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Clip from Passion of Christ movie depicting Jesus' biblical prophesy about Prophet Mohammad (in Aramaic language, the language that Jesus & Jews at his time actually spoke)
What did Jesus really say? A book by Dr. Mishaal Abdullah Al-Kadhi Chapter 6: Muhammad in the Bible "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
6.1: Three Distinct Prophesies 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 (the Baptist), 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.
6.2: Foretells the story of the chapter of "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 ("Iqra" or recite): In the name of your Lord who created, Created man from a clot. Read ("Iqra" or recite): 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')
6.3 A "Paraclete" like Jesus 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. 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 (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 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. "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." Genesis 1:2 "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."1 Samuel 10:10 "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 encyclopedia alleges 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.
The Jewish encyclopedia goes on to inform us that Jewish legend has "the pupils of the recantant Balaam inherit Hell." As one of the three most evil enemies of Judaism, a sorceress is claimed to have later recalled Jesus and the other two from hell and asked them who were the closest people to God. Jesus allegedly informed the sorceress that "Israel" were the highest of God's creatures in stature and warned her not to harm them, for to seek to harm the Jews was to seek to harm "the apple of God's eye." (For more on this topic you may purchase the book "The Plot Against Christianity," by Elizabeth Dilling)* . Grolier's encyclopedia tells us that "...the reliable Jewish sources tell us that he (Jesus) was a Jewish teacher who was put to death for sorcery and false prophecy and that he had a brother named James.." Mr. H. Abdul Al-Dahir relates on page 76 of his book "Mohammed A Prophesy Fulfilled," that the Jewish Talmudic book Sanhedrin states:
With each new allegation which issued forth from the mouths of the Jews with regard to the alleged corruption and blasphemy of Jesus, the Christians countered with an equal, but opposite elevation of his status to lofty new hights. Slowly but surely, Jesus was elevated from being an elect prophet of God to being the highest of God's creation for all time, to being equal to the angels, to being the Son of God, and finally to being God Himself, manifest in the flesh, and the third face of God's claimed Triune nature. This resulted in mankind being given only one of two choices: Either Jesus was the most wicked, evil, and blasphemous false prophet and magician ever to take the name of God in vain, or else he was God Himself in the flesh, having descended from heaven to walk among us and sacrifice himself for our sins. The Qur'an, however, was sent by God in order to show us that the truth lies at neither extreme. Allah Almighty tells us in the Qur'an: "O people of the book (Jews and Christians)! Do not go to extremes in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was [no more or less than] a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which he bestowed upon Mary, and a spirit preceding from Him: so believe in Allah and his messengers. Say not "Three": desist!, it is better for you, for Allah is one god, Glory be to Him, Far exalted is He above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and the earth. And enough is Allah as a disposer of affairs." The noble Qur'an, Al-Nissah(4):171. God Almighty further revealed the following verses of the Qur'an regarding the Jews: "Then because of their breaking of their Covenant and their rejection of the signs of Allah and their slaying of the Prophets wrongfully and that they said "Our hearts are the wrappings [which preserve Allah's Word; we need no more]"; nay but Allah hath set the seal on their hearts for their rejection, so they believe not save a few. And because of their disbelief and of their speaking against Mary a horrendous fabrication." The noble Qur'an, Al-Nissa(4):155-156. So tremendous a sin is this lie considered with Allah, that it is not even repeated in the Qur'an. The closest the Qur'an ever comes to actually reproducing their words is: "Then she (Mary) brought him (Jesus) to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! You have come with a most atrocious thing. Oh sister of Aaron! Your father was not a wicked man nor was your mother a harlot" The noble Qur'an, Maryam(19):27-28. "And when the angels said: O Mary! Verily! Allah has
chosen you, and purified you, and preferred you above (all) the women of
creation..." The noble Qur'an,
Aal-Umran(3):42.
10) Sin, righteousness, and error The coming Paraclete, we are told, will demonstrate the error of the world regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment "he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." This is indeed what Muhammad (pbuh) did. He came to the world to show them how they had been misguided in "sin" by believing that mankind can inherit sin (see last quarter of chapter one, and Ezekiel 18:19-20) and that someone's sin can be forgiven by the sacrifice of others. He also showed them how they had been misguided in "righteousness" by believing that a righteous person is one who has "faith" in the crucifixion and does nothing else (Romans 3:28), or who believes that another man's death will make him a righteous person (Romans 5:19). And they were misguided in "judgment" by believing that they will be judged by "faith" and other people's deeds and not their own deeds (Mark 16:16), or that God's "judgment" was to punish all mankind for the sin of one man (Romans 5:16, 5:18). Muhammad (pbuh) taught that the unscrupulous had altered the words of Jesus (pbuh). He taught that no one will be held accountable by God for anyone else's sin. He emphasized that God has made this a life of work and the next life one of reward and no work. He also revealed that mankind will be judged individually according to their own individual faith and actions and no one else's.
11) That he may abide with you for ever: In these verses, Jesus (pbuh) is quoted as saying that the coming Paraclete will "abide with you forever." What does he mean by this? In order to understand this statement, let us read "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying." John 8:51-55 and also "And I (Jesus) give unto them (the believers) eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." John 10:28 and "and my servant David [shall be] their prince forever." Ezekiel 37:25. and "The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD ... He asked life of thee, [and] thou gavest [it] him, [even] length of days for ever and ever." Psalm 21:1-4 ... etc. Jesus (pbuh) is quoted many times in the Bible as telling his followers that they will never taste death. However, there is not a single one of them alive to this day. Was he lying? Of course not! As seen above, Jesus' (pbuh) was not telling mankind that his followers would never grow old nor die, rather he was speaking about their second life in the hereafter. He was telling them that the life that we hold so dear and spend so much time fretting over and striving to improve is all but insignificant if compared to the true life, the afterlife. So much so that life and death on this earth is unworthy of consideration. Everything in his estimation revolved around an eternal striving for the reward of the afterlife and this was the yardstick by which all matters were to be measured. In a similar manner, when king David is described as being a prince forever, this did not mean that he would never die but remain immortal for ever and ever as a prince to Israel. Rather, his teachings, name, and guidance shall remain as a shining beacon to mankind even after his death. In this manner, Jesus (pbuh) lives among us through his faith and teachings, prophet Abraham (pbuh) lives on among them and us through his faith and teachings, and so too, the coming Paraclete will live eternally with us through his faith and teachings. The Paracletos will be the last prophet, because he will "abide with you forever" and "he will guide you into all truth" (Greek "into the whole truth") and "he shall teach you all things," so there will be no need for any further prophets. In the Qur'an we read: "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah is Aware of all things." The noble Qur'an, , al-Ahzab(33):40 And "This day have I (God) perfected your religion for you (mankind) and completed My favor unto you, and have chosen for you as religion Islam (the submission)." The noble Qur'an, al-Maidah(5):3 So the religion of Islam is the last message to mankind and it, as well as the Qur'an, will abide with them forever. To this day, Muhammad (pbuh) abides with us through his teachings. Muhammad (pbuh) indeed remains alive and well among us in the vast collection of over 9,500 quotations recorded from him during his lifetime in a broad range of topics. This collection of quotations is named the "Hadeeth." To this day, whenever a Muslims wishes to perform any action no matter how trivial, he does not advance a single step before first consulting Allah/God (in the Qur'an), and then prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (in the Hadeeth). Be it a question on how and what to eat or drink, how to perform marriages, how to pray, what sort of trade or commerce is permissible or prohibited, or what sort of clothes to wear, no Muslim presumes to undertake any action before first obtaining the approval of God then His prophet. Muhammad (pbuh) truly is alive and well among us. Jesus (pbuh) had "the whole truth" and had many things he longed to teach his disciples but he could not give it to them because they "cannot bear them now." These matters would only be revealed six centuries later by God through the agency of Muhammad (pbuh). What new truths has the Holy Spirit guided us into after the departure of Jesus (pbuh) which Jesus (pbuh) had no say in?
