What did Jesus really say?
ch6
"Those who follow
the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet whom they find written in
the Torah and the Gospel with them. He enjoins upon them that
which is right and forbids for them that which is evil. He makes
lawful for them all things that are good and prohibits for them
all that is foul and he relieves them from their burden and the
fetters that they used to wear. Then those who believe in him,
honor him, assist him, and follow the light which is sent down
with him: they are the successful"
The noble Qur'an, Al-A'araf(7):157.
"And when there came to them a messenger
from Allah, Confirming what was with them, a party of the people
of the book threw away the book of Allah behind their backs as
if (it had been something) they did not know"
The Qur'an, Al-Bakarah(2): 101
"And because of their breaking of their covenant,
We have cursed them and made hard their hearts. They change the
words from their places and they forget a portion thereof"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maida(4): 13.
Before starting this topic, let me first clear up
a common misconception. Many Christians require of all Muslims
to either accept all of the Bible or to reject all of the Bible.
Therefore, they sometimes find a Muslim's attitude towards the
Bible bewildering. For this reason, I will explain how a Muslim
is commanded to deal with the Bible.
Muslims are told that Allah Almighty sent down an
"Injeel" upon Jesus (pbuh). The Qur'an then goes on
to describe how mankind later changed this "Injeel"
and altered it's original message to them. For this reason, Muhammad
(pbuh) told all Muslims to deal with the Bible with respect since
it started out as the true word of God. Muhammad (pbuh) told his
followers that if they were to reject the whole book, then they
might be rejecting words that remain the true word of God. He
told them that the Qur'an had been sent down to "bear witness
over" that which was changed by mankind in the Bible and
to return it to the original teachings of God through it's own
guardianship. We read this in the Qur'an:
"And unto you (O Muhammad) have We revealed
the Scripture (Qur'an) with the truth, confirming that which was
before it of the Scripture, and a watcher/corrector over it. So
judge between them by that which Allah has revealed, and follow
not their desires away from the truth which has come unto you.."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maidah(5):48.
The actual word used in this verse was the Arabic
word "Muhaimin" which means
"Guardian/warden/overseer/watcher/protector."
For this reason, Muhammad (pbuh) commanded them to accept only
that which is verified by the Qur'an and to reject that which
contradicts the Qur'an.
Muslims have recorded that the "people of the
book" at the time of Muhammad (pbuh) had been expecting a
new prophet to be coming soon. There are many historical reports
to this effect. We are told that the Jews of Yathrib (Al-Madinah
Al-Munawarah) were constantly threatening it's Arab citizens with
his impending arrival and that they would follow him and slaughter
them in a similar manner as A'ad and Iram where slaughtered, and
this was one of the major reasons that the Arabs of Yathrib followed
Muhammad (pbuh) so quickly. To beat the Jews to him. There are
also other similar stories, such as the story of Salman Al-Farisi,
the story of the monk Bahira, and the story of Al-Najashi, the
king of Ethiopia among many others.
There are many predictions of the coming of Jesus
(pbuh) in the Old Testament. Many Christians have even told us
that the Bible has predicted much of what has occurred after the
time of Jesus (pbuh) including the Pope and Israel. Unlike the
Jews, Muslims do not contest the claimed prophesies of the coming
of Jesus (pbuh) since the Qur'an commands them to believe in him.
We have also seen in the verse which was presented at the very
beginning of this chapter how the Qur'an tells us that both the
Torah of Moses as well as the Injeel (Gospel) of Jesus
both contain prophesies of Muhammad However, if we ask the Christians
whether they can find any mention of Muhammad (pbuh) in the Bible,
their immediate response is an emphatic "No!" But if
the Bible has predicted all of these other things then we must
ask: why does it have absolutely nothing at all to say about the
man who single-handedly convinced many billions of people over
the ages to believe in the miraculous birth of Jesus (pbuh), his
message, the piety and chastity of his mother Mary (pbuh), the
miracles of Jesus (pbuh), and the fact that he was one of the
greatest messengers of God for all time?
There is not a single prophesy in the Old Testament
that mentions Jesus (pbuh) by name. Messiah, translated
"Christ" is not a name. It is a description, a title.
It means "the anointed one." Even "Jesus"
is not Jesus' true name. "Jesus" is a Latinized version
of the Hebrew name "Yeshua," which itself
is the shortened form of "Yehoshua" -
God Saves. When the Christians claim that a verse professes the
coming of Jesus (pbuh) what they have done is to compare the
description found in that verse to Jesus (pbuh) and if it
fits him then they say that it speaks of him. Using the Christian's
same system we claim that there is indeed not one, but more than
TEN verses in the Bible that speak of the coming of Muhammad (pbuh)
as God's last messenger, but that previous commentators have
misunderstood
them (just as the Christians tell us that the Jews have done with
the Old Testament prophesies of Jesus, pbuh). The reader will
notice that in what is to follow the verses are explained very
simply, using the obvious meanings of the words themselves without
having to resort to forced abstract and metaphysical meanings
for these verses. These verses speak about major events,
locations, and milestones in Islamic history as well as the
characteristics
of both Islam and Muhammad (pbuh).
Now the prophesies:
"Those unto whom We gave the Scripture recognize
him (Muhammad) as they recognize their sons. But verily, a party
of them conceal the truth while [well] they know it"
The noble Qur'an, al-Baqarah(2):146
In the Bible we read of the test that the Jews applied
to Jesus (pbuh) in order to ascertain his truthfulness. The Jews
had a prophecy that required Elias to come before Jesus (pbuh):
"Elias verily cometh first"
Mark 9:12
(also John 3:28). They had not seen Elias yet so
they doubted the claim of Jesus (pbuh). Jesus, however, responded
to them that Elias had already come but that they did not recognize
him. In Matthew we read:
"But I say unto you, That Elias is come already,
and they knew him not.........Then the disciples understood that
he spake unto them of John the Baptist."
Matthew 17:12-13
John, however refutes the claims of Jesus (pbuh).
This is one of the Christian's "dark sayings of Jesus"
that their scholars have tried to reconcile for centuries. We
will leave this matter for them to work out among themselves (This
matter is resolved in the Gospel of Barnabas.
Please see chapter 7 for more).
Now, in John we read
"And this is the record of John, when the
Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art
thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I
am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art
thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet?
And he answered, No."
John 1:19-21
We notice that there are three distinct prophecies
here: 1) Elias, 2) Jesus, 3) That prophet. The Jews were not waiting
for two prophecies, but three. This can be further clarified
by reading John:
"And they asked him, and said unto him, Why
baptizest thou then, if thou be:
a) not that Christ,
b) nor Elias,
c) neither that prophet?"
John 1:25
If "that prophet" were Jesus (pbuh) wouldn't
the third question in both verses be redundant? Further, we must
remember that "That prophet" can not apply to any prophet
before the time of Jesus (pbuh) because at the time of Jesus (pbuh)
the Jews were still waiting for all three. Notice how when
we let the Bible speak for itself, without forcing the holy spirit
or other supernatural meanings on it in the commentary, or forcing
three questions to be only two, how clear these verses become.
For much more evidence in this regard, please read chapter 7 regarding
the Dead Sea Scroll prophesies of "two
messiahs"
and how the Jews who wrote the scrolls and who were waiting for
the coming of Jesus (pbuh) clearly state in these scrolls that
they were waiting for not one, but TWO messiahs, the first
of which would be announced by an eschatological prophet.
"Al-Alak"
"And the vision of all is become unto you
as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to
one that is learned, saying, Read this, [I pray thee]: and he
saith, I cannot; for it [is] sealed: And the book is delivered
to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, [I pray thee]:
and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch
as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their
lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and
their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore,
behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people,
[even] a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their
wise [men] shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent
men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel
from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say,
Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things
upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall
the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the
thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
[Is] it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned
into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed
as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of
the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity,
and out of darkness."
Isaiah 29:11-18
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was illiterate. His entire
life he never learned to read nor write. The exact circumstances
of this first revelation were as follows: It was the habit of
Muhammad (pbuh) to frequently remove himself from the midst of
his fellow Arabs and their heathenistic actions and spend many
days secluded in the cave of "Hiraa" in the mountains
of Makkah where he would pray to God according to
the religion of Abraham (pbuh). After many years
of this, and having reached the age of forty (610AD), the angel
Gabriel suddenly appeared before him and ordered
him to "Iqra!" (read, recite, repeat, proclaim).
Muhammad (pbuh), in his terror thought he was being asked to read,
so he stammered: "I am unlettered." The angel
Gabriel again ordered him to "Iqra!" Muhammad
(pbuh) again replied: "I am unlettered." The
angel Gabriel now took a firm hold of him and commanded him "Iqraa
in the name of Allah who created!". Now Muhammad (pbuh)
began to understand that he was not being asked to read, but to
recite, to repeat. He began to repeat after him, and Gabriel revealed
to him the first verses of the Qur'an, those at the beginning
of the chapter of Al-Alak(96):
"Read(Iqraa): In the name of your Lord who
created, Created man from a clot. Read(Iqraa): And your Lord is
the Most Bounteous, Who teaches by the pen, Teaches man that which
he knew not."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Alak(96):1-5
As mentioned above, the actual word angel Gabriel
used to address Muhammad (pbuh) was the Arabic word "Iqra."
It is derived from the Arabic root word "qara". However,
if we were to go back to the original Hebrew form of the verses
of Isaiah 29:11, we would find that the actual word which is translated
into English as "Read this [I pray thee]"
is the Hebrew word qara', {kaw-raw'}. Is it not an amazing coincidence
that the Hebrew text used not only a word with the same meaning,
but the exact same word itself ?
Verse 11 of Isaiah tells us that the final book (the
Qur'an) was revealed to previous prophets, however, they could
not read it. It was "sealed" for them because it was
meant for the last prophet, and until the last prophet's time
came, the people would not yet be able to "bear" this
message (John 16:13). It was also sealed for them because it was
revealed in Arabic.
"A Book whereof the verses are explained
in detail; a Qur'an in Arabic for people who have knowledge"
The noble Qur'an, Fussilat(41):3
"Had We made this as a Qur'an (in a language)
other than Arabic, they would have said: 'Why are not its verses
explained in detail? What! An Arab and non Arabic?' Say: 'It is
a Guide and a Healing for those who believe; and for those who
disbelieve, there is a heaviness (deafness) in their ears, and
it is a blindness upon them: They are as those who are called
from a place far distant (so they neither hear nor understand)'"
The noble Qur'an, Fussilat(41):44
For more details on why the Arabic language was
selected
as the language of the Qur'an, please read chapter 13.
Indeed, the Qur'an was revealed to a man who could
neither read nor write so that it might be apparent to mankind
that he could not have received it from the writings of man, but
only from God Almighty.
"Neither did you (O Muhammad) read any book
before it, nor did you write any book with your right [hand].
In that case, indeed, the followers of falsehood might have doubted
Nay, it is but clear signs in the breasts of those endowed with
knowledge: and none but the unjust reject Our signs."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Ankaboot(29):48-49.
As we see in the above verses of Isaiah, by the time
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) received this book from God, mankind will
have been reduced to worshipping God in words alone, while their
hearts shall be far removed from true belief. They will have forsaken
the true belief in God in favor of "the precept of men"
(the laws of men). We have already seen the confirmation of this
in chapter one where we learned how "St. Paul" managed
to totally replace the message of Jesus (pbuh) with his own message,
and how the later followers of Paul believed that they were justified
in using force to get the first Christians to accept their gospels.
We also saw how they burned Gospels that were accepted as authentic
in the first centuries CE, and killed all Christians who did not
"convert." Finally, we also saw how St. Paul managed
to reduce the message of Jesus (pbuh) to mere "words"
of "faith" with no concrete actions or commandments
required of them (i.e. Romans 3:28).
Verse 14 now goes on to explain how when mankind
accepts this situation, then the wisdom of the wise men shall
perish and all that shall be left is mankind's corruption. Once
again, we have seen this in chapter one, where we learned the
historical details of how the followers of Jesus (pbuh) and the
apostles were murdered and their books destroyed.
This is indeed the same situation described by
Muhammad
(pbuh) in one of his sayings. In Sahih Al-Bukhari we read that
Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-'As said:
"I heard Allah's Apostle (pbuh) saying, 'Allah
does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the
hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious
learned men till when none of them remain, people will take as
their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their
verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead
the people astray.'"
In verse 15, we are told that there will remain among
those corrupt individuals those who shall know the truth but shall
strive to hide it from becoming known. Once again, we have seen
this in chapters, one, and two. For more, see chapter 7. Once
again, when the Qur'an was revealed, it confirmed this situation,
we read:
"Those unto whom We gave the Scripture recognize
(this prophet) as they recognize their sons. But lo! a party of
them conceal the truth which they themselves know."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Baqara(2):14
"And whether you hide your word or publish
it, He certainly has (full) knowledge, of the secrets of (all)
hearts."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Mulk(67):13
Verses 16 goes on to tell us how this treachery,
concealment of the truth, and "overturning" of verses,
laws, and obligations shall be exposed, and the wicked shall be
held accountable for their deeds. Yet again, in the Qur'an we
read:
"That Day shall We set a seal on their mouths.
