Miscellaneous - 10
Muhammad in the Bible
Critic:-
Muslims claim that Deuteronomy
18:18 refers to Muhammad. Christians say it refers to Jesus. Jews say that it
refers to the other Prophets mentioned in the Old Testament and not to either
of the others. What makes Muslims think it refers Muhammad?
Comment:-
According to the Quran:-
"Those who follow the
Messenger - the unlettered Prophet - whom they find mentioned in their own Law
and Gospel, bidding them what is just and forbidding them what is wrong; and
making lawful for them what is good, and making unlawful evil
things......" 7:157
"Verily, We have inspired
you (Muhammad) as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, and as We
inspired Abraham, and Ishmael, and Jacob, and the tribes, and Jesus, and Job,
and Jonas, and Aaron, and Solomon; and to David did We give the Psalms. Of some
messengers We have already told you; and of other messengers We have not told
you; But Allah spoke directly to Moses;" 4:163-164
The Bible verse in question reads:-
"I will raise them up a
Prophet from among their brethren, like unto you (Moses), and will put my words
in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."
Deuteronomy 18:18
Christians think it refers to Jesus
according to the following:-
"For Moses truly said unto
the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your
brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say
unto you." Acts 3:22
But Jesus (saw) said:-
"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 show
you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and
shall show it unto you." John 16:12-14
Abraham had to two sons, the elder
being Ishmael and the younger Isaac. Both were promised that they would found
great nations. (Genesis chapters 21 to 25). The Jews are descended from Isaac
and the Arabs from Ishmael. The brethren of the Israelites or Jews are the
Ishmaelites or Arabs. Note also the similarity between the predictions of Moses
(saw) and Jesus (saw) that the Prophet to come would speak according to what he
heard, and not according to his own preferences. This clearly applies to
Muhammad (saw). The Quran is a record of what he heard. There is no Prophet in
the Old Testament that is like Moses who brought the Law, and a reading of the
Quran shows that it does compare Muhammad (saw) to Moses (saw).
The Prophet Muhammad was more like
Moses than Jesus for the following reasons:-
(1) Jesus was born miraculously by
the word of God, whereas both Moses and Muhammad were born normally. If he was
born fatherless he cannot be regarded as a descendant of Isaac or a Jew.
(2) Both Moses and Muhammad
married and had children, Jesus did not.
(3) They both died a natural death
while Jesus did not.
(4) Both founded a new Religion,
Jesus, according to his own words, came to fulfil the Hebrew Law.
(5) Both Moses and Muhammad
founded a separate nation regulated by laws, Jesus did not. According to him,
his kingdom was only in heaven, not on earth.
(6) Christians believe that Jesus
is God and the Son of God, that he died for the sins of man, that he was
crucified, died, was resurrected and taken up to heaven. None of these things
are true of Moses.
(7) According to the words of
Jesus the Spirit of Truth refers to a person, also called a Comforter like
Jesus himself (John 14:16-17, John 15:26) who would come after him (John 16:7).
Christians think that this refers to the Holy Ghost. But the Holy Ghost was was
always there with Jesus. (Luke 3:22).
Compare the following:-
"And the book is delivered
to him that is not learned, saying : Read this. And he says: I am not
learned." Isaiah 29: 11
with
"Read: In the name of thy
Lord who created, created man from a clot. read: And thy Lord is most
bountiful, Who teaches by the pen, teaches man what he knew not." Quran
96:1-5
This was the first revelation to
Muhammad (saw) and distressed him greatly and he protested that he was
illiterate and could not read.
"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
honour 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
marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the
wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent
men shall be hid." Isaiah 29:11-14
This could mean that Prophets with
words inspired by God have to be sent to mankind owing to the fact that man has
lost the capacity for direct consciousness of reality. The verses that predict
the coming of a Prophet "who speaks as he hears" in both the Old and
New Testaments could be understood as a general prediction about Prophets
including Jesus and Muhammad.
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Defilement
Critic:-
I get the impression that Jesus
encouraged people to love God and his creatures rather than follow old
fashioned rules, but that this liberalism was not transferred into the Quran.
E.g. pious Jews and Muslims believe that they are not allowed to eat pork, but
from verses 17 and 18 below, I get the impression that Jesus would consider
that it is quite okay to eat pork. That is, he seems to be saying that
religious rules of cleanliness need not be followed and that is amplified by
verse 20.
11 That which enters into the
mouth doesn't defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this
defiles the man."
18 But the things which proceed
out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart come forth
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and
blasphemies.
Comment:-
Jesus said:-
"Think not that I am come
to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
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." Matthew
5:17-12
Whereas Christians abandoned the
Divine Law and later adopted the Roman Law instead, Islam restored the Divine
Law. The one is connected with spiritual welfare and the other is concerned
with worldly matters of State control.
In view of this, if we are to
avoid contradictions, then we must interpret what Jesus said about defiling
differently. It is not the act itself but the intention or faith behind the act
that determines what defiles or corrupts a person.