12) He shall not speak of himself: "For he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak:" This too is an interesting statement. It reminds us of the verses of Deuteronomy 18:18-19 which shall be discussed soon, specifically: " I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 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." It is also interesting to read the words of the Qur'an: "Nor does he (Muhammad) speak of his own desire. It is but an Inspiration that is inspired [unto him]" The noble Qur'an, Al-Najm(53):3-4
13) He shall bring all things into your remembrance: The prophesy of this coming Paraclete requires that he shall remind mankind of the words of Jesus. Jesus is speaking here not to those who disbelieved, but to his own followers. He is telling his followers that the Paraclete shall "remind" them of the message of Jesus. However, if the followers of Jesus already know and remember all that Jesus taught then how shall the Paraclete "remind" them of something which they already remember? Obviously, the coming Paraclete shall come in a time when the teachings of Jesus have been forgotten and require one to "remind" Jesus' followers of them. Indeed, the Qur'an does in fact confirm this same situation. We read: "And from those who said: "We are Christians," We took their covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message which was sent to them. Therefore We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection, and Allah will inform them of what they used to do. O people of the Scripture! Now has Our messenger (Muhammad) come to you, explaining to you much of that which you used to hide in the Scripture, and forgiving much. Indeed, there has come to you a light from Allah and a plain Scripture. Wherewith Allah guides him who seeks His good pleasure unto paths of peace. He brings them out of darkness by His will into light, and guides them to a straight path." The noble Qur'an, Al-Maidah(5):14-16 It is further important to note that one of the names of the Qur'an is "Al-Thikr" (The Reminder). For example: "Verily, it is We who have sent down 'The Reminder' and it is We who shall preserve it" The noble Qur'an, Al-Hijr(15):9 (also see Al-Sajda(41):41, and Al-Qalam(68):51)
14) He will show you things to come: There were many prophesies made in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah (tradition) of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself. For instance, in the opening verses of the chapter of al-Room (The Romans), we read: "The Romans have been defeated. In the lowest/closest land, and they, after their defeat will be victorious. Within ten years. Allah's is the command in the former case and in the latter and in that day the believers will rejoice. In Allah's support to victory. He helps to victory whom He will. He is the Mighty, the Merciful. It is a promise of Allah. Allah fails not His promise, but most of mankind know not. They know only some appearance of the life of the world, and are heedless of the Hereafter" The noble Qur'an, Al-Room(30):2-6 When Islam was still in it's infancy and it's followers were being severely persecuted, tortured, and killed by the pagan idol worshipers of Arabia (Quraish), there were two "Superpowers" near by. They were the Romans and the Persians. The pagans of Arabia used to like to see the Persians victorious against the Romans because the Persians were pagans like them. However, the Muslims liked to see the Romans victorious because they were "people of the book." About this time, the Romans suffered a resounding defeat to the Persians that seemed to signal the end of the Roman empire. The pagans of Arabia were ecstatic. They went out of their way to hold this defeat over the heads of every Muslim they would encounter. They said: "Just as the Christians in Rome have been crushed by the pagans of Persia, so shall we crush you." This was psychological warfare against the Muslims which they were adding to the physical torture they were subjecting the Muslims to. It was at this time that these verses were revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) consoling him and the Muslims in general that matters were not as they seemed, and that the Romans would come back and defeat the Persians within "Bidh'u" years. "Bidh'u" is an Arabic word that means "between three and nine." This prophesy did indeed come true and the Romans were once again victorious against the Persians, at the same time, the Muslims achieved their first strategic victory against the pagans of Arabia in the battle of Badr. Mr. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, in his commentary on the Qur'an narrates the following explanation of the above verses: "The remarkable defeats of the Roman Empire under Heraclius and the straits to which it was reduced are reviewed in Appendix No. 6 (to follow this Sura). It was not merely isolated defeats; the Roman Empire lost most of its Asiatic territory and was hemmed in on all sides at its capital, Constantinople. The defeat, "in a land close by" must refer to Syria and Palestine, Jerusalem was lost in 614-15 AD, shortly before this Sura was revealed. The Pagan Quraish of Makkah rejoiced at the overthrow of Rome by Persia. They were pro-Persian, and in their heart of hearts they hoped that the nascent movement of Islam, which at that time was, from a worldly point of view, very weak and helpless, would also collapse under their persecution. But they misread the true Signs of the times. They are told here that they would soon be disillusioned in both their calculations, and it actually so happened at the battle of Issus in 622 (the year of Hijrat) and in 624, when Heradius carried his campaign into the heart of Persia (see Appendix No: 6) and the Makkan Quraish were beaten off at Badr. Bidh'un in the text means a short period-a period of from three to nine years. The period between the loss of Jerusalem (614-15) by the Romans and their victory at Issus (622) was seven years, and that to the penetration of Persia by Heraclius was nine years. See last note. The battle of Badr, battle of (2 A.H. = 624 AD) was a real time of rejoicing for the Believers and a time of disillusionment for the arrogant Quraish, who thought that they could crush the whole movement of Islam in Madinah as they had tried to do in Makkah, but they were singly repulsed." There were many other prophesies made by the Qur'an which, without exception, all came true. Some Christians whom I have the pleasure of speaking to on this topic have attempted to trivialize this and other prophesies of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which such words as: "I want a list of [prophet Muhammad's] prophesies and I hope they are not easy prophesies such as a prediction of the outcome of a war which have almost 50-50 chances, but actual supernatural revelation which no man can predict unless he is told by God himself." Such statements are a result of a general unfamiliarity with the details of these prophesies and the situation surrounding them. For example, regarding the above prophesy, when this verse was first revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) by the Almighty, the Roman Empire was at that time believed by everyone to be on the verge of utter collapse before the advancing Persian forces. After the Persian's final crippling moral and physical defeat of the Romans wherein they took from them the very capital of their faith, all onlookers believed it to be the beginning of the end for the Romans. It was at this time that this verse was revealed wherein the whole message of Islam and the truthfulness of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were placed in the balance. Not only did this verse directly oppose what everyone else believed, however, it even specified the timeframe when this prophesy was to occur. This was not the only prophesy made by the final messenger of God, Muhammad (pbuh), rather there were many more such as the time when 10,000 of the troops of the pagan army of Quraish were advancing upon his city to