But their hands will speak to us, and their feet bear witness,
to all that they used to do"
The noble Qur'an, Ya-seen(36):65
"And (remember) the day that the enemies
of Allah shall be gathered to the Fire so that they will (all)
be collected there. Till, when they reach it, their hearing and
their eyes and their skins will testify against them as to what
they used to do. And they will say to their skins 'Why did you
testify against us?' They will say: 'Allah has caused us to speak,
[for He is] the One who caused all things [which He willed] to
speak, and He created you the first time, and unto Him you are
returned".
The noble Qur'an, Fussilat(41):19-21.
"O People of the Scripture! Now has Our messenger
come unto you, revealing to you much of that which you used to
hide in the Scripture, and forgiving much. Now has come unto you
light from Allah and plain Scripture,"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maidah(5):15
"They did not estimate Allah with an estimation
due to Him when they said: "Nothing did God send down to
man [by way of revelation]" Say: "Who then sent down
the Book which moses brought?- a light and guidance to man: But
you make it into [separate] sheets for show, while you conceal
much [of its contents]: and [by which] you were taught that which
you knew not yourselves nor [did] your fathers [know it]?."
Say: 'Allah [sent it down]': Then leave them to plunge in vain
discourse and trifling."
The noble Qur'an, Al-An'am(6):91
Finally, we read in Isaiah 18 that when this final
message is revealed to this "unlettered" prophet, those
who have been lost in darkness and ignorance through the work
of the corrupt shall be brought out of their ignorance and their
darkness and shall be returned to the true message of God.
"Wherewith God guides all those who seek
His good pleasure unto paths of peace. He brings them out of darkness
unto light by His decree and guides them unto a straight path."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maidah(5):16
"And that those who have been given knowledge
may know that it is the truth from thy Lord, so that they may
believe therein and their hearts may submit humbly unto Him. Lo!
Allah verily is guiding those who believe unto a right path."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Hajj (22):54
As we saw at the very beginning of this chapter,
this very prophesy was mentioned quite clearly in the Qur'an:
"Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered
Prophet whom they find written in the Torah and the Gospel with
them. He enjoins upon them that which is right and forbids for
them that which is evil. He makes lawful for them all things that
are good and prohibits for them all that is foul and he relieves
them from their burden and the fetters that they used to wear.
Then those who believe in him, honor him, assist him, and follow
the light which is sent down with him: they are the successful"
The Qur'an, Al-A'araf(7):157.
The complete story is narrated by Aisha (pbuh) in
Sahih Al-Bukhari:
"The commencement of the Divine Inspiration
of Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true
like bright daylight, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed
upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where
he used to worship (Allah alone) continually for many days before
wishing to see his family. He used to take with him provisions
for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadeejah to eat
his food again as before.
One day suddenly the Truth descended upon him
while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked
him to read. The Prophet (pbuh) replied, "I do not know how
to read." The Prophet (pbuh) added, "The angel caught
me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it
any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I
replied, "I do not know how to read." Thereupon he caught
me again and pressed me a second time until I could not bear it
any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again
I replied, "I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?"
Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and
then released me and said, "Read in the name of your Lord,
who has created (all that exists), created man from a clot. Read!
And your Lord is the Most Generous.'"(96):1-3.
Then Allah's Apostle (pbuh) returned with the
Inspiration and with his heart trembling. He went to Khadeejah
the daughter of Khuwaylid (his wife) and said, "Cover me!"
She covered him until his fear subsided. After that he told her
everything that had happened and said, "I fear that something
may happen to me." Khadeejah replied, "Never! By Allah,
Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your
kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests
generously and assist the deserving people afflicted with calamities."
Khadeejah then accompanied him to her cousin
Waraqah
ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn AbdulUzza, who, during the pre-Islamic
period became a Christian and used to write in the Hebrew alphabet.
He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished
him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight.
Khadeejah said to Waraqah, "Listen to the
story of your nephew, O my cousin!" Waraqah asked, "O
my nephew! What have you seen?" Allah's Apostle described
that which he had seen. Waraqah said, "This is the one who
keeps the secrets (angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to Moses.
I wish I were young and could live until the time when your people
will turn you out." Allah's Apostle asked, "Will they
drive me out?" Waraqah replied in the affirmative and said,
"Anyone (man) who came with something similar to that which
you have brought was greeted with hostility; and if I remain alive
until the day when you will be turned out then I should support
you strongly."
But after a few days Waraqah died (see section 6.4
and chapter 10 for the confirmation of this prophesy of Muhammad,
pbuh, being 'driven out')
In the Bible we can find the following four passages
wherein Jesus (pbuh) predicts a great event:
John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever"
John 15:26 "But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me"
John 14:26 "But the Comforter, [which is]
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you."
John 16:7-14 "Nevertheless I tell you the
truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because
they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father,
and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this
world is judged. I have yet many things to
say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the
Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for
he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that]
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall
glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it]
unto you."
In these four verses, the word "comforter"
is translated from the word "Paraclete"
("Ho Parakletos" in Greek). Parakletos in Greek
is interpreted as "an advocate", one who pleads the
cause of another, one who councils or advises another from deep
concern for the other's welfare (Beacon Bible commentary volume
VII, p.168). In these verses we are told that once Jesus (pbuh)
departs, a Paraclete will come. He will glorify Jesus (pbuh),
and he will guide mankind into all truth. This "Paraclete"
is identified in John 14:26 as the Holy Ghost.
It must be pointed out that the original Greek
manuscripts
speak of a "Holy pneuma." The word pneuma
{pnyoo'-mah} is the Greek root word for "spirit." There
is no separate word for "Ghost" in the Greek manuscripts,
of which there are claimed to be over 24,000 today. The translators
of the King James Version of the Bible translate this word as
"Ghost" to convey their own personal understanding of
the text. However, a more accurate translation is "Holy Spirit."
More faithful and recent translations of the Bible, such as the
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), do indeed now translate it
as "Holy Spirit." This is significant, and will be expounded
upon shortly.
All Bibles in existence today are compiled from
"ancient
manuscripts," the most ancient of which being those of the
fourth century C.E. Any scholar of the Bible will tell us that
no two ancient manuscripts are exactly identical. All Bibles in
our possession today are the result of extensive cutting and pasting
from these various manuscripts with no single one being the
definitive reference.
What the translators of the Bible have done when
presented with such discrepancies is to do their best to choose
the correct version. In other words, since they can not know which
"ancient manuscript" is the correct one, they must do
a little detective work on the text in order to decide which "version"
of a given verse to accept. John 14:26 is just such an example
of such selection techniques.
John 14:26 is the only verse of the Bible
which associates the Parakletos with the Holy Spirit. But
if we were to go back to the "ancient manuscripts" themselves,
we would find that they are not all in agreement that the "Parakletos"
is the Holy Spirit. For instance, in the famous the Codex Syriacus,
written around the fifth century C.E., and discovered in 1812
on Mount Sinai by Mrs.Agnes S. Lewis (and Mrs. Bensley), the text
of 14:26 reads; "Paraclete, the Spirit";
and not "Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.".
Is this just knit picking? "Spirit" or
"Holy Spirit," what's the big deal? Obviously they both
refer to the same thing. Right? Wrong! There is a big difference.
A "spirit," according to the language of the Bible
simply means "a prophet" See for instance:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets
are gone out into the world,"
1 John 4:1-3:
(also see 1 John 4:6), or an inspired human,
for example read 1 Corinthians 2:10, 2 Thessalonians 2:2, ...etc.
We have already exhibited in chapters one and two
many documented cases of deliberate modification of the Biblical
text by members of the Christian clergy themselves, as well as
deliberate large scale projects to "correct" the Bible,
and the writings of "the early fathers," (such as the
deliberate insertion of the verse of 1 John 5:7 which is now
universally
discarded). It is, therefore, possible that either:
1) The word "Holy" could have been dropped
by a careless copyist., or
2) Someone could have inserted the word "Holy"
to convey his personal understanding of the text.
Which was it? In order to arrive at the answer we
must follow the same path of detective work the Biblical scholars
themselves do. We must study the characteristics of the "Paraclete"
and compare them to both the "Holy Spirit" and to a
"Spirit." Muslims believe that Muhammad (pbuh) was the
one intended and not the Holy Ghost. In the Christian's own "Gospel
of Barnabas" Muhammad is mentioned
by name here. The Trinitarian church, however, has done
it's utmost to obliterate all existing copies of "The Gospel
of Barnabas," and to hide it from the masses or to label
it a forgery (see chapter 7). For this reason, it becomes necessary
to show that even the Gospels adopted by Paul's church also originally
spoke of Muhammad (pbuh).
1) Christian scholars see evidence of tampering:
In the famous "Anchor Bible" we find the
following quote:
"The word parakletos is peculiar in the NT
to the Johnannine literature. In John ii Jesus is a parakletos
(not a title), serving as a heavenly intercessor with the Father
... Christian tradition has identified this figure (Paraclete)
as the Holy Spirit, but scholars like Spitta, Delafosse, Windisch,
Sasse, Bultmann, and Betz have doubted whether this identification
is true to the original picture and have suggested that the Paraclete
was once an independent salvific figure, later confused with the
Holy Spirit."
The Anchor Bible, Doubleday & Company, Inc,
Garden
City, N.Y. 1970, Volume 29A, p. 1135
We are about to see some of the evidence that goes
to prove this position.
2) Does the Holy Spirit "speak" or "inspire":
The Greek word translated as "hear" in
the Biblical verses ("whatsoever he shall hear, that shall
he speak") is the Greek word "akouo" {ak-oo'-o}
meaning to perceive sounds. It has, for instance, given us the
word "acoustics," the science of sounds.
Similarly the verb "to speak" is the Greek verb "laleo"
{lal-eh'-o} which has the general meaning "to emit sounds"
and the specific meaning "to speak." This verb occurs
very frequently in the Greek text of the Gospels. It designates
a solemn declaration by Jesus (pbuh) during his preachings (For
example Matthew 9:18). Obviously these verbs require hearing and
speech organs in order to facilitate them. There is a distinct
difference between someone "inspiring" something and
him "speaking" something. So the Paraclete
will "hear" and "speak," not "inspire."
Muhammad (pbuh), as seen above, did indeed fulfill
this prophesy. Whatsoever he "HEARD" from Gabriel
(The Qur'an), the same did he physically "SPEAK" to
his followers. In the Qur'an we read:
"(God swears) By the star when it falls!:
Your comrade (Muhammad) errs not, nor is he deceived; Nor does
he speak of (his own) desire. It is naught save a revelation that
is revealed (unto him)."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Najm(53):1-4
3) The Holy Ghost was already with them:
In the above verses we read "if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you." The comforter can not be the
Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost (according to the Bible) was
"with" them already (and even quite active) long before
the coming of Jesus (pbuh) himself and then throughout his ministry.
Read for example.
Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form,
and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
1 Samuel 10:10 "And when they came thither
to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit
of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them."
"And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when
he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly."
1 Samuel 11:6
"Then he remembered the days of old, moses,
and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of
the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his
holy Spirit within him?"
Isaiah 63:11
"For he (John the Baptist) shall be great
in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong
drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his
mother's womb."
Luke 1:15
"And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee."
Luke 1:35
"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth
heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and
Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost"
Luke 1:41
"And his father Zacharias was filled with
the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,"
Luke 1:67
"And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem,
whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting
for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him."
Luke 2:25
"And it was revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost (Simeon), that he should not see death, before he had seen
the Lord's Christ."
Luke 2:26
"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily
shape like a dove upon him (Jesus), and a voice came from heaven,
which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased."
Luke 3:22
"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be
unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when
he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive
ye the Holy Ghost."
John 20:21-22
Did they or did they not already receive the Holy
Ghost? Was Jesus (pbuh) not still with them when
they received the Holy Ghost? Was the Holy Ghost not with Simeon,
Mary, Elisabeth and Zacharias before the birth of Jesus (pbuh)?
Was the Holy Ghost not with Moses (pbuh) when he parted
the seas? There are many more similar verses to be found in the
Bible. In the above verses, we are told that if Jesus (pbuh) does
not depart then the "parakletos" will not come. Thus,
the "Holy Ghost" cannot be the one originally intended
since it was already with them. The contradiction is quite obvious.
4) Selective translation: Jesus (pbuh) too is
a Paraclete:
The word "Paraclete" is
applied to Jesus (pbuh) himself in 1 John 2:1
"My little children, these things write I
unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate(parakletos)
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
1 John 2:1
Notice how the translators have managed to translate
this exact same word one way (advocate) in reference
to Jesus (pbuh) and another (comforter) with regard to the coming
"parakletos." Why would they want to do such a thing?
The reason is that the translators did not want the Christians,
after reading
"we have an advocate(parakletos) with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous"
to then read
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another advocate(parakletos)."
