Allah Never Said to Muhammad: “I Am God, Worship Me” — A Scholarly Debate Challenge to Islam
By Dr. Maxwell Shimba, Shimba Theological Institute
Abstract
Muslims repeatedly challenge Christians with the demand: “Where did Jesus say, ‘I am God, worship me’?” This polemical strategy, championed by Islamic preachers such as Ahmad Deedat and Zakir Naik, seeks to undermine the divinity of Jesus by appealing to the absence of verbatim declarations in the Gospels. Yet, when this standard is applied to Islam itself, a fundamental contradiction emerges. Nowhere in the Qur’an does Allah ever speak directly to Muhammad with the explicit words: “I am Allah; worship Me.” This absence undermines the credibility of Allah’s identity and Muhammad’s prophethood when judged by Islam’s own argumentative criteria.
1. The Muslim Polemical Argument Against Jesus
The Islamic argument is straightforward: if Jesus is truly God, then He should have explicitly declared, in unambiguous words, “I am God, worship Me.” Because such a phrase does not exist in the New Testament, Muslims assert that Jesus never claimed divinity.
This claim, however, fails on several grounds:
Jesus accepted worship (Matthew 14:33; John 9:38), a prerogative belonging only to God in Jewish monotheism.
Jesus identified Himself with the divine name “I AM” (John 8:58; cf. Exodus 3:14).
The apostles confessed His deity: Thomas declared, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
The early Church universally worshipped Jesus as divine (Philippians 2:6–11).
Thus, though the exact Muslim-demanded phrase is absent, the substance of Jesus’ divinity is explicit.
2. The Qur’an’s Lack of Direct Divine Self-Revelation to Muhammad
If Muslims apply this same standard to their own religion, an uncomfortable reality emerges: Allah never once tells Muhammad, “I am Allah; worship Me.”
The Qur’an often attributes declarations to Allah in the third person:
“Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him” (Qur’an 3:51).
“So know that there is no deity except Allah” (Qur’an 47:19).
But in none of these instances is Muhammad personally addressed with a first-person, divine self-revelation.
The one verse that appears similar is Qur’an 20:14:
“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.”
Yet this was allegedly spoken to Moses at the burning bush, not to Muhammad. Muhammad, the supposed final prophet, never once received a direct “I am God” declaration.
3. The Logical Consequences for Islam
If Muslims reject the divinity of Jesus because He did not use their demanded formula, then consistency requires rejecting the deity of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad, since:
Allah never personally identified Himself to Muhammad.
Muhammad received no divine confirmation in the Qur’an that his source was truly God.
By Muslim reasoning, Allah is disqualified as God and Muhammad becomes a false prophet ad infinitum.
The argument Muslims wield against Christianity thus backfires fatally upon Islam itself.
4. Contrast with Biblical Divine Self-Revelation
The God of the Bible repeatedly and unambiguously revealed Himself throughout salvation history:
To Moses: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt… You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:2–3).
Through Isaiah: “I am the LORD, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:5).
Through Christ: “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).
This continuity of divine self-revelation stands in stark contrast to the silence of Allah toward Muhammad.
5. The Debate Challenge to Islam
If Muslims insist that Jesus must say “I am God, worship Me” to be divine, then by the exact same standard:
Where in the Qur’an did Allah ever say to Muhammad: “I am Allah; worship Me”?
Where is the verbatim self-declaration to Muhammad that establishes Allah’s divine identity?
The answer is: nowhere. Islam’s God never spoke these words to Muhammad.
Therefore, by Islam’s own argumentative framework:
Allah cannot be proven to be God.
Muhammad cannot be proven to be a prophet.
Conclusion
The silence of Allah in the Qur’an is deafening. By demanding explicit divine declarations from Christians, Muslims have trapped themselves in a standard that their own faith cannot meet. The God of the Bible speaks directly, clearly, and repeatedly to His people. Allah never once tells Muhammad, “I am God, worship Me.” On Islamic grounds, therefore, Allah fails the test of divinity, and Muhammad’s prophethood collapses. Christianity, in contrast, rests on a God who reveals Himself fully and finally in Jesus Christ, the eternal Word made flesh.
Bibliography
The Qur’an, translations by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Saheeh International, and Pickthall.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV).
Ahmad Deedat, Is Jesus God? (Islamic Propagation Centre International, 1981).
Zakir Naik, The Concept of God in Major Religions (Islamic Research Foundation, 1997).
F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Eerdmans, 2003).
N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Fortress Press, 1996).
William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith (Crossway, 2008).
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