utterly destroy him and his followers (in 'The Battle of the Trench'* ) and he and about 3000 of his followers were preparing as best they could to stave off this attack by digging a trench. While prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was digging with them he made a number of prophesies including the Muslim's capture of Al-Yemen, Al-Sham (Jerusalem, Iraq, etc.), Morrocco, Persia, and the Eastern countries. All of this was said by him while many of the Muslims were expecting to be totally destroyed at any minute by the advancing army which vastly outnumbered them and was much better armed. Another example would be that of Al-Israa(17):7. Then there was also the prophesy made by Muhammad a couple of years before his death that before he would die Makkah, the capital of pagan Arabia, would be captured by the Muslims. This prophesy too came true. On another occation, the prophet was sitting in a garden. Uthmaan ibn Affan walked in and the prophet asked Abu Musa Al-Ashari to give him glad tidings that he shall be of the people of Paradise and to further inform him that the people would mutiny against him. This prophecy was fulfilled many years after the death of the prophet (pbuh) when Uthman became the third Caliph and was murdered shortly therafter when a party of the citizens rose against him and slew him. Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliph, had also been informed by the Prophet of his assassination in such detail that he knew the man who was going to kill him, and identified him pointing him out to the people. They asked Ali why he did not kill the man and he replied: "Then who will kill me?" The night preceding his assassination Ali came out, gazed at the sky and said: "By Allah the prophet (pbuh) never told a lie, nor was a lie ever told to him." The next day the same man killed Ali, as the prophet had predicted. Safinah narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said: The Caliphate of Prophecy will last thirty years; then Allah will give the rule of His Kingdom to whomever He wills." (narrated by Abu-Dawood). This was indeed the length of the Caliphate after the death of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). After that, the rule of monarchies replaced the rule of the Caliphate. The Prophet also predicted the division of the Muslims into many sects, and how some people would do to Ali what the Christians did to Jesus. This clearly refers to the Shi'its, who exaggerate the love and praise of Ali to such a degree that one of their sects, Al-Nusaria, actually worship him as the manifestation of Allah. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) further predicted the capture of Egypt, and commanded his followers when this were to occur that they should treat the people well. He further prophesied that the Muslims would overthrow the Persian Empire and seize the treasures of the their Emperor Choseros. He also told one of the companions by the name of Suraqa bin Malik that he would be given the bracelets of Caesar. Many years after the death of the prophet, these bracelets fell into the possession of Umar ibn Al-Khattab and he called upon Suraqa and placed the bracelets on his arms, reminding him of the prophet's words. Awf ibn Malik narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhari: "I went to the Prophet (pbuh) during the battle of Tabuk while he was sitting in a leather tent. He said, 'Count six signs that indicate the approach of the [final] Hour: 1) My death; 2) The conquest of Jerusalem; 3) A plague that will afflict you (and kill you in great numbers) as the plague that afflicts sheep; 4) The increase of wealth to such an extent that even if one is given one-hundred Dinars, he will not be satisfied; 5) Then an affliction which no Arab house will escape; 6) And then a truce between you and Banu al-Asfar (i.e. the Byzantines, or Christians) who will betray you and attack you under eighty flags. Under each flag will be twelve thousand soldiers.'" The prophesies are many and varied. Some of them deal with what the financial situation of the Muslims shall be after him, some deal with what their moral and religious situation shall be, some deal with upcoming battles, some deal with trials and the anti-Christ and the coming of Gog and Magog. Some deal with the second coming of Jesus (pbuh), and many other issues which can not be dealt with here. However, I shall leave it up to the interested student to research this topic in order to verify it's authenticity. Two useful references on this topic are:
15) The most knowledgeable Christians recognize the Paraclete as Muhammad: "And if you (Muhammad) are in doubt concerning that which We have revealed unto you, then ask those who read the Scripture (that was) before you. Verily the Truth has come unto you from your Lord, so do not be among those who waver." The noble Qur'an, Yunus(10):94 Throughout history, there have been a number of Christian scholars who have come to recognize the truth of the prophesy of Jesus (pbuh) and that it originally referred to prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Anselm Turmeda, a priest and Christian scholar was one such person. After recognizing the last prophet of God and embrasing Islam he wrote a famous book titled "Tuhfat al-arib fi al-radd 'ala Ahl al-Salib." In the introduction to this work he relates his history: "Let it be known to all of you that my origin is from the city of Majorca*, which is a great city on the sea, between two mountains and divided by a small valley. It is a commercial city, with two wonderful harbours. Big merchant ships come and anchor in the harbour with different goods. The city is on the island which has the same name - Majorca, and most of its land is populated with fig and olive trees. My father was a well respected man in the city. I was his only son. When I was six, he sent me to a priest who taught me to read the Gospel and logic, which I finished in six years. After that I left Majorca and traveled to the city of Larda, in the region of Castillion, which was the centre of learning for Christians in that region. A thousand to a thousand and a half Christian students gathered there. All were under the administration of the priest who taught them. I studied the Gospel and its language for another four years. After that I left for Bologne in the region of Anbardia. Bologne is a very large city, it being the centre of learning for all the people of that region. Every year, more than two thousand students gather together from different places. They cover themselves with rough cloth which they call the "Hue of God." All of them, whether the son of a workman or the son of a ruler wear this wrap, in order to make the students distinct from others. Only the priest teaches controls and directs them. I lived in the church with an aged priest. He was greatly respected by the people because of his knowledge and religiousness and asceticism, which distinguished him from the other Christian priests. Questions and requests for advice came from everywhere, from Kings and rulers, along with presents and gifts. They hoped that he would accept their presents and grant them his blessings. This priest taught me the principles of Christianity and its rulings. I became very close to him by serving and assisting him with his duties until I became one of his most trusted assistants, so that he trusted me with the keys of his domicile in the church and of the food and the drink stores. He kept for himself only the key of a small room were he used to sleep. I think, and Allah knows best, that he kept his treasure chest in there. I was a student and servant for a period of ten years, then he fell ill and failed to attend the meetings of his fellow priests. During his absence the priests discussed some religious matters, until they came to what was said by the Almighty Allah through his prophet Jesus in the Gospel: "After him will come a Prophet called Paraclete." They argued a great deal about this Prophet and as to who he was among the Prophets. Everyone gave his opinion