Can we see why this would make them nervous?
Well, what was Jesus (pbuh)? He was a prophet! Read:
"...This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth
of Galilee."
Matthew 21:11
and "..Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet
mighty in deed and word before God and all the people"
Luke 24:19:
...etc. (see more in
section
1.2.3.12).
Muhammad (pbuh) was also a prophet of God. We have
already demonstrate in chapter one how the verses of the Bible
themselves prove quite conclusively that Jesus (pbuh) was neither
a god nor part of God Almighty, but an elect messenger of God.
The concept of his divinity was concocted by Paul and his ministry
during the first three centuries after the departure of Jesus
(pbuh) and is explicitly refuted by the Bible itself and Jesus'
apostles (see section 1.2.5).
5) "Another" Paraclete:
Now go back to John 14:16 and notice the words "another
Paraclete." If the comforter is the Holy
Ghost then how many Holy Ghost's are there? The word "another"
is significant. We have already seen how this term is applied
to Jesus (pbuh) himself. In English, "another" may mean
"One more of the same kind" or "one more
of a different kind." If the latter were the one intended
then the current Christian interpretation might bear some merit.
However, if "One more of the same kind" was what was
intended then this is positive proof that the coming Paraclete
would be just like Jesus (pbuh), a human being and a
prophet, not a ghost. The actual Greek word used was
the word "allon" which is the masculine accusative form
of "allos" {al'-los}: "Another of the SAME
kind." The Greek word for "another of a different kind"
is "heteros" {het'-er-os}.
Prof. Abdul-Ahad Dawud (formerly Rev. David Benjamin
Keldani, Bishop of Uramia)* says:
"The adjective 'another' preceding a foreign
noun for the first time announced seems very strange and totally
superfluous. There is no doubt that the text has been tampered
with and distorted."
Muhammad in the Bible, Prof. Abdul-`Ahad Dawud, p.
211
"The Paraclete is a parallel figure to Jesus
himself; and this conclusion is confirmed in the fact that the
title is suitable for both. It is clear from 14:16 that the source
thought there were sendings of two Paracletes, Jesus and his successor,
the one following the other"
The Gospel of John a Commentary, Rudolf Bultmann,
p. 567
6) "Parakletos" or "Periklytos"?:
Some scholars believe that what Jesus (pbuh) said
in his own Aramaic tongue in these verses represents more closely
the Greek word "Periklytos" which means
the admirable or glorified one. This word corresponds exactly
to the Arabic word "Muhammad" which also means the "admired
one" or "glorified one." In other words, "Periklytos"
is "Muhammad" in Greek. There are several similar documented
cases of similar word substitution in the Bible. It is also quite
possible that both words were contained in the original text but
were dropped by a copyist because of the ancient custom of writing
words closely packed, with no spaces in-between them. In such
a case the original reading would have been: "and He will
give you another comforter(Parakletos), the admirable one(Periklytos)"
(See examples of many similar cases in the Biblical text in "The
Emphatic Diaglott").
In his book "Muhammed in the Bible", Professor
`Abdul-Ahad Dawud, formerly Rev. David Benjamin Keldani, Roman
Catholic Bishop of Uramiah, submits a much more eloquent and scholarly
presentation in defense of these assertions, far beyond the limited
abilities of this humble author. For those who which to read a
truly scholarly study of this matter, you may obtain a copy of
that book. The following is a very brief quotation from that book:
"The 'Paraclete' does not signify either
'consoler' or 'advocate'; in truth, it is not a classical word
at all. The Greek orthography of the word is Paraklytos which
in ecclesiastical literature is made to mean 'one called to aid,
advocate, intercessor' (Dict. Grec.-Francais, by Alexandre). One
need not profess to be a Greek scholar to know that the Greek
word for 'comforter or consoler' is not 'Paraclytos' but 'Paracalon'.
I have no Greek version of the Septuagint
with me, but I remember perfectly well that the Hebrew word for
'comforter' (mnahem) in the Lamentations of Jeremiah (I. 2, 9,
16, 17, 21, etc.) is translated into Parakaloon, from the verb
Parakaloo, which means to call to, invite, exhort, console, pray,
invoke. It should be noticed that there is a long alpha vowel
after the consonant kappa in the 'Paracalon' which does not exist
in the 'Paraclytos.' In the phrase (He who consoles us in all
our afflictions) 'paracalon' and not 'Paraclytos' is used. (I
exhort, or invite, thee to work). Many other examples can be cited
here. There is another Greek word for comforter or consoler, i.e.
"Parygorytys' from 'I console'.....The proper Greek term
for 'advocate' is Sunegorus and for 'intercessor' or 'mediator'
Meditea"
Muhammad in the Bible, Prof. Abdul-`Ahad Dawud, pp.
208-209
7) "He" not "It":
Notice the use of "he" when
referring to the Paraclete and not "it."
If we read John 16:13, we will find no less than SEVEN occurrences
of the masculine pronoun "He" and "Himself."
There is not another verse in the 66 books of the Protestant Bible
or the seventy three books of the Catholic Bible which contains
seven masculine pronouns, or seven feminine pronouns, or even
seven neuter genders. So many masculine pronouns ill befits a
ghost, holy or otherwise. The word "Spirit" (Greek,
pneu'ma), is of a neutral gender and is always referred to by
the pronoun "it."
Mr. Ahmed Deedat says:
"When this point of seven masculine pronouns
was mooted by Muslims in India in their debates with the Christian
missionaries, the Urdu (Indian) version of the Bible had the pronouns
presently changed to SHE, SHE, SHE! so that the Muslims could
not claim that this prophecy referred to Muhammad (pbuh) - a man!
This Christian deception I have seen in the Bible myself. This
is a common trickery by the missionaries, more specially in the
vernacular. The very latest ruse I have stumbled across in the
Afrikaans Bible, on the very verse under discussion; they have
changed the word "Trooster" (Comforter), to "Voorspraak"
(Mediator), and interpolated the phrase - "die Heilige Gees"
- meaning THE HOLY GHOST, which phrase no Bible scholar has ever
dared to interpolate into any of the multifarious English Versions.
No, not even the Jehovah's witnesses. This is how the Christians
manufacture God's word."
"Muhammad, the natural successor to Christ,"
Ahmed Deedat, p. 51
8) He will guide you into all truth:
In the above verses Jesus (pbuh) is quoted as saying
"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot
bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth." What does Jesus (pbuh)
mean by "ye cannot bear them now"? If we were
to read the Bible, we would find many verses throughout the Bible
wherein Jesus (pbuh) bemoans the lack of understanding he was
constantly greeted with from his disciples throughout his ministry:
"And he(Jesus) saith unto them(the
disciples).....O
ye of little faith."
Matthew 8:26
"...and (Jesus) said unto him(Peter), O thou
of little faith."
Matthew 14:31
"he (Jesus) said unto them(the disciples),
O ye of little faith."
Matthew 16:8
"And he(Jesus) said unto them(the disciples),
Where is your faith?"
Luke 8:25
Notice that these are not common Jews who he is
saying
these words to, but his own elect disciples. The Bible vividly
illustrates how he is constantly going out of his way to simplify
matters for them and to speak to them as one speaks to little
children. However, even at that, they still misunderstand. He
is finally driven to frustration and made to say:
"And Jesus said, Are ye even yet without
understanding?"
Matthew 15:16
and "And Jesus answering said, O faithless
and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer
you?"
Luke 9:41
We are even told that his own people did not accept
him:
"He came unto his own, and his own received
him not."
John 1:11
Jesus (pbuh) had "all truth," but
he could not give it to them because they were not fit to receive
it. Therefore, he told them that another would come after him
who shall guide them into "all truth" which they
could not receive from him. He tells us that the one who will
come will "teach you all things." This one who
will guide them into "all truth" is described
as "The spirit of truth." We have already seen
how the word "spirit" in the Bible is synonymous with
the word "Prophet." Muhammad (pbuh), even before he
became the prophet of Islam was known among his people as "Al-sadik
Al-amin," which means "The truthful, the trustworthy."
Thus, it becomes apparent that Muhammad was indeed "the
spirit of truth." Since the departure of Jesus (pbuh)
and to this day, the "Holy Ghost" has not taught mankind
a single new truth not revealed by Jesus (pbuh) himself.
It is important to notice the words "ALL
truth" and "MANY things." "Many"
and "All" means more than one. What new and innovative
teachings has the Holy Ghost given mankind which were not taught
by Jesus (pbuh)? The Qur'an says:
"O mankind! The messenger (Muhammad) hath
come unto you with the truth from your Lord. Therefore believe;
(it is) better for you. But if ye disbelieve, still, lo! unto
Allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. Allah
is the All-Knower, the All-Wise."
9) He shall glorify me:
The Paraclete "shall glorify
me" and will "testify of me." Muhammad
(pbuh) did indeed testify of Jesus (pbuh) and did indeed glorify
him and raise him and his mother to their well deserved stations
of honor and piety and even made it an article of faith for every
Muslim to bear witness to this. Just one of the many examples
of this is:
"And the angles said 'O Mary, Allah gives
you glad tidings of a Word from Him, his name is Messiah, Jesus
son of Mary, High honored in this world and the next, of those
near stationed to Allah."
The noble Qur'an, A'al-Umran(3):40.
Nobody seems to recognize this fact as being at all
extraordinary. People generally look upon the Jews as true worshippers
of God and followers of a legitimate faith, even if they do consider
them misguided by not following Jesus (pbuh) but killing him.
Their book is even incorporated into the Bible as the faultless
word of God. On the other hand, Muslims are looked down upon as
followers of a false prophet and as savage blood thirsty terrorists
or barbarians. However, if we were to look at the Jewish opinion
of Jesus (pbuh) we would find that an early reference in the Babylonian
"Talmud" says that "Jeshu ha-Nocri"
was a false prophet who was hanged on the eve of the Passover
for sorcery and false teaching. They further claim that he was
a bastard son of a Roman adulterer among many other allegations.
Mr. Josh McDowell is a Biblical scholar who has
researched
the topic of the Jewish Talmud's view of Jesus. The
Talmud, of course, is the ultimate authoritative body of Jewish
tradition, comprising the Mishnah and Gemara.
In Mr. McDowell's book, "Evidence that demands a verdict,"
he quotes extensively from the Jewish Talmud with regard to the
official Jewish view of Jesus (pbuh). The following is a small
sampling from this book:
"Tol'doth Yeshu. Jesus is referred to as
'Ben Pandera'." Note: 'Ben Pandera' means 'son of Pandera'.
He was a Roman soldier the Jews allege to have raped Mary to produce
the illegitimate son Jesus (God forbid).
Yeb. IV 3;49a: "Rabbi Shimeon Ben Azzai said
(regarding Jesus): 'I found a genealogical roll in Jerusalem wherein
was recorded, such-an-one is a bastard of an adulteress."
Joseph Klausner adds:
"Current editions of the Mishnah, add: 'To
support the words of Rabbi Yehoshua' (who in
the same Mishnah says: What is a bastard? Everyone who's parents
are liable to death by the Beth Din), that Jesus is here referred
to seems to be beyond doubt."
The Jews had adopted in their ancient references
a system of referring to Jesus with code names when heaping upon
his person allegations of evil and blasphemy. One good reference
on this topic is "The Jewish Encyclopaedia," in twelve
volumes. The following information is obtained from that book.
Under the heading of "Jesus in Jewish legend"
(Vol. VII, page 170-173), we are told that Jesus is referred to
in Jewish references by such code names as "that man,"
"that anonymous one," "Yeshu," "bastard,"
"son of Pandera," "son of Stada," "Balaam,"
(destroyer of the people) etc. Most allegations which are associated
with Jesus (peace be upon him and his mother), concern themselves
either with belittling the person of Jesus, ascribing to him
illegitimate
birth, ascribing to his mother Mary (pbuh) acts of whoredom,
attributing
to Jesus acts of black magic through the vain use of the given
name of God, and attributing to him a shameful death as well as
severe and denigrating punishment in the afterlife.
These references to Jesus in Jewish records and law
claim that Jesus was born to a well known adulteress named "Mary,"
who conceived him through adultery with a Roman soldier who was
named either "Pandera" or "Stada." Jesus is
then claimed to have traveled to Egypt and entered into the service
of magicians, he lusted after a woman and was excommunicated,
he set up a brick as his god and led all of Israel into apostasy.
He is claimed to have cut his magic formulas into his skin, by
having taken a parchment containing the "declared name of
God" and cut it into his skin in order to steal it from the
Temple. All of his miracles were then performed through this stolen
parchment which was later forcibly retrieved from him. It was
Judas Iscarlot who volunteered to retrieve it from Jesus. An arial
battle ensued between Judas and Jesus. Judas found that he could
in no way touch Jesus so he "defiled" him. Judas emerged
victorious and Jesus fled. Forty days before the condemnation
of Jesus, a herald called upon anyone who could say anything in
Jesus' favor. Not a single person came. The scholars of Israel
then bound him to a pillar, however, his disciples attacked them
and freed him. He disguised himself and rode an ass into Jerusalem,
however, Judas saw through his disguise and exposed
him.
