Is the God of Christianity and the god of Islam the same?

I was driving with two of my friends the other day and somehow the question was posed, "Are God and Allah (of the Muslim faith) the same?" One friend answered, "NO!" and the other, "Yes." The friend who answered, "Yes," explained that this was a bridge that enabled him to open up dialogue with people of the Muslim faith. He did say that prior to talking with a professor, that he too felt that God and Allah were not the same.

I was sitting on the fence this particular day, which was odd for me...that is until one day later my Mom asked me the same question. I took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and gave this answer…

I do not believe the two are the same for the following reasons;

1. God is the Trinity and has always existed as the Trinity.
• The Trinity is present in Genesis 1, arguably in Genesis 1:1-2.
• You cannot separate any part of the Godhead. The Father, Son and Spirit work in unison.
• John 4:31-36 31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
• John 10:30 30 I [Jesus] and the Father are one.
2. Muslims deny the deity of Christ.
• Again, Christ is eternal and not created. He exists as one part of the Godhead. To deny Christ is to deny the Godhead, thereby denying that we worship the same god.
3. I can understand the bridge. Up to Ishmael and Isaac, I can see where one could argue that the two gods could be said to be the same. On a surface level, I agree. However, the Muslim god, Allah, characteristically is nothing like the one true God of Christianity.
• Allah is a god who acts inconsistently.
• God is immutable- that is He is unchanging. His actions are always to bring about the most glory unto Himself.
• Works may or may not win the favor of Allah and so one may or may not get into Heaven.
• God, sent His One and Only Son to the cross to atone for sinful humanity and it is by faith in Christ alone that one is saved.

Perhaps the bridge is a good starting place, but I must say that I would want to jump off that bridge very quickly and move to Christ. It is the idea that God is the Godhead three in one that has swayed me to stand on the side of not likening the two as one and the same- that is God and Allah. Further, I think, at best, one could say that the Muslims worship a distortion of God, which, in the end, means they worship a false god and so logically then, Allah and God are not the same.