according to his knowledge and understanding; and they ended without achieving any benefit in that issue. I went to my priest, and as usual he asked about what was discussed in the meeting that day. I mentioned to him the different opinions of priests about the name Paraclete, and how they finished the meeting without clarifying its meaning. He asked me: "What was your answer?" I gave my opinion which was taken from interpretation of a well known exegesis. He said that I was nearly correct like some priests, and the other priests were wrong. "But the truth is different from all of that. This is because the interpretation of that noble name is known only to a small number of well versed scholars. And we posses only a little knowledge." I fell down and kissed his feet, saying: "Sir, you know that I traveled and came to you from a far distant country, I have served you now for more than ten years; and have attained knowledge beyond estimation, so please favour me and tell me the truth about this name." The priest then wept and said: "My son, by God, you are very much dear to me for serving me and devoting yourself to my care. Know the truth about this name, and there is a great benefit, but there is also a great danger. And I fear that when you know this truth, and the Christians discover that, you will be killed immediately." I said: "By God, by the Gospel and He who was sent with it, I shall never speak any word about what you will tell me, I shall keep it in my heart." He said: "My son, when you came here from your country, I asked you if it is near to the Muslims, and whether they made raids against you and if you made raids against them. This was to test your hatred for Islam. Know, my son, that Paraclete is the name of their Prophet Muhammad, to whom was revealed the fourth book as mentioned by Daniel. His way is the clear way which is mentioned in the Gospel." I said: "Then sir, what do you say about the religion of these Christians?" He said: "My son, if these Christians remained on the original religion of Jesus, then they would have been on God's religion, because the religion of Jesus and all the other Prophets is the true religion of God. But they changed it and became unbelievers." I asked him: "Then, sir, what is the salvation from this?" He said "Oh my son, embracing Islam." I asked him: "Will the one who embraces Islam be saved?" He answered: "Yes, in this world and the next." I said: "The prudent chooses for himself; if you know, sir the merit of Islam, then what keeps you from it?" He answered: "My son, the Almighty Allah did not expose me to the truth of Islam and the Prophet of Islam until after I have become old and my body weakened. Yes, there is no excuse for us in this, on the contrary, the proof of Allah has been established against us. If God had guided me to this when I was your age I would have left everything and adopted the religion of truth. Love of this world is the essence of every sin, and look how I am esteemed, glorified and honoured by the Christians, and how I am living in affluence and comfort! In my case, if I show a slight inclination towards Islam they would kill me immediately. Suppose that I was saved from them and succeeded in escaping to the Muslims, they would say, do not count your Islam as a favour upon us, rather you have benefited yourself only by entering the religion of truth, the religion that will save you from the punishment of Allah! So I would live among them as a poor old man of more than ninety years, without knowing their language, and would die among them starving* . I am, and all praise is due to Allah, on the religion of Christ and on that which he came with, and Allah knows that from me." So I asked him: "Do you advise me to go to the country of the Muslims and adopt their religion?" He said to me: "If you are wise and hope to save yourself, then race to that which will achieve this life and the hereafter. But my son, none is present with us concerning this matter , it is between you and me only. Exert yourself and keep it a secret. If it is disclosed and the people know about it they will kill you immediately. I will be of no benefit to you against them. Neither will it be of any use to you if you tell them what you heard from me concerning Islam, or that I encouraged you to be a Muslim, for I shall deny it. They trust my testimony against yours. So do not tell a word, whatever happens." I promised him not to do so. He was satisfied and content with my promise. I began to prepare for my journey and bid him farewell. He prayed for me and gave me fifty golden dinars. Then I took a ship to my city Majorca where I stayed with my parents for six months. Then I traveled to Sicily and remained there five months, waiting for a ship bound for the land of the Muslims. Finally a ship arrived bound for Tunis. We departed before sunset and reached the port of Tunis at noon on the second day. When I got off the ship, Christian scholars who heard of my arrival came to greet me and I stayed with them for four months in ease and comfort. After that I asked them if there was a translator. The Sultan in those days was Abu al-Abbas Ahmed. They said there was a virtuous man, the Sultan's physician, who was one of his closest advisors. His name was Yusuf al-Tabeeb. I was greatly pleased to here this, and asked where he lived. They took me there to meet him separately. I told him about my story and the reason of my coming there; which was to embrace Islam. He was immensely pleased because this matter would be completed by his help. We rode to the Sultan's Palace. He met the Sultan and told him about my story and asked his permission for me to meet him. The Sultan accepted, and I presented myself before him. The first question the Sultan asked was about my age. I told him that I was thirty-five years old. He then asked about my learning and the sciences which I had studied. After I told him he said. "Your arrival is the arrival of goodness . Be a Muslim with Allah's blessings." I then said to the doctor, "Tell the honourable Sultan that it always happens that when anyone changes his religion his people defame him and speak evil of him. So, I wish if he kindly sends to bring the Christian priests and merchants of this city to ask them about me and hear what they have to say. Then by Allah's will, I shall accept Islam." He said to me through the translator, "You have asked what Abdullah ibn Salam asked from the Prophet when he-Abdullah came to announce his Islam."* He then sent for the priests and some Christian merchants and let me sit in an adjoining room unseen by them. "What do you say about this new priest who arrived by ship?", he asked. They said: "He is a great scholar in our religion. Our bishops say he is the most learned and no one is superior to him in our religious knowledge." After hearing what the Christian said, the Sultan sent for me, and I presented myself before them. I declared the two testimonies that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, and when the Christians heard this they crossed themselves and said: "Nothing incited him to do that except his desire to marry, as priests in our religion can not marry." Then they left in distress and grief. The Sultan appointed for me a quarter of a dinar every day from the treasury and let me marry the daughter of Al-Hajj Muhammed al-Saffar. When I decided to consummate the marriage, he gave me a hundred golden dinars and an excellent suit of clothes. I then consummated the marriage and Allah blessed me with a child to whom I gave the name Muhammed as a blessing from the name of the Prophet." Let us conclude this section with the following quotation from the Gospel of John. Please keep in mind while reading the following all that we have learned so far in previous chapters: "These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 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. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you." John 16:1-15
6.4: The Emigration (The Hijra) "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.