We are told that Jesus was then taken to be hung
on the tree as the law required, however, he had conjured all
of the trees with his black magic and none of them would receive
him. Finally they hung him up on a large cabbage stalk which received
him. After Jesus' body was placed in the tomb it disappeared and
his disciples tried to claim that he had risen, however, it was
later discovered that "Judas the gardener" had taken
Jesus' body and used it as a dam to hold back the water in his
garden. Jesus' body was then retrieved and flung before the Queen.
In this manner the lies of the apostles were silenced and there
was great rejoicing throughout the land. This same encyclopaedia
aleges that the Qur'an "alludes to" the insult delivered
to the body of Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem. A claim that
is not only preposterous and unfounded, however, the authors are
hereby publicly challenged to produce the text of the Qur'an that
"alludes to" such evil claims against Jesus, peace be
upon him and his mother Mary.
"God (his guidance) came from Teman, and
the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah.
His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise."
Habakkuk 3:3
The wilderness of Paran is where
Abraham's
wife Hagar and his eldest son Ishmael,
the father of the Arabs, settled (Genesis 21:21) in the Arabian
desert. Specifically, Makkah (Please see Map 1, page 440). Makkah
is, of course, the capital of Islam in Arabia and the birthplace
of Muhammad (pbuh). Indeed, it was Hagar and Ishmael themselves
who transformed a barren patch of desert into what is now the
capital of Islam, "Makkah." Mount Paran is the chain
of mountains in that same region which the Arabs call the "Sarawat
mountains."
According to J. Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible,
Teman is an Oasis just North of Madinah.
Muhammad (pbuh) did indeed come from Paran. About
622 AD, he and his followers were forced to migrate from Makkah
(Paran) to Madinah (Teman) where he spent the rest of his prophetic
life teaching it's people the guidance of God (the Qur'an). These
two cities, Makkah and Madinah, are such critical importance to
a Muslims faith that every single chapter of the Qur'an is classified
as either "Makkia" (revealed in Makkah) or "Madaniyyah"
(revealed in Madinah).
When someone describes someone as having "come
from" a certain town, this is usually interpreted as meaning
that that person was born in that town. In other words, that town
is this man's "home town." However, when one reads the
words "God came from…," the meaning is quite different.
It is quite obvious that the verse is not implying that a given
location is God's "home town." Jews, Christians, and
Muslims all affirm that God Almighty is Omnipresent*
and Eternal. So, if this is the case, then we can not say that
God Himself "came" or "went" to a given place
since that would imply that there are times and places where God's
knowledge and supervision is NOT present, and thus, it is possible
to hide from God since I could go to a place where God has not
"come" and is not present in His knowledge.
So if God is Omnipresent (present in knowledge
everywhere
at the same time), then we begin to realize that it is not God
"Himself" that is "coming" from a given place,
rather it is God's guidance and mankind's recognition of God that
is being established in a given location. In other words, in a
place where the true worship of God and the true knowledge of
His message were absent, God blesses them with knowledge of Himself
and His message. In this way, they become "acquainted"
with God, and "meet" or "learn of" Him. In
this fashion, although God Almighty was ever present in His knowledge,
with them and all of His creation, they are only now beginning
to comprehend His presence.
Once we understand that the people of Mount Paran
and Teman are described as becoming aware of the message of God
and His guidance, and we realize that Paran and Teman are to Islam
what Jerusalem is to Judaism or Christianity, then we begin to
see the emergence of a prophesy of the coming of the final message
of God. This is because Muhammad (pbuh) first received the prophethood
of Islam in the cave of "Hira'a" located in the highest
part of the mountains of Paran (see section 6.2). Jesus (pbuh)
never in his life traveled to Paran nor Teman.
Muhammad, however, was born in Paran, he became the prophet of
Islam there, and it was the capital of the Islamic religion in
that day and this. No man from Paran, throughout history, has
had his praise sung in so many nations as has Muhammad (pbuh).
The name "Muhammad" itself literally means in Arabic
"The praised one." Through the
teachings of Muhammad, God is now being praised by over one billion
Muslims around the world.
However, if we were to look more closely at this
verse we would find even greater detail of this coming message.
The word which has been translated here as "Holy One"
is the Hebrew word "qadowsh" {kaw-doshe'} which has
the multiple meaning of "sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set
apart." In this specific verse the translators judgment drove
them to translate it as "Holy One" (notice the capitals),
thus, they understood this verse to simply mean "God came
from Teman and God came from mount Paran."
However, if this was the intended reading then why did God choose
to use the word "God" in one place and "Holy One"
in the other? There must be a reason for this specific wording.
Actually, there is.
If we were to read Exodus 19:6 we would find that
the same translators of the Bible have translated this same Hebrew
word as "holy nation." In Exodus 29:31 it is translated
as "holy place," and in Zec. 14:5 they translated it
as "saints." Thus, we see that according to the witness
of these same translators of the Bible, this verse of Habakkuk
3:3 could (or more correctly, should) be translated as "and
the saint from mount Paran,"
or "and the holy one from mount Paran" (no capitals).
This is important, why?
If we were to accept everything these Biblical
translators
are teaching us and to accept that the word "qadowsh"
can be translated as "Holy One," or as "holy one,"
or as "saint," or as "holy," etc. based upon
the meaning most appropriate for the chosen verse, then we realize
that although it would be completely appropriate to interpret
the coming of Islam from the mountains of Makkah
as "the Holy One" coming from "mount Paran,"
still, it would be more precise to say that "the holy one"
(or "the saint") came from "mount Paran."
This is because Muhammad (pbuh) was born on Paran (Makkah) and
first received the message of Islam in the mountains of Makkah.
So why does the first part of this verse say "God
came from Teman" and not "The Holy One came
from Teman"? Well, the reason for this is that Islam was
indeed first revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) in Makkah,
however, he and his followers remained persecuted and in constant
fear of death from the pagans of Arabia while they resided in
Makkah (see chapter 10). This continued for a period of thirteen
years. During this period, the Muslims were beaten, starved, tortured,
and killed. This situation was hardly conducive of the Muslims
openly preaching the message of God to all of mankind. For this
reason, the knowledge of the persecution that one must endure
upon acceptance of Islam prevented many from openly accepting
it or preaching it to others.
However, this
all changed in the beginning of the
fourteenth year. That is when God Almighty commanded Muhammad
(pbuh) to emigrate with his companions to Teman (Madinah).
Although the pagans escalated their persecution of the Muslims
into all-out warfare at this point, still, within the boundaries
of the city of Madinah they had begun to enjoy a measure of freedom
and autonomy. This freedom manifested itself in their ability
to not only preach the message of God within the city itself,
but they also began to send delegations to the surrounding cities
inviting them to Islam. In other words, the message of Islam did
not truly begin it's "global" phase until it reached
"Teman" or Madinah. This is why the verse says "God
came from Teman, and the holy one from mount Paran"
In fact, just as the Christian calendar starts with the presumed
date of the birth of Jesus (pbuh), so does the Islamic "Hijra"
calendar start with the year in which the Muslims emigrated to
Madinah.
Isaiah saw a vision of two riders.
"And he saw a chariot [with] a couple of
horsemen, a chariot of asses, [and] a chariot of camels .."
Isaiah 21:7
Who was the rider upon the ass? Every Sunday school
student will tell us that this was a prophecy of Jesus (pbuh),
as stated in John:
"And Jesus, when he had found a young ass,
sat thereon; as it is written,"
John 12:14
but who is the promised prophet who would ride the
camel? If it is not Muhammad (pbuh) then this prophecy has yet
to be fulfilled. Let us read on...
"And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men,
[with] a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon
is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he
hath broken unto the ground."
Isaiah 21:9
Babylon did indeed fall before Islam and the Islamic
nation under the guidance of Muhammad (pbuh) did indeed succeed
in eradicating the worship of idols from Babylon replacing it
with the worship of God alone. In fact, the Muslims were the only
believers in the God of Isaiah to ever succeed in fulfilling this
prophesy (see chapter 10). Continuing ...
"The burden upon Arabia ..."
Isaiah 21:13
What does the word "burden" mean? Let us
ask the Scofield Study Bible:
"…which also means an oracle is a word
sometimes used in the prophetical writings to indicate a divine
message of judgment"
Scofield Study Bible New King James Version, note
1, p. 792
So the Muslims of Arabia (and subsequently Muslims
everywhere) would be assigned the burden of God's message.
"The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought
water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread
him that fled. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war"
Isaiah 21:14-15
Tema, according to John
McKenzie's dictionary of the Bible is
"a place name and tribal name of Arabia;
a son of Ishmael.... The name survives in Teima, an oasis of the
part of the Arabian desert called the Nefud in N Central Arabia."
This word, Tema, is the name of the ninth son of
Ishmael (the father of the Arabs), in Genesis 25:13-15 we read:
"And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael,
by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn
of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, And Mishma,
and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur,
Naphish, and Kedemah"
Strong's concordance tells us that this name was
also applied to the land settled by Tema the son of
Ishmael. It goes on to explain how this word is
"probably of foreign derivation". Indeed, this
word, Teima, 
is an Arabic word which
means "Barren desert". It remains the name of a city
in the Arabian peninsula just north of "Al-Madinah
Al-Munawarah," or "Madinah" for short (Please see
Map 1, page 440). Muhammad (pbuh) and his companions were given
sanction to migrate. They departed Makkah during
the night and left all of their possessions behind. Upon reaching
Madinah they were greeted by it's citizens with open arms and
Muhammad (pbuh) assigned each one of the Muhajireen (citizens
of Makkah) to one of the Ansar (citizens of Madinah)
to house and feed them until they could strike out on their own.
This became the first year of the Arab "Hijra" (Emigration)
calendar used in Islamic countries to this day.
"For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Within
a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory
of Kedar shall fail. And the residue of the number of archers,
the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished:
for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken [it]."
Isaiah 21:16-17
Kedar* is the second son
of Ishmael, the father of the Arabs:
"And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael,
by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn
of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam."
Genesis 25:13
Kedar is also synonymous with all of Arabia in
general,
as in Ezekiel:
"Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar."
Ezekiel 27:21
The Arabs of Makkah, the capital of
the paganistic tribes of Arabia of the day, were indeed defeated
by the Muslims in the second year after their forced immigration
from Makkah to Madinah (The Hijra).
This victory signaled the turning point for Islam and a transition
from a position of weakness to one of power and victory (for more,
please read chapter 10).
It should be pointed out here that, as mentioned
at the beginning of this chapter, the children of Israel, from
the tribe of Levi, were distinctly aware of this prophesy.
Indeed this is the very reason why they had begun to immigrate
from the lush and fertile pastures of their holy land of Israel
to the barren parched deserts of Arabia, specifically to Madinah
and the surrounding areas of Khaibar, Tema, and others.
Because they knew that this is where the final prophet would appear.
As mentioned above, these children of the Jews were constantly
threatening the Arab inhabitants of Madinah (the tribes of Al-Aws
and Al-Kazraj) with his impending arrival and how they would follow
him and, through his leadership, they would utterly destroy these
Arabs. They had hoped that this prophet would be from their tribe
and that their presence in this location might facilitate this
hope.
When their awaited prophet finally did come, they
rejected him. They wanted a Jewish prophet from their own tribe
and not an Arab from the sons of Ishmael. Thus,
they allowed their pride to come between them and the truth which
they recognized. However, their efforts were not totally in vain.
So continuous were their efforts in threatening the inhabitants
of Madinah with the final prophet's
imminent arrival that when Muhammad (pbuh) finally did come, the
inhabitants of Madinah immediately recognized him and hastened
to follow him before the Jews. These inhabitants of Madinah would
later become among those very first followers of Muhammad (pbuh)
who would one year later go on to fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah
by defeating the "mighty men of Kedar" in
the very first battle of the Islamic nation, the battle of Badr.
As the prophesy requires, one year after prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) and his followers escaped from the torture and
persecution of the people of Kedar and emigrated to
Madinah, the men of Makkah
decided to once and for all put an end to Muhammad (pbuh) and
his followers. They assembled an army consisting of 750 footmen
and 200 horsemen, all of their very best fighters, and all very
well armed. The leaders of this army consisted of the majority
of the leaders of Kedar (see chapter ten). They were confident
of victory and bragged that after this massacre they would be
feared throughout all of Arabia.
The Muslims heard of this amassing of troops and
prepared as best they could. They collected 313 footmen with two
horses and seventy camels. The Muslims fought long and hard with
the men of Kedar and were finally granted victory.
This battle ended in the death of these leaders of Kedar and a
resounding victory for the Muslims.
In this battle, only fourteen Muslims and seventy
pagans from Kedar were killed. Twenty four of those
who died from Kedar were their leaders. In addition, seventy others
from Kedar were taken as prisoners and later ransomed back to
their people (for more see chapter ten).
