Fast facts
- Began
- 1870s, Pennsylvania, United States
- Founder / origin
- Charles Taze Russell; organised in its present form under Joseph (PBUH) Rutherford
- Followers
- About 8.8 million active publishers, with roughly 20 million attending the annual Memorial
- Figure from
- Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 2023 Service Year Report
- Where
- Worldwide, with the largest numbers in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria and Zambia
- Scriptures
- The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, their own translation, which other Christians dispute
- View of God
- One God, Jehovah. Jesus (PBUH) is God's first creation, not God; the Holy Spirit is God's active force, not a person
Distinctive beliefs
- The is explicitly rejected as unscriptural and pagan in origin
- Jesus (PBUH) is the created Son, identified with the archangel Michael, and is not to be worshipped as God
- No immortal soul and no hell of eternal torment; the wicked are simply destroyed
- 144,000 rule in heaven; the rest of the faithful live forever on a restored earth
- No blood transfusions, no military service, no voting, no birthdays or Christmas
- Door-to-door preaching is expected of every member
Structure
Direction comes from the Governing Body in New York, whose interpretations members are expected to accept. Members who leave or are expelled are shunned by the community, including by family, which makes conversion an extremely costly decision for them.
The Islamic view
Where it meets Islam, and where it differs
Common ground
- God is one, not three. On this, they will agree with you immediately and gladly.
- Jesus (PBUH) is not God and should not be worshipped.
- No eternal torment for ordinary sinners; God is not vindictive.
- Christmas, Easter and church festivals are rejected as later additions — a point Muslims make too.
- A duty on every believer to go out and speak to people about God.
Where Islam differs
- Jesus (PBUH) is identified with an angel; in Islam he is a human messenger, not an angel and not divine.
- The 144,000 and a two-tier afterlife have no Islamic parallel.
- Muhammad (SAW) and the Qur'an are not accepted.
- The New World Translation is a sectarian translation; Islam's argument is not with translation choices but with the text's transmission.
- Refusing blood transfusion has no place in Islam, where saving life takes precedence.
Talking points
- Open with agreement: God is one, Jesus (PBUH) is not God. You will be the first person on their round all week who did not argue that point.
- Then ask the obvious next question: if God has always sent prophets and the was a later corruption, what would you expect God to do next? That is exactly where the Qur'an's claim sits.
- Ask about Deuteronomy 18:18 and the prophet like Moses (PBUH) — a human prophet, not an angel and not God.
- Be patient. They knock on doors for a living and are used to hostility, not courtesy.
Avoid
- Do not mock their organisation or their shifting dates. Ridicule closes the door.
- Understand the cost of leaving for them. Do not press for an on-the-spot decision.
Sources
- Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 2023 Service Year Report
- Jehovah's Witnesses, Reasoning from the Scriptures (their own doctrinal handbook)
- Bible: Deuteronomy 18:18; John 17:3
- Qur'an 4:171; 5:75
This overview describes the tradition as its own followers describe it. The Islamic view is kept in its own section above so the description stays honest.
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