6.5: Isaiah's Vision 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, "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 Battle of Badr) in the second year after their forced migration 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 migrate 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.
6.6: Truthfulness of Muhammad (pbuh) "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.
6.7: Moses foretells of Muhammad's Coming "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
6.8: Legitimacy of Hagar and Ishmael 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
Fig. 3 Arabs and Jews. Semitic "brethren."
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)."
Abraham was eighty six years old when Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:16). When Abraham reached ninety-nine years of age, Ishmael was thirteen years old and remained the only son of Abraham. Now, God promises to establish his covenant with all of Abraham's "seed" without exception: "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.." Genesis 17:7-8. God now informs Abraham that his covenant shall be given through circumcision, so Abraham immediately circumcises himself and Ishmael, the father of the Arabs (Genesis 17:23), thus establishing God's covenant with Ishmael. The significance of circumcision was also noted by Biblical scholars as being not merely an external act: "This was His own sign and seal that Israel was a chosen people. Through it a man's life was linked with great fellowship whose dignity was it's high consciousness that it must fulfill the purpose of God" Interpreter's Bible, p. 613 To this day, all Muslims practice circumcision. The "sign and seal" (Romans 4:11) of the Abrahamic covenant. We notice that God's covenant was promised to be with Abraham's "seed." But if we read Genesis 21:13 we will find that Ishmael is Abraham's "seed": "And also of the son of the bondwoman......he is thy seed." The same arguments can be made for God's covenant with Abraham "the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Genesis 15:18 As we can see, this covenant was intended to be of the same generality as God's covenants with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17), and David (2 Samuel 7; 23:5). God's covenant was intended to be a covenant with those who are obedient to Him and follow his command, not a covenant that makes a certain group of people genetically superior and closer to God even from before their birth, such that they are his "chosen children," and God's prophethood and message can only come from their lineage. When Abraham reached one hundred years of age, God blessed him with a second son, Isaac (Genesis 21:5). Isaac was born to him through his first wife, Sarah. The Bible tells us that because of Sarah's jealousy that Ishmael may inherit with her own son Isaac (Genesis 21:10), she had Abraham cast out Hagar and Ishmael and send them to the wilderness of "Paran" (genesis 21:21). We are told that she was particularly angry with what she considered to be a mockery on the part of Ishmael towards her own son Isaac. This incident is alleged to have occurred after Isaac was weaned (remember this) as narrated in Genesis 21:8. Sarah now allegedly ordered Abraham to cast Hagar and Ishmael out, (apparently, in Abraham's tribe, children who mock their brothers and sisters are to be thrown out in the nearest desert along with their mothers) Abraham obeyed Sarah and cast the "bondwoman" and her son in the desert and was blessed by God who told him to "hearken unto her voice." Abraham gave Hagar provisions and water and put her child "Ishmael" upon her shoulder and left them in the wilderness of Beer Sheba in Southern Palestine. When they ran out of water, an angel appeared and conveyed to her the words of God: "Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation." God then showed her a well of water and they drank. Ishmael dwelt in the wilderness of "Paran" and begat twelve sons one of whom was called "Kedar." As mentioned in 6.4, the Arabic form of the word Paran is Faran or Pharan. It means "two who migrated." It appears that the place took it's name from Hagar and Ishmael who came there as two refugees. We, as Muslims, have a very similar narration of the same sequence of events in the Qur'an. However, in the Qur'an, the details differ from the narration of the Old Testament. Muslims respect Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael (pbut) as very decent, moral and pious people. Muslims believe that the prophet Abraham (pbuh) received a revelation from God to take Hagar and her BABY, Ishmael, to a barren desert in Northern Arabia (Paran), more specifically to the future location of Makkah, and to leave them there. When Abraham began to leave, Hagar called out to him "where are you leaving us?" After repeating the question three times, she asked him "Did God command you to do this?" Abraham answered "yes." So Hagar said: "Then He will not forsake us." When Hagar and her baby ran out of water, she began to fear for her baby's life and took to running back and forth between the two hills of "Al-Safa" and "Al-Marwa" in search of water. Meanwhile, God sent an angel who caused water to gush out of the earth for them. This became the water of the well of "Zamzam" which the pilgrims of Makkah drink from today. Once water was found in this place, the Bedouins began to settle there and it became the city of Makkah. Centuries later, Muhammad (pbuh), the prophet of Islam, was born to the descendants of Ishmael. The rites of hastening between the two hills of "Al-Safa" and "Al-Marwa" have been preserved in the Muslim's yearly pilgrimage to Makkah even to this day. The major differences in the Biblical and the Qur'anic narrations are that the OT claim that Hagar was (originally) left in Beer Sheba and not Paran as stated by the Muslims, and that this occurred when Ishmael was not a baby, but a fully grown teenager. This Old Testament narration can be found to contain obvious modifications from the following analysis: According to the Bible, Abraham was eighty six years old when Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:16). He was one hundred years old when Isaac was born (Genesis 21:5). This makes Ishmael fourteen years older than Isaac. The above expulsion of Ishmael and his mother is alleged to have occurred after Isaac was weaned (Genesis 21:8). Muslims wean their children after two years. Biblical scholars tell us that babies were weaned about the age of three. This makes Ishmael at least seventeen years old at the time of the alleged mockery and expulsion. The profile of Ishmael in Genesis 21:14-19 however, is one of a small baby and not that of a full grown teenager of seventeen years. Let us study it. 1) According to the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible which was compiled from manuscripts more ancient than those of the King James Version of the Bible, the verse of Genesis 21:14 reads "..putting [it] on her shoulder, along with the child." Did Abraham put a seventeen year old boy on Hagar's shoulder? It would be more logical for him to put Hagar on Ishmael's shoulder if he were, as claimed, seventeen years old at the time. So Ishmael must have been a baby at the time. 2) In Genesis 21:15 we read "and she cast the child under one of the shrubs." Did Hagar "cast" a seventeen year old teenager under a shrub? This too is consistent with a baby and not a full-grown teenager. 3) We read in Genesis 21:16 that Hagar sat far away from Ishmael so as not to see him die before her own eyes. Is this the profile of a full-grown teenager who should, more appropriately be worried about his mother or of a helpless baby? 4) In Genesis 21:17 we read the angel's command to Hagar: "Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand;" Who would be more capable of lifting the other up, Hagar or her seventeen year old teenage son? This too is the profile of a little baby. 5) Throughout this story we are drawn a picture of Hagar doing this, and Hagar doing that, and Hagar worrying, and Hagar weeping, and so on while Ishmael sits where he was "cast," under the shrub. Would a full grown teenager of seventeen sit under a shrub and wait for his mother and himself to die while his mother looked for water for him, or would he have her sit in the shade while he went in search of water? 