This was the great turning point for the Islamic
nation. This battle could be said to have been the beginning of
the end for the reign of idolatry and paganism within the land
of Arabia. This Muslim nation would then go on to expand to many
other nations until it spread from Spain to China, fulfilling
many more prophesies in the Bible, including Daniel 2:44, Genesis
15:18-21, and many others.
An unfortunate misconception which has managed to
creep into many Western beliefs is that Islam was only spread
through force and the sword. Today, however, this notion is beginning
to be recognized for the absurdity that it was. A Christian missionary,
Sir Thomas W. Arnold says:
"...of any organized attempt to force the
acceptance of Islam on the non-Muslim population, or of any systematic
persecution intended to stamp out the Christian religion, we hear
nothing. Had the caliphs chosen to adopt either course of action,
they might have swept away Christianity as easily as Ferdinand
and Isabella drove Islam out of Spain, or Louis XIV made Protestantism
penal in France, or the Jews were kept out of England for 350
years. The Eastern Churches in Asia were entirely cut off from
communion with the rest of Christendom throughout which no one
would have been found to lift a finger on their behalf, as heretical
communions. So that the very survival of these Churches to the
present day is a strong proof of the generally tolerant attitude
of Mohammedan [sic] governments towards them"
The Preaching of Islam, A History of the Propagation
of the Muslim Faith, Sir Thomas W. Arnold, Westminster
A. Constable & Co., London, 1896, p. 80.
"Against unbelievers he (Muhammad) enjoined
his followers to undertake a holy warefare, but only when attacked.
The earlier Moslem[sic] leaders did not try to impose their faith
upon other nations"
The History of Christianity in the Light of Modern
Knowledge, A Collective Work, Harcourt Brace and co., p. 520
Muslims did indeed wage many wars, just as many Jews
and Christians did both before and after this. Muslims waged their
wars in self-defense or in order to abolish idolatry, tyranny,
slavery, and oppression. Muslims were commanded to not attack
those who did not attack them, to not cut down a fruit tree, to
not kill the animals, to not take the people's property, to not
harm women or children or old people so long as they did not fight
with them, and to not burn crops.
When they were victorious, the Muslims were commanded
not to destroy the churches nor the synagogues, nor to force the
people to convert to Islam. The people were allowed to continue
to practice their religion without persecution or being forced
to convert (Compare for example with Numbers 31, and Deuteronomy
20. Please also compare with the great Spanish inquisitions).
"There is no compulsion in religion. The
right path is henceforth distinct from misguidance"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Bakarah(2):256.
If Islam was indeed spread by the sword and not by
it's spiritual appeal, then how do we explain, for example, the
fact that Islam is the religion of the majority of the people
of the country of Indonesia even though no Muslim army ever set
foot on their land and they can by no stretch of the imagination
be labeled as Arabs? The only contact these people ever had with
Islam was through Muslim traders who passed through their lands.
If the truth were to be known, in almost every single
battle the Muslims ever participated in, they were almost always
vastly outnumbered. For example, when the Muslims finally overthrew
the pagan Byzantine superpower in the battle of Al-Yarmook of
the year 636 C.E., the Muslim army consisted of 40,000 fighters
verses 200,000 solders in the Byzantine army. So although many
historians may like to attribute the fall of this superpower to
any number of factors such as claiming that they were taxed and
weary from previous battles with the Romans, (while not claiming
that the Muslims were taxed and weary from their previous battles),
and although they refuse to believe that this victory could have
come from the Almighty, still, one needs to wonder if this victory
were not through divine intervention then how do we explain the
fact that an ill-equipped army of Bedouin sheep herders who were
outnumbered more than four to one could so resoundingly defeat
one of the two "superpowers" of their age?
"The extinction of race consciousness as
between Muslims is one of the outstanding achievements of Islam
and in the contemporary world. There is, as it happens, a crying
need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue."
The Genuine Islam, Vol. 1, George Bernard Shaw, No.
81936.
"I have always held the religion of Muhammad
in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the
only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating
capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself
appeal to every age. I have studied him-the wonderful man and
in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called
the Savior of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were
to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed
in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much
needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith
of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow
as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today."
Hamilton Gibb, Whither Islam, London, 1932, p. 379.
"And if thou say in thine heart, How shall
we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet
speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor
come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD hath not spoken,
[but] the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not
be afraid of him."
Deuteronomy 18:21-22
So if the statements made in the Qur'an were not
true then this would prove that it is not the word of God. However,
there is not a single claim made in the Qur'an that has been
scientifically
and objectively refuted as false. Quite the contrary, there is
not one, but tens of scientific and historical statements to be
found in the Qur'an which have just begun to be scrutinized by
modern scientists and historians and which, according to many
non-Muslim world renowned, pioneering scientists of the United
States, Germany, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, India and many other nations,
could not have been known by an illiterate man of the desert fourteen
hundred years ago (see chapter 13). They themselves have only
discovered these facts through the use of microscopes, telescopes,
satellites, and various other scientific equipment that was not
available to Muhammad (pbuh). These statements range over the
fields of Embryology, Oceanography, Geology,
Astronomy, Anatomy, Physics, and many others. Some of them have
only been discovered during the last twenty years. These facts
could not even have been copied from the Bible because many of
them are either completely missing from the Bible or totally oppose
similar verses in the Bible. If Muhammad (pbuh) had plagiarized
the Bible, then did he also selectively correct incorrect scientific
statements in it? It is also interesting to note that Christian
scholars readily acknowledge that the Bible was not translated
into Arabic until at least the eighth century AD, long after the
death of Muhammad (pbuh) in 632C.E. You may get a side-by-side
comparison of the Biblical vs. the Quranic versions of many scientific
facts by referring to Dr. Maurice Bucaille's books: "The
Bible, the Qur'an, and Science."
I also highly recommend the following books: "Qur'an
and modern science Correlation Studies," by Keith L. Moore,
Abdul-Majeed A. Zindani, Mustafa A. Ahmed, and "The developing
Human," By Dr. Keith Moore. These books speak about embryology
in the Qur'an, and other topics.
"I (God) will raise them up a Prophet from
among their brethren, like unto thee (moses), and will put my
words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall
command him."
Deuteronomy 18:18
There are many verses in the Old Testament that
predict
the coming of Jesus (pbuh). This one, however, is not one of them.
This can be clearly seen from the following four points:
a) Like unto moses
Muslims believe in all of the previous prophets.
They make no distinction between them, nor do they place one above
the others in piety. However, they are all human, and as humans
they differ from one another in their characteristics. Let us
compare these characteristics:
1) Both Christians and Muslims agree that both Moses
and Muhammad (pbut) had fathers and mothers. They both also believe
that Jesus (pbuh) had only a mother and no father. Therefore,
Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
2) Both Moses and Muhammad (pbut) married
and begat children. Jesus (pbuh) never married nor had any offspring.
Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
3) Moses (pbuh) was accepted by the Jews
and to this day, as a nation, they accept him as their
prophet. Muhammad (pbuh) was accepted by his people, and as
a nation, over one billion Muslims around the world accept
him as the prophet of Allah. Jesus (pbuh), however, was rejected
by his people (the Jews) as stated in the Christian's own Bible:
"He (Jesus) came unto his own, but his own received him
not" (John 1:11) Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but
Jesus is unlike Moses.
4) Both Moses and Muhammad (pbut) were
kings on Earth in the sense that they had the ultimate power of
government, the power to inflict capital punishment. When
the Jews brought before Moses (pbuh) the Israelite who had been
caught collecting firewood on the Sabbath, Moses
had him stoned to death (Numbers 15:36). Muhammad (pbuh) had similar
authority. When a woman came before him confessing (with no witnesses)
to having committed adultery, he gave her a chance to consider
the severity of her claim and the punishment she would receive.
When she insisted, he ordered her stoned to death and ordered
his companions to respect her for her sincere repentance. Jesus
(pbuh), however, explicitly refuted the claim that he had
a kingdom on earth. When he was dragged before the Roman Governor
Pontious Pilate with a charge of sedition he said:
(John 18:36) "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of
this world: if my kingdom were of this
world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered
to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."
Jesus (pbuh) would not resort to lying to save his skin. Thus,
he had no earthly kingdom. Further, in John 8:1-7 we read the
story of the woman who was taken in adultery by the Jews and brought
before Jesus (pbuh). They were hoping to trap him by either having
him contradict the laws of Moses (pbuh) by not stoning her, or
by placing him in a bad position with the Roman empire by taking
the law into his own hands and ordering her stoned. Jesus cleverly
extracted himself from this predicament by commanding them: "He
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
So the woman was set free. Therefore, Muhammad is like
Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
5) Both Moses and Muhammad (pbut) came
with a new and comprehensive set of laws for their people. The
law brought by prophet Moses was named the Judaic Law, and the
law brought by prophet Muhammad was named the Shari'ah. Jesus
(pbuh) however, as witnessed by Matthew, claimed to have not introduced
any new laws, but to have come to renew the law of Moses (pbuh)
and to have neither added nor subtracted from it. In Matthew 5:17-18
we read: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law,
or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot
or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all
be fulfilled."
Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
6) Moses lead his people in a secret
mass exodus from their hometown to Median in an attempt to flee
the persecution of their enemies. Muhammad (pbut) too emigrated
with his followers from their home town to Madinah
in secret in order to flee the torture of their enemies. Jesus,
however, never led his followers in a any sort of mass exodus
from their hometowns . Therefore, Muhammad is like
Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
7) Moses was victorious over his enemies
both morally as well as physically. Pharaoh was defeated by Moses
and all of his army were drowned in the sea. Muhammad (pbuh) too
met his enemies in battle and defeated them all. This too was
a moral as well as a physical victory. Jesus (pbuh) on the other
hand is claimed in the Bible to have been crucified by his enemies.
Thus, his victory was only a moral one. Therefore, Muhammad is
like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
8) Both Moses and Muhammad (pbut) died
natural deaths. Jesus (pbuh), is claimed by the Christians to
have died violently on the cross. Therefore, Muhammad
is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
9) Both Moses and Muhammad (pbut) lie
buried in the ground. Jesus (pbuh), however, is claimed by the
Christians to abide in heaven. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses,
but Jesus is unlike Moses.
10) Most Christians claim that Jesus (pbuh) is God.
No Christian or Muslim, however, claims that Moses
or Muhammad (pbut) was God. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses,
but Jesus is unlike Moses.
11) Both Moses and Muhammad (pbuh) began
their prophetic missions at the age of forty. The Bible tells
us that Jesus (pbuh) began at thirty. Therefore, Muhammad is like
Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
12) Christians claim that Jesus (pbuh) was
resurrected
after his death. Neither Muslims nor Christians claim that Moses
or Muhammad was resurrected. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses,
but Jesus is unlike Moses.
There are many additional points that could be
mentioned
but we will suffice with these for now.
b) Cannot be a Jew
Well, is Muhammad (pbuh) the only prophet who is
"Like unto Moses"? For example, what about
Jesus (pbuh)? Well, we should then notice that Jesus (pbuh) was
a Jew,
"Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him,
How is it that thou (Jesus), being a Jew, askest
drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?"
John 4:9
and the Bible specifically denies that this awaited
prophet will be a Jew. We are told that in Deuteronomy:
"And there arose NOT a prophet
since in Israel LIKE unto Moses."
Deuteronomy 34:10
This awaited prophet, however, must be "LIKE
unto thee (Moses)." So he will come from OUTSIDE
of Israel.
c) Is from the BRETHREN of the Jews
If this prophet can not be a Jew, then what is left?
In this verse, God speaks to Moses (pbuh) about the
Jews as a racial entity. The awaited prophet is claimed to not
be "from the Jews" or "from among themselves"
but rather "from among their (the Jew's) brethren."
Who are the brethren of the Jewish nation? The Jews are the sons
Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.
Isaac's older brother was Ishmael, the father of
the Arabs. Thus, the brethren of the Jewish nation is the nation
of the Arabs. This statement is further reinforced by the following
definition of "Brethren" in the Hebrew Dictionary
of the Bible:
"personification of a group of tribes who
were regarded as near kinsmen of the Israelites."
Muhammad in the Bible, Jamal Badawi, p. 16
Please compare this expression with that of the
Qur'an:
"Indeed Allah has conferred a great favor
upon the believers (Muslims) when He sent among them a messenger
from among themselves, reciting unto them His
verses, purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom;
although before that they were in manifest error."
The noble Qur'an, Aal-Umran(3):164
There has come unto you (O Muslims) a messenger
from among yourselves (Muhammad, pbuh). It grieves him that you
should receive any injury or difficulty, full of concern for you,
for the believers [he is] full of pity, kind and merciful.
