He felt that Christ was the greatest of the prophets.

And you find that all the Old Testament, of course, Muhammad accepted. And I think there's a lot of evidence to say that if the Christians had treated him properly at that time, he would have been a great Christian leader instead of starting what was later to become a new religion.

And Muhammad Ali is a very devout person. From the time he got off the plane, and I met him at the airport, and he was quite surprised. He thought I would have an assistant meet him at the airport. And he kissed me, and he said that he had listened to me ever since he was a little boy.

And he said, every time you're on television, I watch. And he said, I've always wanted to meet you and be with you. But from the moment he got in the car and I was driving, he talked about nothing but God and religion and faith.

And he's trying to find a way in which he can serve God the rest of his life and sort of reconcile different groups that may be apart.

So don't get confused. There's two different Muhammad's he's speaking of. The prophet Muhammad was the founder of Islam. He denied that Jesus was the son of God. He denied that Jesus died on the cross.

He denied that Jesus rose from the dead. And then the prophet Muhammad rejected the Old Testament stories about God confirming the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Was Billy Graham really not aware of all of this?

Muhammad had a great deal to say about Jesus Christ. He was a great admirer and follower of Christ. He felt that Christ was the greatest of the prophets. And you find that he, all the Old Testament, of course, Muhammad accepted.

What about the boxer Muhammad Ali? Well, he rejected the gospel. He rejected all of those same things. And yet Billy Graham seems to affirm him in his Muslim faith that he was a devout servant of God.

You have to ask which God? Certainly not the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So this is just more evidence that while Billy Graham would speak the truth at his crusades in front of his conservative Protestant Baptist audience, this is more evidence that Billy Graham, after his acceptance of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, that he, at least based on this and a lot of other things, it seems he held to the doctrine of universalism, which says that all religions get you to God.

And of course, let's just play it one more time. Billy Graham on the Robert Shuler program.

Tell me, what do you think is the future of Christianity?

Well, Christianity and being a true believer, you know, I think there's the body of Christ, which comes from all the Christian groups around the world or outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the body of Christ.

And I don't think that we're going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. I think James answered that, the Apostle James, in the first council in Jerusalem when he said that God's purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name.

And that's what God is doing today. He's calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world or the Buddhist world or the Christian world or the non-believing world.

They are members of the body of Christ because they've been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their heart that they need something that they don't have. And they turn to the only light that they have.

And I think that they are saved and that they're going to be with us in heaven.

What I hear you saying is that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart and soul and life even if they've been born in darkness and have never had an exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you're saying?

Yes, it is, because I believe that. I've met people in various parts of the world and tribal situations that they had never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible and never heard of Jesus, but they believed in their heart that there was a God and they tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.

This is fantastic. I'm so thrilled to hear you say that. There's a wideness in God's mercy.

There is. There definitely is.