6) Even the angel did not address both of them but only Hagar, the only one who would understand. Once again the profile of a baby and not a seventeen year old teenager. 7) Ishmael is always referred to as "the child" and "the lad" in the story. Do people usually refer to seventeen year old teenagers as "child" and "lad"? 8) In Genesis 21:20 we read that after this incident, "God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer." Is this a profile of a fully developed teenager or a child who is growing up, learning, and developing? The above analysis clearly exhibits evidence of human modification to the text of this story. The claim that Ishmael mocked Isaac and that this had anything to do with Hagar's journey is an obvious fabrication since Isaac was not even born yet when this story occurred (Ishmael was still a baby). The reason for Hagar's journey was not Sarah's jealousy, Ishmael's mockery, or the racial superiority of Sarah. It was only the command of God, pure and simple. In an effort to keep all prophets of God Israelites, even God himself is alleged to have submitted to, and even blessed the alleged jealous whims of Sarah. Further, if such elaborate additions to the story could be inserted into the text, then how much simpler to change the original journey to Paran to take a detour into Beer Sheba. The Interpreter's Bible compares the texts of Genesis 21:14-19 with Genesis 16:1-16 and draws the following conclusion: "The inclusion in Genesis of both stories so nearly alike and yet sufficiently different to be inconsistent, is one of the many instances of the reluctance of the compilers to sacrifice any of the traditions which has become established in Israel." As damaging and conclusive as this proof of the modification of the Old Testament is, still, it pales to insignificance before the much more devastating proof of this same fact to be found in section 2.3. Someone may now object: well then, the verses stating Abraham's age must be the ones which have been (unintentionally) modified. This is a valid theory, however, the problem with this theory is that first of all, these numbers were spelled out in letters and not written using numerals. Second, the transmitters of the Old Testament (the Jews) claim that every word and every letter was faithfully counted and preserved and thus, they can confidently claim that it would be impossible for unintentional errors to creep in, even by accident. We also notice that even in the New Revised Standard version of the Bible, Genesis 16:16 and 21:5 state the same ages mentioned above. Is this not proof of the Qur'an's claim that the previous books of God were tampered with by the hands of the unscrupulous few? It now becomes evident that sometime after God sent down the Old Testament, someone decided that they did not want the Arab descendants of Ishmael to be included in God's covenant with Abraham. They wanted it exclusive to the Jewish branch of his descendants. Therefore, the Old Testament was "corrected" in order to show that God's intent was that His covenant be with the Jews only. Now that we see that the original covenant of God was with all of the children of Abraham (pbuh) without exception, then we are left with another question: The Bible describes in great detail the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham through Isaac which was fulfilled in Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus (pbut). But what of his promise to Abraham through Ishmael? God does not renege on his promises, so how was it fulfilled? The Bible is, for the most part, silent about the promise to the Ishmaelites. Why? Because just as Jesus (pbuh), during the time of the Old Testament had not yet come and there were only prophesies of his coming containing unmistakable signs, but no detailed stories of his life, in the same manner, both the Old and New Testament contain unmistakable prophesies of Muhammad (pbuh), but no in-depth analyses and stories. The Interpreter's Bible admits that the Ishmaelites and other descendants of Abraham were "somehow participating in the Abrahamic covenant" (page 616). The coming of Muhammad (pbuh), the descendant of Ishmael, is the fulfillment of this promise. Some people will claim that even though Ishmael was Abraham's "seed," still, "seed" is a lesser designation than "son," and only Isaac was Abraham's "son." However, the Bible also bears witness to the fact that Ishmael was Abraham's "son": "And Abraham took Ishmael his son." Genesis 17:23 Not only that, but the Bible tells us that Ishmael remained the legitimate son of Abraham until even after his death, "Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full [of years]; and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah" Genesis 25:8-9 So was Ishmael a lesser "son" than Isaac because Isaac's mother was Abraham's wife while Hagar was not? Once again, let us read the Bible: "And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid....and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.." Genesis 16:3 So the Bible also bears witness that Hagar was Abraham's legitimate wife. In fact, if this were not the case, then we would be labeling prophet Abraham an adulterer. A serious accusation indeed. Once the legitimacy of Hagar as Abraham's wife and Ishmael as his son has been established, now the objection of many becomes that Isaac was a better and truer son of Abraham because he was the son of the free woman not the bondwoman. However, this claim is not supported by the law of the Old Testament. According to this law, the first born son was to have double portions of honor, and even inheritance, and this right could not be affected by the status of his mother. "If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, [both] the beloved and the hated; and [if] the firstborn son be hers that was hated: Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit [that] which he hath, [that] he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, [which is indeed] the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated [for] the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he [is] the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn [is] his." Deuteronomy 21:15-17 In the same Interpreter's Bible, we read the following comment on the above verses: "However, the law of the first-born had ancient sanction, and so long as it was accepted, justice demanded that mere favoritism not be allowed to deprive the eldest son of his rights." The Dictionary of the Bible says: "However deeply rooted [polygany] was before the exile may be seen from the parable of Ezk. 23, which represents Yahweh as the husband of two wives. The law of Dt 21:15-17 which is parallel to several Mesopotamian laws, protects the 'hated' wife and her children especially if she has borne the firstborn son (hated here means less loved)..." The Dictionary of the Bible, John McKenzie, S. J., Collier books, p. 549 Abraham was eighty six years old (Genesis 16:16) when Ishmael was born and was one hundred years old (Genesis 21:5), when he was blessed with a second son, Isaac (pbuh). So Isaac was fourteen years younger than his older brother Ishmael, the first-born son of Abraham. It should further be noted here that a similar occurrence is narrated in the Old Testament regarding a slave girl named Ruth and a landowner named Boaz (Ruth, chapters 3 and 4). Ruth, a widowed slave girl, was married to Boaz and gave him a son named Obed. Obed went on to become the founder of the royal line of Jews who, according to the Old and New Testament, were the ancestors of both King David and Jesus Christ peace be upon them both (for example Matthew 