The noble Qur'an, Al-Tawba(9):128
d) Put my words in his mouth
If we were to read the Qur'an we would find that
it contains many verses stating "I am your Lord, so worship
Me" (Al-Anbia: 92, Al-Muminoon: 52), "Verily,
I am Allah" (Taha: 14, Al-Namil: 9, Al-Qasas: 30), "I
am thy Lord" (Taha: 19). These verses are not preceded
by "I heard God say.....," or "And God said....,"
or similar statements which would be the words of a man transmitting
the words of God, rather, their form is that of the first person
who speaks of himself. Neither Muhammad (pbuh) nor any Muslim
ever claimed that Muhammad (pbuh) was God, therefore, Muhammad
(pbuh) was speaking with his mouth the words of God. Similarly,
we can find in the Qur'an more than four hundred verses
of the form "Say (O Muhammad) : ........" In
other words God Almighty is putting His words into Muhammad's
(pbuh) mouth and commanding him to speak them.
We also find in the Qur'an verses which command
Muhammad
(pbuh) to perform a certain action, such as the opening verses
of Al-Muzzamil(73), or which even go so far as to reproach Muhammad
(pbuh), such as the chapter of Al-Tahreem(66) or the chapter of
Abasa(80).
Christians claim that the Bible has many "authors,"
and that while the "inspiration" is from God, still,
the words are those of mortal men.
Dr. W Graham Scroggie of the Moody Bible institute,
Chicago, says on page 17 of his book "It is human, yet divine":
"...Yes, the Bible is human, although some
out of zeal which is not according to knowledge, have denied this.
Those books have passed through the minds of men, are written
in the language of men, were penned by the hands of men and bear
in their style the characteristics of men...."
Kenneth Cragg, the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem,
says on page 277 of his book, "The call of the minaret":
".....Not so the New testament....... There
is condensation and editing; there is choice reproduction and
witness. The Gospels have come through the mind of the church
behind the authors. They represent experience and history....."
(Both quotes have been obtained from the books of
Ahmed Deedat)
The Qur'an, however, is the book of God in both word
and meaning. An example of this is a teacher who sends two students
to teach what they have learned from him. The first is told to
"teach them what I taught you." While the second is
given a textbook written by this teacher and told to read verbatim
from this book and say nothing of his own accord. The first will
convey the thoughts of the teacher. The second will convey both
his thoughts and his words.
Sir William Muir says:
"There is probably in the world no other
book which has remained twelve centuries (at the time of this
quote) with so pure a text"
Life of Muhammad from
original
sources, Sir William Muir, Edinburough, J. Grant, p. xxii-xxiii
This matter becomes clearer when studying for example
the personal greetings and salutations of Paul and his friends
at the ends of Titus (3:15), 2 Timothy (4:19), 1 Thessalonians
(5:26) ..... etc. These words are not the word of God but the
personal greetings of Paul and his friends. There are many such
examples to be found in the Bible. The Qur'an contains no such
verses from Muhammad (pbuh). The words of Muhammad (pbuh) are
collected in a completely separate reference from the Qur'an called
"The Sunnah" (or the "Hadeeth"). We notice
from all this that even the Church itself does not claim that
the Bible is the actual word of God, but His "inspiration"
(his teachings) through the words of men. The Qur'an, however,
is the actual word of God.
"And (remember) when Abraham and Ishmael
were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka'aba in Makkah),
[praying]: Our Lord! Accept from us [this service]. Verily! You,
[only You,] are the Hearer, the Knower. Our Lord! And make us
submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto
You, and show us our ways of worship, and relent toward us. Verily!
You, [only You,] are the Relenting, the Merciful. Our Lord! And
send among them a messenger from among them who shall recite unto
them Your verses, and shall instruct them in the Book and in wisdom
and shall purify them. Verily! You, [only You,] are the Mighty,
the Wise. And who desires other than the path of Abraham except
he who befools himself? Truly, We chose him in this world, and
Verily! In the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous. When
his Lord said unto him: Surrender! (literally: 'Be a Muslim!')
he said: I have surrendered (Literally: 'I have become a Muslim')
to the Lord of creation."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Baqarah(2):127-131
e) Grave Warnings for all who do not follow him:
So what shall we say to those who say: "Jesus
has redeemed us. We have no need to follow any future prophets."?
After the above verse of Deuteronomy, God himself threatens severe
retribution against all those who do not follow this awaited prophet.
In Deuteronomy we read:
"And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever
will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name,
I will require [it] of him." (in some translations: "I
will be the Revenger")
Deuteronomy 18:19
Well, do Muslims read the word of God (The Qur'an)
in His name? The answer is: Yes. Muhammad (pbuh) never in his
lifetime claimed that the Qur'an was his words, but the words
of God it is only the West which claims that it is his words.
Further, when a Muslim reads a verse or chapter of the Qur'an,
you will find that they have been taught to always start their
recitation with the words: "In the name of God, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful." The Qur'an contains 114 Chapters. If
we were to follow them on down we would find that the first chapter,
second chapter, third chapter, and so on all begin with the words
"In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful."
(there is one exception). So not only Muhammad (pbuh), but all
Muslims in general recite the words of God in His name. Indeed,
the Qur'an does even confirm this same warning of Deuteronomy:
"And whosoever seeks other than Islam as
their religion it will not be accepted from him, and he shall
be in the hereafter among those who have lost"
The noble Qur'an, A'al Umran(3):85
Many Christians and Jews mistakenly believe that
Abraham's descendants through Ishmael (Muhammad and his ancestors,
as seen in Fig. 3) were excluded from God's covenant with Abraham
(pbuh) because Ishmael's mother, Hagar, was not a
legitimate wife of Abraham, thus, her son Ishmael (the father
of the Arabs) was not a legitimate son of Abraham.
Therefore, they conclude that Ishmael(pbuh) and
his descendants were not included in God's covenant
with the sons of Abraham (pbuh) and that this covenant was exclusive
to Abraham's second son, Isaac, the father of the
Jews.
In what follows we will disprove each of these
claims,
in addition to showing evidence of human tampering with the text
of the Biblical verses.
The story of Ishmael according to the
Bible is as follows: Abraham married Sarah (pbut).
Sarah was a barren woman and bore him no children (Genesis 16:1).
God then made a great promise to Abraham even before any children
were born to him.
"And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt
be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse
him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth
be blessed."
Genesis 12:2-3
Not long after, Sarah gave Abraham
her handmaid, Hagar, to be his wife according to the
legal Jewish custom of polygamous marriages (customary in the
Bible among Israelites and many of their prophets).
"And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid
the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan,
and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.."
Genesis 16:3
In Genesis 16 we are told that after Hagar
(pbuh) became pregnant with Ishmael, Sarah (pbuh)
felt that Hagar despised her, so she dealt with her harshly until
she was forced to escape from this harsh treatment
"And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she
fled from her face"
Genesis 16:6.
The angel of God then appeared before Hagar and told
her to return to Sarah and submit herself to her will and that
"the Lord has heard thy affliction" and would
reward her with a son called "Ishmael" (God hears) and
would multiply her seed exceedingly. Hagar willingly bowed to
the command of her Lord and returned and submitted herself to
Sarah. In A Dictionary of Biblical tradition in English literature,
we read:
"The Jewish Haggadah identifies Ishmael as
one of the six men who were given a name by God before their birth
(Ginzberg, LJ 1.239)."
"And there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And
the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;"
Isaiah 11:1-2
Once again, we have here a verse which has been
popularly
interpreted to apply to Jesus, and once again it must be stated
that although all Muslims believe in Jesus and in the prophesies
of him in the OT, still, this specific prophesy does not apply
to him, why?
To understand this prophesy we need to study the
verses carefully. These verses tell us that the rod (branch) which
shall grow out of the stem (trunk) of "Jesse" shall
be filled by God with wisdom, understanding, council, might, knowledge,
and the fear of God. In other words, he shall be a statesman,
a prophet and a judge. The obvious question that springs to mind
is: Who was "Jesse"? In the Encyclopedia Biblica we
read that Jesse is a contraction of Ishmael, or:
"Jesse, for Ishmael… The changes which
proper names undergo in the mouths of small children account for
a large number of these particular abbreviations - who could guess,
to take modern examples, that Bob and Dick arose out of Robert
and Richard? … such forms as in ai were particularly common
in later times … and many more in the Talmud,
which also exhibits various other kinds of abbreviation"
Encyclopaedia Biblica, Rev. T. K. Cheyne D.Litt D.D.,
J. Sutherland Black M.A. LL.D., Vol. 3, under "Names,"
p. 3292, item 52
Now, the reason why these biblical scholars have
said this may not be readily apparent to us simply by reading
the English rendition of these two words, however, when these
Christian scholars went back and looked at the original Hebrew
words, that is when they realized it's true meaning. Although
a complete understanding of why this is true would require a knowledge
of the Hebrew language, still, it is possible at least phonetically
to see this even in the English language. Let us have a look.
In Hebrew, the word Ishmael is written
as Yishma`e'l. It is pronounced {yish-maw-ale'}.
Similarly, in Hebrew, the word Jesse is written as
Yishay. It is pronounced {yee-shah'-ee}, or in Aramaic it is 'Iyshay
and pronounced {ee-shah'-ee}.
Thus, we begin to see, even in our phonetic Hebrew
rendition, how these Christian Biblical scholars came to recognize
that just as "Dick" is a contraction of "Richard,"
and "Bob" is a contraction of "Robert," similarly,
by studying the Hebrew words themselves, they found that {yee-shah'-ee}
is indeed a contraction of {yish-maw-ale'}.
Isn't it amazing that we have been told this not
by Muslims, but by Christian scholars? Which Muslim "Moor"
stood over these Christian scholars with a drawn sword and forced
them to come to this realization? Out of the thousands upon thousands
of Hebrew names in the Bible, what drove these Christians to recognize
that Jesse is derived from Ishmael and not, for
example, from Judah, or Isaac, or Shem, or any of
these other thousands upon thousands of Hebrew names? The odds
against it are astronomical if what the Qur'an said was false.
Yet here we have it in black and white. Isn't it amazing how with
every passing day the most learned among Christians scholars are
drawing closer and closer to Islam?
It is further interesting to note the following words
of the authors of this same "Encyclopaedia Biblica":
They say: "In many cases the contraction is such as to
render the discovery of the original form impossible."
… hmm.
The only "branch" from the stem of Ishmael
who was a statesman, a prophet and a judge was prophet Muhammad
(pbuh). The reason many people interpret this verse to apply to
Jesus (pbuh) is because he is claimed to be of the lineage of
king David, and Jesse was the name of the father of king David.
However, why would this prophesy tie the coming prophet to the
father of David who was for all practical purposes a completely
unknown figure in the Bible? It would be much more logical to
follow the much more popular trend found elsewhere in the Bible
of associating Jesus with king David himself who was both
a king and a prophet and a much more popular figure in the Bible
and much better known to anyone who reads it. In other words,
what is so direly special about king David's father that this
prophesy had to completely bypass the legendary prophet king David
himself in order to apply itself to his unknown father? The answer
is that it was not meant to apply to the father of king David
but to a descendant of Ishmael the son of prophet Abraham.
It is further important to remember that insisting
on tying prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) to a human lineage
descendant from king David shall ultimately result in a complete
nullification of the religion known today as "Christianity."
This is because if Jesus is the descendant of king David then
he has a human father and his father is not God.
Some attempts have been made to insist that Jesus
was the physical Son of God and at the same time apply spiritual
contradictory human lineages to him such as Matthew 1 and Luke
3 so that he can be the physical son of both David and
God. This, even though the Bible is quite explicit that the lineage
must be a "physical" and not a "spiritual"
lineage. We find this stipulation spelled out quite clearly in
the Bible in:
- Acts 2:30 "Therefore being a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the
fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up
Christ to sit on his throne;" and - Romans 1:3 "Concerning his Son Jesus
Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according
to the flesh;"
Therefore, the only way that Jesus (pbuh) could be
the physical Son of God and also be the physical
son of king David "according to the flesh" is if his
lineage from kind David passes through his (human) mother Mary
(pbuh). However, if we were to read the two contradictory lineages
found in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 we would find that both attempt
to make his lineage pass through a human father. In one
it is "Joseph the son of Jacob" and in the
other is "Joseph the son of Heli." Such practices can
only hurt the message of Jesus (pbuh) rather than helping it.
Muhammad (pbut) in that order
"And this [is] the blessing, wherewith moses
the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir
unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran,
and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand
[went] a fiery law for them."
Deuteronomy 33:1
of God, like the rising sun.
This is a chronological succession of prophets which
is narrated through reference to location (see Fig. 8). This prophesy
is reported at the end of Deuteronomy in association with the
story of the death of prophet Moses (pbuh). It was
a blessing and glad tidings bestowed by prophet Moses upon his
followers just prior to his death. It was designed to give his
followers hope upon the occasion of the passing of their prophet
that God is not abandoning them, rather, the best is yet to come,
and He shall continue to bless mankind with His guidance and His
light.
Sinai is a reference to
Moses (pbuh). It is an obvious reference to mount
Sinai where Moses (pbuh) received his revelation (Exodus 19:20).