However, this defilement refers to
the soul. It remains perfectly true that if you swallow poison or dirt or
infected material that this will certainly cause you to be ill. So that
statement cannot possibly refer to this physical corruption. The same can be
said about things that corrupt the mind. There are most certainly impressions
and ideas that can be regarded as mental poisons.
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Peacefulness
A Christian:-
Unlike many other religious
founders and leaders of the past, Jesus calls His betrayer "friend",
and commands His followers to put down their swords. in submission to the will
of God….. And, some of you by now have perceived the radical difference between
the message of this Jesus and some aspects of your faith. ….I encourage you to
face this uneasiness in your heart, and take a fresh look at this Jesus - NOT
at His followers in history-and see for yourselves why His offer of freedom and
life was NOT couched in words of conquest and violence, but in words such as
these:-
"But I say to you who
hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse
you, pray for those who mistreat you." (Luke 6.27-28)
"Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest or
your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew
11.28-30)
Comment:-
We Muslims honour Jesus (saw), as
we do Moses (saw), Muhammad (saw) and the other Prophets All were sent by God
with the same message but also with specific missions.
Muhammad (saw), like Moses (saw)
was founding a nation, a kingdom
of God in this world.
Jesus was not. He was looking forward to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth as the Lord's prayer he
taught shows. That is the difference. But the mission of Jesus was not
complete. He was to return. The book of revelations tells us something about
what he would do when he returns. Nor was Jesus as peaceful and sentimental as
you like to think. He did say:-
"Think not that I am come
to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew
10:34
"Then said he unto them,
But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he
that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one." Luke 22:36
And he did upset the Pharisees and
the Merchants in the temple.
But the task Muslims have is much
harder than that of Christians. We too have to control our anger, pride, lust,
vanity and to be charitable, tolerant and forgiving. But we are required to
resist and fight evil and oppression, but we are forbidden to be aggressive and
we are required to be just even against ourselves. And there is to be no
compulsion in religion because it is a spiritual matter, and we have no central
authority to tell us what to do but are responsible for ourselves. Peace refers
to an inner peace that comes from submission to Allah and the removal of all
inner contradictions. It does not mean that there is no struggle against evil
within and outside.
So apart from the fact that many
who are called Muslims have not followed their religion, or been carried to
excesses and been unjustly violent, or are politically or economically or
culturally motivated, or are real criminals, there are some who are sincere but
misguided and some who are truly fighting oppression and evil.
You will note, however, that by
far the greatest numbers of Muslims, like Christians, probably 99.9%, are
wholly peaceful. But that might also mean that they are apathetic and
indifferent to their religion to various degrees or just cowardly or impotent
to do anything against undoubted global injustices, evils and oppression.
But why
are you addressing Muslims and not Christians. Do you think that the troops
that the Western Christian nations sent to kill Afghans and Iraqis and those
who sent them were conforming to the teachings of Jesus and will not be held
responsible for their actions on the Day of Judgement? Should you not get your
own house in order first?
Critic:-
Muslims
assert that Islam is about Peace when, in fact, they have engaged in war and
the Quran itself tells us that Muslims are obliged to fight.
Comment:-
"Islam"
means surrender to Allah, the creator and maintainer of all things. We take not
a restricted literal meaning but the significance of the term as used in the
Quran.
The word
derives from the root SLM which gives rise to other associated meanings such as
peace, submission, resignation, acceptance, perfection, safety, security,
wholeness, fulfilment, completeness, harmony, consistency, adjustment,
contentment, calmness. These meaning are reflected in the word
"Islam"
It
follows from the meaning that if a person surrenders to Allah, giving up his
ego and identifying himself with or becoming at-one with Allah, then all
conflicts cease. He is then in harmony, internally and externally, with
himself, with other people, the community and with the world. He becomes part
of the world process.
This
means that:-
(a) He
gives up his own subjective desires, opinions etc.
(b) He
obeys Allah,
(c) He
accepts whatever Allah gives. This is not what is called "fatalism"
which implies inactivity, but it
includes the acceptance of facts, meanings as well as values - therefore
striving is part of acceptance.
As
striving is an effort against evils within oneself or in the society or
internationally, we have conflicts and this is not peace in the ordinary sense
of the word. The Islamic idea of "Peace" is therefore, a more
transcendental one - it has a psychological or spiritual definition, and this certainly conflict with the secular
ideas of peace which is much more restricted usually to political and sometimes
to the social sphere.
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Qul
(say)
Question:-
In many
places in the Quran we find sentences beginning with Qul (Say). I wonder why
this phrase was repeated by the Prophet after its first revelation and finally
why it was preserved as a part of the Quran.
Answer:-
It seems
to me that the word "Qul (Say)" is in the Quran for four reasons:-
(1) That
it is how the revelation was received - the Quran contains a faithful record of
the revelation as received.
(2) We
are required to understand that the Quran is not the invention of the Prophet
but comes from an objective source. That is, the Prophet was in a state of
spiritual receptivity.
(3) The
Quran was an instruction to the Prophet - he was required to say or recite it
to people.
(4) It
is an instruction to the reader to repeat what was being said in order to
concentrate his mind, understanding and awareness.
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