1:5-16). Not only that, but according to the same Old Testament, Ruth was a Moabitess (Ruth 2:2). Moabite women, according to the Old Testament, were women used to lure Israelite men into immorality and the worship of the pagan god Baal (for a related story, please read section 5.2). So, if a slave woman of a nation of such ill repute among the Jews as the Moabites is given legitimacy among the Jews and can even go on to become the ancestor and mother of their greatest prophets and leaders and indeed Jesus Christ (pbuh) himself, then why is a whole branch of prophet Abraham's children cast off simply because their mother too was a slave girl? Further, it is well known that fully six of the tribes of Israel trace their ancestry through the second wife of Jacob (Israel), Rachel, and two of his concubines, Bilhah, and Zilpah. Nowhere in the Bible is it mentioned that these six tribes are disqualified from God's covenant simply because their mother was the "second" wife of Jacob or one of his concubines. Jacob M. Myers, a professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary and a contributor to Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, is a well recognized leading expert on the Old Testament. In his book Invitation to The Old Testament (pp. 26) he states the following regarding the Nuzi laws of marriage of Abraham's (pbuh) time: "Archaeological discoveries help us to fill in the details of the biblical narrative and to explain many of the otherwise obscure references and strange customs that were commonplace in Abraham's world and time...... A Nuzi marriage contract provides that a childless wife may take a woman of the country and marry her to her husband to obtain progeny, But she may not drive out the offspring even if she later has children of her own. The child born of the handmaid has the same status as the one born to the wife. That is why, when Sarah wanted to drive out Hagar and Ishmael, it was quite objectionable to Abraham -because of the legal custom of the religion from which he came, he was reluctant to do so. It required a special divine dispensation to act contrary to that custom." We have already seen how the "special divine dispensation" was a forgery. Further, while Ishmael was the first begotten son of Abraham, we notice that Obed was the tenth grandson of Abraham (The Old and New Testament genealogies differ in the actual names). So, if Obed is given such legitimacy in the Old Testament as being a legitimate father in their most royal line, even though he is the son of a bondwoman, then Ishamel's claim to this legitimacy is much older and more pronounced. Once Ishmael has been proven to be a legitimate son of Abraham and not only equal to Isaac, but according to the law of the Jews, deserving of double the portion of honor and inheritance allotted to Isaac, then the final objection becomes that Isaac was specifically chosen to be the child of promise. In A Dictionary of Biblical tradition in English literature, we read: "St. Augustine, in De civitate Dei (15.2), equates Ishmael "born in the course of nature," with the flesh and Isaac, "born in fulfillment of a promise" with the spirit. For Augustine, Ishmael exists outside the realm of God's grace; for this reason, and because of their enforced wanderings in the desert, he associates Ishmael and Hagar with Cain." As we have already seen, God's covenant was with the "seed" of Abraham (pbuh), among whom was Ishmael. Secondly, there are many verses which specifically single out Ishmael for God's blessing. After the birth of Ishmael and before the birth of Isaac, God repeats his promise to Abraham to bless all the earth through his progeny. "As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations." Genesis 17:4 Also, "And also of the son of the bondwoman (Hagar) will I make a nation, because he [is] thy seed. ......... I will make him a great nation." Genesis 21:13 So, not only is Ishmael a legitimate son of Abraham, but God Almighty promised to bless Ishmael's descendants just as he would in the future promise to bless Isaac's descendants. Further, God's covenant of circumcision with Abraham was fulfilled in Ishmael long before the birth of Isaac. As has already been demonstrated in chapters one and two, the Bible has been modified extensively over the ages to the point that even conservative scholars now admit that it's ancient copies contain many thousands of "variant readings" between one-another. Many examples have been presented. As seen in chapter two, thirty two conservative Biblical scholars backed by fifty cooperating denominations bore witness to the "many" and "serious" errors contained in the current King James Bible. Even the original ancient manuscripts themselves contain many differences and conflictions. Whole passages show up in some "ancient manuscripts" while being completely missing from older ones. Even geographical locations are changed from one ancient copy to the next. All Bibles in existence today are the result of very extensive cutting and pasting from these various manuscripts with no single ancient copy being the definitive reference. Even at that, all Bibles in existence today still contain countless examples of very serious contradictions of founding Christian doctrine (see chapter two, and also chapter one). In the Interpreter's Bible we read: "Many Israelites did not want a God who would be equally the God of all nations on the Earth. They did not want one who would be impartial Holiness. They wanted a God who would be partial to them. So we read in Deuteronomy of the demands for a complete extermination of all non-Israelite people of Palestine (Deuteronomy 7:2) and as to the carrying out of that injunction read the harsh sentences of Deuteronomy 20:10-17." Is it possible, in light of the overwhelming evidence beginning to come to light of the modification of the Old Testament, that the transmitters of this book (Genesis) made certain modifications to favor their own people? We have already seen the evidence. Such verses as Genesis 17:21 and Genesis 21:21 do not exclude Ishmael from God's covenant as some claim. The example of this is one who says: "I love my parents" and then a few days later says "I love my mother." Does this mean that he does not love his father? Since God had already consecrated his covenant between Abraham and his son Ishmael years before the birth of Isaac, and Abraham had already circumcised Ishmael so that he might receive God's covenant, therefore, it was necessary to reaffirm that Isaac was not left out of this covenant even though it was established after the birth of Ishmael but before his own birth. Many people point to the verse of Genesis 22:2 as proof that Isaac was the only legitimate son of Abraham. We read: "And he (God) said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Genesis 22:2 What is going on here? On the one hand we have verses such as Genesis 16:15, Genesis 17:23, Genesis 17:25, Genesis 17:26, and Genesis 25:9...etc. which clearly confirm the fact that not only was Ishmael the first born son of Abraham and a legitimate son, but he remained so until the day Abraham died and was buried. On the other hand we have Genesis 22:2 which claims that Isaac, Abraham's second son is the only son of Abraham. To understand this we need to go back to the Qur'anic version of this story. In the Qur'an we are told that Abraham (pbuh) was deprived children until his old age whereupon he was given Ishmael, his first born son. Up until this point the Qur'an and the Old Testament are in agreement. It stands to reason that after having been deprived an heir for so long Abraham would become extremely attached to his only begotten son Ishmael. For all he knew then he very likely might not be blessed with any more children before his death. We are now told in the Qur'an that Allah (God) Almighty decided to test Abraham's faith. He therefore decided to set up a test for Abraham in the one thing which he held most dear to his heart in all of this world: His