Seir is a reference to
Jesus (pbuh). It is usually associated with the chain of mountains
West and South of the Dead Sea extending through Jerusalem, and
Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus (pbuh). It
was later extended to include the mountains on the East side as
well (Dictionary of the Bible, John L. McKenzie, S.J., p. 783).
However, Seir is also identified with the Northern border
of the tribal territory of Judah and usually with Saris near Kesla
(Chesalon), barely nine miles West of these two cities (The Eerdmans
Bible Dictionary, by Allen C. Myers, pp. 921-922, and The Interpreter's
Dictionary of the Bible, V4, p. 262) Prophet Moses
(pbuh) never in his lifetime entered Palestine, and thus, this
could not be a reference to him.
As we have already seen in section 6.4, Paran
is a reference to the city of Makkah in the Arabian
Peninsula. The wilderness of Paran is where Abraham's
wife Hagar and his eldest son Ishmael
settled (Genesis 21:21) in the Arabian desert, specifically, Makkah.
Makkah is, of course, the capital of Islam in Arabia and the birthplace
of Mohammed (pbuh). Mount Paran is the chain of mountains in that
same region which the Arabs call the "Sarawat mountains".
Muhammad (pbuh) received his first revelation in the cave of "Hira'a"
located in these mountains (see Fig. 9). Jesus never in his life
traveled to Paran. Mohammed, however, was born there. He became
the prophet of Islam there. And it was the capital of the Islamic
religion in that day and this. No prophet of the Bible ever came
from the Arabian city of Paran (Makkah). Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
is the only prophet of God who has ever fulfilled this prophesy.
We also read in verse 33:2 that a fiery law shall
issue forth from the right hand of the prophet from Paran.
Muhammad (pbuh) did indeed come with a new law called the Shari'ah.
The reference to "right" hand is a reference to strength,
justice, and guidance. In Islam, all clean and desirable actions
are performed with the "right" hand (eating, shaking
hands, etc.), while all other actions are done with the left hand
(washing one's private parts, picking up garbage, etc.). In the
Qur'an, the good are described on the Day of Judgment as receiving
their book of deeds in their "right" hands, while the
wicked receive theirs in their "left" hand. This can
be seen for example in Al-Haqah(69):13-37. This general attitude
is also conveyed in the Bible. We read:
"Biblical phrases referring to the right
hand reflect a widespread human cultural attitude, namely the
recognition that for most people the right hand is both stronger
and more adept than the left, and is the hand with which many
tasks are instinctively undertaken ... Eccl. 10:2 links 'a wise
man's heart' with his right hand, and 'a fool's heart' with his
left. When the Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats at
the Last Judgment, it is to the damned 'on the left hand' that
he says, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire' (Matt.
25:41) ...The right hand is often mentioned as a symbol of strength,
both for human beings and anthropomophically for God (e.g. Job
40:14; Isa. 48:13)"
A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition In English
Literature,
David Lyle Jeffrey, p. 442.
This fiery law that shall issue from the right hand
of the prophet from Paran will be a new law
for the children of Israel and not the same one they had been
practicing in the time of Moses (pbuh) and later.
This is held out by simple logic; if I already own something,
then I can not say that my neighbor shall bring "for me"
this same "something" which I already own. In such a
case, he would have "brought" nothing and it would have
been more logical to say he would "confirm" the preexistent
law. No prophet of the Bible ever in his lifetime either came
from Paran or preached the replacement of the law of Moses (pbuh).
Even Jesus (pbuh) came to confirm and reinforce the law of Moses
(Matthew 5:17-19), as explained in detail in chapter one. Muhammad
(pbuh) is the only prophet of God who fulfilled both of these
requirements.
However, if we look closely, we will find that the
prophesy contains one more requirement. It tells us that this
prophet from Paran who will bring a fiery new law
shall come with 10,000 saints. Once again,
two years before the death of prophet Muhammad (pbuh), in the
year 630 AD, he lead 10,000 of his followers to their final and
decisive victory against the pagans of Makkah (see chapter 10).
This was one of the most bloodless victories of all history. The
Muslims took control of Makkah, the capital of paganistic Arabia,
virtually without a single casualty. Upon entering Makkah victorious,
Muhammad did not take it's inhabitants as prisoners. Even though
these people had been torturing himself and his companions, and
killing many of them over many years, still, Muhammad commanded
that they not be tortured, nor should retribution be sought against
them. Rather, he pardoned them all and set them free. Most of
them entered into Islam.
Once again, we find that prophet Moses
(pbuh) was appointed seventy very close and devout followers (Exodus
24:1-9, Numbers 11:16-25). Jesus (pbuh) was appointed eleven very
close and devout followers (if we were to exclude Judas), as seen
in Matthew 10:1-5, Mark 3:14-19, etc. Prophet Muhammad, once again,
was the only one to fulfill this requirement. Mr. Kais Al-Kalbi
asks the question:
"When this verse Deut 33:2 was translated
from Hebrew to English, the phrase '10,000 saints10,000
saints' was kept the same. But when this verse was translated
from Hebrew to Arabic, the phrase '10,000 saints' was intentionally
changed to 'holy valley', why?"
Prophet Muhammad the last messenger in the Bible,
third edition, Kais Al-Kalbi, pp. 231-232.
The wording also bears out this chronological
succession
of prophets. Came: daybreak and the arrival of the sun
in the morning. Rose up: like the light of dawn. Shined
forth: Mid-day sun which lights up the Earth from East to
West. Islam has indeed come to shine all over the earth as the
mid-day sun. It is estimated to have 1.2 billion adherents throughout
the globe, and according to Western sources, it is said to be
the fastest growing religion in the world today.
"This day have I (God) perfected your religion
for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you
Islam as your religion."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maidah(5):3
speaking in His name
In Deuteronomy 18:20 we read
"But the prophet, which shall presume to
speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak,
or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet
shall die."
Muhammad (pbuh) spoke not just a single word, but
dictated a whole book in God's name. For twenty three years he
spoke exclusively in the name of God Almighty. He was given one
hundred and fourteen chapters, all of which were, and are to this
day, recited day after day in God's name. Chapters in the Qur'an
begin with the words "In the name of God, the Gracious,
the Merciful." Yet he did not die, but lived to
fulfill his message completely. He himself even narrated in the
name of God a similar verse in the Qur'an:
"And if he (Muhammad) had invented false
sayings in Our (God's) name, We would have taken him by the right,
then We would have severed from him his aorta, and there is none
among you who could have held Us off from him"
The noble Qur'an, al-Haaqah(69):46
(Remember that the
plural form of this verse is the
Arabic plural of respect, not the Christian
plural of "Trinity," as seen in chapter
14). If the claims of some are true: That Muhammad (pbuh) was
an impostor, then did God go to sleep for twenty three years?
Of course not! He knew full well what Muhammad (pbuh) was claiming.
If he was not telling the truth, why did God not kill him?
Why did he allow him to perpetrate a lie that would span fourteen
centuries, and eventually come to cover the globe?
"Beloved, believe not every spirit (prophet),
but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit
of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that
[spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come;
and even now already is it in the world."
1 John 4:1-3
This one is very easy to understand: Every prophet
who does not confess that Jesus (pbuh) came in the flesh was not
sent by God. He is a false prophet. But any prophet that confesses
that Jesus (pbuh) came in the flesh was sent by God. What
does the Qur'an and Muhammad (pbuh) say about Jesus (pbuh)? They
say that a Muslim is not a Muslim if he does not believe
in Jesus (pbuh), in his miraculous birth, in his giving life to
the dead by God's permission, in his healing of the lepers and
the blind by God's permission, in his piety and chastity, in his
truthfulness, and in the fact that he was the Messiah (the Christ).
The Qur'an contains many verses to this effect. For example, in
A'al-Umran(3):40 we read:
"And the angles said 'O Mary, Allah gives
you glad tidings of a Word from Him, his name is Messiah, Jesus
son of Mary, High honored in this world and the next, of those
near stationed to Allah."
So now we must ask: Has Muhammad (pbuh) fulfilled
this criteria or not? This is all the more remarkable when it
is contrasted with the popular opinion of the time such as the
claims of the Jews regarding Jesus (pbuh) and his mother Mary
(pbuh) as seen in part nine of section 6.3. As a matter of fact,
Jesus is referred to by name in the Qur'an fully sixteen times,
as compared to only four places in the whole Qur'an where Muhammad
(pbuh) is mentioned by name.
No other religion in the whole world outside
Christianity
makes it an article of faith for its adherents to believe
in, love and honor Jesus except Islam. Reading the Qur'an bears
testimony to that (see for example (19):16-36, A'al-Umran(3):33-68,
Al-Nissa(5): 72-77). Here we have the testimony of Jesus himself
in the Bible that Muhammad was a prophet of God. If Jesus'
words carry any weight at all with us then we must concede that
Muhammad was a prophet of God and therefore spoke in the name
of God.
Further, Jesus gives a second criteria to judge the
truthfulness of a prophet. He says:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to
you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree
cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits
ye shall know them."
Matthew 7:15-20
So, according to the testimony of Jesus, if we wish
to know whether prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was a true prophet or
not we need to see what sort of "fruit" his message
produced. A moderately detailed description of these fruits can
be found in chapters 9 and 10, however, let us listen to the words
of the Hindu Professor K. S. Ramakrishna Rao. He says:
"Historical records show that all contemporaries
of Muhammad, both friend and foes, acknowledged the sterling qualities,
the spotless honesty, the noble virtues, the absolute sincerity,
and the absolute trustworthiness of the apostle of Islam in all
walks of life and in every sphere of human activity. Even the
Jews and those who did not believe in his message accepted him
as arbitrator in their personal disputes on account of his scrupulous
impartiality"
Muhammad the Prophet of Islam, K. S. Ramakrishna
Rao, p. 13
(Please read chapter nine for more on the fruit of
the message of Muhammad, pbuh)
From the promise in Genesis 21:13-18, Jesus (pbuh)
spoke of the kingdom of God being taken away from the Jews and
given to the rejected stone of
"Hear another parable: There was a certain
householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about,
and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out
to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time
of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen,
that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took
his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did
unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son,
saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw
the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let
us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught
him, and cast [him] out of the vineyard, and slew [him]. When
the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto
those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy
those wicked men, and will let out [his] vineyard unto other
husbandmen,
which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith
unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which
the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner:
this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore
say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and
given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it
shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests
and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake
of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared
the multitude, because they took him for a prophet."
Matthew 21:33-46
Indeed, prophethood was transferred from the nation
of the Jews to the Jews' rejected stone,
the nation of the Arabs (Ishmael's nation, the nation
of Muhammad pbuh). Some have misunderstood this verse to refer
to Jesus (pbuh) as the rejected stone. This can be seen to be
a misinterpretation by simply reading the above verse carefully.
Jesus (pbuh), in this parable is obviously drawing a parallel
between the actions of the Jews and their killing and stoning
of previous prophets, or "servants" in this verse.
"Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves,
that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill
ye up then the measure of your fathers"
Matthew 23:31-32
In other words, Jesus (pbuh) is speaking to the Jews
as a racial entity. The men standing before him did not kill,
beat, and stone the previous prophets, rather their forefathers
did. But as a nation, they are all responsible. They are following
in their forefathers footsteps. What is Jesus (pbuh) telling the
Jews? He is telling them that they, as a nation, have abused their
position, and therefore, God Almighty will take His kingdom from
the Jews and give it to a different "NATION."
How will we know which nation God's prophethood will
be transferred to? The verse states that it will be given to the
nation of the "rejected stone."
Jesus (pbuh) was indeed rejected by the Jews, but he is not the
one intended. Why? Because Jesus was a Jew. His disciples were
also Jews. Jesus (pbuh) himself even said quite clearly:
"But he answered and said, I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel"
Matthew 15:24
We also read
"Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him,
How is it that thou (Jesus), being a Jew, askest
drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?"
John 4:9
He even told his own twelve apostles:
"Go not into the way of the Gentiles (non-Jews),
and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand"
Matthew 10:5-7
To further emphasize this Jesus (pbuh) is quoted
as saying:
"But he (Jesus) answered and said, It is
not meet to take the children's (Jews) bread, and to cast [it]
to dogs (Gentiles)."
Matthew 15:26
Is the kingdom of God going to be taken from
the Jews and given to the Jews?
It is important to notice that the verses wherein
Jesus (pbuh) is alleged to have commanded his followers to preach
to the whole world (such as Mark 16:15) are either now considered
later "insertions" because they are nowhere to be found
in the most ancient manuscripts available today (those of the
fourth century) such as the Sinaitic Manuscript, the Vatican #1209,
and the Armenian version, or refer only to preaching to "all
nations" (such as Luke 24:47) which, in order to not conflict
with the above verses must be understood to refer to the twelve
nations of Israel. This is exactly what the Qur'an says. An example
of a reference to the tribes of Isaac as "nations"
can be seen in Genesis 17:16. There are other examples, such as
the referral to the twelve tribes of Ishmael as
twelve "nations" in Genesis 25:16, the referral to the
tribes of Ham in Genesis 10:20, the tribes of Shem in Genesis
10:31, the tribes of Noah in Genesis 10:32, and the tribes of
Abraham in Genesis 17:5 ......etc.