only son. When Ishmael reached the age of striving, God Almighty showed Abraham a vision wherein he was to sacrifice his only son Ishmael to God. Abraham went to Ishmael and asked his opinion on this matter. This was not an attempt by Abraham to escape the command of God, but only an attempt to better prepare his son. Ishmael replied to his father: "O my father, Do as you are commanded. You shall, by Allah's will, find me to be among the patient." We are told that the devil then came to Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael in turn trying to convince each one to disobey the command of Allah. Each one in turn did not respond to him and cast stones at him till they drove him away. This act is also preserved to this day in the Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah in the symbolic act of stoning the three pillars called the "jamarat." Abraham took his son Ishmael and placed him on the ground facing down so that he would not have to look at him. Just when he was about to sacrifice Ishmael God sent an angel to Abraham to stop him and to provide him with a ram as an alternate sacrifice in place of his son as a reward for his sincere intentions. He then further rewarded Abraham with Isaac, a great and pious prophet as a second son. This story can be found in the Qur'an. Abraham prayed: "My Lord! grant me (a son) of the righteous. So We gave him tidings of a gentle son (Ishmael). And when he was old enough to strive with him, he said: O my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you. So look, what do you think? He said: O my father! Do that which you are commanded. Allah willing, you shall find me of the steadfast. Then, when they had both surrendered (to Allah), and he had placed him upon his forehead, We called unto him: O Abraham: You have (already) fulfilled the vision. Lo! thus do We reward the good. Lo! that verily was a clear test. Then We ransomed him with a tremendous victim. And We left for him among the later folk (the salutation): 'Peace be unto Abraham!' Thus do We reward the good. Lo! he is one of Our believing slaves. And We gave him tidings of the birth of Isaac, a Prophet of the righteous. And We blessed him and Isaac. And of their seed are some who do good, and some who plainly wrong themselves. And We verily gave grace unto moses and Aaron, And saved them and their people from the great distress, And helped them so that they became the victors. And We gave them the clear Scripture And showed them the right path. And We left for them, among the later folk (the salutation): 'Peace be unto Moses and Aaron!' Lo! thus do We reward the good. Lo! they are two of our believing slaves." The noble Qur'an in Al-Safat(37): 100-113 We notice that the major difference in the Qur'anic and Biblical versions is that the Qur'an affirms that it was Ishmael (The father of the Arabs) who was to be sacrificed, while the Old Testament claims that Isaac (The father of the Jews) was the one to be sacrificed. However, if we study the verse of Genesis 22:2 we will find the words "thy son, thine only [son]." Isaac was never Abraham's only son. As we have seen, Ishmael was born before Isaac and remained (according to the testimony of the Bible) the legitimate son of Abraham until AFTER his death. As we have already proven, the story of God's command to cast out Ishmael and his mother due to Ishmael's alleged mockery is a fabrication. The only son of Abraham who was ever Abraham's "only" son was Ishmael. This was during the fourteen year period after the birth of Ishmael but before the birth of Isaac. Notice how by changing this one word from "Ishmael" to "Isaac" an entire branch of Abraham's descendants (the Arabs) are conveniently excluded from God's covenant and it becomes exclusive to the Jews? Once Ishmael is reinstated as the one mentioned in Genesis 22:2 then the stories in the Bible begin to make sense once again. In Encyclopedia Judica Jerusalem, volume 9, under the heading "Ishmael," we read: "It is related that a renowned traditionalist of Jewish origin, from Qurayza tribe and another Jewish scholar who converted to Islam, told Caliph Omar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (717-20) that the Jews were well informed that Ismail (Ishmael) was the one who was bound, but they concealed this out of jealousy." "Verily, those who conceal that which Allah has sent down of the Book and purchase a small gain therewith, they eat into their bellies nothing but fire. Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them, and theirs will be a painful torment." The noble Qur'an, Al-Baqarah(2):174 "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 same did Abraham enjoin upon his sons, and also Jacob, (saying): O my sons! Verily! Allah hath chosen for you the (true) religion; therefore die not save as men who have surrendered (Literally: Have become 'Muslims'). Or were you witnesses when death came to Jacob? When he said unto his sons: What will you worship after me? They said: We shall worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac, One God, and unto Him we have surrendered. That was a nation which has passed away. They shall receive the reward of that which they earned, and you of what you earned. And you will not be asked of what they used to do. And they say: Be Jews or Christians, then you will be rightly guided. Say: Nay, rather the religion of Abraham, the upright, and he did not associate partners (with Allah). Say: We believe in Allah and that which was revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve sons of Jacob, and that which was given to Moses and Jesus, and that which the Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered. And if they believe in the like of that which you believe, then they are rightly guided. But if they turn away, then they are in discord, and Allah will suffice you against them. He is the Hearer, the Knower. The religion of Allah!, and which religion can be better than Allah's? and we are His worshippers. Say (unto the People of the Scripture): Do you dispute with us concerning Allah when He is our Lord and your Lord? Ours are our works and yours your works. And we are sincere in worship to Him (alone). Or do you say that Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the sons of Jacob were Jews or Christians? Say: Do you know best, or does Allah? And who is more unjust than he who hides the testimony which he has from Allah? And Allah is not unaware of what you do. That was a nation which has passed away. They shall receive the reward of that which they earned, and you of what you earned. And you will not be asked of what they used to do." The noble Qur'an, Al-Baqarah(2):127-141
Fig. 4 The Kaaba, the house of Allah/God built by prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael. It is surrounded by thousands of Muslims worshipping Allah.
6.9: A Rod out of the Stem of Jesse "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:
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.
6.10: Reference to Moses, Jesus, and 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
Fig. 8 The succession of the prophets 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 anthro-pomophically 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
6.11: God did not kill Muhammad (pbuh) for 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?
6.12: Glorifies Jesus (pbuh) "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)
6.13: The Rejected Stone 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" Qur'an 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:
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).
6.14: Other Prophesies 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:
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 To read the rest of this book, please visit: Page 18 To go back to the Table of Contents of this book, please visit: What did Jesus really say?
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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.