Well, what do Christian scholars have to say about
the word "all" in "all nations"?
If we go back to one of their foremost references, Strong's
concordance,
and look up this word and it's meaning we will find that the original
Greek word is "pas" {pas}. The following description
is given for this word:
".....'The whole world has gone after him'
Did the whole world go after Christ? 'Then went all Judea, and
were baptized of him in the Jordan'. Was all Judea or all Jerusalem
baptized in the Jordan? 'ye are of God little children', 'and
the whole world lieth in the wicked one', Does the whole world
there mean everybody? The words 'world' and 'all' are used in
some seven or eight senses in the Scripture, and it is very rarely
the 'all' means all persons, taken individually...."
Strong's Concordance, C.H. Spurgeon from a sermon
on Particular Redemption.
Mr. Tom Harpur, says:
"Most of Jesus' ministry took place in the
Northern district of Israel, the Galilee, and it is clear he thought
of his mission as directed to the Jews, not to the world at large"
For Christ's Sake, Tom Harpur, p. 35.
In the tenth year1 of Muhammad's (pbuh)
prophethood, Allah Almighty sent Gabriel with a beast called Al-Buraq
in order to take prophet Muhammad (pbuh) from the "Inviolable
Mosque" in Makkah to the "Furthest Mosque" in Palestine
(currently known as Israel). He was then taken up into the heavens
where he saw many of the signs of the Almighty and then he returned
to Makkah. All of this happened in one night which was later named
the night of "Israa and Miraj" (Travel by night and
ascension)*. After this deed was accomplished, Allah
revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) the first verses of the chapter of
Al-Israa(17). Scholars of the Qur'an from long ago noticed that
while the first verse speaks about this occurrence explicitly,
the following verses suddenly begin to speak about the children
of Israel, the scripture that was sent to them by Allah, and how
they shall bring corruption into the earth. These scholars concluded
that the verses were revealed in order to confirm the transfer
of Allah's covenant from the children of Israel to the Islamic
nation and to reveal the reason for this decree.
Please read in this regard the parting words of
prophet
Moses in the Old Testament when he spoke to the children of Israel
on his deathbed:
"And it came to pass, when moses had made
an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they
were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites(Jews), which bare
the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of
the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a
witness against thee. For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff
neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have
been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?
Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers,
that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and
earth to record against them. For I know that after my death ye
will utterly corrupt [yourselves], and turn aside from the way
which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter
days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke
him to anger through the work of your hands."
Deuteronomy 31:25-29
On pages 24-25 of "The five Gospels," written
over six years by 24 Christian scholars from a number of Western
universities, we read
"Christian conviction eventually overwhelms
Jesus: He is made to confess what Christians had come to believe...The
charge to announce the good news to the whole world (Mark 13:10
and Matthew 28:18-20) was developed by Paul, Mark and others in
the early days of the new movement."
This book has already demonstrated in chapter one
how "Saint Paul" was the one primarily responsible for
the corruption of the message of Jesus (pbuh).
Logic too verifies the Christian recognition that
"the great commission" of the above verses was a later
insertion of the church and not the words of Jesus (pbuh). This
claim can be demonstrated to be supported by logic by observing
that had Jesus (pbuh) indeed commissioned his apostles to preach
to the whole world, as claimed in the above verses, then obviously
they would not differ on this matter later on. However,
the Bible tells us that long after this alleged commission, "St.
Paul" decided to preach to the Gentiles (non-Jews). We are
told in Galatians 2:13-15 that this resulted in a fierce debate
and a great difference of opinion between the apostles and Paul
(the apostles Peter the Rock, James the son of thunder, and Barnabas
on one side, and Paul on the other). This would not have been
the case if Jesus (pbuh) had explicitly commanded his apostles
to preach to the gentiles and this verse was not a later insertion.
We also notice that Paul only refers to his own
philosophy
and opinion in his charge of "hypocrisy"
against the apostles, never does he quote the alleged command
of Jesus (pbuh) wherein he is claimed to have publicly commanded
the twelve disciples to preach to the Gentiles. If this verse
was not a later insertion, then St. Paul could have very simply
defended his point of view by simply quoting Jesus (pbuh). There
would be no need for him to say anything more. Thus, these verses
are recognized by Christian theologians as later insertions of
the Church and not the words of Jesus (pbuh). Since this topic
would take up too much time and space to get into here I will
suffice with this sampling for now (see section 1.2.2.1 for more
on this topic).
However, there is another problem which prevents
Jesus (pbuh) from being the one intended. If Jesus (pbuh) was
indeed the one intended by this verse then we must apply the rest
of it to him also. We read....
"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read
in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the
same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes?.. And whosoever shall fall on
this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder"
Matthew 21:42
This rejected stone of the Jews,
the nation of Ishmael, would indeed come to be victorious
against all comers. The Islamic nation, through the guidance of
Allah, and which fought in His name, grew till it stretched from
China to Spain and was victorious against all pagan superpowers
(including the Persians and the Romans) of it's time. It then
went on to raise science to new heights. There was not a single
nation that was able to stand in the way of the Muslims who fought
in the name of God and died in His cause. Both the Jews and the
Christians were either subjugated by the Roman pagans or took
them as allies. Jesus (pbuh), could not be this "rejected
stone" because he did not fall on the Jews or the Romans
and "grind them to powder," nor did they fall on him
and become "broken." Quite the contrary, the Bible alleges
that Jesus (pbuh) was arrested, beaten, spat on, whipped, kicked,
mocked, cut, laughed at, crucified, and then sent to hell for
three days. In the mean time, the Romans and Jews went back to
business as usual.
There is a distinct difference between saying that
Jesus (pbuh) died for someone's sin and between saying he fell
on nations and ground them to powder, and nations fell on him
and were broken. This is the profile of a military leader and
not a meek sacrificial lamb of God who tells his followers:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That
ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee
at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have [thy] cloak also.
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain"
Matthew 5:38-41
and also "Then saith he (Jesus) unto them,
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and
unto God the things that are God's."
Matthew 22:21
Whilem on the other hand, the Qur'an taught Muhammad
(pbuh) and his followers:
"And fight against them until persecution
is no more and religion is for God alone. But if they desist then
let there be no hostility except against wrongdoers"
Al-Bakarah(2):194.
Many Christians will object "No, Jesus (pbuh)
was the one intended." They will explain that the verse is
not meant to be taken literally but in an abstract sense.
Jesus was prophesying himself. Thus, Jesus did indeed fall on
the sinners and grind them to powder and they did fall on him
and become broken. In other words, matters of FAITH and
not WAR are intended. This is a valid theory, so let us test it:
Those who make these claims will themselves readily
acknowledge that the "son of the householder"
is Jesus (pbuh) but then they go on to tell you that "the
rejected stone" is also Jesus
(pbuh). So:
- If Jesus (pbuh) is both the "son of the
householder" and also "the
rejected stone," then one would expect
there to be some sort of hint in the text associating one with
the other. For example, the text could have combined the two terms
into "the rejected son." We notice that this is not
the case. - If the "rejected stone"
is an alias for a character previously mentioned in the text,
and not a completely new character, then what arguments from
the Biblical text can we present that can not just as
easily be applied to the other servants (prophets) who were chased
away or killed, or even the "householder" (God) himself?
In other words, any arguments which are presented from the
text will be equally valid for any of the many other prophets
who were beaten, stoned, and killed by this nation. - In this parable, the first servant (prophet)
was beaten and was taken out of the picture. The second was killed
and was also taken out of the picture. The third was then stoned
and taken out of the picture. Then the son was killed and taken
out of the picture. Where does the text indicate that the "son
of the householder" has come
back to life while the other "servants" remain dead
or chased away? Where does the text state the "son"
shall come back to life but the other dead servants shall not? - The goal of a parable is always to describe a
matter in "real-life" terms which can be seen in our
every day lives so that we can better understand the point being
made. IN REAL LIFE, would we expect a dead son of a householder
to come back to life and "miserably destroy"
all the husbandmen who killed him, or would we expect the householder
to send an army to wipe out the husbandmen who killed his son
and servants? - The "Householder" in this parable refers
to a non-abstract God. The "servants" refer to physical
prophets. The "Son of the Householder" refers to a physical
Jesus (pbuh), the beating, killing, and stoning of the servants
refer to a physical beating, killing, and stoning of the prophets,
even the vineyard refers to a physical kingdom of God. But now,
in order to make this rejected stone refer
to Jesus (pbuh) we must claim that the "grinding and breaking"
refer to an ABSTRACT grinding and breaking, thus Jesus
(pbuh) is the one intended. Notice how the verse is made to conform
to our preconceived concepts and not the other way around? - If the "grinding and breaking" referred
only to an other-worldly reward for all who do not believe and
not an earthly defeat (followed by one in the hereafter), then
why did Jesus (pbuh) use the words: "whosoever shall FALL
on this stone" and not "whosoever shall REJECT this
stone." This would more accurately describe acts of BELIEF
and not WAR. Also, if acts of BELIEF were meant and not acts of
WAR then there would be no need for "on whomever it shall
FALL" otherwise it would be implied that Jesus was forcing
people to disbelieve.
For example, if a Jew did not believe in Moses
(pbuh), would it be more accurate to say: "He REJECTED Moses"
or to say "He FELL upon Moses"? If Pharaoh sent an army
to kill Moses (pbuh) and the Jews, would it be more accurate to
say "Pharaoh FELL upon Moses" or "Pharaoh REJECTED
Moses"? These verbs were carefully chosen for a reason. Indeed,
if we were to go back to the Bible itself, we would find that
the term "fall on" is in fact used to convey the general
meaning of "fight", or "to wage war". For
example, in Judges we read:
"And they said unto him, We are come down
to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the
Philistines.
And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall
upon me yourselves."
Judges 15:12
And "And the men were afraid, because they
were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the
money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we
brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall
upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses."
Genesis 43:18
And "And they said, The God of the Hebrews
hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days'
journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God;
lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword."
Exodus 5:3
And "Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou,
and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon
arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments
that were on their camels' necks."
Judges 8:21
There are countless other examples, however, these
should suffice. Thus, we see that the prophesy is for one who
will wage war against those who killed and persecuted the prophets
of God. This war against the "killers of the prophets"
by this messenger of God would result in "miserably destroying"
these transgressors. This prophesy was fulfilled by Muhammad (pbuh)
who began by signing pacts and treaties with the Jews. However,
after they reneged on their pacts and broke their promises, he
fought against them, utterly destroyed them, and finally expelled
them from Arabia for all time (see chapter 10).
There are many other points which could be brought
up in this comparison, however. Such prophesies include Daniel
2 which history has shown us to have been fulfilled only by the
Islamic nation. For those readers who would like to read more
on these matters, I recommend the books:
- "Prophet Muhammad the Last Messenger in
the Bible" by Kais Al-Kalbi. - "Mohammed A Prophecy Fulfilled," by
H. Abdul Al-Dahir - "Muhammad in the Bible", by Professor
`Abdul-Ahad Dawud. - "Muhammad's Prophethood: An Analytical View,"
By Dr. Jamal Badawi - "Muhammad in the Bible," Dr. Jamal
Badawi - "The Sources of the Qur'an: A Critical Review
of the Authorship Theories," by Hamza Mustafa Njozi.
I shall leave it up to the interested reader to study
Islam, Muhammad, and the Qur'an, and arrive at their own conclusion
with regard to Muhammad (pbuh) having fulfilled all of the requirements
of the coming "Second Messiah"/"Paraclete"/Prophet.
It is not at all uncommon in the West for people
to be known by two names. For examples, a man called William would
be called "Bill" by his friends, Robert would be called
"Bob"...etc. In a similar manner, Muhammad (pbuh) was
known by two names: "Muhammad" and "Ahmed."
I mention this to clarify the following verse:
"And when Jesus son of Mary said: O Children
of Israel! verily! I am the messenger of Allah unto you, confirming
that which was (revealed) before me in the Torah, and bringing
good tidings of a messenger who cometh after me, whose name is
Ahmed(the praised one). But when he came to them with clear proofs,
they said: This is clearly magic"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Saf(61):6
It is one thing for someone to make a clever play
on words and twist their meaning to suite his fancied desire so
that they would refer to Muhammad (pbuh). It would be much harder
to do so with more than ten. These verses lend themselves so easily
to Muhammad (pbuh) without having to resort to abstraction and
applying them to the Holy Ghost or other supernatural meanings,
or to combining three prophesies into only two.
"Then We sent our messengers in succession.
Whenever there came to a nation their messenger they called him
a liar; so We caused them to follow one another (in destruction)
and We made them tales (told to others). So away with a people
who will not believe!"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Muminoon(23):44.
"Alas for (My) servants! There comes not
a messenger unto them but they ridicule him."
The noble Qur'an, Ya-seen(36):30.